---

Dogs in the East are not much thought of, and never properly treated. The varieties with which we are familiar they knew nothing of. The dogs they had were but of one kind, — all hungry, half-starved, savage, cowardly, and more like wolves than dogs. But with us the dog is not only useful and beloved, but often displays the noblest qualities. For instance —

I. COURAGE. God expects us to have courage (Deuteronomy 31). And the dog sets us a good example in this respect. Take this story of an incident which took place in the town of New Brunswick, New Jersey. A horse attached to a waggon, in one of the streets, became frightened, and started off in a run. The owner of the waggon was thrown from his seat as the horse started, and was left lying on the street. The horse went galloping along, increasing his speed every moment, till he reached the corner of the next street. There a large Newfoundland dog made his appearance. He looked at the horse for a moment, and then sprang out into the street and rushed towards the horse's head. The dog made repeated efforts by springing up to grasp the bridle firmly with his teeth. But he failed each time and fell to the ground, narrowly escaping injury from the horse's feet. But the brave dog kept on trying, and at last, making an extraordinary spring into the air, he grasped the bridle firmly in his teeth and, pulling down the horse's head, put a stop to his running away. As soon as this was done the dog turned round quietly and walked away. But the people standing by, who had witnessed the dog's noble action, when they thought of the injury which might have been done by the runaway horse, felt disposed to praise very highly the conduct of the dog for the greatest act of courage they had ever seen a dumb animal perform. The next lesson we may learn from the dog is —

II. INTELLIGENCE. God looks for intelligent understanding of His will in us all. See the opening verse of Proverbs 2. And the dog sets us a good example of understanding and then obeying what we are told to do. A gentleman connected with the Newfoundland fishery had a dog of remarkable intelligence and fidelity. On one occasion a boat's crew in his employ were seen to be in circumstances of great danger. They were near a line of breakers outside of the harbour over which the waves were dashing and roaring in great fury. The danger of passing those breakers was so great that the men, brave as they were, did not dare to attempt it. A crowd of people stood watching them on the shore with great anxiety, but could do nothing to help them. Much time had passed, and the danger was increasing every moment. Among the people on the shore was the fishery master's great Newfoundland dog. He seemed to understand what the danger was. Presently he ran to the water, jumped in, and swam towards the boat. He soon made his way through the surf, and the men in the boat saw him coming near to them. At first they thought he wanted to get into the boat, .but it soon became evident that that was not his purpose. He did not come near the boat, but kept swimming round it. While doing this he looked earnestly at the men, and would whine from time to time. The men wondered what he wanted. At last one of them cried out, "Give him a rope; that's what he wants!" The rope was thrown; the dog seized the end of it with his mouth, and then turned round and swam towards the shore. The men waiting there took hold of it, and began to pull it, and in a short time the boat with its crew was hauled through the dangerous surf, and the men on board of it were landed safely on the shore. And so the lives of that boat's crew were saved by the intelligence of that noble dog.

III. AFFECTING. Love brought Jesus to die for us. "God so loved the world that," etc. And He desires love to be the ruling principle in our lives. Even dogs have shown this in remarkable ways. The captain of the artillery company of South Carolina was killed in a battle in Virginia during the American Civil War. His body was placed in a coffin, which was put into a strong box and carried to the home of his family in Columbia. It arrived there about a week after his death. On his arrival the captain's dog that he had reared and petted during his lifetime was at the gate, and, approaching the house, began to smell about him, with a good deal of excitement. When the coffin was taken from the hearse he ran under it and followed it to the house between the pall bearers. Although a week had passed by since his master's death, and his body was closely fastened up in the coffin, yet by the sense of smell alone the dog had found out that it was his master's body which was in that coffin, and this stirred up all his affection for him. When the coffin was put on the table in the parlour the dog lay down under the table, and remained there till the funeral took place on the next day. Then after the funeral the dog took his place on the grave of his old master. They tried to coax him away, but in vain. He would stay there. He refused to eat or drink, but lay moaning there till the third day after the funeral, when he died on his master's grave. How real and genuine that dog's affection for his master was!

IV. FIDELITY. This is a most important lesson. Whatever other good elements of character we may have, they will all be of little use to Us without faithfulness. The want of it is like a hole in a purse, which lets all the money run out and be lost. Now, dogs have often been noted for fidelity. A French merchant was riding home on horseback one day. He had a large bag of gold with him, which was tied to the saddle in front of him, and was accompanied by a faithful dog. After a long ride he stopped to rest himself, and eat a lunch which he had with him. He alighted from the horse and sat down alder a shady tree, taking the bag of gold and laying it down by his side. On mounting his horse again he forgot to take his bag of gold with him. The dog saw the mistake his master had made, and tried to take the bag to him; but it was too heavy for him to drag along. Then he ran after his master, and tried by barking to remind him of his mistake. But the merchant did not understand what the dog meant. Then the dog went in front of his master and kept jumping up before the horse and barking loudly. The merchant called to him to be quiet and to stop that jumping. But the dog wouldn't stop. Then his master was alarmed, He began to think that the dog must be going mad. And as the dog went on barking and jumping with increasing violence, the merchant felt sure he was right. He said to himself, "He may bite me, or someone else. The only safe thing will be to kill him." Then he took a pistol from his pocket and, pointing it to the dog, fired at him. The poor dog fell weltering in his blood, and his master, unable to bear the sight, put spurs to his horse and went on. "I am very unfortunate," he said to himself; "I would rather have lost my bag of money than my good dog." Then he felt for his bag, but it was not there. In a moment he saw what it all meant. The dog had seen that he had left his bag of money behind him, and was trying the best he could to get him to go back for it when he shot him! How sorry he felt! Then he turned his horse, and rode back to the place where he had left his money. On reaching the spot he found the dog there. He had crawled back, all bleeding as he was, and had lain down beside his master's money to protect it, This brought the tears into the merchant's eyes. He kneeled down by his dog, petted him, and spoke kindly to him. The dog looked lovingly into his face, licked his hand, and then turned over and died. The merchant had the body of the dog carried home and buried in his garden; and over its grave he had a stone slab set up, and with these words engraved on it: "In Memory of a Faithful Dog." Such are some of the lessons we may learn from the dog.

(Richard Newton, D. D.)

---

---

KJV: Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

WEB: Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.