By Senator George Graham Vest

EULO  

Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. A son or daughter he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those who we trust with our happiness and our good mane may become traitors.

    The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolute, devoted friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that will never prove ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

     Gentleman of the Jury: A mans dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty. In health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer.

      When all other friends desert his remains. When riches take wing and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and the body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

Statue of Old Drum in Warrensburg, Missouri, where Sen. Vest argued his case for damages to be awarded to the owner of Old Drum who was shot and killed by a neighbor, the defendant.