The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-10-29
Dogs and Their Masters,

At the meeting which has Just taken
place at Dantzic of the two Emperors
who between them sway half Europe,
there is mention of the fact that Prince
Bismarck arrived to attend the inter-
view accompanied by his short hand
writer and his famous dog" The inn
aoe of the ''Iron Chancellor" who has
welded long-divided Germany into one
Empire will go down to posterity not
quite solitary in its sternness. Be-
side him will always stand the noble
beast whom he has loved, and who. it
is said, has more than once saved his
life.
Perhaps, as Schopenhauer, with his
candid vanity, remarked of himself, ut
is always lonely upon the heights.'' A
philosopher who is bored by the folly
Of his human neighbors, a poet who is
disguised with the vulgarity of man.
kind, king, or great noble, who is
weary of the toady ism of his courtiers.
doubtless may all find relief in the
dunno companionship of some faithful
hound, who troubles his master with no
stupid remarks or petty gossip, and
whose flattery is free from suspicion of
any deeper interestedness than may
arise from covetousness of biscuit or
ambition for bone. The greatest Sow
ereign on earth may safely unbend with
his dog, and neither fear to raise insa-
table hopes nor to provoke dangerous
jealousies, unless it be in less fortunate
canine minds. Even this slight incon.
venience may be removed when, as in
the case of one of the Queens favorites
"a splendid Dachsund-the animal IS
perfectly dignified and rigid in bis de-
meanor that he keeps all Her Majesty's
inferior terriers and colleys in meek
subordination, and is himself generally
known as the Lord Chamberlain" of
the canine Court.
Perhaps it would not betoo much to
say that, as the Aryan race loved dogs
more than the Semitic, so, among
Aryans, the Anglo-Saxons have been
pre-eminent for the same sentiment. 1t
is true we have among the Celts the dog
of Llewellyn Though, alas Professor
Max Muller, we believe, has ferreted
out that pleasant tale in another poem
in early Sanscrit, leaving on US, in spite
of Beddlegert, an unpleasant sense of
mythical uncertainty; and among the
French and Germans, besides the Dog of
Montargls, we have innumerable glori-
fed dogs of tradition and poetry. But
the tone of nine French writer's out of
ten. when they talk of dogs, reveals the
hollowness of Gallo regard for the loyal
beast, which has not half enough of
fnesse and duplicity to suit The readers
of NM. Balzac ct Gle. Good honest
old Dumas (pGine) might describe poor
BLACK" IN simple and glowing colors;
but in more recent French novels " I'M
naechGnt CHEN barbet," or "un deteSt-
able petit caniche hargneur," is COM
monty introduced solely to add a point
of ridicule to the old simpleton or dis
agreeable woman whose steps it fol-
lows.
Truth must be told, indeed, that
dogs, with their wonderful habit of
growing like the thing they wor-
ship. seem constantly to become, un-
der French masters and mistresses, less
singleminded than we find them, Or
as cruel canine critic has described the
species 'Chienloup," par enainence-
6 frivolous, volatile, interested, and
wholly without conscientiousness. In
the same way in Italy dogs are az a
rule infinitely less useful than English
dogs, and are often treacherous enough
to receive caresses graciously, and
afterward, when opportunity offers, to
turn around and bite. But the very
land of dogs, and the land wherein the
dog receives most genuine honor, and
himself rises to his noblest develop
ment of character, is unquestionably
England. 1t is to be deplored that the
greatest English poet never drew the
character OF noble dog, and conde-
scended to degrade his pen by the mis-
cradle caricature of Launce's cur; but
since Shakespeare's days our poets
have done what in them lay to make
up for the omission. Cowper, Walter
Scott, Burns, Byron, Tennyson, the
two Brownings, and Matthew Arnold
have all been eminent dog lovers, and
have written tender things of dogs, liv-
ing and dead.
English history is full of records of
uoSo-hople uoSS OF CnarleS L. ana
Kenelm Digby; pitifully faithful dogs,
like the little creature which accom-
panied Mary Queen of SCOTS to the
scatfold and laid itself down between
the severed head and beautiful neck;
silky spoiled favorites, like the spaniels
OF Charles H., and Diamond, the dog
OF Sir Isaac Newton, which gave that
great philosopher years extra trouble
by destroying his papers. We have
materials for book of " English Dogs
OF Dignity;" and, moreover, we have
had in England (since the gaunt boar
hounds of Synders are rather wild
beasts than dogs) the one greatest
painter of dogs whom the world has
seen-Edwin Landseer, the Titan and
vandyke of the canine race. London
Standard.