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A speech made by the late Senator Vest of Missouri in the trail of a man at
Warrensburg, who had wantonly shot a dog belonging to a neighbor. Mr. Vest represented the
plaintiff who demanded $200 damages. As a result of the speech, the jury after two minutes
deliberation awarded the plaintiff $500. This was in 1870.
"Gentlemen of the Jury: "The best friend a man has in this world may turn
against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care
may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with
our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man
has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the 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 stones of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely
unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him
and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
"Gentlemen of the Jury: a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in 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 may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand
that has no food to offer, lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the
roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.
When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wing, and reputation falls to
pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun on it's journey through the heavens. If
fortune drives the master forth, an outcast to 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 it's embrace and his 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
to death."
Inscribed on the Old Drum Memorial
Warrensburg, MO
1870
by Senator George Graham Vest
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