The Moral Qualities of the Dog
. We pass on to another division of our subject,
the moral qualities of the dog
, strongly developed and beautifully displayed, and often putting the biped to shame.
It is truly said of the dog that he possesses
"Many a good
And useful quality, and virtue too,
Attachment never to be weaned or changed
By any change of fortune; proof alike
Against unkindness, absence, and neglect;
Fidelity, that neither bribe nor threat
Can move or warp; and gratitude, for small
And trivial favours, lasting as the life,
And glistening even in the dying eye."
It may here be noticed that, among the inferior animals with large nerves and more medullary substance, there are acuter senses; but man, excelling them in the general bulk of his brain, and more particularly in the cortical portion of it, has far superior powers of mind. These are circumstances that deserve the deepest consideration. In their wild state the brutes have no concern — no idea beyond their food and their reproduction. In their domesticated state, they are doomed to be the servants of man. Their power of mind is sufficient to qualify them for this service: but were proportionate intellectual capacity added to this — were they made conscious of their strength, and of the objects that could be effected by it — they would burst their bonds, and man would in his turn be the victim and the slave.
There is an important faculty, termed
attention
. It is that which distinguishes the promising pupil from him of whom no good hope could be formed, and the scientific man from the superficial and ignorant one. The power of keeping the mind steadily bent upon one purpose, is the great secret of individual and moral improvement. We see the habit of attention carried in the dog to a very considerable extent. The terrier eagerly watching for vermin — the sporting dog standing staunch to his point, however he may be annoyed by the blunders of his companion or the unskilfulness of his master — the foxhound, insensible to a thousand scents, and deaf to every other sound, while he anxiously and perseveringly searches out the track of his prey — these are striking illustrations of the power of attention.