Bassy
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2003
- Messages
- 1,795
From the Inside Out<br />"OLD DRUM"<br /><br />Ever wonder where the old saying, "A man's best friend is his dog," <br />came from? Well, if you guessed Warrensburg, Missouri, you were right!<br />Senator George Graham Vest won a court battle, and the ears of dog <br />lovers everywhere, when he paid his famous tribute to the dog during the <br />1870 Burden vs. Hornsby court case in Warrensburg. <br />His speech included the line, "The one absolutely unselfish friend that <br />a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, <br />the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog."<br />The "eulogy to the dog" won the case for Charles Burden whose favorite <br />hound, "Old Drum," was shot by a neighbor, Leonidas Hornsby, who had <br />sworn to kill the first dog that came onto his land.<br />Although Hornsby had hunted with Drum and acknowledged him to be one of <br />the best hunting dogs he had ever seen, he carried out his threat when <br />one night a dog was found prowling in his yard. That dog was Old Drum.<br />Burden immediately sued Hornsby for damages and the trial quickly <br />became one of the strangest in the history of this part of the country. Each <br />man was determined to win the case. After several appeals, the case <br />finally reached the Supreme Court of Missouri.<br />Burden was awarded $50 in damages for the loss of his favorite hunting <br />dog. Vest's eulogy to the dog, which he made in his final appeal to the <br />jury, won the case and became a classic speech. <br />Through the direction of the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce and <br />coordinated efforts by many dog lovers across the country, Old Drum was <br />immortalized in a statue on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn in <br />Warrensburg on September 23, 1958.<br />While no record was kept of the last half of Vest's tribute to a dog, <br />the first portion has fortunately been preserved. It was this speech <br />that originated the saying, "A man's best friend is his dog." George <br />Graham Vest speaking:<br />"Gentlemen of the Jury, the best friend a man has in this world may <br />turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has <br />reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. <br />"Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our <br />happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. <br />"The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps <br />when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a <br />moment of ill-considered action.<br />"The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when <br />success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when <br />failure settles its cloud upon our heads. <br />"The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this <br />selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves <br />ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.<br />"Gentleman of the Jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in <br />poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, <br />where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may <br />be near his master's side. <br />"He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the <br />wounds and sores that encounters the roughness of the world. <br />"He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When <br />all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and <br />reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its <br />journey through the heavens.<br />"If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless <br />and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of <br />accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. <br />"When the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its <br />embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all <br />other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog <br />be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert <br />watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."<br />Senator George Graham Vest (1830-1904): US Senator from Missouri, <br />Confederate States Congressman, Confederate Veteran, attorney, famed orator, <br />conservationist and champion for the rights of Native Americans.
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