It was written and presented as a closing argument by George Graham Vest during a civil trial over the loss of personal property, namely a dog called Old Drum.
"...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 the
stone 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.
...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, he will 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 wings 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 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."
