English Garden History

Two hundred years ago China's imperial rulers sensed a threat to a past-oriented society in the dynamism of the West and tried to frustrate foreign entry.

Since the Civil War, US soldiers and their canine companions have been inseparable. Over time, these dogs have shown they provide more than love. Stubby, a bull terrier in World War I, could sniff out poison mustard gas before any human in his division. Smoky, a whip-smart Yorkshire terrier, ran telegraph wire through no-man's land in World War II. Nemo, a tough-as-nails German shepherd serving in Vietnam, took a bullet in the eye, yet crawled on top of a gravely wounded soldier to protect him.

In 1870 in Warrensburg, Missouri, a well-known foxhound named Drum was shot during a hunting excursion. Drum’s owner sued the shooter for damages, and lawyer and skilled orator George Graham Vest made the courtroom address on behalf of the plaintiff. What followed was, not a recounting of testimonies and evidence as expected, but a historical, poetic, and philosophical ode to man’s best friend.