The Sun.
London, England, 1801-12-30 00:00:00

SIR,
As alridiculoua attachment to the canine specks,
seems at present very prevalent among the order of
ibicieut Virgins,
,I wish to circulate as much as
possible the account in your Paper, of the melancho,:''
ly event occasiond4 by such unwholesbme,
lows. I think it may have a good erred, as most
of these •Ladies are tremblingly.alive to every thing
which Concerns their bodily health. . My Aunt has
lien the alarm;' and .poor little Fide//e is washed,
aired,_ and liefkaawd every night, :to prevent the'
danger of infection iron
A short history of this Trench Cur may grarify
some ofyour.Readers-; and if it should under
the per-trial of the good old. Lady herself, it may
show her the folly of such fondness,, and induce her
to place her affeaions upon more deserving objeas.
ant.her _Nephew, and only relation, and having
lost a most amiable Wife, who left me with two
young. Children, I gladly accepted a refuge under
looked no to her as a Mother for my,
' caiid;rc.n, my situation in the Army leaving 'me
Jittle leisure to attend to their education. At.first
she
,pppcared doatingly fond. of.them, and well she
might, for thy were perfed Cherubs..--But unfor-
tunately about the breaking out of the French War,.
fy a Priest who had fled his Country, and found :sltel-
. ter at Bath, where my Aunt resides, made her a pre.,
sent of little Fidelle.' 'The animal was then in his
prime, and served is a play-fellow to my Children ;.
but by degrees, he contrived to insinuate himself
.into such favour,. that from being the companion in
the old Lady'-s walks, he has for many years,ahared
her bed. Like all favourites, lie was' never to be,
corrected, in consequence every chair, curtain, and
carpet in the house, bears some mark of Fiddle's
bounty.—Btit that is not the worst; as age has
weakened 'the poor• fellow's retentive faculties, a
night seldom passes that he does not give his fond
bed-fellow a savory proof of,his affe&ion, for Fi-
ddle loves, good eating, and "he is fed With the
greatest dainties.—ln short, he is become almost a
piece of carrion, mangy, and full (jiver-min, with a
breath the farthest from the sweets of Arabia you
can imagine. It'inikes my heart ache, to see my
good'old Aunt' leading this animal iri.a string 'round
and round the Circus, watching with the greatest
anxiety every Call of nature, while hundreds of idle
Wtriches, and their sweethearts are tittering at every
window. Often am I obliged to interfere with the
landlady, who declares she did not bargain to find
Fidelle• with. sheets ; and it 'was only yesterday,
when I wars expostulating with Susan for threaten-
ing to leave her place, that' the girl exclaimed—
" Lord, Sir, I ,would do any thing for a Christian;
but it is too much to do the dirty work for a dog.—
and then to' hear 'my old Mistress, while my .sto_
mach has turned at tr.o smell, address. this nasty
cur, as ilk was one of your own sweet babes,
ne-
ver mind Fad); do it again, my dear, she has no-
thing to do:but to clean after' you.'---Indeed, Sir, it
is too much, and there is no likelihood of being
an end to it, fur ilhe dies; my old Lady declares
she will have his skirl stuffed, and that, he shall be
.her bed-fellow as long as she lives."'
I am nor much versed io books, but I,think this
subjeft formerly fell under the lash of the inimitable
Author of the Speelator, who has observed, that as
the fair-sex are; by nature, formed' for affeaion, and
dalliance, so when they have been disappointed of
the proper objects of love, as husbands, or children,
they have at a certain age, grown proportionably
fond of lap-dogsi. parrots, and other
am not old enough to remember if my Aunt ever
met with a mortification of this sort; but sure I
am, that it affords a most melancholy goof of the
weakness of human nature, to -,see. those feelings•
which wereziven by Providence to be an orna-
ment to their sex, and a pleasure' and happiness to
ours, lavished' in such unseemly fondness upon
distempered brute, while offices are called. for, from
those whose situations in life compel them to submit,
to them,' which a female of -true delicacy would
scruple to ask for herself.
0! that I had the powers of:Appisox, to paint
this unnatural deviation from all that is fair,. and
lovely; in ills a true colour ; hut, for the present,
will conclude, least I should trespass too much upon
your indulgence..
December 26, i-So

ANTI CANIS.

COUNTRY NEIPS.

LEWES, DEC. zg.

The late heavy rains.on Chfistmas-day occasioned
such a sudden and rapid. run of water from the.
country, that our river, at Clifre-bridge, exhibited
.a swell more considerable than the oldest. inha,
bitant remembers ever to have witnessed before...
The cellars, kitchens, and. even parlours' of some. of.
the houses•in the Ciiffe were inundated ; .hut what
is perhaps still more extraordinary in this hasty
flood, it assumed the power of an opposite element,
and adually set fire to a building in Swing.pump:
alley, .whose flames, had they not been timely dis.
covered and extinguished, might, in spite of the.
deluge, 'have produced a • very serious and dreadful
conflagration, .as. the. building is contiguous to many.:
old houses, situate nearly in the centre of .the
street. To reconcile this seemingly strange occnr:
ience, it may be necessary further to.observe, .that
the fire was caused by the water's coming in
tad with a quantity of unslaked lime, which the
building contained ; and- whilst. blazing, it exhi-
bitedsuch a formidable appearance, that it was af.
terwards deemed prudent, in point of safety, to,
keep a watch over the premises the whole night.
Mr.' Saxby, .of . N9rthease, lost eighteen fine.
sheep, which the flood bore away from a field, into
which he had caused them to be driven, under the.
fullest confidence that they would have remained
secure froM the danger of the water. They all pe_.
rished, and seven or eight of their: carcases have
been since, taken up by some poor men.
Mr,.Blackman, Surgeoh, of B.oreltarn,street,. was,
with his horse, forced off the .turnpike-t:oad into a.
.ditch, by the violence of•the water that overflowed
it near Horse-bridge, and narrowly escaped,with.
his life. .

It is with deep concern that the Officerti of His.
Majesty's :Ist Battalion of the 60th
,Regiment,
-stationed at iVkartha-Brae, and Falmouth, have, by
the arrival of the last Ppsti heard of the unfortunate
death of their much-lamented Frichttand Brother
OfEcer, the- late Captain GORDON MAXWELL, of
said Regiment. In 'his loss the.y. have 'regrets
the Soldier, the Friend, and the Man of -honour:
This Gentleman was nearly allied to the pre-ent•
LAutchess of GoRDON, and in the execution of some
part_of his duty, fell a sacrifice to thi Fever of this'
Country, aged only 26 years, trukw,46erving a
better fate.

One day last week, ,a- middle-aged and rather
shablooking fellow, accoMpani:sd ,bt• a well-
dressed-,young woman, went to the Blue Boar Pub-
lie-house, in Great Russell-street, Bedford-square,
where they ordered a dinner, and in the course 'of
the afternoon had wit-14 tea, &c.,- About nine, in
the evening the woman left the room, where there
was some: company; under pretepee of inquiring
for a bed, but taking advantage of .a door that
opened into another street, she skulked off; and:
the fellow, desiring at the bar his bill to be made,
out, stepped likewise into the street, and took his
departure, never to return; •
The Frederick Wilhelm, Eauchholtz, of
froth Riga With timbeT for LOndon, was stranded:,
on Gothlartd, the Bih of ORober.. The Vessel, ap-
parently will remain a wreck; btit the cargo is. ex-
peaed to be saved.

A few days ago, a new, improved, and enlarged
,-Edition. of 10,000 copies, making in all. too,ooo,
was ~published, of Dr. Sor.oMoN7s " Guide to
`..i.fealth,'?-, They are bought up with .an avidity
truly astonishing, fully repaying the Doctor for the
care atid'attention he, has bestowed in revising and
correcting it.. People of. all ranks, high.and low,
rich arid poor, shOuld never be without this valuable
mirror, (which is sold at only .35. each copy, though,
from the great advance in the price 9f paper, now
worth double that sum), and which.refleCts so much
honour on the,Author, not only as to the morals- of
the risingeneration, but also, for,the.rutes and re-
gulations.of their health„. laid down .With such ac_
curacy and precision as to be ,understood by. pers=
of every- denomination, without at the :sating time
hurting their- delicacy. .
At this season, good-liv.ing is much talked of.—
Quere, Whst is good-living Certainly riot the
free use of 'viands : for these, 'though in their de-
;gree nutritive, are difficult of digestion,, and op-
pressive ; -causing bile;vilushing, and other symp:.
toms of disease. Ceitainly n t an indidgence to
-
fermented liquors: for these, though they give a
'momentary exhilaration, ultimately depress the spi,
rits, producing -restkssness, wealthess, and 'fever..
But good-living, or the list and Most rational
means; will be fou.,:d in an adherence to food which,
forming readily, into chyle,. impro‘ es the blzlnd, re-
cruits and gives a- de:,i-rable'equaoimity to the !Ti.
rits, 'promotes sleep, and strengthens and invigo-
rates the whole system; properties adjniral4y corn-
bined.inthe chocolate and Cocoa.,of the Bristol
Manufa&ory : hence, 'probably, it• is said,' tl-utt.
many persons live entirely on this aliment, using no
other .meat or drink. • ,

4WFS.

GRAVESEND? DEC. 28.

S Fortitude, Goodsir, and Juno, Rose, for fa-
niaict; zAnna Maria, Buker, 4nd Hossende Zeman,
_fans, for
I-Lanbro'.