The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-21 00:00:00

SIR WILLIAM STEVENSON, KC .B,

We have to record the death of this excellent
public servant. He died on the 9th Feb. in the
island of which he was governor. He was by birth
and extraction a West Indian. His mother, a Miss
James, of the Island of Jamaica, was descended from
the Colonel Richard James mentioned in the second
volume of the Annual _Register, that for the year
1759, as having died in Jamaica at the patriarchal
age of 103. This Colonel James is memorable as
having been the first person born of English parents
in that island after it had been taken from the Spa-
niards by the expedition Cromwell sent out in 1655,
under Penn and Venables. Again, the mother of
this Miss James was a Miss Lawrence, also de-
scended from one of the original, and by far the
most illustrious, settler in that island—that Henry
Lawrence who had been President of Cromwell's
Council, and who at the Restoration withdrew from
his native country to form for himself a new home
where he might hope to remain undisturbed. It is
this Lawrence whose memory is embalmed in Mil-
ton's sonnet, commencing with the line,—

Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son.
The late Sir William Stevenson, thus descended
from what may be called the historic families of
one of our oldest colonies, commenced life
is a barrister. Having been raised to the
judicial bench in his native island, be was
subsequently promoted by the Duke of New-
castle to the Governorship of the British set-
tlements at Honduras. Before he had served there
for the period such appointments are usually held
he was poomoted to the Government of Mauritius.
At Mauritius Sir William's abilities, tact, and devo-
tion to the public service found a more fitting field
for their display. He became one of the most po-
pular of our colonial governors. This was shown
by the sensation caused in the island at his death,
and by the feeling displayed at his funeral. He
was carried off in the 58th year of his age by an
attack of acute dysentery. Losses cf this kind—
and we are only too frequently called upon to record
them—form no inconsiderable part of the price
which this country has to pay for its widely••
extended empire.—Law Times, this day.

THE LATE REIGATE ELECTION.—On Thursday
evening a meeting of the electors of Reigate was
held by requisition, in the Town-hall, Redhill, to hear a
statement of the circumstances under which the petition
against the return of Mr. Gower had been withdrawn. Mr.
Gower had, it appeared, in a letter to a friend, intimated
his intention not to offer himself for re-election upon the
dissolution of the present Parliament, and to do all in his
power to unite the Liberal party in the borough; and on
the faith of this pledge it had not been deemed advisable to
proceed, with the petition. This explanation was deemed
satisfactory by the meeting.
THE AMERICAN PUMA OR PANTHER.—Mr.
Fenwick Hele sends us the following extract from
a letter written by his brother in Canada Nest:--" About
a month since I went out with some friends shooting white
rabbits ; we got one, and had a most glorious and successful
chase after a North American panther. Our large blood.
hound and foxhound brought him to bag at last. He looked
just like a large tiger going up the tree which he had run
for. I was within a gun-shot, and ran as fast as I could to
get nearer, when one of my friends drilled him through
with a bullet from his rifle. The puma fell into the water
out of his depth; the dogs pounced upon him, and kept one
under water whilst defending himself from the other. I
was the first on him, and what with the water, clubs, the
dogs and bullets we managed at last to dispatch him. 1
since stuffed it. It is a most beautiful specimen, measuring
as follows—Height, 24 inches ; extreme length, 3 feet
tail, 6 inches. It had destroyed a large Newfoundland dog
and several sheep during last, fa11.".-21to