The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-30 00:00:00

First Heat.

T. Jones (Yellow) 1 I H. 11ner.:.... ...... (Pink) 2

. .
T. Piner (Blue).
The distance was from the Earl of Liverpool's up to West-
minster-bridge, down to a boat moored off Hungerford, up
round a boat off the Duke of Buccleuch's, and finish at
Whitehall, _ _ .

T. Miner took the lead, but in coming down by Bent's
craft he gave place to the winner, who came in first by two
lengths.

Second Heat.

T. Jones (White) 1I F. Jones (Green) 2
L. Piner (Scarlet).
Immediately after the start F. Jones went away with a
rattling lead, but snapped his scull, and the others passed
him. A fresh scull was, however, handed to him, and he
overhauled the second man.
__

Grand Heat.
This was started downwards, the distance round being
nearly, with this exception, as before.
F. Jones ..... . . 1I H. Piner
The winner took the lead and kept it, winning by two or
three lengths.

DEATH OF Silt GEORGE MUR-

RAY, G.C.B.

This distinguished officer has long been labouring under
severe indisposition, so severe that for many months past he
has been confined, not only to his room, but to his bed, and
now, in the 75th year of his age, the suCriegs and the life of
this eminent person has been brought to a close. Sir George
Murray was born on the 6th of February, 1772 ; and in the
month of April, 1789, being then in the seventeenth year of
his age, he received-the commission of an Ensign in the 71st
Regiment of Foot ; from that hour, till the recent resignation
of Sir Robert Peel, his connexion with the British army was
never once interrupted. His education commenced at the
High School, and was finished at the University of Edin-
burgh. It is generally understood that he was a person of
precocious intellect, and certainly upon no other hypothesis
is it possible to imagine that a mind so accomplished as his
could have received the finishing touches of education at
the early age of seventeen. In barracks, bivouacs, or camps
he could neither have pursued classical studies, nor culti-
vated modern literature; yet evidence not to be mistaken
of a well-disciplined understanding, and a cultivated
literary taste, were clearly discernable in his written
compositions, his speeches, and even the tone of his
conversation. Very few men, even among our most
distinguished veterans, have seen such severe and ac-
tive service as Sir George Murray. Sharp fighting and
military hardship seemed to be his lot from the first
moment at which he carried the colours of his regiment till
the last cannon resounded on the field of Waterloo. With
the single exception of India he was absent neither from the
disasters nor the triumphs of the British army. France, Ire-
land, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the West Indies, Denmark,
and Egypt, have witnessed the services of this able and
experienced commander. Of course he was unsuccessful in
Flanders during the earlier part of the war, and he struggled
through many difficulties under Sir RalphAbercrombie, Sir
Harry Burrard, and other commanders elsewhere; but at
length the fortunes of England began to take a favourable
turn, and that career of victory was commenced in the Pe-
ninsula which ended in the overthrow of the French empire.
It has often been remarked of the Duke of Wellington, as of
all great men, that he is singularly prompt in discerning the
particular individual who happens to be the man above all
others best fitted for the particular duties which he requires
to have discharged. His great general of division was Lord
Hill, his great cavalry officer Lord Anglesey, his great or-
ganiser of raw levies Lord Beresford, and his best of all
quarter-masters—General Sir George Murray. Every
one recollects that the period at which the military'
career of Sir George Murray commenced was one of ex-
treme excitement, and of no inconsiderable peril to this
country. From the 71st Regiment, which, as already stated,
he entered in 1789, Sir George Murray was removed to the
34th; and in June, 1790, to the 3d Guards. In the year
1793 he participated in the military operations which took
place at St. Arnaud, Earners, Valenciennes, Lincelles, Dun-
kirk, and Lannoy. He was on duty with a working party at
the siege of Valenciennes. They were in the trenches when
the globes of compression were exploded, and the covert-way
stormed. He went round the next morning to examine the
result of these operations, and perceived that in the covert-
way two of his soldiers had been left behind, both severely
wounded. A traverse sheltered them, but no one
could approach the spot where they lay without
being exposed to a fire of musketry from the
enemy. Sir George, however, went to their relief,
followed by two privates, and in a few minutes he was
enabled to place the wounded men in the care of the surgeon
of the regiment to which they belonged. He was appointed
Aide-de. Camp to General Campbell in the year 1795, and in
the summer of the same year sailed with the expedition
which was intended for Quiberon. In 1796 he proceeded to
the West Indies, but ill health soon obliged him to return ;
he was able, however, to serve at home on the stall,
and did so in England and Ireland throughout the years
1797 and 1798. In the month of August, 1799, the rank of
a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army, together with a company
in the Guards, were conferred on him. In the dangers and
disasters of the expedition to Holland he fully participated,
ar d though he was wounded at the Helder, he was soon able
to proceed with his regiment to Cork. From that port 1 e
embarked for Gibraltar. as part of the force placed under the
orders of Sir Ralph Abercrombie. Having been placed in
the Quartermaster-General's department, he went to Egypt
for the purpose or making arrangements preparatory to our
celebrated expedition against the French in that part of the
world. In Egypt, he displayed such gallantry and skill that
the Turkish Government conferred upon Colonel Murray the
Order of the Crescent. Although present at every one of the
engagements there, he escaped unhurt. At Marmorice and
Aboukir, at Rosetta and Rhamoine at Cairo and Alexandria,
be was alike active and successful. From Egypt he went to
the West Indies, where he remained a year as Adjutant-
General to the British forces in those colonies. His next
important appointment was that of Deputy Quarter-
Master General in Ireland ; but, in the interval
between his quitting the West Indies and as-
suming that post,_ he filled a situation at the
Horse Guards. He had been only a short time in Ireland
when orders were issued for assembling a force in Hanover;
but the battle of Austerlitz soon put an end to that under-
taking. The next occasion upon which Colonel Murray hap-
pened to be engaged in active service was the expedition to
Stralsund, which was undertaken in 1806, but this design
was rendered wholly abortive by the successes of the French
arms in Poland. In about two years after that time, a di-
plomatic mission to Sweden was entrusted to Col. Murray,
joined the army in Portugal under
and being there at the time that the expedition under Sir
John Moore went to that country, he received from Sir John
the appointment of Quartermaster-General. Very soon
tohn9elarMurraylie
s of England had
been quartered for three
was scarcely
afterwards these troops
Sir Arthur Wellesley; and throughout the long series of vic-
years in the city of Paris. In
1811 the subject
teovreiressewpahriacthed fromthe they achieved,
until
yol
of this memoir became a Major-
General, and received from the Prince Regent of
Portugal the Order of the Tower and Sword. His
Knighthood of the
.Bath he received in the year 1813.
Sir George was appointed Adjutant-General in Ireland dui-
ing the short time that Bonaparte was in Elba, and it was at
this time proposed to him serve in America, to • A •
ca, where hosti-
litiesbut before h
were still going on; e could embark, peace
had been concluded. He was, however, in the meantime
appointed to the government of the Canadas, and thither he
proceeded without delay. A short period bad only elapsed
when the Secretary of State announced to him that Napo-
leon had lauded at Cannes. Sir George had the choice of
either remaining in Canada or of returning to Europe. He
preferred nin rejoi • g his old companions in arms; the natural
and the spirit of enterprise, hi
feelings of a soldier a ch formed
one of the elements of his character, would not permit him
to remain an inactive spectator of such stirring scenes. The
delay occasioned by theembarks!tion of a large body of troops,
and the slow progress made in sailing with a fleet of transports,
prevented his overtaking the British army till it had nearly
reached Paris. During the stay of our army of occupation on
the Continent Sir George remained with them, enjoying the
local rank of a Lieutenant-General. While in Paris he re-
ceived seven orders of knighthood, besides those conferred upon
him by his own Sovereign, aprettystrong proof of the esteem in
which his character and services were held by continental
monarchs. On the return of the Army of
Occupation, he
was appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle, but he held
that office for only a year. On the 14th of June, 1820, the
University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of D.C.L. ;
and in January, 1824, he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal
Society. His appointment to the command of the 42d Foot
took place in September, - 1
823, and, on the 6th of March
following, he became Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
Department. In the same year ho was chosen Member of
Parliament for the county of Perth ; but at this time his at-
tendance in Parliament was much interrupted by duties
which deYolved upon hiM 1D Ireland, where he tiled the