The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-06 00:00:00

THE BRITISH ARMY, PAST AND PRE

SENT.—The state of the British army has recently at-
tracted very general notice in this country, and has
been discussed in our public journals with a talent wor-
thy of its surpassing importance. One writer, how-
ever, has afforded so very clear and comprehensive a
view of this subject as to preclude the necessity of re-
ferring to any other source of information. We allude
to the author of that able paper in " Colburn's United
Service iNiagazine" for the present month, entitled "The
British Army, Past, Present, and Future," to which we
particularly direct the attention not only of the profes-
sion, of which it conveys so encouraging an account, but
of every reader who possesses that attachment to his
country which should make him look with the deepest
interest into its military resources.

FIDELITY OF A DOG.—A fortnight ago we
announced the melancholy death by drowning of a
passenger on board the Helen Macgregor steam-boat,
while lying at Oban, on her passage from Glasgow. No
one on board knew him, nor did any of the villagers ; but
his funeral rites were performed by a Christian people,
and the cause of misfortune aroused their sympathies.
They spread the mort cloth over the bier ; but the tassels
hung loosely—unclaimed—and told he was far from his
kinsmen. No fond relative was there to mourn the loss
of a friend—no aged parent to regret his untimely fate—
no orphan boy to weep for the loss of a father ; but he
went not to the grave unmourned ; in addition to the
general sympathy, he was followed. by an unfeigned
mourner—the companion of his toils—his faithful shep-
herd dog. who, though unaccountably absent at the fatal
moment, has given evident signs of extreme attachment
to his master. He howled piteously as they bore him
away, and, on lowering him into the grave, he could
scarcely be restrained from being buried along with him.
As the funeral party moved slowly away, the faithful
animal remained alone—the mournful imago of fidelity
and attachment. or has the cold blasts of gloomy De-
cember forced him from his post; there he still remains;
and his fidelity has enlisted the commisseration of the
villagers, who give him the necessary food ; and though
the common green mound alone marks the grave of the
.deceased, this faithful animal has supplied him with
mourners,. and a monumental effigy more interesting than
the niost.grave or pompous eulogium.—lnverness Courier.
• HUNTING ANECDOTE.—.It is-a curious coin-
cidence that the hounds of Lord Emlyn and those of

R. B. Child, Esq., Newton, should. both have run a hare
into the water during the preceding week. In the former
instance his Lordship's dogs followed the game through
a large pond of water, and ultimately bagged the hare.
In the latter, both" puss and the dogs were seen floating
down the mill leat near Westfield, Rose-market. It
really was one of the most extraordinary sights ima-
ginable to behold the timid little animal as it were fall
into the " silent stream," and her inveterate and inde-
fatigable pursuers dash into the " blue Moselle," swim-
ming breast high down its onward course, and yet unable
to finish the sport. The hare got away from this di-
lemma, but " instant in pursuit," these splendid hounds,
never losing scent, followed on, and after two or three
miles hard run " turned her up."—York Herald.
THE NEW IMPROVEMENTS ON THE BED•
FORD ESTATE.—IIia Grace, we learn, has finally
arranged with Government respecting his claims for com-
pensation for certain land in the neighbourhood of
Covent•garden, where the intended improvements are
projected. In lieu of money his Grace has agreed to
take the Crown lands in the Regent's Park.

11. G. WARD, ESQ., M.P.—We are sorry to
hear that our excellent Member has had much affliction
in his family. by the illness of his children of the scarlet
fever. Two of them have been in extreme danger. The
fever was introduced into the family by one of Mr.
Ward's sons, on his return home from school.--Shef-
field Iris.

THE MURDER OF THE BOY MAGUIRE.—
Another knife has been found near the place where the
murder was committed, which was clearly marked with
blood. It was brought to Kilmainham by Sub-Inspector
Durham, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it
could be identified by any of the witnesses confined there;
and, on its being exhibited to the sister-in-law of Dela-
hunt she fainted, but, on recovering herself, acknow-
ledged that it was her property. A woman who resides
in Britain-street, next door to Mrs. Delahunt, also stated
that she knew the knife to be Mrs. Delahunt's, as she
liad often borrowed it from her. This witness also po-
sitively states that she saw the prisoner sharpening the
knife in Mrs. Delahunt's room on the Sunday evening
previous to the murder.—Dublin Mail.

Lord Vesey and Fitzgerald left town yesterday
on a visit to the Duke of Buckingham, at Stowe Park.

THE PENNY POSTAGE.—(From a Corre-
spondent.)—We believe that we may give the most un•
qualified contradiction to a paragraph which has gone
the round of the Radical press, stating that it is the in •
tention of her Majesty's Ministers to increase the rate of
postage on letters to threepence. No intention of making
any such proposition to Parliament exists.—'Tory Paper.
PRIZE FIGHT NEAR DUBLIN.—On Sato--
day morning a large concourse of -" the fancy" assem-
bled to witness a prize fight between two men named
Hayden and Byrne—the latter the brother of Simon
Byrne, the well-known pugilist, who lost his life some
time ago in an encounter with Deaf Burke. The " mill",
took place at Peamount, near Lucan, and continued,
with no decided advantage on either side, up to the nine-
teenth "round," when the arrival of the police put an
end to the exhibition.—Pilot.

SINGULAR ROBBERY.—A singular robbery
took place, on Monday last, at the Custom-house,
Liverpool, A gentleman went in to one of the
departments to pay duty. He placed a 1001.
Bank note on the counter ; whilst the proper off►cer
was calculating what was to pay, the gentleman
turned his back for a moment to the counter. On turn-
ing round again he found, to his astonishment and con-
sternation, that the note had disappeared. It is conjec-
tured that it was stolen by some person who was at the
counter at the same time.

On the afternoon of Thursday week, as Wil-
liam Pringle, groom at St. Fort, near Newport, Fife, was
entering the stable to look after the horses, one of them
kicked and killed him on the spot. No one was present
when the accident occurred ; but an individual who was
passing, hearing the noise, entered the stable and found
the poor man quite dead. The body was with difficulty
extricated from amongst the animal's feet. The strokes
which he received must have been dreadful, as a large
key which he had in his pocket was driven into his body.
He has left a wife and family to lament his loss. The
horse was shot the following Monday.—Scotch Paper.
MURDER OF THE IDIOT AT PHILIPSTOWN.
—The Evening Post and other journalists have asked,
and very naturally, what is the Government about ?
We have asked the same question ourselves, and we can
positively state, that up to Saturday night, no intelli-
gence had reached the Executive of any such outrage
as that stated having been committed. Had such been
the case, and a refusal to take suck steps as were calcu-
lated to bring the perpetrators of this terrible outrage
to justice, on the part of the Government, they would
have disentitled themselves to the support and good
opinion of every well-thinking man in the kingdom.—
Lublin Mail.

RUMOURED RESIGNATION OF CAPTAIN
LAyAnn.,—lt is rumoured, but we cannot at present,
vouch for its accuracy, that, Captain Layard, the repre-
sentative for the borough of Carlow, is about to withdraw
from Parliament at the opening of the ensuing Session,'
having obtained military promotion since the late brevet.
The-Radical party keep the matter secret, but are, we have
heard, on the look out for a successor.—Carlow Sentinel.
A mail leaving Antwerp a few clays ago .for
Holland was passing over one of the bridges of the for
tifications, when the leading horses shied, and leaped
over the parapet. Here they were suspended for some
time by the traces ; but, on being cut, they fell into the
ditch, and were drowned. The vehicle was held back
by the other horses and by the stone-work of the bridge,
so that no further accident took place.
The Municipal Council of Meta has voted
500,000 f. towards the Paris and Strasburg Railroad,
but on the following express conditions ; viz., That the
branch to Metz shall be carried on to the German from-

tier, near Sarrebruck ; that the branch from Frouard to
Sarrebruck, by Metz, shall be executed simultaneously
with that from Frouard to Strasburg, by Nancy ; and
that the above-mentioned grant shall be exclusively de-
voted to that portion of the road which runs between
Metz and the German frontier. The Council has also
expressed a wish that negotiations should be opened
with the neighbouring German States, to induce them to
bring railroads up to the frontier, to join the Metz roads.
Some days ago a woodman, named Michel, while
employed on the woods of Mailley, near Courboux, in
the Haute Saone, was assailed by a wolf, which tore him
in several places and would have killed him, had not an-
other woodman, named Iluot, come to his relief, and
scared the animal away. Having, with some other men,
placed Michel, in safety, Huot and his companions went
to hunt up the wolf, resolved to destroy him. having
discovered him, a terrible conflict ensued ; Jollivet, one
of the men, was severely wounded and bitten in the arm
and body. The beast was diverted from him by the as-
saults of the other men, and in his rage sprang upon
the wife of one of them, and was tearing her with teeth
and claws, when the husband, a man of unusual strength,
seized the creature by the ears, turned it on its back,
and there held it until his companions killed it with
their hatchets.
" You have given me only four sovereigns,"
said a clerk to his employer as he was going out to pay
a bill of forty pounds. "Good heavens !" said the mas-
ter, " I gave you forty this instant !" " Here they are,"
said the clerk. " Well, then, what do you mean by
saying I only gave
,your four." " Why, Sir, you only
gave me George 111., George I V., William. IV, and
Victoria." " Get out, you witty rogue, and pay the bill
directly."
EXTENSIVE ROBBERY OF ,JEWELLERY.—
During the whole of Monday Inspector Stubbs and
Superintendent Cumming, of the I) division, were ac-
tively engaged in endeavouring to trace out the perpe-
trators of an extensive robbery of jewellery, &c., which
on the previous evening was committed at the resi-
dence of Pedder, Esq., No. 7, Great Cumberland-
street, hyde Park. The property carried off con-
sists of a valuable gold watch, gold brooches, brace-
lets, chains, &c., many of the said articles being set
with diamonds and other costly stones. From the exa-
mination which has been made, it appears that footmarks
have been traced from the back of a house in Bryanston-
street to the premises of Mr. Pedder, and that the thieves
having thus gained an entrance into the Welt yard; suc-
ceeded in possessing themselves of the Valuable property;
in question, which was clepo,sited Ipedvoote.
The amount of the articles stolen is, it is stated, about 2001.
We have just received the following account of
it barbarous murder which took place near Grange, in
the county of Sligo, on Christmas Eve :—Two neigh-
bouring men went into an unlicensed whisky-shop
to drink. They were shown into a room, and a
noggin of whisky was brought to them. After sit-
ting some time chatting, one of them pulled a dinner-
knife from his breast, and stabbed his companion
to the heart. Ile then deliberately walked out as if in-
tending to return in a few moments ; but not doing so,
the landlord went into. the room to see what the other
man was about, when, to his surprise and horror, lie
found him bleeding profusely, the knife still fastened in
the wound, and he rolling about the floor speechless and
insensible. The murderer has not yet been apprehended.
—Ballysliannon Herald.
AR 9fficier de sante, named Cassabianca, was
assassinated a short time since in open day at Pietran,
in Corsica. His murderer was a criminal against whom
he had been forced to come forward as witness in a
prosecution a short time previously, and who had vowed
to be revenged upon him.
The Toulon papers state that the christening of
Mme. Allard took place; as it was announced would be
the case, at St. Tropez, with much splendour. A
great number of ladies were present on the occasion,
and Mme. Allard, who was splendidly attired, was re •
ceived by the Cure of the church under a dais of
velvet. She had given to the church a handsome set
of ornaments, cloths for the altar, and habits for the
priests in red velvet and gold. After the ceremony
was concluded, a grand gala and ball took place. This
lady, who is stated to be of small stature and delicate
form, with a complexion -quite of the Hindoo tint, is
much beloved at St. Tropez.
The Memorial of Pau relates that in the even-
ing of the 18th ult., as a band of smugglers were
coming down the mountain of Itsatsou, laden with
packets of sugar and salt, they fell into an ambush which
had been laid for them by a party of Custom-house
officers. A contest ensued, the smugglers fighting despe-
rately with their bludgeons. The Brigadier of the Cus-
tom-house officers was driven into a ditch, was severely
beaten, and would, in all probability, have been mur-
dered, bad be not levelled his carbine, at one of the
most powerful, Jose Maria, a Spaniard, and killed him.
It was feared that this occurrence would excite the
people of the village against the Custom-house post,
but it being made known that the shot was not fired
till the brigadier's life was at stake, the inhabitants
were satisfied, and remained quiet,