e owner of
the faithful animal released him.

There was a Newfoundland dog on board H. M. S. Bellona, which kept the
deck during the battle of Copenhagen, running backward and forward
with so brave an anger, that he became a greater favourite with the
men than ever. When the ship was paid off, after the peace of Amiens,
the sailors had a parting dinner on shore. Victor was placed in the
chair, and fed with roast beef and plum-pudding, and the bill was made
out in Victor's name. This anecdote is taken from Southey's "Omniana."

I am indebted to a kind correspondent for the following anecdotes:--

"A friend of mine, who in the time of the war commanded the Sea
Fencibles, in the neighbourhood of Southend, possessed in those days a
magnificent Newfoundland dog, named Venture. This noble creature my
friend was accustomed to take with him in the pursuit of wild fowl.
One cold evening, after having tolerable sport, the dog was suddenly
missed; he had been last seen when in pursuit of a winged bird. As the
ice was floating in the river, and the dog was true to his name, and
would swim any distance for the recovery of wounded game, it was
feared he must have fallen a victim to the hazards of the sport, and
his owner returned home in consequence much dispirited. On his arrival
at his house, what was his extreme surprise, on entering the
drawing-room, to find his wife accompanied by the dog, and a fine
mallard lying on the table: the lady had, on her part, been
overwhelmed with anxiety by the dog's having returned alone some time
before, knowing the frequently perilous amusement in which her husband
had embarked. The dog had straight on his return rushed to the
drawing-room where the lady sat, and had laid the wild duck at her
feet, having brought it safely in his mouth several miles.

"A gentleman once sent a coat to the tailor to be mended--it was left
upon a counter in the shop. His dog had accompanied the servant to the
tailor's. The animal watched his opportunity, pulled the coat down
from the counter, and brought it home in triumph to his master.

"There is a tendency in the pride of man to deny the power of
reasoning in animals, while it is the belief of some that reason is
often a more sure guide to the brute beast, for the purposes designed
by Providence, than that of their detractors. The fact is, I think,
few persons who reflect deny the power, in a degree, to the less
gifted of Nature's works. Certainly not some o