then, according to the most authentic account of him, having been
missing several days, he was found dead in his retreat.

From a letter written by a gentleman at Dijon in France, to his friend
in London, dated August 15, 1764, we have the following account of a
murder discovered by a dog:--

"Since my arrival here a man has been broken on the wheel, with no
other proof to condemn him than that of a water-spaniel. The
circumstances attending it being so very singular and striking, I beg
leave to communicate them to you. A farmer, who had been to receive a
sum of money, was waylaid, robbed, and murdered, by two villains. The
farmer's dog returned with all speed to the house of the person who
had paid the money, and expressed such amazing anxiety that he would
follow him, pulling him several times by the sleeve and skirt of the
coat, that, at length, the gentleman yielded to his importunity. The
dog led him to the field, a little from the roadside, where the body
lay. From thence the gentleman went to a public-house, in order to
alarm the country. The moment he entered, (as the two villains were
there drinking,) the dog seized the murderer by the throat, and the
other made his escape. This man lay in prison three months, during
which time they visited him once a-week with the spaniel, and though
they made him change his clothes with other prisoners, and always
stand in the midst of a crowd, yet did the animal always find him out,
and fly at him. On the day of trial, when the prisoner was at the bar,
the dog was let loose in the court-house, and in the midst of some
hundreds he found him out (though dressed entirely in new clothes),
and would have torn him to pieces had he been allowed; in consequence
of which he was condemned, and at the place of execution he confessed
the fact. Surely so useful, so disinterestedly faithful an animal,
should not be so barbarously treated as I have often seen them,
particularly in London."

The following anecdote has been well authenticated, and the fact which
it records is still remembered by many individuals yet alive:--

Mr. Alderman Yearsley, of Congleton, in Cheshire, had a favourite
large water-spaniel named Fanny, which, in the hands of Providence,
was the instrument of saving a very valuable life.

In the year 1774 Mr. Yearsley had gone out one evening with a friend
to a tavern, and the dog accompanied him. A short time before he was
expected home, and while Mrs. Yearsley hap