THE DOG. 145 



In the summer of 1838, a person named Alloway 

 applied to the Lord Mayor (Cowan), at the Mansion 

 House, under the following circumstances. He had 

 lost a dog, which went by the name of Fan, from his 

 shop some months before ; and a few days prior to his 

 application, seeing it pass by with a man who was a 

 dog-fancier, he thought he had better seize the dog, 

 which knew him perfectly, and insist on detaining it as 

 his own property. The seizure was, however, at once 

 resisted, and hence the matter was ultimately referred 

 to the chief magistrate. 



The Lord Mayor had, in consequence, to examine 

 several witnesses, who were brought forward by both 

 parties to prove the claim of each one, and the testimony 

 on both sides was equally decided. In the course, 

 however, of the long investigation, his lordship ex- 

 pressed an opinion, founded on several circumstances he 

 observed, that the complainant Alloway was the right- 

 ful owner. The chief clerk too, having noticed his 

 mentioning that he had received the dog from a gentle- 

 man named Newsom, and who had been a very kind 

 master to it, proposed that he should be sent for ; and 

 a messenger was accordingly despatched for the previous 

 owner of the animal. 



Mr. Newsom, on arriving, looked at the dog, whose 



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