DEATH OF A '98 VETERAN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 102, 10 April 1875, Page 14

DEATH OF A '98 VETERAN.

ii ... . A. coEBBSroNDENT of the 'Nation' writes:— Mr. Andrew Byrne, bom and reared at Wicklow Gap, in the county Wexford, died on the 22nd nit., at the fine old age of 95. Being truly Irish, he ■was one of the first "up " in '98, and shared in the fatigues and dangers of almost every battle and skirmish that took place in that eventful year. One or two of his acts may suffice at present. On one occasion, where the " Boys " fought while they had a shot to fire (aB they usually did), he was observed in a most exposed position coolly loading and firing on the enemy after all had fled the field, and as bis last shot was fired lifted his gun, shook it defiantly at the foe, and then walked away as quietly as if it was a fair green, and without a scratch, although whole volleys had been fired on him. Being aeked why he remained so long exposed to such danger, he replied, " Would you have me retreat in the face of the foe while I had a shot to fire?" At the close of that fearful struggle he came home to seek a little rest. He had scarcely been asleep when he was wakened by the cry of " The Ooolakennies are coming." No time to be lost. He arose half dressed, bounded away like a deer down a elope about a quarter cf a mile to the Bau river, pursued by the cavalry at half that distance. They fired five volleys on him ere he reached the river, and three more while crossing the opposite brow of Pallas, putting seven balls through his~ clothes. They pursued him three jnlles further, but he finally evaded them in the woods of Ballyfad and Sheirsheen, three miles from Arklow. Nor was it in his youth alone that gallant and daring outlaw cared for his country. Finding his last hour come, he called for his son and son's children," and said — " James, I have loved and fought for my country be your father's son and do the same, if need be ; and you, my dear children do as your father and grandfather. God bless you all." There was not a dry eye present save his own, and they seemed to burn with peculiar lustre as he spoke. The rest of his time was spent in mental prayer. He had all his senses perfect to the last, and died. As calm as the summer sea's wave, the last of the men of '98 (that I know of). Mequiescat in pace.

A rumor was recently current to the effect that the numerous donations of .£IOOO each to various London charities had been traced to Queen Victoria. From a statement now made, however, T>y the Church paper • John Bull/ it would appear that the rumour •was incorrect. The paper in question states that the actual donor of the large sums referred to was a Mr. Attwood, a bachelor gentleman, who died lately near Cheshunt, about eighty years of age. Upon an examination of Mr. Attwood' s books after his decease, it was found that he had given away no less than .£375,000 in this manner, .£45,000 being disposed of during the last year alone. Notwithstanding his liberality, Mr. Attwood' s personal estate amounts to upwards of a million sterling. He appears to have been a man of somewhat lax business habits, as a bank note for jBIOOO was found lying about his room like a piece of waste paper ; and he has, moreover, died intestate. He is said to have amassed his large fortune principally by the manufacture of glass, and to have been connected with the well-known Attwoods of Birmingham. Reasoning- ov a Dog. — The Morris 'Jersyman' says: — "A friend of ours in town has a valuable dog who objected to wearing a muzzle, and after much effort he succeeded in releasing himself from the instrument of torture ; but evidently reasoning that it might be replaced to his annoyance, he dug a hole in the garden and buried the muzzle safely out of sight." The Holy Father has created the Marquis Donati di Presaro, a Knight of the order of St. Gregory, in recompense for his services in, the cause of charity aud. religion,

Peotbstant Ntos.— Some sensation was caused in Rome lately by the appearance of a strange phenomenon for Romans, namely, a lady, apparently a nun, dressed in grey cassock, with a large cross on lier breast, like that of the Knights of Malta, who drove about publicly in an open carriage through the Corso, and was seen in one of the boxes in the Parliament. This spectacle of a nun disporting nerself in this fashion gave amusement, and no Bmall scandal to the Catholics, who could not imagine to what Religious Order she beC "tf? li dy tUrn6d ° Ut to be a Proto stant nun— an anomaly in