The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-10 00:00:00

DEATH OF D. M. MOIR.

(From the Edinburgh Advertiser.)
It is with deep regret that we have to announce the
sudden death of Dr. Moir, of Musselburgb, the well-
known " Delta" of Blackwood's Magazine, who expired
at Dumfries at two o'clock on Sunday morning. Having
felt not quite himself of late, he thought of trying the
benefit of a change of air and a brief respite from his
professional duties. Accordingly, on Tuesday last he
started for the west country, in almost his usual health,
and in good spirits. Next day, at Ayr, he became ill;
but, quickly recovering, he proceeded on Thursday to
Dumfries. Here, while walking in the evening with his
brother poet, Mr. Aird, his illness, which no assumed
i
the form of peritonitis (a species of hternul inflarnina.,
tior,), suddenly seized him afresh with frightful viru-
lence; and from the first the most painful apprehension,.
were entertained for his recovery. Fortunately,
wife and son had accompanied him en his jaunt, and
attended him throughout his short but severe illness.
On Friday ho rallied a little, and in the afternoon the
rest of his family and Dr. Christison arrived from Edin-
burgh. The rally, however, was deceitful. On Satur-
day it became but too evident that all hope was over;
and early on Sunday morning he calmly breathed his
last, surrounded by his family, and his old friends Mr.
Aird and Mr. Blackwood. He died at the age of 53.
Dr. Moir has been long known alike in the medical
and in the literary world, and his death will occasion a
sad blank in both. To the virtues of a Christian he
added a gentle winning manner, that made him beloved
by all who knew him. His character is reflected in his
poetry, which is ever sweet and pleasing, ever graceful
and delicate in its fancies, and ever appealing to tha
purest and best emotions of the heart. Some of his
poems belong to the very first class. We remember no
verses more full of discrimination and poetic fire than
his exquisite lines on Burns, written at the ,time of the
Burns' Festival; and of all the elegiac pieces in our lan
cage,guage, none is surer of immortality than his " Cse,a
peerless outpouring of his muse and heart
over the grave of a beloved child. It comes from, the
heart—nay, from the very heart of hearts of tne be-
reaved parent; and to the end of time it will bring tears
to the eyes even of those happy few to whom sorrow is
as yet but a name. Its very rhythm is full of sadness.
We cannot resist extracting some stanzas—premising
that Casa
ways called himself
by; was th© name which his little boy al-

Despair was in our last farewell
As closed thine eye; ,
Tears of our anguish may not tell
When thou didst die:
Words may not paint our grief
sea
fifor thee,
Sighs are but bubbles on
Of our unfathomed agony,
Casa Wappy!
Thou wert a vision of delight,
To bless us given;
Beauty embodied to our sight—.A
type of heaven;
So dear to us thou wert, thou art
Even less thine own self than a part
Of mine and of thy mother's heart,
Casa Wappy!
Thy bright, brief day knew no decline—.
'Twas cloudless joy;
Sunrise and night alone were thine,
Beloved boy
This morn beheld thee blithe and gay;
That found thee prostrate in decay;
And ere a third shone, clay was clay,
Casa Wappy!
Gem of our hearth, our household pride,
Earth's undefiled,
Could love have saved, thou hadst not died,
Our dear, sweet child!
Humbly we bow to Fate's decree?
Yet had we hoped that Time should see
Thee mourn for us, not us for thee,
Casa Wappy!
Do what I may, go where I will,
Thou meet'st my sight;
There dost thou glide before me still—
A form of light!
I feel thy breath upon my cheek—
Till oh! my heart is like to break,
I see thee smile, I hear thee speak,
Casa Wappy!
Methinks, thou smil'st before me now,
With glance of stealth;
The hair thrown back from the full brow
In buoyant health:
I see thine eyes' deep violet light—
Thy dimpled cheek carnatiou'd bright—
Thy clasping arms so round and white—
Casa Wappy!
Tho nursery shows the pictured wall,
Thy bat—thy bow—
Thy cloak and bonnet—club and and ball;
But where art thou?
A corner holds thine empty chair,
Thy playthings idly scattered there,
But speak to us of our despair,
Casa Wappy !

As " Delta," Dr. Moir contributed to Blackwood's
Magazine almost from its first starting; and he con.
tinued to do so to the end. His " Lament of Selin" ap-
pears in this month's number; and a melancholy interest
attaches to it es being tho last piece the lamented author
ever wrote. As a critic of poetry, he stands deservedly
high; and the crowded audiences who last winter attended,
his lectures on the poetry of the last half century will
long remember them as models of popular criticism—at
once clear, condensed, and animated, and delivered with
a manner that would have lent interest to far inferior
criticism.

Besides his bereaved wife, who for more than twenty
years was the devoted sharer of his joys and sorrows, he
has left a family of eight children, the eldest of whom is
now the wife of Dr. Scutt, who for many years has been
the able and successful partner of his father-in-law. By
all who knew him, and more especially by his fellow-
townsmen, Dr. Muir was much beloved; and at the ur-
gent request of the inhabitants of Musselburgh, his
funeral will be a public one. It is to take piace on
Thursdiy, at two o'clock, in the church-yard of Inveresk,
and will doubtless be attended by many of his friends
and admirers in this city.

VAUXUALL BAL MASQUE.—A very crowded as-
sembly met last night in the gardens of this place to cele-
brate the occasion of her Majesty's visit to the city, and to
partake of the festivity of a bal masque on a scale of more
than usual splendour. The loyalty of the company co-
operated with their love of pleasure to fill the " Royal Pro-
perty," and partake of the good things provided by the
proprietor for their enjoyment. What are termed " the
whole resources " of the establishment were in requisition.
Four bands of music played incessantly for several hours,
and left no time for the dancers to relax from their activity.
As is usual on those occasions the maskers formed the mino-
rity, though there were enough. of them to support the title
of the amusement of the evening. The saloon and all the
boxes in which suppers and refreshments are served were
crowded, and the waiters had enough to do to administer to
the wants of the numerous guests. The grounds were bril-
liantly illuminated, many devices emblematical of the occa-
sion being introduced. The arrangements were in all respects
satisfactory, and the festive scene was kept open till daylight
and till some time after.

BATTY'S HIPPODROME.—Yesterday, previous to the
performance of the regular programme, Mr. Hampton mad•
an aeronautic ascent in his balloon " Erin-go-bragh." The
balloon having been inflated by half-past six, Mr. Hampton,
accompanied by Monsieur Soulie, the director of the French
equestrian troop performing here, and another person, took
their seats' in the car, and the signal for letting go was at
once given. The aerial vessel rose with steadiness, and in
a few minutes was lost to view, taking a south-easterly di-
rection ; and, at an elevation sufficient to clear every ter-
restrial object, even if it were higher than the Monument
perched on the top of St. Paul's. The ordinary amusements
then commenced with the magnificent " Tournament of the
Middle Ages." After this came Roman chariot-races, an
ostrich hunt, the wonderful feats of the globe-roller, and
many other singular and gorgeous spectacles, which, until
the erection of the Hippodrome, were never known in this
country.

A little war has been going on, for some time, be-
tween the great publishers and the Government, on the
ground of the latter, through the Committee of Council on
Education, having interfered with the book trade, and this in
a manner bordering upon the piratical. We are not sur-
prised at this, when we see the course the Government is
taking in so many different departments; embarking hi bin-
siness, in fact—jobbing in any kind of *et,'"
tion, however dirty or unseemly—we suppose upon yes_
tion,
per-
formance principle—and entering into competition with its
offered to
own subjects in the principal trades. In the metropolis this
is being carried to a most unwarrantable and absurd extent ;
modest request to be
as there the Government has not been satisfied
have to
formance of its own mulifarious duties, but has
conduct the business of undertaker and gravedigger-general,
which is now before Parliament, with a
in the 7.iva er-carrying
invested with a species of monopoly
News
and carcase-butcher lines. This will soon produce a reaction,
in which our friends, the patrician
ack
publishers, will
join with plebeian reformers in forcin_g,_ the Goyim.
--On Tuesday
Pr"lbuuT—halirppeielkylywithout
afternoon a
went to its ancient and legitimate
sin: ;re Train
station on its way to London,
*maitn Lofeethdse Great Northern Com-
and Chronicle.
RAILWAY COLL
fi
ris
oeil
railway collision took P
loss of life. The exp
ds and Thirsk line, which
raeilgoods station of the Leeds and Thirsk
was coming int
I' raels:dr'ut"o pieces
luggage the
the former
.The
ran b pan and aothfiersrtcealrarsisagceasrriwaegr:
Company, ht the guard's line' and came into vio-
llietnetnolyt collision Kith
._,...
, _ 9 and several passengers and the
line was for
except Mr. J. Wilkinson,
guard
of
the
ex
dthe train
some time blocked up by the debris,
but some carriages Were got and the whole of the passengers,
one of the Leeds borough magis-
trates, were able to proceed on their journey, although some
of them had received bruises and contusions. Mr. Wilkinson
e
was cut in the head, but not seriously. It may be observed
that the Great Northern train,hs to be backed out of the
station up an incline, and the collision occurred just below
the incline. It appears that great blame is attributable
to the driver of the Leeds and Thirsk train for attempting
to cross the line when he knew that the express train was
about to start. The damage done cannot be far short o
7001. to 1,0001.
THE LIBERALITY OF MESSRS. COMBE AND DELA-.
YIELD, BREWERS, CASTLE-STREET, LONG- ACRE.— MMES.
Combe and Delafield, the eminent brewers, have, with their
usual liberality, granted a day's holiday to all their men, for
the purpose of witnessing the Crystal Palace, and in a most
handsome manner will present each man with 55., for the
purpuse of getting a first-class ticket, on Saturday next, in-
dependent of their day's pay, when they will be regaled
afterwards with roast beef and plum pudding, and a plentiful
supply of good old October. Such acts as these on the part
of Messrs Combe and Delafield will be long remembered by
the men, and most duly appreciated on their part.
REV. Du. BUNTING.—We are informed, on au-
thority we ought not to question, that Dr. Bunting has ten-
dered his resignation as the senior missionary secretary, and
that
indifferences u c h resignation
e n
thew
was
earret of theceived lay
in
mileneenel and with appa-
renters, ii
something like ill-restrained joy. Weslc3'ait Zino, not with