The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-13 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STANDARD

SlR,—Our attention has been called to the following letter,
which appears in the Mail of this day
TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL MAIL.
" SlR,—We'perceive' by a subscription list inserted in this
day's Courier, that the directors of the Isle of Man Steam-
packet Company paid to Captain Clegg the sum of £lO, and
that the several sums have been disposed of accordingly. If
such be the case, and the money subscribed really, and, no
doubt, fairly and equally divided, according to the rank and
station of each on board the " Huddersfield," Captain Clegg
and his brave crew are minus the sum of £2O, as we paid,
on behalf of the Isle of Man Steam-packet Company, the
sum of £3O, for which we hold a receipt. By inserting this
communication you will oblige your's, &c.,
MOORE & CHRISTIAN.
" Redcross-street, Nov. 11, 1840."

We may, perhaps, be permitted to remark, that it would
have been well had Messrs. Moore and Christian informed
themselves of the facts of the case before they came before
the public, with a charge or insinuation such as that contain-
ed in their letter. The statement that Captain Clegg and
the crew of the Huddersfield are " minus the sum of £20,"
is altogether untrue. The following is the letter which we
received from the Isle of Man, in accordance with which the
sum of £2O was paid to Captain Clegg, and the sum of £lO
distributed amongst the crew :

" 18k Man, 4th February, 1840.
" Messrs. C. HORSFALL and SON.
" GENTLEMEN,—I am instructed by the directors of the
Isle Man Steam-packet Company to inform you, that at the
half-yearly meeting of the company, held on Tuesday last,
28th ultimo, the sum of £2O was awarded to Captain Clegg,
of the ship Huddersfield, and £lO to his crew, in testimony
of their estimation of his recent meritorious services, and
that, in accordance therewith, I forwarded a letter to him on
Friday last ; but regret to say that he had sailed on the morn-
ing of its arrival at Liverpool ; and in consequence the direc-
tors intimate that such sum has been placed to the credit of
Captain Clegg in the books of the company. I am, gentle-
men, your obedient servant,
(Signed) " EDW. MOORE, Agent."
By the insertion of the foregoing you will oblige your obe-
dient servants, CHA. HORSFALL & SON.
12th November, 1840.

ELECTION OF PROVOST OF EDINBURGII.—The unpre-
cedentedly keen contest for the provostship, which has agitated
the metropolis of Scotland for several weeks, terminated
on Tuesday, in a decided victory of the church party. The
only candidates proposed was the late provost, Sir James
Forrest, a ministerialist and non-intrusion churchman, and
Mr. Adam Black, a ministerialist and voluntary. The two
parties in the church of Scotland, on the great question of
non-intrusion, united in favour of the former, while the
dissenters, and a few churchmen of liberal principles, sup-
ported the latter. When the vote was taken, Sir James was
elected by a majority of 17 against 14 ; two councillors, both
of whom are churchmen, and one conservative declining to
vote. The violence of a section of the whig.party threatens
to lead to a serious division in their ranks, many who have
hitherto acted with them being disgusted with the illiberality
their proceedings have displayed.

NEW CHURCH AT BIRKENHEAD.-It will be remem-
bered, that a few weeks since we gave a detailed description
of the handsome building which has been recently erected at
Woodside, for the purposes of divine worship. The bazaar
which was held some short time back, to increase the funds
appropriated to the erection of the church was, we believe,
through the exertions of the committee, and the liberality of
the gentry in the neighbourhood, eminently successful ; and
we are glad to say that the church, being now prepared, will
be opened this morning, when a sermon will be preached by
the Rev. F. Ould. The building is dedicated to the Holy
Trinity. We anticipate many benefits to the district from
the well-known piety, ministerial faithfulness, and persever-
ing assiduity of the incumbent, the Rev. J. 13aylee.

GYMNASTICS.—We beg to call the attention of our readers
to Monsieur Huguenin's advertisement, and we take leave
to subjoin the following observations :—The day of our birth
introduces us into the midst of dangers, of living beings, of
events ; we feel them incessantly, as long as we exist, and it
is not in our power to escape them ; it behoves us, therefore,
to learn to resist them. For this, strength and firmness of
body and mind are necessary. As not our welfare merely,
but our very existence here depends on these qualities, they
are undoubtedly the most important that man can possess.
Man was created in his present situation by the Deity him-
self ; and can it be supposed, that he should not possess
from nature the capacity for a stability necessary to maintain
him in it? Every thing that destroys this capacity is called
enervation ; what is it that enervates us ? It is softening
sensuality, usually called by the gentletname of refined
manner, which overruns the soil of Europe with oriental
luxuriance.
Colonel Gawler, the Governor of South Australia, whose
lavish expenditure has brought so much embarrassment on
that colony, has been recalled ; and Captain Grey has been
appointed as his successor. Captain Grey is favourably
known to the public as an intelligent and enterprising dis-
coverer in Australia; and by all accounts be is in every re-
spect fitted for bis new office.

" THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN."
Painted by Edward Prentis, engraved by Scott, and pub-
lished by Ackermann and Co., London, and

Linnecar, 5, Ranelagh-street, Liverpool.

here never was a painting more expressive of

more home to the heart. It tells its own tale : at a glance
we discover a history. In a lofty chamber we find a family
group assembled, every face bearing a different expression,
yet all indicative of the subject. Upon one knee, on the
floor, with his head deeply buried in his hands, we find th•

figure of a young man, apparently overwhelmed with grief
and remorse, the stick beside him indicating that he has
walked to that home which perhaps he left in less humble

hir mother, stretching forth her arms as if anxious to em-
brace him. Near her stands the father, averting his face,
which bears strong marks of contempt and anger. From

his dress and appearance we may suppose him to be a mem-

ber of the sacred profession. With one arm fondly entwined

we perceive the sister entreating for her brother's pardon
Her sweet countenance is full of maidenly beauty and ran

expression : modest

the lineaments of her face ; in them are blended the pliancy
of the mother and the firmness of the father. She annears

to urge her suit with the most pressing earnestness, yet in a
respectful mode, highly becoming in a daughter pleading for
a much-loved, but misled brother. This charming creature
cannot fail to be admired by all who look upon her—by all
who have hearts to feel, and minds to appreciate that which
is beautiful and good. She is a gem, such as is found to
adorn many an English home. At the door of the apart-
ment, with her hand upon the lock, we find the old nurse,
gazing on the group with the most intense anxiety. Her
favourite's pardon would soon be granted if left to her dis-
cretion. Her look of aged affection is delightfully expressed.
The artist has charmingly introduced the minutia of the
picture. The piano is open, as if quitted by the dear girl
at the moment of her brother's appearance, her fingers hav-
ing just quitted the keys, and her voice having but just
stopped breathing the simple ballad of " Home, sweet
home," which appears by the open book to have been the
object of her attention. This is a pleasant thought of the
artist, as it speaks at once as to the singer's simple habits
and her unpretending accomplishtnents. The sun, darting
his rays through the window, lights up the room, giving
warmth to the picture. On the wall, suspended between two
large pictures, is an empty frame, in which doubtless hung
the prodigal's pOrtrait.

This picture is an admirable composition, rich in thought
and true to nature, while the execution of the engraving is
exquisite. The " Prodigal Son" ought to be put into every
portfolio, and hung in every house in the kingdom. It
really " points a moral," and would " adorn a tale."

The following lines, from the pen of Mr. James Stone-
house, convey an idea of the fervency of the sister's en-

treaty :

THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN.
TO ILLUSTRATE THE PICTURE, BY EDWARD PRENTIS,
NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF ROBERT NAPIER, ESQ.,

GLASGOW

Dear Father, do not turn away—
In deep distress my brother kneels ;
Though he hath sinned, within his breast
Repentance now he truly feels.
Oh father, He who died for all—
Whose blood was shed that we might live—
Exclaimed amidst his cruel foes,
" They know not what they do : forgive."
He hides his face, with conscious shame
He cannot meet your angry eye—
Oh ! would you seek to know his thoughts,
His tears, his bitter tears reply.
He may have mixed in folly's train,
And mingled with the light and wild,
And revelled in a thoughtless throng;
But still, oh ! still, he is your child.
Father, recal that happy time
When, striving wisdom to convey
You taught our little knees to bend,
And our young guileless lips to pray ;
You bid us then let not yon Sun,
That streams upon us pure and bright,
Go down upon our wrath, but let
Our anger die, as fades the light.
Oh ! bear that precept now in mind,
Let kindness to his faults be shown;
Or how can we at judgment-day
E'er ask forgiveness for our own?
May I not bid my brother rise,
And say from mind the past you blot ?
Oh ! place him in your heart once more,
And be his wand'rings all forgot.
A flush is on my mother's face,
A look of hope, a ray of joy ;
Her arms are stretch'd to press again
To her fond heart her truant boy.
Though his disgrace, his sin and shame
May blight her health—her spirit chill,
Nature's sweet voice can ne'er be hushed,
Through all she dotes upon him still.
See where old nurse, with tearful eye,
Half smiling stands beside the door—
The faithful creature, bold in love,
Has dared to welcome him once more.
Dear father, let me bid him rise—
Oh ! gaze not thus with looks so stern ;
With prayer your daughter clings to beg
You'll bless the Prodigal's Return.
Nor. 6, 1810. JA24)Lia STONSLIOUSE

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HIGH STEWARDSHIP.

CAMBRIDGE, WEDNESDAY EVENING.—This being the
first day appointed for taking the poll, the doors of the
Senate-house were thrown open at 9 o'clock. From a much
earlier hour numerous carriages and coaches continued to
arrive with the supporters of each candidate, and amid all the
bustle usually attendant on a contested election it was inte-
resting to observe, as the time of polling approached, the
vast concourse of members of the Senate in their academic
costume congregated from all parts, many who from their
years had evidently long left the University, yet still taking
as lively an interest in the contest as their younger brethren.
STATE OF THE POLL THE FIRST DAY.
10 O'CLOCK.

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton..

11 O'CLOCK

12 O'CLOCK

1 O'CLOCK

2 o'CLocK

3 O'CLOCK

4 O'CLOCK

Lyndhurst
Lyttelton
When the poll closed for the day,
Majority for Lord Lyndhurst l2B
Amongst those who voted for Lord Lyndhurst, we notice
he name of Cresswell Cresswell, Esq. The poll was ad-
ourned until yesterday morning, and we hope to be able to
nnounce the result of that day's polling from our corres-
•ondent in a second edition.

The New Fork Star undertakes to derive the words
" King Jeremiah" from a cucumber, thus:—" Cucumber—
gherkins—jerkins—Jerry King—King Jeremiah."
The Philadelphia Ledger says, " Every lady who runs
away from her husband is beautiful of course, as every
woman who is hung has a remarkably interesting appear-
ance.

A new paper called the Musquito, has been started at
fouston, Texas. The Picayune says it is the only inus-
[uito they ever saw that was worth anything.

- -
" Why, Tom, my dear fellow, how old you look !" Dare
say, Bob, for the fact is, I never was so old in all my life."
Mr. J. W. Long, editor of the Southern Crisis, asks
" When will the editor of the Louisville Journal learn to tell
the truth ?" To which Prentice replies, " There's no doubt
that we shall tell it before Long."
The editor of the New Orleans Picayune, in describing the
launch of a grand steam-boat, says, " She dipped into the
wave as gracefully as Widow Green could make a courtesy."
FALL FASHIONS.—Last sabbath morning, a young lady
was seen wending her way to church with Elssler buttons on
her wrists, and a hole as big as a ninepence—in the heel of
her stocking I- says the Providence Republican Herald.

A COUNTERFEIT.—A fellow pretending to be in a fit, was
carried from the street, in New Orleans, into a grocery store
and laid upon the counter, where brandy was poured down
his throat, and he recovered. A wag, happening to be pre-
sent, said the fellow was a rogue, and the fit was a counter-
fit !

AN EXCUSE.—Miravaux was one day accosted by a sturdy
beggar, who asked alms of him. " How is this," inquired
Miravaux, " that a lusty fellow like you are unemployed ?"
" Ah " replied the beggar, looking very piteously at him,
"if you did but know how lazy 1 am !" The reply was so
ludicrous and unexpected, that Miravaux gave the varlet a
piece of silver.

The Marquis of Waterford seems to be gaining golden
laurels on his estates in the county Waterford, where his
arrival has been hailed with every mark of esteem and
respect. On his arrival at Thurles, his lordship received an
address from the inhabitants expressive of their joy at his
arrival amongst them. Rockwell and its neighbourhood is
in future to be called New Melton, and the extensive stabling
recently erected eclipses that of our hunting metropolis in
Leicestershire. The " eccentric marquis," as he was once
called by his aristocratic friends of the west, is spending his
princely fortune, with true Irish freedom, amongst his fellow-
countrymen.

EXTENT AND POPULATION OF ICELAND.--Of the thirty-
eight thousand square miles of which Iceland consists, only
a ninth part is inhabited, and even over this the houses are
very widely scattered, with many black and dreary intervals,
so that man and his dwellings seem like something foreign to
the land. The hamlets are always so inconsiderable that
they never become the principal object in the landscape, and
even the commercial towns seem lost amid the rocky defiles
.
in they are placed. Assuming the population at 50,000,
which it has rarely exceeded, the average will be about 14 to
the square mile ; and if we exclude the central deserts, rather
more than seven, that is, about a third of the number found
in the thinnest inhabited of our Highland countries.—His-
torical and Descriptive Account of Iceland.
MODE OF BURIAL IN GREENLAND.—In Greenland the
dead are buried in a sitting posture, dressed in their best
clothes. As the earth is shallow or foreign, they build tombs
of stone, and cover the body with plates of mica slate or clay
slate, to preserve it from carnivorous animals. The kayak
and hunting instruments of the deceased are placed at the side
of the grave, and they put a dog's head into that of a child,
in order that its spirit may guide the helpless infant to the
land of souls. On their return to the house, they continue
their lamentation in a sort of monotonous howl, at the .con-
elusion of which some refreshment is taken, and each departs
to his own dwelling.—Historical and Descriptive Account of
Iceland.

The flag of Lord Exmouth, _ which was supposed to have
en destroyed, with other valuable relics, in the conflagra-
n at the dockyard, has been discovered on board a barge,
'ere it was thrown with other things during the confusion.
'ytnoulh Journal. •

I DEATH OF WILLIAM WALLACE CURRIE; ESQ

- -
It becomes our melancholy duty to announce the death of
W. Wallace Currie, Esquire, a distinguished member of the
common council of this borough, though for many years one
leading reformers of the town, an individual whose
;-forward and manly conduct in vindicating his views

tieman, securea to bim the esteem of a large citcle of his in-
timate friends, and conciliated the respect even of those who
were opposed to him in political sentiment. His demise was
so unexpected and sudden, and so immediately following his
active appearance in the last debates of the previous day in
the council room, that the event has pnmp thp tnw.

the nature of a shock, and has excited a feeling of heartfelt
and universal regret. Mr. Currie was in the apparent enjoy-
ment of his usual health, and more than his usual spirits on
Tuesday night. He had dined with a friend, returned home,
and retired without any symptom of indisposition ; but was
I sl" at. we learn, a►-

.actenty taken
___, --out five in the morning,
and expired about half-past six. On his complaining, his
amiable lady immediately despatched one of the servants for
Mr. Ortt, surgeon, who resides in the neighbourhood, and
that gentleman on his arrival soon afterwards, conceiving
the attack to be apoplectic. instantly fr. h/..‘11,;„,

Lsation had too far subsi

led to render the operation'

soon afterwards brought to the spot, found all humaneflorts
unavailing,—the spark of life being then extinct.
AC the death of 7t _ .

his failings or his errors in general or domestic
.

devoted a great portion of his life to the service of the town
in which he first drew breath, and to the interests of which

•
interest in the prominent features of his life, a biographical
sketch of Mr. Currie, necessarily.brief, and from our paucity
of materials, somewhat imperfect (though we trust accurate
in the main), will, we hope, be acceptable to our readers ;
and in submitting it we assure them that in speaking de
mortuis in this case, we put aside all feelings of a political
bias—all such being merged in our respect for consistency
and uprightness of character.

William
Wallace Curri7;as one of three sons of the late
James Currie, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., of Liverpool, Fellow of
the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, of the London
Medical Society, &c., a gentleman whose scientific and
literary acquirements, (the latter exemplified in his admirable
life of Burns, the great poet of Scotland,) and whose powers
and exertions as a scholar, physician, and conversationist,
have embalmed his memory in the minds of his posterity.
The subject of our sketch was a native of Liverpool—one of
three brothers of whom one is also dead and another, the
Rev. James Currie, now or lately residing in the island of
Jersey. Two sisters, both married, are yet living.
Of the early life f Mr. Currie we have few particulars
beyond those supplied In the letters to himself by his father
as published in the memoir of the life, writings, and corres-
pondendence of that eminent individual, by the now deceased,
a work held in deserved repute not only from its literary
merits, but from the characteristic vein of parental feeling
on the one hand, and the modest exemplification of filial
regard that breathe throughout its pages. Mr. Currie was a
native of Liverpool, and was born in 1784, in, we believe, the
month of March. He was consequently, at the time of his
demise, in the 57th year of his age. He was placed while yet
of tender age under the tuition of Dr. Valpy, of Reading, the
celebrated scholar, and compiler of some of the cleverest
elementary classical books that have yet been published.—
The first letter addressed at that seminary to him by his
father is dated Liverpool, April 23, 1796, and like all them
that followed, it is full of that spirit of parental admonition
which characterised all his correspondence to his children,
couched in language suited to their juvenile apprehension,
and calculated to excite them to court elegant and ennobling
pursuits, and to discriminate between right and wrong.
There is a passage in this first letter so simple in argument,
yet so graphic and undeniable, that we cannot refrain from
quoting it. After expresSing his happiness that his son likes
Homer and Virgil, he remarks :—" Homer, I think, gives
too attractive a picture of the heroic character. It was but
a foolish thing for the Greeks to go into Asia and fight the
Trojans for ten years, because Paris ran away with Helen.
Life is but short at the best, and it is a sad thing to see, in
all ages of the world, how men have contrived to make it
shorter, by killing each other with swords, and spears, and
guns and bayonets. It is true, when a man's country is
in danger, nothing is more honourable than to arm for its
defence. When in after ages, the young men of Greece
turned out to meet the invading Persians at Marathon, Sala-
mis, and Platea, nothing could be more noble than their
principle, or more glorious than their conduct. But their
cause was more noble than their forefathers, when they
fought under the walls of Troy, as you will easily see."
There is a nobility of nature expressed in this passage. It
seeks not for war, for its own sake ; but simply war against
actual aggression, and that war we shall ever maintain, whe-
ther as regards an attack on our beloved country, in a physical
point of view, or what we consider her admirable, moral, or
religious institutions. In his next letter, about six months
afterwards, Dr. Currie emphatically remarks, in reference to
Homer, with a view, doubtless, to restrain the probable en-
thusiasm of his youthful son :—" A great man is seldom or
never fairly rated by his contemporaries, and a very great man
does not always reach the height of his reputation till a cen-
tury or two after he is dead." In a letter addressed to him
when he was thirteen years of age, the Doctor says :
" My confidence in your good sense and good heart makes
me think of you with more satisfaction than anxiety, as I
said at first ; otherwise I can foresee that you will have ob-
stables to remove, and difficulties to surmount. No matter :
if you think rightly and act vigorously, you will be the better
and the happier for your necessary exertions. Look at the
greyhound as he lies by the fire : he has nothing to do ; his
eye is heavy, his skin is dirty, his hair probably covered with
vermin. How stupid and worthless he looks! He is the
prototype of the man who has nothing to do, and nothing to
hope for. But look again ;—he is now inthe field :—how
animated he looks, his ears are erect- -his eye is on fire ! The
hare is started ;—he bounds forward in all the pride of his
faculties, and all the vigour of his Dowers. and in the fervour

" We are hounds of a higher order ; and, in like manner,
must hunt if we are to be happy. The object of our pursuit
is different, because we are partly rational ; though I fear, in
many instances, we are also beasts of prey. Be it yours, to
let the distinction that attends talents and virtue be the hare
you follow ; and you will find in the pursuit the highest en-
joyment which this imperfect world admits."
One of the letters is dated Ist September, 1798, from the
Park (Toxteth), for the north ward- of which Mr. Currie
was member, in the council of this borough. His father
gives the following beautiful description of a scene from the
Dingle, which, as it was in the immediate proximity
of the house in which he died, though now much altered,
possesses amelaneholy interest on the present occasion,as well
on that account as from the reflections on the transitory
nature of human life with which it concludes. It is as
follows :

"Park, Sept. 1, 1798.
" MY DEAR IVALLAcE,—I have been in daily expectation
of a letter from you ; and you may, perhaps, have looked for
one from me. That this unsocial silence may no longer pre-
vail between us, I employ a leisure hour on Sunday after-
noon, at the Park, in your service. The day is singularly
fine. I have been walking down the fields towards the shore.
The clouds intercepted the direct beams of the sun ; but the
air was warm and balmy. A gentle breeze swept over the
surface of the grass, and played round my temples. Nothing
could be more soothing. I went down to the Dingle, and
pursued my walk to the rocks. The tide was on the flood,
and drawing towards high water, and the waves were dashing
over the sand, and breaking on the lowest ridge of the rocks.
I sat me down and fell a musing. I know not whether you
have yet began to feel the effect of scenery on the mind ; but
I hope you will be sensible of it as you grow elder. The scene
which I describe, and which you know so well, always affects
me by calling up a particular train of thought, and that rather
of a melancholy than a cheerful kind. Those grand features
of nature, the rolling tide, the over-arching rocks, and even
the old and blighted oaks which crown their summits, give
me the idea of power and duration, compared with which the
power of man, and the littleness of his occupations, and the
shortness of his life, sink into insignificance !

Adieu, my dear boy !

"JAMES CURRIE."
From Reading School Mr. Currie was sent to the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh. and his father continued to write to him
when there, in the same parental tone of kindness and ad-
monition. The last letter in the collection is dated March,
1805. We regret that we have not space to follow up the
few passages we have selected in the hurry of business, from
a most interesting correspondence, carried on for a number
of years on the part of Dr. C. The subject of this brief
memoir has not furnished any of his own letters in reply,—
from, doubtless, an honourable feeling of modesty on his
part. We must refer our readers to the work itself in which
they will find much to instruct as well as to amuse. Suffice
it here to say that Mr. Currie never seemed to forget the in-
junctions placed upon him throughont a life prolonged to
upwards of half a century.
While in Edinburgh, Mr. Currie was more immediately
under the care of Mr. Dugald Stewart, one of the most dis-
tinguished professors of the Northern University, and be-
came a fair scholar in the classics, and more particularly in
the English language. We are not aware of his having pub-
lished any work beyond the Life of his respected parent ; but
that alone was sufficient to confer upon him a reputation of
no common order in the literary world.

Mr. Currie's vocation was confined exclusively to the
agency for the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, and his
energy, punctuality, and habits of business, rendered him a
favourite with the commercial community. He was not rich,
in the mercantile sense of the word, but competent to sup-
port his station as an independent gentleman.] He married
about 16 or 17 years ago, Mtss France, daughter of Thomas
France, Esq. of Bostock Hall, in Cheshire, and has died
without issue. In consequence of rather precarious health,
he lately made a tour on the continent. He was accompanied
thither by Alderman Wm. Earle, and after passing through
Pan, a bathing place in France, visited the Pyrenees, remain-
ing some time at Burege. He returned precisely a month
before his demise, in, as he and his friends concurred, im-
proved health ; but it was remarked on Monday last that his
complexion indicated the inroads of disease. In the opinion
of Dr. Brandreth, the immediate cause of death was an apo-
plectic attack ; or (though less probably) an affection of the
heart, which it is known also frequently occasions sudden
death. The problem will in all likelihood be solved for the
melancholy satisfaction of his friends, as we learn that a sur-
gical examination of the body will take place, under the di-
rection of the coroner. The funeral, which it is understood
will be private, will take place on Tuesday next, and the in-
terment will be at St. Michael's, Toxteth-park, in the neigh-
bourhood of his own estate and house, of Ellerslie, near the
Dingle.
Mr. Currie was elected a member of the old common coun-
cil in 1819, and, in conjunction with Mr. John Wright, was
active in promoting the improvement of the town, and par-
ticularly the widening of Lord-street, Dale-street, Tithebarn-
street, &c. He held the commission of the peace, and was
the first mayor elected under the municipal corporations
amendment act. He served the office with great credit to
himself, and with such satisfaction to the council generally,
that his re-election as chief magistrate was contemplated,
and pressed upon him; but such were the onerous duties of
the office, and their interference with his other pursuits, that
he declined again to take the burtheu upon him. It may be
remarked of him, as regards his public life, that he was ca-
pable of forming a due appreciation on matters of domestic
polity, and while others beat about the bush, he grappled
with his subject at once, and, as regards public improvements,
was generally successful. As a speaker he was somewhat
stiff, abrupt, and disjointed ; but his discretion and force of
argument bore him through. He exerted his best powers to
restrain the excesses of his party, and by some was conse-
quently regarded at times as a trimmer; but his votes were
always given on the liberal side ; and though we disapprove
of his general politics, we are quite willing to award him the
meed due to sincerity and honesty of purpose.
It may be remarked, in conclusion, that Mr. Currie had
an air of hauteur in the eyes of strangers, which approached
to what might be deemed bordering on self-sufficiency or
inordinate pride; but this wore off on a nearer acquaintance
with the man, and it is sufficient to add he ever comported
himself as a genuine gentleman to friend and foe, and amongst
the former were many individuals of high standing and re-
spectability, who were opposed to his views on local and ge-
neral topics.

A RARE OCCURRENCE.—A landrail, or corncreak, in very
fine condition, was shot by a gentleman, in a field of short
gorse, in the neighbourhood of Pwllheli, on the 30th ult.

Queen Adelaide has been pleased to honour the Derby
Choral Society with her patronage to their series of winter
concerts, the first of which is expected to take place the
latter end of the present month. Earl Howe has likewise
consented to become one of the patrons of the society.---Derby
Reporter.