CURRIE, James, M.D., a physician who was an ornament to his profession, was born of a respectable family in the south of Scotland. His father was the minister of the parish of Kirkpatrick Fleming, near Moffat, in Dumfriesshire; and his mother, Jean Boyd, a woman of very superior understanding, was descended from the ancient family of Kilmarnock. They had six daughters, and an only son, the subject of the present article, who was born on the 31st of May 1756. Soon after this period, Mr Currie removed with his family to Middlebie, a parish to the living of which he had been preferred, and where he settled for the remainder of his life. He had here the misfortune to lose his wife, who died of a consumption, whilst her family were yet in early childhood; but the benevolent exertions of Miss Christina Duncan, a half sister of Mrs Currie, who undertook the management of their education, and the care of the household, and who performed [7:7:553]towards them all the duties of a mother with exemplary fidelity, compensated for a loss which, under other circumstances, would have been irreparable. Under the fostering care of this excellent person, young Currie was trained in the virtues and estimable qualities which ever formed the distinguishing features of his character.

He entered upon his grammatical education at the parochial school of Middlebie; and was afterwards sent, at the age of thirteen, to a seminary at Dumfries, then conducted by Dr Chapman, well known as the author of a work on education, and under whose superintendence the school had justly acquired a high reputation. He was fortunate in being admitted as a boarder into the house of the doctor; and thus, in addition to the usual studies of the school, had the advantage of his personal instructions in mathematics and in practical geometry.

The foundations of solid learning having thus been laid, young Currie was taken by his father on a visit to sonic friends in Glasgow, where the spectacle of the commercial activity so strikingly displayed in that flourishing city could hardly fail to inspire his sanguine mind with a similar spirit of adventure; and, relinquishing his original intention of qualifying himself for the medical profession, he was induced, with the concurrence of his father, to engage in the service of a company of merchants, who were going out on a speculation to Virginia. Nothing could possibly be more unfortunate than this voyage, which happened to be undertaken at a time when those dissensions that eventually led to the separation of America from England were on the eve of breaking out, and where the trade between the two countries became in consequence totally interrupted. The treatment which Currie met with from the merchants with whom he was connected, and who probably were soured by disappointment, was harsh and ungenerous; and he had also to struggle with a long and dangerous illness which seized him soon after his arrival. To complete the series of his misfortunes, he also at this time lost his father, whose death at once bereft him of the only friend in whose counsels he could confide, under the complicated difficulties of his situation. But such is the spring inherent in the youthful mind, that the depressing influence of those misfortunes which happen at an early period of life is often merely temporary, and serves eventually to form a character of energy which no other circumstances would have called forth. Having formed the determination of trusting solely to his own exertions for his subsistence, he generously divided among his sisters the scanty inheritance which had fallen to his share. Renouncing the pursuits of commerce, with which he had been completely sickened, he turned his attention to the political topics which were then the universal subject of interest in America; and though convinced of the impolitic conduct of the English government towards that country, he was strenuous in maintaining the right it asserted of taxing the colonies. So warmly did he espouse its cause, that he published a series of letters in its defence, in an American newspaper, under the signature of “An Old Man.” These juvenile essays, as far as he was known to be the author, procured him some reputation, but at the same time necessarily exposed him to the ill-will of the adverse party; and he began seriously to think of embracing some profession which might raise him to that degree of independence to which he so honourably aspired. The example and advice of a near relation, Dr Currie of Richmond, with whom he w ent to reside, decided him in the choice of the profession of medicine, which, as we have already mentioned, had been his original destination. Jt was therefore settled that he should go to Edinburgh, and after taking his degree at that university, that he should return to Virginia, with a view of practising at

Richmond; for it was confidently believed that the war would not be of any long duration.

In pursuance of this plan he quitted America, where he had spent very unprofitably five years of his life; and as the war had by this time precluded’all direct communication with England, he proceeded thither by way of the West Indies; and after a voyage, in which he underwent many hardships, and was several times in imminent hazard of his life, arrived in London in 1776. From thence he repaired to Edinburgh, and immediately began his academic studies, which he prosecuted with unremitting assiduity and remarkable success till the spring of 1780. He soon became conspicuous among the students by the extent of his acquirements, and by the singular acuteness of his mind; and in particular, he distinguished himself as a member of the Medical Society. The papers which, according to custom, he contributed, bear the stamp of superior talents, and are curious, as furnishing proofs that, even at this early period, his attention had been actively directed to subjects which he afterwards prosecuted with so much success, and illustrated by such important practical discoveries.

But whatever might be the satisfaction he derived from the high reputation he was acquiring at the university, the sense of his own dependence still weighed heavily upon his mind, and created an anxious wish to possess the means of supporting himself by some active professional employment, which might enable him to relieve his aunt and sisters from the charge of maintaining him while prosecuting his studies; a charge which, though it was afforded with the utmost cheerfulness, he was sensible must occasion a serious diminution of their comforts. Obstacles presented themselves in the way of every scheme that could be devised; but he was not to be deterred by difficulties from the pursuit of an object which he was eagerly bent upon obtaining; and the army affording the readiest field of immediate advancement, he procured an introduction to General Sir William Erskine, who gave him an ensigncy in his own regiment, with the office of surgeon’s mate. He himself would have been contented with this humble station; but his friends encouraged him to aim at a rank more consonant with his abilities; and learning that a medical establishment was intended to be set on foot for the ∙ service of the British army in Jamaica, they advised him to apply for the appointment of physician or assistantphysician to the forces. One requisite, however, was indispensable before he could even appear as candidate for any office of that kind; namely, his having taken his degree. But the rules of the University of Edinburgh precluded the possibility of his graduating before the ensuing June, although he had studied the full period necessary for that purpose. Fearful of missing the present opportunity of obtaining so desirable an appointment, and knowing that no time was to be lost in making application for it, he hastened to Glasgow, where he without difficulty procured a degree, after complying with the customary forms. He now immediately entered upon the arduous task of soliciting for the office which was the object of his ambition; and after furnishing himself with numerous letters of recommendation, and most ample and honourable testimonials from the professors of the university, and the many friends whom his merit had procured him among his fellow students, he proceeded to London. There he soon learned that the appointment, for which he had taken such pains to qualify himself, was already filled, having been given to a young Irish physician of considerable merit, through the interest of Mr Surgeon-General Adair.

Though disappointed in his expectations of succeeding in the medical staff, he still resolved to pursue his fortune in the West Indies, and to endeavour to establish himself [7:7:554]as physician in the island of Jamaica; a plan which, in case of his failure there, would still admit of his proceeding to Richmond, where he might ultimately settle, and have the advantage of being near his friend and kinsman, who had promised to give him every assistance in the commencement of his career. Dr Currie had already taken his passage on board a ship which was expected soon to sail in company with a numerous fleet. This fleet, however, happened to be detained for a considerable time, so that he passed the greater part of the summer in London, and had thus an opportunity of renewing his acquaintance with many of his college companions, and of mixing with the society of the literary men in the metropolis, so well calculated to draw forth, and so capable of appreciating talent. The superior abilities which Dr Currie possessed were quickly discerned by those around him; and he was strongly urged to abandon his plan of voluntary exile, and to endeavour to form an establishment in some town in England, where his exertions might meet with an adequate reward. With the diffidence which is usually attendant on real merit, he was disposed at first to regard the prospects thus held out to him as little likely to be ever realized; but the earnestness of his friends, and their confident representation of the probability of his succeeding, gradually inspired him with more sanguine views; and a severe illness which attacked him whilst he was yet deliberating on his future plans, concurred in determining him to relinquish, his design of crossing the Atlantic. After a long and painful search for an eligible situation, during which he encountered many disappointments, he at length repaired to Liverpool in October 1780, having learned that a vacancy had occurred in the profession at that place, in consequence of the removal of Dr Dobson to Bath.

No choice could be more fortunate for Dr Currie than that of a town which was so rapidly increasing in opulence as Liverpool, of which the leading inhabitants were distinguished for their enlarged and liberal views, and “where the society afforded the most favourable field for the display of those excellent qualities, both of a moral and intellectual nature, which adorned his character. On his arrival he was unacquainted with a single individual, but by means of the introductions which he brought with him, he soon became known to a great number of respectable families, and ever rose in their esteem and regard in proportion to the intimacy of their acquaintance with him. The suavity of his address, the elegance and variety of his conversation, the strength and maturity of his judgment, and the unaffected warmth of his benevolence, could not fail of producing the most favourable impression on all who met him in society, and of conciliating the attachment of those who enjoyed a more familiar intercourse. His company was soon courted by all wļio had any relish for the acquirements of literature, which in him derived a peculiar charm from the elegance of his taste. Another talent, the result of a happy union of great natural sagacity with quick feelings of sympathy, be possessed in a remarkable degree,—that of inspiring the confidence and securing the attachment of his patients. His success was now no longer doubtful. Gifted with the power of pleasing, and of commanding respect, his skill was exerted to the best advantage. He was elected one of the physicians to the infirmary, and soon rose to high eminence in his profession. His domestic happiness was in the mean time secured by his marriage, in 1783, with Miss Lucy Wallace, a lineal descendant of the Scottish patriot of that name, and the daughter of a very respectable merchant in Liverpool.

Amidst the duties of an arduous profession, and the cares of a new establishment, he found leisure for the cultivation of literature and science, a field peculiarly suited to the exercise of his active and vigorous mind. Congeniality of tastes and dispositions soon led to an intimacy between him and Mr Roscoe, a name so well known in the republic of letters; and, in conjunction with the late Mr William Rathbone, a gentleman distinguished by the excellence and high integrity of his character, they laid the foundations of a literary club, which deserves to be recorded as the first institution of the kind in Liverpool, and as being the germ of those splendid literary establishments which have reflected so much lustre on a town where the liberal and polite arts have flourished in alliance with the exertions of commerce.

But the progress of Dr Currie, though it had commenced so auspiciously, was unfortunately much retarded by ill health, which the fatiguing exertions he was occasionally required to undergo tended considerably to aggravate. His assiduous and anxious attendance on Dr Bell, an intimate friend of his who had settled in Manchester, and who had been seized with a fatal disorder, together with the frequent journeys which he was in consequence under the necessity of taking, in the midst of winter, generally at night, and in addition to his other professional labours, brought on a violent peripneumony, and placed his life for some time in imminent danger. This was followed by a train of pulmonary symptoms, which occurring in a frame already predisposed to consumption, a disease that had been very fatal in his family, were of a highly alarming nature. Experiencing, however, the good effects of carriage exercise, in mitigating, and even preventing, the paroxysms of hectic fever, he determined upon undertaking a journey of some length; and the climate of Bristol being in repute for pulmonary complaints, he set out for that place in the middle of April, and, travelling by easy stages, arrived at the beginning of May. During the greater part of his journey his cough was severe, and he was obliged, in general, to lie at length in the diagonal of the coach. The returns of hectic were, however, rendered, by this mode of exercise, less regular and distinct than they had been. At Bristol he experienced the shock of w itnessing the death of one of his sisters. She had been lingering under the same fatal disorder, which a year before had carried off another sister in her seventeenth year, and which had by that time attacked a third sister, whose life, as well as his own, there appeared little probability of preserving. Deriving no benefit from a residence of a month at Bristol, he resolved to try the drier air of an inland situation, and set out for Matlock, in Derbyshire. But here again his expectations of relief were disappointed, and it appeared on reflection, that continued exercise alone was capable of affording him any durable advantage. The hopes of bidding adieu to his yet surviving sister, who was hastening rapidly to the grave, conspired with this motive for travelling; and he again set out, directing his course towards Scotland. The salutary influence of motion now became more evident; and when he reached Dumfriesshire his strength was so far recruited as to allow of his sitting on horseback for an hour together. But the hope which had prompted his revisiting his native land was cruelly disappointed; for, on the day on which he reached the end of his journey, the remains of his sister had been committed to the grave. His fortitude, however, did not forsake him, although so many victims to the disorder under which he laboured impressed him strongly with the conviction that he himself was soon to experience a similar fate. He persevered in taking exercise on horseback during a few weeks that he resided at Moffat, gradually increasing the length of his rides in proportion as his strength improved. As the progress of disease and debility seemed to be arrested, the hope and [7:7:555] the love of life revived, and returning on horseback to Lancashire, by the lakes of Cumberland, he arrived at Liverpool on the 1st of September, having rode the last day of his journey forty miles. A very interesting narrative of his case, and the means which he employed for his recovery, was drawn up by himself, and is given by Dr Darwin in the second volume of his Zoonomia.

The first occupation to which he applied himself during his convalescence, was prompted by a desire to do honour to the memory of his deceased friend Dr Bcll. At the request of the members of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, he undertook a translation of the inaugural dissertation of Dr Bell, “∖ De Physiologia Plan-tarum” which he accompanied with valuable notes, and to which he prefixed memoirs of the author’s life. These were published by the society in the second volume of their Transactions. The biographical sketch which he has there given, and which was the first acknowledged production of his pen, is drawn up in a style of peculiar neatness and elegance, and procured him considerable reputation as a writer. The delineation of the character of Dr Bcll, in particular, which forms the concluding part of his memoir, is executed with a bold and masterly hand, and evinces a profound knowledge of the human heart. The failings as well as the merits of his friend are traced with a delicate yet faithful pencil, exhibiting a model of that manly candour, which seeksnot to extenuate faults by disguising their extent, or concealing their pernicious tendency, but instructs us in the sources from which they spring, the good qualities to which they are allied, and the virtues with which they may be associated.

On being elected a member of the London Medical Society in 1790, he communicated to it an essay on Teta-ms and Convulsive Disorders, which was published in the third volume of its Transactions. In 1791 he presented to the Royal Society a paper containing An account of the remarhable effects of a shipwreck on the mariners, with experiments and observations ωι the influence of. immersion in fresh and salt water, hot and cold, on the powers of the living body, which appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the same year; and soon afterwards he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. The inquiries which form the subject of this memoir were but a part of a long series of investigations, in which he had been engaged for a considerable period, and which had occupied him even when he was a student at the university. With a keenness of observation peculiar to himself, we find him intent on the collection of all the facts which bore upon the subject, and of which his sagacity made him readily perceive the application. Imbued with the genuine spirit of inductive philosophy, we find him proceeding with the caution of a true disciple of Bacon, theorizing only when a sufficient foundation had been laid for general deductions by an accurate and extensive observation of facts. The more mature results of his experience and reflections were given to the world in 1797, under the title of Medical Reports on the effects of water, cold and warm, as a remedy in Fever and other Diseases, whether applied to the surface of the body or used internally ; a work by which his reputation as a physician was widely extended, and which has effected a considerable revolution in the mode of treating the most frequent and fatal of diseases. Few works, indeed, so strictly medical, have met with so great a number of readers out of the profession; in few do we find united, in such perfection, the graces of literature with the severity of philosophical research. Dr Currie’s talent is particularly conspicuous in his recital of the history of cases which fell under his observation. He places every circumstance deserving attention in so clear a light, and intersperses.his own reflections with such judgment and effect, that we enter into all his reasonings without effort, and follow him through the minute details of symptoms and of medical practice, not merely without fatigue, but with a strong and increasing interest. The limits of the present article will not admit of our entering into any exposition of the contents of this valuable work, the fruit of so much experience and profound reflection; far less of tracing the progress of his discoveries through all the generalizations which they received from his penetrating and comprehensive mind. It maybe sufficient to observe, that it will ever be held as a model of philosophical induction, in a science where the application of such a method is attended with peculiar difficulties; and that it has effected a very important improvement in the treatment of febrile disorders, which are amongst the most universally prevalent, and the most destructive to human life. The healing art is eminently indebted to Dr Currie, for establishing on solid grounds the salutary agency of cold applied to the surface of the body, under certain circumstances, and in certain modes, both in fevers and in many convulsive diseases. The practice of the cold affusion of water, or, in other cases, of cooling and moistening the skin by means of a wet sponge, has, indeed, been attended with extraordinary success; and although it had already been suggested, and even tried, by Dr Wright, it was reserved for Dr Currie to determine the circumstances which render its employment safe and salutary, and to point out the nature of its operation, on clear and rational principles.

We have already seen the interest he took in the party discussions which agitated the public in America at the commencement of its alienation from England, and cannot, therefore, be surprised at the earnestness with which he viewed the political concerns of his own country at so eventful a period of its history. The first occasion on which he again obeyed the impulse of his feelings by the publication of his sentiments, was during his residence in London, on the occurrence of the disgraceful riots in St George’s Fields, excited by religious fanaticism, and the cry of No Popery raised by Lord George Gordon. He wrote three letters on the subject in the Public Advertiser, under the signature of Caius: they were afterwards republished in a collection of political tracts. These, as well as his writings in America, show that his earlier viervs of politics were conformable to theprinciplesof thcToryparty, in favour of which his education had given him an early bias. But in proportion as his experience of the world increased, and his judgment acquired strength and maturity, his solicitude for preserving the authority of those intrusted with power, which, in these seasons of turbulence, seemed to be chiefly threatened, gave "place to a deeper feeling of anxiety for the interests of the community at large, on whom that power is exercised; and which, from the prejudices and passions inspired by the course of events, and the war of anger into which we had recently been plunged, appeared to him to be exposed to much greater danger. These sentiments were strongly expressed in his Letter, Commercial and Political, addressed to the Right Honourable William Pitt, which he published under the assumed name of Jasper Wilson. The mass of important information contained in this pamphlet, the enlarged and profound views of political economy which it presented, and the nervous and manly strain of eloquence in which they were enforced, attracted much attention; it was read with avidity, and quickly went through several editions. The name of its real author, although never publicly acknowledged by himself, could not long remain concealed; and the reputation which accrued to Dr Currie from this publication, in a limited circle of enlightened men, was gained at the expense of much odium, which it [7:7:556]entailed upon him from the opposite, and unhappily more numerous party. A host of enemies, indeed, appeared in arms against him, and he was assailed in various quarters with the coarsest and most illiberal abuse. One writer amongst the number, apparently with the intention of doing him irreparable injury, took the unwarrantable license of proclaiming him by name as the author, and used all his endeavours to provoke him to reply. But Dr Currie bore all the violence and malignity of these attacks with perfect evenness of temper, mid abstained from gratifying his enemies, by engaging in a controversy which he knew must be attended with certain detriment to his professional interests, whilst it could add but little to the force of what he had already published.

During an excursion which he made into Scotland in 1792, he had become personally acquainted with Robert Burns, whom it was impossible to know without being astonished at the glow of fancy, and fascinated by the social powers, displayed by that brilliant and extraordinary genius. Dr Currie became an enthusiastic admirer of those productions of his rustic muse which breathe the true spirit of poetry, and will immortalize the dialect in which they are conveyed. The family of this unfortunate man having been left nearly destitute at his death, a subscription was set on foot in Scotland for their relief, and a design was formed of publishing a complete edition of his works, for their exclusive benefit. Knowing the warm interest which Dr Currie had taken in his fate, he was strongly solicited by Mr Syme of Ryedalc, an old and intimate friend of the doctor’s, to undertake the office of editor and biographer on this occasion, as being the person in every respect best qualified for such a task. The request was urged from so many quarters, that Dr Currie, however reluctant he felt to engage in a work to the execution of which his multiplied avocations would prove a serious obstacle, at length yielded to the opinion of his friends, and to his own benevolent wishes in behalf of a distressed and deserving family. Accordingly, in 1800, appeared, in four volumes 8vo, his edition of The Works of Robert Burns, with an Account of his Life, and Criticisms on his Writings ; to which are prefixed, some Observations on the Character and Condition of the Scottish Peasantry. It is sufficient to say that they fully equalled the high expectations which had been formed of them. The preliminary observations, from the pen of Dr Currie, are marked with his usual felicity of manner, and exhibit the same sagacity of remark, and liberality of sentiment, which pervade all his writings. Dr Currie had also the still higher satisfaction of succeeding in the object at which he had aimed, namely, that of securing, by his labours, a provision for the widow and children of the poet, to whose genius he was raising the monument it so well deserved.

His constitution had never completely recovered from the shock of the severe illness which he had suffered in 1784. He was seldom long free from threatenings of a return; but it was not till the year 1804 that his health began evidently to decline. Notwithstanding he sought relaxation by revisiting his native country, and enjoying the scenes where he had passed his early youth, the alarming symptoms re-appeared on his return home, and he found it necessary in the autumn to retire from the fatigues of his profession, and quit the climate of Liverpool, where his loss, as may be well conceived, excited deep and universal regret. He spent the ensuing winter alternately at Clifton and Bath, and in March felt himself so much recovered that he ventured to take a house in Bath and recommence the labours of his profession. From the extent to which his practice very soon increased, there is no doubt that he would have been eminently successful, if his convalescence had been permanent. But all his complaints returning with new violence, he went, as a last resource, to Sidmouth, where, after much suffering, which he bore with manly fortitude and resignation, he expired 1 on the 31 st of August, in the fiftieth year of his age. His disease was ascertained to be an enlargement and flaccidity of the heart, accompanied with a remarkable wasting of the left lung, without either tubercle or ulceration. Few men possessed a more amiable or estimable character, or a more enlarged and cultivated mind, than Dr Currie. His kind and affectionate disposition was conspicuous in all the relations of social and domestic life, and endeared him to all around. As far as his influence extended, few men have exerted more active and judicious benevolence, or diffused more important benefits. Most of the public institutions, literary and benevolent, of which Liverpool can boast, were suggested, improved, or perfected by his advice and assistance. His political views were guided always by a pure, and latterly by an enlightened patriotism. His professional labours and discoveries are such as entitle him to an elevated rank among medical philosophers; whilst the important improvement that has resulted from them in the healing art, justifies us in enrolling his name amongst the distinguished benefactors of mankind, (γ.)