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LONDON, Published for the European Magazine by J.Asperne,32 Cornbill Oct 1818

James Perry Exay

Engraved by Thomsen from an original Drawing by Wivell.

EUROPEAN MAGAZINE,

AND

LONDON REVIEW,

FOR SEPTEMBER, 1818.

MEMOIR OF

JAMES PERRY, Esq.

[WITH A PORTRAIT, FROM AN ORIGINAL PICTURE BY SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, R.A. DRAWN BY WIVELL, AND ENGRAVED BY J. THOMSON.]

L'homme sensé refusera-t-il done ou de s'associer avec ceux qui croit sages, ou de conduire ceux qui croit imprudens.-L'homme de bien sortira-t-il des routes de la Vertu parcequ'il peut y rencontrer des hypocrits-enfin, celui qui à la conscience de sa bonne foi y trouve-t-il rien qui le conduise a soupçonner celle des autres ?

La Vie de Thomas Wentworth, Comte de Strafford.

I
N giving the following Memoir a

aware that we may be exposed to surmises which will prejudge our motives; in order, therefore, to obviate the consequent misapprehensions which must always ensue from ex parte conclusions, we take upon ourselves to declare the real and personal feeling with which we have introduced it. It has always, we believe, been admitted, that impartiality is the most genuine characteristic of truth of sentiment. If so, the only question that can arise out of the position is this:-Does such impartiality require us to depart from those principles which we have adopted as the ground of our opinion? The deduction must instantly present itself. We have all along considered, and still do. consider, our opinions of all things that relate to the political constitution of our sentiments to be valid and true; and if we should reject impartiality, as we have defined it, from our standard of judgment, we must necessarily implicate the justice and truth of that standard. It is not unfelt by us, that the professed and, let us be allowed to add, the sincere, declaration of our political creed, may be quoted against us, when we are seen combining with our pages the Memoir of a Gentleman who has always supported the opposition side of our national politics. To such an allusion we would offer the following reply:-As far as the nature of our publication permits us to extend its biographical department, we have always been anxious to render it a compendious history of those distinguished Characters who, by their literary, professional, and coni

mercial celebrity, have made out to themselves an eminent claim to public attention; and, whatever may be the stedfastness of our own sentiments, with respect to those points of political feeling on which we have assumed to ourselves the right of differing from some of those individuals whose Momoirs we have given, we have always considered it a duty which we owe to our Readers, on no account to allow that feeling to degenerate so far into party prejudice as to induce us to exclude from our Work the history of the public life of any one so distinguished, on the indefensible plea that he thinks not as we do, and as the common phrase expresses it, is not one of us." That the Subject of our present Memoir has raised himself into distinction, will not be denied, when it is understood that he has been the Editor for nearly thirty years of a daily Journal, admitted on all sides to have been carried on with a superior degree of talent; and that this distinction has been highly honourable to himself, may also be asserted, when it can be added without fear of contradiction, that the consistency of its ostensible principles has never been surrendered to any offers or prospects of advantage which a change in them might have secured.

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We feel, therefore, that no apology is required for the biographical article of our present Number; for we presume to think, that the profession of a Journalist, when pursued with integrity and independence, is of no mean importance to a country that enjoys the blessing of a free press; and, of all occupations, that of a Journalist is perhaps the most

delicate. A lawyer is bound to take up the side of a cause which is first presented to him, and it is essential to the ends of justice that he should do so; he receives also a fee for his exertions. But a Journalist must take up no cause of which his understanding and heart do not approve; nor any cause for money. He degrades himself and pros. titutes the Press when he is seen to waver in his political opinions grounded in conviction; or, when he carries his talents and opportunities to market. It is the good fortune of Mr. Perry that he has not merely been uniform, but disinterested, in his long political career. He has never, for the sake of temporary success, fallen in with, or flattered, the changing opinions of the day, but has inflexibly adhered to the doctrines of Whiggism,even when they were the most unfashionable; and it would seem that, in trusting to the principles which he adopted for ultimate favour, and to the public for remuneration, he has not been disappointed, since the success of his paper has secured to him an easy inde pendance with an unblemished reputation.

MR. JAMES PERRY is a native of Aberdeen. He was born on the 30th of October, 1756, and received the first rudiments of education at Chapel of Garioch, of which parish the Rev. W. Farquhar, father of Sir Walter Farquhar, was minister, and where, along with the youngest brother of Sir Walter, he received from that venerable and learned Divine the most assiduous instruction. The Rev. Dr. Tait, who has since risen to a dignified station in the Church of England, was then Master of the School of Chapel, and gave it celebrity by his erudition and abilities. From this, Mr. Perry was removed to the High School of Aberdeen, which he went through with credit to himself, under the Messieurs Duo, then its principal masters.

In the year 1771, he was entered of Mareschall College, in the University of Aberdeen, and was afterwards placed under Dr. Arthur Dingwall Fordyce, Advocate, to qualify him for the profession of the Scots law; but his father, who was an eminent Builder, having engaged in some unsuccessful speculations of his business, the young man left Aberdeen in 1774, and proceeded to Edinburgh in the hope of obtaining a situation in some professional gentle. man's chambers, where he might at once pursue his studies and obtain a liveli

hood. But after long and ineffectual attempts to gain employment he came to England, and was, for two years, engaged in Manchester as Clerk to Mr. Denwiddie, a respectable manufacturer. In this situation he cultivated his mind by the study of the best authors, and gained the friendship and protection of the principal gentlemen of the town, by the talents he displayed in a Society which was then established by them for philosophical and moral discussions, and by several literary Essays, which obtained their approbation.

In the beginning of 1777, he brought with him recommendations from all the principal manufacturers to their correspondents, but they all failed of procuring him any suitable introduction; it was, however, the accidental effect of one of them that threw him into the line of life which he has from that pe riod persevered in with such invariable constancy.

There was at that time an Opposition Journal, published under the title of The General Advertiser,and being a new concern, it was the practice of the proprietors to exhibit the whole contents of it upon boards at different shop-windows and doors, in the same manner as we now see the theatrical placards displayed. Mr. Perry being unemployed, amused himself with writing Essays and scraps of Poetry for this paper, which he flung into the letter-box of the printinghouse, and which were always inserted. Calling one day at the shop of Messrs. Richardson and Urquhart, booksellers, to whom he had letters of recommendation, he found the latter busily engaged in reading and apparently enjoy ing, an article in The Ceneral Aavertiser. After Mr. Urquhart had finished the perusal, Mr Perry put the usual question to him, whether he had heard of any situation that would suit him; to which he replied in the negative,— at the same time holding out the paper, he said, “* If you could write such articles as this I could give you immediate employment.” It happened to be a Humorous Essay, written by Mr. Perry himself. This he instantly intimated to Mr. Urquhart, and gave him another article in the same hand-writing, which he had proposed to drop into the letterbox. Mr. Urquhart expressed great satisfaction at the discovery, and informed him that he was one of the prin. cipal proprietors of the Paper; that they wanted just such a person; and as there was to be a meeting of the Proprietors

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that same evening, he would propose Mr. Perry as a writer. He did so; and the next day he was engaged at a salary of one guinea per week, and an additional half-guinea for assistance to The London Evening Post, then printed by the same person.

Such was the incident that threw Mr. Perry into the profession of a Journalist. He was most assiduous in his exertions for The General Advertiser; and, during the memorable trials of Admirals Keppell and Palliser, he, for six weeks together, by his individual efforts, sent up daily from Portsmouth eight columns of the trials, taken by him in Court: which, from the interest they excited, raised the Paper to a sale of several thousands per day.

At this time, Mr. Perry wrote and published several political pamphlets and poems; and, in 1782, he formed the plan, and was the first Editor, of this Magazine, upon the design of combining, in one monthly publication, the usual miscellaneous contents of such a Work, with a Review of New Books. He conducted it, however, only for the first twelve months, as on the death of a Mr. Wall he was chosen by the Proprietors of The Gazetteer to be the Editor of that respectable Paper. The Proprietors of which consisted of the principal Booksellers in London-Mr. Thomas Payne, Mr. White, Mr. Nicol, Mr. Lockyer Davies, Mr. Paul Vaillant, the present Sir Nathaniel Conant, Mr. Elsmilie, &c. &c. Mr. Perry undertook the Editorship of the Paper at a salary of four guineas per week, on the express condition that he was to be left to the free exercise of his political opinions, which were those asserted by Mr. Fox-opinions which, from their liberality in the cause of freedom, justice, and humanity, had made on his first entering the gallery of the House of Commous, an impression that could not be effaced from his mind. It is truly honourable to those Gentlemen, that, during the eight years in which he continued the Editor, they never endeavoured to influence his sentiments, but were pleased to express their unqualified satisfaction with his exertions..

predecessor of Mr. Perry in The Gazet teer had been in the habit of spinning out the reports of Debates for weeks, and even months, after the Session had closed; while Mr. Woodfall, in The Morning Chronicle, used to bring out his hasty sketch of the Debate in the evening of the following day. Mr. Perry's plan was adopted; and by a succession of Reporters, The Gazetteer was published in the morning with as long a Debate as Mr. Woodfall brought out in the evening, and sometimes at midnight.

Some of our Readers may recollect that, in the years 1780, 1781, and 1782, there were numerous Debating Societies in every part of the Metropolis, where many persons that have since been con spicuous in Parliament, in the Pulpit, and on the Bench, distinguished themselves as public Speakers. Mr. Perry was a Speaker in these Societies, and is mentioned with great praise in the History of The Westminster Forum. Mr. Pitt used to attend these Societies, although he never spoke at any of thems and it is not perhaps generally known, that The Lyceum was fitted up and received that title, expressly for a superior School of Oratory, by John Sheridan, Esq. a Barrister, with the view of enabling such young Gentlemen as were designed for the Senate and Bar to prac tice public speaking before a genteel auditory. It was opened for a few nights at five shillings as the price of admittance. Mr. Pilt and several of his friends frequented it, but the enter prise fell to the ground. We mention these particulars, because we have been credibly informed that, afterwards, when Mr. Pitt came to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, baving had frequent opopportunities of witnessing Mr. Perry's talent in public speaking, and particu larly in reply, caused a proposal to be made to him of coming into Parlia ment, which would have probably led on to high fortune. Mr. Perry, however, thought proper to reject it, as he did afterwards an offer of the same kind from the Earl of Shelburne; and he has uniformly maintained the principles with which he first set out in his political course.

On his commencing Editor of The Mr. Perry was for several years EdiGazetter, he suggested to the proprietor of Debrett's Parliamentary Debates, tors the plan of employing several reporters, to facilitate the publication of the Debates in Parliament. Up to that time each Paper had but one Reporter in each House of Parliament; and the

to the exclusion of advertisements and other extraucous matter. This Work had fallen into disrepute, and the proprictors set it up to public sale. In the mean while, Mr. Woodfall undertook

another Paper, under the title of The Diary, and Mr. Ferry bought The Morning Chronicle. He announced

himself, in conjunction with his friend Mr. Gray, as joint Proprietor and Editor, and declared he would be responsible for its contents. From that time to the present day,it has continued to be the Organ of genuine Whig principies, uniformly asserting the doctrines that placed the illustrious House of Brunswick upon the throne of the United Kingdom, and equally deprecating all violent changes, whether attempted by Jacobins on one side or Ultra-royalists on the other. The consequence has been, that he has been assailed and reviled by both extremes of party, while the great constitutional body of the Whigs, and of the friends of freedom, have considered the Chronicle as the true vehicle of sound constitutional doctrines. We pretend not to enter into any discussion of this adoption, but we seize this opportunity of remarking, what is truly creditable to Mr. Perry, that he has never suffered his Paper to be degraded by private personalities or scandal, and that he has never been suspected of venality. Twice in the course of forty years he has been prosecuted by ex officio informations, and has been as often honourably acquitted. In the first instance he was most ably defended by his noble friend Lord Erskine, and in the second he took his defence upon himself.

In private life, Mr. Perry had the happiness to maintain his aged parents in comfort, and to bring up the orphan family of his sister by her first marriage. She was afterwards married, for the second time, to the celebrated Professor Porson, and died in 1796.

In 1798, Mr. Perry was married to Miss Anne Hull, a young Lady of the most amiable accomplishments, with whom, for many years, he lived in the most perfect state of connubial felicity. She brought him eight children, one of whom died young; and the eldest, a daughter, of the most promising talents, was carried off at the age of fourteen, by the rupture of a blood-vessel, in the arms of her Mother, which gave a shock to that lady's constitution which she never recovered. She sunk into a decline, and took a voyage to Lisbon in hopes of restoration by a milder climate; on her return she was taken prisoner by an Algerine frigate, and after suffering much in the voyage, she sunk under ber complaint soon after she was landed at Bourdeaux.

To the Editor of the European Magazine,

SIR,

I heard my Master t'other day, as I was watching the falling crumbs from his breakfast-table, reading to his little girl about 12 years of age, an ac count in the Newspaper of the sagacity of a dog who pointed out to a lady a shawl which she had dropped off her shoulders, and which had been left by her where it fell, at some distance in the path she had walked in. I own I was greatly pleased to hear such a testimony borne to the cleverness of one of my species, more especially as the lady her self could not boast half so much if the tale was rightly told; for I cannot help thinking that she displayed a great deal of stupidity in not missing the shawl off her shoulders at the time it fell.

However this may be, I beg to send you a little anecdote of myself; not, I assure you, because I wish to bring my. self into public notice by a personal puff, like many of our reasoning masters, but merely to shew that a dog may some times claim a degree of superiority even over the much-boasted rational powers of Him who calls him Dog, and kicks and feeds him alternately just as the capricious humour of his lordly authority may influence him.

You must know that my Master, his Wife, and my young Mistress, Mary, were going last Sunday in their sha'-cart to dine with a friend at Brixton Cause. way. I was allowed to follow at a respectful distance upon my four pads. The weather was uncommonly hot, and my Master drove on at a pretty good trot, so that I had much ado to keep up with him, that I might take advantage of the shade of the sha'. Just as we had got through Kennington Turnpike, a ragged suspicious looking fellow, with his leg tied up with a red garter, and a crutch under his arm, hobbled off the causeway and asked for charity. My Master, I suppose, thinking that charity covereth a multitude of sins, and would compensate for that which he was then committing in breaking the Sabbath by going a pleasuring, threw the beggar one of the halfpence which the Tollkeeper had given him in change. As soon as he did this I instantly ran to wards it; and as I had the advantage in point of legs over the mendicant, I reached the spot where it fell before he could come up, and seizing it in my mouth, notwithstanding the menace of the fellow who lifted up his crutch at me, I quietly tripped back with it after

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