$136 
through the greater part of the same poli¬ 
tical storm, he maintained his integrity 
and his principles without provoking per¬ 
secution, or being questioned by irritated 
power, except on two trifling occasions.* 
In truth, Mr. Perry stood dauntless in the 
front ranks of the advocates of liberal 
opinions, and seldom flinched in the per¬ 
formance of his duty, although nearly 
every other public writer on the same side 
suffered deeply, or was overwhelmed in 
the conflicts of malicious parties. This 
success arose from the happy temperament 
and intellectual acumen of Mr. Perry. 
Like a great general in the management 
of an army, he did not always attack the 
adversary in front, but performed his ma¬ 
noeuvres in subordination to the positions 
and temper of his opponents. He kept up 
a constant fire in the small shot of wit and 
humour, of which he possessed an inex¬ 
haustible magazine, in his own pen, and in 
those of his correspondents, as will be 
manifest to any one who turns over the 
files of the Morning Chronicle , or the an¬ 
nual volumes of the Spirit of the Public 
Journals. At other times he assaiied the 
enemy on their flatiks and outposts, and 
at other suitable opportunities made his 
attacks in the open field by a powerful 
cannonade of unanswerable arguments and 
irresistible eloquence. For his skill in 
the stratagy of the press, he nevertheless 
often exposed himself ;o the tauntsof other 
writers on the same side, who sustained 
their cause with equal integrity, but with 
inferior tactics. In some respects, also, 
Mr. Perry differed in his political views 
from other champions of the popular cause. 
He was of opinion that liberty can be pro¬ 
tected in England only by a powerful 
party in the senate, and to such party he 
constantly attached himself, became its 
firmadvocate, and, by reciprocal feeling, its 
organ. He was, therefore, in the life of 
Mr. Fox, a Foxite and a Whig; and since 
the decease of that g'reat man he has lent 
his support to his political successors. Iu 
this policy he was at variance with ^ther 
writers, simply as to the means by which 
liberty could be upheld, but not in regard 
to the end, for no man was ever more at¬ 
tached to the genuine principles of liberty 
than himself. If he had a fault in the con¬ 
duct or the Morning Chronicle, it was in 
too frequently indulging' in piques, or 
sarcasms against partizans of liberty as 
zealous as himself, and who sought for 
support iu the voice of the people rather 
than in 1 he ambiguous professions of the po- 
* Twice in the course of forty years 
he was prosecuted by ex-officio informa¬ 
tions, and was as often honourably ac¬ 
quitted. In the first instance he was ably 
defended by Mr. Erskine, and in the se¬ 
cond he took his defence upon himself. 
[Jan. 1. 
litical aristocracy of whom Mr. Perry, ou 
every occasion, was the zealous advocate. 
He was, probably, right in supporting 
a -well-intentioned aristocracy ; but they, 
on the other hand, are bound to stand 
fairly before the public, and to render 
manifest the purity of their principles 
and intentions. Ou this basis no man of 
his age equalled the editor of the Morn¬ 
ing Chronicle in the consistency of his 
conduct. Considering, therefore, the oner¬ 
ous duties which Mr. Perry has had to 
perform during so prolonged a period, and 
in so eventful an age, iu which he has been 
the recorder of the greatest revolutions 
that appear in the page of history, and in 
which he has often come into personal 
contact with the chief actors of his time, 
by turns flattering and thwarting their 
ambition—he must be regarded as one of 
the most considerable agents of the pub¬ 
lic press that has appeared since the in¬ 
vention of newspapers.-—Mr. perry was a 
native of Aberdeen, where his father, of 
the name of Pirie, was a wright or house- 
joiner. His first school was at the Chapel 
of Guriveh,kept by Mr.Farquhar, father of 
the late Sir Walter. He was thence remov¬ 
ed to the Grammar School at Aberdeen, 
afterwards entered the Latin and Greek 
class at Marischal College, where he con¬ 
tinued three years, and was then articled 
to Arthur Ding'vvall Ford} 7 ce, an attorney. 
When his term had expired his genius led 
him to associate with the actors in a com¬ 
pany which visited Aberdeen, and being 
at that time a good dancer, he was se¬ 
duced by Digges, Mills, and others of the 
company, to engage himself in their pur¬ 
suits. He accordingly appeared on the 
stage at Montrose, Arbroath, Duudee, 
and Perth, and according to Mr. Holcroft, 
at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Mr. H. 
was of the same company. His perform¬ 
ances consisted of Sempronius, and some 
second-rate characters, and of a hornpipe 
between the acts ; but on the company’s 
return to Edinburgh, Digges, the manager, 
candidly told Pirie (. Anglic^ Perry) that 
his brogue was an insuperable bar to his 
success ou the stage. Procuring recom¬ 
mendations hence to Manchester, he was 
retained as a clerk, by Mr. Dinwiddie, a 
cotton manufacturer, in whose service he 
continued two years. From thence he came 
to London, where, through the friendship of 
Alexander Chalmers, his townsman, he ob¬ 
tained a precarious subsistence by waiting 
for the booksellers. The “ General Adver¬ 
tiser,” being then a new concern, it was the 
practice to exhibit it on boards at the shop 
window. Mr. Perry being unemployed, 
amused himself with waiting essays and 
scraps of poety for this paper, which he flung 
into the letter box of the printing-house, and 
which were always inserted. Calling one 
day at the shop of Messrs, Richardson and 
Urquhart , 
Memoirs of Mr. Perry. 
