Broadside detailing a letter by William Perrie

Transcription

A copy of a very affecting and interesting letter,
written by William Perrie, before his execution,
on Wednesday, and which was found in the
Condemned Cell, after his Execution, addressed
to Mr Masson, one of the elders who attended
him when in Jail.-Copied from the Glasgow
Chronicle of October 23. 1837.

My Dear Friend,-Your kind attention, your friendly visits, and
labours of love towards me, when a prisoner in the tolbooth of Pais-
ley, both before and after sentence of death up to the moment in
which I pressed your hand for the last time on earth, were felt by
me with that gratitude which is best acknowledged by the silent
glows and emotions of the heart, and gives more satisfaction than
any language I could adopt under such painful circumstances as I
was placed in, and though the memorial must, with other records,
perish amidst the wreck of years,yet surely it is registered on High
an Everlasting Record in the Sky. -To- Masson, elder, by his
loving but unfortunate friend, William Perrie.

The parting of Perrie with his children, on the night before his
execution, was hea t rending in the extreme. He cried like an in-
fant, and embraced them so eagerly as almost to hurt their tender
names, and implored upon them the blessing of God, exhorting
them at the same time to follow undeviatingly the paths of religion
and virtue. It appears that he, if not jealous of his first wife, at
least watched her so closely in company, as to make himself quite
ridiculous.

Ancient Gold Coins found in the Cathedral of Glasgow.- On
Thursday last, three of the workmen, two masons and a labourer,
employed in renovating the interior of our venernble Cathedral,
found 160 ancient gold coins under the pavement, about five inches
from the base of one of the pillars which the wall lately taken down
intersrcted, and which divided the Outer High Church from the
Nave.-These workmen kept the secret of their good luck from their
fellows who were employed near them, and sold the gold to a jew.
eller for L.84 18s.    The thing however spunked out, and Captain
Miller ultimately managed to get possesslon of the pieces mention-
ed above, along with the unlucky finders and   L.71 of the money
they had received for their prize.- The pieces are very thin, and
appeared just to have been slipped in at a wide joint of the pave-
ment, as they all fell down when the stone was removed.    The
whole of the coins are in a state of most perfect preservation, and
consist of 62 Nobles of one of the early Edwards of England, about
the size of half-a-crown, on one side of which there is a ship, with
a figure on deck bearing a sword in the one hand and a shield in the
other: and round the rim " Edward Dei Gra Rex." is entire.    The
reverse side has a large cross in the centre, and it is surrounded al-
ternately by crowns and the fleur-de-lis.    This coin is of most beau-
tiful workmanship.    The other coins are smaller, about the size of a
shilling, and amount in number to 58.    On one side there is the fi-
gure of St. Andrew on the cross; on the other a lion, surmounted
by a crown, and " Robertus del Gracia Rex Scotorum," perfectly
legible.    The whole are now in the hands of Captain Miller, and a
full examination of the parties concerned has been taken, in order to
be transmitted to the proper authorities.    In the meantime an offi-
cer of Police has been stationed in the church, in order to secure
for her majesty's use whatever may again turn up in the gold way.
- An ingenious Correspondet, who writes us on the above matter,
states, that supposing these coins to have been lent out at five per
cent. compound interest, five hundred and thirty-seven years ago,
about the period they may have lain buried, the following would be
the pretty little sum to which it would have now amounted, viz :
Thirty five billions, one hundred and forty-seven thousand one hun-
dred and sixty-four millions, nine hundred and eighteen thousand,
six hundred and fifty pounds,-or 43 934 times the amount of the
national debt!-Herald.

" Yesterday (Wednesday) the persons who discovered the aeins
were taken into custody and underwent an examination, in the
course of which the whole circumstances attending their discovery
and subsequent sale were brought out. We believe there is no in-
tention to punish the poor fellows, but they have been called upon
to refund the whole of the money which they raised. The coins
will of course be retained as treasure trove on the part of the Crown.
They ought to be distributed to different public museums,with a note
of the exact situation and circumstances under which they have been
found,-Argus.

                                                                Muir, Printer.

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