SCOTLAND.
We regret to announce the death of Professor Sir John Leslie, who expired on Saturday afternoon, after a very short illness, at his seat of Coates, in Fife. We have not heard what was the particular cause of his death ; he had been for some time afflicted with rose in the leg; but the disease that carried him off so suddenly we understand to have been an affection of the heart. Dr. Thomson was sent for by expresefronz Edinburgh; and before he reached Coates, Sir John was no snore The death of this distinguished philosopher will create a mighty blank in the scientific world. For original genius, profound literature, and inventive powers, perhaps he had not an equal in modem times. For the long period of twenty-seven years, he filled in succession the chairs. of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in our University ; and few brighter names than his occur in its annals. His reputations was equally high in foreign countries as his own, and his talents had obtained him the most flattering distinctions from almost every scientific society in Eu- rope. The loss sustained by the Edinburgh University, it will not be easy to repair we know of very few individuals in Scotland whose at- tainment in diet branch of study would warrant them in aspiring to fill the vacancy.—Edinburgh Advertiser.
We understand that a meeting of the creditors of the late Sir Walter Scott was held here on Monday the 29th October, when an offer was made by the family of our illustrious countryman to pay to the claim- ants on the 2d of February next, a sum, which in addition to the funds in the bands of the trustees, and the amount to arise from life insurances,- will give nine shillings per pound to all, and this for a discharge. The whole amount to be thus distributed will be about 53,0001., which with former payments to nearly the same extent, and dividends received from other quarters, is equal to the whole rankings [debts proved] against Sir Walter Scott in ISO. The meeting was very numerously attended, and the proposal was adopted without a dissentient voice ; and in ad- dition to the resolution accepting the offer, and directing the trustees to see the same carried into effect, the following was moved and carried. with a like unanimity— "And, while the meeting state their anxious wish that everycreditor who is not present may adopt the same ruolution, they think it a tribute justlydue,to the memory of Sir Walter Scott to express in the strongest manner their deep sense of his most honourable conduct, and of the unparalleled benefits which_ they have derived from the extraordinary exertion of his unrivalled talents under misfortunes and difficulties which would have paralyzed the exertions of any one else, but in him only farther proved the greatness of mind which enabled him to rise superior to them."
In communicating this intelligence to our readers, we cannot help ex- pressing our gratification, in which we are sure that all will heartily sympathize, that this matter has been brought to a satisfactory conclu- sion. The conduct of Sir Walter Scott, under the heavy and unex- pected trials to which he was exposed, is above all praise; and has been, indeed, a subject of universal admiration. The honourable feelings by which he was actuated in his incessant efforts to pay his debts, could. not fail to be dilly appreciated by his creditors ; and their ready accept- ance of the present offer, as a final settlement, is a farther proof of the= favourable disposition towards him, who, from his exalted genius as well as his sterling moral worth, has left behind him a name—" Above all Greek, above all Roman fame."—Edinburgh Evening Courant.
A spirited subscription is now in progress in the neighbourhood of Melrose and Abbotsford for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of Sir Walter Scott. It is proposed to build the monument_ on the top of the Eildon Hills (the Trimontium of Agricola). From the conical peak, 1,330 feet above the level of the sea, one of the most picturesque and commanding in the south of Scotland, it will be- seem from thirteen counties. A more appropriate site could not be selected„ situated in the same parish, and skirting the estate of Abbotsford. From this point the scenery of the Abbot, Monastery, Bride of Lam- mermoor, St. Ronan's Well, Black Dwarf, Guy Mannering, Red- gauntlet, and the numerous skirmishes immortalized in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, can be distinctly traced.—Edinburgh Evening Courant.
A public dinner was given yesterday to Mr. Speirs of Elderslie at Johnstoun ; but as he was rather complaining, he did not attend. One of his sons, however, and Mr. Bontine, went out to supply his place. At six o'clock in the ewening, a messenger arrived in Paisley, stating that Mr. Speirs had dropped down and expired in his dressing- :room while dressing for dinner.—Glusgow Courier.
About six hundred young men of Glasgow have enrolled themselves into a regiment under the title of the " Glasgow Constitutional Vo- lunteers," to assist in forwarding the Constitutional cause in Portugal. 'They sail for Oporto in a day or two.—Glasgow Chronide.
John Chisholm, in pursuance of the sentence passed upon him at the late Perth Circuit Court of Justiciary, was on Wednesday executed on . a scaffold erected outside the wall of the Gaol, opposite the Greyfriars' Burying-ground. After being ready to be thrown off, he prayed silently for sonic minutes ; the drop fell, when he died without a struggle. The awful scene was witnessed by an immense concourse. ' This was to be expected, as he had been not less than forty years a merchant in Perth. Chisholm's first wife frequently upbraided him . for his unkind usage, and warned him " he would be banged, though she could not live to see it." He was about seventylsix years of age.— . -Glasgow Chronicle.
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