THE CONTRIBUTOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1652, 21 July 1883, Page 27

THE CONTRIBUTOR.

A SHORT SKETCH OF HUGH MILLER'S LIFE.

Bt E. C. "We cannot look, however imperfectly," says Carlyle, " upon a great man without gaining something by him " and although Hugh Miller may not in all respects answer to Carlyle's ideal of a great man or a hero, still in very many respects he was a great man indeed, and one whose life deserves our attention.

Hugh Miller was born in Cromarty, in the North of Scotland, October 10th, 1802. His father was master and owner of a small craft, and perished at sea when the subject of our sketch was only five years of age. His mother, thus left a widow, was only in her 24th year, and besides Hugh, who was the eldest, she had two other children, both girls. To support herself and family she had to betake herself to needlework, as her fixed income was only £12 per annum. She was, however, befriended by her two brothers, who are mentioned in Hugh Miller's "Schools and Schoolmasters" as his uncles James and Sandy ; they were excellent men, and supplied the place of a father to their young nephew. At an early age Hugh was sent to school, but made little progress till he made the discovery that the art of reading was the art of finding stories in books, and from that moment reading became one of the most delightful of his amusements ; and instead of attending to his lessons he used to bring his story books to school with him and read them by stealth. At an early age, besides reading the old Testament stories, the Pilgrim's Progress, Sinbad the Sailor, Jack the Giant Killer, &c, &c, he had read such books as the translation of the works of Homer and Virgil, and other works supposed to be only suited for grown-up folks, but which he found to be suited for children also. Of course, as was to be expected, when he passed his time reading books, the studies of the school were neglected. The only lesson hepasßed creditably in waa the Latin lesson ; the master had the habit of reading over the translation of the next day's lesson the night before, and Hugh, having an excellent memory, gave him back his own translation word for word when called on, much to the master's satisfaction. From story-reading Hugh Miller passed on to story-telling, and used to amuse, his schoolfellows by going over with them all the books he had read, and when he had exhausted all his stock of acquired fact and fiction, the demand being as great as ever, he began to try his ability at original production, and to dole out to them long extempore biographies, which met with great acceptance. He was also the hero in all outdoor excursions, leading small parties in many daring exploits. His school days came to an unexpected close in the following manner : — At the first school he was sent to he had acquired the broad Scotch pronunciation, for instance, the letter "a" would be pronounced " aw," so one day he was asked by the master of the school he was now at to spell the word awful, he Bpelt it a-w-f-u-1 awful. No, said the master, spell it a-w-aw-f-u-l awful, meaning to name each syllable after he had spelt it ; but Hugh thought the "aw" meant another. "a " stuck in the middle, and firmly refused to spell the word in so absurd a manner. As words had no effect the master had resource to stronger arguments, and began to belabour his unfortunate pupil till the pupil could stand it no longer, so he grappled with him. A wrestling match took place, and for a long time it was doubtful who would get the victory, but at last the master backed his rebellious subject over a form and thra?hed him to his heart's content. Hugh then picked up hia books, took hiscap, and left the school. Having now, as some people say, finished his education, he had to consider what trade or profession he would adopt. His uncles were anxious that he should study for one of the learned professions, and offered to aid him ; £lfl i i gh deci <*ed on being a stone-mason, chiefly because there was a good deal of leisure time during the winter months, during which he

could devote himself to reading. The life of a stone-mason was one of hardship, and one exposed to many temptations. One of these temptations was from strong drink. It was the custom to treat the workmen to drink on very many occasions, such as laying foundation stones, &c, &c. ; and one day two glasses of whisky fell to Hugh Miller's share. This would have been as nothing to a full-grown man accustomed to it, but when Hugh went home and opened one of his favourite books, Bacon's Essay's, he found the letters dancing before his eyes, and he could not master the sense. " I had sunk," he says, "by my own act to a lower level of intelligence than that on which it was my privilege to bo placed, and although the state could not have been a very favourable one for forming a resolution I in that hour determined that I should never again sacrifice my capacity for intellectual enjoyment to a drinking usage, and with God's help I waß enabled to hold by the resolution." It was while working in the quarries that Hugh Miller obtained his practical knowledge of geology, the science which he afterwards did so much to popularise by his well-known works " The Old Red Sandstone," "Footprints of the Creator," " The Testimony of the Rocks," &c. His leisure time during the winter he spent in reading standard books and otherwise improving himself. When about 26 years of age he got employment carving inscriptions on gravestones, and he says that at least he could avoid making any very obvious blunders, and tells the story of a mason engaged at the instance of a bereaved widower in recording on his wife's tombstone " That a virtuous woman ia a crown to her husband," who corrupted the text in his simplicity by substituting 5s for the crown. About this time he published a book of poems entitled " Poems written in the leisure hours of a Journeyman Mason," but they met with rather adverse criticism, and he saw himself that poetry was not the branch of literature suited to him ; and with a view of making a more favourable impression on the public he wrote a series of carefully prepared letters on the herring fisheries, and had them published in the Inverness Courier. These letters attracted attention and were republishedin a pamphlet form by the proprietors. By this time he was known as an authority on the geology of the district, and many distinguished men used to visit him while at his work. After working 15 years as a mason an unexpected offer was made him. The Commercial Bank of Scotland was establishing an agency in Cromarty, and although Miller had no experience of banking he was offered the accountantship. This offer he accepted, and after going to the head office to be instructed in the Bystem of book-keeping, entered on his duties as a bank accountant. When in Edinburgh he published hia work *' Scenes and Legends in the North of Scotland," which was favou-ably received. Two years after he entered the bank he married a Miss M'Kenzie Fraser, a young lady of great accomplishments, and who afterwards aided him greatly in his literary work; his income was only about £100 per annum.

At this time the nonintrusion controversy was raging in the Church of Scotland, and the leading men of the popular party were looking about for a suitable man to edit a paper to support their views, and Hugh Miller was chosen to fill the post, chiefly on account of a very able pamphlet he published, entitled "A Letter to Lord Brougham," bearing on the subject. He continued to edit the Witness newspaper till his 'death ; and in its leading columnß his wellknown works, such as "My Schools and Schoolmasters," "The Old Red Sandstone," "The Headship of Christ," "First lmpressions of England and its People," were first published. The paper obtained a wide circulation on account of the pure and vigorous English in which it was written, and was subscribed for by numbers who did not sympathise with its theological views. Hugh Miller's incessant literary labours began to tell on his mind, and his health gave way. His medical attendants advised him to cease writing for a time, and to take a trip for change of air and scene. This he was intending to do, but in the meantime finished correcting the proof-sheets of his book "The Testimony of the Rocks." On the night of December 24th, 1853, when in a paroxysm of madness, he got out of bed and shot himself. The post mortem examination showed that his reason had given way. In this sad way terminated the life of Hugh Miller, a man of whom any country may be proud to number him among her sons.- A man who, by his earnest upright life, his consistent and able advocacy of the cause of religious freedom, and his pure and vigorous writings, has added another name to the great roll of those who, by their genius and devotion, have made illustrious their native land,

"The land of brown heath and shaggy wood, The land of the mountain and flood." Having now briefly sketched the life of Hugh Miller let us in a few words note some of the lessons that may be learned from it. From any roan's life, be it misspent or well spent, there are lessons for each one of us; if misspent the lessons will be of warning, if well spent then we can surely learn something that will be profitable to us on our journey through life. The first point about Hugh Miller, I would note, is that he made a good use of what we term spare time —that is, the time not occupied by our usual daily work. It was during this spare time he laid up those stores of literary and scientific knowledge of which he made so good use in after life. Too many young men devote all their spare time to pleasure so-called; but Hugh Miller devoted his spare time to the acquirement of knowledge — knowledge of the history of the world we live in, through its various stages of development, till it finally became a fit dwelling place for man ; knowledge of the successive species of animals and plants that lived and died during the untold millions of years that elapsed ere man was created in the image of God ; knowledge of the literature of his country, bringing him in contact with the minds of the great and the good of the years gone by. And surely in doing all this he was not denying himself all pleasure, but in reality enjoying pleasure of a very high order. The next point I would note in his selfreßpect. " This above all, — to thine ownself be true ; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst hot then be false to any man." Hugh Miller was true to himself ; he ever had before him a high ideal, and endeavoured at all times to act up to it. He would do nothing that would lower himself in his own eyes. We mentioned an instance in our sketch of his life in connection with the drinking customs of those ho was associated with, and numerous other examples could be adduced, such as his refusal of all invitations to the mansions of the great and wealthy when he thought those invitations were prompted only by the desire to have the company of one who was much talked about.

Another point I would notice is his perseverance. Hugh Miller was not born with the accomplishment of writing the English language with elegance and purity, but slowly and with difficulty did he attain to the high position which his works occupy among the standard works of English literature; he says himself "how many miserable lines did I not write before I became sufficiently skilful to produce merely tiole'rable ones."

We shall now conclude in the words of his biographer, Mr Peter Bayne. " May we not call his life, first and last, beautiful, august, heroic ? In early manhood he was encompassed with hardship, with coarseness, with manifold temptations. His soul took no taint. He rose superior to every form of vulgarity, — the vulgar ambition of wealth, the vulgar ambition of notoriety, the vulgar baseness of sensuality and licence. Ho aspired to fame ; but it was the fame that should be a ratification of his own severe judgment. 'I have myself,' he said, ' for my critic ; ' and while the decision of this sternest censor was even moderately favourable, no sneers could depress, no applause elate him. His course was a steadfast pursuit of truth and knowledge — an unwearied dedication of himself to all that he believed to be true, and honest, and lovely, and of good report."