270 HUGH MILLER 



little known beyond his native district. His political 

 pamphlets first gave it a wide reputation, and thence- 

 forth his conduct of a journal that represented the 

 interests of one of the great parties into which his 

 country was divided kept him constantly before the 

 eyes of the public. The Witness rapidly attained a 

 large circulation. It appealed not merely to the church- 

 men whose views it advocated, but to a wide class of 

 readers, who, apart from ecclesiastical polemics, could 

 appreciate its high tone, its sturdy independence, its 

 honesty and candour, and the unusual literary excel- 

 lence of its leading articles. It not only upheld but 

 raised the standard of journalism in Scotland. As a 

 great moral force it exercised a healthy influence on 

 the community. There cannot be any doubt that the 

 powerful advocacy of the Witness was one of the 

 main agencies in sustaining the energies of the non- 

 intrusion party and in consolidating the position of 

 the young Free Church. It is my own deep con- 

 viction that the debt which that Church owes to 

 Hugh Miller has never yet been adequately acknow- 

 ledged. 



Before he had been many months in the editorial 

 chair he began to publish in the columns of his 

 paper the first of that brilliant succession of geo- 

 logical articles which attracted the attention of men 

 of science, as well as of the general public, and which 

 continued to be a characteristic feature of the Witness 

 up to the end of his life. The first articles, describing 

 his discoveries in the Old Red Sandstone of Cromarty, 

 created not a little sensation among the geologists 

 who had gathered in the year 1840 at the memorable 



