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CHAPTER I. 



NON-INTRUSION. 



IF we wish to have a correct appreciation of Hugh 

 Miller, and not to substitute an image of our fancy for 

 the living man, we must clearly apprehend and perfectly 

 admit two propositions : first, that he was, in the deepest 

 foundations of his character, a religious man ; secondly, 

 that he was, distinctively and with his whole heart, a 

 Scotchman. 



Pew passages in the works of Mr Carlyle have been 

 more frequently quoted or more justly admired than 

 that in which, in criticising the cosmopolitan tendencies 

 of Schiller, he affirms the worth of patriotic feeling. 

 ' Nature herself,' says Mr Carlyle, ' has, wisely, no doubt, 

 partitioned us into " kindreds, and nations, and tongues : " 

 it is among our instincts to grow warm in behalf of our 

 country, simply for its own sake ; and the business of 

 Reason seems to be to chasten and direct our instincts, 

 never to destroy them. We require individuality in 

 our attachments : the sympathy which is expanded over 

 all men, will commonly be found so much attenuated by 

 the process, that it cannot be effective on any. And as 

 it is in nature, so it is in art, which ought to be the 

 image of it. Universal philanthropy forms but a pre- 



