PUBLIC DINNER AT CROMARTY. 207 



Messrs Stewart and Mackenzie of Cromarty, Dr Macdonald, Mr Fowler, 

 younger, of Raddery, Mr Hartley of the 93rd Regiment, Mr Grigor, bank 

 agent, Invergordon, Mr Joyner of Cromarty, Mr Murray, Mr Middletori 

 of Davidston, Mr Taylor of Westfield, Mr D. Ross, merchant, &c. &c. 

 The croupierswere Robert Ross, Esq., banker,and Mr John Taylor, sheriff- 

 clerk. On the right of the chairman sat Mr Miller ; near him his friend 

 Mr Carruthers. After the cloth was drawn, the usual loyal toasts drunk, 

 and an air played by the musical band in attendance, the silver service 

 intended for presentation to the guest of the evening was brought 

 into the room and placed on the table. 



The Chairman then called for a special bumper, and spoke to the 

 following effect : ' Before calling upon you, gentlemen, to drink your 

 glasses, it becomes rny duty, as you have done me the honour of placing 

 me, however unworthy, in this chair, to state that Mr Miller, being 

 about to leave this, his native town, to enter upon a wider field of 

 literary labour in Edinburgh, it was deemed fitting to invite him to this 

 public entertainment, and to present him, at the same time, with some 

 substantial proof of the high estimation in which he is held where he 

 is best known. (Cheers.) The articles on your table have accordingly 

 been procured for that purpose, and procured, I am happy to say, by 

 means of a contribution as free and cordial as the most sensitive mind 

 could desire. It is for this reason, rather than on account of their in- 

 trinsic value, that I now, sir (addressing Mr Miller), in name of this 

 most respectable company, and of the absent subscribers, request your 

 acceptance of them, with our best wishes for your prosperity and happi- 

 ness in that other part of the kingdom where Providence has cast your 

 lot. As, in the language of the poet, 



" 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view," 



we do not anticipate that you will think less frequently or warmly of 

 this district, or admire its physical or moral beauty the less, because 

 you cease to reside in it ; but should you, amidst the toils and cares of 

 business, forget it for a time, these things will recall it to your recollec- 

 tion, and tend to strengthen the ties by which you must ever continue 

 bound to a place which you have illustrated by your writings, and the 

 inhabitants of which, while they contemplate your past career with 

 pride, will watch your future progress with mingled feelings of interest 

 and affection. (Loud cheers.) I need only add, in the words of the 

 inscription, which express shortly the motives that prompted the gift, 

 that this plate is " presented to Hugh Miller, Esq., by his friends in the 

 shire of Cromarty and Easter Ross, in testimony of their admiration of 

 his talents as a writer, and of their respect and regard for him as a 

 member of society." Permit rue now, gentlemen, before I sit down, to 

 request that you dedicate this bumper to the health of our excellent 

 guest. (Cheers.) For my own part, I feel peculiar pleasure in propos- 

 ing this toast, because we are assembled not to do honour to a man of 

 rank or title, however highly we may think of those distinctions, but 

 to pay the homage of our respect to a man who has been truly desig- 



