218 EDITOR. 



public. She accompanied herself on the piano, and her 

 shakes and bravuras, on which she industriously lingered, 

 would not have a soothing effect on Hugh's nerves 

 while engaged with his articles. The only servant in the 

 establishment was a ' little maid of all work a child 

 some twelve years of age who did not look above nine/ 

 and who 'had all that passed for cleaning in the 

 apartments to accomplish by her own little self.' Mrs 

 Miller did something to alleviate for her husband the 

 horror of all this, but it is obvious that the sole adequate 

 remedy was to get out of it. 



So deeply had Miller felt the discomforts of his 

 situation that, before Mrs Miller's arrival, he had taken 

 a small house in Sylvan Place on the southern or country 

 side of the Meadows. ' It was No. 5, the house 

 farthest up the lane. There was a tiny morsel of railed 

 ground in front, a bit somewhat larger under grass at 

 the back. A pleasant market-garden surrounded this 

 enclosure on two sides. A small white-washed dairy 

 stood embowered in trees at the farther end of the lane/ 

 A short walk through lanes and fields led to the gently 

 sloping rise of the Braid hills, from which Scott described 

 and Turner drew Edinburgh. Under these improved 

 aspects Hugh Miller set up his first household in the 

 Scottish capital. 



To furnish the house was no easy matter. It had 

 been thought best to dispose of the furniture which had 

 been in the dwelling in Cromarty, but, owing to a con- 

 tinuance of heavy rains, the attendance at the sale was 

 meagre in the extreme, and the household goods, valued 

 at about 150, had yielded a net amount of 40. 

 Such was the sum available for the new furnishing. 

 Miller's salary was 200. He absolutely refused to 

 permit any article to be bought on credit. The diffi- 



