446 MAN OF SCIENCE. 



was thoroughly established. He felt that he had 

 earned a right to comparative repose, and that mind 

 and body required it. A large proportion of his 

 countrymen agreed with Lord Dalhousie in his Lord- 

 ship's brief and emphatic opinion on the subject of the 

 chair : ' I have written to Lord Aberdeen as strongly 

 as I can in favour of Hugh Miller's claims, and I shall 

 consider that the best man amongst us for this chair is 

 passed over should he not be chosen.' With all respect 

 to the memory of the eminent naturalist who received 

 the appointment, we may be permitted to hold that, in a 

 Scottish University, no man could have so deeply stirred 

 the enthusiasm of geological students as the author of 

 the Old Red Sandstone. Professor Edward Forbes, how- 

 ever, had the advantage of being thirteen years the 

 younger man, and this advantage may have turned the 

 scale. The disappointment was deeply felt by Miller. 



In 1855 Lord Breadalbane offered him, through Dr 

 Guthrie, the office of Distributor of Stamps and Col- 

 lector of the Property Tax for Perthshire. Income 

 ' about 800 per annum may be more/ the holder 

 being required to disburse from 200 to 300 yearly in 

 office expenses. c It is not an onerous duty,' wrote his 

 Lordship ; ' residence at Perth will be necessary, but 

 occasional absence is permitted, and five or six weeks' 

 holidays during the year. All I should ask of Mr Mil- 

 ler would be to come and see me at Taymouth as often 

 as possible, for I am very anxious to know him, and to 

 cultivate his acquaintance.' Dr Guthrie handed Lord 

 Breadalbane's note to Miller, and, after considerable 

 hesitation, he replied to it in these terms : 



' It is with heartfelt gratitude that I tender your 

 Lordship my sincere thanks for the kindness you have 

 shown me in proposing to recommend me to an office so 



