DR M'COSH'S RECOLLECTIONS. 447 



important and respectable as that of Distributor of 

 Stamps for Perthshire. My utter lack of any claim, 

 personal or political, on your Lordship, makes me, I 

 trust, all the more sensible of such a spontaneous exer- 

 tion of goodness on my behalf. I find, however, that, 

 partly from a too facile disposition, and partly from that 

 rigidity of mind and habit which, making itself felt in 

 most cases after the period of middle life has been 

 passed, usually renders men turned of fifty unfit to take 

 up a new profession to any good effect, I would be but 

 ill-qualified for the efficient performance of the duties of 

 an office of such responsibility and care. I would, I 

 have too much reason to fear, break down under the 

 difficulties and responsibilities of a course of exertion 

 which might seem to many even less laborious and ex- 

 citing than the one in which I am at present engaged, 

 and thus fail to do justice to your Lordship's kind 

 recommendation. And so, with a sense of your good- 

 ness which will, I trust, remain with me through life, I 

 respectfully and gratefully decline availing myself of 

 that offer of exerting your influence on my behalf which 

 you have so generously made me through my kind 

 friend, Dr Guthrie.' 



At this point it will be convenient to take in those 

 recollections of Hugh Miller for which my acknow- 

 ledgments are due to Dr McCosh. 



DR M'COSH'S RECOLLECTIONS. 



' I HAVE been requested to write out some recollec- 

 tions of my old friend, and I have a melancholy pleasure 

 in complying. 



1 The name of Hugh Miller first became known to 

 me, as it did to Scotchmen generally, by his Letter from 



