n6 FAMOUS SCOTS 



was found on which had been written these lines to his 

 wife : 



1 DEAREST LYDIA, My brain burns, I musthave walked ; 

 and a fearful dream rises upon me. I cannot bear the 

 horrible thought. God and Father of the Lord Jesus 

 Christ, have mercy upon me. Dearest Lydia, dear chil- 

 dren, farewell. My brain burns as the recollection grows. 

 My dear, dear wife, farewell. HUGH MILLER.' 



It fell to Dr. Guthrie, in whose church of Free St. 

 John's the deceased had been an office member, to 

 apprise the widow of the real nature of the case ; and in 

 order to secure her sanction for a post-mortem examina- 

 tion the above letter had to be produced, showing that 

 his purpose had been executed almost before the ink was 

 dry. On the 26th the verdict was issued : c From the 

 diseased appearances found in the brain, taken in con- 

 nection with the history of the case, we have no doubt 

 that the act was suicidal, under the impulse of insanity.' 

 His funeral was the largest Edinburgh had seen since 

 that of Chalmers, and by his side in the Grange Ceme- 

 tery he was laid. To the mass of his countrymen 

 abroad he was the greatest of living Scotchmen. His 

 works had given him a European reputation in science, 

 while to those at home the work he had accomplished 

 as a tribune of the people had given him a position 

 second only to that of Guthrie. 



A generation has arisen since which hears but by 

 vague report the principles for which the men of 1843 

 contended. It takes many a man to fall in the ditch 



