titute of organic
remains, this publication claimed an especial interest, which was
enhanced by the elegance of the diction. His subsequent publications
fully sustained his fame. A work on the physical and social aspects of
the sister kingdom, entitled "First Impressions of England and its
People," was followed by "The Footprints of the Creator," the latter
being a powerful reply to the work entitled "Vestiges of the Natural
History of Creation." In 1854 he published a most interesting narrative
of his early struggles and experiences, with the title, "My Schools and
Schoolmasters." "The Testimony of the Rocks," a work on which he
bestowed intense labour, and which may be regarded as his masterpiece,
was published in March 1857, about three months subsequent to his
demise; but all the sheets had undergone his final revision.

For some years his health had been declining; in early manhood he
suffered severely from a pulmonary affection, known as the "mason's
disease," and he never thoroughly recovered. A singular apprehension of
personal danger, inconsistent with the general manliness of his
character, induced him for many years never to go abroad without
fire-arms. He studied with pertinacious constancy, seldom enjoying the
salutary relaxations of society. He complained latterly that his sleep
was distracted by unpleasant dreams, while he was otherwise a prey to
painful delusions. The eye of affection discovered that the system had
been overtaxed; but eminent medical counsel deemed that cessation from
literary toil would produce an effectual cure. The case was much more
serious; a noble intellect was on the very brink of ruin. On the night
of the 24th December 1856, he retired to rest sooner than was his usual,
as the physician had prescribed. With redoubled vehemence he had
experienced the distractions of disordered reason; he rose in a frenzy
from his bed, and, having written a short affectionate letter to his
wife, pointed his revolver pistol to his breast. He fired in the region
of the heart, and his death must have been instantaneous. The melancholy
event took place in his residence of Shrub Mount, Portobello, and his
remains now rest in the Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh. As a geologist it is
not our province to pronounce his eulogy; he was one of the most elegant
and powerful prose-writers of the century, and he has some claims, as
the following specimens attest, to a place among the national poets.

SISTER JEA