ject of "expansion," but this it was held would not invalidate what had been said, but rather be in its favour; moreover, the subject of expansion had been fully discussed at a previous meeting of the members. -Mr. INGHAM, and other engineers, expressed their concurrence in the views of Mr. McNaught—that the desideratum was high pressure steam, with decreased area. Mr. McNaught added that he

was not an

advocate for above 30 or 35lbs. pressure in boilers, though the pressure might safely be increased as we improved in workmanship. His object in calling attention to little cylinders and great pressure, was to induce them to strive to get more pressure on to the pistons than at present. Sooner than go llb. higher with the present boilers, he would rather decrease the pressure. He had been labouring to produce this result for fifteen years, and had with this view brought out a variable expansion gear, which was intended to do away with the throttle valve, or nearly so, that there might be as small a margin as possible between the piston and boiler. But improvement was slow when public opinion did not march with the ideas of inventors. From the existence of the fallacy to which he referred, in order to accommodate the increased pressure, engine makers have been compelled to contract the steam sides of the valves in self-defence. Proprietors would not have the cylinders lessened; and the result is, they are working at something between 30 and 60lbs. pressure in boilers, and throttling it down to 15 a 20lbs. on the piston.

In reply to some further remarks on expansion, Mr. McNaught replied that his object was not to enter into a wide field of controversy, but confine himsel to a practical point or two, from which he though: some good would result in time. They must try what they could do, by co-operating together, to dimi nish the margin of pressure which there was too often between the piston and the boiler. If he had suc

ceeded in contributing a pebble of knowledge to the general stock, his object would be accomplished. If any persons had come with the expectation of learning so much that there would not be a single nook in their heads for another idea, of course they would be disappointed. For himself he liked to be always learning.-In answer to other questions, Mr. McNaught made some remarks on expansion. He said that when a quantity of steam was expanded to about six times its original bulk, no matter at what pressure or how done, whether in the single cylinder or on the compound system,-all had been got out of it that was practically worth having.

The thanks of the members were unanimously awarded to Mr. McNaught for his lecture, and his promise to visit them upon another occasion.

EDUCATION.—The great leading error of modern times is the mistaking erudition for education. Education is the leading human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them; and these two objects are always attainable together, and by the same means; the training which makes men happiest in themselves, also makes them most serviceable to others. The differences are eternal and irreconcilable between one individual and another, born under absolutely the same circumstances. One man is made of agate, another of oak; one of slate, another of clay. The education of the first is polishing; of the second, seasoning; of the third, rending; of the fourth, moulding. It is of no use to season the agate; it is vain to try to polish the slate but both are fitted, by the qualities they possess, for services in which they may be honoured. A man is not educated in any sense whatsoever because he can read Latin, or write English, or can behave well in a drawing room; he is only educated if he is happy, busy, beneficent, and effective in the world.

HUGH MILLER.

BY THE REV. DR. ARCHER.

[Delivered at the Blackburn Young Men's Christian Association.-A condensed Report, from the "Blackburn Standard.”]

HUGH MILLER (said the lecturer), was born in 1802, of poor parents; in 1831 he entered Edinburgh as a stonemason in search of work, and in 1856 he died, his remains being followed to the grave by the firstclass men of the city in which he had taken up his residence. From this he deduced the inference that there must have been something in him. His father dying when he was young, he had his best instructor left, his mother: mothers, he remarked, being the best instructors under heaven. He commenced stu

dying the good old Westminster Catechism, and read the history of Wallace and Bruce. Miller thence acquired patriotism; from the catechism he acquired his theology, and from reading nursery tales, he became a poet. Some would have been content to have stayed at home, but Miller being stamped with the energy of a man, went to work as an apprentice to a stonemason, and in the course of his labours observed certain indications which led to his becoming a geologist. On his subsequent arrival at Edinburgh, the stonemasons of the "Modern Athens" were on strike, and of the leaders thereof Miller had written-"These leaders are tyrants to their fellows, ere they come into collision with their masters."

Deeming the city, under the circumstances, was no place for him: he returned to Cromarty, where he married Lydia Fraser, the daughter of the head of a banking firm. He could then indulge his taste for poetry and geology, shortly afterwards writing his "Old Red Sandstone," which acquired for him the sobriquet of "Old Red." It was clear by this time that Miller possessed the consciousness of power in his own mind. Many passed through life with power within them which they never used, and here he would guard his young hearers alike from the vanity which would lead them to think themselves something, while they were nothing, or the self-depreciation which would lead them to think themselves nothing while they were something. Hugh Miller felt there was something in him, and determined to work it out. His second point was that Hugh Miller determined to be something. He went into the town council an alderman, determined to be the provost; and into the banking-house a clerk, determined to occupy a higher position. Had any of his hearers clerk's places? let them keep their books free from blots and their accounts from errors. Let each aim always to excel, for a man who went into human life determined to be the dux, would never be a dunce. His third point would be the great concentration that marked Miller's mind. Travelling by the railway, one would ask "What is the next station?" Another, "Where is the next refreshment room?" Another, "What time is it?" while Miller, if there, would have been noticing the different geological stratifications. He possessed thorough mental concentration, which was quite as much necessary in the purchase of a bale of wool, or in Sabbath-school teaching, or any other occupation. The next point in Hugh Miller's character was the great combination of energy and strength of mind, with simplicity and affection, in which respect the lecturer compared him with Paul, Luther, and Wellington. Then, again, another

point in Miller's character was his subordination of every power to a practical and religious use. This example he would wish each of his hearers to imitate and thus assist in the elevation of degraded sinners. Miller, though a Scotchman, wrote such good English that Dr. Buckland envied him his style, and from this, he wished them to learn to avoid pompous writing, and copy the plainness of "Robinson Crusoe," or their own version of the Bible. Another characteristic of Miller was that he never forgot the place where he was born, which was a novelty in this age, when young men, elevated to a superior position, looked with contempt on those below them. Having reached the top of the tree, he acquired a notion of danger which induced him to carry fire arms, even keeping them in his bedroom. He had also the habit of walking in his sleep; perhaps the consequence of his eating heavy suppers. The lecturer referred to Miller's death, and read the last letter he had written, the ink of which had scarcely dried when he blew out his brains. That tender effusion showed that though intellect had gone, and the power of genius passed away, the heart was as strong as ever, and his affections turned as strongly to "poor Lydia," when he was standing on the verge of eternity as when he first had seen her in Cromarty. How beautiful the lessons thus taught. Should he say that Miller had fallen a victim to the great sin of modern times, the sin of over-doing everything? Miller died from over-work; and let this be a warning to young men to get their knowledge quietly, steadily, continuously. One thing was cheering in his death-he died a suicide, truly-but he (the lecturer) doubted not he died safe and saved; and it was certain that he died not in consequence of his brain being debilitated in the pursuit of wealth, but over-worked in the service of mankind at large.