The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-30 00:00:00

THE DEATH OF MISS MILLER.

The following is a letter from the Rev. W. C. Burns,
addressed to the Editor of the Dundee Advertiser, in
reference to the death of Miss Miller :

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.

Six—ln the peculiar circumstances under which the
death of Miss Elizabeth Miller took place on Thurs-
day last, in my lodgings, it seems expedient that, among
the many discordant opinions which I hear are enter-
tained regarding the causes of that affecting and solemn
event, the public should be furnished with authentic
materials for enabling them to arrive at the truth upon
the subject.
Dr. Carruthers was in attendance on the deceased in
the course of not more than twenty minutes after she
was seized with the distemper which ended in her
death, and waited on her till she expired, about an
hour and a quarter afterwards. He also, in company
with Dr. Lyell, subjected the body to a post mortem
examination, and I have been kindly furnished by him
with a written statement of the opinion to which he has
ultimately come regarding the cause of death. This
opinion, with his permission, I here insert; and I
shall add to it a few ether facts which appear of prin-
cipal importance, next to it, in forming a judgment on
this matter.

" Dundee, 2, Tay-street, 18th Sept., 1839.
" Dear Sir,—Apoplexy, or in thii case, extravasa-
tion of blood to the extent of three or more ounces into
the ventricles and substance of the brain, was the im-
mediate cause of death.

" There was hypertrophy, or enlagement of the left
ventricle of the heart, to at least double or nearly
triple its size in the sound state. Laennec, one of our
highest authorities on diseases of the chest, remarks
simple hypertrophy of the left ventricle is, of all the
affections of the heart, that which most frequently
gives occasion to apoplexy,' and this disease of the heart
in Miss Elizabeth Miller's case, must have existed for
a considerable length of time. Dr. Lyell, who was
also present at the examination of her body, agrees in
the above statement.—Yours, sincerely,
(Signed) " DAVID C. CARRUTHERS, M.D.
" To the Rev. Wm. C. Burns."

It is, perhaps, unnecessary, yet it cannot be improper,
farther to state, that, on the various occasions on which
the deceased called on me to converse regarding the
concerns of her immortal soul, she was not, as I find
from my note-book, under any violent excitement, but
at first appeared deeply serious, and afterwards was
evidently filled with joy and peace. On the day of her
death, in like manner, though the only words she spoke
to me were the solemn expression of a doubt regarding
her own personal interest in the Lord Jesus Christ,
yet she did not seem to be without a joyful hope, keep-
ing the mind from despondency amid its fears. Tile
tendency of the few words I spoke to her was to admi-
nister comfort on scriptural grounds, suited to what I
conceived to be her case ; and it was when I was
putting into her hand a tract, on which I had marked
several passages of Scripture to be studied, that she
quietly sunk down from her seat, in what I supposed
at the time to be a swoon. I find also by inquiry at
the relations of the deceased, that she had appeared to
them for some time previous to her death to be in a
pleasant, and often a joyful state of mind, grounded on
that " righteousness of God" by faith, in which we.
trust that she was lately justified. She expressed her-
self as having enjoyed divine worship in St. Peter's
Church on the last evening of her life, more than on
any former occasion, and spoke with delight on the same
subject the following morning, before leaving home for
the place where it pleased the Lord that she should die.
I have now laid before the public a simple statement
of the most important facts connected with this striking
event, and of course leave every one who wishes to
form an opinion regarding it to draw his own conclu-
sion. If any one think that the death of this person
was due to the impression of the doctrines to which
she had been listening, then let him consider whether
these are accordant with the Divine Oracles or not ;
and, according to the result of his inquiry, let him
either impute the event to God, and be silent, or charge
the blame on me for perverting his pure truth. I my-
' self will wait in confidence the righteous decision of the
final judgment. But if, on the other hand, he con-
cludes, as I think he ought, that no clear connection
can be traced between this person's religious experience
and the causes which evidently led to her death, then
surely he ought not only to refrain from censuring man,
but to see also that he duly listens for himself to the
voice of the great God, saying directly to us all, "13e
ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the
Son of Man comethl"

Hoping that you will favour the public and myself
by inserting these hurried lines in your earliest publica-
tion, I am, Sir, your humble servant in the gospel,
Seafield, Sept. 18, 1839. Wm. C. BURNS.

REVIVAL MANIA IN YET A NEW ASPECT.—The
Revival Mania, says a Correspondent, has boarded our
canal boats, and where formerly a blind old man might
be found drawing a few pence from the compassion of
the passengers, through the strains of his fiddle, we
have now regular conventicles. Yesterday evening I
came into Glasgow from Kirkintilloch, in one of the
canal boats, and was astonished to find a company of
these people engaged in religious exercises, with all
the fervour peculiar to them. The service was led
by a clergyman who gave out a psalm, which was
sung by his followers (mostly women) ; he then
prayed and preached in the Revival strain. A num-
ber of the other passengers, conceiving that this mode
of acting was quite improper in a promiscuous com-
pany confined together on board of a small boat,
exhibited symptoms of impatience, on which they
were denounced as children of the devil and heirs
of hell. This led to altercation of so violent a na-
ture, that the master of the boat had to interfere, and
ultimately the Revivalists were shown into a place by
themselves, where they might indulge their heated
fancies without incommoding or disgusting others.
Tuesday night the Rev. Win. Burns preached in
the High Church, Paisley, to a crowded audience, con-
sisting indiscriminately of both Churchmen and Dis-
senters. The sermon was of the most serious and at-
tractive description, and delivered with a degree of abi-
lity seldom surpassed. The impression on the minds of
the great majority present was that they had never
heard so able and so attractive a discourse. The bles-
sing was pronounced about midnight, and up to that
hour the passages, stairs, porches, and every corner of the
building was crowded to excess. we understand, that
the desire to hear Mr. Burns is so great, that yesterday
he had to preach for about an hour, when on his
passage west in the great canal tract boat.,--Scots

EVENING EDITION