Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/563

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Macmillan
543
Macmillan

for in 1881 he had 'independently arrived at the conclusion, which then found only a very few supporters in England, that, as a general rule, the extent of metamorphism affords an indication of the relative age of ancient rocks, and in 1884 he maintained, as is now generally admitted, that foliation, in certain crystalline rocks, was due to a flowing of the mass while it was still viscid or partly crystallised. His valuable collection of rock slices was presented by his widow to Manchester University.

He became a fellow of the Geological Society in 1878, and was awarded its Lyell medal in 1899. He was president of the Geologists' Association in 1894-5 and of the geological section at the meeting of the British Association in 1902. In 1898 he was elected F.R.S., and a contribution to the 'Geological Magazine' was published in November 1903. He died at his London house on 21 Feb. 1904.

He was twice married: (1) in 1857 to Elizabeth (d. 1866), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Franklin Head, late 93rd highlanders; of his family by her, two sons, the elder being Colonel Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, K.C.I.E., C.S.L, a distinguished officer in the Indian army, who is also a geologist, and one daughter, are still living; (2) in 1868 to Charlotte Emily, daughter of Henry Dorling of Stroud Green House, Croydon, who, with a son and daughter, survived him.

[Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. lxxv.; Geol. Mag. 1904; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, 1905; private information; personal knowledge.]

T. G. B.


MACMILLAN, HUGH (1833–1903), presbyterian divine and religious writer, born at Aberfeldy on 17 Sept. 1833, was eldest son in the family of six sons and three daughters of Alexander Macmillan, merchant of Aberfeldy, by his wife Margaret Macfarlane. After attending a school in his native place and Hill Street Academy, Edinburgh, he entered the university of Edinburgh, where he went through the arts course and also studied medicine. Deciding to enter the ministry of the Free church, he studied at New College, Edinburgh, and being licensed by the presbytery of Breadalbane in January 1857, became minister of the Free church at Kirkmichael, Perthshire, in 1859. The fine scenery of this parish stimulated his love of nature, to which he gave expression in his preaching and writings. In 1861 he published 'Footnotes from the Page of Nature, or First Forms of Vegetation' (2nd edit. 1874, entitled 'First Forms of Vegetation'), the first of many popular volumes in which he brought study of scientific research to illustrate moral and spiritual truths. He was especially well versed in botany. In 1864 he accepted the pastorate of Free St. Peter's church, Glasgow. There, while faithfully discharging his pastoral duties, he continued his studies in natural history, which he supplemented by foreign travel. In 1867 there appeared his best-known work, 'Bible Teachings in Nature' (15th edit. 1889), in which he enforced the harmony subsisting between the natural and the spiritual world. The work was translated into French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Danish, and at the author's death upwards of 30,000 copies had been printed in this country, besides many thousands in America. His next book, 'Holidays on High Lands, or Rambles and Incidents in Search of Alpine Plants' (1869; 2nd edit. 1873), was a detailed account of the Alpine plants found in this country. There followed 'The Ministry of Nature' (1871; 8th edit. 1888)

On 19 Sept. 1878 he became minister of the Free west church, Greenock. There he remained until 1901, when he retired from the active ministry. His labours received wide recognition. He was made in 1871 both hon. LL.D. of St. Andrews University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and he became hon. D.D. of the universities of Edinburgh (1879) and Glasgow. In 1883 he was elected a fellow of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries.

During his later years he filled practically every post of honour and influence in the Free church. He delivered the Thomson lectures at the Free Church College, Aberdeen, in 1886; the Cunningham lectures at New College, Edinburgh, in 1894, his subject being the archaeology of the Bible in the light of recent researches; and the Gunning lectures at Edinburgh University in 1897, when he dealt with the relations of science and revelation. In the last year he was moderator of the general assembly of the Free church, and in that capacity was present at the celebration in London of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria, who was a warm admirer of his books.

Devoted to the Highlands and its people, Macmillan was the first chief of the Clan Macmillan Society (1892-9). He was a diligent student of art, and one of his last literary undertakings was a monograph