erience. Subsequently he was connected with the Thistle
Bank, which, as many of our readers will recollect, was ultimately
incorporated with the Union Bank of Scotland. From the Bank he proceeded
to the establishment of Messrs. John M'Call & Co., who were at that time
among the largest grain merchants in Glasgow, and for some years Mr.
Watson presided over their provision department--then of very
considerable extent. When he assumed the profession of a stockbroker,
there were no representatives of that business in the city. It is
perhaps the most interesting feature in Mr. Watson's career that he was
the first stockbroker in Glasgow; and it is no less interesting to
contrast this fact with the position of the Glasgow Stock Exchange at
the present time, when it occupies one of the finest buildings in the
city, and its membership numbers not less than thirty large and
influential firms. Besides these, there are fully a dozen firms of stock
and sharebrokers not members of the Exchange. The first Stock Exchange
in Glasgow was established two or three years after Mr. Watson commenced
business in this capacity, its first local habitation being a building
situated in Buchanan Street, on the site now occupied by the Bedford
Hotel. Previous to that time there were very few joint stock companies
in existence--investors being satisfied for the most part with the sweet
simplicity of three-per-cents. Indeed, the only local companies that
could lay any claim to the name of joint-stock or limited liability,
were the Banks, the Gas and Water Companies, and the Garnkirk Railway.
Mr. Watson continued the only stock and sharebroker in Glasgow for
nearly two years, and in 1833 he took a prominent part in the
establishment of the Glasgow Stock Exchange, of which he was the first
chairman. For 22 years he continued to preside over the Stock Exchange,
while that institution was laying the foundations of the high character
and exceptional prestige which it has since acquired, and through which
it regulates in no small degree the price of stocks and shares in other
markets throughout the world. We may mention, also, that the Stock
Exchange in Glasgow commenced its career with only twelve or fourteen
members, and from this small nucleus it has continued to grow until it
is now one of the most flourishing institutions of the kind in the three
kingdoms.

About 15 years ago Mr. Watson's services were called into requisition in
connection with the w