es have quickened the supply of low-rented
houses for the working classes, so that within the last two years there
have been erected within the municipal boundaries 1728 houses of one
apartment, 3921 of two apartments, and 1368 of three apartments. It is
not too much to say that from the outset, or at least since Mr. Blackie
left the Council, Bailie Watson has been the head and front of the
Improvement Scheme. He has taken the utmost pains both in and out of the
Council to inculcate its obvious advantages, and it is largely due to
his lucid and practical explanations that the public has been reconciled
to the Act.

When the exigencies of commercial misfortune compelled the late Lord
Provost Arthur to retire from the active discharge of his official
duties, in the autumn of last year, Mr. Watson was at once appointed
acting Chief. He continued to discharge the duties of the office in a
satisfactory and efficient manner until the November election, when he
was requested by the unanimous voice of the Council to allow himself to
be nominated for election to the place of Chief Magistrate. The honour,
we believe, was none of Mr. Watson's own seeking. His time had more than
an adequate demand made upon it in other ways; but he was induced to set
aside his own large and important business for the good of the city.
During the short time he has already sat in the Chief Magistrate's seat,
Mr. Watson has exhibited a marked capacity for public business; and it
is not too much to predict that his administration will be signalised as
one of the most successful and progressive in the annals of the
municipality.

REV. DR. WILLIAM ANDERSON.

The Scottish Pulpit since the time of the Reformation has always been
able to reckon upon some of the most eloquent and thoughtful preachers
of the age. It seems as if the genius of Scotchmen tended towards
ecclesiasticism. Religion, or, rather, theology--for there is an
essential difference between the two--impregnates their whole existence,
and mere children are imbued with pronounced views upon the minutiae of
doctrinal distinctions, when they might be supposed to know only the
practical bearings of hygienic laws. The Shorter Catechism instead of
cricket and football--the Confession of Faith instead of music or other
lighter accomplishments--have been inculcated by the early fathers of
the Presbyterian Church. Hence the Scottish character is instinct with
gravity, and pervaded by an ear