fairs, but he is identified with various scientific and literary
societies; and for the last four years he has been President of the
Andersonian University. In social life he is kindly, warm-hearted, and
genial; and these qualities shine most conspicuously in his own family
circle, or while he is entertaining a company of his numerous friends.

MR. GEORGE BURNS.

The commercial annals of the West of Scotland are full of interest. They
illustrate a prosperity that is almost without parallel. Macaulay's New
Zealander is not likely to plant his foot on Glasgow Bridge for many
generations to come, or if he does he will witness a scene totally
unlike that for which the historian had prepared him. In all our staple
industries we are advancing with gigantic strides. Shipping and
shipbuilding are especially conspicuous for their steady and rapid
development. As a shipping port Glasgow stands second to none in the
United Kingdom, Liverpool alone excepted. It was not always so. So late
as the beginning of the eighteenth century there were only about a dozen
vessels belonging to the port, their aggregate tonnage amounting to no
more than 1000 tons. More than any other river in the world, the Clyde
has triumphed over natural obstacles and drawbacks. Originally the
estuary of the Clyde was so shallow that no vessel of any size could
come further up than Port-Glasgow. It was considered a great achievement
when, in 1801, craft of 40 tons burden were enabled to touch at the
Broomielaw. A story is told of a daring navigator who, towards the close
of last century, built a vessel of 30 tons burden for the purpose of
exploring "the wee bit burn ca'd the Clyde." As a reward for his
enterprise and daring, he was presented with the freedom of the city on
reaching the harbour of Glasgow. Thanks to the fostering care and
ceaseless exertions of the Clyde Navigation Trustees, vessels of the
largest tonnage can now come up to the Broomielaw; and the port of
Glasgow can lay claim to some of the largest and most magnificent
merchant vessels afloat. A rare conjunction of private and public
enterprise brought about these results. From the time that Henry Bell's
_Comet_ appeared on the scene in 1812, until the present, the Clyde has
occupied a pre-eminent position in the records of the progress of steam
navigation. In 1841 the number of vessels belonging to the port of
Glasgow was 431, with an aggregate of 95,619 tons. At the present time
ther