held its meetings in Edinburgh in August,
1871, Dr. John Caird was selected to preach the sermon which it is
customary to deliver before the _savants_ at any town at which they may
happen to meet. On this sermon a pungent critic in a well-known
metropolitan magazine, who rejoices in the _nom de plume_ of Patricius
Walker, Esq., has the following remarks:--"Mr. Caird (who spoke somewhat
huskily, but with much emphasis) was on the broad Liberal tack. He
quoted passages from Herbert, Spencer, Comte, and other modern
philosophers; not showing them up as monsters or deluded--O dear no!--or
taking refuge behind his Bible or any 'cardinal doctrine' of faith, but
professing a profound respect for these writers, and bringing his facts
and logic against their facts and logic. It was a clever exercise and a
very curious discourse to hear in the High Kirk of Edinburgh, but it was
hard to suppose it could do anybody much good.

Says Caird, 'I'll quote and then refute,
Each modern philosophic _doot_'--
And so he did; but each quotation
Seem'd to outweigh the refutation.

Some of the old-fashioned worshippers must have felt uncomfortable, like
the villager who, after a clever sermon on the Evidences of the
Existence of the Deity, said he never thought of doubting it before."

Professor Caird is one of her Majesty's chaplains for Scotland.

REV. DR. NORMAN MACLEOD.

Those who believe in the transmission of hereditary qualities and
predilections from generation to generation will find a rare practical
illustration of their theory in the Rev. Norman Macleod, who is known
and recognised as _par excellence_ Her Majesty's Chaplain for Scotland.
With as unfailing certainty as if they had been regulated by the laws of
primogeniture and entail, this estimable clergyman has inherited the
gifts and graces of his esteemed father. Nay more, he has even fallen
heir to whatever honours and emoluments of value accrued to the latter
during his long and useful career. The two men are in many respects
"similar, though not the same." Both have answered to the same name;
both have been popular preachers; both have held prominent positions in
the Established Church of Scotland; both have prosecuted their
ministerial labours in the same city; and both have been honoured with
special marks of favour and distinction from their Sovereign. There are
other minor points of resemblance upon which we cannot stay to dwell.

Dr. Norman