een exposed to a degree of mechanical ond that which has ever been applied to f this it would be superfluous to offer any he best peat were subjected to the same ression, it is obvious that it would be›mpact, and equally heavy, bulk for bulk, ammable as coal; and in no respect disthat substance in colour, consistency, or After discussing the connection and various bituminous substances, he apters to these two difficult questionsualities of peat moss, and its sterility in . The last essay of the second volume squisition on "The Different Kinds and of Peat Moss." The last volume is eats of peat as a soil, its fertilisation, its e, the cropping of moss, and its econo

ie's work we see the operation of a mind nd capacious. Nothing escapes his obThere is a marvellous fulness of detail. ave consulted every authority and classiHe has a familiar knowledge of curious cient history. The things he has seen e describes with Darwinian minuteness S. His work is a credit to Scottish onour to the Scottish Church, and must monument of the author's untiring zeal, and scientific insight and sagacity.

the Board of Agriculture, member c Society of Scotland, member of the and Chemical Societies of Edinburgh. the recipient of sundry services of silver

But this was not all. His reputati beyond Scotland. Sir John Sinclair br of the Scottish pastor under the notice next to Peter the Great the most dis the Russian Czars; he was the Czar worsted at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Fried the Czar who fought Napoleon at burned Moscow, and secured the an army amid the snows of Russia. Aft of Napoleon and the restoration of the Alexander devoted himself to the interr of his vast dominions. The improve was greater than that accomplished by cessors from the time of Peter I. H nown of Dr. Rennie, and eager to impr of the Russian farmers and peasantry, him the magnificent position of Profess in the University of St. Petersburg. D Sir John Sinclair, urged him strongly appointment so distinguished in itsel bounded resources would be placed a realising his favourite agricultural pr certainly have been a remarkable c Czar Alexander I. had become the Rennie of Kilsyth, as Peter the Great

the patron of that distinguished traveller, John Bell of Antermony, on the borders of the parish. The offer was tempting the more so as it gave promise of extensive gratification of long-cherished inclinations. Correctly believing he was now too old for such a marked change of work, scene, and climate, he finally declined the offer of the Russian Autocrat: The Czar appreciated the reasons which led Dr. Rennie to decline the appointment, and sent him in token of his continued favour two handsome presents. The first was a large massive gold wheel-shaped ring of about an inch in diameter. In this ring there was set a magnificent diamond. Along with the ring the Czar sent a snuff-box wrought in platinum and silver, and covered with rich workmanship.

It was well Dr. Rennie did not go to Russia. The preparation of his work had occupied his leisure for many years; and the church he had built-in which he doubtless felt an honest pride-and the honours which now fell so thickly upon him, he was only to enjoy for a few years more. After a long and successful ministry, also after having made for himself an honourable and distinguished name, in the midst of his own people, on the 10th July, 1820, Dr. Rennie fell asleep, and was laid to rest with his fathers where for generations they had been buried.

CHAPTER XIII.

York House--YORK BUILDINGS COMPANYSale of Confiscated Estates-Rise and Fa Estate State of Agriculture-Kilsyth Es Stark-Bought by Campbell-Dullatur I --The Young Pretender-The Company Walter Scott-An Aberdeen TinsmithLand—The Company Wound Up-The monstone Families.

YORK HOUSE, in the Strand, three h was a gay and fashionable residence. to the street and its face to the river. tower with a pepper-box at each corner with four circular casements, surmour pepper-boxes. It looked with pride or den that sloped down to the river, varied life that passed up and down waters. The trim-built wherries, on t side; the barges occupied by sleek c great State barge, with the Queen paddling slowly past Whitehall Stair saw them all. How long the house out on the river before the time of F tell, but certainly it had had many ten and lay, before it came to be the birt Bacon, and one hundred and fourteen occupancy of that company to which

and the object of which was the supplying the inhabitants of St. James' Fields and Piccadilly with water at reasonable rents.

The connection of this London Water Company with the parish of Kilsyth is part of a chapter as extraordinary and romantic as any in the whole volume of Scottish history. The doings of the company can be followed with the utmost minuteness, because for the hundred and fifty years of its existence it spent on an average £3000 every year in litigation, and its history is consequently to be found written with great fulness of detail in the records of the Court of Session.

After the overthrow of the Rebellion of 1715, the Government immediately took the severest measures against the rebel nobles. Those of them who were not fortunate enough to make their escape abroad, as did Lord Kilsyth, were apprehended and executed. Their estates were also immediately confiscated. Nearly an hundred of the finest estates in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland fell into the hands of the Government. Amongst these estates was, of course, the estate of Kilsyth, which at that time seems to have embraced not only nearly the whole parish, but also certain lands in the parish of Campsie. With so much land on their hands, the Government were at their wits' end what to do with it. Scotland was still far from being in a tranquil condition, and the rebel fanatics still participated very largely in the popular sympathy. The Government saw clearly, furthermore, that if they exposed the estates for sale, they would be bought back for nominal sums by the representatives of the attainted proprietors, and the power of the rebel families would remain as strong as formerly. It was the age of the South Sea Bubble, the age when the belief held good that every financial evil