world.

Her powers were tested in the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1803. When Hugh Baird saw how the surge raised by the paddles washed away the canal banks, he declared if Symington could only get something which would work after the manner of a fish's tail, and propel the vessel from behind, he would be certain of success. It would consequently seem as if on that occasion, so memorable in the annals of steam navigation, there existed in some nebulous, ill-defined form in the brain of Hugh Baird, an idea which, if he had been careful to follow out, might have established him as the inventor of the screw propeller.

The Union Canal was opened in 1822, and Mr. Baird was the engineer who superintended its construction. He had two sons and one daughter. The sons went to America, and one was an engineer and the other a farmer. Hugh Baird died at Kelvinhead on the 24th September, 1827. The firm who now carry on the Glasgow Great Canal Brewery and Maltings, are the lineal descendants of the Bairds of Kelvinhead.

CHAPTER XXI

1843 and After - REV. HENRY DOUGLAS - His Amiability"Rabbi Duncan "-Work at Saline and Alexandria-Douglas and M'Cheyne engaged to Sisters-Inducted to Kilsyth-Reception-William Henry-Douglas's Personal Appearance— Delicate Health and Death-Rev. Alex. Hill-Preaching and Urbanity---A Distinguished Family-A. K. H. Boyd-Church Membership-Galloway Bequest-Translation to St. Andrews -Dr. Park-"In like manner I shall go "-St. Andrews Session Minute.

IN 1843 the Church in many places received a double blow. The resignation of ministers beloved and trusted was an injury in itself of a serious kind. On the other hand, it was often the case that the ministers called to fill the numerous vacancies were by no means possessed of the talents of those who had seceded. In the emergency, men of mediocre power were promoted to parishes which, otherwise, they never would have had the least chance of obtaining. Such appointments were, without doubt, greatly hurtful. But there was no one to blame. The Church had to work with such tools as she found at the crisis lying to her hand. In the circumstances, picking and choosing were out of the question, and so the vacant pulpits were replenished and the work went on. And it was attended with a success which far surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Church's best friends. The sowing in tears was succeeded by a reaping time of joy. From the ground the Church rose

rapidly to be a power and influence for good in the land she had never been before.

In Kilsyth the Church had only one of these sufferings to bear. Dr. Burns, but coldly welcomed at the first, had in the course of his ministry established himself in the respect and esteem of the parishioners. When he seceded, consequently a considerable number seceded with him. Although on the Sunday after his return from Edinburgh there were not a dozen worshippers who gathered in the parish church, there was still a much larger number that remained faithful. And these had no occasion to hang their heads because of any short-coming in his successor. Than Henry Douglas a better appointment could hardly have been made. He was a man of singular loving-kindness, of gentle and urbane manners, and of agreeable and friendly disposition. He was deeply read in Scripture, a man full of the Holy Ghost, and a minister who knew nothing amongst his parishioners saving Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He fed the flock with the finest of the wheat. Certainly he led them by the still waters. I have looked over all his sermons, and not one have I found dealing with the prevailing controversies, or openly expressed malice of the times and circumstances amidst which his lot had been cast. He received from many in the parish indignities and insults, but he walked straight onward in the footsteps of his Master. He did not return railing for railing, and being reviled he reviled not again. And the result of his beautiful patience and tenderness is a memory that is sacred, a name that is fragrant like an ointment poured out, and a lingering regret in the place of his ministry that as a faithful ambassador of Christ he was neither honoured nor appreciated as he ought to have been. In the place where he worked as

a probationer, and in the first parish to which he was appointed he was honoured in his life; in the parish of Kilsyth, however, the esteem that has been extended to him has been entirely of a posthumous character. It is only on looking back, the people of Kilsyth recognise his moral dignity and spiritual elevation.

The father of Henry Douglas was the Rev. James Douglas, minister of Stewarton. Mr. Douglas was ordained to Stewarton on the last Thursday of May, 1793, and he was married to a lady named Annabella Todd on the 15th January, 1795. He had a family of seven sons and six daughters; amongst the latter were twins. Janet Douglas, the fourth child, was born 11th Feb., 1802. Her first husband was Dr. John Torrance, surgeon, Kilmarnock. Her second husband was the well-known peripatetic philosopher and colloquialist, the Rev. Dr. ("Rabbi ") Duncan, to whom she was married in 1840. To the professor she bore one daughter, named Maria Dorothea, after the Empress of Austria. She received her name at the request of the empress. The Rev. James Douglas died at Stewarton on the 11th April, 1826. His widow died at the manse of Kilsyth on the 19th July, 1847, aged seventy-three years, and was buried at Stewarton.

Henry Douglas was the fourth son of the family, and was born at Stewarton, 30th August, 1811. Through his mother he was related to the Wallaces of Ayrshire. Having completed his course at the University of Glasgow, he was appointed parochial assistant in Saline parish. The young man at once gave evidence of his fitness for the profession he had chosen. The ladies presented him with a magnificent chronometer in appreciation of "his unwearied zeal and ability in the discharge of his duties." On the 22nd April, 1841, he

There he

was ordained to the charge of Alexandria. was even more appreciated than he had been in Saline, and as a preacher he became so widely and favourably know, that when the secession took place he was very much sought after. At Alexandria, he was joined by his mother and Annie Arnot, the old nurse of the family. The latter, as she had attended him at the beginning of his life, was also to be with him at the end. Henry Douglas never married. He and the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne were engaged to two sisters, the Misses M, daughters of a respectable west-county family. The lady to whom Mr. Douglas was to be married fell a prey to consumption, and died at Madeira. To this disease, Mr. Douglas and Mr. M'Cheyne also succumbed. When it became known that their minister had accepted a call to Kilsyth, the people of Alexandria were possessed of a feeling of universal regret. They confessed they had been richly benefited by his ministry, and they highly approved of his conduct during the time of the Patronage conflict. He preached his last sermon in Alexandria Church on the 24th September, 1843.

On the Thursday following, Henry Douglas was inducted minister of Kilsyth. Principal M'Farlane conducted the service. On the succeeding Sunday, the 1st October, 1843, he was introduced by the Rev. Mr. Dun of Cardross, and at the second diet of worship he preached his introductory sermon. His text was 2 Cor. X. 4, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the putting down of strongholds." The sermon was of a weighty character, and both it and the manner of the preacher-not demonstrative, but full of quiet earnestness-had in them a promise of blessing for the future. In March, 1844,

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