Glasgow seems to be peculiarly favourable to the growth of United Presbyterianism. It is the great stronghold of that body—the garrison from which they send out skirmishing parties all over the world. Some of the wealthiest congregations, as well as some of the ablest ministers in Glasgow belong to this denomination. The "dissidence of dissent" has found favour in the eyes of our merchant princes, and among all ranks and conditions of men the views which, when promulgated by Ebenezer Erskine, caused a shudder to pass through the lines of the hard and fast, albeit not over conscientious theologians of his day, are now hailed with toleration and cordial approval. The growth of United Presbyterianism is one of the most remarkable chapters in our ecclesiastical history. The principles upon which this particular form of creed are founded must be sound at the core, otherwise they could never have achieved such signal and lasting triumphs; but their development was entrusted to men of rare energy, discrimination, and ability—men who have left behind them no unworthy prototypes, although the lines have fallen to the latter in more pleasant places, and their heritage is of a more excellent kind.

The Rev. Dr. John Ker occupies, as his character and accomplishments entitle him to do, a prominent place among the "reverend fathers and brethren" of the United Presbyterian Church. He was born at Tweedsmuir, in the upland pastoral district of Peeblesshire, where his father was a farmer. Here he spent the first years of his childhood, a circumstance which had probably more influence on his future character and tendencies than might be supposed on the first blush. "The boy is father to the man," and while he was yet a mere child, Dr. Ker was laying up a store of memoranda bearing upon the romantic vicissitudes of the "good old times, when George the First was King;" or, perhaps, long anterior to that much vaunted period. The isolated condition of the peasantry and agricultural classes generally in those days prevented the free and constant intercourse which may now be found all over Scotland. Railways had not yet been evolved from the matrix of the future, newspapers were scarce and dear, books were few, the means of education and mental improvement were limited, and thus in the rural districts the reminiscences of the past were handed down in the form of traditions, communicated orally from generation to generation, or assuming the less perishable shape of ballad literature. Young Ker's mind, which was ever ready to receive and retain impressions, became the conservatory of a vast selection of ancient lore, written and unwritten, which he has never forgotten. His memory is quite an encylopÆdia of ballads and stories, which it would probably be difficult, if not impossible, to find elsewhere, and upon this rich storehouse he can and does draw ad libitum "for doctrine, for instruction, for reproof," or for the entertainment of his friends. Dr. Ker's ancestors of five generations lie buried in the little rural churchyard at Tweedsmuir, a spot, of which Lord Cockburn says, "It is the most romantic in Scotland." Many are the stories that are still told by the "ingle cheek" of farmers' houses in that deeply interesting locality, relative to the Covenanters who lived in the glens around, and the soldiers who went up there in the '45.

After completing his studies as a Divinity student at Edinburgh—where he was a most distinguished student, and was universally regarded as a young man of excellent promise—Dr. Ker was licensed as a minister of the United Presbyterian Church. He was ordained in the year 1845, his first charge being in Alnwick, Northumberland, where he continued to minister until the year 1851. During the interval he received several calls from Glasgow and elsewhere. Twice he was called to preside over the United Presbyterian Church in East Campbell Street of this city. The first call he decidedly refused; but upon representations being made to him that the church was in anything but a satisfactory condition, so far as its pastorate was concerned—both Dr. Kidston and Dr. Brash, who then presided over it, being in infirm health and disqualified for the active discharge of ministerial duties—Dr. Ker, foreseeing no doubt that there was a large and ample field in Glasgow for the exercise of his energy and talents, at last agreed to accept the call. His ultimate consent was given, we believe, mainly through the importunity of the Rev. Dr. Taylor, who has for many years been his most attached and intimate friend. Dr. Taylor went to Alnwick with the view of seeing and arranging personally with Dr. Ker; and it is a notable fact that although Dr. Ker had determined to treat the second call as he had treated the first—by returning a distinct and unqualified refusal—Dr. Taylor's entreaties had the effect of inducing him to alter his decision. So far, indeed, had Dr. Ker's mind been made up that he had actually written a letter negativing the call, and the letter was on its way to Glasgow while Dr. Taylor was en route to Alnwick, the two having thus crossed each other. We do not, however, believe that Dr. Ker has had any reason to regret his decision. The field that was open for his efforts in Glasgow was much more extensive if not more congenial than that presented by a remote country town like Alnwick, and Dr. Ker has been instrumental in raising up a congregation second to none in Glasgow as regards numbers and influence. Shortly after he removed to Glasgow an effort was made to secure a more eligible church for his large and increasing congregation, which was at length removed from East Campbell Street to Sidney Place. The new church cost upwards of £8000, and the opening services were conducted by Dr. Edmond and Dr. Cairns of Berwick, the respected pastor being himself absent at the time from ill health. At the present hour there are upwards of 800 members in connection with Sidney Place Church, and it is seldom indeed that the membership of a church covers so wide a radius, some coming four and six miles every Sunday.

During the first few years of his residence in Glasgow, and even prior to that date, Dr. Ker was most zealous and indefatigable in the promotion of every good word and work. No one was more frequently before the public during the years 1854-55-56 as the upholder of truth, as the advocate of justice, as the bitter and uncompromising foe of error and ignorance, as the alleviator of misery and distress. The amount of physical and mental work which he undertook during these years was more than any ordinary mortal could stand; but it was to him a labour of love, and he did not stay his hand until an enfeebled and broken-down constitution warned him that the laws of nature had been transgressed. Dryden has described Shaftesbury as

and it has all along been Dr. Ker's misfortune that his body would not bear the strain imposed upon it by his active and vigorous mind. As might be supposed, he was at this time a prominent speaker in the Church Courts, where his sage counsel and kindly disposition made him a favourite and a power. In 1857 he was requested by the Synod of his own Church to accept the office of Home Mission Secretary. The whole Synod stood up in token of their approval and esteem when the appointment was moved; and Dr. Andrew Thomson of Edinburgh, in supporting the nomination of Dr. Ker, remarked of him that "his very presence was a benediction." To the infinite disappointment of the Synod, however, Dr. Ker declined, for private and no doubt weighty reasons, to undertake the appointment. The choice of the Synod then fell on Dr. M'Gill, who continued to discharge the functions of Home Mission Secretary with zeal and efficiency until he was changed to the "Foreign Office." The result of too close attention to his ministerial duties led Dr. Ker into a dangerous illness, from which he suffered severely for a period of three years. During that time he visited many places both at home and abroad, travelling in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and America. In the course of these journeys Dr. Ker cultivated his penchant for antiquarian lore and old traditions. He also improved his very extensive knowledge of the Continental languages; and there are few men so thoroughly conversant with German, French, and Italian, who have not made these languages a special study. In addition to modern languages, however, Dr. Ker is a master of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

At the time of the Irish revivals several years ago, Dr. Ker took a deep interest in the spiritual awakening, and he travelled over the country with the view of assisting its promotion, preaching very frequently every day in the week. Nothing is more remarkable in Dr. Ker's character than the immense power of mental and physical endurance he has displayed as a preacher. He has not unfrequently delivered four sermons or homilies in one Sunday, besides preaching more or less frequently during the week. These sermons are not thrown off on the spur of the moment. Every pulpit effort is thoughtfully and carefully prepared beforehand. His readiness to preach and assist in every good work has been largely taken advantage of by the numerous charitable and religious societies in Glasgow, which have, perhaps, rather ungenerously taxed his good nature and anxiety to make himself useful.

Although Dr. Ker has seldom been prominently before the public in connection with political or social agitations, he has all along taken an active part in the establishment and advancement of Sunday and day schools and missionary schemes. At the same time he has been ready to assist in any movement of a political kind that presented itself to his view as one worthy of support and encouragement. While he is always earnest and conscientious in his pulpit and platform labours, he can out-Spurgeon Spurgeon in his gift of pointing a moral, with an amusing illustration. His alternations between grave and gay are always in season; he takes good heed to Solomon's admonition that "there is a time for everything." But while he sometimes condescends to tickle the midriff of his hearers, consciously or unconsciously—for his quaint yet pungent remarks are not unfrequently the inspirations of the moment—he can afford to indulge his relish for humour without let or hindrance at a select party or by his own fireside. In either of these situations his solid and volatile qualities appear to vie with each other for the mastery. With quips and jokes, apposite and sparkling, he "is wont to set the table in a roar." Hence his society is much courted.

As a preacher, Dr. Ker has few if any superiors in Glasgow. His imagination is very fine and subtle, although not so exuberant and flowery as many other speakers who have an equally ready flow of language. He is apt in illustration, and he generally contrives to set forth his arguments in the most intelligible and convincing form; but he does not introduce illustrations for the mere sake of rhetorical effect. He rather makes every figure of speech to arise as it were by a natural sequence in the course of his reasoning, and few men have a greater facility for making "crooked paths straight, and rough places plain." The most abstruse and knotty points he makes so obvious and clear that his hearers are inclined to wonder why they did not think of them in that light before—giving to themselves, or to the merits of the question in hand, a credit that is only due to the preacher whose discernment has removed the lions of doubt and difficulty from the path of the reader or hearer. As a litterateur his taste is highly cultivated, and his discriminating judgment enables him to compose sermons the diction of which is as beautiful as the argument is sound. By all who know him, and especially by his congregation, he is very much esteemed for his literary gifts and graces, and the public appreciation of his sermons is attested by the fact that a volume which he published several years since, has gone through eight large editions, the last edition having been issued only a few months ago. It is perhaps a pity that Dr. Ker has not been constrained to adopt Mr. Spurgeon's plan of publishing his sermons regularly as they are delivered. They would certainly form a serial literature that the people of Glasgow would not be slow to appreciate.