Burns occupied the position of moderator of the Synod of Montreal, and in 1883 he was moderator of the Synod of the Maritime provinces. During his residence in Montreal he was chairman of the Presbyterian College Board; and, for the past twelve years, has acted as chairman of the Halifax College Board. In 1880 he was sent as a delegate to the Raikes’ centenary celebration in London, and during the same year he represented the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in the Presbyterian Council at Philadelphia. In 1884 he was a delegate from the same church to the council held in Belfast, Ireland, where he read one of the papers presented to that body, and was appointed one of its executive committee. This year (1887) the doctor has been nominated for the moderatorship of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which meets in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in June next. Rev. Dr. Burns takes a great interest in Sunday-school work, and was one of the first to advocate the establishment of Sunday-school conventions in Canada, which have done so much of late years to advance this branch of Christian work. As a platform speaker he stands high, and has often spoken on subjects, professional and otherwise, before large audiences. At present he is lecturer on theological themes in the Presbyterian College at Halifax. As a book-writer, too, he has done his share. His life of his father, a volume of nearly five hundred pages, published in Toronto in 1873, soon went through three editions. His other writings, “Sketch of Abraham Lincoln,” “The Presbyterian Church,” “Modern Babylon,” “The Maine Law,” “Christian Liberality,” “Confession and Absolution,” and a variety of sermons and tracts—have all been favourably received, and commanded a good sale. He has also contributed largely to the columns of the newspaper press and our periodicals. Dr. Burns has travelled a good deal, and has visited Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and various other places in Europe, and is very familiar with Canada and the United States. He was married on the 1st of July, 1852, at Belleville, Ontario, to Elizabeth, second daughter of Rufus Holden, M.D., a much esteemed physician, and elder of the Presbyterian church, in Belleville. Dr. Burns has eight children—four sons and four daughters. * * * * *