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 encylopaedia 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.