William Macdonald, another elder of Knox Church, which took place on May 16, 1890, at the comparatively early age of 50 years. This sad event excited a very general feeling of regret that the services of one so richly endowed with qualities of the highest order should have been so soon lost to his family, the church, the school, and the community.
William Macdonald was born in Edinburgh in 1840. At the age of thirteen years he was articled as a pupil-teacher in the Free St. George's District School, in his native city, where he continued during the full period of his apprenticeship, and laid the foundation of that wide scholarship and practical skill that won for him, ere he completed his thirty-eighth year, the highest academical distinction, and a very high place in his profession. On the completion of his apprenticeship he taught for two years in Larchfield Academy, Helensburgh, after which he returned to Edinburgh to prosecute his studies at the University. He highly distinguished himself in his various classes, and so favourably was Professor Blackie impressed with his scholarship and his strong personal influence, that he appointed him his class assistant at the early age of 24 years. In 1867 he graduated M.A., and in the same year he was appointed classical master in the Royal High School of Edinburgh. In this position he achieved conspicuous success; but his remarkable energy and his capacity for work could not be confined to the mere routine duties of the classroom. His abundant labours in connection with the Educational Institute of Scotland and the editorship of the Educational News, together with his valuable and multifarious services to the cause of education, soon rendered him one of the foremost men of his profession. In 1877 the Otago High Schools Board appointed Sir Julius Vogel (then Agent-General), Dr Abbott, of the City of London School, and Dr Morrison, of the Glasgow Academy, Commissioners to select in the Home Country a rector for the Otago Boys' High School in the room of Mr William Norrie. Dr Macdonald's wide knowledge of men, his great tact, his sound learning, and his fame as a successful teacher becoming known to the Commissioners, they formed the decided opinion that he was a man pre-eminently fitted for the rectorship of the Otago Boys' High School. They pressed the appointment upon him, and after mature consideration he signified his acceptance. The news of Dr Macdonald's decision was received with wide-
