X Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
1842; — giving readier opportunity for close personal relations, and 
greater prominence to individual exertions for the commonweal, 
while the few were still acting as pioneers to the many that were to 
follow. In this society Mr Davidson soon began to take an active 
part. In public he interested himself in many philanthropic, and 
very specially in educational, institutions. With the assistance of 
his uncle. Lord Cockburn, he was the means of securing for the 
High School of Montreal such a staS of teachers from Scotland as 
soon raised it to the eminent position as a school which it to this 
day maintains ; and he took a keen interest in the advancement of 
the M‘Gill University, now a very important seat of learning in the 
colony. The “Davidson Gold Medal” has for many years been 
the highest prize in the High School of Montreal. And in private, 
Mr Davidson found abundant opportunities for the gratification of 
his constant desire to be helpful in alleviating the troubles and pro- 
moting the interests of those around him. It is pleasant to record 
that when, after twenty-seven years’ absence, Mr Davidson’s death was 
announced in Montreal, his son there received the most touching 
proofs how his name and memory were, both on public and private 
grounds, still “ freshly remembered.” There were many who could 
tell of acts of kindness which had been the saving or making of 
them and theirs ; and there were still some old friends who 
remembered pleasant days in the little summer retreat near the city, 
which Mr Davidson had reclaimed from the waste, and with the aid 
of his wife’s taste and skill had gradually converted into a little 
paradise of lawn and trees and flowers. No wonder, then, that Mr 
Davidson too always looked back on his twenty years’ life in Canada 
with affectionate interest and satisfaction. It came to a close in 
1862, when, as already mentioned, he was recalled to Edinburgh 
to take the management, as “ Treasurer,” of the Bank of Scotland. 
Thenceforward, during nearly twenty years, Mr Davidson’s 
was a well-known personality in Edinburgh and Edinburgh life. 
Already past middle age, of large frame, strongly-marked features 
(very noticeably resembling Wordsworth’s), and leisurely gait, his 
whole bearing was one of quiet dignity, to which his gravely simple 
manner and deliberate low-voiced speech gave additional relief. 
As head of the premier Scotch Bank, and Chairman of the Associated 
Banks, Mr Davidson now devoted himself not only to the successful 
