'I have seen' (says the Knight) a considerable number of cities, but have never yet seen one so peculiarly novel and romantic, and very few so grand and impressive, as Edinburgh. The morning after my arrival, 1 was conducted to the centre of the Earthen Mound, with my back towards the castle, where the contrast of the objects within my view excited at once my astonishment and admiration. On my right, upon an elevated ridge, stood the Old Town, with its lofty houses, in sombre and sullen majesty; on my left the New Town, resembling Bath in the gaiety and splendour of its building; below a vast valley, once the bed of a lake; before me the North Bridge, bestriding this valley, and resembling an aqueduct, behind which rise the craggy summits of the Calton Hills, and on the side of them stands the castellated form of the new Bridewell. The imagination cannot form such an assemblage of sublime and extraordinary objects. Nature and art seem to have happily exerted their energies in bringing within one view all the varieties of their powers. The classical eye has discovered some resemblance between Edinburgh and Athens; the castle has been compared with the Acropolis, Arthur's seat with Mons Hymettus, and Leith and Leith-walk with the Piræus. If the North Loch and Cowgate were filled with water, Edinburgh would in a considerable degree resemble Stockholm, which stands upon insulated ridges of rock. This romantic city is constantly presenting a new picture with the progress of the sun, and upon the change of the atmosphere and the season: the stupendous and magnificent rock and castle finely grouping with every surrounding object. The situation of Edinburgh must be extremely healthy; it is sur rounded by hills on all sides, except to the northward, where the ground gently slopes to the Frith of Forth. It is bounded on the east by the Calton Hills, Arthur's Seat, and Salisbury Crags; on the south by the long ridge of the Pentland Hills, and the hills of Braid; and on the west by the Costorphine Hill; all of them objects of great beauty or interest. So many lofty mountains, and the opening to the north, frequently subject the city to violent, and sometimes terrible, storms of wind, by which persons walking in the streets have been often thrown to the ground; the effect however, upon the whole, is beneficial to the city, as every narrow street and passage is well ventilated. The extent of Edinburgh, from east to west, is about two English miles, and from north to south about the same distance; and its circumference about eight miles. The principal part of the Old Town is raised upon a hill, which gradually rises from east to west, where it terminates in a rocky precipice of 300 feet in height, upon the summit of which stands the cas tle, now rendered, by the improvements in modern warfare, fit only for a garrison, though once entitled to the character given of it by Burns, in his Address to Edinburgh :— There watching high the least alarms, Have oft withstood assailing war, And oft repell'd th' invader's shock." Along the summit of this rocky eminence extends a magnificent street, rather more than a mile long, commencing from the castle, and terminating at the palace of Holyrood-house, called in different parts by the several names of Castle hill, Lawn-market, High-street, and Canongate : other parts of the Old Town are built upon the ridges on either side of this hill, and on the southern hill is raised the new part of the Old Town, in which are several handsome streets, and a mixture of new and ancient houses; this part is connected with the other by a bridge of nineteen arches, only one of which appears, called the South Bridge, thrown over a valley, now formed into a long, dirty, and generally very crowded street, called the Cowgate, the view of which from the visible arch, on each side of South Bridgestreet, is equally unexpected and interesting. Towards the North Loch, the houses in the Old Town are of an amazing height, having from their sloping situation, three or four more stories at the back than in the front. The New Town, the great ornament of Edinburgh, is built of stone, upon an elevated plain on the north. The singular beauty of its situation is equalled only by the graceful arrangement of its streets, and the splendid assemblage of its buildings. Yet, compared with the bustle and population of the Old Town, there is a tranquillity in the streets, similar to that which is to be found in Berlin, and which gives it the appearance of being thinly inhabited, and an air altoge ther melancholy. George's street is very fine: the people of Edin burgh think it injured by what is whimsically called the impudence of the clergy, in bringing the church of St. Andrew so forward, and the modesty of the physicians, in placing their hall so far back. The number of handsome hotels were amongst the early objects of my admiration. Some of them are as splendid as any in London, and prove the rapid advance which Edinburgh has made in refinement. The rooms are elegantly furnished, and the servants tolerably clean and very attentive. Not many years since, the inns afforded the most wretched accommodations, and the waiters were so filthy that it was whimsically said of them, that if you were to throw one of them against the wall he would stick there. Indeed, so late as the year 1768, a stranger coming to Edinburgh was obliged to put up at a filthy execrable inn, or bad private lodging. The word hotel was then only known to those who understood French or old English: but the Caledonian, like the English capital, has experienced great changes for the better,' In an account of Edinburgh, it was impossible not to advert to the history of the beautiful and unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots: but, instead of being seduced into tales of other times, we shall keep to the writer's sketches of things as they are, and transcribe his account of the mode of living among the students of the university of Edinburgh; which is preferable, in many re-spects, to the practice at Oxford and Cambridges 14 : The The students, contrarily to the practice which obtains in the EngFish colleges, live how and where they please, attend what lectures they choose, have little or no private intercourse with the professors, and are under no collegiate discipline whatever. A parent or guardian would, at first, naturally exclaim against this total absence of discipline; but no indecorum or inconvenience is found to follow. Young men of moderate fortune are not mortified and depressed by being forced into a style of living and extravagance to which their finances are inadequate. By living in the city, they have it in their power to visit amongst genteel families, and to temper the austerity of learning with the amenity of good manners. Young men, in bodies, have been known, many times, to present formidable opposition to scholastic discipline, and even to the police of towns in which their seminaries were placed, which, as individuals, they would not dare to attempt. By being thus dispersed, and left to the guidance of their own discretion, no cause can well arise for such combination, nor would it succeed were it attempted. Upon inquiry, I could hear of no excesses committed by any of the students, which, in the slightest degree, affected their character as a body; and when it is considered that, upon an average, there are not less than fifteen hundred students at the University, the result of the inquiry is not a little favourable to the conduct of those who come from remote parts of the kingdom, to draw from this great spring of intellect. At all the principal universities upon the Continent, the same mode of treatment, with regard to the students, is adopted.' Notice is taken of the imports and exports at Leith, the port of Edinburgh, of colleges, churches, hospitals, judicial establishments, prisons, hackney coaches, &c.; and the po pulation of this city is stated at about 100,000. When mention is made of the livings of the clergy in Scotland, Sir John glances at the state of the priesthood south of the Tweed, and risks the imputation of credulity by telling us of a curate in the Isle of Wight who cleans the boots and attends the horses of his sacerdotal master.' Could he suppose that such a fact was possible in the Isle of Wight? After having experienced the civility of the inhabitants, and remarked every thing worthy of observation in the Caledonian capital, the tourist sets off for Queen's Ferry; visits Dumfermline-Abbey, Hopetoun-house, Linlithgow, the Carron-works, Alloa, Kinross, and arrives at Perth; with the approach to and situation of which city he is much delighted: The road to Perth is extremely good, and the country presented an appearance of increased luxuriance and cultivation as I advanced. Wood and corn-fields, hill and dale, every where gladdened the eye; and the looks and habits of the peasantry seemed to correspond with the flourishing gaiety of the surrounding scenery. The superb plam of Gowrie, extending for nearly twenty miles, opened in the most unexpected and beautiful manner. A short distance from Perth, the windings windings of the Tay, the bridge uniting the rich and romantic country on either side, the handsome appearance of the town, the cavalry barracks, and an expanded view behind, offer to the eye the most enchanting prospect. When Agricola and his army first beheld the Tay, and the adjacent plain, upon which Perth at present stands, it is recorded that they exclaimed, with one voice," Ecce Tibur! Ecce Campus Martius! Behold the Tiber! Behold the Field of Mars!"-The Italians afterwards called the Tay the New Tiber. This river, which deservedly excited the eulogium of the Roman legions, is the chief of all the Scottish waters, and has its source in the western extremity of Perthshire, in the district of Breadalbane, on the frontiers of Lorn, in Argyleshire. With an exception of the New Town, Edinburgh, the town of Perth, the capital of the county of Perthshire, is by far the best built and most regular of any in Scotland. Perhaps a finer situation for a capital could not be found. The streets are broad and long, well paved, with handsome buildings on either side, and many elegant shops. It appears that anciently particular streets were inhabited by particular artisans, as the names of some, still preserved, scem to indicate. The inns are excellent. It would be tedious, and foreign to my purpose, to describe this beautiful city very minutely; it will be sufficient to observe, that the principal streets, in the old part of the town, are the High and the South street, both of which are very long, and that George-street, Charlotte-street, the Crescent, Rose Terrace, and the Circus, are the most handsome in the new part. This town has been subject to some very destructive inundations, which have caused the streets to be raised from time to time. Many stories, and even whole houses, are to be found below the surface of the street,' The whole of this county seems to have captivated the traveller: who remarks, towards the conclusion of the work, that Perthshire surpasses in richness and variety of scenery every county in England. How flattering to a Caledonian must be such an acknowlegement from the pen of an Englishman! Scone, Dundee, and Montrose, are not overlooked: but to Aberdeen, which contains a population of 30,000 persons, more respect is deservedly shewn. The tourist informs us that 'an acre of land is here worth double the rent of an acre in the neighbourhood of London, owing to the absence of poor-rates. Without calling in question the accuracy of this observation, as a general statement, the cause assigned for the inequality cannot account for it; since the poor-rates of land in the vicinity of the British capital are not equal to the rent. In the account of the King's College, Old Aberdeen, an anecdote of Dr. Ogilvie is introduced, for the purpose (it is said) of relieving the sombre character of ecclesiastical description: The attachment which the Doctor has to the study of astronomy induced him some years since to cross over to Denmark, for the purpose of personally paying his respects to a celebrated professor of his favourite acience at Copenhagen. Unfortunately he arrived at a time when a considerable ferment prevailed in the public mind, in consequence of our having taken and detained one of their ships of war, for what cause I do not remember: the professor largely partook of the public anger; and as it is natural to identify a foreigner with his country, as soon as the Doctor entered the room, the former went up to him, and, forgetful of the compliment of such a visit, and thinking only of the outrage conceived to have been offered to the dignity of Denmark, exclaimed, Sir, I am glad to see you; but, Sir, how dare you to take one of our ships?" Upon which the Doctor, with equal coolness and good humour, drily replied, "Sir, do not be offended with me; upon my honour I never took a ship in my life." answer had the intended effect; the professor laughed at and apologized for the length to which his patriotic ardour had carried him, and treated his worthy guest with all the attention due to him during his stay in the Danish capital.' The Of the road from Aberdeen to Banff, Elgin, &c. Sir John Carr gives no chearing account; and the approach to Forres was so dull and uninteresting, that he wished to meet weird sisters, to relieve the monotony and give a scenic effect. The historian, however, will prefer to witches, the anecdotes of the Pretender inserted in the account of Culloden; and the good christian will be better pleased with the story of a peasant's hu manity, which occurs in this chapter. We come next to Inverness, the capital of the Highlands; the counties north of which, as we have before remarked, were not explored by the Knight in his Caledonian rambles. This city is pronounced to be the seat of elegance and refinement; and it is here that the policy of education and its effects in the Highlands are discussed. Having previously visited Ireland, the writer is induced to make a comparison of the state of the poor in that island with the condition of the poor in Scotland; and his reflections on this comparison merit the attention of the statesman:. • Politicians have widely differed with regard to the wisdom of enlightening the poor of a country by education. Upon such a subject men of plain understandings would naturally wonder that any vaFiance of opinion could arise. They would conceive that he who prefers darkness to light, who thinks that the common people are mos likely to advance the ends of their creation, that they would be more loyal, more brave, and more virtuous, by continuing in a state of ignorance and stupidity, would, by a parity of reasoning, insist. that the blind were the most likely to move with certainty, and the crippled with vigour, But a distempered prejudice still maintains that to illumine the head is to extinguish the heart; that if the humble are taught reading, writing, and a little useful arithmetic, they will |