Edinburgh

EDINBURGH, a city, the seat of a university, and the metropolis of the kingdom of Scotland, situated in longitude 3° 10' 30" (W.), and latitude 55° 57' 29" (N.), about a mile (S. by W.) from Leith, 40 miles (S.S.W.) from Dundee, 42 (E. by N.) from Glasgow, 44 (S. by E.) from Perth, 55 (W. by N.) from Berwick-upon-Tweed, 92½ (N. by W.) from Carlisle, 109 (S. W. by S.) from Aberdeen, 156 (S. by E.) from Inverness, 270 (N. E.) from Dublin, and 392 (N. N. W.) from London; containing 56,330, and, including the suburban parishes of St. Cuthbert and Canongate, 138,182, inhabitants. The following is a list of the subjects comprised in the article, with the page in which each head or division occurs:—

Seal and Arms.

Historical Account.

This city takes its name, in ancient records Dun Edin, signifying "the hill of Edin, or Edwin," from its castle, either founded or rebuilt by Edwin, King of Northumbria, who, having greatly increased his power and extended his dominions, erected, in 626, a strong fortress for the protection of his newly-acquired territories from the frequent incursions of the Scots and Picts. The original fortress is supposed to have existed prior to the year 452, at which time it was captured by the Saxons, and Edinburgh remained in their possession till 685, when it was recovered by the Scots; but it was soon afterwards again taken by the Saxons, and continued to form part of the kingdom of Northumbria until 936. In that year it was granted, together with all the lands reaching to the Firth of Forth, by Athelstan to his sister on her marriage with Sictrich of Sihtric; but about 956 it was ultimately regained by the Scots, since which it has been included in their kingdom. The very tardy increase of the town, which did not attain to any considerable importance prior to the 14th century, is attributed to its situation on the south side of the Firth, and its consequent exposure to the depredations of the English, by whom, in their hostile incursions, it was often pillaged and burnt. From the frequency of these devastations, moreover, not only was the progress of the town, which, from its castle, was called "Edwin's burgh," materially retarded, but the public records were destroyed; and the city archives throw light on no transactions of any authenticity prior to the year 1329, when Robert I. granted the inhabitants a charter. Indeed, even from that period till the year 1581 there occur only a few unconnected and unimportant events. It is not known by which of the Scottish monarchs Edinburgh was first constituted a royal burgh; but that it was such in the reign of David I. is evident from reference made to it in charters granted by him to other towns, and which have been preserved; and it is more than probable that the lands called the Borough-Moor and Borough-Myre were bestowed by that sovereign, in his charter to the city, now lost. In 1385, John, Earl of Carrick, son of Robert II., and lord high steward of Scotland, conferred upon the inhabitants, by charter of the 4th of July, power to erect houses in the precincts of the castle, with the privilege of free ingress and egress to their servants; and in 1388, Robert II., by charter of the 15th of July, gave them a tract of land on the north side of the Market-street, for the improvement of the town.

In 1437, Walter, Earl of Atholl, his grandson Robert, and kinsman Robert Graham, were publicly executed in Edinburgh for the murder of James I. in the monastery of the Black Friars at Perth. In 1447, James II., by charter dated the 4th of November, allowed the citizens the liberty of holding an annual fair on the festival of the Holy Trinity. In 1461, Henry VI. of England, with his queen Margaret and his son Edward, Prince of Wales, after the defeat of his army at the battle of Towton, fled for refuge into Scotland, and was hospitably entertained in the castle of Edinburgh. The honourable reception he received from the citizens induced him, on his return to the south, to issue letters-patent granting to the citizens of Edinburgh full permission to trade with England, paying no more duties on merchandise than his own subjects; but his subsequent exclusion from the throne rendered this privilege unavailing. In 1477, James III. gave the citizens a charter enabling them to appropriate certain parts of the town for holding the markets, which previously had not been fixed to any precise spot, or limited to any particular days. In 1481, this monarch having excited the dissatisfaction of his brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany, and others of the nobility, by his inauspicious entertainment of favourites, they entered into a confederacy for the removal of those persons by whom he was influenced to the prejudice of the country; and the king, being intimidated by these proceedings, took refuge in the castle of Edinburgh, in which he was detained a prisoner for nearly nine months, while the confederates were appointed regents of the kingdom. But the Duke of Albany, discontented with the conduct of the other regents, and yielding to the importunities of the queen for the liberation of her husband, appointed a meeting of certain of his friends at Edinburgh, who, assisted by a body of the citizens, assaulted the castle, and restored the king to liberty.

James, thus replaced in the government, in testimony of the loyalty of the citizens, bestowed upon them two charters in 1482, conferring many valuable privileges, among which was the appointment of sheriffs having power to hold courts for the trial of criminals, with fines and escheats belonging to their office. The inhabitants were also invested with liberty to make laws for the due government of the city, were exempted from payment of the duties on salt, and received a grant of customs and dues on the several articles of merchandise in their port of Leith; and as a perpetual memorial of their loyalty and services, the king removed the seat of government and the royal residence, previously at Perth, to the city of Edinburgh, which he thus made the METROPOLIS of his kingdom. Among other marks of his favour bestowed upon the citizens at this time, was the gift of a standard or banner, to which the craftsmen, not only of Edinburgh, but of all other cities within the realm, were bound to repair for the assistance of the magistrates in defence of their king and of their own rights; this flag is still preserved by the convener of the trades, and on its being displayed in times of emergency, all the artizans of the city and surrounding districts are compelled to assemble, and place themselves at his disposal.

Events of the Sixteenth Century.

In 1508, James IV. granted the citizens a charter enabling them to let the common lands designated the Borough-Moor, and the marsh called the Common-Myre, at fee-farm rents. The citizens, on this, immediately proceeded to clear the grounds, and cut down the trees with which they were thickly covered; and having in this manner procured a vast quantity of timber, the town council, for promoting the sale of it, allowed to all purchasers of a sufficient quantity to new-front their houses the privilege of extending them seven feet into the High-street beyond their former boundaries, on each side. Thus not only was the principal street reduced fourteen feet in width, but the houses previously fronted with stone were now entirely constructed of wood, to the great prejudice of the general appearance of the city. In 1513, James, being by the intrigues of France led into a war with England, in opposition to the counsel of his nobles, mustered an army on the Borough-Moor, where being joined by the citizens under their provost, the Earl of Angus, he marched into England, and was defeated in the disastrous battle of Flodden-Field, in which the king and most of the Scottish nobility were slain. The royal body, being found after the battle, was carried to Berwick-on-Tweed, embalmed, and sent to London inclosed in lead, and was thence conveyed to the monastery of Sheen, at Richmond, for interment.

On the news of this calamitous defeat, the town council of Edinburgh issued a proclamation enjoining all the citizens capable of bearing arms to assemble at the cross, and join the lord provost for the defence of the town against any attempts of the victorious enemy; a guard was raised, £500 were voted for purchasing arms and ammunition, and such of the inhabitants as had gardens attached to their houses were required, for greater security, to fortify them by the erection of walls. The consternation of the people was aggravated by the prevalence of the plague, which was making dreadful havoc among them. The council, in consideration of the arduous duties devolving upon the provost during this period of war and pestilence, ordered one hundred merks to be added to his annual income; and to prevent the further ravages of the plague, they directed that all the houses on the Borough-Moor, at that time crowded with infected persons, should be unroofed, and the walls taken down. In 1524, Francis Bothwell, lord provost of Edinburgh, having resigned that office according to the king's command, obtained permission to enter a protest that his resignation should in no wise be drawn into a precedent derogatory or prejudicial to the rights and privileges of the corporation. In 1544, Henry VIII. of England, disappointed in his efforts to negotiate a marriage between his son, Prince Edward, and the Princess Mary, daughter of James V., sent an army into Scotland under the Earl of Hertford in order to compel the Scots to the proposed alliance; and the English forces, having landed at Leith, and taken possession of that town unopposed, advanced to Edinburgh, which they pillaged and set fire to, without attempting to reduce the castle. The earl returned with his army to Leith, burnt the place, and afterwards retreated into England; but again entering Scotland, with a more numerous army, in 1547, to force the Scots to acquiesce in the projected union, achieved a victory over the Scottish forces at the battle of Pinkie, and again plundered Edinburgh.

Era of the Reformation.

At the commencement of the Reformation in Scotland, in 1556, the citizens destroyed the statues of the Virgin Mary and other saints in the church of St. Giles, which produced a mandate from the queen dowager, regent of the kingdom, to the lord provost and council to discover the offenders, and deliver them to the Archbishop of St. Andrew's, to be dealt with according to the statutes of the Church. The citizens, under apprehension of an invasion from England, in 1558, displayed the utmost zeal in support of the government. The merchants raised a body of 700 men, well armed and accoutred, and the craftsmen of the various incorporations, at a meeting in the Tolbooth, resolved to furnish an equal number for the defence of the city; the town council, also, voted considerable supplies for the assistance of the queen. On the celebration of the festival of St. Giles, the tutelar patron of Edinburgh, according to custom, the popish priests and monks, in order to prevent any obstruction from the friends of the Reformation, requested the presence of the queen regent at the procession; but, on repairing to the church to place the statue of the saint on the carriage prepared for its reception, they had the mortification to find that it had been removed during the preceding night. To obviate the failure of their purpose, however, a smaller image of the saint was borrowed from the church of the Grey Friars; but, the queen retiring from the ceremony before the procession had concluded, the populace seized the statue, which they demolished in their rage, and the attendants betook themselves to flight, though, by the prudent conduct of the magistrates, no further excesses took place.

In 1559, the people of Perth having destroyed many of the monasteries in that town and neighbourhood, the queen regent, fearful of similar outrages in Edinburgh, issued a proclamation to the provost and magistrates for the preservation of the sacred edifices and religious houses from violence, to which they paid so much attention that she addressed to them a letter of thanks for their diligent observance of her mandate. To prevent any attempts of the populace, the magistrates ordered all the gates of the city to be closed, with the exception of those of the Netherbow and West-port, at which they placed sufficient guards; and to obviate all danger from the lords of congregation, they sent commissioners to Linlithgow, to negotiate with them for the safety of the churches and monasteries, promising to reserve the former for worship according to the Protestant doctrines, and the latter for seminaries on the principles of the Reformation; and in the interim, they posted a guard over the church of St. Giles, and removed the stalls of the choir into the Tolbooth for greater security. On the 29th of June, the lords of congregation arrived at Edinburgh, and appointed two commissioners to attend the council, where it was resolved that, as the change was still in progress, the citizens should, without molestation, exercise which form of religion they might prefer till the 10th of January following. Upon this, the queen regent sent an order to the council to summon the citizens, and make a return of their choice between the two forms of faith; against such a course the citizens remonstrated by petition to the lords commissioners, and they in answer declared that they would compel no man to act against the dictates of his conscience. The queen, assisted by a body of French troops, now made every effort for the maintenance of the ancient religion; and the lords of congregation resolved to raise a body of troops for their defence, in which they were assisted by the council, who raised for them a considerable force, with which they marched to Leith, and summoned the garrison to surrender. On the first show of resistance, however, they fled with precipitation; several were slain in the pursuit, and so great was the panic after their return that they abandoned the city; but, having received a supply of English troops from Queen Elizabeth, and being reinforced with a body of 400 of the citizens, they again assaulted the town of Leith, were completely successful in their object, and compelled the French auxiliaries to quit the country.

Occurrences connected with Mary.

Upon the death of the queen regent in 1560, the lords of congregation became masters of the kingdom; and in a treaty between them and the ambassadors of Francis and Mary, afterwards Queen of Scots, it was stipulated that a parliament should be held in Edinburgh, which event took place in the following August: at this parliament it was enacted that the jurisdiction of the pope in Scotland should be abolished, and the confession of faith drawn up by the General Assembly established. The result of this meeting excited the strongest feelings of indignation in the mind of Mary, who refused to ratify the proceedings, and on the 19th of August, 1561, arrived at Leith from France to take possession of the throne. On the 1st of September she made her public entry into Edinburgh, and was received with the most enthusiastic acclamations of the citizens, who testified their loyalty and attachment by every demonstration of joy, but on the Sunday after her arrival, the populace raised a tumult, and were with difficulty restrained by the magistrates from interrupting the performance of divine service at the chapel of Holyrood House, and offering violence to the priest, who was officiating according to the Romish ritual. The magistrates issued a proclamation against papists, and the queen addressed to them a letter complaining of the insult thus offered to her religion; but this produced on their part only a republication of the edict in severer terms, enjoining all Roman Catholics to leave the town under heavy penalties, which so exasperated the queen that she issued a mandate to the lord provost and council to divest the magistrates of their office, and elect others in their place, with which the council complied.

The marriage of the queen with Lord Darnley, who had the day previously been proclaimed king at the market-cross, was solemnized in the chapel of the palace of Holyrood House on the 27th of July, 1565, and in the following year the queen was delivered of a son, afterwards James VI. of Scotland, who, on the demise of Elizabeth, succeeded to the crown of England by the title of James I. The assassination of David Rizzio, secretary to the queen, which had taken place in the palace not long before this event, under the personal superintendence of Lord Darnley, had tended greatly to alienate the affections of the queen; and the earl soon after left the court, and retired to Glasgow. Labouring under severe indisposition, however, he was here visited by the queen, who tended him during his illness, and brought him back with her to Edinburgh; and that he might not be disturbed by the inevitable tumult of the palace, she fitted up a house for his reception at a place in the vicinity, called the Kirk of Field, where for several nights she slept in an apartment underneath his chamber. On the 9th of February, the queen, having to preside at the marriage of one of her household, passed the night in the palace; and about two o'clock on the following morning, the house in which Lord Darnley lay was blown up by gunpowder, and his body was found at some distance in an adjoining field, without any apparent marks of contusion or violence. The Earl of BothWell, who was strongly suspected of the murder of Darnley, was publicly charged with that crime by the Earl of Lennox, who wrote to the queen imploring speedy justice on the murderer of his son; but, in a court soon afterwards held, he was acquitted. On the return of the queen from Stirling, where she had been visiting her infant son, she was waylaid by Bothwell at the head of a body of 800 horse, and forcibly conveyed to Dunbar, where she was detained for some time by the earl, who, however, subsequently obtained a pardon for this act of violence and for all other crimes, and, having procured a divorce from his wife, sister of the Earl of Huntly, was married to the queen, in Holyrood House, on the 15th of May.

This fatal alliance excited the indignation of the principal nobility, who formed an association for the protection of the prince, and the punishment of his father's murderers; Bothwell and the queen, alarmed at this insurrection, fled from Holyrood, and took refuge in the castle of Borthwick, on the investment of which by Lord Hume they effected their escape to Dunbar. The confederate lords, with a force of 3000 men, took possession of Edinburgh; and Bothwell hearing that they had sustained some disasters, quitted the fortress of Dunbar, and advanced to encounter them in the field. The armies met at Carberry Hill, about six miles from the city; but Mary, mistrusting the fidelity of her own troops, whom she knew to be unfavourable to her cause, and having no other resource, held a conference with Kirkaldy, and, on receiving some general promises of protection, placed herself in the hands of the confederates, by whom she was conducted to Edinburgh amidst the insults of the populace. Bothwell, during the queen's conference with Kirkaldy, fled unattended to Dunbar, and fitting out a few small vessels, sailed for the Orkneys, where for a time he subsisted by piracy; but, being pursued by Kirkaldy, he effected his escape in an open boat, and obtained a passage to Denmark, where he was thrown into prison, and died miserably about ten years after. Several of his servants were made prisoners, and, having revealed all the circumstances of the murder of Darnley, were punished for the crime. The queen was detained as a prisoner in the house of the lord provost, and subjected to every reproach from the populace, who displayed, on her appearance at the window, a banner bearing the effigy of her murdered husband, with that of the infant prince by his side, and the legend "Judge, and revenge my cause, O Lord." But, the queen appealing to the compassion of the citizens, it is said they unfurled the standard given to them by James III., and, raising a sufficient force, compelled her persecutors to restore her to the palace of Holyrood, from which, however, she was on the following day conveyed to the castle of Lochleven. A council of regency was now appointed, and a deputation waited upon the captive queen in the castle, requiring her to sign an abdication in favour of the infant prince, who was proclaimed king, and soon after crowned at Stirling, the Earl of Morton taking the coronation oath in his name; she also agreed to make the Earl of Murray regent, and to nominate a council to administer the government till he should arrive from the continent.

The Earl of Murray, who had been thus appointed regent, shortly returned from France, and paid a visit to the queen at Lochleven. He obtained possession of the castle of Edinburgh, at that time held by a partisan of Bothwell's, and of which he created Sir William Kirkaldy governor; but Sir William, in 1570, finding to what severities the queen was subjected, embraced her cause, and the city, alternately held by both parties, became for some time the scene of confusion and civil war. The lords of the regency applied for assistance to Elizabeth of England, and that queen sent to their assistance 1000 infantry and 300 cavalry, under the command of Sir William Drury, who, on his arrival at Leith, where the Scottish army was encamped, summoned the governor to surrender the castle of Edinburgh; but a party who had been driven from the city, assembling in a hostile manner, put an end to the treaty, and the war was carried on with the most ferocious barbarity. To prevent the city being taken by surprise, a strong barrier was erected by the queen's troops at the Netherbow, and every precaution was adopted for its security; the war continued to rage with inveterate fury, and such was the rancour, that those who were made prisoners, on either side, were led to immediate execution. A truce was at length proposed and agreed upon by the leaders; but Kirkaldy refusing to concur, Sir William Drury, who had retreated into England, returned with a more formidable force, and ultimately compelled the castle to surrender. During this period the city suffered greatly, being exposed on the one hand to the destructive firing from the battery of the castle, and on the other to the devastations of the contending parties.

Occurrences connected with James VI.

On the conclusion of the war, the Earl of Morton was established in the regency; but, becoming odious from the unpopularity of his conduct, he resigned the office to the young king, James VI., and the castle, which for some time held out under his brother, ultimately capitulated. Morton, however, afterwards resuming his authority, repaired to Stirling, and obtained the government of the castle there, and the custody of the royal person. On this, the citizens of Edinburgh, anxious for the king's safety, raised an armed force, and drew out the trained bands, for the service of the privy council; James applied to the council of Edinburgh for a guard of 100 men to protect his person, and for some troops to convey the Earl of Morton to the castle of Dunbar, and they not only complied with this, but also gave an additional 100 men to guard the palace of Holyrood House. The king held a parliament at Edinburgh in 1579; and on his removal subsequently from Stirling, the citizens received him with joyful acclamations, and escorted him to Holyrood with a guard of 2000 horsemen, after which he convened a parliament in the Tolbooth: the Earl of Morton, late regent, was accused of being privy to the murder of Lord Darnley, and on being brought to trial in 1580, he was found guilty, and put to death. In 1587, the king, with a view to reconcile the nobles of the realm, whom civil war had rent into adverse factions, gave a royal banquet at Holyrood House, whence he conducted his hostile guests to the cross, where they were entertained by the magistrates of the city, and pledged each other in goblets of wine.

The magistrates, on the approach of the Spanish armada towards the coast, armed the citizens to prevent the lauding of its troops, and raised a body of 300 men for the defence of Edinburgh; and just before the marriage of James with the Princess Anne of Denmark, they fitted out a well-equipped vessel to Denmark, to bring home the king and his royal bride, on whose arrival at Leith they escorted the princess to her palace, and afterwards to the church of St. Giles, and, on the solemnization of her marriage, presented her with a very valuable jewel. In 1591, Stuart, Earl of Bothwell, made an attempt to seize the person of the king; but his design was frustrated by the vigilance and loyalty of the magistrates, and the earl and eight of his confederates were publicly executed. On the birth of the prince Henry, the citizens sent to the king, at Stirling, a gift of ten tuns of wine, and a deputation of 100 of the chief inhabitants to assist at the baptism. An attempt of James in 1596 to controul the language of the pulpits exasperated both the clergy and the citizens; a tumult arose, in which the person of the king was insulted; and on his subsequent introduction of theatrical performances, a meeting of the presbytery was convened, and a decree passed against the toleration of them, which, however, on the presbytery being called before the privy council, they were compelled to retract.

On the return of the popish lords who had been pardoned by the crown, the clergy held a convocation of their most influential ministers at Edinburgh, to which they gave the title of Standing Council of The Church; and being cited before the privy council of the state for a contemptuous disregard of the royal authority, the minister of St. Andrew's disavowed all allegiance to the government, and called upon the people to support the clergy in their opposition. The king issued a proclamation enjoining the new council to leave Edinburgh within twenty-four hours; but they refused to obey it, and in their sermons and prayers invited the nobles of the land to countenance their resistance to the royal decree. They drew up a petition, couched in the most opprobrious language, which the king declined to receive; and the populace rushed in a body to assault the Tolbooth, in which the king, the judges, and the chief officers of state were assembled. This attempt, however, was frustrated by the loyalty and firmness of one of the deacons, who, attended by his corporation, intercepted their purpose; and the mob, in some degree appeased by the assurances of the lord provost that the king would accept any petition respectfully worded, and peaceably presented, at length dispersed, and James returned unmolested to the palace. On the following day, the king and the privy council left for Linlithgow, and a proclamation was published stating that, in consequence of the late treasonable outrage, in which many citizens, instigated by the ministers, had taken part, the crown deemed the city of Edinburgh no longer worthy to be the seat of government, to be unfit for the residence of the court, and for the administration of justice. The state therefore required the College of Justice, the inferior judges, and the barons to retire from Edinburgh, and not to return without the king's special licence. The citizens would gladly have conciliated the royal favour, but the ministers were resolved to persevere; they proclaimed a fast, and assailed the king from their pulpits with the most virulent reproaches, declaring that the people might lawfully take the sword out of his hands; they also addressed a letter to Lord Hamilton, intreating him to repair to Edinburgh, place himself at their head, and be the leader of those who had armed themselves in support of the Church. Hamilton, however, instead of complying with their request, showed the letter to the king, who issued his mandate to the magistrates of Edinburgh, for the seizure and incarceration of the ministers, but, having intimation of the intended proceedings, they contrived to effect their escape.

A deputation of the citizens now waited upon James at Linlithgow, to endeavour to appease his resentment, but in vain. The king went the following day to Leith, and thence to Edinburgh, the keys of which were tendered to him by one of his officers of state, and the charge of the city was committed to the Earl of Mar and the Lords Seaton and Ochiltree; the citizens were ordered to keep within their houses; the streets were lined with files of the royal guards, between which the king passed to the Tolbooth, and a convention of the states was held. Before this assembly the magistrates of the city humbled themselves with submissive reverence; they made the most solemn protestations of loyalty, and offered a guarantee that none of the ministers should be permitted to resume their charges, nor any others be admitted to the pastoral office without the royal approbation. They also proposed to present to the king, and to the lords of the council, a list of all the officers of the corporation for their approval before they were appointed, and gave every assurance of their freedom from any participation in the tumult, and of their resolution to discover and bring to justice its authors and abettors. But all these proffers were vain; the convention of the states pronounced the insurrection to be high-treason, and that the city should be subjected to all the penalties; it was even proposed that the place should be rased to its foundations, and that a pillar should be erected on the site as a lasting monument of its disgrace. The interposition of Elizabeth obtained from the king a mitigation of the sentence, but the town council were notwithstanding ordered, as representatives of the city, to enter themselves in ward in the town of Perth; the trial commenced on the 1st of March, when, one of the council neglecting to appear, the cause was decided, the community declared rebels, and their revenues escheated to the crown. Edinburgh continued for some time in a state of anarchy, but at length the citizens submitted themselves entirely to the king's mercy, and on the supplication of the magistrates and council, they were to a certain extent relieved from the forfeiture, and restored to their wonted privileges. In 1599, the convention of the states assembled at Edinburgh on the 10th of December, and ordained that the first day of the year, which had previously been reckoned the 25th of March, should be thenceforth the 1st of January.

Events of the Seventeenth Century.

In 1603, James VI., being on the death of Elizabeth successor to the crown of England, took leave of the citizens in the church of St. Giles, and, addressing them after the sermon, assured them of his future remembrance and protection; and on the 5th of April he departed for London, whither he was followed on the 1st June by the queen and royal family. In 1609, he granted to the town council of Edinburgh a duty of £4 Scotch on every tun of wine sold within the city, and ordered that a sword should be borne before the lord provost, and that the magistrates should in public wear gowns of state. The king, who on his departure had promised to visit his native dominions every three years, found no opportunity of doing so till the year 1617, when, on the 16th of May, he arrived at Edinburgh, and was received with every demonstration of joyful welcome by the provost and magistrates, who entertained him with a sumptuous banquet, and presented him with 10,000 merks in a silver basin. After the death of this monarch, his son and successor, Charles, paid a visit to Edinburgh on the 16th of May, 1633, for the purpose of being crowned King of Scotland, which ceremony was performed in the abbey church of Holyrood with unusual splendour. In two days afterwards, the king convened his first parliament in the Tolbooth, and confirmed the authority of the College of Justice, the privileges of the royal burghs, and the rights of the citizens; and on the 18th of July he left the city on his return to England, halting for a night at Dalkeith, Seaton, and Innerwick, on his route. Charles was accompanied in this visit by Archbishop Laud, who was sworn a privy councillor of Scotland at Holyrood House, and preached several times in the chapel royal; and while here the king erected the bishopric of Edinburgh.

During the time that he was in Scotland, the people testified the most loyal attachment to their sovereign; but great discontents broke out soon after his departure, and the subsequent introduction of the English liturgy into the Church of Scotland, in 1637, exasperated these discontents into open rebellion. On the attempt to read the liturgy in St. Giles' church, the utmost confusion was excited; missiles were thrown at the head of the dean while performing the service, and at Dr. Lindsay, Bishop of Edinburgh, who had ascended the pulpit in the hope of appeasing the tumultuous uproar; a mob collected in the streets, and hurled stones at the bishop while proceeding home in his carriage with the lord privy seal, and the Earl of Traquair and the Bishop of Galloway escaped with difficulty from the populace. The national covenant was subscribed by great numbers of the nobility and gentry, and by the inhabitants generally in the Grey Friars; and copies of it were circulated extensively throughout the country. The king, alarmed at these proceedings, commissioned the Marquess of Hamilton to negotiate with the Scots, many of whom were already in arms for the support of the covenant; and when the marquess arrived in Scotland he found it in a state of rebellion. The town council of Edinburgh took part with the Covenanters, and raised a body of 500 men as a reinforcement of their army, commanded by General Leslie, who assaulted the castle, at that time garrisoned by a body of troops under General Ruthven, and which ultimately surrendered to the Covenanters. The forces under Leslie afterwards made themselves masters of Dalkeith House, in which were considerable supplies of military stores; and, removing these into the castle, they erected some fortifications at Leith, sent emissaries to England to enlist the nonconformists in their cause, also applied to Cardinal Richelieu for immediate aid, and levied large contributions, by loan, for carrying on the war. Charles sent the Duke of Hamilton with a fleet of twenty ships and 5000 land forces, to reduce Edinburgh and Leith to obedience; but on the arrival of this force in the Firth of Forth, a treaty took place, according to the terms of which, the castle and other garrisons, being delivered to Hamilton, the troops were withdrawn.

In 1641, the king made a second visit to Edinburgh, where he assembled a parliament, in which a great number of the nobility were excluded from their privilege of voting, because they refused to subscribe the covenant. The Earl of Argyll, the head of the Covenanters, was created a marquess; Leslie, who had commanded the covenanting army, was made Earl of Leven, and appointed governor of the castle, and all the tried and faithful friends of the king were neglected, or superseded in their offices by the most inveterate of his enemies, in the hope of conciliation, though the Covenanters, notwithstanding all these concessions, still remained in arms, and added daily to the number of their troops. Charles left Edinburgh on the 16th of November, and soon after his return to England, which he found embroiled in civil war, gained some advantages over the parliamentarian leaders, who, in 1643, applied to the Scots for assistance; the Scottish parliament voted a supply of 18,000 foot, 2000 horse, and 1000 dragoons, and the magistrates, notwithstanding they had received a letter from the king reminding them of his former favours, raised a regiment of 1200 foot for the service of his enemies. After the defeat of the parliamentarian army in 1645 by the Marquess of Montrose, the city was in great danger; the plague was raging within its walls, and so much had its population been reduced by the ravages of war and pestilence, that, in case of assault, scarcely a hundred men could have been mustered in its defence. Montrose, having defeated the army of the Covenanters at Kilsyth, addressed a letter to the magistrates requiring them to liberate such of the royalists as they held prisoners. With this, in their present situation, they thought it prudent to comply; but the king having at that time arrived at Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the Scottish army, to whose protection he had resigned himself, a treaty was opened with the English parliament, to which the citizens of Edinburgh sent a deputation, and Charles was eventually given up to the English commissioners, in 1647.

From 1650 to 1700.

The Marquess of Montrose, who, after the execution of the King in 1649, had been appointed by Charles II. his captain-general in Scotland, landed in 1650, with a force of 500 foreigners, chiefly Germans, hoping to obtain from the Covenanters more reasonable terms for restoring the king to the throne; but, being defeated by Gen. David Leslie, he assumed the disguise of a peasant, and, intrusting his person to the protection of a perfidious friend, was betrayed to his enemies, and conveyed to Edinburgh amidst the most degrading and opprobrious insults. He was afterwards sent in custody to London, where the parliament was then sitting, and, being brought to trial, was condemned to be conveyed to Edinburgh, where, on the day after his arrival, he was publicly executed with every demonstration of wanton barbarity, in pursuance of his sentence. The English parliament, fearing an accommodation between Charles II., who had for that purpose landed from Holland, and the Scottish commissioners, who were then treating with him for his restoration, now sent Cromwell with an army of 16,000 men into Scotland, in order to check the negotiation. Cromwell encamped his troops on the Pentland hills, within a few miles of Edinburgh; the Scots, commanded by Leslie, were drawn up at Corstorphine. After some skirmishing, Cromwell withdrew to Dunbar, where in a little time he was so straitened for want of provisions that he purposed sending his infantry and artillery by sea into England, and effecting his retreat by forcing his way, with his cavalry, through the forces of Leslie, which had taken post between Dunbar and Berwick. Leslie, however, being induced to descend into the plain, and give battle to Cromwell, an engagement took place in which Leslie's army was totally routed; and Cromwell, pursuing his advantage, took possession of Edinburgh and Leith, and completed the fortifications which the Scots had begun and left unfinished. The lord provost and magistrates, on the news of the defeat, left the city, and fled to Stirling. The principal inhabitants, however, chose thirty of their number to preserve the peace, and to treat with Cromwell; and upon the arrival of the English commissioners at Dalkeith, for settling disputes, they sent a deputation, soliciting the restitution of their magistracy, which was granted, accompanied by an order to elect two representatives to meet the commissioners, and assist in the arrangement of public affairs.

On the restoration of Charles II., the citizens presented the king with the sum of £1000 as a testimony of their loyalty, which he acknowledged by granting them the privilege of levying one-third of a penny on every pint of ale, and two-pence on every pint of wine consumed in the city. But the subsequent efforts of that monarch to re-establish episcopacy, and introduce the English liturgy, exasperated their feelings; and the suppression of conventicles by military force excited in their minds the most determined opposition. The western counties rose in arms, surprised a party of the royal forces at Dumfries, and marched thence to Edinburgh, professing allegiance to the crown, but demanding the re-establishment of the Presbyterian form of worship, and the restoration of their former minister's. On this insurrection, the city was put into a state of defence; the gates were closed; the magistrates ordered all the citizens who had horses to assemble, and hold themselves in readiness to act for the preservation of order; the College of Justice formed themselves into a company, and were supplied with arms for the security of the government. By these means the insurgents were soon subdued; about fifty were killed, and 150 taken prisoners. But the more vigorous were the measures adopted for the support of episcopacy, the more the Covenanters increased; the preachers openly called upon the people to throw off their allegiance; the Archbishop of St. Andrew's was assassinated in his carriage, and every prospect of conciliation was hopeless. In this state of excitement, the magistrates of the city took still further precautions for its safety; the trained bands joined the forces of the crown, and dispatches were forwarded to London for assistance. The Duke of Monmouth was sent to Scotland with some troops of cavalry, and was invested with the chief command; and a battle took place at Bothwell-Bridge, in which 700 of the Covenanters were killed, and several were made prisoners and sent to Edinburgh, where two of the most seditious preachers were hanged.

James, afterwards James II. of England, and VII. of Scotland, while Duke of York, visited Edinburgh, where he was received with great pomp by the lord provost and town council, who entertained him with a banquet in the parliament-house. During his residence here he acquired great popularity; and on his accession to the throne, the citizens presented a loyal address, in acknowledgment of which that monarch sent them a letter, which is still preserved in a box of ebony, of rather curious workmanship. A parliament was shortly after held in Edinburgh, which acknowledged his supreme authority, and declared that the whole force of the country, from the age of sixteen to sixty, should be at his disposal; but the open encouragement given to the celebration of the mass soon excited a tumult, in the quelling of which the king's guards were brought from the castle, and, firing upon the mob, killed two men and a woman. Several of the most active of the insurgents were afterwards hanged at the Cross; and so great was the zeal for the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic faith, that a Popish college in the palace of Holyrood House printed and circulated hand-bills inviting all persons to send their children to be educated in the principles of that religion gratuitously.

On the arrival of the intelligence of the landing of the Prince of Orange, however, the regular troops were withdrawn for the reinforcement of the king's army, and the Presbyterians flocked to Edinburgh in great numbers. The greatest severities were exercised against the Papists, Episcopalians, and the adherents of the exiled monarch; the Earl of Perth, who was chancellor, abandoned the country, and the government fell entirely into the hands of the friends of the Revolution. A mob assembled in the city; the drums beat to arms, and the inhabitants proceeded to demolish the royal chapel in Holyrood House, but were opposed by a party of 100 men, who still adhered to James, and who, by firing upon them, put the party to flight. They soon returned, however, in greater numbers, headed by the magistrates, who had obtained a warrant from the privy council, and accompanied by the trained bands and herald-at-arms; and summoned the followers of James to surrender. After having defeated their opponents with considerable loss, they proceeded to the abbey church and the royal chapel, which they stripped of all their ornaments; nearly demolished the college of the Jesuits; and plundered the houses of many of the Roman Catholics. The town council tendered their services to the Prince of Orange; and the Marquess of Atholl, who, after the flight of the chancellor, had assumed the reins of government, held a convention of the states at Edinburgh, and transferred their allegiance to the government of William and Mary; appointed a new election of the city magistrates and council, by poll of the burgesses, in St. Giles' church; ejected several ministers who refused to pray for the new sovereigns, and finally re-established the Presbyterian form of worship. The Duke of Hamilton and other friends of the Revolution quartered several companies of infantry in the city; but the castle was still retained for James by its governor, the Duke of Gordon, and the Lords Balcarras and Dundee also stood firm to the interests of the exiled monarch. The castle, however, being but ill supplied with provisions, was soon compelled to surrender; and the adherents of the Roman Catholic party were confined in the Tolbooth, where several of them were detained for two or three years, and subjected to the severest privations.

In 1695, a company for trading to Africa and the East Indies was incorporated by act of parliament, with very considerable privileges; a capital of £400,000 was quickly raised, and in the following year six ships of large burthen sailed from the Firth of Forth. The intelligence of their having effected a settlement on the Isthmus of Darien arrived on the 25th of March, 1699, and the event was celebrated by public rejoicings, and by thanksgivings in the several churches of the city; but the sanguine hopes thus excited were not of long continuance. The colonists, after one or two fruitless attempts by the Spaniards, were ultimately driven from the settlement in 1700; and on the news of this, the citizens were so much excited by rage and disappointment that they broke out into the most wanton excesses, and, imputing their failure to the jealousy of the English merchants, proceeded to such acts of tumult and outrage that the commissioners and officers of state found it prudent to retire from the city lest they should fall victims to the popular fury.

Events of the Eighteenth Century.

On the accession of Queen Anne, the citizens were still more exasperated by the seizure of one of the ships belonging to the African Company, which had been taken in the river Thames; and upon their solicitation to the English ministry for its restoration being disregarded, they seized, by way of reprisal, a ship belonging to the English East India Company, which had anchored in the Forth. Captain Green, the commander, and part of the crew, were accused of piracy; and being, upon slight evidence, convicted of having plundered a Scottish vessel in the Indies, they were sentenced to be hanged. On the day fixed for their execution, the populace surrounded the prison, and the parliament-house, in which the privy council, assisted by the magistrates, were deliberating about the expediency of extending the royal mercy to the captain and his men. The lord chancellor, on his way from the council to his house, was dragged from his carriage by the populace, and was only rescued by the timely interposition of his friends; and so highly were the people incensed at the idea of a reprieve, that it was found necessary to execute the prisoners without delay. On the promulgation of the articles of the Union of the two kingdoms in 1707, the mob attacked the parliament-house, insulted the Duke of Queensberry, the chief commissioner, and gave vent to the most violent indignation. They beset the house of the lord provost, Johnston, a friend to the union, who narrowly escaped their fury; and so greatly did the numbers of the mob increase, that, before night, they made themselves entire masters of the city. Their first purpose was to blockade the gates, to prevent which the commissioners ordered a party of soldiers to take possession of the Netherbow, and afterwards, with the concurrence of the provost, stationed a battalion of guards in the Parliament-square. Such, indeed, was the opposition to the union that all the military of the surrounding districts were concentrated at Edinburgh, and three regiments of infantry were constantly on duty in the city; but the Articles were at length agreed upon, and ultimately signed by the contracting parties, in an obscure cellar under a house in the High-street, opposite the Tron church, long after occupied as a tavern and coach-office. The Duke of Queensberry returned, with the document thus reluctantly obtained, to London; and several of its chief supporters quitted the city, deeming it unsafe to remain. The ancient regalia of the kingdom were, on the completion of the act of union, deposited in the crown-room in the castle, on the 26th of March, 1707; but it was for a long time generally supposed that they had been conveyed to London, and deposited in the Tower; and this opinion was the more confirmed by the exhibition of a crown which the keeper of the jewel-office there invariably described as the royal crown of Scotland.

The discontents of the people induced the Pretender to make an effort to regain the throne, and a French fleet soon after appeared in the Firth of Forth for the invasion of Scotland. The Earl of Leven, at that time commander of the forces, conveyed information of the event to the provost of Edinburgh, who, with the magistrates and the several incorporations, manifested their loyalty to the existing dynasty by raising a body of 1200 men to serve under the earl. But their services were rendered unnecessary by the vigilance and activity of Sir George Byng, who, pursuing the fleet, drove them from the coast, and freed the country from the danger with which it had been threatened; and the magistrates testified their gratitude for this important service by presenting Sir George and the principal officers with the freedom of the city. On the breaking out of the rebellion in 1715, the council provided for the security of Edinburgh by repairing and fortifying the walls and gates, augmenting the town-guard, arming the trained bands, raising a body of 400 men, well equipped, to be maintained at the city's expense, and by fitting out several vessels to assist the king's ships. The forces of the Earl of Mar made an attempt to surprise the castle, in which they were frustrated by the vigilance of the garrison; and about 1500 of the rebel army, under Brigadier Mc Intosh, contrived to cross the Forth, and land in East Lothian, whence they marched to Edinburgh; but the city was too well guarded to afford them any hope of entering it, and they therefore removed to Leith, and took possession of the citadel, which they fortified. The Duke of Argyll advanced with his forces to dislodge them, but, being unprovided with artillery, withdrew, threatening to return with a reinforcement: during his absence, however, they evacuated Leith; and, 6000 troops arriving from Holland to the assistance of the government, the rebellion languished, and tranquillity was soon restored. In 1725, a destructive fire occurred in the Lawnmarket, which burned with so much rapidity that many houses in the city, with all their effects, were destroyed; a subscription was opened for the relief of the sufferers, and nearly £1000 were obtained. About this time, in consideration of the arduous duties devolving on the provost, an addition of £300 per annum was voted for defraying his expenses.

In 1736, the execution of a smuggler in the Grassmarket excited a tumult, on which occasion Porteous, captain of the guard, ordered his men to fire on the populace, when six men were killed, and eleven wounded. For this act, Porteous was prosecuted, and convicted of murder by the unanimous verdict of the jury; but Queen Caroline, acting as regent in the absence of George I. in Hanover, granted him a reprieve, which so exasperated the people that they assembled in great numbers on the night previous to the execution, surprised and disarmed the town-guard, blockaded the gates of the city to prevent the entrance of troops quartered in the suburbs, and proceeded to the prison, liberating all the prisoners with the exception of Porteous. Him they led to the Grassmarket by torch-light; and after allowing an acquaintance to receive what property he had, they conducted him to the spot where the six men had been killed, reproached him with his inhuman conduct, hanged him, and then dispersed without committing any further outrage. To punish this insult to the government, the lord provost was committed to prison, and, after three weeks' confinement, admitted to bail, and ordered to appear, with four of the bailies, at the bar of the house of lords, in London, where three of the lords justiciary were also commanded to attend. A bill was brought in for disqualifying the provost from holding any office of magistracy in the city of Edinburgh or any other part of Great Britain, and for confining him in close custody for one year, for abolishing the town-guard, and taking down the gates of the Netherbow. All these enactments, however, were afterwards commuted for a fine of £2000 to be paid by the city to the widow of Captain Porteous. In the year 1740, there was a great dearth of provisions in Edinburgh and the vicinity, and the magistrates had recourse to every expedient for the relief of the prevailing distress; large public and private contributions were raised; the banks volunteered loans of money without interest to the magistrates, for the purchase of supplies, which were sold at moderate prices to the poorer inhabitants, and by these means the calamity was greatly alleviated.

Events of 1745.

In 1745, the council, apprised by letter from one of the secretaries of state, that the eldest son of the Pretender meditated an invasion of the kingdom, took every precaution to meet the threatened danger, and provide for the security of the city. The town-guard was augmented to 126 men, the trained bands kept in constant readiness to act, and a body of 1000 men was raised to serve under the lord provost and council; the walls were repaired, and the fortifications put into a proper state of defence; and the banks and public offices sent their cash and valuable property to the castle. The king's forces, however, who, with the town-guard, were posted at Corstorphine, fled precipitately on the approach of the Pretender's army, which had crossed the Forth a little above Stirling. The town-guard retreated into Edinburgh, and the citizens assembled in the New Church to deliberate upon the expediency of holding out, when it was resolved to capitulate on the best terms that could be obtained. But while appointing deputies to treat for this purpose, a letter was handed to the lord provost and magistrates, signed "Charles, Prince of Wales," setting forth that "the prince was now ready to enter with his army into the metropolis of his ancient kingdom," and upon this the meeting broke up in the greatest confusion. Early the next morning, a coach was seen driving through the town towards the Netherbow gate, which the sentinel, suspecting no danger, opened to let it pass; but no sooner was the gate opened than a party of Highlanders that had reached it undiscovered rushed into the town, made themselves masters of the gates, took the soldiers on duty prisoners, secured the town-guard, and seized the arms and ammunition. About noon, the Highland army, headed by the Young Pretender, arrived in the King's park, and encamped at Duddingston; the prince and his suite took possession of the palace of Holyrood House, and compelled the heralds of the town to publish at the Cross a declaration proclaiming a regency, and a manifesto promising to the citizens the free exercise of the Protestant religion, and the unrestrained enjoyment of all their rights and privileges. The inhabitants were ordered to deliver up their arms at the palace; the soldiers and others of the Highland army were strictly prohibited from molesting the citizens, or pillaging their property, on pain of summary execution. A message was sent to the magistrates, requiring them to furnish a supply of stores, for which payment was promised on the restoration and settlement of the public affairs; and an assessment of two shillings and sixpence in the pound was made for that purpose on the rents of the citizens.

On the 20th of September, the Young Pretender and his army marched from their camp at Duddingston, in pursuit of the royal troops, which consisted of 3000 infantry, with some dragoons and artillery, encamped near Prestonpans; and early on the following morning, an engagement took place, which ended in the total defeat of the royal army, with the loss of their artillery, baggage, and military chest, with which the prince returned triumphantly to Edinburgh. The conquerors conducted themselves with the greatest moderation; their prisoners were liberated on parole, and the clergy ordered to continue their sacred functions as formerly, but they all declined, with the exception of the minister of the West, and the lecturer of the Tron, kirk, who continued to pray for the king by name without molestation. The military abstained from plunder, and during their stay in the city conducted themselves with order and regularity. The castle was still unassailed, and the garrison had hitherto avoided all interference with the invaders; but on some alarm, a few shots were discharged on the Highlanders who defended the west gate of the city, and on the following day orders were issued to the guard to cut off all intercourse between the city and the castle. Upon this the governor, fearing a want of provisions, sent a letter to the lord provost, stating that, unless free intercourse were permitted, he should be compelled to dislodge the Highland guard; and the magistrates thereupon sending a deputation to the Pretender, a truce for a short time was concluded. A few days afterwards the sentinels of the West fort, firing upon a party who were carrying provisions to the castle, the garrison commenced a severe cannonade on the city. Many of the houses were greatly damaged, and some set on fire; the streets were scoured with cartridge-shot discharged from the cannon on the lower hill, and several of the inhabitants were killed; but on the next day, the Pretender issued a proclamation withdrawing the blockade of the castle, and all further hostilities ceased.

Upon the 31st of October, the prince marched for England with 6000 men, and besieged Carlisle, which he took by storm; but, meeting with little support from his adherents in England, and impeded by the vigilance of the royal army, he retreated to Scotland, and having gained some advantage at Falkirk, returned to Edinburgh, and made an attempt to reduce the castle, in which he failed. The forces under the Duke of Cumberland being now in pursuit of the rebels, they retreated with precipitation towards the north; but the duke having secured the passes at Perth and Stirling, and intercepted a vessel from France, which had been sent with supplies, the Pretender's army was overtaken on the plains of Culloden. Here, after a severe battle, in which above 2000 were left dead on the field, the rebellion was totally extinguished; and the prince, after numerous adventures, in which his life was in the power of numbers, whom the reward of £30,000 for his apprehension could not prompt to betray him, escaped in safety to the continent. Fourteen of the standards borne by the rebel army were conveyed to Edinburgh, and burnt at the Cross with every mark of ignominious contempt; and Archibald Stewart, Esq., the lord provost, was now brought to trial in London for neglect in not taking due precautions for the defence of the city, but, after a long investigation, was acquitted. The city was for some time without any settled government, and the citizens petitioned the king for a restitution of their rights, which he granted by issuing an order for the election of their magistrates according to their wonted usage. The new magistrates and council presented an address of congratulation to the king on the suppression of the rebellion, and ordered the freedom of Edinburgh to be presented to the Duke of Cumberland in a box of gold; they offered to raise a body of 1000 men for the support of the government, and after the restoration of tranquillity paid great attention to the extension and improvement of the city, by commencing the erection of the New Town.

During the reign of George III., the peace was frequently interrupted: in 1779, a violent tumult was excited by the enemies of popery; the houses of many of the Roman Catholics were destroyed, and numerous outrages committed. For some years, the magistrates maintained a force of five regiments of cavalry, two companies of volunteer artillery, and a company of spearmen, for preserving order. In the progress of the French Revolution, a numerous party of republicans calling themselves Friends of the People, and a body styled the National Convention, assembled in the city, and held regular meetings, though occasionally dispersed by the government authorities; and on the 31st of December, 1811, a large concourse of the most notorious and lawless characters, armed with bludgeons, during the whole of that night committed the most desperate outrages. Several of the police were wounded, and one man killed; but the riot was ultimately quelled, and three of the rioters were hanged on a gallows raised in the High-street. Almost all those concerned in this outbreak were young men, chiefly under twenty years of age; and the alarm created by their proceedings led to several beneficial plans for the better education of the young. In 1815, the victory of Waterloo was celebrated here with the most triumphant rejoicings, and a resolution was passed for the erection of a monument on the Calton hill in commemoration of the event.

Visits of George IV. and Her Present Majesty.

In 1822, His Majesty George IV. paid a visit to the city, on which occasion the influx of strangers from all quarters of the country, and of all ranks, was immense. In addition to the several regiments of the Scots Greys, the dragoon guards, and other troops of the line, yeomanry cavalry and many parties of Highlanders in their costume were sent by the chiefs of the various clans, among which that of Sutherland was the most conspicuous, to grace the triumphal entry of the sovereign. The slopes of Salisbury Crags, in the King's Park, and the north acclivities of the Castle hill, were covered with military tents and marquees for their temporary accommodation; and on the front of the Crags were planted several pieces of cannon. The king, who arrived in the Leith roads on the 14th of August, landed on the following day, and made his entrance into Edinburgh, escorted by a splendid retinue. He advanced from the harbour, along Leith-walk and the Terrace-road on Calton hill, to the palace of Holyrood House, to which a new and more commodious approach had been opened for the occasion; and during the procession His Majesty frequently expressed his admiration of the noble streets and buildings of the city, and the romantic scenery in the vicinity. After remaining for some time at Holyrood House, the king proceeded to the palace of Dalkeith, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, where he resided during the rest of his stay in Scotland. In the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated, and salutes from the castle, Salisbury Crags, the numerous shipping in the roads, the fort of Leith, and the various regiments, were fired in honour of the royal visit; bonfires were lighted on Arthur's Seat and other eminences, and every demonstration of an ardent and joyful welcome was testified.

Upon the 17th, the king held a levee in Holyrood House, which was attended by a numerous assemblage of the nobility and gentry, naval and military officers, and the public functionaries. On the 19th there was another levee, at which he received the addresses of the General Assembly, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Universities, and the Highland Society; and on the 20th, the king held a drawing-room, which was graced by the presence of five hundred ladies of the first rank in the country. His Majesty, on the 22nd, went in state from the palace, through the Canongate and High-street, to the castle, and on the next day reviewed about 3000 of the yeomanry cavalry on the Portobello sands, after which he was present at a grand ball in the assembly-rooms in George-street, attended by all the peers of Scotland. A banquet was given by the civic authorities in the parliament-house, on Saturday, the 24th, on which occasion the king conferred upon William Arbuthnot, Esq., the lord provost, the honour of a baronetcy; and on the morning of Sunday he attended divine service in the High Church, when the sermon was preached by Dr. Lamont, moderator of the General Assembly. On the 26th His Majesty appeared at a ball given in the assembly-rooms by the members of the Caledonian Hunt. Upon the following day he authorised the laying of the first stone of the national monument by the Duke of Hamilton, grand master mason of Scotland; and in the evening visited the theatre. On the same evening there was a ball in honour of the royal visit, under the patronage of the Duchesses of Atholl and Montrose and other ladies of rank. On Wednesday, the king paid a visit to the Marquess of Lothian at Newbattle Abbey; and on Thursday, the 29th, after a short visit to the Earl of Hopetoun at his seat, Hopetoun House, he embarked at Port-Edgar, on his return to England, impressed with a deep sense of the cordial hospitality and fervid loyalty of his Scottish subjects.

In the year 1824, a destructive fire broke out in the city, which continued to rage with unabated fury, threatening the neighbourhood with desolation, and filling the inhabitants with consternation and dismay; but, after doing very considerable damage, it was subdued.

In 1842, the city was visited by Her present Majesty, accompanied by Prince Albert and a distinguished suite. The royal party arrived in the Firth of Forth on the night of Wednesday, the 31st of August, and the course of the vessels bearing the royal visiters was facilitated by the streams of light issuing from the numerous bonfires on the adjacent hills, the effect of which was magnificent in the extreme. On the following morning Her Majesty landed, and proceeded to Dalkeith, the splendid seat of the Duke of Buccleuch; on Friday night, the city was illuminated in honour of the royal visit; and on Saturday morning, September 3rd, Her Majesty made her formal entry into Edinburgh, amid the enthusiastic acclamations of an immense multitude. The various public bodies of the city were arranged on the occasion, to do honour to the Queen; and in front of the Royal Exchange, the lord provost, attended by the magistrates and other authorities, presented the keys of the city to Her Majesty, who immediately returned them, and proceeded to the castle, where the royal party remained for a short time. Her Majesty then passed down Princes-street, and shortly afterwards quitted the city for Dalmeny, the seat of the Earl of Rosebery, from which she returned in the afternoon, through Leith, to Dalkeith. On Monday, the 5th, the Queen held her court at Dalkeith; and on the following day set out for the Highlands, where she continued on a tour till Tuesday, the 13th, on the afternoon of which she reached Dalkeith: on Thursday morning, September 15th, Her Majesty, Prince Albert, and suite, left for England, by sea.

Description of the City.

The city of Edinburgh is built on a series of hills rising abruptly from a level tract of land in the northern portion of the county, about two miles from the Firth of Forth. The ground ascends gradually from the Firth for nearly a mile towards the south, attaining at the plain whereon the palace of Holyrood House is situated, an elevation of about ninety-four feet above the level of high-water mark. From this plain, the hill on which the Old Town is built, and which, with reference to the others, may be called the central hill, rises in the form of a flat ridge, increasing by degrees in width for almost a mile and a quarter, and terminating on the west in a precipitous rock on whose summit stands the castle, elevated about 180 feet above the plain of Holyrood on the east, and 274 feet above the level of the Firth.

The Old Town, which owed its origin to the castle, formerly extended but a short distance from that fortress, and ended at the Netherbow port, one of the gates of the ancient city, now taken down; it consisted only of the main street on the summit of the ridge, and of several wynds and closes stretching down the steep declivities on both sides. The buildings, however, were subsequently continued towards the east; and the High-street at present forms a continuous line of more than a mile in length, including the Castle-walk leading from the Castle hill, the Lawnmarket, and the Canongate, the whole extending from the castle on the west to the palace of Holyrood on the east, and containing numerous lofty and well-built houses, of which many are of ancient character and of handsome appearance. Nearly parallel with the High-street, on the north, are, the street called the North-Back of the Canongate, and also the Calton, communicating with the road to Leith; and on the south is a line of nearly equal length with the High-street, reaching from the suburb of Portsburgh on the west, and including the Grassmarket, the Cowgate, and the South-Back of the Canongate. These streets are intersected by the Pleasance, continued through St. Mary's-wynd and Leith-wynd; Bridge-street, leading along the north and south bridges, and uniting the southern districts with the Old and New Town; and St. John's-street. To the west of Bridge-street are, the site of the ancient Cross now removed, and the Parliament-square, containing several stately edifices. The southern declivities of the ridge occupied by the main street terminate in a level tract of inconsiderable breadth, on which the Cowgate is situated; and beyond this the ground rises gradually, and expands into a wide open plain. The northern declivities of the ridge are much more abrupt, and terminate in some flat ground of moderate breadth, which, being formerly covered with water, was called the North Loch, but which is now about to form a site for the termini of three great railways: beyond this the surface rises, by a gradual ascent, to the flat hill on which the New Town is built.

The extension of the town on the north side of the loch was projected in the reign of Charles II.; but no efforts were made to that effect till the year 1751, when the fall of an old house, and the dangerous condition of many others in the town, led to the draining of the lake and the foundation of a Bridge, of which the first stone was laid by Provost Drummond on the 21st of October, 1763. The bridge, which was erected under the superintendence of Mr. Wm. Mylne, brother of the architect of Blackfriars bridge, London, was scarcely completed, in 1769, when the southern arch and side walls gave way, and several persons were killed; it was, however, finished in 1772, at an expense of £18,000, and is a handsome structure of three noble arches, each seventy-two feet in span, and sixty-eight feet high, with two smaller arches of about twenty feet span, at either end, and numerous others that are inclosed and occupied as warehouses and vaults.

The New Town, which is connected with the Old by this bridge, called the North bridge, and also by a large mound of earth to the west, formed across the valley, and of which the acclivities are embellished with plantations, consists principally of three spacious parallel streets. Of these, Princes-street, on the south, forms a magnificent terrace of fine houses with pleasure-grounds in front, nearly a mile in length, and communicates with the new London road on the east; George-street, to the north, extends from Charlotte-square on the west, a splendid range of noble houses, to St. Andrew's-square on the east, also an elegant area, surrounded by handsome buildings; and Queen-street, still further to the north, the third of these spacious streets, reaches from Albyn-place on the west to York-place on the east. Between Princes-street and George-street, and likewise between George-street and Queen-street, are two parallel ranges of narrower streets, of which the former includes West, Middle, and East Rose streets, and the latter, Young-street, and East and West Thistle streets; and intersecting these, at right angles, are numerous good streets from north to south, of which the principal are Charlotte, Castle, Frederick, Hanover, St. David's, and St. Andrew's streets. To the north of Queen-street, but separated from it to the west by a wide valley agreeably disposed in pleasure-grounds and public walks, are, Heriot-row, Abercromby-place, Albany-street, and Forth-street, the last directly communicating with Union-street leading to Leith-walk. Parallel with these, northward, are, Jamaica-street, Northumberland-street, and Broughton-place; beyond are Great King-street, Drummond-place, and London-street; and parallel with these, and still further to the north, are Cumberland-street and Fettes-row. To the west of this part of the New Town is the Royal Circus, a spacious area tastefully laid out, and surrounded with elegant houses; to the east are the Royal-crescent and Bellevue-crescent; and intersecting the ranges of parallel streets mentioned in the two preceding sentences, at right angles, are, India-street, St. Vincent's-street, and Howe-street, Pitt and Dundas streets, Nelson-street and Duncan-street. To the east of the last-named are Scotland, Dublin, and Duke streets, all containing well-built houses.

During the delay which occurred in the formation of the New Town, a very considerable district on the south of the Old was erected on ground which, the magistrates having neglected to purchase it, was bought by Mr. Brown, an enterprising builder, who raised some handsome houses called Brown-square. The circumstance of these being soon occupied by respectable families led to the erection of George-square, on a more extensive scale, and in a superior elegance of style; several fine streets were afterwards built, and also additional squares, of which Argyll, Adam's, and Nicholson squares are the principal; many new lines of approach were opened, and the buildings of the university erected. This important district was subsequently extended westward, beyond Heriot's and Watson's hospitals, to Lauriston, and southward to Newington; and a large suburb of handsome streets and elegant villas reaches towards the south-east, almost to the base of Salisbury Crags, a remarkable hill, forming an exceedingly romantic feature in the scenery of Edinburgh, and separated from Arthur's Seat by a deep valley called the Hunter's Bog. The want of a more direct line of communication with the Old Town was soon strongly felt, and for this purpose the South bridge, in a line with the North bridge, was commenced in 1785, and completed in 1789. It is a substantial structure of twenty-two arches of various dimensions, all of which are concealed by houses, except one over the Cowgate, which is thirty feet in span, and thirty-six in height, defended on each side by an iron palisade, affording a view of the Cowgate beneath: the houses on this bridge are all uniformly built.

Since the formation of the New Town, very extensive additions have been made to the city in all directions. On the north-west, between Charlotte-square and the Leith water, some splendid ranges of building have been erected on the grounds of Drumseugh, the property of the Earl of Moray, consisting of Moray-place, a spacious octagon, communicating with an oval of smaller dimensions on the west, and in which are mansions in the first style of elegance; and several squares, streets, and places, among which are, Ainslie-place, Randolph-crescent, and numerous other stately piles. In the immediate vicinity, on the great north road, a handsome structure called the Dean Bridge has been erected over the ravine through which the Leith water flows, connecting the western extremity of the New Town with the parks on the north side of that river. This bridge, a massive edifice of four arches, of which the two central are of stupendous height, was completed in 1832; and several detached mansions have been subsequently proposed to be erected, and surrounded with an ample demesne of pleasure-grounds and gardens. A very considerable addition to the New Town was made about the same time, to the west of Princesstreet, on the lands of Coates, the property of Sir Patrick Walker. Some fine ranges of streets were formed in the park here, previously the seat of the Byres family, and of these Melville-street, almost in a line with George-street, contains some very stately buildings: close to Melville-street, on the Glasgow road, are Atholl and Coates crescents, facing each other, with shrubberies in front, and both remarkable for the beauty of their architecture; also Rutland-street and Rutland-square, to the south of which are handsome streets leading to Port-Hopetoun, built since the construction of the Union canal.

To the east of the New Town, also, many important additions have been made. Picardy-place, an elegant pile of buildings, has been erected, to the north-east of which are Gayfield-square and Greenside-place; and a noble line of approach has been opened from the Calton hill by the removal of the houses of Shakspeare-square, at the eastern extremity of Princes-street, and by the construction of the Regent's bridge. This is a handsome structure of one arch, fifty feet in span and fifty feet high, completed in 1819, connecting Princesstreet with the hill, and communicating with the new London road. The parapets of the bridge are ornamented with niches and well-formed pillars connected with the houses in Waterloo-place, a fine range four stories in height, on the south side of which are the post-office and stamp-office, both handsome buildings; and an elegant hotel has been built by a proprietary of shareholders, at an expense of £30,000. From Waterloo-place, the new London road sweeps round the face of Calton hill, in which direction, also, numerous additions to the city have been made. The Leith-walk, more than a mile in length, has been wholly paved, and forms a grand line of approach, having on both sides detached rows of well-built houses with pleasure-grounds in front, and nurseries and plantations in the intervals; and on the east of Calton hill, and encircling it at a considerable height from its base, are, Carlton-terrace, the Royal-terrace, and Regentterrace, superb lines of houses, commanding a fine view of the Firth of Forth, the coasts of Fife and Haddington, and the bay of Musselburgh. At some distance from Leith-walk, towards the north-west, is Claremont-crescent, in front of which are the Zoological gardens; and there are several ranges of handsome streets in the grounds of Hillside, the property of Mr. Allan. Additional facilities of communication with the Old Town have been afforded by the erection of George IV.'s bridge over the Cowgate from the Lawnmarket to Bristo-street, a well-built structure of numerous arches, of which three only are left open; and also by the construction of a bridge on the south side of the castle, by the commissioners for the improvement of the city.

In conclusion: the long avenues of noble streets intersecting each other at right angles, and containing uniform ranges of handsome houses; the numerous terraces, places, crescents, and squares of splendid mansions, enlivened with gardens, shrubberies, and pleasure-grounds in the very centre of the town; the spacious walks, the stateliness of the public buildings, the imposing aspect of the ancient castle, the palace, with the venerable ruins of the abbey of Holyrood and parks adjoining; the Zoological gardens, and those of the Botanical and Horticultural Societies; the monuments on the Calton hill, with the beautiful line of approach from the town; the romantic scenery in the immediate vicinity, Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, the avenue of Leith-walk, and other lines of communication with the different suburbs, and a vast variety of other interesting features; all these contribute to impart to the city an air of impressive grandeur and magnificence.

The environs in every direction abound with picturesque and richly-diversified scenery, and command extensive prospects over a wide extent of country embellished with features of romantic beauty and objects of intense interest. Among the more prominent of these are, the palace and grounds of Dalkeith, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch; Duddingston House, the seat of the Marquess of Abercorn; Hawthornden, remarkable for its situation on a precipitous rock overhanging the North Esk; Roslin Castle, the ancient seat of the St. Clairs, earls of Orkney, with the beautiful ruins of the ancient chapel, one of the richest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture extant; Corstorphine, adorned by its luxuriant woods and numerous picturesque villas; with the towns of Newhaven and Portobello, favourite resorts for sea-bathing.

The Castle.

The castle is most romantically situated at the western extremity of the ridge on which the Old Town is built, and, with its several buildings, occupies an irregular area of about seven acres, on the summit of a rugged rock rising almost perpendicularly from its base to a height of more than 300 feet, and inaccessible on all sides except the east. The approach from the town is by an esplanade, 350 feet in length and 300 feet in breadth, inclosed on both sides by iron palisades, and forming a favourite promenade; on the north side is a handsome bronze statue of the Duke of York, in the robes of the order of the garter, placed on a pedestal, and holding in his hand a field-marshal's baton. At the west end of the esplanade, a draw-bridge over a wide and deep fosse, flanked on each side by a battery, leads to the guard-house, to the left of which is a well for supplying the garrison with water. Beyond this, the path conducts round the north side of the rock, under two gateways, of which one, formerly used as a state prison, is defended by a portcullis, whence a long flight of steps forms an ascent to the Half-moon battery and the more ancient parts of the fortress. The Half-moon battery is mounted with fourteen eighteen-pounders, commanding the town, and is a massive circular tower, above the battlements of which the royal standard is displayed on public occasions. The Argyll battery, mounting ten guns of twelve and eighteen-pounders, from which salutes are generally fired, over-looks the New Town; and on the acclivity of the hill are the houses of the governor, fort-major, and storemaster, the ordnance-office, the powder-magazine, which is bomb-proof, the grand store-room, and the arsenal, which is capable of containing 30,000 stand of arms. The new barracks, a spacious range of buildings four stories in height, are adapted for the accommodation of 1000 men; and near them is the chapel of the garrison, above which is the bomb-battery, on the highest point of the rock, having near it the ancient piece of ordnance called "Mons Meg," mounted on an elegant carriage bearing the following inscriptions: "Believed to have been forged at Mons, A.D. 1486;" "At the siege of Norham Castle, A.D. 1497;" "Sent to the Tower of London, A.D. 1754;" "Restored to Scotland by his Majesty George IV., A.D. 1829."

The more ancient part of the castle comprises a quadrangular court of considerable extent, of which the south side is occupied by the buildings formerly the parliament-house, and now appropriated to the use of the district military and regimental hospital: the north side is formed by the barracks, and the west by various apartments for the garrison. The east side contains the principal range, surmounted by an octagonal turret of considerable elevation, and was anciently the royal residence: here is the apartment in which James VI. was born; over the door is the letter M, with the date 1566, and on the north gable are a rose and thistle, with the date 1615. Mary of Guise is said to have died in this apartment; but in its present state it displays no appearance to warrant that opinion. In this part of the quadrangle is the crown room, in which, upon the Union, were deposited the ancient REGALIA of Scotland, though they were generally supposed to have been sent to the Tower of London: on a search under a commission issued in 1818 by George IV., then regent, to several noblemen, the judges of the Supreme Court, the lord provost, and other gentlemen, among whom was Sir Walter Scott, they were found inclosed in an oak chest, together with a deed of deposition, dated the 26th of March, 1707. These regalia, which are open for public inspection daily, from twelve to three o'clock, on producing a ticket, obtainable at the Exchange, consist of the royal crown of Scotland, the sceptre, the sword of state, and a Silver rod of office supposed to be that of the lord treasurer; and in the same room are preserved the ruby ring, set round with diamonds, which was worn by Charles I. at his coronation; and the golden collar and badge of the order of the garter, sent by Queen Elizabeth to James VI., and the badge of the order of the thistle, bequeathed by Cardinal York to George IV., and deposited here in 1830. This ancient and venerable castle, though much disfigured in its appearance by an admixture of modern alterations of incongruous character, forms, from its elevated and commanding situation, a strikingly impressive feature in the view of the town.

The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood.

At the eastern extremity of the town are the remains of the ancient Abbey of Holyrood, founded by David I. for monks of the order of St. Augustine, and dedicated to the Holy Cross, in gratitude for his deliverance from danger while hunting. This monastery, which was liberally endowed by the king and by many of his successors, was one of the richest establishments of the kind in the kingdom; but it was destroyed by the English under the Earl of Hertford in 1545, and little of the building remains except the nave of the ancient church, which was an elegant cruciform structure, a portion of which was appropriated as the chapel royal. The chapel was thoroughly repaired in the year 1633, on the visit of Charles I. to Scotland, and afterwards, more completely, for his coronation; but at the time of the Revolution it was plundered by a mob, who stripped it of the roof, destroyed the monuments, took away the coffins of the kings and nobles who had been interred within its walls, and scattered their bones in the wildest disorder. The royal vault, when opened a few years previously, in 1683, had been found to contain the coffins of James V. and his queen, Magdalene; their son, Prince Arthur, and Arthur, son of James IV., who both died in infancy; Lord Darnley; and Lady Jane Stuart, Countess of Argyll. The chapel remained roofless till 1758, when it was covered with a ponderous roof of flag stones, beneath the weight of which the walls gave way, and the building has from that time been a ruin. The remains consist chiefly of the west front and a portion of the side walls and piers: the entrance is by a richly-decorated arch, flanked on each side by a lofty square embattled tower; above the arch is a noble window of elegant design, and those parts of the interior which are yet entire display great beauty and costly magnificence of style. In the north-west tower is a handsome marble monument to Lord Belhaven, of the Douglas family, who died in 1639; but though the chapel is still used as a burial-place by distinguished families, it contains no other monuments of importance. In the aisles are numerous gravestones, of which one is pointed out as the grave of David Rizzio; and there is a tablet to the memory of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney.

The Palace of Holyrood House, originally built by James IV., and enlarged by James V., and which was a very spacious structure consisting of five separate quadrangles, was burnt by Cromwell's soldiers during the parliamentary war, and rebuilt, with the exception of the north-west towers, after the Restoration. The present palace, erected from a design by Sir William Bruce, is a stately quadrangular structure in the Palladian style of architecture, inclosing an area of about 100 feet square, to which the principal entrance is on the north-west, by a handsome gateway in the centre of the front, which, at each of the angles, is flanked by two lofty circular towers, embattled, and crowned with a pyramidal roof terminating in a point surmounted by a vane. The quadrangle is surrounded with a piazza, in the south-west angle of which is the entrance to the royal apartments, by a grand staircase leading to the throne room, in which is a portrait of George IV. in the Highland costume, by Wilkie. On the north side of the quadrangle is the picture gallery, 150 feet in length and twenty-eight feet wide, of which the walls are painted by De Wit with more than a hundred full-length portraits and heads of the Scottish kings, but which were mutilated and defaced by the soldiers under General Hawley, after their defeat at the battle of Falkirk. In this gallery the election of the representative peers of Scotland takes place on the summoning of every new parliament.

The north-west portion of the palace contains the apartments of Queen Mary, and those of the Duke of Hamilton, hereditary keeper, which latter occupy the first floor under the queen's, and in one of which the marriage with the Earl of Bothwell is supposed to have been celebrated. The apartment in the western front of the tower called the queen's bed-chamber is hung with tapestry, and contains a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, of which the hands are stained with blood, and various articles of furniture said to have been used by Mary. Attached to it is the queen's dressing-room, in the south-west turret; and to the right of it is the closet in which the queen, with the Countess of Argyll and a few other ladies of the court, was at supper when Lord Darnley, the Lord Ruthven, and others, entering by a staircase from the chapel royal, seized Rizzio, who was sitting at a side table, and, dragging him to the head of the staircase, dispatched him with their daggers. In the queen's presence-chamber are numerous paintings, comparatively of recent date; and in the apartments of the duke are also many paintings and portraits. The palace, from 1795 to 1799, afforded an asylum to Charles X. of France, then Count D'Artois, who, with his suite, occupied the royal apartments; and subsequently, in the year 1830, the same monarch, with his family, consisting of the Duke and Duchess D'Angouleme, the Duchess de Berri, and her son, the Duke de Bourdeaux, and a numerous suite, whom the revolution had driven into exile, remained in the palace till their departure from Scotland.

In the grounds on the north and east of the palace and the chapel royal, and which were inclosed by a handsome iron palisade on the visit of George IV., the foundations of the church of the ancient abbey of Holyrood may be still distinctly traced. In the royal gardens is preserved Queen Mary's sun-dial; and in the avenue from the park is an ancient building which has obtained the name of the Queen's Bath; while in the Canongate is a large edifice, for many years the residence of the Earl of Murray, regent, to whom it had been given by the queen, and in the gardens attached to which is a tree said to have been planted by her. Within the sanctuary of Holyrood House, which still affords security for twenty-four hours to persons flying from their creditors, and to whom a bailie appointed by the Duke of Hamilton afterwards grants protection, on application in that time, are the parks of St. Anne's-yards, the Duke's-walk, and Arthur's Seat, on which last are the remains of the chapel and hermitage of St. Anthony, with a spring of fine water, called St. Anthony's well; and also within the precincts of the sanctuary are Salisbury Crags and the south parks, extending to Duddingston loch. In August, 1843, an act of parliament was passed authorising the transfer of the keepership of the royal park of Holyrood House from the Earl of Haddington, the hereditary keeper, to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.

There are still some remains of the ancient palace and oratory of Mary of Guise, queen of James V., and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, situated in Blyth's-close; over the door of the former is the cipher of that queen, with the inscription Laus et Honor Deo. The situation of the building, which has long been divided into small tenements, and occupied by the humblest class, is exceedingly inappropriate for a royal residence; and but for the cipher over the door, it could not be supposed to have had any claims to that distinction.

The Parliament House, and Square.

The parliament-house, situated in Parliament-square, was built in 1640, at an expense of £11,000. The hall, in which the parliaments were anciently held, is a noble apartment 122 feet in length and nearly fifty feet wide, with a lofty roof of old timber frame-work, richly carved, and ornamented with gilding, supported by arches resting on corbels on the walls. It is lighted by a range of four spacious windows on the west side, and at the south end is a handsome window of large dimensions and of elegant design, embellished with stained glass, in which is a well-painted figure of Justice, with the appropriate emblems. Near the north end is a statue of the first Lord Melville, finely executed in marble by Chantrey; on the east side of the hall is one of the Lord President Forbes by Roubilliac, erected at the expense of the Faculty of Advocates; and on the opposite side, towards the south end, are two other statues by Chantrey, of Lord Chief Baron Dundas and Lord President Blair. The walls of the parliament-house were formerly hung with portraits of William III., Queen Mary, and Queen Anne, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and of George I., and of John and Archibald, dukes of Argyll, all of which have been removed.

Connected with the parliament-house are the buildings appropriated to the use of the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, which was founded by Sir George Mackenzie, lord advocate of Scotland in the reign of Charles II., and at present contains about 200,000 volumes, exclusively of an extensive collection of manuscripts on Scottish history and antiquities. The library is under a chief librarian and five curators, one of whom retires annually, and is succeeded by a member of the faculty, elected by the body. A considerable number of the books are kept in apartments underneath the hall of the parliament-house, and the remainder in a handsome building adjoining it, containing two spacious rooms, of which the upper is elegantly decorated, and has a richly-carved ceiling ornamented with gilding. In this room are, a well sculptured bust of Baron Hume, of the Scottish exchequer, and nephew of the historian, and portraits of Sir George Mackenzie, the founder; Archbishop Spottiswoode, lord high chancellor of Scotland; the Lords Presidents Forbes and Lockhart, and other judges of the Supreme Court; and a portrait of Andrew Crosbie, Esq., advocate, the prototype of Sir Walter Scott's "Counsellor Pleydell" in Guy Mannering.

Attached also to the buildings of the parliament-house, is the Library of the Writers to the Signet, a collection of more than 60,000 volumes, under the direction of a principal librarian and a body of curators. The building comprises two large apartments, of which the upper room is 130 feet in length and forty feet wide; the lofty roof is elaborately enriched, and supported by a noble range of twelve stately columns on each side, behind which a gallery extends throughout the whole length. This apartment is lighted by a cupola in the centre of the ceiling, the interior of which was painted by T. Stothard, R.A., in 1822, with arabesque ornaments and figures of Apollo and the Nine Muses, and three groups with portraits of eminent poets, historians, and philosophers, respectively; including Homer, Virgil, Shakspeare, Milton, and Burns among the poets; Herodotus, Livy, Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon; and Demosthenes, Cicero, Lord Bacon, Napier of Merchiston, Sir Isaac Newton, and Adam Smith. On the grand staircase leading to this splendid room, is a fine portrait of Lord President Hope in his robes as lord justice-general, painted by Gordon; and on the landing-place are busts of Sir James Gibson Craig, Bart., and Colin Mackenzie, with portraits of Lord President Blair and other eminent lawyers.

In the centre of the Parliament-square is an equestrian statue of Charles II. erected by the corporation in 1685, at an expense of £1000, and representing the king in the Roman costume, with a truncheon in the right hand; and the buildings around the area form a semicircular range, of handsome elevation, with a piazza in front, comprising, in addition to the parliament-house, the exchequer, the justiciary courts, the courts of session, various other offices, and the Union Bank of Scotland.

College of Physicians, and of Surgeons, and the Medical Society's Buildings.

The old hall of the College of Physicians, situated on the south of George-street, nearly opposite to St. Andrew's church, and of which the first stone was laid by Dr. Cullen in 1775, but which has been just removed to make way for the new buildings of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, was a handsome structure in the Grecian style, having in the centre of the principal front a boldly projecting portico of four stately Corinthian columns, supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, and surmounted by a triangular pediment. The whole of this elegant edifice was crowned with a parapet and open balustrade, and the interior comprised a spacious and chastely decorated hall for the meetings of the members of the college, with various other apartments; a museum; and a library fifty feet in length, thirty feet wide, and twenty feet high, lighted by two ranges of five windows, and surrounded on three sides by a gallery. The new hall of the College of Physicians, situated in Queen-street, is a building of much plainer appearance. The library is enriched with a series of works on natural history, presented by Dr. Wright, of Kersey. Surgeons' Hall, belonging to the Royal College of Surgeons, incorporated by charter in 1788, and situated in Nicholson-street, is an elegant structure erected at a cost of £20,000. The front is embellished with a noble portico, under which is the chief entrance, and the interior comprises numerous splendid halls for the accommodation of the members, a pathological museum including collections by Dr. Barclay and other eminent professors, and a valuable repository of preparations for the illustration of the science. The buildings of the Medical Society, originally instituted in 1737, by Dr. Fothergill and other distinguished physicians, are situated in Surgeons'-square, to the east of the Infirmary, and comprise three large rooms, one of which contains a library of medical works, another a museum of natural curiosities and anatomical preparations; and a laboratory for chemical experiments.

The Royal Exchange, and Bank.

The Royal Exchange, in High-street, nearly fronting the Parliament-square, and of which the first stone was laid by George Drummond, Esq., grand master of the masonic order, in 1753, was completed in 1761, at a cost of £30,000. It is a handsome quadrangular structure, of which the south front has a boldly projecting piazza rising to the height of the first story, and crowned with a balustrade: above this, the slightly projecting centre of the front is adorned with four pilasters of the Corinthian order, supporting an enriched cornice with an attic, surmounted by a triangular pediment ornamented at the angles and on the apex with vases, and having in the tympanum the city arms, finely sculptured. An archway leads from the piazza into the quadrangular area, ninety-six feet in length and eightysix feet in width, of which three sides are wholly appropriated as shops and offices, and the other constitutes what is properly the Exchange buildings. These form a handsome range 111 feet in length and fifty-seven feet in depth, comprising about twenty spacious apartments, now occupied as the city chambers, for the accommodation of the town council, the town-clerks, and other civic functionaries.

The Bank of Scotland, situated in Bank-street, nearly opposite to George the Fourth's bridge, was first established by a company incorporated by act of parliament in 1695, with a joint-stock of £100,000 sterling, which has been since increased to £2,000,000; it is under the direction of a governor, deputy governor, and a body of twenty-four directors. The building, erected at an expense of £75,000, is a fine structure of stone, of the Corinthian order, having in the centre of the front two projecting porticos of two columns each, rising from a rusticated basement, and supporting an entablature and cornice surmounted with an open balustrade that extends along the whole of the building, at each end of which are corresponding projections of duplicated Corinthian pilasters. Over the entrance is a Venetian window of three lights, divided by Corinthian columns sustaining an enriched entablature, above which are the arms of Scotland, having on one side a figure of Plenty, with an inverted cornucopia, and on the other a figure of Justice, well sculptured, with the motto Tanto uberior: behind these, a cupola, surmounted with a dome, rises from the centre of the building.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, situated in a recess to the east of St. Andrew's-square, is a very handsome building, originally erected by the late Sir Laurence Dundas as a family residence, but sold by his son to the Board of Excise, by whom it was occupied for many years. It has a slight projection in the centre of the front, embellished with four engaged Corinthian columns springing from a rusticated basement, in which is the entrance, and supporting an entablature and cornice, and a triangular pediment having in the tympanum the royal arms, finely sculptured.

The Register Office.

The Register Office, situated in Princes-street, opposite the north end of Bridge-street, was commenced in 1774, by a grant of £12,000 obtained by the Earl of Morton in the reign of George III., and completed in 1822, at an expense of £40,000. This elegant structure, which is partly in the Grecian style of architecture, after a design by Mr. R. Adam, has a principal front 200 feet in length, from which projects a central portico of four Corinthian columns, rising from a rusticated piazza of three arches forming the entrance, and supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, with a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which are the arms of Great Britain. At each of the extremities of the front is a projecting wing of similar character, with two columns, between which is a Venetian window, surmounted by a turret and dome rising to a considerable elevation above the balustrade; and behind the central portico are seen the stately cupola and dome that spring from the interior of the quadrangle. The quadrangle is surrounded with handsome ranges of building comprising ninety-seven vaulted apartments, among which are, an elegant room thirty-five feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and twenty-three feet in height, for the use of the lord registrar, and various rooms for different officers of the establishment, and for the clerks of the courts of session and justiciary. Within the quadrangle is a circular saloon, fifty feet in diameter, rising from the centre of the inclosure to the height of eighty feet, extending to the sides of the quadrangle, and leaving at the angles sufficient space for the admission of light. The walls are divided into compartments by recesses for the reception of the public documents, to which facility of access is afforded by a gallery round the interior; and there is a circular window, fifteen feet in diameter, in the centre of the dome, which is richly ornamented in stucco. From the saloon two grand staircases lead to the numerous other apartments where the national records are deposited.

The Royal and Other Literary and Scientific Institutions.

The Royal Institution, situated at the north end of the Earthen Mound, in Princes-street, is a spacious structure erected in 1823, from a design by Mr. Playfair, upon a foundation of wooden piles which the nature of the ground rendered necessary for its security; it was afterwards enlarged by the rebuilding of the south end. The buildings are embellished in front and at the end with columns of the Doric order, and are surmounted by a magnificent colossal statue of Queen Victoria, executed by Mr. Steel, and erected in 1844. They comprise a spacious gallery for the exhibitions of the Scottish Academy of painting, sculpture, and the fine arts, founded in 1826; and apartments for the Royal Society of Edinburgh, instituted in 1783; and the Board of Trustees appointed by letters-patent in 1727, for the encouragement of trade and manufactures in Scotland. The Royal Scottish Society of Arts, under the patronage of the Queen, was founded in the year 1821, and incorporated by royal charter in 1841; the Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland was established in 1833; and the Art-Union of Scotland, which is under the direct patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in 1837. Among the other scientific and literary institutions are, the Royal Medical Society, already noticed; the Harveian Society, founded in 1782; the Royal Physical Society, instituted in 1771, and chartered in 1788; the Anatomical Society, established in 1833; the Hunterian Medical Society; the Medico-Chirurgical Society, founded in 1821; and the Obstetrical Society: the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, established in 1780; the Astronomical Institution; the Philosophical Association; the Geological Society; the Dialectic Society, established in 1787; the Diagnostic Society, in 1816; the Juridical Society, in 1773; the Scots' Law Society, in 1815; the Speculative Society, in 1764; the Theological Society, in 1776; and the Metaphysical and the Phrenological Societies. The College Theological Library was instituted in 1698; the Edinburgh Subscription Library, in 1794; and the Architectural Subscription Library, in 1832. There are, besides, the Select Subscription, the New Town Subscription, and Mechanics' libraries; and public subscription reading-rooms. The libraries of the Faculty of Advocates and the Writers to the Signet have been described in a previous page.

The Assembly Rooms, in George-street, form an elegant structure in the Roman style of architecture, having in the principal front a stately projecting portico of four columns, rising from a rusticated basement forming a piazza, under which are the entrances, to the whole height of the building, and supporting a triangular pediment. The ball-room, which is ninety-two feet long, forty-two feet wide, and forty feet high, is tastefully decorated, and is approached by two staircases, which meet in a lofty saloon in the middle of the building, which also gives access to a spacious and very handsome Music Hall erected at the back of, and immediately in connexion with, the Assembly Rooms. The Theatre Royal, situated near the end of the North bridge, was erected and first opened in 1769.

Monuments.

On the summit of the highest eminence on the Calton hill, is the monument to the memory of Lord Nelson, completed in 1815, and forming a conspicuous object in the view of the city both by sea and land. The structure consists of a lofty cylindrical tower of several stages, rising from the centre of a heptagonal building flanked at the angles with projecting embattled turrets, to the height of 100 feet, and surmounted by an embattled circular turret, from which springs a flag-staff. Above the entrance is the crest of Lord Nelson, with the stern of the San Josef, in basso-relievo, beneath which is a tablet with an appropriate inscription; the building around the base is occupied as a tavern. From the summit of the tower is a truly magnificent view, comprehending the German Ocean and the extensive and interesting tract of country to the west. The monument of the historian, David Hume, a massive circular tower, is also situated on the Calton hill, in the cemetery overlooking the old town.

The monument erected in 1828 to the memory of Lord Melville, in the centre of St. Andrew's-square, is a fluted column, 136 feet in height, above the capital of which is a colossal statue of his lordship, the whole raised chiefly by subscription of gentlemen connected with the navy, as a tribute of respect to his memory. To the east of the square, in a recess in front of the Royal Bank of Scotland, is a statue of the great Earl of Hopetoun, leaning on a charger, and placed on a pedestal, erected in 1835 in grateful remembrance of his military services. At the intersection of George-street and Hanover-street is a colossal statue, in bronze, of George IV., by Chantrey, raised in 1832, in commemoration of his majesty's visit; and at the end of Frederick-street, in a line with the former, is a similar bronze statue of William Pitt, by the same artist.

The National Monument, of which the first stone was laid by the Duke of Hamilton in 1822, by sanction of the king, and which occupies a commanding eminence on the Calton hill, was commenced by subscription in commemoration of the Scottish naval and military officers who fell in the battles consequent on the French revolution. The design was intended to be a perfect model of the Parthenon at Athens; but, the amount of the subscriptions having been all expended in the erection of twelve magnificent columns raised prior to the year 1840, the works have since that time been suspended. Within the area of the site marked out for this monument, an exhibition of statuary and sculpture was established by Mr. Robert Forrest in 1830, which has been gradually increasing in interest and variety, and forms a powerful attraction to persons visiting the spot. On Calton hill are also the monuments of Professor Playfair, near the Observatory, and of Dugald Stewart, overlooking the Regent's bridge, both structures of elegant design; and upon a height near the eastern end of the High School buildings, is the monument recently erected in honour of the poet Burns. This is a handsome circular structure, rising from an octagonal base with numerous appropriate inscriptions, and surrounded by Corinthian columns supporting a highly-enriched entablature and cornice, surmounted by an attic and a pedestal and figure: within is a beautifully-sculptured statue of the poet by Flaxman. The whole of the monument is elaborately embellished with emblematical sculpture, in which the lyre is predominant.

Opposite to the extremity of St. David-street, in Princesterrace, and finely situated in the gardens of the North Loch, is the superb monument to Sir Walter Scott, according to the design of Mr. Kemp, approved by the committee for its erection, in 1840. This truly splendid and elaborately-enriched structure, which has just been completed, rises to the height of 180 feet, from a base fifty-five feet square, in a series of gradually diminishing towers in the decorated English style. These towers are strengthened by panelled buttresses, terminating in crocketed pinnacles with flowered finials, and which are connected by flying buttresses of scroll-work, and have angular turrets adorned with canopied shrines, and springing from pierced parapets. From the angles of the principal tower, in which is enshrined a fine statue of the poet, are boldly projecting turrets, of similar character but very much larger, connected with the main building by lofty and sharply-pointed arches, richly moulded, and crowned with ogee canopies of feather-work. The roof of the tower is delicately groined, and is supported by four piers of slender clustered columns with flowered capitals, between which are four spacious and graceful arches affording access to the interior, to which is an ascent by flights of steps from the base between the turrets that project from the angles of the monument.

In the ravine of the Water of Leith, below Dean bridge, a handsome Doric temple, consisting of columns supporting a circular dome, and in which is a statue of Hygeia, of colossal dimensions, placed on a pedestal, has been erected over St. Bernard's well, a mineral spring near the margin of the river, and forms an interesting and pleasing feature in the scenery.

Lighting, &c.

The streets of the city are well lighted with gas from extensive works in the North Back of the Canongate, erected by a company of shareholders incorporated under an act of parliament in 1818, with a capital of £100,000, subscribed in £25 shares; and the inhabitants are supplied, though indifferently, with water by a company incorporated in 1819, with a capital of £253,000, also in shares of £25 each. The water, previously to the establishment of this company, was brought from Comiston; but, the supply being very inadequate to the increased extent of the town, it is now conveyed from more copious springs at Crawley and Glencross, about eight miles distant, into capacious reservoirs, at the Castle hill for the northern, and near Heriot's hospital for the southern, districts, whence it is distributed by pipes to the houses. The various works for this purpose were completed at a cost of more than £200,000; and a large compensation reservoir has also been constructed in a valley among the Pentland hills, for the supply of the different mills and factories in that district. The quantity of water, however, being still insufficient, and its quality inferior, the company are now engaged in bringing an additional supply from the west side of the hills; and a new company, also, has been formed for the purpose of procuring water from a distance of twelve miles, to be conveyed along the line of the lately projected Caledonian railway. The markets, which are spacious and well adapted for their object, are abundantly furnished with all kinds of provisions, and every variety of luxuries; and, from the vicinity of the Forth, fish of all sorts is plentiful, and of moderate price. Coal of excellent quality is obtained in the surrounding districts, and the Union canal and the railways afford every facility for its conveyance.

Railways, and Canal.

The Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway was constructed under the sanction of acts of parliament passed in 1826, 1829, and 1834. It extends from the city to the South Esk, near Newbattle, a distance of eight miles and a quarter, with branches to Leith, Dalkeith, and Fisherrow, in all nearly fifteen miles; and has been open since July, 1831: the present capital is £150,000. The line is for the greater part level, and worked by horses; but there is an incline near the city of 1 in 30, about 1160 yards long, worked by two low-pressure condensing-engines; and on the same incline is a tunnel 572 feet in length, with a semicircular stone arch of twenty-feet span. About 100,000 tons of goods and 300,000 passengers are annually conveyed upon this railway. The Duke of Buccleuch constructed the branch to the town of Dalkeith at his own expense, chiefly with the view of connecting his extensive coalfields on the south side of the Esk with Edinburgh: his grace lets the branch to the company. Owing to a contest in the session of parliament of 1844, between the proprietors and those of the North British railway, the latter company agreed to purchase the line for £113,000; and an act is about to be applied for, to extend it to Hawick, and for power to use locomotive-engines. The Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton Railway was formed under an act obtained in 1836. It commences at the east end of Princes-street gardens, and proceeds by a tunnel under St. Andrew's-street, passing beneath the east side of St. Andrew's-square, and next under Duke, Dublin, and Scotland streets, at the bottom of which last street is the northern entrance to the tunnel; the railway thence continues in nearly a straight line to Trinity pier, on the Firth of Forth. The whole length to Trinity is 13,000 feet, or about two miles and a half, and the length of the tunnel 1000 yards, its width twenty-four feet, and its height seventeen. An act was obtained in July, 1844, for the extension of the railway to Leith and to Granton Pier, and these branches, already commenced, will be completed early in 1846, the main line connecting them with the Edinburgh and Glasgow and the North British railways: the capital is now £173,400.

The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was established under an act which received the royal assent on the 4th July, 1838, and was amended by another act, passed in July, 1840. It commences at the Haymarket in Edinburgh, and terminates at George-square in Glasgow, and is forty-six miles in length. There are two level planes together exceeding seven miles, seven ascending, twenty-two miles long in the aggregate, and three descending, about seventeen miles; and the line attains its summit level in the parish of Cumbernauld, about twelve miles from Glasgow; the gradients and curvatures are favourable, and almost entirely of the first class. In the course of the line are five tunnels; the first, at Winchburgh, is 330 yards long; the next, a curved one, at Callendar, 830; and the other three, which are on the Glasgow inclined plane, are 476, 292, and 272 yards, respectively; the width of each being twenty-six feet, and the height twenty-two. There are thirty-three bridges over, and thirty-one arches under, the railway where it intersects turnpike and high roads; the former are generally semi-elliptical, twenty-eight feet in span, and seventeen in height; the latter are mostly twenty feet in span. The principal viaducts are those across the Almond and Avon rivers; the one being 720 yards in length, twenty-eight feet in width, and fifty feet above the level of the water, supported by thirty-six segmental arches of seventy-five feet span, with piers of seven feet in thickness; and the other, over the Avon valley, consisting of twenty arches. There is also the Redburn viaduct of eight arches. The railway takes a western direction, by Kirkliston and Linlithgow, to Falkirk, and then a south-west course to Glasgow, passing to the south of, and nearly parallel to, the Forth and Clyde canal, and crossing the Monkland and Kirkintilloch railway within a few miles of its terminus. The work was commenced at the Almond valley, in October, 1838, and the line was opened to the public on the 21st February, 1842, the gross expenditure to the 31st July, 1844, being £1,649,115. In the year terminating on the last-mentioned day, the revenue amounted to £117,233; the working expenses to £41,550; and the number of passengers conveyed was 666,266. By an act passed in 1844, the company are allowed to increase their capital stock to £1,406,250, and their privilege of borrowing to £468,750, and are empowered to carry the line to the North bridge of Edinburgh, for which purpose the works have been commenced and will be finished in 1846, forming a junction with the North British railway.

The North British Railway has been sanctioned by an act which received the royal assent in July, 1844, and by which the capital stock of the company has been fixed at £800,000, with power to borrow £266,666. The line commences at the North bridge in the city, where it forms a junction with the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway, and terminates at the Castle hill of Berwick-on-Tweed; its length is fifty-nine miles, with a branch to Haddington of four miles. The works, commenced in September 1844, are expected to be completed in 1847.

The Union Canal was projected in 1817, and, after considerable opposition, was begun in 1818 by a joint-stock company, and finished in 1822, at an expense amounting to nearly £400,000. It commences at Port-Hopetoun Basin, at the south end of the Lothian-road, in Edinburgh, and is carried through the parishes of St. Cuthbert, Colinton, Currie, Ratho, and a part of Kirkliston, in this county; those of Uphall, part of Kirkliston, Dalmeny, Abercorn, and Linlithgow, in the county of Linlithgow; and Muiravonside, Polmont, and Falkirk, in the county of Stirling. It there terminates, joining the Forth and Clyde, or Glasgow, canal at Port-Downie, near Falkirk, a distance of thirty-one and a half miles. In its course, it is carried by extensive aqueducts over the Water of Leith, the Almond, and the Avon, and passes through Prospect-hill tunnel, cut out of the solid rock for 696 yards; preserving its level to within a mile of its junction with the Forth and Clyde canal, whence it falls 110 feet by a series of eleven locks. The width of the canal at the surface is forty feet; at the bottom, twenty feet; and its depth is five feet. The aqueduct at Slateford consists of eight arches; its height is sixty-five feet, and its length 500; and that over the Avon is still more extensive. On the banks along the line are numerous villages, and it approaches close to the royal burgh of Linlithgow.

Municipal Affairs.

The town appears, from a charter of David I. bestowing on the monks of Holyrood Abbey certain endowments payable out of "his burgh of Edwinesburg," to have been constituted a royal burgh at least as early as the reign of that monarch; and at a very remote period the city was one of the four principal burghs, the commissioners of which, with the chamberlain of Scotland, constituted the court for superintending the affairs of the royal burghs of the kingdom. Under charters granted by the successors of David, confirming to the inhabitants his grant of a large portion of the forest lands in the immediate vicinity of the castle, the citizens had various privileges, among which was a license to trade, and to exact tolls and customs of all merchandise and traffic within the burgh, to which James III., by charter, added the liberty of appointing a sheriff with extensive jurisdiction. Numerous additional immunities were conferred on the burgesses by other kings, all of which were ratified and enlarged by succeeding monarchs, and especially by James VI., who granted to the provost, bailies, and council, the site of the city and all its appendages, and the hereditary offices of sheriff and coroner, with ample civil and criminal jurisdiction within the burgh and Leith and Newhaven. The provost was declared high-sheriff and coroner, and the bailies conjointly and severally were his deputy sheriffs and coroners; and the whole of the escheats, fines, and amercements in their jurisdiction were constituted part of the common property of the city. This, which was called the "Golden charter," was confirmed by Charles I.; but many of the privileges, being thought to derogate unreasonably from the prerogative of the crown, were voluntarily surrendered by the corporation in 1630, and a new charter, differing but slightly from that of James VI., except in those instances thought objectionable, was granted in 1636, and continued to be the governing charter till the reign of William IV.

The management of the municipal affairs is vested in four public bodies, namely, the town council, the police board, the road trustees, and the county prison board. The town council consists of thirty-three members, of whom thirty-one are chosen by the parliamentary voters qualified within the royalty; the remaining two, being the dean of guild and the convener of the trades, are elected respectively by the guild-brethren of the city and the deacons of the incorporated trades. Out of their own number, the whole council appoint a lord provost, four bailies, and a treasurer; and these officers, with the dean of guild, constitute the magistracy. The provost is dignified with the title of the Right Honourable, and in the city takes precedence, on public occasions, of all the great officers of state and of the nobility, walking on the right hand of the king or his commissioner, and having a sword of state and a mace borne before him. He is also admiral, and the bailies are admirals-depute, over the city and liberties, and the town, harbour, and road of Leith. The council are superiors of the burgh of regality of Canongate, and of the burghs of barony of Easter and Wester Portsburgh; over which they appoint certain of their number as baron-bailies, and also two burgesses of Canongate, and two inhabitants of Portsburgh, as resident bailies. The bailies of Canongate exercise the same legal jurisdiction within the limits of their district as magistrates of royal burghs; but the bailies of Portsburgh perform only the petty duties to which the bailies of all burghs of barony are now restricted. The council used formerly to appoint the magistrates of Leith; but, since 1833, these have been elected by the town council of that place, and the council of Edinburgh delegate to them annually their jurisdiction of admiralty over the town and road of Leith. The Merchant Company was incorporated, by royal charter, in 1681, and ratified by act of parliament, in 1793; each of the members pays on admission a fee of £63, besides contributing to a widows' fund, established in 1828. It has, however, never been acknowledged by the town council as one of the city corporations; and its members, as such, have never enjoyed any municipal privileges. The acknowledged corporations, possessed of municipal privileges, are fourteen in number, the surgeons, goldsmiths, skinners, furriers, hammermen, wrights, masons, tailors, bakers, fleshers, cordiners, websters, waulkers, and bonnet-makers. The members of these incorporations possess the exclusive right of exercising their respective professions and trades within the ancient royalty of the city; and formerly, their presidents, bearing the title of deacons, were members of the town council. Their privileges, however, being of little value, as the New Town is entirely free from municipal restrictions of that kind, the incorporations are rapidly dwindling away, and most of them will probably soon be extinct. The Police Board of the city consists of thirty-two commissioners elected annually by the ratepayers, and of seventeen public officers, including the provost, the magistrates of the city and Canongate, and the sheriff of the county and his substitutes; it takes charge of the watching, lighting, and cleansing of the town. The County Prison Board consists of eighteen members chosen by the town councils of Edinburgh, Leith, Musselburgh, and Portobello, and of the magistrates of the shire; and has the care of all the prisons, bridewells, and other places of confinement.

The magistrates, with the powers of sheriff, preside weekly in a bailie court, of which the jurisdiction extends over the ancient and extended royalty, and the barony of Portsburgh; they also sit in the police court, chiefly for the trial of petty offences, the more serious causes being remitted for trial to the sheriff or high court of justiciary. There is a court, called the Ten Merks court, for civil actions not exceeding that sum, in which a summary process is observed; and a court for the recovery of debts not exceeding £3. 6. 8. is also held by the magistrates, under the provisions of an act of the 40th of George III. A dean-of-guild court is held weekly before the dean, assisted by a council annually nominated by the town council; and the jurisdiction of the court of admiralty extends over the whole of the county of the city.

The County Hall, situated in the Lawnmarket, is an elegant structure in the Grecian style of architecture, with a stately portico of four fluted Ionic columns rising to the roof of the building, and supporting a triangular pediment; and the front, on each side of the portico, to which is an ascent by a flight of steps, is embellished with pilasters of the same order. The interior comprises a spacious hall for the county meetings, fifty-six feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and twenty-six feet high; a court-room forty-three feet in length, and twenty-nine feet wide, with a gallery at the south end; apartments for the accommodation of the judges, magistrates, witnesses, and others attending the sessions; and various offices. The Old Tolbooth, in which the sessions of parliament, the meetings of the College of Justice, and the various courts were formerly held; in which the public business of the corporation was transacted, and the civic banquets and other festivities took place; and in which, also, were the city and county gaols and the debtors' prison, was taken down in 1817, and a new Gaol erected on the Calton hill, at a cost of nearly £30,000. Of this sum, £10,000 were granted by government, £8000 from the city, £5000 from the county, and the remainder raised by assessment. The Bridewell, also on the Calton hill, nearly behind the gaol, was erected in 1796, after a design by Mr. Robert Adam, at an expense of £11,794, raised by subscription and assessments, aided by a grant from government. The buildings, consisting of a semicircular range, in front of which is the governor's house, are five stories in height, and comprise fifty-two working-rooms and 144 sleeping-cells, of which some are appropriated to prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement. The Canongate Tolbooth, an ancient structure, and, since the erection of the new gaol, appropriated exclusively to prisoners for debt, includes a common room, eight sleeping apartments, and rooms for the governor: the front towards the street has a low tower with angular turrets, between which is a clock, and is surmounted by a small spire.

History and Government of the University.

The University was originally founded by the town council, to whom Mary, Queen of Scots, granted for that purpose the sites and remains of the several ancient religious houses within the city, together with the lands and revenues in various parts of the kingdom. This gift was confirmed by James VI., who also bestowed a license to erect schools and houses for the students within the precincts of the monastic demesnes, and to receive benefactions and bequests of land and other property for its endowment, as well as to elect professors, with ample powers to remove them as they might think fit, all which grants, together with others by the same monarch, were subsequently ratified by act of parliament. The town council, having likewise received a bequest of 8000 merks from Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney, for the purpose of founding a college in the city, began, in 1581, to erect buildings appropriate for an institution of the kind in the southern district of the town, within the precincts of the ancient college of Kirk of Field. In 1583, they were so far advanced that they chose Robert Rollock, formerly of St. Salvator's college in the university of St. Andrew's, as professor in their college of Edinburgh, and his talents and popularity soon attracted a considerable number of students. After the appointment of other professors, the town council elected Mr. Rollock principal, in 1586: the institution steadily increasing in reputation and importance, additional professorships were created, and the establishment has since that time been rapidly advancing in prosperity. James VI. subsequently granted certain church lands and tithes in the counties of Lothian and Fife for its further endowment; and for its due regulation the town council founded an annual visitation by a committee of sixteen of their own body, with five of the ministers of Edinburgh, and three advocates, who made their first inspection in 1614. The town council continued these annual visitations till 1640, when they appointed a rector of the university to superintend, the management.

Arms.

During the parliamentary war in the reign of Charles I., the progress of the university met with no interruption; and Cromwell, in his protectorate, endowed it with an annuity of £200. After the Restoration, many of the students were strongly imbued with the principles of the Covenant, and, on the visit of the Duke of York to Edinburgh, made preparations for a public procession for the purpose of displaying their inveterate abhorrence of the Roman Catholic religion, by burning an effigy of the pope. To prevent this outrage to the feelings of the Duke of York, afterwards James II., the magistrates dispatched a party of soldiers, when a violent tumult took place between the military and the students, the latter aided by the populace; seven of the rioters were apprehended and lodged in prison, but after a few days were liberated. With the view of suppressing these feelings, Charles II. appointed a visitation to be held in the university by the Bishop of Edinburgh, the lord provost and magistrates of the city, and others, enjoining them to make their report in 1633; but the result is not known. Not long before the Revolution in 1688, another visitation was held for the same purpose, when a sentence of deprivation was passed upon the principal and one of the professors; but since the accession of William III., the internal policy of the university has been free from all similar interference. In 1768, a memorial was presented for rebuilding the university; but the breaking out of the American was suspended all further proceedings towards that undertaking. After the peace, however, it was again proposed, in 1786; and the magistrates having raised a subscription, a plan was designed by Robert Adam for rebuilding it upon the same site, and the first stone of the present structure was laid with great ceremony by Lord Napier, grand master mason of Scotland, on the 16th of November, 1789.

The affairs of the university are under the superintendence of the town council, by whom the principal and professors are chiefly appointed, and of a senatus academicus, assisted by a secretary, librarian, curator of the museum, and other officers. Of the numerous PROFESSORSHIPS founded at various periods, that of Humanity, established in 1597, is in the patronage of the Lords of Session, the Town Council, the Faculty of Advocates, and the Society of Writers to the Signet. The Town Council alone present to the professorships of Greek, founded in 1708; logic and metaphysics, in the same year; mathematics, in 1674; moral philosophy and political economy, in 1708; natural philosophy, in 1708; divinity, in 1620; oriental languages, in 1642; theory of physic, in 1685; dietetics, materia medica, and pharmacy, in 1768; chemistry and chemical pharmacy, in 1713; surgery, in 1831; practice of physic, in 1685; anatomy and physiology, in 1705; general pathology, in 1831; midwifery and diseases of women and children, in 1726; and clinical medicine, in 1741. The professorships of practical astronomy, founded in 1786; rhetoric and belles-lettres, in 1762; divinity and ecclesiastical history, in 1695; public law, in 1707; medical jurisprudence and police, in 1807; clinical surgery, in 1803; military surgery, in 1806; and natural history, in 1767, are all in the gift of the Crown. The professorship of universal history, founded in 1719, is in the patronage of the Faculty of Advocates and the Town Council; that of agriculture, established in 1790, in the patronage of the Lords of Session, the Barons of the Exchequer, the Town Council, and the Senatus Academicus; music, in 1839, is presented to by the Principal and Professors. Those of civil law, founded in 1710, and of the law of Scotland, in 1719, are in the gift of the Faculty of Advocates and the Town Council; that of conveyancing, in 1825, is in the patronage of the Town Council, Deputy Keeper, and Society of Writers to the Signet; and that of botany, in 1676, is in the patronage of the Crown and the Town Council. Attached to the university are eighty bursaries, varying in value from £5 to £100 per annum, of which last sum there are three; six are of £30; ten of £20; and their aggregate value is £1172 per annum. The winter session commences on the first Tuesday in November, and closes at the end of April; and the summer session on the first Monday of May, and terminates at the end of July: the number who graduated in medicine in 1806 was 37; in 1816, 76; in 1826, 118; in 1836, 123; and in 1844, 66.

Buildings of the University.

The rebuilding of the university, already referred to, was greatly retarded by want of adequate funds, and though commenced in 1789, little more than the east front and part of the north-west range was raised till the year 1815, when government granted an annual sum of £10,000, and a committee was appointed for its completion, after a design by Mr. Playfair. The present buildings, in a mixed style of architecture, form a quadrangle 356 feet in length, and 258 in breadth. The east front, of which the line is broken by slight projections in the centre and at each extremity, is embellished with a stately portico of two duplicated Doric columns, formed each of one entire block, rising to the height of twenty-six feet, and supporting an entablature and balustrade, above which is a large tablet with an appropriate inscription. The buildings around the area of the quadrangle are of various height: flights of steps lead to the hall of the senatus academicus, the library, the museum, and the several class-rooms, which are all of spacious dimensions, and many of them elegantly decorated.

The Library is 187 feet in length, and fifty feet in width; the roof, richly embellished in stucco, is sustained by noble ranges of pillars, behind which are placed the recesses for the reception of the books. The collection, now containing more than 100,000 volumes, originated in a bequest of Mr. Clement Little, advocate, who left his library, for the use of the citizens, to the care of the town council, by whom it was deposited in the university. It has been gradually augmented by purchases, and donations; by the presentation of free copies of all works printed in Great Britain; and by the payment of £5 towards its increase by each of the professors on his appointment, and a sovereign by each of the students on his matriculation. In the library are also some valuable paintings bequeathed to the university by Sir James Erskine, of Torry, Bart., various portraits of continental and other reformers, and an interesting collection of ancient sculptures and other antiquities. The Museum occupies a lower and an upper room, each ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The lower room contains principally specimens of the larger quadrupeds and other animals; the upper room, which is elegantly fitted up, and lighted from the roof, comprises a beautiful collection of more than 3000 British and foreign birds, the whole carefully arranged, and including a large number of stuffed birds recently purchased by the university from Mr. Dufresne, of Paris. On the tables are numerous glass-cases containing shells, insects, and other natural curiosities of a small size; and in the galleries and less extensive apartments communicating with the principal room, are various specimens of minerals, scientifically arranged by Professor Jameson, who, on his appointment to the chair of natural history, presented to the university his own private collection, to which an addition was made by the late Dr. Thompson, of Naples. The Anatomical Museum contains a very large collection of valuable specimens and anatomical preparations, the greater number presented by the grandfather and father of the present Dr. Monro.

New College.

This institution, founded in 1843, originated in a meeting of the General Assembly, held in St. Andrew's church, Edinburgh, on the 18th of May, and of which the result was a disruption of numerous ministers from that body, who adjourning with their adherents to Canonmills, formed themselves into a "General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland," and elected the Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D.D., for their moderator. Though principally intended by the new assembly, its founders, for the education of such students as hold the principles of the Free Church, the college is not confined to any particular denomination, and no class of the community is by the statutes excluded from participating in the instruction it is calculated to afford. Its primary object was a theological education; but it is also designed as an institution for general studies, and should the existing university tests continue to be enforced, it will ultimately comprehend a complete establishment of literary and philosophical, as well as theological, professorships. The institution, which was opened on Tuesday, the 31st of October, is under the direction of a principal, the Rev. Dr. Chalmers, who is also primarius professor of divinity, a professor of theology, a professor of divinity and ecclesiastical history, a professor of Hebrew and the oriental languages, a professor of moral philosophy, and a classical tutor. The funds necessary for the maintenance of the college are derived solely from the contributions of private individuals, and the fees paid by the students, which do not exceed £2. 2. to each of the classes; the number of students during the first year was 212, and in the year 1844 the attendance was nearly the same. The business of the institution is at present conducted in a house near the middle of George-street, which was previously a private dwelling, and is very inadequate for the purpose; but it is intended to erect a building of such magnitude and architectural appearance as may be fully consistent with the requirements of the college and the character of the town. For this purpose, an eligible site has been purchased at the extremity of the Earthen Mound, and designs have been furnished for an appropriate structure, for the erection of which a sum exceeding £20,000 has been already subscribed by twenty individuals alone.

High School, and Academy.

The High School of Edinburgh was originally founded as a public grammar school, by the town council, in 1518; and in 1578, being found inadequate to the wants of the city, it was refounded on a more extended scale. From the progressive increase of the number of pupils, the ancient house in which it was primarily established was taken down in 1777, and a more extensive building erected on its site, where it continued to flourish till 1829, when, a more eligible situation having been selected in 1825, the school was removed to the present spacious and elegant structure erected for its use on the Calton hill. It is under the superintendence of a rector and four classical masters, and teachers of the French language, writing, arithmetic, and the mathematics, all of whom are appointed by the magistrates and town council. The fees in the rector's class are £1. 5. per quarter, and in each of the four masters' classes £1, for the French and mathematical classes, 10s. 6d. each; and in the writing and arithmetical classes, 7s. 6d. each. The average number of pupils is about 500, to the most successful of whom are awarded prizes at the public examinations, which take place annually, in August, before the magistrates and council, the clergy of the city, and the professors of the university.

The building, erected after a design by Mr. Hamilton, at a cost of £30,000, partly raised by subscription, is a stately structure of freestone, in the Grecian style of architecture, 270 feet in length, and embellished in the centre of the principal front with a small portico of six Doric columns, supporting an entablature and cornice surmounted by a triangular pediment, and forming the chief entrance, to which is an ascent by a flight of steps. On each side of the portico is an open corridor of twelve Doric columns, with entablature and cornice of corresponding character, connecting the centre with the wings. The interior comprises a noble entrance-hall, seventy-five feet in length, and forty-three feet wide, with the various class-rooms for the rector, and the four classical masters, of which the rector's is thirty-eight feet square, and each of the other four thirty-eight feet long, and twenty feet wide; to each of the classrooms are attached two smaller apartments, and every arrangement for affording ample facility to the purposes of the institution has been studiously provided. At the entrance into the court-yard are two lodges, of two stories in height, in one of which are the class-rooms for the writing and mathematical masters, forty-eight and thirty-six feet in length respectively, and both eighteen feet wide; the other lodge is appropriated as a house for the janitor; and attached to the school are about two acres of play-ground.

The Edinburgh Academy, established in 1824, on a plan similar to that of the High School, and situated in Henderson-row, to the north of the New Town, is under the superintendence of a board of fifteen directors, of whom three are annually elected from the body of subscribers; it is conducted by a rector and four classical masters, with other teachers, differing in no material particular from the High School, except in the amount of fees. The building, erected at a cost of £14,000, by shareholders, is a spacious and elegant structure in the Grecian style, after a design by Mr. Burn, containing the requisite class-rooms, halls, and other arrangements.

Parishes, and Ecclesiastical Arrangements.

The see of Edinburgh, originally founded by Charles I. in 1633, and to which the ancient collegiate church of St. Giles was appropriated as the cathedral, continued till the Revolution, when the city contained only six parishes; it is now the seat of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and of the presbytery of Edinburgh, and comprises seventeen civil parishes, besides which there were until recently twelve quoad sacra or ecclesiastical parishes. The civil parishes, with the exception only of Canongate and St. Cuthbert's, which are under the patronage of the Crown, are all in the gift of the Town Council, by whom a stipend of £548 is paid to each of the ministers; the ecclesiastical parishes were in the patronage of various bodies, and the stipends, differing in amount, were derived from seat-rents and other sources.

The parish of the High Church is wholly within the city, and contains a population of 2776, under the pastoral care of two ministers. The church is a portion of the cathedral of St. Giles, of which the interior was partitioned, at the Reformation, for four separate congregations, and has been subsequently divided into three churches. There are 1399 sittings for this parish, including arrangements for the lord provost, magistrates, and council of the city, the judges of the High Court of Session, and the members of the Kirk Session. The interior of this once splendid edifice was richly embellished, and contained forty altars to different saints, numerous relics, sumptuous vestments, and valuable vessels of gold and silver, all of which were removed or destroyed at the Reformation. The church was externally rebuilt in the year 1830, after a design by Mr. Burn, architect, and is a stately structure in the English style of architecture, with a lofty central tower surmounted by a small spire connected with the battlements by flying buttresses, uniting in the form of an imperial crown, and rising to the height of 161 feet from the base. The south aisle was formerly fitted up for the meetings of the General Assembly, but, being found inconvenient for that purpose, the meetings have been discontinued; and it is now occupied as one of the city churches. There were till lately several ancient monuments, among which were those of the Regent Murray, the Marquess of Montrose, and one erroneously supposed to be that of Napier, of Merchiston. The parish also contains a preaching station, at which a missionary, who has a salary of £50, raised by subscription, officiates every Sunday; an episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. Paul; a Free church; and a place of worship in Carrubbers Close, for a congregation assuming no particular denomination.

The parish of the Old Church is of very limited extent, and contains a population of 2939; the church, a portion of the collegiate church of St. Giles, was taken down in 1830, and has not been rebuilt. The congregation assembled for public worship in the rooms belonging to the High School on Calton hill till 1835; but the south aisle of St. Giles' is now appropriated for them. There is also a preaching station, in which service is performed twice every Sunday, at the expense of the minister of the parish.

The Tolbooth parish, so called from the proximity of its former church to the ancient Tolbooth, is wholly within the city, and contains a population of 2216; the congregation now assemble in the hall recently erected, near the Castle hill, for the meetings of the General Assembly, which was intended also to serve as one of the city churches, and has consequently been assigned to this parish. It was erected at a cost of upwards of £16,000, jointly defrayed by the government and the town council, and is a large building in the English style, with a massive tower and spire, rising 240 feet in height, and forming one of the most conspicuous objects in Edinburgh: besides the spacious hall or church, it contains apartments for the officers, committees, and the records of the Assembly. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, and members of the Free Church.

The parish of Trinity College is entirely a town parish, containing a population of 2615. The church, originally founded by Mary of Gueldres, queen of James II., for a provost, eight prebendaries, two choristers, and a sacristan, is a handsome structure in the later English style, of which only the choir and transepts were completed; it underwent considerable alterations in 1820, and contains 797 sittings. In a portion of the building the remains of the queen are supposed to have been interred. A chapel in connexion with the Established Church, to which a district containing 816 persons was for a short time annexed, was founded in 1785 by Lady Glenorchy, who endowed it for two ministers, the first having a stipend of £400, and the second one of £200, paid by the Trustees, the patrons. The chapel, which was taken down by the North British Railway Company in the early part of the year 1845, was a neat plain structure, containing 1514 sittings, of which 104 were free; and attached to it was a school for 120 poor children, under the direction of the trustees. There is a place of worship for Independents.

The parish of the New North Church, wholly within the ancient royalty, has a population of 2815. A portion of the cathedral of St. Giles was early appropriated as a church for this parish; but, from the alteration of that building, the congregation afterwards assembled in a place of worship rented for their use by the town council, and containing 1233 sittings, till, in a recent year, a part of St. Giles' was again allotted to them. There is also a preaching station in the Lawnmarket, in which divine service is performed every Sunday by a licentiate of the Establishment; and a place of worship has been erected in connexion with the Free Church.

The parish of the Tron Church is wholly within the city, and contains a population of 2498, under the care of two ministers. The church, properly Christ Church, though, from its proximity to the public weigh-house, called the Tron Church, is a spacious and handsome structure in a mixed style, commenced in 1637, and completed in 1673; it had formerly a spire of wood, which was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1824, and replaced by a lofty square tower crowned with an open balustrade ornamented by pinnacles at the angles, and surmounted with a turret of smaller dimensions having a pyramidal roof, the whole erected by the town council in 1828. The interior, which contains 832 sittings, is well arranged, and embellished with a high roof of richlycarved oak. There is also a hall in which divine service is performed two or three times during the week by a licentiate of the Establishment; and the parish contains places of worship for members of the Free Church, United Secession, Scottish Baptists, and Original Burghers.

The parish of the Old Grey Friars, formed in 1722, is wholly within the city, and contains a population of 2643. The church, erected by the town council in 1612, on ground which formerly belonged to the ancient monastery of the Grey Friars, and was given by Queen Mary to the magistrates for a cemetery, was, previously to the late fire, a handsome structure in the later English style, containing 1061 sittings. The tower, which had been appropriated as the city magazine, was destroyed in 1718, by an explosion that also greatly damaged the church; and instead of rebuilding the tower, the magistrates erected on its site the church of the New Grey Friars' parish, separated from the former only by a partition wall. In the churchyard are interred many persons of distinction, including George Buchanan, Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Colin Maclaurin, Allan Ramsay, and Principal Robertson. There is a preaching station at the Magdalene chapel, in the Cowgate, where divine service is performed twice every Sunday by the assistant minister. The parish also comprises places of worship for members of the Free Church, Scottish Baptists, Bereans, and Independents.

The parish of the New Grey Friars has a population of 3207. The church, erected in 1721, adjoining that of the Old Grey Friars, and repaired and reseated in 1818, at an expense of £1518, by the town council, was a neat structure containing 1302 sittings; it was, however, together with the church of the Old Grey Friars, accidentally destroyed by fire on Sunday morning, January 19th, 1845. The flames were first discovered at about half-past nine o'clock: by half-past ten the Old Grey Friars' church had almost wholly fallen a prey to the devouring element, and shortly afterwards the flames seized upon the roof of the New Grey Friars, which edifice, notwithstanding the greatest exertions of the firemen, shared the fate of the other church. This fire was one of the most appalling that have happened in Edinburgh since the year 1824: the walls were almost the only parts of the churches left standing; the scene presented after the fire was one of the utmost desolation, and had the building not been detached, the result would have been still more lamentable. Service is performed at the Old Gaelic chapel, twice every Sunday, by a missionary appointed by the Kirk Session; and there is a place of worship for a congregation of the United Christian churches.

The parish of St. Andrew, separated from that of St. Cuthbert, by act of parliament, in 1785, contains a population of 4974, under the pastoral superintendence of two ministers. The church, situated on the north side of George-street, was erected in 1785, at a cost of £7000, by the town council; it is a handsome structure in the Grecian style, with a stately portico of four Corinthian columns, and a lofty and graceful spire rising to the height of 168 feet from the base; the interior is well arranged, and contains 1053 sittings. The episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. George, was erected in 1794, at an expense of £3000; it is an elegant structure, partly in the later English, and partly in other styles, after a design by Mr. Robert Adam, and contains 642 sittings, of which fifty are free. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church, United Secession, Baptists, Independent Baptists, Wesleyans, and the followers of Mr. Mc Lean, who assume no distinctive denomination, and a Roman Catholic chapel.

The parish of St. George was separated from that of St. Andrew by the town council and presbytery, under an act of parliament in 1814; it is partly a rural parish, and is about a mile and a half in length, and half a mile in breadth, containing a population of 8075. The church, which is situated on the west side of Charlotte-square, was erected by the town council in 1814, at an expense of £33,000, and is a spacious structure in the Roman style, with a central portico, and a square tower crowned with a lofty dome surmounted by a cupola and cross at an elevation of 160 feet from the base; the interior is chastely decorated, and contains 1687 sittings. A chapel of ease was erected in Young-street at an expense of £700, raised by subscription, and divine service is performed three times every Sunday by a missionary minister, who receives a stipend of £80 from the Kirk Session: the chapel, which contained only 347 sittings, was lately enlarged for a congregation of 1000 persons, for which purpose £2000 were given by a single benefactor. There are places of worship for Baptists and members of the Free Church.

The parish of Lady Yester's church is wholly a town parish, comprising about one-fourth of a square mile, and containing a population of 2223. The church was originally built in 1647, and rebuilt in 1805 by the town council, to whom Margaret Kerr, Lady Yester, gave 10,000 merks for its erection, and 5000 merks towards its endowment. It is a neat structure with circular gables and projecting turrets resting on corbels, and terminating in slender spires; it is situated nearly in the centre of the parish, and contains 1212 sittings, including 160 appropriated to the members of the university, which is within the parish. There is a place of worship for Original Seceders.

The parish of St. Mary was separated from that of St. Andrew by the authority of the town council and the presbytery of Edinburgh in 1824; it is wholly a town parish, containing a population of 6724. The church, situated in the centre of Bellevue-crescent, on the eastern boundary of the parish, was erected by the council in 1824, at an expense of £13,000; it is in the Grecian style, with a portico of Corinthian columns, and a square tower surmounted by a circular cupola crowned with a dome, and contains 1646 sittings. The episcopal chapel dedicated to St. Paul, at the eastern extremity of York-place, was erected in 1818, at a cost of £13,533, raised by subscription; it is a handsome structure after a design by Mr. Archibald Elliott, in the later English style of architecture, 123 feet in length, and seventy-three feet in breadth, with lofty embattled turrets at each extremity. The walls of the aisles are strengthened with enriched buttresses between the windows, terminating in crocketed pinnacles, and a similar range is continued in the clerestory of the nave; the east window is of spacious dimensions, and embellished with stained glass and with delicate tracery, and above the west entrance is a large window of the same character. Two ministers are attached to the chapel, each of whom has a stipend of £300. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church, Independents, and Glassites.

The parish of St. Stephen was separated from the several adjoining parishes by the presbytery and the town council, under an act of parliament in 1828; it is wholly a town parish, and comprises a population of 6849. The church was erected in 1828, at an expense of £25,000; it is an elegant structure, with a lofty square embattled tower. There is a place of worship for members of the Free Church.

The parish of the Canongate is about a mile and a half in length, and nearly four-fifths of a mile in breadth, comprising a considerable rural district, and containing a population of 9944, under the pastoral superintendence of two ministers, of whom each has a stipend of £240; the minister of the first charge is appointed by the Crown, and has a manse, and the minister of the second charge, who is chosen by the Heritors and Kirk Session, has an allowance of £40 in lieu of a manse. The church was erected in 1688, by the town council, at a cost of £2400, derived partly from a bequest by Mr. Thomas Moodie, which had been suffered to accumulate; and was thoroughly repaired and new seated in 1819, at an expense of £2000. It is a plain cruciform structure of irregular style, with a portico of four columns having an entablature and cornice surmounted by a triangular pediment; the interior is well arranged, and contains 1295 sittings. In the churchyard are the tombs of Provost Drummond and the poet Ferguson; and Adam Smith and Dugald Stewart are also interred here. There is a place of worship for a congregation of members of the Free Church.

The parish of St. Cuthbert, which was until recently subdivided into several ecclesiastical districts, is of great extent, and originally included the whole of the city and the burgh of Canongate; it is about five miles in length, and three miles and a half in breadth, comprising an extensive rural district, and containing a population of 71,908, under the pastoral superintendence of two ministers appointed by the Crown. The ministers have each a stipend of £402. 14.; the one has also a manse, and the other an allowance of £60 in lieu; and the glebe lands, which are equally divided between them, produce to each an income of £245. The church, situated at the western extremity of Princes-street, and rebuilt in 1760, at a cost of £4321, is a spacious and handsome structure, with a lofty square embattled tower, surmounted by a well-proportioned spire; the interior is neatly fitted up, and contains 2400 sittings. The chapel of ease in Gardner's-crescent was purchased by the Kirk Session in 1831, together with the ground attached to it, for £2500; it contains 1300 sittings. There is a handsome church at Morningside; and other churches have been erected in the parish of St. Cuthbert, as noticed in a succeeding column. The episcopal chapel dedicated to St. James was built in 1820, at an expense of £4000, raised by subscription; it is a handsome edifice, and contains 850 sittings, of which 100 are free: the minister derives a stipend of £500, chiefly from the seat-rents. The episcopal chapel dedicated to St. John was erected in 1817, at a cost of £16,000, also raised by subscription and donations; it is in the later English style of architecture, with a square embattled tower crowned by minarets that terminate in crocketed finials, and having in the faces double belfry windows, enriched with canopies. The walls of the aisles are strengthened by panelled buttresses, surmounted with a pierced parapet, and a similar arrangement is continued in the clerestory of the nave; the west entrance is under a deeply-recessed archway, above which is a spacious window of elegant design. The nave is separated from the aisles by fine clustered columns, which support the roof; and is lighted by a noble range of clerestory windows, and at the east end by a window of six lights, thirty feet high, divided by a transoms into three compartments, of which the upper is embellished with a rich Catherine wheel, and the others with stained glass. The roof of the nave and aisles is delicately groined, and the whole of the interior of the edifice is beautifully arranged. The minister has a stipend of £550, arising from seat-rents, out of which he pays a curate; and the chapel contains 821 sittings. There are also places of worship in the parish for members of the Free Church, United Secession, and Relief, for Reformed Presbyterians, Original Seceders, the Society of Friends, Baptists, Wesleyans, Independents, Jews, and Unitarians; an Episcopalian chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, and containing 420 sittings, two Roman Catholic chapels, and a convent established at Whitehouse in 1836, and dedicated to St. Margaret.

The parish of Greenside was recently divided from St. Andrew's, and erected into an independent parish; it is in the northern part of the city, in the direction of Leith Walk, and contains 3636 persons. The parish of St. John is also of very recent formation, and consists of part of the old parishes of the New Grey Friars, Old Grey Friars, and New North Church; it has a population of 2140, and lies in the immediate vicinity of the castle. Besides the churches of these two parishes, there is a place of worship for members of the Free Church.

Former Quoad Sacra Parishes.

The parish of New Street contained a population of 1932, and was separated from the parish of the Canongate by act of the General Assembly in 1834; it was of small extent, and wholly within the burgh. The church was originally erected as a chapel of ease, at a cost, including the site, of £2900; it is a neat structure, and has 1150 sittings. The parish of Leith Wynd, containing a population of 1868, was separated also from Canongate by the Assembly in 1834: the church, originally built as a chapel of ease, in 1792, is ill adapted to the use of the congregation; it contains 1094 sittings. Buccleuch, separated from the parish of St. Cuthbert, was one mile and a half in length, and about half a mile in breadth, and contained 3168 persons; the church, built in 1755, by subscription, and repaired in 1809, at an expense of £1300, is a neat structure containing 1374 sittings. St. Bernard's was about a mile and a half in length, and three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and had a population of 4768; the church, erected in 1822, at a cost of £4200, contains 1309 sittings. The parish of Roxburgh was wholly a town parish, and comprised an area of about one-fourth of a square mile, having a population of 3683: the church was built in 1809, at an expense of £2960, as a place of worship for a Relief Congregation, and was purchased in 1832 as a chapel of ease; it contains 830 sittings. The parish of Newington, separated, like the three preceding, from the parish of St. Cuthbert, was about three-quarters of a mile in length, and one-quarter of a mile in breadth, and contained 3310 persons; the church, erected by the Kirk Session in 1823, at an expense of £6372, contains 1623 sittings, of which number seventy-four are free. The Gaelic church in the parish of the Old Grey Friars was, by act of the General Assembly, in 1834, appropriated to the whole of the Highland population of Edinburgh, Leith, and suburbs, over whom the minister was invested with the pastoral superintendence. The edifice, originally built in 1809, by subscription, was purchased from the subscribers by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, in 1815, at a cost of £3000; it is a neat structure, and contains 1166 sittings, of which forty are free. The parishes of Dean, Morningside, and St. Paul, were separated from the parish of St. Cuthbert, and contained respectively 2262, 1795, and 2874 inhabitants: the church of Dean has 1030 sittings, including thirty free. The parish of St. Luke was separated from that of St. George, and had a population of 2546: its church has been already referred to as a chapel of ease in Young-street, in the preceding page.

Heriot's Hospital.

Heriot's Hospital was founded in 1624, by George Heriot, a native of Edinburgh, who, being appointed goldsmith and jeweller to James VI., accompanied that monarch to London, on his accession to the throne of England. He died in 1624, and bequeathed the residue of his property, which realized £23,625, to the city ministers, magistrates, and town council, in trust for the erection and endowment of an hospital for the maintenance and education of as many poor boys, sons of freemen, as the funds would allow. The building, of which the first stone was laid in 1628, was, from the frequent interruption arising from intestine commotions, not finished till 1650, when it was seized by Cromwell after the sanguinary battle of Dunbar; it was, however, restored by General Monk, on his being provided with other accommodation for his soldiers, he having kept possession of it for eight years; and in 1659 was opened for the reception of thirty boys. Since that period, the annual revenue of the hospital has increased from £1966 to £15,412; and there are at present 180 boys in the establishment, who are maintained, and instructed in the English, French, Latin, and Greek languages, writing, arithmetic, mathematics, book-keeping, geography, and practical mechanics. They are eligible at seven years of age, and under ten years of age, and are kept in the hospital till they are fourteen; on leaving the institution, such as are placed out as apprentices to trades are liberally supplied with clothes and books, and receive £10 annually for five years during their apprenticeship, and a present of £5 on the completion of their indentures. Those who discover any talents or desire for the learned professions are sent to the university, with an allowance of £30 per annum, founded there are also ten bursaries of £20 per annum, founded in the university by the trustees of the hospital, which are given to the most deserving of the pupils.

The buildings, which are pleasantly situated on an eminence to the south-east of the castle, form a handsome quadrangular range 162 feet in length, in the castellated style, after a design by the celebrated architect, Inigo Jones, with embattled turrets at the angles. In the centre of the principal front is a square projecting tower, embattled, and surmounted by an octagonal turret and dome, above which is a cupola of similar design, with a vane; over the entrance are the armorial bearings of the founder, and in a niche above the gateway within the quadrangle is placed his statue, in the costume of the day. On the south side of the quadrangle, which is ninety-four feet square, with a piazza on the north and east sides, is the chapel, projecting beyond the line of the buildings within the area and also in a noble oriel window in the rear: the chapel is sixty-one feet in length, and twenty-two feet wide; the floor is laid with black and white marble, and the whole of the interior has been recently fitted up with great elegance. On the west side of the quadrangle is the large hall, or dining-room; and adjoining it is the council chamber, a handsome and spacious room, in which are portraits of the founder and several of the trustees. The remainder of the building, which is three stories in height, and four stories at the angles, contains apartments for the governor, class-rooms, dormitories, and other requisite offices; and the park and grounds attached are extensive, well planted with shrubberies, and inclosed by a low wall.

Connected with the hospital, and maintained from the same funds, are the Heriot Foundation schools, for the instruction of poor children of deceased burgesses and freemen, and of others in indigent circumstances. Of these schools there are at present five, the masters of which have a salary of £140 each, and the mistresses £45 each, without any fees; and there are also two infant schools, and numerous Sunday schools, supported from the surplus funds of the hospital, and affording instruction to nearly 1800 children.

George and John Watson's Hospitals.

George Watson's Hospital, situated near Teviot-row, to the south of Heriot's hospital, was founded in 1723, by Mr. George Watson, for the maintenance and education of sons and grandsons of decayed merchants of Edinburgh, for which purpose he bequeathed £12,000. This sum, being suffered to accumulate, amounted to £20,000 in 1738, when an appropriate building was erected by the trustees, at a cost of £5000, on a site of land comprising seven acres, purchased from Heriot's trustees; and in 1741 twelve boys were admitted. The number increased in three years to thirty; and there are at present about eighty boys on the foundation, who are maintained, clothed, and instructed in the English, Latin, Greek, and French languages, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, the mathematics, drawing, dancing, and music. The boys are eligible for admission at from seven to ten years of age; on leaving the school, each receives a present of £7 for clothing, and £10 annually for five years as an apprentice fee, and if, after having faithfully fulfilled his indentures, he remains for three years unmarried, a further sum of £50 towards establishing himself in business. Such as display a taste and sufficient degree of talent for literary pursuits are allowed £20 per annum, for four years, for their support at the university, and, after leaving it, £17 per annum for two years. The hospital is under the superintendence of a body of governors, consisting of the master, assistants, and treasurer of the Merchants' Company, the bailies and dean of guild of the corporation, and the two ministers of the Old Church parish. The buildings form a neat and substantial pile, comprising a centre and two projecting wings. The central range, which rises above the roof of the main edifice, is embellished with a low tower crowned by a dome, from which springs a turret with a conical roof surmounted by a vane, representing a ship in full sail, as the emblem of commerce; over the entrance is a tablet having the armorial bearings of the founder, and in front of the building is an extensive piece of ground inclosed as a place of exercise for the pupils. The interior, which is well arranged, comprises spacious class-rooms, and the various offices for the purposes of the institution.

John Watson's Hospital was founded by Mr. John Watson, writer to the signet, who, in 1759, bequeathed the residue of his estate to Lord Milton, Mr. John Mackenzie, and others, in trust for such pious and charitable use within the city of Edinburgh as they should think fit; and from those trustees the patronage devolved upon the keeper and deputy-keeper of the signet, who, in 1822, obtained and act of parliament for the erection and endowment of an hospital for the maintenance and education of destitute children, and for bringing them up, and assisting their establishment in trade. The proceeds of the bequest, which, in 1781, amounted. to £4721. 9. 6., have since that time greatly accumulated, and at present exceed £132,000. There are 126 children in the institution, who are admitted at from five to eight, and stay till they are fourteen, years of age; they are maintained, clothed, and instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the girls also in needle-work and housewifery, and on leaving the school the boys are placed out to trades, and the girls as servants in respectable families. The building, which is situated on the Dean land, was commenced in 1825, and completed in 1828; it is a spacious and handsome structure in the Grecian style of architecture, with a stately portico in the centre of the principal front, and contains every requisite arrangement for its purpose.

Other Hospitals.

The Merchants' Maiden Hospital, near Heriot's hospital, was founded in 1695, by the Merchants' Company, in conjunction with Mrs. Mary Erskine, for the maintenance and education of daughters or grand-daughters of merchant-burgesses or ministers of Edinburgh, who are eligible for admission from the age of seven to eleven, and are maintained till they are seventeen years of age. There are at present ninety-six girls in the hospital, who are instructed in the English and French languages, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, drawing, dancing, music, and needle-work; and on leaving the institution, each receives a present of £9.6.8. The hospital is under the superintendence of a body of governors consisting of five members of the town council, the master and three assistants of the Merchants' Company, the Earl of Mar, and three of the ministers of the city. The buildings, originally in Bristo-street, having become inadequate for the purpose, the present edifice was erected in 1818, at an expense of £12,250; it is a handsome structure in the Grecian style, after a design by Mr. Burn, 180 feet in length and sixty feet in depth, with a portico of four columns in the centre of the principal front.

The Trades' Maiden Hospital was founded in 1704, by the freemen of the incorporated trades, in conjunction with Mrs. Mary Erskine, and is under the superintendence of a body of governors consisting of the deacons of the trades, two trades' councillors, and others, incorporated by act of parliament in 1707. There are about fifty girls, the daughters or grand-daughters of freemen of the trading companies, who are maintained and instructed in the English and French languages, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, music, sewing, and laundry-work; they are eligible for admission at from seven to eleven years of age, and remain in the hospital till they are seventeen: on leaving, each girl receives a present of £5.11. and a Bible. The building, which is a plain neat structure, is well adapted to the purpose, and contains all the requisite accommodations.

The Orphan Hospital was first projected by Mr. Andrew Gardiner, merchant, in 1727; and in 1733 a house was hired for the purpose, into which thirty destitute children were received. A building was erected in 1735, near the Trinity College church, by the directors, who were incorporated by act of George II. in 1742; but, from the subsequent increase of the city, a more capacious building was erected near North Bridge-street, at an expense of £16,000. This edifice, however, has been demolished within the last few years, and the hospital removed to the west of Edinburgh, near John Watson's Hospital: 150 children of both sexes are maintained, and instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. The children are eligible for admission from seven to ten years of age, and the hospital is open without distinction to all parts of Scotland.

Gillespie's Hospital was founded by Mr. James Gillespie, an eminent tobacco and snuff merchant, who, in 1797, bequeathed to the master, treasurer, and assistants of the Merchants' Company, five members of the town council, and the two ministers of the Tolbooth church, in trust, the whole of his landed property and £12,000 in money, for the erection and endowment of an hospital for forty-two aged men and women in indigent circumstances, and of good reputation, and for the establishment and support of a school for the maintenance and education of 100 boys. The trustees were incorporated as governors in 1801, and in 1802 they purchased an ancient structure called Wrights Houses, near Bruntfield Links, with the land adjoining it, on the site of which they erected the present building. The aged persons are eligible when fifty-five years old, and, in addition to their maintenance and lodging, have an annual allowance in money for clothing; the boys are received at from six to twelve years of age, and are instructed in the English language, writing, and arithmetic. The hospital is a handsome castellated structure of stone, consisting of a centre and two projecting wings; in the centre of the front is a massive square embattled tower, with circular turrets at the angles, resting on corbels; and the wings, which are of less elevation than the centre, are embattled, and embellished with angular turrets of similar design. The buildings contain the various accommodations for the inmates, house-keepers, and servants, and a chapel in which divine service is performed twice daily by the chaplain, who also preaches a sermon on the Sunday: attached to the hospital is a spacious garden, and to the school sufficient ground for exercise. There are at present fifty aged persons in the house, and 150 boys in the school.

Donaldson's Hospital was founded by Mr. James Donaldson, printer of the Edinburgh Advertiser, who, in 1830, bequeathed property exceeding £210,000 to trustees, for the erection and endowment of an hospital for the maintenance and education of 200 poor boys and girls. The trustees purchased a piece of ground at the west end of the town, for the site of a building in the Elizabethan style, after a design by Mr. Playfair. This is now advancing to completion, and forms, next to the college, the largest public building in the city; it is a plain but imposing mass, inclosing a quadrangular court, and is situated on the high bank of the Water of Leith, a mile west of Princes-street.

Trinity Hospital was originally founded by Mary of Gueldres, queen of James II., in 1462, in connexion with Trinity collegiate church, and was subsequently given by Mary, Queen of Scots, to the corporation, who took down the ancient bede-house, then in a ruinous state, and fitted up the buildings occupied by the provost and prebendaries of the collegiate church, for the reception of the poor inmates, consisting of decayed burgesses, their wives, and children. The revenues have been greatly increased by good management, and there are at present forty-two aged persons who are maintained and clothed, and about 100 out-pensioners who receive each an allowance of £6 per annum. The building contains the requisite apartments for the purpose, and a long gallery of small dormitories for one person each; but it is about to be demolished, as being in the line of the North-British railway, and the inmates will be removed to the Regent Moray's house in the Canongate, which will be appropriately fitted up for the purpose.

Miscellaneous Charitable Institutions.

The Royal Infirmary, situated to the east of the university, was founded by subscription, and placed under the superintendence of a committee of subscribers, who were incorporated by act of parliament in 1736; the medical department is under the care of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of the city, and the institution affords relief to a very extended number of patients. The building, erected in 1738, at a cost of £5000, and subsequently enlarged by a grant of £8000 from the lords of the treasury, for the appropriation of sixty beds for sick soldiers, is a handsome and spacious structure four stories high, consisting of a central range 240 feet long, and two projecting wings seventy feet in length. In the centre of the principal range is a portal of four Ionic columns with two antæ, supporting an entablature and cornice surmounted by an attic; and in a niche over the entrance is a statue of George II. in the Roman costume, behind which, rising from the centre of the building, is an octagonal turret crowned with a dome. The interior contains a spacious hall, in which is a bust of Provost Drummond by Nollekens, manager's rooms, consulting rooms for the physicians and surgeons, waiting-rooms, rooms for students, and fifteen different wards for patients; in the fourth story is an operation room, in the form of a theatre, lighted from the roof, and arranged for 100 spectators.

The Public Dispensary, in Richmond-street, was founded in 1766, and is under the superintendence of a president, two vice-presidents, and a committee of twenty directors, annually elected; it is entirely supported by subscription, and administers medical advice and relief to numerous patients. The building is neat and substantial, and is embellished in the centre of the front by a small portico, supporting an entablature and cornice with a triangular pediment, in the tympanum of which is the story of the good Samaritan, well sculptured in alto-relievo. A branch of this institution was opened in Physicians' Hall in 1815.

The Royal Lunatic Asylum, founded in 1810, at Morningside, on the south-western outskirts of the city, continued for long to receive only patients of the higher classes, who were able to pay a considerable sum; but, a few years ago, the public attention having been earnestly called to the subject, the directors collected large subscriptions, and erected a very spacious edifice, capable of containing 350 patients of the lower classes, at a rate of board varying from £15 to £20. The building cost about £36,000, and is fitted up with every requisite for the proper treatment of the patients, according to the most improved system; it is also surrounded with extensive grounds for the recreation of its inmates.

The Asylum for the Blind, in Nicholson-street, was opened in 1793, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. Dr. David Johnston and other charitable gentlemen of Edinburgh, and is supported by subscriptions and donations. It is under the superintendence of a president, vice-presidents, and a committee, and affords relief to about eighty or ninety inmates, who are maintained, and instructed in the principles of religion and in various branches of useful learning, and also in such trades as are best adapted to their peculiar circumstances, in which several of them have been made so efficient, as, on leaving the asylum, to maintain themselves and families in independence. The buildings, which are plain and substantial, and of which one part is appropriated to males, and another to females, are in every respect well adapted to their use.

The Institution for Deaf and Dumb Children was founded in 1810, and is under a president, vice-presidents, and committee. About fifty children are maintained, and, in addition to religious instruction, taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and other branches of learning, of which they may be susceptible; they are trained to habits of industry, and are instructed in useful trades, the proceeds of which are added to the funds of the institution. Fettes' Endowment arises in a bequest of Sir William Fettes, Bart., of Comely Bank, who died in May, 1836, leaving the greater portion of his large fortune for the maintenance, education, and outfit of young persons whose parents have fallen into adverse circumstances. Chalmers' Hospital, of which the management is vested in the dean and faculty of advocates, owes its institution to Mr. George Chalmers, plumber, of the city, who died in March 1836, bequeathing the chief part of his property, estimated at about £30,000, for the relief of sick and hurt persons.

Among other scholastic and benevolent foundations are, the School of Arts, established in 1821, for the instruction of mechanics; the Sessional School of Canongate, instituted in 1829; the Lancasterian School, wherein, in 1844, were upwards of 600 children; and Dr. Bell's Schools, in each of which between 400 and 500 children are instructed: the School for the Blind, in Hunter-square; the Deaf and Dumb School, in John-street; the Association for Promoting Education among Workmen and Apprentices; and the Angus, Aberdeenshire, and Mearnshire Clubs, the Caithness, Lanark, and Northern Islands' Associations, and the Morayshire and Orkney and Shetland Societies, all instituted at Edinburgh for the advancement of education in, or for charitable objects connected with, those districts respectively. There are besides, the Edinburgh branch of the London Scottish Hospital; the Institution for the Relief of Incurables, founded by the late Mrs. Elizabeth Keir; the Fever Board; the Royal Port-Hopetoun, Canongate, and New Town dispensaries; the Midwifery and Lying-in Dispensary and Hospital; the Maternity Hospital, founded in 1843; and other institutions for the relief of aged and indigent women, and the cure of female diseases; the Eye Infirmary, established in 1834; the House of Refuge, Queensberry House; the Night Asylum for the Houseless; the Servants' Home; the Magdalen Asylum, founded in 1797; the Lock Hospital, Surgeon-square; and the Lunatic Asylum, at Morningside. Numerous religious and missionary societies have been instituted; and there are various minor societies for dispensing relief to the destitute sick, the indigent poor, and aged persons, and for the distribution of clothing; also the Edinburgh, Canongate, and St. Cuthbert's Charity workhouses.

Eminent Natives.

Among the distinguished natives of the city of Edinburgh may be enumerated the following: Alexander Alesius, a celebrated theologian of the 16th century, born in 1500; James VI., born in 1566; Dr. Walter Balcanquel, an eminent divine of the 17th century, born about 1580; the pious and learned Robert Leighton, some time Bishop of Dunblane, and afterwards Archbishop of Glasgow, 1610; Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, author of the History of the Reformation, 1643; Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, lawyer and statesman, 1646; Dr. Archibald Pitcairne, eminent physician, 1652; John Keill, celebrated mathematician and natural philosopher, 1671; John Law, of Lauriston, comptroller-general of the finances of France under the regency of the Duke of Orleans, and projector of the famous Mississippi scheme in that kingdom, also born in 1671; the accomplished statesman, John Dalrymple, second Earl of Stair, 1673; Dr. Alexander Webster, an eminent divine and statistical inquirer, about 1707; John Campbell, LL.D., a distinguished miscellaneous writer, 1708; the accomplished Hugh Campbell Hume, third and last Earl of Marchmont, same year; Alexander Russell, author of the History of Aleppo, about 1710; James Short, optician and improver of reflecting telescopes, 1710; William Tytler, of Woodhouselee, antiquarian writer, 1711; David Hume, the historian, 1711; John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, and prime minister of Great Britain, 1713; Allan Ramsay, portrait painter, son of the author of The Gentle Shepherd, same year; William Strahan, the eminent printer to the king, and a patron of literature, 1715; Dr. Hugh Blair, author of the celebrated Sermons, 1718; Francis Garden, a distinguished judge, under the designation of Lord Gardenstone, 1721; James Elphinstone, a miscellaneous writer, same year; Sir David Dalrymple, a celebrated judge and antiquary, commonly called Lord Hailes, his law title, 1726; Dr. James Hutton, an eminent philosophical character, same year; Robert Adam, the architect, 1728; William Falconer, author of the well-known poem of The Shipwreck, about 1730; Dr. Alexander Monro, celebrated as a teacher of medicine, 1733; Robert Mylne, architect, from whose plans Blackfriars-bridge, London, was built, 1734; Alexander Runciman, a painter of considerable note, 1736; John Donaldson, also an eminent painter, son of a glover in the city, 1737; Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo, a distinguished banker and citizen, 1739; Dr. William Lothian, author of a History of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, 1740; James Boswell, the friend and biographer of Dr. Johnson, same year; William Smellie, a naturalist, and useful miscellaneous writer, born about the same time; Dr. Gilbert Stuart, historical essayist, 1742; Henry Mackenzie, one of the most illustrious names connected with polite literature in Scotland, 1745; and William Cruickshanks, F.R.S., an eminent surgeon in London, partner and successor of the famous Dr. William Hunter of the Windmillstreet anatomical school, likewise in 1745.

Within the compass of the last hundred years, Edinburgh has rivalled most cities of the empire in the number and eminence of its gifted men; and we select the following from a long record of distinguished natives: The Hon. Henry Erskine, a great pleader, third son of the tenth earl of Buchan, born 1746; the accomplished writer and judge, Alexander Fraser Tytler, styled Lord Woodhouselee, 1747; Hugo Arnot, author of the History of Edinburgh, 1749; John Brown, an ingenious artist, 1752; Lieut.-Col. John Campbell, known for his gallant defence of the fortress of Mangalore, in India, 1753; Dugald Stewart, the highly-distinguished metaphysical writer, son of Dr. Matthew Stewart, professor of mathematics in the university, 1753; Sir Henry Raeburn, celebrated portrait-painter, 1756; John Pinkerton, the voluminous historian and critic, 1758; Sir Walter Scott, the illustrious poet and novelist, 1771; Dr. Andrew Duncan, entitled to a prominent place among those who have distinguished themselves in the history of medicine, and whose father, of the same name, was professor in the university, 1773; Lord Jeffrey, likewise 1773; William Blackwood, the publisher, and originator of the magazine which bears his name, 1776; Francis Horner, whose virtues, talents, and eloquence raised him, while yet a young man, to so high a rank in public life, 1778; Patrick Gibson, an eminent artist, and writer upon art, 1782; and Alexander Gordon Laing, whose name is so mournfully connected with the history of African discovery, 1793.

Edinburghshire

EDINBURGHSHIRE, or Mid Lothian, the metropolitan county of the kingdom of Scotland, bounded on the north by the Firth of Forth, along the shore of which it extends for about twelve miles; on the east, by Haddingtonshire and small portions of the counties of Berwick and Roxburgh; on the south, by the counties of Lanark, Peebles, and Selkirk; and on the west, by Linlithgowshire. It lies between 55° 39' and 55° 59' (N. Lat.) and 2° 36' and 3° 33' (W. Long.), and is about thirtysix miles in length, from east to west, and eighteen miles in extreme breadth, comprising an area of 360 square miles, or 230,400 acres; 41,779 houses, of which 38,927 are inhabited; and containing a population of 225,454, of whom 102,666 are males, and 122,788 females. The county originally occupied the central portion of the ancient and extensive province of Lothian, or London, and from this circumstance it obtained the appellation of Mid Lothian, by which it is still often designated. It appears to have been inhabited at a very early period by the Ottadini and Gadeni, two of the British tribes descended from the Celts, who first made themselves masters of this part of Britain, and who maintained their independence till the time of the Roman invasion, when, to secure his conquests, Agricola constructed a chain of forts extending from the Forth to the Clyde. Though frequently assailed by incursions of the Caledonians and Britons, the Romans, notwithstanding occasional reverses, retained possession of the territories they had acquired, which, under their sway, formed part of the province of Valentia. After their departure from Britain, this district very soon fell into the power of the Saxons, who, under their chieftain Ida, established themselves in the surrounding countries, which they continued to govern with absolute authority. In the reign of Malcolm II., Uchtred, Earl of Northumberland, against whom that monarch marched an army for the recovery of his rightful dominions, after a long-contested battle on the banks of the Tweed, gained the victory; but, being soon afterwards assassinated, Malcolm, in prosecution of his claims, renewed the war against the earl's successor, Eadulph, whom he compelled to cede the disputed territory for ever; and since that period it has continued to form part of the kingdom of Scotland. Subsequently to this date, the history of the county is so perfectly identified with the history of the capital, and that of Scotland at large, that any fuller detail in this place would be superfluous.

The introduction of Christianity appears to have been, in some small degree, accomplished during the time of the Romans; but, the Saxons who succeeded them being strangers to that faith, it made but little progress till, by the persevering efforts of St. Cuthbert, it was more generally diffused. Prior to the cession of Lothian in the reign of Malcolm II., this district was comprised in the ancient diocese of Lindisfarn, but it was subsequently included in that of St. Andrew's, of which it continued to be part until the erection of the diocese of Edinburgh, in which it remained till the Reformation. Since that period the county has formed a portion of the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and it now comprises the presbytery of Edinburgh, and thirty parishes, besides those in the city of Edinburgh. For civil purposes, it was first erected into a sheriffdom in the reign of David I., and is under the jurisdiction of a sheriff, by whom two sheriffs-substitute are appointed; the sessions and other courts are held at Edinburgh, the county town, and courts for the recovery of small debts at Edinburgh and Dalkeith. Edinburgh is the only royal burgh; Musselburgh, Canongate, and Portsburgh are burghs of regality, and the county also contains Dalkeith, a burgh of barony, the town and port of Leith, and the flourishing villages of Inveresk, Joppa, Portobello, Newhaven, Corstorphine, Currie, Mid Calder, West Calder, Gilmerton, Lonehead, Roslin, Penicuick, Lasswade, Ratho, Bonnyrig, Cramond, and Pathhead, with numerous pleasant hamlets. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., the county returns one member to the imperial parliament.

Of the lands, about 100,000 acres are arable, 80,000 meadow and pasture, and the remainder moorland and waste. The surface is diversified with hills, of which the two principal ranges are the Pentland and the Moorfoot: the former, a continuation from the county of Peebles on the south-west, extends to within six miles of the sea and four miles of the city, occupying a district of about forty square miles, and varying considerably in elevation. Rising from a more level tract of country, they appear loftier than the Moorfoot, and they have generally a more bleak and barren aspect; the highest hills in the range within the county are, the Caerketton, which has an elevation of 1555 feet, and the Spittal, of 1360. The Moorfoot hills, in the south-east portion of the county, occupy an area of nearly fifty square miles in extent, and range from 1400 to 1850 feet in height; they are interspersed with fertile dales and tracts of arable land, and a large part of their acclivities is under cultivation, producing excellent crops. This district is watered by the Heriot and Gala. Between the Pentland range and the Firth of Forth are, the Braid and Blackford hills, Craig-Lockhart, Craigmillar, Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, the ridge on which the castle and the Old Town of Edinburgh are built, and the Calton and Corstorphine hills. The principal streams, not being of sufficient importance to obtain the appellation of rivers, are generally designated waters, with the exception of the Esk. The Esk originates in the confluence of the North and South Esk, of which the former rises in the Pentland, and the latter in the Moorfoot hills, and both, after a separate course of twelve or fifteen miles, unite in the pleasure-grounds of Dalkeith, and thence, flowing for about five miles, fall into the Forth at the bay of Musselburgh. The North Esk, in its way to Dalkeith, runs in a rocky channel, through a beautifully romantic tract of country comprising Roslin, Hawthornden, Lasswade, and Melville. The Almond water, forming for a considerable distance the western boundary of the county, rises in the high grounds in Lanarkshire, and, taking a north-eastern course, passes through a level district, frequently overflowing its banks, and joins the Firth of Forth at Cramond. In its progress along the picturesque valley to which it gives name, it is crossed by many bridges, by an aqueduct of the Union canal, and a viaduct of the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway. The Leith water has its source in some springs in the parish of Currie, and, after a course of fourteen miles, in which it turns more than 100 mills, and flows under viaducts of the Edinburgh and Newhaven railways, and an aqueduct of the Union canal, falls into the Firth at the harbour of Leith. The Gala has its source at the base of the Moorfoot hills, and, after a southern course for about ten miles through the vale of Gala, enters the county of Selkirk, and ultimately falls into the Tweed near Galashiels. There are no lakes of any importance.

The soil is greatly varied; the most prevalent is clayey loam, alternated with sand and gravel; and not unfrequently all the different varieties are found on one farm. The lands are generally fertile, but the richest are in the lower part of the county, towards the Forth, where there are not less than 70,000 acres of arable ground, producing the most luxuriant crops. The farms are of moderate extent, few less than 100, and few more than 300 acres; the system of agriculture is in the highest state of improvement. The chief crops are, wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and turnips; vegetables and fruits of all kinds are raised in abundance for the supply of the city, and the amount paid for strawberries alone is calculated at £6000 per annum. The farm-buildings are substantial and well arranged, generally of stone; the dwelling-houses roofed with slate, and the offices with tiles; the lands are drained and inclosed. From the abundance of manure collected in the city, little of any other kind is employed in its vicinity; but in the uplands, and on the distant farms, limestone is the principal manure. The cattle are chiefly of the black breed, and the horses used for husbandry mostly of the Lanarkshire, with a few of the Clydesdale breed; the milch-cows are usually of the Ayrshire and Teviotdale breed. Considerable attention is paid to the management of the dairy-farms, of which the main produce is milk and butter for the supply of the city and other towns. The sheep, of which large numbers are pastured on the moorlands, are mostly of the Cheviot breed; swine are also reared in considerable numbers, and large quantities of poultry and geese. There are still some remains of the ancient Caledonian forest which formerly spread over the greater portion of the county, though about the commencement of the sixteenth century, the Borough Muir and other lands being leased by grant of James V. to the corporation of Edinburgh, such quantities of timber were felled, that, in order to procure purchasers, the magistrates bestowed on every citizen who bought sufficient to new-front his house, the privilege of extending it seven feet further into the street. Numerous oaks of stately growth still adorn the lands of the chief mansions; and very extensive plantations have been formed in various parts, and on all the principal hills, many of which are richly wooded to their summit. The substrata are mostly limestone, freestone, and whinstone, all of which are quarried. Coal is very abundant throughout the greater portion of the county; and towards Dalkeith, in the eastern district, is a very extensive coalfield, reaching from the coast of Musselburgh, for nearly fifteen miles, to the confines of Tweeddale. The Dalkeith basin contains as much coal as the fields of Stirling, Clackmannan, or Glasgow, and is remarkable for a comparatively small development of hydrogen, an advantage counterbalanced, however, by a great quantity of carbonic acid. Mr. Bald has calculated that this field alone would supply the consumption of Edinburgh for five hundred years, at the rate of 350,000 tons per annum; but he includes in this estimate the deeper coal, of which none has been yet wrought. Coal appears to have been first raised here for fuel by the monks of New-battle Abbey, in the latter part of the twelfth century. Many of the seams are of very fine quality, and there are at present about twenty mines in constant operation: the progress of mining, however, is much impeded by the quantity of water accumulating in the pits, which can be drawn off only by engines of extraordinary power. Lead was fomerly wrought on the south side of the Pentland hills, and was found to contain a considerable proportion of silver; copper-ore, also, was discovered on the confines of Peeblesshire, but not in sufficient quantity to remunerate the working of it. The rateable annual value of the county is £1,057,562.

The principal manufacture is that of linen, for which there are several extensive bleaching and print-fields in the neighbourhood of the city, and on the banks of the Esk. A considerable business is also carried on in the manufacture of gunpowder, glass, soap, salt, candles, bricks, tiles, and pottery of various kinds, and paper; and the manufacture of silk has been recently introduced, for which some mills have been erected on the banks of the Union canal. There are large iron-works at Cramond, works for chemical preparations, tanneries, distilleries, breweries, and numerous other manufacturing establishments, in all of which, though the county is not distinguished for the extent of its produce in this respect, the greatest improvement has been made in the quality of the articles. Every facility of intercourse with the neighbouring districts is afforded by roads kept in excellent repair, by the Union canal, the Edinburgh and Glasgow and other railways, and the Firth of Forth. The maritime commerce of the county is very important, and, together with that of the East and West Lothians, Peebles, and Selkirkshire, is concentrated at the port of Leith. The shores of the Firth are low and sandy, and for a considerable breadth covered at high water; the Firth abounds with herrings and other fish, and the beach abounds with shell-fish of every kind: there are also some valuable beds of oysters. The principal remains of antiquity are of Roman origin, and chiefly in the vicinity of the capital. Numerous camps are found in various places, of which one, near Crichton Castle, is in a very perfect state; circular camps, supposed to be of Danish formation, are also prevalent, some consisting of three, and others of more, concentric intrenchments of earth and stones. In the parish of Heriot are the remains of a Druidical circle; and in Kirkliston are two upright stones, commemorating a victory obtained by Kenneth, commander of the forces under Malcolm II. over the usurper Constantine. The county also contains many cairns, barrows, and tumuli, near which stone coffins have been found; the remains of ancient castles, of which some were hunting seats of the kings; the ruins of various religious houses; and other relics of antiquity, all of which, with the gentlemen's seats, are described in the articles on their several localities.