parallel in the metropolis, and will be viewed with admiration by all classes of strangers as a marvel of art. Edinburgh is not a manufacturing town-a circumstance arising partly from its situation, and partly from the constitution of its society, which is essentially aristocratic, literary, and professional. The only businesses carried on to a large extent are printing, with the kindred arts; iron founding, brewing, and coach-building. The largest manufactories of paper in Scotland are situated on the North Esk, within a distance of ten miles. The town has long been distinguished for its banking and lifeinsurance institutions. The principal profession is that of the law, in connexion with the supreme courts. The next in importance is that of education, which has many able professors and teachers. Edinburgh is indeed resorted to by families from all parts of the empire for the sake of its numerous wellconducted schools. Taking a tone from these circumstances, the general society of Edinburgh is usually considered to be of a refined character; and this it seems likely to maintain from its increasing intercourse with the metropolis. In 1841, the population of Edinburgh, with its suburbs, was 138,182; at the same time the population of Leith was 26,433total of the united towns, 164,615. In the population of Edinburgh and its suburbs there were 6607 natives of England, 5594 natives of Ireland, and 551 foreigners and British subjects born in foreign parts. Estimating at present the population of Edinburgh with its suburbs at 150,000, it bears no comparison in point of numbers with that of Glasgow; the rapid increase of which is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of Scotland. CIVIC AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARRANGEMENTS. Edinburgh, as a royal burgh, is governed by a council of thirty-three members, elected by the inhabitants. From the council are chosen the magistracy, consisting of a lord provost (equivalent to lord mayor), and four bailies (equivalent to aldermen). The police, now regulated and dressed on the model of that of the metropolis, is under the management of a body of commissioners, also elected by the inhabitants. The ancient and extended royalty embraces thirteen parishes, with which are connected eighteen clergymen of the Established Church, who are paid from the proceeds of a tax levied on the inhabitants; the ordinary estimated income of each clergyman being about £500 annually. Besides these, there is a numerous body of ministers connected with seceding and dissenting congregations. Altogether, in the city and suburban parishes, there are ninety-seven places of public worship; among which are included eight Episcopalian or English, and two Roman Catholic chapels. OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN THE OLD TOWN. THE CASTLE. The stranger usually goes first to visit the castle. It may be entered freely, but an order is required to see the regalia, which are deposited within it: this order is obtained gratis by application at an office in the council chambers. The regalia are not shown till noon. The rock on which the fortress is built rises to a height of 383 feet above the level of the sea, and its battlements, towering above the city, may be seen in some directions for forty and fifty miles. The rock is precipitous on all sides but the east; here it is connected with the town by an open esplanade. The walls are believed not to be more than three hundred years old. The principal buildings, now used as barracks, are at the southeast corner, and among these is an old palace, partly built by Queen Mary in 1565, and partly in 1616. Pretty nearly the whole interest in a visit to the castle pertains to this edifice. Entering by a doorway in a projecting staircase, fronting a quadrangular court, we are conducted into a small vaulted apartment containing the regalia; the different objects being placed on an oval table, securely enclosed within a kind of cage of upright bars. The crown lies on a cushion of crimson velvet, fringed with gold, and is surrounded by the sceptre, the sword with its sheath, and the treasurer's mace. The room is fitted up with crimson hangings, tastefully disposed the whole lighted up by four lamps. The crown is very elegantly formed, the under part being a golden diadem, consisting of two circles, chased and adorned with precious stones and pearls. The upper circle is surmounted by crosses fleury, interchanged with fleur-de-lis, and with small points, terminated by costly pearls. This was the old crown, and the date is unknown, though the era of Bruce has been referred to with much probability. James V. added two concentric arches of gold, crossing and intersecting each other above the circles, and surmounted by a ball or globe, over which rises a cross patée, adorned with diamonds. The cap or tiara of the crown is of crimson velvet, turned up with ermine, and adorned with pearls; but this was only substituted by James VII. for the former cap or tiara of purple velvet, which had become much decayed during the concealment of the regalia in the time of the civil war. The sceptre is a slender rod of silver, thirty-two inches in length, chased, and varied in its form. It terminates with three small figures, representing the Virgin Mary, St Andrew, and St James, over whose heads rises a crystal globe. With this sceptre the lord chancellor of Scotland touched the acts of parliament in token of the royal assent. The sword of state is very elegant, both in form and proportion. It was a present from Pope Julius II. to James IV. of Scotland (slain at Flodden); and having been wrought in Italy shortly after the revival of the arts, is a beautiful specimen of sculpture. The handle is of silver, gilded, and the cross or guard is wreathed in imitation of two dolphins. The scabbard is adorned with filigreework of silver, representing boughs and leaves of oak with acorns; the device of Pope Julius being an oak-tree in fruit. The last monarch who used the crown was Charles II., while in Scotland, previous to the disastrous battle of Worcester. Saved by friends of royalty during the civil war, the regalia were afterwards deposited in a chest in the room in which they are now shown. In 1817 these interesting relics were taken from their place of deposit, and thus freely exposed to public view. Leaving the regalia, the stranger next visits, in the same pile of building, but entered by a different door, the room in which Queen Mary gave birth to James VI., on the 19th of June 1566. It will create feelings of surprise to find this place now forming part of a mean tavern or canteen. It is a small irregular-shaped apartment, of about eight feet square, and lighted by a single window, overlooking the precipice beneath. The roof is divided into four compartments, having the figure of a thistle at each corner, and a crown and the initials M. R. in the centre. When George IV. visited the castle in 1822, he was conducted, at his own request, to this little room, so interesting for its historical associations. The most defensible part of the castle is on the east, near the above-mentioned edifice: here is a half-moon battery, on which is a flag-staff, facing the Old Town, and completely commanding the approaches to the fort. Further round to the north, overlooking the Argyle Battery, is the Bomb Battery, whence is obtained a very extensive prospect of the New Town, the environs, the Firth of Forth, and the coast of Fife. On this lofty battery stands an ancient piece of ordnance, called Mons Meg, which is considered a kind of national palladium of Scotland. This gun, which is composed of long bars of beat iron, hooped together by a close series of rings, measuring twenty inches in the bore, is supposed to have been fabricated under the auspices of James IV., who, in 1498, employed it at the siege of Norham Castle, on the borders of England. It was rent in 1682, when firing a salute, since which time it has been quite useless. Having been removed to England, and deposited in the Tower of London, it was restored to its old position, at the solicitation of the Scotch, in 1829. It appears to have been customary to fire from it bullets of stone, which were afterwards economically sought for and picked up for future use. Some of these are piled alongside of Meg. On the western side of the castle are some tall barracks, and also the arsenal or storehouses, in which are contained thirty thousand stand of arms. These, and other objects of curiosity, are shown to strangers. Edinburgh castle is one of the forts enjoined by the treaty of union to be kept up in Scotland; but as this portion of the United Kingdom needs no military defence, it may be described as a source of useless expense to the country. The long line of street extending from the castle to Holyrood -called at different parts Castle Hill, Lawnmarket, High Street, and Canongate embraces or abuts various objects of interest. This was the one thoroughfare of ancient Edinburgh; and, as already stated, many of the black and half-dilapidated houses which environ it were formerly inhabited by people of distinction. CASTLE HILL-ASSEMBLY HALL. This esplanade, now trimmed and used for military drills, and on which is placed a statue of the late Duke of York, was in old times a place of public execution in Edinburgh. In the reign of James VI., many unhappy beings, accused of witchcraft, were here burned at the stake. On the south is a pleasant view of Heriot's Hospital; and on the north, near the entrance to the gardens, is seen an octagonal edifice, which was built in 1754 by Allan Ramsay, author of the Gentle Shepherd, and other poetical pieces, and whom Burns was so desirous to emulate. In entering Castle Hill Street, we observe, in the wall of the right-hand corner edifice, a bullet, which was fired from the castle in repelling the Highland army in 1745—a striking memorial of the strife of past times. At the point of junction of Castle Hill Street with the Lawnmarket, we have on our right a new church, with a handsome spire, which rises to a height of 240 feet. This edifice, besides being used as a place of public worship, is employed as the hall of meeting of the General Assembly of the Established Church: this meeting takes place annually in May, and being attended by a nobleman commissioned by the crown to represent royalty, a more than usual bustle is occasioned in the town. Over the doorway of the building is the familiar cognisance of the Church of Scotland-the burning bush, with the motto, Nec tamen consumebatur "Nevertheless not consumed." Across the new road from this structure is a recently-erected place of public worship, belonging to the Free Church, and appropriated to the congre parallel in the metropolis, and will be viewed with admiration by all classes of strangers as a marvel of art. Edinburgh is not a manufacturing town-a circumstance arising partly from its situation, and partly from the constitution of its society, which is essentially aristocratic, literary, and professional. The only businesses carried on to a large extent are printing, with the kindred arts; iron founding, brewing, and coach-building. The largest manufactories of paper in Scotland are situated on the North Esk, within a distance of ten miles. The town has long been distinguished for its banking and lifeinsurance institutions. The principal profession is that of the law, in connexion with the supreme courts. The next in importance is that of education, which has many able professors and teachers. Edinburgh is indeed resorted to by families from all parts of the empire for the sake of its numerous wellconducted schools. Taking a tone from these circumstances, the general society of Edinburgh is usually considered to be of a refined character; and this it seems likely to maintain from its increasing intercourse with the metropolis. In 1841, the population of Edinburgh, with its suburbs, was 138,182; at the same time the population of Leith was 26,433total of the united towns, 164,615. In the population of Edinburgh and its suburbs there were 6607 natives of England, 5594 natives of Ireland, and 551 foreigners and British subjects born in foreign parts. Estimating at present the population of Edinburgh with its suburbs at 150,000, it bears no comparison in point of numbers with that of Glasgow; the rapid increase of which is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of Scotland. CIVIC AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARRANGEMENTS. Edinburgh, as a royal burgh, is governed by a council of thirty-three members, elected by the inhabitants. From the council are chosen the magistracy, consisting of a lord provost (equivalent to lord mayor), and four bailies (equivalent to alder men). The police, now regulated and dressed on the model of that of the metropolis, is under the management of a body of commissioners, also elected by the inhabitants. The ancient and extended royalty embraces thirteen parishes, with which are connected eighteen clergymen of the Established Church, who are paid from the proceeds of a tax levied on the inhabitants; the ordinary estimated income of each clergyman being about £500 annually. Besides these, there is a numerous body of ministers connected with seceding and dissenting congregations. Altogether, in the city and suburban parishes, there are ninety-seven places of public worship; among which are included eight Episcopalian or English, and two Roman Catholic chapels, |
