140 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



the national architecture. The splendid projecting portico, forming its prin- 

 cipal front, consists of a double row of six fluted Corinthian columns, with 

 exquisitely formed capitals and corresponding pilasters ; while the whole is 

 surmounted by a noble pediment, in the centre of which the arms of the family 

 are superbly emblazoned. The wings are also adorned with Corinthian pilasters ; 

 and a deep and extremely rich cornice runs along the whole edifice. The stone 

 of which it is built is of the finest quality, and selected with the greatest care. 

 The columns of the grand portico are each of one block, and when taken from 

 the quarry weighed twenty-six tons. As a whole, the ducal palace of Hamilton 

 is considered the most magnificent residence in Scotland, and, in its internal 

 arrangements, corresponds in all respects with the grandeur and beauty of its 

 exterior. The picture gallery is peculiarly rich in paintings, by the great 

 Italian masters. 



Most of our readers have heard of the philanthropic Robert Owen, whose 

 name is so favourably identified with the village of New Lanark, in this neigh- 

 bourhood. It was here that he began and successfully prosecuted his new 

 system of education a system which, however visionary in some respects, has 

 certainly done much to instil moral and industrious habits into the youth of this 

 manufacturing establishment. The children are put to school at two years of 

 age, and receive an education from teachers who maintain their authority by 

 gentleness and the force of reason. After they have grown up and become fit 

 for labour, their more toilsome duties are relieved by a course of mental instruc- 

 tion, calculated to produce habits of industry and rectitude. In proof of the 

 success with which this system has been crowned, it has become the subject of 

 general remark, that the members of the little community live in practical 

 illustration of the excellent precepts which they have thus imbibed. The 

 population of the place is estimated at nearly three thousand. 



As our observations must be necessarily confined to the subjects chosen for 

 illustration, we must here omit numerous localities to which history and tradition 

 have given many powerful attractions. To have described this county with the 

 minuteness to which even its scenery entitles it, would have far exceeded the 

 limits to which this work is restricted, and in which our chief object is to present 

 specimens of its local history and landscape detached features of that great 

 moral and physical picture which it presents as a whole, but which it would 

 require an ample volume to embody. Our indulgent readers will therefore accept 

 this cogent reason for any omissions observed in the literary or pictorial depart- 

 ments. Among the more distinguished individuals to whom this county has 

 yiven birth and some of whom are still adorning the walks of literature and 



