of the United States of North America, 13 . 



the appearance, as well as modify the structure, of the public 

 works of every country. 



A good illustration of the truth of this observation presents 

 itself, when we compai-e the circumstances of Scotland and 

 England in this respect ; the former being what may be 

 termed a stone, and the latter a brick country. To what cir- 

 cumstance can the far-famed beauty of the Scottish metropolis 

 be more reasonably attributed, than to the great abundance 

 of beautiful sandstone afforded by the quarries in its immediate 

 vicinity, to which its street architecture and public buildings 

 are so greatly indebted for their striking appearance. This 

 remark applies, as we are well aware, not only to Edinburgh, 

 but to many other towns in Scotland ; while our less highly- 

 favoured neighbours in the south, from the scarcity of good 

 coloured building-stone in some districts, and the total want 

 of it in others, are reduced to the necessity of using brick for 

 their dwelling-houses, and in many instances for their public 

 buildings. So generally acknowledged are the fine qualities 

 of the stone from many of the Scotch quarries, that it is ex- 

 ported to a considerable extent. To London itself, indeed,, 

 a large quantity of stone is annually sent from Craigleith in 

 Mid-Lothian, which is the largest, and probably the finest sand- 

 stone quarry in the world, and from which the dwelling- 

 houses in the New Town of Edinburgh, and most of the public 

 buildings, were in a great measure built. 



Many similar illustrations may be found, even in matters of 

 much smaller importance than that to which I have just 

 alluded. In Great Britain, for example, with the exception of 

 some districts in England, the roofs of houses are very gene- 

 rally covered with slates, the greater part of which are supplied 

 by the extensive slate-quarries of Bangor in North Wales, and 

 Easdale, Balachulish, and others, on the west coast of Scotland. 

 But Holland has not the advantage of alike supply, and conse- 

 quently the houses in that country are invariably covered with 

 tiles ; and if we extend our observations still farther to Canada 

 and the United States, we there find that the want of more 

 suitable materials for roofing, and the great quantities of fine 

 timber with which those countries abound, have induced the 

 inhabitants to cover their dwelling-houses with wood, cut into 



