32 
hotel, and immediately encountered that 
diversity of character which renders tra- 
velling so favourable to the spirits:—an 
old general, with a bold and ardent 
front, who, with the fatuity of age, was 
planning his pleasurable campaigns for 
many summers in advance; his compa- 
nion, a geologist, with a sledge-hammer 
over his shoulder, looked like a Cyclop 
travelling with a duplicate eye; a third, 
a gentlemanly young man, a Prussian, 
who, the general informed us, had been 
taken, under the conscription, to the 
battle of Waterloo: “and,” added he, 
(with a knowledge of English character), 
“if one of our lads had been dragged 
from his home in that manner, he would 
never have laughed afterwards, but 
would have gone sulking to his grave.” 
After correcting the keenness of the 
Scots air by some whisky, we retired to 
rest. 
~ The following morning, we were 
escorted, by a Scots friend, to the diffe- 
rent points of interest-in the capital : 
one of them I must notice,—the Museum; 
which, under the management of Pro- 
fessor Jameson, displays an elegance 
that would recompense you for the dis- 
tance passed over to see it. No ex- 
pense has been spared, in the room for 
containing, and the materials for display- 
ing the objects; and every artifice that 
ingenuity could suggest has been adopted, 
to place them in the most favourable 
manner. The whole might receive the 
praise which has been bestowed on the 
style of a celebrated writer,—that you 
could not make the slightest alteration 
without impairing a beauty. The point 
at which you terminate your examina- 
tion of some of the most beautiful pro- 
ductions of nature, is the end of a long 
gallery, the latter part of which is ap- 
propriated to chemical and anatomical 
preparations; and, as the last demand 
upon your attention, you find some re- 
lics of one of that species whose genius 
has collected and classed the subject of 
your previous admiration,—a sightless 
scull. The effect is very striking. After 
‘following the magician through all the 
wonders of his art, you find him here, 
reft of his robe of power, and prostrate 
before the hand of Nature,—his genius, 
that mighty wand, reclaimed by the Spirit 
“who bestowed it. 
* From Edinburgh we went, in that 
~element-subduing machine, a steam-boat, 
‘to Stirling,—winding our easy way 
through scenes lovely as. the joys of 
‘youth, the Castle, not hope, before -us, 
‘The view from its turrets is one of the 
A Tour to Leith. 
(Feb. 1, 
most pleasing that we saw in Scotland. 
On a perfectly clear day, it embraces the 
distance between Stirling and Edinburgh, 
enabling you to trace the beautiful ser- 
pentine course of the Forth between the 
two places. We witnessed this enchant- 
ing’ spot under circumstances peculiarly 
favourable to impression,—a fine, but 
not unclouded day, the sky having those 
light and flying clouds, which ‘throw a 
pleasing variation of shade over the land- 
scape. Considerably lower than. the 
castle is Stirling church, the bell of 
which was mournfully announcing the 
departure of one of the inhabitants of 
the place. A little to the right is a plot 
of ground, appropriated to the recreation 
of a considerable school. The little 
urchins were in the noontide of their 
joy; their shouts of merriment, ascend- 
ing between the dreary pauses of the 
tolling bell,—the whole scene was a 
fanciful epitome of life. The chrysalis 
just bursting the shell,—the flowery 
meads over which it was to flutter, and 
the last gloomy receptacle, waiting for 
all that would remain.* 
From Stirling we went in a gig to 
Callendar. Paying our toll at the first 
turnpike, we, in the true London: style, 
demanded a ticket. “I believe,’ 'said the 
man, with Scots dryness, “ yell find a 
saxpence the best ticket ye can take.” 
After a night’s rest, we went to ‘see 
the Bridge of Brachlin, celebrated for 
the waterfall which is contiguous. The 
latter is worth seeing, though not on a 
grand scale: it has much more the ap- 
pearance of art than nature. 
From Callendar we proceeded towards 
the Trosachs. On the top of a slight 
ascent, embracing a view of Loch Veni- 
cher on the left, and some fine moun- 
tainous scenery on the right, my friend 
was so pleased with its beauties, that he. 
wished to transplant them. .While he 
was employed in sketching, we were 
accosted by a rough, Orson-like being, 
who, throwing down a bundle of sticks, 
seemed willing to dispense with the for- 
mality of an introduction, and inclined 
at once to be on a familiar footing with 
us. A noble poet has said that he 
always wishes to learn a language from 
a female ; 
* The consideration of man’s mortality, 
amidst the fairest scenes of nature, sug- 
gested to Claude a soul-moying sentiment, 
in one of his landscapes. In the foreground, 
a group of. shepherds and shepherdesses, 
‘dancing ; in the distance, a tomb, with this 
Simple inscription: “I, too, was once in 
Arcadia.” , ‘ fe 
