794 



EDICT OF NANTES EDINBURGH. 



A. D. 131, was reduced to a regular form (edtctum 

 perpctuwii). by Saivius Julianus, mid received the 

 smctjc>ii of legal authority, although the pretors 

 seem to have retained for a loiui time tlieir privi- 

 lege of issuing edicts, till all legislative power fell 

 exclusively into the liands of the emperor. The 

 form of the edict was still made use of occasionally, 

 although general principles were often brought for- 

 ward in the decision of particular cases (decrees and 

 rescripts). The name edict lias since been applied 

 in several monarchical countries, as a general term, 

 to an ordinance of the supreme authority. See Civil 

 Law. 



EDICT OF NANTES. See Huguenots. 

 EDILE. See #/<?. 



EDINBURGH; the metropolis of Scotland, and 

 one of the finest, as well as most ancient, cities 

 in the empire, is situated within two miles of the 

 south shore of the Firth of Forth, in 55 57' 20" 

 north latitude, and 3 ICC 3D" west longitude ; distant 

 from London 392 miles ; from Glasgow 42 miles ; 

 from Dumfries 71; from Dundee 42; from Perth 

 44 ; and from Aberdeen 121. 



History. A history of Edinburgh would em- 

 brace much of the history of Scotland. In this 

 place, we shall merely advert to those events in 

 which it took a prominent part, or in which its 

 interests were particularly involved. The origin of 

 the town, and the etymology of the name, are both 

 involved in obscurity. Some suppose it was founded 

 by the Caledonians, and deduce its appellation from 

 Dun Edin, signifying, in Gaelic, the Face of a Hill ; 

 but more probability attaches to the conjecture that 

 this place owes its present name to Edwin, the 

 Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, in the early part 

 of the seventh century, who, having made himself 

 master of a part of the Pictish territories in the 

 south of Scotland, built the castle, which from him 

 was called Edwyne's Burg, or Edinburgh. In cor- 

 roboration of this etymology, it may be mentioned 

 that the former term occurs in a charter granted by 

 David I. to the Abbey of Holyrood in 1128, as well 

 as in some other ancient documents. 



At a period coeval with or preceding the era of 

 Edwin, the name applied to the fort was Mai-din in 

 British, or Magh-dun in Gaelic, which signifies 

 either the fortified mount on the plain or the good 

 fort. Some, however, conceived that Mai-din was 

 the English word maiden, and hence arose the title 

 which it receives in old writings of Castrum Puel- 

 larum, the castle of maidens, and the fable that it 

 had been the residence of the daughters of British 

 kings. 



Edinburgh was the object of frequent contests 

 between the Scots and Anglo-Saxons, the former of 

 whom obtained permanent possession of it about 

 960. A considerable period afterwards elapsed 

 before it became the capital of the kingdom. A 

 parliament was held here under Alexander II. in 

 1215 ; but it was not till subsequently to 1456 that 

 such assemblies took place regularly; and the 

 Scottish sovereigns, encouraged by the strength and 

 security of the castle, removed from Scone to Edin- 

 burgh, and made it the residence of the court and 

 the seat of government. The year 1513 was the 

 epoch of a dreadful plague, and also of the defeat 

 at Flodden, on which last calamity the inhabitants 

 of Edinburgh behaved with great firmness. During 

 the minority of James V., Edinburgh was the fre- 

 quent scene of tumults, especially one between the 

 Hamiltons or Arran's party, and the Douglasses or 

 party of Angus, which is known in history by the 

 name of Clear the Causeway. In 1532, the College 

 of Justice was established in Edinburgh, and from 

 that period the city assumed, more unequivocally 



than formerly, a metropolitan character. In 1544, 

 the city was taken and burnt by an English army 

 under the earl of Hertford ; but from the conse- 

 quences of this disaster it soon recovered. The 

 contests between the Catholics and Protestants, 

 which terminated in the establishment of Presby- 

 terianism in Scotland, occasioned frequent tumults 

 at Edinburgh ; and its public buildings, especially 

 tile churches, suffered greatly from the indiscriminat- 

 ing zeal of the celebrated John Knox and his fol- 

 lowers. In the reign of Mary, usually styled Queen 

 of Scots, as having held the crown in her own right, 

 the Presbyterians riotously interrupted the puolic 

 services of the Catholic church, and the magistrates 

 of the city effaced from their banner the image of St 

 Giles, who had been the patron of the corporation, 

 substituting for it the national emblem of the 

 thistle. In 1592, Presbyterianism was established 

 by law in Scotland, but the mutual distrust of James 

 VI. and the clergy occasioned such commotions as 

 induced the king to withdraw with his court to Lin- 

 lithgow ; and the parliament and the courts of law 

 were commanded to quit the city ; but this dissen- 

 sion was terminated by the interference of the quern 

 of England, and harmony was restored between the 

 conflicting parties. 



In the year 1603, James was called to the throne 

 of the sister kingdom, and the regal dignity of Scot- 

 land was merged in that of England. The king, 

 however, made repeated visits to Scotland, and on 

 the last occasion he was received at Edinburgh with 

 extraordinary magnificence. Under Charles I. the 

 peace of the city was greatly disturbed by the 

 attempts of archbishop Laud to restore episcopacy, 

 the general antipathy of the nation to which occa- 

 sioned insurrections against the royal authority, 

 and tended to induce them to join the English 

 parliament in the ensuing civil war. After having 

 thus contributed to the overthrow of Charles 1. 

 they took up arms in favour of his son, being 

 deceived by that prince's solemn oath to support 

 Presbyterianism. This drew on them the vengeance 

 of Oliver Cromwell, who took the castle of Edin- 

 burgh, and it remained in the hands of the English 

 till the Restoration. Soon after the accession of 

 James VII. to the British throne, the city was the 

 scene of several tumultuary proceedings, on ac- 

 count of that monarch's attempts to restore the 

 Roman Catholic religion. The Abbey of Holyrood- 

 house was demolished, after a vain attempt of the 

 military to defend it, in which many lives were lost, 

 and other religious houses of the Catholics were 

 attacked and plundered. In IG89, a convention of 

 estates held at Edinburgh declared that James had 

 forfeited the crown, and an offer of it was made to 

 William and Mary. The celebrated Darien expedi- 

 tion was the next public event which disturbed the 

 tranquillity of Edinburgh. In 1699, when intel- 

 ligence came of the settlement being formed, the 

 rejoicings were great ; but when, in the following 

 year, the news of its utter failure arrived- a failure 

 to be attributed not to the miscalculations or miscon- 

 duct of the projectors, but to the base jealousy 01 

 the English the indignation of the inhabitants was 

 unbounded, and the streets of the city for several 

 days were the scene of tumult and riot. 



In 1707, Edinburgh was again thrown into a state 

 of agitation by the proposed union of the kingdoms. 

 Notwithstanding the unpopularity of the measure, it 

 was finally carried amid many violent proceedings 

 of the people, and the city of Edinburgh was thus 

 deprived of its ancient parliament, and much of the 

 wealth of the country, which used to be circulated 

 there, was transferred to London. Neither rdin- 

 burgh nor Scotland in general recovered from tl.t 



