EDINBURGH. 



797 



The Castle of Edinburgh is built on a rugged rock, 

 which rises almost perpendicularly on three sides, 

 the entrance to it being from the east quarter, where 

 it is defended by palisades and a dry ditch, over 

 which there is a drawbridge and a gate, flanked by 

 two batteries. Before the invention of gunpowder, 

 this fortress was deemed impregnable, a character to 

 which it lias no claim at present. It was a royal 

 residence previously to the union of England and 

 Scotland, and the room is still shown in which James 

 VI. was born. The fortress is now appropriated to 

 the accommodation of troops, and it will contain 

 more than three thousand : the regal apartments 

 have been converted into rooms for the officers. A 

 new range of barracks has likewise been erected, 

 said to be very commodious, but by no means advan- 

 tageous to the general appearance of the place. At 

 the time of the Union, the Regalia of Scotland were 

 deposited in a room called the Crown Room ; and 

 for a long period a notion prevailed among the 

 populace that they had been subsequently removed 

 to London, but in 1818 a search being made, under 

 the authority of a royal commission, the chest in 

 which they had been placed was opened, and found 

 to contain the crown, sceptre, sword of state, and 

 silver rod of office, with a copy of the deposition. 

 The prospect from the castle on every side is grand 

 and beautiful, and to the north very extensive, 

 stretching beyond the Firth of Forth, with its islands 

 and stopping, and taking in not only the hills and 

 fields of Fifesliire, but also, in clear weather, the top 

 of Ben Lomond. 



The Palace of Holyrooil, originally a monastic 

 foundation, is a large quadrangular edifice of hewn 

 stone, with a central court surrounded by piazzas. 

 At eacli angle of the western front are circular 

 towers, and in the middle is a portico, with four 

 columns of the Doric order, surmounted by a cupola 

 in the form of a crown. In the north-west tower is 

 to be seen the bed-chamber of queen Mary, with her 

 bed ornamented with crimson damask, greatly de- 

 cayed ; and also a cabinet adjoining, whence her 

 favourite David Rizzio was dragged from her pre- 

 sence and murdered. The Palace contains a picture 

 gallery, in which are exhibited imaginary portraits of 

 the kings of Scotland from Fergus I. Here the 

 Scottisli peers hold their meetings, to choose sixteen 

 of their number as members of the British House of 

 Lords. The north-west towers of Holyrood-house 

 were erected in the reign of James I., and the chapel 

 was founded by Davia I. in the twelfth century. 

 A large portion of the Palace was burnt by the 

 soldiers of Oliver Cromwell, but it was rebuilt after 

 the Restoration by Charles II. When George IV. 

 visited Edinburgh, soon after his accession, he held 

 his court at Holyrood, and subsequently gave orders 

 for the repair of the building. Charles X., the ex- 

 king of France, after the revolution of the Three 

 Days, resided for some time at Holyrood House, 

 which many years before afforded an asylum to this 

 prince and his brother, Louis XVIII. 



The Parliament house, in which are held the 

 supreme courts of Scotland, was originally erected 

 between the years 1632 and 1640, but lias been in 

 recent times renewed and extended, and now ex- 

 hibits on the south and west sides beautiful erections 

 in the Grecian style of architecture, with piazzas 

 underneath. Adjoining it is the Library of the So- 

 ciety of Writers to the Signet, and also a large new 

 building, facing the approach from the south, for the 

 reception of the Advocates' Library, the most exten- 

 sive and valuable collection of books and manu- 

 scripts in Scotland. The Courts possess accommo- 

 dations for their records in a building called the 

 General Register House, which stands on the eastern 



extremity of Prince's Street. It was designed by 

 Robert Adam, and the foundation laid in 1776, but it 

 was not fully completed till 1822. The interior con- 

 sists principally of small fire-proof chambers, in which 

 are deposited state papers, title-deeds, legal con- 

 tracts, mortgages, &c. Opposite the Register Office 

 stands the Theatre, a very humble building, but 

 which generally can boast of an excellent company 

 of comedians. Farther east in Waterloo Place stand 

 the Post and Stamp Offices, two elegant modern 

 structures. On the summit of the Calton Hill is the 

 monument erected in commemoration of Lord Nel- 

 son. In 1822, on the same hill, was laid the founda- 

 tion of the National Monument of Scotland, in 

 honour of the military genius of Britain, which is on 

 the model of the Parthenon at Athens, and is in- 

 tended to include a church and a cemetery. Three 

 other monuments adorn Calton Hill, commemorative 

 respectively of Robert Burns, Dugald Stewart, 

 and Mr Playfair; and David Hume's monument, 

 within the old Calton Hill burying-ground, is also 

 conspicuous. On it also is the Observatory, an ele- 

 gant Grecian edifice. Near Regent Bridge, leading 

 to Prince's Street, stands the New Prison, the interior 

 arrangements of which are on the plan recommended 

 by Howard ; and at a little distance is a Bridewell, 

 or a Penitentiary, beyond which is to be built a prison 

 for debtors. 



The University was founded by royal charter of 

 James VI., in 1582, and had at first only one pro- 

 fessor, to which others have been added at different 

 periods ; and the number at present is about thirty, 

 of whom eleven are connected with the various 

 branches of medical study, three with the divinity 

 classes, three with those of law, and the rest with the 

 classes of general literature, the languages, logic, 

 mathematics, ethics, and natural philosophy. The 

 reputation of this establishment, as a school of science, 

 is sufficiently testified by the resort of students from 

 every part of Europe, especially in the medical classes; 

 and among the professors of sciences connected 

 with the art of healing, occur the names of Monro, 

 Gregory, Cullen, and Black, whose talents enabled 

 them to extend the boundaries of knowledge, and 

 whose genius shed a lustre over the age and country 

 to which they belonged. The average number of 

 students attending all the various classes of the 

 University, amount to nearly 3000. The buildings 

 belonging to this establishment were originally 

 erected on so small a scale, as to have become 

 utterly unsuited to its increasing celebrity and im- 

 portance ; in consequence of which a part of them 

 was taken down in 1789, and a magnificent structure, 

 designed by Mr William Adam, was begun, the ex- 

 pense of which was to be defrayed by subscription. 

 The undertaking was, however, on so extensive a 

 plan, that the progress of the work was long inter- 

 rupted, but in consequence of a grant from govern- 

 ment the buildings were completed under the direc- 

 tion of Mr W. Playfair. The Museum, belonging to 

 the University, is remarkable for the variety, singu- 

 larity, and importance of its contents, the value and 

 usefulness of which are much augmented by the modes 

 of classification and arrangement adopted by Professor 

 Jameson, celebrated for his researches in mineralogy 

 and geology. 



Among the more considerable scientific institutions 

 are the Botanic Garden, the Horticultural Society, 

 the Royal College of Physicians, the Medical Society 

 and the Physical Society, both established by royal 

 charters ; the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the So- 

 ciety for the study of Natural History, the Wernerian 

 Society, the Astronomical Institution, and the High- 

 land Society. 



The oldest church in Edinburgh, is that of St 



