2 "MODERN ATHENS." 



comprehend the claims of the Scottish metropolis to the 

 title of " Modern Athens," — as characterised by her 

 position, her environs, and sea-approach, — though the 

 analogy between the cities of the ancient Greek and 

 modern Scot has been viewed by the historic scholar 

 as resting upon the broader bases of learning, of litera- 

 ture, and the arts. The Calton Hill itself, not so in- 

 aptly compared (the writer may say from personal 

 observation) to the Athenian Acropolis, as an eminence 

 in proximity to the sea and enjoying matchless views, 

 wants, however, the climatic favours of Greece — the 

 glorious sunshine that sparkles over the waters of Attica 

 and gilds the mountain-tops of Pentelicus ; the Calton 

 has its works of art, and notably its classic High 

 School, but where are the Propylsea, the Erechtheum, 

 and the Temple of the Wingless Victory ? The Calton 

 has its lofty Doric columns standing in architectural 

 isolation, and imposing, as seen from afar, like 

 " Sunium's marbled steep;" these columns, however, 

 can hardly rank with the dilapidated yet ever noble 

 Parthenon, which, despite Saracenic and Venetian 

 bombardments, man's iconoclasm, and a twenty-three 

 centuried exposure to " decay's effacing fingers," still 

 manifests in its pristine structure the sublime grandeur 

 of Greek art and the marvellous majesty of the Greek 

 mind. 



Looking northwards from the Calton, the observer 

 notes, immediately beneath, the shipping town of Leith, 

 the Firth of Forth, with its countless sail of fishing- 

 boats returning from the sea-depths, like laden bees 



