SCOTLAND. 



581 



any inspired by the muse of Tibullus. The novels of Scott are in every cottage, and cannot 

 but elevate the character of the peasantry. James Hogg was a shepherd, and Wilson, our 

 ornithologist, was of an humble grade of life. There is among parents a great desire to give 

 their children a good education ; and often, by great parsimony, one is sent to the university. 

 Edinburgh is called, and not without reason, the Norlhern Alliens. 



18. Jirts^ Sciences^ &lc. The useful arts have not until lately been much encouraged ; the 

 division of labor has not been understood. Most things used in a family have generally been 

 manufactured in it. In painting, the Scotch have produced few masters. Wilkie, however, 

 is unrivalled in his scenes of familiar life. Music is a national passion. The bagpipe will 

 excite a Scotchman, as the fandango animates a Spaniard. It is, however, an imperfect instru- 

 ment, and to be well played must be in the hands of a master. The old national airs which 

 Burns has " wedded to immortal verse," are known beyond the limits of Scotland. Their 

 origin is lost, though some of them are supposed to have been composed by Rizzio, and other 

 Italian masters of that age. Some of them are unrivalled in pathos, and others in liveliness. 

 Much of the music is of a melancholy cast, and even the convivial songs have a touch of this, 

 though eminently adapted for convivial purposes.* 



19. Religion. This is Presbyterian, and the church government was secured by the 

 treaty of union. This government is founded on an equality of authority, among the pres- 

 byters, or pastors. There are 903 parishes ; though there are more ])astors than parishes. 

 In matters of discipline, a pastor is aided by ruling elders. The latter watch over morals, 

 catechize and visit the sick, and manage the funds of the poor, which are chiefly collected at 

 the church door. The ministers and elders compose a kirk, or church session, the lowest 

 ecclesiastical court. It inflicts ecclesiastical censures on parishioners convicted of immoral 

 conduct, &c., though there is an appeal to the presbytery, which is the next higher court. 

 This is composed of pastors of several contiguous parishes, with a ruling elder from each par- 

 ish. Synods are composed of several presbyteries, and a ruling elder from each kirk session. 

 The General Assembly! is the highest council, and is composed of 200 ministers and 89 

 elders, representing presbyteries, 69 representing royal boroughs, and .5 ministers or elders 



* The following remarks on Scottish music by Dr. 

 Beattie, are beautifully descriptive of Scotland, and liap- 

 pily iflustrale the subject to which they refer. " There is 

 a certain style of melody peculiar to each musical coun- 

 try, which the people of that country are apt to prefer to 

 every other style. That they should prefer their own is 

 not surprising; and that the melody of one people should 

 differ from that of another is not more surprisinir, per- 

 haps, than that the lanojuage of one people should differ 

 from that of another. ]5vit there is something not un- 

 worthy of notice in the particular expression and style 

 that characterize the music of one nation or province, and 

 distinguish it from every other sort of music. Of this 

 diversity, Scotland supplies a striking example. The 

 native melody of the Highlands, and Western Isles is as 

 different from that of the southern part of the kingdom, as 

 the Frith or Erse language is different from the English 

 or Scotch. 



"The Highlands of Scotland are a picturesque, but in 

 general, a melancholy counlry. Long tracts of moun- 

 tainous desert, covered with daik heath, and often obscur- 

 ed by misty weather; narrow valleys thinly inhabited, 

 and bounded by precipices, resounding with the fall of 

 torrents ; a soil so rugged, and a climate so dreary, as in 

 many parts to admit neither the amusements of pasturage, 

 nor the labors of agriculture ; the mournful dashing of 

 waves along the friths and lakes that intersect the coun- 

 try ; the portentous noises, which every chnntre of the 

 wind, and every increase and diminution of the waters is 

 apt to raise in a lonely region, full of rocks, and caverns ; 

 tlie grotesque and ghastly appearance of such a landscape 

 by the light of the moon ; objects like these diffuse a 

 gloom over the fancy, which may be conipatifjle enough 

 with occasional and social merriment, but cannot fail to 

 tincture the thoughts of a native in the hour of silence 

 and solitude. 



" Wiiat would it be reasonable to expect from the fan- 

 ciful trilie, from the musicians, and poets of such a region 

 Strains expressive of joy, tranquillity, or the softer pas- 

 sions : No, their styles must have been better suited to 



their circumstances. And so we find in fact that their 

 music is. The wildest irregularity appears in its con)po- 

 silion ; the expression is warlike and melancholy, and 

 approaches even to the terrible. Some of the southern 

 provinces of Scotland present a very different prospect. 

 Smooth and lovely hills covered with verduie ; clear 

 streams winding through long and beautiful valleys ; trees 

 produced without culture, here straggling single, and 

 there crowding info little groves and bowers, with other 

 circumstances peculiar to the districts 1 allude to, render 

 them fit for pasturi^ge, and favorable to romantic leisure and 

 tender passions. Several of the old Scotch songs take 

 their names from the rivulets, villao-es, and hills adjoin- 

 ing the Tweed near Alelrose, such as Cowden Knows, 

 Galawater, Eltrick Banks, Braes of Yarrow, Bush above 

 Traquair, &c. All these songs are sweetly and power- 

 fully expressive of love and tenderness, and other emo- 

 tions suited to the tranquillity of pastoral life. It is a 

 common opinion, that these songs were composed by Da- 

 vid Rizzio, a musician from Italv,the unfortunate favorite 

 of a very unfortunate queen But this must be a mistake ; 

 the style of the Scotch music was fixed before his time: 

 for many of the best of these tunes are ascribed by tradi- 

 tion to a more remote period." 



t In the discussions of the Assembly at Edinburgh, 

 Ihere is perhaps more personalily, and less decorum than 

 in the House of Commons, or almost any other body of 

 the same dignity. The speeches are often vehement 

 and not unfrequenfly angry. Many of the members are 

 men of great talent, and the eloquence of Chalmers is 

 sometimes displayed here to the best advantage. The As- 

 sembly is opened by the king's commissioner, who is 

 usually a nobleman of high rank. He has an elevated 

 seat, where he appears every day during the session. But 

 he is railed out, and takes no pait in the proceedings of 

 the Assembly. When the business of the session is done, 

 be proceeds to close it in the name of his Majesty, the 

 Head of the Church, &c. The moderator then rises and 

 says, " In the name of .Ipsus Christ, the only true head of 

 the Clnuch, I (krlaie this Assembly nov/ closed." 



