248 
EDINBURGH. 
city of Edinburgh. It lies on the banks of a moderate 
ftream, which has,alfo the name of Leith, at a fmall fpace 
from the fouthern bank of the Forth, and on the very 
eaftern extremity of that bank, and on the very beach of. 
the fouthern fide of the frith. It confifts, as yet, chiefly 
of buildings of which a great part may be not lefs than 
two hundred years old, and which are placed in an awk¬ 
ward inconvenient arrangement. The two principal of 
the old (treets are the Kirk-gate, in which the fuburb 
from Edinburgh ends, and Shpre-ftreet, which lies along 
the fouth fide of the harbour. The other ftreets run in 
various directions between th.efe, and contiguous to them, 
in that part which is named South Leith. There is on the 
north fide of the river, a good deal of irregular building, 
old and new, which lias the name of North Leith , as form¬ 
ing the northern divifion of the town. Befide the old 
parts of the town it is now diffufed fouthward around the 
fkirts of a pleafant and extenfive plain, called Leitk-links, 
in elegant and commodious houfes with gardens, ware- 
houfts, 8 cc. in which the principal merchants not living 
in Edinburgh have their refidence. ThC harbour has 
been lately improved and enlarged, and. is formed by a 
noble done pier, erected at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century ; and is defended by a battery. The road alfo 
affords good anchorage for fliips of the larged fize, in per¬ 
fect fafety. In 1781, a fleet of above five hundred fail 
of merchant fhips, with feveral men of war of the line, 
ramained here for fome weeks. A draw-bridge over the 
river Leith affords a convenient paffage between the north 
and the_fouth parts of the town, without flrai-tening the li¬ 
mits of the dock and harbour. On all fides, the buildings 
continue to be rapidly extended. On the bank of the 
Forth, North Leith is in a progrefs of being continued to 
join the fiftiing-village of Newhaven, another depen¬ 
dency of the city of Edinburgh. On the two fides of 
the walk and carriage-road between Edinburgh and South 
Leith,'is gradually formed a flreet of villas with gardens, 
effablilhments of manufacture, and other handfome and 
commodious dwelLing-houfes, which is likely to be very 
foon complete ; and when complete will, probably, be 
one of the bufieft and mod interfiling of all the flreets 
which belong to thefe towns. On all fides, for the fpace 
of three or four miles round, the vicinity of Edinburgh 
is covered with villas, gardens, ornamented farms and 
hamlets, which, though they do not, in funimer, equal 
the environs of London, in an afpedt of fweet, rich, Am¬ 
ple, and graceful, beauty, have however a lefs naked and 
defolate appearance in winter. 
Edinburgh was erected into a bifliopric by Charles- 1 , 
in 1633, under the archbilhopric of St. Andrew. The 
city was firft fortified and walled, in 1450, in the reign of 
James II. and (pme of the walls are yet remaining. In 
the centre of the city (lands the cathedral, dedicated to 
St. Giles, which was made collegiate by. James III. the 
four quarters of whofe crofs were converted into four 
diftinCt parifh churches; of which the choir, or New 
church, makes the principal church in the city; the cen¬ 
tre is called the Old church ; the fouth-wefi quarter the 
Tolbooth church ;• and the north-weft Haddo’s Hole 
church, from fir John Gordon, of Haddo, having been 
confined in it till his execution, in 1642, for holding out 
his caftle of Haddo for Charles I. In other parts of this 
church the general affembly and the convention of royal 
burghs meet ; leveral clerks have their offices, and one 
room is ufed as the city cartulary. The city was origi¬ 
nally comprehended in one parilh, and the minifters had 
manfes in the Parliament Clofe, till James VI. divided it 
into eight parifhes, with a minifter to each. The ancient 
royalty, independent of the fuburbs, was afterwards, in 
1625, divided into four, and the town into fix in 1641; 
but the whole ancient royalty is now confidered a& one 
diftritft, called the parifh of St. Giles; and, upon the 
enlargement of the city, the extended royalty was an¬ 
nexed to the fame parifh. Thus there is but one parifh 
in Edinburgh to jhis day. The eaft fide of the fqtiare, 
now the governor's houfe, was anciently royal apartments, 
built in 1556 and 1616; and in one of them James VI. 
was born, June 19, 1566. State prifoners are confined 
here ; and here are, or were, kept the regalia of Scotland, 
never feen fince the year 1707. Near the cathedral is 
the p&rli'ament-houfe, finifhed in 1640, with courts ad¬ 
joining, and over it for the flteriff and commiffary, the 
town council, and criminal caufes, the exchequer, and 
the room for the affembly of the royal boroughs. The 
Tolbooth, originally built by the citizens, in 1361, for 
the accommodation of the parliament and courts of juftice, 
has been ufed ever fince 1640 only for a gaol. 
The population of Edinburgh and Leith has been va- 
rioufly eftimated. The lateft enumerations do not raife 
it to the fum of one hundred thpufand fouls. But cer¬ 
tainly thofe enumerations were made in circumftances 
which hindered them from fwelling the eltimate to its 
juft amount. A part of the inhabitants of Edinburgh 
are migratory, and live but half the year in the town : 
thefe fhould have been taken into the number, but were 
not at all reckoned. We do not hefitate to ftate one hun¬ 
dred and five thoufand as the probable prefent number of 
the inhabitants of Edinburgh and Leith, with the fuburbs 
belonging to them, and the hamlets and villas which lie 
between and in their environs, to the diftance of a mile 
from the exterior ftreets on all fides. The proportion of 
thofe.who xceed the age of fixty years, is lefs numerous 
here than in many other places in the interior parts of 
the ifle, and on its weftern coaft. The proportion.of per¬ 
fons dying between the ages of five and threefcore is very 
confiderable. As this is a capital inviting many young 
people for education and employment, the proportion of 
perfons in it between the ages of fifteen and forty is un- 
ufually great. Young perfons between eight, and twenty 
years of age generally enjoy good health here. For chil¬ 
dren between birth and feven or eight years of age, it ap¬ 
pears from many inftances to be a very infalutary fitua- 
tion. Neither (mall-pox nor meafies is indeed, here, ex¬ 
ceedingly fatal, but chincough, colds, putrid fevers, con- 
fumptions, See. make extraordinary havock among chil¬ 
dren in infancy, and the latter even upwards to the ages' 
of feventeen and five-and-twenty years. Rheumatifm, 
much exafperated by the frequent prevalence of eaft 
windsj is extremely afflictive to perfons of all ranks, after 
the decline of life begins. 
It may be afked how this large population of one hun¬ 
dred and five thoufand fouls is fuftained > A part of 
them poffefs lands in the country, money in the public 
funds, or property in the Eaft and Weft Indies, out of 
which capitals, or the annual produce from them, the ex- 
pences of their living are defrayed. It is probably be¬ 
tween two and three hundred thoufand of the annual re¬ 
venues of the inhabitants that comes thus in. Malty of 
the gentry of Scotland, w hofe fortunes will not bear the 
expence of yearly journies to and from London, and who 
yet like the fociety . and amufements of a great town, 
chiife, of courfe, to fpend here one half or two-thirds of 
the year. Many gentlemen’s families come to Edinburgh 
for the purpofe of uniting, in regard to the children, the 
benefits of a domeftic with thole of a public education. 
Many gentlemen advanced in yeaVs, after ferving in the 
army, or making fortunes abroad in trade, come to pafs 
the autumn of life in this city, rather than eithei in Lon¬ 
don or in remote rural retirement, on account of its ad¬ 
vantages of fociety, quiet and agreeable accommodation, 
with all the luxuries of life, and all the elegant amule¬ 
ments, at a comparatively cheap and eafy rate. A num¬ 
ber alio of the gentlemen’s families in this town enjoy 
places under government, tl«&.' duties of which are to be 
liere executed, and on the emoluments of'which they 
live. The commander in chief of the forces for Scot¬ 
land, the lieutenant-governor of the caftle, the foluiers 
of the caftle, and of the barracks, expend a deal of money 
in Edinburgh for their fubliftence. The judges and in¬ 
ferior officers of the courts of feffion and exchequer; the 
commiffioners 
