1801.] State of Arts, Manners, ce. in Edinburgh and Leith. 
From that zra till the renewal of war, 
the public and private buildings of Edin- 
burgb, and the ftreets, roads, and bridges’ 
belonging to it, were extended and im- 
proved ftill more rapidly than at any for- 
mer time. Even within thefe laft ten 
years, the afflictions which the war has 
impofed on the whole country, have not 
had power to interrupt the extenfion of 
this town, efpecially towards the north. 
Now, fince peace is once more reftored, it 
may be expeéted, that no town in the em- 
pire will more fignally benefit by the con- 
fequences of fo defireable an event. 
Edinburgh, of which I have thus 
briefly deduced the rife and progrefs, is 
fituate in 2° 55° of long. W. frem the 
_ meridian of Greenwich, and in 55° 52! 
of N. lat. It may be about fix miles in 
circumference, and {preads over three ob- 
long hills or elevated ridges ; covering, 
- Jikewife, more or lefs clofely, the interme- 
diate declivities, and rifing irregularly up 
the fides of two or three infulated heights 
im which the lower elevations, more or 
lefs, abruptly terminate. Its profpect 
toward the north-eaft and the fouth-eatft, 
is intothe Frith of Forth, and to the Ger- 
man Ocean. ‘To the north and north- 
weft, a wide view opens acrofs the Forth 
_at its greateft expanfion, and over the fec- 
tion of a vaft amphitheatre to where the 
horizon is bounded by the Grampian 
Mountains. Immediately to the weft and 
the fouth-weft, the adjacent country rifes 
into hills of confiderable though not 
aftonifhing elevation, which confine the 
range of the eye within narrow bounds. 
Southward extends a beautiful territory, 
of an irregular but rich and cultivated 
furface, alternately rifing and fubfiding 
towards the banks of the Efk, the ruins 
of Roflin, the town of Dalkeith, and the 
fine maritime village of Inverefk. Arthur- 
Seat, Salifbury-Crages, and Caltonhill 
protec the town, to the eaft, front thofe 
chilling winds from the fea, to which it 
is, by its firuation, exceedingly expofed ; 
and prefent, in their columnar ftratifica- 
tion, their volcanic afpedt, their infulated 
height, and their air of defolate barren- 
nefs, a firiking contraft to the refinement, 
art, and cultivation which are eminently 
confpicuous.all around them. The Caftle- 
hill and feveral other contiguous heights 
are of a fimilar afpeét and firatification. 
The furface of the whole territory is va- 
ried and unequal to a degree fuch as: is 
rarely to be feen even in other parts of 
this ifle. The climate would’ be mild and 
genial in proportion to the latitude, were 
at not for the Winds from the ea& and 
Montuiy Mac. No, 80, 
‘ftraightnefs, and 
405 
north-eaft which, in fpring and fummer,. 
perpetually blaft-vegetation, and to anal. 
moft inconceivable degree affli& the hu- 
man health. ‘The fame eaftern expofure 
renders Edinburgh and its neighbourhood 
alfo fubjeét to fudden and moft fevere 
fiorms in winter. It is too much excluded 
by the interior hills, at all times of the 
year, from the foft and cheering breezes 
.of the weft. Its vicinity to the fea, the 
fhelving inequalities of the furface, the 
lightnefs of the foil on a bottom of lime- 
fione, granite, and trapp or bafalt, render 
the town and the furrounding territory 
fubjeét, in fummer, often to an intenfity 
of heat that is fufficient to ripen, in the 
open air, the fruits of much more fouthern 
latitudes ; and that would be {carcely to- 
lerable in the thin brick-buildings of 
London, or, indeed, in any others than 
the cool and fumewhat gloomy ftone-edi-" 
fices which we here inhabit. It is con- 
feffed by all travellers who have {kill in the 
beauty and grandeur of land{capes, that 
fcarce another {pot in Europe’affords within 
not more than an equal range-of horizon 
fo great a diverfity of views, and thofe fo 
admirable equally in the three different 
claffes of the fublime, the pi€turefque, 
and the beautiful. 
Confideredin regard merely toits ftreets 
and buildings, Edinburgh may vie with 
moft great tewns in Europe. It confifts 
of three parts ;—the New Town, its molt 
northern divifion ; the Old Town, com- 
prehending the High -ftreet, Canongate, 
Cowgate, and other parts within the cir- 
cuit of the walls; and the Southern 
Suburbs, including George’s-fquare, Ni- 
colfon’s- park, &c. &c. The Caftle at the 
one end and the palace of Holy-rood- 
houfe at the other, may be confidered as 
belonging to the Old Town. 
The New Town, for the uniform beauty 
of the buildings, the fpaciowlnefs of the 
Greets and fquares, the unity of its plan, 
its advantages of cleanlinefs, air, and 
water, and, above all, that charming rus 
in urbe which it enjoys in Queen’s-ftreet, 
York-place, St. Andrew’s.{quare, and 
Chariotte’s-fquare, is certainly the fine 
aflemblage of ftreets and buildings in the 
world. — James’s-fquare, however, pro- 
tects it but partially trom the eaftwwinds ; 
and by itsexpofure, and by the width, the 
the regularity of its 
fireets, it is fubjeét to the violence of the 
winds blowing from the eaft, the nozth- 
eaft, and the north, even to fuch a degree 
as to be, in all feafons, an uncomfortable 
and even dangerous refidence to the vale- 
tudinarian. The greater part of its 
3G buildings, 
‘ 
\ 
