 century ago; and psalmody is here
practised and taught by a professor from the cathedral of Durham: - I should not
be surprised, in a few years, to hear it accompanied with an organ.
    Edinburgh is a hot-bed of genius. - I have had the good fortune to be made
acquainted with many authors of the first distinction; such as the two Humes,
Robertson, Smith, Wallace, Blair, Ferguson, Wilkie, etc., and I have found them
all as agreeable in conversation as they are instructive and entertaining in
their writings. These acquaintances I owe to the friendship of Dr. Carlyle, who
wants nothing but inclination to figure with the rest upon paper. The magistracy
of Edinburgh is changed every year by election, and seems to be very well
adapted both for state and authority. - The lord provost is equal in dignity to
the lord mayor of London; and the four bailies are equivalent to the rank of
aldermen. - There is a dean of guild, who takes cognizance of mercantile
affairs; a treasurer; a town-clerk; and the council is composed of deacons, one
of whom is returned every year, in rotation, as representative of every company
of artificers or handicraftsmen. Though this city, from the nature of its
situation, can never be made either very convenient or very cleanly, it has,
nevertheless, an air of magnificence that commands respect. - The castle is an
instance of the sublime in scite and architecture. - Its fortifications are kept
in good order, and there is always in it a garrison of regular soldiers, which
is relieved every year; but it is incapable of sustaining a siege carried on
according to the modern operations of war. - The castle hill, which extends from
the outward gate to the upper end of the high-street, is used as a public walk
for the citizens, and commands a prospect, equally extensive and delightful,
over the county of Fife, on the other side of the Frith, and all along the
sea-coast, which is covered with a succession of towns that would seem to
indicate a considerable share of commerce; but, if the truth must be told, these
towns have been falling to decay ever since the union, by which the Scots were
in a great measure deprived of their trade with France. - The palace of
Holyrood-house is a jewel in architecture, thrust into a hollow where it cannot
be seen; a situation which was certainly not chosen by the ingenious architect,
who must have been confined to the scite of the old palace, which was a
