Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/684

662 662 EDINBURGH west side of the Calton Hill, which appears to have been the favourite tilting ground, and general arena for public displays, including even the burning of heretics and witches. The names of Knox (died 1572), Buchanan (1582), Alexander Montgomery (1 605), Drummond of Hawthornden (1649), Allan Ramsay (1757), Smollett (1771), Fergusson (1774), and Burns (1796), carry on the literary associations of the Scottish capital nearly to the close of the 18th century, when various causes combined to give them a new significance and value. In the later years of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century the university of Edinburgh was distinguished by teachers who gave it a prominent rank among the European schools of science and letters ; while members of the legal faculty disputed with them in friendly rivalry. Gregory (died 1701), the Monros (the elder 1767, the second 1817), Cullen (1790), Black (1799), Playfair (1819), Dugald Stewart (1828), and Leslie (1832), all figure among the professors of the university ; while David Hume (1776), Adam Smith (1790), Robertson the historian (1793), Henry Mackenzie (1831), and others of the same literary circle gave ample range to its intel lectual triumphs. To this succeeded the era of Marmion and The Lady of the Lake, followed by the Waverley Novels, and Blachvood s Magazine and the Edinburgh Review, when Scott, Wilson, Brougham, Jeffrey, Cockburn, and Chalmers gave the character to the literary society of Edinburgh which won for it the name of Modern Athens. To this the actual correspondence of its site to that of Athens no doubt also contributed. Various travellers have noted the resemblance between the distant view of Athens from the -^Egean sea, and that of Edinburgh from the Firth of Forth. The popular recognition of this unfortunately tempted the citizens to aim at a reproduction of the Parthenon of Athens on the summit of the Calton Hill, in commemora tion of Wellington and his brothers in arms, by whom the victory of Waterloo was made the harbinger of peace to Europe. The abortive scheme, as an incompleted project, undesignedly reproduces the ruin of the ancient Acropolis. Literary taste and culture still characterize Edinburgh society ; but apart from the exceptional influences of pre eminent genius the causes which largely contributed to give it so special a character no longer exist. In Scott s early days a journey to London was beset with difficulties, and even dangers ; whereas railways have now brought it within a few hours distance, and Scottish artists and literary men are tempted to forsake Edinburgh for the great centre of all national activities. Nevertheless, the influence of the past survives in many MXays. Edinburgh is not a manu facturing city, but retains even now something of the character of the Scottish capital, as the resort of those whose means enable them to enjoy in ease and comfort its social amenities, without indulging in the costly gaieties which a London season involves. The supreme courts of law hold their sittings in Edinburgh, and still retain some of the most characteristic features impressed on them when remodelled by James V. in 1532. The Court of Session has the lord president as its head ; and the High Court of Justiciary is presided over by the lord justice-general and the lord justice-clerk. The judges, as senators of the College of Justice, have also the title of lord, not infre quently coupled with that of their landed estate as Fountainhall, Kaimes, Hales, Moiiboddo, Woodhouselee, or Colousay; and the advocates and writers to the signet as the two leading branches of the Scottish legal profession are styled, help to give a legal tone to the society of the Scottish capital. The university, with the medical schools and other edu cational institutions, have long added to the attractions of Edinburgh, As a school of art it has also required a special character ; and the names of Runciman, Nasmyth, Raeburn, Wilkie, Allan, M Culloch, Watson Gordon, Harvey, and Drummond (without referring to living painters and sculptors) are all familiar, and some of them eminently dis tinguished in art. A school of design was established at Edinburgh in 1760 by the Honourable Board of Trustees for Manufactures, at which Raeburn, Wilkie, Allan, and other leading Scottish artists, along with many others of less note, obtained their preliminary training. With its aid the application of art to manufacturing design and decoration has received an important stimulus. Steel and wood engraving have also largely benefited by the same facilities ; and this in its turn has aided in fostering the printing press as a special branch of trade for which Edin burgh has long been celebrated. In early days the names of Chepman, Millar, Bassandyne, Charteris, Hart, Watson, and Ruddiman figure among its celebrated typographers ; and more recent enterprise has added to the reputation of the Edinburgh press. But although a large unemployed population, in close proximity to a coal-field and to the fertile Lothians, and with the command of the chief seaport of the east of Scot land, gives a stimulus to important industries, the Scottish capital lays no claim to rivalry with Glasgow or Dundee as a manufacturing town. The unique beauty of its site, and the abundance of fine building material, while they have fostered the desire for developing its architectural features have begot a disinclination to encourage such manufactures as would tend to interfere with the amenities of the city. The anxiety with which these are guarded commands the sympathy of all classes of the community. The distinctive contrast between the Old and the New Town is kept ever in view. The predominant character of the former is a seemingly lawless picturesqueness, resulting from the ex treme irregularities of the sites occupied by its most prominent buildings on the abrupt slopes of the ridge which is crowned by the ancient fortress. The symmetrical for mality of the New Town is all the more effective from the contrast which it thus presents to the older districts of the city. In most of the old historical cities of Europe the stranger recalls the contrast as he proceeds from modern to older districts; but in Edinburgh he can look down on the; city from the castle, the Calton Hill, or Arthur Ser.t, and view the whole spread out like a map before him; or, as ha traverses the beautiful terrace of Princes Street, adorned with statues, monuments, and public buildings, he looks across the fine pleasure grounds in the intervening valley to the quaint old town with its still older castle. The improvements effected on the Old Town during the past forty years, while they have swept away many inte resting historical remains, have on the whole resulted in a more effective development of its picturesque features.. During the same period the New Town, and the still more recent extensions to the west and south, have been carried out with a careful eye to the general results ; and alike in the Old and the New Town the advantageous sites of the chief public buildings largely contribute to their architec tural effect. The Castle. The central feature of Edinburgh is the castle, which includes structures of very diverse dates. The oldest of its buildings, occupying the very summit of the rock, is St Margaret s Chapel, an interesting relic, belonging at latest to the reign of Queen Margaret s youngest son, David I., and by some good authorities believed to be the actual chapel in which the queen of Malcolm Canmore wor shipped. Next in interest are the ancient hall and other remains of the royal palace, which form two sides of the quadrangle styled palace yard, and occupy the summit of the rock towards the south. These buildings include the apartments occupied by the regent, Mary de Guise, arid