alleged, arose the name Edwinsburgh, or EDINBURGH. By many, however, this origin of the name is considered doubtful. In the Celtic language the name of the city is DUNEDIN. From the castle, a town gradually extended on the top and sides of the ridge, which slopes downwards towards the east. Originally, and for several centuries, the city was confined entirely to this ridge or hill; and at this early period it was nearly surrounded by the waters of a lake. To add to this means of defence, it was environed by walls, of which some few relics, of different eras, still exist. Edinburgh was, therefore, at one time a fortified town, reposing under the shelter of the castle at its western extremity. This, however, did not protect it from aggression. In May 1544, it was attacked by an English army under the Earl of Hertford, who was despatched by Henry VIII. to ravage Scotland, in revenge for the Scots having refused to allow their young queen (Mary) to be allied to his son (Edward VI.). On this occasion, Leith, with part of Edinburgh, was burned; but the attempt to take or injure the castle was unsuccessful. In point of fact, the castle was never captured by absolute assault ; but it surrendered, after a siege, on several occasions. The last time it was invested by an army was on the occasion of the city falling into the hands of the Highland army under Prince Charles Stuart in 1745; but this force it successfully resisted. Since that period, now upwards of a century ago, its guns have happily not been fired except for military salutes.

In the twelfth century, David I., a pious and munificent Scottish monarch, founded the abbey of Holyrood, in the low ground eastward from the city; he at the same time empowered the monks or canons of this religious house to found a burgh in a westerly direction up the slope towards Edinburgh; and thus was built the CANONGATE, a suburb now in intimate union with the city-the whole apparently forming one town. In connection with Holyrood there also sprung up a royal palace, which became a favourite place of residence of the Scottish sovereigns. Not, however, until the era of the murder of James I. at Perth, in 1436-7, did Edinburgh become the distinctly recognised capital of the kingdom. Neither Perth nor Scone, Stirling nor Dunfermline, being able to offer security to royalty against the designs of the nobility, Edinburgh and its castle were thence selected as the only places of safety for the royal household, for the sittings of parliament, for the mint, and the functionaries of government. Rising into importance as some other places sunk, Edinburgh became densely crowded with population; and hampered by surrounding walls, within which it was thought necessary to keep for the sake of protection, its houses rose to a great height. Excepting the single open street extending from the castle to Holyrood, every morsel of ground was covered with houses, forming thickly packed closes or alleys, descending on each side from the central thoroughfare. Thus originated those lofty

edifices which usually surprise strangers. In front, towards the High Street, they range from five to seven stories; but behind, towards the sloping flanks of the hill, they are considerably higher, and rising one above another, produce an exceedingly picturesque effect.

The first thing which the inhabitants seem to have done to emancipate themselves from this confinement, was to drain the morass or lake lying in the hollow on the south; and here were built extensions (now known as the Grassmarket and Cowgate), which were occupied by many of the higher classes. In times much more recent, these extensions spread over the rising ground still more to the south; and with this latter improvement, the citizens remained contented till about the middle of the eighteenth century. The cause for this slow progress was the injury which Edinburgh sustained from the union of Scotland with England in 1707. Until that event, it was the resort of royalty, and of the nobility and commons who constituted the Scottish parliament. Although, by the treaty of union, Scotland retained its peculiar institutions, laws, and courts of judicature—all having their central organisation in Edinburghthere was sustained a serious loss in the final withdrawal of the sovereign and officers of government. The merging of the Scottish parliament in the British Houses of Lords and Commons was felt to be a fatal blow; and this disaster, as it was thought to be, Edinburgh did not recover from till the country in general took a start, consequent on the failure of the rebellion of 1745, the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions (feudal oppressions) in 1748, and the opening of trade with the American colonies. Agriculture now began to receive attention, Glasgow rose into importance, and Edinburgh, sympathising in the movement, became the seat of various banking institutions, which imparted life and vigour to the arts.

About the year 1760, the necessity for extending the town became pressing. Between the years 1763 and 1769, through the energy of Lord Provost Drummond, a lofty bridge was erected, connecting the old city with the fields on the north, on which the New Town was already beginning to be built. Before 1780, the New Town had covered a third of the ground designed for it; and since that period, it has been gradually extending northwards, westwards, and eastwards. Its last principal extension was the opening of a new road eastwards from Princes Street by Waterloo Place, along the face of the Calton Hill, in 1819. In the execution of the North Bridge and New Town, it was found desirable to drain the lake (North Loch) lying in the hollow, which required to be crossed. Unfortunately, the improvers of that day did not stop here, but committed the irremediable and now much-lamented error of throwing the rubbish from the foundations of the new houses into the centre of the valley, so as to form what is termed the Earthen Mound—a pile of materials answering the purpose of a bridge.

In proportion as the New Town arose, so did the Old Town suffer a desertion of its more respectable inhabitants. In the present day, it is occupied almost exclusively by the humbler orders and by tradesmen. About the year 1825-6, a series of improvements were planned, and begun to be carried into execution, with a view to rescue the Old Town from what appeared impending ruin. These improvements cost the inhabitants, by general taxation, about £340,000, a large portion of which was spent on buying and pulling down houses; the remainder having been expended in building George IV. Bridge, and in forming an approach from the west

The state of society in old Edinburgh prior to its desertion for the New Town, was somewhat peculiar. Each edifice was inhabited by perhaps ten or twelve families, each family occupying a floor, and the whole ascending to their respective dwellings by a common stone stair. It was customary for certain floors to be appropriated to particular ranks. In the cellar, entered by a flight of steps descending from the street or close, would live a chimney-sweep or cobbler; on the street floor was the shop of a tradesman; the first floor up would be occupied by a nobleman or judge; above whom would be the family of an advocate or a landed gentleman; next, there would be the family of a shopkeeper; and so on to the attics, in which, probably, might have been found an actor, a street-porter, or a sempstress. Thus there was a complete mingling of all ranks under one roof; a plan which, however inconvenient to some of the parties, was not without its social advantages. In the present day, the whole of the ancient tenements are appropriated to the lower, and some few of the middle classes. A number of the floors or flats are transformed into taverns; and by the subdivision of dwellings, houses which once were thought to be crowded with ten or twelve families, now contain four times the number. Under a single roof it has been found that as many as three hundred souls are lodged-how incommodiously, and with what deterioration of morals, may easily be conjectured.

The insalubrious and very odious condition of the narrow alleys or closes and wynds diverging from the High Street, suggested a fresh series of City Improvements, which, having been authorised by an act of parliament in 1867, are now (1870) in course of execution. By means of these alterations, the cost of which is defrayed by a public rate, several handsome and airy streets will run across and open up the dense masses of building in the Old Town. The entire outlay for these improvements is expected to be about £350,000. Independently of these alterations, a new thoroughfare, called Cockburn Street, has lately been formed on the northern side of the Old Town, by a joint-stock company. The fashion of building houses in floors for distinct families has spread from the Old to the New Town; and hence the piles of building in Edinburgh are generally very much larger than those of London, and, as respects size and appearance,

nearly resemble those of Paris and other continental cities. The rent of a floor in respectable parts of the town usually varies from £30 to £50 per annum ; while that payable for entire, or, as they are here called, self-contained houses, is from £50 to £200, according to size and elegance. The local rates add about twenty per cent. to these charges.

Altogether built of a white and durable sandstone, which retains a clean and fresh appearance for a considerable length of time, the general aspect of the houses is that of great solidity, if not architectural elegance, the design being usually chaste, and the masonry of the first order. It may almost be said that, for the most part, the private excel the public edifices in beauty. The public buildings, however, are, on the whole, above mediocrity. With one or two exceptions, they are from the best classic models, and at least do not violate good taste. The Scott Monument, the work of a native self-taught artist, is without a parallel in the metropolis, and will be viewed with admiration by all classes of strangers as a marvel of art. Edinburgh is not a manufacturing town-a circumstance arising partly from its situation, and partly from the constitution of its society, which is essentially aristocratic, literary, and professional. The only businesses carried on to a large extent are printing, with the kindred arts; iron-founding, brewing, and coach-building. The largest manufactories of paper in Scotland are situated on the North Esk, within a distance of ten miles. The town has long been distinguished for its banking and life-insurance institutions. The principal profession is that of the law, in connection with the supreme courts. The next in importance is that of education, which has many able professors and teachers. Edinburgh is indeed resorted to by families from all parts of the empire for the sake of its numerous well-conducted schools. Taking a tone from these circumstances, the general society of Edinburgh is usually considered to be of a refined character; and this it seems likely to maintain from its increasing intercourse with the metropolis.

In 1861, the population of Edinburgh, with its suburbs, was 167,851. Estimating at present the population of Edinburgh with its suburbs at 200,000, it bears no comparison in point of numbers with that of Glasgow; the rapid increase of which is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of Scotland.

In

Edinburgh is a royal burgh, dating from the twelfth century. virtue of recent statutes, it is governed by a municipal corporation, numbering forty-one members, constituting the town-council. This body elects from itself a Lord Provost and six bailies, who form the magistracy. Each member of council is elected for three years. The whole of the police force is under direction of the council. Police-courts are held daily for petty offences and crimes.

In the city there are 13 parishes connected with the Established Church, the clergy of which are supported by stipends derived from

Late in the autumn of 1724, going to visit the forge and manufactory of arms at Systerbeck, he saw a boat filled with soldiers and sailors stranded, and sent a shallop to assist, but which failed in the attempt. Determined to gain his end, he set out for the spot himself; and as his vessel could not quite reach the spot, he leaped into the water, and waded to the boat, which he aided in getting off. A severe cold followed this dangerous but humane act, and this, in addition to the painful disorder from which he had long been suffering, brought on the most fatal symptoms. These came on so suddenly at last, and his sufferings were so great, that he was unable to make his last wishes perfectly intelligible. There is, however, little or no doubt that he intended to appoint his wife his successor. His words, so far as they could be understood, expressed this; and on the very day of his death she succeeded him without opposition. Catharine watched by his bedside, without quitting him, for the last three nights of his life; and he breathed his last in her arms, February 8, 1725, being only in his fifty-fourth year.

The reader of this brief biography may sum up the character of Peter the Great more satisfactorily than we can do it for him; for different minds will estimate differently his services to his country. That he was a man of powerful and original genius, who did everything himself, and was never the instrument of others, must be conceded on all hands. His ardour was joined with prudence and resolution. His violent passions and sensual excesses were the fruits of the barbarism of his nation, his imperfect education, and uncontrolled power. His services to a people so ignorant and barbarous were of the greatest possible value; indeed, all of good that Russia now enjoys may, without much exaggeration, be ascribed to him. But for him, or such as him, they might have remained till now as rude and powerless as when he found them. Among the Russians, his memory is venerated as it deserves to be. St Petersburg, the city of his love and of his creation-the 'western portal of the empire'-is now a magnificent metropolis, with palaces, arsenals, quays, bridges, academies, and temples, rising one beyond another; albeit that the severity of its climate must for ever be a drawback to its many advantages.

A Russian winter lasts from October till May; and though the temperature is a little more variable at St Petersburg than in Central Russia, in consequence of its vicinity to the sea, the cold is so intense that the river is frozen entirely, and never thaws throughout this period. The houses are heated with stoves, and not for a moment allowed to cool; the rooms have double windows, which in many cases are not opened for seven months in the year; though generally a single pane, called an air-window, is left unfastened, for the purpose of occasional ventilation. We have heard a vivid description of the precautions which are necessary on venturing out of doors, from a lady who had passed some time in Russia.

Her