and went the rounds with us. They were gentlemanly, affable, and pleasant men, speaking the English but imperfectly. They, as well as the rest of us, had a curiosity to see the horses and carriages with which the duke and his suite travelled on the continent, to attend the coronation of Charles X. where his Grace, as the representative of the British monarchy, read his speech to the crowned heads of Europe. His equipage was certainly splendid. His stud consists of thirty-two horses, and there are coaches, phaetons, and state saddles and bridles without number.

After breakfast, we took a post-chaise for Berwick-uponTweed. The day was delightfully pleasant, and a parting view of the castle and the town was not less picturesque and majestic than the approach. On the right, beyond the Aln, in a copse of trees stands the neat monument already alluded to, in memory of Malcolm. Nearly opposite, the ruins of Hulmne Abbey, once a place of consequence, peeps from the woods; and on a rock by the sea-shore, is seen the wreck of Wackworth Castle and Hermitage, the subject of a pretty ballad, by the Bishop of Dromore. Goldsmith was accused of borrowing his idea of Edwin and Angelina from this poem: but in a note to the public, he exculpates himself, and, if I mistake not, says that he suggested the plan of the ballad to the prelate in conversation.

For the whole distance between Alnwick and Berwick, the road passes within a few miles of the German Ocean, which is often so near, that the surges are seen lashing the rocks. Numerous vessels were descried at a distance, tossing on its bosom; and among the rest, the steam-boat from Leith to London was ploughing her way. The shore, seen in connexion with the hills and woods on the left, is in many places extremely picturesque. Several of the rocky promontories are crowned with ruined castles, against the bases of which the waves beat. Of this description is Bamborough, standing on a bold, rugged cliff, near the village of Bedford. Some artist has had the taste to seize upon the romantic grandeur of the ruin, and a pretty picture of it was seen in the gallery at Carlisle.

From an eminence a little farther on, Holy Island rises to view, appearing at first like a promontory, connected with the shore by a narrow isthmus. It is a bleak, barren, and retired spot, girt with rocks over which the breakers dash, and on which there have been frequent wrecks. A small group of houses rise from the beach. The summit of the

island is surmounted by a ruin, which in its time was a place of importance. Holy Island once constituted the see of Inisfarne, and possessed great ecclesiastical power.

At 4 o'clock, we arrived in sight of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and had a charming view of it, in winding slowly down the hill on the opposite shore. The town with a spire or two gilded by the sun-an extensive prospect of the sea-the mouth of the river and harbour-the Tweed above, which is a fine stream crossed by a bridge of fifteen arches, erected in the time of Elizabeth-the village of Tweedmouth at the foot of the declivity we were descending, and the rural vale opening towards the west, altogether afforded a pretty specimen of border scenery. Immediately after our arrival at the King's Arms, we commenced a survey of the town, but found little to retard our progress or to swell the contents of this letter. It is a well built place, with some handsome buildings, and a population of two or three thousand. But it is devoid of any interesting associations, except the disputes whether it stands in England or Scotland. The question, like most others, has been decided in favour of the former, and topographers now draw the nominal line between the two countries at the distance of three miles north of this place. It no longer excites the hot blood, which it did at that period, when border territory was disputed inch by inch, and blades flashed upon the banks of the Tweed. The two nations are fast amalgamating into one, and the inhabitants upon the borders are so blended by intermarriages, and so assimilated in manners, that none but a geographer can tell precisely where England terminates and Scotland begins.

LETTER XXII.

ENTRANCE INTO SCOTLAND-ROUTE FROM BERWICK TO EDINBURGH-DUNBAR CASTLE-PRESTON PANS---DALKEITH-—PORTO BELLO-ARRIVAL AT EDINBURGH-CALTON HILL-IN SALISBURY CRAG-ARTHUR'S SEAT--PROFESSOR OF HUMANITY-LITERARY BREAKFAST-NELSON'S MONUMENT--HOLYROOD HOUSE.

September, 1825.-On the 24th, at the distance of three miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed, we entered Scotland, and did not proceed far, before the difference in the aspect of

the country, in the construction of the houses, in the language and manners of the people, became perceptible. The change in our feelings corresponded with that of the objects around us, and the novelty of entering another region roused attention, and led to more minuteness of observation. Our eyes and ears were both open to mark the features of new scenery, and to catch the peculiarities of a new dialect.

For nearly the whole distance from Berwick to Edinburgh, the road runs along the German Ocean, sometimes six or eight miles from the shore, and at others within a few rods of the margin. Such an expanse of water, washing a bold, rugged, iron-bound coast, and showing many a white sail upon its bosom, contributes largely to the beauty of its borders. In many places, the promontories, pushing themselves far into the sea, are lofty and precipitous. St. Abb's Head, the boldest of the rocks upon the eastern coast of Scotland, was in full sight from the road. It is four or five hundred feet in height, and took its name from an abbess, who, with some of her sisterhood, was driven upon the cliffs in a storm, but providentially escaped without loss of life, although the bark was dashed to pieces. Others have been less fortunate. The coachman pointed out a hill, up which five hundred widows walked in procession, clad in weeds of woe. Their husbands, employed in the fisheries, had all been lost in a violent gale.

As evening was now fast coming on, a large and commodious hotel at Renton induced us to take lodgings for the night; and here were our first dreams in Scotland. The moon was bright and nearly full. A century or two ago, her orb might have lighted the borderers to their predatory incursions, or have witnessed the gambols of fairies upon the banks of haunted streams. But the age of barbarous warfare and of superstition has gone by; and although we slept upon classic and poetical ground, no unusual visions disturbed our slumbers, sweetened by the fatigues of the day and the unbroken quiet of the inn. Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night was read, as a kind of homily before going to bed.

At an early hour the next morning, our journey towards Edinburgh was resumed. The day was pleasant, and afforded us a fair opportunity of viewing the country of East and Mid Lothian, comprising, it is said, the richest agricultural district in Scotland. Our observations furnished no grounds for doubting the correctness of this eulogium. It is cer

tainly a fertile, well cultivated, and beautiful country, although in my opinion, the landscape is decidedly inferior to that of England. Trees are less frequent, and are no where seen in those luxuriant copses, which add so much to the richness of the more southern parts of the island. The houses are seldom embowered, or ornamented with shrubbery and flowers, like the English cottages. Nearly all the buildings are substantially constructed of stone, with red tiled roofs, and destitute of every species of ornament. The fields bear the marks of a severe and exact tillage, while the stacks of corn and hay, fifty or sixty of which are frequently seen in a group, prove that the soil abundantly rewards the labours of the husbandman. Turnips seem to

be a favourite crop, and I was surprised at the relative proportion of land appropriated to this vegetable. Hedges and fences are not so numerous as in England. For miles, the road sometimes passes through fields entirely unguarded, and yet crowned with a bountiful harvest.

The first part of our ride in the morning afforded an agreeable exception to the above remark, that the country is dėstitute of trees; for it extended several miles through a vista of hills, opening upon the sea, clothed to their summits with a heavy growth of timber, not unlike the American forests. Two or three dingles were also passed, which are finely wooded. But these instances are rare. All the timber has been planted, and much attention is now paid to this branch of agriculture. The face of the country has been greatly improved within a few years. Dr. Johnson states, in his Tour to the Hebrides, that he found but one tree till he reached St. Andrews.

In the course of the forenoon, we had a fine view of Bass Rock, near the cape of the Firth of Forth. It is one of the most conspicuous objects along the road, raising its head four hundred feet above the level of the sea, with which it is girt, being insulated, and standing at some distance from the beach. Its chalky sides, seen on a field of blue sky, and in a horizon bounded by the ocean, gave it the appearance of a cloud, for which it was at first taken. Beyond it, the shores of Fifeshire, on the opposite side of the Forth, could barely be discerned. Before our arrival at Edinburgh, however, they came so fully in sight, that the fortresses at the entrance of the Firth, and the buildings along the coast, could be distinctly seen.

A pleasant ride of fourteen miles brought us to Dunbar, a large town situate upon the German Ocean. The interval required for changing post-chaises, and shifting our baggage, was employed by us in walking half a mile to look at the ruins of the castle, once a place of great importance, and celebrated in the wars between England and Scotland. Here Black Agnes, Countess of March, performed some signal exploits: here King Baliol was defeated, and Cromwell achieved a signal victory. The ruin is most romantically seated upon a cliff, projecting into the sea. It was naturally more than half a fortress, and the artificial additions of the same materials are so blended, as to render the lines of separation scarcely perceptible. The rocks are a dark brown sand-stone, apparently discoloured by age, and worn into caverns by the attrition of the waves, which here roll in with unbroken violence, and murmur beneath the dilapidated arches. Several avenues lead to the water under the fortress, which rises perhaps fifty feet above the surface. These dark and obscure passages afford secure hiding places for the boats of smugglers. Fragments of the walls and towers of the castle are yet standing, from which some idea of its extent and strength may be obtained.

In our ride from Dunbar to Haddington, we saw on the left the remnant of Hailes Castle, which was also once a place of considerable importance. It is situated in a deep vale, and might apparently be battered down with great ease, by cannon planted on the neighbouring hills. A little village, four miles from the road, gave birth to John Knox, the celebrated reformer, who may be considered the Cromwell of Scotland. The house in which he was born is yet standing, and it was a subject of regret that it could not be visited, without occasioning too much delay.

In the course of the next stage, we rode through the small village of Gladesmuir, where Dr. Robertson wrote his history of Scotland. The scene of his laborious research and patient industry possesses some advantages and attractions for a literary man. It commands a wide prospect of the surrounding country, of the waters of the Forth, and the shores of Fifeshire. But above all, the pure air and the rural quiet of the village are favourable to the prosecution of such pursuits.

Tranent, a village some miles farther on, was the field of a less enviable fame; and on the right of the road, Preston