The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

THE EXPEDITION OF HUMPHRY CLINKER 233
think dirt and cobwebs essential to the house of God.—Some of
their churches have admitted such ornaments as would have
excited sedition, even in England, a little more than a 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, Fer-
guson, Wilkie, &c., and I have found them all as agreeable in con-
versation 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 magni-
ficence 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 com-
mands 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 archi-
tecture, 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