good fortune of being there at a public examination: I witnessed the examination of the female classes only, which was singularly interesting. Some magistrates and clergymen, and a great number of the friends of the children, were present; and the whole presented a spectacle at once gratifying to the eye and heart. The young ladies (for, though thus publicly educated, they had the appearance of great respectability) were carefully and strictly examined, in the presence of this crowded assembly, in the various branches of learning in which they had been instructed; and their answers were such as deservedly gave great gratification to all present, and indeed frequently seemed surprisingly quick and able. This exhibition, as well as many other institutions similar to this school, which I before and afterwards met with in Scotland, displayed the noble anxiety which the Scottish people have of diffusing knowledge over every part of their country.

The Bank in South Leith is a small but handsome building, just finished; and the Assembly Rooms, I was told, are handsomely fitted up, and that concerts are occasionally performed in them in the winter. There is, as may be supposed, some little spirit of jealousy and rivalry on the part of the people of Leith, with respect to their own diversions, as compared with similar recreations in the great city. In the south and east parts of the town there are many handsome private houses, belonging to the bankers and merchants, and higher classes of tradesmen; and the society, I am well informed, is very genteel. The fresh water of this town is very bad. A sort of infatuation induces the inhabitants to submit to drink it, when, I am informed, they can be supplied with excellent water about a quarter of a mile from the place where they procure the bad, which possesses the quality of corroding lead, but not solder.""

Some friends accompanied me on board the Texel, commanded by the Port-Admiral, Rear-Admiral Vashon, then lying in the Roads, where we had some refreshment, and afterwards set off for Inchkeith, in a Norway yawl, the Admiral not being able to spare more hands than would man such a vessel, on account of a great and unexpected press which had taken place the night before; and indeed the ship was crowded with the fruits of this unpleasant service. This boat was built in Norway, and, although very small and low, it will, from its peculiar construction, weather out seas in which a much larger ship's boat would upset.

The island is an elevated rock, covered in many places with fine earth, standing in the middle of the Forth. We entered a small bay, protected by a low pier, lately erected; and, after passing over a good road, recently cut, by a tank or great well, for supplying shipping with water, which was locked up, (the key of which is lodged with the people who keep the Lighthouse), we reached the Light-house. We were much pleased with the elegant and handsome appearance of that building, which crowns the lofty summit of the island, and is admirably constructed, and answerable to its purpose in every way. It was built, as appeared by an inscription over the door, on the 18th May, 1803, and lighted on the 1st September, 1804. From the top there is an exquisite view of the city, the sea, its islands, and the shore on either side.

As we ascended, we all thought of the great Johnson, who is reported by Boswell to have stalked like a giant amongst the thistles and nettles, and examined every part of this place with great attention. Brantome calls it L'Isle des Chevaux. It appears that, in the year 1497, it was allotted for the reception of those who had a certain disorder, of Spanish origin, which was regarded as a species of plague among the ancient good folks of Edinburgh, to whom the Privy Council sent a letter, in which, in the following curious specimen of ancient orthography, they ordered, "that all manner of personis, being within the fredome of this burgh, guhilk are infectit, or has bene infectit, and uncurit of this said contagious plage, callit the grand gore, devoyd, red, and pass furth of this toun and compeir, upoun the sandis of Leith, at ten houris before none, and thair sall have and fynd botis reddie in the havin, ordanit to thame be the officaris of this burgh, reddelie furneist with victualls to have them to the Inch, and thair to remain quhill God provyde for their health." It is now employed to a much better purpose, and is a most delightful and healthy spot; it has some good pasture upon it, but no trees. This island anciently belonged to the noble family of Keith, but afterwards became forfeited to the crown, in consequence of the head of the family having joined the rebellion in 1715. The Bell Rock, which stands about 12 miles south-east of Arbroath, has been long known for the number of horrible shipwrecks and disasters which it has occasioned. These dreadful accidents are soon likely to be diminished, if not wholly prevented. A noble light-house, with revolving reflectors and bells, in case of foggy weather, under

the direction of the ingenious Mr. Simpson, is about to be erected upon that dangerous island.

Owing to contrary winds, and those squalls to which the Forth is at times terribly exposed, we had some difficulty in regaining the ship.

I had the pleasure of dining with Mr. Oliphant, the collector of the customs of the port of Leith, in whose house are several pictures, a few of which appeared to be by the first

masters.

The absence of those manufactures, in this part of the country, which are most wanted by outward bound vessels with cargoes, must unavoidably be a great check to the trade of Leith. However, ship-building has increased, and consequently there has been a greater demand for ropes and cordage, manufactures for which have been established at Leith, and are in a flourishing condition. Indeed ship-building appears to be now carried to a considerable extent in Scotland. By the last return to parliament it appears, that between the 5th January, 1806, and the 5th January, 1807, 94 ships have been built, the tonnage of which is 9,732. The trade of Leith chiefly consists of timber, tar, and iron, from the Baltic; flax and flax-seed, from Holland; wines and spirits, from Portugal and the Mediterranean; apples from England; and a few vessels trade to the WestIndies, and return with valuable cargoes of rum and sugar. From the present system of blockade of the British ports, as it has been whimsically called, the trade of Leith must inevitably experience some temporary embarrassments; but when a more civilized order of things is established, when the superb docks now constructing, are finished, and the spirit of manufacture has more widely diffused itself in the neighbourhood, no doubt the trade of Leith will greatly increase, and render it worthy of being the port of the Caledonian capital.

The following account of the present state of the foreign, coasting, and fishing trade of Leith, may prove not uninteresting to several readers.

Account of the total number of vessels of or belonging to the port of Leith, their tonnage and number of men, trading to and from foreign ports; also the like amount of coasting and fishing vessels, for the year ending 5th January, 1807.

Account of the total number of British and foreign vessels trading at the port of Leith, their tonnage and number of men, during the year ending 5th January, 1807.

The shore-dues at Leith (a small tax paid to the city of Edinburgh, on landing goods at the quay) have, within the last twenty years, increased nearly as one to ten, without any increase of rate; a decisive proof of the flourishing trade of this place since the time when Dr. Johnson visited it, and observed of the pier, or quay; "You have no occasion for so large a one; your trade does not require it: but you are like a shopkeeper, who takes a shop not only for what he has put into it, but that it may be believed he has a great deal to put into it."

In this port a curious circumstance occurred, many years since, to which, it is said, the Scotch owe their prevention from indulging in claret, and other French wines, as much as they used to do formerly. After the treaty of the Union and the Methven Treaty with Portugal, which produced a preference to the Portuguese wines in Britain, the French wines were subjected to double duties; but the British ministry, on account of the poverty of Scotland, and also from a prudent policy of not hastily infringing upon long-established national habits, by some connivance did not exact the duty in a country where every person in tolerable circumstances was accustomed to drink the wines of France.

In the year 1754, when Sir Hugh Palliser was Captain of the Seahorse man of war, lying in the roads of Leith, a person, under indentures of apprenticeship, having entered as a seaman on board of Capt. Palliser's ship, was reclaimed by his master, but refused by the commander; in consequence of which, Judge Philp granted a warrant to bring the man on shore, with which a messenger was despatched; but Capt. Palliser, under an impression that he was answerable only to the Lords of the Admiralty for his conduct, persisted in refusing to deliver the man up. The Judge, in consequence, issued another warrant to apprehend the Captain himself; which, upon his coming on shore, was executed, and he was committed to prison. Upon his refusing to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the court, he was again remanded to his former place of confinement for six weeks, until the apprentice was released. Upon this spirited conduct of Judge Philp, who was a man of remarkably mild manners, Lord Hardwicke, then Lord Chancellor, remarked, "that he was a bold judge who had done this, but what he had done was right." Sir Hugh, however, upon his return to England, represented Scotland to be in a very thriving condition, and perfectly competent to pay the duties upon French wines; and threatened, if they were not duly exacted, to make the frauds committed upon the revenues by connivance of Government a subject of parliamentary investigation. This representation and threat, acting upon the usual ministerial appetite for money, produced an order to the collectors of the customs to levy the duty upon French wines in Scotland.

Í neither saw here, nor in all Edinburgh, except amongst some Highland soldiers, any appearance of the tartan. I visited Leith several times, and had the opportunity of observing an extensive pile of building in one direction leading to that town, which has been built for the distillation of ardent spirit from grain, which the Scottish distillers, from their knowledge and great practical observation, have carried to higher perfection than any other country. There are also other great distilleries in the vicinity of the city. The astonishing rapidity of process to which the Scottish distillers have attained, the following extract from the Earl of Lauderdale's "Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth" will prove :-" In the year 1785, a proposal was made to collect the duty on the manufacture of spirits in Scotland, by way of license, to be paid annually for every still according to its size, at a fixed rate per gallon, in lieu of all other duties. The London distillers, men the most ex