mean-looking inconvenient building. Here a range of old houses formerly extended a considerable way along the middle of the street. These, however, are now mostly removed, except the Tolbooth at the one extremity, and a large stone building at the other. The want of a new prison prevents the removal of the former; but why the latter should be allowed to disfigure one of the finest streets in Europe, it is difficult to conceive.

In this part of the High Street stands the ancient cathedral church of St. Giles, a magnificent Gothic building; but the appearance of it is much hurt by a set of paltry shops, of more modern date, and wretched architecture, which are heaped against its walls. The cathedral forms the north side of a small area called the Parliament Square, which diverges a little to the south from the main street. This place seems to have received its name from the buildings in which the Scottish parliament met being situated in it. These form the south-west corner of the square, and are at present used for the accommodation of the courts of session, justiciary, and the consistorial courts. In the middle of the square stands a beautiful equestrian statue of king Charles II. It was placed here by the magistrates after the Restoration, in honour of that event, instead of one

of Oliver Cromwell, which had been intended to be erected *. The buildings of this square are the loftiest in Edinburgh; and though their front elevation does not appear much higher than the neighbouring buildings, yet upon the other side, on account of the sudden declivity of the ground, some of them contain not less than fourteen floors or stories.

Not far from the Parliament Square, in the middle of the High Street, formerly stood the market-cross of the city, which was removed in 1753. A radiated pavement still marks the place where it stood, and all public proclamations are made at this spot.

Nearly opposite this, on the north side of the street, stands the Exchange, an elegant building, of a square form, with a court in the centre. Here the merchants and farmers might enjoy shelter; but inveterate practice induces them to crowd the High Street on market-days, and to expose themselves there to all the varieties of weather.

* The statue of Oliver was actually blocked out, and may be seen in its unfinished state in the pleasure grounds of Deanhaugh, at Stockbridge, where it was placed by the late Mr. Walter Ross

Farther down the High Street, the central hill is crossed by the North and South Bridges, the two great lines of communication between these divisions of the city, Near where the bridges meet, and forming the side of a small square, stands the Tron Church, an ancient building, but now much modernized in appearance.

The North Bridge was founded, and the first stone of the building laid by that patriotic magistrate provost Drummond, on the 21st of October 1763. In that year the North Loch, which separates the New from the Old Town, was drained, and the mud removed. But, though the erection of this great work was resolved upon at this time, the contract for building the bridge was not signed till the 21st of August 1765. The parties to this contract were the towncouncil of Edinburgh and Mr. William Mylne, architect, brother to the person who built Blackfriars bridge. The sum agreed for was 10,1401. Sterling; the work was to be completed before Martinmas 1769, and Mr. Mylne was to uphold it for ten years. A difficulty, however, occurred in the course of the work, which had neither been foreseen nor provided against. As the north side of the hill on which the old part of the city stands is extreemly steep, it had been found convenient, in early times, to throw the earth dug

from the foundations of houses down this declivity, towards the North Loch. On this account the whole mass, to a considerable depth, consisted entirely of what is called travelled earth. Mr. Mylne and his workmen do not seem to have been aware of this; for, in digging the foundation, they had stopped short where there were no less than eight feet of this travelled earth between them and the natural solid soil, which in that quarter is generally clay. Another error seems to have been committed by Mr. Mylne in not raising the piers of the bridge to a sufficient height. To remedy this defect, he piled an immense load of undigested earth upon the vaults and arches, in order to raise the bridge to a proper level. The result was, that, on the sd of August 1769, when the work was nearly completed, this part of the bridge gave way. The great mass of crude earth having been swelled by the rains, burst the side walls and abutments on the south end of the bridge. The vaults also yielded to the pressure; five people, who happened to be upon the spot, were buried in the ruins; and eleven others considerably hurt. Had the accident happened a quarter of an hour sooner, it would have occasioned the loss of many more lives; for at that time great numbers of people were returning along the bridge from the Orphan

Hospital park, where a methodist preacher had been haranguing. The bridge was repaired by pulling down the side walls in some parts, and rebuilding them with chain bars; removing the vast mass of earth, and supplying its place with hollow arches, thrown between the sides of the great arches; by raising the walls that went across the bridge to an additional height, so that the vaults springing from them might bring the road to a proper elevation, without much covering of earth; by throwing an arch of relief over the great south arch, which was much shattered: and, as there were some rents in the walls, or at least as they had departed from the line at both ends of the bridge, the whole was supported by very strong buttresses and counterforts at the south end, on each side of the bridge. Upon these houses are erected, which form a street a considerable way along the bridge. At the north end there is only one counterfort, on the east side. The expence of completing the whole amounted to about 18,000l. Sterling.

The North Bridge consists of three great central arches, with several smaller ones at each end, of the following dimensions: width of the three great arches, 72 feet each; breadth or thickness of the piers, 134 each; width of the small arches xo feet each. The total length of the piers and