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Alexander Campbell
Letters from Europe--No. XXVI (1847-1848)

 

FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER.

SERIES III.

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VOL. V. B E T H A N Y, MAY, 1848. NO. V.
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LETTERS FROM EUROPE--No. XXVI.

      My dear Clarinda--I CAST but a transient glance at the beautiful structure of the High School of Edinburgh and the famous Church of St. Giles,--a Grecian Saint of the 6th century, the founder of a Monastery in Languedoc, which has been known by the name of St. Giles. A certain Mr. Preston, of the era of James II., procured a single arm bone of this saint, which he most piously bequeathed to this Church of St. Giles. "In gratitude for this invaluable donation the magistrates of the city, in 1454, considering that the said bone was freely given to "our moyer kirk of Saint Gele of Edinburgh, "without ony condition makyn," granted a charter [262] in favor of Mr. Preston's heirs, by which the nearest heir of the name of Preston was entitled to the honor of carrying said bone in all public processions. This honor the family of Preston continued to enjoy till the reformation."

      It was in this church that the "Solemn League and Covenant" was sworn to and subscribed by the committee of Estates of Parliament, the commissioner of the Church, and the English commissioner, Oct 13, 1643. On the outside of the northern wall is the monument of Napier of Merchiston, the inventor of Logarithms.

      The Castle of Edinburgh is the most prominent, as well as the loftiest and most ancient building in the city, located upon the summit of a precipitous ledge of rocks. The era of its foundation reacheth beyond all the written records of the city, and is, indeed, unknown. It is supposed to have been the neucleus around which grew and clustered Edinburgh. Its more ancient name was Castryn Puellarum--the Camp of the Maidens--because the daughters of ancient Pictish kings were educated within its walls. It is 383 feet above the level of the sea; and from its various fortifications a very extended and delightful view of the surrounding country can be enjoyed. I gazed with exquisite pleasure on the grand area that comes within the purview of a single glance of the eye in this grand landscape. Two thousand soldiers can be accommodated within its spacious walls, with an armory of 30,000 stand of arms.

      While Bruce and Baliol were contending for the crown, in l296, it was besieged and taken by the English. Robert Bruce then demolished its fortifications, that it might not again fall into the hands of an hostile power. But it was rebuilt and again besieged and capitulated to Cromwell in 1650. The Crown Room, we learned, contains the old Scottish Regalia. There are yet the Golden Crown, the Sceptre and Sword of State, and the Lord Treasurer's Rod of Office deposited in one and the same old oak chest. But I had neither leisure nor curiosity to apply for an order from the Lord Provost, as the custom is; and so I spent the remainder of my time in surveying the gigantic cannon called Mons Meg, cast at Mons, in Flanders, employed at the siege of Norham; but was finally burst when firing a salute to the Duke of York, in 1682. It is the largest piece of artillery in the world, and would seem to have been, at one time, a host in itself.

      Indeed, my visit to the Tower of London fully satisfied me with these splendid toys of Kings and States, for which so many wars have been waged, and so many heroes slain. I learned, however, that they are still in good keeping, in the same old oak chest in [263] which they were discovered. Yes, the identical crown for which Bruce liberated his country, and with which his son ruined it; a crown which could not heal the broken heart of Robert III., and which procured the assassination of James I.; a crown which made the heart of Mary ache, and which, when placed upon her son, relieved it not; a crown, which was last worn by Charles II. without honor to himself, or pleasure to the nation. "At last it was safely deposited in a wooden chest, much to the satisfaction of the Monarchs of Europe, and to the prosperity of the nation." 1 On descending from the hill, a short distance frum the Esplanade, the house of Allan Ramsay, "author of the Gentle Shepherd," appears in full view, a residence of more pleasing associations and reminiscences, to me, at least, than the old castle of Edinburgh.

      In passing from the castle, through Bank street and opposite the Bank of Scotland, a Gothic edifice of modern date, lifts its lofty spire 241 feet from the earth, seen from almost every point in Edinburgh. This gem of modern architecture is called VICTORIA HALL; because, forsooth, its foundation stone was laid when her Majesty visited the city. But it is, in fact, the hall in which the GENERAL ASSEMBLY, of the Kirk of Scotland, now holds its annual sessions. It is in very good keeping, with an hierarchical establishment. To see Presbyterianism at home, I learn, that it is yet necessary to attend one of the great sessions of the General Assembly, when they have in attendance a few representatives of all the "States Ecclesiastic," and, especially, when any case of appeal, of high interest, is to be adjudicated. I had the curiosity to enter the building, and was conducted into its penatralia by the good lady that has it in charge. There were the rooms for committees, the seats for the lawyers, to take depositions, or make notes of evidence in the pulitico-ecclesiastic causes there adjudicated. It is, indeed, though used as a "church," or "kirk," or house of worship, much on the style of a Supreme Court room; having, indeed, a pulpit for its moderator instead of a bench, and a chair for its prosecutor, instead of a desk for its clerk of sessions. A splendid chapel, truly, as they would call it in England; but not much after our taste, as a house fur the pure in heart to worship him who dwells not in temples reared with human hands, and who is infinitely better pleased with "an humble and contrite spirit," than with all the architecural grandeur and sculptured beauty which the ingenuity, the taste, or the pride of man ever yet displayed. [264]

      There are many other noble structures in Edinburgh, of which I can say nothing from my own particular observation, such as Heriot's Hospital, the High School and Parliament House, &c. I cast, indeed, a transient glance at the Royal Institution, one of the handsomest piles in Scotland. I made, also, two or three differerent walks to the Scott Monument. Sir Walter is honored with one of the most tasteful and splendid monuments I saw, not in Scotland only, but in Europe. There are some things, of the monumental order, truly grand and superbly rich, which might be regarded by some as of superior grandeur. But, in my opinion, as respects fine taste and fine art, beauty, grandeur and magnificence, there are none to equal, certainly none to surpass this splendid pageant, consecrated to one of Scotland's most gifted sons.

      For the gratification of the amateurs of this great master of Historic Romance, I will copy a history of the Monument, which I found in the city:

      "The design was furnished by George M. Kemp, a man of genius and industry, who raised himself from the humble condition of an operative mason to the proud eminence of successful competitor for the honor of designing the monument erected to the most gifted of Scotland's sons. The architect died before the structure was completed. The foundation was laid on the 15th of August, 1840, and the building was finished in 1844. Its height is 200 feet 6 inches, and its cost was £15,650. A stair of 287 steps conducts to the gallery at the top. In each front of the Monument, above the principal arch, are six small niches, making a total of 24 in the main structure, besides 32 others in the piers and abutment towers. These niches are to be occupied by sculptural impersonations of the characters, historical and fanciful, portrayed in the writings of Sir Walter. The following statues fill the four principal niches which crown the four lowest arches. In the northern niche, facing Prince's Street, is the statue of Prince Charles (from Waverley) drawing his sword. In the eastern niche, on the side next the Calton Hill, is Meg Merriles (from Guy Mannering) breaking the sapling over the head of Lucy Bertram. In the southern niche, next the Old Town, is the statue of the Lady of the Lake stepping from a boat to the shore; and, in the western niche, is the Last Minstrel playing on his harp. Other statues for the remaining niches are in progress. The following is the inscription on the plate placed under the foundation stone:--

This graven plate,
Deposited in the base of a votive building,
On the fifteenth day of August in the year of Christ 1840,
And never likely to see the light again
Till all the surrounding structures are crumbled to dust
By the decay of time, or by human or Eternal violence,
May then testify to a distant posterity that [265]
His countrymen began on that day
To raise an effigy and architectural monument
TO THE MEMORY OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.,
To those admirable writings were then allowed
To have given more delight and suggested better feeling
To a larger class of readers in every rank of society
Than those of any other author,
With the exception of Shakespeare alone:
And which were therefore thought likely to be remembered
Long after this act of gratitude,
On the part of the first generation of his admirers,
Should be forgotten.
He was born at Edinburgh 15th August 1771;
And died at Abbotsford 21st September 1832.

      "Fine though the structure be, it may be questioned whether the site is the best that could have been chosen; and whether the Old Town would not have been a more congenial atmosphere for such a memorial. In its present situation; the effect of the mass is to depress and overpower every surrounding object, the Castle Rock itself not excepted. A marble statue of Scott, by Steele, for which the sculptor received £2000, was placed in the monument on the 15th of August 1816."

      In our currency, this splendid thing cost some 78,000 dollars; while the marble statue of Scott, said to be the man, a little larger than real life, cost some 10,000 dollars more. A handsome sum, truly, where are thousands almost in a state of absolute want of the real necessaries of life. But the world must do homage to its great men, and worship them that worship it. I could never look at that splendid statue without regretting how the original employed his splendid talents, nor without the impression that he, too, now regretted it, whatever might be his destiny. For if in heaven a painful reminiscence be, it must be for wasted time and prostituted talent.

      The last room that I visited, for mere recreation, was that in which Spurzheim taught Phrenology; and in which he prophesied that Edinburgh, with all its hostility to the new theory, would yet become its radiating centre. This, I presume, has been verified in the works of George Combe--books by no means free from great errors, and which, because of the much strong, good sense and sound Phrenology contained in them, have done full as much injury to a good portion of his readers as benefit. There is, indeed, an expurgated development of all his grand views, from the pen of Scott, the Phrenologist, and from some other still more recent authors, whom I cannot name. [266]

      The room was, indeed, a small one; probably if well packed, it might contain 150 or 175 persons. Still, small though it was, a mighty host has risen out of the few that there listened to that convincing reasoner, and witnessed his admirable dissections of the brain. There are yet two small rooms, of skulls, adjoining that in which he lectured, in which Bro. Henshall and myself spent some hour or two; speculating upon all conceivable models of heads, gathered from all the world; from Mexico to China, and from Nova Zembla to the Cape of Good Hope. If men's brains can differ so much from one another, and if the volume, density and tenacity of the organized marrow are so diverse, in diverse heads, what marvel is it if the character of those mmds operated upon, and operating through, such greatly diversified machinery, should be marked with corresponding variations of thought, and feeling, and action! But my sheet is full, and I must bid adieu to Edinburgh and hie away to Aberdeen, in the morning.

  Yours as ever.
A. CAMPBELL.      

      1 Chamber's Walks in Edinburgh, p. 49. [264]

 

[The Millennial Harbinger, Third Series, 5 (May 1848): 262-267.]


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