Attempt > Volume 3

THE ATTEMPT. 85
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Reader, whoever you are, I give you a cordial invitation to come and see
Edinburgh ; even although you should already live in it. It isn't large—gems never
are. I am sure almost every one could find something to please himself or herself
in it.
Tell me your taste in particular. Do you like quiet, correct streets, with high-
sounding names ? Where then can you find anything more satisfactory than the new
quarters of our city? As to names, for instance. Were you never told how we
embalmed King George's memory in George Street 1 laying on his right hand the
shadowy Queen (Street), separated from him by our prickly Thistle (Street) ; and
left the joyous Prince (Street), on the other side, sunning himself in the southern
light of youth and beauty in nature; while but a Rose (Street) conies between him
and the royal George. Charlotte (Square) lies at his feet; and at his head St
Andrew's, the patron saint of Scotland. A right royal crown does the protective
Saint weave for the King, with statuesque chasings, and banks for jewels. There
are many other such bright ideas fossilized in our city, that might not yet be worth
the trouble of disinterring for you.
Or, do you enjoy the crooked by-ways and intricate lanes in life 1 What place can
then compare to our Old Town 1 Are bustle and active life attractive ? Were you
ever in the Cowgate, the Canongate, the markets, or Leith Street at their peculiar
hours 1
Or do you seek " blest retirement " and silence 1 Then we have squares enough
and streets, where " silence itself were pleased," and whose retirement is so complete,
that gi-ass enough grows on the causeway to feed a donkey. Is Architecture your
hobby 1 We have tolerably good specimens in our Modern Athens. From the National
Monument on the Calton Hill, left by necessity unfinished (but her daughter inven¬
tion has made the best of it, and found in it a decidedly strong likeness to some of the
ruins of Ancient Athens), to Donaldson's princely hospital, and its many smaller
brethren; from the high-leaping Dean Bridge to Morningside and Newington,
throughout the length and breadth of the town you will find a rich harvest. Look at
the buildings on the line of Princes Street itself, so heterogeneous that one would think
there must be some style there to suit every varied taste,—that proud Scott Monu¬
ment—the finest of its kind in the world,—Nelson's, and all the other monuments
seen from thence, the high-reared Castle, the Galleries on the Mound, with all the