The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-24 00:00:00

EDINBURGH AND ITS ENVIRONS.

Notwithstanding the great increase of build-
ings in this city and its environs, during the last quarter of a
century, they are still going on with astonishing rapidity, and
churches and public edifices are rearing in quick succession ; a
brief enumeration of the improvements may prove interesting
to our countrymen at a distance, in particular to natives of
Edinburgh.

The most central is the intended magnificent edifice on the
north end of the Earthen Mound, the erection of which has
been protracted by the laborious process of driving nearly
2000 piles, on which the foundation has been finished, and
the polished masonry is now going on. The noble column to
the memory of that eminent Statesman, Lord Viscount Mel-
villa, in St. Andrew's Square, is a fine object. The colossal
statue of his Lordship is yet wanting on the summit. 'rho
new Episcopal Chapel of St. John, at the west end of Prince's.
street, and that of St. Paul, in York.place, are ornaments of
the richest kind. Waterloo-place, where the Post and Stamp
Offices and Waterloo Hotel, one of the first establishments of
the kind in Britain, are situated, though a short street, is on
a magnificent scale; those only who witnessed the progress of
the improvement, here can duly appreciate the stupendous
tore of the undertaking, and the obstacles that had to be sur-
mounted. The approach by this road is sublime. The Jail
and Governor's House a conspicuous objects : the same may be
observed of the Bridwell, where the Governor's House has
been improved by an additional storey. The new Observatory,
to the eastward .f the old one, viewed from a distance, has a
striking effect. During a period of distress under which the
working class was suffering, the Calton Hill was greatly im•
proved by employing some hundreds of persons in the forma.
tion of new walks. This unrivalled eminence has also been
ornamented with shrubbery. Muth was said against the taste
of erecting the North Bridge buildings, but while it must be
confessed they cut off the view of the Castle and Prince's-street,
they certainly are a fine row of houses. A great addition is
making to the Register House, at the back, which extends the
whole length of that fine
On the north side of the.town, in the Canonmills Distillery
Park, a group of contiguous public buildings are in rapid pro-
gress, viz• a new Chapel of Ease for St. Cuthbat% p trish, the
Deaf and Dumb Institution, and the Edinburgh Academy ;
the first mentioned edifice is roofed, and the steeple finished,
which terminates in an open dome and crosslet ; the second is
roofing, and the Adademy, which will be very extensive, is
above the foundation, and the polished Masonry busily pro.
ceeding with.—Drummond Place is nearly completed. Bel.
levue Crescent at Broughton has been occupied as far as the
houses are finished, and the foundation of the new church

there, the back walls of which are 18 or 20 feet below the
surface, is nearly ready for the superstructure. This situation
is very delightful, and commands a fine prospect. Claremont
Crescent, a little to the northward on the same road, also in
progress, will be no ways Inferior. At the east end of Brough-
ton Place anew chapel, of the United Secession body, has been
erected, with a noble portico of the Doric order. Leopold
Place, at the western termination of the new London Road, is
a fine pile of building, the corner of which, and of that opposite,
are worth the attention of strangers, and the admirers of archi.
tecture, but some of the former class may be inclined to ques-
tion the taste of a different order being adopted In the last erec-
tion, which is the lonic, while the other is the Doric. How-
ever, they form a noble addition to the incomparable street
scenery at the head of Leith Walk. We must not omit notic-
ing Windsor-street in the immediate vicinity, running parallel
with the Walk, which will be one of' the handsomest streets in
Edinburgh. The Royal Terrace, on the north side of the Cal-
ton-hill, proceeds but slowly.
In the north-west quarter, the Royal Circus is nearly finish-
ed and inhabited. A. vacant piece of ground on the west side
is railing in for additional shrubbery, and we presume the same
will take place on the east side, unless it is still in contempla-
tion to erect a church or other public edifice upon it. The plan
of the intended elegant octagon in Lord Moray's grounds is
beginning to develope itself, and at the west end of Queen.
street, on the north side, several noble houses are nearly finish-
ed as to the masonry: A very neat row of houses has been
erected at the beginning of the Queeneferry-road (byndoch
Place), which commands a most beautiful prospect, including
the romantic scenery of the Water of Leith, in the fore-ground;
We have more than once had occasion to advert to the new
gardens between Queen-street and Ileriot-row, while in pro.
gress ; they may now be said to be completed, and are in the
highest degree creditable to the public spirit of the proprietors.
They occupy the space between Dundas-street and Lord We-
myss's property, and (with the exception of his Lordship's wall)
are surrounded by a handsome iron railing. The grounds have
been laid out with great taste, and, when the shrubberies arrive
at maturity, this part of the town will be very delightful. It
would add much, however, to the elegant appearance of the
west end of the town if the Earl of Wemyss could be prevailed
upon to allow an iron railing and parapet to enclose his garden
and grass park on the north, instead of the high wall which
fronts Heriot.row, if he is not at present inclined to dispose
of them. We understand that the former proprietor of
these grounds very readily gave permission to the inhabitants
of Queen-street to erect a parapet and railing, at their own
expence, opposite their houses', in place of a stone wall which
fronted them. We are certain the proprietors in Heriot-row,
could they obtain the sanction of the Noble Earl, would
cheerfully do the same thing. We may also here remark,
that were the wall on the east of the gardens, between Queen.
street and Abercromby-place, taken down, and a railing sub-
stituted, it would be a great improvement. Another great ores-
ment is the nursery and fine walk westward of the Earthen
Mound.

On entezing by the great west road, the first conspicuous
buildings that strike the traveller are those of Costs-Crescent,
which, although only a few yards from the road, areso akreened
from observation by a fine row of trees as to enjoy the pleasure
of a country retirement. A number of other streets are build-
ing on the Coats property. In the neighbourhood of the Canal
Basin, on the Lothian road, several handsome extensive piles
of building have been erected in a short time, which have been
as quickly occupied. At Laurieston a number of elegant
houses have been lately built; end a new street is in progress,
leading towards the new alerchants' 3ladien Hospital, to the
west of Watson's Hospital. One of the finest situations in the
neighbourhood is the elevated ground, known as the head of
the links (Burntsfield), but now called Viewforth, and on
which a row of handsome and commodious villas have been
erected.

In the old town the chief improvements have taken place in
the centre of the city, where those unseemly obstructions, the
Luckenbooths, the Jail, &c. have been removed ; and on the
occasion of his Majesty's visit, the old Weigh-house was taken
down. A noble front and piazza were added some time since
to the Parliament House, the inside of which has been beauti-
fied and rendered more commodious ; the adjoining building,
occupied by the libraries of the Advocates and Writers to the
Signet, is well worthy of attention. Immediately contiguous is
the County Hall, a very noble building. Side pavements have
recently been added to the narrow streets and lanes, and great
pains are used in keeping them as clean as possible.
On the south side of the town and vicinity of Salisbury
Creigiea number of new streets have risen within these few
years, and Newington presents innumerable pleasant villas,
in a variety of Architecture, according to the taste of their pro.
jectors. Another handeotne Chapel of Ease to the parish of
St. Cuthbert's Is nearly finished at the south end of Nicolson-
street, beyond St. Patrick's-square, which will be a conspicuous
object to the eye of the traveller entering from the south. The
front is partly of the Doric order, and the steeple will be 110
feet high, terminating in a dome, surmounted by a cast metal
lantern ball, and vane, the point above which will be of crys-
tal, to act as a non-conductor to lightning. The interior is
semi-circalar, calculated to hold neatly 1000 persons, anti will
be very neat. A new church has been erected in Nicolson.
street, viz. Dr. Jamieson's, the front Gothic; and the Afetho-
(lists have built a very handsome chapel in the south. west angle
of Nicolson's-square.
Thirty-five years ago there was scarcely a dozen shops In
the New Town ; now, In Prince's-street, with the exception
of hotels and the Albyn Club room, they reach Hanover.
street, occupied as such even to the third storey, and the next
division west is fast converting to the same purpose, with fronts
in the first style of itychitecture. South Ilanover-street will
soon be all elms, anti the other cross streets are rapidly follow-
ing the example, nor has St. Andrew's Square escaped the in-
novation. The tame uniformity of the old New Town has
long been complained of, but this fault is getting rid of by
giving an additional story to a great number of houses, although
certainly not adding to the beauty of the town. Theyenerable
Cowgate and Westport have been adorned with several good
looking substantial tenements, and even the West Bow has
been found worthy of speculation in this way—would we could
say the same of the Castlehill, where little or no improvement
whatever has taken place, if we except the parade ground, which
was some time since railed in on the north side, and is kept in
good order.
While the spirit of improvement has taken so wide a range,
utility and comfort have not been neglected. The Union
Canal was projected and finished with unprecedented ra-
pidity, and lairds great facility of transit in coals, stone,
and general merchandise,. That article of first necessity,
water, the want of which was long felt, even before the wide
extension of the town, has within these few weeks been
brought from the Crawley Spring, a distance of nearly nine
wiled. This stupendous undertaking was also occomplished
in as, astonishing short period, considering the immense labour
in tunelling andlevelling, and, with the Canal, afforded the
means of subsistence to many hundred, of persons. Great im-
provements have been made in the. markets and additional
ones added. The arches of the North Bridge, and a largo
square area of ground on the west of them, were inclosed for
that purpose; the former are occupied as a fish market—the
north side is appropriated to the retailers of shellfish.—the west
and south sides forin the vegetable and fruit markets, and the
ample space within is set apart for the wholesale dealers ; the
whole under a code of regulations, which are exhibited in con-
spicuous situations.
Those who recollect Leith many years ago will readily ad.
mit that h has kept pace in improvement with the metro-
polls. In South Leith, besides the extensive docks and
warehouses, Custom Rouse, Exchange, Draw-bridges, &c.
several good streets have been added, the old ones are improv-
log, and at the Links a number, of handsome bowies have
been erected, the residences of merchants and others. Scarce-
ly a vestige of old North Leith or the Citadel remains; on
their sites new streets have been built, which extend to the
Battery, and with little interruption to Newhaven. Early in
the summer of 1017, a handsome church was completed, to
the east of the Battery, and being a striking object from the
sea-ward, forms an excellent beacon to pilots. Newhaven,
long the resort of the oyster go-urntunds of Edinburgh, has
assumed importance since the erection of the pier, at which
the 3teartaerry packets arrive and depart. It is rapidly en-
larging to the westward, w here Trinity chain-suspension-
pier presents itself as an object well worthy of attention.
It was erected for the more safe and convenient landing of
passengers from the other steam-packets, and has fully an-
swered
swered the intended purpose. A number of good inns and ;
taverns have been built, which will prove a great acconirno-
dation to strange's; and bathers tied comfortable quartersin numerous lodging-houses. On the higher ground many
very neat cottages have been built during the last two years,
occupied by the more respectable class of society. The
different roads from the sea-side are excellent, and the rows of
houses built upon them, with the quick succession of beauti-
ful vitiate are not excelled by those In the vicinity of London,
while hire the romantic and extended scenery is nearly un-
equalled.
The surrounding villages have participated in the getieral
improvement. At Stockbridge we cannot but regret that the
rage for building is fast destroying the delightful teener'? be. it and the neighbouring vlage of the Water of Leith,
which had so long been a prominent natural ornament in the
environs of our ancient city. On the great east road., Porto-
bello has risen into enneequence, and become a fashionable
bathing place, as well its the pereminent residence of a number
of genteel families.-(Edinburgh Advertiser. )

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

Yesterday the Magistrates were principally occupied in bear-
ing appeals, which were not of particular interest.
Mr. PHILLIPS applied on behalf of Mr. Holland, late ot
Covent-garden theatre, for a license to have music and dancing
in a portable theatre, at Camden-town. His petition was signed
by. upwards of 70 of the most respectable inhabitants of that
neighbourhood.
The COURT asked whether it was signed by the Minister and
the Magistrates of that place, and what was the description of
the theatre ?
Mr. Holland said, that he had been the proprietor of the
Theatre of Arts, at Spring-gardens, and was now proprietor
of the Theatre of Variety in Catherine-street, Strand, where
he exhibited representations of art and nature ; and, amongst
other things, the rising sun, and a storm at sea. Harm&
however, a greater stock of these representations than he
required at Catherine.street, he wished to exhibit them
in another theatre, which had been a portable one, but was now
stationary on a brick foundation in Camden-town ; and as
he was desirous of enlivening his exhibitions there by music
and dancing, he was induced to present this petition to the
magistrates for their license to do so. He believed he could
obtain the minister's signature, if necessary; Mr. Williams's
also he hoped he would be able to procure. Of Colonel Bird's
he was pretty confident, as the Colonel had been his friend for
many years.
The CHAIRMAN informed him that these signatures Wire
necessary, before the Court could entertain his application;
and as they had not been obtained before now, they could grant
him no license for another year, this being the only day on
which they were empowered to do so.
Mr. Holland bowed, and intimated his intention of present.,
lug his petition again next October.

CREDULITY AND FRAUD.

The following well-authenticated statement
exhibits the most striking instance of successful fraud and
easy credulity we have on record :—An American vessel of
burden arrived at the port of Limerick some time since, char-
tered to the house of Messrs. Harvey, Fisher, and Harvey,
merchants of that place. On board of this vessel was a man
of colour, who served in the capacity of cook's mate. Though
of most appalling ugliness, he possessed extraordinary curl.
ning end quickness of invention. Tired of a seafaring life
he resolved on the first opportunity to leave the service, which
he eventually found means to do, on the vessel touching at an
American port, when he deserted, and commenced a new
calling as preacher of the Gospel. But the Yankees not
relishing his doctrines, or unwilling to have salvation dealt
out at his hands, he was compelled once more to plough
the " briny wave ;" and a vessel for Ireland then lying off
New York. he entered in the capacity we have already de-
scribed. The Messrs. Harvey were members of the Society
of Friends, possessed considerable wealth as merchants, and
influence as citizens in the city of Limerick, where Sects.
rianiern prevailed to a great extent. On his arrival, the
African visited various places of worship, and from amongst
Protestants, Roman Catholics, Quakers, Presbyterian., Cal•
vinists, Independents, Arminian', Walkeritcs, New Method.
iota, and Primitives, he chose the latter as the people wham
credulity and religious zeal left them most open to imposition.
While the ihip was being unloaded, he found means artklly
to ingratiate himself into the favour of the merchants to whom
the cello was consigned, representing that he had been a
very sinful man, but had been convinced of the error of his
ways by means no less miraculous than the conversion of
St. Paul when journeying to Damascus. He stated that he
had been on board a large 'West India trader, end sailing. or.*
night in the Gulf of Florida, the ship was struck by a thunw
der-bolt, which took away the masts and rigging, killed seven
of the crew, and laid him prostrate on the deck in a state of
total insensibility, from which ht was with ,difficulty recover.
ed. Alarmed by this awful visitation of Providence, he betook
himself to constant prayer; and was one day prompted by sow/
secret impulse, for which he could not by any means account
to take up a Bible belonging to another of the crew, which,;
to his great surprise, he read with facility, though never be.
fore having learned a letter of the alphabet; but a greater won-
der still remained to be disclosed—when he took up any other
book, he found it sealed, not a word could he understand ! By
means of this extraordinary story, the highly favoured African
was speedily introduced to the then Mayor of Limerick,
Andrew Watson, Esq., who was ardently attached to the
Methodist worship, and who procured a place for the learned.
Pundit to expound the hidden mysteries of religion. The novel-
ty of a Black preacher soon attracted many persons, and the
wonderful story of his inspiration abated nothing of their curio.
sity or respect. Ina short time the sooty cook's mate was to be :1.
found at the tables of the mostrespectable merchants and shop-
keepers," feasting sumptuously every day,"and " clad, (if ace
in purple, at least in best superfine black) and fine linen."...
Suitable provision was made for a regular weekly supply of
money, and elegant apartments were also provided for this
sooty oracle, who had now grown into the graces not only
of the Methodists, but of the Quakers, who are in gens
ral considered to be a shrewd and discerning people. Un-
fortunately, the extravagance of his good luck made him
forgetful of his profession, and in an evil hour he wooed and
won the affections of the housemaid where he lodged, and was
soon after admitted to her fair embrases, which in due thus
produced a highly-coloured proof that she had not always lain.
alone. A disclosure of the circumstance followed • and those
who had before been the principal advocates, now became the
most inveterate enemies of this canting swindler. Legal pro-
ceedings having been commenced, he thought prudent to make
a hasty exit one morning, and loft his deluded flock to bewail
their own simplicity, and to wonder at his cleverness in cc-
trapping them.

The intended formation of sewers will render
the old joke perfectly obsolete, of 46 All, sweet
Edinbro' I melt thee now !"
Yesterday morning two old houses, is the oc.
cupation of persons named Woo!per and Snaith,
in James-street, Oxford-street, fell down with s►
tremendous crash, and the intnates had barely
time to escape from the ruins. Mr. Woolner had
only reached his front door, when the premises
fell in, and he received injury by some of the
bricks falling upon him.