Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1835-12-10
Brooks Letters.
Correspondence Of The Portland Advertiser.
THINGS IN SCOTLAND.
No wv
EDINBuRCu, June &c, 1885.

EDINBUR0m, June &c, 1885.
] spent a portion Of this day in visiting
the Courts of Law now held in the old
Scottish Parliament House. On enter
ing the Hall, the great hall where the
Parliament once sat, and glanclng my
eyes over its oak wainscoating, that gives
it most venerable look, and at another
colossal statue of Lord Melville (by
Chantry) | was astonished to find that a
mid all the promenading and loud talking
Of two or three hundred men, two Judg-
es were sitting in the same room at dlt-
ferent benches in little recesses, on an
oaken box, not having an area of TWEEN
ty feet-there transacting business as il
nothing were happening, and there hear
ing the speeches Of advocates who plead
alone to the ear Of the Judge, regardless
of the confusion all around! | saw one
Judge whom an advocate addressed as
"my Lud" ilor Lord; you see what very
correct speakers all these people are)
wonderfully done up in a singular para
phernalia-a huge wig on his head
gowns and robes about him-kid gloves
on his hands-and then painter or drafts
man at his side S. etching his face as he
sat upon the Bench, his Ludship and all
others unmindiul of this novel act! This
led me TO look more narrowly at the
Judge and at the scene, and ! remark
ed that the Judge was man with a brig ht
dark eye, having the very mouth about
which physiognomist would rave, with
which all his features and appearance
though perfectly at rest, indicating
something out Of the ordinary way;
and upon inquiry found this man to be
no other than the Lord High Advocate
of Scotland, the Mr.. Jeffrey Of the Ed
inburgh Review. Now what ridlcu-
lous figure such sensible man was MAX
ing in such habiliments! How long
will such men as Jeffrey keep their
heads in wigs, and hold Courts in such
gowns! Here these old exploded fash,
ions, and not only here but all over the
kingdom, are kept up, the why and
wherefore it must puzzle any one to tell,
since the mass Of the people even of the
old world have learnt to respect man
not the more for sweltering in wig
and yet these ridiculous customs thus
long handed down from father to son,
are, perhaps, to be handed to the future
some hundred years to come. Now IN
all these things, England has many
things to learn from us. An American
Judge is not the less respected because
he does not wear wig. The Speaker
of our House ot Representatives looks
far more like human being without,
than does the Speaker of the House OF
Commons, with his wig and gown. All
these things did well enough perhaps IN
feudal days, when the people were r'l-
iains and serfs, but now that they have
their eyes open here, and political idea
or two (only germ, however, OF what is
growing so luxuriantly on our side OF the
water) how absurd it is to un-nan man,
the moment he has an Office, and to do
the utmost to make him beast, save the
putting on the taiI' Oh Mr.. Jeffrey you
know better than this, and pray set about
reforming your brethren as soon as you
can. And here | cannot but remark n
gain, that never did a people more need
some American lessons than the English
people from us. Think for example OF
eyery member ofthe House Of Commons
being obliged to put on Court dress d,
the Speakers levee! Why, If Lord
Broug ham would hire Yankee "school-
master" at ten dollars month and send
him "abroad" the Engis would be halt
a century ahead by the end of the year.
But-how can it be expected that such
unfortunate people can know better, com
ing as they have from such barbarian
Norman and Saxon fathers! We GER
tainly must send some political mlssiona-
ries among them-and now, even out OF
the mere kindness of heart for the land
of my ancestors, | spend much OF my
leisure time in their walks and parks,
preaching "treason" to the people whom
meet there, and asking them "what Is
the use of such like thIngs:"
Alter looking at the Halls ofthe Court,
and the young gentlemen and old gen,
tlemen, all in wigs, and at the Advocates
Library, an immense collection oi pooks
my next move was to see the castle
which stands on hiq basal,lc rock, ac-
cessIble for carriages only on the east
side, which entrance ts defended by an
outer barrier of palisades, and within this
there is ditch, with drawbrldge y gate,
defended by two batteries that flank IT.
The erection of this castle here on this
rock 800 feet high undoubtedly led IN
ancient times to the building OF the city
upon those range of glaciers, as we may
call them, for then people here once re-
sorted to castles Tor protection Just as the
first settlers of our country resot'ed To
block houses for safety from the Indian.
1 entered a private gate BY means OF a