Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-10-01
Letter from Rev. Mr.. MoGiffert.
EUyiIIsR TEN.

land OF Burns and Campbell, and Scott Oi
Hamilton, and Stewart, and Chalmers; the
land of Wallace, and Bruce, and Queen Mary
the land Of my own iorlatbeIs, and the strong
hold of their ancen faith; and my task In this
letter is to crowd as much rs possible into a
little space and TO note in nero outline style,
A few of Scotia's numberless objects q inter
est.
viii take you. first, to the Capitol, which
we reached by a short journey across the
Lowlan is the Capitol not only politically,
but the cheii gathering-place Of the most in
tersting facts of Scotl0nds history. Edin-
burgh is among the most beautiful cities Of
Europe / should place il second only to Pa
ris, and it is hard to compare a city OF 100000
with another Of ten times its population. But
the beauty of Edinburgh and Paris are Of an
entirely different style. The latter owes its
beauty to the works of men. Edinburgh, al
though the wide streets of the new city, and
regular and tasteful buildings, and the many
little parks or gardens on which you happen
so Unexpectedly at almost every corner, would
alone render It. attractive get Owesits chief
beauty to the works of God. 1t is built on the
SUBMITS; the waters of the FIRTH of Forth ly-
lug at lie foot. A city so situated would but be
beautiful to gazer from outside; even il, as
the famed Damascus, what.appeared as Par
adise from outside proved an abode of poverty
and uncleanliness within. But the visitor TO
Edinburgh finds no such contrast taste and
good laws have made the city within fit
counterpart of It's outward appearance.
Travellers differ very greatlyae to the point
from which the best view of the city is OBJ
tanned. l was most charmed with the pros
pect as, descending from "Arthur's Seat" |
passed along path cut in the Salisbury Crags,
to point some SOC feet above the city, known
by the euphOnious name of the Cat Nick y
The entire city, new and old, here lies before
you, with the country for miles around, and
far away to the north OF the firth, the distant
sea- This was II sayorite walk OF Hume, and
Walter Scott, when engaged on new object
of study.
But the chief interest of Edinburgh to the
traveller, is its connection with the past; the
MANY memories of our b0yhood's learning
which crowd upon us; the places of which we
have read in history, and told and sung, and
which now we see for ourselves. We ascend
to the old Castle, which, perched on the high
precipitous rock, frOwns so sternly on the be-
holder. We enter the little chapel OF Quceu
Margaret, 500 years old, and pass down to
| Queen Mary's apartments, and to the room
scarce eight feet square, in which James VI
was born; and what food Of history, or per.
.,;x 81, ,l,
mind, as we think of the events in this ancient
fortress between those dates. AT the othel
end of the city we pass through HOlyreod Pal
ace, where some of the saddest events in The
sad life of Mary, Queen Of Scots, took place
We enter the rooms Of Lord Dudley, and The
apartments of the Queen; we see the simple
royal furniture, the bed with its coverlet ragged
with age, and a little work box, adorned with
tapestry by the Queens own hanQ. We look
down the dark stone stairway which the assa9
sins of Rizzio assembled, and pass into the littlt
room in which he was murdered. We stan(
in the audience chamber where John KnoN
and Mary parted in anger.
We pass out from the Palace to note objects
of interass of quite another nature; events
very different the history and sufferings o
Christ's Church. We see the old house wher
Knox resided, we pass into the Parliamen
Square, to his tomb, marked with the simpl
tablet in the pavement, -. X, 1872" w
visit the spot where the Covenanters were pu
to DEATH and, in the old Grey Friar's Church
yard, the monument to their memory. These
and much more, we saw and noted but w
| nAl with slipir r.
cords.
1 Next in interest undoubtedly, to Edinburgh
is Sterling, with its old church in which til
= kings were crowned, its cemetery, and cspe
| cially its Castle, so long the stronghold OF th
rulers of Scotland. We mark with interes
: the room in which Earl Douglas was assas
@ sinated by the King, the window out of whic
his body was cast, now occupied by phntc
, light, with the Douglas Arms-the Bleedin
Heart We look into the dungeon in whic
= tradition says, Roderick Dhu died. We loo
out VI on the battle-tields, twelve in number,
is said, VISIBLE from these parapets. Our eye
. rest with most interest on the field but fey
| miles disant-of Bannockburn
7 From Sterling, our couIse lay through til
: Highlands, by railroad, and stage, and LAX
t Here we meet with the grandest scenery i
i | Great Britain yet to traveller coming hitht
= from the Alps, the first feeling will be one
i disappointment The hills are not 50 hig
+ and bold as he anticipated; and he misses I'll
mighty mountain, the perpetual snow, and IL
: rough glacier An many places in our ow
d country, and that without passing many hui
dred miles from our homes we could 81
u grander, finer scenery But the traveller anon
x these hills is not here chiefly to enjoy Il
% scenery, though he will be charmed with Il
pleasant mingling of hill and glen and lax
i these winding paths, and romantic recesse
\ but, as in all Scotland, and indeed in all E
:, rope, there is an interest deeper than the c!
=. beholds We are here to see the lakes, al
~ meads, and hills celebrated in song and stOr
Is and with that strange but beautiful affeclit
II. of human nature which clings so strongly
the distant past, which loves the old traditiC
N and cares not TO analyze its fact too close
At we enjoy, beyond what pen can describe, thu
in wild glens.
IS We pass by Doilantogs Ferd, and on
Lake Katrlen, where little steamer takes