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TOUR THROUGH SCOTLAND.

CHAP. I.

IN

TRAVELLING INFATUATION-ANECDOTE OF A SCOTCHMAN
ITALY A CONSOLING REFLECTION-CAMBRIDGE-ITS BEAU-
TIFUL COLLEGE WALKS-THE EXQUISITE ARCHITECTURE OF
KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL-PEMBROKE COLLEGE-ANECDOTE
OF MR. PITT-MR. FOX-A WINDOW FULL OF ABSURDITIES-
FACETIOUS VERSES-DR. CLARKE'S ANTIQUES-STAMFORD-
SINGULAR MODE OF STRENGTHENING A WEAK BUILDING-
REMARKS UPON YORK MINSTER-HINTS TO DIVINES-THE
CASTLE AT YORK-DURHAM REMARKS UPON
DRAL AND THE PRISONS.

THE CATHE

How common in practice, and yet how inexplicable upon principle is it, that we wander from adjacent beauties to remote ones, which, after much toil of mind and body, frequently prove to be inferior to those we leave behind, which have a thousand times courted us in vain both by their attractions and their facilities of access! How often do

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SCOTCHMAN IN ITALY.

we brave the seas and the tempests to draw pleasure from continental resources, and how frequently do we learn from foreigners the beauties of our own country! Is it that we place a false value upon what is difficult of attainment, and feel but little relish for that which can be procured with little exertion? A Scottish gentleman, in whose estate a hill, called Mount Damietta, stands, near Stirling, when in Italy was expressing to a native of that country the delight which the scenery of that beautiful region afforded him, and declared it to be the finest in the world. "It is very fine, undoubtedly," said the Italian, "but inferior to one in Scotland; I mean the view from the hill Damietta, near Stirling." The Scottish gentleman was much surprised, and somewhat embarrassed in not being able to make the comparison himself, for the truth was, he had never visited the top of his own mount, and was ashamed to own it.

After having felt somewhat of this fashionable infatuation, with delicate health, however, to offer in excuse, I resolved upon judging for myself of a people and a country long renowned in history, and who, in the pages of a writer high in the annals of literary fame, appeared with a double character, at one time inviting with attraction, at another repelling with disgust.

In the pursuit of my object, I had the additional satis

A CONSOLING REFLECTION,

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faction of reflecting that I had no boisterons seas to cross, and no keen and perilous investigations of a hostile police to encounter. Having purified my mind from the prejudices which ill-humoured or sarcastic representations had at various times impressed upon it, I set off for Scotland; and as the line of route was to me in some degree novel, I loitered a little in my way, to contemplate objects that I found not only new, but highly interesting.

I commenced my tour with emotions of gratitude to that beneficent and all-wise Ruler who has hitherto preserved us from sharing in the humiliation of so many nations of the earth, and who enables us to wander, as business, pleasure, or the love of information may impel, over a country which we may still proudly call our own, without being compelled to witness the devastations of war, or to contemplate the triumphant march of insatiable ambition.

Seated in an island favoured by Heaven, and fortified by nature against the political storms that rage around us, we view their angry progress, as the astronomer in the calmness of the night contemplates the erratic course of the flaming meteor, in safe and solemn meditation.

The delightful month of June had just commenced when I left London; and, after passing through a country which

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possessed very little to gladden the eye or interest the mind, I arrived at Cambridge, where I had the gratification of being the bearer of letters of introduction to several gentlemen distinguished for their knowledge, and extent of research in distant countries, and of contemplating many magnificent and venerable edifices sacred to learning, along whose walls the Cam slowly and silently moves, as if conscious that it flowed through the seat of study and meditation, reflecting upon its dark and placid surface many a luxuriant bank, and tree of stately growth, harmoniously grouped together, and naturally disposing the mind unfamiliarized to the scene, to pensive reflection.

The groves and gardens of the colleges are equally sweet and equally solemn; but they had materially suffered by a recent and violent flood, which had overflowed the country to a great extent, and had left many rueful marks of its visitation upon tree, shrub, bank, and flower. Among the trees, three weeping elms are pointed out to the stranger, which cannot be seen without admiration. I do not mean to fatigue the reader by elaborate architectural descriptions of the different buildings which adorn this celebrated seat of science; but I cannot pass over unnoticed the chapel of King's College, which, for size, lightness, and beauty, has no rival in this country, and, I am well informed, none in any other.

KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL.

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In this, as in most pure Gothic buildings, the principal exterior decorations are reserved for its summits; but what pencil or pen can adequately pourtray the symmetry and beauty of the interior of this pile? The eye rises with delight from the floor to the elegant roof of Gothic arches, springing from their buttresses; it then roves along the “slender shafts of shapely stone," finely contrasted with the florid richness of the painted windows, and the whole decorated with a profusion of elaborate ornaments, varying from each other in form, and rivalling each other in beauty. The imagination is more disposed to consider this exquisite structure as the fabled temple raised by magic than a fabric of human workmanship. It stands a splendid monument of the taste, piety, and munificence of Henry VI. its original founder, and of succeeding sovereigns. The sight of such a building would nobly remunerate the pains and perils of a long pilgrimage.

A natural curiosity induced me to pay an early visit to the rooms which the illustrious Pitt occupied in Pembroke College, where I felt that glow of enthusiasm which departed genius never fails to excite in the spot which it has rendered sacred by its presence. A professor, who favoured me with his company on the occasion, had the honour of having known that exalted character well. He informed me, in opposition to the generally credited

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