le shops rejoiced in crimson and yellow banners, and the Walter
Scott memorial even broke out in honour of the day. It was decorated
with flags, which waved gaily in the sun--for the sun did come out, after
all. But Princes Street was not the chief route. It was down George
Street that Royalty drove, and it was there that the efforts of the
decorative artist had been most effective. Some of them were very
beautiful, and full of taste; but the lettering was rather small. Nor
did the inscriptions display much ingenuity. They were mostly
"Welcomes," or invitations to "Come again." It was the advertising
tradesmen who were most ingenious in that way, and it was in the papers
that their efforts appeared. As, for instance, an enterprising shoemaker
writes:--

"Welcome, Victoria! Queen of Scottish hearts!
In many a breast the loyal impulse starts"--

and then finishes with a recommendation of his boots and shoes. As a
crowd, also, it must be noted that the mob was far graver than a London
one, and that little attempt was made either to relieve the tedium of
waiting the arrival of the procession, or to turn a penny by the sale of
the various articles which seem invariably to be required by a London
mob. The boys who sell the evening papers, one would have thought, would
have had correct programmes of the procession, and portraits of the Queen
and Prince Albert to dispose of. As it was, all that was hawked about
was an engraving of the statue itself.

As to the statue, it will be one of the many for which Edinburgh is
famous, and at present, as the latest, is considered one of the best. It
is in a good position in Charlotte Square--the finest of the Edinburgh
squares--and stands by itself. Afar off is William Pitt; and, further
off still, unfortunately for the morals of Albert the Good, who is placed
just by, is George the Magnificent, swaggering in his cloak, in tipsy
gravity, as it were; and at St. Andrew's Square, at the other end,
proudly towers above all the Melville Monument. That was utilised on the
day in question in an admirable manner--Venetian masts were erected at
the end of the grass-plat which surrounds it. Ropes rich with bunting
were suspended between them and the statue, which was gaily decked with
flags. It was in this neighbourhood, and as you went on to Holyrood,
that the ornaments were of the richest character. Of the sixty designs
submitted to the committee, the preference was gi