ginning of her brilliant record under the modern
reign of literature and poetry. This book, however, does not pretend to
set forth the Edinburgh of the Kirk or the Parliament House, each of
which has an existing record of its own. Seated on the rocks which are
more old than any history, though those precipices are now veiled with
verdure and softness, and the iron way of triumphant modern science runs
at their feet; with her crown of sacred architecture hanging over her
among the mists, and the little primeval shrine mounted upon her highest
ridge; with her palace, all too small for the requirements of an
enlarged and splendid royalty, and the great crouched and dormant
sentinel of nature watching over her through all the centuries; with her
partner, sober and ample, like a comely matron, attended by all the
modern arts and comforts, seated at the old mother's feet,--Edinburgh
can never be less than royal, one of the crowned and queenly cities of
the world. It does not need for this distinction that there should be
millions of inhabitants within her walls, or all the great threads of
industry and wealth gathered in her hands. The pathos of much that is
past and over for ever, the awe of many tragedies, a recollection almost
more true than any reality of the present, of ages and glories gone--add
a charm which the wealthiest and greatest interests of to-day cannot
give, to the city, always living, always stirring, where she stands amid
traditionary smoke and mist, the grey metropolis of the North, the
Edinburgh of a thousand fond associations,

Our Own Romantic Town.

[Illustration]

THE END

* * * * *

_Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh_

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Royal Edinburgh, by Margaret Oliphant

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROYAL EDINBURGH ***

***** This file should be named 25701.txt or 25701.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/7/0/25701/

Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyr