Jealous as were the inhabitants of Edinburgh to do honour to their monarchs in the olden time, and stirringly as those various Royal Visits occupied them during the periods when they took place, their memory has been long buried in those dark and dusty recesses to which such old records are usually doomed, and are only now dragged forth by the searching hand of the antiquary. Alas! that of Queen Victoria, so very recently present to us, filling our hearts with joy, and our voices with shouts of loyalty, is already as much matter of history, and as much a thing past as they are. But it has a record of good feeling laid up along with it, that will keep it for ever embalmed in the best affections of Scottish hearts to the very latest generation.

By three o’clock on the morning of Thursday the 1st September, the Duke of Buccleuch was joined at Granton by Sir Robert Peel, when dispatches were sent off to the public authorities in Edinburgh. Bailie Richardson spoke with the Duke at five a.m., and Sir Niel Douglas, commander of the forces, had an inteniew with his Grace. Some time afterward Lord Liverpool, and others of Her Majesty’s suite, came on shore, and communicated to his Grace and to Sir Robert Peel, that Her Majesty would land about nine o’clock.

The morning was of dull aspect—but that circumstance did not prevent the Queen and Prince Albert, from quitting their pillows at half-past six o’clock. As Her Majesty’s example must have great influence on the manners of her people, it is to be hoped that among the many good lessons she has condescended to give to Scotland, that of early rising may not be lost upon its inhabitants. The Squadron got under weigh about seven o’clock, and the Royal breakfast was served upon deck between seven and eight. A veil of mist was drawn over the romantic environs of the city, but as it gradually dissipated, the greatest interest was manifested by the Queen and Prince, as the various features of the scenery individually developed themselves. Numerous inquiries were made by both as the hills and other objects were successively unfolded to their view. Although the scene which expanded itself before the Royal eyes, is in itself much too extensive for any representation, except that of the panorama, and that feeble language must be still more inefficient in giving any idea of it, yet it is necessary to attempt some outline of it, for the benefit of those who may never have looked upon it.

Beginning with the immediate coast, which is nowhere abrupt or high, and running the eye along from east to west, so as to take in the objects presenting themselves nearest to the sea, the Queen had immediately to larboard, the town of Leith, with its glasshouses and churches, and its old buildings, rising but little above the level of the water, with its long piers, its martello tower, its harbour, docks, and shipping. Moving the eye westward, there was the battery, and many houses, mingled with gardens. Then came the long fishing town of Ncwliavcn, with its harbour and numerous craft, and a little farther the filmy cobweb of the chain-picr, and a perfect town of villas, terminated by those of Wardie, each rising out of its pretty tasteful fragment of pleasure ground. Then came the Granton Pier, with its wharfs, stretching its immense mass of masonry far out into the sea, as if to subdue ocean itself, and having its steamers and other craft congregated about it. Beyond this were the woods of the old places of Caroline Park and of Granton, succeeded by that of Muirhousc ; and farther off still, on the hither side of the mouth of the river Almond, were the beautiful grounds of Cramond, with its green islet of the same name, lying as if asleep on the surface of the sea, whilst on the western side of the same river, the flat part of the finely timbered park of Dalmeny, the seat of the Earl of Rosebery, appeared backed by all its undulating and tufted eminences. Taking up in the next place that which may he called the second distance, and carrying the eye from the point of Leith first mentioned, all the way to Dalmeny, the wide middle ground gently arose immediately behind the line of objects just described, appearing everywhere along its whole extent, rich with cultivation, and groups of trees, and rendered interesting by the occurrence here and there of scattered buildings. Behind it, and towards the east, the eye skimmed over the gently sloping hollow formed by the course of the Water of Leith, the fall of the ground there being detected by the air tint giving distance to the features beyond it. As it was thence carried westwards along this middle ground, some rural mansions rose into notice, among which that of Lauriston Castle, the ancient seat of the Laws of Lauriston, the family of the celebrated French Marechal Lauriston, was especially prominent. These were backed by the lovely Corstorphine Hills, wooded in the most luxuriant manner. Beginning again from the east with the next gradation of distance, the bold and beautiful Calton Hill heaved itself suddenly up with its green covering of grassy turf—its Observatory, like a Grecian temple, on its highest point, and near it the half-finished facade of the great National Monument, designed as an accurate fac-simile in style, dimensions, and execution of the celebrated Parthenon of Athens, hut in its present embryo state so perfectly presenting the picturesque appearance of a ruined temple, as in defiance of the inferiority of climate, and all other attendant circumstances, to fill the mind with associations of Greece. Above all these objects on the hill, the tall, thin, ungainly, and vulgar monument to the immortal Nelson, was seen starting up to an extravagant height; but though ill suited, both to its elevated site and to the objects with which it was brought into immediate comparison, yet, at the distance at which it was now viewed, it added another marking feature to the town, that was not without its effect. Clustering all around the base of the hill, and apparently united to the buildings of Leith, like one vast city, those of Edinburgh now appeared not quite two miles from the shore, stretching away about the same distance towards the west, and rising backwards, street above street, and range above range, as they ascended to the summit of the first ridge, on which the newer part of the town is built. From this nearer portion, the column erected to the late Lord Melville, arose, together with the tall slender spire of St. Andrew’s Church, and several other towers and steeples, the chief and most distinguishing feature being the great dome of St. George’s Church, towards. the west, beyond which appeared twro large hospitals. Over this, and softened into farther distance by the air tint produced by a second intervening valley, the highest ridge of the more ancient part of the town appeared stretching from behind the Calton Hill on the cast, and rising gradually in a western direction, characteristically marked by the old tower of St. Giles’s Cathedral, topped by its fine imperial crown of open masonry. To the eastward of this arose the spire of the Tron Church, and farther up the rising ridge to the west, the tall and elegant Gothic spire of the new Victoria Hall, recently erected for the accommodation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and at that time not quite finished. The whole of this, that may he called the main spine of the city, was terminated boldly and abruptly by the noble crag of the Castle, as old as Scotland, and filled with her historical recollections, which w-as seen domineering grandly over all. Returning again to the eastern side of the picture, Salisbury Crags, rising with a rapid green slope from the east, and terminated in a rugged perpendicular front of rock facing the west, from the base of which a steep talus swept down into the valley in one bold line. Behind these, and forming part of the same general elevation, the high and romantic Arthur Seat towered up, its mass formed of a beautiful combination of grand lines, dipping valleys, and bold projections, with the ruins of St. Anthony’s Chapel on one fine prominent point, and over the whole arose the rugged lionlike head of the mountain, still smoking like a slumbering volcano, from the embers of the bonfire.

Behind all these objects, and more in the middle of the picture, were seen the interesting hills of Blackford and Braid, and the distance was completed by the soft yet striking forms of the lofty range of the Pentlands, rising blue, and misty, and varied, and melting away in long perspective towards the southwest.

Such was the view which the Queen for the first time enjoyed of her as yet distant Scottish capital, and such were the general features of its environs, of which it is much more easy to give a catalogue than to afford any just conception. But to complete the inspection of the panorama of the Firth, by wdiich Her Majesty wras then surrounded, it was necessary to look back towards the east, where the great bay of Musselburgh opened its bosom in a wide circle, with its numerous maritime villages, surrounded by a richly cultivated country, rising from the sea with gentle slope; with Gosford, the residence of the Earl of Wemyss, appearing like a white speck on its margin, and, beyond it, the comparatively low point of Gullane. Behind all this arose the distant Lammermoor range, with Dunpender, the Garleton Hills, North Berwick Law, and the huge bulk of the Bass Bock. This place of strength was seized during the revolution by a desperate band of freebooters, who had a large boat, which they hoisted up the rock, and let down at pleasure. With this they committed outrageous robberies on the mainland, and took many vessels at sea. They held it as the last place for James II., but having lost their boat, and their usual supply of provisions from France having been cut off, they were at last starved into surrender. Then looking past the island of Inchkeith, towards the eastern extremity of Fifeshire, the eye as it returned picked up the misty eminences of Kelly Law and Largo Law, and the two Lomonds, with all the small towns which gem that coast. It dived into the bay of Kirkaldy, and coming on still to the westward, alighted on Kinghorn, remarkable as being the place where those Norsemen under the brother of Canutus, King of Norway, landed in the middle of the eleventh century, and were defeated with great slaughter by Macbeth, Thane of Fife, of whose history so much has been made by the immortal Shak-speare. Near it is the spot where Alexander III. was killed by being thrown from his horse among the rocks. Thence by Pettycur and Burntisland, the eye skirted the loftier and more abrupt, and varied and wooded coast towards Aberdour, the ancient seat of the Earls of Morton. Near this there was a nunnery of the order of St. Francis. Resting for a moment on the quiet and monastic island of Inch Colme, rendered sacred by the venerable remains of its monastery, founded about the beginning of the 12th century by a vow of Alexander I., it then swept over the extensive park of Donibristlc, with its large old mansion, the scat of the Earl of Moray. Donibristle was burned by the Earl of Huntly, on the 7th of February 1591-2. Its proprietor, James Stewart, well known as “the bonny Earl of Moray,” from his great personal attractions, was especially noticed by Anne of Denmark, queen of James VI., and having been praised by her in the King’s hearing as a proper and gallant man, his hereditary enemy, Huntly, took advantage of this circumstance, and having invested the house of Donibristle, he set fire to it under pretence that Moray had been leagued with Bothwell and his associates, against whom he was armed with the royal commission. The bonny Earl escaped from the conflagration, and hid himself among the rocks on the shore ; but the silken string of his knapscull tippet had taken fire, and as it slowly burned unknown to him, its light betrayed him to his enemies, who pierced him with a multitude of death wounds. A banner recently existed, with his pale corse extended on it, gaping with horrible gashes, and above it the motto, “God revenge my cause!” This was sent through all the Earl’s lands, both here and in the province of Moray, to raise up the clansmen to revenge; but a Royal proclamation forbid the young Earl to prosecute Huntly for the murder. Beyond Donibristle, the eye was arrested by the narrow strait of Queensferry, but the grand range of the far distant western mountains appeared over it in faint outline, closing in the general panoramic view in that direction. While the Queen was contemplating the various objects thus enumerated, or such of them at least as the hazy nature of the atmosphere allowed her to descry, Her Majesty was greeted by a royal salute from the fort at Leith.

The authorities had announced, that the moment the Royal Squadron should appear off the mouth of the Firth, a flag should be hoisted at the top of Nelson’s Monument on the Calton Hill, and that two guns should then be fired from the Castle. By some mistake or misunderstanding, there was no such signal. An inquiry into the cause and history of this, and other pieces of mismanagement, would be now as irksome as it would he unprofitable. The Duke of Buccleuch, however, dispatched a messenger on horseback from Granton Pier to the Castle, and the two guns were fired from its walls at about half-past seven o’clock, most people believing that they conveyed the information that the Queen was off Dunbar, when, in reality, the Royal flotilla was then rounding the northwestern point of the island of Inchkeith. The echoes of these cannon had hardly rebounded from Salisbury Crags, when every head in Edinburgh, and Leith, and the environs, had left its pillow, save those of the sick and the dying. Already had the streets been for some time pretty well filled, indeed, they had never been devoid of people during the whole previous twenty-four hours. Anxious for news of the Queen, many had walked about till a late hour before retiring to rest, and as they had gone to bed full of the ministerial assurance that Her Majesty was to make her Royal Progress through the city that day, it is not to be wondered if thev should have quietly contrived to dream of it, until roused by the two guns. Many thousands had to go miles into the country to sleep, and many to Glasgow, and as these could have no hope of returning to their posts of the previous day before eleven o’clock at soonest, and considering that the progresses of James VI., the Charles’s, and George IV, were made at mid-day,—it was not unnatural that the people should interpret the hand-bills ot the day before, as implying an assurance of something of this nature.

This much may be said for a population, who had displayed sufficient energy and activity on the previous day to prove that there was no want of these qualities among them, as regarded their loyalty and love towards their Sovereign.

The long rolling sound of the two signal guns had hardly ceased, ere shutters were opened in all parts of the town and its vicinity, windows thrown up, and thousands of heads thrust out in all manner of strange head-gear, whilst eyes were rubbed, and their glances directed through the gloomy and unpromising morning atmosphere, to all quarters of the compass in succession, and quick questions of inquiry were put to utter strangers in the street. Garments were hastily seized and hurriedly put on, not altogether with that precision which individuals would have wished to have used on so important an occasion—breakfasts were swallowed with a rapidity that might have been natural, if the signal had told of the landing of an enemy, whom the courage of the gentlemen hastened them to oppose, whilst the fears of the ladies impelled them to fly to some place of safety. With a celerity hardly to be conceived, every house in the city began to give forth its contents. People poured out from the handsome residences of the upper classes in the principal squares and streets of the newer part of the city, as well as from the upper habitations of the lower classes in the wynds and closes of the old town, and from the ten-pair-of-stairs tenements, whence the inhabitants of the different flats issued like bees, as if an earthquake had shaken their dwellings. The roar of the two signal cannon, like that of the thunder-peal, sent down ten thousand torrents from above, into the streets below, and reproduced to a great extent that flood of population that had deluged them on the previous day.

Taking it for granted, from all they had been taught to expect, that the Royal Squadron was only now in sight far down the Firth, every one felt assured that hours must elapse before the landing could take place. Though all were anxious to secure favourable places, yet many, believing that they would have ample time to do so, hastened in the meanwhile to the terrace walks of the Calton Hill, for the purpose of seeing the Royal Flotilla working its way up the Firth from the far distance, and were thunderstruck to behold it already approaching Granton Pier. Now it was that people on foot, on horseback, and in vehicles of every possible kind and denomination, rushed in that direction; and although the stream ran somewhat thinner than on the preceding day, it flowed with much greater violence, and as it approached the road to Granton Pier, it became so dense as nearly to choke up the way. The Magistrates were sitting robed in their council-hall, and the Royal Archers had been for some time all ready in the Riding-house, in the Lothian-road, when the word “off” was delivered from the hoarse throats of the signal cannon, and consequently they and all were too late for the duties they had respectively to perform.

The Royal Yacht bearing the sacred person of the Sovereign, approached the Granton Pier, towed majestically by the Black Eagle and Shearwater steamers. The Queen, altogether unconscious of the burning anxiety of the people, as well as of the misconception which had been created by those engagements rather rashly made for her, without her knowledge, stood upon the quarter-deck conversing with her Royal Consort, and earnestly contemplating this first sample of that country which she was about to enter. Both looked extremely well, though the tint of Her Majesty’s cheek was more than usually delicate, from the fatigue of the voyage, and the rough weather to which she had been so much exposed. At about half-past eight o’clock the Yacht reached the eastern side of the pier. Captain Bain had made his preparations so well, that when the gallant vessel was brought alongside, not the slightest noise or confusion took place. The moment the gangway, covered with scarlet cloth, was placed so as to produce a bridge of connection between the pier and the ship, Sir Robert Peel hastened on board, and advanced to that part of the quarter-deck where the Queen and the Prince were standing. He was graciously received by Her Majesty, and conversed with her for ten minutes, whilst he stood before the Royal presence uncovered, and with his right knee slightly bent. When he had retired, the Duke of Buccleuch approached, as Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Edinburgh, and was acknowledged with smiles and with the most marked cordiality both by the Queen and Prince. Meanwhile the Royal carriages were quickly landed, and every thing being in readiness, Her Majesty was conducted to the gangway by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, and at about five minutes before nine o’clock, whilst the Royal standard flew up to the top of the flag-staff at the end of the pier, Queen Victoria was handed on shore by Prince Albert. The cannon of a field-battery, planted on the height overhanging Granton, and the guns of the vessels around, as well as those at anchor farther off in Leith Roads, opened their mouths of thunder, and all the yards were manned. The right of the landing-place was the position where the Royal Archers should have been, but from the mistake already noticed they had not arrived. The guard of honour, consisting of two hundred of the 53d regiment, under Major Hill, were drawn up on the left, and presented arms, the band playing “God Save the Queen,” and every human being of the thousands on the pier, who had the good fortune to witness this most animating and interesting spectacle, responded to the sentiment of the air, in loud, loyal, and frequently repeated cheers, which were re-echoed by the crowds assembled on shore.

Her Majesty was received by the Duke of Buccleuch on a platform, covered with crimson cloth, and he conducted her to her carriage under a canopy of the same material and colour. Two lines were formed on each side of the platform, by the Earls of Liverpool and Morton, General Wemyss, Colonel Bouverie, Mr. G. E. Anson, Lord John Scott, Sir Robert Peel, Sir George Murray, Sir Neil Douglas, Major Douglas his aid-de-camp, Lieut.-Col. Lord Robert Kerr, Lieut.-Col. Emmett, Captain Codrington, Lieut.-Col. Cornwall, Lieut.-Col. White, Mr. Speirs, sheriff of the county of Edinburgh, and Captain Bain; the Duchess of Norfolk, the Hon. Miss Paget, Lady Harriet Suttie, Lady Jane Charteris, Lady Caroline Charteris, Lady Robert Kerr, the Hon. the Misses Kerr, Mrs. Cornwall, Miss Murray, Lady Douglas, Misses Douglas, Mrs. White, and many others. The want of the promised signal-flag on the Calton Hill, which was productive of so many disappointments, occasioned the unwilling absence of the Duchess of Buccleuch. Provost Reoch, and some of the magistrates of Leith, having ascertained that the Royal Squadron had anchored under Inchkeith, repaired to Granton at eight o’clock in the morning, and had the satisfaction of being present to witness Her Majesty’s landing.

Whilst passing to her carriage, and after she had taken her seat, the Queen graciously acknowledged the courtesies of the distinguished persons in attendance, as well as the cheers of the multitudes assembled, and Prince Albert also bowed repeatedly. The morning being rather damp, His Royal Highness asked Her Majesty if she would wish the hood of the carriage to be raised, to which the Queen replied with a smile, “Oh! not at all, unless it rains more heavily.” The carriage, drawn by four beautiful horses, drove off along the eastern side of the pier, amid the shouts of the people and the thunder of the cannon. A squadron of the Inniskilling Dragoons formed Her Majesty’s escort, one half of them preceding, and the other following the Royal carriage. The Duke of Buccleuch, Lord John Scott, and Sir Neil Douglas, rode by Her Majesty, and Mr. Sheriff Speirs in front. A party of police assisted in clearing the way. Other open carriages followed, containing the Duchess of Norfolk, Miss Paget, Lord Morton, General Weymss, Lord Liverpool, and some other members of the household.

The square already described as opening from the pier, was crowded with carriages and people, on both sides of the lane kept for Her Majesty the Queen, and every window of the hotel, and houses opposite, as well as the newly-erected galleries, were filled with people, chiefly ladies, who received Her Majesty with enthusiastic cheering, and waving of hats and handkerchiefs, which she repeatedly acknowledged. When the Royal carriages had swept past at a rapid pace, they were followed by a miscellaneous crowd, where the handsome private equipages of distinguished individuals, mingled with vehicles of a meaner description, were all whipping and spurring after the Queen in glorious confusion. That remarkable and most intelligent Indian, Baboo Dwarkanauth Tagore, occupied an open carriage, accompanied by his nephew. The Royal carriage proceeded up the road that sweeps along the bank above Granton, its pace somewhat checked by the hill, and grand as was the sea view that stretched away to the left, it is probable that Her Majesty was more attracted by the happy countenances that smiled on her with joy and welcome from the sloping bank.

The landing of the Queen at this early hour was so little expected, that even the inhabitants of Inverleith-row, within a mile of the spot, were quite taken by surprise. The first intimation of the event came from certain individuals, so breathless from running to warn their friends, that they could hardly gasp out the intelligence, that the Queen was at hand; but, although these hot-footed messengers had to buffet their way from Granton, through an endless and increasing stream of people setting in the opposite direction, and although they cried, “the Queen! the Queen!” as well as lack of breath allowed them, nobody believed them, and they might as well have tried to stop the course of a river. The stream continued to run on unchecked. But when the red jackets of the dragoons were seen dancing at a distance over the heads of the people, and the shouts of the multitudes who lined the way, were heard, the incredulity of the masses at once gave way, and carriages and horsemen, carts and pedestrians, wheeling about, as if the dragoons had been the advanced guard of an enemy, they prepared to make a desperate rush for the barrier gate, erected at the head of Brandon-street, where they hoped to behold the imposing ceremony of the delivery of the keys of the city to the Queen, by Sir James Forrest of Comiston, Bart., the Lord Provost, and so to obtain a satisfactory view of their Sovereign, and especially to hear her speak. Such was the crash of carriages, and the crush of human beings, all the wav across the Canomnills bridge over the Water of Leith, and up the sweeping way to Brandon-street, that it was quite miraculous that no serious accident took place. As nothing of this unpleasant nature happened, the many absurd circumstances that occurred in the melee would have been ludicrous, had not each individual been too much occupied in protecting himself, or those with whose safety he urns charged, to attend to the miseries of others.

In consequence of the omission of the signal-flag, the Royal Archers did not meet Her Majesty till she had got within about one hundred yards of the Canonmills bridge. There they attempted to fall in to right and left of the carriage, in the place close to the royal person, which belongs to them. The dragoons, who beheld themselves suddenly broken in upon by a body of men “in Ivendal-green,” and knowing nothing about them or their rights, naturally enough endeavoured to keep them off, and so a certain degree of jostle took place; stern commands being given on one side that the apparent intruders should retire, and determined countenances being shown on the other, that they must first be cut down before they would surrender their ancient privilege. Little did these gallant troopers know that they were dealing with some of the elite of Scotia’s aristocracy, and that many of those with whom they were contending, and who then gloried in escorting their Queen on foot, were earls and dukes. Lord Elcho was very nearly thrown forward under the wheels of the Royal carriage. But the faithful Archers stuck to their purpose, and kept their place and their pace with the carriage and the cavalry, though that pace was a killing one; and some explanations having been at last made, their proper post was at length quietly resigned to them. Lord Elcho, as senior General Officer commanding the Archers, was at the right hand door of the
Queen’s carriage, and Major Norman Pringle, who has long held the rank of Adjutant-General, maintained his proper post by the off fore wheel, by keeping his left hand on one of the irons, and pressing outwards against the crush; and Lord Dalhousie, and Sir John Pope, occupied positions on opposite sides. Whilst the Archers endeavoured to keep the crowd outside of the line formed by their body, they afforded every facility to the indulgence of individual curiosity, and notwithstanding the hurry and the press, all were in the best possible humour. Her Majesty appeared perfectly to understand the feelings of the people. She was quite at her ease, and whilst always ready to acknowledge the loud and marked demonstrations of loyalty, with which she was so continuously greeted, she frequently laughed at the absurd endeavours made by those more forward than the rest to get near the carriage, whilst the resolute, though good natured opposition of the Archers in keeping the passage clear, was rewarded with an approving smile from their Royal Mistress—both Her Majesty and Prince Albert repeatedly thanking them, and expressing regret for the arduous duty they had to perform.

On went the Royal carriage, and on went the rush of people, full of expectation, to the wooden barrier—but, alas! to those who had looked to behold the Civic Authorities in full robes and golden chains, ranged grandly in solemn show to greet their Sovereign, with the Lord Provost, at their head, prepared to present her with the keys of the city, and in delivering them, to deliver himself also of a speech, which was to produce the silver toned reply of Her most gracious Majesty—how great the disappointment! The fatal failure of the flag, their participation in the belief that the Royal lauding would not take place until two hours after the signal guns had been fired, and the want of sufficient warning, had been so untoward for them too, that, instead of being there, they were still seated in their Council Chamber, silently waiting for tidings expected by the return of a deputation of their number, which they had despatched to Granton to ascertain the facts regarding Her Majesty’s motions. The gate was open and deserted, and on swept the Queen—dragoons — archers — crowds — and all, Her Majesty having no idea of what the thing meant. On turning into Brandon-street, there is a striking view up the wide vista running for the greater part of a mile through Pitt-street, Dundas-street, and Hanover-street, with the intervening width of the gardens, and backed at its upper extremity by the towering distance of the Old Town, with the tall Gothic spire of the New Assembly Hall, rising from the centre of the mass, as if purposely placed there. Although at that time unfinished, it presented a picturesque appearance, from the filmy nature of the geometrical scaffolding that surrounded it. The Royal banner floated from its top. The street was lined on both sides for a considerable way, by the soldiers of the 53d regiment, and in every other part it presented a moving mass of human beings and carriages, whilst all the windows, and most of the temporary wooden galleries were occupied, though these last were by no means so crowded as they had been during the whole of the previous day. As the Royal carriage proceeded up this steep succession of streets at an abated pace, the shouts and acclamations of the people were taken up from time to time, and prolonged into the distance. After Her Majesty had gone through the barrier, thousands of the crowd made off helter skelter, taking the back way by Canonmills, Bellevue-crescent, and Broughton-street, in order, if possible, to get to Waterloo-place or the Calton-hill before the Queen, with the hope of seeing her again, and no sooner had the Royal carriage crossed the line of Queen-street, than another flying army was seen to rush array to the eastward, with similar intentions and hopes.

By half-past nine o’clock Her Majesty reached the summit of the ridge of the new part of the city, where the line of her route was intersected at right angles by the spacious width of George-street, running to right and left for nearly a mile, terminated to the east by St. Andrew-square, whence rises the grand Melville Column, and to the west by Charlotte-square, and the huge mass and dome of St. George’s Church. The spire of St. Andrew’s Church, rising from this street, and the numerous handsome buildings, with splendid facades, and which are daily taking the place of the more ordinary houses, appeared to excite Her Majesty’s admiration. The Queen questioned Major Pringle about Chantrey’s statue of her royal uncle, George IV., which stands in the intersection of the street. At this moment the royal salute began to be fired from the Castle, shaking the whole city; and the Union-Jack having been hauled down from the flag-staff, the Royal Standard was hoisted in its place.

The descent of South Hanover-street from George-street to Princes-street, is fine in itself, as it has that great and imposing Grecian building, the Royal Institution, directly in front, with the ten-story houses of the distant Old Town behind it; and no sooner has the descent been effected, than the magnificent Castle is seen to the right, towering up to the skies on the summit of its bold and most picturesque crag, overhanging the beautiful western gardens, which occupy the great valley between it and Princes-street. Never was the Castle seen to more advantage than when gun after gun then blazed from its ramparts, and the curling smoke threw the temporary effect of mist partially over them. Princes-street opened to right and left, and looking westward, the view was terminated by the spire of St. Cutlxbert’s, and the elegant Gothic tower of St. John’s Chapel. Major Pringle was here again appealed to by Her Majesty, for information touching the Royal Institution, and he satisfied her as to its name, and the objects to which it is devoted, and Her Majesty never failed to communicate the information she gained immediately to Prince Albert. This building was erected by the Honourable the Board of Commissioners. Trustees for the encouragement of Scottish Manufactures. It was much to be regretted that the fine statue of Her Majesty, of colossal magnitude, now executing by Mr. Steele, to be erected over the northern pediment, had not been placed in its position before this happy day.

The masses of people were here much augmented by the rushing of human beings down the Mound, and by those who had taken up stations in Princes-street. Their enthusiasm seemed to receive additional fire, and louder and louder grew the cheering, now mingled with the ringing of the hells from all the steeples. The Queen continued to acknowledge on all sides these expressions of the loyalty of the people, and Prince Albert arose and bowed repeatedly. The carriage having turned eastward, amidst the shouts of the increasing multitudes, the Queen enjoyed a coup d'asil extremely singular in itself. On her left was the long row of Princes-street, with its handsome irregular buildings and elegant shops, and at the far end of its perspective appeared the steep and craggy side of the Calton Hill, with the tall but ill-conceived monument erected to Lord Nelson, on its southern point, and the Observatory, and the fine monuments erected to those celebrated philosophers, Dugald Stewart and John Playfair, whilst the grand but unfinished peristyle of the great National Monument, rose sublimely on the summit. On Her Majesty’s right hand were the gardens of Princes-street, to the eastward of the Mound, and over these appeared the strangely piled up mass of the ancient city, with the crown-capped tower of St. Giles’ Cathedral, and the spire of the Tron Church, whilst the noble Roman arches of the North Bridge were seen striding' across and uniting the two sides of the broad valley, and the magnificent forms of Salisbury Crags and Arthur Seat, towered up beyond, in softened distance. Another fine feature is now in rapid progress here, and already begins to give earnest of its great grandeur when completed, the erection in the form of an exquisite old English Cross, but of magnitude nearly 200 feet, high, as a monument to the genius of Scotland—Sir Walter Scott, whose statue, executed in marble, by Mr. Steele, is to be placed under the deep Gothic arch. He, alas! whose honoured remains now repose in the cloistered shades of Dryburgh, was the most active and enthusiastic of all during the last Royal visit to Edinburgh, and how would his heart have swelled—and how would his muse have been fired with inspiration, had he been spared to welcome the arrival of our young and lovely Sovereign ! But though dead, he is yet as the life of Scotland, and were it possible that the monument now erecting could be of tenfold greater magnitude than its plan proposes, it would be small compared to the load of gratitude which his country owes him. The Queen made particular inquiries of Lord Elcho and the Duke of Roxburghe about the monument, and manifested peculiar interest in it. The Celtic Society, under the command of the Marquis of Lorn, and Campbell of Islay, had drawn up in front of the Royal Hotel, in compliment to his Grace the Duke of Argyll, their president, who lodged there. The members of this body were splendidly dressed in the tartans of their respective clans, and glittered with gorgeous ornaments. The crowd thickened as the carriage reached the General Register House, at the eastern end of Princes-street, having been much augmented by fresh streams poured in by the North Bridge. The front of this handsome building is to be ornamented by the erection of a grand colossal bronze equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, by Mr. Steele. The Theatre-Royal, on the opposite side of the way, was decorated with a great number of flags, and over the wide entrance to Waterloo-place, at the shop of Messrs. Dicksons, nurserymen, hung two beautiful garlands, crossing each other, and having a large crown formed of the finest flowers, suspended at their intersection. The crowd was so dense here, that it was with some difficulty the carriages could get along, and the shouts became tenfold more deafening.

Passing along Waterloo-bridgc, and onwards by the great range of the jails on the right, with the rocky base of the higher part of the Calton Hill on the left hand, the Queen drove by that elegant combination of Grecian buildings, which the genius of Mr. Hamilton has so happily linked together as one fine whole, to form the High School of Edinburgh ; and, immediately beyond this, a yet more remarkable scene burst upon the Royal eyes, than any they had lighted on since Her Majesty’s landing. The carriage now proceeded along a broad terrace, cut out from the side of the Calton Hill, hanging over the deep valley to the right, with the long picturesque ridge of the old part of the city, from the ancient and venerable palace of Holyrood, and the fine ruins of its Gothic chapel, in the plain at its eastern extremity, all the way up the Canongate and High-street, till it terminated in the proud aerial castle to the west, while hundreds of curious closes and wynds were seen branching off from it to right and left. Looking backward, the Gothic and castellated towers of the Jail Buildings, rising from the precipitous cliffs of the Calton, and beyond these the valley, crossed first by the arches of the North Bridge, and farther off still by the huge bulk of the Mound. To the south, the town appeared to extend to a great distance, and beyond it were the Blackford and Braid Hills, and farther off the range of the Pentlands; whilst over Holyrood to the east, arose the bold Salisbury Crags, and the towering Arthur Seat in one of its finest points. Close to the right hand of the road was the monument erected to Burns, and higher up to the left, the long line of handsome houses of the Regent-terrace ran off in perspective, having a hanging garden between them and the road. And then how glorious the more distant scene that stretched away to the horizon between these on the one hand, and Arthur Seat on the other ! Groves, rich fields, gardens, villas, and houses of all kinds, filled the flatter country all the way down to the margin of the sea at Portobello ; beyond which was the wide expanse of Musselburgh bay, with its highly cultivated surrounding country, and all its little towns—the point of Gullane, the Bass, North Berwick Law, and the whole range of hills beyond. It was not wonderful if such a scene as this, and especially the first view of her own ancient Palace of Holyrood, should have led Her Majesty to put frequent questions to some of the Archers in her escort. As she passed the most favourable point for seeing it, Her Majesty rose up in her carriage.

The Civic Authorities, who were left sitting robed and chained in their council-room at the Royal Exchange, sat solemn and silent as the Roman senators on the occasion of the irruption of the barbarians. Struck at once with surprise and dismay at the sound of the Castle guns firing the salute, they started up to a man, and learning that the Queen had already passed the barrier, they rushed to their carriages, sauve qui deut, filled with that natural eagerness to be blessed with a sight of Her Majesty, which they partook with their fellow-citizens. Seeing that their magisterial occupation was gone for that day, they drove off down the High-street, and while some of them took the North Bridge, others pursued their break-neck way down the steep and narrow Canongate, with the anxious hope that as they had missed their chance of appearing officially before the Royal eyes at Her Majesty’s entrance into the city, they might at least behold her as humble individuals, as she was departing from it. The crowd that had assembled in the High-street, with the wise intention of taking its time, and the direction of its motions from those of the magistrates, no sooner beheld them bolt out and escape in this manner, than they followed pell-mell with all speed. But they could by no means catch the Provost and Bailies, and meeting with streams of people equally bewildered, who were rushing across at right angles to the High-street, by the South and North Bridges, the confusion became quite like that of a routed army. Some of the chic authorities, tried to gain their object by endeavouring to cut in before the Queen at different points, but, with one exception, they arrived everywhere just in time to be too late. The Magistrates of Canongate, however, were in waiting at the boundary of their jurisdiction, and were graciously acknowledged by Her Majesty in passing. Immense crowds filled the lower Abbey-hill, and the space all around the Palace, from the notion that the Queen could not pass by this ancient residence of her ancestors, without visiting it. The question among them was, whether to remain there or to run for their lives along the Duke’s-walk, with the chance of getting a sight of the Queen when passing Parson’s-green, and great were the confusion and the concussion of individuals against each other, and numerous were the unexpected prostrations that took place in consequence.

In the middle of the great road, and nearly opposite to the buildings at Comely-green, there sat on his charger a single trooper of the Inniskilling Dragoons. Horse and man were so perfectly motionless, that they might have been mistaken for some figure set up for the occasion. The man’s eyes were turned westward, and no sooner did they catch the first glimpse of the red coats of the escort, than this immovable equestrian statue instantaneously received life. Horse and man whirled round, and were out of sight in a moment. This was a vidette, to call out the fresh escort from Piershill barracks, and as the Royal carriage swept past, the troopers fell out, and the new party took their places before and behind the Queen. On the left of the road, not far from Piershill, is St. Margaret’s Well, enshrined underneath a beautiful Gothic cover of masonry of great antiquity.

The Royal carriage turned off before entering Portobello, and went up the new road running parallel with the railway. W hen about to cross the Duddingston road, the Queen was surprised to meet thus far in the country a detachment of the berobed and be-ruffled civic authorities, who having driven furiously in a carriage and four by the old road from Piershill, gallantly succeeded in reaching this point just as the Royal carriage was driving up, and were thus rewarded by a sight of their Sovereign. Her Majesty made a gracious return to their salutations, which so inflamed their loyalty, that they followed the train of carriages all the way to Dalkeith. The road taken by the Queen was that by Niddry-Marischall, and so on directly south, leaving the fine old Scottish house of Woolmit to the right, and having smiling fields on all sides. The Royal cortege was followed by some twenty or thirty carriages, and a number of horsemen ; but as nobody thereabouts had looked for Her Majesty at that hour, the only people by the wayside were a few rustics, who gazed at the vehicles without perhaps being aware that she was passing. As the Royal carriage approached the village of Newton, the Queen stood up in it, and cast her eyes all around the rich country stretching away on every side, and she continued to survey it till she reached the Sheriff-hall gate of entrance to the grounds of Dalkeith Palace.

The town of Dalkeith presents a picturesque appearance, with its old and new churches, both in the Gothic style. It is prettily situated on the ridge of a rising ground between tbose two beautiful streams, the North and South Esks, which afterwards unite in the ducal grounds of Dalkeith Palace, opening from the eastern end of the town. As the Queen’s most direct route did not lie through the town, and as the whole of its inhabitants were in a fever of excitement to behold her, the Duke, with great kindness and liberality, ordered tickets of admission to the grounds to be issued to all the inhabitants who applied for them. About 5000 were thus issued, and as children were admitted with their parents, there were probably above 10,000 souls within the grounds. To prevent confusion, the gate by which the Queen was to enter the park was kept shut, and the people were admitted by that opening from the small village of Lugton, to the part of the approach allotted to them, extending for nearly a mile from the gate to the bridge. A wide shaven sward slopes in most places from the backing wood on either side towards the broad gravelled road. About half a mile of the space nearest to the gate, was set apart for the inhabitants of Dalkeith, and beyond that, and nearer to the bridge, stations were appropriated to his Grace’s tenantry, farm-servants, and all classes of workmen in his employment, including the colliers, their wives, families, and friends. Special constables were planted all along the line, to keep the carriage way clear, and to preserve order among the crowd. Handbills were circulated, announcing that so soon as it should be ascertained that Her Majesty had landed, the church bells should ring, as a signal that the Lugton gate had been thrown open, when all might take their places; and that the moment the Queen’s approach should be observed by a man on the steeple, the bells should be rung a second time, and a large Union-Jack hoisted there.

When the first signal was heard, the whole town of Dalkeith, and the population of the surrounding country, men, women, and children, in their best attire, carefully put on, “for fear the Queen might notice any thing amiss about them,” were seen hurrying with smiling faces towards the Lugton gate. As they reached the approach, they were arranged by the special constables, and they stood there for an hour with expectation wrought up to the highest pitch. Then again the bells began to peal, the flag was seen to rise majestically into the air, and in a few seconds the cheering at the gate announced the Queen. The spectacle which greeted Her Majesty on entering the Park was extremely fine, and notwithstanding the very natural desire that her journey should now terminate as speedily as possible, she no sooner saw the people, than she most considerately ordered that her carriage should proceed at a slow pace, thus securing for every individual of the thousands along the line the fullest opportunity of gratifying their longing desires. If the Queen could only estimate the amount of gratification that these few moments created to that assemblage of her honest subjects, she would feel amply repaid for the condescension which she thus showed to them. Their cheers all along the line were enthusiastic, but such was their sense of propriety, that not one of them attempted to follow the carriage into the more private part of the grounds, beyond the bridge over the Esk. There a fine view of the deep and romantic glen of the stream, as well as of the park and the palace, at once opened itself up to her Majesty.

The Queen having alighted and entered the palace, soon afterwards re-appeared, and seated herself at a window, commanding a view of the lawn, and being immediately recognised by the crowds there assembled, their concentrated good wishes were expressed in three hearty cheers. After this, the whole people dispersed in the most orderly manner, full of gratitude to the Duke for his kind and considerate arrangements. The Royal Standard was hoisted on the Palace, and detachments of the Inniskilling Dragoons and Fifty-Third Regiment were billeted in Dalkeith, to supply the duties required by Pier Majesty’s presence.

The fatigue that the Queen had undergone, both by sea and land, during this and the three previous days, did not prevent her from taking a short w alk along the terraces in the afternoon. The heart rejoices to think of the refreshment which this quiet ramble must have afforded to her Majesty. At a little before eight o’clock, the Royal party, consisting of the following distinguished persons, sat down to dinner :—

ARRIVAL AT DALKEITH.

The Queen and Prince Albert.
The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch,
The Duchess of Norfolk,
The Duke and Duchess of Argyll,
The Duke of Hamilton,
The Marquess and Marchioness of Abercorn,
The Earl and Countess of Kinnoull,
The Earl and Countess of Cawdor,
The Earl and Countess of Hopetoun,
The Earl of Aberdeen,
The Earl and Countess of Rosebery,
The Earl of Morton,
The Earl of Liverpool,
Lady Willoughby De Eresby,
Lord and Lady John Scott,
Sir Robert Peel,
Mr. and Lady G. Balfour,
The Honourable Miss Paget,
Mr. George Edward Anson,
Sir Neil Douglas,
Colonel Bouverie.

Fire-works were exhibited in the evening from the steeple of Dalkeith church, for nearly two hours, and a powerful supply of gas having been carried up thither, its angles were furnished with concentric tubes, rising spirally from a base of about five feet, to a point of the same height, having many thousand apertures, so closely disposed, that the jets fired each other, and poured a flood of radiance upon the town and the objects around. These were lighted every night during the Queen’s stay at Dalkeith Palace, and they proudly pointed out to the whole surrounding country the spot then honoured by the Royal presence.

The ancient Castle of Dalkeith, for such was the original structure, belonged to William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, who acquired it by marriage with the heiress of the Grahams. It was to this castle, according to Froissart, that the gallant Earl Douglas, killed at Otterburne, proposed to carry the celebrated pennon, won from Harry Percy in single combat, before the walls of Newcastle. “I will carry this token of your prowess with me to Scotland, and place it on the tower of my castle of Dalkeith, that it may be seen from far.” Charles I. was received in a very magnificent manner here by William, seventh Earl of Morton, on the 14th June 1633; and it was here that arrangements were made for his entrance next day into Edinburgh. He likewise spent his first day hero on his way to England. The attachment of this nobleman to his Royal master, led him to advance so large sums of money for the support of his cause, that he was induced to dispose of the property of Dalkeith, in 1642, to Francis second Earl of Buccleuch.

The suite of apartments occupied by the Queen and Prince Albert, were on the second floor, and were entered by a passage behind the north side of the great stair. Their windows were towards the glen of the stream. Her Majesty’s bed-room was immediately behind the great gallery, where the company were presented to her on the day of the reception, and the bed was that used by her Royal uncle George IV. Immediately within the bed-room was Prince Albert’s dressing-room, with a room for his valet beyond. This dressing-room was the same occupied by General Monk, where the plan for the restoration of Charles II. was conceived and matured. The room on the other side of the Queen’s, was that in which George IV. slept, when he honoured Dalkeith Palace with his presence. On this occasion it was used as her Majesty’s dressing-room, and beyond it there was a room for the dresser. The sitting apartments of the royal pair were in the wdng that comes forward to the south of the great stair. They consisted of a breakfast-room, and a boudoir for her Majesty, looking upon the square top of the entrance, which was covered with exotics, and beyond that was Prince Albert’s private room. These apartments were furnished in such a way, that they would have astonished the Lady Anne Keith, eldest daughter of George fifth Earl Marischal, and Countess of the seventh Earl of Morton already noticed, could she have risen to walk through them, if we may judge from the following very curious document, copied from the original manuscript, kindly furnished by Mr. Macdonald of the General Register House :—

“Inventar of the plenisching Left in the Castell of dalkey In Janies Douglass his custodie, the fourt daye of July JM vjc twenty and tway geiris.

“Of fether beddes xxxiiij / Bowsteres xxvij / Coddes vij / Bed plaides xxvj paires / Thik bred blankettes xij paires / fustien blan-kettis iij paires / Caddess blankettes ij paires / sewit coveringis iiij wolven coverigis vj Tapisserie xv pieces / wand beddes vij /

“In ane coffre in the warderob,

Ane stand of skarlet courtines, browdered and Lyned throw w' red and gellow spaires taffetye / Ane red and gellow taffetye matte / ane stand of blew and red taffetye courtines, w4 blew & red figured pandes / w4 ane blew & red taffetye matte / Ane stand of broun damas courtines, with broun velvet, w4 Silver Lace vpoun the said courtines and pandes, with ane broun taffetye matte and sevin fetheres

“In ane vthir coffre thair,

Ane Incarnat soye bombacy cannabye w4 ane quhyt matte to Lave above ane bed

“In ane vthir coffre thair,

Three couscheons of clay of purple Silk & Silver / of Lether chaires iiij / Sewit chaires ix / Stoolles of orange velvet xij / Stoolles car-petted xxiiij / Stoolles figured blew and red ij / Stooles of red skarlet ij / Laicli sewit stooles vj / Litill carpettes for chamber boordes ij / Rugges iij / ane warmig panne / Torches xij /

“In the Quenes chalmer,

Ane stand of pourple & graye damas courtines w4 clay4 of silver pandes / and ane matte of blew sarge de soye / w4 thrie couscheons of clay4 of silver / w4 tway stoolles and ane chair of clay4 of silver, tway stoolles and ane chair of cramossyn velvet / ane chair of grene trype velvet / ane black Lether chair / ane grenc taffetye boord clay* > anc Litill carpett clay4.

“ In the Lai eh Inner hall,

Ane gryt earpett clay4 / ane grene clay4 / tway Sewit chaires / tway foormcs covered with grenc clay4

“In the grit trene coffre,

Ane painted bed, black and gellow w4 courtines, pandes & matte ' Ane gellow boord clay4 / Anc red boord clay4 / Ane Skarlet boord elav4 / Anc red boord clay4 sewit w4 gellow, ane grenc boord clay4.

“Annes Keith.”

(On the Back.)

“I dame ancs Key Coutes of Mortou grant me to have ressauit fra James douglas w4in wrttin the haill plenisching w4in specifeit Be yf pnts sub4 w4 my hand at Dalkeytht the Twenty five Day of Nor JM vjc Twenty twa geir. “ Annes Keith.”

After the Boyal salute from the Castle had so suddenly dispersed the civic authorities of Edinburgh, about half-past nine o’clock that morning, they again re-assembled about eleven, for deliberation, and issued the following

“Public Notice.—Owing to the early hour at which the Queen landed this morning, the arrangements made yesterday for informing the public of Her Majesty’s entry into the city could not be carried through ; and the Council having subsequently met, resolved to proceed forthwith to Dalkeith Palace, with the view of representing to Her Majesty their regret that the keys had not been delivered at the Barrier, and that the public had not had the anticipated opportunity of testifying their loyalty and devoted attachment to Her Majesty.

“JAMES FORREST, Lord Procoat.
“ Council Chambers, September 1, 1842.

One o'Clock."

On the return of the Magistrates, a crowd of anxious persons surrounded their carriages. The Lord Provost addressed them, and told them that they had been politely received by Her Majesty’s Ministers, who had assured them, that the Queen very much regretted the disappointment, which, altogether unknown to her, had been experienced by her good subjects of Edinburgh. That, to gratify them, Her Majesty would defer her departure for the Highlands until Tuesday; and, instead of holding her Drawing-Room of Reception, as at first proposed, on Saturday, that day should he devoted to a Royal Progress through the city. This announcement was received with acclamations of joy; and the Magistrates having proceeded directly to the Council Chamber, the following notice was immediately published :—

“The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council have the gratification of intimating, that, on waiting upon Her Majesty’s Ministers this day at Dalkeith Palace, they had the satisfaction of learning, that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to anticipate the wishes of the Town Council and the people of Edinburgh; and, previous to their arrival, had signified Her Majesty’s intention to pass through Edinburgh from Dalkeith, and pay a visit to the Castle, on Saturday next, entering the city by Holyrood, and passing up the Canongate. Further information on the subject will be communicated as early as possible to-morrow.

“JAMES FORREST, Lord Provost.”

Of disappointment there certainly had been a great deal; but if anything like discontent did previously exist, it was very speedily extinguished by this most satisfactory intelligence. The utmost excitement prevailed, with renewed hopes, and glowing anticipation,— and ardent prayers for fine weather, were repeatedly uttered wherever two or more individuals met each other. None were rendered happier by this news than the poor dress-makers, tailors, and others, who had been compelled to undertake, and to promise to finish, dresses for the Drawing-Room, which they well knew it was impossible to have achieved by Saturday, though most of them had made up their minds to work without sleep, and to swallow their meals whilst they worked. This day of respite gave them relief, only from the hope it held out of their being now enabled to get their work sent home in time, provided they occupied every minute in working as hard as their fingers could move. How must their panting hearts have looked forward to Sunday, that day of rest!