devote
a day to holiday-making; that she should go to the expense of Venetian
masts and scarlet cloth--in short, that in this way Edinburgh should
attempt to rival a London Lord Mayor's Show, was one of those things no
Glasgow fellow could understand.

And I own at first sight there seemed to be a good deal in the Glasgow
criticism. Few cities have so fair a site as the noble metropolis of our
northern brethren; few cities less require ornamentation. Hers
emphatically is that beauty which unadorned is adorned the most. To
stand in Princes Street, with the castle frowning on you on one side, and
with the Calton Hill in front; to loiter under the fair memorial to Sir
Walter Scott (by the side of which I am pleased to see a statue of
Livingstone has just been placed); to look from the bridge which connects
the New Town with the Old--on the distant hills and the blue sea
beyond--is a pleasure in itself. With its far-reaching associations,
with its memories of Wilson and Brougham, and Jeffery and Walter Scott,
with its dark churches, in which John Knox thundered away at the fair and
frail Mary, with its ancient palaces grim and venerable with stirring
romance or startling crime, it seemed almost profane to send for the
upholsterer, and to bid him deck out the streets and squares with gaudy
colours and gay flowers. When on Thursday the morning opened cloudily on
the scene, it seemed as if all this preparation had been thrown away; and
bright eyes were for awhile dark and sad, and refusing to be comforted.
However, the thing went on, nevertheless. The crowd turned out into the
streets, the railways brought their tens of thousands from far and near;
balconies were full, and all the windows; and the sight was one such as
has not feasted the eyes of the oldest inhabitant for many a year. There
were the soldiers to line the streets, there were the archers to guard
the dais, there were the Town Council and Lord Provost in their scarlet
robes, there were the men whom Edinburgh delights to honour all before
them, and, above all, the Duke of Connaught, the Princess Beatrice,
Prince Leopold, Brown--the far-famed Highlander--and the Queen. The
ceremony itself was not long. When Charlotte Square was reached, Her
Majesty took the place assigned to her, and the work was speedily
performed. As Her Majesty went back by Princes Street, an additional
interest was created, and Princes Street looked very well; its hotels and
fashionab