108 OLD -4ND NEW EDINBURGH. [Calton Hill.
~~~~
sea or land, with all its defects it makes a magnificent
termination to the vista along Princes Street
from the west. The base is a battlemented edifice,
divided into small apartments and occupied as a
restaurant Above its entrance is the crest of
Nelson, with a sculpture representing the stern of
the Son ?jGosep/l, and underneath an inscription,
~-
of which the monument rises possesses an
outline which, by a curious coincidence, presents
a profile of Nelson, when viewed from Holyrood.
The time-ball, which is in electric communication
with the time-gun at the Castle, falls every day
at one o?clock simultaneously with the discharge of
THE CALTON BURYING-GROUND : HUME?S GRAVE.
recording that the grateful citizens of Edinburgh
?- have erected this monument, not to express their
unavailing sorrow for his death, nor yet to celebrate
the matchless glories of his life, but by his noble
example to teach their sons to emulate what they
admire, and like him, when duty requires it, to die
for their country.?
From this pentangular base rises, to the height
of more than IOO feet, a circular tower, battlemented
at the top, surmounted by the time-ball and a flagstaff,
where a standard is always hoisted on the
anniversary of Trafalgar, and used also to be run
up on the 1st of August in memory of the battle of
Abouku. Around the edifice are a garden and plots
of shrubbery, from amid ,which, peeping grimly
foith, are three Russian trophies-two cannon
from Sebastopol and one from Bomarsund, placed
r?nere in 1857. The precipice from the edge
the gun which is fired from Greenwich. A common
joke of the High School boys is that the Duke
of Wellington gets off his horse in front of the
Register House 7uhen he hears the gun, lunches, and
re-mounts his statuesque steed at two o?clock !
A little to the north of it, on a flat portion ot
the hill, stand twelve magnificent Grecian Doric
columns, the fragment of the projected national
monument to the memory of all Scottish soldiers
and sailors who fell by land and sex in the long
war with France ; and, with a splendour of design
corresponding to the grandeur of the object, it was
meant to be a literal restoration of the Parthenon
at Athens. The contributors were incorporated by
Act of Parliament.
The foundation stone was laid on the 27th
August, 1822, the day on which George IV. visited
Melville Castle. Under the Duke of Hamilton,
Calton HilL] THE NATIONAL MONUMENT. 109
~
Grand Master of Scotland, the various loQges
proceeded in procession from the Parliament Square,
accompanied by the commissioners for the King,
and a brilliant concourse. The foundation-stone
of the edifice (which was to be 228 feet long, by
IOZ broad) weighed six tons, and amid salutes of
cannon from the Castle, Salisbury Craigs, Leith
Majesty, the patron of the undertaking. The celebrated
Parthenon of Athens being model of the edifice.?
The Scots Greys and 3rd Dragoons formed
the escorts. Notwithstanding the enthusiasm displayed
when the undertaking was originated, and
though a vast amount of money was subscribed, the
former subsided, and the western peristyle alone
THE NATICNAL MORUMEST, CALTON HILL.
Fort, and the royal squadron in the roads, the
inscription plates were deposited therein, One is
inscribed thus, and somewhat fulsomely :-
?? To the glory of God, in honour of the King, for
the good of the people, this monument, the tribute
of a gratefur country to her gallant and illustrious
sms, as a memorial of the past and incentive to the
future heroism of the men of Scotland, was founded
on the 27th day of August in the year of our Lord
1822, and in the third year of the glorious reign of
George IV., under his immediate auspices, and in
commemoration of his most gracious and welcome
visit to his ancient capital, and the palace of his
royal ancestors; John Duke of Atholl, James Duke
of Montrose, Archibald Earl of Rosebery, John
Earl of Hopetoun, Robert Viscount Melville, and
Thomas Lord Lynedoch, officiating as commissioners,
by the special appointment of his august
was partially erected. In consequence of this
*emarkable end to an entefprise that was begun
mder the most favourable auspices, the national
monument is often referred to as ?Scotland?s
pride and poverty.? The pillars are of gigantic
proportions, formed of beautiful Craigleith stone ;
each block weighed from ten to fifteen tons, and
each column as it stands, with the base and frieze,
cost upwards of LI,OOO. As a ruin it gives a
classic aspect to the whole city. According to the
original idea, part of the edifice was to be used as
a Scottish Valhalla
On the face of the hill overlooking Waterloo
Place is the monument of one of Scotland?s gredtest
philosophers. It is simply inscribed :-
DUGALD STEWART.
BORN NOVEMBER 22ND, 1753;
DIED JUKE KITH, 1828.
