The bold slopes of the Pentland hills
bound the distance on the left, while the more gently indulated
Corstorphine hills close the horizon on the right." This description is
correct in its shades. The murkiness and smoking chimneys of the
Old Town are admirably relieved by the splendid vistas of Princes-street
and the New Town. Upwards of twenty public buildings, most of them of
great beauty, may be distinctly counted in this scene. It is engraved in
the best style of Mr. George Cooke, one of the best _view_ engravers of
the day.
The Calton Hill forms the _second_ plate, showing those splendid tributes
of Scottish patriotism--the National Monument, Playfair's Monument, and
Nelson's Monument. Would that we had some such site in or near our
metropolis, whereon we might offer up our tributes to departed genius.
What an honourable testimony of national gratitude is the monument to
Nelson! and how emblematic of "the Modern Athens" are the fine classic
columns of the National Monument. Playfair and the Observatory Entrance
remind us of Scotland's meteor-like pride in modern science; and the
beetling brows of Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags over the lower portion
of the Old City in the valley below are well contrasted with these stately
embellishments of art.
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