of a very extensive and difficult character. In the execution of these foundations, two of Nasmyth's patent steam piling engines were brought into requisition for the purpose of putting in the coffer-dams and the piles on which the bridge is built, the natural foundation being merely loose sand and gravel. The contractors, Messrs M'Kay and Blackstock, at one time employed as many as two thousand men in the various departments embraced within their contract.

The total quantity of timber used in the construction of the stone and timber bridges has not been less than 240,000 cubic feet; and the cost of them together has been somewhat under £130,000.

The bridge is joined at the south end by an embankment five-eights of a mile in length, and in some parts sixty feet high, containing between seven and eight hundred thousand cubic yards of earth.

Sir Alexander Seton was deputy governor of Berwick Castle when it was beseiged by the ambitious Edward III; the defenders at last, from want of succor and food, entered into a treaty for a temporary suspension of hostilities, and hostages were delivered by the Scotch for the fulfilment of their engagement. The deputy-governor had one son drowned in the battle on the river, another was taken prisoner, and a third was delivered as a hostage. Afraid that a Scotch army would come to the relief of the town, and that he might thus fail in capturing it, Edward demanded an immediate surrender of Berwick, or, if not, that he would instantly hang the hostage and prisoner, sons of Seton.

The deputy-governor remonstrated, and appealed to the king's faith ; but the reply was the erection of a gibbet in full view of the town. Seton struggled between affection and honor, and it is supposed he would have yielded to nature, had not the mother, with a degree of heroism worthy of a Roman matron, and equal to the greatness of the most exalted mind, stepped forward, and with the most forcible eloquence argued to support his principles and sustain his trembling soul. While the bias of parental affection yet inclined him to relax, she withdrew him from the shocking spectacle that he might preserve his rectitude, though at the inestimable price of his two sons. Edward, with an unrelenting heart, put them both to death. Two skulls, preserved in the poorhouse at Tweedmouth, are handed down as those of the unfortunate youths.

EDINBURGH.

EDINBURGH, the capital of Scotland, and the chief town of the Shire of Mid-Lothian, or the county of Edinburgh, is situated one mile and a-half south from the Firth, or Forth, 396 miles N. N. W. of London, and 42 from Glasgow. The precise geographical position of the center of the city is 55 deg. 77 m. 20 sec. north latitude, and 3 deg. 10 m. 30 sec. west longitude. The population of Edinburgh, exclusive of Leith, according to the census since 1801, has been, in 1801, 66,544; in 1821, 112,235; in 1841, 138,182; and in 1851, it was 160,084.

The town now has extended almost to the shore of the Firth, (an arm of the sea about six miles broad,) and has thus formed a connection with Leith, the ancient port, New Haven, a fishing village, and Granton, a steam-boat station. The situation of the city is generally admitted to be the most picturesque in Europe. It is immediately overlooked by the rocks of Salisbury Crags, and the Peak of Arthur's Seat, 822 feet above the level of the sea, east of the city; at the distance of three miles to the south-west is the range of the Pentland Hills; and within a mile on the north-west is the richly wooded Corstorphine Hill. The rest of the neighborhood consists of fine fertile fields, ornamented with gardens and villas.

View of Edinburgh Castle from the Grass Market.

Twelve hundred years ago, Edwin, a king of Northumbria, (to which this part of Scotland was then attached,) built a fort on the rocky height on which the castle now stands, and hence arose the name Edwinsburgh, or Edinburgh. In the Celtic language the name of the city is Dunedin, signifying the Hill of Edwin. From the castle, a town gradually extended on the top and sides of the ridge, which slopes downward toward the east. Originally, and for centuries, the city was confined entirely to this ridge or hill; and at this early period it was nearly surrounded by the waters of the lake. To add to this means of defense, it was environed by walls, of which some few relics, of different eras, still exist. Edinburgh was, therefore, at one time a fortified town, reposing under the shelter of the castle at its western extremity. This, however, did not protect it from aggression. In point of fact, the castle was never captured by absolute assault; but it surrendered, after a siege, on several occasions. The last time it was invested by an army was on the occasion of the city falling into the hands of the Highland army under Prince Charles Stuart in 1745; but

EDINBURGH,

As seen from Arthur's Seat, a rocky elevation to the S. E. seen in the central part of the view. Holyrood Palace is on Monument, &c. The Firth of Forth, an arm of the sea, is seen

Castle Hill, the Castle, with the ancient buildings of the old City, are the right, beyond which, in the distance, is seen Calton Hill, Nelson's in the distance on the right.