and held possession of it for a period of 475 years from the first landing of Cæsar. It was then invaded and conquered by the Saxons, who parcelled out the territory into several distinct kingdoms. These were united in 827, into one kingdom under Egbert, king of Wessex, or the West Saxons, who was properly the first king of England.

Under the Saxon kings, England was harassed by frequent invasions from the Danes. But in 1066, William Duke of Normandy made a descent upon the island, defeated and killed Harold the Saxon king at the battle of Hastings, and subdued the whole country. This event is what is denominated in English history, the Conquest. It produced a total change in the laws, policy and language of the English. The legitimacy of the present king of England consists in his descent from this foreign conquerer, although the exact order of succession has been occasionally disturbed. Wales was conquered, and united to England, towards the end of the 13th century. The parliament, which from obscure and inconsiderable beginnings, grew by degrees into significance, attained to such importance in 1648, as to condemn and put to death Charles I. A republic, under Oliver Cromwell as Protector, followed this event, but the death of Cromwell restored royalty. James II. the last of the Stuart kings, was a bigoted Catholic, and attempting to force his religion upon the people, was driven from the throne. William of Orange received the crown by act of parliament, and the political liberties of England may properly be dated from this period.

With the outward forms of a monarchy, the government of England has been, to most practical purposes, an aristocracy or oligarchy, not greatly different from that of the republic of Venice. While the king possessed the right, nominally, to make war and peace, and appoint his ministers, he was completely under the control of the House of Commons, who by granting or withholding the supplies of money, that great instrument of power, were enabled to bend him to their will. On the other hand, while the Commons proposed to represent the body of the people, the election of a large portion of their number fell into the hands of a few individuals, and that body lost the character of a popular assembly. A more equal representation of the people has long been thought necessary, and the opinion of the nation at large has been expressed so decidedly in its favor, within a few months, that we are justified in expecting a great and speedy change in the government of England.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. Scotland is everywhere surrounded by the ocean except in the southeast, where it is joined to England. It is 280 miles in length from north to south, and 160 miles is its greatest width; but the coast is extremely irregular and indented by large arms of the sea. It contains 29,500 square miles. It lies between 540 57′ and 58° 36′ N. lat. and 1° 40′ and 6 10 W. lon. In shape, it has been fancifully compared to a hump-backed old woman, sitting upon the ground.

2. MOUNTAINS. Scotland is a part of it mountainous, and the rest hilly. The mountains are scattered over the surface, without running in uniform chains. They are generally from 1000 to 3000 feet in height, and a few peaks exceed 4000. The Grampians are the most southern group. In the north are the Highlands of Caithness and Inverness, and here is Ben

Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, 4,370 feet above the level of the sea, and capped with perpetual snow. On one side it exhibits a precipice 1,500 feet perpendicular, and the prospect from its summit is indescribably grand and magnificent. The Pentland Hills, in the south, are very picturesque, but not lofty. Most of the mountainous parts abound with craggy rocks, deep, narrow dells and tumbling torrents; and their ruggedness and sterility must ever defy the utmost efforts of human industry to render them productive. 3. RIVERS. The rivers are numerous, and descending from a high region, their currents are broken and rapid. They are of little use in navigation. The Forth runs easterly into the German Ocean, and at its mouth expands into a wide bay or Firth. It is a very crooked stream, and through all its windings has a length of 200 miles; part of it is navigable for small vessels. The Tay has the largest body of water, with a shorter course. It flows in the same direction, and has a navigation near the sea for ships: it particularly abounds in salmon. The Clyde flows to the sea on the opposite side. It is much broken by falls, but its mouth admits vessels of 400 tons. The Tweed is a beautiful stream, running into the German Ocean, near the English border. It flows 60 miles in a straight line, and abounds in trout and salmon.

4. LAKES. These are called Lochs in Scotland. The most remarkable is Loch Lomond, near the sea in the southwest. It is 30 miles long, of an irregular breadth, but generally narrow. It is sprinkled with islands, some of them large and finely wooded; the shores are everywhere highly beautiful and picturesque. The mountain of Ben Lomond which overlooks the northeastern part, presents a prospect of unequalled grandeur. Loch Katrine in the same neighborhood, is another beautiful sheet of water. There are many other charming lakes in different parts of the country.

5. ISLANDS. The Hebrides or Western Islands lie on the western coast of Scotland. They are about 200 in number. The largest is Lewis, 87 miles long. The next in size are Skye, Mull, and Islay, Arran, South Uist, and Jura. Most of them are small. They are rocky and barren, with hardly a single tree, or even a bush upon them. On the shores are some swampy tracts, and peat bogs. The vegetation consists principally of heath and moss. But the most remarkable feature of these islands is the great number of lakes which they contain; these, however, rather impart gloom than beauty to the landscape; their sullen brown waters present the idea of unfathomable depth, and their borders exhibit no cheerful verdure to relieve the eye. The most westerly of the Hebrides is St Kilda. It is small and rocky, yet inhabited. Its shores are composed of enormous precipices, worn by the sea into caverns, often with roofs more lofty than the ceiling of a gothic cathedral. These shores are the resort of vast varieties of seafowl, which the islanders immense hazards, by swinging with ropes from the perpendicular cliffs. There are 87 of these islands inhabited, and several under good cultivation, producing tolerable crops of grain, pulse and potatoes. The inhabitants are about 70,000. Their only articles of trade are horned cattle, sheep, fish and kelp.

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At the northern extremity of Scotland lie the Orkneys, or Orcades, about 70 in number, but less than half of them are inhabited. They are rocky, and have a melancholy appearance, with little vegetation besides juniper, wild myrtle and heath. The soil is boggy or gravelly; some of the islands contain iron and lead. The sea in this neighborhood is very tempestuous. In June and July, the twilight which continues through the night is sufficiently strong to enable the inhabitants to read at midnight. The population is about 50,000. They have some manufactures of linen and woolen, and have a trade in cattle, fish, oil and feathers. Vast numbers of sea fowl frequent the rocky cliffs of these islands, and one of the chief employments of the inhabitants is bird-catching.

One of the smallest of these islands, called Staffa, is remarkable for a singu

lar basaltic cavern called Fingal's Cave, 227 feet in length and 42 wide. The entrance resembles a gothic arch, and the floor of the cave is covered with water. The walls of the interior are formed of ranges of basaltic columns, irregularly grouped. This natural architecture, is said to surpass in grandeur and magnificence, the most splendid artificial temples and palaces in the world.

The Shetland Islands lie about 60 miles northeast of the Orkneys. They have a wild and desolate appearance; but 17 of them are inhabited. Their vegetation is more scanty than that of the Orkneys, and their soil, for the most part, is marshy. The shores are broken and precipitous, and excavated by the sea into natural arches and deep caverns. From October to April, perpetual rains fall, storms beat against the shores, and the inhabitants are cut off from all communication with the rest of the world; but the aurora borealis exhibits at this season, a brightness equal to that of the full moon. The population is about 26,000; the people live by fishing and the manufacture of coarse woolens.

6. BAYS, STRAITS AND HARBORS. The coast is everywhere rocky, and indented by inlets and arms of the sea. The Firth of Forth extends a considerable distance inland, and affords good anchorage and shelter in every part. The Firth of Tay is much narrower. Towards the north, are the Firths of Murray and Dornock, the former of which is 80 miles in length; the latter is the Portus Salutis, or safe haven of the ancient geographers. All these northern shores are cold and dangerous, with formidable and rocky headlands. A narrow and tempestuous sea at the northern extremity, called the Pentland Firth, divides the Orkneys from the main land. Proceeding south, along the western coast, deep inlets and rocky islands occur at every step. In the south is the Firth of Solway, a wide bay, forming part of the boundary between Scotland and England, in which the tide rises with astonishing rapidity.

7. CLIMATE. The distinguishing feature in the climate is the excess of moisture. Fogs and drizzling rains prevail in most parts for the greater portion of the year. Considerable snows fall in winter, but are soon melted; sleighs or sledges are never used, but the waters are sometimes so frozen, as to permit skating.

8. SOIL. In many of the valleys or straths, there are tracts which are productive, but the soil is much inferior to that of England. A great part of the country may be considered as absolutely barren. The mountains are naked, and trees of native growth are scarce in every part.

9. GEOLOGY. The most abundant rock in Scotland is micaceous schistus; grey and red granite sometimes occur. Red sandstone is found at the Orkneys, and in a part of the Hebrides. This stone, with coal grit and graywacke, is also to be found at intervals farther south.

10. MINERALS, QUARRIES &c. Lead, iron and coal are the most abundant minerals. The lead mines are in the southern parts. Coal is very plentiful, and it is supposed the largest bed of coal, untouched in Europe, is in the south of Scotland. Antimony and copper in small quantities also occur. Cobalt is now afforded by a mine which formerly yielded silver.

11. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. Two thirds of the country are mountainous. It is generally considered as divided into two parts; the mountainous region, called the Highlands, in the northern and central part; and the comparatively level country in the south, called the Lowlands. In the north, the mountains present nothing to view, but heath and rock, with innumerable lakes and pools darkened by the shade thrown from enormous precipices; the whole forming a landscape wild and desolate beyond conception. In the central parts, the aspect of the mountains is less forbidding. In the south, is every kind of rural variety, hills, vales and cultivated plains.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

1. DIVISIONS. Scotland is divided into 33 counties* or shires. These are subdivided into 984 parishes.

2. CANALS. The Caledonian canal extends from Inverness to Fort William, uniting the Moray Firth with the Atlantic. Its length is 59 miles, including several lakes through which it passes; the artificial navigation is 22 miles. This canal is 100 feet wide at the surface, 50 feet at the bottom, and 20 feet deep, being passable by 32 gun frigates. At one place, is an ascent of 94 feet by 13 locks, and a descent of 90 feet by 12, called Neptune's staircase. This canal cost nearly a million sterling. The receipts afforded by it do not pay for keeping it in repair. Since its construction, upwards of a million of forest trees have been planted along its borders.

The Forth and Clyde canal unites the river Carron, running into the Forth, with the Clyde at Glasgow. It is 35 miles long and has 39 locks. Its width, at the surface, is 56 feet, and its depth 8 feet. It has 15 aqueducts over roads, streams, &c. This canal was begun in 1777, and finished in 1790, at an expense of above £200,000 sterling. The Union canal is a branch of this work extending to Port Hopeton near Edinburgh. The Monkland canal extends from the Forth and Clyde canal to Monkland, and is used for the transportation of coal and limestone to Glasgow. The Crinan canal crosses the peninsula of Kintyre. The Androssan canal, from that place to Glasgow, is not yet completed. 3. CITIES AND TOWNS. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, stands upon the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, a mile and a half from the sea. Its situation is remarkably picturesque. It occupies three high ridges of land, and is surrounded on all sides, except the north, by naked, craggy rocks. The middle ridge is the highest, and on either side is a deep ravine. The more ancient part of the city occupies the two southern ridges. High street runs along the middle eminence, in nearly a straight direction, for about a mile, and exhibits a very grand prospect. With the exception of the principal avenues, the other streets of what is called the Old Town are only narrow, dirty lanes, among houses, some of them ten and eleven stories high. The New Town presents quite a different aspect. It is built on the northern ridge, and its streets and squares are not surpassed in regularity and elegance in any part of the world. It communicates with the old town by a bridge, and an immense mound of earth crossing the deep loch or ravine between them.

On the slope of Arthur's seat toward the East, may still be seen the ruins

NORTHERN.-Orkney Islands, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Cromarty, Inverness. MIDLAND.-Argyle, Bute, Nairn, Elgin, Banff, Aberdeen, Kincardine, Forfar, Perth, Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, Dumbarton.

SOUTHERN. Linlithgow, Edinburgh, Haddington, Berwick, Renfrew, Ayr, Wigton, Lanark, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburg, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright.

of the ancient chapel and hermitage of St Anthony, mentioned in Scott's tale of the Heart of Mid Lothian.

The castle of Edinburgh is an ancient fortress on a rugged rock, mounting abruptly to the height of 200 feet. It stands at the western extremity of High street, and the view from its summit always excites the admiration of a traveller. Holyrood House, for many centuries, the residence of the kings of Scotland, is a quadrangular edifice in the eastern part of the city, and at present offers a shelter to the dethroned king of France, as its neighborhood does to the insolvent debtors of Edinburgh. In the centre of the city, is a vast pile, comprising several edifices around Parliament Square, which contain a number of large libraries, one of which, called the Advocates' Library, has 100,000 volumes.

The Fish Market occupies a very convenient spot under the arches of a

bridge which crosses the ravine between the old and new town. It is surrounded by covered stalls.

Edinburgh is chiefly supported by its courts of justice, whose jurisdiction extends over all Scotland. A great proportion of the inhabitants are lawyers, and the literary talent, for which the city is renowned, has gained it the