away, and converted into money for the fupport of the army. A Scotch army was in those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two churches muft have borne fo fmall a proportion to any military expence, that it is hard not to believe the reason alledged to be merely popular, and the money intended for fome private purse. The order however was obeyed; the two churches were ftripped, and the lead was fhipped to be fold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice that this cargo facrilege was loft at fea. of Let us not however make too much hafte to defpife our neighbours. Our own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It feems to be part of the defpicable philofophy of the time to defpife monuments of facred magnificence, and we are in danger of doing that deliberately, which the Scots did not do but in the unfettled ftate of an imperfect conftitution. Thofe Thofe who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wifhed to cover them again; and being thus made useless, they were first neglected, and perhaps, as the ftone was wanted, afterwards demolished. Elgin feems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The epifcopal cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their churches, though fome of them have fince recovered by a fituation convenient for commerce. Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an archbishop, has rifen beyond its original ftate by the opulence of its traders; and Aberdeen, though its ancient ftock had decayed, flourishes by a new shoot in another place. In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the loweft ftory, like the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater prominence; fo that there is fometimes a walk for a confiderable length D under under a cloifter, or portico, which is now indeed frequently broken, because the new houses have another form, but seems to have been uniformly continued in the old city. FORÊS. CALDER. FORT-GEORGE. We went forwards the fame day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth was travelling, when he met the weird fifters in his way. This to an Englishman is claffic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and our thoughts recalled to their old amusements. We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility and culture behind us, and faw for a great length of road nothing but heath; yet at Fochabars, a feat belonging to the duke of Gordon, there is an orchard, which in Scotland Scotland I had never seen before, with fome timber trees, and a plantation of oaks. At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of particular remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which Macbeath heard the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it flourished, is now in a state of miferable decay, but I know not whether its chief annual magiftrate has not ftill the title of Lord Provost. We At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I firft faw peat fires, and first heard the Erfe language. had no motive to stay longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the house of Mr. Macaulay, the minifter who published an account of St. Kilda, and by his di rection, vifited Calder Caftle, from which Macbeth D 2 Macbeth drew his fecond title. It has been formerly a place of ftrength. The draw-bridge is ftill to be feen, but the moat is now dry. The tower is very ancient: Its walls are of great thickness, arched on the top with ftone, and furrounded with battlements. The reft of the house is later, though far from modern. We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a letter to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most regular fortification in the island, well deferves the notice of a traveller, who has never travelled before. We went thither next day, found a very kind reception, were led round the works by a gentleman, who explained the ufe of every part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the governour, with such elegance of converfation as left us no attention to the delicacies of his table. Of |