country and of kindred, and the belief that a man's character is reflected on all by whom he is connected,-the consequent desire to preserve an honourable name for their sake, and the dread of being a reproach to them, be derided as the antiquated notions of uncivilized ages, and, agreeably to the creed of modern economists, to be considered valuable in as far only so they are profitable, and retained or rejected accordingly, like any other animals, with as little regard to their feelings or fate;-all the education of Oxford or Edinburgh will not make them virtuous and honourable soldiers, ready to prefer death to dishonour or defeat; and the forty-second regiment must go to other countries than the Highlands to recruit for loyal and high-spirited men, faithful, and attached to their chiefs and superiors.

A man both of good understanding and of correct conduct may rank in estimation below his just level, merely from the circumstance of succeeding to an appointment previously filled by a man of superior talents and genius. In the same manner, the men of this corps,-the successors of the old Black Watch,-have an honourable task to perform, a task perfectly easy, if it continues to be composed of good materials, but arduous, perhaps impossible, if the reverse. Scotland expects that they will preserve untarnished the character so honourably acquired by their predecessois, and transmitted to them to be maintained as pure as it descended to them. If, in the selection of recruits, only good men are taken, their principles may be easily preserved, but they may as easily be destroyed. If approbation and encouragement be a spur to honourable conduct, the 42d regiment has always had an ample share. But it has been said, that much of this proceeds from the character gained by their predecessors. That this feeling influences opinion is evident, for to this day the Black Watch is seldom mentioned in Scotland without an accompanying expression of respect. But, that the whole does not proceed

from this source, is equally evident from the kind reception which the regiment experienced on their return home after the late peace, not merely in Scotland, but in England, where many towns turned out almost their whole population to welcome them. But in Edinburgh their welcome was altogether so extraordinary, and so enthusiastic, that I shall state the circumstances of it more minutely.

Some time after the surrender of Paris, the regiment passed over to England, and from thence marched to Scotland in the spring of 1816. It was understood that they were to march into Edinburgh Castle on the 18th of March. A crowd of idle spectators is not so easily collected in Edinburgh as in London; but, on this occasion, it seemed as if two-thirds of the houses and workshops in the city had been emptied of their inhabitants. Several hours before the regiment arrived, the road to Musselburgh was covered with carriages, horsemen, and pedestrians. At Portobello the crowd was great; and, on entering the Canongate, it was a solid moving mass, pressed together, as if in a frame. The pipers and band could not play for want of room, and were obliged to put up their instruments. Many of the crowd on raising up their hands to take off their hats to wave them in the air, could not without difficulty get them replaced again by their sides. Spacious as is the High Street of the city, not a foot of it was unoccupied; and the fronts of its lofty houses appeared as if alive, every window being crowded with heads, chiefly with those of ladies.

Of the soldiers little was seen except their bonnets and feathers; the firelocks they were obliged to carry close to their bodies. In this state the movement forward was necessarily slow, and great apprehension was felt lest any person should fall, and be crushed under the feet of the multitude, as should any be so unfortunate, it would be impossible to raise them. An hour and a quarter was occupied in the march from the Palace of Holyrood to the Castle gate, when the soldiers found considerable difficul