ing building was built in 1561. From that period till the year 1640, it served for the accommodation of Parliament and the Courts of Justice, as well as for the confinement of prisoners; but after the erection of the present Parliament House, it was employed only as a prison. Its situation, jammed

as it was into the middle of one of the chief thoroughfares of the city, was signally inconvenient, and in 1817, when the New Prison was prepared for the reception of inmates, the ancient pile of the Tolbooth was demolished. The great entrancedoor, with its ponderous padlock and key, were removed to Abbotsford, the seat of Sir Walter Scott, where they are now to be seen, with the other curiosities of the place.*

Proceeding up the High Street, we pass, upon the left, George the Fourth's Bridge, and on the right, Bank Street, at the foot of which stands THE BANK OF SCOTLAND, an edifice of high architectural merit, erected at an expense of £75,000.†

The

* Alluding to the removal of these relics, Sir Walter observes, "It is not without interest that we see the gateway through which so much of the stormy politics of a rude age, and the vice and misery of later times, had found their passage, now occupied in the service of rural economy. Last year, to complete the change, a tom-tit was pleased to build her nest within the lock of the Tolbooth-a strong temptation to have committed a sonnet, had the author, like Tony Lumpkin, been in a concatenation accordingly."

The Bank of Scotland has the merit of having originated and established the distinctive principles of the Scottish Banking System. It is the oldest establishment of the kind in Scotland, having been incorporated by Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695. The capital of the Bank-originally £100,000-is now £1,500,000; of which sum £1,000,000 has been paid up. In

fine gothic building on the left, the foundation stone of which was laid during the visit of her present Majesty, is VICTORIA HALL, erected as a place of meeting for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and also used as one of the city churches. The noble spire of this building, which rises to the height of 241 feet, is one of the finest modern ornaments of the city, and from its commanding position there is scarcely any point from which it is not conspicuously seen. The length of the building from east to west is 141 feet. The design is by Mr. Gillespie Graham. At the head of the High Street, upon a precipitous rocky eminence, stands

THE CASTLE,

the most prominent building in the city, and one the year 1704, it commenced the issue of £1 notes-a practice universally adopted by Scottish Banks till the passing of Sir Robert Peel's bill of 1844, which limits the number of banks privileged to issue notes to those established at the period of the enactment.

With the exception of the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company, all of which possess large capitals, there are no chartered banking associations in Scotland with limited responsibility. In all the other institutions of the kind, the partners are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the company to the whole extent of their fortunes. And when, in addition to this security, it is considered that there is no limitation to the number of partners of which a banking company of Scotland may consist, and that the public records afford the means of ascertaining with absolute certainty, the real and heritable estate of which the partners may be possessed, it is obvious that the banking establishments of the country possess a solidity of basis highly advantageous to the community at large. Whatever may be the defects of the Scotch Banking System," says Mr. M'Culloch, "it is probably superior to every other system hitherto established."

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