LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.

Number XXIV.

BALBEGNO CASTLE.

KINCARDINESHIRE, June 2d, 1856.

MY DEAR FRIEND:—My last hasty letter to you was penned as I was on the eve of quitting
Edinburgh. As it was dispatched with speed, I retain a very indefinite recollection of what I said in it, or what I left unsaid. Indeed, from the constant whirl that I have been in since I entered the "darling seat" of brave old Scotia, and the many engagements that have been pressing upon me. I have only my writing time as best I could, and I feel that, in the thin sketches I have from time to time sent you, I have done no manner of justice to one of the most picturesque and beautiful cities of Europe —a city, whose site, in panoramic splendor, is generally admitted to be unequalled by any other European capital. I thought that the title of the "" was conferred upon Edinburgh, from its being, the greatest Scottish seat of learning, and on account of the many distinguished who claimed it as their home, and thus invested it with an interest, and conferred upon it a reputation that shall endure until time shall be no more; but I have since learned that most travellers who have visited Athens, are struck with the resemblance between the two cities. Stuart, the author of "The Antiquities of Athens," was the first to draw attention to this likeness, and his opinion has been confirmed by other writers. The neighborhood of Athens is compared, by Dr. Clarke, to the Highlands of Scotland, enriched with the splendid remains of art; and another writers says, that the distant view of Athens, from the Ægean Sea, is extremely like that of Edinburgh from the Firth of Forth.

I was many times on Calton Hill, during my stay in Edinburgh, and from its heights one of the best panoramic views may be had of the city and its surroundings. Enjoy the prospect with me, my friend, while I sketch the scene that met my admiring gaze, when, a few days ago, I paid my farewell visit there. Away, in one direction, stretches the long line of Princes Street, commencing at the noble monument to DUGALD STEWART, passing the splendid monument of Scott, and losing itself in the grand mansions of the West End—a long line of beautiful gardens, blooming by its side, runs parallel with Princes Street, and to my thinking, renders it the most attractive street of anywhere to be found. Look over the Jail, (the architecture of which is so fine that I had difficulty at first in believing it a and a ,) and you see Hume's Monument, the Martyrs' Obelisk, the dingy and lofty houses of the, Old Town, towering up in picturesque dis-

order, eleven and twelve stories high, from the midst of which the spires of the Tron Church, St. Giles, and the Assembly Hall, rise conspicuously, while the grand old castle and the Corstorphine Hills form a beautiful background to the picture. Turn a little towards the South; look over Burns' Monument, and the High School, and you can still trace the high and crowded buildings of the Old Town, which rise gradually on the sloping ridge, from the lower part of the dark valley of Holyrood, in irregular terraces, intersected by wynds and closes, until crowning the heights of the Castle Hill, they are abruptly terminated by the precipitous rock upon which the fortress stands.—Over the strange assemblage of roofs and chimneys broods a cloud of smoke—a circumstance from which it has acquired the popular soubriquet of "." Beyond this, Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags rise majestically, like guardians of the city; while the distant and picturesque close the prospect. Look on the other side, and the regularly built and handsome streets of the New Town meet your view; fine church steeples point upward, and other noble and majestic edifices stand prominently out, terminating with the sea-port of Leith, with its long pier, and the estuary of the Firth of Forth, across which the hills of Fifeshire rise, together with the Lomond, Ochil, and Highland ranges; you see Inchcolm and Burntisland, Trinity and New haven. And now, looking over the Royal and Regent Terraces, you discern , rising from the waters, and you trace among the seacoast, Portobello, Musselburgh, and Preston Pans, the lofty eminence of , the , "overhanging the wide, wild sea," and the Isle of May. The Briton may quit his native isle, and wander into many lands, before he will find, in the immediate vicinity of a city, a finer panorama than is here presented, or richer and more varied scenery.

"Two voices are here: one is of the sea, One of the mountains—each a might voice. In both, from age to age, thou didst rejoice, They were thy chosen music, Liberty!"

Time fails me to tell of many of the places of interest I visited in Edinburgh. Among these were the Blind Asylum, the Old Parliament House, the Advocates' Library, the Caledonian and Experimental Gardens, the modern exhibition of Painting, &c. I regret not going over to and , and ; but it is impossible to see everything, without a double amount of vision and of strength. The general assemblies of the Established Church, and Free Church of Scotland, were in session when I left Edinburgh, but I had not time to devote to hearing any of the discussions, so I did not attend any of their meetings, which I regret. The Synod of the United Presbyterian Church was held the first

week of May, but being far from well at the time, I was less frequent in my attendance than I had intended to be. I look upon the United Presbyterian Church as a reformatory church; it has enrolled among its members and ministers, some of the noblest, most devoted, and self-sacrificing people it ever was my privilege to call my friends, and in its labors and efforts to promote the well being of mankind, (here and hereafter,) I shall ever feel a deep interest. Of course, you know that , (or instrumental music of any kind,) are never heard in a Presbyterian Church in the ; I was, therefore, somewhat amused when informed that "" was to be brought up before the Synod, for discussion. It seems that a newly erected Presbyterian Church in Glasgow, or (rather its members) desired to have an organ in their beautiful church and this could not be permitted without the consent of the Synod. So the matter came up, and much ability was displayed, in the arguments, on both sides. Rev. Dr. Robertson, of Glasgow, making an appeal for the admittance of the organ, and my friend, Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson bringing a strong line of argument to bear against the introduction of any instrumental music into public worship. Great excitement prevailed ere the debate closed, and the votes were taken, when an overwhelming m[a]jority voted against the organ. Then it seemed to me that the Congregational mode of church government is the one most untrammeled, because here, has the liberty of deciding for itself whether or no the organ shall be admitted. The facts brought forward in reference to the conducting of the psalmody in American churches had great weight, I am inclined to think, in the decision; and who can deny these facts? Do not the people who attend church there sing praises to God by deputy? Do not the organ and a band of hired singers perform the musical part of the service? And, do not the people, in your vicinity, look surprised, and rather shocked, if you attempt to add your quote to what the universal hymn of praise, until, at length, you are alarmed at the sound of your own voice, and become [illegible] in despair? Verily, the most dissonant singing in a Presbyterian Church is preferable to this cold, dull, dead state of things. Yet I do not mean to imply that the singing, (as I have heard it,) in the churches of Scotland, is not harmonious, generally speaking. In many of the churches here, the congregations sing beautifully—their voices ascend in perfect harmony, tune and time as the voice of one man, and the rich tones of the organ are not needed
to make melody.

Another evening I attended the Synod Missionary Meeting, where I listened with great delight to the addresses of Rev. John Ker, and of the Rev. Mr. Watson of Jamaica. The later gentleman has been a missionary there for the last thirty years, and having had the pleas-

ure of meeting him and his excellent lady in the social circle, I had the opportunity of gaining much information about the condition of the colored people in Jamaica. Most cheering to the true friends of the Negro race, are the tidings brought by Mr. and Mrs. Watson, in reference to this deeply injured and much oppressed people. Their experience has been, that, when treated as , they are a , , and people. Mr. Watson has a large Church at Kingston, the majority of the members are , and an instance of want of sobriety, or of Christian demeanor is of most rare occurrence, I am told. Mr. Garnet will be able to tell you all about Mr. Watson's interesting church, as he has preached there many times; but perhaps some of our American (friends?) would say that was a statement. I am glad to say that the interesting facts told me by Mr. and Mrs. Watson, about the free colored people in Jamaica, tally entirely with the statements given me by Mr. FRANCIS BURKE, of —a gentleman I had the pleasure of meeting, some months ago, at the house of Mr. Sturge. Mr. Watson left Jamaica before Mr. S. R. Ward's arrival there; but his deacons had informed him, by letter, that Mr. Ward preached two of the most eloquent discourses ever given in Kingston, on the Sabbath after he landed there, last autumn. The people flocked in vast crowds to hear him, and were astonished at his great oratorical powers.

During my travels in Scotland, I have heard very much about Dr. Pennington, and Messrs.
Garnet and Ward, and everything that I have heard has been favorable to those gentlemen.—They each and all have made a good impression here, not only for themselves, but for their calumniated and despised people, and have done good service to the Anti-Slavery cause, by giving a refutation to the charge of the natural inferiority of the Negro race—a charge made by the avowed enemies of the Negro, and sustained by his .

I shall never forget the surprise I felt on seeing (several years ago) the following paragraph in a (private) letter, written by a distinguished Eastern Abolitionist:

"It is a great pity that — is such a fool, for were it not for her desire to be shewing off some colored brother or other, these Penningtons and Garnets would not be England."

In brave old Scotland, dear old England, and warm-hearted Ireland, the sympathies of the people flow naturally forth to the colored people. It is them they desire to aid, whether they be the immured in their Southern prisonhouse, or those among the free colored people of the States, who are laboring for the elevation and amelioration of the condition of their oppressed race, or the fugitive who is fleeing from a land of tyranny to one of freedom, or the Canadian exiles who have found a home on foreign soil. Here, (as you remember,) the color-

ed man has no prejudice against color to contend with, and the judgment passed on him is likely to be more just than it will be across the Atlantic, except when friends, such as Lewis Tappan, Gerrit SmithSmith, Gerrit

Gerrit Smith (1797– 1874), a New York businessman and land speculator, became best known for his philanthropic work for such reform causes as temperance and abolition. Between 1828 and 1835, he donated large sums of money to the American Colonization Society, but abandoned that movement in 1835 when his sympathies shifted to the immediate abolitionists. In the 1840s, he gave approximately 140,000 acres of land in upstate New York to three thousand black settlers, thus qualifying them to vote. Smith was a founder and frequent candidate of the Liberty party, running for governor of New York on that ticket in 1840 and winning a seat in Congress in 1852. When the Free Soil merger with moderate antislavery Democrats and Whigs lured away many Liberty party supporters, Smith helped bankroll that organization until 1860. Smith befriended Douglass when the latter moved to Rochester, and Smith frequently helped finance Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Like Douglass, Smith supported John Brown, but psychological stress caused by the failure at Harpers Ferry brought on the first of a series of bipolar episodes that greatly reduced his subsequent reform activities. Ralph Volney Harlow, Gerrit Smith: Philanthropist and Reformer (1939; New York, 1972); Gerald Sorin, The New York Abolitionists: A Case Study of Political Radicalism (Westport, Conn., 1971), 269– 87; Lewis Perry, Radical Abolitionism: Anarchy and the Government of God in Antislavery Thought (Ithaca, N.Y., 1973), 170– 80; John R. McKivigan and Madeleine Leveille, “The ‘Black Dream’ of Gerrit Smith, New York Abolitionist,” Syracuse University Library Associates Courier, 20:61– 76 (Fall 1985); NCAB , 2:322– 23; DAB, 17:270– 71. , and a few others, free from prejudice, are the judges.—There is no fear, therefore, that any Christian philanthropist of these favored isles will consider the visit of a true-hearted colored man an intrusion, or state that his hospitable home has been "infested" by him. Many of my dear Scottish friends have said to me, with a sort of pride: "Dr. Pennington preached in my pulpit"—Mr. Garnet preached for me"—"Dr. Pennington dined with us at this table"—"Mr. Garnet stayed at my house;"—and though the time is long since you, my friend, set foot on Scottish soil, you are not forgotten in Scotland, and come when you may, rest assured that the brave and true heart of stern old Scotland will beat in sympathy with you and welcome you with an enthusiasm exceeding what may be hoped for by your friends, or feared by your enemies.

* * * * * * *

But I have wandered away from the Synod.

Another evening I went there to hear the appeals made by Foreign Ministers for aid for their churches. represented the French Protestant Churches; Mr. De Sielde came from the Orthodox Churches of Holland; and a gentleman from Belgium, whose name I do not remember, appealed for aid for the Belgic Protestant Churches. The sent no deputy, but a written appeal was read from those long persecuted and faithful Christian people, which evidently produced a great effect on the Scottish brethren. The four appeals followed each other, in succession, and then my friend, , of Glasgow, arose, and in strains of eloquence that it would, to my thinking, be impossible to surpass, he pleaded the cause of these Foreign Churches, showing the peculiar claims that each of them has upon the sympathy and aid of the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland. It was a welcome task that had been committed to Mr. Ker to perform: he entered upon it , and securing the interest of his audience at the commencement of his appeal, he carried his hearers with him until the point aimed at was reached, and co operation obtained for these Foreign brethern. I did not envy the success of these good Foreign ministers—each occupying an important field of labor in the world's great vineyard, but I wish that the day might come when Mr. Ker might see his way to plead the cause of the SLAVE before that venerable Synod. This may be done whenever the ministers of that church can see the Anti-Slavery movement to be a movement, as well as a one.—What heathen darkness in Hindostan, or the Fejee Islands, can surpass that to be found on some of the Slave plantations or Maryland, in the rice swamps of the Carolinas, and on the cotton fields of the Mississippi? If it be a crime to teach a slave to learn to read the name of the God who made him, surely a movement made by Christian men and women to aid in doing away this terrible system of iniquity, is a

movement and may be pleaded for us such before the most Christian body of men that ever congregated together to form plans for furthering the eternal interests of their fellow beings.

* * * * * * *

I bade adieu to my many dear Edinburgh friends on Tuesday. To part with some of them was, indeed, a difficult matter. They have admitted me, not only to their homes, but to their , and we have formed a friendship that neither nor can [illegible]. Having received the warm hospitality, and friendly attentions of a bevy host of the Edinburgh people, it would be invidious to particularize, since I cannot mention all. Very many of these friends have enrolled themselves as members of the Edinburgh Anti-Slavery Society; but I would not omit to mention, that from many members of the Society I received very kind attentions; and in this connection, I would especially mention the family of the excellent and worthy , of Salisbury Road, and that of DUNCAN MCCLAREN, Esq. People who are high-hearted and noble-souled never can dwindle down into thorough-going partizans. People of this kind, let me meet them where I may, and let them call themselves by whatever name they choose, I honor and respect.

Of the considerate kindness of the venerable lady, Mrs. Renton, whose house was, for many weeks, my home—who, in Edinburgh, is considered a "mother in Israel"—I know not what to say. Words fail to tell the debt of gratitude I owe her. Other dear friends there are, not known prominently in the Anti-Slavery cause, to whom I shall ever feel grateful, and to whom, as well as to myself, I that the day of our next meeting will be one of joy and gladness.—Much loved friends in Edinburgh, from my heart of hearts I thank you for all your kindness, for your warm and devoted friendship, for your confiding trust, for your zealous co-operation; sad, indeed, should I feel at parting from you, did I not indulge the hope of meeting you again.

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"Know'st thou the land, where the hardy green thistle,
The red blooming heath, and the harebell abound,
Where oft o'er the mountain the shepherd's shrill whistle,
Is heard in the gloaming, so sweetly to sound?
Know'st thou the land of the mountain and flood,
Where the pine of the forests for ages has stood?
Where the Eagle comes forth on the wings of the storm,
And her young ones are rocked on the high Cairn orme?
Know'st thou the land where the cold Celtic wave
Encircles the hills which its blue waters lave,
Where the virgins are pure as the gems of the sea,
And their spirits are light as their actions are free?
Know'st thou the land where the sun's lingering ray
Streaks with gold the horizon while dawns the new day,
Whilst the cold feeble ray which she sheds on the sight,
Scarce breaks through the gloom of the cold winter's night?"

In the northern region, thus graphically described, with the mountains behind me, and kind friends around me, I am sojourning, to recruit my health and strength before crossing the border, and revisiting dear old England. It is good to be here, and very pleasant to meet my dear Balbegno friends again. Something more I will tell you of this beautiful neighborhood next week.

Right truly yours,

JULIA GRIFFITHS.