which, with extended wings, and grasp ing in its talons a caduceus (the Roman emblem of peace), seemed to leave no doubt as to the history of the place.

But the sculptured bird is not a Roman eagle-a tufted head and other peculiarities claiming for him an oriental, and not a western origin; whilst around the temple are to be seen, in mingled sculpture, scenes from the mythology of Greece, and such Egyptian emblems as the winged globe. If, too, the great temple was the work of Romans, in a remote province of the empire, how extraordinary that they never attempted the construction of such monuments at Rome !*

It was suggested by one of the party, that the architecture and the devices being Greek, the temples might owe their origin to Ionian or Hellenic Greeks. The buildings of Baalbec belong, in fact, to three widely separated eras. The latest of these is marked by the fantastic architecture of the Saracens, who have barbarously disfigured the Roman temple, by building a monstrous wall full in front of its beautiful portal. Roman energy, aided most probably by Grecian art, doubtless produced the columned temples that still adorn the place. These mark its middle era, and are also of a comparatively recent epoch; but the date and the history of the earliest buildings of Baalbec—the Cyclopean wall, and the prodigious stones are lost in the darkness of a remote

*The same mystery hangs over the temples of Palmyra, which, though much more numerous than those of Baalbec, are far inferior in size. The most magnificent work of a similar nature constructed by the Romans, so far as I am aware, was the temple of Jupiter at Athens, which, however, was only finished by Hadrian, through the instrumentality, no doubt, of Grecian workmen; and the shrine of Jove, mighty though it be, is as far inferior in size to the great temple of Baalbec, as it exceeds the Syrian structure in elegance and beauty.

antiquity. Lamartine gravely states his opinion, that they owe their origin to antediluvian giants, some of whose colossal bones, he imagines, have been found in the Lebanon. Others have supposed that these Titanic works had been undertaken by the Zamzammims, the giant race which, we are told in Deuteronomy, God destroyed in the olden time. But surely it was the might of mind, the power of knowledge, not the mere strength of arm, the brute force of a giant, that wielded these enormous blocks; and less poetical, but more learned inquiries have attributed them to Cuthite tribes, who, under the titles of Belidie Cadmians and Phoenices, dwelt once in Syria, and were renowned for the magnitude of their works. Leaving, however, the poets and the antiquarians to puzzle themselves in vain, I am not disinclined to accept the Arab tradition, that Baalbec was founded by Gian-ben-Gian, the pre-Adamite sovereign of the world.*

It was the Lord's-day, and having seen the sun sink slowly over the ruins of what was once his mightiest fane, we gathered together on the spot where the unremaining gods of Heliopolis were wont to be adored, and there (the service being conducted by the clergyman we had met) we worshipped Him who is 'the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.'

* Among the cities which are enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec-the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter as the capital of the valley. Both were addicted to the worship of Baad, but the decline of their superstition and splendour has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount Libanus, while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller.-Gibbon, v. 9., c. 51.

AMONG the various subjects which have engaged the attention of intelligent men during the last few years, none has excited greater differences of opinion than that of education. On every purely political question the majority of the public could probably be divided into two parties, by concessions of comparatively little importance. But the case is very different as regards education. Although there are few who will venture to deny that on that subject there is greater need for concession, with the view of securing the good of the rising generation, than on any other, and although all are agreed as to the necessity for extending it as one of the chief elements of civilisation, we still find that, as the public mind becomes more alive to the importance of it, opinions respecting the machinery by which it is to be extended become more varied and more conflicting. It cannot be doubted, however, that of late years great progress has been made in what may be called educational ideas-that is, in the estimate of the scope and bearing of the subject. Our forefathers had none of the difficulties which we find it so difficult to solve or to harmonise, simply because they had but an imperfect conception of the importance of education. Their ideas regarding it could scarcely be considered progressive, in the sense in which those of their descendants have been; and yet we are persuaded that, to what they did to bring educational advantages within the reach of the masses, we may in a great measure trace the anxiety that is now felt to extend these. A few months ago we gave a full account of Christ's Hospital; and in another paper endeavoured to show what was done by George Heriot, to give Scotland a status in regard to common education-how his benevolence has been the means of securing to the poorer classes of the community benefits which were never thought of before his time, and would probably never have been thought of for long after. We now propose to examine a little more closely the educational machinery which he may be said to have set in motion; and, while tracing the history of the various educational foundations which have been established in Edinburgh on a basis similar to that of his hospital, to inquire

into the character and tendencies of the system of training which obtains in them. In doing this, we shall briefly refer to the circumstances in which these institutions were founded, giving the leading facts of their history, and then proceed to examine the economy of them, in the light of the days in which we live. We begin, then, with an hospital which is generally regarded as only second in importance to that of George Heriot.

George Watson, the founder of the hospital which bears his name, though a man of some note in his native city, was by no means such a person as a biographer could have much to say about. It I would have been difficult for the author of 'The Fortunes of Nigel' to have made him so interesting, even with the license of a novelist, as he has made his countryman and predecessor in good works, George Heriot. No incident in his life was above commonplace, and but for the object to which he devoted his fortune, there is no reason to suppose that he would have been remembered any more than the masses of his now forgotten contemporaries. The son and the grandson of a merchant, when that profession embraced a greater variety of commercial transactions than it does now, his name and his benevolence have been appropriately connected with the mercantile interest. He does not seem to have inherited his sagacity and business tact from his father, for at the death of the latter the affairs of the family were found to be in such a disordered state, that George Watson and his brother John were cast upon the care of their aunt, the lady of James Davidson of Curriehill, whose brother long held the office of Scottish representative or consul in the United Provinces. lady appears to have been a person of more than ordinary shrewdness, and to her George may be said to have been indebted for all his subsequent prosperity. His mother having married a second time when he was yet a mere boy, his education and 'up-bringing' devolved entirely upon his aunt, by whom he was apprenticed to a merchant in Edinburgh, and afterwards sent to Holland, with the view of acquiring the then rare accomplishment of book-keeping. After his return to Scotland, Watson, with the as

This

sistance of his kind-hearted relative, began business on his own account, and about the same time became accountant or cashier to Sir James Dick of Prestonfield, for some time Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and one of its most extensive merchants. In this situation he continued for many years, remaining unmarried, successfully transacting business as a bill broker, and gradually acquiring property. Subsequently he became accountant to the Bank of Scotland-its first accountant we believe-and at the same time held the offices of Receiver of the City Impost on Ale, and Treasurer to the Merchant Maiden Hospital, as well as for the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. In the two lastnamed institutions he took a deep interest, and it is probable that his connection with the first of them determined him in the disposal of his fortune. Though frugal, and what in Scottish language would be called 'gear-gathering,' Watson was a man of large charities. He calculated his profits even to a few pence; there is an entry in his day-book recording how he made a gain of fourpence on the sale of a pair of shoe-buckles; he was exact and regular in his business habits, as the methodical appearance of his business books show, but withal he was no miser. Though living frugally, he lived in the days of his prosperity as he had always done, preferring simplicity and quiet to ostentation, and devoting the most of his time to business. In short, George Watson seems to have been a type of the sagacious and successful Scottish merchant. At his death, his relatives all received handsome legacies, and the larger portion of his fortune, represented by a sum of £12,000, was devoted to the endowment of an hospital for the maintenance and instruction of the male children and grandchildren of decayed merchants in Edinburgh. Although Watson died in 1723, the hospital which now stands on a piece of ground at the north side of the Meadows, and immediately opposite Heriot's Hospital, was not opened until 1741. The fund had by that time accumulated to £20,000, and £5000 was laid out in the erection of the building, which is a plain and substantial one. The founder having been a regular attender at the Old Church in Edinburgh, it was expressly provided that the minister of that church, in all time coming, should be one of the governors; and, besides that

individual, the board of management consists of five members of the Town Council, and the Master, Treasurer, and twelve assistants of the Merchant Company. The number of boys on the hospital roll at the end of last year was eighty-two, in addition to which, there were eleven others attending as day scholars; an act of Parliament having been recently obtained, for the purpose of extending the educational privileges of the institution to those who preferred having their children with them after school hours. The boys are admitted at seven years of age, or under ten, and remain until they have completed their fifteenth year, at which time, if they have proved apt in scholarship, and wish to enter the university, they receive £20 per annum for four years, and £17 for each of the two succeeding ones. In ordinary cases, each boy when he leaves is presented with £7, and receives £10 per annum during the five years of his apprenticeship. On attaining the age of 25, he receives £50 more, provided he has not entered the married state, and can provide a certificate of good behaviour. The boys while in the hospital are all clothed alike, in dark-green jackets and caps. They receive a liberal education, and are otherwise well attended to. George Watson's institution has been a prosperous one. At present the landed property belonging to it yields an annual rental of nearly £4000. Last year its gross revenue was about £7053, and the clear surplus over expenditure, £2213: 15: 10d. The property of the hospital consists chiefly of landed estates, together with money lent on bond, and invested in stock. surplus is amply sufficient for the erection and maintenance of several out-door schools, on the plan of those connected with Heriot's foundation; but hitherto proposals to carry out this very desirable object have been strongly opposed.

The

The Merchant Maiden Hospital, or, as it was originally styled, The Maiden Hospital, has a close connection with the institution we have just noticed. Its affairs, like those of the other, are under the management of the Merchant Company, and through it the privileges which George Watson secured to the sons and grandsons of merchants or burgesses of Edinburgh, are held out to their daughters and grand-daughters. Although the Maiden Hospital was originally founded in 1695 by voluntary contribu

tions, chiefly from the merchants, it is doubtful whether it would ever have been established on so extensive or so secure a basis, had not a benevolent lady named Erskine or Hair, the widow of a druggist in Edinburgh, bestowed on it a large house and adjoining grounds, long used as the hospital, together with donations to a very considerable amount. We know little of this lady-nothing, in fact, save her good deeds, one of which we have just recorded; and another being the endowment, in connection with the freemen of the incorporated trades, of an institution designed for the daughters of craftsmen, known as the Trades' Maiden Hospital. Both of these foundations have been prosperous. A handsome building for the former was erected in 1818 at the north of the Meadows, the house bestowed by Mary Erskine having by that time been found too small. The Trades' Maiden Hospital is a plain oldfashioned edifice, situated almost at the back of the university, and, as is now arranged, it will shortly be removed, to make way for a Museum of Science and Art, to be erected in that locality. The number of girls usually maintained in the Merchant Maiden Hospital varies from ninety to one hundred, while little more than half that number are inmates of the kindred institution. Although the course of education and the general internal arrangements are very nearly the same in both, the larger endowments of the former give the inmates some advantages which the girls trained in the latter do not enjoy. Purchases of landed property in different parts of Scotland, chiefly in Aberdeenshire, and judicious management, have greatly augmented the resources of the Merchant Maiden Institution. Last year its gross revenue was upwards of £5110, more than £4576 of which was derived from the rental of its landed estates. In both of these establishments the education given is of a superior character; and on leaving, each of the girls receives a small sum of money.

The hospital at the Dean, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, known as John Watson's Hospital, can scarcely be said to have been founded by the individual whose name it bears. The fund out of which it was built and endowed had by judicious management increased far beyond the expectation which he had formed long before there was any thought of such

an institution. John Watson, who in his profession of a writer to the signet had amassed a considerable fortune, bequeathed the residue of it to trustees, with the generally expressed provision that it be applied to such pious and charitable uses within the city of Edinburgh as they might think fit;' and the design of these trustees was to endow a foundling hospital, with the view of preventing child-murder. Their view of what was 'pious and charitable' was, however, deemed questionable by the parties to whom the management of the fund was afterwards assigned; viz., the keeper, deputy-keeper, and commissioners of Her Majesty's signet; and in 1822 an act of Parliament was obtained for changing the destination of it, and providing for the establishment of an hospital in which destitute children should be maintained, educated, and assisted on their entrance into life. It is not within our province to inquire whether this change was a wise one or not. The utility and moral bearing of a foundling hospital might be questioned; whether, after several educational hospitals had been founded in Edinburgh, an addition to them was the only way by which the testator's intentions could be carried out, was a less doubtful matter in 1822, perhaps, than it may be now. Be that as it may, an extensive building in the Greek style of architecture was erected, and children of both sexes admitted. The number of inmates is usually about a hundred. The boys are taught Latin, French, and drawing, besides the ordinary branches of instruction; and the girls receive an education correspondingly liberal. They are admitted from five years of age to eight, and leave the institution when they have attained their fourteenth year. John Watson's Hospital is a wealthy one, the funds having accumulated greatly, under a careful and economical system of management.

There are two educational foundations situated in the vicinity of Edinburgh, which, being limited in character, and differing in no very essential respect from those we have noticed, need only be mentioned. One of these, situated near Duddingston, was founded by Louis Gauvin, a French teacher, and subsequently a farmer, for the maintenance and education of the sons of poor teachers, farmers, master printers, booksellers, or