A letter to the Lord Provost on the best ways of spoiling the beauty of Edinburgh / by Lord Cockburn.

Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to the Lord Provost on the best ways of spoiling the beauty of Edinburgh / by Lord Cockburn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    narrowed street. Not a scruple seemed to be felt for the ar- chitecture, or the reputation of the architect. And, after all, the street is wider than many far more crowded thoroughfares. The streets on each side of St Paul’s are, or at least were, narrower than our Leith Street; but I am not aware that it was ever proposed to widen them by taking a slice off the Cathedral, or even off the screen that surrounds it. These, my Lord, are examples of the best modes of spoil- ing Edinburgh. They are all good; some perfect. We have hitherto survived them; and, on the whole, the place has even increased, and is increasing, in beauty. How much bet- ter it would have been if certain things had not been done, is a different question. But let no one delude himself with the notion that past escapes are proofs that we shall escape al- ways. The permanence of the danger is certain ; each escape doubtful. Looking at things as they are, we may see no mis- chief that is probable, or near. But we must give mischief time. How will Edinburgh look in 1949, or in 2049 ? Periods far off to us; but they will arrive; and those who live then will wonder how any other periods were ever cared for. How will it look one hundred years hence? I hope well. But I see hurtful temptations at many points. At so many, that, if i not resisted, they must make all that those then alive may read or see in pictures, of what Edinburgh once was, incre- dible and incomprehensible. Intentional injury can be imputed to no party, public or private. No such wicked or meaningless motive exists. Our danger has always arisen, and will ever arise, from three plain and intelligible causes:—