TO THE MERCHANT COMPANY OF EDINBURGH, THIS LECTURE, DELIVERED AT THEIR REQUEST, FEBRUARY 14, 1859, IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. I do not propose, on this occasion, to carry your minds back to a very remote period, for, truth to tell, Scotland was not distinguished for commerce at an early date. You will not be surprised if I briefly remark that we hear nothing of trade in Leith harbour till the reign of Bruce, and have reason to believe that it hardly had an existence for a century later. Dr Nicolas West, an emissary of Henry VIII., visited Scotland in 1513, just before the battle of Flodden, and he tells us that he then found at Leith only nine or ten small topmen, or ships with rigging, whi…
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