CONTENTS.

REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GILD FESTIVAL, WITH

NOTES CONFIRMATORY OF THE FACTS ALLUDED TO IN SEVERAL

OF THE SPEECHES,

Page

APPENDIX.

I.

THE EDINBURGH GILD CONSIDEred as a BeneFIT SOCIETY,

Summary of the Revised Rules of the Holy Gild of St

Joseph,

II.

LETTER FROM W. CHAMBERS, ESQ., TO THE RIGHT Rev.

BISHOP GILLIS,

III

XVII

XXV

VIII

CONTENTS.

III.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS ON THE DOMESTIC COMFORT

OF THE LABOURING CLASSES,

SECT. I. On the Sanitary Condition of the Old Town of

Edinburgh,

II. Public Arrangements External to Residences,

by which the Sanitary Condition of the

Labouring Population is Affected,

XXXVI

XXXVI

XLVII

III. Circumstances of Internal Economy, Affecting

the Health of the Labouring Classes,

LXIII

IV. Pecuniary Burdens created by the neglect of

Sanitary Measures,

LXXI

V. State of the existing Law in Scotland as regards

the abatement of Nuisances and the Protection

of Public Health,

LXXXVIII

VI. A Brief Outline of the Charitable Society re-

cently established in France, under the name

of the Society of St Vincent de Paul,

SPECIMEN OF THE CERTIFICATE AWARDED BY THE HOLY GILD
TO THE SUCCESSFUL COMPETITORS FOR THE CLEANEST
AND TIDIEST-KEPT HOUSES.

CI

THE

FIRST ANNUAL FESTIVAL

OF

THE HOLY GILD OF ST JOSEPH.

THE First Annual Festival of this Society was celebrated at Edinburgh, in the Waterloo Rooms, on Friday the 21st October 1842.

At six o'clock P.M., the PRIZE-ROOM was thrown open for the inspection of the Company. In this apartment were displayed the various articles of useful and appropriate furniture to be awarded by the Gild at the choice of its successful competitors, as Premiums for the cleanest and tidiest kept houses. The different articles, consisting of bedsteads, chests of drawers, tables, chairs, kitchen utensils, fire-irons, clocks, crockery, crystal, blanketing, bed, table, and body linen, chintzes, carpeting, &c., were so arranged in separate lots, that they could be easily inspected, and presented altogether a most pleasing sight. All the more so, that this accession of domestic comfort to the too often cheerless dwellings of the more humble classes, rose up before one, not as a delightful novelty only, but as if modestly boasting of an interest peculiarly its own-it had been called into existence by such previously acquired habits of order and cleanli

Α

ness, as would now ensure a proper appreciation of its value, and enhance tenfold its enjoyment.

From this little emporium of domestic comfort, where you had been made to feel that merit alone could purchase its every luxury, the Company passed on to a much larger room, now about to be occupied for the first time as a GILD-HALL.

Here every object from the floor to the ceiling was most tastefully and joyously adorned, and strikingly bespoke a festive night!* At the upper end of the Hall a platform had been raised, extending from side to side, the front line of which was terminated by the Chairman's table, with its flowers, and fruits, and sparkling crystals, and crimson drapery reaching to the floor. In the centre of the table, but on the level of the floor, and relieving itself against the crimson back-ground, stood forth a handsomely marbled column, the social character of which was most unequivocally proclaimed by a gorgeous bowl which crowned its summit. To the right and left of the Gild Bowl, were seen several beautifully executed and neatly framed certificates, soon to be bestowed on the successful candidates, and each of which was already hallowed in their eyes, as the future heir-loom of some humble dwelling. Immediately behind the Chairman's seat, and resting on an elevated and ornamental stand, appeared a folio volume of gothic and mysterious look, magnificently bound in crimson and

* The decorations of the hall had been entrusted to Mr Potts (of Mr Trotter's establishment), and did great credit to his judicious taste.-ED.

gold, and bearing for its title, THE BOOK OF HONOUR. Behind it again, and towering above all, rose up amidst the flags and banners, and gilded and emblazoned batons of the Gild, a stately and powerful Organ. The batons of the Gild were also made to produce a most pleasing and picturesque effect, from being clustered here and there throughout the Hall, round marbled pillars, surmounted by vases of flowers, breaking agreeably the uniform line of the longitudinal tables, and presenting to the eye a delightful variety of form and colour. A number of them were also very happily grouped, and entwined with evergreens in front of the gallery, and above the raised seats set apart for the accommodation of the Ladies.

The numerous and highly respectable assemblage of Catholics and Protestants who already filled such parts of the Hall as were not exclusively reserved for the Gild Brethren, the "tout ensemble" of the above arrangements, and the sudden burst of light from a gigantic gas lustre that now threw additional brilliancy on every object beneath it, revealing, at the same time, a beautifully painted ceiling above, would alone have invested the evening and its proceedings with a degree of interest as highly gratifying as it was novel of its kind-but its religious, its truly festive, its national character, was yet to come.

About half-past seven o'clock, the Right Rev. Chairman, Bishop CARRUTHERS, and his Coadjutor, Bishop GILLIS, accompanied by a number of gentle