The greater part of those who
may read these observations, it is not superfluous to relate, that
under the name of Aberdeen are comprised two towns standing about a
mile distant from each other, but governed, I think, by the same
magistrates.
Old Aberdeen is the ancient episcopal city, in which are still to
be seen the remains of the cathedral. It has the appearance of a
town in decay, having been situated in times when commerce was yet
unstudied, with very little attention to the commodities of the
harbour.
New Aberdeen has all the bustle of prosperous trade, and all the
shew of increasing opulence. It is built by the water-side. The
houses are large and lofty, and the streets spacious and clean.
They build almost wholly with the granite used in the new pavement
of the streets of London, which is well known not to want hardness,
yet they shape it easily. It is beautiful and must be very
lasting.
What particular parts of commerce are chiefly exercised by the
merchants of Aberdeen, I have not inquired. The manufacture which
forces itself upon a stranger's eye is that of knit-stockings, on
which the women of the lower class are visibly employed.
In each of these towns there is a college, or in stricter language,
an university; for in both there are professors of the same parts
of learning, and the colleges hold their sessions and confer
degrees separately, with total independence of one on the other.
