Our present engraving depicts a scene of great natural beauty, and a faithful picture of one of the most thriving of the Scottish seaports. Few towns in the United Kingdom have advanced so rapidly in commercial importance. The manufactures of Dundee have become of great interest not only to the town, but to the nation at large. The proportion which they bear to the general produce of the industry of the state is very high; and their rapid and continued progress holds out the most encouraging prospect of still greater accessions in every department of trade. Of these manufactures, the linen trade holds the first place; it employs the greatest number of hands and the greatest capital, and gives a stimulus to all other branches of trade and commerce. The materials for this branch of manufacture are imported from Russia, Prussia, Holland, and Brabant, and thus employ a great number of ships and seamen. Up to the beginning of the present century, all the linen yarns manufactured here were hand-spun; and in 1811 there were only four spinning-mills driven by steam: at the present time there are upwards of 100 flax spinning-mills, employing more than 8,000 hands, of whom nearly one half are females. The following figures exhibit the progressive increase of this trade:--The importation of flax in 1790 was 2,700 tons; in 1850, 55,000 tons. The export of linen in 1790 was 8 millions of yards; in 1850, 85 millions of yards. The yarns thus manufactured are generally sent from the mills direct to the bleach-fields, or to the wash-mill, where they are scoured or whitened, and prepared for the loom. In weaving sail-cloth, and other heavy goods, men only are employed; but, in the lighter fabrics, women perform the work as well as the men. Formerly, the women were employed in spinning only; but here, as everywhere else, where steam is employed, the introduction of machinery has wholly superseded the use of the domestic wheel and distaff, and compelled the females to earn a scanty subsistence in a much less appropriate labour. Within the last thirty years the population of Dundee has been more than doubled; its charitable contributions have risen from under £2,000 to nearly £12,000 per annum; its shipping has increased fourfold; while its linen trade has been called almost entirely into existence. But the reverse of the picture must not be concealed--the assessment of the poor has advanced tenfold; in 1791, it was £400, it is now upwards of £10,000. This is an evil, it has been said, inseparable from prosperous communities, for the poor generally flock to, or are increased in them; and where multitudes are gathered together at various employments, example does not always favour economy, industry, and virtue. Nor is it easy, amidst the spirit of enterprise which is now abroad, to suggest any improvement for the town which the resident authorities have not already in contemplation.