stances must exceed that of any of the other large towns of the empire.* It must not, however, be concluded, that there are many of the inhabitants of Edinburgh in circumstances of great opulence; in this respect it probably cannot vie with the other towns in the table, but competence is as generally possessed, and comfort as widely diffused, as in any other community of like magnitude.

The prosperity of the city essentially depends upon its College and Schools, and still more essentially upon the Courts of Judicature. The former attract many strangers who desire to secure for their families a liberal education at a moderate expense; the latter afford employment for the gentlemen of the legal profession, whose number is so great that they may be said to form at least one-third of the population in the higher and middle ranks of society.†

* According to the census of 1841, the number of domestic servants was 14,381, of whom 1614 were males, and 12,767 females. The increase in the number of this class during the ten years, therefore, appears to be 503, or considerably more than one-fourth of the entire increase in the population of the city.

The great family of Lawyers may be divided into the following classes:-The first class consists of the Judges of the Court of Session, generally styled LORDS OF SESSION. Their nomination is with the Crown: they are now invariably chosen from among the Advocates, and, before their appointment, they must have been practising at the bar for at least five years. Their number was formerly 15, but is now reduced to 13. The salaries of the ordinary judges are £3000 a-year each, and those of the Lord Justice-Clerk and Lord President are £4000 and

£4500 respectively. The ADVOCATES (Anglice Barristers) form the second class. They are united into a Society or Incorporation called the Faculty of Advocates, and possess the privilege of pleading before every Court in Scotland, and also in Scotch appeals before the House of Lords. The present number of the

As it has no very extensive manufactures, the city is exempt from those sudden mercantile convulsions productive of so much misery in many other of the great towns of the kingdom. Printing and publishing are carried on to a large extent. In this department of industry Edinburgh far surpasses

body is about 440, but there are not one-third of them in practice, and probably not one-sixth of them subsist solely by their professional gains. A considerable number of them are gentlemen wholly independent of their profession, who have joined the body on account of the status which they acquire from the learning and accomplishment of its members. The next class consists of the WRITERS TO THE SIGNET, who also form an Incorporation. They were originally called Clerks to the Signet, from their having been employed in the Secretary of State's office in preparing summonses, and other writs which received the Royal Signet, and they have still the sole privilege of preparing such writs. They are in other respects similar to the English Attorneys or Solicitors, and they are the oldest, most numerous, and most wealthy body of Law Practitioners in Scotland. Before admis

sion to the body, an apprenticeship of five years is required, and an attendance of two Sessions at one of the Universities, independently of the Law Classes. The number of the Society is at present about 650, of whom about 400 are in practice. The SOLICITORS BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT, and ADVOCATES' FIRST CLERKS, form another section of this class, their duties being the same as those of Writers to the Signet, with the exception of their not being entitled to sign writs passing the Signet. These three classes, along with certain functionaries connected with the Court, form the College of Justice, which possesses certain privileges, the members being, until lately, exempted from most of the local taxes, and they are still exempt from the annuity levied for payment of the stipend of the Clergy of Edinburgh. They are not amenable to the jurisdiction of any inferior court, excepting the Small Debt Court held by the Sheriff. The SOLICITORS-AT-LAW, (who practise before the inferior courts,) the ACCOUNTANTS, and others, who pass under the more general name of Writers, are also included in the great family of Lawyers, but their distinctive peculiarities we think it unnecessary to mention here.

all the towns of the kingdom, London only excepted; many of the most valuable and popular works of the age emanating from the Edinburgh press.* Printing papers are manufactured to a large extent in the neighbourhood, but none of the mills are in the immediate vicinity of the city. Although there are some other branches of manufacture, they are, for the most part, on an insignificant scale.

As a place of family residence, Edinburgh possesses many advantages. The climate, although it cannot be called mild or genial, is yet eminently salubrious; and favourable, not only to longevity, but to the developement of the mental and physical powers. The annual quantity of rain is moderate, compared with the fall upon the western coast; for while the average in Edinburgh is about 23, in Glasgow it is about 29.65. The violent winds, to which the city is exposed by its elevated situation, are by no means unfavourable to general health, as they carry the benefit of a thorough ventilation into the close-built lanes and alleys of the Old Town. The facilities of education, and the advantages of cultivated society, have been already alluded to. In the former of these particulars, we believe it to be

* The Edinburgh Review, the North British Review, Blackwood's Magazine, Tait's Magazine, two Medical Journals, the Journal of Agriculture, and the Philosophical Journal, are some of the more important periodical publications. In circulation, it is worthy of remark, that both Blackwood's and Tait's Magazines far exceed any of their London contemporaries.

Chambers's Journal is also deserving of notice, as being the first and most extensively circulated of the periodicals of its class. There are ten newspapers, of which one is published thrice a-week, five twice a-week, and the rest weekly.

unequalled in the kingdom, and in the latter it can be surpassed by London alone.

The markets are liberally supplied with all the necessaries and luxuries of the table. White fish are more especially abundant, cod, haddocks, and, at certain seasons, herrings, being sold at a very low price. Coal of good quality is found in the immediate neighbourhood of the city, and there is a copious supply of excellent water. Upon the whole, it would be difficult to name a city which unites so many social advantages, and where a person of cultivated mind and moderate fortune could pass his time more agreeably.

The most convenient mode of imparting information to strangers, is to select a particular district of the city to be perambulated, describing the objects of interest on the way. With this view, we shall visit all the more important public buildings and institutions in successive walks, adding in notes such collateral or subordinate information, as may appear necessary to convey a more accurate idea of the city and its institutions, as well as other matter which may tend to enliven the dulness of dry topographical details.

WALK FIRST.*

REGISTER HOUSE THEATRE-ROYAL STAMP-OFFICE

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POST

OFFICE-PRISON-BRIDEWELL-CALTON HILL-STEWART'S MONUMENT-OBSERVATORY-PLAYFAIR'S MONUMENT-CAMERA OBSCURA-NELSON'S MONUMENT-NATIONAL MONUMENT -HIGH SCHOOL-BURNS'S MONUMENT-HOLYROOD PALACE AND ABBEY-ARTHUR'S SEAT-HOUSE OF JOHN KNOX-NORTH BRIDGE.

THE central situation of the building, and the large number of hotels in its neighbourhood, points out

THE REGISTER HOUSE

as an appropriate starting point. This handsome edifice, designed by the celebrated Robert Adam, is the Depository of the Public Records. † It forms

* The several Walks are indicated by different colours on the Map of the City prefixed. Walk First is coloured Red. When the continued line of colour is exchanged for a dotted line, it is to be understood that tourists who cannot accomplish the whole distance may omit the dotted portion of the Walk.

This important establishment includes various offices, such as the offices of the Clerks and Extractors of the Court of Session, of the Jury Court, and of the Court of Justiciary, the office of the Great and Privy Seal, of the Chancery, the Lord Lyon's office, the Bill-Chamber, &c. But it is most celebrated for the different Registers which are there kept, and from which it derives its name. The most important and useful of these are the Registers of Sasines, of Inhibitions, and of Adjudications.

When a person wishes either to dispose absolutely of a landed estate in Scotland, or to grant a security over it, (such as an heritable bond,) it is necessary for him not only to grant a conveyance of the property to the purchaser or creditor, as the case may be, but also to give him Infeftment or Sasine, which is a symbolical delivery of the land. An Instrument of Sasine is