Descriptive account of the principal towns in Scotland

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were only six Printing Houses in Edinburgh j the
number of Presses row, are from 180 to 200 ; and
the works executed here, are not surpassed in ele-
gance and correctness by any in Europe.
The Courts of Law, and the University, are the
chief supports of the City, £nd the great resort of fa-
milies from all parts of the island, attracted hither by
the fame of its academies and schools, are the princi-
pal dependance of the tradesmen, and shopkeepers.
The commerce of Edinburgh, is not so considera-
ble as might be expected in the metropolis of Scot-
land ; yet from its being the resort of the opulent and
gay from all quarters, the diffusion of the circulating
medium is extensive, and its money transactions are
numerous and important. There are five public
Banking Companies, namely, the Bank of Scotland,
the Royal Bank of Scotland, the British Linen Com-
pany, the Commercial Bank, and the National Bank ;
besides a number of private Banks of great respecta-
bility. All the public Banks issue promissory notes
of various value, but none under one Pound sterling,
payable on demand, either in specie, or Bank of Eng-
land notes. Two of the private Banks only, issue
notes, viz. Sir William Forbes and Company, and
Ramsay s, Bonars and Co. The other private banks,
seven in number, discount Bills, and employ their
capital in all the various branches of the banking
business.
No city of its size contains more literary men than
Edinburgh, whose reputation stands pre-eminent in
every branch of literature, and it has long been famed
over the world, for its Medical School and establish-
es