Closely associated with the politicians are the barristers, of whom there are about 800 in Athens, besides a great many others scattered through the country. The highest court of appeal, both for civil and criminal cases, bears the time-honoured name of _Areopagus_, and consists of eighteen judges. Of inferior judges there are nearly 600 in the whole country, most of whom are removable on a change of Government--an evil in some degree mitigated by the fact that all candidates for judicial posts must have passed a series of examinations in law. The medical profession is said to be also overstocked, though the legal fees chargeable for medical attendance would not be thought tempting in this country. With regard to the clergy, comparatively few of them receive their education in Athens or pass through the University. Their average culture is very low--but not lower than their remuneration--and the consequence is that any influence the Church exerts on the life of the nation is of a superficial kind, and finds its chief support in the festive celebration of the numerous Saints’ Days. The services in the churches are of a ritualistic order, and sermons are seldom heard except in Lent. The kissing of an _eikon_ or the lighting of a taper appears to be with many worshippers a mere formality, while, at the same time, there is a large amount of ignorance and superstition in the country districts. Of late there has been a considerable diminution in the number of students at the University, notwithstanding the liberal subsidies which have been granted to it by Government; and pursuits of an industrial nature are attracting more attention. The opinion is gaining ground that education of a literary character has been overdone, with the result that a large proportion of those who have received an academic training fail to find suitable employment and become idlers and hangers-on, spending their time largely in talking politics in the neighbourhood of the _Boulé_ or the cafés of Constitution Square. In a political sense great importance is attached by many to the fact that about a third of the students at the University (say 200 freshmen every year) come from “Outer Greece,” and are expected on their return home to do much in the way of fostering enthusiasm for the great hope of a reunited Greece, to embrace Macedonia, Epirus, Crete, and the Levant. This hope has been somewhat damped by the favour recently shown by Russia to Bulgaria, the other likely claimant to Macedonia when the Turkish Empire is dissolved; and it is to Great Britain and France that the Greeks now chiefly look for countenance and support in their national aspirations. Their debt of gratitude to this country finds visible acknowledgment in the fine monument to Byron near the Arch of Hadrian, and in the statue of Gladstone in front of the University.