The Encyclopaedia contains an account of the city of Glasgow, and of its various establishments; but, since that article was written, this city has made a great advance in wealth and population; and we propose to lay before our readers a short view of this progress, and of the change which has taken place in its manufactures, commerce, and public institutions, from that time.

The cotton manufacture, now the great staple of Glasgow, was, at the period we allude to, in its infancy. The inventions and improvements in the processes of cotton-spinning which Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, and Kelly, had, a short time before, successively brought forward, had furnished the means of producing, in Britain, the cotton goods which till then had been exclusively supplied by India. The people of Glasgow had found the manufacturing of these articles very profitable; and, about the year 1786, had begun to abandon the manufacture of cambrics, lawns, gauzes, and the other light fabrics of linen, which had grown up there in the course of the century; and, before the year 1792, the making of these goods had been nearly superseded by the manufacture of cotton.

We shall not here enter into a detail of the unprecedented rapidity of the growth of this new branch of trade, the particulars of which, with an account of the different descriptions of cotton goods which are produced at Glasgow, have been given at length in another part of this work. (See the article Cotton Manufacture.) But to mark, in some degree, its extraordinary progress in this city, we may mention, that, at the period of its commencement, the annual value of the whole manufactures of Glasgow was not estimated at above L.800,000; and, in the year 1818, about thirty-two years after its introduction, it was computed that 105,000,000 yards of cotton cloth, valued at L.5,200,000, were manufactured in Glasgow, and between 13,000,000 and 14,000,000 pounds of cotton wool used in their production.

In the spinning department of this manufacture, there are now fifty-four mills employed, containing nearly 600,000 spindles; and the capital invested in the buildings and machinery, for carrying on this branch, is estimated at above L.1,000,000 Sterling. For weaving the yarn, there are 2800 looms, moved by mechanical power, producing weekly about 8400 pieces of cloth; and there are, as nearly as can be ascertained, 92,000 hand-looms.

The calico printing business, begun here about the year 1742, stands next in importance to the cotton manufacture. There are eighteen calico printing works belonging to Glasgow, some of them of great extent; but there has not, for some time, been the same amount of business carried on by these concerns as was formerly the case; owing partly to the change which has taken place in the dress of the people, and partly to the circumstances affecting the general trade of the country, afterwards to be noticed.

As one of the appendages of the extensive manufacture of cotton, and other piece goods at Glasgow, we have to notice that there are, in this city, fourteen calender and five lapping houses, containing twenty-seven calenders, moved by steam, and eight moved by horses, which frequently calender 268,000 yards of cloth in a day, besides glazing 38,400 yards, and dressing 552,000 yards.

The manufacture of stockings, and that of shoes for exportation, both at one time considerable, have gradually dwindled away, other more profitable manufactures having carried off the capital and labour which had found employment in them.

The extensive use of mechanical power in our manufactures has given rise to a business in Glasgow in which a considerable capital is now engaged—the making and constructing of steam-engines, and of the different machines used in manufactories. But, besides the employment afforded to this branch by the manufactures of this country, a number of steam-engines and sugar-mills are now sent from Glasgow every year to our sugar colonies; and a new field of employment has lately been opened to the machine-makers, in preparing machinery for vessels to be navigated by steam. It has become a considerable branch of the ship-building business of the Clyde to construct steam-vessels for other navigations, the hulls of which are built at the docks of Greenock and Port-Glasgow, and the vessels afterwards brought to Glasgow to be fitted with their machinery. We may state here, although the remark more properly belongs to another part of our subject, that this new conveyance, which forms so valuable an addition to our means of local intercourse, was first introduced on the Clyde in the year 1812; and that there are now 28 steam vessels plying on the river, and sailing to different towns on the west coast, as far as Liverpool.

In the early period of the manufactures of Glasgow, the goods were chiefly disposed of to the Virginia merchants of the place; and a few were sold to wholesale dealers in London, and to a class of traders in Glasgow who attended the different large English fairs. But, towards the end of the American war, when the enterprise and capital of the people began to take a stronger direction towards manufactures, those engaged in them sent out travellers to every part of Scotland and England, to make sales of their goods, and extended their dealings even to the Continent. In the year 1787, for the first time, some persons connected with Glasgow opened a commission-house in London for the sale of manufactured goods, on account of the manufacturer; and, about ten years afterwards, similar establishments were formed in Glasgow, and in the other large commercial towns of Great Britain. About the year 1802, commission-houses on this plan were opened at Kingston, in Jamaica; and, within the last few years, these establishments have been extended to every place where a sale of British manufactures to any great amount is to be found. The facilities which these houses of sale afford to the manufacturers, by the advances of money on the goods consigned to them, have had the effect of encouraging over-trading to a very great degree; and have been the means also of bringing into, and supporting in the business persons without capital, who are often obliged to ship off their goods merely to procure funds. The markets have been thus kept so constantly overstocked, that, for some years, it is believed, little or no profits have been obtained.

In noticing the manufactures of Glasgow, we cannot but advert to their retrograding state since the year 1815, arising from a decrease in the demand for their products;—a calamity, to which, indeed, the whole productive industry of the country, during this period, has been subjected. This situation of our affairs has been attributed to our having lost, at the peace, the monopoly of manufacturing for Europe, which we were said to have enjoyed during the war; but we cannot think this circumstance, supposing it to have existed to a degree much greater than could possibly be the case, would, in any satisfactory manner, account for the severe depression of our present situation. The evil, we apprehend, lies much deeper, and is of a much more serious nature. The diminution in the demand for our goods on the Continent, we are satisfied, arises from a different cause than the want of this supposed monopoly, and is produced by the impolitic commercial regulations of this country narrowing our foreign intercourse. Our system is to raise every thing within ourselves, and we expect, notwithstanding, that other nations shall continue to take our products, and find the means of paying us for them. This is in its nature impossible. Our commodities can be paid for only by commodities, and the sales of our goods to other nations can never exceed the means we possess of consuming their products. If, from any cause, our people become disabled, or are prevented, from purchasing the quantity of foreign commodities which they formerly did, a corresponding diminution of the sale of our own productions must be the consequence.

We believe, therefore, that it is the joint operation of these two circumstances, the prevention, and the disability to purchase, which is the cause of the progressive reduction of sales which has taken place in our market. Forbidding the importation of commodities with which other nations are able to furnish us cheaper than we can produce them ourselves, and in exchange for which an additional quantity of the commodities we can advantageously raise would be required, not only injures our commerce, but imposes a tax on the general income. The other circumstance in our situation, the disability to purchase, we fear is operating against the market with still more alarming effect. It does not belong to this article to go deeply into any inquiry on this head. But there can be no question that the middling and lower classes of our population no longer possess the means of purchasing the quantity of our manufactures, or of the foreign products received in exchange for them, which they formerly were accustomed to use. And we do not think that we need to look abroad for the cause of this change; for, while our people are taxed for the maintenance of the State, to the amount of at least a third part of their earnings, and obliged to pay afterwards for every article of food they consume nearly double the price paid by the foreign manufacturer, whose powers of competition must regulate the wages to be received by our labourers, and the profit to be got by the employer, there can be no doubt but that the means of the country to purchase either manufactured goods, or foreign commodities, are abridged.

The operation of these causes, since the year 1815, upon the trade and manufactures of Glasgow, previously fostered into an unnatural state of prosperity, by the extraordinary circumstances of the war, has occasioned a degree of embarrassment and distress, which is unparalleled in the commercial history of this country.

The article in the Encyclopædia contains a particular account of the extensive trade which Glasgow carried on with Virginia before the American war,—a trade which was supported by the circumstance of France receiving, through the medium of the Glasgow merchants, a great part of the tobacco she consumed. But the establishment of American independence having enabled the French to import directly from that country, the intercourse of Glasgow with Virginia was reduced to a trade of very small amount. This loss, although alarming at the time, was soon considered to have been of no material injury to the interests of the place. The business had been confined to a few houses; the quantity of goods exported in return for the tobacco had never been large; and the returns, owing to the extension of credit to the planters, had been very slow. The traders of Glasgow, therefore, began to turn their views to the better peopled States of the Union, and to Canada, as likely to furnish a more extensive market for the sale of those manufactures, to which the capital and industry of the town had now become strongly directed.

Some of the manufacturers of Glasgow having, at different times, carried to the United States small assortments of their goods, and found there a ready market for them, began, about the year 1793, to establish houses in the principal towns, for the regular disposal of their commodities, and for shipping home the returns received in exchange for them. These establishments increased with the increasing demands of the two countries for each other's products, and a valuable commercial connection in this way gradually grew up between them. The manufacturers who had begun this trade in the view of opening a market for their own particular articles, were led afterwards to improve their assortment, by adding to it other manufactured goods which they purchased; and finding this part of the business to be more important than the other, and to require all the capital they could command, they withdrew from manufacturing, and became wholly merchants.

The plan upon which this business has been since conducted, as well as that of the establishments, formed afterwards for similar purposes, in the West Indies and in the States of South America, is calculated to give stability to the trade, and, at the same time, to lead to its extension. The transactions of these houses are managed by a partner residing on the spot, assisted by young men sent out from time to time to serve under him in the capacity of storekeepers and clerks. This partner pays occasional visits to this country, to give directions in the selection of the goods; and, after some time, returns finally to settle at home and take charge of the business, leaving in his place one of those young men, who is then assumed as a partner. The others, when they do not meet with a like opening, seek for themselves connections with other parties, and lay the foundation of new concerns.

Establishments of this description have been formed by the merchants of Glasgow in all the principal towns of the United States, in Canada, in Nova Scotia, in the West Indies, in the Brazils, and in the principal towns of the South American States.

We have mentioned the commission-houses of Glasgow, opened in our different foreign settlements, for the sale of manufactures; and that these establishments had of late years greatly increased. Wherever this has taken place to any great degree, the merchants we have now been describing have been obliged, one after another, to retire from the business, finding it impossible to sell, with a profit, the goods they had purchased, in competition with the same articles poured into the market by the manufacturers themselves. Many of these parties, however, unwilling to quit the ground they had so long occupied, and looking forward to a change necessarily to take place in this ruinous mode of carrying on the trade, have, in the view of keeping up their establishments in the meantime, converted them into commission-houses.

About the end of the seventeenth century several sugar refining houses had been established in Glasgow; the raw sugars for which were brought from Bristol and London. But as soon as the union of the kingdoms had opened to the Scots the trade to the Colonies, the merchants of Glasgow became desirous to obtain their supplies of this article directly from the West Indies, and sent out vessels from time to time with herrings and other articles, and brought back sugars in return. It was not, however, till about the year 1732, that any fixed connection was attempted to be formed with the islands, for supplying the estates of the planters with necessaries, and receiving in return the consignment of their crops. This branch of the West India business, which is distinct from that of supplying these countries with manufactured goods, and carried on by a separate class of merchants, commenced in Glasgow at this period. It was confined for some time to a few houses, and its growth was slow; the market for West India commodities being limited to the consumption of the surrounding district, and to occasional sales of small parcels of sugar and rum to Ireland. In the year 1775, the imports of West Indian produce into the Clyde were as follows:—sugar, 4621 hds. and 691 tierces; rum, 1154 puncheons and 193 hds.; cotton, 503 bags.

But in proportion as the wealth and population of this part of the country increased, and with these the means of consuming West India commodities, the traffic which the merchants of Glasgow carried on with the planters increased also.

The war of 1793 having given to Britain the colonies of the other European states, and, for a time, the exclusive access to the markets in which their products were to be sold, the merchants of Glasgow availed themselves of their favourable situation for carrying on this trade, and got possession of a large share of the business. In this commerce considerable fortunes were made, and Glasgow having become a more known and established medium for supplying West India commodities to the Continent, an extension of her general West India trade has been the effect. This will probably continue after the monopoly from the temporary possession of the foreign colonies has been done away. The imports of West India products into the Clyde, for the years 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1819, were as follows:

<table> <tr> <th></th> <th>1812.</th> <th>1813.</th> <th>1814.</th> <th>1819.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Sugars.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Hogsheads,</td> <td>28,862</td> <td>36,037</td> <td>40,004</td> <td>24,256</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Tierces,</td> <td>2,548</td> <td>4,038</td> <td>3,712</td> <td>1,142</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Barrels,</td> <td>5,868</td> <td>7,248</td> <td>6,282</td> <td>1,368</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Boxes,</td> <td>100</td> <td>2,660</td> <td>8,703</td> <td>4,608 bags, 4,608</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Rum.—Jamaica.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Puncheons,</td> <td>2,346</td> <td>5,265</td> <td>4,030</td> <td>3,645</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Hogsheads,</td> <td>53</td> <td>141</td> <td>150</td> <td>279</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Leward Islands.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Puncheons,</td> <td>4,690</td> <td>7,567</td> <td>7,410</td> <td>1,651</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Hogsheads,</td> <td>44</td> <td>23</td> <td>69</td> <td>110</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Coffee.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Casks,</td> <td>5,025</td> <td>12,325</td> <td>16,251</td> <td>3,240</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Barrels,</td> <td>928</td> <td>5,384</td> <td>8,107</td> <td>575</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Bags,</td> <td>7,927</td> <td>35,923</td> <td>53,237</td> <td>9,148</td> </tr> </table>

Soon after Parliament had laid open the trade to the countries lying to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, Glasgow entered largely into the business. This new branch, when freed, as it must soon be, from every remaining restriction, promises to be one of the most important we have ever possessed. It is impossible, indeed, to form even a conjecture of what may be the results to our commerce, and the spring to our industry, from a free intercourse with the countries lying around the Indian seas—rich in natural productions and works of art, and containing a population of more than four hundred millions. Already we have found in these countries a growing sale for our manufactures, and, what is most extraordinary, for our muslins and other cotton goods. Such is the power of our mechanical contrivances, it would appear, that we are enabled to bring the cotton wool from India, to work it up here, and sell the cloth again in that country, at a price below that at which the natives, with all the advantages of cheap labour, and unexampled manual skill, can produce it.

The foreign commerce of Glasgow for the last few years has suffered, no less than her manufactures, from the want of market, and proceeding from the same cause—the disability of the country to purchase and consume the commodities imported.

The extension of the town, and the increase of the Extension population of Glasgow, within the last forty years, is of the City, almost unexampled. The whole of what is called the New Town, the extensive suburbs on the south side of the river, called Lauriestown, Hutchisonstown, and Trades' Town, and almost the whole of the large and very populous suburbs of Calton and Bridgeton, have been built within that period. During the same time, too, the following public buildings have been erected, which, independently of the particular purposes to which they are applicable, have contributed to the ornament and beauty of the city:

The Royal Infirmary, the Trades' Hall, and the Assembly and Concert Rooms, from designs furnished by Messrs Robert and James Adam.

Hutchison's Hospital, the Theatre, and St John's Church, from designs by Mr David Hamilton.

The Hunterian Museum, St George's Church, the Court-Houses and Prison, and the Lunatic Asylum, from designs by Mr William Stark.

The Rouan Catholic Chapel, from a design by Mr James Gillespie.

Besides these public buildings for useful purposes, an Obelisk, 142 feet high, was, in 1806, erected to the memory of Lord Nelson.

Since the publication of the former article, several alterations have taken place in the state of the University. The Hunterian Museum, bequeathed to it by the late Dr William Hunter, an acquisition of great value and importance, has been moved to Glasgow. A Professorship in Natural History has been instituted, and the former Lectureships in Chemistry, Botany, Midwifery, and Surgery, have been converted into Professorships. Since the building of the Infirmary, the College of Glasgow has been regularly rising into name as a medical seminary, and the number of medical students yearly increasing. Indeed, the increase of students in all the classes has been great, and has kept pace with the increase of the town. The number at the time our former article was written was 500, and, in the last session (1819-20), it had risen to 1264.

Besides the additional provisions for instruction which have taken place in the University, several institutions for education and the advancement of knowledge have been founded.

In the Andersonian Institution, founded by the late Professor Anderson in 1795, in which popular lectures upon Natural Philosophy, upon Chemistry, upon Mechanics,* and upon Anatomy, are given. An Astronomical Society has been formed, an Observatory built on Garnet Hill, and a very valuable collection of instruments purchased. A Botanic Garden, in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, containing six acres of ground, has been laid out; the expence of which is defrayed by private subscription, along with a contribution from the funds of the university. Three public libraries have been founded,—Stirling's Library, the Robertsonian

* An account of the Lectures upon Mechanics will be found in our Article on the COTTON MANUFACTURE. Library, and the Glasgow Public Library. The first was an endowment by the late Mr Walter Stirling, and has a revenue, including contributions, of about L. 200 a year. As some further criterion of the disposition for information in the inhabitants of Glasgow at the present period, it may be proper to note, that there are above forty booksellers' shops in the town, and that nine newspapers are published every week.

The Police Establishment of Glasgow, for watching, lighting, and cleaning the streets, is extremely well adapted to its end, and conducted with great economy, the whole expense being defrayed from a tax of 5 per cent. on the house rents. The management is vested in the Magistrates, and twenty-four Commissioners chosen by the inhabitants by ballot. "These Commissioners hold stated weekly and quarterly boards, while numerous committees watch over the particular concerns of every department." The executive body acting under them consists of a Master of Police, nineteen officers, eighty watchmen, twenty patrols, and sixteen scavengers.

There is a separate Police establishment, with a board of Commissioners, a Master of Police, and complement of officers and watchmen, for the suburbs of Gorbals, Laurieston, &c. lying on the south side of the river.

The following is a view of the progressive population of Glasgow, from the earliest time we have any account of the number of its inhabitants:

<table> <tr> <th>In the year</th> <th>their numbers amounted to</th> </tr> <tr><td>1560</td><td>4500</td></tr> <tr><td>1610</td><td>7644</td></tr> <tr><td>1660</td><td>14678</td></tr> <tr><td>1688</td><td>11948</td></tr> <tr><td>1708</td><td>12766</td></tr> <tr><td>1712</td><td>13832</td></tr> <tr><td>1740</td><td>17034</td></tr> <tr><td>1755</td><td>23536</td></tr> <tr><td>1763</td><td>28300</td></tr> <tr><td>1780</td><td>42832</td></tr> <tr><td>1785</td><td>45889</td></tr> <tr><td>1791</td><td>66578</td></tr> <tr><td>1801</td><td>83769</td></tr> <tr><td>1811</td><td>110460</td></tr> <tr><td>1820</td><td>147197*</td></tr> </table>

A view of the progress of Glasgow from time to time may be afforded, from a statement of some other circumstances connected with its situation, which will serve to mark, in some degree, the state of its inhabitants at these periods.

The rental of the houses, and of the places of business within the royalty, was,

In 1712, L. 7,840 1773, 36,706 1803, 81,484

In 1810, L.194,753 1815, 240,232 1820, 286,340†

The following taxes were levied on the inhabitants living within the royalty:

<table> <tr> <th>Property and Income Tax.</th> <th>Assessed Taxes.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>In 1806-7, L. 56093 8 0</td> <td>L.20643 1 5½</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1810-11, 56775 15 3</td> <td>22964 18 3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1815-16, 66735 8 6</td> <td>31180 12 10½</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1819-20, 00000 0 0</td> <td>30585 5 10½‡</td> </tr> </table>

The sum raised in Glasgow for the maintenance of Fund for the poor is assessed upon the supposed property Paupers and income of the inhabitants residing within the royalty, and the valuation of these is made up by a jury of fifteen citizens, appointed annually. Property belonging to an inhabitant, if lying out of the royalty, is not included in the sum to be assessed; and the amount of each individual's estimated wealth or income is taken below what is thought to be its real value; the attention of the assessors being principally directed to maintain the relative proportions to be paid by the parties. No person whose valued property is under L. 300 is included in the assessment.

The assessment for the poor in per L.100 1785 was L. 1,092, levied on L.2,096,600, at 1s. 2½d. 1795 . 3,387, . 2,540,200, . 2 8 1805 . 5,265, . 4,357,250, . 2 5 1815 . 9,940, . 6,447,900, . 3 1 1820 . 13,120, . 6,174,400, . 4 3§

There is, in the information given in this table, matter for the consideration of the political economist. From 1785 to 1820, the assessment for the poor advanced from L.1092 to L.13,120, and the rate, notwithstanding the increase of the wealth of the town within that period, from 1s. 2½d. to 4s. 3d. per L.100. And, it is to be observed, that the great proportion of the increase of the population of Glasgow, which took place within this time, as shown in the population tables, was in those parts of the town lying without the royalty, the poor of which receive nothing from this fund.

The assessment of 1819 and 1820, amounting to L. 13,120, was levied from 2759 persons, whose assessable property was valued at L. 6,174,400. We give the particulars of this assessment, as an important document in an account of Glasgow, to show in what proportions the valued wealth of the inhabitants, living within the royalty at the time, was distributed among them.

* See Enumeration of the Inhabitants of Glasgow, with Statistical Tables, by James Cleland, Superintendent of Public Works for the City. Printed for the Magistrates in 1820. † Ibid. ‡ Ibid. § Ibid. <table> <tr> <th>Persons Assessed.</th> <th>Sum Assessed on.</th> <th>Persons Assessed.</th> <th>Sum Assessed on.</th> <th>Persons Assessed.</th> <th>Sum Assessed on.</th> <th>Persons Assessed.</th> <th>Sum Assessed on.</th> <th>Persons Assessed.</th> <th>Sum Assessed on.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>771</td> <td>L. 900</td> <td>1</td> <td>L. 1600</td> <td>2</td> <td>L. 5500</td> <td>7</td> <td>L. 13,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>L. 26,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>400</td> <td>1</td> <td>1800</td> <td>62</td> <td>6000</td> <td>8</td> <td>14,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>28,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>43</td> <td>500</td> <td>208</td> <td>2000</td> <td>1</td> <td>6500</td> <td>13</td> <td>15,000</td> <td>2</td> <td>30,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>542</td> <td>600</td> <td>58</td> <td>2500</td> <td>37</td> <td>7000</td> <td>3</td> <td>10,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>31,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>16</td> <td>700</td> <td>1</td> <td>2700</td> <td>39</td> <td>8000</td> <td>1</td> <td>17,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>32,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>800</td> <td>137</td> <td>3000</td> <td>1</td> <td>8500</td> <td>6</td> <td>18,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>34,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>6</td> <td>900</td> <td>15</td> <td>3500</td> <td>15</td> <td>9000</td> <td>12</td> <td>20,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>35,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>330</td> <td>1000</td> <td>81</td> <td>4000</td> <td>34</td> <td>10,000</td> <td>2</td> <td>22,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>37,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td> <td>1200</td> <td>12</td> <td>4500</td> <td>2</td> <td>11,000</td> <td>4</td> <td>24,000</td> <td>2</td> <td>40,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>1300</td> <td>75</td> <td>5000</td> <td>24</td> <td>12,000</td> <td>1</td> <td>25,000</td> <td>2</td> <td>60,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td>157</td> <td>1500</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> <td>—</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1883</td> <td>+</td> <td>589</td> <td>+</td> <td>217</td> <td>+</td> <td>57</td> <td>+</td> <td>13</td> <td>=2759 *</td> </tr> </table>

It will be observed, that the highest sum assessed in the above table is L. 60,000, but there are many people in Glasgow whose fortunes are greatly above this sum, and some who are possessed of three or four times its amount. A gentleman who died last year left above L. 300,000, made in the cotton manufacture.

In an account of the progress of Glasgow, it may be proper to take some notice of the effect produced on manners, by the great increase of its population, and the employment of a considerable proportion of it, at an early period of life, in large factories. Although the injurious influence of these circumstances on the moral feeling and habits of the lower orders has been great, we do not think they have yet suffered so much as the people of the larger manufacturing communities of England; and we can only attribute this to the greater attention that is still bestowed here upon the education of this portion of society. But the progress of demoralization, latterly, has been greatly accelerated; and this, we think, is a consequence of the reduced and wretched circumstances of the operative class, acting in conjunction with the causes we have before mentioned. By Mr Cleland's Tables, the number of delinquents, incarcerated in the jail of Glasgow, in the year 1815, was 944. In 1819, the number was 1323. The average number of prisoners in bride-well, for the year 1810, was 90, while the average number in 1819 was 220.

In reviewing the circumstances of a large manufacturing community, this melancholy consideration forces itself on the mind—that the discoveries in mechanics, and improvements in the various processes of production, intended by nature to increase the sum of man's comforts, should, in the way the affairs of the world are conducted, terminate always in lowering his condition. The end seems to be every where sacrificed to the means; and we find manufactures valued, not as they enable those employed in them to add to the amount of their enjoyments, but as they serve to increase the general revenue of the country.

(T. T.)