A great commercial and manufacturing city of Lanarkshire, in Scotland, situated on the northern bank of the river Clyde. According to the determination of Dr Wilson, formerly professor of astronomy in the university of Glasgow, the latitude and longitude of the Macfarlane Observatory, in the College Garden of Glasgow, are, 55° 51' 32" north, and 4° 17' 54" west. Glasgow is therefore nearly eight miles farther south than Edinburgh, and 1° 1' farther west. The difference between the clocks in Edinburgh and Glasgow is 4' 27" 4'.
See of Glasgow.—There is no authentic record of the origin of Glasgow. Its name in the Gaelic language is interpreted by some as signifying a grey smith, whilst others think it means a dark glen, in allusion to the ravine near the cathedral, where a primary settlement appears to have been made. Although Glasgow was an early seat of the church, historians do not agree as to the time when the see was founded. That it was next to St Andrews in point of antiquity is beyond all doubt. With regard to its founder, Kennet, in his *Parochial Antiquities*, says, it was instituted by Kentigern or St Mungo, in the year 560. Dr Kelyn, speaking of the see of St Asaph in Wales, observes that "the see was founded by St Kentigern, a Scot, in 583," and that "St Kentigern was then Bishop of Glasgow." From these authorities it may be inferred that St Mungo founded the see of Glasgow, and became the first bishop; and that when a cathedral of sufficient grandeur was finished, it would be dedicated to St Mungo. Baldrade, St Mungo's disciple, who founded a religious house at Inchinnan, is said to have succeeded him in the bishopric. There is no record of the town or of the see for more than five hundred years after this period. This great blank cannot be accounted for with any degree of certainty. Amongst other conjectures, there is one, that the church had been destroyed by the ravages of the Danes, who murdered or drove off the religious persons who had settled in Glasgow.
In the year 1115, David prince of Cumberland reformed the see; and having in the year 1124 succeeded his brother Alexander I. on the throne of Scotland, he promoted his chaplain, John Achaius, to the bishopric in 1129. In 1138 the cathedral was solemnly consecrated in presence of the king, who endowed it with the lands of Partick. In 1155 Pope Alexander III. issued a bull commanding the faithful to visit the cathedral of Glasgow. In 1176 Bishop Jeceline enlarged the cathedral, and rebuilt a part of it in a style more magnificent than formerly. In 1300 Edward I. of England, assuming authority in Scotland, appointed Anthony Beik to the see of Glasgow; and at the same period Earl Percy took possession of the episcopal palace. This had no sooner taken place than Sir William Wallace, with his friend James Cleland, and a few chosen followers, indignant at the usurpers, gave them battle in the High In the year 1426 Bishop Cameron established the commissary court, and increased the number of prebendaries of the cathedral to thirty-two. In 1450 Bishop Turnbull obtained a charter from James II. erecting the town a patrimony of the bishopric into a regality. In 1488, that is, in Bishop Blackadder's time, the see of Glasgow was made archiepiscopal. This bishop, along with the Earl of Bothwell, negotiated a marriage between King James I. of Scotland, and the Lady Margaret, eldest daughter of King Henry VII. of England, which they brought about, to the mutual satisfaction of both kingdoms. This union laid the foundation of the title of the Scottish kings to the English throne, to which in right of proximity of blood King James VI. of Scotland succeeded upon the demise of Queen Elizabeth.
The revenues which had been granted from time to time in support of the splendour of the see of Glasgow were very considerable. The archbishops were lords of the lands of the royalty and baronies of Glasgow; besides, there were eighteen baronies of land which belonged to them within the sheriffdoms of Lanark, Dumbarton, Ayr, Renfrew, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Dumfries, and the Stewartry of Annandale, including 240 parishes. There was also a large estate in Cumberland within their jurisdiction, which was named of old the spiritual dukedom. When the see was made archiepiscopal, jurisdiction was given over to bishops of Galloway, Argyll, and the Isles. At the formation in 1560 Archbishop Beaton retired to France, taking with him all the relics, documents, and plate which belonged to the see and the archbishopric. Since the reformation of the see there have been twenty-six Roman Catholic bishops: the first, John Auchain, elected in 1129, and the last, George Carmichael, in 1483; and four Roman Catholic archbishops: the first, Robert Blackadder, in 1488, and the last, James Beaton, in 1551. From the formation till the Revolution the church in Glasgow was governed by fourteen Protestant archbishops: the first, James Boyd, elected in 1572, and the last, John Paterson, in 1687.
Corporation of Glasgow.—Glasgow was governed by a provost and bailies as early as the year 1268. In 1605 the constitution of the burgh was settled in three distinct bodies, viz., the town council, the merchants', and the trades' losses. The town council consisted of certain persons from the ranks of the merchants and trades. In 1801 some alteration was made in the constitution; and from that period till 1832 the corporation consisted of a provost, five bailies, twelve councillors from the merchants and eleven from the trades, a master of work, and a treasurer; the verbal and water bailie were chosen from the council, who elected themselves. One third went out of the council every year, and could not return for three years. The merchants' house sent a list of three persons to the council, from which they elected one to be dean of guild; and in the same manner the trades' house, when one of the three was elected convener.
In 1832, after the passing of the burgh reform bill, the town council was chosen by the parliamentary constituency, consisting of upwards of 7000 persons who paid an yearly rent of L10 and upwards. The city is divided into five wards, each ward electing six councillors. The dean of guild and convener are elected by their respective houses. When added to the councillors, they elect a provost, five bailies, a treasurer, and master of work; one third of the councillors go out of office every year, but may be immediately re-elected. The revenue of the city varies from £15,000 to £16,000.
Previously to the passing of the reform bill the burghs of Glasgow, Renfrew, Dumbarton, and Rutherglen elected an individual to represent them in parliament; but since that bill has been in operation, the above-mentioned constituency for Glasgow returns two members to parliament.
Progressive Population.—There is no enumeration of the inhabitants of Glasgow that can be relied on before the year 1610; but there are grounds for supposing that about the time of the Reformation, in 1560, the population amounted to 4500. In 1610 when the episcopal form of government was resumed in the church, Archbishop Spottiswoode directed the population to be ascertained, upon which it was found to amount to 7644. In 1660, at the restoration of Charles II., it amounted to 14,678. In 1688, at the Revolution, the population had decreased to 11,948. This diminution has been accounted for by the civil war, during which a number of the inhabitants were driven into exile. In 1708, immediately after the union with England, it amounted to 12,766. In 1712 the convention of royal burghs directed a census of the population to be taken, when it amounted to 13,832. In 1740 the magistrates ascertained it to be 17,034. In 1755 the population was 23,546; this was ascertained for the Reverend Dr. Webster, then preparing his scheme for the Widows' Fund of the Church of Scotland. In 1763 Mr. John Woodburn, the city surveyor, found it to be 28,300. In 1780 it had increased to 42,823; but in this enumeration all the suburbs were for the first time included. In 1785, soon after the American war, the population amounted to 45,889. In 1791 the population having been ascertained for Sir John Sinclair's national statistical work, amounted to 66,578, including 4633, a part of the suburbs which had been omitted in the return. Previously to 1801 the general results only were preserved, but in that year government for the first time caused a census to be taken, and the population was found to be 77,385, viz., males 35,007, females 42,378. In this enumeration a part of the population of the suburbs was not included; but if it had been added, the amount would have been 83,769. In 1811 there was another government enumeration, according to which the population amounted to 100,749, viz., males 45,275, females 55,474. In 1819 Dr Cleland drew up the first classified enumeration of the inhabitants of Glasgow, according to which the population amounted to 147,197, viz., males 68,994, females 78,203. In 1821 there was another government enumeration, when the population amounted to 147,043, viz., males 68,119, females 78,924. In 1831, at the last government census, the population was 202,426, viz., males 93,724, females 108,702. The population of Glasgow and its suburbs may now, after three years increase, be taken at about 220,000.
Glasgow Bills of Mortality.—As the Glasgow bills of mortality, from which the probability of human life in large towns, and other important results, may be deduced, have met with unprecedented celebrity, we think it right to give a detailed account of the manner in which these bills have been prepared. Bills of mortality are understood to contain a list of births, marriages, and deaths, taken from parochial registers at stated periods, in connection with the population. The parochial register of births in Glasgow being so defective that no reliance could be placed on it, Dr Cleland, to whom the country is indebted for the Glasgow bills, obtained the necessary information in the following manner.
On the 6th of December 1829, he addressed a letter to each of the seventy-five clergymen and lay pastors in the city and suburbs who baptize children, requesting to be favoured with returns of the numbers they might baptize from the 14th of December 1829 to the 15th of December 1830, both days inclusive, being the year previous to the last government census. The letter was accompanied by a book, in which the sexes, and the particular parishes in which the parents resided, were to be inserted. He also requested the various societies of Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Jews and others, who do not dispense the ordinance of baptism to infants, to favour him with the above particulars relative to children born to members of their societies; and at maturity he had the satisfaction of receiving returns from the whole; as also an account of the children of parents who, whilst disapproving of infant baptism, did not belong to any religious society. It appeared, that in the city and suburbs there were 6397 children baptized, or born to Baptists, &c. and of that number there were only 3225 inserted in the parochial registers, leaving unregistered 3172.
Although in Scotland there is no marriage act, as in England, restricting the solemnization of marriages to clergymen of the established church, this ordinance can only be regularly celebrated by persons duly called to the pastoral office, and not until a certificate of the proclamation of banns has been produced. Persons irregularly married are deprived of the privileges of the church till they appear before the kirk-session, acknowledge their fault, and be repented or restored. From this circumstance, in connection with the solicitude of the female and her friends to have the marriage registered, the marriage-register of Glasgow and its suburbs may be held as correct for all statistical purposes.
The deaths are ascertained by the number of burials. The burying-grounds in the city and suburbs are placed under the management of fourteen wardens. These officers, who attend every funeral, enter in a memorandum book, at the grave, the name, age, and designation of the person buried, along with the amount of fee received, and the name of the undertaker. Having taken these and other particulars, the wardens afterwards enter the whole in a book, classified conformably to a printed schedule drawn up by Dr Cleland. At the end of the year they furnish him with an abstract from their books; and it is from a combination of these abstracts that he ascertains the number of deaths at the various ages. The abstract includes still-born children, and the deaths of Jews and members of the Society of Friends who have separate burying-places.
Dr Cleland having been appointed to take the sole charge of conducting the enumeration and classification of the inhabitants of the city of Glasgow and suburbs for the government census of 1831, he employed twelve parochial beadles, nineteen mercantile clerks, and one superintendent of police, to take the lists. Before the books were prepared, however, an advertisement was inserted in the Glasgow newspapers, requesting the inhabitants to favour him with their suggestions as to classification; and before the list-takers commenced their operations, bills were posted upon the public places and dwelling-houses of the city, informing the inhabitants of the nature of the inquiries, and that they had no reference to taxes, and, moreover, that non-compliance, or giving a false return, subjected them to a fine. When the books were returned to him, the public, through the medium of the press, were requested to call at an office appointed for the purpose, and to correct any omission or error which might have been made in their returns. The list-takers having made oath before the lord provost, that the name of every householder in the district assigned to them, his or her age, profession, religion, country, &c., had been faithfully entered in a book, and a similar description of his or her family taken down, he proceeded to classification, and formed tables and abstracts for each parish, containing numerous details not required for the government digest.
Glasgow Bill of Mortality for 1830.
A General List of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, within the ten Parishes of the Royalty, and the Suburban Parishes of Barony and Gorbals.
| Births and Baptisms | Males | Females | Total | |---------------------|-------|---------|-------| | Returns from Clergymen and Lay Pastors | 3281 | 3116 | 6397 | | Add still-born, from do. | 246 | 225 | 471 | | Total | 3527 | 3341 | 6868 | | Of this number there were registered only | 1678 | 1547 | 3225 | | Number unregistered, exclusive of still-born | 1603 | 1569 | 3172 |
The children were baptized as follows, viz: By clergymen of the Church of Scotland | 3123 By ditto of the Secession Church | 664 By ditto of the Relief Church | 671 By ditto of the Roman Catholic Church | 915 By ditto of the Scotch Episcopal Church, Independents, Methodists, and other denominations, including births among Baptists, Society of Friends, Jews, &c. | 1024
Total | 6397
Marriages engrossed in the registers of the city, Barony, and Gorbals:—In the city, 857; Barony, 691; Gorbals, 371; total, 1919.
Burials engrossed in the Registers of the City, Barony, and Gorbals Burying Grounds.
| Months | Males | Females | Total | |--------|-------|---------|-------| | January | 273 | 268 | 541 | | February | 226 | 223 | 449 | | March | 218 | 207 | 425 | | April | 208 | 184 | 392 | | May | 185 | 175 | 360 | | June | 200 | 178 | 378 | | July | 194 | 182 | 376 | | August | 232 | 206 | 438 | | September | 240 | 229 | 469 | | October | 236 | 184 | 420 | | November | 234 | 189 | 423 | | December | 255 | 259 | 514 |
Total | 2701 | 2484 | 5185
Of whom have died—
Still-born | 246 | 225 | 471 Under one year | 463 | 414 | 877 1 and under 2 | 316 | 307 | 623 2 | 263 | 237 | 500 5 | 134 | 119 | 253 10 | 144 | 132 | 276 20 | 189 | 145 | 334 30 | 169 | 144 | 313 40 | 184 | 164 | 348 50 | 177 | 175 | 352 60 | 168 | 171 | 339 70 | 109 | 102 | 211 75 | 55 | 58 | 113 80 | 48 | 48 | 96 85 | 24 | 26 | 50 90 | 9 | 10 | 19 95 | 3 | 6 | 9 104 | 0 | 1 | 1
Total | 2701 | 2484 | 5185 Detail of Burials in the City.—In the High Churchyards, 1728; in the Crypt of the Cathedral, 3; in Blackfriars, St David’s, and North-west burying grounds, 204; the Crypt of St David’s Church, 12; in the Episcopal Chapel burying ground, 4. Total burials within the city, 1951. In Barony Parish.—In the Calton burying ground, 809; in Bridgetown ditto, 229; in Tollcross ditto, 192; in Shettleston ditto, 54; in Anderston ditto, Glasgow, 125; in Cheapside Street ditto, 123; in Woodside Street ditto, 268; in the Crypt of the Reverend Dr Mitchell’s Church, Wellington Street, 31. Total burials in Barony parish, 1831. In Gorbals Parish.—In Gorbals burying ground, 1403. Total burials in city and suburbs, 5185.
Ages of Persons in Glasgow, and in the Suburban Parishes of Barony and Gorbals, in 1830.
| Under Five | Five to Ten | Ten to Fifteen | Fifteen to Twenty | Twenty to Thirty | Thirty to Forty | Forty to Fifty | Fifty to Sixty | Sixty to Seventy | Seventy to Eighty | Eighty to Ninety | Ninety to One Hundred | A Hundred upwards | Total | |------------|-------------|---------------|------------------|-----------------|----------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------------|-----------------|-------| | Males... | 15422 | 13127 | 10491 | 8489 | 15177 | 12179 | 8685 | 5549 | 3228 | 1090 | 260 | 26 | 1 | 93724 | | Females... | 14855 | 12580 | 10720 | 12256 | 23008 | 14240 | 9329 | 6099 | 3692 | 1502 | 385 | 32 | 4 | 108702 | | Total... | 30277 | 25707 | 21211 | 20745 | 38185 | 26419 | 18014 | 11648 | 6920 | 2592 | 645 | 58 | 5 | 202426 |
Before exhibiting results, it may be right to mention, at about twenty years ago the causes of death were announced yearly in a periodical, along with the gross number of burials; but as no confidence could be placed in such statements, Dr Cleland has, since that period, declined to publish a list of diseases; but being aware, that if a correct list could be obtained at the census of 1831, when the population, births, marriages, and deaths, were ascertained, would be very beneficial in a medical point of view, he addressed letters to upwards of 130 medical gentlemen in the city and suburbs, requesting that they would favour him with a return of the diseases of which their patients died during the period in which he had requested the clergy to give him a note of baptisms. As he only succeeded with a small portion of the members of faculty, however, the attempt became fruitless; and in all probability any future attempt will be unsuccessful, till a compulsory act of the legislature regarding parochial registers be obtained. Dr Cleland having been intrusted with drawing up and classifying the government population returns for 1821, he took the same precautions as to births, marriages, trials, and population, as in 1831, in the view of being able to ascertain the ages of the population, and the periods of life at which death ensued, at particular epochs when the population could be accurately ascertained.
That Glasgow is a place of average health for statistical purposes may be inferred from the daily state of the weather, which Dr Cleland published in 1831, by which it appeared that the average quantity of rain which fell yearly during thirty years preceding that period amounted to rather less than twenty-three inches. But, more particularly, the degree of health may be known, and tables formed for ascertaining the probability of human life, from a series of the mortality bills, where the ages of the living and those of persons who have died are stated in connection with the population, and a table of longevity for Scotland, which he prepared in 1821, by which it appeared that on an average of all the counties of Scotland, there was one person eighty years of age for every 143.2% of the population, whilst in the county of Lanark, with a population of 316,790, including 263,046 who live in towns, viz. in Glasgow 202,426, and in other towns 60,620, there was one such person for every 169.7%, showing a degree of health in the population of Glasgow nearly equal to that of the whole of Scotland.
The following results have reference to Glasgow and its suburbs, which partake of a mercantile and manufacturing population, or something between Liverpool and Manchester, the town population being 198,518, and the rural 3908: In 1831 the population was found to be 202,426, the burials 5185, and the rate of mortality consequently 39.8%. The births being 6868, there is one birth for every 29.99 persons. The number of marriages being 1919, there is 3.57 births to each marriage, and one marriage for every 105.09 persons. The number of families being 41,965, there are 4.82 persons to each family. It is very satisfactory to know, that with the same machinery in 1821, the population being 147,043, the burials 3696, the rate of mortality was 39.8%, or, in other words, as near as may be to the mortality in 1831. By reference to the bills of mortality between the years 1821 and 1831, similar results will be obtained. Dr Cleland states, that in all the authentic bills of mortality he had ever seen, there were more males born than females; but taking the population above fifteen years, the number of females preponderates. The following results for Glasgow are derived from the census of 1831.
| Births—Males | 3,527 | Females | 3,341 | Excess of males | 186 | |--------------|-------|---------|-------|----------------|-----| | Males under five years | 15,422 | Females | 14,855 | Excess of males | 567 | | Males under ten years | 28,549 | Females | 27,435 | Excess of males | 1,114 | | Males under fifteen years | 39,040 | Females | 38,155 | Excess of males | 885 | | Males under twenty years | 47,529 | Females | 50,411 | Excess of females | 2,882 | | Males under thirty years | 62,706 | Females | 73,419 | Excess of females | 10,713 | | Males—entire population | 93,724 | Females | 108,702 | Excess of females | 14,978 | | Burials—Males | 2,701 | Females | 2,484 | Excess of males | 217 |
Description of householders:—Married men, 30,032; widowers, 1790; bachelors, 1437; male householders, 3,259; widows, 6824; spinsters, 1882; female householders, 8706; Total families, 41,965. Country to which the population belongs: Scotch, 163,600; English, 2919; Irish, 35,554; foreigners, 358; total, 202,426. Religion of the population: Established, 104,162; Dissenters, Episcopalians, and Jews, 71,299; Roman Catholics, 26,965; total, 202,426.
It appears from a recent report of a committee of the House of Commons, on the evidence of persons distinguished by their knowledge in political science, such as Dr Bowring, Dr Burrows, Mr Grimaldi, and others, that the public registers in this country are so inefficient as to render it impossible to determine the law of mortality among the working classes of the empire, either generally or locally. Mr Wheeler, clerk to the company of parish clerks, stated that in London the returns for the mortality bill are made up in each parish by two old pauper women, who are utterly incompetent to give correct information. Glasgow, and frequently receive most fallacious reports; and Mr Finlaison, the government actuary, stated that no faith whatever could be put in bills of mortality as they are now prepared. In order to procure an approximation of the rate of mortality which prevails among the working classes in this country, that distinguished political inquirer resorted to the public registers at Ostend in Flanders, where he made an observation on the mortality of that town for a period of twenty-six years ending in 1832. The result of his investigations was, that in a population consisting of about 11,000 souls, the rate of mortality was as one in thirty-six and one eighth. Mr Finlaison stated, in evidence, that "he was enabled to determine that Ostend is (notwithstanding the opinion that prevails in England) a very healthy situation, and no doubt is equal to the average of England; at least the only knowledge of the law of mortality as prevailing among the lower orders in England, on which he was able to depend, is derived from that which he obtained in Flanders." Thus it appears that the law of mortality in England is derived from data of about 11,000 souls in a foreign country, whilst the mortality of Glasgow is ascertained from a population of upwards of 200,000 souls; and as to the principles upon which the amount of mortality is ascertained, Mr Milne, the celebrated political inquirer, and actuary to the Sun Life Office, London, stated as his opinion, in reference to the Glasgow bills published by Dr Cleland in 1831, that "the law of mortality in a large manufacturing town may now be determined, though it could not heretofore, for want of the necessary data." Glasgow may, therefore, fairly claim precedence in whatever relates to the probability of human life in large manufacturing towns.
University.—The University of Glasgow is a corporate body, consisting of a chancellor, rector, dean, and principal, with professors and students. It was originally founded, like most other establishments of the same nature, by authority of the see of Rome. Pope Nicolas V. by a bull dated the 7th of January 1451, erected and established it.
The university at this time had received no endowments, and was for years possessed of no property except the university purse, into which were put some small perquisites on conferring degrees, and the patronages of two or three small chaplainaries. At first the university had no buildings of its own. It held its meetings in the chapter-house of the Blackfriars, or in the cathedral. But these defects were in some measure supplied by the liberality of James, first Lord Hamilton, an ancestor of the noble house of Hamilton, who, in the year 1459, gave to the principal and other regents of the College of Arts, for their use and accommodation, a tenement, with its pertinents, in the High Street of Glasgow, to the north of the Blackfriars, together with four acres of land in the Dow-hill. In the deed the noble donor required the principal and regents, on their first admission, to declare on oath that they would commemorate James Lord Hamilton, and Lady Euphemia, his spouse, the Countess of Douglas, as the founders of the college. Amongst other benefactors of the college distinguished by their donations chiefly for the support of poor students, were Ann duchess of Hamilton, Robina countess of Forfar, William earl of Dundonnell, the Duke of Chandos, the Duke of Montrose, Leighton archbishop of Glasgow, Boulter bishop of Armagh, Mr Snell, Dr Williams, Dr Walton, Mr Zachary Boyd, and Dr William Hunter.
The Reformation produced great disorder in the university, its members being clergymen of the Catholic persuasion, and its chief support being derived from the church. In 1577 James VI. prescribed particular rules with regard to the college, and the formation of its government, and made a considerable addition to its funds. The charter by which the king made these regulations, and gave that property, still continues to be the magna charta of the college, and is known by the name of Nova Erectio.
The business of the university is transacted in three distinct meetings, viz. those of the senate, the comitia, and the faculty. The meeting of senate consists of the rector, the dean, the members of faculty, and the other professors. The rector presides in this meeting, except when affairs are managed for which the dean is competent. Meetings of the senate are held for the election and admission of the chancellor and dean of faculty, for the admission of the vice-chancellor and vice-rector, for electing a representative to the general assembly, for conferring degrees, and for the management of the libraries and other matters belonging to the university. The constituent members of the comitia are the rector, the dean, the principal, the professors, and the matriculated students of the university. The rector or vice-rector presides in this meeting. Meetings of the comitia are held for the election and admission of the rector, for hearing public disputations in any of the faculties previously to the conferring of degrees, for hearing the inaugural discourses of the principal and professors previously to their admission to their respective offices, and for promulgating the laws of the university, and other acts of the university and college courts. The meeting of faculty, or college meeting, consists of the principal, the professors of divinity, church history, oriental languages, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, mathematics, logic, Greek, humanity, civil law, medicine, anatomy, and practical astronomy. The principal presides in this meeting, and has a casting, but not a deliberative vote. The members of faculty have the administration of the whole revenue and property of the college, consisting of heritage, fees, tithes, and bequests, with the exception of a few particular bequests, in which the rector and other officers of the university are specially named. They have likewise the right of exercising the patronage of eight professorships vested in the college. They present a minister to the parish of Govan, and have the gift of various bursaries. In the exercise however of one of their privileges, viz. the election of professors, the rector and dean of faculty have a vote.
The officer of highest dignity in the university is the chancellor, who is elected by the members of senate. He is the head of the university, and by himself or his deputy has the sole privilege of conferring academical degrees upon persons found qualified by the Senatus Academicus. The office of chancellor is held during life. The rector is annually elected by the dean, the principal, the professors, and the matriculated students. The electors are divided, according to their respective birthplaces, into four nations: Glottiana, Transforthanana, Loudeniana, and Rothesiana. As the majority of the members of each nation constitutes one vote, in case of an equality, the rector going out of office has the casting vote; and, in his absence, the rector immediately preceding. The election is always held on the 15th of November, except when it falls upon Sunday, and then the election is held on the following day, and the same person is generally re-elected for a second year. It is the duty of the rector to preserve the rights and privileges of the university, to convolve those meetings in which he presides, and, with his assessors, whom he himself appoints, to exercise that academical jurisdiction amongst the students themselves, or between the students and citizens, which is bestowed upon most of the universities of Europe. The dean of faculties is elected by the senate. This office is held for two years, and by virtue of it he is entitled to give directions with regard to the course of study, and to judge, together with the rector, principal, and professors, of the qualifications of those who desire to be created masters of arts, doctors of divinity, &c. The foundation of the office of principal, almost coeval with that of the university, was confirmed by James VI. in 1577. It is in the appointment of the king. The principal has the ordinary superintendence of the deputation of all members of the university, and is primarius professor of divinity. The professors of the university of Glasgow may be distributed, according to the departments of knowledge to which they are respectively assigned, into four distinct faculties, those of arts, theology, law, and medicine.
The faculty of arts comprehends the professors of Latin humanity, Greek, logic, ethics, natural philosophy, mathematics, practical astronomy, and natural history. To this faculty may be added the professors of mathematics, astronomy, and natural history. The faculty of theology includes, besides the principal, who in right of his office is first professor of divinity, three other professorships, those of divinity, church history, and oriental languages. The faculty of law consists of a single professorship, that of civil law. The faculty of medicine comprehends the professorships of anatomy, medicine, materia medica, surgery, midwifery, chemistry, and botany. The professors of Greek, logic, ethics, and natural philosophy, whose chairs were the richest endowed in the university, are denominated regents, and enjoy, in right of their regency, certain trifling privileges beyond their brother professors. The regius professors are those whose chairs have been recently founded, endowed, and nominated by the crown, and they are members of senate only, not of the faculty of college, viz., natural history, surgery, midwifery, chemistry, botany, and materia medica.
The university library was founded in the fifteenth century. It contains an extensive and valuable collection of books, amongst which are many beautiful editions of the classics. It is always increasing by donations of copies of every new work published in this country, as well as by books purchased by the fees received at matriculation, assisted by fees received from graduates, and by an annual payment from all students, who are entitled to the use of the library under certain limitations.
A small botanic garden adjoining the college was prepared for the use of the lecturer in botany in 1759; but having various causes become unfit for its purposes, a very valuable botanical garden, consisting of eight acres, was formed in the neighbourhood of the city by the citizens of Glasgow. The university subscribed £2000 towards its erection, for the privilege of their professor of botany lecturing in the hall in the garden, and government was subsequently given a similar sum in support of it. His garden, which was opened in the spring of 1818, for the variety of rare plants from almost every part of the world, is not exceeded by any botanical garden in the kingdom.
The founder of the Hunterian museum was the celebrated William Hunter, who was born in the parish of East Kilbride, in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, in 1710. By his will in 1781, he bequeathed to the principal and professors of the college his splendid collection of books, coins, paintings, anatomical preparations, &c., and appropriated £8000 for the erection of a building for their reception. The collection is valued at £65,000, viz., medals £30,000, books £15,000, pictures £10,000, miscellaneous £10,000. The collection has been considerably increased of late years. The public are admitted every lawful day, on payment of one shilling.
There are twenty-seven bursaries connected with the college, varying from £5 to £40. They are held from four to six years. Besides these there are two very valuable exhibitions. In the year 1688, Mr John Snell, with view to support episcopacy in Scotland, devised to trustees a considerable estate near Leamington, in Warwickshire, for educating Scotch students at Balliol College, Oxford. By the rise in the value of land, and the improvements which have from time to time been made on that estate, the fund now affords about £130 per annum to each of ten exhibitors. Another foundation by John Warner, bishop of Rochester, of £20 per annum to each of four Scotch students of the same college during their residence at Oxford, is generally given to the Glasgow exhibitors, so that four of them have a stipend of £150 per annum. The exhibitions are tenable for ten years, but vacated by marriage, or on receiving preferment of a certain amount. The right of nomination belongs to the principal and professors of the faculty.
Candidates to be eligible to Snell's exhibitions must, first, be natives of Scotland, which the master of Balliol requires to be proved by the production of an extract from the parish register of births; secondly, they must have attended as public students at least two sessions at the university of Glasgow, or one session there and two at some other Scottish university; and, thirdly, they must not be graduates of any university. Warner's exhibitions are in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Rochester, who usually nominate on the recommendation of the master of Balliol College. Amongst the distinguished persons of several professions who have been educated on Mr Snell's foundation, may be mentioned, Dr John Douglas, bishop of Salisbury, Dr Adam Smith, and Dr Matthew Bailie.
This university has had from its origin men of the highest talent and literary eminence among its professors and office bearers. The names of Melville, Bailie, Leishman, Burnet, Simpson, Hutchison, Black, Cullen, Adam Smith, Reid, Miller, and Richardson, are conspicuous; and the names of Henry Dundas, Edmund Burke, and other distinguished individuals, are to be found in the list of rectors.
Grammar-School.—This seminary is of remote antiquity, but, like some similar institutions of long standing, little is known of its early history. There was a grammar-school at Glasgow in the early part of the fourteenth century. It depended immediately on the cathedral church, and the chancellor of the diocese had not only the appointment of the masters, but also the superintendence of whatever related to education in the city. The grammar-school continued to be a distinct establishment after the erection of the university, and considerable care appears to have been taken to supply it with good teachers. In 1494 Mr Martin Wan, chancellor of the metropolitan church of Glasgow, brought a complaint before Bishop Blackadder against one Dawne, a priest of the diocese, for teaching scholars in grammar, and children in inferior branches, by himself apart, openly and publicly in the said city, without the allowance and in opposition to the will of the chancellor. The bishop, having heard parties, and examined witnesses, decided, with the advice of his chapter, and of the rector and clerks of the university, in favour of the chancellor. In the sixteenth century the situation of the master of the grammar-school was highly respectable; he was to be found among the non-regentes nominated to elect the rector and to examine the graduates. On the 28th of October 1595 the presbytery directed the regents in the college "to try the Irish scholars in the grammar school, twitching the heads of religion." At that period the school met at five o'clock in the morning. On 26th March 1601 the session decided that the school-house in the Greyfriars Wynd was in a ruinous state, and directed it to be rebuilt. Mr John Blackburn, who was master of the grammar-school and lord rector of the university in 1592–1593, resigned his mastership in 1615, on being appointed minister of the Barony Church.
The records of the town council have been searched in vain for the plan or system by which the school was conducted prior to the year 1707. Since that period it has undergone various changes in the management and system of education. Sometimes the school was under the con- Glasgow.
Sometimes the office during the course consisted of five, and at others of only four years. In 1830 the office of rector was abolished, and each of the four masters had the entire charge of finishing his own scholars during the four years. But in 1834 this seminary underwent a material alteration. From being a grammar-school, it may now be considered as an academy. Two of the masterships for Latin and Greek have been suppressed, and in lieu of these, teachers of English grammar, elocution, French, Italian, German, writing, arithmetic, geography, and mathematics, have been introduced, and the name of the seminary has been changed to that of the High School. The school is under the immediate management of a committee of the town council, aided by the advice and assistance of the clergy of the city, and by the professors of the university.
Anderson's University.—This establishment, founded by Mr John Anderson, professor of natural philosophy in the university of Glasgow, on the 7th of May 1795, and endowed by him with a valuable philosophical apparatus, museum, and library, was incorporated by a seal of cause from the magistrates and council of this city on the 9th of June 1796. The university is subject to the inspection of the Lord Provost, and other official persons, as ordinary visitors, and is placed under the immediate superintendence of eighty-one trustees, who are elected by ballot, and remain in office for life, unless disqualified by non-attendance. The trustees consist of nine classes of citizens, viz., tradesmen, agriculturists, artists, manufacturers, physicians and surgeons, lawyers, divines, philosophers, and lastly, kinsmen or namesakes. The trustees elect annually by ballot nine of their number as managers, to whom the principal affairs of the institution are intrusted during the year. The managers elect by ballot from their number, the president, secretary, and treasurer. Although the views of the venerable and celebrated founder embraced a complete circle of liberal education, adapted to the improved state of society, it was found convenient at first to limit the plan to natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, and geography.
The business of the university commenced on the 21st of September 1796, by Dr Garnet's reading, in the trades' hall, to persons of both sexes, popular and scientific lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry, illustrated by experiments. Soon after this period the managers rented, and then purchased, extensive premises in John Street. Dr Garnet having been appointed professor of experimental philosophy and chemistry in the Royal Institution of London, which had been formed on the model of this primary one, resigned his professorship; and on the 18th of October 1799, Dr George Birkbeck was appointed as his successor. In addition to what had been formerly taught, he introduced a familiar system of instruction, which he demonstrated by experiments, free of expense. Dr William Anderson and Dr James Cleland recommended about 500 operatives to this class. This mode of tuition, by which philosophical subjects are explained in ordinary language, divested of technicalities beyond the comprehension of the students, is continued with great success, at a small expense, and has been productive of the happiest effects on a valuable class of society. Dr Birkbeck resigned his professorship on the 5th of August 1804, and returned to London. Dr Andrew Ure was appointed his successor on the 21st of the following month; and during a period of twenty-five years discharged the duties of his office with great ability, when he also went to London to reside.
The affairs of the university becoming more and more prosperous, the trustees purchased from the city the grammar-school buildings in George Street; and having made considerable additions and alterations, the premises now contain numerous halls for the professors, and for the museum, which has of late become very rich in its several departments. The university buildings were opened in November 1828, since which time the classes have been well attended, and soirées have been introduced with the happiest effect. The subjects professed in 1834, were, first, literature, philosophy and popular science, natural philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, mathematics, natural history, modern languages, oriental languages, drawing and painting in oil and colours, and popular lectures on the veterinary art; and, secondly, surgery, chemistry, medical jurisprudence, theory of medicine, anatomy, physiology, and midwifery.
Mechanics' Institution for the Promotion of the Arts and Sciences.—This society was formed, in 1823, by the mechanics of Glasgow, with the view of disseminating mechanical and scientific knowledge among their fellow operatives, particularly those branches more immediately connected with their daily occupations. Lectures were given on natural philosophy and chemistry, when a fee of three shillings was paid by each student, which was afterwards increased to ten shillings. From the formation of the society to the present time the number of students have averaged yearly about 500. Free admission is annually given to the lectures on chemistry and mechanics, and also to the library, to poor apprentices, one being admitted for every twenty tickets sold. In this manner 220 have been admitted since the commencement of the institution. In 1831 the society removed to large premises built for them in Hanover Street. A colossal statue of James Watt is placed on the pediment of the building, by a subscription of one shilling from each student in successive years. In the building there are commodious apartments for the numerous models and apparatus, and the library, which now consists of 3030 volumes on science and general literature. In the session of 1834 there were three professors, who gave lectures on natural philosophy, chemistry, popular anatomy, physiology, and phrenology; the fee for the course being eight shillings.
Public Green.—There is probably no town of equal extent in the empire which can boast of such a park as the green of Glasgow, whether its extent (about 140 imperial acres), its use to the inhabitants, or its picturesque effect, be considered.
Mills.—The town's mills on the Molindinar Burn, erected about the middle of the fourteenth century, supplied the Hoggsfield and Frankfield Lochs, are not of so much use to the inhabitants as formerly, since steam-mills have been introduced. The water and steam-mills on the river Kelvin, at Partick and Clayslap, belonging to the corporation of bakers, are very extensive, and of a superior construction. The establishment contains a large steam-mill, seven water-wheels, twenty-two pairs of stones (Bordeaux burrs), six boulting, and three shealing-machines. The granaries and kilns are proportionate to the mills, which can grind 12,000 bushels of wheat weekly. The bakers got a grant of their old mill at Partick, from the Regent Murray, for their services at the battle of Langside, on 13th May 1568.
Markets.—The markets for meal, butcher-meat, fish, &c. have been much neglected of late. The great increase of the town has induced persons at a distance to resort to shops instead of markets. The live-cattle market is however entitled to particular notice. Prior to the year 1818 the principal butchers in this city were frequently obliged to travel a circuit of seventy or eighty miles to purchase cattle in lots, and to rent expensive parks in the neighbourhood of the city to graze them in; but since the erection of the live-cattle market the mode of supply is completely changed. In 1818 the magistrates fitted up a spacious market-place between the great roads to Edinburgh by Gallowgate and Dike Street, in which there is a commodious inn, stables, skids, a byre to contain 120 bullocks in view, and 260 pens to contain 9360 sheep. This market-place, said to be the most complete in the kingdom, occupies an area of 29,560 square yards, or rather more than six imperial acres, is paved with whinstones, and enclosed with stone walls. Since its formation, graziers and dealers from Aberdeenshire to Dumfriesshire, and from Berwickshire to Argyllshire, find it their interest to send their cattle to this market, where they find a ready sale, and return in cash. It is admitted that this market has been of great use to all classes of the community, excepting perhaps the more wealthy butchers. The dealers are benefited by a regular sale, without running the risk of bad debts. The public have a more regular and plentiful supply of butcher-meat of the best quality. The butcher is saved the trouble and the public the expense of trilling. The butcher of small capital, who formerly had no means of getting good meat, can now go to market; and if his capital be equal to the purchase of a bullock or a dozen of sheep or lambs, he can compete with his more wealthy brethren. Monopoly is now unknown. The sites of the market are let by public sale at £1,075 per annum. Dr Cleland has the sole merit of projecting and completing this important establishment.
The sales in 1833 were 165,560 head of cattle, and sheep and lambs, viz., bullocks and cows 18,360, sheep and lambs 147,200, exclusively of calves and pigs. In 1822 a few rumps of beef were sent by the Edinburgh butchers to Glasgow market; and this traffic has increased so much, that during 1833, 7210 rumps were sent to Glasgow, the average value of each rump being 20s. Messrs Allans alone purchased 6676 rumps. The advantages arising from this market has induced the Irish graziers to send cattle to it. On the 18th of December 1834, the Green Isle steamer arrived at Glasgow from Drogheda, loaded exclusively with cattle and pigs. This was the first cattle-carrying steamer to arrive in the Clyde. The traffic is to be continued.
Public Buildings.—In a work of this nature an architectural description of the public buildings in Glasgow would be superfluous; we shall therefore confine ourselves merely mentioning a few of the most prominent of those appropriated for ecclesiastical purposes, and a few for the civil concerns of the city. For ecclesiastical, the first in order is the cathedral, which is allowed to be the most splendid edifice of old English architecture that is to be found in Scotland. Its length from east to west is 319 feet, width sixty-three feet, height of the nave ninety feet, and of the choir eighty-five feet. In this edifice there are 147 pillars, and 159 windows of various dimensions, many of them of exquisite workmanship. The crypt under the choir is not equalled for architectural effect in the kingdom. St Andrew's, St David's, and St Loch's churches, and the Albion Street and George Street chapels belonging to the dissenters, are fine specimens of architecture. For civil purposes, the Royal Exchange is prominent. This building, from designs by Mr David Hamilton, a native of Glasgow, is remarkable both for its extent and its architectural decorations. The Hunterian Museum, from designs by Mr William Stark, is a beautiful model of a Greek temple. The Royal Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum are at once ornamental, and appropriate for their respective purposes.
Streets and Squares.—The streets, with the exception of some in the old part of the town, are all sixty feet wide; and the houses are built of stone and covered with slate. There are four squares, viz., Blythwood's, George's, St Enoch's, and St Andrew's. The three former are planted with shrubbery, and St Andrew's Church stands in the centre of the latter.
Burying Grounds.—There are twenty burying grounds in the city and suburbs. The necropolis, formed by the merchants' house, in 1830, in their elevated park adjoining the cathedral, in imitation of the cemetery of Père la Chaise in Paris, stands unrivalled in the kingdom for picturesque effect.
Monuments and Statues.—Amongst others may be enumerated an equestrian statue of William III. erected at the cross; an obelisk in honour of Lord Nelson, in the Green; a pedestrian statue of Sir John Moore, in bronze, on a granite pedestal, by Flaxman, in George Square; a pedestrian statue of William Pitt, in marble, by Flaxman, in the town-hall; a trophy monument in honour of Lieutenant-colonel Cadogan (71st or Glasgow regiment), in marble, by Hamilton, in the nave of the cathedral; a pillar surmounted by a statue in honour of John Knox, by Forrest, in the necropolis; a pedestrian statue of James Watt, in bronze, on a granite pedestal, in George Square, by Chauntry; also a pedestrian statue of James Watt, in marble, by Chauntry, in the Hunterian Museum; and an architectural monument, with a statue of William McGavin, by Forrest, in the necropolis.
Gaol and Court-Houses.—For a number of years previously to 1807, the gaol at the cross had become deficient in almost every requisite, situated in the centre of the city, without court-yards, chapel, or infirmary. It contained no more than thirty-two apartments for the accommodation of prisoners of every description, collected occasionally from the populous counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and Dumbarton, and invariably at the justiciary circuits, having very slender accommodation for the local courts of justice, whilst that for the circuit court of justiciary was quite inadequate. Impressed with the necessity of affording more suitable accommodation for the courts of justice, and more convenient and healthful apartments for prisoners, the magistrates and council, on the 13th of February 1807, resolved to erect a new gaol and public offices, in a healthy situation adjoining the river, at the bottom of the public green. This building, which cost £34,800, contains, exclusively of the public offices, 122 apartments for prisoners. As there is a water-closet in each gallery, every individual prisoner, debtor and delinquent, has access to one of them, and to an unlimited supply of pure filtrated water from the water company's pipes; and pipes are introduced into each court, from which they are daily washed, and the air in them frequently cooled in hot weather. There are two rooms, with ante-rooms, insulated from the gaol, for persons under sentence of death, and so constructed that irons are never used. It is believed that this is the only prison in the kingdom where persons under sentence of death are not put in irons. Every room is provided with the necessary utensils at the expense of the corporation. There is a well-aired infirmary-room, though seldom or never used, from the healthiness of the prisoners; and the chapel is seated to contain about 200 persons. The governor's house is so constructed that from his sitting parlour he can overlook both court-yards. The justiciary hall is so spacious as to contain upwards of 500 persons. The number of incarcerations in the gaol for debt have of late years happily decreased, whilst the incarcerations for delinquency have been rather on the increase. The average number committed yearly during five years ending on the 31st of December 1833, was 667. From 1765 to 1830, eighty-nine persons were executed in Glasgow, of which number five were females. During the first twelve years there were only six persons executed, whilst in the last twelve there were thirty-seven. During sixty-six years previously to 1831, there were twenty-six in which there were no executions, fifteen in which there was one each year; ten, two; seven, three; four, four; one, five; and two in which there were six. From the 29th of September 1830, to the 20th of January 1834, twelve persons have been executed in Glasgow, viz. eleven males and one female, of whom six were for murder, one for rape, one for hamesucken, one for robbery, and three for housebreaking and theft. From the 4th of May 1818, to the 8th of October 1834, six persons received sentence of death, but had their punishment commuted to transportation for life, viz. four males and two females, of whom one for murder, one for hamesucken and rape, one for robbery, and one for housebreaking and theft; the two females for forged bank-notes.
Bridewell.—The Bridewell in Duke Street was opened on the 8th of May 1798, and supported by the corporation funds for upwards of twenty-four years. This building, which still remains, consists of six stories, and contains 105 cells. Although but ill suited for classification, it answered the purpose for a number of years; but, from the great increase of population, and consequently of crime, in the city and county, it was agreed that the new buildings should be so large as to contain the city and county prisoners, combining the improvements which experience have pointed out. The authorities having procured an act of parliament for assessing the city and county for building and maintaining a Bridewell, they erected a set of buildings so well suited for the purpose, as to be the admiration of all those who have made prisons and prison discipline their study. This prison, which adjoins the former one, was opened on the 25th of December 1834. It combines all the advantages of modern improvement, security, seclusion, complete classification, and healthful accommodation.
Abstract Accounts for the year ended the 2d August 1834.
| Description | Amount | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------| | To repairs on the buildings | L.156 10 0 | | Salaries and wages | 835 14 11 | | By amount of prisoners' labour, &c. | L.2182 6 2 | | To victuals, bedding, clothes, washing, medicine, coal, candle, furniture, machinery, utensils, stationery, &c. | L.1664 6 0 | | Cash paid prisoners for surplus earnings | 116 5 3 | | Surplus to be deducted from salaries and wages | | | Balance, being the cost of Bridewell for the year ended 2d August 1834 | L.590 10 0 |
Table showing the number of Prisoners, and the different periods of confinement.
| Periods of confinement | Days | Months | |------------------------|------|--------| | | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 42 | 50 | 60 | | Number of prisoners | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 7 | 26 | 8 | 349 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 114 | | | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 24 | | | | | | | | Number of prisoners | 25 | 12 | 69 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 216 | | | | | |
The average period of confinement according to sentence is sixty-three and a half days; according to residence in the house, fifty-nine and a half days.
The greatest number at one time confined was on the 12th of November 1833, viz. 372, males 199, females 173. Smallest number at one time, 27th February 1834, 231, viz. males 123, females 108. Average number daily in the house 320, viz. males 162, females 158.
Males above seventeen years of age.............. 813 Males below seventeen years of age............... 222
Females above seventeen years of age............ 864 Females below seventeen years of age............. 68
Total commitments.................................. 1967 Remained on 2d August 1833........................ 356
Prisoners in all.................................... 2323 Liberated during the year........................... 2030 Remaining on the 2d of August 1834................ 293
It appears from the above statement, that besides the sum of L.116, 5s. 3d. paid to inmates, the produce of the work performed maintained all the prisoners, with a surplus of L.401. 14s. 11d., which surplus goes to lessen the expense of repairs on the buildings, and the salaries and wages. The whole deficiency, amounting to L.590. 10s., divided by 1967, the number committed, shows that the net expense to the public for every committal is no more than 6s., the average period of residence being fifty-nine and a half days. Taking another view, the deficiency of L.590. 10s., when applied to 320, the daily average of inmates, shows the expense of each prisoner to be L.l. 16s. 11d. per annum, 2s. 10d. per month, or about 8½d. weekly. This establishment, so creditable to the city and county, is conspicuous for the economy with which it is managed.
Police.—Till the appointment of a statutory police in 1800, the citizens of Glasgow performed the duties of watching and warding. The buildings in Albion Street are very extensive, and were the first in Scotland erected for the exclusive purpose of police.
Of the concerns of the establishment, which is placed under the management of the magistrates, and one commissioner for each ward chosen by the rate payers, the following is an abstract for 1834: Disbursements, L.15,033. 13s. 6½d. The receipts arise from one shilling per pound on rents exceeding L.15, and on lower rents proportionally. Besides the superintendent, collector, clerk, surveyor, and surgeon, there are eight heads of departments, three lieutenants, fifty-eight officers, 135 night watchmen, eight coal weighers, twenty-one lamp-lighters, fifty firemen, and twenty supernumeraries; in all, 308 persons on the establishment. There are 2050 gas lamps with single jets, and forty-seven with three jets; in all, 2097 lamps. Of this number between 800 and 900 are taken down in the summer months.
Theatre.—Previously to the Reformation, and for some time afterwards, pantomime representations of the history of our Saviour, his miracles and passion, were exhibited in It does not appear that any theatrical representation was allowed in this city from the Reformation in 1560 till 1750. At the latter period Mr Burrell's dancing hall in the High Street was used for that purpose, being for years after the theatre in the Canongate of Edinburgh was opened, which was the first regular theatre in Scotland after the Reformation. In 1752, a booth or temporary theatre was fitted up adjoining the wall of the archbishop's palace, in which Digges, Love, Stampier, and Mrs Ward performed. Messrs Jackson, Love, and Beale, comedians, built a regular theatre in the Graham's suburb, which was opened in the spring of 1764 by Mr Bellamy and other respectable performers. On the first night of performance, the machinery and scenery were set on fire by some disorderly persons. When the site was refitted, the theatre was occasionally kept open, but with very indifferent success; and at one o'clock on the morning of the 16th April 1782 it was burned to the ground. There was no theatre in Glasgow from this period till January 1783, when the Dunlop Street Theatre, erected by Mr Jackson, was opened by Mrs Siddons, Mrs John, and other performers. From this period the taste for theatricals increased so much, that a subscription was soon foot for a theatre upon a large scale; and on the 24th of April 1805 the most magnificent provincial theatre in the empire was opened in Queen Street, at an expense of £18,500. It was let on lease for £1,200 per annum; but it was soon found that the taste for theatricals did not keep pace with the sums laid out for accommodation and splendour. The premises were then let at the reduced rent of £800 to others, who also failed to implement their engagement; and even when the rent was lowered to £400, it was paid with difficulty. The property was then sold at a price only equal to the outstanding debts and ground rent; so that the shareholders got nothing. This splendid edifice was burned to the ground on the afternoon of the 10th of January 1829, a gas-light having been in contact with the ceiling of one of the lobbies leading to the upper gallery. After this catastrophe the theatre in Dunlop Street was enlarged and embellished by Mr Alexander, and is found to be quite large enough for the play-going people of Glasgow and neighbourhood.
The Progress of the State of Society.—Prior to the Reformation in 1560 the inhabitants of Glasgow were in state of abject ignorance and superstition, and so disorderly, that even the ministers of religion found it necessary to wear arms in the pulpit. For about a century after the Reformation the people were very poor, and accommodation in their houses bad. Prior to the famous meeting of the general assembly of the church, held in Glasgow in 1638, when the struggle took place as to whether the episcopal or the presbyterian form of religion should obtain in the church, the magistrates sent to France for a hundred muskets, thirty pikes, four cwt. of powder, the same quantity of match, and ordered a collection of a hundred young men to be drilled for the approaching meeting; and intestine feuds were so prevalent that weaponschawing was strictly enforced. At this period the circulating medium seems to have been exceedingly scarce, as Provost Stewart sent two men through town to collect what silver things they could find, to be sent to Edinburgh in support of the struggle. On the 1st of March 1698 the magistrates of Glasgow granted allowance to the jailor for keeping warlocks and witches imprisoned in the tolbooth, by order of the lords commissioners of justiciary. During the failure of the crops in 1799 and 1800, a number of the citizens of Glasgow purchased £117,500 worth of grain, and sold it at low rates to the poor, at a loss of £15,000. In 1816, during a stagnation of trade, a subscription of £9658 was divided among 2330 persons. In 1815, £6636 was subscribed for the relief of persons afflicted with typhus fever. In 1819 large Glasgow sums were raised for those who could not find employment; on that occasion 2040 heads of families, who never pawned before, were under the necessity of doing so, and articles were pawned to the number of 7380.
In 1712 the population was 13,892; in 1831, 202,426. In 1712, the rental amounted to £7840; in 1831, in the royalty, without the suburbs, to £319,372. In 1712 there were only 202 shops, at from £5 to 10s.; in 1831, 3184 shops, at from about £250 to about £50. In 1740 the dwelling-houses of the higher classes of citizens contained only one public room, a dining-room, and even that was only used when they had company, the family at other times eating in a bed-room. Entertainments were few and simple; and the dinner hour was one o'clock. The husband went to his business after dinner, and the wife gave tea at four o'clock to her female friends. Shopkeepers locked their shops during the breakfast and dinner hours. At this period the people were in general religious, and particularly strict in the observance of the Sabbath; some of them, indeed, to an extent that was considered by others extravagant and fanatical. There were families who did not sweep or dust their houses, did not make the beds, nor allow any food to be dressed, on Sundays. The magistrates employed what they called compurgators, to perambulate the streets during divine service, and seize all persons whom they found strolling about. At this period the houses, with few exceptions, were covered with thatch. Entertainments are now given more frequently, and the mode of giving them is materially changed. The value of the table service, and the style of the furniture, in the houses of a great number of the Glasgow merchants, are inferior to none in the land.
Previously to the opening of the tontine coffee-room, it was usual to transact business in public houses, over a mixture of whisky and small beer, called pap-in. The opening of the tontine coffee-room in 1781 set aside this pernicious tippling practice, and tended greatly to abolish the distinction of rank in mercantile concerns. For some time after the coffee-room was opened there were but few subscribers at 2ls. On the 10th of December 1834 the subscribers in this room amounted to 545, at 25s. admission money. In 1825 the western club was opened; there are now 280 members. The entrance money is £21, and the annual subscription £5.5s. The members are admitted by ballot. The Royal Exchange Coffee-room in Queen Street was opened on the 6th of September 1830. There are now 1264 subscribers, at an annual subscription of 42s.; so that, independently of those who use the minor reading rooms, there were in 1834, 2089 persons in Glasgow who frequented the above rooms.
Until 1776 there were no foot pavements in the city; but in that year a foot pavement was made at the south-east end of Candlerigg Street. There are now upwards of a hundred miles of foot pavements in the city. At the autumn circuits of 1779, 1782, and 1796, there were no criminal business at the Glasgow circuit courts. At the spring circuit of 1828, 115 persons were accused of crimes, of whom 83 were convicted. In 1781 the revenue of the Glasgow Post-Office amounted to £4341. 4s. 9d.; in 1833, to £36,481. In 1785 the public markets and a few shops were the only places where the inhabitants could be supplied with necessaries. Now the markets are nearly deserted; butchery is chiefly sold in shops, and numerous haberdashers and drapers occupy warehouses instead of shops. With the exception of Hutcheson's Hospital, the Town's Hospital, the Merchants' and Trades' Houses, the fourteen incorporated trades, and a few benefit societies, the numerous charitable and benevolent institutions of Glasgow have all originated during the last forty years, as is elsewhere shown. The first common sewer in Glasgow was There are now in forty-five streets rather more than seven miles of sewers. In 1792 the first steam-engine for spinning cotton was erected in Glasgow.
Prior to 1804 the city was scantily supplied by twenty-nine public and a few private wells. In 1806 the Glasgow Water Company was incorporated, and in 1808 the Cranston Hill Company. From their commencement till 31st May 1830, the companies had laid out L320,244. 10s. 1d. on their works, which are now considerably extended. In 1831 there were 38,237 renters of water in the city and suburbs. Rates for 1834.—Houses rented under L4, 5s. per annum; ditto L4 and under L5, and not above L6, 7s. 6d.; all above L6, 6½ per cent., or 1s. 3d. per pound on rental. Public works; high service, i.e. in the more elevated parts of the city, L12. 10s. for 1000 gallons per day; low service, L6 ditto; workmen for drinking, 6d. per head; founderies, 1s. per man; lowest charge for a public work, L4; counting-houses, 5s. to 10s. 6d.; water-closets in ditto, 5s. to 10s. 6d.; horses, 4s.; cows, 3s.
Bridges.—Bridges are a sort of edifices very difficult to execute, on account of the inconvenience of laying foundations and walling under water. There are three stone bridges and one timber bridge over the Clyde at Glasgow.
The original timber bridge over the Clyde having gone into decay about 1840, Bishop Rae built a stone bridge at Stockwell Street in 1845. The bridge was originally twelve feet wide, and consisted of eight arches. In 1777 an addition of ten feet was made to its breadth, and two of the northmost arches were built up for the purpose of confining the river within narrower bounds. The communication between the city and the south-west parts of Scotland for more than four hundred years was by this bridge. In 1820 and 1821 it was greatly improved by the formation of footpaths suspended on very tasteful iron framings. The bridge, as it now stands, is 415 feet long and thirty-four wide within the railing.
The foundation stone of Jamaica Street bridge was laid on the 29th of September 1768, by the Right Worshipful Provost George Murdoch, acting provincial grand master mason for Glasgow. The bridge had seven arches, was thirty feet wide within the parapets, and five hundred feet in length. The design was given by Mr William Mylne, architect in Edinburgh, and was executed by Mr John Adam.
The foundation stone of Hutcheson's bridge was laid in 1794, by Provost Gilbert Hamilton, near the foot of the Saltmarket, to connect the lands of Hutchesontown with the city. It had five arches, was 406 feet long and twenty-six feet wide within the parapets. On the 18th of November 1795, during an uncommonly high flood in the river, it was unfortunately swept away, after the parapets were nearly completed. The foundation stone of a new bridge was laid on the 18th of August 1829, by the Right Worshipful Robert Dalglish, substitute grand master mason for Glasgow, and preceptor of the hospital. This bridge is built on the site of the former one, from a design by Mr Robert Stevenson, civil engineer; it is thirty-six feet wide within the parapets, and 406 feet long, and has five arches. Mr John Steedman was contractor.
The Jamaica Street Bridge, although considered elegant and spacious for the time when it was built, had a very inconvenient ascent. The trustees therefore resolved to take it down.
The timber bridge at Portland Street is thirty feet wide within the railing, has a carriage-way and two side pavements. It was designed by Mr Robert Stevenson, and executed by Mr William Robertson in 1832.
The increase of trade and population in the city and adjacent districts having been such as to render the Jamaica Street or Broomielaw Bridge unfit for its purposes, the trustees therefore resolved to remove it, and to erect in its stead a bridge which would afford more suitable accommodation, such as the increasing population of the neighbouring districts required. Having obtained an act of parliament, they procured a design from Mr Thomas Telford, civil engineer, and contracted with Messrs John Gibb and Son for building the bridge. It is to be faced with Aberdeen granite, and to have a very gentle acclivity; it is to be 560 feet long over the newals, to have seven arches, and to be sixty feet wide over the parapets, which is wider than any river bridge in the kingdom. Dr James Cleland, umpire between the trustees and the contractors, laid the first stone of the bridge in the south abutment, eighteen feet below high-water mark, on the 8th of July 1833.
Banks.—The Bank of Scotland was established by charter in Edinburgh in 1695, and the following year in Glasgow, but was recalled for want of business in 1697. In 1731 it was again established in Glasgow, and recalled in 1733 from a similar cause. In 1749, the Ship Bank commenced business. This was the first bank belonging to the city; and till lately it was called the Old Bank. Since 1749, a number of banks have been established in Glasgow. The Glasgow Arms Bank commenced business about the year 1753, the Thistle Bank in 1761, and the Glasgow Merchants' Bank and Messrs Watsons' and Thomson's banking houses were formed shortly afterwards. The Royal Bank of Scotland, which was established by charter in Edinburgh in 1727, sent a branch to Glasgow in 1783. The Glasgow Banking Company commenced operations in 1809, the Glasgow Union Banking Company in 1830, and the Western Bank in 1832. These banks, with the exception of the Arms, Merchants', Thomson's, and Watsons', still continue to do business in Glasgow. There are also in Glasgow a branch of the British Linen chartered bank, and fourteen branches from provincial banks.
Provident Bank.—A provident or savings bank was opened in Glasgow on the 3d of July 1815, wherein deposits of one shilling and upwards are received, bearing interest at the rate of two and a half per cent. when the sum amounts to 12s. 6d. and has lain one month in the bank. The following is a statement of the concerns of the bank for 1833. It is open every day for deposits, and twice a week for payments.
Amount of open accounts at the end of the year ........................................... L39,861 4 0 Received from depositors, exclusive of interest allowed during the year .................. 30,767 3 0 Repaid to depositors, including interest during ditto ........................................... 30,462 11 7 Interest allowed to depositors during ditto ......................................................... 964 11 10 From the opening of the bank on 3d July 1815, to the end of the year 1833, number of accounts opened 24,039. Amount of interest paid to depositors from opening of the bank to the end of year 1833 ................................................................. 10,662 18 0 At the end of the year 1833 open accounts under L5 ........................................... 1,380 0 0
It is very gratifying to know, that during eighteen years the working classes in Glasgow have so managed their savings as to entitle them to L10,662. 18s. interest, which, but for this institution, might have been laid out for purposes quite unavailing in the hour of need.
Post-Office.—The arrangements of this office are not surpassed, if indeed equalled, by any out of London. In 1806, when Mr Bannatyne was appointed post-master, the establishment consisted of a post-master, three clerks, a stamper, and six letter-carriers; and there were four penny-post-offices attached to it for the delivery and receipt of letters in the neighbouring district. Receiving-houses in the town for letters to be taken to the post-office had been ted, and had been given up on finding that they were not used. There were two deliveries of letters made daily in every part of the town and suburbs. The Glasgow establishment now (December 1834) consists of a post-master, ten clerks, two stampers, a superintendent of letter-carriers, and nineteen letter-carriers; and there are twenty-six penny-post-offices and nine sub-offices attached to it for the correspondence of the surrounding district. It has twelve receiving-houses distributed in the different parts of the town, the letters put into which are carried to the post-office, to be made up in the separate lines of mails they are successively dispatched. There are four complete deliveries of letters now made daily to every part of the town and suburbs; and an answer may be received the same day to a penny-post letter put into the office, or a receiving-house, in time to be sent out with either of the next deliveries.
Post-Office Revenue of Glasgow at the following dates:
| Year | Revenue | |------|---------| | 1781 | L4,341 | | 1810 | 27,958 | | 1815 | 34,784 | | 1820 | 31,533 | | 1825 | 34,190 |
The number of penny-post letters for Glasgow delivery, exclusively of those delivered through the twenty-six post offices, was, from October 1833 to October 1834, 12,491, and the amount of the revenue derived from them 1,020s. 6d. When it is considered that in 1833 the revenue was only L1,700 more than in 1815, whilst the population had increased in the same period upwards of 72,000, the increase of correspondence in a still greater ratio, we are led to believe that the revenue is greatly defrauded by private carrying.
Rental and Stamps.—The rental of the city and suburbs in 1833 was L539,466. Amount of stamps sold in 1828, L1,213; in 1830, L103,802; in 1834, L110,930.
Education.—The attention which has been paid to education in Scotland for centuries past has been acknowledged all over Europe. Amidst all the tumult and violence of civil contention, and at a time when the very existence of the Presbyterian church was at stake, the subject of education and of schools was never overlooked. By act 43 Geo. III. cap. 54, the salaries of parochial schoolmasters, whose schools are not entirely confined in rural burghs, are to be fixed, and from and after the 11th September 1803, at a sum of from 300 to 400 merks Scots, the minister, and the heritors whose lands in the parish amount to L100 Scots. In twenty-five years after above period, or such after period as the salary shall be fixed, these heritors and minister are to modify a new salary, according to the average price of oatmeal, to be ascertained by the exchequer, of the value of from one and a half to two chalders, and so on from twenty-five years to twenty-five years; and when there is not a proper school-house, a house for the schoolmaster, and a garden containing at least one fourth of a Scotch acre, the heritors of the parish must provide these.
Schools.—In a large community like that of Glasgow, where schools are ever shifting, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number; but the following abstract from Dr. Land's Annals of Glasgow will give the reader an idea of the extent of education in this city. That indefatigable author published the names of 144 teachers; and from his statement it appeared that, exclusively of the universities and thirteen institutions where youth were educated, there were 144 schools; that, including the public institutions, there were 16,799 scholars, of whom 6516 were taught gratis in charity or free schools. These schools were all in a district containing about 75,000 souls; it appeared from the same statement that Sunday schools were established in 1786, that there were 106 schools, 158 teachers, and 4668 scholars, viz. 2235 boys, and 2433 girls, besides three adult schools. An infant school society was instituted in 1827. In 1834 there were six infant schools, viz. the model school in Saltmarket, a school in Drygate, Chalmers Street, Marlborough Street, John Street, and Cowcaddens; and two school-houses are about to be built in Gorbals, and one in Anderston.
Literature.—From the commercial enterprise which engages the time and attention of its inhabitants, this city cannot boast of a literary character. There are many individuals however of cultivated minds and extensive attainments, some of whom have formed themselves into societies for the promotion of literature and science. About the middle of the last century a literary society was established, consisting chiefly of the professors and clergymen of the city and neighbourhood, and reckoned amongst its distinguished members Doctors Adam Smith, Trail, and Reid, and Mr. John Millar, the celebrated professor of law. A literary and commercial society was formed about the beginning of the present century, and is composed of a number of gentlemen, who meet for the discussion of literary and commercial topics. During the twenty-seven years in which records have been kept, upwards of two hundred essays have been read by the society.
The first newspaper published in the west of Scotland was the Glasgow Courant, which appeared in the year 1715. It was published three times a week, consisted of twelve pages in small quarto, and was sold for three half-pence or "one penny to regular customers." The second number contained a letter from Provost Aird, colonel of the regiment of Glasgow volunteers, detailing his views in regard to the Duke of Argyll's ultimate success at Sheriffmuir. The name of the paper was soon changed to that of the West-Country Intelligencer, which only survived a few years. From 1715 till the present time there have been twenty-one attempts to establish newspapers in this city, and out of that number eleven still survive. The names of the papers, the dates of their commencement, and the periods of publication, are as follows:—The Glasgow Courant in 1715; the Journal in 1729; the Chronicle in 1775; the Mercury in 1779; the Advertiser in 1783, but in 1804 its name was changed to that of the Herald; the Courier in 1791; the Clyde Commercial Advertiser in 1805; the Caledonia in 1807, but in the same year it merged in the Western Star; the Sentinel in 1809; a second Chronicle in 1811; the Scotsman in 1812; the Packet in 1813; a second Sentinel in 1821; the Free Press in 1823; the Scots Times in 1825; the Evening Post in 1827; the Trades' Advocate in 1829; the Liberator in 1831; the Scottish Guardian and the Argus in 1832; and the Weekly Reporter in 1834. The eleven surviving papers are, the Journal, published once a week; the Herald, twice; the Courier, three times; the Chronicle, three times; the Free Press, twice; the Scots Times, twice; the Evening Post, once; the Liberator, once; the Scottish Guardian, twice; the Argus, twice; and the Weekly Reporter, once; so that in Glasgow there are twenty newspapers published weekly. It would be invidious to state the circulation of each paper, even if it could be accurately obtained; it is, however, known that the circulation of the Herald on each publishing day for some years past has rather exceeded eighteen hundred, and that during
In 1698, Sir Robert Sinclair of Stevenson had a grant from King William, of the whole revenue of the post-office of Scotland, with a pension of L300 per annum to keep up the post. Glasgow. The quarter from the 1st of March to the 1st of June 1834 its advertisements amounted to 3291.
The first circulating library in the west of Scotland was established in Glasgow in 1753, by Mr John Smith senior, who lent out books at the rate of one half-penny per volume. There are now many circulating as well as public and private libraries in Glasgow. Of the public libraries, exclusively of those belonging to the university, to Anderson's university, and to other literary bodies, the more valuable are, Stirling's, which was instituted in 1791; the Glasgow, in 1804; and the Robertsonian, in 1814.
Of late years a number of book societies have been established in Glasgow. They are conducted on a plan similar to that of circulating libraries, with this difference, that the books belong to the readers themselves, who are chiefly of the working classes. The periodical book-publishing trade, which, till about the year 1796, was scarcely known in Scotland, is carried on in Glasgow to an extent surpassing that of any other town in this part of the kingdom. By a late parliamentary report, it appeared that in Scotland there were 414 book hawkers, technically termed "canvassers" and "deliverers," who, on an average of seven years, collected £44,160 per annum in sixpences and shillings, and five sixteenths of the whole belonged to Glasgow.
The Maitland Club, which was established in this city a few years ago, is similar to the Bannatyne Club of Edinburgh, or the Roxburghe Club of London, by the reprinting, for private use, of valuable and scarce old books, or the printing for the first time, in the same manner, of curious and rare manuscripts illustrative of the history, literature, or antiquities of Scotland. The club takes its name from Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, an officer of state during the minority of James the Sixth, and who, like Bannatyne, did much service to Scottish literature, by compiling nearly all the poetry of the nation then in existence.
During the last thirty years several magazines and other periodical works have been published here, but none of them have succeeded.
Poor.—The proper management of the poor is everywhere important, but in a great manufacturing community, subject to numerous vicissitudes unknown to small towns and rural districts, it is peculiarly so. The poor in nine of the ten parishes of the city are maintained by an assessment on the inhabitants, aided by certain donations, and the collections or offerings at the church doors; whilst the poor of the tenth parish are maintained on a separate plan, to be afterwards mentioned, and the poor of the two suburban parishes of Barony and Gorbals by a tax on rental, aided by donations and offerings. Soon after Dr Chalmers' admission to the Tron Church, on the 21st of July 1815, he discovered that a great improvement might be made in the mode of maintaining the poor, and particularly that assessment might be dispensed with. Having explained his views to the magistrates, he was translated to St John's Church and parish, where he might be the better able to develop his plan. Accordingly, on the 18th of August 1819, the town council unanimously resolved that Dr Chalmers should have a "separate, independent, and exclusive management and distribution of the funds which may be raised by voluntary or charitable collections at the doors of St John's Church, for the relief of the poor resident in said parish." The scheme has been continued by the two clergymen who succeeded Dr Chalmers as pastors in the church; and after a trial of fifteen years, the energies of what is emphatically called the agency have not decreased. There is no intricacy in the scheme. The members of the congregation are liberal in their voluntary offerings at the church doors. The parish is divided into small districts; numerous elders and deacons, to whom districts are assigned, visit their respective poor, by which means imposition is easily detected, and the distribution of the fund to the legitimate poor is more surely and easily accomplished.
We have preferred taking the following abstract from Dr Cleland's statistical work, to any statement which could be made for 1834, as we have the advantage of the government enumeration for the former year, to enable our readers to draw results. It shows the number of paupers in the city and suburbs on the 31st of December 1830, with the expense of maintaining them during that year.
| Number of Paupers | Expense of Maintenance | |-------------------|------------------------| | St Mungo's | 179 | £396 12 9 | | St Mary's | 149 | 348 7 7 | | Blackfriars | 176 | 362 11 0 | | Outer High | 148 | 386 5 12 | | St George's | 126 | 354 0 2 | | St Andrew's | 88 | 205 17 4 | | St Enoch's | 137 | 254 5 2 | | St James' | 108 | 228 19 2 | | St David's | 71 | 161 16 8 | | St John's | 70 | 241 19 1 | | In-door and out-door paupers in hospital | 1057 | 5773 1 7 | | Total in city | 2309 | 7485 4 4 | | In Barony parish | 2237 | | | Gorbals | 460 | 1132 18 0 | | Total in city and suburbs | 5006 | 17,281 18 0 |
The population in the city and suburbs being 202,426 and the number of paupers 5006, there is one pauper for every 40.45 persons. The population of the ten parishes in the city being 89,847, and the number of paupers 2309, there is one pauper for every 38.21 persons. The number of paupers in the city and suburbs being 5006, and the amount of their maintenance L17,281.18s.0½d., this gives to each pauper L3. 9s. 0½d. The number of paupers in St John's parish being 70, and the amount of their maintenance L241. 19s. 1d., this gives to each pauper L3. 8s. 10½d.
Abstract of the Expenditure of the Benevolent and Charitable Institutions of Glasgow, exclusive of Widows' Funds, Benefit Societies, Charity Schools, and Maintenances of Paupers.
The affairs of the following societies are conducted at the Religious and Charitable Institution Rooms.
| Date of Formation | Subscriptions for 1834 | |-------------------|------------------------| | 1796. Glasgow Missionary Society | L735 0 0 | | 1804. Glasgow Bible Society | 576 0 | | 1809. Nile and George Street Chapels' Sabbath School Society | 57 0 | | 1811. Aged Women's Society | 110 0 | | 1811. Glasgow Auxiliary Gaelic School Society | 456 0 | | 1812. Glasgow Old Men's Friend Society | 323 0 | | 1813. Glasgow Auxiliary Hibernian Society | 200 0 | | 1815. Glasgow Auxiliary Bible Society | 165 0 | | 1815. Glasgow Society in aid of the Serampore Missions | 693 0 | | Carry over | L3315 0 0 | | Year | Description | Amount | |------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------| | 1817 | Glasgow Young Men's Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools | £315 | | 1818 | Glasgow Auxiliary Moravian Society | £22 | | 1819 | Glasgow Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews | £166 | | 1820 | Glasgow Auxiliary Scottish Missionary Society | £265 | | 1820 | Glasgow Deaf' and Dumb Institution | £215 | | 1821 | Glasgow Religious and Church Institution House Reading-Room | £35 | | 1821 | Glasgow Auxiliary Religious Tract and Book Society for Ireland | £56 | | 1822 | Glasgow Seaman's Friend Society | £87 | | 1823 | Glasgow Auxiliary London Missionary Society (originated in 1815, re-organized in 1823) | £187 | | 1823 | Glasgow Auxiliary Irish Evangelical Society | £74 | | 1823 | Glasgow Religious Tract Society | £270 | | 1825 | Glasgow North American Colonial Society | £316 | | 1825 | Orphan's Institution | £500 | | 1826 | Glasgow Continental Society | £45 | | 1826 | Glasgow City Mission | £800 | | 1827 | Glasgow Auxiliary to the Irish Society for Native Schools | £367 | | 1829 | Glasgow Naval and Military Bible Society | £130 | | 1829 | Scottish Temperance Society | £175 | | 1830 | Glasgow Temperance Society | £485 | | 1830 | Glasgow Auxiliary to the British Society for Promoting the Religious Principles of the Reformation | £85 | | 1831 | Glasgow Society for Benevolent Visitation of the Destitute Sick, and others in extreme Poverty | £50 | | 1832 | Glasgow Christian Instruction Society | £15 | | 1833 | Glasgow Association for Promoting the Interests of the Church of Scotland | £260 | | 1834 | Glasgow Society for Church Accommodation (subscribed in nine months, viz. two at £500, one at £300, seventy at £200 each, fifty-five at £100, and twelve at £50) | £21,400 |
Total: £30,039
The following list was prepared a few years ago for a public purpose. Although the expenditure of some of the institutions may now vary a little, the aggregate amount may be taken as pretty near the truth:
1460. St Nicholas Hospital, £30
About 1500. Fourteen Incorporations, 2777
1599. Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, 35
1605. Merchants' House, 920
1605. Trades' House, 782
1639. Hutchison's Hospital, 2580
1725. Buchanan's Society, 418
1727. Highland Society, 775
1729. Mitchell's Mortification, 100
1741. Tennant's Mortification, 46
Carry over, £8465
The number of patients in the hospitals and asylums on the 25th of March 1831 was 709, viz. in the Royal Infirmary 304, of whom males 143, females 161, under thirty years of age 148. In the Lunatic Asylum there were 264, viz. insane 212, of whom males ninety-nine, females 113, under thirty years forty-six; idiots eleven, of whom males eight, females three, under thirty years five; silly in mind forty-one, of whom males nine, females thirty-two, under thirty years six. In the Lock Hospital there were, females twenty-seven, under thirty years twenty-three. In the Magdalene Asylum there were thirty-three, all under thirty years. In the Deaf and Dumb Institution there were thirty-seven, males twenty-two, females fifteen, under twenty years thirty-six. The blind persons in the Asylum and Town Hospital were forty, viz. males twenty-six, females fourteen, under thirty years twenty-seven. Eye Infirmary four, males two, females two, under thirty, two.
Presbytery of Glasgow and Synod of Glasgow and Ayr.
The presbytery consists of the ten ministers of the city and the twelve surrounding parishes, viz. Barony of Glasgow, Gorbals, Rutherglen, Cumbernauld, Carmunnock, Cadder, Campsie, Govan, Kirkintilloch, Kilsyth, Cathcart, and Eaglesham; but as the ministers of the chapels of ease are about to become parish ministers, the members of presbytery will be increased. The synod consists of eight presbyteries, viz. Glasgow, Ayr, Irvine, Paisley, Hamilton, Lanark, Dumbarton, and the new presbytery. Glasgow. The following is a view of the progressive stipends of nine of the ministers of Glasgow. Till 1788 the stipends were paid in Scots money, viz. in merks or pounds.
| Year | Stipend (Merks) | |------|----------------| | 1638 | L58 16 11½ | | 1642 | 66 13 4 | | 1643 | 78 16 8 | | 1674 | 90 0 0 | | 1723 | 111 2 2½ | | 1762 | 138 17 9½ |
The stipend of the minister of St Mungo is paid in grain from the teinds, viz. twelve and a half chalders of meal, twelve and a half chalders of barley, L30 in money, and a glebe. This stipend, when the grain is at a moderate price, amounts to about L500.
Church Accommodation.—In 1831 the population of the city and suburbs was 202,426, and the total sittings in the various places of worship in the city and suburbs 73,425, viz. in the established church 30,928, dissenters, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics, 42,497. This is in the proportion of one sitting to 2.5 persons, or 20,291 sittings less than the amount required by law.
City Mission.—The want of church accommodation, and the total inability of the clergymen of the city to attend to the religious wants of a numerous class of the community, many of whom have no desire for religious instruction, led to the formation of the city mission. The society was instituted upon the 1st of January 1826, for the purpose of promoting the spiritual welfare of the poor of Glasgow and its neighbourhoods, by employing persons of approved piety, and otherwise properly qualified, to visit the poor in their own houses, for the purpose of religious discourse, and to use other means of diffusing and increasing amongst them a knowledge of evangelical truth. In December 1831 there were twenty-two licentiates or students of divinity employed, at salaries of L40 each; twenty of these were on full time, viz. four hours per day, and the other two on two-thirds time. In addition to the city mission, a parochial mission was instituted in 1832, and there are now one missionary in every parish, and two or three in the large ones.
Licenses to Sell Spirits.—The number of persons licensed to retail spirituous liquors in the ten parishes of the city being 1393, and the number of families 19,467, this gives one licensed person, or public house, to 13.7 families. If the number of persons who retail spirituous liquors without being able to obtain a license were taken into account on the one hand, and the number of temperate families who never use a public house on the other, it may be said that in Glasgow there is at least one place where spirits are retailed for every twelve families.
Pawnbrokers.—The business of a pawnbroker was not known in Glasgow till August 1805. At that period an itinerant English pawnbroker commenced business in a room in the High Street, but was obliged to give up at the end of six months, for want of business; and it was not until the 8th of June 1813 that John Graham, a disbanded town-officer, set up a regular pawnbroking office. There are now twenty-two licensed pawnbrokers in the city.
River Clyde.—As the river Clyde, in a commercial point of view, is of the utmost importance, not only to Glasgow, but to the western district of Scotland, a brief account of its improvements must therefore be interesting. In the beginning of the sixteenth century the channel of the river for about thirteen miles below Glasgow was so commodated by fords and shoals as to be scarcely navigable for even small craft. But in 1556 the inhabitants of the burghs of Glasgow, Renfrew, and Dumbarton, entered into an agreement to excavate the river for six weeks alternately, with the view of removing the ford at Dum- additional trustees on the river; and increasing the dues on all goods passing on the river from 1s. to 1s. 4d. per ton, and on the admeasurement of all vessels coming into the harbour, in name of harbour dues, from 1d. to 2d. per ton. The same act authorized dues to be levied for the use of the sheds, according to a regulated schedule; the former dues of 1s. per ton on coals having been taken off.
Mr James Sproull was appointed superintendent of the river in 1798; and, until his death in 1824, he was enthusiastic in every thing that related to its improvement. The increase of trade at the Broomielaw, in consequence of these improvements, almost exceeds belief. Less than fifty years ago a few gabbards, and these only about thirty or forty tons, could come up to Glasgow; now large vessels, many of them upwards of 300 tons burden, from America, the East and West Indies, and the Continent, are often to be found three deep along nearly the whole length of the harbour. A few years ago the harbour was only 730 feet long; it is now 3340 feet long on the north side of the river, and 1260 on the south. Till of late years there were only a few punts and ploughs for the purpose of dredging the river; now there are four dredging machines with powerful steam apparatus, and two diving bells. Till lately there were no covering for goods at the harbour, and but one small crane for loading and discharging; now the shed accommodation on both sides of the river is most ample, and one of the cranes for shipping steam-boat boilers, and other articles of thirty tons, made by Messrs Claud Girdwood and Co., may, for the union of power with elegance of construction, challenge the ports in the kingdom.
The river for seven miles below the city is confined within narrow bounds; and the sloping banks, formed of limestone, in imitation of ashlar, are unequalled in the kingdom, whether their utility or their beauty be taken into account. By the year 1831, vessels drawing thirteen feet six inches of water were enabled to come up to the harbour of the Broomielaw. The increase of trade on the Clyde having far exceeded what even the most sanguine could have contemplated, we think that some parts of the river may be widened with advantage. In 1834 the trustees appointed Mr Logan, civil engineer, a gentleman of great talent and experience, to direct the improvements of the river.
Till 1834 the river and harbour dues were annually disposed of by public sale, but they are henceforth to be collected by the trustees. The following is a statement of the amount of dues in the years specified. In 1771 the first year's dues were L1021.; in 1810, L4959.; in 1812, L525.; in 1814, L6128.; in 1833, L20,260.; and in 1834, L21,260., exclusive of shed dues, which in 1833 amounted to L1,283, and in 1834 to L1,564.
The burgesses of Dumbarton are exempt from river dues, in virtue of an old charter. From the time the exemption was first claimed, on 9th July 1825 to 8th July 1834, they amounted to L4722. 13s. viz. sailing vessels L503. 13s. 4½d. steam ditto L3918. 19s. 8d., less L170. 3s. 1d. paid by shareholders in steam-boats who were not burgesses of Dumbarton.
The river dues have been greatly increased by steam navigation, as appears from the following statement. From 8th July 1833 to 9th July 1834, the river dues collected added to the gross revenue as follows: Total tonnage on merchandise, 70¼ per cent.; ditto by sailing vessels, including ferries, 38½ per cent.; ditto by steam ditto, 31½ per cent.; quay dues by ditto 15½ per cent.; ditto by sailing ditto 5½ per cent.; shed dues 5½ per cent.; ferries 3½ per cent. Total steam to total sailing vessels as 87½ to 100.
Application of the Steam-Engine in propelling Vessels.—The application of steam in propelling vessels long engaged
the attention of men of mechanical genius. In 1736, Mr Jonathan Hulls obtained a patent for "a new invented machine for carrying vessels or ships out of or into any harbour, port, or river, against wind and tide, or in a calm;" but this scheme did not succeed. In 1781, the Marquis de Foufroy made some unsuccessful experiments in propelling vessels by steam on the Saone at Lyons. In 1785, Mr James Rumsey of Virginia, and Mr John Fitch of Philadelphia, made several experiments, which were also unsuccessful. In the same year, Mr Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, Dumfriesshire, made several experiments with paddles on twin and triple vessels worked by men and horses, an account of which he published in July 1787. Soon after this, Mr Miller built a boat with two keels, between which he introduced a propelling paddle; and Mr William Symington of Falkirk applied the steam-engine to it; and in 1788 Mr Miller and Mr Symington made an experiment with it on Dalswinton pond. But after several attempts, it was found that the engine and wheel were so inefficient as occasionally to require the assistance of manual labour at a windlass. Some time after this, Mr Miller caused a larger engine to be made at Carron Works, and an experiment was made with it on the Forth and Clyde Canal, which, though answering better than the former, did not succeed. In 1794, the Earl of Stanhope constructed a steam-vessel with paddles under her quarters, but with no better success. In 1801 and 1802, Lord Dundas, then governor of the Forth and Clyde navigation, employed Mr Symington to construct a steam-boat for that canal; but this boat, from what Mr Symington called the "opposition of narrow minds," was laid up in a creek near Bansford Bridge, where it remained as a wreck for many years.
The whole race of steam propellers having thus left the field one by one, without being able to effect their object, the ground was occupied by Mr Henry Bell, who having a turn for mechanics, made a steam-engine of three horse power, and employed Messrs John Wood and Company, ship-builders in Port-Glasgow, to build a boat for him, which he called the Comet. In January 1812, everything being in readiness, the Comet began to ply between Glasgow and Greenock, and made five miles an hour against a head wind, whilst by simply increasing her power she went at the rate of seven miles an hour. This was the first vessel that was successfully propelled on a navigable river in Europe; and it is very remarkable, that notwithstanding the great progress in mechanical science, no improvement has yet been made on Mr Bell's mode, although numerous efforts have been made here and elsewhere for that purpose. It is true that boats go swifter now than formerly, but the propelling system remains the same. To this brief account of the origin of the steam propelling system in this country, it must be added that the Americans preceded us fully four years. In October 1807, Mr Robert Fulton, an American engineer, launched a steam-boat at New York, which plied with great effect between that city and Albany, a distance of 160 miles.
Clyde Steam Vessels in 1831 and 1834.
| Outsea Boats | 1831 | 1834 | |--------------|------|------| | | Vessels | Tonnage | Vessels | Tonnage | | Liverpool | 5 | 910 | 5 | 1022 | | Belfast | 3 | 429 | 4 | 485 | | Dublin | 2 | 370 | 2 | 274 | | Londonderry | 2 | 238 | 2 | 289 | | Total | 12 | 1947 | 13 | 2070 | The above tonnage is register measure; carpenters' measure in steam-vessels is about one third more.
The number of river boats for 1831 included all those which had plied during any part of that year. Many, however, were sold, some were broken up, and others were withdrawn in the course of the year, and there were not so many as twenty-five running at any one time. This accounts for the apparent falling off in 1834, as the twenty-one given for that year were actually plying in December. There is therefore an increase of boats plying on the river, and preparations are making to establish several others. All the new boats, either for the outsea or river trade, are of larger dimensions, greater engine power, and are much more splendidly fitted up for the accommodation of passengers than heretofore. The speed is also greatly improved. The Liverpool boats in 1831 were thought to have made good passages when they performed the run from Liverpool to Greenock, a distance of 220 miles, in twenty-four to twenty-six hours. It is now done much sooner. The steam packet Manchester, of 387 tons carpenters' measurement, belonging to Messrs James Martin and James and George Burns and Co. of this city, left the Clarence dock, Liverpool, on Monday evening the 15th December 1834, and arrived in Glasgow, a distance of 240 miles, discharged and loaded her cargoes, and was back again in the same dock, within the short period of sixty hours. This being done in the dead of winter, studying the tides in the Mersey and Clyde shows what can be done by steam navigation. The cabin fares for the river boats are rather less than one penny per mile, and outsea boats rather more. To Liverpool the fare is L.l. 5s.
Stage-Coaches.—Stage-coaches were first used in Scotland in 1678. The first mail-coach from London to Glasgow arrived at the Saracen's Head on Monday the 7th of July 1788; at that period the mail went by Leeds, a distance of 405 miles, and arrived in sixty-five hours, being nearly six and a half miles in the hour; in 1834, the mail goes by Wetherby, a distance of 395 miles, and arrives in forty-one hours and three fourths. The speed from Car-
lisle to Glasgow is at the rate of eleven miles an hour. On the 10th of January 1799, Mr John Gardiner of the Back's Head, Glasgow, started a coach to Edinburgh with four horses, which performed the journey of forty-two miles in six hours. The time now occupied on the road by stage-coaches is about four hours and a half.
In 1833 there were on an average sixty-one stage-coaches which departed from and returned to Glasgow every lawful day. The mails every day, viz. to London two, Edinburgh twelve, Paisley thirteen, Hamilton five, Linlathen three, Perth two, Stirling two, and to other towns twenty-two. These coaches were drawn by 188 horses, and 671 horses were kept for them. They accommodated 882 passengers, viz. inside 284, outside 548.
Private Carriages.—Mr Allan Dreghorn, timber merchant and builder, was the first person who started a private carriage in this city; it was made by his own workmen in 1752. The number of carriages in the city and suburbs charged with duty in 1832 was 402, viz. stage-coaches sixty-one, hackney carriages 140, private carriages 201, viz. with four wheels 112, two wheels 89.
Relays of post-chaises did not exist in Scotland, except on the road from Edinburgh to London, till the year 1776, and even in England relays are of comparatively recent date. Mr John Glasford, and Mr Andrew Thomson senior, Glasgow merchants, went to London on horseback in the year 1739. At that period there was no turnpike road till they came to Grantham, within 110 miles of London. Up to that point they travelled upon a narrow causeway, with an unmade soft road upon each side of it; and they met from time to time strings of pack-horses, from thirty to forty in a gang, the mode by which goods were transported from one part of the country to another.
The Forth and Clyde Navigation.—In 1768, an act of parliament was obtained for making a canal from the river Forth at or near the mouth of the river Carron in the county of Stirling, to the river Clyde at or near Dalmuir Burnfoot in the county of Dumbarton, with a collateral cut to the city of Glasgow. On the 10th of June in that year, Sir Lawrence Dundas dug out the first spadeful of earth for the formation of the canal, and it was opened from the eastern to the western sea on the 28th of July 1790. On the 11th of November in the same year, the basin at Port Dundas was finished. The length of the navigation from the Forth to the Clyde is thirty-five miles, and the cut to Glasgow two and a half miles. There are thirty-nine locks on the canal, namely, twenty from the Forth to Glasgow, and nineteen between the great aqueduct and the Clyde. The length of the locks between the gates is seventy-four feet, the width twenty feet, and the fall ten feet. The medium width of the surface of the canal is fifty-six feet, at bottom twenty-seven feet, and the depth upwards of ten feet. The rise from the east sea to the summit-level of the Canal at Wineford Lock is 156 feet, and the descent to the Clyde 150 feet, so that the Forth at the east end of the canal is six feet lower than the Clyde at Bowling. This great canal, which required twenty-two years to complete, was one of the most arduous to execute in the kingdom, having to encounter rocks, precipices, and quicksands; in some places it runs through a deep moss, and in others it is banked twenty feet high. It crosses many rivulets and roads, as well as two considerable rivers, the Luggie and the Kelvin. The bridge over the latter, which consists of four arches, and carries the canal across a deep valley, cost L8509. The canal is supplied with water by eight reservoirs, covering 721 acres, and containing 24,902 lockfuls of water.
Mr Kirkman Finlay of Castle Toward, the present steward, was elected to that important office on 20th March 1816. At the following balance the rate per cent. on each original share of L100 was L25; in the preceding The annual average revenue during sixteen years previous to Mr Finlay being appointed governor was £30,923. 7s. 6d., and the annual average revenue during sixteen years after it was £46,880. 11s. 4d.
In 1832 there were two steam passage boats on the canal, each of twenty-four horse power. These boats went at the rate of six miles an hour. In 1833 the steamboats gave place to swift iron boats, which travel at the rate of ten miles an hour. Four of these boats leave Port Dundas for Stirling and Edinburgh, and return every weekday, and four additional ones are in a state of preparation. In 1832 the revenue from steam and heavy drag boats was £1213. 19s. 5d.; in 1833 from the swift boats £1007. 19s. 1d.; and in 1834 upwards of £5000.
Monkland Canal.—This canal affords a cheap communication between the city of Glasgow and the collieries in the parishes of Old and New Monkland, distant about twelve miles. The canal was originally thirty-five feet broad at the top, and twenty-four at the bottom; depth of water upon the lockslips five feet, and the smallest depth throughout any part of the canal four feet six inches. The banks have been recently raised, by which a greater depth of water is procured. At Blackhill there are four locks of two chambers, each chamber seventy-one feet long, fourteen feet broad, and twelve feet deep. The head level, at the top of Blackhill, is continued to Sheepford, a distance of eight miles, where there are two single locks of seven feet six inches each, which carries the canal to the river Calder. In the spring of 1813 three passage-boats began to ply to Sheepford, about a mile from Airdrie. Its canal has been productive to the stockholders for a number of years past.
Glasgow, Paisley, and Ardrossan Canal.—The expense of carriage from Glasgow to the west coast, through the fertile counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and Ayr, abundant with coal and limestone, was long a desideratum. The operations on the canal commenced in May 1807, and the navigation opened between Glasgow and Johnston on the 4th of October 1811. Although the canal was opened at that period, the trade did not commence till April 1812. The length of the canal from Port Eglintoun to Ardrossan is thirty-two miles and three quarters; from Port Eglintoun to Johnston eleven miles; breadth at top thirty feet, bottom eighteen feet, and depth four feet six inches. There are no locks on that part of the canal yet executed between Port Eglintoun and Johnston; but when the canal is carried forward, there will be eight near Johnston, raise the canal to the summit-level, and thirteen to fall down to the harbour of Ardrossan. On the 6th of November 1810, boats were put on this canal, but Mr Houston of Houston Castle has the merit of introducing swift iron boats. During 1830 these boats made four trips daily, averaging twenty-five passengers each trip; in 1831 eight trips, averaging thirty-two passengers; in 1832 fourteen trips, averaging thirty-four passengers; and during the first six months of 1833 they made eighteen trips, averaging forty-five passengers. During the months of July and August 1834, 50,000 passengers went along the canal; the number in one day was 2500. The proportions of the first cabin and second cabin passengers are, one fifth of the first cabin passengers at one penny per mile, and four fifths of second cabin passengers at three farthings per mile. The average total fare on the canal is therefore sixteen seventieths of a penny per mile. The swift boats on the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals ply at similar rates.
Union Canal.—The Union Canal was begun on the 3rd of March 1818. It is thirty-one miles and a half in length from Port Hopetoun, near Edinburgh, to Port Downie, near Kirk. The navigation for ten miles west from Port Hopetoun was opened on the 23rd of March 1822, and to Port Downie early in May thereafter. The canal is on a level line for thirty miles from Port Hopetoun; the remaining distance is occupied by eleven locks, each ten feet deep, so that the Union Canal, at the head of the locks, is 110 feet above the Forth and Clyde Navigation. The Union Canal is forty feet broad at the top, twenty feet at the bottom, and five feet deep. This canal has not yet been productive to such stockholders as have not an interest in the Forth and Clyde Navigation.
The intercourse with Glasgow by coaches, steam-boats, track-boats, and rail-roads, is so great that it almost exceeds belief. As some of the coaches and steam-boats depart and arrive more than once a day, and the mail-coaches every day, the following may be taken as a low average of passengers by stage-coaches and steam-boats, while the others are from the books of the respective companies. During 1834, sixty-one stage-coaches, each averaging twelve passengers, arrived and departed during 313 lawful days. This amounted to 458,232 persons in the year. By thirty-seven steam-boats, twenty-five passengers each, 579,050; by the swift boats on the Forth and Clyde Navigation and Union Canal, 91,975; by the light iron boats on the Paisley Canal, 250,000; by the boats on the Monkland Canal, 31,784; and by the Glasgow and Garnkirk Rail-road, 118,892; making the gross number of passengers amount to 1,529,923.
Trade, Arts, and Manufactures.—Glasgow is advantageously situated for commercial pursuits. Placed on the borders of one of the richest coal and mineral fields in the island, with which it communicates by the Monkland Canal, and by various rail-roads, and connected on the one hand with the Atlantic by the Clyde, and on the other with the North Sea and the German Ocean by the Forth and Clyde Navigation and the river Forth, it possesses facilities peculiarly favourable for trade. Notwithstanding these local advantages, Glasgow was not remarkable for trade until a considerable time after the union with England. Its importance, in a commercial point of view, may be greatly attributed to the improvements on the Clyde, and to the enterprising spirit of its merchants and manufacturers during the last seventy years. In 1420, a Mr Elphinstone is mentioned as a curer of salmon and herrings for the French market; and Principal Baillie mentions that this trade had greatly increased between the years 1630 and 1664. As an encouragement to trade, then in its infancy, an act was passed, in which it was stipulated that the whole materials used in particular manufactures should be exempt from duty; and in the same parliament it was enacted, for the better encouragement of soap manufacturers, that oil, potashes, and other materials for making soap, should be exempt from duty. On 31st of January 1638, "Robert Fleming and his partners made offer to the town council to set up a manufactory in the city, wherein a number of the poorer sort of people may be employed, provided they met with sufficient countenance. On considering which offer, the council resolved, in consideration of the great good, utility, and profit, which will redound to the city, to give the said company a lease of their great lodging and back yard in the Drygate, excepting the two front vaults, free of rent for the space of seventeen years. On 8th May thereafter, the deacon convenor reported that the freemasons were afraid that the erecting of the manufactory would prove hurtful to them. On which Patrick Bell, one of the partners, agreed that the company should not employ any unfree weavers of the town."
Letter-press printing was introduced into Glasgow by George Anderson in the year 1638; and one of the first works printed by him was an account of the general assembly, which met there the same year. Anderson came to Glasgow in consequence of an invitation from the magistrates. It appears, from the records of the town council, 4th January 1640, that the treasurer was directed to pay him L100 in satisfaction of his expenses, "in transporting of his gear to this burghe," and in full of his bygone salaries from Whitsunday 1638 till Martinmas 1639. It also appears, from the records of the council, 10th June 1663, that Anderson was succeeded by his son Andrew as ordinary printer to the town and college, on condition of his "services as well and his prices being as easy as others." Andrew, who had been a printer in Edinburgh, not finding matters to his mind here, returned to Edinburgh, and in 1671 he was made king's printer for Scotland. Anderson was succeeded in Glasgow by Robert Saunders, who styled himself printer to the city, and who was for many years the only printer in the west of Scotland. But his predecessor, now the royal typographer, came to Glasgow, and by threats and promises prevailed on Saunders' workmen to desert him in the midst of an impression of the New Testament. This oppressive conduct brought the matter before the privy council, which decided, in December 1671, that Saunders should be allowed to finish his book, and that any printer in Scotland had an equal right with his majesty's to print the New Testament and Psalm Book in the letter commonly called English Roman. Saunders died about 1696, leaving his printing establishment to his son Robert, better known by the designation "of Auldhouse," a property purchased from a younger branch of the family of Maxwell of Pollock. A few of the works first printed by him were tolerably executed; but his latter productions are extremely paltry and inaccurate. Printing was now, and for some years afterwards, in the lowest state in Scotland. The exorbitancy of the royal grant to Anderson had produced the worst effects. No person appears to have been employed for the sole purpose of correcting the press; and the low wages given to pressmen, with the badness of the machines themselves, also tended to retard the improvement.
The university, in the mean time, was not wanting in efforts to improve the printing in Glasgow. A paper, entitled "proposals for erecting a bookseller's shop and a printing-press in the university of Glasgow," appears to have been presented to the faculty in 1713, in which it is mentioned that they were "obliged to go to Edinburgh in order to get one sheet right printed." During the same year, Thomas Harvie, a student of divinity, engaged to furnish one or more printing presses, and in the course of four years to furnish founts and other materials for printing Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, on condition that he should be declared university printer and bookseller for forty years, "with all the privileges and immunities which the university hath or shall have hereafter to bestow on their printer and bookseller." Although these terms were probably not ultimately accepted, they seem at least to have been under frequent consideration; and the sketch of a contract with Harvie is preserved among the university papers. Two years afterwards, "Donald Govane, younger, merchant in Glasgow, and printer," was appointed to the same office for seven years; but his name appears at very few books.
James Duncan, who printed M'Ure's History of Glasgow, continued to print here till about the year 1750. Robert Urie and Company were printers in the Gallowgate in 1740, and during the following year executed several works for Robert Faulls (improperly termed Fowlis). Urie is entitled to the credit of adding to the respectability of the Glasgow press. Amongst the finest specimens of his work are his editions of the Greek New Testament and of the Spectator. But the art of printing was carried to great perfection by the Messrs Faulls, who introduced into Glasgow a style of printing which, for beauty and correctness, has never been surpassed in any country. A brief account of these distinguished persons cannot fail to be interesting.
Robert Faulls, the eldest son of Andrew Faulls, was born in or near Glasgow, on the 20th of April 1707, and his brother Andrew on the 22d of November 1712. Robert was sent, at an early period, as an apprentice to a barber, and seems to have practised the art of shaving for some time on his own account. While in this situation Dr Francis Hutchison, then professor of moral philosophy in the university, discovered in him the talent which was afterwards cultivated with so much success, encouraged his desire of knowledge, and suggested to him the idea of becoming a bookseller and printer. Although Robert Faulls did not receive a complete university education, he continued to attend for several years the lectures of his patron; but Andrew received a more regular education, and for some years taught the Greek, Latin, and French languages. Having thus acquired a pretty accurate knowledge of books, Robert began business in Glasgow as a bookseller in 1741, and in the following year the first production of his press appeared. He was assisted in the correction of his press by George Rosse, then professor of humanity in the university, and by James Moor, at that time a tutor about the college, and afterwards professor of Greek. To these advantages must be added the appointment, on 31st March 1743, of the elder brother as printer to the university. In the same year he produced Demetrius Phalerius de Elocutione, apparently the first Greek book printed in Glasgow, though George Anderson's printing-house had been nearly a century before supplied with Greek and Hebrew types. In 1744 appeared the celebrated edition of Horace, the proof sheets of which, it is well known, were hung up in the college, and a reward offered to any one who should discover an inaccuracy. By the year 1746, Faulls had printed eighteen different classics, besides Dr Hutchison's class-book in English and Latin; and Homer, with the Philippics of Demosthenes, were advertised as in the press. The Homer appeared in the following year, both in a quarto and in an octavo form. The first of these is a very beautiful book, and more correct than the other, which was printed after Dr Clarke's edition. The success which had attended the efforts of the Faullses as printers induced the elder brother to extend the sphere of his usefulness. After being four times abroad, he sent home to his brother a painter, an engraver, and a copperplate printer, whom he had engaged in his service, returned to Scotland in 1753, and soon afterwards instituted an academy for painting, engraving, modelling, and drawing. The university allowed him the use of what is now the Faculty Hall as an exhibition room for his pictures, and of several other rooms for his students; and three Glasgow merchants afterwards became partners in the undertaking. The students, according to the proposed plan, after having given proofs of genius at home, were to be sent abroad at the expense of the academy. But the scheme, which was somewhat romantic, did not succeed, and was attended with considerable loss to all concerned. In Faulls' own words, "there seemed to be a pretty general emulation who should run it most down."
Letter-press printing has been carried on of late years to such an extent that it could not be accomplished without the aid of steam. Messrs Ballantyne and Company of Edinburgh were the first in Scotland who printed by steam. In 1829 or 1830, they fitted up a steam-press for printing Blackwood's Magazine and the Waverley novels. Soon after this the Edinburgh, Leith, and Glasgow Advertiser was printed by steam, then the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle, Chambers' Journal, and the Farmers' Magazine. In 1831 the Aberdeen Journal was printed in this way; and in 1834 Mr Edward Khull fitted up a steam-press for printing the Church of Scotland Magazine in this city.
A copartnery for carrying on the whale-fishery, and The brewing trade was carried on extensively here at an early period by the Anderston Brewery Company, and by Messrs Blackstock, Baird, Struthers, Buchanan, &c.
Previously to the union, the foreign trade of Glasgow was chiefly confined to Holland and France. The union of the kingdoms, which took place in 1707, having opened the colonies to the Scotch, the merchants of Glasgow immediately availed themselves of the circumstance, and having engaged extensively in a trade with Virginia and Maryland, soon made their city a mart for tobacco, and the chief medium through which the farmers-general of France received their supplies of that article. In 1721 a remonstrance was preferred to the lords of the treasury charging the Glasgow merchants with fraud. After having heard parties, and considered the representation, their lordships dismissed the complaint as groundless, and proceeding from a spirit of envy, not from a regard to the interest of trade or the king's revenue. To such an extent was this branch of commerce carried on in Glasgow, that for several years previously to 1770 the annual import of tobacco into the Clyde was from 35,000 to 45,000 hogsheads. In 1771, 49,016 hogsheads were imported. As the Glasgow merchants were enabled to undersell, and did undersell, those of London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Whitehaven, jealousies arose which ended in litigation. As the tobacco trade was suspended in 1783, at the breaking out of the war with America, the merchants of Glasgow engaged their capital in other pursuits.
Some attempts having been made to open a connection with the West Indies, the imports from that quarter into the Clyde in 1775 were as follow: Sugar 4621 hogsheads and 691 tierces, rum 1154 puncheons and 193 hogsheads, cotton 503 bags. The following excerpt of imports into the Clyde from the custom-house books shows the great increase of this trade. In the year ending the 5th of January 1815, immediately preceding the battle of Waterloo, there were imported; sugar, 540,198 hundredweights, two quarters, twenty-five pounds; rum, 1,251,092 gallons; cotton wool, 6,580,177 pounds. The import duties of these and other articles amounted to L563,038. 2s. 6d.; and the produce was imported in 448 ships, carrying 79,219 tons, and employing 4868 men in navigating them. These imports are, exclusive of grain, hemp, tallow, &c. from the Baltic through the Great Canal. The exports during the same period to America, the West Indies, and Europe, amounted to L4,016,181. 12s. 2½d.; and 592 ships, 94,350 tonnage, and 6476 men were employed in this traffic.
In 1718 the art of type-making was introduced by James Duncan. The types used by him are evidently of his own making, being rudely cut and badly proportioned. He deserves credit however for the attempt; and his letters are little inferior to those used by the other Scottish printers of that period. He continued to print for many years, and is well known as the typographer of M'Ure's History. In this book, which is not a creditable specimen of his work, he is styled "printer to the city."
In 1740 the art was brought to great perfection by Mr Alexander Wilson, afterwards professor of astronomy in this university, and by his friend Mr John Baine. They first settled at St Andrews, the place of their nativity; but soon after removed to Camlachie, a suburb of this city, where they carried on business till the partnership was dissolved on Mr Baine's going to Dublin, where he remained but a short time. The professor removed to Glasgow, and lived to see his foundry become the most extensive and the most celebrated of any in Europe. At his death the business was carried on by his son, and continued by the family on a very extensive scale for a number of years. As a considerable part of their types went to London and Edinburgh, and as other type-makers had commenced bu- Although the origin of stereotyping is uncertain, it is evident that it was not invented by the French. If it be a modern invention, or there be any question as to the country in which it was first used, the Scots are entitled to the preference; for there certainly was an instance of the art having been used in Edinburgh many years before the earliest date at which it is said, or is even supposed to have been used in France. And in evidence of this, reference is made to the original stereotyped page of Sallust, with the plate and matrix, as well as a copy of the book, in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow. Mr Andrew Duncan introduced stereotyping into this city in 1818; and since that period Messrs Hutchison and Brookman, Edward Khull, university printer, Blackie and Son, and Fullerton and Co. carry on the business of stereotyping to a very great extent.
Steam-Engines, as applicable to Manufactures.—As the great improvement on the steam-engine was made in Glasgow, a brief account of that mighty engine may not be improper here. The steam-engine was invented in the reign of Charles II. by the Marquis of Worcester, who, in the year 1663, published a book entitled A Century of Inventions. But as the marquis, though notable as a theoretical projector, knew little of practical detail, Captain Savary took up the subject; and published a book in 1696, entitled The Miner's Friend, where he described the principles of his improvement, for which he obtained a patent. About this time, Papin, a Frenchman, came to England, and becoming familiar with the elastic power of steam, he was, on his return home, employed by Charles, landgrave of Hesse, to raise water by a machine which he constructed; and from this his countrymen affected to consider him as the inventor of the steam-engine. In 1707, the doctor published an account of his inventions. Not long after this, Mr Amonton contrived a machine which he called a fire-wheel. It consisted of a number of buckets placed in the circumference of the wheel, and communicating with each other by very circuitous passages. One part of the circumference was exposed to the heat of a furnace, and another to a stream or cistern of cold water. At the death of Amonton, M. Dessandes, a member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, presented to the academy a project of a steam-wheel, where the impulsive force of the vapours was impelled; but it met with little encouragement. In the mean time, the English engineers had so much improved Savary's invention, that it supplanted all others. Mr Newcomen, a blacksmith at Dartmouth in Devonshire, observing that Savary's engine could not lift water from deep mines, set his genius to work, and made great improvements on it. Savary's engine raised water by the force of steam, but in Newcomen's contrivance by the pressure of the atmosphere, and steam was employed merely as the most expeditious method of producing a vacuum. This engine was first offered to the public in 1705, but its imperfections were not removed till 1717, when Mr Beighton brought the machine into the form in which it continues without any material change till the present day.
The greatest improvement on the steam-engine was, however, reserved for Mr James Watt, who was born at Greenock on the 19th of January 1736. When Mr Watt had completed his education in Glasgow, he went to London in 1754, and returned in 1757, and in a short time he was appointed philosophical instrument maker to the university. This circumstance laid the foundation of an intimacy with Drs Adam Smith, Black, and Dick, Mr Anderson, Mr Robison, and other distinguished persons connected with the university. In contemplating the principles of a small working model of Newcomen's steam-engine which Professor Anderson sent him to repair, Mr Watt thought it capable of improvement; and having procured an apartment in Delftfield, he shut himself up along with his apprentice, Mr John Gardner, philosophical-instrument maker, and it was in this place that the foundation of the great improvement on the steam-engine was laid. In 1769, Mr Watt, on the recommendation of Dr Black, formed a connection with Dr Roebuck of Carron Iron Works, when he left Glasgow for Kinneil House, near these works, where he constructed a small steam-engine. The cylinder was of block-iron, eighteen inches diameter. The first experiment, which was made at a coal mine, succeeded to admiration; indeed his success was so great, that he procured a patent "for saving steam and fuel in fire-engines." Dr Roebuck's affairs becoming embarrassed in 1775, Mr Watt formed a connection with Mr Boulton of Soho, Birmingham, where they had the exclusive privilege of making steam-engines for a period of twenty-five years.
On the expiration of the exclusive privilege, the engineers of this city commenced making steam-engines; and to such an extent is this business carried on here, that there are now thirteen firms who make steam-engines or mill machinery. Some of the works are more like national than private undertakings. Three houses alone employ upwards of a thousand persons in this important branch of trade.
Dr Cieland has ascertained that in Glasgow and its suburbs there are thirty-one different kinds of manufactures where steam-engines are used, and that in these and in collieries, quarries, and steam-boats, there are 355 steam-engines = 7366 horse power; average power of engines rather more than 20 horses each.
The Cotton Trade.—The manufacture of linens, laws, cambrics, and other articles of similar fabric, was introduced into Glasgow about the year 1725, and continued to be the staple manufacture till they were succeeded by muslins. The following is a brief account of that important event.
About the year 1730 the late Mr J. Wyatt of Birmingham first conceived the project of spinning cotton yarn by machinery. The wool had to be carded in the common way, and was pressed between two cylinders, whence the bobbin drew it by means of the twist. In 1741 or 1742 the first mill for spinning cotton was erected in Birmingham; it was turned by two asses walking round an axis, and ten girls were employed in attending the work. A work upon a larger scale on a stream of water was soon after this established at Northampton, under the direction of Mr Yeomans; but nothing new had occurred in weaving till 1759, when Mr John Kay, a weaver in Bury, invented the fly shuttle. In 1760 Mr James Hargreave, a weaver at Stanhill near Church, in Lancashire, adapted the stock cards used in the woollen manufacture to the carding of cotton, and greatly improved them. By their means a person was able to do double the work, and by more ease than by hand-carding. This contrivance was soon succeeded by the cylinder carding machine. It has not been ascertained who was the inventor of this valuable machine, but it is known that the grandfather of the present Sir Robert Peel was among the first who used it. In 1767 Mr Hargreave invented the spinning jenny. This machine, although of limited powers when compared with the beautiful inventions which succeeded it, must be considered as the first and leading step in that progress of discovery which carried improvement into every branch of the manufacture, changing, as it proceeds, the nature and character of the means of production, by substituting mechanical operation for human labour. The progress of invention after this Hargreave in the mean time had removed to Nottingham, where he erected a small spinning work, and afterwards died in great poverty. The jenny having in a short time put an end to the spinning of cotton by the common wheel, the whole wefts used in the manufacture continued to be spun upon that machine, until the invention of the mule jenny, by which, in its turn, it was superseded. It would appear, that whilst Hargreave was producing the common jenny, Mr (afterwards Sir Richard) Arkwright, was employed in contriving that wonderful piece of mechanism the spinning frame, which, when put in motion, performs itself the whole process of spinning, leaving to run only the office of supplying the material, and of joining or piecing the thread.
In 1769 Mr Arkwright obtained his patent for spinning with rollers, and he erected his first mill at Nottingham, which he worked by horse power. But this mode of giving motion to the machinery being expensive, he built another mill at Cromford in Derbyshire, in 1771, to which motion was given by water. Water twist received its name from the circumstance of the machinery from which it is obtained having for a long time after its invention been generally put in motion by water. The only improvement, or even alteration, yet made on Sir Richard's contrivance, the spinning frame, is the machine invented several years ago, called the thristle. Instead of four or six spindles being coupled together, forming what is called a head, with separate movement by a pulley and drum, as is the case with the frame, the whole rollers and spindles on both sides of the thristle are connected together, and turned by bands on a tin cylinder lying horizontally under the machine; but its chief merit consists in the simplification of the apparatus, which renders the movement lighter. Besides this, the thristle can with more ease and at less expense than the frame, be altered to spin the different grists of yarn.
In the year 1775 Mr Samuel Crompton of Bolton completed his invention of the mule jenny, so called from its being in its structure and operation a compound of the spinning frame, and of Hargreave's jenny. The mule was originally worked by the spinner's hand; but in the year 1792, Mr William Kelly of Glasgow, at that time manager of the Lamark Mills, obtained a patent for moving it by machinery; and, although the undisputed inventor of the process, he allowed every one freely to avail himself of its advantages. A great object expected to be obtained by its improvement was, that instead of employing men as spinners, which was indispensable when the machine was to be worked by the hand, children would be able to perform every office required. To give the means of accomplishing this, Mr Kelly's machinery was contrived so as to move every part of the mule, even to the returning of the carriage into its place after the draught was finished. But after a short trial of this mode of spinning, it was discovered that a greater amount of produce might be obtained, and at a cheaper rate, by taking back the men as spinners, and employing them to return the carriage as formerly, whilst the machine performed the other operations. In this way one man might spin two mules, the carriage of the one moving out during the time the spinner was engaged in turning the other. The process of mule-spinning continued to be conducted upon this plan until lately, when several proprietors of large cotton works restored that part of Mr Kelly's machinery which returns the carriage into its place after the draught is completed.
During the time that the machines for the different processes of cotton spinning were advancing towards perfection, Mr James Watt had applied his admirable improvements on the steam-engine to give motion to mill-work in general. His inventions for this end, besides the ingenuity and beauty of contrivance which they possess, have had an influence upon the circumstances of this country, and of mankind, far more important than that produced by any other mechanical discovery.
The foregoing application merely assisted the spinner in pushing in the carriage; to meet the more nice and difficult operations of winding the thread upon the spindle, and forming it into the proper shape of a cope, still devolved upon the spinner, and required persons of superior skill and dexterity. The wages of that class of workmen have been maintained at a higher range than in the generality of manufacturing employments. This high rate of wages has led to the contrivance of many expedients to lessen the cost of production in this process of the manufacture. About the year 1795 Mr Archibald Buchanan of Catrine, now one of the oldest practical spinners in Britain, and one of the earliest pupils of Arkwright, became connected with Messrs James Finlay and Company of Glasgow, and engaged in refitting their works at Ballindalloch in Stirlingshire. Having constructed very light mule jennies, he dispensed altogether with the employment of men as spinners, and trained young women to the work. These he found more easily directed than the men, more steady in attendance to their work, and more cleanly and tidy in the keeping of their machines, and contented with much smaller wages. That work has ever since been wrought by women, and they have always been remarkable for their stout, healthy appearance, as well as for good looks and extreme neatness of dress. Mr Buchanan having, in 1802, removed to the Catrine Works, in the parish of Lorn, Ayrshire, then purchased by James Finlay and Company, carried some female spinners with him, and there introduced most successfully the same system as at Ballindalloch. This system has from time to time been partially adopted at other works in Scotland and England, but men are still most generally employed.
The men having formed a union for the protection of their trade, as they supposed, have from time to time annoyed their employers with vexatious interferences and restrictions, which have induced a great desire on the part of the masters to be able to dispense with their employment; and this has led to several attempts to invent a set of mechanism to perform all the operations hitherto performed by men or women, thereby forming a self-acting mule. Mr William Kelly was the first to patent a machine of this description in the year 1792, as has already been stated. About the same time Mr Archibald Buchanan, of Catrine Works, then at Deanston Works in Perthshire, made an attempt to perfect a self-acting mule, but was not at that time successful. The next attempt was by Mr Eaton of Derby, who took out a patent in 1815, and fitted up a flat of his mills in Manchester soon after. The mechanism being complicated, no practical spinners ventured to give the machine a trial.
In 1823, M. de Jouge, an ingenious French gentleman, who has been long resident in this country, contrived a machine of more simple construction, for which he obtained a patent. These he had in operation at Warrington in Lancashire, and in Yorkshire; but they have never made farther progress. The spinners of Manchester and neighbourhood having been much annoyed by the union of their spinners, applied to Messrs Sharp, Roberts, and Company, celebrated machine makers, to allow their Mr Roberts, a man of great ingenuity, and of much skill and taste in mechanism, to endeavour to perfect a self-acting mule. This Mr Roberts undertook, and having devoted himself to the pursuit, succeeded, after several years of experiment, and at the expense of a large sum of money (upwards, it is said, of £10,000), in producing a machine, which has been found to work well in the spinning of yarn not exceeding forty hanks in the pound. In the construction of this machine there is a display of great ingenuity, skill, and taste, and it has been adopted to some extent. Glasgow: by several extensive spinners. Still, however, there are objections to these machines, on account of the complexity and expense of the mechanism; and from the peculiar style of the movements, the machine is still liable to breakage and to considerable tear and wear. About eight years ago Mr Buchanan having to renew the mules at Catrine Works, resolved to attempt again a self-actor; and, with some suggestions from his nephew Mr James Smith of Deanston Works, and with much ingenuity and perseverance on his own part, he succeeded in contriving an effective machine. He has had his whole work in operation on this plan for six years past, and, under his peculiarly good management, the machines perform very well in low numbers. In 1820 Mr James Smith of Deanston Works had contrived and constructed the mechanism of a self-acting mule; but his attention having been required to other more extensive and important operations, he laid it aside, it is believed, without trial. In 1833, Mr Smith, seeing the desire that existed for a simple and efficient self-acting mule, and more especially such as could be applied to the mules of various constructions at present in general use in the trade, set about contriving one; and having made some progress, he came to hear of a very simple contrivance for facilitating the process of backing off (one of the most difficult to accomplish in a self-actor), by John Robertson, an operative spinner, and foreman to Mr James Orr of Crofthead Mill, in Renfrewshire. Robertson, through Mr Orr, obtained a patent for his invention, which consisted of other movements, rendering the mule completely self-acting. Mr Smith, struck with the simplicity and efficacy of his backing-off movement, which consists in stripping the coils from the spindles, entered into an arrangement with Mr Orr and Robertson, and having united the mechanism of his own patent with that of Robertson and Mr Orr, they have now wrought out a machine, which is considered to be more simple and effective, and more generally applicable to all mules, than any other yet brought before the trade, and it is believed it will soon be generally adopted.
The adoption of the self-acting mules will bring the business of spinning much more under the control of the master, and will aid much in enabling the spinners of Britain to maintain a successful competition against the cheap labour of other countries, who have less capital and less facilities for obtaining these improved machines, and less skill for their management if obtained.
About six years ago Mr Smith of Deanston Works invented a very simple throttle for spinning water-twist yarn in the form of a cop, intended to facilitate the manufacture of water-twist shirting. This machine works well, and the tension of the thread in spinning is maintained by the action of two fanner's blades or wings attached to the stem of the spindle, similar to a mule spindle, and on which the cop is built, and which, from the uniform and soft resistance of the air, gives a never-varying tension. But the most wonderful improvement in water-spinning was brought to this country from the United States in 1831, by Mr Alexander Carrick, a native of Glasgow, who then obtained a patent for the invention. The inventor, a mechanic of the name of Danforth, came with the machine to this country, and it has now obtained his name, being denominated the Danforth Throttle. This throttle has no flies. The twisting part consists of a dead or fast spindle, on which a socket of about five inches long is fitted to revolve, and on this the bobbin for receiving the thread being spun is placed. On the top of the spindle is placed a hollow cap of one and a half to two inches diameter, which covers the bobbin; and the thread passing from the roller to the bobbin, is revolved by the motion of the socket and bobbin round the outer surface of this cap; but the centrifugal force of the thread causes it to fly out from the cap, and the only point of contact is round the edge of the mouth of the cap, when the thread passes to the bobbin. From this, and the resistance of the air to the movement of the thread, the tension is derived, and is light and uniform. The spindle of the common throttle cannot be driven to advantage above 4000 or 5000 revolutions in a minute, whilst the Danforth socket may be run with advantage at 8000 or 9000. This machine has been slowly getting into use, and suits to spin twist from tens to forties. The yarn has a medium character, betwixt water-twist and mule-twist. The power required to time this machine is great, and the tear and wear of the machine considerable. Another American throttle (which, however, was invented in Scotland thirty years ago), was introduced about four years ago by Mr Montgomerie of Johnston. It consists of a long central spindle embraced by a double-necked flur, and is said to work well, building the yarn in the form of a cop, or on a bobbin, as may be required. Several are at work about Glasgow. By these and other improvements in the various processes of cotton spinning, as much yarn can now be spun for 5s. of wages, as cost 20s. twenty-five years ago.
In the year 1797 a new machine for cleaning cotton was invented by Mr Neil Snodgrass, now (1865) of Glasgow, and first used at Johnston, near Paisley, by Messrs Houston and Company. It is called a skutching or blowing machine. Its merits were not sufficiently known till 1808 or 1809, when it was introduced into Manchester. About that period it received some improvements from Mr Arkwright and Mr Strutt, who applied a faner to create a strong draft of air passing through a revolving wire sieve, whereby the dust and small flur separated from the cotton by the blows of the skutcher is carried off, and thrown into a chamber, where it is deposited, or into the open air out of doors, whilst the opened cotton is stopped by the sieve, and, arranging into a fleecy form of uniform thickness, passes by the revolution of the sieve to a roller, when it is wound up, to be carried to the carding engine.
The most complete arrangement of this machine was made by Mr Buchanan, of Catrine Works, in 1817, whereby the whole processes of opening, cleaning, and lapping the cotton are performed at once by a series of four skutchers, each with a sieve. The rooms in which these machines work are as free of dust as a drawing-room; and this process, at one time the most disagreeable and unwholesome, is now quite the reverse; besides, the cotton being completely freed of the dust and flur, is more cleanly in all succeeding processes, much to the comfort of the workers, and the benefit of the work.
Little improvement was made in the carding engine for many years. About 1812, however, a system of completing the carding process in one machine was introduced, and is now pretty generally adopted for numbers under fifties, and in some cases as high as eighties. In 1815, Mr Smith of Deanston Works constructed a carding engine, having the flats or tops moveable on hinges, and applied an apparatus for turning and cleaning the tops, which was the first self-topping engine, and with him the idea had originated. Two years after, Mr Buchanan arranged a more perfect machine, and had it adopted in all his water-twist mills. Some years after he farther improved this apparatus, and obtained a patent. In 1829 Mr Smith again improved the topping apparatus, by substituting a chain of successive tops, and had them made of tin plate, to avoid warping. This improvement, together with a neat and effective arrangement of cylinders forming a compact single engine, he completed in 1833, and obtained a patent.
These engines occupy about half the space of the Oldham engine much used in England, make more perfect work, and will turn off nearly two lbs. per inch of wire per day for numbers from thirties to forties. Some of the movements are extremely striking and beautiful. This machine gives promise of many advantages to the trade. In the roving process some recent improvements have been introduced. About ten years ago Mr Henry Houldsworth junior, of Glasgow, now of Manchester, contrived a beautiful differential motion for the winding in of the roving on the spindle and fly machine, and obtained a patent. This improvement has got much into use. About the same time a very peculiar mode of roving was introduced from America by the late Mr James Dunlop, and which was afterwards improved and patented by Mr Dyer of Manchester. This machine is called the tube machine, and has got much into use for the lower numbers of yarns. The roving coming from the drawing rollers, passes through a tube revolving at the rate of five thousand turns per minute, whereby a hard twist is thrown up to the rollers, and the roving being wound on a spool or bobbin at the opposite end of the tube, gives off all the twist, but, from compression and rubbing it has undergone, retains a round and compact form, and has sufficient tenacity to pull round the spool or bobbin, in being drawn into the spinning machine. This machine is simple, going at a great speed, and turns off a deal of work; but it has not been successfully applied to any numbers above forties.
There are now many splendid spinning establishments around Glasgow. Those of the Lanark Company, on the Clyde, about twenty miles from Glasgow, are the most extensive in one establishment; but the three establishments of Messrs James Finlay and Company of Glasgow (of which Mr Kirkman Finlay is the head), at Irvine, Deanston, and Ballindalloch, are the most extensive ones in the whole kingdom, and employ about two thousand four hundred hands in spinning, weaving, bleaching, &c.
In reviewing the various machines which have been invented for the cotton manufacture, the result terminates in this, that one man can now spin as much cotton yarn in a given time, as two hundred could have done sixty years ago. On the 21st of July 1834, Mr Leonard Horner, one of the parliamentary factory commissioners, reported, "That Scotland there are 134 cotton-mills; that, with the exception of some large establishments at Aberdeen, and one at Stanley, near Perth, the cotton manufacture is almost entirely confined to Glasgow, and the country immediately adjoining to a distance of about twenty-five miles radius; and all these country mills, even including the great work at Stanley, are connected with Glasgow houses, or in the Glasgow trade. In Lanarkshire (in which Glasgow is situated) there are seventy-four cotton factories; in Renfrewshire, forty-one; Dumbartonshire, four; Butehire, two; Ayrshire, one; Perthshire, one. In these six counties there are 123 cotton-mills," nearly 100 of which belong to Glasgow. The following statement, also from the Factory Commission Report, will give a pretty good idea of the amount of cotton trade in Glasgow: "In Lanarkshire there are seventy-four cotton, two wool, and two silk factories; seventy-eight steam-engines, namely, seventeen each of fifty horse power and upwards; eleven from forty-nine to forty-nine horse power; nine from thirty to thirty-nine horse power; nineteen from twenty to twenty-nine horse power; twenty from ten to nineteen horse power; two under ten horse power. Water-wheels, three each of fifty horse power and upwards; two under ten horse power. Total horse power, 2914, of which steam, 2394, water, 520. Total persons employed in factories, 17,949. Of this number, thirteen years and under eighteen years, 5047, viz., males 1845, females 3702; under thirteen years 1651, viz., males 756, females 895."
The increase of the cotton trade may be seen by the following official statement of cotton wool taken for the consumption of Scotland from 1818 till 1834:
| Years | Bales | |-------|-------| | 1818 | 46,565 | | 1819 | 50,123 | | 1820 | 51,994 | | 1821 | 53,002 | | 1822 | 55,447 | | 1823 | 54,891 | | 1824 | 54,708 | | 1825 | 56,995 | | 1826 | 56,117 |
Cashmere Yarn.—In 1830 the weaving of Cashmere shawls in this country had become so important a branch of trade as to induce the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures in Scotland, to offer a premium of L300 sterling to the first person who should establish the spinning of Cashmere wool upon the French principle in this country. Up to that time the French had exclusively enjoyed the advantages of that trade; and all Cashmere yarns, used in this country in the manufacture of shawls and other fabrics, had to be imported from France. The offer of this handsome premium, together with the other advantages which the carrying on of the trade held out, induced Captain Charles Stuart Cochrane, of the royal navy, to attempt, whilst in Paris, to find out the secret of this manufacture, which, after many difficulties and much delay, he at last accomplished, and in 1831 took out patents for the three kingdoms for the introduction of this peculiar kind of spinning. In the autumn of that year he prevailed on Messrs Henry Houldsworth and Sons of Glasgow to purchase his patents, and they accordingly commenced the spinning of Cashmere yarn. After many difficulties, they succeeded, in 1832, in making better yarn than the French; and in the following year received from the Board of Trustees the L300 sterling as the premium due for the establishing of the spinning of Cashmere yarn in this country. Since then the manufacture has gone on but slowly, though gradually increasing in extent; and the day is not far distant when it may be hoped that the beauty of the goods made from Cashmere yarn will be duly appreciated by our ladies. One thing is gratifying, that notwithstanding the cheapness of labour in France, and the long experience the French have had in this manufacture, we are quite capable, at this moment, of successfully competing with them in the market, although the French yarns can be admitted free of duty.
Establishment of Merino Yarn Spinning in Scotland.—At the same time that the late Captain C. S. Cochrane was engaged in Paris in finding out the manufacture of Cashmere yarn, his attention was attracted by the superiority of French merino dresses over those made in this country, and on inquiry found that the peculiar manner in which the French spun the merino yarn was the principal cause of this difference. Captain Cochrane accordingly got all the information he could possibly obtain respecting this manufacture, and in 1833 established in Glasgow this peculiar mode of spinning merino yarn on the French principle. The Board of Trustees offered a premium of L300 sterling to the introducer and establisher of this manufacture, which premium Captain Cochrane accordingly received this year, his merino yarn being pronounced equal, if not superior, to the best French yarns. After this satisfactory result the business was extended to meet the demand of the trade; but, unfortunately for the spirited introducer, death cut him short before his plans were fully brought to a profitable result. The business is in the mean time being carried on by Messrs Henry Houldsworth and Sons for the benefit of Captain Cochrane's partner; and, from the soft and beautiful goods which can be made from this yarn, almost rivalling the Cashmere itself, there seems little doubt but that in a short time, when it becomes well known, the merinos of Glasgow. this country will successfully compete with those of the French.
**Progress of Machinery, Manufactures, and Trade.**—The power-loom was introduced into Glasgow in the year 1793, by Mr James Lewis Robertson of Dumblane. It was invented by the Rev. Dr Cartwright of Doncaster, and was patented by him in 1774. About 1789 or 1790, a number of these looms were fitted up in the hulks to employ the convicts. They were driven in a manner similar to the inkle-loom, of which indeed the whole machine was a modification. Mr Robertson having been in London in 1792 or 1793, bought a couple of the looms from the hulks, and brought them to Glasgow, when they were fitted up and wrought in a cellar in Argyle Street. He removed the driving-bar, and employed a large Newfoundland dog, walking in a drum or cylinder, to drive the looms. He had an ingenious old man, William Whyte, from Denny, to manage the looms; and by a son-in-law of this man's the design of the looms was communicated to a bleaching and calico-printing establishment at Milton, near Dumbarton, in 1794, where about forty looms were fitted up there for weaving calicoes for printing. In 1801, Mr John Monteith of Glasgow got a pair of looms from Milton, and in the course of two years afterwards had 200 looms at work in a portion of his spinning establishment at Pollockshaws, near Glasgow. In 1803, Mr Thomas Johnston of Bradbury, Cheshire, invented a very beautiful and useful machine for warping and dressing warps; and some time after, Messrs Radcliff and Ross of Stockport improved the dressing machine, and obtained a patent for these improvements. This machine they also employed in dressing webs to be woven on hand-looms by boys and girls. In 1804, Mr Monteith prevailed upon Mr Archibald Buchanan of Catrine to take a pair of looms from him, urging him to improve the machine. Mr Buchanan worked these looms for a year, with a view to obtain experience on the subject; and finding the annoyance of dressing the web in the loom great, he set about contriving a dressing machine. In this machine he used cylindrical brushes, and succeeded at that time pretty well; but, from the obstinacy of the person engaged to work the machine, and his own want of knowledge in the art of dressing, he was led to abandon it. He then invented a remarkably neat and effective loom, and in 1806 proceeded to fill a large room with them, and again applied himself to contrive a dressing machine; he abandoned the cylindrical brushes, and adopted parallel moving ones, similar to those of Radcliff and Ross, and after much experiment with various success, and by the exercise of much ingenuity and perseverance, he succeeded in effecting a complete machine, and rapidly extended his looms, with the necessary dressing machines. In the year 1807 he had the first complete work in Britain, in which warping, dressing, and weaving by power, were uniformly carried on; and it may be said that from this establishment emanated the power-loom weaving of Britain.
When Mr. Buchanan first began the power-loom, from seventy to eighty shots or picks per minute were considered as great speed; but, from improvements since introduced by Mr Buchanan and others, a speed of a hundred and forty shots per minute is now obtained. About this time, Messrs Foster and Corbet of Glasgow, and the Messrs Crums at Thornlie Bank, began to use power-looms. About the same time Mr Peter Manland of Stockport was the first to introduce the power-loom into England on a practical scale. In 1808 power-looms were begun at Deanston, and there in 1809 tweels, and in 1810 checks, were first woven on power-looms. In 1818 or 1819, Mr William Perry of Glasgow began the weaving of figured goods, and some time since lappets were woven by the Messrs Reids of Anderston, Glasgow. The Messrs King were the first persons celebrated for weaving strong shirting and domestics; and the Messrs Sommerville and Sons have recently introduced extensively a very superior manufacture of furniture stripes and checks, and an infinite variety of similar goods for women's dresses, shirting, &c., at their new and splendid works in Hutchesontown. Mr William Dunn of Duntochter, the most extensive and successful spinner in Scotland as an individual, has upwards of six hundred looms, upon which he executes various very beautiful plain fabrics. The power-loom is daily extending into new fields of manufacture, and it is evident that it will ultimately be the only means of weaving excepting for fabrics of very complex patterns.
Steam-looms have increased greatly of late years. In August 1831, the Lancefield Spinning Company employed 635 looms; and Messrs Johnston and Galbraith, James Finlay and Company, and William Dunn, 2405. These looms, on an average, weave fourteen yards each per day. Allowing each loom to work 300 days in a year, these four companies would throw off 10,101,000 yards of cloth, which, at the average price of 4½d. per yard, is £1,89,393,15s. per annum. The power and hand looms belonging to Glasgow amount to 47,127, viz. steam-looms, 15,127; hand-looms in the city and suburbs, 18,537; in other towns for Glasgow manufacturers, 13,463.
The extension of the use of the power-loom has for the last twenty years borne hard upon the poor hand-loom weavers, who have long suffered from low wages with exemplary patience. The evil was at first aggravated by a natural cause. When the weaver found difficulty in making wages to support his family, the only apparent remedy was to get looms for his children, girls as well as boys, and to set them to work also. This, when work was to be had, helped the individual's family, but it brought so much more weaving labour into operation in the trade, previously overstocked, that the evil was increased, and every succeeding year the prices of weaving became lower. Many attempts have been made by the hand-loom weavers to have their prices regulated by act of parliament, or boards of trade; and in this they have occasionally been aided by some well-meaning men of rank and influence, but, as might have been expected, without the least success. For why fix the wages or prices of the hand-loom weavers, whilst those of the mason, joiner, farm-servant, &c., are left to be adjusted by the constantly operating natural causes springing from demand and supply? If the prices of weaving were fixed, whenever a period of stagnation arrived, the manufacturers would either get weavers to do their work at lower prices clandestinely, or they would cease to manufacture at all, thereby throwing a great proportion of the weavers completely idle. Besides, the hand weavers had a long period of high wages, averaging far above the rates paid for labour in other more laborious and skilful professions. This arose from the rapid extension of their trade, and now, in its decline, they must be contented with the lower rate of wages, until their superabundant labour is absorbed by other trades in a state of advancement.
Glasgow was the first place in Britain where inkle-wares were manufactured. In 1732, Mr Alexander Harvey of that city, at the risk of his life, brought away from Harlem two inkle-looms and a workman, and was thereby enabled to introduce the manufacture of the article into this city. Soon after this, the Dutchman, considering himself as ill used by his employer, left Glasgow in disgust, and communicated his art to Manchester.
The manufacture of green bottles in Glasgow was introduced, and the first bottle-house erected on the site of the present Jamaica Street bottle-house, in 1730.
It does not appear that the art of turret-bell making was known in Glasgow till 1735. It was not however till 1818, when Messrs Stephen, Miller, and Company made the bell The steeple of the Gorbals Church, that large turret-bells was made in Glasgow. Since that period they have made a vast number, which are equal in quality and tone to any that ever came from Holland. In the steeple at the Cross there are twenty-eight bells, denominated chimes, diminishing from five feet three inches to one foot six inches in circumference. The greater part of them have this inscription: "Tuned by Arniston and Cummin, 28 Bells, for Glasgow, 1735."
In 1742, Messrs Ingram and Company fitted up a print-shop at Pollockshaws. The first delt factory in Scotland was begun in Delftfield, near the Broomielaw, in 1748. Mr Laurence Dinwiddie, then late provost, and his brother, Mr Garnet Dinwiddie, were two of the first partners.
The first shoe-shop in Glasgow was opened in 1749, by Mr William Colquhoun; and in 1778 Mr George Macintosh, employing at that time upwards of 300 shoemakers for the home and export trade, had his shoe-shop in King Street. Mr Macintosh had also an agent in Edinburgh, where he employed a number of workmen. At the same period, the Glasgow Tan-work Company employed nearly 30 shoemakers; and to these two houses the whole export of shoes was confined.
The haberdashery business was first introduced into Glasgow about 1750, by Mr Andrew Lockhart. But although Mr Lockhart was the first person who commenced the haberdashery business in this city, it was not till the summer of 1787 that it was carried on to any considerable extent. At that period, Mr J. Ross of Carlisle opened a shop in Spreull's new "land," and gave the haberdashery business a tone which it had never reached before in this city. Soon afterwards, two of his shopmen, under the firm of Gray and Laurie, commenced business with an extensive stock of goods; and the haberdashery business has rapidly increased in this city since that time.
Mr John Blair and Mr James Inglis are supposed to have been the first persons who had from shops for the sale of hats in this city. The shops were both opened in 1756, the former in the Saltmarket, and the latter in the Bridgegate.
The business of silversmiths is of considerable standing in Glasgow. Mr James Glen, who was a magistrate in 1741, succeeded Mr Robert Luke. When the latter first opened a shop, the trade was but little known in the west of Scotland. In 1775, when Mr Robert Gray commenced business, the following persons had silversmiths' shops here: Messrs Milne and Campbell, William Napier, David Warnock, Napier and Bain, James McEwen, and Adam Graham. In 1775, the assortment of plate was inconsiderable; but in 1834 there are shops in Glasgow which will be considered as valuable in Fleet Street, and elegant Bond Street. It is not easy to ascertain when the first millen-draper's shop was opened in Glasgow. In 1761, when Mr Patrick Ewing entered into the trade, it was very limited.
The Iron Trade.—Although the cotton manufacture has been the staple trade of Glasgow and neighbourhood for a long period, the iron manufacture in its various branches would appear to be the one which nature points out as likely to furnish the most advantageous employment of the labour and capital of the district, from the inexhaustible stores of the materials for the making of iron with which it abounds. The local situation of Glasgow, too, is peculiarly favourable for the cheap conveyance of the bulky and heavy articles of this manufacture to every quarter of the world. The city is about equidistant from the Atlantic and German Seas, and not more than twenty-six miles from either, communicating with the one by the river Clyde, navigable by vessels drawing thirteen feet water, and with the other by the Forth and Clyde Canal, navigable by vessels also drawing thirteen feet water. It stands at the western extremity of the district known by the designation of the Basin of the Clyde, and which, stretching eastward for about twenty-six miles, and of considerable breadth, is one uninterrupted field of coal, interspersed with bands of rich black ironstone. Into this mineral field the Monkland Canal penetrates twelve miles, having its western extremity at Glasgow communicating there with the Forth and Clyde Canal, into which it is introduced. On a parallel line with this water conveyance there is the Garnkirk and Airdrie Railway, on a part of which locomotive engines were introduced on the 2d of July 1831. The Garion-Gill Railway, which is to be connected with the Garnkirk and Airdrie Railway, and with the Monkland Canal, will carry the communication with the mineral field eight miles farther, and it is expected that the great coal field at Cottness will soon be opened up. With these advantages for obtaining the materials, and sending the manufactured article to market, Glasgow must become the seat of a great iron manufacture. She has already large establishments for the manufacture of steam-engines and machinery, and for making the machines employed in the processes of cotton-spinning, flax-spinning, and wool-spinning. In these works everything belonging to or connected with the millwright or engineer departments of the manufacture is also fabricated. Having these important and valuable portions of the manufacture already established, and with the advantages which the district possesses for carrying on the trade, there is every reason to expect its rapid growth, and its extension to every article of iron manufacture.
Neilson's Patent Hot Blast.—An improvement of national importance has lately taken place in the making of iron, of which the following is a description. Mr James B. Neilson, engineer in this city, obtained patents in this country and France for an improvement in the manufacture of iron, which he designated a Hot Blast. The patentee drew up a description of this improvement, of which the following is an abridgment.
In 1824 an iron maker asked Mr Neilson if he thought it possible to purify the air blown into blast-furnaces, in a manner similar to that in which carburetted hydrogen gas is purified; and from this conversation Mr Neilson perceived that he imagined the presence of sulphur in the air to be the cause of blast-furnaces working irregularly, and making bad iron in the summer months. Subsequently to this conversation, which had in some measure directed his thoughts to the subject of blast-furnaces, he received information that one of the Muirkirk iron-furnaces, situated at a considerable distance from the engine, did not work so well as the others; which led him to conjecture that the friction of the air, in passing along the pipe, prevented an equal volume of the air getting to the distant furnace with that which reached to the one situated close by the engine; and he at once came to the conclusion, that by heating the air at the distant furnace, he should increase its volume in the ratio of the known law according to which air and gases
In France the use of the hot blast has been adopted to an extent which contrasts singularly with the tardiness displayed by many of the English and Welsh iron masters in regard to it, and which would seem to encourage the idea of the probability of the French soon outstripping us in this important staple. In 1834, the well-known engineer Monsieur Dufresnoy published an elaborate report in recommendation of the use of the "hot blast;" by order of the minister director-general of the mines of France. From this report it appears that in France advantages analogous to those obtained in Scotland have resulted from the use of the "hot blast" in iron making; in the kingdom of Wurttemberg this has also been the case; and its adoption in Sweden, Saxony, and the states of the kingdom of Sardinia, bears testimony to the merits of this Scottish invention. Glasgow. expand. Thus, if 1000 cubic feet, say at 50° of Fahrenheit, were pressed by the engine in a given time, and heated to 600° of Fahrenheit, it would then be increased in volume to 21,044, and so on for every thousand feet that would be blown into the furnace. In prosecuting the experiments which this idea suggested, circumstances, however, convinced him, that heating the air introduced for supporting combustion into air-furnaces would materially increase its efficacy in this respect; and, with the view of putting his suspicions on this point to the test, he instituted the following experiments: To the nozzle of a pair of common smith's bellows he attached a cast-iron vessel, heated from beneath in the manner of a retort for generating gas, and to this vessel the blowpipe by which the forge or furnace was blown was also attached. The air from the bellows having thus to pass through the heated vessel above mentioned, was consequently heated to a high temperature before it entered the forge fire, and the result produced in increasing the intensity of the heat in the furnace was far beyond his expectation, whilst it made apparent the fallacy of the generally received theory, that the coldness of the air of the atmosphere in the winter months was the cause of the best iron being then produced. But in overthrowing the old theory, he had also established new principles and facts in the process of iron making; and, by the advice and assistance of Mr Charles Mackintosh of Crossbasket, he applied for and obtained a patent, as the reward of his discovery and improvement.
Experiments on the large scale to reduce iron ore in a founder's cupola were forthwith commenced at the Clyde Iron Works, belonging to Mr Colin Dunlop, and were completely successful; in consequence of which the invention of Mr Neilson was immediately adopted at the Calder Iron Works, the property of Mr William Dixon, where the blast, by being made to pass through two retorts, placed on each side of one of the large furnaces, before entering the furnace, effected an instantaneous change both in the quantity and quality of iron produced, and a considerable saving of fuel. The whole of the furnaces at Calder and Clyde Iron Works were in consequence immediately fitted up on the principle of the hot blast, and its use at these works continues to be attended with the utmost success. It has also been adopted at Wilstown and Gartsherrie works in Scotland, and at several works in England and France. The air, at first raised to 250° of Fahrenheit, produced a saving of three sevenths in every ton of pig-iron made; and the heating apparatus having since been enlarged, so as to increase the temperature of the blast to 600° of Fahrenheit and upwards, a proportionate saving of fuel is effected; and an immense additional saving is also acquired by the use of raw coal instead of coke, which may now be adopted by thus increasing the heat of the blast, the whole waste incurred in burning the coal into coke being thus also avoided in the process of iron making. By the use of this invention, with three sevenths of the fuel which he formerly employed in the cold air process, the iron maker is now enabled to make one third more iron of a superior quality. Were the hot blast generally adopted, the saving to the country in the article of coal would be immense. In Britain about 700,000 tons of iron is made annually, of which 55,500 tons only are produced in Scotland. On these 55,500 tons his invention would save, in the process of manufacture, 222,000 tons of coal annually. In England the saving would be in proportion to the strength and quality of the coal, and cannot be computed at less than 1,320,000 tons annually; and taking the price of coals at the low rate of 4s. per ton, a yearly saving of L308,400 sterling would be effected. Nor are the advantages of this invention solely confined to iron making. By its use the founder can cast into goods an equal quantity of iron in greatly less time, and with a saving of nearly half the fuel employed in the cold air process; and the blacksmith can produce in the same time one third more work with much less fuel than he formerly required. In all the processes of metallurgical science, it will be found of the utmost importance in reducing the ores to a metallic state.
Iron Works in Scotland in December 1834.
| Erected in or about | Furnaces | Tons | |---------------------|----------|------| | 1767 | Carron Company | 5 | 8,000 | | 1786 | Clyde | 4 | 12,500 | | 1786 | Wilsontown | 1 | 3,000 | | 1790 | Muirkirk | 2 | 4,000 | | 1790 | Devon | 3 | 7,000 | | 1805 | Calder | 4 | 12,000 | | 1805 | Shotts | 1 | 3,000 | | 1825 | Monkland | 3 | 8,000 | | 1828 | Gartsherrie | 3 | 9,000 | | 1831 | Dundyvan | 2 | 6,000 |
Total: 28,725,000
Out of blast: 1
These works are all in the neighbourhood of Glasgow excepting five, and none of them are thirty miles distant from that city. Previously to the use of Neilson's hot blast, 6000 tons of iron were made at Clyde Iron-Works in a year. In the formation of each ton of iron, eight tons of coal and fifteen tons of limestone were required. In 1833, when the hot blast was applied, the same steam-engine made 12,500 tons of iron, each ton requiring only three tons of coal and eight tons of limestone. The whole of the above iron works are using the hot blast in all their furnaces, excepting the Carron Company, who have only yet taken out a license for one of their furnaces. The best coal for making iron at the above works does not average above 4s. per ton.
Supply of Coals in Glasgow.—In 1831 it was ascertained from authentic documents, that the supply of coals came from thirty-seven coal-pits; that the quantity brought to Glasgow was 561,049 tons, and of that quantity 134,000 were exported, thereby leaving 437,049 tons for the use of families and public works in the city and suburbs. The additional consumption since the above statement was made may be fairly estimated at ten per cent. on the home consumption, and five per cent. on the export, which makes the quantity brought to Glasgow in 1834 amount to 610,553 tons. The following is the average prices of coals delivered in quantities in Glasgow during a period of eight years.
| Year | Price Per Ton | |------|---------------| | 1821 | 8s. 4d. to 9s. 4d. | | 1822 | 7s. 11d. to 8s. 11d. | | 1823 | 7s. 6d. to 8s. 6d. | | 1824 | 7s. 11d. to 8s. 11d. | | 1825 | 11s. 1d. to 12s. 1d. | | 1826 | 9s. 7d. to 10s. 7d. | | 1827 | 6s. 3d. to 7s. 3d. | | 1828 | 5s. 10d. to 6s. 10d. |
There has been no variation in the price of coals from 1828 to 1834. The best hard splint is laid down on the steam-boat quay at 6s. 3d. per ton.
The manufacture of flint-glass or crystal was introduced here by Messrs Cookson and Company of Newcastle in 1777, and is now carried on to a very considerable extent. In the same year, Messrs George Macintosh and Company established the manufacture of cudbear, an article of great value in the process of dyeing; and soon after that period a number of chemical works were erected in the neighbourhood of this city. The Chamber of Commerce... Manufactures was instituted here in 1783, under the auspices of Mr Patrick Colquhoun, at that time an eminent merchant in Glasgow. The dyeing of cottons in Turkestan having been introduced by Monsieur Papillon, Messrs George Mackintosh and David Dale entered spirit into the trade in 1785, and in the same year pullen handkerchiefs were begun to be made.
The business of regular distiller is but of recent date in Scotland. Mr William Menzies of Gorbals was the first person in the west of Scotland who had a licensed still. He opened his distillery in Kirk Street in 1786; and his license was the fourth in Scotland, the houses of Messrs Stein, Hig, and another, having alone preceded him. At that period the duties amounted to about one penny per gallon, and the best malt spirit was sold at 3s. per gallon.
In 1800, Messrs Tennent, Knox, and Company, established a chemical work at St Rollox, now carried on under the firm of Charles Tennent and Company, for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, chloride of lime, soda, and soap. This manufactory, the most extensive of any of the kind in Europe, covers ten acres of ground, and within its walls are buildings which cover 27,340 square yards of ground. In the premises there are upwards of 100 furnaces, retorts, or fire-places. In one apartment there are copper vessels to the value of L7000. In this great concern upwards of 600 tons of coal are consumed weekly.
Messrs Henry Monteith, Bogle, and Company, established a manufactory for bandana handkerchiefs in 1802, now carried on under the firm of Henry Monteith and Company. This respectable firm also carry on the business of cotton spinning and calico printing. Their establishment at Blantyre is most extensive, while their splendid works at Barrowfield are probably unequalled in the kingdom. With the exception of an attempt on the Continent, which proved unsuccessful, the manufacture of bandanas has been chiefly confined to this city. The manufacture of silk is in its infancy here; but the throwing and other departments of the trade bid fair for prosperity.
Gas-Light Company.—A company for lighting Glasgow was incorporated by act of parliament in 1817, with a capital of L40,000, which has been increased to L150,000. The first street lamp was lighted with gas on 5th September 1818; there are now upwards of 110 miles of pipes in the streets.
The works are on a large scale, and, including subsidiary establishments in different parts of the town, occupy an area of 14,831 square yards. The principal establishment now forms a square, of which one side is occupied by retorts, condensers, and other apparatus; and round them three are ranged sheds, under which cannel coals are stored, to preserve them from moisture. These sheds are calculated to contain 6000 tons, and, to show at any time how much coal is on hand, they are divided into compartments, each containing a certain known quantity.
The company have at present 152 retorts, each capable of making 5000 cubic feet of gas in twenty-four hours. Of these, a hundred and five are required in winter, and thirty-five in summer. The gas holders are of a very large size, and are eight in number, viz. four at the works, and four in different parts of the town. By this arrangement the pressure of gas is equalized in all portions of the city and suburbs. Cast-iron pipes to convey the gas are laid on both sides of the streets, under the foot pavements, so as not to interfere with the water-pipes, and extend to more than 100 miles in length. In generating gas for the supply of Glasgow, upwards of 9000 tons of coals are annually consumed. The coke which remains after extracting gas from cannel coal, and the tar deposited on the cooling of the gas, are used for heating the retorts, and are found to be very economical fuel. Nor is the tar the only one of the liquid products that is turned to profitable account. The ammoniacal water is sold to be used in making cudbear dye, and the naphtha in dissolving caoutchouc for manufacturing water-proof cloth. The solution of lime, after having been employed for purifying the gas, is allowed to stand until the heavier part is precipitated; this is then collected and sold for manure, and the liquor which remains (none of the gas-work refuse is allowed to run into the common sewers of the city) is evaporated under the grate bars of the retort furnace, thereby increasing the draft, and consequently the intensity of the fire.
As at other establishments, the gas is purified with lime; but in addition to this process it is made to pass through a solution of sulphate of iron, by which it is very much improved in purity. After being purified it passes through a metre of a very large size, made by Mr Crosley of London, the patentee. Here the gas manufactured is measured, and by a beautiful contrivance, called a tell-tale, which acts by the combined motions of the metre on a common clock, the quantity passing through each hour of the day or night is registered, and the extent of any irregularity in the workmen, as well as the time at which it happened, is at once detected. The company have been peculiarly fortunate in procuring the services of Mr James B. Neilson, engineer, patentee of the iron hot blast. To the scientific attainments of this distinguished manager the company are chiefly indebted for their uncommon success, and for the most perfect and beautiful establishment of the kind in the kingdom.
Messrs James and William Campbell and Company were the first who retailed soft goods in a warehouse in this city. In 1817 they commenced business in Saltmarket Street, whence they removed in 1823 to premises which they built in Candleriggs Street. The warehouses of this establishment, the largest of the kind in the king's dominions out of London, contain thirty-one thousand and three square feet of floor. In these premises the public are supplied with every kind of soft goods, and purchasers of a halfpenny lace, or a penny worth of thread, are equally attended to with those who make larger purchases. Sixty-one persons are employed in the warehouses; four of them moving about to see that the others do their duty. The following are the amount of sales during nine years: In 1818, L41,122, 6s. 4d.; in 1824, L156,284, 2s. Id.; in 1827, L183,385, 6s. 10d.; in 1829, L227,881, 16s. 7d.; in 1830, L250,899, 9s. 0d.; in 1831, L275,597, 12s. 0d.; in 1832, L312,207, 5s. 8d.; in 1833, L367,655, 4s. 9d.; and in 1834, L423,021, 4s. 7d. Besides these sales, the company manufacture to the value of from L70,000 to L80,000 of the goods they sell. Although Messrs James Morrison and Company, White and Greenwell, and Sewall and Cross of London, and Harvies and Company of Dublin, turn a much larger sum annually, Messrs Campbells serve more customers than any of these highly respectable houses.
The Tea Trade.—The Camden was the first vessel unconnected with the East India Company which brought a cargo of tea direct from Canton to Britain. She was chartered by Mr Mathieson, a Glasgow merchant, and her full cargo of Bohea, Congou, Cape Congou, Campio, and Souchong, was sold in the Royal Exchange Sale Room of this city on the 14th of November 1834. A number of London and Edinburgh merchants attended the sale.
(x. x. x.) The general term glass is employed by chemists to denote all mineral substances which, on the application of heat, pass through a state of fusion into hard and brittle masses, and which, though not always transparent, exhibit a lustrous fracture when broken. The glass of commerce, however, to which our remarks are restricted, or the transparent and artificial substance which is usually distinguished by the generic name, is produced by the igneous fusion of siliceous earth with certain alkaline earths or salts, or with metallic oxides.
The etymology of the word has been much disputed. It is derived by some from the Latin glacies, ice, its resemblance to which is thought to have suggested the title. Others have remarked, that the common Latin designation of this substance is vitrum; and as the Romans applied this term, in common with the word glastum, to the plant which we call woad, they have deduced it from the latter of these, either because the ashes of this plant were used in the manufacture of glass, or because it exhibited something of the bluish colour which is procured from woad. Glissum, the name given to amber by the ancient Gauls and Britons, has also been assigned as the origin of the word. But none of these etymons appears very satisfactory. The most plausible theory is that which derives the term from the Saxon verbs glis-nian, or the German gleissen, splendere, which are probably contractions of the Anglo-Saxon ge-lizan, to shine, to be bright. This view is in a great degree confirmed by the sense in which the term glass and its derivatives are employed by our older writers, who frequently apply it to shining or glittering substances, without reference to colour or transparency. The discussion of this point, however, as will be easily seen, is of very little importance.
The origin of the manufacture of glass is involved in the most impenetrable obscurity, and has occasioned much learned, but, at best, doubtful speculation. The art is undoubtedly of the highest antiquity. Some even assert that it was coeval with the art of pottery or brickmaking. But this is only a conjectural supposition, founded chiefly on the fact, that it is impossible to excite a strong fire, such as is necessary in metallurgic operations, without vitrifying part of the bricks or stones of which the furnace is built. But it is more than likely, that such imperfect vitrifications might have been observed long before the idea occurred of taking advantage of the effects which they displayed, in manufacturing the useful article of which we are now about to treat. There can be no doubt that the art of making glass was well known to the Egyptians. Glass beads and other ornaments made of that substance, skilfully manufactured and beautifully coloured, have been found adorning many of their mummies which are known to be upwards of three thousand years old. Neri adduces a passage from the book of Job (chap. xxviii. verse 17), to prove that glass was known to the Jews at the time when that book was written. But, unfortunately for his theory, the word which, following the Vulgate and the Septuagint, he translates glass, and which in our version is rendered crystal, means simply, in the Hebrew root, any diaphanous or shining substance, and is often used, according to the fancy of translators, to denote any body which is beautiful or transparent. The two problems of Aristotle, "Why do we see through glass?" and "Why is glass malleable?" if genuine, which is very doubtful, comprise the earliest mention of the substance on record. The ἀλάβας of Herodotus, which he describes as used by the Ethiopians in their cemeteries, has been variously interpreted amber or rock crystal. Both meanings are, however, questionable; and it is plain he refers to a natural, not an artificial production; for he speaks of it as being dug up in large quantities. The same word is used by Aristophanes, a writer of the same century (the fifth before Christ), in his Nubes; but, in the passage referred to, it may mean any stone which will permit the transit of the sun's rays to form a burning medium; and though it is by some thought improbable that glass would have been called a stone, it is yet worthy of remark that Shakespeare applies the same epithet to it in his King Lear, act v. sc. iii., Theophrastus, who flourished not above a century after Aristotle (303 B.C.), speaks of the sand of the river Belus as used in the manufacture of glass, which he certainly distinguishes by the name ἀλάβας; and from that date the knowledge of the substance seems to have been pretty generally diffused. A century afterwards we hear of Archimedes having employed burning glasses, amongst other instruments, for the defence of Syracuse against the assaults of the Romans under Marcellus, by means of which he set the enemy's ships on fire. The silence of Polybius, Plutarch, and Livy, as to this circumstance, may be held to argue against its accuracy; but modern experiments have shown, that it may not be wholly a fabrication, worthy only to be classed in that ample category of marvels, which
Grecia mendax Audet in historia.
Buffon constructed a burning glass composed of about four hundred glass planes, each six inches square, so as to form a concave mirror capable of melting silver at the distance of fifty feet, and lead and tin at the distance of one hundred and twenty feet, and of igniting wood at the distance of two hundred feet. This has rendered the feat of the "Isthmiacis decus immortale coloniae," as he is styled by Silius Italicus, less incredible than it appeared before; but yet it is not impossible that his burning mirror was composed of polished steel. If the statement as to the celebrated sphere of the same philosopher having been constructed of glass can be relied on, the art of manufacturing glass must have been carried to a high degree of excellence upwards of two centuries before the Christian era.
A passage in Pliny, which attributes the discovery of glass to accident, has often been quoted. A merchant vessel, laden with nitre or fossil alkali, was driven ashore on the coast of Palestine, near the mouth of the river Belus, a small stream running from the foot of Mount Carmel in Galilee, into the Mediterranean. The mariners, unable to procure stones to rest their cooking vessels upon, used pieces of their cargo instead. The fire reduced the alkali to a soft state, and incorporating with the river sand, it melted down into a vitreous stream. The circumstance was communicated to the inhabitants of the district, who availed themselves of the hint, and engaged in the manufacture of glass. The story is plausible, and it is no extravagant credulity to believe, that the world has been indebted for this, as well as for many other of its most valuable discoveries, to what, in common language, is called accident. It is certain, however, from passages in the works of Strabo and Josephus, that the sand for about half a mile round the mouth of the river Belus was peculiarly adapted to the manufacture of glass. In fact, it was much used in the glass-houses of Tyre and Sidon. Some antiquaries maintain that the first glass-house was erected at Diospolis, the ancient capital of the Thebaid; but that distinction is generally considered as belonging to the above-mentioned towns. Alexandria, another city of the Phoenicians, was long and highly celebrated for its glass, and at one time Glass utensils have been found in Herculaneum, which city was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the reign of Titus (A.D. 79). A plate of glass also found there has occasioned much speculation as to its uses. Similar plates, to which Pliny gives the name of vitreae camere, seem to have been employed in a manner not very well understood by us, as wainscoting for their rooms. It is disputed whether or not glass was used in Herculaneum for windows.
In the reign of Tiberius, a company of glass manufacturers established themselves in Rome, and had a street assigned them near the Porta Capena. The articles of their manufacture were few in number and of inferior quality, neither did they make rapid improvements in their art, notwithstanding the large prices which were then given for glass of foreign manufacture in the imperial city. In the year 220, they had increased so much in importance, and the produce of their manufacture was so considerable, that an impost was laid on it by Alexander Severus. Dion Cassius and Petronius Arbiter concur in their account of the discovery of malleable or ductile glass by a celebrated Roman architect, whose success in the restoration to its position of a portico which leaned to one side, had roused the envy and jealousy of Tiberius, and occasioned his banishment from Rome. Thinking that his discovery would disarm the emperor's wrath, the artist appeared before him bearing a glass vessel, which he dashed upon the ground. Notwithstanding the violence of the blow, it was merely dimpled, as if it had been brass. Taking a hammer from his breast, he then beat it out into its original shape; but instead of giving him the reward which he had expected, the emperor ordered the unfortunate artisan to be beheaded, remarking, that if his discovery were known, gold would soon be held of as little value as common clay. This is probably another version of the story told by Pliny, of an artificer who made the same discovery, and whose workshop was demolished by those who had an interest in preventing the introduction of an article which would lower the value of gold, silver, and brass. Although it might not be justifiable to give unqualified disbelief to these stories, yet the knowledge we at present possess would restrict the possibility of such a discovery within the narrowest limits. The union of the properties of malleability and vitrification seems to be incompatible. Some metallic substances, by the application of intense heat, are reduced to the state of glass, but at the same time lose their malleability; which fact would seem to imply that it is impossible to communicate the latter property to glass. The extraordinary stories above mentioned have, however, been rationally enough explained by modern chemists. It has been observed by Kunckel, that a composition having a glossy appearance, and sufficiently pliant to be wrought by the hammer, may be formed; and by Neumann, that, in the fusion of muriate of silver, a kind of glass is formed, which may be shaped or beaten into different figures, and may be pronounced in some degree ductile. Blancourt, in his L'Art de la Verrière, mentions an artist who presented a bust of ductile glass to the Cardinal Richelieu, minister of Louis XIII. But he does not seem to have been more fortunate than his predecessors; for he was doomed to imprisonment for life, for "the politic reasons," as Blancourt with much simplicity observes (we quote from the translation published in 1699), "which, it is believed, the cardinal entertained from the consideration of the consequences..." History of that secret," which no doubt led him to fear lest the established interests of French glass manufacturers might be injured by the discovery. From expressions used by Blancourt in other parts of his work, we think, that by malleable glass, such as was produced by this artist, he understood some composition similar to those which Kunckel and Neumann discovered, and was not very exact in limiting the term to that vitreous substance which we now generally understand when we speak of glass.
The precise period at which the making of window-glass came into practice is not now certainly known. The Roman windows were filled with a semitransparent substance, called lapis specularis, a fossil of the class of talcs, which readily splits into thin smooth laminae or plates. This substance is found in masses of ten or twelve inches in breadth, and three in thickness; and, when sliced, very much resembles horn, instead of which it is to this day often employed by lantern makers. The Romans were chiefly supplied with this article from the island of Cyprus, where it abounds. So good a substitute for glass is it said to have been, that, besides being employed for the admission of light into the Roman houses, it was also used in the construction of hot-houses, for raising and protecting delicate plants; so that, by using it, the Emperor Tiberius had cucumbers at his table throughout the whole year.
There is no positive mention of the use of glass for windows before the time of Lactantius, at the close of the third century. But the passage in that writer which records the fact (De Opif. Dei, cap. 8), also shows that the lapis specularis still retained its place. Glass windows are distinctly mentioned by St Jerome, as being in use in his time (A.D. 422). A century later, the windows of the church of St Sophia at Constantinople are represented by Paulus Silentarius as being filled with glass. After this period we meet with frequent mention of them. Joannes Philippianus (A.D. 630) states that glass was fastened into the windows with plaster.
The Venerable Bede asserts that glass windows were first introduced into England in the year 674, by the Abbot Benedict, who brought over artificers skilled in the art of making window-glass, to glaze the church and monastery of Wearmouth. Other authorities attribute the introduction of this luxury to Bishop Holden junior, who died in 711. It would thus appear, that glass windows were first introduced into England either about the end of the seventh or the beginning of the eighth century. The use of window-glass, however, was then, and for many centuries afterwards, confined entirely to buildings appropriated to religious purposes; but in the fourteenth century it was so much in demand, though still confined to sacred edifices and ornamental purposes, that glazing had become a regular trade. This appears from a contract entered into by the church authorities of York Cathedral in 1338, with a glazier to glaze the west windows of that structure; a piece of work which he undertook to perform at the rate of sixpence per foot for white glass, and one shilling per foot for coloured. Glass windows, however, did not become common in England till the close of the twelfth century. Until this period they were rarely to be found in private houses, and were deemed a great luxury, and a token of great magnificence. The windows of the houses were till then filled with oiled paper, or wooden lattices. In cathedrals, these and sheets of linen supplied the place of glass till the eighth century; in meaner edifices lattices continued in use till the eighteenth.
The glass of the Venetians was superior to any made elsewhere, and for many years commanded the market of nearly all Europe. Their most extensive glass-works were established at Murano, a small village in the neighbourhood of Venice; but the produce was always recognised by the name of Venetian glass. Baron von Lowhen, in his Analysis of Nobility in its Origin, states that, useful were the glass-makers at one period in Venice, and so great the revenue accruing to the republic from their manufacture, that, to encourage the men engaged in it to remain in Murano, the senate made them all burgesses of Venice, and allowed nobles to marry their daughters; whereas, if a nobleman marries the daughter of any other tradesman, the issue were not reputed noble."
The skill of the Venetians in glass-making was especially remarkable in the excellence of their mirrors. Beckmann, who has minutely investigated the subject, is of opinion that the manufacture of glass mirrors certainly was attempted, but not with complete success, in Sidon, at a very early period; but that they fell into disuse, and were almost forgotten until the thirteenth century. Previously to this period, plates of polished metal were used at the toilette; and in the rudeness of the first ideas which suggested the substitution of glass, the plates were made of a deep black colour to imitate them. Black foil even was laid behind them, to increase their opacity. The metal mirrors, however, remained in use long after the introduction of their fragile rivals, but at length they wholly disappeared; a result effected chiefly by the skill of the Venetians, who improved their manufacture to such a degree that they speedily acquired a celebrity which secured an immense sale for them throughout all Europe.
From Italy the art of glass-making found its way into France, where an attempt was made, in the year 1634, to rival the Venetians in the manufacture of mirrors. The first essay was unsuccessful, but another, made in 1665, under the patronage of the celebrated Colbert, in which French workmen, who had acquired a knowledge of the art at Murano, were employed, had better fortune. But a few years afterwards, this establishment, which was situated in the village of Tourlaville, near Cherbourg, in Lower Normandy, was also threatened with ruin by a discovery, or rather improvement, in the art of glass-making, effected by one Abraham Thevart. This improvement consisted in casting plates of much larger dimensions than it had hitherto been deemed possible to do. Thevart's first plates were cast at Paris, and astonished every artist by their magnitude. They were eighty-four inches long and fifty inches wide, whereas none previously made exceeded forty-five or fifty inches in length. Thevart was bound by his patent to make all his plates at least sixty inches in length and forty in breadth. In 1695 the two companies, Thevart's and that at Tourlaville, united their interest, but were so unsuccessful, that, in 1701, they were unable to pay their debts, and were, in consequence, compelled to discharge most of the workmen, and abandon several of their furnaces. Next year, however, a company was formed, under the management of Antoine d'Aigincourt, who re-engaged the discharged workmen; and the works realised considerable profits to the proprietors, a circumstance which is attributed wholly to the prudent management of D'Aigincourt.
Early in the fourteenth century the French government made a concession in favour of glass-making, by decreeing, that not only should no derogation from nobility follow the practice of the art, but that none, save gentlemen, or the sons of noblemen, should venture to engage in any of its branches, even as working artisans. This limitation was accompanied by a grant of a royal charter of incorporation, conveying important privileges, under which the occupation became eventually a source of great wealth to several families of distinction.
It has been said that the manufacturing of window-glass was first introduced into England in the year 1557. But a contract, quoted by Horace Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, proves that this article was made in England upwards of a century before that period. This curious