Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/661

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GAB—GYZ

GLASGOIV city churches, and generally on municipal purposes for which the citizens are not taxed. The number of parlia- mentary voters in 1877-8 was 60,582, and the list of school-board electors, which includes all ratepayers, when the roll was last made up, numbered 112,897. Glas- gow returns three representatives to the House of Com- mons since 1868, each elector having, however, only two votes. Previous to this, and from the passing of the great reform measure of 1832, the city had only two representatives. Glasgow has a police force of about 1000 men, which is maintained at an expense of £78,000 per annum, half of which is paid by the Government. The sheriff-depute of Lanarkshire holds his court in Glasgow, and is assisted by five sheriffs-substitutes resident in the city. The amount of legal work which is gone tl1rougl1 in the disposal of civil and criminal cases is very great, being equal to about one-third of the whole disposed of in Scot- land, including the supreme courts in Edinburgh. Brirltr/es and Ia’ailwa_7/ StatL'ons.—There are three fine bridges over the river within the municipal boundaries, and t.wo iron suspension bridges. One railway bridge was erected a few years ago by the City Union Railway Company, and another by the Caledonian Railway Company is now nearly completed. All the bridges are free. Glasgow is the centre of a vast railway system, the Cale- donian and Glasgow dz South—Vestern Railways having their termini in the city; these work with the great English lines, the Midland a11d the London 6; North-Vestern Com- panies. The St Enoch’s Square station, which provides for the traflic over the Glasgow dz South-Vestern, City Union, and Midland Companies, is one of the most spacious in the United Kingdom. The same companies are erecting an equally commodious goods station in High Street; the Caledonian Company, finding themselves greatly hampered for room at the old terminus in Buchanan Street, are building a colossal structure in Gordon Street; and the North British Company, which have their headquarters in Edinburgh, are greatly extending their present limited accommodation i11 Dundas Street. I’ublic l>’uz'l«_lz'7zgs.———There are not many of these of im- portance in Glasgow. The one which naturally attracts the greatest attention of strangers is the cathedral, which is now in a complete state of repair, and a few years ago, through the munificence of Glasgow citizens and of noble- men and gentlemen of the vicinity, its windows were filled with richly stained glass from one of the great stained glass establishments of Munich. The cathedral is acknowledged to be a fine specimen of Early English Gothic. It is situated in a good position in the north-east quarter of the city, and is about 10l feet above the Clyde level. Its form is that of a Latin cross with short transepts. The length from east to west is 319 feet, its breadth 63 feet, the height of the choir 93 feet, and of the nave 85 feet. At the intersection it has a tapering octagonal spire, the height of which is 225 feet. It contains 147 pillars and 159 windows. The crypt under the choir is exceedingly fine and complete. The Royal Exchange in the centre of the city contains a newsroom 122 feet in length by 60 feet broad. Its portico is formed of 12 fluted Corinthian columns, supporting a rich frieze and pediment ; the north and south sides of the building are ornamented by a colonnade of Corinthian pillars. The Royal Infirmary is in the Roman style of architecture from a design by Adams. It has been greatly extended since its erection i11 1792. The City Hall is a plain building capable of holding up- wards of 3000 people. The new Public Halls, opened in 1877, are the most recent addition to the architecture of the city. The building cost upwards of £80,000, and since its opening has been mainly used for musical enter- tainments, music being one of the arts which has been 643 cultivated with the greatest success in Glasgow of late years. The principal hall in this fine building, which is of the classic style of architecture, is capable of holding between 4000 and 5000 persons. By far the grandest building in Glasgow, however, is the new university structure on Gilmorehill, which is described below. During the last thirty years a vast improvement has been made in Glasgow in church architecture. Dissenters who were satisfied in the earlier part of the century with plain meeting-houses now vie with each other, and with the Church of Scotland, in the elegance and adornment of their places of worship. There is probably no town in the United Kingdom which l1as spent n1ore upon ecclesiastical buildings in recent times than Glasgow, or which in this respect has made greater improvements in taste. The Roman Catholics and Episcopalians, nearly one-fourth of the population of the city, l1ave also erected some very fine ecclesiastical edifices. The street architecture of Glasgow has greatly improved, many of the large business firms having rebuilt their warehouses upon a splendid scale. The new post- office buildings in George Square also deserve mention. The work of the post-oflice of Glasgow has increased with the increase of the city, and is now practically larger than that of any other town save London. It was found necessary a few years ago to extend the accommodation, and now the greater part of one side of George Square is devoted to postal and telegraph purposes. The new buildings are plain but massive, and seem to have been planned on the principle of the least ornament with the most room. The corporation have obtained an Act for the erection of municipal buildings on the east side of George Square. Not without reason has Glasgow been called one of the best built cities of the empire, its substantial masonry owing much to the excellent quality of the material, a. sandstone quarried in abundance all round the city. Slatzzes.——The public statues in Glasgow are not numer- ous, though several of them are very fine. Most of them are in George Square. The equestrian statue of the great duke of Wellington stands opposite the main entrance to the royal exchange, and that of William III. is close to the junction of Trongate with the Saltmarket, High Street, and Gallowgate, the ancient cross of the city. In George Square there are equestrian statues of the Queen and the late Prince Consort, a seated figure of James Watt, statues of Sir John Moore, Lord Clyde, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Walter Scott, James Oswald of Auchincruive, Thomas Graham the celebrated chemist, Robert Burns, Thomas Campbell, and David Livingstone. The statue of Burns, executed by Mr George E. Ewing, a Glasgow sculptor, was subscribed for in shillings by the working classes of Scotland. Um'-versity and Sc/tools.——Of the educational institutions of Glasgow precedence must be given to the university. As already stated this great seminary of learning was founded by Bishop Turubull, who obtained a papal bull for the purpose, dated 7th January 1450. By this bull a corporate body was formed, consisting of a chancellor, rector, and clean, with doctors, masters, regents, and students, in the several faculties into which it was divided. One of these was known as the pedagogium, or college of arts. This school of learning was first situated in Rottenrow (1459). James, Lord Hamilton, bequeathed to the principal regent of that college some buildings and several acres of land, on part of which in the High Street the college was afterwards erected. The college of arts was restored and endowed by James VI. During the period which intervened between 1577 and 1688 the university underwent many changes; but in the year 1693, each of the Scottish colleges having received a grant of £300 per annum out of the bishops’

rents, the Glasgow institution again revived; and having