GLASGOW. (HISTORY.) 



401 



TH 1806, the Glasgow Water-works Company was 

 formed, and two years after, the Cranston-hill Water- 

 works Company. Previous to this, the inhabitants 

 were supplied by public wells, which became inade- 

 quate to the demand. In 1804, Mr Harley erected 

 a reservoir in Upper Nile Street, and sent a supply 

 of spring water through the town in carriages. 



In 1809, after the tall of Sir John Moore, who was 

 a native of Glasgow, a subscription was opened for 

 raising a monument to his memory, which, in a few 

 days, amounted to above .4000. A public oratorio 

 was also performed in the choir of the cathedral., 

 commemorative of that gallant general. 



In 1810, the New Jail and public offices, the new 

 Slaughter Houses, the Lunatic Asylum, Lyceum, and 

 Post Office were built. Lancasterian schools were 

 also erected this year at an expense of .6000, but 

 did not succeed. 



In 1812, navigation by steam was introduced. 

 The Comet of Glasgow was the first boat which was 

 successfully impelled by steam in Europe. 



The citizens of Glasgow have long been distin- 

 guished for great liberality in their voluntary con- 

 tributions, whether these be in support of a patriotic 

 cause or to assist the afflicted in times of general or 

 local distress. Besides the patriotic and benevolent 

 subscriptions already mentioned, they subscribed, in 

 1813, .5,204 towards the relief of the sufferers by 

 the campaign of Napoleon in Russia ; in 1814, 

 4,554, to assist the sufferers by the war in Ger- 

 many ; and in 1815, 7,558, to the fund instituted 

 in London for the relief of the widows and children 

 of such as fell at Waterloo. In the latter year, the 

 Roman Catholic chapel in Clyde Street was erected. 



In 1816 and 17, the labouring classes suffered 

 severely from low wages and want of employment. 

 A subscription of .12,871 was raised to give tempo- 

 rary relief to them, and numbers were employed in 

 levelling and re-turfing the high green. During the 

 same period much discontent at the government of 

 the country prevailed, and in October, 1816, a pub- 

 lic meeting of above 40,000 inhabitants was held at 

 Thrushgrove, about a mile north of the city, for the 

 purpose of petitioning parliament for a reform in the 

 House of Commons and a redress of grievances. 

 This meeting is remarkable as being the first which 

 took place, in Scotland, in the open air, for political 

 purposes. It was the precursor of numerous other 

 meetings of a similar nature, all of which, notwith- 

 standing the immense number of people generally 

 collected, passed off without the slightest disorder. 



In 1818, a company was formed for lighting the 

 city with gas. This year typhus fever prevailed to 

 a great extent ; a fever hospital was erected, and a 

 subscription of 6,626 raised for the relief of the 

 sufferers. 



Towards the close of 1819, the manufacturing dis- 

 tricts of the country were in a state of great political 

 fermentation. Glasgow was the headquarters of 

 radicalism in the west of Scotland, and much appre- 

 hension prevailed of a general rising of the labour- 

 ing classes. The ministry of the day, to meet the 

 exigencies of the times, suspended the habeas cor- 

 pus act, and got other laws passed subversive of the 

 liberties of the subject. These were not the most 

 questionable of their proceedings. They also em- 

 ployed spies or informers in various quarters of the 

 kingdom, who did not confine themselves to their 

 base occupation, but took the lead in instigating 

 the simple and enthusiastic into acts of open rebel- 

 lion. This is a consequence of every spy-system. 

 The creatures so employed, if nothing really exist to 

 excite alarm, must create something, in order to con- 

 tinue the necessity of their occupation. But the 

 ministry, in this instance, as has now been abun- 



dantly proven, were not deceived in the matter, but 

 were, in fact, the first movers of the secret machinery 

 that was disturbing and alarming the whole fabric of 

 society. By exciting the existing dissatisfaction 

 among the labouring classes into overt acts of trea- 

 son, they sought to strengthen their position with the. 

 well-disposed and timid of all parties, and, at the 

 same time, to furnish themselves with a reason for 

 stifling complaint before it became formidable. 

 Treasonable placards, manufactured at headquarters, 

 were posted up throughout Glasgow and its environs; 

 the most appalling rumours were afloat ; trade was 

 suspended ; the city was crowded with military ; and 

 everything bore the appearance of some impending 

 and fatal crisis. Many, suspected of sedition, were 

 seized ; and a small armed party, which left Glasgow 

 with the delusive view of obtaining cannon at Carron 

 iron works, were attacked by the military at Bonny- 

 muir in Stirlingshire, and, after a spirited resistance, 

 secured. Trials for high treason followed, in dif- 

 ferent districts of the kingdom ; two were executed 

 at Stirling, one at Glasgow, and numbers banished 

 beyond seas. 



During this disturbed period, and the trial of 

 Queen Caroline which followed, many riots of a seri- 

 ous nature took place in Glasgow, in which the mili- 

 tary were invariably called out, and, for the better 

 preserving the peace, government judged it neces- 

 sary to erect barracks for cavalry on the south side 

 of the river. 



In 1820, the new Grammar School was built. In 

 1821, a grand musical festival was held in the Thea- 

 tre Royal, at which some of the most distinguished 

 singers of the continent were present. In the same 

 year, the horologe of the Tron steeple was lighted 

 with gas. In 1822, the quay at the Broomielaw was 

 extended for the accommodation of steam boats. 

 In the same year, a subscription to a considerable 

 amount was raised for the relief of the inhabitants in 

 the southern districts of Ireland. In 1823 (Feb. 16th), 

 Gibson's land, a large tenement in the Saltmarket, 

 which had been previously condemned, fell with a 

 great crash; but as the inhabitants had left the 

 house the preceding day, and as the accident took 

 place on a Sunday morning when the streets were 

 empty, only one man was killed. This accident led 

 to the appointment of a committee of tradesmen to 

 inspect the old tenements in the town, and the result 

 was, that many ancient fabrics, especially in the 

 Saltmarket, were condemned and taken down. The 

 same year was distinguished by the commencement 

 of the Mechanics' Institution, which was followed by 

 numerous others throughout the country. 



In April, 1824, a grand masonic procession laid 

 the foundation stone of London Street. St David's 

 church was also commenced this year, and a public 

 meeting held with a view of raising a subscription 

 for a monument to the memory of James Watt. Up- 

 wards of 3,000 was subscribed for this monument. 

 In 1825, the foundation stone of a monument to the 

 memory of John Knox was laid. 



On the 18th August, 1829, the foundation store 

 of Hutchesons' bridge was laid with masonic hon- 

 ours ; and. on the 8th of July, 1833, the foundation 

 stone of the new Jamaica Street Bridge was laid. 

 In September, 1830, the new Royal Exchange in 

 Queen Street, which forms one of the principal ar- 

 chitectural attractions in the city, was opened. 



In February, 1832, the cholera broke out in Glas- 

 gow, and continued to afflict the city with more or 

 less severity for about a year. Subscriptions, to the 

 amount of about 10,000, were raised for providing 

 against this terrible malady, and several cholera hos- 

 pitals were opened in the city and suburbs. The vo- 

 luntary subscriptions proving insufficient, a tax was 



