140 
STATE AGEICULTUEAL SOCIETY 
At length the open country between the lake and Glasgow lies spread out in 
all its breadth and beauty before us, and in the distance the frith of the 
Clyde, into which, through the river Leven, the surplus waters of Lomond 
are poured. Ben Lomond and other lofty peaks in all their solemn grandeur 
at the north, and the wide spread valley and plains dotted with villas on the 
south—this is our last picture of this most beautiful of Lochs. 
A railway train awaits us at the head of the Leven, and in less than thirty 
minutes—distance only twenty miles—our eyes shall rest on the spires and 
towers of great Glasgow, third city of the British realm. 
Glasgow is really a great and flourishing city. But then is it not old 
enough to be something of a town ? Founded, tradition says, in 639. Whether 
this be true or not, we know that it was already a place of some importance 
as long ago as 1300, when the immortal Wallace met and defeated the 
English Percy here in High Street. But that is nothing; Glasgow is emi¬ 
nently a city of to-day—full of active life and energy—building ships for 
many countries—forging five-sixths of all the malleable iron produced by 
Scotland—manufacturing some of the best marine engines in the world, 
together with immense quantities of chemicals, glass, pottery wares, cotton, 
woolen and silk fabrics, shawls, carpets and numberless fancy articles—noted 
also, for its extensive commerce, and scarcely less for its literary and scien¬ 
tific institutions. Population nearly half a million. 
The commercial importance of Glasgow is very remarkable in view of the 
fact, that naturally the river Clyde, on which it stands, many miles from the 
sea, was a shallow, swift and sand-bedded stream, utterly incapable of navi¬ 
gation by any sort of boat and with little prospect of its ever becoming so. 
But what are natural obstacles in the way of the concentrated energies of a 
vigorous and resolute people ? The sturdy Scotchmen of the rich, beautiful 
and renowned valley of the Clyde were not to be baffled. If God had not 
given them a great navigable river, with capacity for the mighty ships of the 
19th, or any century, then they would make one for themselves. They have 
made it, and to-day, here are great ships, in the very heart of the city, bear¬ 
ing the flags of every civilized nation and unloading their rich cargoes from 
even South America and various far off semi-barbarous countries of the East. 
Among her educational institutions, the one which (not excepting the 
Royal University, which is a noble institution and of great renown) has in¬ 
terested me most is the Andersonian University, established, within recent 
date, for the instruction of the working classes in the physical and natural 
sciences and in literature and the arts. This institution, has also, at pres¬ 
ent, a medical department, and is giving instruction of the utmost practical 
value, to 17u0 students. One such college in each large city of the realm 
would do more for the progress of liberal ideas and overturning of an al¬ 
ready tottering aristocracy than all the purely political machinery that can 
be brought to bear; for its tendency is to demonstrate the truth 
“ That a man’s a man for a’ that.” 
Educate the working classes, or at first only a few of the most gifted among 
them, and the progress of democratic ideas is assured. 
The old University, founded over 400 years ago, is still flourishing ; at¬ 
tended by about 1000 students; library of 60,000 volumes; museum valued 
at nearly three-quarters of a million dollars ; handsome botanical garden of 
40 acres. The city abounds in fine public buildings, and some of the hand¬ 
somest streets and squares are made yet more attractive by statues in bronze 
and marble by modern masters. 
Atrip into the country—up the valley of the Clyde—-satisfies one that 
agriculture is no less flourishing here than commerce and manufactures. 
Many of the farms are models of neatness and thorough culture. It is here, 
where that famous breed of horses, the Clydesdale, originated, and where it 
still holds pre-eminence. Horses weighing 2000 pounds and over are com¬ 
mon in all parts of this valley. 
