Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

GLASGOW.
774
GLASGOW
election occasions much excitement, and is gener-
ally the result of a political struggle. The office
has been filled, since 1820, by Lord Jeffrey, Sir
James Macintosh, Lord Brougham, Thomas Camp-
bell, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Cockburn, the
Earl of Derby, Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham,
the Marquis of Breadalbane, the Earl of Dalhousie,
Lord Rutherford, Earl Russell, William Mail-,
Esq. of Caldwell, Lord Mncaulay, Sir Archibald
Alison, Bart., the Earl of Eglinton, the Duke
of Argyle, Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., the Earl of
Elgin, and Viscount Palmerston. The dean of
faculties was formerly, as now, elected by the
senatus academicus. His duties, as originally con-
stituted, were to give directions respecting the
course of study, and to judge, with the other prin-
cipal officers, of the qualifications of the applicants
for degrees. The principal formerly required to be
a minister of the Church of Scotland, and was no-
minally the primarius professor of divinity; but,
under the new act, he may be a layman, and is not
regarded as occupying a theological chair.
The professorships of the university are classified
into the four faculties of arts, divinity, law, and
medicine. The professors of the arts were formerly
called regents, while the rest were non-regents;
and those occupying the eight chairs, instituted be-
fore the commencement of the present century, were
called college professors, while the others were
called regius professors; and the former had larger
powers than the latter; but, under the new act,
these distinctions have ceased. The number of pro-
fessorships at present is twenty-five; the latest law
one is in the patronage of the faculty of procuration
of Glasgow, the eight oldest in that of the university
court, the others in that of the Crown ; and the
emoluments of all, including estimated amounts of
fees, were re-adjusted by ordinance of the University
commissioners in November 1SG1. The chairs, with
their respective dates and emoluments, are, — logic
and rhetoric, 1577, £738 4s. 5d; moral philosophy.
1577, £618 4s. 3d; natural philosophy, 1577, £008
4s. 5d. ; Greek, 1581, £969 8s. 10d.; humanity, 1637,
£969 8s. 10d.; mathematics, 1691, £662; practical
astronomy, 1760, £270; civil engineering and me-
chanics, 1840, £325; English language and litera-
ture, 1861, £400; divinity, 1630, £600; Oriental
languages, 1709, £430; ecclesiastical history, 1720,
£402 15s. 6d.; divinity and biblical criticism, 1861,
£436; Roman law and law of Scotland, 1713, £540;
conveyancing, 1861, £150, together with fees ; prac-
tice of medicine, 1713, £410; anatomy, 1718, £750;
natural history, 1807, £300; surgery, 1815, £320;
midwifery, 1815, £230; chemistry, 1817, £620; bo-
tany, 1818, £400; materia medica, 1831, £270; in-
stitutes of medicine, 1839, £310; forensic medicine,
1839, £210. The principal's salary is £700. As-
sistants to the natural philosophy, the Greek, the
humanity, the mathematics, and the chemistry
chairs were appointed under the new act, each at a
salary of £100 ; and an assistant to the chair of ma-
teria medica, at a salary of £50. The session opens
on the first Monday of November, and closes on the
last day of April. The number of matriculated
students, in 1861, was 1,133; of members of the
general council, 854 ; of persons who graduated, 1 14.
The students are divided into togati and non-to-
gati ; and the former wear a scarlet gown, and be-
long to the logic, moral philosophy, natural philo-
sophy, Greek, and humanity classes. There are 29
foundation burseries, for 65 students, held from 4 to
6 years. One of them amounts to £50 a-year; but
most range from £5 10s. to £41. There are also
some valuable exhibitions. In 1688, Mr. John
Snell, with a view to support episcopacy in Scot-
land, devised to trustees the estate of Uffton, neai
Leamington, in Warwickshire, for educating Scotch
students, from the University of Glasgow, at Baliol
college, Oxford. This fund now affords £132 per
annum to each often exhibitions. Another founda-
tion by Warner, bishop of Rochester, of £15 annu-
ally to each of four students, from the same college,
is generally given to the Snell exhibitioners, so that
four of them have nearly £150 per annum each.
Both of the exhibitions are held for ten years; but
are vacated by marriage, or upon receiving a certain
degree of preferment. The principal and professors
of the college are the patrons of Snell's exhibition;
and the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of
Rochester, of Warner's. In addition to these bur-
saries and exhibitions, there are various valuable
prizes granted annually or biennially from funds
which have been mortified for the purpose. Among
distinguished men who have studied or taught here
have been Bishop Elphinstone, John Major, John
Spottiswoode, Andrew Melville, James Melville,
Robert Boyd, John Cameron, Zachary Boyd, Robert
Baillie, James Dalrymple, first Viscount of Stair,
Bishop Gilbert Burnet, Bishop John Douglas, Dr.
Robert Simpson, Francis Hutchison, Dr. William
Hunter, Dr. Thomas Reid, Dr. James Moor, Dr.
Adam Smith, Dr. William Cullen, Dr. Joseph Black,
Dr. Matthew Baillie, Professor John Millar, Pro-
fessor Young, Professor Wilson, Lord Jeffrey,
John Gibson Lockhart, Sir Daniel Sandford, and Sir
William Hamilton.
The university library was founded in the 15th
century, and now contains about 80,000 volumes.
The Hunterian museum was founded by Dr. William
Hunter, a native of East Kilbride, who died in 1783;
and contains a small gallery of pictures by the old
masters, a splendid collection of objects in natural
history and anatomy, and an interesting collection
of rare books, manuscripts, coins, medals, antiquities,
and curiosities. Its entile contents are supposed to
be worth upwards of £130,000; and so much of them
as was valued at £65,000, together with a sum of
£8,000 for the election of a suitable building, was
bequeathed by Dr. Hunter. The museum is open
to any visitor for a shilling, but the coins and
medals are shown only in the presence of two pro-
fessors. The university library contains a manu-
script paraphrase of the Bible by Zachary Boyd, and
some other literary curiosities; and the Hunterian
museum contains an illuminated manuscript Psalter,
of the 12th century, a manuscript of Boethius, of the
14th century, and a breviary, ten books of Livy,
and a French translation of Boccaccio of the 15th
century.
The university buildings are situated on the
east side of High-street. They belong to various
periods; but the older portions were erected between
the years 1632 and 1650, and are in the peculiar style
of Scottish renaissance which then prevailed. The
front is 305 feet in extent; presents a monastic
appearance, with grand archway, stone balcony,
and dormer windows; and has, over the great en-
trance, the royal arms of the time of Charles II.
The interior, exclusive of the professors' buildings,
is disposed in three successive quadrangles. The
first quadrangle is all old, and has at one corner a
massive stone staircase, leading up to a large panel-
led hall, used for business meetings, and containing
a few portraits. The second quadrangle is entered
by an archway beneath a steeple 148 feet high ; and
consists partly of old buildings, partly of modern
ones, incongruously amassed. The steeple shows
no elegance of structure, but possesses interest from
a thunder rod erected on it, in 1772, under the aus-
pices of Dr. Franklin. The third quadrangle is, in