Page:EB1911 - Volume 12.djvu/93

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GLASER—GLASGOW

to him, thus constituting the first “Glassite” or “Glasite” church. The seat of this congregation was shortly afterwards transferred to Dundee (whence Glas subsequently removed to Edinburgh), where he officiated for some time as an “elder.” He next laboured in Perth for a few years, where he was joined by Robert Sandeman (see Glasites), who became his son-in-law, and eventually was recognized as the leader and principal exponent of Glas’s views; these he developed in a direction which laid them open to the charge of antinomianism. Ultimately in 1730 Glas returned to Dundee, where the remainder of his life was spent. He introduced in his church the primitive custom of the “osculum pacis” and the “agape” celebrated as a common meal with broth. From this custom his congregation was known as the “kail kirk.” In 1739 the General Assembly, without any application from him, removed the sentence of deposition which had been passed against him, and restored him to the character and function of a minister of the gospel of Christ, but not that of a minister of the Established Church of Scotland, declaring that he was not eligible for a charge until he should have renounced principles inconsistent with the constitution of the church.

A collected edition of his works was published at Edinburgh in 1761 (4 vols., 8vo), and again at Perth in 1782 (5 vols., 8vo). He died in 1773.

Glas’s published works bear witness to his vigorous mind and scholarly attainments. His reconstruction of the True Discourse of Celsus (1753), from Origen’s reply to it, is a competent and learned piece of work. The Testimony of the King of Martyrs concerning His Kingdom (1729) is a classic repudiation of erastianism and defence of the spiritual autonomy of the church under Jesus Christ. His common sense appears in his rejection of Hutchinson’s attempt to prove that the Bible supplies a complete system of physical science, and his shrewdness in his Notes on Scripture Texts (1747). He published a volume of Christian Songs (Perth, 1784). (D. Mn.) 


GLASER, CHRISTOPHER, a pharmaceutical chemist of the 17th century, was a native of Basel, became demonstrator of chemistry at the Jardin du Roi in Paris and apothecary to Louis XIV. and to the duke of Orleans. He is best known by his Traité de la chymie (Paris, 1663), which went through some ten editions in about five-and-twenty years, and was translated into both German and English. It has been alleged that he was an accomplice in the notorious poisonings carried out by the marchioness de Brinvilliers, but the extent of his complicity is doubtful. He appears to have died some time before 1676. The sal polychrestum Glaseri is normal potassium sulphate which he prepared and used medicinally.


GLASGOW, a city, county of a city, royal burgh and port of Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated on both banks of the Clyde, 4011/2 m. N.W. of London by the West Coast railway route, and 47 m. W.S.W. of Edinburgh by the North British railway. The valley of the Clyde is closely confined by hills, and the city extends far over these, the irregularity of its site making for picturesqueness. The commercial centre of Glasgow, with the majority of important public buildings, lies on the north bank of the river, which traverses the city from W.S.W. to E.N.E., and is crossed by a number of bridges. The uppermost is Dalmarnock Bridge, dating from 1891, and next below it is Rutherglen Bridge, rebuilt in 1896, and superseding a structure of 1775. St Andrew’s suspension bridge gives access to the Green to the inhabitants of Hutchesontown, a district which is approached also by Albert Bridge, a handsome erection, leading from the Saltmarket. Above this bridge is the tidal dam and weir. Victoria Bridge, of granite, was opened in 1856, taking the place of the venerable bridge erected by Bishop Rae in 1345, which was demolished in 1847. Then follows a suspension bridge (dating from 1853) by which foot-passengers from the south side obtain access to St Enoch Square and, finally, the most important bridge of all is reached, variously known as Glasgow, Jamaica Street, or Broomielaw Bridge, built of granite from Telford’s designs and first used in 1835. Towards the close of the century it was reconstructed, and reopened in 1899. At the busier periods of the day it bears a very heavy traffic. The stream is spanned between Victoria and Albert Bridges by a bridge belonging to the Glasgow & South-Western railway and by two bridges carrying the lines of the Caledonian railway, one below Dalmarnock Bridge and the other a massive work immediately west of Glasgow Bridge.

Buildings.—George Square, in the heart of the city, is an open space of which every possible advantage has been taken. On its eastern side stand the municipal buildings, a palatial pile in Venetian renaissance style, from the designs of William Young, a native of Paisley. They were opened in 1889 and cost nearly £600,000. They form a square block four storeys high and carry a domed turret at each end of the western façade, from the centre of which rises a massive tower. The entrance hall and grand staircase, the council chamber, banqueting hall and reception rooms are decorated in a grandiose style, not unbecoming to the commercial and industrial metropolis of Scotland. Several additional blocks have been built or rented for the accommodation of the municipal staff. Admirably equipped sanitary chambers were opened in 1897, including a bacteriological and chemical laboratory. Up till 1810 the town council met in a hall adjoining the old tolbooth. It then moved to the fine classical structure at the foot of the Saltmarket, which is now used as court-houses. This was vacated in 1842 for the county buildings in Wilson Street. Growth of business compelled another migration to Ingram Street in 1875, and, fourteen years later, it occupied its present quarters. On the southern side of George Square the chief structure is the massive General Post Office. On the western side stand two ornate Italian buildings, the Bank of Scotland and the Merchants’ House, the head of which (the dean of gild), along with the head of the Trades’ House (the deacon-convener of trades) has been de facto member of the town council since 1711, an arrangement devised with a view to adjusting the frequent disputes between the two gilds. The Royal Exchange, a Corinthian building with a fine portico of columns in two rows, is an admired example of the work of David Hamilton (1768–1843), a native of Glasgow, who designed several of the public buildings and churches, and gained the second prize for a design for the Houses of Parliament. The news-room of the exchange is a vast apartment, 130 ft. long, 60 ft. wide, 130 ft. high, with a richly-decorated roof supported by Corinthian pillars. Buchanan Street, the most important and handsome street in the city, contains the Stock Exchange, the Western Club House (by David Hamilton) and the offices of the Glasgow Herald. In Sauchiehall Street are the Fine Art Institute and the former Corporation Art Gallery. Argyll Street, the busiest thoroughfare, mainly occupied with shops, leads to Trongate, where a few remains of the old town are now carefully preserved. On the south side of the street, spanning the pavement, stands the Tron Steeple, a stunted spire dating from 1637. It is all that is left of St Mary’s church, which was burned down in 1793 during the revels of a notorious body known as the Hell Fire Club. On the opposite side, at the corner of High Street, stood the ancient tolbooth, or prison, a turreted building, five storeys high, with a fine Jacobean crown tower. The only remnant of the structure is the tower known as the Cross Steeple.

Although almost all the old public buildings of Glasgow have been swept away, the cathedral remains in excellent preservation. It stands in the north-eastern quarter of the city at a height of 104 ft. above the level of the Clyde. It is a beautiful example of Early English work, impressive St Mungo’s Cathedral. in its simplicity. Its form is that of a Latin cross, with imperfect transepts. Its length from east to west is 319 ft., and its width 63 ft.; the height of the choir is 93 ft., and of the nave 85 ft. At the centre rises a fine tower, with a short octagonal spire, 225 ft. high. The choir, locally known as the High Church, serves as one of the city churches, and the extreme east end of it forms the Lady chapel. The rich western doorway is French in design but English in details. The chapter-house projects from the north-eastern corner and somewhat mars the harmony of the effect. It was built in the 15th century and has a groined roof supported by a pillar 20 ft. high. Many citizens have contributed towards filling the windows with stained glass, executed at Munich, the government providing the eastern