The Glasgow friendly lire insurance company having been on the decline for a number of years past was dis solved in 1805. In 1803, a company was formed under the designation of the Glasgow Fire insurance Company, with a capital of 100 000/. divided into 400 shares. This con cern, not answering the expectation of the proprietors, was given up in favour of the Phcenix office in 1811. Although there is now no fire insurance office belonging to the town, there are no less than 22 branches of the London and pro vincial offices established in it. It is worthy of remark, that although the local offices above alluded to have not succeeded. that the annual increase of duty in four years, ending 1814, paid by 15 of the London offices, amounted to 61,1751.
In 1735, Mr James Macrae, a citizen of Glasgow, and late governor of the presidency of Madras, presented to the town a metallic equestrian statue of King William III. The statue is placed on a pedestal at the cross, bear ing an appropriate inscription, and is inclosed by an iron rail.
In 1812, a full length statue in marble of that great mi nister, who conducted the affairs of Britain during an event. ful period of 26 years, was erected in the town hall, by subscriptions from the citizens of Glasgow. This statue, which is executed in parliamentary robes, from the chissel of Mr John Flaxman, London, cost upwards of 13001., and has the following inscription, Guliebno Pitt Cives Glas guenses posuerunt, A. D. MDCCCXII.
In 1809, this city lost one of her bravest sons, by the death of Sir John Moore, who, at the head of the British army in Spain, fell gloriously in the arms of victory, on the plains of Coruna, and was buried in the citadel of that town. When the accounts of his victory and death reached his native town, a subscription, amounting to up wards of 4000/., was immediately completed, and a bronz ed pedestrian statue ordered to be erected to his memory in some conspicuous part of the city, under the direction of Mr John Flaxman, London.
The university was founded, as before mentioned, in 1450, in virtue of a bu I obtained from Pope Nicholas V. by the solicitation of James 11. and William Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow. This institution, while in its infancy, consisted of a chancellor, rector, dean of faculty, a princi pal, who taught theology, and three professors of philoso phy. At the Reformation, this seminary suffered very ma terially ; and it was not till after James VI. had granted a new charter of erection, and bestowed on it the teinds of the parish of Govan, that it recovered from the shock which it had received. In 1617, the teinds of the parishes of Renfrew and Kilbride were annexed, and ultimately con ferred on it. In 1630, the temporalities of the bishopric of
were added; and in 1670, the fiends of Gadder, of Old and New Monkland, were conveyed to the college, by chat ter from Charles II. In 1693, after the Revolution, the sum of 300/. per annum was granted to each of the Scottish universities, out of the property of the abolished bisho prics of Scotland; and the better to insure the payment of this sum, this university obtained from the crown a lease for 19 years of the tcinds of the archbishopric, which has been periodically renewed ever since. These tcinds, and the annual returns from heritable property, and donations received from individuals at various times, constitute the fund from which the professors' salaries and cettain sti pends arc paid, the college buildings supported, and the other concerns of the university maintained. From its erection down to the present time, the number of profes sorships have been increased. At present, the establish ment consists of a lord chancellor, lord rector, dean of fa culty, a reverend principal, a reverend professor of divinity, professors of church history, oriental languages, natural philosophy, mathematics, moral philosophy, logic, Greek, h.:Inanity, civil law, medicine, anatomy, practical astrono my, and the regius professors of natural history, surgery, and midwifery. The crown presents to the following chairs, viz. the principality, church history, civil law, me dicine, anatomy, astronomy, natural history, surgery, and midwifery. The college elects the chancellor, the dean of faculty, and the professors of divinity, oriental languages, natural philosophy, mathematics, moral philosophy, logic, Greek, and humanity. The rector and dean of faculty are chosen annually. In choosing the former, the mode of election is materially different from that of the other office-bearers. He is elected by what is called the Comi tia, that is, a court consisting of the office-bearers and pro fessors, and all the students who have matriculated, by en rolling their names, and stating the place where they were born, and the name of their father and his designation, Sze. This court consists nearly of 1000 members, is divided into what is called the four nations, viz. the Glottiana, Transforthana, Loudoniana, and Rothsaiana. The majority of the 'members of each nation constituting one vote, in case of an equality, the rector has the casting vote. It has been usual to re-elect the rector for one year only. The regius professors have no vote in the faculty, except for the dean; they, however, vote in the Comitia, in com mon with the matriculated members.