The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

246 TOBIAS SMOLLETT
Europe; and, without all doubt, it is one of the most flourishing in
Great Britain. In short, it is a perfect bee-hive in point of industry.
It stands partly on a gentle declivity; but the greatest part of it is
in a plain, watered by the river Clyde. The streets are straight, open,
airy, and well paved; and the houses lofty and well built of hewn
stone. At the upper end of the town, there is a venerable cathedral,
that may be compared with York-minster or Westminster; and,
about the middle of the descent from this to the Cross, is the college,
a respectable pile of building, with all manner of accommodation
for the professors and students, including an elegant library, and
an observatory well provided with astronomical instruments. The
number of inhabitants is said to amount to thirty thousand; and
marks of opulence and independency appear in every quarter of
this commercial city, which, however, is not without its incon-
veniences and defects. The water of their public pumps is generally
hard and brackish, an imperfection the less excusable, as the river
Clyde runs by their doors, in the lower part of the town; and there
are rivulets and springs above the cathedral, sufficient to fill a large
reservoir with excellent water, which might be thence distributed
to all the different parts of the city. It is of more consequence to
consult the health of the inhabitants in this article, than to employ
so much attention in beautifying their town with new streets,
squares, and churches. Another defect, not so easily remedied, is
the shallowness of the river, which will not float vessels of any
burthen within ten or twelve miles of the city; so that the mer-
chants are obliged to load and unload their ships at Greenock and
Port-Glasgow, situated about fourteen miles nearer the mouth of
the Frith, where it is about two miles broad.
The people of Glasgow have a noble spirit of enterprise—Mr.
Moore, a surgeon, to whom I was recommended from Edinburgh,
introduced me to all the principal merchants of the place. Here
I became acquainted with Mr. Cochran, who may be styled one of
the sages of this kingdom. He was first magistrate at the time of the
last rebellion. I sat as member when he was examined in the house
of commons; upon which occasion Mr. P—— observed he had
never heard such a sensible evidence given at that bar—I was also
introduced to Dr. John Gordon, a patriot of a truly Roman spirit,
who is the father of the linen manufacture in this place, and was
the great promoter of the city workhouse, infirmary, and other
works of public utility. Had he lived in ancient Rome, he would