Part 2

THE Exhibition had been a success beyond all expectations, and its crowning glory was the visit of the Queen. Her Majesty paid two visits; one, in State, on the 22nd of August, and another privately on the 24th. Accompanying the Queen were the Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg, the Grand Duke of Hesse and his son the Hereditary Grand Duke, besides his daughter the sweet-faced Princess Alix, who is now Empress of Russia. Her Majesty had not been in Glasgow since 1849, and comparatively few of those who saw her then can have turned out to see her nine-and-thirty years after. Few or many however, I have no doubt they were as enthusiastic in their welcome to the venerable Queen as they had been to her in their younger days, and as their younger fellow citizens were on these fine days of August ’88. The Queen was the guest of Sir Archibald and Lady Campbell at Blythswood, and besides going to the Exhibition, the Queen visited the Municipal Buildings and Queen Margaret College; Paisley also coming in for a share of the royal attention.

Among those who were presented to the Queen at the Exhibition was the architect of the Buildings, Mr. James Sellars. His lamented death occurred in October, before the close of the great show he had done so much to make memorable.

Mr. John Lavery was commissioned by the Executive to paint an important picture of the Queen in the Exhibition, and his work now hangs in the permanent collection at Kelvingrove.

THE SHAH OF PERSIA

NASR-ED-DIN, afterwards assassinated in the streets of his own capital, was what is called an “enlightened monarch,” and he wrote a book about his Western travels. At the time he visited Glasgow he was the guest of the Duke of Montrose. In the City he was taken first to the Council Chamber, where an exchange of compliments took place between His Oriental Majesty and the Lord Provost. After that he was conveyed to the Corporation Galleries, where a large party sat down with him to lunch. Prince Malcom Khan acted as interpreter of the formal speeches, but as for the conversation at lunch, so far as I remember noticing, there was nothing very animated. It is just possible that Sir James King had learned the Persian for “good,” “bad,” and “middling,” pronouncing these words emphatically or interrogatively to his guests on either hand as the various dishes came round. Even a Lord Provost can’t get up an entire Oriental language for only one occasion, but three words properly applied go a long way in making one’s self agreeable to an Asiatic Monarch.

FIRST COUNCIL MEETING IN THE NEW CHAMBERS

IN September 1888, when Queen Victoria had an Address presented to her in the courtyard of the new buildings, Her Majesty’s reply concluded with these words, “I gladly inaugurate these noble Municipal Buildings, which are worthy of the ancient renown and modern prosperity of your great city.” It was not for more than a year afterwards that this first Council meeting was held under the palatial roof. Sir James King, we see, is still Chief Magistrate, but Lord Provost John Muir is not far off.

A CITY BALL

AND here is Lord Provost Muir taking advantage, in February 1891, of the splendid possibilities of the new chambers for purposes of reception and entertainment, possibilities that have been amply demonstrated by Sir John Muir’s successors in office.

SHUNA

THIS western isle, two-and-a-half miles by one-and-a-quarter, one hundred acres being arable land, has belonged since 1829 to Glasgow, having been presented by James Yates, a native of the city. Few opportunities have been taken by the Corporation of visiting this twig of the civic tree, though now and again a small deputation has inspected the island. On the 7th of August 1890, a large party of the Council and their friends went by special train to Oban, where Bailie John Neil had placed his steam-yacht _Myrtle_ at their disposal for the voyage to Shuna and back, a matter of two hours each way. It was a perfect day among the islands, one of those days that make the lot of even a Glasgow Magistrate a not unhappy one, one of those summer days that it is always pleasant to recall.

On the island a ten-months-old baby was waiting to be christened, no minister having been on Shuna earlier in the infant’s career. The ceremony was performed by Dr. Edgar and Mr. Milligan, two clergymen who were of the municipal party. It was a proud quarter of an hour for the young shepherd and his wife, the parents, and the hat which was passed round obtained a substantial tocher for Mary Ann Myrtle, as the child had been named.

JOHN BRIGHT, LORD RECTOR

THIS is the most remote historical event recorded in our collection. The 22nd of March 1883, was the day on which a great audience crowded St. Andrew’s Hall to hear John Bright deliver his address as Lord Rector of the University. This address, which I daresay had a good deal of the “Little England” element in it, is memorable chiefly for the speaker’s earnest appeal on behalf of the wretched poor, and one remembers its impressive simplicity of eloquence as perhaps the finest example of platform oratory it has ever been one’s lot to hear, even as the utterances of Principal John Caird live in the memory as being among the most eloquent ever delivered from the pulpit.

As Mr. Bright was emphasising one of his points he struck the mace in front of him and its head gave way. This was promptly replaced by Mr. Janitor Macpherson with one of his benignant smiles amid the howls of the delighted students.

Among the “new LL.D.s” in the sketch may be observed Mr. Henry Campbell-Bannerman, then a less prominent figure in the public eye than, as Sir Henry, he is in these later days.

THE BUTE HALL

THE opening of this hall--named after its donor--in the University took place on the evening of 1st February 1884. Principal Caird in his robes received the guests in the Randolph Hall before they spread themselves over the floors and galleries of the larger apartment and penetrated to the museum. Everybody who had any claim to wear academic robes had put them on, and the effect as a whole was awe-inspiring, especially to those who felt comparatively unclothed in ordinary evening dress.

I have not been in the Bute Hall for many a day, but the one-and-twenty years that have passed since the opening night have removed most of the faces that may be recognised in the sketch and must have toned down the walls and fittings, whose newness was the occasion of this reception, giving something of a suitable air of antiquity to that part of the ancient seat of learning.

EDMUND LUSHINGTON, LORD RECTOR

THE venerable Professor Lushington was made Lord Rector on strictly non-political and purely academic grounds. It was a personal compliment on the part of the University in which he had so long held a chair, as gracefully bestowed as it was graciously accepted. Professor Lushington--one must make the inevitable reference to his being brother-in-law of Tennyson, who had “said things” about him in verse--was the first to deliver a Rectorial address in the Bute Hall. His address cannot have been heard by many beyond his immediate vicinity. The voice of the aged Lord Rector was more than usually feeble, the students were more than usually noisy, and even the hint that Sir William Thomson (now Lord Kelvin) quite evidently gave the speaker produced little improvement.

The wooden doll furtively placed under the reading-desk was of course a cause of some merriment. An umbrella wielded by the Janitor brought it down, but I never heard who retained the toy as a souvenir.

A RECTORIAL ELECTION

IN 1887, when Lord Rosebery and Lord Lytton were the candidates put forward for the chair of Lord Rector, the Liberal candidate had a majority of twenty-two votes overhead, but he had a majority in only two of the Nations. As Lord Lytton had also a majority in two of the Nations, the result was a draw, and the Chancellor of the University, Lord Stair, gave his casting-vote in favour of the Conservative candidate. Thus it came about that in the autumn of 1888 Lord Lytton, as Lord Rector, addressed the students in the Bute Hall. As shown in the frontispiece the amenities of the position were much as usual.

At the next election on Saturday, the 15th of November 1890, the candidates were Mr. A. J. Balfour and Lord Aberdeen, the former being returned by a large majority after the customary hilarious proceedings on the summit of Gilmorehill.

BAZAAR IN THE UNIVERSITY

THE Earl of Stair, supported by the Principal and Senatus of the University and by the Lord Provost and magistrates of the city, opened the Bazaar with due impressiveness. Thereafter one’s pockets were not safe and much coin changed hands in the Bute and Randolph Halls. I forget how much was realised--something in tens of thousands, I think--enough, at any rate, to make the Students’ Union a proud body.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

A SKETCH made in March 1887. There are some portraits here of city men that may be recognised by those who knew the frequenters of the Exchange eighteen years ago. I cannot myself venture to label any, for though several of the figures are familiar to my recollection, their names escape me.

CORN EXCHANGE

HERE, also, are presumptive portraits of that period; an ex-Lord Provost in the person of Mr. John Ure, a coming Lord Provost in the person of his nephew, now Sir John Ure Primrose, Mr. G. W. Clark and his son, Mr. David Clark, Mr. Mitchell Smith, Mr. Archibald Robertson, and Bailie Dunlop. The boy carrying samples up the stairs may be a merchant prince now, for aught I know. I hope he is.

AT THE CIRCUIT COURT

THE respectable-looking old gentleman in the dock, and the Saltmarket-seeming lady by his side, were accused--and doubtless convicted--of stealing watches in a most systematic and persistent manner from unwary citizens such as “the deaf witness,” or “one who was robbed,” or any watch-possessing person who came within their iniquitous radius.

THE MITCHELL LIBRARY

THESE sketches were made on a Saturday afternoon in April 1885, in the first premises occupied by the Mitchell Library, where accommodation was somewhat limited, and where the odours of cheese, ham, and other provisions excellent in their way, arose from the warehouses over which the library had found a temporary home.

The readers are certainly a mixed lot, and more or less picturesque, even as are those of the more exclusive Reading-room of the British Museum. Those who stroll in just to pass the time are easily distinguishable from those who come for purposes of study.

GLASGOW GREEN

THIS is the Green on a Sunday evening, when various strange people with an out-of-the-way “mission,” or a desire for debate, can find scope for their eloquence or their arguments, and can make a reputation of a sort. It is a cheap and satisfying entertainment, and is fully taken advantage of both by speakers and by listeners, mainly on Sundays, but on Saturdays also and on other fine summer’s evenings.

THE BOTANIC GARDENS

THE Band and Pipers of the 93rd Highlanders play. It is a radiant evening in August. There is a glamour over the scene--under the dome of the “Kibble,” or out on the lawn, or among the shrubberies--that is restful and not of the city. Let us not disturb it by attempted description.

GLASGOW PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION

IT met in the ex-church known as Waterloo Rooms, and was presided over by Mr. John Turnbull, Jr., in evening dress. It would not be safe for me to reveal the real names of the members, who were known only by that of the constituencies they were supposed to represent; but I may say that the picturesque “member for Durham” was Mr. Craibe Angus, whose interest in artists and poets, as well as in politicians, was well known.

THE CROFTERS’ COMMISSION

THIS was in the Justices’ Court-House on the 19th of October, 1883, after the Commission, a goodly array of Scottish names, had been for some months touring the Highlands and islands. The result of its deliberations has long been public property. I remember it was an interesting and interested audience that gathered to hear the evidence given in Glasgow. One venerable witness, with a long white beard, on being asked his age gave it as “forty.” Lord Napier seemed surprised. “Forty?” he questioned incredulously. “Well, _about_ forty,” replied the ancient-looking man, apparently resenting any more searching inquiry as to his antiquity.

The “Father of the Glasgow Press” introduced in the sketch was Mr. J. G. Temple of the _Mail_, whose death took place something like twenty years after this date.

THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY

ON the 1st and 3rd of October, 1884, were held two meetings, here rolled into one, with Lord Salisbury as chief speaker, and the whole local strength of the Conservative party backing him. At that time leader of the Opposition, Lord Salisbury was received with much enthusiasm in Glasgow--then not a Conservative city by any means--an enthusiasm said to have been greater than that accorded Lord Beaconsfield when he appeared as the University’s Lord Rector several years previously.

Lord Salisbury was the guest of the laird of Blythswood, who was chairman at one of these meetings, the Duke of Montrose presiding at the other.

MR. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN

THE Chamberlain demonstration took place in St. Andrew’s Hall in September 1885. It was a different Mr. Chamberlain in those days from that known in the political world of to-day. He is referred to in the ’eighties as “St. Joseph of the Caucus and the abomination of the Conservatives.” At that period wasn’t Mr. Chamberlain touring with an “unauthorised programme”--something about Old Age Pensions, Workmen’s Compensation, and Three Acres and a Cow? Of course in Glasgow he had a tremendous and fascinated audience. Mr. Gilbert Beith, a Member of Parliament two months or so later, was chairman.

LORD GEORGE HAMILTON

LORD George, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty, followed close on Mr. Chamberlain’s heels in Glasgow, and I read that the way in which he dealt with Mr. Chamberlain’s “newly-fledged claims to be a Christian Philanthropist” was exceedingly happy. Lord George had not dressed for the occasion, and some people may have thought this evinced an aristocratic disregard for appearances, but it was really owing to the fact that the portmanteau containing his evening clothes had gone astray.

A LIBERAL MEETING

BETWEEN this date, December 1885, and that of the meeting last recorded, a General Election had taken place and the Liberal party was able to telegraph, after the counting of votes, “Glasgow’s message to Mr. Gladstone--‘we are seven.’” This meeting, over which Lord Rosebery presided, making one of his brilliant and witty speeches, was supposed to welcome the seven. Only two put in an appearance, Mr. Gilbert Beith and Mr. Mitchell Henry. There were plenty of speakers, however, as one may see from the opposite page.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

IN June 1886 the constituencies were again upturned by a General Election, Mr. Gladstone having decided to go to the country on the Irish Home Rule question. The Prime Minister, full of his new scheme, poured forth his eloquence in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Edinburgh naturally having a double share. It was at one of his Edinburgh meetings in the Music Hall that I first noticed that Mr. Gladstone’s left hand was minus the forefinger.

I ought to make some excuse for putting what is really an Edinburgh drawing into a book about Glasgow, so I beg to plead Mr. Gladstone’s fascinating personality and my desire to give Edinburgh this little bit of a show. She very kindly allowed Mr. Gladstone to come to Glasgow for our edification.

MR. GLADSTONE IN GLASGOW

THE meeting was held in Hengler’s Circus. At one part of his speech Mr. Gladstone wished to read a quotation from Burke, but “the lift grew black” temporarily, and it was impossible to see the words on the paper. Mr. Gilbert Beith and Sir Charles Tennant stood by and made noble effort to lend the aid afforded by a box of matches. The quotation being a rather extended one demanded more than this fleeting illumination. But the fortunate arrival of some candles saved the situation, and indeed well-meaning candles kept coming on to the platform long after full justice had been done to the words of Mr. Burke.

LORD HARTINGTON

THEN was the birth of the Unionist Party. Within a few days after Mr. Gladstone’s meeting came the Marquess of Hartington (now Duke of Devonshire), whose calm judgment and deliberate manner made a good impression and had a considerable effect on the result of the elections in Glasgow as in other places. The seven Unionist Candidates were on the platform with Lord Hartington, and of these, three were returned as members--Mr. Baird, Mr. Corbett and Mr. Caldwell.

THE EARL OF ABERDEEN

THIS I find described as a Separatist Demonstration and dull as ditch-water. And yet surely there must have been something worth listening to provided by Lord Aberdeen and the other speakers here portrayed. Somebody may be able to recall the speeches; I can’t. I do remember that all Professor Henry Drummond did was to propose a vote of thanks to the chairman.