We owe the establishment of the University to William Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow, who at the instigation of King James II. obtained from the liberal-minded Pope Nicholas V. a Bull, erecting in Glasgow a studium generale in Theology, Canon and Civil Law, the Liberal Arts, and every other Lawful Faculty, with the power of granting Degrees, which should be recognized throughout Christendom. The Constitution of the University was founded upon that of Bologna, then one of the most flourishing schools in Italy, and the members were endowed with privileges and immunities similar to those enjoyed by the Doctors and Students of that University. A body of Statutes was prepared, and an University opened in 1451. The establishment was at first on a very limited scale, consisting only of Chancellor and Rector, of Masters and Doctors, who had graduated at other Universities, and of Incorporated Students in these faculties. In its early years the only property possessed by the institution consisted of some small perquisites payable on conferring degrees, the produce of which was termed the " University Purse"; and the patronage of a few small chaplainries, bequeathed by some of its first members. Originally there were no buildings connected with the University; but as it grew in importance the Bishop and Chapter granted apartments near the Cathedral, both for class-rooms and for the residence of the students. James, Lord Hamilton, however - an ancestor of the present noble house of that name - generously put the University in possession of property of its own, by conveying, in 1460, to the Principal and other chief officers of the University, a tenement, with its pertinents, in the High Street of Glasgow, together with four acres of land in the Dowhill, adjacent to the Molendinar Burn, a possession which long after went under the name of the "Land of the Pedagogy." These buildings were situated on the site of the present University, and they soon received some valuable additions, particularly an adjacent tenement, which was bequeathed to the institution in 1466 by Mr. Thomas Arthurlie. The University progressed steadily till the troubled time of the Reformation, when, on account of its chief officers being members of the ancient faith, it almost shared the fate of the Papal Supremacy in Scotland. The College of Arts, the least dignified but perhaps the most useful part of the University, survived the storm, but in such a wretched condition that, in a Charter of Queen Mary, it is said "that it appearit rather to be the decay of ane University, nor ony ways to be reckonit ane established foundation." This unfortunate Queen aided the University in its shattered state, by founding five bursaries for poor youths, and granting to the Masters, for their sustentation, the manse and church of the Friars Predicators, thirteen acres of ground adjoining, and several rents and emoluments which had belonged to the ejected Friars. In 1577 James VI., then a minor, by the advice of the Regent Morton, new-modelled the constitution and made very considerable additions to the revenue. The Charter then granted is termed the nova erectio, and it forms the ground-

work of the present constitution. From this period till the era of the Restoration nothing occurred to mar the onward progress of the University. But the establishment of Episcopacy by Charles II. was felt as a severe blow, by depriving it of a chief part of its revenue, viz., the Bishopric of Galloway. This check was the more bitterly felt, for at that time the Faculty was engaged in replacing the old ruinous fabrics by the present buildings, which, considering the means of the

College, and the then extent and character of the population, were planned on a scale of great liberality and magnificence. From this loss of revenue on the one hand, and the expense of building on the other, the University, despite many handsome benefactions, got into debt and deep water, from which it did not emerge till 1693, when, along with the other Scottish Universities, it obtained a gift of œ300 per annum out of the Bishop Rents in Scotland. From that period till the present, the University has enjoyed an uninterrupted career of honour, usefulness, and extension. But any one desirous of pursuing its general history further may find ample material for the purpose in the several works, and chapters in local chronicles, which have been written on the subject. Our purpose is to say a few rods regarding the buildings, part of which has been introduced in the accompanying sketch.

The buildings stand on the east side of High Street, the most ancient thoroughfare of the city. They consist of five quadrangles or courts - two, in which are situated respectively the Faculty Hall, or Hall of the Senate, the Common Hall, and the numerous class-rooms; one, in which is situated the Hunterian Museum and Library; and two, in which are the dwelling-houses of the Principal and Professors. The first view represents the Front Gate of the College in High Street, surmounted with the Royal Arms and the initials of Charles II.; and the second represents the south-west corner of the Outer Court, which, though small and of sombre appearance, forms the access to the halls in which the Faculty preserve their archives and most cherished emblems, and wherein they receive and entertain their most distinguished guests.

The west side, partially seen, is elevated upon pillars, surmounted with arches, thus forming a small cloister or piazza. The antique stair on the south, which occupies a prominent portion of the view, is adorned with figures of a lion and unicorn, carved in stone, and leads to the Faculty Hall and Great Hall, immediately above the cloisters. It was by this stair that Her Majesty, Prince Albert, and the royal children ascended, when they honoured the University with their presence on the memorable Royal Visit to Glasgow, on 14th August, 1849. The Great or Fore Hall is a large and dignified apartment, wainscotted with oak, and formerly adorned with paintings, but as the light was indifferent these were removed to other parts of the building previous to the Queen's visit. Two of these are historical: "Christ taken down from the Cross," believed to be an early Raphael, and "The Martyrdom of St. Catherine," by Crosiers, an eminent Flemish painter of the seventeenth century. There are also portraits of John Knox, Napier of Merchiston, Buchan and Smollett the historians, Principal Leechman, Lord Rector Orr of Barrowfield, Professors Simson, Hutcheson, Reid, etc. There are also busts of Professor Hutcheson, Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Burney, and Dr. Watt. This hall has also been honoured by the living presence of some of the most eminent men of the age, when they attended to be invested with the insignia of Lord Rector, amongst whom maybe named Jeffrey, Mackintosh, Brougham, Campbell, Stanley, Peel, and Macaulay. In the adjoining or Faculty Hall are kept the records of the University and College, and the large and splendid silver mace which is borne by the bedellus before the Lord Chancellor and Lord Rector on occasions of their installation. Above the Great Hall is the Divinity Hall, which is entered by a staircase on the north-west side of the court. On the east, between the outer and inner courts, the College Tower and Steeple rise to a height of 148 1/2 feet; but it derives more interest from its thunder-rod, erected under the personal auspices of Benjamin Franklin in 1772 than from any claims to architectural beauty. The present buildings appear to have been erected at various dates from 1630 downwards, the latest of any extent being the Hunterian Museum, erected in 1804, at an expense of nearly œ12,000.