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 West-minster; 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 a
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
inconveniences and defects. The water of their public pumps is
generally hard and brackish, an imperfection the loss 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.
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