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received information , that on Sunday the 26 th March , Mr . James Mylne , Professor ftf Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow , and Chaplain thereof , did , in the course of divine service , introduce certain allusions relative to the very recent overthrow of the legitimate government of France , with which the government of this country is at present in a state of
amity ; and as the opinions and allusions which are said to have been so made , tend to create impressions upon the public , or individuals prejudieal to the prosperity and interests of the government and inhabitants of this country , the petitioner has thought it his duty to make the ^ present
application for an inquiry into the circumstances above-mentioned , and therefore praying to grant warrant to cite and precognosce inch witnesses as he may condescend on . The prayer of the petition was granted by the Sheriff , by a deliverance in the usual form , on the 30 th of March , and on the
30 th and 31 st of that month several persons , who had attended divine service in the College Chapel on the 26 th , were examined , besides Professor Mylne , who , as the Sheriff informed me , was examined in his own house , the place selected by himself , and was permitted to dictate his declaration . The other individuals were
examined m places most suitable for their accommodation - no person was apprehended or brought into court by a summoos given by officers of court ; but in order to act in a respectful and delicate manner no publicity that could be avoided > vasgiven to the investigation . The preco ^ nition was afterwards lai d befo re bis
i Majesty ' s Advocate , who had previously I received a comrnunicatioa from the Faculty of Glasgow College , which set forth that Professor Mylne had been suspected , prokbly accused , of the crime of sedition , if flot of high treason , of a blasphemous pertasion of Holy Scriptureand of having
, toplicitly applied to Buonaparte , language Jtojjr appropriated by Revelation to the Saviour of the World . The representation of the Faculty also complained of the She" « > as having- conducted his official pro-Win < j 8 in an indecorous and improper banner , and so as to e * i ve to them
minece » sary publicity aud scandal . ^ uli i C 0 n 8 'dering tne precognition and Jtole proceedings , I am of opinion that jj > cri me has been committed by Professor . y . » and that no criminal intention can . — . — w v ^ ^ r A i « i jt m . m , » . » « , ji || i > ^ ( a . Ji % , A . \ J M M v . / **> ft . *
II ^ ^ V V im P lltcd to h ' » but while I am fro rai ? ^ by ^ circumstances appearing rtUh I eco § rnition in exculpating that C \ t fn > m Clime or criminal inten-> 1 feel it my duty to state , that I do , acq U ! € sce in the censiire wi , jcn f , as ^ Passed on the Sheriff of the county , lQo ^ j 80 fat as I have had access to *> c itt ' discharged his duty to the , pul > - * tanner perfectly deemdus and re-
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spectful , and with every attention to the feelings and convenience of those wha were examined . The incidents which occurred in the College Chapel on the 26 th March , Rnd which appear to have occasioned the' petition and precognition , weie certainly of an unfortunate nature , although originating in
no improper mutt . e . The account of them I take from Professor M a ine ' s declaration . On the morning- » f that Sunday before he went into Chape ! , he had h ^ ard the news which had arrived Tram France namely , the entry of Buonaparte hiti > Paris , and the flight of the ie ^ itiinate s . » vereig * n of that country from his capital ; he alluded in his prayer , as appears , to those
recent events , and io the course of that part of his prayer he prayed that tlie governments of Europe , by the wisdom and justice of their administration , might every where engage the attachnaent aud fidelity of their subjects , and that the subjects every where might distinguish themselves by the corresponding virtues of loyalty and patriotism . Prior to the prayer theservice began with some verses at the
beginning of the 107 th psalm , read to the congregation in the usual manner by the clergyman , which appear descriptive of satisfaction at the fate of those who had been in a desert place , and who had come from north , south , east , and west , and gone to a city to abide therein . The service was closed by Professor Mylne reading the 5 th and other verses oF the 26 th
scriptural translation , beginning with the words , u Behold lie comes , your Leader comes , u With might and honour cr wu'd . " That there was no allusion meaiit by the assemblage of these incidental occurrences , to what had just passed in France , I am
convinced , but the coincidence was unfortunate . There was no necessity for th « 107 th psalm being read or sung on that day , either by selecting * it or hy not pasFing over it , and I must here observe , with a reference to the communicati n from the Faculty of Glasgow College , that , psalms , the words or impressions of wtuVh uiay he
applied to events , winch are ? e subject of national or public fasts , or thanksgivings , are occasionally given out t 6 e snag m churches , by devout and pious ch'vgytaen without any idea being entcr'a-ned that there is a blasphemous perversion of them , although in their true scriptural sense they are applicable solely to very different events
or persons . The prayer not only in the above passage , but in the whole c > f n in its general sentiments and in Mr iVlyine ' s view « f it was fi'ee from b ' ^ i , ut with reference to the investigation which has taken place . the events at that moment fresh iji th « re > collection of the audience cannot be forgotten . It bad just been announced that
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Proceedings against Professor Mylne , on the Charge of Sedition . 4 cr
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1815, page 407, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1762/page/7/
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