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the individuals who , for a moment , had mad * it the topic of a little idle conversation . In reference to the communication from tbe Faculty your lordship observes , " that pgalmsappHed to events which are the subjects of national fasts or thanksgivings , are sometimes given out by devout and pious clergymen , without any idea being entertained that there is a blasphemous perfersion of them , though their scriptural app lications be widely different . "
Certainly , my Lord , the practice you allude to is v * ry common ; and , when conducted with that delicacy which should be observed , but which is often miserably neglected , it is chargeable with no blame . Yet let me take the liberty of asking- your lordship this serious question . If I had
really applied or directed my hearers to apply , thesolemn lines you have quoted , from the 26 th scriptural translation—lines expressive of the spiritual triumphs of the Saviour—to Buonaparte , a man whose crimes against his own and other nations—against their peace , their prosperity , their freedom—have hitherto rendered him odious
ia the estimation of all who wish well to fte Luman race ; would you , my Lord , hare thought me guiltless of the crime alluded to in the Faculty ' s representation , shocking as that crime is ! Would you not tare regarded me as chargeable with profane and blasphemous perversion of the sacred language of scripture ? And , let
me further ask , what was the whole bearing of the precognition ? Was it not that this had beea « my guilt ? 1 have attended carefully to your lordship ' s observations on the expressions in m prayer ^ and I readi ly acknowledge , &at if it had been my purpose to express those . particular views , which seem alone to bare presented themselves to your mind ,
contemplating the appalling intelligence ° f that day the language would indeed We been most " unhappily chosen / " but we truth is , that these views of the event | hea announced , though doubtless very ln > poytant and interesting , were not at jhat moment in my mind . I regarded it in tsmore obvious , and to our country , and Mothers , its most formidable aspects ; I
viewed it in its relation to their tranquillity , their happiness , their independence ; I v ^\\ e 4 it as threatening them with an immediate renewal of all the crimes and cav ities that are attendant upon war , and rom Tvhich they had been so recently de-1 F ered . In these views of that event it **« appeared to me , and it still appears , ^ the best protection of the different _ ^ tea of Europe from the threatening evils , 11 be found in the wisdom and justice niters , audio the loyalty and patriotism dejecta ; and , therefore , my prayer a that all of them inisrht sock and find
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their security ia the cultivation of the . * reciprocal virtues and duties . I trust that when ( with the considerations which I have suggested before your mind ) your lordship shall review your opinion , you will not only see additional reasons for not imputing to me blame , or evil intention , but also grounds for entertaining a more full and unqualified
conviction of my guiltlessness than your lordship has yet expressed . In all events , I assure myself , that your lordship will be induced to give every possible aid and facility to myself and to the Faculty , in our endeavours to bring to the fullest light the author of the injurious calumnies that have
been thus brought on myself and on the University $ and therefore I beg leave to repeat to your lordship my own and the Faculty ' s request , that vou would order to be communicated to me , the information on which I have been accused by the Procurator Fiscal in his petition to the Sheriff , " of having introduced into divine
service , allusions tending to create impressions on the public , prejudicial to the prosperity and interests of the government and the country . " I feel myself warranted to urge this request by many considerations : —
1 st . The crime charged against me 1 $ not one of a concealed kind , but was said to have been committed in a place of pub * lie worship , and in the presence of a numerous congregation . The informer betrayed no confidence when he gave his information , and consequently cannot be subjected to odium on that account : nor
indeed on any account , if he has not been guilty of giving false information for malignant purposes ; and if he has been guilty of this , I am sure your lordship will regard it as important both to the cause of justice , and to the honour of his Majesty ' government , and its officers , that he should he exposed .
2 nd . It is surely nt that those who are wholly unconnected with thifc , information , hut who , from particular circumstances , may have incurred the suspicion of having given it , should l > e relieved from a . suspicion so discreditable and degrading * , by the discovery of the real author of the mischief . This is the more requisite , because the odium of which the unknown
informer has become the object , is very strongly felt , both here and in many other parts of the kingdom . 3 rd . Your compliance with this request is the more indispensible on this account *
that public suspicion does really attach to one individual ; and what is peculiarly unfortunate , that individual is a member of our University . Your lordship indeed says , that the Sheriff proceeded ora a petition from the Procurator Fiscal . No doubt , my lo * d $ this ., which ia the regular
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ProG * 9 ding $ against Professor Mylne , on the Charge of Sedition 409
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voi . x . 3 Q
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1815, page 409, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1762/page/9/
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