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part ,- ! feel the warmest attachment to it , as the place of Yroy * w& education ; I approve of its general systeoi of instruction ; I respect the individuals by whom it is directed ; and I do not wish to seduce a single student from its walls . But are there
no students for whom a different system of education is desirable ; and who would never have gone to Dublin , if the Institution of Belfast had not existed ? Can those educated for the Presbyterian ministry be expected to go to " a College , where the only
instruction in divinity is conformable to a church , of which they are not members ? Let them , it may be said , go to Glasgow , as they did formerly . No objection can . be made to the course of education at Glasgow ; but it has been found , by eight years ' experience , that more care can be
taken of the morals , and more attention paid to the progress of the young men at Belfast , where they are under jthe frequent inspection of the Committees of their respective synods , than at Glasgow , where they were strangers , under little or no controul , and left to their own discretion , in a manner the bad effects of which were
often too visible . A domestic education for their ministers has been long desired by some of the wisest members of the Presbyterian body . It has been effected . Able Professors have been provided , and lectures are given on Logic and Belles Lettres , Latin
and Greek , Mathematics , Moral Philosophy , Natural Philosophy , Anatomy , Hebrew , and Divinity ; and the progress of the young men , some of whom are now settled as pastors of congregations , has proved the utility of the plan . Members of the general Synod , who were at first hostile , have
become friendly , from seeing the effects ; and nothing is wanted to render it permanently useful , but aid from Parliament , before the subscriptions are exhausted . As the Presbyterian J > o . dy has been deemed worthy of countenance , will it be consistent to refuse _ what would secure a
respectable succession of ministers ? The seminary at Maynooth , for JEio--maa Catholic priests , is supppfted ; why ? i | £ t that also : for Presbyterians at Belfast ? It may be objected , $ W Belfast is ^ a , Jbad situation- I shal l ; not discuss thiseppiiH . It i $ enough , J&at
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the BelfaM Institution is going on . ^ and it would require a ^ ex )§ enai ^ re of thousands , to change the place . The question then is ,- —Shall all that- lias been done be destroyed ? Or * shall the Belfast Institution * which is incorporated by Act of Parliament , be
supported ? If danger be apprehended , from political impressions on the students , is there no danger of similar impressions at Glasgow ? Are not the students there led into party politics , at the annual election of the Rector ?
Admit , however , that there is danger ; may it not be guarded against ? The present Professors are unimpeachable , and plans may be easily devised for preventing , at any future time , the election of Professors who would be
obnoxious . Objections may be made , also , on the score of religion . There are , however , no clerical members , who have not been approved by Government as ministers of the
Presbyterian Church , and no instances have been produced of improper interference . Should there be ground of complaint , it would be better to provide a remedy for the evil , than to ruin the Institution . At the same
time , it is to be remarked , that it seems to be the principle of the Belfast Institution , to choose the fittest person for the office , without inquiring into his peculiar opinions , provided his moral character and
attention to religious duties be unexceptionable ; and to receive students of every religious sect , allowing all to retain the sentiments of their parents , without interference . If this be objectionable , let it be declared . The third object of the Belfast
Institution is , popular lectures to promote the diffusion of knowledge . The want of funds has occasioned less to be done in this respect , than was intended ; but lectures of this description have been given oa Che mistry , on Natural History generally , on Botany , and on the Belles Lettres . at «
this ah object thought deserving encouragement ? It is thought to be so in Dublin and in Odrk ; for the House of Commons votfed 7000 / . *» the Royal Dxrfaik Society , and 2000 / - to 4 e : k ^ em . JNf ^ on , dtt jS [ no t pyJm ^ W ^ M ^^ \ tjj V P EL the important aerviws they »^ * - I , * . ... ' ' 3 f
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* - v ^* 7 . " ' * ¦ 662 A Plea for the Belfast Academical Institution .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1823, page 562, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1789/page/2/
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