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tinetlon precious m my eyes . It is accompanied , I thank God / with no em < Atiment- ± * it is ^ attended , &anfc happy to ^ understand , mtb © ot many or very dlfflfeultvdatie ^^ t & * chie % of a literary and intellectual character—and it has been bestowed , without any stir or solicitation of ruine , by something that approaches very nearly to a popular suffrage .
These considerations would eeTt&ioly be sufficient to render any similar distinction in any r other seminary of learning peculiarly' grateful and flattering . But I must say , that what chiefly exalts and endears this appointment
to ine is * that it kas been bestowed by ttie University of Glasgow * It was here that , now na © Te than thirty years $ go , I received the earliest tutd by far the most valuable part of my academical education—and first imbibed
that relish and veneration for letters which has cheered » nd directed the whole course of any after life— 'and to which , amidst all the distractions of ra / ther too busy an existence , I have never failed to recur with fresh and
unabated enjoyment . Nor is it merely by those distant and pleasing recollections— -by the touching retrospect of those scenes of guiltless ambition and youthful delight , when every thing around &nd before me was bright with novelty and hope , that this place and # 11 the images it recals are at tins
moment endeared to my heart . Though I have been able , I fear , to do but little to honour this early nurse of my studies , since I was first separated from her bosom , I wiM yet presume 'to say , that I have been , during &M % Hdt imerval , an affectionate and not
-an m&ttentive son . For the whole of % h&t % ) 4 rioA ; I have watched over her ^ jrogyesfe , and gloried m her famettUd Hit your Literary Olympics , where your prizes are distributed , and the mature Warm amm ally cast oft to pl y J ite busy task in the wider circuit of
kite w ^ rldi I have generally been found # , fond and eager spectator of that youfhrai prowess in which Wbadceased to be a ¦ sharer , and a delighted chronicler of that excellence which * never
ceased to be supplied . And thus , the tie which originally bound me to the place was never allowed to be broken ; and when called to the high office which I this day assume , I felt that I could not Ikj considered « s a » irwiger ,
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em by ^^ v ^ oitogefl ^^ pQ ^ ieti ^ biiigiQi society over M ^ ach I wae ^ ite ^ resgi ^ It has not beeA ttauemal ^ Io feelieve ^ o $ occasions like tbe > presefat ^ ^^ y somei&aig of the fame of the Univer sity , and » iof the iliiastiious men who hav * e from time to time < e 6 Btributesi to
extend it . I shall slot now , however , enter npon such a theme . But on finding myself , after so iotog an kitfer val ^ once oaore restored to this society , and reassnmed as one of its menabere , it is impossible for me not to cast back one glance of naelanchoty reiE ^ mbrancfe
and veneration to like distinguished individuals fey whom it was then adorned , and fmm whom my first impressions of intellectual excellence were derived . Among these it is now a matter of pride and gratification tiiat Z can still recolleet the celebrated Dr .
Reid—^ heu vergiiig indeed to ids decline—but still in foil possession of his powerful understanding , and , though retired from the r ^ idar busimeBB of teaching , still superintending with
interest the labours of his ingenious successor , nod hallowing , with the sanctity of Jus venerable age and the primitive simplicity of ills cte&rmtier , the scene over -which his genius has thrown so imperishable a luslice . —
Another potent spirit was thefi > though , alas' ! for too stiart ? a tuaae , in ( the lieight and vigour « df Ms streng and undaunted understanding ^ -I mean ^ he late Mr . Millar , whom it has al'ways ^ appeared to nae to be peculiarl y ihe duty of those wito -had the happiness of knowing him , to remember iukI eomnaeiBorate on all fit occasions .
J > jecause , Unlike the great philosopher to whom I have just alluded , nb adequate memorial of hisi ^ ctiraoTainajy tdlents is do be found in those works by which his name must be chiefly k » own ito poaterityi . In them there is
iudeed enibodied a part >^ though , periaftpsj n © t the best or mQ&t striking part < H- * o £ ihis ' singular sa ^^ citJY ; , extensive leairning ,. and liberal and penetrating judgment . Bu-fc * tbey reveal nothing ofth ^ t magical viy ^ oity jribfrk . -inaA e his conversation and his lectures still nio * e ftilfof aeMht ^ Ea ^ df lii ^ rucwiw
tion ^ - —of . that >< frank $ i ^ B $ JUiid feap liessness which led ttim to ^ ig ^ e > otit preparation , $ n every f ^^ wtei « tion , and neither to dre ^ ds m ** $ & $$ * ^ 6 wers i €$ t % ny eppoii ^ Emi , pe ^ li ^ s ^ of i *^ t r ^ m ^ tk ^ ble aiw
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212 Mr . Jeffrttfs imtrtlalkmSpeevh .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1821, page 212, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2499/page/20/
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