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are differeat . It suits fettt ill at any time with * my temper and habits , to have thai ; in , ray heart which my lips ai ^ forbidden to utter ; and , on the p refcetfit occasion , I haye the less
scrupte to ofbey i ; h 6 impulse that is natural td rne , because 1 have great pleasure in stating , that > I / feave been received with so tfftieh indulgence and cordiality by the far greater part of those who could not concur in my election , as to ha ^ e entirely effaced any
uncomfortable feeling that might otherwise have remained on my mind . I think it right also thus publicly to state , that , in the circumstances in which they were jpiaced , I am satisfied that those reverend * and learned persons could not
with propriety or honour have acted otherwise than they did;—and I feel it equally my duty to say farther , that , frotia the inquiries I have recently mad 6 , I am persuaded that the prejudices which I have understood to have
prevailed against my excellent friend and predecessor Mr . Finlay—and to which it is very probable that I owe my . present situation—proceeded in a gre&t degree , if not altogether , from misapprehension . ( Some symptoms of dissatisfaction having been here
manifested among the younger students , Mr . J . proceeded . ) In what manner what I have now stated is received by any part of my auditors , is to me a matter of indifference . I have not come here
either to court or to receive applause ; but to say what my station and my sense of duty appear to me to require ; —and , I repeat , that , if those who may now view things in a different light , will take the trouble to repeat the inquiries I have made , I am persuaded they will ultimately concur in my
opinion ; — and I confidently hope , that , before I can have an opportunity of visiting you here again , Mr . Finlay will be restored to all that popularity which he once possessed , and which I am myself satisfied he has never ceased to deserve . —( Applause . }—In justice to the individuals concerned , I should ,
at any rate , have stated these things . But , as the head of the Discipline of thfe seminary , I jnow feel myself peculiarlytf&Iled on to make the statement , satisfied that , in thus endeavouring to dissipate any shade of misunderstanding that may have stolen , across the face of this society , I was taking the most effectual means to strengthen
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and restore the beat foundation of all discipline- ^ -the mutual confidence ^ ^ iut cordiality of all the parties concerned in its presfervataon . ^ ' With regard to the younger part of
my auditors , to whom I understand I am chiefly indebted ^ ar the honour I now assume , I' think I may now say , without suspicion of > flattery , that , while I am persuaded they are here iu tlie way of receiving a greater mass of useful and substantial information than
could be acquired m a » y other institution in the same time , I have always thought that they , bad still greater advantages from another practice , peculiar , I believe , to this University , and forming a very remarkable part of the moral and intellectual training it
bestows : —I allude to the practice of making the young men act from a very earl y age as uropires find judges of the performances and merits of each other , —and thus not only forming them to early habits of discrimination and vigilant observance , but , what is of infinitely greater importance , teaching
them experimentally the value of perfect candour , firmness and impartiality , setting boundaries to fair emulation , and bringing constantl y into view the importance of upright , honourable and amiable dispositions ' . By this simple and admirable expedient , the want of a close and familiar intercourse among
our school-boys , with which we are sometimes reproached by our neighbours in the South , is effectually supp lied ; and I am persuaded , that there is not to be found anywhere an assemblage of youth more advanced in this
moral and manly discipline than that whkh is now before me . To Jiave united the suffrages of so many of such a society , is certainly much more flattering to me , than the approbation of persons of such tender years could possibly have been under any other ¦
circumstances . ; • Before entirely leaving this subject , I think it right to observe , that nothing can be more natural and proper , than that the ordinary governors 61 so great a society as thia should generally wish to their aapta
appoint , as higher aowrary officers , persons of high rank > or great official or * political consequence , in order that the important * interests which it involves may , b ^ ropr ^ iBfePtually cared fpr and promoted * * this respect t am dfihnd - ' ^ afiaU prove
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214 Mr * Jeffreyfvtmt ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1821, page 214, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2499/page/22/
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