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/ e $ itm $$ 0 fbu ^ # $ jta rafter . K h PV < hc $$ * b ^ m 0 ptob 0 t ^ he wU > from fe ^ l % , Ui ' * $ c «; , & ) $ , < ft > ota Is sealed ; he toea ^ t frp the Associatio
CEO ^ f ^ Q uip ip n qfthe M $ e ao ^ d good , kiid is soon regarded , with contempt , even by those who ^ t ; e for a time the companions of his vicious indulgences /*—Pp . 16 , Ifk
An admirable passage follows , on the necessity of knowledge to the true respectability of a Dissenting Minister :
<( In the present age , knowledge is in these kingdoms most widely diffused . The advantages of elementary education are much more generally extended than they were in the times of our forefathers
That base prejudice which is persuaded * that the peace of society is best secured ? by the involving of tiae general mass . oM the co in in unity in the darkness of ignorance is fast disappearing . Those who would fain wish to make science a
movopoly of the rich and the great are giving up their cause in despair ; and now limit their exertions to the perverting of that instruction , the diffusion of which they cannot hinder . The speedy
communication with the capital , the consequence of our commercial enterprise , opens to the public at large throughout the kingdom , and that in great abundance , the means of literary
information-The laity of that portion of the Dissenters from the Establishment , to which we belong , were at an early period distinguished by their attainments in general knowledge , and they have made advances in knowledge in proportion to
the increased facilities of acquiring instruction . If then a Dissenting minister of our persuasion would wish to be held in that respectful estimation in which , for his comfort , it is necessary for him to be held , even by bis own congregation , lie must be anxious not to maintain a
secondary rank , but if possible to take the lead in this march of mind . "—Pp . 17 , 18 . Mr . Shepherd is not insensible to the merits of many of our ministers
who have not enjoyed 'academical advantages ; but he very properly holds up to the view of the York students , iti order to excite their emulation , some of the lights and ornaments of our denomination :
* ' In the mean time I am well aware that profundity of science and elegance of scholarship are by no means indispensable requisites to the character of a useful minister of the gospel . We have
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witr ^ te £ otir < Mh 'jfa&yttfc Ak tfm Wftii tfte ^ tteereW WiSsimr -i ^ fe ariii zteefl happily surmounting fchVli ^ ai vaatages irusideal ; to defefcttfiifr early s # Wi laatic discipBne . I would aa ^ vmfe&
myself a Christian if I were aot per * suaded 1 shat the Christian doctriue is « o simple and intelligible as to admit of what our ancestors were wont to call the utmost * liberty of prophesying / But still we have all a conscious sense that if we can add to the solidity of religious k the
nowledge graces of mental acconiplMime » ts , our profession vyill thus be adorned . La looking inta the annals o £ Nonconformity do we not read with pride an-d pleasure of the learned labours of Lardner and Taylor and Farmer ? Do we not admire the powers of imagination displayed by a Watts and a Scott ; and
though last not least m honour in this department of literary merit , the sublime conceptions , and the fervid fancy * and the chastened playfulness , of a Barbauld ? Are we not pleased with the just taste of a Kip pis , and wifcli the happy union of learn ing , judgment , and wit-, displayed in the works of Robinson ? De > we not
survey with respectful wonder the varied labours of Priestley , -whose gigantic intellect comprehended the universe in its grasp ; and whilst it scanned the laws which regulate the planetary system , analysed into its elements the subtle fluid with which all nature is penetrated , and detected in their combination , and
traced to their origin , the still subtler principles tha . t compose the human mind ? Do we not , on account of their intellectual attainments , venerate the memory of an Aikin , an En field , a Walker , and a
Holland ? I call upon my young friends to emulate the example of these men , who both morally and intellectually were * lights of the world . ' Copy their virtues- ; imbibe their ardour in the pursuit
of knowledge ; and then you may assured that no man will despise you . "Pp . 21 , 22 .
To the distinguished names here enumerated ! ought , of course , have been added many others , and in the place and on the , occasion of this discourse there might have been introduced with singular propriety the names of Cappe , W ^ o od and the first Turner .
Tk& preacher concludes witli strengdieaingk hi& recoiwrnendation ot the pursuit of knowledge to the theological students just entering up <> their vocation , by a reference to tlie present position 6 f our denominat e
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S <' A ft 66 Remew *~ r 8 hepherls $ d $ eh to the Students 0 / Manekester College
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1826, page 556, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2552/page/48/
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