On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
I am particularly obliged to you foT the observation , expressing your opinion that the poem does not contain " the history of any individual , " since I am informed it has given offence to some who have erroneously considered it as a history of myself . Amongst these a report has reached
me , that I have been condemned by some gentlemen connected with the York College , for a supposed reflection upon the impartiality and justice of the able and excellent superintendants of that important and valuable institution : and I am not sure
whether others , less candid , have not attributed to me a design of thus attempting to injure it in the estimation of the public . Had such , however , been
mv defiien . the unworthv attempt my design , the unworthy attempt could only have injured myself ; for whilst the York College continues to send forth so respectable and useful a succession of ministers as those who
have already , for many years , proceeded from it , and who now hold some of the most respectable situations , nothing that its enemies ( if such there be ) may insidiously throw out against its character , can injure it in the opinion of so enli g htened a body of Christians as the Unitarian Dissenters
of this kingdom . It would , therefore , have argued a want of common sense and prudence in me to have so openly attacked its character , and thus exposed myself to censure , especially as I myself was an tldve of the
institution , lived for five years under its fostering shade , and owe to it , in a great measure , whatever little talent I may possess . When young and fatherless , the York College was to me a nursing motb-er : 1 k > w then can any one suppose me so destitute of common gratitude as to aim an unnatural blow at
the reputation of my Alma Mater ? It has , however , been supposed , and I , therefore , deem it a duty which I owe to my own character , as well as to that of the institution , thus publicly
to acknowledge my obligations to it , and to express my high opinion both of the talents and virtues or the gentlemen connected with it , either as superintendants or tutors , whilst I , at the
same tune , most positivel y disavow the intention so unjustly imputed to me . In Edition to this disavowal , I beg
Untitled Article
leave to add a few words in expian ^ , tion of my object , in the passage which has unfortunately been misunders tood . In that passage , as in the rest of the poem , I wished to describe the feelingg of a young man of sanguine temperament and acute sensibility , with little perseverance or industry , and deeming
it natural for such a youth , when disappointed at College in the hopes which his ardent mind had conceived , to imagdne that the prizes which his ambition prompted him to covet , but which neither his attainments nor ex .
ertions enabled him to gain , were partially and unjustly distributed , I represented him as entertaining
< c some mistrust Of those who dealt the prize , " &c . without reference to the sentiments of any particular person , or the character of any particular institution . That I had no intention whatever to throw the least blame on the conduct of the
gentlemen engaged as tutors in the York College , ( who were always kinder to me than I deserved , and who , I am persuaded , are guided by the best oi motives in their behaviour to the students under their care , ) will be evident to the candid reader from the
following lines , containing Alfred ' s reflections on his departure from college , upon the manner in which lie had spent his time there , and his inattention to the good advice which had been addressed to him by his tutors : < c Now , too , for when from aught belovM
we nart . we part , A thousand fond regrets will swell the heart , Ueme nib ranee sigh'd o ' er hours too idly past In trifling studies ; and yet fled too fast : O ' er wilful faults , and careless , proud neglect Of those whose wisdom most deserv d
respect 9 The mild preceptors , who , in language kind , lleprov'd his faults , " &c . Before I conclude this
communication , permit me , Mr . Editor , to make one general observation naturally suggested by it ; that \ t is a very unfair mode of criticism which identifies th « author with the hero of his work , aim refers every sentiment that may occur in it to the actual feelings tf his ovvn
Untitled Article
160 Rev . J . Brettell on " The Country Minister . "
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1822, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2510/page/32/
-