RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.
_Chelsea, June, 1881_.
ON THE CHOICE OF BOOKS.
[Illustration]
ADDRESS
DELIVERED TO THE
STUDENTS OF EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY,
APRIL 2, 1866.
GENTLEMEN,
I have accepted the office you have elected me to, and have now the
duty to return thanks for the great honour done me. Your enthusiasm
towards me, I admit, is very beautiful in itself, however undesirable
it may be in regard to the object of it. It is a feeling honourable
to all men, and one well known to myself when I was in a position
analogous to your own. I can only hope that it may endure to the
end--that noble desire to honour those whom you think worthy of
honour, and come to be more and more select and discriminate in the
choice of the object of it; for I can well understand that you
will modify your opinions of me and many things else as you go
on. (Laughter and cheers.) There are now fifty-six years gone
last November since I first entered your city, a boy of not quite
fourteen--fifty-six years ago--to attend classes here and gain
knowledge of all kinds, I know not what, with feelings of wonder and
awe-struck expectation; and now, after a long, long course, this
is what we have come to.
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