On the first Sunday of January 1800, the Vicar of Helleston
(an unimportant town in the extreme southwest of Cornwall, near the
Lizard) preached a sermon which, at the request of a few
parishioners, he afterwards published under the title of _Reflections
on the New Century_. In delight, no doubt, at finding himself in
print, he sent complimentary copies to a number of his fellow-clergy,
and, among others, to the Vicar of Troy.
Our Vicar, being a scholar and a gentleman, but a determined foe to
loose thinking (especially in Cambridge men), courteously
acknowledged the gift, but took occasion to remind his brother of
Helleston that Reflection was a retrospective process; that Man, as a
finite creature, could but anticipate events before they happened;
and that if the parishioners of Helleston wished to reflect on the
New Century they would have to wait until January 1901, or something
more than a hundred years.
The Vicar of Helleston replied, tacitly admitting his misuse of
language, but demanding to know if in the Vicar of Troy's opinion the
new century would begin on January 1st, 1801: for his own part he had
supposed, and was prepared to maintain, that it had begun on January
1st, 1800.
To this the Vicar of Troy retorted that undoubtedly the new century
would begin on the first day of January 1801, and that anyone who
held another opinion must suffer from confusion of mind.
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