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name , relinquish the independence which they have so long enjoyed , and induce their worthy pastors to form themselves into Presbyteries and Synods , who , under the judicious guidance of such moderators as a Cooke or a Hogg , may rule them , even as their brethren the genuine Presbyterians of Scotland and the North of Ireland are ruled . We repeat it , we feel no serious apprehensions of this nature . Presbyterian ordination amongst us , we not only hope but firmly believe rests , with her parent Presbyterianism , " in the tomb of the Capulets . " At the same time , we really think that it would have been neither uncharitable nor unwise to . respect the scruples of tender
consciences on this head , and to relinquish the use of a name which is confessedly not descriptive of the thing designed , and with which some of our body , whose horror of superstition is too great to allow them to see any thing imposing or picturesque even in its ruins , evidently retain unpleasant associations . There is an inconsistency , we cannot deny , in inscribing on the title-page of such publications as that before us , " Services at the Ordination , " &c . &c ., when we are afterwards very properly told , both by the organ of the congregation and the preacher himself , that the real ordination had taken place previously .
" You have been unanimously chosen as our minister , " says Mr . Swanwick ; " no individual of your congregation has gone unconsulted , and all have given their voioe for your appointment . This we conceive to be genuine ordination . There is no earthly power , to improve your title , and it remains with yourself alone to seal it with that heavenly approbation and sanction with which none of our brother mortals can stamp it . "
"Your free and unbiassed choice , " says the Rev . R . B . Aspland , is the only ordination I accept , or the validity 01 which I admit ; and I shall cease to consider myself as morally your ordained minister , the moment my services fail to be acceptable to any large portion of this congregation . ' * Some alteration , then , a regard to consistency absolutely requires . " Services on occasion of the Ordination of A . B . to the Pastoral Care , " &c , is a
title that might perhaps be defended on the principles of Mr . A . and Mr . S ., which we suppose are those of every Unitarian minister and congregation in England ; but " Services at the Ordination , " &c , all parties are agreed , these cannot truly , and ought not therefore to be called . Notwithstanding our objection to the title , however , we anticipated , before we had turned over a single page , that the thing , which we must be excused for deeming of the most importance , would be right , though the name might be wrong , and we had no doubt that the Ordination of the Rev . R . B . Aspland , all that is
said to the contrary in the title-page notwithstanding , would be shewn in the body of the publication to have taken place previously to the 9 th of August , 1826 , in the legitimate manner , without any improper intervention of the Presbyters of distant churches , or any heavy laying-on of the hands of uninspired men . Our readers have seen that this expectation was not disappointed , and we may therefore hope that they will not be deterred by any laudable prejudice against the ancient mode of Presbyterian ordination , from perusing the unexceptionable and truly valuable matter which succeeds the title-page of this little work , the several parts of which we shall now briefly
characterize , illustrating our opinion by a few extracts . Of the devotional services by which it is commenced and concluded , it may be sufficient to remark , that they are excellent of their kind—simple , appropriate and affectionate , well calculated to excite and to express those devout feelings and aspirations with which on such an occasion pastors and peopled should come before God . The Congregational Address of Mr . § wan-
Untitled Article
104 Review . —Ordination Services .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1827, page 104, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1793/page/24/
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