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as respectable and as much deserving of reverence ? And is it not as expedient they should be separated from the bulk of society by an external distinction as the ministers of an establishment ? It
is a compliment , Sir , paid to their office , not to themselves . I may be told , Yes , this may be allowed when they are spoken of by others and when they are addressed by others , but it is not decent for ministers to call
themselves Reverend , or to call each other by this name , because it is assuming to themselves a character which is not seemly /' If I thought I made pretensions to any sanctity myself which the
people of my congregation are not in possession of ; if I thought I was claiming any of the devotion of my flock , or if my conduct could be interpreted as saying , u Stand off , for I am holier than
thou ; " that title should never pollute my name , nor should my character go into the world stained by so foul a blot . But I regard the title of Reverend as no other
than an appellative by which the world has thought proper to make known that I am a minister of Jesus Christ ; it is a name given to a class of men for the simple purpose of shewing what is their
employment ; and , if I am ashamed to have it known that I belong to this class , or if I were afraid that any superstitious act would arise amongst my neighbours towards my person , because I assumed the title of Reverend , I
ought for the same reason to dress Myself in a green coat and tie up toy hair in a tail . Instead of appearing in sober black , and observing that decency of demeanour * hich ray station seems to de-
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mand , I ought to appear in gayer clothing , and be seen along with rny gen teeler neighbours and friends at the theatre and the ball . room .
But there is a deeorum which becomes me ; that decorum , I observe , in order that I may contribute to procure for society the advantages of the order of men of
which I am one ; and , while I abstain from attending the theatre and the ball-room , out of respect to the character I bear , I dress myself in sober black , and with the consent and at the desire of
my fellow-Christians I venture to call myself the Reverend - Thus , Sir , I have , rather too verbosely , perhaps , made the inquiry . Cut radio—where is the
harm of it ? It is now fair to ask , Cut bono ? And to this I might , under many circumstances , be inclined to give the same reply , — there is no good in it . It rises out of those innocent laws of
society which have neither good nor evil in them . To many names the ad fix Reverend , or the adjunct D . D ., can be of no possible utility ; and were my fame as well established as that of some whom
I know , or were I in my circumstances independent of the world , I might equally despise both those titles ; But the presumption is gone forth into the world , whether just or not that world may judge , that
the dissenting minister , like the clergyman of the church , is a man of education and ability ; and a school established under his name , and a boojc published by him , meet generally with patrons and purchasers . But how shall it be
known in a populous town that the schoolmaster is a dissenting minister , or that a book on any subject of education has been pub-
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On the Title Reverend . 54 $
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? ol . ix . 4 a
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1814, page 541, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2444/page/17/
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