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troduced into new compilations be tver justifiable or allowable at all , perhaps " unwarrantable" is too harsh , a tenn to be applied to the case in
question . Remarks on Ordination . To shew how impossible it is to reduce every thing to that abstract and drab-coloured Quakerism which this writer would recommend , let us observe that he begins this very essay with a kind of flourish and preamble , not unlike the useful and impressive ceremony
of ordination at the commencement of one ' s ministerial career . The truth is , human nature dislikes what is abrupt and meagre . There is as much reprehensible extravagance in receding to the opposite point of an abuse , as there is in the abuse itself .
The nearest approach to true perfection lies iu a medium path . I know not why a little imagination , ceremony , decoration , may not be innocently blended with the simplicity of Unitarian rituals . God . in the works
of nature , is as lavish of beauty as he is provident of utility . Let an ordination-service precede one ' s entrance upon the ministry oa tlie same principle that a flower announces the coining fruit . I believe it must be
simply the ivord Ordination that troubles your scrupulous correspondents . They are the victims of a name . Surely they cannot object to a religious and impressive observance of the occasion . The mere fact of even twenty or fifty ministers assembling to preach
and pray in behalf of a young man , can give offence to no reasonable person . If the use , then , of the word be the only thing exceptionable , and if the persons employed in the ceremony professedly disclaim all assumption to spiritual authority , it appears to me , that those , who have shewn so much
uneasiness about the services at Bolton , are striking instances , how opposition to prejudice may itself degenerate into prejudice , and a hatred of bigotry hecoine a very bigoted thing . There is something unfair in this
correspondent ' s argument , 5 th paragraph , where he represents ministers ( done as being collected to offer prayers * n behalf of a young preacher . To j ay nothing of the custom in New England , where the congregation belon ging to each of the officiating or lending pastors , is invited to send
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as many representative delegates as it chooses , ^ vhich they sometimes do to the amount of four or five , is not the congregation of the pastor-elect , at least , supposed to join in the service , and to be as much interested in it , as any party on the spot ? Would not the objection , moreover , go to the exclusion of ministers from all public services whatever ?
Mr . Johns * s Reply to Mr . Baker . It is a pity that Unitarians have not more of the forms and restrictions of organization to which Mr . J . alludes in the beginning of his article . Certificates , in particular , of the qualifications of candidates , will sooner or later be found to be indispensably requisite .
With reference to the practice of ordinations , Mr . Johns asks , " Who will assure us that in its progress , it will not unfurl the ensign of ghostly power and authority ? " This appears to me the objection of a morbid
imagination . Mr . J . would be unwilling to have such a jealous clamour effectually raised in his neighbourhood against his own school . But " who will assure us / 1 that that seminary , good as are the present intentions of its principal , will not degenerate into a sink of immorality ?
Does Mr . J . encourage any congregation with which he is connected , to sing in rhyme ? Why , that is unscriptural . It is , to borrow his own civil expression , " a silly practice . " Why do we dress better than savages ?
Why do we shake hands on meeting after long absence ? Why is the Repository printed in a clear and beautiful type ? Why is a silver bason used at baptism ? Why is the humblest architectural ornament applied to our
chapels ? Why are quarterly and yearly meetings held ? There is something beyond your austere cut bono in all these things—some tendency to extravagance—some occasion to ask , Who can tell whither these customs
are likely to lead us ? A man must not take the luxury of an afternoon's walk , if ho is to be impeded by the anxious inquiry of a timorous wife , Who can tell to what precipice you
may be led ? Must we not entrust something to people ' s good sense , self-eontroul , and particularly , in the case before us , to the anti-superstitious spirit of the age ? I may seek
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Critical Synopsis of the Monthly Repository for May , 1825 . 331
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1826, page 331, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2549/page/15/
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