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    wh * es *> evfer CVp 0 to or ceremonies may seem fit to the members of that society . Tple siiiipte fact of uitrcn ducing- stroh a service as that at Bolton , is toot , necessarily , an infringement of Kbertjr . It may be introduced at tfee desire of the people and with the concurrence tff the minister : in thai case , < though the yoke may be grievous , it is self-imposed , and there can be no reason for complaint on

    either side . Let us look at the objects proposed to be answered by the measure actually adopted . Mr . ft . is of opinion , that it is not open to any " legitimate " obieetions : SH # that every abusfe was

    effectually guarded against . He has placed its defence on the ground of expediency and usefulness ; and he teUs us * that ordination is € 4 designed to tee&gnize the public teachers of reHgioti > to recommend them to the fovout of God . and to aid their

    inexperience by tried wisdom and affectionate Counsel ^ ' MivB . has very confidently appealed to his own case as unexceptionable . He cannot object te i € s being trfed by his ^ own declaration

    The ceremony at Bolton was designed to recognize him as a public teacher of religion . Highly expedient , truly , and extraordinarily useful ! He had beeii chosen by the people ; he had accepted theirfrivitation , and- liis acceptance had been notified through ttoe country ^ in the

    pages of the Monthly Repository ; he had , for nearfy the space of a year > exerted his < ministry amongst the people who had chosen him ; he had made his appearance as their minister at a general meeting of the Presbyter rian and Unitarian ministers of Lan *

    cashire and Cheshire ; and , after all this , it is *• expedient and useful" to have a service for the purpose of recognising him as a public teacher of reli gion ! It is also expedient to recommend' * the person thus recognized " to the favour of God . " I . am not sure whe ^

    ther I quite comprehend what is meant by this recommendation , but whatever it may mean , and whatever value it naay have in itself , it is not had until it has been done very well without through nearly twelve months . Then it is expedient that the young mimater should-be recommended to tlie

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    iavfcffr of God . Ji ^ ^ f By whotii ? By ministers , and im&itfterS alette , ( collected fron ^ vaatioftS quarters for thfe purpose ; b ^ r the meri who * do not , " as Mr . Baker ejqwresaie ^ M

    cc usurp any unjust pretensions , aftd whose authority is not improperly raised by this service . * It Would be desirable to have the expediency aiwl usefulness of this mode of recommending * more fully developed . The other object of ordination , specifcd i is , € * to aid inexperiencfe by tried wisdom and affectionate counsel /* Mr . B . speaks of the " iaability of youth / ' and " the watfts of inexperience , " the " many difficulties whlcl ^

    only hig more advanced brethren cfa ^ remove , " the r 4 delicate situation & which he is placed as to the nature and extent of his duties /* and- th £ danger he is in of " promising ^ either too much or too little ; and hk then asks , " What can be so satisfactory asr to be told by the voice of encouragement tind affection , what those duties

    are which really belong * to the office of a minister * " Why , to be sUre » , if he did not know before what duties really da belong to the office of a minister , it-would be very satisfactory to be informed of them ; and we cannot

    but regret the injury sustained both by himself and his congregation diiring so long a period of misapprehension as that which elapsed from the commencement of his ministry to the day of his ordination . But is " the

    voice of encouragement and affection ** satisfactory in the service of ordination only ? Is it , on that public occasion , most likely to succeed in aiding " the inability of youth /* and supplying " the wants of inexperience" ? Is it there most powerful in correcting the errors of an immature judgment , and providing assistance in

    unforeseen difficulties ? Is it there best calculated to find its way to a sober undemanding , and produce a real impression upon the conduct ? If Mr . B . actually laboured under so much iuability and inexperience and ignorance , as he would have us' to understand , the remedy adopted was

    utterly inadequate to remove them ; and his situation cannot now be leas difficult and delicate ; - than it wa&bfei . fore that remedy wus administered . Granting , however , that the minister and his congregation are all thte * bett <^ r

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    ttem ^ ht m Mr . Bakers Defence of Ordinatiom . 2 SI

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    vol . xx . 2 o

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1825, page 281, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2536/page/25/