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    for the advice given to him by " one who is himself a pattern / 5 it . by no means follows that the adoption of ordination is expedient and useful . Many things might be invented which would , in some respects , have a beneficial influence on the mind , which ,

    nevertheless , might be highly inexpedient , and , on the whole , injurious . Because a certain kind of instruction is good in itself , it ought , therefore , to be adopted under any circumstances , and in connexion with any ceremonies , is to my mind far from being , clear . The advice which Mr . B . considers to be so valuable , wits

    given under circumstances which rendered the whole business inexpedient ; circumstances which 4 ( are calculated to impress men ' s minds with superstitious notions , especially with regard to the validity and sacredness of the clerical office and character . " The

    service bears the name which is associated in the minds of men with priestly pretensions ; and much of its outward form is similar to that where clerical power is actually assumed . Besides , the very fact of ministers being the prime and necessary officers

    on the occasion , must in itself tend to exalt them in the eyes of the people . But let facts decide the real tendency of this ceremony . I appeal to the impression made upon Mr . B . ' s own mind . He sets out , indeed , with a specification of the naked objects of

    the service ; but the state of his feelings about it is plainly evidenced by the ton $ he afterwards assumes in speaking of the ministers who came , not only , it would appear , to l 4

    recognize , " to " recommend" and to " aid , " but also to " strengthen , " to ' * solemnize , " and to " consecrate / 5 by their " presence and blessing . " And , after all this , we are told , that no undue authority is attached to the 4 t ministerial character . " What ! when

    it is declared to be expedient , that the choice of the people should be recognized by the ministers , though he has already been recognized by all the world : that he should be by them recommended to the favour of God :

    that the new connexion should be solemnized , strengthened and consecrated by them—by their presence and blessing—is there no undue authority attached to . the ministerial character ? Not in my opinion . " Perhaps not ;

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    but in the opinion of other people ^ any authority is und ue * ffe have no aitthority amongst us . If ordination impresses the mind with the idea that we have any authority , it must point to the ministers as the persons in whom it resides , and is , on that

    account , admirably calculated to bring back that state of things , in which office dispenses with chjaracter , and the pulpit and the sacerdotal robes supply the place of argument and persuasion . R . A . M .

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    282 Mr . Johns' $ Reply to Mr . Baker ' s Defence of Ordinations .

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    Manchester , Sir , May 15 , 1825 , fTHHE ordination of priests is a JL ceremony that may look well enough in the Catholic , English , Scotch Presbyterian , and all other Churches , which claim and exercise

    authority over their brethren ; but among those denominations which , in compliance with our Saviour ' s command , " But it shall not be so among you /* do not exercise authority over them , it is the shadow without

    the substance , the name without the thing . In such societies , the choice of a minister is the free , independent act of the members—the people * Their own opinion is the only guide of their choice . No certificate is

    required of the qualifications of a capr didate—his proficiency in sacred and profane literature—no inquisition Into the soundness of his faith , no authorizing of him to administer the sacraments , and to be in all respects a

    Christian pastor ; there is no pretence of conferring any kind of gifts ; no greater aptitude or suitableness for his office , that can be specified or defined , is , or can be , conferred by any ministers , in any ceremony or solemnity of ordination .

    In societies of the above description , there can be no proper ordination . Nothing * can be more plainly a misnomer than to retain the name , wheu what is universally understood by the word is given up . Yet , if the

    empty form is continued , it may , with time and perseverance , resuscitate some of the prejudices and pretensions whose requiem we had sung . O that they were ever dead , and never forgotten 1 Should we ever be carried again by the retrograde motion now begun , to

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1825, page 282, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2536/page/26/