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Show ! TITLE MUCH MISUSED i TERM "REVEREND" SUBJECT TO SOME ABUSE. Fact to Be Remembered la That It Is Never a Family Name But Is Always Al-ways Applied to the Individual. At somo tlmo in tho mlddlo ages tho custom grow up of applying to clergymen clergy-men tho term "rovcrendus." This word was a part of a speech known in Latin a3 a gerund, nnd meant "ono who ought to bo revered." Gerunds could bo compared llko adjectives, ad-jectives, and It Boomed natural to tho pcoplo of thoso days that, if all clorgy-men clorgy-men wero rovcrend, a bishop should bo designated by tho comparatlvo degree, de-gree, "rcvercndlor," moro rovcrend, or right reverend, whilo tho superlatlvo degree, revcrcndlsslmus, most rovcrend, rov-crend, was reserved for archbishops. As theso tcrni3 referred to Individuals, Indi-viduals, they woro never used in connection con-nection with tho family namo alono, but with tho Christian namo, which indicated tho individual. A great many pcoplo in our day aro committing tho unfortunate blunder ot( using tho term "rovorond" in conncc-1 tlon with a family namo. Mr. Bmlth is a clergyman. Ho la frequently spoken to as "Rovcrend Smith." This Is wrong. Smith Is a family namo, and does not rofcr to an Individual. Tho only proper way of speaking of him is as Itov. Mr. Smith, or He v. John Smith, or plain Mr. Smith, but novor Hov. Smith. Nover Rev. and Mrs. Smith, but Rev. and Mrs. John Smith. Strictly speaking, tho only posslblo way of speaking to him is "Mr. Smith," for tho old English "Your Rovcrenco," has died out Ono docs not speak of or to a Judgo as Honorablo Jones, but ono spcakB or writes of him as tho Hon. Henry T. Jones, and addresses him 'as "Your llonor." ' As concerns tho uso of tho. word "rovcrend," no ono applies it to him-self him-self or signs his namo with it prefixed. pre-fixed. Scholars urgo us to try to preservo tho uso of tho English languago, and not ho attacked by tho modern dlseaso which impols so many pcoplo to uso nearly all tho nouns and many of tho adjoctlves as if thoy wcra titles. You may find In tho papors any day ouch expressions as Motorraan Brown, Wltnoss Green, Suspect Robinson, Optician Op-tician White, Pitcher Jonos. It ought to bo stopped; but who will otop it? Scholars tell us that this 13 ono of tho signs that tho English Ian-guaso Ian-guaso is degenerating very rapidly. |