Page:The Parson's Handbook - 4th ed.djvu/6

 THE PARSON'S HANDBOOK By the Rev. PERCY DEARMER Illustrated. Crown %vo, ds. net. Fourth Edition. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS Church Times.— 'This is certainly the most sensible of all the numerous clerical Guides and Notes and Aids that have appeared in our time. . . . Let us help Mr. Dcarmer on in the goad work, and not be too proud to acknowledge that we have made mistakes in the past. . . . Mr. Dearmer has done a true service to the Church by the publication of this book. From following Continental practices and the inventions of ingenious persons of the nineteenth century, he recalls us to English traditions and custom ; of these traditional ceremonies we may well be proud, and we do not envy those persons who fall into the grievous and even dishonourable fault of despising the ritual set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. But this temper is now very much of the past ; and with the mcreased learning, and real knowledge of liturgy, that we now have amongst us, not forgetting the help given us by such books as this of Mr. Dearmer's, we may soon hope to see this spirit of contempt altogether banishea from English Churchmen. When that day arises, Mr. Dearmer will have a full share of the credit that will fall to those who have helped to bring it about.' Guardian.—' To write a book such as The Parson's Handbook is a task which requires an unusual combination of qualifications. In the first place, knowledge is required, and knowledge of very various kinds— antiquarian, historical, liturgical, and practical. In the second place, considerable taste is required. . . and in the third place, there is great need of practical sense. ... It is a welcome fact to record that Mr. Dearmer has these three qualifications in no common degree. . . . The parson may congratulate himself on having a very safe guide in this book, and that not only on matters of taste, but also in small but very important practical details. Prefixed to the book is a very valuable Essay on Conformity to the Church of England, which strikes the right note of loyahy at the opening and prepares the reader for what follows. Quite apart from the literary chariii which surrounds it (and, indeed, in various measures the whole book), it has a great value as a solid and telling exposition of the obligation of the English clergy in their public church ministrations. We have great hope that the Handbook may do a good deal to carry out the object which it has in view— viz., the remedying of "the lamentable confusion, lawlessness, and vulgarity which are conspicuous in the Church at this time." ' Eecord.— ' It is an interesting book and a useful book." Churchman (U.S.A.).—' The majority of people responsible for the conduct of Church services need just the kind of instruction on such matters that this book undertakes to give. No one can doubt for a moment that obedience to its essential principles would add not mere uniformity, but worshipful dignity and spiritual suggestiveness, to the Church's services.' Academy.— • This very sound little book. . . . Mr. Dearmer has probably rendered a real service to the Church by this cogent and temperate little work."' Athenaeum.-' Mr. Dearmer is clearly an advocate for an ornate ritual, but he Is a sensible man, and much of %vhat he says is decidedly sound.' Literature.—' An attempt by a competent ecclesiologist, whose literary skill is as conspicuous as his absence of fanaticism, to guide " parsons and others" as to what is, as a matter of fact, the English use in all the details of the management of the parish church and its services. . . . Mr. Dearmer has done hS work eitremely wlII.' GRANT RICHARDS 48 LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON