J. Gaskell
Exton for sending to me an account of a Yorkshire clerk which, by the
kindness of the editor of the _Yorkshire Weekly Post_, I am enabled to
reproduce.
[Footnote 1: Since the above was written, and while this book has been
passing through the press, the venerable clergyman, Canon Venables, has
been called away from earth. A zealous parish priest, a voluminous
writer, a true friend, he will be much missed by all who knew him. Some
months ago he sent me some recollections of his early days, of the
clerks he had known, and his reflections on his long ministry, and these
have been recorded in this book, and will now have a pathetic interest
for his many friends and for all who admired his noble, earnest, and
strenuous life.]
THE PARISH CLERK
CHAPTER I
OLD-TIME CHOIRS AND PARSONS
A remarkable feature in the conduct of our modern ecclesiastical
services is the disappearance and painless extinction of the old parish
clerk who figured so prominently in the old-fashioned ritual dear to the
hearts of our forefathers. The Oxford Movement has much to answer for!
People who have scarcely passed the rubicon of middle life can recall
the curious scene which greeted their eyes each Sunday morning when life
was young, and perhaps retain a tenderness for old abuses, and, like
George Eliot, have a lingering liking for nasal clerks and top-booted
clerics, and sigh for the departed shades of vulgar errors.
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