REV. RICHARD ADAMS, M.A., OF S. MARY MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; RECTOR OF S. THOMAS', MANCHESTER; AUTHOR OF "A HANDBOOK FOR THE SUNDAY SCHOOL;" "HANDBOOK ON THE LONDON: J. MASTERS AND CO., 78, NEW BOND STREET. MDCCCLXXVI. 138. i. PREFACE. IN the present day there is scarcely any duty which falls to the lot of the Clergy, and Teachers of our Sunday and Day Schools, which can compare in importance with that of imparting to the young a sound and correct understanding of the Book of Common Prayer. This duty is so generally recognised as to need no proof, but how to discharge it is not so easy of solution. The Clergy complain that their multifarious pastoral labours prevent them from devoting sufficient time to the preparation of lessons on the Prayer Book and kindred subjects, teachers in Day Schools allege the same hindrance from the excessive pressure of the requirements of the Committee of Council on Education, and Sunday School Teachers plead the little time they have for study after the ordinary work of the day is over; and it does not require a very large experience of mankind to see how just these statements are. It is clear, then, that, if busy pastors and teachers are to give lessons on the Prayer Book at all, a simple and inexpensive manual should be within their reach which will enable them to instruct, not entirely offhand, but with comparatively little preparation. The |