54 CHURCH UNITY 



but the wisest and bravest aet of her life, 

 and the spirit of it worthy of some judi- 

 cious imitation. It has been so imitated 

 on the very scene of her exploit. 1 It might 

 be so imitated in the changed circumstances 

 of our own country. The voluntary re- 

 sumption of the English Prayer-Book for 

 optional use with more spontaneous ser- 

 vices, would be neither inconsistent nor 

 unseemly. There never has been any large 

 amount of directly anti-Presbyterian mate- 

 rial in the whole book : there is not now, 

 two or three phrases excepted. Moreover, 

 it was carefully revised by some of the 

 very same Westminster divines who had 

 framed the Presbyterian standards. As 

 thus amended, it would be an excellent 

 manual to accompany the Directory of 

 Worship. No church law or good reason 

 exists why it should not be used in every 



forms, and even her own wicker-chair, to augment a 

 bon-fire kindled in honor of his Majesty's coronation, and 

 the proceedings of his Parliament." — Sir Walter 

 Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, Second Series, Vol. I. 



1 The Church Service Society, of which the Duke 

 of Argyle is president, has issued an edition of the 

 Scottish Book of Common Order, which is composed 

 largely of portions of the English Book of Common 

 Prayer, and is already in use in many parishes of the 

 Established Church of Scotland. 



