12 OCTOBER 1901, Page 16

AMERICA AND BRITAIN.

[TO THE EDITOR 05 TRE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—The following incident may be of interest to your correspondent (Spectator, September 28th) and others who suggest our praying for the President of the United States in ()Ur churches. On Shakespeare's birthday, 1896, Mr. Bayard, the American Ambassador, kindly came to Stratford-on-Avon to unveil the American window in the church. With the sanction of the Bishop of Worcester, I had drawn up a special service for the occasion, including in it the Prayer for the President from the American Prayer-book. As the Ambassador and I walked to the church we were met by a gentleman who, addressing Mr. Bayard, informed him that he represented more than a hundred newspapers on the other side of the Atlantic, and begged for a message to send them. Mr. Bayard reflected for a moment and then said : " Tell them we are about to say in Shakespeare's church the Prayer for the President from our own Prayer-book." I venture to think that this message would cause a thrill of fraternal affection in the hearts of many of our fellow-Christians in the States. Perhaps I may add that on the Sunday after Presi- dent McKinley's assassination, when many Americans were in our church, I used the same prayer, but in order to con- form to the Church's laws I said it in the pulpit before I began my sermon.—I am, Sir, &c.,