The original intention of the compiler of Sertum Ecclesite was
to include in it all the festivals and principal saints' days of our ecclesiasti- cal year; but this plan would have rendered the book too bulky. A selection has therefore been made of the holydays, including Christmas, Palm Sunday, Easter, and days devoted to the Apostles, with the most re- markable Saints-days. The letterpress consists of many texts of Scrip- ture, and copious selections from the British poets of all ages, applicable to the particular day. The garland (Sertum) is woven of flowers either traditionally considered sacred to the day—as the holly to Christmas, or, in the case of the moveable feasts, assigned by the compiler. It is a handsome volume—grave, not sad, as befits the Church ; and it is pub- lished for the laudable purpose of educating the eldest daughter of a reduced family in the Isle of Skye, so as to enable her to assist in their future support.
But are flowers sacred to a day quite the thing in a Protestant com- munity? Do they not savour of Pagan-Papistry ? A classical victim went garlanded to the altar ; a classical toper might "twine the wreath his brows to shade" ; and the Romanists adopted these rites from the heathens they baptized, or rather allowed the Pagans to retain their prac- tices. Unless we are much mistaken, the doctors of the Anglican Church repudiate such symbols ecclesiastically, though not socially : and this probably is the compiler's view.
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