NONCONFORMISTS AND THE PRAYER BOOK [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The letter of the Rev. Norton G. Lawson in your issue of May 21st is so perfectly courteous that it demands a reply.
He states that Nonconformists decline to perform the duties of attendance at, and in support of, the Church' of England. To use Mr. Norton's own phrase, this is not " a full statement of the case." Many Nonconformists do more for the mother Church than considerable sections of her own nominal members.
More than that, the Book of Common Prayer is used in the Free Churches—notably by Wesleyan Methodists—far more than Anglicans are aware. It would promote peace, even in the Church of England, if Free Churchmen could accept a new Prayer Book with the neighbourly gratitude which they are prepared to offer.
I speak for those who have no desire to influence action in the Church of England. But surely when Anglicans tell us so frequently what we ought to do, we may occasionally state in reply what we should be delighted to see them do.—I am,
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