10 FEBRUARY 1906, Page 15

NONCONFORMIST CLERGYMEN AND POLITICS.

[TO TDB EDITOR 05 TDB “SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—In the Spectator of February 3rd your correspondent " W. R." complains of rash assertions on this subject, but he winds up his letter with a very remarkable statement of his own. He says : "I have a friend who drops into a parish church near his home on a wet Sunday who has beard the same sermon on Godless schools' six times." Now, when we bear of a statement of this kind in general conversation, we do not attach much importance to it. But when it is de- liberately made by a Nonconformist minister who complains of the misrepresentations of others, and when it receives the publicity of your columns, it calls for consideration. I challenge " W. R." to come out into the open. I invite him to give us, in your next issue, his own name and address, and the name and address of his friend. Further inquiry can then be made and the results published. To use " W. R.'s " own words, " I should like you to put the question to the test."