4 AUGUST 1877, Page 17

[TO THE EDITOR OF FRE " SPECTATOR.")

Sin,—Allow me to refer your readers to two letters of Mr. Maurice's, published in the Spectator for April 1 and 15, 1871, and lately reprinted (in part) by the Women's Printing Society, 88 Castle Street, Holborn. They prove, I think, that instead of agreeing with, Mr. Maurice would have been eager to condemn, the language used by Sir E. Strachey about the Ritualists. Has not Sir E. Strachey in his last letter let out one of the main reasons for the persecution the Ritualists are now undergoing ? They arc, he complains, dead against the squire-and-parson theory of parochial government. He might have added that Father Stanton, at St. Alban's, preaches liberty, fraternity, equality as boldly even as Mr. Kingsley was rebuked for doing. But surely it is a healthy thing in a National Church to see a few of the clergy, even if they are slovenly readers, not altogether on the side of the rich and great.—I am, Sir, ikc., STEwauT D. HEADLA.M.

Commonwealth Club, Bethnal Green, August 1.