MR. SHAW-LEFEVRE'S DEFEAT.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."1 SIR,—Mr. Ii. M. Wallis, in attempting to explain the reasons of Mr. Shaw-Lefevre's defeat at the recent election in Reading, has the aedacity to assert that "our Liberal Churchmen abstained or ratted !" This, Sir, is utterly untrue. Possibly there may have been a few individual instances in which Liberal Churchmen allowed the fear of Disendowment to cause them to abstain ; but as a whole, Sir, with these few exceptions, the Liberal Churchmen of Reading (having obtained a pledge from Mr. Lefevre that he would not be a party to any measure of Disendowment, and having convinced themselves that the ques- tion could not come on for settlement daring the next Parlia- ment) adhered loyally to the Liberal cause, and gave it their unswerving support. There is a want of justice and fairness in Mr. Wallis's sweeping assertion which I fear can only be accounted for by his known dislike of everything connected with the Established Churcb.—I am, Sir, &c., A LIBERAL CHURCHMAN.
Previous page
