[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—It is much
to be desired that the valuable suggestion which you make of a "provisional amnesty " should be turned to im- mediate account. No one, surely, could more fittingly advocate its acceptance than the Bishop of Manchester, and even were he to fail of success, the effort would still tend to remove a painful impression that he has not hitherto given Mr. Green the friendly protection that might have been expected from him.
But there is no need to suppose that the effort would fail ; the amnesty would in every way be advantageous, and by its means, time would be secured for a dispassionate consideration of the grave questions of the true relationslip of the Church with the State, and of that of the Bishops to their clergy. You say, with good reason, that it should have been pro- claimed when the Commission first sat. It has been over and over again urged that Mr. Green should be released, pending the dis- cussions of the Commission, but without success. The present occasion—the anniversary of the imprisonment—gives the opportunity for the acceptance of your suggestion, and the presentation of the Bill you indicate. It would be difficult to estimate the good that would be effected, were the Bishops to take immediate action in the matter, and that gravest of all catastrophes might be averted,—a terrible imprisonment, followed by a still more terrible deprivation.
The possibility that there is an irregularity in the consti- tution of the Court by which Mr. Green was condemned seems to demand that all doubt should be cleared up before punish- ment is farther pressed. I cannot but trust, Sir, that you will continue to urge this point on the attention of the public. I, as patron of Mr. Green's living, may be supposed not to be disinterested in my advocacy of his cause, but, at least, my testimony to the Rector's unswerving loyalty to his Church and to the State may be accepted. How the prosecution came about, and how it has been pressed, would be learnt, were any Member to move in the House for the production of the evidence given by the Churchwardens of Miles Platting before the Commission; sooner or later, the whole truth must come out. The object of my letter is to plead that further punish- ment may be delayed, till the truth is known.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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