Page:A Pastoral Letter to the Parishioners of Frome.djvu/14

6 things; but it is forced upon me by the peculiarity of my position in being thus sent among you.

Some have said,—"How is it possible that you, with your peculiar views about the Church, should again become a parish Priest in the Church of England? We thought you were going to be a Catholic, (by which they mean a Roman Catholic.) We thought you were driven from your last charge in London, because you held doctrines and adopted practices which manifestly belonged to the Church of Rome: we thought you were altogether a friend and fellow of those well-known men, who have recently given up their ministerial offices, and are now Roman Catholics. We thought that you had joined with those and others, in denouncing the doctrine which caused so much disturbance in the Diocese of Exeter last year; and that you had spoken so strongly about the union of Church and State, as being an unhallowed union, and a dangerous one to the truth of Christianity, that you could never again conscientiously serve in such a Church. In short, it utterly surprises us to find you here, when we thought—and if we were to speak without disguise, still think, that you ought to be a follower of the Pope, and are no longer justified in serving the Church of England."

Well, my brethren, you speak openly to me, let me speak openly to you. It is good,—we shall all the sooner understand each other if we do, and it is far better as honest Englishmen, to have the matter out, than to go about the streets with suspicion in our hearts, and averted looks and uncomfortable feelings about each other, and be afraid to speak openly what we think.

You think, (not all I hope, I am only addressing those who do,) that I ought to be a Roman Catholic, and that I am more than half one in reality now; I think you are suspicious of me for that reason, and so we are not comfortable together.

Let us in prayer seek from, that He will send us an insight into truth, so that we may know really on each side, what is exactly the case.