To the Editor of the WIELD OBSERVER AND SOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE
     COURANT,

SIR,—­The leader in your issue of last Tuesday upon my sermon in St. Andrew’s Church on the preceding Sunday calls for some corrections.  The action of the Bishop of Kidderminster in inhibiting Father Rowley from accepting an invitation to preach in my church is due either to his ignorance of the facts of the case, to his stupidity in appreciating them, or, I must regretfully add, to his natural bias towards persecution.  These are strong words for a parish priest to use about his diocesan; but the Bishop of Kidderminster’s consistent support of latitudinarianism and his consistent hostility towards any of his clergy who practise the forms of worship which they feel they are bound to practise by the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer call for strong words.  The Bishop in correspondence with me declined to give any reason for his inhibition of Father Rowley beyond a general disapproval of his teaching.  I am informed privately that the Bishop is suffering from a delusion that Father Rowley disobeyed the Bishop of Silchester, which is of course perfectly untrue and which is only one more sign of how completely out of accord our bishops are with what is going on either in their own diocese or in any other.  My own inclination was frankly to defy his Lordship and insist upon Father Rowley’s fulfilling his engagement.  I am not sure that I do not now regret that I allowed my church-wardens to overpersuade me on this point.  I take great exception to your statement that the offertories both in the morning and in the evening were sent by me to Father Rowley regardless of the wishes of my parishioners.  That there are certain parishioners of St. Andrew’s who objected I have no doubt.  But when I send you the attached list of parishioners who subscribed no less than L18 to be added to the two collections, you will I am sure courteously admit that in this case the opinion of the parishioners of St. Andrew’s was at one with the opinion of their Vicar.—­I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

     ADRIAN FORSHAW.

Mark was so much delighted by this letter that he went off at once to call on Mr. Forshaw, but did not find him at home; he was amused to hear from the housekeeper that his reverence had been summoned to an interview with the Bishop of Kidderminster.  Mark fancied that it would be the prelate who would have the unpleasant quarter of an hour.  Presently he began to ponder what it meant for such a letter to be written and published; his doubts about the Church of England returned; and in this condition of mind he found himself outside a small Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Joseph, where hopeful of gaining the Divine guidance within he passed through the door.  It may be that he was in a less receptive mood than he thought, for what impressed him most was the Anglican atmosphere of this Italian outpost.  The stale perfume of