[Catholic Revival; L.W. Hodson, patron of Arts and Crafts movement.] Corrected Autograph copy of substantial Letter by him to P. L.Gell, on subject of 'the appeal to churchmen to uphold the principles of the Reformation'. With two press cuttings.

Author: 
Lawrence William Hodson (1865-1934) of Compton Hall, near Wolverhampton, brewer, connoisseur and patron of the Arts and Crafts movement [Lt Col. Philip Lyttleton Gell (1852-1926)]
Publication details: 
Hodson's letter on letterhead of Bradbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 10 November 1923.
£220.00
SKU: 13772

The three items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is 6pp., 4to, with emendations and deletions, and marked by Hodson 'Copy' at the head of the first page. In envelope annotated by Hodson: 'Copy of a letter to Lt. Col. P. Lyttleton Gell, J.P. | The Catholic Revival. In order to make his point of view clear, he begins by stating: 'I may say that I was born in London & my mother took me to such churches as S. Alban's Holborn, S. Michael's Shoreditch, All Saints, Margaret St. So that from early in the 70's I have been familiar with that type of church, & practically with no other. And all that I have learnt of doctrine, liturgy, history, has been taught from that point of view.' He concludes: 'With all its faults, and they are many, the Catholic Church is Christianity - and the nearer we get to the Catholic Church, the nearer we get to God. [...] If the Ch of England is fundamentally Protestant, let it be stated with authority, irrecovably, & we, who are not protestants will find our spiritual home in the Roman Communion.' Pinned to the letter is a long cutting from the Morning Post, 6 October 1923, titled 'The Anglican Position. | Movement for its Defence | Appeal to Churchmen.'Gell's name appears in a list of signatories at the end. A second cutting, from the Saturday Review, 1 September 1923, is attached to a slip from Durrant's press agency. It carries two letters to the editor, under the heading 'The Anglo-Catholic Movement'; the first is from John G. Hall of Malvern Link, and the second from Hodson, beginning 'SIR, - In discussing the present swing of the pendulum in the Church of England, there is a tendency to forget that England never accepted the Reformation wholeheartedly - and the Church of England claims, and holds, a unique position in Christendom by virtue of that fact.' Hodson was a wealthy brewer, collector of Pre-Raphaelite painting and patron of the Arts and Crafts movement and client of William Morris.