THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE CHURCH.
LETTERS ADDRESSED BY JOHN RUSKIN, D.C.L.,
TO THE CLERGY.
T HE following letters, which are still receiving the careful consideration of many of my brother clergy, are, at the suggestion of the Editor, now printed in the Contemporary Review, with the object of eliciting a further and wider expression of opinion. In addition to the subjoined brief Introductory Address, I desire here to say that every reader of these remarkable letters should remember that they have proceeded from the pen of a very eminent layman, who has not had the advantage, or disadvantage, of any special theological training; but yet whose extensive studies in Art have not prevented him from fully recognizing, and boldly avowing, his belief that religion is everybody's business, and his not less than another's. The draught may be a bitter one for some of us; but it is a salutary medicine, and we ought not to shrink from swallowing it.
I shall be glad to receive such expressions of opinion as I may be favoured with from the thoughtful readers of the Contemporary Review. Those comments or replies, along with the original letters, and an essay or commentary from myself as editor, will be published by Messrs. Strahan & Co., and appear early in the spring; the volume being closed by a reply, or Epilogue, from Mr. Ruskin himself.
F. A. Malleson, M.A.
The Vicarage, Broughton-in-Furness.
INTRODUCTION.
The first reading of the Letters to the Furness Clerical Society was prefaced with the following remarks:—