11 JUNE 1892, Page 16

ECCLESIASTICAL MEDIATORS.

[To nu: EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I am inclined to hope that my brethren of the clergy will pause ere they suffer themselves to pose as " ecclesias- tical mediators." We are not all Bishops of Durham, and the temptation to make ourselves famous by interposing in trade disputes will be tenfold increased if we are encouraged by the high authority of the Spectator. If a "little learning be a dangerous thing." a "little political economy" is perhaps the most dangerous form which that "little learning" can take; and probably as a class we, the clergy, are rarely fitted by the constitution of our minds, and still more rarely by our educa- tion, to deal with such questions as have lately engrossed the attention of the Bishop of Durham. That the clergy should take an intelligent interest in politics, is one thing; that they should ventilate their political views in sermons is another ; but quite distinct from both is that tendency to which some of us are already prone "to rush in where angels fear to tread," and to interfere in matters with which nine-tenths of us, at all events, are qualified neither by experience nor training to deal satisfactorily.—I am Sir, &c., Ingleside, Beading, June 7th. C. W. H. KENRICK.