1HE CITY CHURCHES
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Although I know that the Spectator is differently disposed towards the matter, I hope you will allow me to express in its columns the opinion that the treatment received by the City Churches Measure in the House of Commons was deplorable. By the combined effects of an ill-judged sentimentality and an unprogressive (if any) religious outlook on the part of the majo-.;ty in this purely secular authority —our Church is to be denied the considerable help which the Measure would have rendered possible for her work of constructive Christianity.
It is possible that some of the opponents of the Measure were sufficiently vague-minded as to be prejudiced by the extinct recommendations of Lord Phillimore's Commission. The recent Measure was eminently moderate and considerate of all points of view, recommending for demolition only such buildings reasonably regarded as negligible alike in artistic merit or historic interest.
In preserving a few mediocre monuments—rendered the more unworthy by reason of London's vast wealth of really historic beauty—the urgent needs of, for example, the diocese of Southwark are ignored ; and indeed, the noble purpose of meeting these needs has been crudely denounced as " bowing the knee to Mammon " !—I am, Sir, &c.
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