[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.

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.