The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-03
NEW BOOKS.
The Rise and Fan Of the Luther Lcag ne

Civ lnOTUt - HNOly VI - hS
G. p. Putnam's sons tells how Samuel
namlyn, editor and proprietor OF a small
local Journal, the Hornhdm Ob9errcr, in an
outlying part Of London, conceived anu
startled and carried to great lengths an
or=qnized attack Upon the Rttualstio sec
tion OF the English Church. Mr.. Hamlyn
entered the Church Of st, Elwyn IN Horn
ham on a Sunday morning. He was a
capable but vulgar man o 10 years
-. In person he was short, stout cream
Shaven, with small, bright eyes ana n large
mouth that was frequently curved INTO a
half smile which had something indescriba-
bly, sinist err and impuGrHt about IT." Dan
perous as he was and rs he looked, he was
shown politely by one of the church war
dens to a seat half way down the centre
aisle.
The service and its impressions of beauty
and solemnity are effectively described
At the supreme moment Of the mass the
stiffness was rudely broken. Hamlyn arose
and read in a loud voice from a paper that
he held in his hand: Il, Samuel Hamlyn'"
he acclaimed, "a lawful %parishioner OF st.
Elwyn's parish, Hornham, do hereby rise
and protest against the illegal and bias
phemous fable of the mass as performed
in this church. And as a member of the
Protestant Church of England / give
notice" Here he was seized and elected
and the door was barred upon him.
That was the sharp beginning OF the dis
t~ressing Hamlyn crusade. The reader
follows Mr.. Hamlyn to his rather study
home in Alexandra rofd, He sees him
exchange his frock coat for an alpaca SACK
and remove the reversible cuffs that were
ingeniously attached by clips to the
sleeves of his flannel shirt, This exchange
and modification of attire, made for the sake
of greater comfort at dinner, was effected
conveniently and without the need OF going
upstairs in the Hamlyn family parlor. All
the Hamlyns used the parlor for purposes
OF casual dressing. Miss Maud Hamlyn
had left some corsets there on this Sunday
morning. and Samuel Hamlyn, Jr., had left
a box of collars. Mr.. Hamlyn had beef and
cabbage and pudding for dinner, and he
took a nap on the sofa afterward.
In due course of time the Luther League
was established. This jealous n~o-Popery
body made itself very annoying to the
Nitualists. Disciples of Mr.. Hamlyn dis
turbed the services in Ritualistic churches
all over England. The re were many street
meetings IluThti ny ilitli uhN hNNh
cry of the religious Use Of incense and
candles. The league, too, was pecuniarily
profitable. Mr.. Hamlyn had f~oreseen this.
Its a sure draw all over England to raise
a~nti-Popery cry" he had early declared
TO his son and secretary-the same whose
collars were to be seen in the parlor to-
gether with Miss Hamlyn's corsets. Money
flowed in from the remotest Protestant
or low church points to the plain and in
expensive Offices Of the league in Fleet
street. We believe that the league swan
for a period of something like two years.
Lord Huddersfield ia the great and power
full patron of the Ritualists in the story.
His son and daughter were not like him /.
They we're rather thoughtless young people,
not very heedful Of religious questions.
Lucy Blantyre, too, sister of the vicar OF
st. Elwyn's, began by being somewhat heed
less in these particulars. The author says
of these three that though each one of them
had a sense of humor, they we're not able to
see the humorous side of their airy patron
age of the Catholic [Ritualisticl Church.
They thought rather lightly even of Mr..
Saltus, Lord Huddersfield's domestic chap
lain, Of whom the author says: This Mr..
Saltus was known as one Of the most pro-
g~ressive metaphysicians Of the day. The
greatest modern brains we're influenced
by his writings in Christian apologetics;
Bishops, statesmen, great scientists knew
of him as one to whom it was given to show
how all thought and all philosophy were
daily proving the truth Of the incarnation
Lucy Blantyre anne to be very thoughtful
and earnest in matters Of religion later IN.
The ingenious and ardent founder of
the Luther League overreached himself
at last. He purloined from one of the
rituaIistic churches a piece of the con-
secrated bread and exhibited it at his meet
ings. At that the Archbishop Of Canter-
bury called at the league Offices and
made an end of Mr.. Hamlyn's occupation.
A curious story, skilful and interesting
In many of its parts.