Portrait of an English Churchman
Title
Portrait of an English Churchman
Text Read
Portrait of an English Churchman
Author
Gresley, William
Original Source
London: Rivington, 1838
Digitized by
Internet Archive
Publication Date
1838
Date(s) of Reading
- 1839-05-20
- 1840-03-30
Evidence
1839-05-20: George Eliot to Maria Lewis, 20 May 1839. " ...The latter you know exhibits the views of a moderate evangelical episcopalian on the inferences to be drawn from ecclesiastical remains; he equally repudiates the loud assertion of a jus divinum, to the exclusion of all separatists from the visible church, though he calmly maintains the superiority of the evidence in favour of episcopacy of a moderate kind both in power and extent of diocese, as well as the benefit of a national establishment. I have been skimming the "Portrait of an English Churchman" by the Rev. W. Gresley. This contains an outline of the system of those who exclaim of the Anglican church as the Jews did of their sacred building, (that they do it in as reprehensible a spirit, I will not be the judge) "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are exclusively these," while the authors of the Oxford Tracts go a step farther and evince by their compliments to Rome, as a dear though erring Sister, and their attempts to give a romish colour to our ordinances, with a very confused and unscriptural statement of the great doctrine of justification, a disposition rather to fraternize with the members of a church carrying on her brow the prophetical epithets applied by St. John to the Scarlet beast, the Mystery of iniquity, than with pious non-conformists. ..." GEL 1: 25-6
1840-03-30: George Eliot to Maria Lewis, 30 March 1840. "Mr. Harper lent me a little time ago a work by the Revd W. Gresley, begging me to read it, as he thought it was calculated to make me a proselyte to the opinions it advocates. I had skimmed the book before ("Portrait of An English Churchman") but I read it attentively a second time and was pleased with the spirit of piety that breathes throughout." GEL 1: 45
1840-03-30: George Eliot to Maria Lewis, 30 March 1840. "Mr. Harper lent me a little time ago a work by the Revd W. Gresley, begging me to read it, as he thought it was calculated to make me a proselyte to the opinions it advocates. I had skimmed the book before ("Portrait of An English Churchman") but I read it attentively a second time and was pleased with the spirit of piety that breathes throughout." GEL 1: 45
Citation
Gresley, William, Portrait of an English Churchman, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57767