148. I have been honored by the receipt of a letter from the Bishop of
Manchester, which, with his Lordship's permission, I have requested the
editor of the _Contemporary Review_ to place before the large circle of
his readers, with a brief accompanying statement of the circumstances by
which the letter has been called forth, and such imperfect reply as it
is in my power without delay to render.

J. RUSKIN.

MANCHESTER, _December_ 8, 1879.

DEAR SIR,--In a letter from yourself to the Rev. F. A.
Malleson,[125] published in the _Contemporary Review_ of the current
month, I observe the following passage:--"I have never yet heard so much
as _one_ (preacher) heartily proclaiming against all those 'deceivers
with vain words,' that no 'covetous person, which is an idolater, hath
_any_ inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God;' and on myself
personally and publicly challenging the Bishops of England generally,
and by name the Bishop of Manchester, to say whether usury was, or was
not, according to the will of God, I have received no answer from any
one of them." I confess, for myself, that until I saw this passage in
print a few days ago, I was unaware of the existence of such challenge,
and therefore I could not answer it. It appears to have been delivered
(A) in No. 82 of a series of letters which, under the title of _Fors
Clavigera_, you have for some time been addressing to the working
classes of England, but which, from the peculiar mode of their
publication, are not easily accessible to the general reader and which I
have only caught a glimpse of, on the library-table of the Athenaeum
Club, on the rare occasions when I am able to use my privileges as a
member of that Society. I have no idea why I had the honor of being
specially mentioned by name (B); but I beg to assure you that my silence
did not arise from any discourtesy towards my challenger, nor from that
discretion which, some people may think, is usually the better part of
episcopal valor, and which consists in ignoring inconvenient questions
from a sense of inability to answer them; but simply from the fact that
I was not conscious that your lance had touched my shield.

149. The question you have asked is just one of those to which
Aristotle's wise caution applies: "We must distinguish and define such
words, if we would know how far, and in what sense, the opposite views
are true" (_Eth. Nic._, ix, c. viii. Sec. 3). What do you mean by "usury"?
(