pamphlet on " Church Reform," and in the first of his fragments on that subject, written in 1834-35. Against what he conceived to be the profane and secular view of the State, he protested in the Preface to his Third Volume of Thucydides, and against the practical measure of admitting Jews to a share in the supreme legislature, he was at this time more than once on the point of petitioning, in his own sole name. Against what he conceived to be the ceremonial view of the Church, and the technical and formal view of Christian Theology, he protested in the Preface and First Appendix to his Third Volume of Sermons; whilst against the then incipient school of Oxford Divinity, he was anxious to circulate tracts vindicating the King's Supremacy, and tracing in its opinions the Judaizing principles which prevailed in the apostolical age. And he still "dreamt of something like a Magazine for the poor; feeling sure from the abuse lavished upon him, that a man of no party, as he has no chance of being listened to by the half-informed, is the very person who is wanted to speak to the honest uninformed." From the fermentation against him, of which the Midland counties were the focus, he turned with a new and increasing delight to his place in Westmoreland, now doubly endeared to him as his natural home, by its contrast with the atmosphere of excitement, with which he was surrounded in the neighbourhood of Rugby. His more strictly professional pursuits also went on undisturbed; the last and best volume of his edition of Thucydides appeared in 1835, and in 1833 he resumed his Roman History, which he had long laid aside. It might and in the first of ritten in 1834-35. e the profane and ested in the Preface es, and against the ws to a share in the is time more than his own sole name. e ceremonial view nd formal view of n the Preface and ume of Sermons: school of Oxford late tracts vinditracing in its opiprevailed in the amt of something ng sure from the n of no party, as co by the half-inanted to speak to n, of which the e turned with a place in Westhim as his naatmosphere of ounded in the re strictly prorbed; the last hucydides apamed his Rode. It might seem strange that he should undertake a work of such magnitude, at a time when his chief interest was more than ever fixed on the great questions of political and theological philosophy. His love for ancient history was doubtless in itself a great inducement to continue his connexion with it after his completion of the edition of Thucydides. But besides, and perhaps even more than this, was the strong impression that on those subjects, which he himself had most at heart, it was impossible for him to bear up against the tide of misunderstanding and prejudice with which he was met, and that all hope, for the present, of direct influence over his countrymen was cut off. His only choice, therefore, lay in devoting himself to some work, which, whilst it was more or less connected with his professional pursuits, would afford him in the past a refuge from the excitement and confusion of the present. What Fox How was to Rugby, that the Roman History was to the painful and conflicting thoughts roused by his writings on political and theological subjects. But besides the refreshment of Westmoreland scenery and of ancient greatness, he must have derived a yet deeper comfort from his increasing influence on the school. Greater as it probably was at a later period over the school generally, yet over individual boys it never was so great as at the period when the clamour, to which he was exposed from without, had reached its highest pitch. Then, when the institution seemed most likely to suffer from the unexampled vehemence with which it was assailed through him, began a series of the greatest successes at both Universities which it had ever known; then, when he was most accused of misgovernment of the place, he laid that firm hold on the esteem and affections of the elder boys, which he never afterwards lost. Then, more than at any other time, when his old friends and acquaintance were falling back from him in alarm, he saw those growing up under his charge of whom it may be truly said, that they would have been willing to die for his sake. Here, again, the course of his sermons in the third volume gives us a faithful transcript of his feelings; whilst his increased confidence in the school appears throughout in the increased affection of their tone, the general subjects which he then chose for publication, indicate no less the points forced upon him by the controversy of the last two years, the evils of sectarianism, the necessity of asserting the authority of "Law, which Jacobinism and Fanaticism are alike combining to destroy"-Christianity, as being the sovereign science of life in all its branches, and especially in its aspect of presenting emphatically the Revelation of God in Christ. And in other parts, it is impossible to mistake the deep personal experience, with which he spoke of the pain of severance from sympathy and of the evil of party spirit; of "the reproach and suspicion and cold friendship and zealous enmity," which is the portion of those who strive to follow no party but Christ's-of the prospect that if "we oppose any prevailing opinion or habit of the day, the fruits of a life's labour, as far as earth is concerned, are presently sacrificed," and " 'we are reviled instead of respected," and 66 every word and action of our lives misrepresented and condemned,"-of the manner in which "the government of the e never afterwards er time, when his y said, that they mons in the third ot of his feelings; in other parts, blessed Apostle St. Paul, whose name is now loved and reverenced from one end of the Church of Christ to the other, was treated by his fellow Christians at Rome, as no better than a latitudinarian and a heretic." a LIII. TO THE REV. J. HEARN. Rydal, January 1, 1833. ... New Year's day is in this part of the country regarded as a great festival, and we have had prayers this morning, even in our village chapel at Rydal. May God bless us in all our doings in the year that is now begun, and make us increase more and more in the knowledge and love of Himself and of His Son; that it may be blessed to us, whether we live to see the end of it on earth or no. I owe you very much for the great kindness of your letters, and thank you earnestly for your prayers. Mine is a busy life, so busy that I have great need of not losing my intervals of sacred rest; so taken up in teaching others, that I have need of especial prayer and labour, lest I live with my own spirit untaught in the wisdom of God...... It grieves me more than I can say, to find so much intolerance; by which I mean over-estimating our points of difference, and under-estimating our points of agreement. I am by no means indifferent to truth and error, and hold my own opinions as decidedly as any man; which of course implies a conviction that the opposite opinions are erroIn many cases, I think them not only erroneous but mischievous; still they exist in men, whom I know to be thoroughly in earnest, fearing God and loving Christ, and it seems to me to be a waste of time, which we can ill afford, and a sort of quarrel "by the way," which our Christian vow of enmity against moral evil makes utterly unseasonable, when Christians suspend their great business and loosen the bond of their union with each other neous. VOL. I. a Sermons, vol. iii. pp. 263. 363. 350. Z by venting fruitless regrets and complaints against one another's errors, instead of labouring to lessen one another's sins. For coldness of spirit, and negligence of our duty, and growing worldliness, are things which we should thank our friends for warning us against; but when they quarrel with our opinions, which we conscientiously hold, it merely provokes us to justify ourselves, and to insist that we are right and they wrong. We arrived here on Saturday, and on Sunday night there fell a deep snow, which is now however melting; otherwise it would do more than any thing else to spoil this unspoilable country. We are living in a little nook under one of the mountains, as snug and sheltered as can be, and I have got plenty of work to do within doors, let the snow last as long as it will. LIV. TO W. K. HAMILTON, ESQ. Rydal, January 15, 1833. [After speaking of his going to Rome.] It stirs up many thoughts to fancy you at Rome. I never saw any place which so interested me, and next to it, but, longissimo intervallo, Venice-then of the towns of Italy, Genoa -and then Pisa and Verona. I cannot care for Florence or for Milan or for Turin. For me this country contains all that I wish or want, and no travelling, even in Italy, could give me the delight of thus living amidst the mountains, and seeing and loving them in all their moods and in all mine. I have been writing on Church Reform, and urging an union with the Dissenters as the only thing that can procure to us the blessing of an established Christianity; for the Dissenters are strong enough to turn the scale either for an Establishment or against one; and at present they are leagued with the antichristian party against one, and will destroy it utterly if they are not taken into the camp in the defence of it. And if we sacrifice that phantom Uniformity, which has been our curse ever |