the first papers of the movement, to a
country clergyman in Northamptonshire, he paused awhile, and then,
eyeing me with significance, asked, "Whether Whately was at the
bottom of them?"

Mr. Perceval wrote to me in support of the judgment of Mr. Palmer and
the dignitaries. I replied in a letter, which he afterwards
published. "As to the Tracts," I said to him (I quote my own words
from his pamphlet), "every one has his own taste. You object to
some things, another to others. If we altered to please every one,
the effect would be spoiled. They were not intended as symbols
_e cathedra_, but as the expression of individual minds; and
individuals, feeling strongly, while on the one hand, they are
incidentally faulty in mode or language, are still peculiarly
effective. No great work was done by a system; whereas systems rise
out of individual exertions. Luther was an individual. The very
faults of an individual excite attention; he loses, but his cause
(if good and he powerful-minded) gains. This is the way of things:
we promote truth by a self-sacrifice."

The visit which I made to the Northamptonshire Rector was only one of
a series of similar expedients, which I adopted during the year 1833.
I called upon clergy in various parts of the country, whether I was
acquainted with them or not, and I attended at the houses of friends
where several of them were from time to time assembled. I do not
think that much came of such attempts, nor were they quite in my way.
Also I wrote various letters to clergymen, which fared not much
better, except that they advertised the fact, that a rally in favour
of the church was commencing. I did not care whether my visits were
made to high church or low church; I wished to make a strong pull in
union with all who were opposed to the principles of liberalism,
whoever they might be. Giving my name to the editor, I commenced a
series of letters in the _Record_ newspaper: they ran to a
considerable length; and were borne by him with great courtesy and
patience. They were headed as being on "Church Reform." The first was
on the Revival of Church Discipline; the second, on its Scripture
proof; the third, on the application of the doctrine; the fourth,
was an answer to objections; the fifth, was on the benefits
of discipline. And then the series was abruptly brought to a
termination. I had said what I really felt, and what was also in
keeping with the strong teaching of the Tracts, but I suppose