eem to govern
us, but which are in reality governed by a hand above. It may be
that this rude shock to the mere scripturism which has too much
prevailed, is intended to be the instrument of restoring a greater
harmony of belief, and of the agencies for maintaining belief. But
be that as it may, the valiant soldier who has fought manfully
should be, and I hope will be, of good cheer.

In the same connection he wrote to Sir W. Farquhar, a friend from earliest
days:--

_Jan. 31, 1865._--I have never been much disposed to a great
exaltation of clerical power, and I agree in the necessity of
taking precautions against the establishment, especially of an
insular and local though in its sphere legitimate authority, of
new doctrines for that Christian faith which is not for England or
France but for the world; further, I believe it has been a mistake
in various instances to institute the coercive proceedings which
have led to the present state of things. I remember telling the
Archbishop of York at Penmaenmawr, when he was Bishop of
Gloucester, that it seemed to me we had lived into a time when,
speaking generally, penal proceedings for the maintenance of
divine truth among the clergy would have to be abandoned, and
moral means alone depended on. But, on the other hand, I feel that
the most vital lay interests are at stake in the definite teaching
and profession of the Christian faith, and the general tendency
and effect of the judgments has been and is likely to be hostile
to that definite teaching, and unfavourable also to the moral tone
and truthfulness, of men who may naturally enough be tempted to
shelter themselves under judicial glosses in opposition to the
plain meaning of words. The judgments of the present tribunal
continued in a series would, I fear, result in the final triumph
(in a sense he did not desire) of Mr. Ward's non-natural sense;
and the real question is whether our objection to non-natural
senses is general, or is only felt when the sense favoured is the
one opposed to our own inclinations.

III

No theological book, wrote Mr. Gladstone in 1866, that has appeared since
the _Vestiges of Creation_ twenty years before (1844), had attracted
anything like the amount of notice bestowed upon "the remarkable volume
entitled _Ecce Homo_," published in 1865. It was an attempt, s