He had given up
the 'Cornhill,' and was finding an outlet in 'Fraser' for much that had
been filling his mind. Other prospects were opening of which I shall
soon have to speak.

VII. DEFENCE OF DR. WILLIAMS

I go back to another book which was closely connected with his
professional prospects and his intellectual interests. His 'Defence of
Dr. Rowland Williams' appeared in the spring of 1862, and represented
some very energetic and to him intensely interesting work. Certain
clergymen of the Church of England had discovered--what had been known
to other people for several generations--that there were mistakes in the
Bible. They inferred that it was desirable to open their minds to free
criticism, and that the Bible, as Jowett said, should be read 'like any
other book.' The result was the publication in 1860 of 'Essays and
Reviews,' which after a time created a turmoil which seems a little
astonishing to the present generation. Orthodox divines have, indeed,
adopted many of the conclusions which startled their predecessors,
though it remains to be seen what will be the results of the new wine in
the old bottles. The orthodoxy of 1860, at any rate, was scandalised,
and tried, as usual, to expel the obnoxious element from the Church. The
trial of Dr. Rowland Williams in the Arches Court of Canterbury in
December 1861 was one result of the agitation, and Fitzjames appeared as
his counsel. He had long been familiar with the writings of the school
which was being assailed. In 1855 he is reading Jowett's 'Commentary on
the Epistle to the Romans,' and calls it a 'kind, gentle Christian
book'--far more orthodox than he can himself pretend to be.
Characteristically he is puzzled and made 'unhappy' by finding that a
good and honest man claims and 'actually seems to possess a knowledge of
the relations between God and man,' on the strength of certain
sensibilities which place a gulf between him and his neighbours. He
probably met Jowett in some of his visits to Henry Smith at Oxford. At
the end of 1861 and afterwards he speaks of meetings with Jowett and
Stanley, for both of whom he expresses a very warm regard.

During the latter part of 1861 he was hard at work upon the preparation
of his speech on behalf of Dr. Williams, which was published soon after
the trial. Without dwelling at any length upon the particular points
involved, I may say that the main issue was very simple. The principal
charge against Dr. Williams was that