ford man, nor was he generally received as such; nor had he
any insight into the force of personal influence and congeniality of
thought in carrying out a religious theory,--a condition which Froude
and I considered essential to any true success in the stand which had
to be made against Liberalism. Mr. Palmer had a certain connection,
as it may be called, in the Establishment, consisting of high Church
dignitaries, archdeacons, London rectors, and the like, who belonged
to what was commonly called the high-and-dry school. They were
far more opposed than even he was to the irresponsible action of
individuals. Of course their _beau ideal_ in ecclesiastical action
was a board of safe, sound, sensible men. Mr. Palmer was their organ
and representative; and he wished for a Committee, an Association,
with rules and meetings, to protect the interests of the Church in
its existing peril. He was in some measure supported by Mr. Perceval.

I, on the other hand, had out of my own head begun the Tracts; and
these, as representing the antagonist principle of personality, were
looked upon by Mr. Palmer's friends with considerable alarm. The
great point at the time with these good men in London,--some of them
men of the highest principle, and far from influenced by what we used
to call Erastianism,--was to put down the Tracts. I, as their editor,
and mainly their author, was not unnaturally willing to give way.
Keble and Froude advocated their continuance strongly, and were angry
with me for consenting to stop them. Mr. Palmer shared the anxiety of
his own friends; and, kind as were his thoughts of us, he still not
unnaturally felt, for reasons of his own, some fidget and nervousness
at the course which his Oriel friends were taking. Froude, for whom
he had a real liking, took a high tone in his project of measures
for dealing with bishops and clergy, which must have shocked and
scandalised him considerably. As for me, there was matter enough in
the early Tracts to give him equal disgust; and doubtless I much
tasked his generosity, when he had to defend me, whether against the
London dignitaries, or the country clergy. Oriel, from the time of
Dr. Copleston to Dr. Hampden, had had a name far and wide for
liberality of thought; it had received a formal recognition from the
_Edinburgh Review_, if my memory serves me truly, as the school of
speculative philosophy in England; and on one occasion, in 1833, when
I presented myself, with some