the thing went forward. The Proctors were friends of Mr.
Newman, and the Heads believed that this would counterbalance any effect
from their act of authority. It is possible that the announcement may
have been regarded as a mere menace, too audacious to be fulfilled. On
the 13th of February, amid slush and snow, Convocation met in the
Theatre. Mr. Ward asked leave to defend himself in English, and occupied
one of the rostra, usually devoted to the recital of prize poems and
essays. He spoke with vigour and ability, dividing his speech, and
resting in the interval between the two portions in the rostrum.[122]
There was no other address, and the voting began. The first vote, the
condemnation of the book, was carried by 777 to 386. The second, by a
more evenly balanced division, 569 to 511. When the Vice-Chancellor put
the third, the Proctors rose, and the senior Proctor, Mr. Guillemard of
Trinity, stopped it in the words, _Nobis procuratoribus non placet_.
Such a step, of course, only suspended the vote, and the year of office
of these Proctors was nearly run. But they had expressed the feeling of
those whom they represented. It was shown not only in a largely-signed
address of thanks. All attempts to revive the decree at the expiration
of their year of office failed. The wiser heads in the Hebdomadal Board
recognised at last that they had better hold their hand. Mistakes men
may commit, and defeats they may undergo, and yet lose nothing that
concerns their character for acting as men of a high standard ought to
act. But in this case, mistakes and defeat were the least of what the
Board brought on themselves. This was the last act of a long and
deliberately pursued course of conduct; and if it was the last, it was
because it was the upshot and climax, and neither the University nor any
one else would endure that it should go on any longer. The proposed
attack on Mr. Newman betrayed how helpless they were, and to what paltry
acts of worrying it was, in their judgment, right and judicious to
condescend. It gave a measure of their statesmanship, wisdom, and good
feeling in defending the interests of the Church; and it made a very
deep and lasting impression on all who were interested in the honour and
welfare of Oxford. Men must have blinded themselves to the plainest
effects of their own actions who could have laid themselves open to such
a description of their conduct as is contained in the following extract
from a paper of