The life and letters of Benjamin Jowett, M. A., master of Balliol college, Oxford.

Letters, 1860-1865

353

monstrous spirit.... The Bishop of London, and still more
Thirlwall, have not a leg to stand upon in the Church of England if the articles against Rowland Williams are affirmed.
Pseudo-orthodox as the Bishops are, I believe that there is not
one of them who might not be dethroned by a similar process
of inferential and constructive treason.
To Miss ELLIOT.
WHITBY, August 4, i86I.
On my way here, I went to see the Arch-heretic Dr. Williams,
who, for 'his soul's health' (that is the form), has been put into
the Ecclesiastical Court by the Bishop of Sarum. Dr. Williams
is a learned and good man, and a gentleman-but a Welshman,
which (as is the case with all Welshmen) it is absolutely
necessary to bear in mind, if you would judge them fairly.
The articles against him are monstrous. If they are admitted,
I think it will be impossible for any Clergyman who preaches
or writes or says anything, to escape the charge of heresy.
All Bishops (also Deans) have certainly been guilty. The only
possibility of avoiding such a charge will be to read the homilies
instead of composing anything of your own. The case comes
on after the Long Vacation: I do not think it will succeed
on any article, especially as the prosecution of it is against
the wish of Canterbury and London, and against an implied
understanding of the Bishops when they signed the letter to
Mr. Fremantle 1.
Three acquaintances whom I have made this vacation
deserve to be noticed. One was Mr. Macleod Campbell, author
of the book on the Atonement, a more than ordinarily good, and
truthful, and spiritual man: (there are a small class of such
persons who lift themselves and others out of common life).
He was deposed in the Church of Scotland about thirty years
ago, Dr. Chalmers, who partly agreed with him, refusing to
raise a finger in his defence. My next new acquaintance (I am
afraid that this cannot possibly interest you) was Mr. A. J. Scott,
of Owens College (did you ever hear of him?), a most excellent
1 The Vicar of Islip, to whose published letter the denunciation of
the twenty-five Bishops was the reply.
VOL. I. A a