In spite of all that could be done, the act of condemnation was carried in Convocation.
The last main echo of this whole struggle against the newer mode of interpretation was heard when the chancellor, referring to the matter in the House of Lords, characterized the ecclesiastical act as "simply a series of well-lubricated terms—a sentence so oily and saponaceous that no one can grasp it; like an eel, it slips through your fingers, and is simply nothing."
The word "saponaceous" necessarily elicited a bitter retort from Bishop Wilberforce; but perhaps the most valuable judgment on the whole matter was rendered by Bishop Tait, who declared, "These things have so effectually frightened the clergy that I think there is scarcely a bishop on the bench, unless it be the Bishop of St. David's (Thirlwall), that is not useless for the purpose of preventing the widespread alienation of intelligent men."
During the whole controversy, and for some time afterward, the press was burdened with replies, ponderous and pithy, lurid and vapid, vitriolic and unctuous, but in the main bearing the inevitable characteristics of pleas for inherited opinions stimulated by ample endowments.
The authors of the book seemed for a time likely to be swept out of the Church. One of the least daring but most eminent, finding himself apparently forsaken, seemed, though a man of very tough fibre, about to die of a broken heart; but sturdy English sense at last prevailed. The storm passed, and afterward came the still, small voice. Really sound thinkers throughout England, especially those who held no briefs for conventional orthodoxy, recognised the service rendered by the book. It was found that, after all, there existed even among churchmen a great mass of public opinion in favour of giving a full hearing to the reverent expression of honest thought, and inclined to distrust any cause which subjected fair play to zeal.
The authors of the work not only remained in the Church of England, but some of them have since represented the broader views, though not always with their early courage, in the highest and most influential positions in the Anglican Church.(481)
(481) For the origin of Essays and Reviews, see Edinburgh Review, April,
1861, p. 463. For the reception of the book, see the Westminster Review,
October, 1860. For the attack on it by Bishop Wilberforce, see his
article in the Quarterly Review, January, 1861; for additional facts,
Edinburgh Review, April, 1861, pp. 461 et seq. For action on the book
by Convocation, see Dublin Review, May, 1861, citing Jelf et al.;
also Davidson's Life of Archbishop Tate, vol. i, chap. xii. For the
Archepiscopal Letter, see Dublin Review, as above; also Life of Bishop
Wilberforce, by his son, London, 1882, vol. iii, pp. 4,5; it is there
stated that Wilberforce drew upon the letter. For curious inside views
of the Essays and Reviews controversy, including the course of Bishop
Hampden, Tait, et al., see Life of Bishop Wilberforce, by his son, as
above, pp. 3-11; also pp. 141-149. For the denunciation of the present
Bishop of London (Temple) as a "leper," etc., see ibid., pp. 319, 320.
For general treatment of Temple, see Fraser's Magazine, December, 1869.
For very interesting correspondence, see Davidson's Life of Archbishop
Tait, as above. For Archdeacon Denison's speeches, see ibid, vol. i,
p. 302. For Dr. Pusey's letter to Bishop Tait, urging conviction of the
Essayists and Reviewers, ibid, p. 314. For the striking letters of
Dr. Temple, ibid., pp. 290 et seq.; also The Life and Letters of Dean
Stanley. For replies, see Charge of the Bishop of Oxford, 1863;
also Replies to Essays and Reviews, Parker, London, with preface by
Wilberforce; also Aids to Faith, edited by the Bishop of Gloucester,
London, 1861; also those by Jelf, Burgon, et al. For the legal
proceedings, see Quarterly Review, April, 1864; also Davidson, as above.
For Bishop Thirlwall's speech, see Chronicle of Convocation, quoted in
Life of Tait, vol. i, p. 320. For Tait's tribute to Thirlwall, see
Life of Tait, vol. i, p. 325. For a remarkable able review, and in most
charming form, of the ideas of Bishop Wilberforce and Lord Chancellor
Westbury, see H. D. Traill, The New Lucian, first dialogue. For the
cynical phrase referred to, see Nash, Life of Lord Westbury, vol. ii, p.
78, where the noted epitaph is given, as follows:
"RICHARD BARON WESTBURY
Lord High Chancellor of England,
He was an eminent Christian,
An energetic and merciful Statesman,
And a still more eminent and merciful Judge.
During his three years' tenure of office
He abolished the ancient method of conveying land,
The time-honoured institution of the Insolvent's Court, And
The Eternity of Punishment.
Toward the close of his early career,
In the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, He dismissed Hell with costs,
And took away from the Orthodox members of the Church of England
Their last hope of everlasting damnation."
IV. THE CLOSING STRUGGLE.
The storm aroused by Essays and Reviews had not yet subsided when a far more serious tempest burst upon the English theological world.