第73章

Ernestbeingabouttwoandthirtyyearsoldandhavinghadhisflingforthelastthreeorfouryears，nowsettleddowninLondon，andbegantowritesteadily。Uptothistimehehadgivenabundantpromise，buthadproducednothing，norindeeddidhecomebeforethepublicforanotherthreeorfouryearsyet。

HelivedasIhavesaidveryquietly，seeinghardlyanyonebutmyself，andthethreeorfouroldfriendswithwhomIhadbeenintimateforyears。Ernestandweformedourlittleset，andoutsideofthismygodsonwashardlyknownatall。

Hismainexpensewastravelling，whichheindulgedinatfrequentintervals，butforshorttimesonly。Dowhathewouldhecouldnotgetthroughmorethanaboutfifteenhundredayear；therestofhisincomehegaveawayifhehappenedtofindacasewherehethoughtmoneywouldbewellbestowed，orputbyuntilsomeopportunityaroseofgettingridofitwithadvantage。

Iknewhewaswriting，butwehadhadsomanylittledifferencesofopinionuponthisheadthatbyatacitunderstandingthesubjectwasseldomreferredtobetweenus，andIdidnotknowthathewasactuallypublishingtillonedayhebroughtmeabookandtoldmeflatitwashisown。Iopeneditandfoundittoheaseriesofsemi-theological，semi-socialessays，purportingtohavebeenwrittenbysixorsevendifferentpeople，andviewingthesameclassofsubjectsfromdifferentstandpoints。

Peoplehadnotyetforgottenthefamous“EssaysandReviews。”andErnesthadwickedlygivenafewtouchestoatleasttwooftheessayswhichsuggestedvaguelythattheyhadbeenwrittenbyabishop。TheessayswerealloftheminsupportoftheChurchofEngland，andappearedbothbyinternalsuggestion，andtheirprimafaciepurporttobetheworkofsomehalf-dozenmenofexperienceandhighpositionwhohaddeterminedtofacethedifficultquestionsofthedaynolessboldlyfromwithinthebosomoftheChurchthantheChurch’senemieshadfacedthemfromwithoutherpale。

TherewasanessayontheexternalevidencesoftheResurrection；

anotheronthemarriagelawsofthemosteminentnationsoftheworldintimespastandpresent；anotherwasdevotedtoaconsiderationofthemanyquestionswhichmustbereopenedandreconsideredontheirmeritsiftheteachingoftheChurchofEnglandweretoceasetocarrymoralauthoritywithit；anotherdealtwiththemorepurelysocialsubjectofmiddleclassdestitution；anotherwiththeauthenticityorrathertheunauthenticityofthefourthgospel——anotherwasheaded“IrrationalRationalism。”andthereweretwoorthreemore。

Theywereallwrittenvigorouslyandfearlesslyasthoughbypeopleusedtoauthority；allgrantedthattheChurchprofessedtoenjoinbeliefinmuchwhichnoonecouldacceptwhohadbeenaccustomedtoweighevidence；butitwascontendedthatsomuchvaluabletruthhadgotsocloselymixedupwiththesemistakes，thatthemistakeshadbetternotbemeddledwith。TolaygreatstressonthesewaslikecavillingattheQueen’srighttoreign，onthegroundthatWilliamtheConquerorwasillegitimate。

Onearticlemaintainedthatthoughitwouldbeinconvenienttochangethewordsofourprayerbookandarticles，itwouldnotbeinconvenienttochangeinaquietwaythemeaningswhichweputuponthosewords。This，itwasargued，waswhatwasactuallydoneinthecaseoflaw；thishadbeenthelaw’smodeofgrowthandadaptation，andhadinallagesbeenfoundarighteousandconvenientmethodofeffectingchange。ItwassuggestedthattheChurchshouldadoptit。

InanotheressayitwasboldlydeniedthattheChurchresteduponreason。Itwasprovedincontestablythatitsultimatefoundationwasandoughttobefaith，therebeingindeednootherultimatefoundationthanthisforanyofman’sbeliefs。Ifso，thewriterclaimedthattheChurchcouldnotbeupsetbyreason。Itwasfounded，likeeverythingelse，oninitialassumptions，thatistosayonfaith，andifitwastobeupsetitwastobeups