speech, with reference to Eternity. But such extremes were the
rare exceptions. The great bulk of the clergy walked calmly along
the smooth road of ordinary duty. They kept an eye on the poor of
the parish, and they conducted the Sunday Services in a becoming
manner; for the rest, they differed neither outwardly nor
inwardly from the great bulk of the laity, to whom the Church was
a useful organisation for the maintenance of Religion, as by law
established.

The awakening came at last, however, and it was a rude one. The
liberal principles of the French Revolution, checked at first in
the terrors of reaction, began to make their way into England.
Rationalists lifted up their heads; Bentham and the Mills
propounded Utilitarianism; the Reform Bill was passed; and there
were rumours abroad of disestablishment. Even Churchmen seemed to
have caught the infection. Dr. Whately was so bold as to assert
that, in the interpretation of Scripture, different opinions
might be permitted upon matters of doubt; and, Dr. Arnold drew up
a disquieting scheme for allowing Dissenters into the Church,
though it is true that he did not go quite so far as to
contemplate the admission of Unitarians.

At this time, there was living in a country parish, a young
clergyman of the name of John Keble. He had gone to Oxford at the
age of fifteen, where, after a successful academic career, he had
been made a Fellow of Oriel. He had then returned to his father's
parish and taken up the duties of a curate. He had a thorough
knowledge of the contents of the Prayer-book, the ways of a
Common Room, the conjugations of the Greek Irregular Verbs, and
the small jests of a country parsonage; and the defects of his