Such were the preoccupations of this young man. Perhaps they
would have been different, if he had had a little less of what
Newman describes as his 'high severe idea of the intrinsic
excellence of Virginity'; but it is useless to speculate.

Naturally enough the fierce and burning zeal of Keble had a
profound effect upon his mind. The two became intimate friends,
and Froude, eagerly seizing upon the doctrines of the elder man,
saw to it that they had as full a measure of controversial
notoriety as an Oxford common room could afford. He plunged the
metaphysical mysteries of the Holy Catholic Church into the
atmosphere of party politics. Surprised Doctors of Divinity found
themselves suddenly faced with strange questions which had never
entered their heads before. Was the Church of England, or was it
not, a part of the Church Catholic? If it was, were not the
Reformers of the sixteenth century renegades? Was not the
participation of the Body and Blood of Christ essential to the
maintenance of Christian life and hope in each individual? Were
Timothy and Titus Bishops? Or were they not? If they were, did it
not follow that the power of administering the Holy Eucharist was
the attribute of a sacred order founded by Christ Himself? Did
not the Fathers refer to the tradition of the Church as to
something independent of the written word, and sufficient to
refute heresy, even alone? Was it not, therefore, God's unwritten
word? And did it not demand the same reverence from us as the
Scriptures, and for exactly the same reason--BECAUSE IT WAS HIS
WORD? The Doctors of Divinity were aghast at such questions,
which seemed to lead they hardly knew whither; and they found it
difficult to think of very apposite answers. But Hurrell Froude