doubt to the general enlightenment which distinguished the senior
Fellows of Merton under the old regime--an enlightenment
unquestionably due to the predominance in that College of the lay
non-resident element--the new reforming spirit found itself in the
ascendency. It is to the honour of Patteson, and equally to the
honour of the older Fellows of the College at that time, that so
great an inroad upon old traditions should have been made with such
an entire absence of provocation on the one side, or of irritation on
the other. But Patteson, with all his reforming zeal, was also a
high-bred gentleman. He remembered what was due to others as well as
to himself. His bearing was one of respect for authority, of
deference towards those who were his superiors in age. He knew how
to differ. He showed towards others the considerate courtesy which
others in return so abundantly showed towards him. And this generous
forbearance of the seniors had its reward. It entailed upon the
juniors a reciprocity of respect. It was felt by them at the time to
be an additional incentive to moderation, to sobriety, to desistance
from extreme views. The result was that the work got done, and what
was done left no heartburnings behind.

'Yet it would be delusive to pretend to claim Bishop Patteson as a
Liberal in the political sense of the word. He was no such thing.
If anything, his instincts, especially in Church matters, drew him
the other way. But those who knew the man, like those who have seen
the Ammergau Play, would as soon think of fastening upon that a
sectarian character, as of fixing him with party names. His was a
catholic mind. What distinguished him was his open-mindedness, his
essential goodness, his singleness and simplicity of aim. He was a
just man, and singularly free from perturbations of self, of temper,
or of nerves. You did not care to ask what he would call himself.