Life of Edward Bouverie Pusey, doctor of divinity, canon of Christ church; regius professor of Hebrew in the University of Oxford

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Preface

Dr. Pusry died September 16, 1882. At the large gathering that met at Oxford on the occasion of his funeral five days later, it was generally felt, that the one man who was fitted to undertake his Biography, was Dr. Liddon. In the afternoon of that day, the matter was mentioned to him at a smaller meeting of intimate friends; and a few days later he accepted the responsibility.

From the moment that he undertook the duty, he felt the heavy burden that lay upon him. His private diary from that time gives constant, and at first even daily, expression to this feeling. To him it was no mere literary undertaking ; it was a task in which his deepest affections and interests were concerned. It was the setting forth the life-work and delineating the character of one who was to him— with all his intense and devoted affection—his ‘ dilectissimus amicus, to use the words of his diary, ‘the most dear and revered of friends, of whose friendship I have all along been so utterly unworthy.’ But, besides this, Dr. Pusey was also, in Dr. Liddon’s eyes, oe of the prime leaders and, as time went on, vi Preface.

the main support of that great Church movement, which, in his opinion, re-invigorated and even revivified the religion of England.

Adequately to discharge the task he had undertaken, Dr. Liddon put aside as far as possible all other literary labours; and his sense of the responsibility thus resting on him was amongst the causes that determined him at once to resign, to the great regret of many, his Professorship of Exegesis in the University.

The duties connected with the Canonry of St. Paul’s still remained. That position—to the various demands of which he was keenly sensitive, and around which he was ever accumulating fresh obligations— left him very little unbroken leisure : all of it, however, he ungrudgingly devoted to preparing and writing this Biography. Indeed, as conceived on the plan he had sketched out for himself, his new task constantly deprived him of the holidays he required, and even made him deny himself the relaxation and rest which his physicians frequently enjoined, and which his health imperatively demanded.

How elaborate the plan of the ‘ Life’ as projected by Dr. Liddon was, those only can realize who were intimate with his methods of work, and with his conception of what was due to all that was said, written, and done by him whom, after Cardinal Newman's example, he used affectionately to call ‘6 péyas. To him at the outset, any letter whatever of Dr. Pusey’s or Mr. Keble’s was a precious treasure, which he hardly ventured to curtail, much

Preface. vil less to omit; and it was his nature to be dissatisfied with any account of an event which failed to trace both causes and consequences. Hence the work grew to great dimensions under his hand.

Yet that Dr. Liddon fully appreciated the difficulty of his task is shown by the following fragment found among his papers, and probably intended to be embodied in his own Preface.

‘There are much fewer materials for a Life of Dr. Pusey than might be anticipated. He kept no diary. He destroyed the greater part of the letters which he received from even distinguished correspondents. His own letters were generally undated, and although they have been preserved in great numbers, it is often very difficult to discover the special subject to which a given letter refers. His indifference to literary form is in nothing more apparent than in his correspondence; he answers a correspondent without preface, just as he might have replied to a question put to him in a room.

‘On the other hand his life, although profoundly influential, was singularly uneventful. It was a continuous stream of lectures, sermons, letters, interviews. It presents few striking incidents like that of Bishop Selwyn, few points of contact with the world at large or with distinguished men like that of Bishop Wilberforce. Its interest lies in itself:—and the means for studying what it was are much more meagre than might have been expected.

‘A hundred years hence many materials will be viii Preface.

available for a Life of Dr. Pusey which are not now.

It was the pleasure and great privilege of one of the present editors to work at Dr. Liddon’s side from the commencement of the task, and thus to follow and understand what he meant the Biography to be, as well as to witness almost daily his method of working.

As time went on, as health was failing, and as the prospect of completing the ‘ Life’ became more remote, Dr. Liddon put into writing some instructions for the guidance of those to whom he intended to entrust the task in the event of his own death. When, after repeated warnings, his health finally broke down in June, 1890, and, to the profound grief of his friends, and loss of the Church at large, his death followed very rapidly, he left behind him carefully arranged materials for the whole of the ‘ Life,’ and an elaborate first draft of the work up to 1856.

His literary executors, as appointed in his Will, were Dr. Francis Paget, now the Very Rev. the Dean of Christ Church; the Rev. Charles Gore, Principal of the Pusey House; and the Rev. J. O. Johnston, Vicar of All Saints, Oxford. Of these, Mr. Gore at once undertook the editing of some of Dr. Liddon’s unpublished works, in particular the Passiontide Sermons and the ‘Analytical Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. Dr. Paget and Mr. Johnston set to work to complete the ‘ Life of Dr. Pusey.’

When Dr. Paget was appointed to the Deanery of Christ Church, he soon found it impossible to

Preface. 1X continue to take an active part in this work. Consequently in July, 1892, the literary executors requested the Rev. Robert J. Wilson, Warden of Keble College, to take his place.

With such expedition as has been possible amid the pressure of their ordinary duties, the present editors have done their best to carry out what they knew of Dr. Liddon’s intentions. Dr. Liddon had expressly stated that what he had written was not in his judgment at all in a state for publication; at the same time it of course indicated the scale on which he intended the ‘ Life’ to be published.

The editors therefore, though compelled carefully to examine and revise the whole of the manuscript, did not feel themselves in any way at liberty materially to alter the character, the scale, or the plan of the work. This would have involved writing a new Life of Dr. Pusey, instead of editing Dr. Liddon’s projected work, and would have entailed, as they think, a grave loss to all readers.

If any justification be needed for the magnitude of the Biography as now projected, it must be found in this—that it is the record of the long life and of the varied relations of one who, up to the day of his death, continuously played, as Dr. Liddon says, a ‘profoundly influential’ part in the great religious awakening of this century. The two present volumes bring down the history of the Oxford Movement past the great crisis of 1845, and will enable the reader to see Dr. Pusey with indomitable hopefulness, in spite of the grave perplexities and embarrassx Preface.

ments caused by Newman’s secession, patiently continuing his labours in the Revival of the Church of England.

The editors hope, if life and health continue, to complete, at a comparatively early date, the two remaining volumes.

One or two observations are necessary as explanatory of certain obvious and séemingly avoidable defects. Dr. Pusey persistently refused to sit for his portrait. He was the subject of a few hasty and surreptitious sketches, one or two of which are thought sufficiently interesting to be placed in his Biography. But his friends endeavoured nevertheless to obtain a more worthy likeness of the Doctor ; and from such materials as were available, at least two portraits were painted. One is in the Hall of Christ Church : another is at the Pusey House. The editors think that this last, by Miss Rosa Corder, is the best likeness, and they have obtained permission to engrave it for a Frontispiece. They have ventured to insert at the beginning of the second volume the rough sketch made by the late Mr. Edward Kilvert, because it met with the approval of some of Dr. Pusey’s oldest friends. In the later volumes one or more of the sketches above mentioned will appear, and also an engraving from a drawing, which was taken immediately after Dr. Pusey’s death by Mr. Alexander Macdonald, of Oxford.

Dr. Liddon had intended to head every chapter with an appropriate motto ; but he had selected them only in a very few instances. The editors have not

Preface. x1 endeavoured to make the chapters uniform in this respect, as they felt that, if the mottoes were not the choice of Dr. Liddon himself, their charm would be lost.

It is of course impossible to express with that inimitable grace which Dr. Liddon would have employed the deep sense of obligation due to those who put letters, papers, &c. at his disposal. Yet it may be said that the kindness and confidence he received in this regard was very great, and that he always expressed his deep appreciation of it. In ~ particular he was indebted to Dr. Pusey’s only surviving daughter, Mrs. Brine; to the family of Mr. Keble; and to Cardinal Newman, for the use of invaluable papers of all sorts. But indeed many friends have both before and since Dr. Liddon’s death given assistance of this kind. To all these sincerest thanks are due.

They, and indeed all who are interested in Dr. Pusey’s character and work, must feel the irreparable loss the Biography sustained by Dr. Liddon’s death. The longer the editors have worked, the more keenly have they felt that nothing but their duty to a revered friend, who had devoted so much of his time and abilities to preparing this book, can justify their boldness in attempting to complete his unfinished task.

Jn0Omk Re Jo

OXFORD, August, 1893.

CeneEeN TS OF VOL, 1

PAGE PARENTAGE—EARLY LIFE AT HOME—SCHOOL DAYS AT MITCHAM—ETON—CHRIST CHURCH . . . . I