Among the men
of his time most deservedly honoured for lofty character, thorough
scholarship, and keen perception of right and justice was Dr.
Pusey. No one doubted then, and no one doubts now, that he would
have gone to the stake sooner than knowingly countenance wrong or
injustice; and yet we find him at this time writing a series of
long and earnest letters to the Bishop of London, who, as a judge,
was hearing this case, which involved the livelihood and even the
good name of the men on trial, pointing out to the bishop the evil
consequences which must follow should the authors of _Essays and
Reviews_ be acquitted, and virtually beseeching the judges, on
grounds of expediency, to convict them. Happily, Bishop Tait was
too just a man to be thrown off his bearings by appeals such as this.
The decision of the court, as finally rendered by the lord
chancellor, virtually declared it to be no part of the duty of the
tribunal to pronounce any opinion upon the book; that the court
only had to do with certain extracts which had been presented.
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