UC-NRLF 
 
 ^B ET7 SbD 
 
 LAYMAN'S LIFE 
 
'^ 
 
Frontisimece. 
 
 
 ^^^^m^^ 
 
 lJ^^^^I 
 
 
 ^^wj^f^^'"^^' 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 .> r^^^^^H 
 
 
 *•*■■ 
 
 ^ ^[^^^^^^^^1 
 
 C'aW'' 
 
 1 1^ 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^K: 
 
 1. 
 
 
 
 
 ^Hb 
 
 Arthur Henry Dyke [Acland] Troyte, 
 From a Mezzotint, after a Painting by George Richmond. 
 
A LAYMAN'S LIFE 
 
 IN THE DAYS OF '.,^ /''.■,, ;: 
 
 THE TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 ARTHUR [ACLAND] TROYTE 
 
 <^> 
 
 BY HIS SON, 
 JOHN E. ACLAND, M.A. 
 
 OXFORD, AND 31 BEDFORD STREET, 
 
 STRAND, LONDON. 
 
 1904. 
 
ii'z^j 
 
 -^^^ 
 
r 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 TO MY 
 
 BROTHERS AND SISTERS 
 
 IN LOVING MEMORY OF HIM 
 
 WHOSE life's work I HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DESCRIBE, 
 
 AND OF HER WHO SHARED IT WITH HIM, 
 
 BY WHOSE TEACHING AND EXAMPLE 
 
 WE STILL MAY PROFIT 
 
 AND 
 
 IN WHOSE STEPS 
 
 WE FAIN WOULD TREAD. 
 
 ^ 
 
 A DEO IN DEO. 
 
 81326 
 
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
 And God fulfils Himself in many ways, 
 Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 
 
 I HAVE lived my LIFE, AND THAT WHICH I HAVE DONE 
 
 May He within Himself make pure." 
 
 From " The Passing of Arthur^ — ^Tennyson. 
 
 " There are in this loud stunning tide 
 Of human care and crime, 
 With whom the melodies abide 
 Of th' everlasting chime ; 
 Who carry music in their heart 
 Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
 Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." 
 
 Keble. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. The Key-note of his Character 
 
 „ II. Early Training and Homes, and 
 
 Life at Axminster, Dorchester, 
 and Teignmouth 
 
 „ III. Architecture 
 
 IV. Music 
 
 i6 
 
 42 
 65 
 
 V. Varied Knowledge and Accom 
 
 plishments . . • ^3 
 
 VI. Published Writings. Letter to the 
 two Bishops. Papers on Mu- 
 sical Education. Duties of 
 Churchwardens. The Holy 
 Well . . . .106 
 
 VII. Literary Work: "The Hours," 
 " Spiritual Communion," " Li- 
 turgia Domestica," " Daily 
 Steps" . . . .127 
 
 VIII. Personal Religion. Connection 
 with the "Tractarian Move- 
 ment" .... 154 
 
 IX. His last home, Huntsham, Devon, 
 
 1852— 1857 . . .185 
 
 X. Home Life, and the Call to Rest 214 
 
ARTHUR ACLAND TROYTE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 XTbe 1kep*note ot bis Cbaracter* 
 
 HTHE value of Lay work in the Church of England is 
 now so universally admitted that the sketch of the 
 life, a short life indeed, of one who laboured incessantly for 
 God, and for His sake for all with whom he was brought 
 in contact, cannot but be acceptable, and Arthur Acland's 
 example should be a help and an encouragement to many 
 who, like him, are anxious to devote their talents and their 
 time to the best and highest purpose, each in their own 
 immediate sphere. For the work to which he applied 
 himself was almost always connected with the place in 
 which he lived, and he was never ambitious to obtain the 
 applause of the world. There are not many now living 
 who shared in his work ; there will soon be none remain- 
 ing who remember him, but the influence he exerted on 
 all those with whom he worked, and amongst whom he 
 lived, has lasted long beyond his own time. 
 
 If any excuse were needed for attempting this memoir, 
 it might be found in the words of one who knew him 
 well, writing a few years after he had passed from the 
 scene of his earthly labours : — " A full account of the 
 life of this singularly devout and holy man would be 
 a blessing to thousands, and I am sure I speak the senti- 
 
 B 
 
J*'*r A Layman! s Life in the 
 
 ments of a large body of earnest Churchmen when I say 
 that there are not many things which they would more 
 highly value than a Memoir of our beloved friend Arthur 
 Acland." 
 
 *'The lives of such men — men who have encountered 
 no adventure, and filled no eminent places in history, 
 remarkable for goodness rather than greatness — are not 
 so often written as, for the good of others, they well 
 might be; one among other reasons may be this, that 
 any such work could make no record 
 
 " ' Of that best portion of a good man's life. 
 His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
 Of kindness, and of love — ' " 
 
 Now though it is quite true that Arthur Acland did 
 not aspire to any eminent place in history, it is also 
 true that much of his work was of a most enduring kind, 
 and has been a benefit not only to his own but to 
 succeeding generations. No better introduction to this 
 sketch can be given than a few sentences written by 
 two of his friends, both eminent men in their respective 
 careers, both of whom had excellent opportunities of 
 forming an opinion of his character. They both sound 
 most clearly what was indeed the Key-note of his life, — 
 a combination of varied accomplishments and unceasing 
 practical work, with the deepest personal religion mani- 
 fested in every detail of his regular daily duties. 
 
 " It may be an encouragement to some of his Christian 
 brethren to know (as those who were acquainted with 
 him will not forget) that the devout spirit of which this 
 and other devotional manuals were the fruit was formed 
 and maintained in the midst of a life simple indeed and 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 3 
 
 unworldly, but more than commonly filled with em- 
 ployments of various kinds. His legal knowledge, ac- 
 quired in studying for the bar ; his acquaintance with 
 chemistry, physiology, medicine, astronomy, architecture, 
 engineering, and music ; his manual dexterity especially 
 in carpentry and masonry ; and above all his open-hearted 
 sympathy in all the difficulties temporal and spiritual 
 of those around him — were ever at the service of others, 
 strangers, as well as relations and friends ; and for 
 the last five years of his life the care of a large landed 
 property, bequeathed to him, involved from the circum- 
 stances of the case labour and anxiety of a peculiar na- 
 ture. Yet it was impossible to be with him and not to 
 know that while he had more than enough to distract 
 his mind, he was living for heaven, not for earth ; seeking 
 God's glory in what he did, holding communion with 
 Him continually, associating thoughts of invisible things 
 with all events and objects about him, and losing no 
 opportunity of leading persons of all classes and callings 
 among whom he was thrown, along that heavenward path 
 he trod himself*." 
 Sir J. T. Coleridge writes also as follows : — 
 " Arthur Acland was one of the sweetest, simplest of 
 men, one of the most humble and devout of Christians — 
 I speak from intimate knowledge, — how playful he was, 
 how pleasant in talk, yet how earnest on serious subjects, 
 and how his voice lowered, and his countenance, I may 
 say, became overshadowed when the subject was religious ; 
 how ingenious, how industrious, how full of varied know- 
 ledge, and how accomplished in other matters ; his in- 
 
 a From the Preface to the Eighth Edition of "Daily Steps," 
 pubUshed after the death of the Compiler. 
 
4 A Layinan^s Life in the 
 
 genuity, his industry, his knowledge, his accompHshments 
 all at the service of others ; without a profession, he seemed 
 to have quaHfied himself for several, and he laboured for 
 his friends and his friends' friends as if he were called to the 
 work by the most urgent professional duty, or interest. For 
 others indeed he seemed to live ; had any of us a want, to 
 whom did we go for advice and help but to him ; it might 
 be an inscription, a grave-stone, a monument, even more 
 it might be a chapel. In one instance it was a Church 
 to be restored, and at Dorchester I found him almost 
 alone directing a new County Hospital. And in all his 
 help what a sympathy there was with your wants, they 
 seemed to be his own, and he was even more intent 
 on doing exactly the very thing you wanted than you 
 were yourself in having it done." 
 
 And with all this boundless energy, and with all his 
 varied accomplishments, he never aspired to take a pro- 
 minent part in public affairs ; content to devote him- 
 self to the immediate good of those amongst whom he 
 lived. 
 
 It is not intended in this sketch to describe, year by 
 year, through childhood, youth, and manhood, the various 
 phases of his life, and the development of his character ; 
 but rather to attempt to concentrate the attention of the 
 reader on the marvellous power Arthur Acland possessed 
 of combining what may be termed ordinary occupations 
 of life with a deep and personal religion. In a most 
 literal and complete sense of the words, it may truly 
 be said of him, that he earned out the apostolic injunction, 
 — " Whatsoever ye do, do all to the Glory of God." He 
 had, moreover, a remarkable faciHty of using the common 
 natural objects cf daily life as a means of learning and 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 5 
 
 teaching Divine truths. No doubt this was brought 
 home most vividly to all those with whom he had daily 
 intercourse, and especially to his children, but there are 
 happily many instances in his writings by which this 
 phase of his character may be illustrated. Thus, in the 
 preface to one of his devotional books he uses these 
 words : — " Communion with God, the one way of attain- 
 ing and maintaining peace, is best secured by an habitual 
 treasuring up of the words of Holy Scripture that they may 
 be present to the mind on every possible occasion, and as 
 a means of turning natural objects and hourly occurrences 
 into types of spiritual and eternal ones." 
 
 Again, when obliged to relinquish the task of compiling 
 the Tide Tables for Bude Haven, which he had originally 
 computed and calculated regularly for many years, he 
 pubhshed the formulse, and gave the necessary in- 
 structions for their future preparation, and concludes 
 by expressing his hearty thanks to all those who had 
 helped him in the work, saying, ^'he begs his seafaring 
 friends to remember that it is by the careful study and 
 industry of others that such helps are given them, 
 while it is of God alone. Who made the sea, and com- 
 mandeth the waters, to speed their outward and render 
 safe their homebound way through the deep, anchored 
 at last he hopes on the Rock of ages, and at rest for 
 ever." 
 
 Again, in the preface to his compilation of Family 
 Prayers we read : — " The devout Christian will find him- 
 self insensibly led to a persuasion that God, Who does 
 nothing in vain, has filled the earth with works symbolic 
 of His spiritual gifts, and has consecrated the whole 
 face of nature to Himself." 
 
6 A Layman! 5 Life in the 
 
 After describing how not only every season of the 
 year has some special Divine lesson attached to it, 
 but each day of the week, and each division of the 
 day is sanctified by a close connection with some 
 special act of .. our Lord's life, he adds : — " these are 
 some of the elements of a symbolical system which 
 the Church Catholic has ever been wont to apply 
 to her architecture, her services, and her interpretation 
 of Holy Writ." 
 
 Perhaps this characteristic is most fully developed in 
 the introduction to his little book of prayers for the 
 " Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours " of the day, a few 
 extracts from which may well be given here : — 
 
 "The things that are seen, and are vanishing away, 
 are signs and symbols of things invisible which are, and 
 which shall endure for ever." 
 
 "The Spirit of life maketh this natural world and 
 all it hath to speak of Christ to the souls of such as 
 seek Him therein." 
 
 " Christian signs, or objects of nature, are to a Chris- 
 tian mind a revelation of Him whose voice they are, 
 pointing to Him at every step." 
 
 " Water, says the Christian to his soul, speaks to me 
 of Him by whose mercy I went down to the waters of 
 baptism an heir of wrath, and came up a child of 
 grace. " 
 
 "My way is long and tedious, but it is beguiled by 
 the remembrance of Him Who is the Way, the Truths 
 and the Life." 
 
 " The Rock is steep, but it speaks to me of Him on 
 Whom I build." 
 
 In a imilar manner Divine truths are taught from the 
 
Days of the Tractarian Move?nenf, 7 
 
 ** bubbling fountain," the "warmth of the fire," *' the 
 showers of rain," and " the trees ; " and turning to 
 architectural forms, from the " Circle," the " Triangle," 
 and the Eastward direction of our Churches — "and 
 more than all, that holy emblem, symbol of our Faith, 
 in earlier ages made the token of a Christian recognition, 
 marked in many parts of nature's face, and works of 
 human skill." 
 
 "And what devout mind does not love to associate 
 with the number ' three ' the thought of the ever-blessed 
 Trinity ; and the number * seven,' emblem of perfection, 
 the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit ? Even in the 
 creation of those things that are pleasant to the eye, 
 of those which soothe the ear — be it in the colours of 
 nature, or her sounds of harmony — our heavenly Father 
 has disposed them in such sort that they recall us at 
 once to the recollection of His Triune existence, and 
 of His sevenfold perfection." 
 
 " Is not this the Christian life, to use things visible 
 as ever referring to things invisible ? as speaking of 
 Christ Himself? and is not this His holy purpose, and 
 His gracious gift, that things of time and sense should 
 have their hidden life revealed to those alone who in 
 them seek Him ? " 
 
 Lest it should be imagined by any one that Arthur 
 Acland placed too great a value on mere externals, the 
 following extract should be read from one of his devotional 
 publications : — " Be it ever borne in mind," he says, "that 
 hours, days, and years, and symbols and memorials are 
 not life itself, nor even means thereto, save where is 
 love, and where is faith. But this also is true, and this 
 alone is meant — that where Christ dwells by love, and 
 
8 A Layuian^s Life in the 
 
 where He reigns alone, there days, and hours, and years 
 are His, and ought to speak of Him. Yet it may be some 
 Heaven-taught soul has passed beyond these aids, and 
 knows the fulness of His love, and needs no such memo- 
 rials of His grace, but lives absorbed in Him." 
 
 A private letter to a valued friend, written about the 
 same time, confirms and developes these expressions. 
 They were both written shortly after the death of 
 his wife's mother, a lady who had lived a saintly 
 life, a most earnest and faithful adherent to the Evan- 
 gelical school of thought. She had for many years 
 loved to have near her, and to carry about with her, 
 a representation of the Crucified Redeemer on a Cross, 
 made in the form of an Anchor, and above it on 
 a scroll the words, " Crux mihi Anchora." After her 
 death, Arthur Acland printed as part of a memorial of 
 Mrs. Williams, this symbol, with the object of distribut- 
 ing it to those who knew and loved her, and perhaps 
 especially to those in her own and neighbouring parishes. 
 Some exception seems to have been taken to this little 
 engraving, and objections made to its distribution. The 
 following letter was written as an explanation, or as 
 a justification of his action to the friend employed in 
 sending out the Memorials : — 
 
 "I am grieved that it has caused so severe an impu- 
 tation thus early to be cast on her faith, who looked more 
 simply to Christ than any one I have yet seen ; and yet 
 in that beautiful simplicity which marked her character 
 she loved the sight of anything that called Him to her 
 mind, and as you know carried that particular print 
 about as her constant companion. 
 
 " It seems to me that all symbols and figures are used 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 9 
 
 in Scripture, and may be by us with perfect freedom. 
 They may be wrongly combined I doubt not. To speak 
 of Christ as ' The Anchor,' if we Hkened anything else 
 to ' the Rock,' would be most wrong. But the ' Crux 
 mihi Anchora ' seems to me only to imply that it was 
 by virtue of the sufferings of Christ and His most 
 precious death that our hopes are in any way connected 
 with the bare memory of the Cross, and His being placed 
 thereon, to shew one's strongest feeling that ivithoiit Him 
 symbols are void and barren. 
 
 " The constant memorials and mementos given us of 
 Divine truths in all that surrounds us here mark the good- 
 ness and excellence of His love, Who will teach us in all 
 ways and at all times, and presents Himself inwardly 
 by His Spirit, and outwardly by these manifold figures 
 of Himself to Christian minds. And I am confident 
 that every spiritual mind, when in real communion with 
 God, even though that communion has been for the 
 moment awakened by the sight or thought of this or 
 similar memorials, casts them from it as dross when it has 
 found Him. My comfort in all this is that we are looking 
 to Him, and not to the Cross or to anything save only 
 Him, and He knows how dearly we cherish every me- 
 morial of Him, and how worthless they all are as substi- 
 tutes for Him." 
 
 "The Anchor is an allowed emblem of Hope which 
 our Lord Jesus Christ is (i Tim. i.) expressly said to be. 
 Surely this is sufficient excuse at least even for that 
 view of the emblem, but I really believe the designer 
 of the drawing to have meant, and dear Mrs. Williams 
 to have understood it to mean, merely this — that we have 
 a hope of good things to come, of which the Anchor is 
 
lo A Laymaii^s Life iJt the 
 
 the emblem, but that except Christ our Saviour be the 
 real substance of our hope, that hope is vain. 
 
 A.H. D. A." 
 
 This may well be taken as a useful example of Arthur 
 Acland's treatment of the whole subject. No account 
 of his life and character would be at all true or complete 
 which did not bring this subject prominently forward. 
 It seemed to be an essential part of his nature, one of 
 the features which distinguished him from other men, — to 
 be incessantly bringing Divine truths down to be incorpor- 
 ated with his most ordinary daily duties, and also to 
 make use of the commonest events and surroundings of 
 his daily life to raise his thoughts and aspirations to His 
 heavenly Father. 
 
 It is surely impossible to read the words already 
 quoted without being impressed with the intense earnest- 
 ness with which he must have lived his life. His words 
 and thoughts are not those of a mere visionary, of one 
 who spent his days in meditative seclusion, evolving 
 beautiful ideals ; they were all combined with a life of 
 extraordinary activity, a life full of hard, practical work, 
 in which both hands and brain were kept constantly 
 employed. 
 
 The opinion of the Bishop of Salisbury ^ of that time 
 bears witness to this, the words being spoken the year 
 following Arthur Acland's death : — " Beyond any man 
 that I have ever known, he had the power of turning all 
 the employments of a very busy life into means of closer 
 communion with his God, and of making the energies 
 of a very intellectual, scientific mind minister to the 
 
 b w. K. Hamilton. 
 
Days of the Tradarian Move7netit. i y 
 
 strength of his heart's devout affection for his Saviour, 
 and unselfish, unwearying love for his fellow-men." 
 
 It is perhaps permissible to give his own views of his 
 life at the age of thirty-two, as laid before a very dear 
 and valued friend, with whom he maintained a frequent 
 correspondence on all his varied duties and occu- 
 pation : — 
 
 " You are and have shewn yourself so kindly interested 
 in me and mine, that I think you can enter into and 
 will feel for me, reputed as I am an * idle man,' because 
 an unprofessional man, really more than over-burdened 
 with occupation. It has pleased God to give me an active 
 mind and a willing body, to set me down in a sphere 
 furnishing a vast quantity of employment in itself. In- 
 dependently of this, my dear father's name, and the 
 extraordinary kindness with which one after the other 
 of us has been received and encouraged and blessed 
 with friendships, have in my case especially brought me 
 into more correspondence about little details in which 
 I could aid others, than any one would guess, who did not 
 see my daily life for some time together. 
 
 *' Coming too just at a time when my own mind, Uke 
 that of many others, has been led into a better way, 
 as we humbly hope, this has greatly added to the inti- 
 macies and correspondences that have sprung up on 
 all sides, until I feel oftentimes a melancholy fear that 
 in aiding others, and striving to cheer and commune 
 with them, I am out-running by very far my own resources,, 
 and making myself even more barren than before. But 
 I do not know what is to be done. My spirit leads me 
 onwards wherever I see a path of probable usefulness 
 or kindness to others; and caring I hope but little for 
 
f2 A LaymaiCs Life in the 
 
 personal comforts, I pass week after week at home, miss- 
 ing meals sometimes, and rarely with one meal undis- 
 turbed for days together. Now all this is my lamentation 
 to you, because in consequence of it you have been 
 unkindly and undutifully neglected, and I hope at least to 
 move your compassion, if I do not obtain your pardon." 
 
 That this was to a very great extent a true estimate 
 of his life's work may be gathered from a passage in 
 a letter written by this friend to whom he had thus poured 
 out his laments, when fourteen years later that same 
 friend was mourning Arthur Acland's death : — 
 
 *' Yours is indeed a most afflicting letter, which did 
 not, however, surprise me. I have always looked on 
 poor dear Arthur's as a very uncertain life ; his head 
 and his mind were too much for his body, and they 
 wore it out before its natural decay — I loved him very 
 sincerely." 
 
 It was this combination of a busy, practical, hardwork- 
 ing life, with a deeply religious and intensely spiritual 
 character, that made him so different to other men, and 
 marked his individuaHty so strongly. It would, perhaps, 
 be difficult to say which side of this somewhat complex 
 nature was most conspicuous; but it was the complete 
 and full development of both that was immediately noticed 
 by all who came into touch with him. 
 
 Even with reference to scientific subjects the same 
 attitude was taken up, and they were approached from 
 a religious standpoint. Though probably better known 
 as a practical and accomplished worker in such arts as 
 surveying, music, or architecture, he was fully capable 
 of dealing with these and other matters from the scientific 
 side. He was, for instance, an accomplished musician, 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 15 
 
 a good performer on the organ, violin, and some other 
 instruments ; but he was also well versed in the purely 
 scientific basis of music, having contributed a paper in 
 an Educational Magazine on the complicated theory of 
 Harmonics. In the same manner, it might be shewn 
 that he could treat the subject of Astronomy either 
 practically or theoretically, but always with a due regard 
 for raising his thoughts to Divine truths. Spending 
 a Sunday on one occasion at Oxford, he describes in 
 a letter to his wife how he snatched a few minutes from 
 a hurried breakfast at the Observatory to use the large 
 telescope. He had been up at 5.45 a.m., and attended 
 a service of Holy Communion at 7, and went from there 
 to Chapel at Christ Church, which was not over till 
 9.30. He was due at the University Sermon at 10.30, 
 breakfasting at the Observatory in the interval, but says, 
 "I could not resist looking through the Equatorial for Venus, 
 Johnson saying I could not find it, which I did, however, 
 to the delight of the young ladies. I could not help 
 feeling as if one ought not to do so on Sunday, and yet 
 it is wonderful that one should think so respecting any 
 natural objects. It arises from the very saddening con- 
 .sciousness of the vanity, and perhaps self-exaltation, which 
 even Nature, when scientifically pondered, brings too 
 often with it." 
 
 It is abundantly clear that his scientific knowledge 
 only strengthened his religious principles. When 25 
 years old, a period of life when young men are apt to 
 allow their own newly-formed opinions to outweigh the 
 simplicity of their faith, he adds at the end of a letter 
 in which he has been discussing a new scientific theory : — 
 " I look to a full development of our knowledge of the 
 
^4 ^ Layman's Life in the 
 
 glories of creation in that land now far off where 
 knowledge can alone be perfect ; and I think that the 
 truly religious man will, in addition to a thankful and 
 faithful reception of the truths of redeeming love, be 
 earnestly desirous to imitate the poor Indian of Pope — 
 
 ' whose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds, and hears Him in the wind.' 
 
 I think on the one hand science is too often a means of 
 leading away the mind from the great Designer of all 
 things, and His revelations, and on the other hand, too 
 many religious people seem to shun the topics of science, 
 as if the same God that redeems their souls did not 
 also make their bodies and create all the splendid and 
 deeply interesting contrivances which exist in the un- 
 fathomable fields of science." The words spoken at 
 the death of his accomplished brother, Sir Henry Acland, 
 the much loved physician of Oxford, might with equal 
 truth be said of him : — " Familiar with all the advances of 
 Science, and an ardent admirer of its chief pioneers, 
 he still remained all through his life a humble and 
 sincere Christian ; " and he would gladly have adopted 
 the farewell message of Ruskin to his University : " May 
 God bless the reverent and earnest study of Nature, and 
 of Man, to His glory, the better teaching of the future, 
 and to the good of all mankind." 
 
 When we turn to the devotional books which lie pub- 
 lished, we find the same principles underlying their com- 
 position, and the directions he gave for their use. They 
 are written with the full consciousness of the needs of busy 
 hardworking men, to encourage them to keep God ever 
 before their minds without neglecting, their daily duties. 
 
 In the preface to his book of Family Prayers he says : — 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 15 
 
 ^' The Editor's earnest desire is to avoid all that can 
 make the service of God wearisome, or beyond what human 
 frailty will cheerfully and with a willing spirit enter into. 
 He feels it necessary to adapt his habits to the circum- 
 stances in which he is placed, yet always, if he may have 
 grace to do so, as acknowledging God in all things, and 
 he sees the wisdom of taking care that such (family) 
 services are ordered with consideration for the duties 
 or the infirmities of others." 
 
 His book of Prayers, " The Hours ^V' for use during the 
 day, are so short that they could be learnt by heart, and 
 the devotions suggested for use by a small fraternity which 
 he belonged to at one period are compiled on the 
 same plan ; he says to a friend, " they are purposely put 
 out at a minimum, both that we may be able for time 
 and memory to say them wherever we may be, and at 
 least mentally, however occupied ; as you may imagine 
 the Judge (good man) saying them on the Queen's Bench, 
 between the lawyers' speeches. They are so arranged 
 that those who have not time may not be burdened, and 
 those that have may add to them." 
 
 In his own life certainly the two forms of service were 
 carried out in a truly wonderful manner, — active labour 
 and inward devotion. "Through his unselfishness and 
 constant energy his head and hand had not even neces- 
 sary rest from labour which, though often self-imposed, 
 he felt his duty to undertake "—"and even during the last 
 months of his life, while he never relaxed the discharge 
 of his earthly duties, he seemed to be above with 
 Christ, and those that are with Him, rather than here 
 below." 
 
 > See Chapter VII. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 JEatl^ Xlrafntno anb Ibomes, an^ %itc 
 at Hjmtnster, Botcbestet, anD Uetanmoutb. 
 
 "DEFORE attempting to describe in detail the " employ- 
 ments of his very busy life," which were referred 
 to in the last chapter, it will be necessary to say some- 
 thing about the home influence under which Arthur 
 Acland was brought up, and which no doubt had a very 
 material effect on the formation of his character, and as 
 the work of his life will not be dealt with chronologically, 
 some account of the various scenes of his activity may 
 well be given at the outset. 
 
 Arthur Acland was the second son of Sir Thomas 
 Acland of Killer ton, Devon, tenth baronet. Sir Thomas 
 had suceeded to the title and property at the early age 
 of 7, and probably never knew what it was to be 
 contradicted, or to have his will thwarted by those about 
 him, though his mother was believed to be a strict 
 disciplinarian. His manner and presence conveyed an 
 idea of extreme courtesy, one might even say courtliness, 
 and he almost always received, and indeed expected, 
 complete acquiescence to his wishes. When his sons were 
 grown up, and occupied important positions in their re- 
 spective careers, they continued to yield to him the 
 same implicit deference which would have been becoming 
 
A Layman'' s Life^ ^c, 17 
 
 to them as boys. But the influence he possessed over 
 them was the result of real affection and admiration, an 
 affection combined with reverence, and an almost child- 
 like dread of saying or doing anything which might 
 annoy him or cause him pain. 
 
 His religious views were mainly Evangelical, but 
 tempered with a very wide sympathy and independence 
 of thought, owing (no doubt) to his political and public 
 life, and his association with many or all of the leaders 
 of the day. He threw himself eagerly into many phases 
 of philanthropy, and his benevolence and generosity were 
 carried almost to excess. He was universally loved and 
 respected, which is well portrayed by the inscription on 
 the statue erected in his honour, during his lifetime, at 
 Exeter. It runs thus : — 
 
 " Erected as a tribute of affectionate respect 
 for private worth and public integrity, and in 
 testimony of admiration for the generous heart 
 and open hand which have been ever ready to 
 protect the weak, to relieve the needy, and to 
 succour the distressed of whatever party, race, 
 
 Lady Acland took a somewhat narrower view of religion ; 
 she was brought up (before her marriage) amid surround- 
 ings and in the company of the very strictest of the 
 Evangelicals, and must have looked on the Tractarian 
 Movement, when it first took shape, with the utmost 
 dislike. It certainly shocked and pained her excessively 
 when she found her two eldest sons so closely connected 
 with it, and embracing its tenets. It led to much question- 
 
 c 
 
1 8 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 ing, and at first to some family discomfort, but there was 
 too much deep and real affection between parents and 
 sons to have given any cause for anxiety. Subjects 
 on which they disagreed were mutually put on one side, 
 but it is probable that the Evangelical opinions held 
 by the parents had a beneficial and restraining effect 
 on the sons. A letter from Arthur to his mother throws 
 some light on the manner in which he treated their di- 
 vergence of opinion : — 
 
 " The misunderstanding and misconstructions put on 
 each other's views by all classes of religious persons are 
 so truly distressing to me that it almost makes me silent 
 on the subject altogether, excepting with those who 
 sympathise with much that I now feel important, which 
 at one time seemed to me unimportant and unconnected 
 with real spirituality, but which I am thankful to find 
 are, by the grace of God, most effectual means to deepen 
 and increase every feeling and every doctrine of Evan- 
 gelical truth, on which alone the mind can rest in hope 
 and peace. But when those who are the devoted servants 
 of their Redeemer and Master reject them as needless, 
 or worse than needless, those who find in secret their 
 value, their comfort, and their edification, are most natur- 
 ally depressed at it, and rather shrink from what must 
 lead to discussion and difference with those who for 
 Christ's sake they love, and to whom they are really 
 united. I feel this acting upon me day by day, and 
 while I find that man is ever variable and changeable, 
 I find my Saviour and His blessed truths unfading, true, 
 and full of consolation and joy." 
 
 So when we make a general survey of Arthur Acland's 
 religious views and practices without going closely 
 
Days of the Tradarian Mov£7nent. 19 
 
 into detail, we find that many of the most prominent 
 features were clearly marked by Evangelical tendencies, 
 although he was strongly attracted by the High Church 
 movement, and went far with the original leaders, with 
 whom he had much in common. This at least is certain, 
 that a true, earnest and simple religion was made the one 
 great, all-pervading element in the life at Killerton. Plays 
 and theatre-going were sternly repressed, dancing was 
 considered sinful, and even light Hterature was, in Lady 
 Acland's eyes, a temptation to be resisted and stamped 
 out. 
 
 The children were all taught to consider their time 
 and their talents as precious gifts of God, for the proper 
 use of which they would have one day to render account. 
 
 Life was taken seriously, and the early training received 
 at the hands of their parents retained its influence over 
 the sons to their dying days. An intimate acquaintance 
 with the Holy Scriptures, a close and continuous study 
 of the Bible was made a matter of primary importance, 
 and this habit was recalled to memory with loving gratitude 
 by Arthur Acland in a preface to one of his books, a few 
 years only before his death. It is true that his religious 
 views were finally developed on lines different from those 
 on which he was instructed by his parents, but he never 
 departed from the main principles of his early belief. 
 If we take the date assigned by Mr. Newman, July, 1833, 
 as the birth of the Oxford Movement, it will be seen that 
 Arthur Acland lived for twenty-two years before any call 
 was made on men's minds to decide whether for them 
 the new or the old type of religious thought was the 
 bestj for in the early years of the century almost all 
 the most earnest and conspicuous leaders of religion 
 
20 A Layman^ s Life hi the 
 
 were of the Evangelical school. But as the new ideals 
 were taking shape at the very time that Sir Thomas' two 
 eldest sons were emerging into manhood, nothing was 
 more natural than they should be drawn into the move- 
 ment that was engrossing the thoughts and energies of 
 all the more serious minded of their contemporaries. 
 
 The very fact that they had been brought up by their 
 parents to take a serious view of life would have led 
 them to make personal proof whether the new school 
 of thought and the teaching of its leaders was likely to 
 be helpful to them in their own careers. An earnestness 
 of purpose was indeed a marked characteristic of all Sir 
 Thomas and Lady Acland's sons, and if we glance for 
 a moment at the record of their Hves we shall see that 
 each one, in his own way, was remarkable for a staunch- 
 ness of character, and a strenuous devotion to duty. The 
 duty was often self-imposed, but whatever their hands 
 or their heads found to do, they did it with all their 
 might. 
 
 Sir Thomas had a large family, consisting of three 
 daughters and seven sons. Lydia, the eldest of the 
 (laughters, was for many years a confirmed invalid and 
 never left her home. Agnes became the wife of Arthur 
 Mills (for many years Member of Parliament), and was 
 a perfect example of a loving, devoted wife and mother, 
 and a dutiful, unselfish daughter, and the third died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Of the sons, one died when at school ; another, Charles 
 Baldwin, entered the Royal Navy and died at the age 
 of twenty-five, and was buried in Ascension Island. One 
 of his brothers said of him, *'He was the most sincere 
 and upright Christian of all our family; and the more 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 2 1 
 
 happy do we feel about him because the integrity of his 
 life was the more valuable, as he of necessity encountered 
 the most temptations, and had the fewest assistances." 
 
 John Barton emigrated to New Zealand, and took 
 a leading part in the founding of the first Church of 
 England colony in Canterbury, becoming one of the chief 
 landowners, and a distinguished member of the Legis- 
 lative Assembly, and of the Diocesan and Provincial 
 Synods. He built a little church on his sheep run, at 
 the same time as he provided a house for himself and 
 his dependants. The early colonists had often a difficult 
 and trying life, and no doubt this '*son of Devon" had 
 ample opportunity for exercising a good influence on those 
 separated from the traditions of the mother country. 
 
 Another son, Leopold, took Holy Orders, and was for 
 many years a pattern parish priest, for fifty years Vicar of 
 Broadclyst, where the family home, Killerton, is situated, 
 and ever forward in promoting the social and educational 
 and moral interests of his parishioners, becoming finally 
 Prebend and Sub-Dean of Exeter Cathedral. 
 
 Of Thomas, the eldest son, and Henry, the third son, 
 it is scarcely necessary to say much now ; their lives have 
 recently been most ably written, and bear abundant wit- 
 ness to the statement made here that Sir Thomas Acland's 
 sons were conspicuous for earnestness and abiHty, and 
 a remarkable versatility which enabled them to deal suc- 
 cessfully with a great variety of subjects, both of public 
 usefulness and personal culture. 
 
 But as the matter with which we are chiefly concerned 
 just now is the effect of the Tractarian movement upon 
 those who were brought up in the strictness of an Evan- 
 gelical home, the following opinions of those who knew 
 
2 2 A Laymcin^s Life in the 
 
 both Thomas and Henry Acland well may be given 
 here : — 
 
 Of the eldest son, who succeeded his father as the nth 
 Baronet, it was said, " Whatever modifications his religious 
 views may have undergone he preserved the same serious- 
 ness and religious conscientiousness from beginning to 
 end, from early youth to old age. His example was 
 the means by which he impressed upon others how se- 
 riously he looked at life, and its problems, its duties, and 
 its work." 
 
 Of Henry, the distinguished Oxford Professor of Medi- 
 cine, " the Christian Physician," the ardent leader of 
 scientific research, the creator of the University Museum, 
 which was to become the home of physical and natural 
 science. Dr. Pusey says : " It is of the utmost importance 
 that you should retain your place here; you are a wit- 
 ness for God : " and his biographer, Mr. Atlay, writes : 
 "From early boyhood every thought and action of his 
 life was guided by religion. The faith which consoled 
 him and strengthened him in his last years was the same 
 simple belief which he had learned under his father's 
 roof." Let us add also the touching and beautiful words 
 with which he closed his last will, they cannot be too 
 widely known : — 
 
 *' And now with a deep sense of the mercy and goodness 
 of God to me and mine through parents, children, and 
 friends, and by the saintly Ufe of my dear wife gone before, 
 I commit my soul to my Heavenly Father in the faith and 
 love of Christ, and hope for forgiveness of my shortcomings 
 in my holy profession ; and I pray that the faithful study 
 of all nature may in Oxford and elsewhere lead men to 
 the knowledge and love of God, to faith, and to charity, 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 23 
 
 and to the further prevention and relief of the bodily and 
 mental sufferings of all races of mankind." 
 
 Thus, if we look at the sailor in his rough and restless 
 life, or at the wealthy landed proprietor and politician, if 
 we consider the man of science thrown into contact with 
 all forms of creed, or scepticism, or turn to the subject of 
 this memoir, we see the same golden thread interwoven 
 with every action of their varying lives ; and the principle 
 which was their guide and support was the religion ori- 
 ginated in the happy family home and maintained through 
 the influence of their father and mother; and although 
 Arthur Acland's life was cut short at the early age of forty - 
 six, the effect of his life on those of his brothers who so 
 long survived him, was most touchingly shewn by the way 
 in which even forty years after his death they would still 
 refer to "Arthur's example" as an influence on their 
 own lives. 
 
 He was born on May 3rd, 181 1, and wa,s baptized on 
 the 27th of the same month, which happens to be the 
 day set apart in the Church Calendar to the memory of 
 the Venerable Bede, '* the father of English learning," who 
 died on the Festival of our Lord's Ascension, a.d. 735. 
 This coincidence is mentioned here, as it was continually 
 referred to by Arthur Acland in after years, and may 
 indeed have had some influence on the formation of his 
 character. At the present time (a.d. 1904) a National 
 memorial is being erected to Bede's memory, and the 
 promoters say, " He is the common glory of the English 
 Race. His fame as a Scholar and a Teacher made his 
 cloistered home a beacon light to the civilized world. 
 His skill with the pen welded the rough Saxon dialect 
 into strong and tuneful speech. His unwearied zeal 
 
24 A Layma7{s Life in the 
 
 caught up the threads of our Saxon story into living 
 history." Writing to a friend on May 27th, 1843, Arthur 
 Acland says, *' It is a happy providence to me to have 
 been brought into contact with the memory of this blessed 
 man, with whom in many remarkable particulars I have 
 sympathy, and as I trust in the best things. Communion. 
 I love and revere his memory, and possessing the entire 
 labours of his life, frequently refer to them. Besides this, 
 my Baptismal Day being so often on one of the Rogation 
 days, or within the Octave of the Ascension (within which 
 my actual Baptism took place), on which day he was taken 
 to rest, it is a most interesting time for me." 
 
 Arthur Acland received his first school education at 
 Offwell, in Devonshire, from the Rev. J. Coplestone, pro- 
 ceeding later to Harrow, and from there to Christ Church, 
 Oxford, taking his degree in 1832, with a 2nd class in 
 the Honour Schools of Mathematics. The years he spent 
 at Oxford were years of vast importance in the history 
 of the Church of England, being those immediately pre- 
 ceding the "Tractarian Movement." Mr. Newman be- 
 came Vicar of S. Mary's in the year 1828, and his influence 
 at Oxford was very great throughout the whole of Acland's 
 undergraduate days. Mr. Keble was elected in 1831 to 
 the Poetry Professorship at Oxford, and there were many 
 others in residence who became afterwards prominent 
 members of the " Movement," and who, no doubt, exer- 
 cised considerable influence on the character of the young 
 men of that time. More will be said of this later on. 
 
 On leaving Oxford he had an earnest desire to take 
 Holy Orders, which, however, he gave up at his father's 
 special request, and went instead to London to read for 
 the Bar. In a letter to a friend at this time he says, 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 25 
 
 " One thing I hold to ; without my father's leave I cannot 
 go into the Church." 
 
 It is believed that being so near to the succession to 
 one of the largest landed properties in the west of England, 
 his father thought it undesirable that he should embrace 
 a profession that might unfit him for the duties which 
 fall to the lot of an owner of a large estate. 
 
 The early years of his home life were spent according 
 to a more or less regular routine in three different parts 
 of his father's property. The principal residence, Killerton, 
 lies a few miles north of Exeter, in one of the most fertile 
 agricultural districts of Devon. The house, approached 
 by a long drive through an extensive park, stands at the 
 foot of a conical hill, densely covered with magnificent 
 trees. Sir Thomas Acland was devoted to the cultivation 
 of shrubs and trees in a manner to reproduce them as in 
 their natural growth, and both soil and climate assisted 
 him in his endeavours. 
 
 Another home, and perhaps the best loved of the three, 
 is situated in the northern part of the County of Somerset, 
 close to the waters of the Bristol Channel, and surrounded 
 by some of the most lovely portions of Exmoor. Here, 
 at Holnicote, and amid the silent combes and on the 
 heather-clad hills, the favourite haunts of the wild red 
 deer, the younger members of the family were inspired 
 by their father to find health and happiness in the pure 
 pleasures of the study of Nature in her most gentle and 
 fascinating garb. The walks on Sunday afternoons were 
 more especially utilised for this purpose, and have left 
 their mark on the characters of more than one generation. 
 On these occasions Sir Thomas invariably read the poetry 
 of Heber and Keble appropriate for the day. 
 
26 A Laytnan^s Life in the 
 
 The third home at Bude Haven was in every way a 
 complete contrast to the last, and was only occupied for 
 short periods of the year. A cottage nestling at the 
 base of a rock in the face of the open Atlantic, a sea 
 coast wild and dangerous, swept continually by fierce 
 and destructive gales — the " thundering shores of Bude 
 and Bos " — here at the wildest periods of the equinoctial 
 months a few weeks were always spent. 
 
 A winter rarely passes here without the record of some 
 ill-fated vessel being driven to its destruction on this har- 
 bourless stretch of coast line, for many years the favourite 
 resort of the smuggler and wrecker. 
 
 Is it to be wondered at that, nurtured amid such sur- 
 roundings, an emotional character such as Arthur Acland's 
 was should develope on the lines already described in 
 these pages ? 
 
 No doubt much was inherited from, or actually taught 
 by his father, an intense admirer and lover of Nature in 
 all her moods and varying forms. In proof of this, the 
 opinion of Mr. Ruskin may be quoted : — " Of all amateur 
 artists I ever knew," he says, "Sir Thomas Acland was 
 the best draughtsman of mountains, not with spasmodic 
 force or lightly indicated feeling, but with firm, exhaustive^ 
 and unerring delineation. From him the faith in the 
 beauty and truth of natural science in connectiori with art 
 was learned." Such praise from the honest pen of the 
 great Art critic could be true only of one who deeply 
 loved the nature he so faithfully depicted. 
 
 Mention must also be made of Sir Thomas' yacht, " The 
 .Lady of St. Kilda," for it was on board of her that Arthur 
 Acland was able to cultivate his taste for many scientific 
 and astronomical pursuits. He and his brothers were never 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 27 
 
 allowed by their father to be idle. No lounging on the 
 decks, or in the harbours of fashionable sea-ports in smart 
 yachting suits, would have been countenanced for an hour. 
 Most of the expeditions made on the yacht were "sea- 
 going cruises," and the sons had to share in the navi- 
 gation of the vessel. "1 am glad to come below," he 
 writes, "as canvas shirt and trousers and bare feet are 
 not warm." Several of his letters exhibit clearly the 
 manner of life they lived, and the discipline that was 
 enforced by their father. The following letter was written 
 in 1835, when he was 24 years old : — "We had a terribly 
 rough time of it from Lisbon, in fact half the crew were 
 sea-sick, and we have had a more than ordinary knocking 
 about. I have been very much worked by the quantity 
 of observations and calculations which I have had to do 
 the last few days, but it is fine exercise for Mathematics, 
 and valuable and interesting. But to tell you how gladly 
 I leave this yacht and all the whole life and habits of sea 
 would be difficult. But all our plans and movements de- 
 pend externally on parental consultations. I was up this 
 morning from 3.45 to lo.o taking and working lunars, 
 and now we have had a nice day's run eastward, and 
 expect to anchor in Plymouth in about 2 hours. We 
 did not know what sailors we were until we felt the dulness 
 of the smooth water. It will be impossible for me to leave 
 the yacht now as my Father and Mother are going over 
 to Bude, and I must be here with the vessel. Believe me, 
 no want of inclination keeps me back, indeed I fear my 
 expressions of haste and anxiety to be off earlier have 
 by no means pleased my father." 
 
 Another letter written to his college friend, R. Williams,, 
 soon to be his brother-in-law, was written from Cadiz, 
 
.28 A Layinan^s Life in the 
 
 in the same year as the last, and proves that his father 
 was very difficult to move from his purpose : "He put 
 me into a pretty predicament coming into port by a prank 
 which brought no good, and might have been very dan- 
 gerous. He refused to let me run up our colours and 
 number, coming into port until close to H.M.S. 'Stag,' in 
 order to surprise my brother (who was on board). There 
 were two or three remonstrances against this unseamanlike 
 proceeding, but in vain. The consequence was two blank 
 shots from the Guard-ship which we passed, succeeded 
 by two real shots, one of which fell loo yards short, and 
 the other close to us. The next would have been on 
 board, and perhaps cost us a man; I confess I felt not 
 a little nervous as I was 'Signal Officer,' and standing 
 on the bows with my glass waiting for signals. Before 
 a foreign vessel could have passed the Guard - ship at 
 Plymouth or Portsmouth without shewing her colours, she 
 would have been sunk, and why should we expect it 
 differently with us ? " It should be noted that the ex- 
 pressions of his anxiety to leave the yacht were not that 
 he disliked the sea, or was incHned to rebel against the 
 discipline, but because he was on his way home, and 
 hoping that his engagement to Miss Williams would be 
 sanctioned as soon as he was able to meet her once 
 more. 
 
 It was amidst surroundings such as have been thus 
 briefly described that Arthur Acland was brought up; 
 homes and scenes for which he maintained the greatest 
 affection throughout his life, and with which he kept in 
 touch to the last. 
 
 It was while he was in lodgings (after leaving College) 
 in London, that he became intimate with the family of 
 
Days of the Tract ar tan Movement. 29^ 
 
 his college friend, Robert Williams, who had been an 
 undergraduate at Oriel College, and in whose rooms he 
 first met Fanny Williams, his friend's only sister. 
 
 A very close friendship also soon developed between 
 him and Mrs. Williams, which must have been rather 
 exceptional considering the difference in their ages. It 
 seems to have been mainly on religious subjects that they 
 found so much in common. 
 
 Letters to her written at the early age of 24 shew the 
 seriously religious aspect of their friendship. After one 
 of the yachting expeditions he writes : "I had felt very 
 unhappily of late the bad tendency of continual employ- 
 ment on board, and incessant interruption, and want of 
 quiet. I could not help from time to time half gloomy 
 anticipations when I thought how I needed something to 
 force me, as it were, out of a state of growing deadness 
 into a more lively and faithful mind. And yet it pleased 
 God to draw me by the cords of love and mercy, and 
 to win me by shewing me how much better He is than 
 we would let Him be. May I indeed be one of a little 
 party of His faithful children who shall lift up their hearts 
 in fervent praise and gratitude for an abundance of His 
 goodness. May our prospects only lead us to higher 
 spirituality of mind, and more devotion to our Master." 
 
 To her memory he dedicated his manual of devotions 
 called " The Hours," which was published at the time 
 of her death. He says: "It was not that she attached 
 much value to outward forms and symbols, though none 
 more loved the representations of the incarnate and 
 crucified Redeemer, such as the symbol % a Cross and 
 Anchor combined, with the motto " Crux mihi Anchora," 
 ' Referred to in the first Chapter, page 8. 
 
30 A Lay Juan's Life in the 
 
 and none sought more ardently the ordinances of God's 
 House ; but independently of these, in all things and at 
 all seasons her life was Christ, as her death was gain. 
 While faith was firm, and hope was full, — love, divine 
 love, burnt brighter than all." 
 
 The words of the Dedication are as follows : — 
 
 "Dedicated to the Blessed Memory of one but 
 lately taken to her rest who lived a saintly 
 life above the world; and wrapt in heavenly 
 love fixed her whole soul on god, and fed upon 
 his work in deep communion ; whose ceaseless 
 prayers filled up the hours of the day j whose 
 ceaseless meditations filled her soul with him, 
 HER Saviour Jesus Christ, in Whom her wasted 
 
 BODY rests in PEACE AND BLESSED EXPECTATION ; 
 
 whose disembodied spirit dwells with Him, and 
 sees His face, and with the Church triumphant, 
 swells the song of endless praise." 
 
 Another, and more natural result of the friendship 
 with his college friend, and of the frequent visits to the 
 house in Grosvenor Square, was that Arthur Acland and 
 Fanny WilHams became engaged to be married, the 
 wedding taking place in September, 1835, at Mr. Williams' 
 lovely country home, Bridehead, in Dorset, thus still further 
 strengthening his attachment to the West of England. 
 
 After the wedding some weeks were spent at Sir 
 Thomas Acland's cottage at Bude in Cornwall, and an 
 amusing, if somewhat trying, incident for a young bride 
 is related, that on the first morning after their arrival 
 
Days of the Jractarian Movement. 3r 
 
 she was taken off in a small rowing-boat to pay her 
 respects to Sir Thomas himself, who was in his yacht 
 lying in the harbour. The visit was an early one, and 
 her father-in-law, whose manner and appearance generally 
 inspired considerable awe to young people, appeared on 
 the deck in a long robe, or dressing-gown. The sea at 
 Bude is never calm ; breakfast under such circumstances 
 must have been the reverse of pleasant, and Fanny 
 Acland's introduction to her new relations far from 
 encouraging. 
 
 The remainder of the year was spent in paying a round 
 of visits in Cornwall and Devonshire to the houses of 
 Sir Thomas Acland's friends, and thus they wended 
 their way to Fanny Acland's home, Bridehead, to spend 
 their first Christmas. 
 
 Arthur Acland having no definite profession, it was 
 immaterial where he and his wife lived. It was only 
 natural, therefore, that they should decide on a locaHty 
 within reach of both their homes, and in the Autumn 
 of 1836, after the birth of their first child, they settled 
 into Hill House, Axminster, which being on the borders 
 of both Devon and Dorset was, roughly speaking, half- 
 way between Killerton and Bridehead. 
 
 A letter written to his parents by their son, from 
 Axminster, at his first Christmas in his new home, may 
 be given here : " My dear Father and Mother, I do not 
 find it in my heart to write to either of you singly, 
 especially when I have a double memento of you. First, 
 in the arrival of a haunch of venison, which we accept, 
 not as epicures rejoiced at the thought of a feast, but as 
 a proof of your affectionate recollection of us. Secondly, in 
 my own ;z<?;z-arrival at HolnicotCj ere the Christmas morn, 
 
32 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 and the Selworthy band have awakened all the associa- 
 tions of ^ Holnicote fireside If you think of us 
 
 I trust it may be with pleasure in remembering that you 
 have helped to create a new circle of interests, of happi- 
 ness, and of usefulness. We may draw a not inapt 
 simile from the rocket, which having ascended to its 
 greatest elevation gives birth in its descent to a crowd 
 of lesser luminaries which radiate from it, and enliven? 
 and beautify each according to their own capacity, a 
 space which its own orb would not fill. And therefore 
 I hope you will consider us as one of your little stars ! 
 for the present. However, joking apart, you have aided 
 in giving us a happy home, and its interests are very 
 great and very engrossing. We would desire to look 
 through them to you, and to Fanny's dear parents, who- 
 have been the instruments of giving us these things, and 
 through you to the great giver of all good." 
 
 It was during his residence at Hill House, Axminster, 
 that he began to give proof of his intention to lead a 
 useful, industrious life, and to devote his talents to the 
 furtherance of all those good works for which he became 
 so conspicuous in after years. They will all be dealt with 
 in the succeeding chapters, and it must suffice now ta 
 mention that it was here he first shewed his skill in Church 
 building ; it was during these years that he first took part 
 in an attempt to awaken a deeper interest in Church 
 questions, by writing aud publishing contributions on some 
 of the leading topics of the day; and it was here also that 
 he compiled his book, *' Liturgia Domestica," a work that 
 proves his really remarkable ac quaintance with the writings 
 of the early Fathers and Divines. The first edition is 
 dated, " Axminster, March, 1 840," and was dedicated to 
 
Days of the Tract arian Movement. 33 
 
 the Bishop of Exeter, in whose Diocese he was then 
 living. 
 
 It may be as well, however, to deal here with the 
 important subject of " National Schools," which, as far 
 as Arthur Acland was practically concerned with it, belongs 
 mainly to this period. It will enable us to reaUze to 
 some extent the marvellous change which has been effected 
 in the system of popular education since the date we are 
 writing of, and also prove once more (if indeed it is ne- 
 cessary) how deeply indebted the whole nation is to the 
 Church of England and her most loyal sons, for having 
 voluntarily undertaken this great and pressing duty. 
 
 It was not any cause for surprise that Arthur Acland 
 should take part in this work. He must have heard from 
 his earliest years how his father, Sir Thomas, had built 
 an excellent school on his Devonshire property, even 
 before the founding of the National Society in 181 1, thus 
 proving himself to be one of the pioneers of National 
 education. Moreover, his eldest brother, Tom, threw him- 
 self with extraordinary vigour into this question as soon 
 as he entered Parliament in 1837, for the ^'education 
 of the people" was at that time being pressed forward 
 for solution as one of the chief problems of the day. 
 
 The first State Grant for education was made in the 
 year 1833, and amounted to ;£2o,ooo for the whole of 
 England. This, of course, was totally inadequate, and the 
 system advocated by the Government of the day was 
 sternly opposed by Tom Acland and his friends, who 
 favoured the founding of Diocesan Boards in connection 
 with the National Society, thus ensuring the religious edu- 
 cation of the poor being maintained and being kept in 
 touch with the Established Church of England. Their 
 
 D 
 
34 ^ Laymap's Life in the 
 
 scheme also provided for Middle-class Schools and Train- 
 ing Colleges. It is believed that much of this was ori- 
 ginated by Mr. Mathison, but Tom Acland was a pro- 
 minent member of the party, and this naturally caused his 
 brother Arthur to become imbued with a similar enthusiasm. 
 
 The proposed Diocesan Boards were soon started, the 
 object being, according to a circular which was issued 
 in August, 1838, to secure better teachers, improved 
 management, and the creation of middle-class schools. It 
 was also proposed to form Local Boards, and instructions 
 were issued for their guidance and constitution, statistical 
 enquiry, and inspection. 
 
 In Arthur Acland's Schools' Memorandum book we find 
 an entry to the effect that the Board for the Diocese of 
 Exeter was formed in October, 1838, and that the names 
 of members were submitted to the Bishop. At the end 
 of the year a report was issued with recommendations 
 as to the future course of training, and inspection, and 
 terms of union, together with all the needful details for 
 carrying on this great work. There is also given a copy 
 of the " Terms of Union," which runs thus : — 
 Infant Schools. 
 
 " We, the undersigned, being desirous of connecting the 
 school for the benefit of the poor at .... in the County of 
 . . . . with the Diocesan Board of Education, do hereby 
 certify that the education in such school is to be conducted 
 on the principles of the Established Church, and by Mas- 
 ters or Mistresses who are members of the same, and 
 we further declare that we shall be ready to report from 
 time to time on the state of the school. 
 
 Signed by Managers, 
 Countersigned by Parochial Minister.'* 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 35 
 
 Much the same certificate was required for what are 
 termed " Middle Schools," but some additional matter 
 is inserted for "Schools for Poor," which were probably 
 those for the great majority of the children. The managers 
 had to declare that the children would be instructed in the 
 Holy Scriptures, and in the Liturgy and Catechisn of the 
 Established Church, and also that " the children are to be 
 regularly assembled for the purpose of attending Divine 
 Service in the Parish Church, unless such reason be 
 assigned for their non-attendance as is satisfactory to the 
 Managers. A report is to be made to the Diocesan Board 
 at Christmas in every year on the state and progress of 
 the schools, which are to be periodically inspected by 
 persons appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese, or by 
 the Diocesan Board of Education." 
 
 It was this practical duty of inspection which was under- 
 taken by Arthur Acland, and is an interesting fact when 
 taken in connection with the important work of organ- 
 ization carried on at the same time by his elder brother 
 in London. 
 
 In the memorandum book already mentioned there are 
 entries for several years in succession relating to the 
 annual route traversed in the tours of inspection, and brief 
 notes of the results in the case of each school visited. It 
 must be remembered that these inspections did not deal 
 solely, or even chiefly, with religious subjects, but covered 
 the whole ground now occupied by Government Inspectors. 
 Some of the questions set forth in the printed forms used 
 by the inspector cannot be read now without raising a 
 smile. For instance, " Is Geography taught ? Are there 
 Maps in the school? Are writing and spelHng from dic- 
 tation practised ? " 
 
36 A Layman^s Life in the 
 
 *' Do those only learn writing who pay for it? Is there 
 a Blackboard, or large slate? Is the school held in a 
 separate building? Is the Master or Mistress paid by the 
 children, by subscription, or by endowment?" 
 
 It is indeed difficult for us in this twentieth century 
 to realize the state of things which could make it necessary 
 to ask such questions, and to organize a body of voluntary 
 inspectors to prosecute such enquiries. But it is wise 
 to make the attempt ; for it is in this way only that we 
 can give due credit to those who first raised the standard 
 in the arduous struggle on behalf of popular education. 
 As the leaders of the Tractarian Movement (notwithstand- 
 ing the many excesses and extravagances of the more 
 impetuous members of the party) did and have, without 
 doubt, raised the whole tone of Churchmanship in England, 
 so members of the Church, acting through the National 
 Society and the various Diocesan Boards, were the first 
 to develope that system of education which is now an 
 essential part of the life of the nation. 
 
 It is not suggested that Arthur Acland did more than 
 many another earnest "Church of England man," but 
 it must never be forgotten that it is to men of his 
 character, lay and clerical, that the country is indebted 
 for having made the first practical attempt to dissolve 
 the clouds of ignorance that had so long hung over 
 the land. 
 
 The subject of education in all its manifold develop- 
 ments was the most engrossing occupation of Tom 
 Acland's life throughout the long years of a distinguished 
 career ; and we may be excused in mentioning that the 
 same characteristic was brought to light in the third gener- 
 ation, when his son proved himself to be perhaps the most 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 37 
 
 successful minister of education whom we have known in 
 modern days. 
 
 Leaving this subject, a return must be made to a con- 
 sideration of the home life of Fanny and Arthur Acland ; 
 for they both delighted in sharing the joys and sorrows 
 of those amongst whom their lot was cast. 
 
 As throwing a very pleasant light on his influence over 
 others, and their devotion to his marvellous personality, 
 the following letter from Mrs. Acland to Sir Thomas may 
 well be quoted. It was written immediately after leaving 
 Axminster, where he had lived for four years : — 
 
 "June 29, 1840. I feel it quite due to you to send you 
 word of the sad parting we had from our poor neighbours 
 at x^xminster. I am thankful to say Arthur was not so 
 entirely overworked as we feared he would be, but the 
 last day or two the affectionate and grateful expressions 
 of his various neighbours greatly overset him. Just before 
 we came away the Conybears came to bid us good-bye^ 
 and Arthur was quite overset by the commission Mr. 
 Conybear had, which was to tell him that it was the inten- 
 tion of the parish to present him with some proof of their 
 grateful and affectionate feelings. I knew so much more 
 the true feelings of all ranks in the place regarding him 
 than he did, or than he would ever believe, that I did not 
 feel surprised at the fact, but dear Arthur was quite over- 
 come by it, and the sobs of several workmen who were 
 about the house when the moment came for us to start were 
 quite affecting. One poor fellow who had done a good 
 deal of work at the new Church, who had kept below, as 
 if he really could not say Good-bye, rushed after him as 
 we went to the carriage, and unable to speak wrung his 
 hand in the most passionate manner. All were in tears, 
 
38 A Layinaiis Life in the 
 
 and many followed us with blessings. The whole scene 
 was so unexpected to Arthur, who never can see why 
 people should shew him any affection or gratitude, always 
 feeling how much less he has done than he ought to do, 
 that he was quite overset ; and we drove away in our little 
 pony-carriage with very sad hearts, feeling a half-sort of 
 doubt whether it were right to have left a place where the 
 little we have been able to do has been so prized/' 
 
 Scenes described in such simple natural words speak 
 volumes for the mutual good feelings of Fanny and Arthur 
 Acland and their poor neighbour. Axminster was a small 
 country town, with which they had no special connection or 
 family ties ; they had gone there to live as a young married 
 couple only twenty-five years old, and they were leaving 
 after four years' residence. The only explanation of this 
 affectionate esteem is therefore to be found in Mrs. Arthur 
 Acland's loving sympathy, and in Mr. Acland's magnetic 
 influence for good over all with whom he came in contact, 
 and his unwearying endeavours to help them in their 
 varying needs. 
 
 In 1840 they moved to Dorchester, occupying a house 
 in the centre of the town, which belonged to her father,. 
 Mr. Williams. Here, at Wollaston House, he devoted 
 himself still more fully to the many works, both of a public 
 and private character, which proved so useful to all those 
 among whom he lived. He was an active magistrate, 
 a regular visitor both at the prison and the lunatic asylum^ 
 Chairman and working-head of the County Hospital, both 
 during its erection and for seven years after its opening ; 
 and at this time he also carried out some of his principal 
 architectural achievements. 
 
 He still maintained a deeply religious character, which 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movetnent. 39. 
 
 was exemplified in all his work, as well as in his private 
 and domestic life. A small chapel was added to his house, 
 and was arranged in a correct ecclesiastical manner. Here 
 on the eves of the chief festivals evening prayers were 
 said at such an hour as enabled even the younger mem- 
 bers of the family to be present. Here also, on the last 
 night of the year, as it drew near twelve o'clock, the whole 
 family assembled to mark in silence, on their knees, the 
 passing of the year. Here, on the first day of the week, 
 a collection was made for the poor, or for foreign or 
 home missions, fulfilling literally St. Paul's direction to 
 the Corinthians to " lay by in store ; " and here also, 
 after the morning prayers, the children were assembled 
 around their father, and (unless a clergyman was present) 
 received the paternal blessing. 
 
 He remained at Dorchester until the year 1848, by 
 which time several circumstances combined to make it 
 advisable for him to find a home in his own county, 
 Devonshire. 
 
 It was known that he was the heir to a landed pro- 
 perty of a distant relative, and as the owner was now, 
 getting very old, it was clear that he might be called 
 upon at any time to take up these serious and arduous 
 duties. Perhaps the chief reason for having made his 
 home in Dorchester was, that he and his wife might be 
 near her old home, and within easy reach of her father 
 and mother, to both of whom he was also sincerely 
 attached. But Mrs. Williams had died within two years 
 of their coming to WoUaston House, and now Mr. 
 Williams had also been called to his rest. 
 
 There was an additional reason for a change, inas- 
 much as his wife's health was failing somewhat, and it 
 
40 A Layvian's Life in the 
 
 was thought that a milder climate would be beneficial to 
 her. 
 
 A home, however, in which six children had been born 
 and one had died — a place where so much important 
 work had been successfully accomplished — could not 
 be left without a struggle, and accordingly we read with- 
 out surprise, *'This is a sad break-up. An eight years' 
 residence in a town among working-men of all classes, 
 cannot hastily (perhaps never in this life) be replaced. 
 We received our last Communion to-day in the Parish 
 Church. I am thankful to say in this little parish forty 
 communicated. We are leaving under very peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, which make difficulties which, I am sure, 
 are for our good and instruction. But we go on the 
 wide world, having no settled home, nor will it be easy 
 to fix on one." 
 
 He left Dorchester, as he had left Axminster, with the 
 most cordial expressions of good-will, and many symp- 
 toms of regret. 
 
 On leaving Dorchester, a temporary home was found 
 at Bude Haven, and later in the year a house was taken 
 at Teignmouth, on the warm South Devon coast. As 
 far as it was possible, he carried on here the same life 
 of usefulness as he had so happily been able to do in 
 his former homes. An infirmary gave him congenial oc- 
 cupation of one kind : visiting the sick, and compounding 
 medicines for them, followed almost as a matter of course. 
 He found here the neccessary time and quiet to prepare 
 for the press his best -known devotional work, "Daily 
 Steps towards Heaven," and he also assisted in the re- 
 storation of two churches. To enable him to do this, 
 he spent the whole of one summer at his wife's home, 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 41 
 
 Bridehead, where the Parish Church underwent what 
 was practically a re-building. The other work was at 
 his father's home, Killerton ; an ancient chapel in the Park 
 being restored for use in the burial-ground of the family. 
 
 His residence at Teignmouth was not, however, destined 
 to be of long duration, for in 1852 his benefactor, the 
 Rev. E. B. Troyte, D.D.— the owner of the property of 
 Huntsham in North Devon — died, and he succeeded 
 to the estates, and at the age of forty-two entered 
 upon an altogether different condition of life. His new 
 home was in one of the most secluded portions of the 
 county, far from any town, with ncthing worthy even of the 
 name of a village ; the roads scarcely fit for use, farms 
 and cottages in a most neglected condition, no suitable 
 residence for the clergyman, no schools, the church itself, 
 which closely adjoined his own house, in a state of di- 
 lapidation which must have sorely troubled and dis- 
 tressed him. 
 
 Moreover, a most severe trial awaited him, in that he 
 was compelled to abandon altogether the name he loved 
 and dearly honoured, and had to assume the name of 
 his predecessor. From this time onward, though it was 
 indeed for but a few years, he was known as Arthur 
 Troyte. The story of his life and work at Huntsham 
 will be dealt with in a later chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Hvcbitecture, 
 
 A MONG the varied accomplishments for which Arthur 
 Acland was conspicuous, perhaps the chief was 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture ; and certainly he devoted more 
 time to it than can often be the case with any but pro- 
 fessional men. It was not only that he was most suc- 
 cessful in the thoughtful designing of the buildings on 
 true Church principles, but he was an adept at much of 
 the practical detail of the work, a considerable portion of 
 which he did himself. 
 
 He was particularly skilful in the preparation of working 
 plans and full-size drawings, from which the mouldings of 
 the arches, &c., were cut ; and in all the buildings with 
 which he was connected, he executed portions of the 
 carving in stone with his own hands. The foundation 
 of this practical knowledge was laid early in life. It was 
 a custom in his father's family for the younger members 
 to spend their evenings in such employments as necessi- 
 tated some sort of manual occupation, and thus dexterity 
 and facility in many useful matters were acquired. More- 
 over, the house carpenter and other mechanics employed 
 on their father's estate were permitted to teach the boys 
 when at home, and they were wont, even late in life, to 
 recall with gratitude the lessons they had learnt in this 
 way, for their instructors were stern taskmasters, and no 
 
A Layman's Life, 6^r. 45 
 
 time was ever allowed to be wasted, or bad habits passed 
 over unchecked. 
 
 Before describing the buildings on which he was engaged,. 
 it will be interesting to make a brief survey of the con- 
 dition of Church architecture at the time. Prior to the 
 great Church revival in the early part of the nineteenth 
 century, which culminated in the Tractarian Movement, 
 the state of the fabrics, and arrangement of churches 
 generally were lamentable, if not actually disgraceful. It 
 would be almost impossible to convey to the younger 
 members of the present generation an adequate idea of 
 the condition of the buildings in which our predecessors, 
 were content to worship a hundred years ago. Perhaps 
 it may suffice to quote the words of one addressing 
 those who had some recollection of those sad days : — " Let 
 any one call back his mind to the thousand mutilations 
 of the old churches of our fathers, and the desolation 
 that met them at every turn ; the galleries, the multiform 
 boxes of the gentry and tradesmen, the drawing-room 
 pews of the squire of the parish with its sofa and its stove, 
 the mildewed walls, the rotten timbers of the roof, 
 through which the rain made its un-interrupted way. 
 The fonts were overthrown, the sanctuaries were dese- 
 crated. On the altar of St. Paul's Cathedral it was no 
 uncommon thing to see hats and cloaks piled up on 
 occasions of great meetings, as though it were no more 
 than a common table." And yet another writer calls 
 attention to the " horrible repairs, alterations and demo- 
 litions that have taken place in our venerable edifices, 
 directed by a parsimonious clergy, jobbing parochial 
 authorities, and ignorant and tasteless operatives." 
 
 But when the great Church revival began, though it 
 
44 ^ Layman's Life ifi the 
 
 was mainly concerned at first with doctrinal matters, 
 everything connected with the life and work of the 
 Church was by degrees swept into the stream, and 
 carried onward in the irresistible tide which surged over 
 the land. What then was more natural than that the 
 fabric of the buildings should be one of the first matters 
 to receive attention, and among the most eminent of 
 the reformers of Church architecture, Pugin stands con- 
 spicuous. His original genius, his intense enthusiasm, 
 his ardent temperament, and perhaps above all his literary 
 work, conceived throughout in the most forcible style and 
 with the utmost freedom, made no little stir in the artistic 
 world and brought him prominently before the public. 
 
 At the time that Arthur Acland commenced his archi- 
 tectural work, and was so closely connected with the 
 Church life of the Diocese, Pugin was Hving at Salisbury, 
 and it is therefore extremely probable that he may have 
 been brought into touch with Pugin personally. More- 
 over, his chief professional adviser and fellow- worker 
 was Mr. Benjamin Ferry, an intimate friend of Pugin 
 from boyhood, one of his great followers and admirers, 
 and his selected Biographer. In addition to this, Pugin 
 was in close alliance with the leaders of the Tractarian 
 party : Mr. Ferry says, " It was not only on matters of 
 Art that he was consulted, for the great revivalist was 
 at the time in constant communication with the leaders 
 of the High Church movement ; " and this leads to the 
 suggestion that Arthur Acland's enthusiasm for Church 
 building and restoration was in reality the outcome of 
 his connection with the Tractarians, and was inspired by 
 Pugin's example. If so, it was a remarkable develop- 
 ment; for though, as we have seen, his early training 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 45 
 
 fitted him to take up this work, his devotion to eccle- 
 siastical art in all its forms, and especially to architecture^ 
 outlived his connection with the Tractarians ; for as time 
 went on he discovered that the more advanced members 
 of the party went far beyond what he considered right 
 in doctrinal matters, and indulged in ritualistic extrav- 
 agance with which he had no sympathy, but he never 
 tired of devoting time and talents to the beautifying of 
 God's house. 
 
 Pugin's biographer draws attention to one point in his 
 character which is in such close agreement with Arthur 
 Acland's character that it may well be given here as an 
 interesting link between them : " Perhaps the most marked 
 attribute in his character," he says, " was reverence. It 
 was this quality which inspired him with so deep an 
 affection for all that was consecrated by time, or made 
 sacred by usage. In religion it increased the humiUty 
 of his faith, it chastened in art the fervour of his imagina- 
 tion. Reverence still further developed another character- 
 istic tendency in the constitution of Pugin's mind — love 
 for symbolism. Nature for him was full of symbolic 
 revelations ; in the outspread wings of the bird, in the 
 bending branches of the tree he beheld the form of the 
 Cross ; in the forest, with its over-arching tops and 
 clustering leaves, he discovered the prototype of the 
 Gothic Cathedral. The sublime symbolism of the Catholic 
 Church in architecture and ritual first appealed to his 
 imagination in favour of Catholicity, and at last his love 
 for symbolism found its full satisfaction in the ancient 
 religion where his work was indeed worship, his buildings 
 a perpetual prayer." 
 
 How easy it would be to imagine that these words 
 
46 A Layman''s Life in the 
 
 were written of Arthur Acland himself; and there is there- 
 fore the greater possibiHty that he would have been 
 greatly attracted by the work of a man moving on exactly 
 the same lines as himself, and would have aspired to 
 follow in his steps. 
 
 This, however, should be noted in passing, that, as so 
 often happened in those days of religious excitement, 
 men like Pugin, of an impetuous nature, were led away 
 by the very depth of their feelings to desert the branch 
 of the Church in which they had been brought up. 
 Too impatient to wait quietly for the result of their own 
 work ; too bitter in their hostility to the abuses which 
 they had themselves only reahzed perhaps for a few 
 years ; they rushed into the arms of the Roman Church, 
 expecting to find there that perfection which was so 
 palpably deficient in the Anglican Church. And having 
 taken this step, they could find no words strong enough 
 to make use of in the defamation of the Church they 
 had deserted in the hour of her need. 
 
 Pugin's secession from the English Church was almost 
 immediately followed by the publication of his remarkable 
 work, entitled, " Contrasts — A Parallel between the Archi- 
 tecture of the 15th and 19th Centuries." The book was 
 well calculated to create a sensation, "its tone being 
 severe and personal ; the style of writing being clear 
 and forcible, injured only by a violence in some expres- 
 sions arising from his great zeal for the cause of the 
 religion he had so recently embraced. 
 
 " The illustrations drawn and etched by his own hand 
 were very spirited and clever, yet certainly not all selected 
 with fairness. His desire to put everything connected 
 with Protestantism in a bad light led him to select objects 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 47 
 
 for contrast which, being erected under totally different 
 circurastanceSj ought not to have been placed in com- 
 parison with buildings raised under the palmiest period 
 of mediseval times. Architectural art was certainly in 
 a miserable state when this work was penned; but it 
 was not fair to pick out what are confessedly the worst 
 buildings of the nineteenth century to compare with those 
 which on all hands are acknowledged as gems of art of 
 the fifteenth century. Still, it must be conceded that 
 many glaring abuses are here brought to light, and the 
 mutilation of our Cathedral buildings well exposed. The 
 circulation of the work did much good, and it set people 
 to look into matters hitherto neglected." 
 
 Like many another " Convert," Pugin tried to prove 
 that no work of high art could be produced by any one 
 not within the pale of the Roman Church. *' In his 
 view," says his most generous friend and biographer, " it 
 is only with the feeling inspired by that Communion 
 that anything excellent in religious art can be executed 
 ....;" yet on the other hand several Churches and schools 
 in connection with the Anglican Communion have been 
 built since he commenced practice which, both in design 
 and feeling, will bear comparison with anything executed 
 by him. Nay more, they may be considered superior, 
 since they manifest an amount of study and care in 
 design, which are sometimes found wanting in Pugin's 
 best works. The very soul and expression which he 
 claims as exclusive prerogatives of his own Church are 
 present in the carefully considered details of some of our 
 own recently built Churches. But in justice to Pugin it 
 should be added that this excellence has been really 
 attained through the impetus which his writings gave to 
 
48 A Layman'' s Life in the 
 
 the study of " the true principles of Gothic architec- 
 ture." 
 
 It is extremely probable that when Mr. Ferry wrote 
 these words he had in his mind one, or more than one, 
 of the Churches which his friend Mr. Acland had assisted 
 in building or restoring. Therefore without wishing to 
 lay any undue stress on the fact, it seems a most reason- 
 able suggestion that Arthur Acland's well-known success 
 as an amateur ecclesiastical architect was due in no small 
 degree to the influence of Pugin^, explained and illus- 
 trated by their mutual friend Benjamin Ferry ; for as 
 we have seen, his early training, his love for symbolism, 
 his devotion to the Church, and his reverence for an- 
 tiquity all combined to prepare him to yield to the 
 influence, and his remarkable abilities enabled him to 
 carry out the work that came to his hand. The de- 
 mands made on him for advice and assistance were 
 almost continuous when once his talents were recognized, 
 and these he readily gave in matters great and small. 
 
 There would be no exaggeration in saying that from 
 the time Arthur Acland married and settled into a home 
 of his own, until his death, he was almost continuously 
 employed in helping in the building or restoration of 
 Churches. In dealing with this subject, it will be possible 
 to make use of a biographical sketch published in the 
 Church Builder a few years after his death, written by 
 Mr. Ferry. He says, " The first acquaintance of the 
 writer with Mr. Arthur Acland was in the year 1838, 
 
 * When a Memorial was under consideration to perpetuate Pugin's 
 memory for his services in the promotion of true principles of Archi- 
 tecture, Mr. T. D. Acland's name appears as one of the Committee, 
 thus proving a connection with the family. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 49 
 
 during the rebuilding of the Church of Compton Valence, 
 near Dorchester. It was not that he merely applied the 
 knowledge of mechanics and skill in drawing to the 
 purpose of Church building as an agreeable pursuit, he 
 was moved by much higher motives; the desire to pro- 
 mote the honour of God, and to increase the efficiency 
 of the Church of England as one means to this end, 
 was the primary stimulus which directed all his exertions. 
 In the same year while living at Axminster he was mainly 
 instrumental in procuring the erection of a small district 
 Church at Chardstock, a remote outskirt of the parish. 
 This little structure owes its ecclesiastical arrangements 
 to the exertions of Mr. Acland. Living in the immediate 
 neighbourhood he spared neither time nor means to pro- 
 mote its erection. So much was it considered to be in 
 advance of the time for ecclesiastical tone that it was 
 often referred to (with Littlemore and one or two other 
 buildings) as illustrating the characteristics of correct 
 district Churches." 
 
 There was^ however, a great deal of work necessary 
 before the building could be commenced. The object 
 of the undertaking was to provide a church for a district 
 totally unprovided for, which lay partly in Chardstock, 
 in the county of Dorset, and partly in Axminster in 
 Devon. This must have involved many compHcated 
 negotiations with many different authorities, and a stipend 
 or the incumbent had also to be guaranteed. All 
 difficulties, however, were overcome, as the following 
 extract from the Christian Rejjiembraftcer plainly sets 
 forth : — '' The Church was built under circumstances 
 which hold out a strong encouragement to those who 
 may think such efforts wholly beyond their means, and 
 
 E 
 
50 A Lay marl's Life in the 
 
 so may be tempted to refrain from making them, in 
 cases where quiet exertions and faithful confidence in 
 the holiness of the work would ensure success. There 
 was no public appeal made. There was no individual 
 connected with the building who had means which bore 
 any proportion to the estimated expense of the work. 
 The funds were collected from time to time, during the 
 progress of the work, and there was never wanting a 
 sufficiency to meet the demands for payment when they 
 became due. Each difficulty was smoothed as it arose, 
 and friends were given when they were most needed. So 
 was this holy work blessed, beyond the expectation of 
 those who first crossed the spiritually - desolate district, 
 and saw its wants, and breathed a prayer which they 
 little hoped to see so answered." 
 
 An interesting anecdote is related of the very first com- 
 mencement of the work. He had been engaged one day 
 in laying out the position the walls were to occupy. As 
 it drew towards evening a party of labourers with their 
 tools on their shoulders passed the spot. Mr. Acland 
 explained to them what he was doing, and excited so 
 much interest in their minds that instead of going on to 
 their homes they immediately set to work and commenced 
 the excavations necessary for the foundations. The spirit 
 in which it thus began was followed up by many instances 
 of willing and gratuitous offers in kind by those who 
 had not money in abundance to give. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that at this early period of the 
 revival of Church principles, a Portland-stone altar and 
 altar-cross were put into the Church, and two low open- 
 work desks on either side of the chancel. 
 
 This undertaking was scarcely completed before the 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 5^ 
 
 Aclands moved their home from Axminster to Dorchester, 
 where a much larger field of usefulness was ready for him. 
 About a year before he left Axminster a scheme was 
 taking shape for the erection of a large hospital for the 
 county of Dorset, and in the year 1840, at the very time 
 he reached Dorchester, the contract was signed for the 
 first portion of the building, and he was immediately 
 elected to serve on the building committee. 
 
 Mr. Ferry (the Architect), whose words have been 
 quoted before, says : " Mr. Acland was just the man to 
 exert himself in advancing this benevolent design. It 
 would be difficult to say whether his assistance as a 
 Governor in advising on the internal administration, or 
 his advice and supervision in watching the progress of 
 the building, were most serviceable." As soon as the 
 hospital was ready for receiving patients he was appointed 
 Chairman of the Managing Committee, and remained 
 so for seven years (when he left the town), during which 
 period many important additions and extensions were 
 carried out. 
 
 To shew also his skill in practical work, it may be 
 mentioned that he cut in stone with his own hands a 
 prettily contrived sundial, in the form of a recumbent 
 cross, which he presented to the hospital, and it may still 
 be seen near the front entrance. 
 
 The next work to which he devoted himself was the 
 rebuilding of his Parish Church in Dorchester, which was 
 only a stone's throw from his residence, WoUaston House. 
 Mr. Ferry was the architect here also, and his opinion 
 of the value of Mr. Acland's assistance may be given as 
 thoroughly reHable. " The Church of All Saints', Dor- 
 chester, had long been insufficient for the wants of the 
 
52 A Layman! s Life in the 
 
 parishioners, and he at once urged the necessity of its 
 being rebuilt. His unceasing exertions soon resulted in 
 success, his residence near the building giving him the 
 opportunity of carefully watching its progress. He be- 
 stowed, however, far more than a general supervision, 
 his practical knowledge enabling him to detect either 
 errors in execution or bad workmanship, and to correct, 
 as he did in some instances, both mouldings and carvings 
 with his own hands. His genial manner and kind heart 
 gave him great influence over the artisans, and he for- 
 cibly impressed upon them the propriety of a reverent 
 conduct when engaged in ecclesiastical work." 
 
 It does, indeed, seem most probable that the movement 
 in favour of this important undertaking was either actually 
 initiated by Arthur Acland, or owed its success to his 
 exertions. In September, 1843, a letter signed by a large 
 number of the chief parishioners was received by Mrs. 
 Acland ; it ran thus : — " Madam, We, the undersigned, 
 feeling a deep interest in the great work now in progress 
 in this parish, and being well assured that the accom- 
 plishment of so important an undertaking could not have 
 been efl"ected without the able and unremitted co-operation 
 of your excellent and highly respected husband, beg that 
 you will allow us the favour of requesting your personal 
 superintendence in laying the first stone for the new 
 Church." The foundation-stone was, however, laid by the 
 Bishop of the diocese on October 4th, 1843; he had, 
 indeed, offered to do so at the time the letter was writ- 
 ten, but the parishioners asserted that they were not 
 bound to know that his offer had been made, and made 
 their request in "an exuberance of hearty feeling." 
 
 Whenever any church restoration is taken in hand there 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 53 
 
 are generally to be found many adverse critics, and one 
 at least appeared on the scene on this occasion. This was 
 brought to Arthur Acland's notice by Sir J. T. Coleridge, 
 and in a letter, dated October, 1843, the following interest- 
 ing answer is made : "I have never yet given you a 
 reply for your 'honest friend,' my great well-wisher, 
 which is as follows. No less than four Bishops using the 
 Church of All Saints' as their Visitation and Confirmation 
 Church have spoken of it either as disgraceful, discre- 
 ditable, ill-constructed or most inconvenient. So far from 
 pressing the rebuilding which was urged upon me two 
 years ago by the Rector, I refused to do so until others 
 were convinced as well as myself that it would soon be 
 absolutely necessary. The removal has set all at rest. 
 It was unsound throughout. Dangerous defects were 
 perfectly concealed, and a few years more would beyond 
 doubt have compelled us to do by rate what we shall 
 now do with the full concurrence of all well-thinking mea 
 in the place, and with very considerable aid and co- 
 operation. My ' kind friend ' has taken up some report 
 which has been from time to time put about by persons 
 in the place really mischievous and ill-disposed to us. 
 They are all, thank God, coming round one by one. 
 They ought all to do penance ! " 
 
 The church, which was removed in 1843, was not an 
 ancient nor (judging by pictures) an interesting building, 
 dating only from the seventeenth century, when a serious 
 fire in Dorchester destroyed the church previously ex- 
 isting. 
 
 His extreme thoroughness in all he undertook often 
 gave rise to amusing incidents. While engaged in carving 
 some of the stone mouldings, and clad no doubt in a 
 
54 -^ Layman's Life in the 
 
 suitable dress for the work, he was accosted by a stranger, 
 who asked if he had also worked for a new dissenting 
 chapel in the town. Upon receiving the simple reply 
 that he had not done so, the stranger turned away, re- 
 marking, " I don't suppose you care what you do, pro- 
 vided you get the pay." 
 
 And on another occasion, after a longer talk with some 
 one interested in the work, he was offered a shilling in 
 recognition of the very intelligent manner in which he 
 had explained the course of restoration. 
 
 Moreover, his skill in various forms of handiwork was 
 fully exemplified at the time, for in addition to the more 
 important branches of knowledge already alluded to, he 
 designed and turned on his own lathe a pair of brass altar 
 candlesticks, and bound the Service-books for use at the 
 altar, illuminating and ornamenting the title-pages. The 
 two volumes are handsome examples of bookbinding, 
 velvet on boards, with finely cut metal corners and 
 clasps. 
 
 Arthur Acland's connection with the rebuilding was 
 long borne witness to, and gratefully remembered. Nearly 
 forty years after, some much needed repairs were taken in 
 hand, and in an appeal for funds it was recorded : — "This 
 beautiful ecclesiastical fabric was built on the site of 
 a crude old structure under the superintendence of Mr. 
 Arthur Acland, residing at Wollaston House. The foun- 
 dation-stone, which can be seen at the East end, was laid 
 by Bishop Denison on 4th October, 1843, ^-nd the Church 
 was consecrated and opened by him on the 7th May, 
 1845. Many now living can well recollect with what 
 earnest and Christian devotion Mr. Acland laboured to 
 plant and rear up this fine specimen of Church archi- 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 55 
 
 lecture. To him it was a labour of intense love. Whilst 
 his own hands were busy, morning after morning, in carv- 
 ing the beautiful tracery over the west door, he was un- 
 wearied in directing, assisting, and planning the interior 
 and exterior adornment, and all the other more use- 
 ful arrangements necessary for the service of the Church. 
 It is only necessary for the visitor on entering the Church 
 to look round, and he is at once struck with the beauty 
 and finished style of the building which everywhere dis- 
 plays itself, and shews that a more than ordinary mind 
 was concerned in designing its fair proportions. The 
 Church, with everything connected with it, went on well 
 for a number of years. During the ministry of the Rev. 
 Osmond Fisher, on whose shoulders Mr. Acland's mantle 
 seemed to have fallen, the organ was erected, and a spire 
 added to the tower. After Mr. Fisher followed the Rev. 
 C. T. Proctor. This was a remarkable time indeed ; three 
 times on a Sunday the Church was literally crammed, and 
 the collections for various objects amounted to sums which 
 would now be considered fabulous." 
 
 Notwithstanding the demands upon his time and 
 strength which two such undertakings as the building of 
 the Hospital and the Parish Church must have made, 
 he at practically the same time embarked on another 
 architectural work which proved even more fully his gireat 
 talents and capability. 
 
 The county of Dorset determined to erect a column 
 or tower, on a commanding range of hills near Dorchester, 
 in memory of the services of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas 
 Masterman Hardy. The spot selected is in the parish of 
 Portesham, and on the family estate of the gallant Admiral, 
 the friend of the great Nelson. To obtain a suitable 
 
56 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 design, advertisements were issued inviting drawings and 
 plans, to be delivered to a committee of selection by a 
 certain date, a premium being offered for the one chosen. 
 Mr. Acland prepared a design which was ultimately ac- 
 cepted, but which was sent in purposely too late, under 
 rather exceptional conditions. The drawings were accom- 
 panied by the following memorandum: "Hardy Testi- 
 monial. The drawing marked (a cypher monogram) not 
 being within the prescribed time is sent without reference 
 to the premium, and not being drawn by a professional 
 architect can, if adopted, be placed in the hands of any 
 person selected by the committee. Further details will, 
 however, be given if it is approved in its general design. 
 It is offered for the consideration of the committee in an 
 imperfect state, as the simplest and least expensive idea 
 which occurred suitable to the peculiar situation. 
 
 " References and names can be given if required. 
 
 June, 1844." 
 
 Notwithstanding the suggestion that the work should be 
 placed in other hands to be carried out, it is abundantly 
 evident that he did himself undertake the chief part of 
 the supervision. A large number of drawings and tracings 
 executed by himself are still extant, and prove his com- 
 plete mastery of all detail, and his skill in architectural 
 drawing. Many of these are now in the Dorset County 
 Museum. 
 
 The foundation-stone was laid October 21st, 1844, by 
 Mrs. Floyer, wife of Mr. John Floyer, who was Member 
 of Parliament for the County for many years, and High 
 Sheriff that year. The base of the column is 830 feet 
 above the sea, and the building itself is 72 feet. From 
 its prominent position it may be seen in every direction, 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 57 
 
 and in clear weather from the Isle of Wight eastward to 
 the Start Point and Dartmoor westward. 
 
 The Ordnance Survey was being made here about this 
 time, and enabled Arthur Acland both to make friends 
 with the officers and men engaged in the survey, and also 
 to cultivate his own talents in this direction. The site of 
 the monument is an important one, as it is on one of the 
 angles of the primary triangulation of the Survey; huts 
 were built on the summit of the hill, and Arthur Acland 
 occasionally spent nights on that lonely spot. 
 
 He continued his active interest in the monument to 
 the time of its completion, obtaining from the Admiral 
 Superintendent at Portsmouth a flag and flag -staff for 
 erection on the top of the column in October, 1846. It 
 may be said in conclusion that after fifty years' exposure 
 to the winds and storms which sweep with relentless force 
 over this lofty range of hills, the masonry on the S.W. side 
 began to shew signs of deterioration. Through the gene- 
 rosity of another, Mr. Williams, the son of Arthur Acland's 
 college friend, and brother-in-law, the tower has been 
 thoroughly restored, and now rests in the protection of 
 the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest. 
 
 But it must not be imagined that even these important 
 works engrossed the whole of his time even in this one 
 department of his unexampled industry. A hasty glance 
 through his correspondence shews how continually he was 
 beset with questions, and appeals for advice whenever his 
 friends embarked in any scheme of building or restoration. 
 In Mr. Ferry's Biographical Sketch mention is made of 
 his exertions in conjunction with the Marchioness of Bath 
 and Mr. Markland for the Church of Frome Selwood, and 
 he assisted the Misses Simcoe at Dunkeswell Abbey near 
 
58 A Layman^ s Life m the 
 
 Cullompton. Christ! Church in Dorchester gave him 
 employment in carving a gable cross for the roof, and 
 he designed the beautiful chancel arch of Osmington 
 Church, near Weymouth. When a few years later the 
 great movement was inaugurated at Oxford by his brother, 
 Dr. Acland, for the formation of a University Museum, his 
 help and advice were asked. Dr. Acland writes : — " If 
 you can come here you will do me an essential favour. 
 There are plans to the number of 29, including 300 draw- 
 ings, in competition for our New Museum. I am one of 
 the judges. We must have a professional opinion ; how 
 is this opinion to be had ? Do come this way and see 
 them ? " 
 
 The next work of any magnitude that claims our at- 
 tention was one which must have been full of interest to 
 him ; his brother in-law, Mr. Williams of Bridehead, having 
 determined to partly rebuild his parish Church at Little 
 Bredy, distant 7 miles from Dorchester. But at this time 
 Arthur Acland had left Dorchester and was living at Teign- 
 mouth, and in order that he might give a complete personal 
 superintendence to the work, he spent most of the year 
 1850 at Bridehead, where he performed really and regularly 
 the duties of clerk of the works. Here he brought to bear 
 in the most useful manner his skill in drawing, having 
 enlarged the architect's plans, and made the working draw- 
 ings for the masons and carpenters. Although the Church 
 is situated within the grounds of Bridehead and close to 
 the house, he had a small shed or office in the churchyard, 
 where he spent his days, not only superintending the 
 workmen but in doing many small pieces of carving. 
 Even his mid-day meal was often carried up to him from 
 the house by some privileged child. His thoughts turned 
 
Days of the Tradarian Move7ne?it. 59' 
 
 also, as was his wont, to the spiritual wants of those with 
 whom he worked ; he watched over them Hke a father, and 
 used to say he had 30 additional children that year. A 
 special prayer was printed and circulated amongst the 
 inhabitants of the village for use during the restoration 
 of their Church, proving once more this most marked of his 
 characteristics, the complete union of deep religious feelings 
 with the daily practical duties of his life. 
 
 He alludes to this period of constant manual work as 
 one that was most beneficial to him. In October, 1850, he 
 writes to a friend : " I have been in reality a stone-mason 
 for these five months past, and have not been outside the 
 parish for three months. Having my hut on the edge of 
 the churchyard, a most healthy spot, I have needed no 
 other exercise, and am, thank God, greatly better than 
 when I came." To Sir John Coleridge he writes in the 
 same strain : " I am engaged in the daily, in fact in the 
 hourly watching of the Parish Church, having a little shed 
 built outside the churchyard, and there I am domiciled 
 almost all the day, gaining health and strength in a manner 
 I did not anticipate. The quiet uninterruptedness of the 
 spot ; the one unhurried object giving ample interest and 
 plenty of manual labour, are far better restoratives to me 
 than anything else." 
 
 It is amusing to record here that when the building was 
 Hearing completion he carried up the scaffolding, and to 
 the very summit of the roof, his baby boy, only two years 
 old, to "assist" in the fixing of the cross to the chancel. 
 This must have been a cause of much anxiety to his wife, 
 and no one would have ventured to incur such a risk 
 who was not completely at home in such a position. 
 
 One more instance of his employment in church re- 
 
6o A Layman s Life in the 
 
 storation may be given before we proceed to deal with 
 subjects of a different character, and once more we may- 
 quote the words of the professional architect : "In 1851 
 Mr. Acland acted as his father's architect and clerk of 
 the works in rebuilding with great and suitable success 
 a small chapel for use on the occasion of burials of 
 members of the family in a private burial ground at 
 Culm John, which, was at one time the residence of the 
 Acland family." A new chapel much nearer to Killer- 
 ton House had been erected in 1841 as a substitute for 
 the ancient and much dilapidated building at Culm John. 
 The restored chapel, though plain, has much to recommend 
 it to the lovers of the older forms in the simplicity and 
 beauty of its proportions. The ornamental parts round 
 the doorways and windows owe much of their delicacy 
 to the work of his own hands in company with the regular 
 workmen ; only two men and a lad being as a rule em- 
 ployed. 
 
 It was a curious fact, and one that he often commented 
 upon in talking to his children, that whenever he had 
 finished one important work it so happened that he was 
 compelled to leave the scene of his labours. Thus his first 
 experience of church building was at his first married home, 
 Axminster, and almost immediately after the Consecra- 
 tion of the Church he moved to Dorchester. Here he 
 was permanently employed in at least three important 
 buildings, the County Hospital, the Memorial Tower to 
 Admiral Hardy, and his own parish Church. These under- 
 takings were scarcely completed before it was found ne- 
 cessary to find a home for Mrs. Acland where the cHmate 
 was milder and warmer than in the County of Dorset. 
 While Uving at Teignmouth, his third home, he super- 
 
Days of the Tractariati Movement. 6i 
 
 intended the restoration of the Church at Bridehead, and 
 also the Chapel in his father's park ; and this last wa^ 
 barely finished when the call came to him to take up his 
 new duties as owner of Huntsham. And finally the church 
 at Huntsham, though completed in all the important struc- 
 tural portions, was awaiting some final but minor improve- 
 ments when he was summoned to his eternal rest. 
 
 These frequent changes of scene, and partings from 
 friends with whom he had worked, must have been a cause 
 of great trial to him. For how pleasant a thing it is when 
 difficulties have been faced and overcome, and misunder- 
 standings lived down, when the objects of anxious thought, 
 and of months or years of labour have been happily and 
 successfully achieved, how pleasant to rest and enjoy the 
 privileges which God's mercy has bestowed as a result 
 of work done in His Name. 
 
 All this he must have lost ; but we may well believe 
 that with him the enjoyment was found in the work itself, 
 and in the consciousness that he had done his best for 
 those with whom he had lived, and that he had been able 
 to devote his time and talents to holy purposes. We may 
 surely feel that he was carrying out that principle which 
 Ruskin places first in " * The Seven Lamps of Architecture' 
 — that spirit which, having influence in all art, has, never- 
 theless, such especial reference to devotional and memorial 
 architecture — an offering, surrendering, and sacrifice of 
 what is to ourselves desirable. 
 
 " And it will be always thus ; God never forgets any 
 work or labour of love, and whatever it may be of which 
 the first and best portions have been presented to Him, 
 He will multiply and increase sevenfold. Therefore, 
 though it may not be necessarily the interest of religion to. 
 
62 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 admit the service of the Arts, the Arts will never flourish 
 until they have been primarily devoted to that service — 
 devoted both by architect and employer; by the one in 
 scrupulous, earnest, affectionate design ; by the other in 
 expenditure at least more frank, at least less calculating, 
 than that which he would admit in the indulgence of his 
 own private feelings. Let this principle be but once fairly 
 acknowledged among us, and however it may be chilled 
 and repressed in practice, however feeble may be its real 
 influence, however the sacredness of it may be diminished 
 by counter-workings of vanity and self-interest, yet its 
 mere acknowledgment would bring a reward ; and with 
 our present accumulation of means and of intellect, there 
 would be such an impulse and vitality given to art as it 
 has not felt since the thirteenth century. And I do not 
 assert this as other than a natural consequence ; 1 should 
 indeed expect a larger measure of every great and spiritual 
 faculty to be always given where those faculties had been 
 wisely and religiously employed ; but the impulse to which 
 I refer would be, humanly speaking, certain ; and would 
 naturally result from obedience to the two great con- 
 ditions enforced by the Spirit of Sacrifice ; first, that 
 we should in everything do our best, and secondly, that 
 we should consider increase of apparent labour as an 
 increase of beauty in the building." 
 
 In claiming for A^rthur Acland that in some degree, at 
 any rate, he carried out the principle for which the great 
 art critic was contending, it is well to remark that Mr. 
 Rusk in in this essay on *' The Lamp of Sacrifice," was 
 mainly concerning himself with the necessity of a some- 
 what lavish expenditure of costly materials, "that it 
 prompts us to the offering of precious things, merely 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 63 
 
 because they are precious," not because they are useful 
 or necessary. Now to this spirit no claim can be laid 
 by the buildings described in this chapter. The character- 
 istic beauty of his Church architecture must be sought 
 elsewhere than in the monetary value of the materials. 
 Whenever possible, materials found near the scene of 
 the buildings were used, provided they were applicable, 
 durable, and the best of their kind, but not neces- 
 sarily the most costly. That in everything "he did his 
 best," and never stopped to "consider any increase of 
 labour," may be taken for granted. But there was some- 
 thing almost indefinable in the effect produced by much 
 of his ecclesiastical work. " When I visit other Churches," 
 said one who delighted to worship in the little village 
 Church of Huntsham, " I am too often apt to look 
 around me ; but my first impulse here is to kneel down, 
 there is something here which makes me pray.'* Perhaps 
 to those who knew Arthur Acland, this feeling may be 
 partially traced to the effect of a loving memory. " Men 
 cannot benefit those that are with them," says Ruskin, 
 *'as they can benefit those who come after them, and 
 of all the pulpits from which human voice is ever sent 
 forth there is none from which it reaches so far as from 
 the grave." But it is, perhaps, fairer to attribute the 
 success of his work to the actual impress of his own 
 personality, which he as an amateur had more oppor- 
 tunity of effecting than would be possible in the case 
 of the hard-worked professional architect, engaged in 
 the supervision at one and the same time of buildings 
 embracing every diversity of use and intention. 
 
 Whenever Arthur Acland was interested in the erection 
 or restoration of a church, he never left the place, and 
 
64 
 
 A Layman s Life, &^c. 
 
 not only watched with loving carefulness the due per- 
 formance of every detail, but studied the character of 
 the workmen, and used his influence over them day by 
 day, impressing upon them the sacredness of the work 
 on which they were engaged. 
 
 The " Lamp of Sacrifice " which may be truly said to 
 shine so brightly through all his work, is the sacrifice of 
 himself, the never wearying sacrifice of time, and care, 
 and personal devotion, the offering of his talents, his 
 health, and all the powers of his life, with most earnest, 
 prayerful trust in God, and with a full faith in the guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Sundial carved in stone by A. H. D. Acland for the 
 Dorset County Hospital. 
 
 The letters A, b, c, d, mark the angles which cast the shadows 
 shewing the time. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 /IDusic 
 
 TN the last chapter an attempt was made to bring before 
 the mind of the reader the lamentable condition of 
 Church Architecture at the period immediately preceding 
 Arthur Acland's work on the several ecclesiastical build- 
 ings upon which he bestowed so much thought and energy 
 and loving superintendence. It was suggested that his 
 connection with the Tractarian Movement might have 
 been a factor in the development of his character in 
 this direction, and it would certainly be true to say that 
 the same impulses which led him to associate himself 
 with the great revival of true Church doctrine, led him 
 also to do his utmost for the restoration of the fabrics 
 of the Churches, on the lines of ancient Catholic prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 In this chapter some account will be given of his skill 
 as a musician, both theoretical and practical, and of his 
 earnest desire to elevate the tone of the musicians of 
 his day, in so far as they concerned themselves with 
 Church music. It would be almost impossible to deal 
 with this subject without coming to the conclusion that 
 here also, to a greater or less extent, the Tractarian 
 Movement influenced him in what he undertook; but 
 this difference might be noted, that whereas architec- 
 tural work could hardly be seriously taken in hand by 
 
66 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 an amateur until he had attained to man's estate, music, 
 and the love of music, might be developed at any age. 
 And in Arthur Acland's case he had the advantage of 
 a thoroughly musical home from infancy. He must have 
 been familiar with the melodies of Handel, Hadyn, and 
 Mozart in his earliest years, and, although at that time 
 music was not often brought into the regular course of 
 a boy's education, the influences around him tended to 
 the encouragement of a love for the best forms and style 
 of composition. 
 
 The soil was thus prepared and the good seed sown, 
 and as soon as the all-absorbing influences of the Church 
 revival came into his life, his great musical talents were 
 devoted to the furtherance of that object. With this 
 new light burning brightly within him, he must have 
 become painfully conscious of the fact that in the public 
 worship of the Church the musical portions were alto- 
 gether unworthy of their sacred ideal. Church music 
 had indeed fallen upon evil times, and the congregation 
 had oftentimes to listen to sounds which "made the bare 
 walls ache with the screech of their discord." 
 
 Occasionally matters came to such a pass that the 
 parishioners would rebel, and bad they must have been 
 when the dry and formal " Vestry meeting " should take 
 the unwonted course of uttering their solemn remon- 
 strance. In the minute-book of the proceedings of a 
 Vestry of a small county town in the year 1831 we may 
 read : — 
 
 *' From the dissatisfaction expressed by the Parish- 
 ioners and Congregation in general, respecting the great 
 neglect and manner in which the Choir of the Parish 
 has been of late conducted, and is at the present time, 
 
Days of the Tradariati Movement. 67 
 
 the Churchwardens and Overseers deem it necessary for 
 the better arrangement to Publick Worship in the Church 
 to propose Rules and Regulations for the prevention of 
 any further dissatisfaction, and for a more strict attention 
 to the sacred duties they have to perform, and to en- 
 deavour to prevent in future such a total neglect of that 
 part of Divine Worship so strictly commanded to be 
 offered up to the Supreme Being. We therefore expect 
 the strictest attention to the following rules by those who 
 wish to become members of the Choir, otherwise it is 
 particularly requested no one will offer themselves." 
 
 Then follow a number of stringent rules as to atten- 
 dances, fines for absence, and arrangements for the copy- 
 ing of music and purchase of strings for the instruments ; 
 and a Superintendent was appointed " to manage the 
 concerns of the Choir, as it seems expedient for the 
 promotion of more effective singing, good harmony, and 
 sociability." 
 
 How vivid a light is thrown by an incident of this sort 
 on the state of Church feeling and the performance of 
 their respective duties, whether we regard it from the 
 point of view of the choir, or of the Rector of the parish. 
 
 A professional musician holding an important appoint- 
 ment at Oxford during the early years of the Tractarian 
 Movement said, in a book on Church Music, that a taste 
 for mechanical and instrumental execution and for a 
 display of vocal powers has become the substitute for 
 a well-grounded understanding of true principles, and 
 " it is a disgrace to the Church that her psalmody is so 
 grievously neglected, her choir filled with self-sufficient 
 and ignorant performers, her services disgraced by light 
 and ill-adapted melodies, and her congregations silent 
 
68 A Layman^s Life i7i the 
 
 when the praises of their Maker and Lord should be 
 loudly resounded." 
 
 We have also Arthur Acland's own opinion printed 
 and given to the public in some useful articles contri- 
 buted to the " Educational Magazine ; " they are fear- 
 less words, proving the intensity of his feelings on a 
 subject which must have deeply concerned him. It is 
 not necessary to give them at length here, as they are 
 referred to in the chapter dealing with his published 
 writings. It is sufficient for the present purpose to 
 say that he draws a lamentable picture of the prevailing 
 custom in cathedral and parochial churches. In the 
 former, he states, the sole object of the so-called " worship- 
 per" is to listen to the favourite solo singers, and to 
 criticise their success or failure as he leaves the sacred 
 building at the conclusion of the anthem ; in the latter, 
 the whole matter is left in the hands of some few ignorant 
 but self-sufficient persons who act with complete indif- 
 ference to authority, and are totally unfitted for their 
 sacred duties, having neither musical knowledge nor a 
 due regard for the united and devout rendering of the 
 worship of God in strains in which all may join. 
 
 Another writer of the same date, equally vigorous in 
 his denunciations but with more bitterness, depicts in 
 scathing words the deplorable condition of our cathedral 
 services, contrasting the original ideals and the too com- 
 mon uses of the nineteenth century : — " So utterly," he 
 says, " are all feelings of private devotion lost in these 
 churches that were an individual to kneel at any other 
 time than that actually set apart for Divine Service, or 
 in any other part of the edifice but that which is enclosed, 
 he would be considered as a person not sound in his 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 69 
 
 intellect, and probably be ordered out of the building. 
 Cathedrals are visited from far different motives, by dif- 
 ferent classes of persons who go to them. First, those 
 who being connected with them attend every Sunday by 
 tote ; second, those, who not having any taste for prayer 
 but who have some ear for music, drop in, as it is termed, 
 to hear the anthem. The third are tourists, and they see 
 everything that is to be seen, therefore they see the 
 cathedral. They walk round, read the epitaphs, think it 
 very pretty, very romantic, very old, suppose it was built 
 in superstitious times, pace the length of the nave, write 
 their names on a pillar, and whisk out, as they have a 
 great deal more to see, and very little time." 
 
 The same writer then deals with the Cathedral establish- 
 ments, and shews how by the original intention of the 
 founders there was an incessant outpouring of prayer and 
 praise carried on by ecclesiastics attached to the building, 
 enabling the people to enter when they would, and take 
 some part in divine worship. But now, he says, " the vicars 
 are so reduced in number, and their lands have been so 
 pillaged, that this ecclesiastical function is given to laymen 
 whose only qualification is a trifling skill in vocal music, 
 and the poor pittance that is left being insufficient for the 
 support of persons devoted to the duties of their office, 
 merely induces the needy shopkeeper to leave his counter 
 twice in the day, and hurry over the service to return again 
 to his half-served customers. To such a degraded state 
 are these ' lay vicars ' fallen, that even the keeper of a 
 public tavern is found among their number. Thus the 
 man fresh from the fumes of the punch-bowl and tobacco 
 pipe, and with the boisterous calls of the tap ringing in his 
 ears, may be seen running from the bar to the choir, there 
 
70 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 figuring away in a surplice till the concluding prayer allows 
 him to rush back, and mingle the response of ' Coming, 
 Sir,' to the ' Amen ' that has hardly died from his lips." 
 
 This brief survey of the state of Church music in the 
 early years of the nineteenth century will enable the reader 
 to appreciate how urgent was the call for reform, and how 
 deep a debt of gratitude we owe to the leaders of the 
 Oxford Movement for the supply of the necessary impulse, 
 which moved men like Arthur Acland to devote their 
 talents and their energies to the cause, though this is 
 indeed only one out of many branches of Church work, 
 and growth of Church life and feeling, which we of the 
 present day enjoy as the fruit of their labours. 
 
 In thus drawing attention to the revival of a more 
 beautiful and more devotional style of Church architecture 
 and Church music, which derived its origin from the 
 Tractarian Movement, it is not intended to imply that 
 the real leaders of the Movement concerned themselves 
 with such matters in the first place. Taking the name in 
 its literary sense, it was a Movement originated, propa- 
 gated, fed, and nurtured by Tracts ; and these Tracts, the 
 issue of which began in the year 1833, were, as the editor 
 stated, " published with the object of contributing some- 
 thing towards the practical revival of doctrines, which, 
 although held by the great Divines of our Church, have 
 at present become obsolete with the majority of her mem- 
 bers, and are withdrawn from public view even by the more 
 learned and orthodox few who still adhere to them." 
 
 Thus the Tracts dealt mainly with subjects such as "The 
 Apostolical Succession," "The Catholic Church," "The 
 Ministerial Commission," " The Sacraments,'' and " Primi 
 tive Practices ;" and it was only when men's minds were 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 71 
 
 stirred to adopt a higher tone as regards these doctrinal 
 matters that they carried on the work to the more ma- 
 terial objects connected with the externals of the Church's 
 public worship. 
 
 Nothing pleased Arthur Acland more than to be able 
 to devote to the good of the Church any one of his many 
 remarkable talents, and perhaps the one product of his 
 active brain which is most widely known is a simple piece 
 of Church music of only a few bars' length. It would be 
 no exaggeration to say that wherever English-speaking 
 people meet together and sing English hymns, " Troyte's 
 Chant," as it is called, is frequently used and appreciated. 
 It is generally set to the hymn, " Thy Will be done," the 
 hymn which begins, " My God, my Father, while I stray." 
 As a musical composition this might be considered an 
 almost trivial contribution to the boundless store of sacred 
 music, but it serves as an illustration of the fact that even 
 a little matter may attain popularity if well adapted to its 
 purpose. It first appeared in print in the " Salisbury 
 Hymn Book," where there are six other hymn-tunes by 
 the same composer. The book of hymns was edited by 
 Lord Nelson, assisted by the Rev. J. Keble, and was the 
 first compilation of Ancient and Modern Hymns. The 
 reason for the tune in question being called "Troyte's" 
 Chant is because before it was given to the public Arthur 
 Acland had changed his name to Troyte, but it was 
 composed in the year 1848 while he still retained his 
 family name. In the preface to the Book of Tunes for 
 the " Salisbury Hymn Book "the editor remarks : *' Of the 
 tunes which now appear, the chief in originality and 
 adaptive power, and perhaps in beauty of expression, are 
 those which stand first, viz., the tunes for General Metres 
 
72 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 by the late Mr. Arthur Troyte (Acland). A glance at 
 the different hymns mentioned for the first of these will 
 shew to how different measures they are capable of being 
 adapted." 
 
 Bishop Hamilton, the Bishop of Salisbury at this time, 
 refers at some length in his Visitation Charge, delivered 
 in the year 1858, to Mr. Acland's musical compositions. 
 Having mentioned the publication of the new Hymn Book, 
 he says : " Next in importance to the choice of good words 
 is the choice of the music to which to sing them, and 
 the Author of the Hymn Book committed the selection 
 of tunes to a friend possessing great knowledge of music 
 and exquisite taste. It includes all the best English tunes, 
 and many German chorales, and what makes the selection 
 of special value is that there will also be in it a few tunes 
 composed by one whom I and many of you loved with 
 sincerest affection (Arthur Troyte, better known to you 
 as Arthur Acland), whose life and death is an example to 
 
 us all The last time I saw him was in 1855, when 
 
 my own thoughts were much occupied about hymns and 
 hymn-tunes, and his parting promise to me was that if 
 he lived he would assist me by trying to compose hymn- 
 tunes which would suit all metres. Since his death 
 I have ascertained that he had composed a few such 
 tunes, and these tempt me to wish that he had been per- 
 mitted to give me the full amount of aid which he was 
 willing to do. They are of exquisite beauty, simple, touch- 
 ing, expressive of deep devotional emotion. I have never 
 used tunes with such peculiar feelings as I have those 
 of that saintly man. They are to me the clear outpourings 
 of a soul living in closest harmony with God's will, catch- 
 ing the echoes of the voices of Angels, and training for 
 
Days of the Tractarian Move?nent, 73 
 
 its part in the never-ending melodies of the Church in 
 glory. The withdrawal from this world of such a member 
 of our Church — of one endowed with such a variety of rare 
 and exquisite gifts — is indeed a mysterious dispensation 
 towards his nine orphan children and the Church which 
 he so loved." 
 
 From his earliest days Arthur Acland had devoted 
 a portion of his time to the cultivation of music; it 
 was only natural that a man of his temperament should 
 love it, and not only acquire a knowledge .of the theory 
 of music, but become efficient as a performer. During 
 his residence at Oxford, as an undergraduate, there was 
 a celebrated violinist, who in addition to shewing his 
 skill in rendering compositions of extreme difficulty, was 
 in the habit of surprising his audiences by various 
 musical tricks. Whenever Arthur Acland had witnessed 
 one of these performances, he was never satisfied until 
 he had also mastered the difficulty, and it is said that 
 he very rarely failed to attain his object. It was in his 
 young days also that he composed a piece of music 
 for violin and piano, which was printed and published ; 
 but when this came to the knowledge of his father, Sir 
 Thomas was so angry that he sent for all the copies 
 remaining unsold and had them destroyed. 
 
 In addition to the violin, he played the violoncello, 
 and at different times mastered various other instruments, 
 such as the flute, and an unusual instrument called 
 a double flagiolet, which consisted of two tubes blown 
 by one mouthpiece, thus enabling the performer to sound 
 two notes at once. But he excelled in playing on the 
 organ, which naturally lent itself, above all other instru- 
 ments, to the expression of his devotional feelings. 
 
74 ^ Laymaii's Life in the 
 
 During the last few years of his life, when settled into 
 his home at Huntsham, where he had a number of men 
 constantly at work on the various requirements of a landed 
 property, he inaugurated a band to give them pleasant 
 and profitable employment ; and this became quite a 
 feature in the life of the village. 
 
 These matters are not related here because they are 
 important in themselves, but when taken in conjunction 
 with all the other occupations which were crowded into 
 his life, they help to illustrate the varied accomplishments, 
 which he possessed. 
 
 A more important matter, because it necessitated the 
 expenditure of much time and careful thought, was a con- 
 tribution to the "Educational Magazine" in 1841, of 
 a series of letters on " Musical Notation, and the state 
 of Musical Education." The series is incomplete be- 
 cause the Magazine was discontinued, but the letters 
 published comprise forty closely printed pages. (This 
 work is referred to again in Chapter VI., Published 
 Writings.) 
 
 The following year Dr. Marshall, the Organist of Christ 
 Church Cathedral, Oxford, published a book entitled 
 " The Art of reading Church Music," and in his preface 
 says : " The present work does not pretend to novelty, 
 for nothing will be found in it which is not necessary to 
 be known by every person who would wish to be able 
 to take part in concerted music, whether vocal or instru- 
 mental. Whatever appearance of novelty there may be 
 about the work, arises only from the leading features 
 of elementary music being put forward in such a way as 
 to draw marked attention to them. .... They were 
 stated in a series of letters in the ' Educational Magazine ' 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 75 
 
 of last year by his friend and former pupil, Arthur H. 
 Dyke Acland, Esq., with whose views on the subject he 
 fully concurs, and whose co-operation he has willingly 
 accepted in the production of this work." 
 
 There was a good deal of correspondence between 
 Dr. Marshall and Mr. Acland during the year 1842, the 
 year the book was pubhshed, which tends to shew how 
 closely they worked together in its production. Dr. 
 Marshall says : " Mr. Donkin, a first-rate amateur, and 
 your brother Henry, have suggested three alterations,. 
 ■which I have no doubt you %v ill approve. In the second 
 page is a mistake which I am surprised escaped our notice. 
 Mr. Donkin has drawn up a scale to make your pendulum 
 correspond to the beats as represented by Maelzel's Metro- 
 nome ) you will understand what he means. Do you not 
 think you could run down to Oxford for two or three 
 days or longer when the book comes out?" 
 
 A month later he writes again : " With regard to the 
 Exercises, do what you think best with them ; they cannot 
 
 be too correct I do think it is high time some 
 
 serious notice was taken of persons having pirated your 
 original idea of the eleven lines ; it is really too bad of 
 parties not to mention with whom the idea originated. 
 Could not an action be sustained' for piracy? Pray think 
 seriously on this important matter, and tell me what I 
 ought to do." 
 
 Three days after writing the last letter he returns to the 
 subject: "My object is to preserve to yourself, the ori- 
 ginal inventor of the same, the merit attached to the dis- 
 covery. You know me to be sufficiently honest not to 
 have the least wish of receiving any commendation for that 
 which I had not taste or ingenuity to invent. I wish to 
 
76 A Layman s Life hi the 
 
 preserve to yourself, who have befriended me so sincerely 
 in this matter, the merit of the invention. 
 
 " The work is moving very steadily, and when the 
 Exercises are out, will have a much more extensive circu- 
 lation, as its great merit can then be immediately tested." 
 
 In May, 1843, about six months after the book was 
 published, another letter from Dr. Marshall shews that the 
 plan was answering well, and that their labours were bear- 
 ing fruit : — " There are three classes now in operation ; 
 a fourth I put on to-morrow, and every prospect of a fifth 
 and a sixth if time can be found, which I think looks ex- 
 tremely well, particularly being Summer Term, If I live 
 to October my whole time may be given to class teaching. 
 Vincent has purchased the Oxford Lferald ; if you feel 
 disposed at any time to write on any subject, you have 
 now a good opportunity. Will you send me a copy of 
 your letters on Education ? 
 
 " Most sincerely yours, William Marshall." 
 
 These letters plainly shew that Arthur Acland must 
 have devoted much time to this work, notwithstanding 
 the fact, as shewn in the last chapter, that during these 
 same years he was fully employed with, at least, two 
 important building operations. 
 
 One other example of his readiness to help forward any 
 good work must be given here, although it was brought to 
 his notice first by a complete stranger, and it throws also 
 a most interesting light on the condition of Church choirs 
 and Church music at that date, and exhibits a state of 
 things scarcely credible to persons living in the Twentieth 
 Century. 
 
 The case referred to originated in the preparation for 
 the press of a small work by a lady, entitled " Choral 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement. 77 
 
 Psalmody : A Collection of Tunes to be sung in Part, 
 without Instruments, by Village Choirs, with simple rudi- 
 ments and instructions annexed for teaching music on 
 a short and easy plan." The lady appears to have been 
 a fairly good amateur musician, and an enthusiast in the 
 provision of suitable music for the service of the Church, 
 but without any knowledge of the theory of music, or 
 experience of publishing and printing. 
 
 It will, however, be far more interesting if she tells her 
 story in her own words: — "It was in June, 1839, that 
 I undertook the attempt to form a choir in our parish 
 church, under the following circumstances ; the whole of 
 the performers, instrumental and vocal, had been dismissed 
 by the minister: a person had been engaged for £^ a 
 year to teach a few of the school children to sing, and 
 about six of them singing in unison, with one man, 
 were placed in the gallery. Nothing could be worse than 
 their performance in tone, time, and tune; the children 
 could not sing more than half a dozen tunes, and these 
 very badly. A wretched flute, and a violin as bad, in- 
 creased the discord, and while each Sunday these sounds 
 appeared to become worse, the former musicians in the 
 pews below were heard laughing aloud at the performance. 
 They were themselves the common specimens of a village 
 band : clarionets, flutes, bassoon, fiddles, and a violoncello, 
 all out of tune, all flourishing on their separate accounts, 
 all drowning in discordant unison the voices they under-, 
 took to lead. I proposed, as matters could not be worse, 
 to try and make them better, and this was permitted. 
 
 " I had in the man the advantage of a good bass voice, 
 and of sufficient knowledge to sing the bass parts of some 
 few tunes with tolerable steadiness. I dismissed two or 
 
78 A Layman's Life tJi the 
 
 three children who sang hopelessly out of tune, and took in 
 others, and also two women who had sweet voices. I had 
 from the very first to supply the Church each Sunday, so 
 had no time for preparatory tuition. At first I attempted 
 nothing but a good and steady unison, easy tunes, not too 
 high, such as began on the keynote, for they had no idea 
 of singing the tune properly in any other way. I soon 
 found they could manage this without my help, and then 
 much to their surprise and pleasure I sang a second to 
 them, and in a few weeks a girl of about eleven sang the 
 second part in Church. 
 
 " The people who had never before heard treble voices 
 in parts, without instruments, were delighted with the 
 effect, but said I had procured some instrument and so 
 placed it in the gallery that it could not be seen ! The 
 former band were extremely angry, and quarrels in the 
 parish ran so high that stones were thrown at the ' coffee 
 singers,' as this new choir was called, because I gave them 
 coffee when they came to practise, and they were subjected 
 to all manner of insults. But I persuaded them to be 
 patient, promised them success in their new pursuit, and 
 we went regularly on, and could soon sing enough tunes 
 to prevent any repetition. 
 
 " Then I began to teach them, as I recommend every 
 one else to do from the beginning, in the way described 
 in my little book. I gradually increased the numbers; 
 I got three men with good tenor voices, and three with 
 bass voices, and by Christmas (i.e. in six months) they 
 sang the Christmas hymns so well that one of the chief 
 performers in the former band declared ' he had never 
 heard finer music in his life.' A few months later I 
 divided the music into trio and chorus parts. Opposition 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement ^ 79 
 
 is over, the parishioners are proud of their music, and 
 others come to hear it." 
 
 This good lady having thus achieved a very remarkable 
 success in her own parish was desirous of assisting others 
 by making known her system of teaching, and publishing 
 her book. At this juncture she appUed, as a stranger, to 
 Mr. Acland for his assistance. 
 
 It is not quite clear in what way he assisted her most, 
 but a somewhat voluminous correspondence, and the en- 
 thusiastic manner in which she acknowledged his help, 
 prove that he must have devoted a great deal of time 
 and thought to the subject. A few extracts from her 
 letters will make this clear : — 
 
 " July 3rd, 1840. My dear Sir, If I were to bestow 
 on you all the words I feel incUned to use to express my 
 gratitude for the valuable assistance you have (among all 
 your more important occupations) found time so kindly 
 to give me, it would be but an evil return for such aid. 
 I will, therefore, only say that I am most truly obliged 
 to you for so much treasure, as this beautiful selection 
 may well be called. It lias but just reached me, and 
 I have only given myself time to play over and well 
 relish its contents, before I sit down to thank you for 
 this set of gems, and for the most kind offer of further 
 assistance. However selfish I may seem I do at least 
 shew that I appreciate the value of this assistance by 
 assuring you that I will most gladly avail myself of it." 
 
 " I purposed writing a string of questions to Cramer 
 about the expense of pubUshing, but a letter from a 
 person of no note is a very different thing from questions 
 laid before these people under7<?/^r sanction; I will there- 
 fore forward to you the letter which I think of writing to 
 
8o , A Layman s Life in the 
 
 them, and ask you to make it more intelligible, and add 
 any necessary particulars which you may think advisable." 
 
 "July 14th, 1840. My dear Sir, I hope you will not 
 consider that I am trespassing beyond all reasonable 
 bounds in thus again intruding on your time, but I have 
 only now received Mr. Cramer's note, and I am very 
 
 anxious to lay it before you I have been a little 
 
 shocked, since I have become learned through your in- 
 structions, at the chanting in ... . Church, which appears 
 solely under the management of an Organist, by whom 
 all regulations either of sense, measure, or custom, seem 
 utterly set at nought. His choir follow him like a flock 
 of sheep, and scramble over hedge, ditch, and gap, in 
 a succession of leaps and pauses which would baffle the 
 most supple and experienced practitioner." 
 
 "Dec, 1840 I have given you as true and 
 
 accurate a sketch as I could of the details of my pro- 
 ceedings " (in forming the Church choir). " The mode I 
 would recommend to others I have put in 02ir little book, 
 of which I fully believe the only right and scientific part 
 is yours. I know nothing whatever of any science under 
 the sun. Here I grope in darkness, and am only wise 
 enough to be thankful for being taught, and I am truly 
 glad to have such friendly aid." 
 
 The book must have had a very good sale notwith- 
 "standing the modest estimate which the Authoress took 
 of her work. Cramer very willingly published a second 
 edition at his own expense, and in April, 1841, there 
 were plans being laid for a third edition, when she writes 
 amusingly about some hitch in the publication : — 
 
 " Dear Mr. Acland, What has been the nature of the 
 disorder with which my poor Church Psalmody has been 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 8 1 
 
 afflicted I cannot describe to you, for I cannot guess 
 myself. Whether it has pined away in an atrophy, or 
 has perished by a violent death, I could not tell, nor could 
 I discover. The great obligation I am under to you on 
 its account made me really anxious to inform you of its 
 fate, but all that I could have told you was that I be- 
 lieved it had vanished oif the face of the earth, leaving only 
 its echo (a tolerably loud one) in our church, and in your 
 
 most clear and interesting papers The very first 
 
 copy (of the new edition) that reaches my hands I de- 
 dicate to send to you. Your knowledge of the science, 
 your taste and judgment, so conspicuous even to those who 
 have not (like me) heard your own performance, instead 
 of making you a severe critic, have allowed you to look 
 so kindly on my want of knowledge as to encourage and 
 lend me a helping hand, which I shall always remember 
 with gratitude. I had not the most rernote idea of pub- 
 lication when I began, or of doing more than improving 
 our poor execrable village choir. The tunes in their 
 own MS. books were mostly written for their own vile 
 instruments. Some tunes had no parts at all, others 
 were arranged for flutes, hautbois, and violoncello, in 
 many cases impracticable for voices, and all transcribed 
 so imperfectly as to be utterly unintelligible." 
 
 Here we must leave the authoress and her work, find- 
 ing it indeed difficult to realize the state of Church music 
 with which she and her friend had to deal, but making 
 us feel how much honour is due to those who began 
 to break the soil and sow the seed which in our own 
 times has sprung up and borne fruit an hundred- 
 fold. 
 
 One more letter bearing on Arthur Acland's reputation 
 
 G 
 
82 A LaynimCs Life, cv^. 
 
 for a sound judgment and anxiety to help in a reformation 
 of Church music may conclude this chapter : — 
 
 "Kidderminster. June, 1847. My dear Mr. Acland, — 
 I have read with the highest gratification an article in 
 the Christian Remembrancer on Church Choir Music; in 
 my humble opinion it is by far the most able article 
 that has yet been produced on the subject. There 
 is no man in England that could write that article but 
 yourself It would give me heartfelt pleasure to aid in 
 the restoration of our Church music in its most pure, most 
 simple, most congregational form. How to effect this I 
 know not — will you come to my aid? Tell me what 
 description of music ought to be performed in our 
 churches, and at what parts of the service. It would be 
 a source of comfort, happiness, and pride, could I be 
 among the foremost to assist in putting this long agitated 
 question for ever at rest. 
 
 " You are able to direct ; tell me what to do, and I 
 will endeavour to do it. The evil consists in our not 
 knowing what to do. 
 
 " I hope I am not asking too much. Let me hear 
 from you as soon as you can spare time to write. 
 *' Yours most faithfully and sincerely, 
 
 "William Marshall.*' 
 
 What was the outcome of this earnest cry for help 
 we do not know. This at least is certain, that it was 
 made to a man who never turned a deaf ear to anyone 
 who needed his assistance, advice or guidance. But it 
 is time to leave this interesting subject and to consider 
 some other aspects of Arthur Acland's life and character. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 IDarieb IknowleDoe ant) Hccomplisbments* 
 
 TN the opening chapter, when giving a general description 
 of Arthur i\cland's character, the words of Sir J. T. 
 Coleridge were quoted, his opinion being of especial 
 value, as he was an intimate friend of Sir Thomas Acland, 
 and a rtiost affectionate intercourse w^as maintained be- 
 tween the two families. Sir John was twenty-one years 
 older than Arthur Acland, and was therefore well quaUfied 
 to form a correct estimate of his young friend's character. 
 An attempt will now be made to give some illustrations of 
 Sir John's remark : — '' How ingenious he was, how full 
 of varied knowledge, how accomplished; without a 
 profession he seemed to have qualified himself for 
 several." 
 
 In connection with this opinion of the great lawyer 
 it is interesting to quote the enthusiastic outpouring of 
 a daughter's devotion to her father's memory, written 
 within a few months of his death by a girl of nine 
 teen : — 
 
 " Once," she says, ^' we made a list of what we called 
 his trades and professions, and here they are — optician, 
 microscopist, painter, surveyor, rope-maker, lithographer, 
 turner, carpenter, stonemason, bookbinder, glass painter, 
 architect, astronomer, musician, surgeon, dentist, chemist. 
 
84 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 By all of these we said, and I believe, that he could 
 have gained a livelihood — and he could play nearly 
 twelve instruments of music, though of course not all 
 equally well." 
 
 It is not intended to weary the reader with a lengthened 
 account of the manner in which he developed each and 
 all of these accomplishments. They are mentioned here 
 to exemplify the marvellous activity of his mind, for the 
 greater number of them were merely relaxation from 
 his work, and supplemental to his principal business 
 of life, but they were all, at all times, at the service of 
 those amongst whom he lived ; and as it has been said 
 of him, that he was " even more anxious to do the 
 very thing you wanted, than you were yourself in having 
 it done," it is indeed a matter of surprise how he found 
 time to meet all the demands made upon him. 
 
 With this great variety of pursuits to which he devoted 
 his talents, it is not easy to say which should have the 
 preference, but it is perhaps allowable to conclude that 
 he was especially fond of the study of Astronomy, and 
 the kindred branches of science. We have already noticed 
 how in his early days, before he married, he was fre- 
 quently on board his father's yacht, and was capable 
 of taking and calculating the observations necessary for 
 the navigation of the vessel. His tastes and the natural 
 bend of his character would cause him to take the deepest 
 interest in the marvels of the heavens with their stupendous 
 realities, and illimitable possibilities, raising the thoughts 
 and aspirations of the observer, as they ever must do, 
 to the Supreme Being Who created them and controls 
 their movements. To those who realize his intense and 
 unceasing love of converting things visible into types 
 
Days of the Tract ar tan Movement. 85 
 
 and symbols of things spiritual, this indeed would be 
 almost taken for granted. But Arthur Acland was 
 above all things practical, and invariably used his know- 
 ledge in practical ways. Thus, when living at Dorchester, 
 the clock-makers of the town would come to him for 
 the exact time, which he obtained by the help of a transit 
 instrument which he fixed in his house. 
 
 One of his most favourite astronomical appliances was 
 Dent's Dipleidoscope, and very many of his friends were 
 indebted to him for the erection of this interesting little 
 contrivance for observing the sun pass across the meridian. 
 Sir John Coleridge relates how, when his friend went to 
 stay with him for a few days to obtain a much needed rest, 
 he fixed a stone at his study window on which to set 
 a dipleidoscope. This was merely one among other 
 "amusements; and in truth" (he says) "Arthur amused 
 himself so earnestly, and we had so much talk, that the 
 prescription was useless. Rest he did not, rest, it seemed, 
 he could not." 
 
 This little scientific instrument, which, if used nowadays, 
 would be little more than a scientific toy, consists mainly 
 of two mirrors placed at such an angle that two images 
 of the sun are seen in them except at the moment of the 
 solar noon. An observer looking into the instrument 
 (when properly fixed) would see, a few minutes before noon, 
 the two images ; these images would be noticed gradually 
 drawing in towards one another until the outer edges 
 touched ; they still would be seen continuing their course 
 until they exactly covered each other, appearing as one 
 sun. This is the moment of 12 o'clock, and the two 
 images then commence drifting slowly apart until they 
 finally disappear from sight. 
 
S6 A Lay mail's Life in the 
 
 Reference has already been made (in Chap. III.) to the 
 Cruciform Sun Dial which he cut in stone and presented 
 to the Dorset County Hospital, where it may still be seen. 
 This must also have been a great fascination to him, com- 
 bining, as it does, the holy symbol and the practical use 
 of astronomical science. The shadows which shew the 
 passing hours of the day are cast by the head and the arms 
 of the cross alternately, falling, not as is the case with 
 ordinary dials on a separate plate, but on different portions 
 of the cross itself. And not only are the hours of the day 
 recorded, but the shadows portray the varying seasons 
 of the year ; for as the main shaft of the cross lies in the 
 plane of the ecliptic, the shadows of the arms are thrown 
 below the centre shaft throughout the summer months; 
 and during the winter months the shadows fall above it. 
 It is only at the two equinoctial periods that the shadows 
 exactly coincide with the width of the cross. 
 
 When finally settled at Huntsham, a very fine model 
 of an ordinary Horizontal Dial was fixed by him, which 
 was a most useful and valuable addition to a locality 
 far removed from all railway and telegraphic centres. 
 Here also in course of time he erected a small observatory, 
 which contained a good Transit Instrument and other 
 astronomical appliances. Some of the earliest recollections 
 of his children are connected with this his favourite science ; 
 whether it were being allowed to observe the sun pursuing 
 its apparent course over the lines of the transit instrument, 
 or recording the seconds of the large astronomical clock ; 
 or perhaps more forcibly still might recur the thought and 
 the feelings of being taken out of bed wrapped in a blanket, 
 and into a room in the roof of the house to see a total 
 eclipse of the moon. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 87 
 
 Another favourite method of interesting others in this 
 engrossing subject was by means of a magic lantern which 
 he possessed and frequently used. He had a capital series 
 of moveable slides illustrating many astronomical subjects, 
 especially those connected with the solar system, which 
 lend themselves readily to such treatment. 
 
 He also made great use of the microscope, and had 
 several excellent instruments. Two of these were set 
 apart for the children in the schoolroom, a simple one for 
 the younger children, and a more elaborate instrument for 
 those capable of using it, who were also encouraged to 
 collect objects of interest and mount them on slides for 
 future investigation. 
 
 In connection with home pursuits of a scientific or 
 artistic character, which Arthur Acland both carried on 
 himself and taught his children, may be mentioned pho- 
 tography, which in those days was not at all the simple 
 matter it has now become by the invention of dry plates, 
 and the many ingenious contrivances for saving trouble. 
 Amateurs at that date had to prepare their own plates, 
 and take them straight from the dark room to the camera ; 
 and there were in consequence very few who were either 
 willing or capable of. practising this art. 
 
 Bookbinding was another source of interesting and 
 pleasant occupation, which is now, as it was then, some- 
 what out of the common. It is perhaps surprising that it 
 is not more cultivated, for there is no great difficulty.in the 
 work, which lends itself to the development of considerable 
 skill, both manual and artistic. A few bookbinding tools 
 and appliances might fill a useful place in many house- 
 holds ; music, magazines, or collections of picture?, would 
 often be better preserved. if cheaply bound, which can be 
 
88 A Layina?i's Life in the 
 
 very easily accomplished at home. Arthur Acland, how- 
 ever, excelled in this work as he did in nearly everything 
 he essayed to do. There are still extant several examples 
 of his handiwork. At the chapel of the Holy Evan- 
 gelist, Killerton, near Exeter, the home of his boyhood, 
 there are in use two handsome volumes of Altar Office 
 books, bound in dark blue velvet with broad borders, 
 corners, and clasps in brass, and a cross in the centre. 
 Similar volumes are to be seen also in the Church of All 
 Saints, Dorchester, but are not now in use, though in 
 excellent preservation. All these books in addition to 
 being bound by Mr. Acland, are enriched with illumi- 
 nated title-pages executed by him. A set of books of 
 the same description was made for the Church of Hursley 
 and given to his friend the Rev. J. Keble. In a letter 
 dated 23rd Sunday after Trinity, 1847, ^r. Keble writes 
 to Mrs. Acland : — " Accept my best Sunday thanks for 
 your most kind enquiries, and still more for what did my 
 very heart good, the improved account of your dexr hus- 
 band, my too kind and forgiving friend. To think that 
 I should have never yet repHed to his kind offer of books 
 for the Church, and now I am afraid lest it should be im- 
 prudent to write directly to himself. .... As to binding 
 Office books for our Church, I can only say that anything 
 of the kind from his hand would be dear and welcome to 
 me, nor have we yet any offer which would interfere with 
 it. But I must depend upon you, my dear Mrs. Acland, 
 not to let him exert himself in any degree or manner 
 which you may think unadvisable for him. I must leave 
 off in haste, being always, with kind love from myself and 
 wife to you all, my dear friends both 
 
 '' Affectionately yours, J. Keble." 
 
Days of the Tractariajt Movement. 89 
 
 Entries in his diary at the beginning of the year 1848 
 shew that the offer so graciously accepted was speedily 
 carried out, and also give a little information as to the 
 manner in which it was done: — ''Jan. loth. Began de- 
 signing Hursley books. Jan. cQth. Preparing books and 
 tools for Mr. Keble's books. Jan. 25th. Finished books 
 except tooling. Feb. 26th. Finished velvet work for 
 Hursley book. Feb. 27th. Vellum and leather do." 
 
 The three books bear date Trinity Sunday, 1848. This 
 may have some connection with the restoration of Hursley 
 Church, which Mr. Keble had taken in hand at that time. 
 They are all similar as regards the contents, being the 
 Offices for Holy Communion, Baptism, and the other 
 Occasional Offices, but omitting both Confirmation and 
 the Catechism. 
 
 One is bound in white leather on wooden boards with 
 bevelled edges, and is inscribed, ''Book of Offices for 
 use at the Font, Hursley : " and on the flyleaf are the 
 words : — 
 
 FOR THE LITTLE CHILDREN IN HURSLEY 
 
 PRAY YE 
 
 THAT THEY RECEIVING THE FULNESS OF THE GRACE OF GOD 
 
 MAY EVER REMAIN IN THE NUMBER OF 
 
 HIS FAITHFUL AND ELECT CHILDREN. 
 
 Another is bound in red velvet on wood boards, with 
 
90 A Layjfian^s Life t7t the 
 
 gilt edges, finely tooled, and bears the inscription, " Book 
 of Offices for Use at the Altar, Hursley." 
 
 FOR FATHERS AND MOTHERS IN HURSLEY 
 
 PRAY YE 
 
 THAT GOD WOULD POUR UPON THEM THE RICHES OF HIS 
 
 GRACE, AND SO SANCTIFY AND BLESS THEM THAT 
 
 THEY MAY PLEASE HIM IN BODY AND SOUL, 
 
 AND LIVE TOGETHER IN HOLY LOVE 
 
 UNTO THEIR LIVES END. 
 
 The third volume is bound in the darkest purple leather 
 on thick boards, with the title, " Book of Offices for Use 
 at the Grave, Hursley." 
 
 FOR THE AGED AND DYING AT HURSLEY 
 
 PRAY YE 
 
 THAT WITH ALL THOSE WHO ARE DEPARTED IN THE 
 
 TRUE FAITH OF GOD's HOLY NAME, THEY MAY 
 
 REST IN PEACE, AND BE PARTAKERS OF 
 
 HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM. 
 
 The whole of the work is excellent, and it is difficult 
 to realize that it was done by a mere amateur, in the 
 intervals of many other important and engrossing occupa- 
 tions, and in truth the art of bookbinding can only have 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 91 
 
 been learnt by him as a relaxation, one might almost say 
 as a pastime ; but whatever his hand found to do he did 
 it truly with all his might. 
 
 Frequent use was also made of a lithographic printing 
 press, and when settled on his property in Devonshire, 
 with a great increase of responsibility and very many 
 additional occupations, it must have proved of consider- 
 able value. At this time his daughters were of an age 
 to be able to help him in many of his duties. Property 
 notices, designs, plans and drawings, church music, and 
 circular letters were continually being turned out. A 
 room was set apart for this purpose, and even the younger 
 members of the family spent many a happy and useful 
 hour ^ in assisting at the more elementary parts of the 
 business. 
 
 These and numerous other arts and handicrafts were 
 learnt in his young days, and probably mastered in their 
 essential principles while yet he was free from the more 
 serious duties of life. The influence of his father, and 
 the lessons he learnt in his home life, started him in the 
 course which he followed so faithfully. Although he was 
 never allowed to embrace any specific profession, he was 
 taught from the first, as we have seen, to make a proper 
 use of every hour, and as a boy especially in the evenings 
 to cultivate some interesting mechanical employment. 
 Throughout life he had continual opportunities of im- 
 proving himself in one or other of these arts, and when 
 at last he found himself settled at Huntsham he built 
 an annex to the house in which all these various branches 
 of work were taught, developed, and turned to useful 
 account. 
 
 But it is time now to turn from these home industries 
 
92 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 and to shew how he employed his talents in the fur- 
 therance of matters of more public utility. Over and 
 over again have his friends remarked : " How could one 
 man find time to master so many diverse subjects?" 
 A great and enduring industry and concentration of 
 thoughts may be taken for granted, but perhaps in ad- 
 dition there must have been a peculiar power of being 
 able to grasp at once the essentials of the subject he 
 was engaged upon, so that every moment was employed 
 profitably for the furtherance of the object in view. 
 
 It has been stated more than once that Arthur Acland 
 never aspired to fill any public or official position, but he 
 was at all times ready to help those who appealed to him, 
 whether the call came from his private friends or from 
 persons engaged in public business. Thus we find that 
 he was for several years on the Council of the Bath and 
 West of England Agricultural Society, with special con- 
 nection with the machinery department. In the year 
 1852 a new chapter may be said to have been opened in 
 the life of this Society. The objects of the Society (as is 
 well known) are " the encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, 
 Manufactures and Commerce." In this same year a new 
 chapter opened in the life of Arthur Acland, for it was 
 in 1852 that he was called to take up the very heavy 
 responsibilities of the management of a large landed 
 property. 
 
 The account of this work, which taxed his energies to 
 the utmost, will be reserved for a' later part of this me- 
 moir, but a reference may well be made now to an im- 
 portant share he was given in this reformed Bath and 
 West of England Society. 
 
 At the commencement of his life as a landed proprietor, 
 
Days of the Tradarian Moveme7tt. 93 
 
 it is probable that he had very Httle practical knowledge 
 of agriculture, but his acquaintance with scientific subjects 
 proved most useful at a time when improved machinery, 
 and especially the application of steam power, was coming 
 to the fore. Thus we find in the Society's Journal for 1854, 
 and again in the volume for 1855, articles by Mr. Arthur 
 Acland (or as he was then called Mr. Troyte) entitled, 
 *' Report on the Trial of Steam Engines " exhibited at 
 the respectives Shows at Bath and Tiverton. The ob- 
 ject of these trials was to discover by means of prizes, 
 and of actual and practical tests, the type of steam en- 
 gines most suitable for agricultural purposes. The Report 
 opens thus : " The value of the Society's proceedings in 
 other departments has already been extensively felt and 
 acknowledged. It was not to be expected that it would 
 be so soon perceived in a matter in which by far the 
 larger number of practical agriculturists have no experience 
 at all, and where even among those who have some ex- 
 perience it has been purchased dearly by the possession 
 of a badly constructed engine." The trials were con- 
 ducted under the direction of Mr. Amos, assisted by Mr. 
 Edward Easton, of the house of Easton and Amos, but 
 there can be no doubt that although Mr. ,Troyte had 
 not the necessary professional qualifications to act as 
 arbiter, he was well able to prepare and present the 
 report, and to deal with the various questions which 
 were of importance to the farming interest, which he 
 sums up as being " aids to purchasers in securing me- 
 chanical power of a simple, durable, and economical 
 kind." 
 
 The four meetings of the Society with which he was 
 connected were held at Taunton, Plymouth, Bath, and 
 
^4 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 Tiverton. At the last named place there was in addi- 
 tion to the usual departments, " an exhibition of works 
 of art, models, and natural curiosities held in the Athe- 
 naeum, in aid of the church restoration fund, and to- 
 wards founding a hospital." He took the greatest in- 
 terest in this exhibition, sending to it a large collection 
 of " philosophical instruments," and giving practical illus- 
 trations of various electrical experiments, and instruction 
 in astronomical problems. 
 
 This exhibition was not an actual part of the " Bath and 
 West" Meeting; it was not in the Showyard, and; was 
 opened on 31st May, 1855, whereas the Agricultural 
 Meeting did not commence till the 5th Tune ; but there 
 can be little doiibt that it was so arranged as to coincide 
 with the Annual Meeting of the Society, and perhaps with 
 the definite object of creating interest in matters too often 
 neglected by the rural population. It was at any rate 
 an excellent opportunity of bringing to their notice subjects 
 which would naturally never come into their lives; subjects 
 which might well assist to raise their thoughts and elevate 
 their characters. It is not known now how much of this 
 excellent scheme was due to Mr. Troyte's initiative, but 
 both his father, Sir Thomas, and his brother were con- 
 spicuous for their share in furthering the exhibition by 
 loans of pictures and works of art ; and moreover, within 
 a very few years, a department of *' Art " was started as 
 part of the regular work of the Annual Meetings of the 
 Bath and West, with Mr. T. D. Acland as Chairman of 
 the Committee. It is not a great stretch of imagination 
 to discover the germ of this development in the Tiverton 
 Exhibition. 
 
 Arthur Acland's elder brother was one of the principal 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movemetit. 95 
 
 organizers, and one of the hardest workers for the " Bath 
 and West Society." He was interested in many depart- 
 ments, and editor of the Journal, and even a cursory 
 glance at the correspondence of the two brothers during 
 these years shews that Arthur Acland was continually 
 written to and writing on this subject. Those who were 
 in any way responsible for the arrangements of the annual 
 meetings found it by no means a sinecure. Work of 
 this description is far harder to initiate, than to carry on 
 year after year when once a system has been adopted. 
 Officials trained by long experience find no difficulty 
 in matters which entailed something approaching actual 
 hardships on those who had to evolve and inaugurate 
 the system. A letter from Arthur Troyte to his wife, 
 written from the Showyard at Taunton, throws a little 
 light on the amount of work that had to be got through by 
 those who were responsible for the arrangements. " This is 
 a pretty good knock up sort of work ; I did not finish my 
 breakfast till after one o'clock, and then about 5 o'clock 
 got a shilling's worth of gravy soup with some calves' 
 head in it, and a glass of currant wine. Since then 
 I have had some tea quietly at the lodgings. I was 
 prudent enough to get a fly for the distant fields. I 
 have met Sillivant, Mr. Porter, and many others. Such 
 a gathering in the place I am looking down now, a 
 street crowded with flags and evergreens, and treeS planted 
 all up the sides, a plough just outside my window, a,nd 
 heaps of people in the streets. If there were not a world 
 beyond, it would indeed be wearing to live here," He 
 was not one to mind hard work, and was invariably 
 an early riser ; a letter of this sort, therefore^ really 
 implies more than appears on the surface. 
 
96 A Lay mail's Life in the 
 
 One other way in which he made use of knowledge 
 acquired in his early life for the good of those with 
 whom he lived may be referred to here. Soon after 
 leaving college he determined to master some of the 
 elementary facts of medicine and surgery, but without 
 any intention of following it professionally. In these 
 days such a course might by some persons be taken excep- 
 tion to ', the services of medical men or duly trained 
 nurses can be almost always obtained without any great 
 delay, but it was not so at the time to which we refer. 
 Nothing would have been further from his wishes or 
 intentions than to usurp the province of professional 
 men ; but there were many occasions in outlying country 
 places where his knowledge might prove useful to his 
 poorer neighbours. A letter written by one who helped 
 him to acquire this knowledge proves clearly the object 
 he had in view : — " More than twenty years have passed 
 since the time when (Arthur Acland) used to go to St. 
 George's Hospital. He came and visited with me daily 
 the Wards of the Hospital which were under my care. 
 I endeavoured to teach him how to recognize the features 
 of disease, and to make him acquainted with their nature. 
 I find in my journal that he was anxious to obtain a 
 knowledge of the diseases to which the human body is 
 liable, with the view of assisting the poor in his neigh- 
 bourhood, by sending to them a medical man as soon 
 as he should find it necessary. It was in February, 1838, 
 that he commenced his visits. He was very constant 
 and dihgent in his efforts to gaia knowledge, and con- 
 tinued to go to the Hospital with the object I have named 
 for several months. He is one of those persons whose 
 memory I like to recall to my mind. He appeared above 
 
Days of the Tract arian Movement. 97 
 
 all men I ever knew to live the life of a Christian. His 
 interest in what surrounded him was subordinate to and 
 influenced by his deep religious faith. I need not say 
 that I respected and loved him. I never knew anyone 
 who was acquainted with him who had other feelings than 
 respect and love for him. 
 
 "Robert Nairne." 
 In his various homes he had many opportunities of 
 carrying out this most laudable ambition. As early as 
 1836 he writes to a friend, ''I have had my time 
 pretty well occupied as a ' Dispensing Chemist.' " At 
 the County Hospital at Dorchester his knowledge must 
 have been of material assistance in starting the work 
 on correct lines. This is, indeed, borne witness to in 
 the most emphatic manner by Sir John Coleridge : — " I 
 found him," he says, " almost alone, directing a new 
 County Hospital, speaking to the patients by name, 
 knowing every case, dispensing even every important 
 prescription." At Wollaston House, in Dorchester, 
 he set apart two rooms for this very purpose, in 
 which he carried on distilling and compounding of medi- 
 cines. In a letter to a friend written at this time he de- 
 scribes how full of work he was, and among other occu- 
 pations he says, " I have been on my legs for six hours 
 in the laboratory, preparing medicines for the Dorset 
 County Hospital." 
 
 In all his different homes he made good use of this 
 knowledge, he and his wife spending some time every 
 week regularly in dispensing medicines for the benefit of 
 his poorer neighbours. Like all his employments, he de- 
 voted himself to it heartily, and lost no opportunity of 
 learning from others and acquiring experience. When 
 
98 A Layman s Life in the 
 
 spending a week at Leeds on the occasion of the conse- 
 cration of S. Saviour's Church, and when there was 
 a large and influential gathering of devout clergy and 
 laity, their time being pretty fully occupied with frequent 
 services, it is said of him, that his friends were frequently 
 at a loss to account for his absence in what might be 
 termed the periods of relaxation. But it was discovered 
 afterwards that nearly all his spare time was spent at 
 the Hospital. At Teignmouth, during the years 1848 — 
 1852, he was perpetually at work for the Dispensary 
 and new Infirmary. His diaries often contain lists of 
 " patients visited," with the addition of the nature ot 
 their complaints, proving that this formed an important 
 part of his daily regular work. 
 
 The last of his special employments or accomplish- 
 ments, of which mention need be made here, is that of 
 Surveying. It is, perhaps, doubtful if this subject ought 
 not to have been treated as was the subject of Archi- 
 tecture, and been given a more prominent place in this 
 sketch. It forms a very good example of the manner 
 in which he first apparently studied a subject for the 
 mere sake of acquiring knowledge, following it up and 
 perfecting himself in all its details for the love of the 
 matter itself, and finally utilising his powers, and prov- 
 ing his ability by devoting them in the most practical 
 manner to the good of those with whom he lived. 
 
 There are numberless instances on record of this 
 knowledge being made use of, more or less as an amuse- 
 ment, or perhaps it might be more truly expressed as 
 an interesting and profitable employment. Was a question 
 raised as to the distance from one place to another, the 
 measuring chain and arrows would be produced at the 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 99 
 
 earliest opportunity, and the doubt would be set at rest. 
 Was a move being made to a new house, an exact and 
 carefully figured plan would be prepared of all the rooms. 
 At his wife's former home in Dorset, and also on his 
 father's different estates, plans were made, and levels 
 calculated for the formation of paths through the woods 
 or on the hillside. 
 
 At the time of the erection of the tower on the hill 
 near Dorchester in memory of Admiral Sir Thomas 
 Hardy, Arthur Acland was brought into touch with the 
 Government Survey Officers, who had fixed on this 
 very spot as one of their main trigonometrical stations. 
 He no doubt learnt a good deal from this association 
 with men employed on an important national under- 
 taking; it is believed that he also was of some assist- 
 ance in the work, and made friendships of an interesting 
 character which were retained for many years. 
 
 Not only days, but frequently nights were spent in this 
 exposed and bleak situation, with the object probably 
 of checking, by means of observations of the stars, the 
 calculations deduced from observations made by day. 
 A good deal of this work in the form of rough notes 
 remains still to bear witness to his industry. 
 
 Probably the most important instance of his making 
 use of his knowledge of practical surveying was shewn 
 when it became necessary to cut several miles of road 
 through the Huntsham property, but this will be referred 
 to again in a later chapter. 
 
 Some of his most interesting work was, however, 
 carried on at Bude Haven. An excellent " property 
 map " of The Haven and the surrounding district is still 
 preserved, this being entirely his handiwork, undertaken 
 
loo A Layman s Life in the 
 
 at the request of his father. It is not only an excellent 
 map, but exhibits, in addition, no little artistic skill, 
 for on the margin there is an " inlet " containing a small 
 sketch or pictorial representation of some of the prin- 
 cipal features of the map itself, and also some quaint 
 emblematic designs and useful statistics relative to the 
 tides and compass bearings. The scale of yards and 
 miles is represented as a cable, of which the turns of 
 the strands are made to conform to the required spaces 
 of distance. The points of the compass, usually shewn 
 by two plain cross-lines, are here skilfully drawn to 
 appear as an ornamental cross rising out of one of the 
 rocks in the sketch, and a scroll entwining the cross 
 bears the words, " The Earth is the Lord's ; " while the 
 date *' A.D. 1849" is surrounded by a motto, " Tu es 
 Patronus, Tu Parens." 
 
 Another matter which is believed to have been under- 
 taken at the request of the Ordnance Survey officers was 
 the calculation of the exact locality of a well-known and 
 prominent headland called " Efford Beacon." There are 
 frequent references in the diaries to this work, as well 
 as to observations with the Transit instrument, which 
 gave him much employment of a congenial kind, and 
 was also of considerable public utility; the "Beacon" 
 being one of the main points in the survey. 
 
 But more important than all his other work at Bude 
 Haven was the calculation and compilation of the Tide 
 Tables, which remain in use to the present day as a 
 memorial to his abihty and industry. On this wild and 
 storm-beaten coast, with its small harbour — the entrance 
 to which is at all times dangerous, and frequently im- 
 practicable — an exact knowledge beforehand of the height 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement . ^ ^ ^ ^ , -jpi, 
 
 and hour of the tide is ahiiost indispensable. It is in- 
 deed only for a few days at a time, at, before, and after 
 Spring tides that the small trading vessels can hope to 
 enter or leave the Haven ; it is therefore of the utmost 
 importance that the precious opportunity should not be 
 lost. Those who live by the sea, and "exercise their 
 business in the great waters," acquire considerable local 
 knowledge of the tides, and can often, by their experience 
 of the direction and force of the winds, compete success- 
 fully with those who rely on the most acurate scientific 
 calculations. But, as a rule, this local knowledge is of 
 a temporary value, only available on the very day, and 
 is useless at any length of time beforehand : and it is 
 for this reason that a reliable set of Tables, prepared in 
 advance, is so necessary. 
 
 One of the main difficulties always present to the 
 masters of the vessels entering Bude Haven is that after 
 making the harbour they must warp up a narrow channel 
 and find water enough to get through lock gates into 
 a canal where the cargo can be unladen. The problem 
 which Arthur Acland had to solve was to discover the 
 data by means of which he could prepare, a year in 
 advance, tables giving the depth of water at the lock 
 gates. The first set of tables was published in the year 
 1843, but six years before, as early as 1837, preparations 
 were commenced by the recording on a gauge at the 
 lock gate the height of every tide throughout the year. 
 This was accomplished, as far as it was possible to do 
 so, by Mr. Gorman, the Harbour Master. Throughout 
 the same year the heights of the tides at Pembroke were 
 registered under the supervision of the Admiralty, and 
 a careful comparison was made of the two sets of obser- 
 
•I02 A Lay7?ian''s Life in the 
 
 vations. The times of high water both at Pembroke and 
 at Weston-super-Mare were also compared with the re- 
 corded times of high water at Bude, and forms were 
 thus drawn out by means of which the Admiralty Tables 
 could be adapted to Bude Haven. 
 
 For several years he prepared and published these useful 
 Tide Tables, but in the year 1856 he was obliged to 
 relinquish this task owing to the pressure of business ; 
 he therefore had the necessary formulae printed, as he 
 wished to make his last publication permanently useful. 
 In these notes the compiler says, *' He received the most 
 uniform kindness when commencing the calculations from 
 Admiral Beaufort, and afterwards from the Hydrographer 
 to the Admiralty, Captain Washington, as well as from 
 Captain Hardy, the Secretary. Early copies of their 
 Tables were constantly furnished, without which the Bude 
 Tables could not have been prepared before the begin- 
 ning of the year. With a view to future reference the 
 compiler hopes to place among the registers of the Chapel 
 of St. Michael, Bude Haven (now the Parish Church), 
 a copy of all the Tables hitherto published, bound up 
 with these notes." 
 
 One more instance of Arthur Acland's work at Bude 
 must be referred to ere we leave this subject, as it is 
 perhaps as often quoted there to his memory as the 
 more important compilation of the Tide Tables. 
 
 The sandy cove, which is somewhat undeservedly called 
 " the Harbour," is merely a small indentation in the long 
 line of cliffs which extend for many miles along the coast. 
 At low tide the sand lies bare for a considerable distance, 
 even beyond the mouth of the bay, but rugged and 
 dangerous reefs pointing to the open sea protrude at 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 103 
 
 frequent intervals through the sand. The only entrance 
 to the harbour lies between two of these reefs ; on one 
 side the rocks called " Chapel Rocks " are connected to 
 the mainland by the Breakwater, while on the other side 
 only a few hundred yards off lies the "Coach Rock," 
 and on it the " Half Tide Cross." The position for this 
 Cross was calculated by Arthur Acland, and was so placed 
 by him that when the water rises to the level of the arms, 
 it shews the half tide, and also indicates that there is 
 one foot six inches of water at the entrance to the Lock. 
 
 This mark is not of any special value for purposes of 
 navigation, but it is an example of one of those little 
 matters, unimportant in themselves, that seize on the 
 imagination and remain of permanent interest. A day 
 can scarcely ever pass at Bude Haven without many eyes 
 being turned to the Cross, either to see it slowly emerging 
 from its watery grave as the tide runs out, or, as it rises 
 again, to note the first of the ocean waves that are em- 
 braced by its arms. 
 
 Perhaps then there is no occasion for surprise that 
 Arthur Acland's brother-in-law, Mr. Arthur Mills, should 
 have written an attractive little sonnet to commemorate 
 the "Half Tide Cross." Mr. Mills lived there for many 
 years, and became deeply attached to the place during 
 the latter part of his life. " The Haven " indeed exercises 
 a fascination over those who spend any length of time 
 there, which is not always easy to explain. Its isolated 
 position no doubt would hUve appealed to many, for until 
 recently it remained far beyond the reach of railways. 
 The scenery inland is not attractive, and even the coast- 
 line is not sufficiently impressive to account for the de- 
 votion felt for Bude. The glorious stretch of open sea, 
 
104 ^ Layman'' s Life in the 
 
 the magnificence of the waves hurling their " watery 
 columns " direct from the depths of the open Atlantic 
 upon the rugged, storm-beaten shore, these, " the works 
 of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep," create the 
 feelings in so many minds, which are expressed in the 
 following stanzas : — 
 
 THE HALF TIDE CROSS. 
 
 I know no note, I love no tone. 
 Or sound of earthly minstrelsy ; 
 One Music charms my ear alone. 
 The Ancient Music of the sea. 
 
 One Melody I ever crave, 
 
 The murmur of the restless wave. 
 
 But chiefly on this Western shore 
 
 I love to roam, nor ever tire 
 
 Of old Atlantic's distant roar 
 
 From Hennacliff to far Pentire. 
 
 And track the fringe of silvery spray 
 That wreathes each rock and winding bay. 
 
 Onward the watery columns roll 
 In martial ranks their crested bands, 
 Onward they march o'er yon dark knoll 
 That rises on the yellow sands. 
 
 Where many a year has firmly stood 
 
 The sacred way-mark of the flood. 
 
 Now half thy daily course is run 
 
 That God appointeth unto thee ; 
 
 And half thy daily course is run, 
 
 O busy, never resting sea, 
 
 When first thy glittering wavelets toss 
 Their foam around that lowly Cross. 
 
Days of the Tract arian Movement. 105 
 
 Emblem of faith ! By night, by day, 
 
 The vast battahons of the deep 
 
 To and fro in proud array 
 
 O'er thee in storm and sunshine sweep. 
 But deep thy strong foundations are 
 Beneath the shock of ocean's war. 
 
 But thy dear Architect. The tide * 
 
 Of his brave strife with sin and woe, 
 
 E'er cUnging to the Cross, he died — 
 
 Scarce past Hfe's midway course did flow. 
 
 Still on life's sands "The Steps*" he trod 
 Guide way-worn pilgrims to their God. 
 
 Fifteen winter storms have scathed 
 Dear " Chapel Rock" thy tufted brow, 
 Fifteen Autumn dews have bathed 
 Bright " Summerleaze " as they do now. 
 Since he who dwells with us no more 
 Planted that Symbol on our shore. 
 
 Brother, thou art gone before us 
 To the far silent peaceful land, 
 Where no waves in mournful chorus 
 Chant as on this changeful strand. 
 
 Where thou art gone no storms can be, 
 
 For in that world is no more sea. 
 
 Arthur Mills. 
 Bude Havejij 
 Oct. 1861. 
 
 * "Daily Steps towards Heaven," compiled by Arthur H. D. 
 Acland. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 publtsbeb Mrittnos. Xetter to tbe Zvoo 
 
 m5\)0V5. papers on Musical Bbucation. 
 
 Duties of CburcbwatDens* Ube Ibolp MelL 
 
 n^HE preceding chapters will have shewn very clearly 
 that Arthur Acland's life was abundantly full of work 
 of the most practical nature, which he carried on with the 
 closest personal supervision, devoting a large amount of 
 time to the actual preparation of details which are almost 
 always entrusted to the professional architect, or clerk of 
 the works. 
 
 All this would indeed have proved sufficient occupation 
 for most men, but in addition he found time to compile 
 several important devotional works, and to contribute very 
 largely to many of the leading topics of the day. This 
 combination of an intensely practical life, with deep reli- 
 gious feelings, is indeed plainly visible in all he did or 
 wrote. The two sides of his character never clashed, but 
 were woven into a beautiful and harmonious whole. The 
 best and truest life (it has been well said) is one made up of 
 two forms of service — active labours and inward devotion. 
 And so writes Keble in the " Christian Year, in the lines 
 (selected as a Preface to this Memoir) from the poem 
 for S. Matthew's Day, where the life of devotion apart 
 from the world is contrasted with the life of those 
 
A LaymaiCs Life, &^c. 107 
 
 Who carry music in their heart 
 Through dusky lane, and wranghng mart, 
 Plying their daily task with busier feet 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." 
 
 In this and the following chapter some attempt will be 
 made to consider Arthur Acland's position as a thinker 
 and writer, possessed of a remarkable intimacy with the 
 works of the great divines and the early Fathers, and 
 the wielder of a ready pen in dealing with many diverse 
 subjects. 
 
 The first of the publications to be noticed, which is 
 probably also one of his earliest efforts, takes the form 
 of "A Letter to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishops of 
 Exeter and Salisbury, and through them to the Rev. 
 their clergy on the present state of Religious Societies, 
 and the mode of obtaining contributions in aid ot 
 Christian objects." 
 
 The first edition was published anonymously, for as 
 the author says in a later edition, "I withheld my name, 
 though it was known to both your Lordships and a few 
 friends whose counsel I had sought and obtained, because 
 I feared that it might give pain to some, and I conceived 
 that the truth could gain nothing by the addition of it." 
 
 There can be no doubt that " The Letter " caused some 
 stir in the two Dioceses, and created considerable dis- 
 cussion. The second edition bears the name of the 
 Author, for he remarks in the Preface that " circum- 
 stances have occurred which make it appear advisable 
 that I should avow myself the writer, and I the less hesi- 
 tate to do so, as within these dioceses very many persons 
 have become by some means acquainted with the fact. 
 A few alterations have been made of expressions which 
 
io8 A Laymmi^s Life in the 
 
 seem to have given unintended offence, and which do 
 not involve a retraction of any of the principles advocated 
 in it. A postscript has also been added in consequence 
 of remarks which have been made upon it to myself in 
 a manner which requires some notice." 
 
 The " Letter " evidently went straight to the pointy and 
 dealt with what the author considered to be serious evils ; 
 yet they were so prevalent, so closely connected with the 
 current of Church-life at that time, and supported by so 
 many of the active members of the Church, that it must 
 have needed no small amount of courage to throw down 
 the gauntlet, and challenge the correctness of the system. 
 It must have been all the more difficult to face, for in 
 themselves and in their objects they were working for a 
 good cause. The motives were good, the methods bad, 
 in Mr. Acland's opinion, and he did his best in this pub- 
 lication to counteract the great multiplication of Church 
 societies and the manner in which public meetings were 
 organised and advertised as a means for obtaining money 
 for charitable objects. Much of what he said sixty years 
 ago might well be taken to heart at the present day, and 
 many useful lessons might be learnt from his fearless and 
 outspoken words. Not that it would be possible or even 
 advisable to carry out literally all his suggestions, but the 
 system he objected to then has been developed and ex- 
 tended ten-fold, or a hundred-fold, in this twentieth century, 
 when scarcely a year passes without some new church 
 organization being started, and when a meeting for even 
 the most solemn purposes is counted a failure unless a 
 celebrity can be retained for the occasion, and his name 
 displayed in large type on posters and circulars. 
 
 That there should be any division amongst Christians 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 109 
 
 seemed to Arthur Acland to be "a fearful calamity;" "that 
 separatists differ amongst themselves is no great evil, but 
 if the Church be divided against itself, how shall it stand ? '^ 
 He continues, " Now, there is some fear that without a 
 healthy control there will be much division and want of 
 union, even in a professed support of the Church. Of this 
 two instances suffice — the co-existence of the Society for 
 Propagating the Gospel, and the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety; and again, the Curates' Fund and Pastoral Aid 
 Society. So long as the heads of the Church act only 
 as individuals, and each person who is actuated by reli- 
 gious zeal thinks it right, by the assistance of a few 
 friends, to lay the foundations of any association which 
 seems to them valuable in its object, and make a public 
 appeal, there is no prospect either of a wholesome economy 
 in the distribution of our alms, nor of any union in the 
 objects to which those alms are directed." 
 
 Strange words, surely, are these to our ears, who are 
 accustomed to the existence of a separate society, union, 
 or association, to; promote and encourage the different 
 aspects of every phase of doctrine. 
 
 But it is necessary in this memoir to quote his own 
 words, and to give expression to his opinions as he 
 gave them to his contemporaries. It is only by such 
 means that a just estimate can be made of his character. 
 Had this been written shortly after his death, by one per- 
 haps who had helped him in his work, had shared his 
 friendship, and enjoyed his confidence, much might have 
 been recorded which cannot possibly be said now. As 
 it is, an appeal must be made to his own writings, which 
 tell their own tale, and in this way " he being dead,, 
 yet speaketh." 
 
tio A Lay mafias Life in the 
 
 The letter was written in 1839, when the Tractarian 
 movement was making no small stir, and religious dif- 
 ferences were becoming more strongly accentuated. Arthur 
 Acland, in the vigour of his youthful activity (for at 
 this time he was only twenty-eight years old), was con- 
 nected with the management of several societies, "con- 
 ducted by persons in the Church of very different opinions 
 and habits," and he came to the conclusion that they 
 all had one common fault, viz. : that " they were purely 
 voluntary in their objects, constitutions, and conduct ; that 
 while apparently connected with the Church they merely 
 created additional confusion, and orginated separate ob- 
 jects of interest in themselves, instead of promoting the 
 unity of the Church." He says, moreover, that *' he 
 considers that on the clergy rests the responsibility of 
 directing our minds to sound Church principles, and that 
 he (a layman) has no right to address the clergy collec- 
 tively '''' on such a subject; he therefore sends his sug- 
 gestions to the Bishops of the two Dioceses with which 
 jie is connected, trusting that they may, in this manner, 
 reach the persons for whom they are intended. 
 
 He evidently felt very strongly that in all matters affect- 
 ing the interests or the work of the Church, the organiza- 
 tion and the duly appointed officials of the Church should 
 be supreme ; whereas now the contrary is the case, for 
 "each of us has his favourite society, each his own pro- 
 ject of religious utility ; and there is, alas, but this one 
 feature in common to all, that they are in their constitution 
 independent of the Church and her authority. And 
 besides this evil which accrues to the Church, there is 
 a very serious one which relates to her individual mem- 
 bers. Their minds are withdrawn from her as the di- 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. i j i 
 
 vinely appointed channel for receiving and distributing the 
 alms of her members, who now, in many cases, propor- 
 tion their alms to the degree of influence, or the num- 
 ber of votes obtained with reference to the distribution 
 of the funds collected ; and those who would give in 
 private, unseen by any but their Father's eye, are called 
 on for their names, as well as their subscriptions. 
 
 "The societies themselves, not acting as under the 
 Church, have to employ travelling agents, local committees, 
 extensive advertisements, expensive reports, and other 
 details. They entail the questionable effect of frequent 
 public meetings on the minds of those who uphold them 
 and a serious waste of time to the clergy generally ; and 
 by this system we have been led to neglect the weekly 
 almsgiving, to which we should be exhorted from the 
 altar by our own minister, and if an appeal is to be 
 made it is by some stranger, who, by his novelty, may 
 attract, or by his eloquence, persuade. 
 
 " We have long been in a state of commercial excite- 
 ment, and a commercial tone has infected all we do. 
 Even in religious associations or private charities, there 
 is a spirit of calculation, a spirit of competition, a spirit 
 of publicity, which are essentially opposed to the spirit 
 of faith, unity, and humility. I feel assured that no one 
 who has been behind the scenes in the practical working 
 of our religious societies can fail to know how painfully 
 true this statement is. When will the members of our 
 Church learn that they lower her character when they 
 receive on her behalf the produce of those pomps and 
 vanities which she has engaged them to renounce ; when 
 they encourage the collection of funds by exciting speeches, 
 by balls, lotteries, and bazaars, instead of teaching the 
 
112 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 world how little the Church values the products of earthly 
 frivolities." 
 
 After he has devoted several pages to justify these 
 principles, the author makes some practical suggestions. 
 The first is interesting, as throwing a light on the customs 
 of the time: — "May not our pastors revive with ad- 
 vantage the practice of inviting the alms of their congre- 
 gations on every Sabbath Day, calling for assistance for 
 the several purposes of the Church. Such a practice if 
 revived and adhered to would lessen materially the neces- 
 sity for a number of public meetings for the purpose of 
 raising subscriptions." 
 
 Another proposal was that wherever the parochial sys- 
 tem was insufficient, the Bishops themselves should start 
 and control the organization necessary : " Those who are 
 anxious to promote the unity of the Church would be well 
 content to look to an Episcopal appeal as ultimate, and 
 in those cases where it seems advisable to send persons 
 acquainted with the details of objects of interest, how 
 much more after the pattern of the Apostolic ages would 
 it be if they were sent by the Bishops to assemble the 
 Clergy, and to stir them up to the work by such arguments 
 as they might be advised to use, and through them address 
 the congregations committed to their charge. 
 
 *' Is it too much to ask your Lordships to consider 
 the case of those who look with deep reverence at your 
 high and holy calling, and whose energies would be far 
 more effectually called forth when exhorted by an episcopal 
 letter, or through their pastors acting under episcopal 
 authority, because they would then hear the voice of their 
 Lord by the commissioned minister of His Church ? " 
 
 Much more might be added to these extracts did space 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. T13 
 
 permit. The whole " Letter " is full of interest, and worthy 
 of careful consideration. Some persons might, perhaps, 
 dismiss it as merely the outpourings of an idealist, but 
 the objects for which he was striving were essentially 
 practical. Every page is full of the utmost humility and 
 of the most ardent love for the Church and the Church's 
 system, and of expressions of a true devotional spirit. 
 
 In this way we gain a very clear insight into one impor- 
 tant phase of Arthur Acland's character. 
 
 Almost all his published writings deal with religious 
 subjects ; they are either devotional works or connected 
 with Church questions ; an exception, however, must be 
 made in the case of the papers now to be mentioned. 
 In the early months of 1841 he contributed a series 
 of Articles or Letters to the " Educational Magazine," 
 entitled, "On Musical Notation, and the Present State 
 of Musical Education.'* The series was never com- 
 pleted in its original form, as the Magazine itself came 
 to an end when only four Letters had been published, but 
 they were reprinted in book form with some additional 
 matter later in the year. 
 
 The Author in his Preface states that ''they are amongst 
 many other attempts which real lovers of Music in 
 its highest character have made of late to aid in its 
 revival." He writes with special reference to Psalmody, 
 and with the hope that Church music especially may 
 be raised to a higher level than it rested on at that 
 date. 
 
 As regards the system of Notation he is at great pains 
 to shew how admirably the modern system is adapted 
 to all possible requirements, and to deprecate any attempt 
 to supersede it. At that time proposals were being ad- 
 
114 ^ Laymatis Life in the 
 
 vocated by Miss Glover to introduce a new method 
 of musical writing, and all his arguments against it would 
 apply equally well to the *' Tonic Sol-Fa " system, which 
 was a development of Miss Glover's method. He says, 
 *' It is a serious thing to have sent through the Country 
 a new nomenclature for such a science as Music, when 
 the existing one possesses advantages immeasurably above 
 all others. In such a case it is a duty to raise a re- 
 monstrance. I have no intention of being an apologist ; 
 the perfected system of ages requires no apology ; it 
 is full of the most beautiful adaptation to that which 
 it professes to represent, and at every turn its very 
 structure presents us with something that reminds us (if 
 we will but attend) of the principles of that science of 
 which it is to the eye the representative. For it presents 
 to the eye at once an outHne, if not a picture, of that 
 which is presented by the sounds to the ear. To those 
 who are accustomed to view music in this light, a page 
 of it presents a complete image of that which would 
 be heard when played (examples are here given), an 
 effect which a mere line of letters entirely fails to do. 
 A ready eye will catch the spirit and meaning of the 
 author from what he sees before him, before his fingers 
 or voice are called on to perform their mechanical part." 
 
 In the second article, he laments the fact that 
 Music is not more generally taught in England, shew- 
 ing that in other countries " Music flows forth as the 
 stream from a natural spring, fresh and free, recognised 
 and loved by the high and the low, by the educated 
 and uneducated alike." 
 
 '' Music with us is looked on as an accomplishment, 
 and very much limited to the female sex ; and, as it 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 115 
 
 respects the pupil, she follows it as a means of personal 
 exhibition, as it respects the master, he knows that his 
 credit depends upon the mechanical attainments of his 
 pupil. The performer is wrapt up — not in the thoughts 
 or intention of the composer — but in an anxious looking 
 for the impression produced by her own performance. 
 Hence all the compliments, and refusals, and blushes, 
 and sighs which attend the pianoforte performances of 
 most musical evenings." 
 
 " Music should on no account be taught as an amuse- 
 ment or accomplishment merely, but for its own sake 
 be made a systematic part of education in families and 
 in schools." 
 
 Another interesting point strongly urged, is that from 
 the very beginning special attention should be paid to 
 intervals^ instead of to the mere names of notes, and to as- 
 sist this form of instruction, figures or numbers (i, 3, 5, 8, 
 &c.) should be written under the notes on the music 
 paper, so that the sounds become associated with the 
 name of the interval. Any one acquainted with the 
 "theory" of music will at once realise how extremely 
 helpful this would be as a first step in learning "Har- 
 mony," and in continuation he shews a further use for 
 this system ; he says, " My own habit of attending to the 
 intervals has enabled me to avail myself of it as a kind 
 of musical shorthand, which has been very useful to me 
 both for rapid copying and also for taking down chants 
 or simple tunes by ear, using only the figures for that 
 purpose, and finding it perfectly easy either to play or to 
 transcribe from them afterwards." Following on naturally 
 from the study of intervals comes the advice to acquire 
 a moderate knowledge of concords and discords, and 
 
ii6 A Lay /nan'' s Life m the 
 
 the rules for their resolution, and also for modulating 
 from one key to another, with the assurance that there 
 is no real difficulty in it. *' I speak only," he says, " of 
 that which everyone ought to know if they would be 
 musicians at all \ of that without which they may rival 
 a musical snuff-box or an automaton, but they will never 
 rise beyond the position which the mere manipulist bears 
 to the intelligent practitioner in any other department 
 of science." 
 
 " There is no part of the subject upon which it would 
 give me greater pleasure to throw out suggestions than 
 this one of modulation ; for I am persuaded that if those 
 who now aim at nothing higher than a good execution 
 of modern music, could the least conceive the pleasure 
 and delight which arise from following harmony from 
 key to key, and from chord to chord, as it may chance 
 to lead them, or as they may have skill to direct its 
 movements, tliey would gladly give up some part of their 
 labours to attain sufficient knowledge of the subject to 
 accomplish this end ; and in order to attain moderate 
 facility in understanding and originating modulations, 
 I must again urge the great importance of learning the 
 elements of music as a system of intervals. For certain 
 chords and intervals are expressive of certain feelings, 
 and they would be ever at hand, let the key be what 
 it might, if the particular interval and movement, and 
 not the identical notes, were once impressed on the 
 memory." 
 
 In the fourth article he goes more deeply into the 
 principles of modulation, counterpoint, canon and fugue, 
 than it is desirable to attempt to describe here. He also 
 devotes a few pages to the relations and proportions of 
 
Bays of the Tradarian Movement. 117 
 
 musical sounds as connected with length of strings 
 in vibration, and the columns of air in tubes, includ- 
 ing the extremely technical subject of " Harmonics," 
 concluding his remarks by saying : " like all other parts 
 of the law of nature, this illustrates the harmony and 
 design of the infinite wisdom of the Most High, Whose 
 ways and thoughts in this, as in all things, are very 
 far beyond our thoughts, and often beyond our com- 
 prehension." 
 
 It would be very unlike the Author if he did not, in 
 some way, connect his work with a religious object; so 
 we find the last article taking the form of an inquiry : 
 How far the subject may be "conducive to a high and 
 holy end, and in what degree Music may act as a hand- 
 maid to, or derive assistance and force from, Religion." 
 No doubt at the early part of the nineteenth century 
 music in England, and especially church music, was in 
 a deplorable condition, and operatic music alone had 
 much attention paid to it. The Oxford Tractarian move- 
 ment had a great influence on ecclesiastical music, and 
 encouraged a return to a more ancient and severe style. 
 Arthur Acland was by no means one of the advanced 
 members of that party, but he was influenced by the 
 teaching, and kept closely in touch with the more sober 
 and responsible leaders. His earnest desire, therefore, to 
 see music, in its highest and most elevating character- 
 istics, restored to a strong position in England can be 
 easily understood. 
 
 The thoughts that occupied his mind are well brought 
 out by the following quotations from his last letter, which 
 also throw a vivid light on the manner in which he ap- 
 proached this and kindred subjects, and are especially 
 
ii8 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 remarkable in a man of only thirty years of age : — " There 
 would be no presumption in assuming that whenever 
 music became the centre of worldly amusement, when 
 chiefly used to give zest to the goblet and lead the dance, 
 it would certainly fall in its character. Music to be great 
 can scarcely be separated from one of two positions. It 
 may be great when used as the expression of the highest 
 and holiest feelings of the devout, or when brought to 
 theoretical excellence by the man of genius and of science. 
 But if it becomes mere amusement for the lounger, the 
 amorose, or the dissipators of time, it is at once lowered 
 to meet their requirements, and ceases to be music in 
 its highest sense." 
 
 " In the cathedral and abbey churches are to be seen, 
 not the humble worshippers of God, lifting up their voices 
 in tones in which all may unite, but the listeners to a 
 treble or tenor solo, the admirers of a service or an an- 
 them j and such is the language with which they are heard 
 to leave the aisles of the church as the anthem ends, while 
 the neglected worship of God is left to the few who remain. 
 In parish churches the whole matter has been left to a 
 few self-sufficient persons, whose independence of all 
 authority is a sure sign of their ignorance. In the con- 
 cert-room the lowest style of music is the most frequently 
 encored, and the highest the least appreciated. In 
 private society it is lowered, being the mere vehicle of 
 personal display, or the exhibition of mere mechanical 
 attainment. Even in the opera-house, where the pro- 
 fessed object is the cultivation of the highest order of 
 secular music, the sensual excitement of the ballet carries 
 off the minds of many, and gazing upon the faces and 
 dresses of the audience occupies the time of more." 
 
Days of the Tractarian MovcJiient. 119 
 
 *'Is there, then, any hope or prospect of this state of 
 things being amended ? That both may be fairly enter- 
 tained I cannot doubt. In music, as in many other 
 things, we find ourselves at "an eventful crisis. The shal- 
 low and expedient-seeking spirit of the times has proved 
 itself incapable of satisfying those who seek for substantial 
 and enduring principles. Music, perhaps more than any 
 other external means, is capable of elevating and deepen- 
 ing the best and hoHest feelings of man, and almost more 
 than any other it has been prostituted and has lost its 
 beauty and greatness. It would seem necessary, then, to 
 try every means by which the lovers of secular music 
 may be induced to seek such instructions as will lead 
 to an intelligent and grammatical knowledge of the prin- 
 ciples of the Art; by which also the devout lovers of 
 sacred music may be taught to seek tones more elevating 
 than those can be which have been wilfully secularized, 
 and those who guide the services of the Church may be 
 induced to provide, not for the amusement of a pleasure- 
 seeking public, but for the devout and united worship 
 of God in strains which all may join. So may we yet 
 hope to see this noble science taking its place once more 
 among the sister arts in things that are secular ; and in 
 things divine, echoing in more appropriate strains the 
 songs of heavenly choirs." 
 
 Passing notice only need be made here of another 
 small work which Arthur Acland published when living 
 at Dorchester, but it is worth mentioning as an instance 
 of the manner in which he undertook duties too often 
 considered trivial or commonplace. The office of Church- 
 warden was one for which he was especially suited, and 
 there is no difficulty in realising that he would regard it 
 
I20 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 in a very different light to that in which the proverbial 
 Churchwarden regards it. 
 
 Taking advantage of his position, he compiled a short 
 paper, entitled "The Religious Character and Responsi- 
 bilities of the Office of Churchwarden," which he dedicated 
 to his brother Churchwardens within the ancient Borough 
 of Dorchester. 
 
 In those days of the beginning of the revival of Church 
 work, it must have come as a surprise to many to find 
 a layman claiming for himself and his brother officials 
 not only the necessity of maintaining the fabric of the 
 Church, and the preservation of order, but the respon- 
 sibility of suppressing vice and immorality in the Parish. 
 
 "I trust I may claim," he says, "your indulgence for 
 stepping somewhat out of the path of those who have gone 
 before me in the office to which I have been appointed. 
 It would be a false modesty to pretend that the providence 
 of God has not given me opportunities of ascertaining 
 (by reading books of authority and the instruction of 
 those set over me) what are the duties of such an office. 
 And although I shall have a thousand things to plead 
 infirmity, I cannot plead entire ignorance for the in- 
 sufficient discharge of duty. At the same time, being 
 anxious to live amongst you as a brother in the Christian 
 faith ought to do, and to preserve a friendly intercourse 
 with all who are members of our portion of the Church, 
 I should be sorry to enter upon any course of action 
 in such a way as to appear needlessly to depart from 
 existing custom, and to incur without absolute necessity 
 the charge of innovation or improper reflection on those 
 who have preceded me. ... I have thought that a simple 
 outline of the duties of Churchwardens, taken from sources 
 
.Days of the Tractarian Movement, 121 
 
 of unquestionable authority, would not be unacceptable 
 to you, and that when you have read the account of them, 
 you may both be better able to understand the course 
 I wish to pursue, and be more willing to aid me in the 
 discharge of duties which no man can possibly discharge 
 with comfort, unless he has the countenance and co- 
 operation of his fellow Parishioners." 
 
 That Mr. Acland did win the entire confidence and 
 affection of his fellow townsmen is certain; and on his 
 leaving Dorchester he was presented with a valuable book 
 on Ecclesiastical Architecture, with the following inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 "To A. H. D. Acland, Esquire, in testimony of 
 their sense both of the valuable services ren- 
 dered by him during the re-building of their 
 Church, and of continued acts of usefulness and 
 Christian kindness for eight years exercised 
 
 AMONGST them, THIS WORK IS PRESENTED BY HIS 
 
 fellow Parishioners." 
 
 The seriousness of purpose with which he undertook 
 this duty may be taken as an example of the manner in 
 which he approached all other duties, and indeed every 
 action of life. His earnestness and consistency may be 
 still further shewn in this case by a reference to a col- 
 lection of prayers which he compiled for his own private 
 use. The great majority of the prayers are gathered from 
 the works of others, but apparently nothing suitable for 
 the special wants of a Churchwarden could be found; 
 he therefore wrote the following prayer himself, and as 
 it must be almost unique, it is reproduced here verbatim, 
 not only as throwing a light on the practical religion of 
 
122 A Layman'' 5 Life in tlie 
 
 the author, but with the hope that it may be seen and 
 made use of by others holding the same office : — 
 
 "Almighty God .... mercifully look down upon us 
 to whom it is appointed humbly to serve Thee in the 
 office (of Churchwarden). Thou hast called us to the 
 care and maintenance of Thy Holy House, and of the 
 things that are therein, and of the Sanctuaries of Thy 
 departed ones. To us, most unworthy, it belongs to pre- 
 serve peace and order, and to see that lowly reverence 
 be done in Thy Divine service. Thou hast entrusted to 
 us to aid in the collection of alms of Thy faithful people, 
 and in the distribution of the same ; to furnish Thy House 
 with the Book of Thy most Holy Word, and of our 
 Common Prayer; to provide the elements of Thy most 
 Holy Sacrament, and within our several spheres to sup- 
 press as much as in us lieth the profanation of Thy Holy 
 Day, and all such other sins and impieties as are a scandal 
 to the profession of Christian faith, and contrary to Thy 
 Holy will, and the laws of Thy Church. 
 
 *' Endue us. we pray Thee, with the Holy Ghost, let 
 the light of Thy Countenance and Thy grace be upon us, 
 that we may worthily discharge the work committed to us, 
 may be filled with a spirit of reverence and holy affection 
 for all that belongs to Thee, may faithfully serve and obey 
 those that are set over us, and though we be but door- 
 keepers in the House of our God, yet may we so serve 
 Thee here that we may by Thee be eternally rewarded, 
 through the alone merits and mediation of Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." 
 
 On the opposite page of the book is a Prayer taken 
 partly from Bishop Patrick, for help in the work of a 
 
Days of the Tractaria?t Movejnent. 123 
 
 Magistrate, from which the following extract is taken :— 
 "That I may always discern exactly between good and 
 evil, and pronounce a right sentence in the most per- 
 plexing cases; may I never be tempted from integrity, 
 nor mine eyes be blinded with gifts. Let no love of 
 friends, no fear of those that are mighty, or desire of 
 popular applause corrupt my judgment to decree un- 
 righteously. Fill me with zeal and courage to punish 
 vice and wickedness though never so bold and be- 
 friended, and to defend and maintain Thy true religion 
 and godliness." 
 
 One more example of Arthur Acland's style of writing 
 may be given here, although it can only be called a 
 " Hterary trifle," and was published for private circulation ; 
 but it is a pretty instance of his constant habit of enduing 
 with a higher or spiritual meaning the ordinary and passing 
 occurrences of life. 
 
 When the railway between Bristol and Exeter was being 
 made, the line was cut through a portion of Sir Thomas 
 Acland's park at Killerton, within a mile of the house. 
 Sir Thomas, in a manner quite in conformity with his 
 character, interested himself greatly in the work, and more 
 especially in the welfare of the navvies. His bounty and 
 generosity were always of a most pronounced nature — as 
 we should think now-a-days, they were carried to excess — 
 so when the labourers on the line were thrown out of 
 work, owing to some difficulty in which the Contractors 
 were involved, nothing was more natural than that he 
 should be applied to for help. At first he merely relieved 
 them, and then in order to find work for them, he de- 
 termined to set them to make a road through some parts 
 of his property which would be useful and convenient,. 
 
124 'A Layman's Life in the 
 
 but made at that particular time merely as an act of 
 kindness to the distressed navvies. 
 
 This benevolence was rewarded in a somewhat remark- 
 able and quite unexpected manner; for in the course of 
 cutting the road through a field called " Hallivvell Close,'* 
 the men struck upon a beautiful and copious spring of 
 water. Now it so happened that Killerton and the neigh- 
 bouring houses were much in want of a regular supply 
 of water, and this fortunate discovery therefore was most 
 opportune, as the levels were suitable for the purpose. 
 
 In due course the spring was cleared, a small reservoir 
 was built, and pipes laid in readiness for the water to be 
 conveyed to the house. Some simple ceremony was ar- 
 ranged for turning it on, and when the appointed morning 
 came, there appeared on the Killerton breakfast table 
 a copy of the following Legend, printed in Old English 
 black letter, written, as was afterwards discovered, by 
 Arthur Acland. The water reached Killerton, Novem- 
 ber 4th, 1843, 3-nd some few years later he interested 
 himself in preparing working drawings for a small grotto 
 where the spring rises, and designing an arch for the 
 entrance to the v/ell. 
 
 ^h^ fegeitl) 0f th^ f olg ®dl. 
 
 ^ ^Fragment, 
 
 " 1|otD mantt pears agone E cannot sap, but it is a talc lielieJjeir 
 among us, anU \^t ficltf is as toell fenoton bp \\^t namt of "^t 
 l|oIp SBell, as our ®f)apel is 6p x\)z name of tf)e CD^apcl of ti^c 
 
Days of the Traciarian Movement. 125 
 
 l^oli? lEbangtlists. Et fs a goolflw talc antr one E lotjc to tell, 
 ^planp's tf)C cup of coltf toatcr E l^aDc trippctr from ti^c feacll for 
 ti^c passers bu, antr ti^osc fcofio toill mat? i^car it. J^an lie E s^all 
 not tell it often more, but if tf)is be tf)e last time, E coultr not 
 torite a better iDorD of tl^is poor toorltr's concerns. 'ISlessetr are 
 ^z merciful.' l|e teas a gootf man, anti "-i^t memory of tl)e |ust 
 is blesseU.' I|c ^atr more ti^an enoug]^ to feetr \\% ofion, anD ti^e 
 poor rounU \i\% Uoor. ©ne Bap a number of poor strangers, tresti= 
 tttte antf l^ungrp, came bp, anU tl)e gooD soul toofe tl)em in for 
 manp a Uap; tl^ere l)e fetr tl^em trap bt? Uau, anU batre a 1:|oId 
 JFriar teacl) ti^em, anO perform Jjis l^olp offices among ti^cm, in t^e 
 Cl^apel l)c fjatr built for f)is family antr poor neigl)bours. ^ntr as 
 bis stores toere consumed, \t bet!)oug]^t i^im of j^is oton ; but f)e 
 rememberetf tf)e barrel of meal anti tbc cruse of oil tl)at toastetr 
 not, antJ ti^e gracious toortfs, 'lie tl)at l)at]^ pity on tl^e poor, 
 lentfet]^ unto t^e HlortJ, antr bel^olD tol^at \)Z lanetb out it sl)all be 
 paitJ to f)im again.' %i last tj^e stream failetr, tbe meatJotos mere 
 parcf)eU, antr many a poor soul longetf for ti^e toaters tl^at toere 
 saitf to f)ai)e flotoetr in times gone by from some ancient springs 
 bartr bp*! Wc^z poor strangers lo&etf tl)e frientr of t]^e stranger, 
 antJ tljeg toere trying to repay j^is lobe by mafeing tl^e patb toi^iclj 
 noto Icatfs up to tf)c 1|oly aaell. 
 
 "^i^ey batf |ust got to ti^e spot tol)ere toe noto stantf, toben 
 tl^ey sat tioton to rest atol)ile, an» eat tf)c footr ]^e i^atf gitien tl)em» 
 antJ as tl^e tale runs, tliey Dranfe tJ)e last trrop of toatcr tof)icf) ]^e 
 f)aU sf)aretr toitf) ti^em. '^nti tf)ey blesseti t^e man of gootJ toill, antf 
 ti^ey prayetf a prayer tl)at i^is store migi^t be filletf, antr f)is toell 
 run ober. ^nti as tl)ey prayetf tf)e prayers ti^e toaters gusf)eti fortl^ 
 in tl)e- mitist of tliem, antt ran troton \^z patb anU tfoton tbe bailey 
 till tl)ey flotoetr \\yi tl)e ©i^apel of tf)e 1|oly ^bangelists, antf 
 arountf l)is fjouse tobic]^ ]^aD neber been so toateretf before. '^nU 
 ti^ere tbey say %z built t]^is little grotto— l)is t^anfe=offering to tbe 
 ICortf— antf put tl^ese l^oly toortrs tbereon. 13ut tl^ere are also 
 toorDs tl^cy say put by tbcm toj^o follotoetf after ^im. '^\)z^ are 
 
126 
 
 A Layfuan's Life, d^c. 
 
 x^t toortrs of t^c toise man, KvCts tf)e truest to mp talc, ant) tl)c 
 truest to t!)e mcmorv) of tf)c gooU man; i\)txt tf)ct) arc rountf t^e 
 little arcl^toaw h^ ml^ic^ t^c toatcrs floto Uoton to X\)t i)ousc of 
 f)is c^ilUrcn's cl)iltfrcn. 
 
 "If Bou stoop loto r?ou mau sec tl^cm, or maw 6c ijou lincto 
 tl)cm, tl)ci? arc gracious toortfs : — 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 *'Zhc 1bout6/' *' Spiritual (Tommunion/* 
 ''Xitur^ia Domesttca/' ''S)ail^ Steps/' 
 
 npHE first of Arthur Acland's works of a definitely 
 devotional character, which will be described here, 
 is indeed very small in point of size, but eminently fitted 
 to be a useful Manual of Prayer, especially for those who 
 are leading a busy, active life as he did. It is entitled 
 *' The Hours ; being Prayers for the Third, Sixth, and 
 Ninth Hours." It was published by Messrs. Parker, of 
 Oxford and London, and passed through several editions, 
 the first edition appearing in the year 1841. 
 
 The Preface is perhaps the most important part of his 
 share of the work, and will be of material assistance in 
 helping us to arrive at an estimate of one side at least 
 of his character, and for this purpose some few quotations 
 from it will be of interest. The book itself, however, 
 must in the first place be briefly described. The object 
 of it is to provide a short office for the three Canonical 
 hours during the busy part of the day, it being suggested 
 that " the 3rd Hour includes the time from 9 a.m. till Noon, 
 and that the prayers should be used after breakfast, and 
 before entering on the general employments of the day." 
 The 6th Hour is said to include the time from Noon till 
 3 p.m., the Office being used before partaking of the mid- 
 day meal : and the 9th Hour to include the period from 
 
128 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 3 P.M. to 6 P.M., the prayers being said after the business 
 of the day is concluded. 
 
 The system of the Manual is simple in the extreme, 
 each of the three Offices being arranged on exactly similar 
 lines. They commence with two verses of an ancient 
 Hymn with Doxology. Then follows a text (special texts 
 being given for the chief Church seasons), two or three short 
 ejaculations, the Lord's Prayer, Collect for the day, and 
 two other collects, with a short Thanksgiving or Doxology. 
 The whole of an Office would not occupy more than three 
 or four minutes, and they could all be easily committed 
 to memory. It is well known that Arthur Acland himself^ 
 notwithstanding his continuous practical occupations, never 
 willingly omitted using any of them, even in the midst 
 of his work ; and we have it on his own authority that he 
 considered even a few momentary thoughts, or Divine 
 aspirations, of more value than a lengthened and more 
 formal course of reading. 
 
 The introductory paragraph to the Offices is couched 
 in these words : — 
 
 " The following Prayers, partly from Bishops Andrewes, 
 Cosin, and others, and partly from more ancient services,, 
 are not offered as if of any authority for general or indi- 
 vidual use, but only as suggestions and aids to those who 
 would so occupy the hours of the day. They who rising 
 and lying down commend themselves in private prayer to 
 God, and who in their families unite in domestic worship 
 will have commemorated four of the ' hours.' A few mo- 
 ments cannot surely without advantage be devoted to the 
 three mid-day hours. And those who do so, if awaking in 
 the midnight hour, and breathing a short but heartfelt 
 aspiration to Him Who seeth in darkness as in light. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 129 
 
 have in their measure remembered the hours of the Chris- 
 tian day." 
 
 Some extracts will now be given from the introductory 
 pages of the Manual. The term " Preface " is scarcely 
 applicable, for it is in reality an essay written in an at- 
 tractive and deeply religious style, concerned mainly with 
 considerations as to the proper use, and the dedication 
 to God's service, of our time, our talents, our whole lives. 
 It is not suggested that the ordinary avocations of life 
 should be given up, or altered, but that the outward 
 aspect of earthly objects should be constantly viewed 
 from a spiritual point of view. " What is our Life ? " is 
 the question asked at the commencement. "It is even a 
 vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth 
 away. What is our Life ? Christ is our Life, who are 
 kept by faith unto salvation, whose life is hid with Christ 
 in God j and faith is ever fining up the void of this Hfe 
 of vapour from the fulness of the Life that is in Him *. 
 The things that are seen and are vanishing away are signs 
 and symbols of things invisible, which are, and which shall 
 endure for evermore. Thus the emptiness of things earthly 
 is made fulness, and the poverty of this world is made 
 exceeding riches." 
 
 " Where then is the secret source of this hidden life ? It 
 is in Him, the Spirit of life and grace, Who taketh of the 
 things of God, and sheweth them to man, Who by an 
 ineffable and wondrous love maketh this natural world 
 and all it hath to speak of Christ to the souls of such 
 as seek Him therein, and whose joy it is to use as sa- 
 
 2- Some parts of the following paragraphs have been already quoted 
 in Chapter I., they are repeated here to make the present subject 
 complete. — ^J. E. A. 
 
 K 
 
130 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 cramental signs the things that are seen, seeing even now 
 by faith, and hoping to see them face to face, those 
 heavenly things as yet unseen, of which they are the figures 
 and memorials." 
 
 "Christian signs or objects of nature to a truly Christian 
 mind are as the Word itself, a revelation of Him Whose 
 voice they are, pointing at every step to Him Who 
 dwelleth in us, and hath by His Spirit sealed us for His 
 own." 
 
 Several pages are then devoted to the exemplification 
 of these principles by numerous examples. The writer 
 shews how beautiful is the Divine arrangement of Time : — 
 *' He who hath condescended to make the glorious orb 
 of light an emblem of Himself, hath not allowed the hours, 
 days, and months it marks to pass without a voice from 
 Him." He describes the sequence of the Church's 
 seasons ; the sacred truths connected with each day of 
 the week, and how even to the passing hours of the day 
 are given a continual remembrance of Him in Whom 
 we live. " Thus while the earth and all the system of 
 the glorious heavens runs its onward course and ever rolls 
 from West to East, we turning thither too, may call to 
 mind the course we have to run, and press onwards towards 
 the mark of the prize of the high calling which is in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 Illustrations of the subject the author has at heart are 
 also given from many natural objects, water, rocks, roads, 
 fountains, and the warmth of the fire. In the same 
 manner he treats various geometrical forms, such as "the 
 triangle, the emblem of the eternal Trinity ; the circle, 
 emblem of eternity ; and the Cross, that holy symbol of 
 our faith, which crowns our Churches' tops, that sacred 
 
■ Days of the Tractarian Movement, 131 
 
 sign first graven on our infant brow, and oft in earlier 
 ages made the token of a Christian recognition, of their 
 thanksgiving, of their confession, of their inward faith; 
 marked as it is in many parts of nature's face, and works 
 of human skill, and most remarkably so on that despised 
 beast which bore Christ in triumph to the then Holy City, 
 and still bears on his shoulders this very emblem of the 
 Lord of life. And now doubtless many a fervent soul 
 delights in that most holy sign, and communes with his 
 Lord ; sees it in trees, and shrubs, and clouds, and stars, 
 sees it indeed in everything ; and loving, lives on Him, 
 and living, loves Him." 
 
 " Nor is this dissonant from His words of wisdom Who 
 has not only sanctified these forms by their use, but filled 
 His teaching with constant reference to outward things, 
 and has even hallowed to religious minds numbers in com- 
 mon use. For what devout mind does not feel with those 
 who have ever loved to associate with the number three 
 (mysteriously as it pervades all nature), the thought of 
 the eternal and ever-blessed Trinity ; and with the number 
 seven^ the sacred emblem of perfection, the sevenfold gifts 
 of God's most Holy Spirit ? And not to multiply lesser 
 instances, how beautiful an instance of symbolic teaching 
 was that, when with thanksgiving from the hands of the 
 Lord, His apostles took the seven loaves, emblems of 
 those sevenfold gifts, and fed the hungering multitude, 
 and seven baskets still remained— consoling thought! that 
 in His Church, in all their fulness, still remain the un- 
 diminished bounties of His grace; or, when with fewer 
 loaves a larger multitude was fed, that apostolic band 
 received the gifts from Him and all were filled, yet still 
 remained rich surplus for His Church, the twelve full 
 
132 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 baskets. To each apostle was that trust committed, and 
 through them to all who followed in their ministry ; 
 yet to the end of time the sacramental baskets shall 
 be full, and overflowing with His fulness, who is all 
 in all." 
 
 In the concluding paragraph we find the answer to the 
 original question, *' What is our Life ? Is not this the 
 Christian life, to use things visible as ever referring to 
 things invisible ? as speaking of Christ Himself, the Chris- 
 tian's only light, and life, and joy? Is it not of worldly 
 philosophy to investigate things outward beyond what 
 is revealed? Is it not of Christian wisdom to use 
 them as they are revealed, and if they are sought 
 out at all, to seek the hidden depths of spiritual and 
 holy meanings? And is not this His holy purpose and 
 His gracious gift, that things of time and sense should 
 have their hidden life revealed to those alone who in 
 them seek Him ? " 
 
 " And be it ever borne in mind, that hours, days, and 
 years, and symbols, and memorials are not life itself, nor 
 even means thereto, save where is faith, and where is 
 love. But this is also true, and this alone is meant — 
 that where Christ dwells by love, and where He reigns- 
 alone, there days, and hours, and years are His, and 
 ought to speak of Him : and nature's voice, which He 
 hath given, and He hath used. His people too should 
 understand, and symbols and memorials should delight 
 whene'er they point to Him." 
 
 The little manual was published in an attractive form, 
 each page of letterpress being contained by a red marginal 
 line, and, as was very usual in almost all his publications, 
 various emblematic or symbolic designs were introduced ia 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 133 
 
 appropriate places ; such as — at the commencement of the 
 Offices, three angels with uplifted hands kneeling together 
 in prayer. Before the devotions for the third hour, the 
 Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove. Before the 
 prayers for the sixth hour, a simple cross, and before 
 those for the ninth hour, a glowing heart within a tre- 
 foil. At the end of the preface, which concludes with 
 the touching and affectionate tribute to the memory of 
 his wife's mother, Mrs. Williams, quoted on page 30, 
 we find the illustration of her favourite symbol already 
 referred to on page 8, and which is reproduced here. 
 
 A companion work to "The Hours" was compiled 
 three or four years later, and published in 1844, entitled 
 ^' Spiritual Co??iniutiion : Devotions for the use of those 
 who cannot publickly Communicate." The prayers are 
 taken chiefly from the works of Bishops Patrick and 
 Wilson, and in this Manual, as in *' The Hours," there 
 is a somewhat lengthy preface, which is a striking example 
 of the compiler's intensely spiritual and devotional nature, 
 and may be utilized here to illustrate it. He com- 
 mences : — " A most ardent longing for, and deep de- 
 
134 -^ LaymarCs Life i7i the 
 
 votion to our Lord Christ in the Holy Communion 
 beyond every other ordinance, has marked from age 
 to age the saintly character. Whether in the Communion 
 of our Church of England, or in other branches of 
 the Church, the most devotional and spiritual writers 
 have loved to dwell on this as a subject through which 
 the soul found a glorious expanse, where it could 
 meditate at large on wonders, both within and without 
 itself, alike blessed and infinite." 
 
 "Accordingly both in public offices and in private 
 meditations, words have failed the almost bursting 
 hearts of the saints of God to breathe forth language 
 in any way accordant with the greatness of this holy 
 mystery, and the tongue that has longed to speak has 
 kept silence, that the spirit might have full vent within 
 itself, and the grace of the Spirit of God be distilled 
 into the open, and hungering, and thirsting soul." 
 
 Some pages are then devoted to the illustration 
 of the " wonderful connection of the Holy Eu- 
 charist with the resurrection to eternal life and im- 
 mortality, which not only seems to pervade the 
 creeds and eucharistic offices of the Church, but is 
 recognized and dwelt upon with affectionate reverence 
 by her divines." There are many most interesting and 
 instructive quotations from the early liturgies of the 
 primitive Church, as well as references to our own 
 HomiHes, and he then continues: "Bat not to enter 
 more fully into this most glorious subject, which 
 would be foreign to the object of the compiler, it is 
 enough for him to confess his full and firm belief in 
 the vastness of the mystery, and the inestimable gifts 
 contained therein, as they have been received and held 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement. 135 
 
 by the Catholic Church of Christ, and alike witnessed 
 in the liturgy of our own Church, and the writings of 
 her best and holiest members." 
 
 " It is for the comfort and assistance of those whose 
 hearts are where we desire ours to be, that the following 
 office or form of prayer is principally drawn up. Many 
 instances are to be found, by which we may learn that 
 * spiritual communion,' or a private commemoration of 
 the sacrifice of Christ, and of the special benefits which 
 in the holy Eucharist we receive thereby, has not only 
 been encouraged, but very strongly urged as of great im- 
 portance by those who hold the highest view of that 
 mystery. Our own Church expressly intimates it in the 
 rubric which is embodied in this office, and which in our 
 Common Prayer Book follows the office for the Communion 
 of the Sick." 
 
 " The forms of prayer suggested by these holy and 
 learned men are rather models, or suggestions, than actual 
 formularies for use. That of Bishop Patrick has been 
 selected for the foundation of the following office, because 
 it contains so very large a portion of the Communion 
 Service itself. The whole is re-arranged, and headings 
 and directions introduced (for in his work it forms part 
 of one of a series of letters) and formed into separate 
 collects, &c., to recall to mind more immediately the 
 Eucharistic Service." 
 
 "A very much shorter and more condensed office is 
 added at the end, for the use of those who have not 
 leisure for the longer, and this (or even less would be 
 sufficient) might form a portion of some part of every 
 day's devotions. In this, the Editor would fain hope 
 that he is rendering a service to many devout and 
 
136 A Layinan^s Life in the 
 
 especially the suffering members of Christ's Body, to whom 
 such a manual may prove of exceeding comfort ; and 
 that it may also excite a more continual longing for the 
 real Communion of the Holy Sacrament, and be in 
 some measure a preparation as well as a thanksgiving 
 for it." 
 
 Of the actual office itself it is, perhaps, hardly necessary 
 to say much. As the compiler has stated in his preface, 
 it contains a large portion of the service in the Book of 
 Common Prayer. There is added, however, a beautiful 
 and exhaustive form of Intercession taken from Wilson's 
 "Sacra Privata." 
 
 At the time the Manual was compiled, opportunities 
 for Communion were, as a rule, limited to one Sunday 
 in the month, and probably were even rarer in many 
 country parishes. The obvious remark of a reader in 
 the twentieth century would be : " Thank God, those 
 days are passed away ; we have ample opportunity now- 
 a-days, and this Manual cannot be wanted." But though 
 this may to some extent be true, it should be remembered 
 that there are still very many occasions, and many con- 
 ditions of life, where even a devout Christian cannot 
 render this "his bounden duty and service" pubHckly 
 in the House of God. To the sick in the silence of 
 their room, to the traveller on his distant journey, to the 
 explorer, or settler in the confines of an undeveloped 
 land, to these and many others it should come as 
 a blessed relief and comfort to seek communion with 
 those who in other places have this "inestimable benefit" 
 offered to them at the Altar by the duly appointed min- 
 ister of the Church, and it should keep alive and stimulate 
 a real and unceasing desire *' to present themselves, their 
 
Days of the. Tradarian Movement. 137 
 
 souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively 
 sacrifice " unto their Heavenly Father. 
 
 At the end of the Manual we find the compiler's own 
 opinion given in the following words : — 
 
 ^' Of such value have frequent acts of spiritual Communion 
 been found in order to preserve a grateful recollection of 
 the amazing benefits of the holy Eucharist, and of our 
 incorporation into the Body of our Lord, that where time 
 does not even serve for the shorter office it may be ad- 
 vantageous simply to recall the words of institution and 
 communion by a devout and humble act of the mind, 
 either in the course of our daily devotions, or at such 
 other times during the day as we would desire to unite 
 our spirits afresh to our gracious Master. And indeed, 
 in the continual use of those words of the Lord's Prayer, 
 that almost sacramental gift to the Church — ' Give us this 
 day our daily Bread,' we may recollect and long after 
 privileges, and pray for their restoration to us, which 
 in former and holier ages of primitive Christianity were 
 daily sought, and supplied the daily strength needed 
 by those who lived ever ready to pour forth their blood 
 for His Name's sake." 
 
 We must now turn to one of Arthur Acland's most 
 important literary works, which though nominally merely 
 a book of "Family Prayers," is indeed a valuable col- 
 lection of Devotions gathered from Primitive Liturgies, 
 and from the writings of the most celebrated Divines 
 of all ages. It bears witness to his skill in compilation 
 and arrangement, to his powers of research and know- 
 ledge of the works of the early Fathers of the Church, 
 but above all else, it proves that in the general trend 
 
138 A Layman's Life in tJie 
 
 of his ideas and aspirations he was far in advance of 
 his own times. 
 
 The title of the book is " Liturgia Domestica. Ser- 
 vices for every Morning and Evening of the Week, with 
 Commemorations of the Fasts and Festivals, Domestic and 
 other occasions, from the Book of Common Prayer, and 
 other sources. For the Use of Families." The ist Edition 
 was published in 1840 by Mr. J. H. Parker, of Oxford,, 
 and was dedicated to the Bishop of Exeter, as Mr. Acland 
 at that time was living at Axminster, which was in the 
 Exeter Diocese. It appears evident from the dedication,, 
 that he consulted the Bishop in the first place, and would 
 have abandoned the work altogether if it had not received 
 encouragement. He says, " I could not rightly offer this 
 Book to my lay brethren without first submitting my 
 design to your Eordship as the rightful guardian of the 
 Formularies of the Church within the Diocese in which 
 I am placed." 
 
 In this first edition, which varies in many details from 
 those that followed, we find in addition to the services, 
 the whole of the Psalms of David, and also a collection 
 of Hymns, some "selected from various translations of 
 Ancient Hymns, and others taken from published col- 
 lections." This surely must be the earliest example of 
 a publication comprising "Hymns Ancient and Mo- 
 dern." 
 
 The book was evidently found to supply a want, as 
 a fourth edition was issued in 1849. The value of the 
 book is still apparent from the fact that within the 
 last few years Messrs. Parker have thought it worthy of 
 being reprinted uniform with their well-known series,. 
 "The Practical Christian's Library," which contains the 
 
Days of the Tractaria?i Movement. 139 
 
 writings of Thomas a Kempis, Bishop Andrewes, Cosin, 
 Ken, and Wilson. 
 
 In giving a short general description of the work the 
 compiler's own words will be used, as far as possible, by 
 means of quotations from the Preface or Introduction,^ 
 which is of great interest and of considerable length. In 
 it he makes it quite clear that his chief desire has been 
 to avoid inserting anything of his own composition. " This 
 has led him " (he says), " in every case where he could 
 not find prayers exactly suitable to domestic worship, to 
 adapt whatever he found of private devotion capable of 
 conversion to such a purpose, and to clothe the expression 
 of our wants or thanksgivings as much as possible in 
 scriptural and primitive language." 
 
 This, it may be said, is one of the great charms of the 
 book. The art or power of composing prayers for Public 
 Worship seems to be quite lost at the present time ; those 
 that are issued are at any rate sadly lacking in the rhyth- 
 mical fall of the words, to which we are accustomed in 
 the compositions of earlier ages. In the " Liturgia Do- 
 mestica '* this fault has been avoided. 
 
 He continues : " In the present compilation the Editor 
 has endeavoured to make provision for the devotions of 
 a Christian household, upon the principle that every epoch 
 and event of life is to be rescued from a secular, and 
 converted to a religious use. Thus the services are ar- 
 ranged according to the gracious acts of our most blessed 
 Saviour, so far as possible, on the days on which they 
 occurred, and which the Church points out for the com- 
 memoration of them. Provision is made for keeping each 
 one of her Festivals, and for a due observance of her most 
 distinctly appointed Fasts. Provision is also made for the 
 
140 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 religious observance of the anniversaries of birthdays and 
 baptismal days ; these latter being now rarely thought of. 
 Prayers and thanksgivings for domestic events of ordinary 
 occurrence, and for those ecclesiastical and civil meetings 
 which so much affect many neighbourhoods." 
 
 The reasons for the selection of the subjects for the 
 different days of the week is given thus : " By His won- 
 derful mercy the wants of the week are amply supplied. 
 He who was content to shed His precious blood on the 
 cross for us, has witnessed the fulfilment of His own pre- 
 diction by the weekly Friday fast, while His Church re- 
 joices in His resurrection in the celebration of Sunday. 
 He has also sanctified the other days of the week, as 
 Wednesday, by His Temptation and Betrayal ; Thursday ^ 
 by His Ascension and the institution of the Holy Eucha- 
 rist; Saturday, by His repose in the grave, with which 
 our burial in baptism is mysteriously connected ; the re- 
 maining days, Monday and Tuesday, are not without suf- 
 ficient reason occupied by the remaining subjects of His 
 coming in the flesh, and second coming in Glory for Mon- 
 day ; and the Epiphany, or Manifestation, for Tuesday." 
 
 These subjects severally strike the key-note to the ser- 
 vices for the different days of the week. Perhaps the most 
 noticeable feature in the compilation and arrangement 
 of the Services is the large share given to the family and 
 household. The system of long series of prayers said 
 by one person is entirely absent, and from first to last 
 all are called upon to take their part. "The Liturgical 
 and Responsive form has been found the best calculated 
 to aid in preserving the interest and attention. Two 
 leading objects have been kept in mind: ist, to provide 
 for the real relation of a master to his family and house- 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 141 
 
 hold, without infringing on the Priestly office; and, 2ndly, 
 to make that provision upon the model of the Church to 
 which we belong, and in unison with the devotions of 
 primitive ages. A most serious responsibility rests upon 
 all masters of families diligently to inculcate the faith 
 of the One Catholic and Apostolic Church, and to teach 
 and instruct all, both children and household, whom God 
 has entrusted to their care. But the influence of the 
 master should not interfere with, or supersede that of 
 the pastor, nor family worship be made an excuse for 
 not attending the public services of the Church." 
 
 Perhaps enough has now been said to shew the spirit 
 in which this excellent Manual was compiled, but attention 
 may be drawn to two interesting customs which Mr. Arthur 
 Acland observed, and it may be presumed meant others 
 to observe also. He suggests that (unless a clergyman 
 were present) the Master should stand up and pronounce 
 a Family benediction at the end of prayers ; and he carries 
 this principle of the Master being as a Priest in his own 
 house still further, by giving a form of Parental blessing, 
 to be used by the father, laying his hands on the heads of 
 his children. 
 
 The other custom referred to — surely a very remarkable 
 one for the first half of the nineteenth century — was a 
 weekly Offertory. *'The collection of Alms," he says, 
 ** from the whole family is an important object, and one 
 in which even children may join. To this collection may 
 be added whatever is saved by a systematic family ob- 
 servance of the season of Lent." 
 
 In one instance only a cursory examination of the 
 volume might lead to the suggestion that the Editor's 
 views were somewhat antiquated. There are several 
 
142 A Layman! s Life in the 
 
 directions in the forms of prayers and thanksgiving on 
 Sundays, for additions to be made ''on Communion 
 Sundays." There is also a Special service arranged to 
 be used "on the Thursday or Friday during the week 
 before the administration of the Holy Eucharist." It is 
 well to call attention to this point, for it only strengthens 
 the statement previously made that Arthur Acland was 
 in advance of his times. At the period in which he lived, 
 and inculcated the necessity of a regular observance of 
 all the Church's fasts and festivals, when he taught his 
 children and daily used the offices of the Canonical 
 " Hours," when the whole system of family worship was 
 based on the customs of the Primitive Church, a weekly 
 celebration of the Holy Eucharist appears to have been 
 almost unknown, or at any rate so uncommon as to be 
 scarcely taken into account. But how earnestly he desired 
 it may be gathered from this paragraph : " The want of 
 a more frequent celebration has been probably one great 
 cause of disunion amongst Christians 3 and when it shall 
 become no longer an occasional epoch, but a constant 
 source of spiritual sustenance and thanksgiving ; and when 
 whole families and whole Churches shall kneel week by 
 week around the Table, and at the Altar of their Lord, 
 we may hope for unity and peace once more." 
 
 A brief description of the form in which he cast the 
 daily services will now be necessary to complete the 
 subject, and shew how very careful the Editor was to 
 conform closely to authorized standards, and to impart 
 practically nothing that had not the sanction of primitive 
 •custom or long established usage. 
 
 With the exception of the Sunday service, which is 
 treated somewhat differently, they begin by the reading 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movetnent. 143 
 
 of one or more sentences, adding any others proper for 
 the special day or season. A General Confession, not 
 always the same. Prayer for Pardon, and Lord's Prayer 
 then follow. Standing up, a Psalm was sung, a chapter 
 from the Bible read, and a Canticle sung, followed by 
 the Creed. Again kneeling, Versicles and Responses were 
 said, and then the Collect for the day, and a few collects, 
 the number being varied at the reader's discretion ; on 
 Wednesdays and Fridays an abbreviated Litany was sub- 
 stituted for some of the Collects. A short form of Thanks- 
 giving, in which Versicles and Responses again take a 
 leading part, and a form of family Benediction pronounced 
 by the Master standing, concluded the office, which was 
 calculated to last about fifteen minutes, but owing to its 
 structure and arrangement could easily be shortened to 
 ten or even five minutes. 
 
 The services for Sunday Morning and Evening differ 
 in many respects from those for the Week-days, and throw 
 an interesting light on the Editor's views that Domestic 
 worship must in no way interfere with the Services of 
 the Church, and yet should conform to their principles. 
 He says, " The Master should first mention what Holy 
 Days or Fasting Days are in the week following to be 
 observed, and may mention any Domestic anniversaries 
 which will occur." 
 
 The General Confession and Prayer for Absolution are 
 left out, as well as the Creed, and he especially directs 
 that the Form of Family Benediction by the Master, 
 standing, should be omitted on all days when the Pastoral 
 Benediction is given in the Church; there is very little 
 of general intercessory prayer, and far more of pure Wor- 
 ship and Divine aspiration. 
 
144 ^ Layman's Life in the 
 
 A separate service is given for the Morning and Evening 
 of each day of the week, there being practically no re- 
 petition in any of them except such essential portions 
 as the Confession and the Creed. There is, therefore, 
 no risk of any monotony, and by a judicious use of the 
 excellent collection of prayers for special occasions, and 
 for the Church's Seasons, an admirable variety and most 
 instructive course of teaching is obtained. At the end 
 of the volume is an Index shewing the source from which 
 the Editor has garnered in his store. In addition ta 
 the Book of Common Prayer, every part of which has 
 been selected from, including all the Occasional Offices, we 
 find the following : — Clementine, and Primitive Liturgies^ 
 St. Ambrose, St. Basil, St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas, 
 Thomas k Kempis, Ven. Bede, Bishops Andrewes, Cosin,. 
 Ken, Jeremy Taylor, Patrick, Wilson, and various Primitive 
 Devotions. 
 
 By thus drawing attention to some of the principles 
 and motives which guided the Compiler of the " Liturgia 
 Domestica" in the production of this excellent book — 
 a veritable store-house of the best examples of the de- 
 votions of Primitive, and also of Anglican Divines — it 
 is to be hoped that a clearer insight has been gained 
 into his character than would have been possible without 
 it. With him it was abundantly true that "to live is 
 Christ." Everything around him, his time, his occu- 
 pations, the very most common duties of daily life, were 
 all connected in his mind with an earnest desire ta 
 dedicate them to God, and lead others to follow the 
 same course. 
 
 Another work of a purely devotional character, compiled 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement 145 
 
 by Arthur Acland, is entitled, '^ Daily Steps towards 
 Heaven." It is better known certainly than the *' Liturgia 
 Domestica," though probably a large majority of those 
 who have used and valued it have been in complete 
 ignorance of the Editor ; for he kept a very close reserve 
 respecting his share of its compilation, partly owing to 
 the fact that as its leading features were borrowed from 
 an old Latin work, he did not feel justified in claiming 
 the book as his own, and partly because he was reluctant 
 to put himself forward as standing on a higher religious 
 level than those for whom he wrote. For these reasons, 
 therefore, it was kept strictly anonymous until the latest 
 edition was issued in 1897, when Messrs. Parker obtained 
 permission to add Mr. Arthur Acland's name to the title- 
 page ; this, however, was forty years after he had left 
 the scene of his earthly labours, and had passed to his 
 rest. 
 
 But it is known that he did not enter on this work 
 without previous consultation with those whose opinions 
 he could safely rely upon. Mr. Keble was one of the 
 number. More than a year before the book was pub- 
 lished the Vicar of Hursley had written about it thus : — 
 " As to the (proposed) book of Meditations, I have looked 
 into it enough to feel sure that it will be a precious 
 help to English Churchmen, and I do not see how it 
 can be presented to them in a much more advantageous 
 form than that proposed. The plan of only referring 
 to the additional Scripture passages instead of printing 
 them at length will obviate one of the doubts I might 
 have felt about the original plan ; viz. : — that so much 
 of Scripture reprinted would make the work unnecessarily 
 large and expensive. As it is, I should be very sorry to leave 
 
 L 
 
146 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 out any of the references, they are so very instructive. 
 I trust the work will be completed and published." 
 
 In a letter to a friend written immediately after the 
 first edition was issued the Editor says : " You see 
 I have not appended my name or initials to the Book. 
 Although I do not repudiate it among my friends, I 
 mean to keep this reserve as regards the public, and 
 could not authorise any public mention of it as mine." 
 He gives in the Preface a simple statement of its origin : — 
 "A Latin work ^ fell in the way of a friend who made 
 me acquainted with it, of which one portion was very 
 suitable for my purpose. The first sight I had of the 
 original work convinced me that God had cast in my 
 way an opportunity of putting before myself, and ulti- 
 mately perhaps before others, the Life of our Lord and 
 Saviour, His doctrines and His work, in a form likely 
 to be of daily practical use." To the same friend who 
 had suggested the addition of prayers in connection with 
 the meditations he writes : *' One special object of my 
 little book is to induce habits of thought, of which 
 meditation and mental prayer may be the fruit, and this 
 object would be in part defeated by the addition of any 
 forms of prayer to be used with it. My object was to 
 suggest as little as possible mere direction-posts, as it 
 were, of the line in which thought and prayer might be 
 followed and used," and he adds, " It is the result of 
 two or three years bit by bit use and notes from a 
 larger Latin work." 
 
 b Though the title is not given, the book referred to is prob- 
 ably '*Vita et Doctrina Jesu Christi ; " per N. Avancinum. First 
 published about 1670. 
 
Days of the Tractariaii Movement, 147 
 
 Another friend apparently suggested that it would be 
 an improvement if the passages to ,be read from 
 the Bible were printed in full, instead of merely giving 
 the references to the passages selected for meditation. 
 The answer to this is given very plainly in the preface : — 
 ^' Such thoughts as are suggested in this book are not 
 intended as readings in themselves, and are therefore 
 often abrupt ; but only as helps to reflection and 
 meditation on the Bible reading of the day. They 
 ought to be accompanied, where there is time, with 
 consideration of the other parts of Scripture referred 
 to. It would be better to take a part only and do so, 
 than to read the whole, and keep the Bible closed. No 
 greater calamity could well befall any one, than to put 
 forth a work which would lead men from, instead of 
 drawing them towards, those pages of revelation." 
 
 Extracts from letters written at the time of the pre- 
 paration of the book may be of value here, as it is 
 most necessary in passing judgment on any literary 
 work, to arrive at the exact position it was expected to 
 take in the opinion or aspirations of the author. 
 
 To his friend, Mr. Bowdler, July, 1849, Mr. Acland 
 writes: — "I send you one of the proofs, and with it 
 a sheet of the original book. You will see, first, that 
 there is far more in the original than in mine ; second, 
 that mine is by no means a translation, but rather 
 a digest ; and third, that I have had occasionally en- 
 tirely to alter the subjects, striving still to use, however, 
 some of the thoughts, and if you could see the whole 
 you would find that in one or two cases I have been 
 obliged to write two in one to make place for others 
 which were omitted, but which I could not omit because 
 
148 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 they were the subjects of our Prayer Book Gospels. 
 So therefore the work is not one of translation. Its 
 abruptness is intentional, for it could not have been so 
 compressed without it, and it forces on those who 
 use it, thinking and reflecting in place of reading. 
 
 " The most that I could do was to choose a few 
 practical passages, which would suggest, not be actual 
 meditations ; there was no room for expression of feeling 
 and rhetoric ; indeed, the plan of the Httle book aimed 
 at no more than leading others to find in the Scripture 
 History of our Lord daily practical thoughts." 
 
 "All authors are sanguine, but I cannot tell you how 
 strongly I feel about this, and therefore desire not to 
 mar injudiciously any good it might, by God's blessing, 
 effect. I do not think many people will be taken with 
 it, unless they use it steadily and their Bibles with it.. 
 If they do, I anticipate a great deal from it. There is 
 no similar book existing, and I know from very good 
 sources that it is very much wanted. It has been a great 
 help and blessing to me, and has formed my retired 
 employment for nearly three years. It is not my own, 
 either arrangement or thoughts, except in a few places. 
 It consists of notes taken from a Latin book of medi- 
 tations which came providentially into my hands, and 
 I saw at once that from it I might select enough for my 
 own and others' use, and that it furnished thoughts which 
 had their counterpart in Scripture." 
 
 For the benefit of those who have never seen a copy 
 of *' The Daily Steps," it will be as well to mention here 
 of what the book actually consists. In size and bulk 
 it is no larger than a pocket Prayer Book. One page 
 is allotted to each day of the year, commencing with 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movefnent. 149 
 
 Advent Sunday, and conforming strictly to the days and 
 weeks of the seasons of the Church's year, the fullest 
 possible number of weeks and days being provided for. 
 The subjects selected for meditation during the first 
 half of the year from Advent to Whitsuntide follow 
 closely the events of our Lord's life on earth according to 
 the arrangement of the Church j during the second half 
 of the year, i.e., from Trinity Sunday to Advent is allotted 
 first the subject of the Holy Eucharist, at the time of the 
 ancient Festival of " Corpus Christi," and then generally 
 the Miracles, Doctrines and Teaching of Christ. The 
 best, perhaps the only, way to shew clearly the nature of 
 the work is to give one or two examples taken verbatim 
 from the book itself, mentioning first that the heads for 
 meditations for each day are divided into three parts. 
 
 The Impotent Man at the Pool of Bethesda. 
 
 Read S. John v. i — 6. 
 
 I. '^ A great multitude of impotent folk ^ blind, halt^ 
 withered^ v. 3. 
 
 Am I in this multitude ? There are those blind in 
 spiritual things ; men halting between God and the world ; 
 hearts dry in devotion, and withered away through sin. 
 Have I even their anxiety to be healed ? i Kings 
 xviii. 21. 
 
 II. " Whosoever tJwt first after the troubling of the water 
 stepped in, was made whole."" v. 4. 
 
 Here is a lesson of earnestness and diligence. Not 
 the most sickly, not the longest afflicted was healed, but 
 
150 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 the first and most eager for cure. And if they for the 
 body, how much more I for the soul ! Prov. xii. 24 
 and xiii. 4. 
 
 III. " -^ certain ?nan was there which had an infirmity 
 thirty and eight years. ""^ v. 5. 
 
 Our Lord saw him, pitied him, and proved him. "Wilt 
 thou be made whole?" This is, thanks to God, the 
 great question of the Gospel. Wilt thou? What, then, are 
 my desires ? Do I cleave to sin, or do I hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness? S. John v. 40 ; 2 Cor. viii. 12. 
 
 TEXT. 
 
 Whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
 FREELY. Rev. xxii. 17. 
 
 The following extracts help also to shew the general 
 plan of the book, and the method employed for suggesting 
 meditation : — 
 
 Christ and the Woman of Samaria. 
 
 Read S. John iv. i — 14. 
 
 I. '•'' Jesus ^ being wearied with His journey^ sat thus on the 
 welir V. 6. 
 
 Jesus wearied ! Think of this when in toil, and be 
 content. But in His fatigue He thought of one poor 
 soul, and she was a sinner. He waited for her. How long 
 has He not waited for me ! Isaiah xxx. 18. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 151 
 
 II. " There conieth a woina7i of Samaria to draw water ^"^ 
 
 V. 7. 
 
 Happy those who are found in the discharge of their 
 daily duties when the hour of grace is at hand. Careless- 
 ness in these is a bad preparation. Industry and diligence 
 have their reward. Have I reaped it ? Prov. xiii. 4. 
 
 TEXT. 
 
 I AM SOUGHT OF THEM THAT ASKED NOT FOR Me. I 
 AM FOUND OF THEM THAT SOUGHT Me NOT. 
 
 Is. Ixv. I. 
 
 The Storm at Sea calmed, 
 
 " He rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great 
 
 calm^ 
 
 First, the cause of the waves, then the waves them- 
 selves. Is my soul in a tumult ? Ask where is the cause ? 
 Root out this. How often has God rebuked my passions ! 
 Oh, for that perfect calm which He alone can make. 
 Ps. Ixv. 7. 
 
 These examples may shew what the Editor meant by 
 *' direction -posts," to start the reader along the road of 
 meditation, which he must follow out for himself. 
 
 At the end of the volume there is an excellent *' Har- 
 mony of the Gospels," compiled from the works of Town- 
 send and Greswell. 
 
 The book has already passed through twenty -six 
 
152 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 editions, which in itself is a remarkable testimon}^ to its 
 value ^. Many devotional Manuals (as well as books of 
 other classes) acquire a large sale, owing in no small 
 degree to the popularity or prestige of the Author's 
 name. But " Daily Steps towards Heaven " has had 
 no such recommendation, and has held its own in spite 
 of many more modern publications. 
 
 There are not in it any of the small symbolic engrav- 
 ings which the Editor was so fond of introducing into 
 his books, but among his papers and letters, written at 
 the date of the first edition, was found a pen and ink 
 sketch of a "Jacob's Ladder," evidently drawn by his 
 own hand. The upper part of the ladder is enveloped with 
 clouds with a Cross showing through them, and figures 
 at different stages of the ascent. It would have made 
 a very appropriate design for the title. 
 
 We cannot do better than close this part of our subject 
 with an extract from the preface to the seventh edition, 
 written at the time of his greatest earthly sorrow and 
 trial : — " Whatever may be the will of God, the Editor's 
 belief is not only unshaken but increased, that communion 
 with God, the one way of attaining and maintaining 
 peace, is best secured by an habitual treasuring up of 
 the words of Holy Scripture, that they may be present 
 to the mind on every possible occasion ; partly as one 
 practical internal witness to the individual teaching of the 
 Holy Spirit, partly as a means of turning natural objects 
 and hourly occurrences into types of spiritual and eternal 
 ones, and diverting idle and unprofitable words into 
 thoughts of everlasting profit." 
 
 c It is published by Messrs. Parker and Co., Oxford and London. 
 
Days of the Tractariati Movement. 153 
 
 " Once more he is allowed to bear his testimony to the 
 power of that blessed Word. Year by year life becomes 
 more serious. The clouds, perhaps of an early evening, 
 hang on the horizon, and the sun may set in them ; but 
 they only drive him back for hope, for comfort, and for 
 peace, to its gracious and most soothing promises." 
 
 " Single acts of virtue, wrought by the Grace of God, 
 are the Steps to Heaven — whether inward, of penitence, or 
 faith, or hope, or love breathed from the soul to God — 
 or outward, of self-denying love, or peacemaking, or active 
 service." 
 
 *'One step only is in our power: the next — pray we 
 for the grace of God to do each single act as He shall 
 will, to His glory; and He will lead us whither as yet 
 we know not." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 personal IReltGiom Connection witb tbe 
 '* Xlractacian /IDov?ement" 
 
 PNOUGH has been said in previous chapters to prove 
 the very high standard of Hfe which Arthur Acland set 
 before himself, and which by his pubh'shed writings he 
 attempted to set before others. But it is necessary, if this 
 sketch is to be at all complete, to go somewhat deeper into 
 the more personal aspect of his religion. He left behind 
 him indeed, in writing, such outpourings of his inmost 
 thoughts, such evidences of the closest communings with 
 his heavenly Father, that it would be quite impossible 
 to reproduce for the eye of the general public. 
 
 But without trenching on matter over which the mantle 
 of silence must be thrown, it will be helpful and in- 
 structive to discuss here some points of his religious 
 life, his attitude to the leading topics of the day, his 
 connection with the great upheaval of the Tractarian, or 
 High Church, movement, and with the leaders of that 
 movement, and his own views, as far as they can now be 
 ascertained, of that and other similar subjects. 
 
 Above all things he would have dreaded to be labelled 
 a "Party" man, and yet it is necessary to make use of 
 *' Party " phraseology in discussing this question. It is 
 no doubt true that there were in his character very marked 
 elements of both Low Church and High Church principles. 
 
A Layman^ s Life, 6^^. 155 
 
 All his home teaching as a boy, and probably the majority 
 of his father's most valued friends were Evangelical. All 
 the influence of his wife's father and mother, to which 
 he became subject very soon after leaving college, was also 
 of a similar nature. Much of his conversation, many of 
 the religious principles on which he laid the greatest stress, 
 his never-ending study of the Bible, which resulted in 
 a remarkable acquaintance with its every detail — all these 
 would have stamped him as an earnest member of the 
 Low Church party. While on the other hand, his peculiar 
 love for symbolism, his veneration for antiquity, his con- 
 stant study of the early Fathers, his desire to restore to 
 the use of the Church all that was most beautiful in 
 architecture and music, proved him to be imbued with 
 some of the strongest characteristics of the Tractarians. 
 And as time passed, and his character had freer scope 
 for its natural development, he certainly became closely 
 identified with the High Church party. This was indeed 
 to be expected on a mere comparison of dates. He took 
 his degree at Christ Church, Oxford, at the end of the year 
 1832, and Mr. Newman has placed it on record that he 
 considered Sunday, July 14th, 1833, as the day (more than 
 any other) on which the *' Movement " was started, that 
 being the occasion of a remarkable sermon on *' National 
 Apostacy," preached in the Oxford University pulpit by 
 Mr. Keble. It is true that at this time Arthur Acland had 
 left Oxford, but during his undergraduate days, — the most 
 emotional period in the lives of most young men, — he 
 must have had continually brought before him, and heard 
 eagerly discussed, many of those burning questions which 
 were so soon to occupy the attention of all thinking men,, 
 and he must have seen almost daily the future leaders 
 
156 A Lay mafias Life in the 
 
 of the Movement passing up and down the streets of 
 Oxford, and perhaps greeted them within the precincts 
 of the Colleges. 
 
 In addition to this, the years to which allusion is now 
 •made were the years which witnessed the birth of what 
 Mr. Newman describes as some '* unseen, intangible, in- 
 fluence. It is not here or there, it has no progress, no 
 causes, no fortune ; it is not a movement, it is a spirit ; 
 it is a spirit afloat neither in the secret chamber, nor in 
 the desert^ but everywhere. It is within us, rising up in 
 the heart when it was least expected." 
 
 It would be rash indeed to question the accuracy of 
 Mr. Newman's opinions, he no doubt felt this description 
 to be true in his own case, but he evidently, with natural 
 modesty, took no account of his own extraordinary personal 
 influence. Be that as it may, Arthur Acland's character 
 would have responded with extreme sensitiveness to both 
 the " unseen influence " and the " personal." 
 
 Moreover, as time went on the Movement became more 
 and more the property of the whole nation. Dean Church 
 in his excellent history of the Oxford Movement, says : — 
 "The questions started in the Tracts, and outside them, 
 became of increasing interest to the more intelligent men 
 who had finished their University course, and were pre- 
 paring to enter into life. One by one they passed into 
 a consciousness that .... the questions thus raised drove 
 them in on themselves, and appealed to their honesty 
 and seriousness, and that at any rate in the men who 
 were arresting so much attention, however extravagant 
 their teaching might be called, there was a remarkable 
 degree of sober and reserved force, an earnestness of 
 conviction which could not be doubted, an undeniable 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 157 
 
 and subtle power of touching souls, and attracting sym- 
 pathies. 
 
 "The truth was that the Movement, in its many sides,. 
 had almost monopolised for the time both the intelligence 
 and the highest religious earnestness of the University,, 
 and either in curiosity or enquiry, in approval or in con- 
 demnation, all that was deepest and most vigorous, all 
 that was most refined, most serious, most high toned, and 
 most promising in Oxford was drawn to the issues which 
 it raised." 
 
 Nothing, therefore, was more natural than that Arthur 
 Acland and his elder brother should have become en- 
 grossed in this all-absorbing problem, that it should have 
 influenced their lives, finding "their old home teaching 
 completed, explained, lighted up by that of the new 
 school." 
 
 Oriel College has always been regarded as the centre 
 from which the Movement spread, and by a curious co- 
 incidence one of Arthur Acland's greatest college friends 
 was an undergraduate of Oriel. This was Robert Williams,, 
 who became afterwards his brother-in-law ; and as at this 
 period of their lives they held much the same views on 
 Church matters, and as Williams was privileged to be 
 an especial friend of Newman, no doubt Acland was thus 
 early brought into touch with the great leader. His 
 brother Tom, two years older than himself, and at Christ 
 Church at the same time, shared the same views, and had 
 many friends among the High Church party. But not- 
 withstanding all these influences, which must have stimu- 
 lated him to join eagerly in the Tractarian Movement, 
 it would not be correct to say that Arthur Acland re- 
 pudiated the school of thought in which he was brought 
 
158 A Lay mafias Life in the 
 
 up, to become a mere follower of the new ideals. It 
 would be more accurate to describe his religious views 
 when finally settled, as being a structure composed of 
 all the best elements of the High Church, or Catholic 
 doctrines and practices, built on the firm foundation 
 of pure Evangelical principles. He did not change from 
 one party to the other, but they were both harmoniously 
 bonded together. It is, perhaps, allowable to conjecture 
 that his early training, and the opinion of his parents, 
 to whom he was most loyal, acted as a drag, and pre- 
 vented him from advancing as the Movement advanced. 
 
 There were, happily, many in the same position ; even 
 Mr. Newman himself says that after the year 1841 a 
 change came over the character of the Movement, a new 
 school of thought was rising, and was sweeping the original 
 party aside, and was taking its place. 
 
 In the life of Dr. Hook we read the same story : "A 
 new party seemed to be rising, as different from the 
 original Tractarians as they had been from the Evan- 
 gelicals ; a party pointing to the mediaeval rather than 
 the primitive Church as the pattern of all that was excellent 
 in doctrine and practice ; viewing the English reformers 
 with suspicion, if not aversion, the Romanists with leniency 
 and favour." 
 
 With this new set it is safe to say Arthur Acland had 
 nothing whatever to do, but with several of the original 
 leaders he maintained a close friendship for many years. 
 Mr. Newman's secession to the Roman Church in 1845 
 must have caused a complete break in the friendly inter- 
 course of large numbers of those who formerly had so much 
 in common. But up to that time, and especially while 
 JNewman was living at Littlemore, Arthur Acland paid him 
 
Days of the Traciarian Movement. 159 
 
 many visits, and even obtained his advice and help in the 
 compilation of the " Liturgia Domestica." 
 
 Dr. Pusey is generally assigned a somewhat different 
 position in the Movement to that of Newman, Froude, 
 or Keble. Mr. Newman has said that Pusey was not 
 fully associated with it till 1835, but then his position 
 as Regius Professor and Canon of Christ Church, his 
 well-known deep religious seriousness, his great learning, 
 and scholarlike mind gave the Movement a prestige and 
 a name it did not possess before. There were special 
 ties of friendship between his family and the Aclands, 
 and as time passed, he and Arthur Acland were drawn 
 more closely together, and a fairly frequent correspondence 
 was maintained on subjects in which they were both in- 
 terested. 
 
 In the " Story of Dr. Pusey's Life " he is referred to 
 as "one of Dr. Pusey's most valued lay friends," and an 
 extract from a letter is given, which was written shortly 
 after a week spent together at Leeds : — 
 
 " I send you the lines I mentioned in my happy journey 
 from Leeds, I only hope it was not made so at your 
 expense. I may not venture to say what a blessing that 
 good week was to me there, what warnings, what com- 
 forts, what sympathies, what instructions came one after 
 the other to help my future warfare. I well know that 
 it is to this unseen future that one must look to see 
 whether this is real or not, and so I earnestly beg your 
 remembrances and prayers that to me and others may 
 be given the grace of perseverance unto the end; deeper 
 humility and patience, and penitence as our safeguards, 
 and with these such visions of our good God, such success 
 
i6o A Layman's Life in the 
 
 in our warfare as may be day by day our sufficient en- 
 couragement. 
 
 Ever affectionately yours, 
 Nov., 1845. A. H. D. A." 
 
 Of Mr. Keble's friendship we have already spoken. He 
 was nearly twenty years older than Arthur Acland, and 
 therefore must have been looked up to more as a guide 
 and adviser than as a mere friend. Correspondence be- 
 tween them shews, however, that they were on a most 
 affectionate footing. Mr. Keble's letters begin, as a rule, 
 " My dear friend," or " My dear kind friend," and end 
 "Your affectionate friend," and once, ''Your loving and 
 grateful, J. Keble." The manner in which Mr. Keble 
 accepted the offer of books for Hursley Church, to be 
 bound by Arthur Acland himself, proves most clearly 
 how much he was attached to his young friend. It 
 was to Mr. Keble that he turned for advice when he 
 was about to compile the ** Daily Steps," and it was 
 to Hursley that he went for comfort and strengthening 
 sympathy during the few months that he survived the loss 
 of his wife. 
 
 It was not at all generally known until Dr. Walter Lock, 
 Warden of Keble College, published his most interesting 
 edition of the " Lyra Innocentium," with notes, that 
 Mr. A. Acland's children were the subjects of one of 
 those exquisite poems with which Mr. Keble delighted 
 his own, and it is to be hoped, still delights the present 
 generation. 
 
 The poem entitled " Languor," in the series " Children's 
 Troubles," was written after a visit to Bude Haven, where 
 he met Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Acland, and saw their five 
 
Days oj the Tractarian Movement. i6i 
 
 children — *' three of the daughters, strong, bright, and 
 healthy, caring tenderly for a fourth who was just recover- 
 ing from illness." 
 
 No excuse is needed for quoting here the first two 
 stanzas : — 
 
 " Come, and with us by summer seas 
 The revel hold of Mirth and Ease. 
 Together now, and now apart, 
 Three happy sprites, we glide and dart 
 O'er rock and sand, as free and bright 
 As waves that leap in morning light ; — 
 Or mark in playful pensiveness 
 How fast the evening clouds undress 
 O'er gleaming waters far away, 
 And by the tir'd Sun gently lay 
 Their robes of glory, to be worn 
 More gorgeous with returning morn. 
 There, and where'er our fancies roam. 
 Our trusting hearts are still at home. 
 
 For at our side we feel 
 Our father's smile, our mother's glance. 
 Say, can this earth a loving trance 
 
 Of deeper bliss reveal t 
 
 " Yes : from the shore with us return. 
 And thou a deeper bliss shalt learn. 
 Just as the mounting sun hath drawn 
 Warm fragrance from the thymy lawn. 
 Come to our cottage home, and see 
 If aught of sprightly, fresh, and free. 
 With the calm sweetness may compare 
 Of the pale form half slumbering there, 
 Our little sister, late as gay • • 
 
 As sea-lark drench'd in ocean spray, 
 M 
 
i62 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 Now from her couch of languor freed 
 One hour upon soft air to feed. 
 O gently tread, and mildly gaze, 
 111 may she brook our bolder ways ; 
 
 The babe who cannot speak 
 Tempers, to her, his strong caress ; 
 Lightly the small soft fingers press 
 
 The wan and wearied cheek." 
 
 With such friends as Newman, Keble, and Pusey, and 
 others who followed in their steps, it was, perhaps, natural 
 that Arthur Acland's parents should take fright, and be- 
 come somewhat afraid of what the result would be on their 
 emotional son. These years, in which the Tractarian 
 Movement took its birth, saw many partings of friends, 
 and disagreements among members of the same family. 
 But although Sir Thomas and Lady Acland were quite 
 unable to understand their son's views, and occasionally 
 complained of what he did, there was never any risk of 
 a serious rupture between them. He and his elder brother 
 found at one time that it was necessary to avoid all dis- 
 cussion of religious subjects with their parents, but they 
 were prepared to give up a good deal to save offence to 
 those they so truly loved and respected. 
 
 A letter from Arthur to his mother, written five years 
 after leaving college and three years after his marriage, 
 throws an interesting light on the manner in which they 
 mutually regarded this subject. Lady Acland had evidently 
 written in somewhat decided language about her son's 
 doings, and his connection with the Tractarian Party, and 
 this letter was his reply : — 
 
 " . . . . We have been so accustomed scarcely to know 
 a difference on any subject of this kind, that nothing 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 163 
 
 distresses me more truly at this moment than thinking 
 that you do not feel with me the great importance and 
 truth of many points which are being daily more and more 
 evident as I see them. With regard to the paper I sent 
 you, I should not have sent it at all except just on this 
 principle, that I could not bear to keep from^ you any- 
 thing I had printed, seeing the frequency with which we 
 had consulted together on previous ones/' 
 
 This paper had some reference to the Roman Breviary, 
 and after shewing her that in its earHest form it was the 
 groundwork of our own Prayer Book, he continues : — 
 "The point, however, on which I am anxious to add a 
 little is your having said * You all ; ' I feel myself that 
 it is next to impossible to belong to any such set of 
 men as are now carrying on the Oxford work. There 
 is no doubt that a number of men, taken up with the 
 externals of their system, are introducing all that is 
 crotchety and absurd, without at all feeling or valuing 
 the internal question, and that alone would prevent me 
 from being joined to them in any way, independently of 
 my total disagreement with them in many points which 
 they think most essential. 
 
 " But the great difference which exists between what 
 I thought years ago, and now, is this : — that I do firmly 
 believe there is a mystical and internal character in the 
 Church wholly independent of its external members, and 
 that it has pleased God to continue by His Spirit and 
 hand down (externally under the guardianship of the 
 Church) the great leading truths of Christianity, untouched 
 even in those ages when the grossest additions were heaped 
 one on the other. 
 
 " If we are to use means (which God's Spirit alone can 
 
164 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 bless) for guiding our minds aright, is it more safe or likely 
 to be more true when sought for amid the whole con- 
 tinuous teaching of all ages of the Church, or when guided 
 mainly by the opinions of some favourite preacher, who 
 has his own congregation looking up to him as almost 
 necessarily right ? " 
 
 Another letter, written to his wife from Salisbury in the 
 following year, 1839, will enable us still more clearly 
 to understand his attitude on the Church questions of 
 the time, and proves clearly that he was no "party 
 man " : — 
 
 " We arrived safe, though late, at Oxford yesterday, 
 and just in time to have luncheon and go to service at 
 Littlemore, which was delightful. I opened my whole 
 * Liturgia ' to Newman, who is much pleased with it, and 
 Parker will fully co-operated I have had a letter from 
 Bartholomew in which he supposes that the Bishop has 
 a suspicion that I am not in reality High Church but 
 still attached to the Low Church. I have written to him 
 fully on the subject. Yesterday I dined in Hall, had 
 tea with Newman in Oriel Common Room, and slept 
 at the * Angel.' 
 
 " I am quite satisfied the Oxford Party must be avoided. 
 They are a vortex which draws in all it can, and they seem 
 to stop short of what ought to be the only and all-en- 
 grossing subject — real universal unity. We are going 
 to the Bishop's in half an hour, so I must close." 
 
 This letter is a very striking commentary on the position 
 of affairs in the Tractarian Movement. It had only been 
 in existence as an active agent about six years ; the 
 
 a The 1st edition was published in 1840. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 165 
 
 period of which we are speaking was more than a year 
 prior to the publication of Tract No. 90,. which was con- 
 sidered a turning-point in its history, and six years prior 
 to Newman joining the Church of Rome. Arthur Acland 
 was so completely satisfied with Newman's lo3^alty to the 
 Church, that, as already stated, he went to Oxford with 
 the object of obtaining his advice on the subject of the 
 Book of Family Prayers, then ready for publication, and 
 yet he says " the Oxford Party must be avoided." Where, 
 then, was Newman's leadership ? Why was it that men 
 of influence, such as Keble, and Pusey, were power- 
 less to keep the more eager of their followers within 
 reasonable limits ? This is not the place to embark 
 in a dissertation on such a subject ; but it is obvious 
 that then, as now, a party started on its course with all 
 seriousness and useful moderation may soon be led away 
 by too ardent spirits into manifold extravagances ; and 
 it should help us to remember that now, as then, a man 
 may belong nominally to a certain party, without wish- 
 ing to identify himself with the views of its most advanced 
 members. 
 
 One more short extract from a letter to a friend writ- 
 ten some years later may conclude this part of our sub- 
 ject:— "I cannot think that all is legitimately part of 
 our Church system, which has been practised within it. 
 I should be so thankful if those who have the control 
 would consider whether it is prudent to carry people to 
 the very verge of what is just permissible, when so many 
 are scandalized by it, and but few (if any) permanently 
 satisfied. The madness of opponents is encouraged, and 
 we are having here, as elsewhere, fearful outbreaks of 
 popular mania." 
 
1 66 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 Having thus made clear the position Arthur Acland 
 took up amid the conflicting reHgious opinions of his 
 day, and proved beyond doubt that he kept aloof from 
 the extremists of the party, although he had much in 
 common with them, we shall be better able to deal with 
 some other matters which would, if taken alone, convey 
 the impression that he was one of the more advanced 
 iHigh Churchmen of his time. 
 
 The custom of fasting, for instance, was systematically 
 practised by him, and the advantage of it inculcated on 
 others. In his book of Family Prayers, under the heading 
 *' Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence," he says : — " In 
 families where there are many who cannot observe any 
 strict rule, it would conduce to an observance of the 
 season of Lent and other Fast - days to postpone the 
 evening meal until after evening prayer, which might be 
 earlier than usual to allow the children to be present. 
 All musical recreation might be discontinued, as well as 
 chanting or singing hymns at the family service." 
 
 Writing to a friend in the year 1842, he says: — "Our 
 habit, which you asked me about, has been for some time 
 past to have nothing but broth in the house on Friday 
 and no meat at other meals, ourselves at all events, and 
 no adjuncts of any kind at dinner, unless potatoes. In 
 Lent we had broth on Wednesday and salt-fish on Friday 
 throughout the house. We had promised the servants to 
 put at their disposal, for the poor, whatever was saved 
 by a difference in their living during that time. They 
 went without meat at breakfast and supper, and I have 
 reason to hope without other things also throughout the 
 whole season. I heard that my brother's page-boy had 
 given up of his own accord all his beer for the whole 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 167 
 
 time, and asked his master to give the value of it to 
 the poor. These things are all very encouraging; their 
 difficulties are more than ours, for the ridicule and com- 
 parative number of scoffers is far greater among the classes 
 they come in contact with than in our own. I find one 
 of our children, six years old, enters into and desires 
 occasionally to take part in the fasting. I trust our 
 boy will follow the precept and example of the Church 
 and her Lord's saints in this matter willingly and early, 
 for it is of great advantage and a means of com- 
 munion, like acts of charity, with our blessed Lord 
 Himself." 
 
 At the time of the " National Fast," in the year 1847, 
 he was away from his home,|but wrote the previous day 
 to his servants asking them to observe the day properly. 
 He says : — ** When we advise you to deny yourselves, 
 you know that it is not for our own profit but for your 
 religious good. It is in this feeling that I do most ear- 
 nestly hope that you will spend to-morrow in a way suit- 
 able to the cause for which it is appointed. In this 
 house (Bridehead, where he was staying) we shall not 
 meet together for any meal until the evening. Those 
 who feel that they need and require food will take it 
 quietly by themselves, and not have any set-out meal 
 during the early part of the day. I hope you will all 
 do the same. At these times religious people feel it 
 a solemn duty to deny themselves ; not as if that were 
 any merit or satisfaction, but to shew that they feel their 
 own unworthiness of God's good gifts. I hope you will 
 all put by some sum, however small, by way of alms, 
 which is one of the duties of every fast-day." 
 
 The necessity of self-denial was laid before his children 
 
1 68 A Layman^ Life tn the 
 
 very early in life. His teaching in this matter, as in every- 
 thing else, was extremely practical. When living at Teign- 
 mouth, in the years 1849 to 1852, he instituted the custom 
 of sending daily one of his girls with a dinner to a poor 
 person, at their own dinner time, but before they had 
 their own meal. Each child had a special day on which 
 to carry out this little act of charity, and it must have 
 been a ready means of impressing the virtue on their 
 young minds. 
 
 The use of the sign of the Cross, and the custom of 
 having a Crucifix in his room, require passing notice. 
 As regards the latter, it gave rise to one of the letters 
 of complaint which he occasionally received from his 
 mother at the commencement of the Church revival. 
 A Crucifix had been brought him from abroad by one 
 of his brothers, and was placed in a partition of his 
 bookshelves with a small door in front to prevent its 
 being too much in evidence. The reply to Lady Acland 
 is a useful example of the principles which guided him 
 in these matters : — " In this and all other such things 
 I feel no want," he says, '' and see no need of them. 
 The looking at them would never make me devout when 
 I was not so, nor would they be objects of reverence to 
 me. But when my mind is more than usually devotional 
 I have had subjects of spiritual interest frequently re- 
 called, and the mind perhaps more solemnized by them. 
 But of any other tendency, or use, I know nothing. If 
 it would really alter your mind about me, or take 
 away any needless offence, I would as far as may be 
 make any sacrifice rather than give cause of misunder- 
 standing to one whom I so love and respect, and ever 
 shall." 
 
Days of the Tr act avian Movemtnt. 169 
 
 Although it can have been very seldom done or ob- 
 served by others, it is said that he made the sign of the 
 Cross whenever he heard anyone mention the evil spirit 
 lightly or jokingly. He told his children that when 
 Satan was jested about he had a peculiar power over 
 us, and that the sign of the Cross would cause him to 
 flee away. 
 
 To a friend he wrote on one occasion, "The symbol 
 of the Cross is the one external in which I take the greatest 
 delight, and with which I do not hesitate to sign and mark 
 many things — a pledge and protection to simplicity of 
 habits and of life." 
 
 Anything in the form of excessive or elaborate decora- 
 tion of Churches was certainly distasteful to him, and as 
 late as the year 1857, after a visit to Radley College, 
 where his eldest son was educated, he said that he had 
 great misgivings about the ornamental carving over the 
 Altar in the Chapel, although it was not of a kind to form 
 an object of reverence. The advantageous use of "ex- 
 ternals " in worship is probably a matter which every one 
 must decide for himself; but it is certain that Arthur 
 Acland would have dreaded intensely the possibiUty ot 
 inward devotion being disturbed by the power or attraction 
 of outward ceremony or decoration. 
 
 The method he adopted, both for himself and for teaching 
 divine truths to his children, was grounded on symbolism, 
 and no doubt a more lasting impression would be made 
 on young minds in this way. He told them, for instance, 
 that they should avoid picking flowers on Sundays, because 
 the insects would thereby be deprived of their '• Sunday 
 rest." To each child he assigned a special Virtue, and 
 with it associated a mark, or token, or colour; the mark 
 
170 A Lay mart s Life in tJie 
 
 or colour to remind them of the Virtue which they were 
 to aim at possessing. 
 
 One very marked development of the Tractarian Move- 
 ment was the revival of religious Sisterhoods and Brother- 
 hoods. We may well mention two of these societies 
 here, as they are both illustrative of the times, and of 
 the attitude which many moderate adherents of the 
 Tractarian Movement were forced to take up. It is of 
 course well known that Dr. Pusey was a strong advocate 
 for the establishment of Sisterhoods in England, and for 
 the organized work of women living together under dis- 
 cipline and supervision. He was closely connected, for 
 instance, with the Orphans' Home, established at Devon- 
 port by Miss Sellon about the year 1848, and he no doubt 
 influenced his young friend to promote this good work, 
 situated as it was in his own county. But Miss Sellon's 
 Home soon aroused a good deal of hostility, and she had 
 to bear both honest opposition and unworthy obloquy. 
 The system and rules of the Orphanage were framed on 
 distinctly High Church lines, and the support and patron- 
 age of the distinguished Tractarian would doubtless have 
 attracted attention of a critical character by his ever alert 
 opponents. 
 
 Arthur Acland, however, proved himself a staunch- 
 friend, for the objects of the Orphanage were at the 
 commencement purely philanthropic. On one occasion, 
 when a large public meeting was convened to discuss 
 Miss Sellon's proceedings, he is spoken of " as the only 
 human being who stood by her, and really trusted her." 
 But later on, as in so many other instances, there seems 
 to have been lacking the spirit of calm moderation which, 
 was so necessary in those days of religious excitement. 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 171 
 
 Within four or five years of the founding of the Orphanage 
 great developments had taken place, and the character 
 of the Home was becoming completely altered. It is not 
 necessary to discuss here whether the accusations made 
 against Miss Sellon were untrue, or merely exaggerations, 
 but as a proof that Mr. Arthur Acland would not allow 
 himself to be dragged on beyond the sober principles of 
 the earlier days of the Church revival, the following letter 
 is of value : — " I rejoiced," he says, *'in Miss Sellon's first 
 answer, though I could clearly see that it would not satisfy 
 others. But the successive rejoinders convinced me that 
 they have been gradually led into the formation of habits, 
 and rules, which as a system is so opposed to the whole 
 current of honest English feeling, as to be perfectly sui- 
 cidal. I greatly regret the change of plan for the house 
 from an Asylum for Orphans to a gathering-place for 
 ' Sisters ; ' and the statement from her own pen of an 
 * Eternal tie ' having been even permitted to be contracted, 
 which was of a nature to reappear at the Last day, is to 
 my mind very awful, and involved my giving a positive 
 warning to any of our own children, who if they had no 
 other vocation in life, I might have gladly seen in that 
 work as it was. I think the thing is marred somehow 
 as an English work, yet I do not wish to feel sympathy 
 or agreement with the accusers." 
 
 A somewhat longer account must be given of a 
 community of Laymen (though on a small scale) with 
 which Arthur Acland was connected, for it throws a 
 most interesting light on the religious questions of 
 the period, but like many other societies, the too- 
 eager spirits among its members carried it far beyond 
 the intentions or wishes of its founders, and in con- 
 
172 A Layman s Life in the 
 
 sequence the more sober - minded were unable to con- 
 tinue their support. 
 
 The first mention of this " Fraternity," as it was called, 
 is found in a letter from Arthur Acland in July, 1844 : 
 " I have been waiting many weeks to send you the en- 
 closed, and on my return (home) I found, most singularly, 
 others thinking of the same thing. Nothing, however, is 
 done except this : that on S. Barnabas' day I met a friend 
 in town, who agreed to ascertain what could be done during 
 the present twelve months in inducing a few persons to 
 take up some actual brotherly practice of works of 
 mercy in hospitals or workhouses, which might issue in 
 a Fraternity being formed with rules of simplicity, and 
 forms of prayer, at the end of the year." 
 
 The general plan of the Fraternity, which took even- 
 tually the name of " S. Barnabas," may be gathered from 
 the following notes which were sent to those who -pro- 
 posed joining : — 
 
 *' A few friends propose to themselves, and to one 
 another, to act upon the following suggestions, so far as 
 each person's circumstances may allow ; it being under- 
 stood that each may withdraw from the engagement 
 without explanation, upon ever so little experience of 
 its not suiting his case ; it being also understood that 
 the whole matter is to be kept private, but if it ever 
 become public, episcopal sanction would be considered 
 indispensable. 
 
 " It is suggested : — 
 
 "(i) That each member fix on some regular work of 
 charity, to which he should consider himself called, 
 such as visiting hospitals, workhouses, schools, or of 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement. 173^ 
 
 the poor and afflicted at their own homes, but always 
 in subordination to the Parochial or Church authority." 
 
 " (2) In order to obtain a blessing on the work, atten- 
 dance at the Church's daily services, as far as circum- 
 stances allow. 
 
 " (3) Observance of the Fasts of the Church. 
 
 " (4) And of the Hours of Prayer— the forms of which 
 should be short, and easily learnt by heart. 
 
 " (5) Special prayers for unity and for one another." 
 
 Other suggestions are : — that all members should lay 
 down their 07vn rules for the number of hours' sleep and 
 recreation ; for meditation, self-examination, and propor- 
 tion of income to be set apart for works of mercy, and 
 to consider the directions of the Church which relate to 
 private confession. 
 
 In the following year, 1845, ^^^ rules were amended 
 in some slight particulars, the chief addition being that 
 the persons engaged should receive the Holy Communion 
 weekly, and should meet, if possible, in London on or 
 near S. Barnabas' Day; and although there is no ac- 
 count of any of these meetings, references are often 
 seen in letters that Acland always remembered the day 
 and endeavoured to be with some one or other of the 
 Fraternity at the time. 
 
 The number of members was kept very low ; two 
 years later there were only fourteen ; " the smallness of 
 our numbers (he says) arise from an earnest desire to 
 keep the matter private, and among those who know of 
 each other, until it has had sufficient trial." 
 
174 -^ Layman's Life in the 
 
 The list of members is very interesting; it will be 
 noticed that they were all laymen, and it is believed 
 that the first name on the list is that of the real ori- 
 ginator of the scheme, if that position can be assigned 
 to any one person : — 
 
 Frederick Rogers (after- Mathew Rhodes. 
 
 wards Lord Blachford). Thomas Moorsom. 
 
 Thomas Haddan. William Monsell. 
 
 Thos. Dyke Acland. A. H. D. Acland. 
 
 Edwin Adare (Lord W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Adare). Robert Campbell. 
 
 John T. Coleridge. VV. Butterfield. 
 
 Roundell Palmer. R. Brett. 
 
 At this time Mr. Gladstone was a member of Sir R. 
 Peel's Ministry. Sir J. T. Coleridge was a Judge. Three 
 of the Fraternity were practising Barristers, one was a 
 Captain in the Guards, one was a Doctor, one an Archi- 
 tect, the others gentlemen of position without a regular 
 profession. 
 
 Two other names mentioned as about to be proposed 
 complete the list as far as can be ascertained from his 
 correspondence ; one was that of a tradesman in Dor- 
 chesterj and the other a draughtsman in an Architect's 
 office. A feeling of surprise is perhaps natural at the 
 thought of such a variety of interests being gathered to- 
 gether in what Mr. Keble called a " quasi combination," 
 but a feeling of admiration should certainly be added 
 that such men should be found taking such a lofty view 
 of their spiritual life and duties as to agree to be 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 175 
 
 bound together to follow rules of this description at that 
 time. 
 
 It may be said by some that the Fraternity was of too 
 trivial a character to deserve much consideration, and that 
 the wonder is that such men should have thought it worthy 
 of their attention. There are, we may hope, at the present 
 day very many laymen carrying out in their daily lives 
 the duties undertaken by the members of S. Barnabas; 
 and it is for that very reason that prominence has been 
 given to the subject here — to attract the notice of the 
 reader in the twentieth century to the vast change that has 
 €ome over the country since the early days of the Oxford 
 Movement, when such elementary Church facts as daily 
 services, frequent Communions, Observance of Fasts 
 and Festivals, had to be taught by the combining to- 
 gether of a few friends, practising them, as it were, in 
 secret. 
 
 It is, however, only necessary to remember that such 
 simple observances as the clergyman preaching in a sur- 
 plice, or even a surpliced choir, led at one time to actual 
 rioting, and mobbing of the offending parties, to realise 
 that the more private devotional acts of prayer or fasting 
 might have brought a storm of ridicule on the devout 
 adherent of the Church revival. 
 
 But even the litde Fraternity with its most moderate 
 aims did not last long. In 1850 Arthur Acland writes to 
 Sir J. T. Coleridge : — "I am not very sorry to be absent " 
 (from London on S. Barnabas' Day). "The fact that 
 two of our members having abandoned the Church of 
 England for that of Rome only confirms the fears that 
 we were being drawn into changing our original humble 
 attempts to enlist a Httle knot of men, here and there, 
 
176 A Laymaris Life in the 
 
 to carry on a more religious life than is usually considered 
 needful among secular men ; this seems to have been 
 changed by the gradual addition to our numbers of men 
 who required more specific objects, and whose views were 
 leading them continually in a direction against which 
 I think good men cannot be too earnestly warned. My 
 own personal feeling, therefore, is to remain quietly as 
 I am, taking no part in any further alteration." 
 
 Two years later he writes in a more decided tone : " On 
 the subject of the Fraternity I have a distinct decision — 
 to take no part in any further movement, either about 
 the old one, or any other. Not at all because I disapprove 
 of them, but because I have ever endeavoured to preserve 
 a recollection of it and its rules. I never was a willing 
 party to the changes, by which it seemed gradually to 
 enlist those with whom there was not really agreement 
 in object, and who having left us, seem to make it a broken 
 institution." 
 
 This, then, may be looked upon as one simple example 
 of what so often occurred in the years following Mr. 
 Newman's secession to the Church of Rome, which took 
 place on October 9th, 1845. There were many partings, 
 and there was of necessity much sorrow as the friends 
 who had struggled side by side were found at last to 
 be drifting away from one another for ever. They were 
 bound together originally by the common purpose of ^^ con- 
 tributing something towards the practical revival of doc- 
 trines, which, although held by the great Divines of our 
 Church, have at present become obsolete with the majority 
 of her members, and are withdrawn from public view even 
 by the more orthodox few who still adhere to them " 
 (doctrines so elementary, as, thank God, they are now to 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movemefit. 177 
 
 us); "the Church of England a branch of the Holy Catholic 
 Church throughout the world, — the Apostolic Succession 
 of our Ministry — the Divinely provided discipline of the 
 Church ^ " — these were the doctrines which when forcibly 
 enunciated afresh drove men apart, " some to methodism, 
 and some to popery." 
 
 Those who remained loyal and devoted sons of the 
 Church of their forefathers must have required at times 
 great determination, and the sincerity of their convictions 
 must have been frequently put to a severe test. Some 
 such trial apparently had to be endured by Arthur Acland 
 himself when on one occasion he spent a short time in 
 Paris. His letters home are full of expressions, which 
 can bear no other interpretation than that he was de- 
 liberately subjected to a serious attempt at conversion 
 to the Church of Rome; and they are helpful to those 
 who wish to realise the state of religious opinions of 
 that date. 
 
 When at Rouen he went to see the Cathedral, and he 
 says, "I, of course, knelt for prayer as one may do, 
 thank God, without fear or shame in foreign countries; 
 the Verger afterwards asked me if I was not Irish; 
 I said, ' No — English.' He said, * Ah, there are not 
 many Catholics in England;' taking for granted that no 
 Protestant could be reverently and devoutly behaved in 
 visiting a Church." 
 
 He stayed in Paris with a friend, M. de Fresne, who, 
 on more than one occasion, arranged that visitors should 
 come " to argue with him." He says : — *' He, being a 
 Roman Catholic, we have fallen into a great deal of re- 
 
 ^ Advertisement to Vol. I. " Tracts for the Times." 
 
 N 
 
1 78 A Lay Juan's Life in the 
 
 ligous conversation. He has set his battle in array, for 
 he has had one friend after another, all evidently very 
 devout men, Cures, Dominicans, &c., to convince poor 
 me The gist of all our conversation comes to this, that 
 they cannot understand how any one can faithfully take 
 up the Book of Common Prayer, which they think per- 
 fectly Cathohc, and remain out of communion with them, 
 nor will they allow that the vast obstacles to union with 
 them, such as their conduct with regard to Images, In- 
 vocation and Prayers to Saints and to the Blessed Virgin, 
 Dogma of Transubstantiation, and the denial of the Cup, 
 &c., form impermeable barriers between us — and I am 
 coming home with an infinitely deeper and more practi- 
 cal consciousness of the gulf than I had before." 
 
 In his last letter from Paris to his wife he says : — 
 " I think they are all astonished and disappointed at the 
 result of our conferences with the various persons M. de 
 Fresne has brought about me, and I do not think he 
 will catch me again. Because, though it is a trial of 
 patience and faith, and God has wonderfully given me 
 strength to resist the temptation which might beset me, 
 and to strengthen me more and more against acquiescence 
 in error, yet it is very trying." 
 
 The strain thus thrown on the faithful members of the 
 Church of England must have been very great. It must 
 have been difficult indeed to have remained undisturbed 
 in a period of extreme religious excitement, when perhaps 
 it was especially needful to feel and to realise that '* in 
 quietness and confidence should be their strength." One 
 of the tutors of Oriel expressed his opinion at the time 
 that "when a man of Newman's surpassing intellect and 
 unquestioned holiness, self-denial and piety ; when a man 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement, 179 
 
 whose very presence, even his silent presence, casts 
 a mysterious influence for good on all around him, feels 
 what he deems an imperative call to leave that Church 
 in which he was baptized, and of v/hich he has been 
 a minister, I think that those who feel most satisfied 
 ■and confident of their own position may well suspect that 
 there are some serious deficiencies in a system in which 
 the aspirations of such a spirit as his could meet with 
 no corresponding voice, and find no sympathetic aid ^." 
 But this question, if it really ever took shape in the hearts 
 of those who did remain confident in the sufficiency and 
 the divine origin of the Church of England, must have 
 acted as a most powerful stimulus not only to do all in 
 their power to save their friends from secession, but to 
 make use of every opportunity for strengthening their 
 own religious character. Events, which in times of peace 
 and quiet would have passed off almost unnoticed, be- 
 came matters of vast importance and turning-points in 
 the lives of those who took part in them. In some 
 such light may be placed the 'consecration of a Church 
 at Leeds, which was arranged for the autumn of the year 
 1845, and which actually took place only a month after 
 Mr. Newman's secession. 
 
 The Church was built at the sole expense of^'one who 
 called himself " a penitent," a thank-offering to Almighty 
 God for His mercies and love. The name of the Church 
 as originally selected, was " Holy Cross," but was changed 
 to "S. Saviour," and the occasion of the consecration 
 was utilized for a remarkable gathering of earnest Church- 
 men. Arthur Acland was present throughout the whole 
 
 c From " The Tractarian Upheaval," Chapter VI. 
 
i8o A Layman s Life in the 
 
 week, the various religious observances creating a very- 
 marked impression upon him, and no doubt really in- 
 fluenced his character and thoughts of life. He and 
 his elder brother were guests of Dr. Hook. At the con- 
 secration service there were nearly two hundred and fifty 
 clergy and five hundred others ; and of this total about 
 five hundred in all received the Holy Communion. The 
 sermons were preached by the Bishop of Ripon in the 
 morning, and in the evening by Dr. Pusey, who selected 
 as his subject, *' Penitence and Love," relating no doubt 
 to the cause or origin of the building of the Church, 
 Dr. Pusey himself, as is now well known, having been 
 the "Penitent" who was moved to undertake this great 
 work. 
 
 The series of services lasted for a whole week, each 
 day commencing with a celebration of the Holy Com- 
 munion, and special sermons being preached twice or 
 three times a day. Among those selected as preachers 
 were Mr. Upton Richards of All Saints', Margaret 
 Street, Mr. Dodsworth, Mr. Ward, Mr. Keble, Mr. Isaac 
 Williams, Mr. C. Marriott and Mr. Manning ; the ser- 
 mons of those kept away by illness or engagements 
 being, for the most part, given by Dr. Pusey himself, who 
 preached no less than sixteen times. Some of the 
 sermons affected Arthur Acland, and no doubt all who 
 heard them, very deeply. The subject of "Confession" 
 entered into a great number of the discourses, and 
 such epithets as "A fearful sermon," "A most awful 
 sermon, yet with tenderness," "Another fearful sermon on 
 neghgence of religion," occur in his account of the time 
 he spent at Leeds. It must indeed have been something 
 in the nature of a "revival," or a "mission." He says, 
 
Days of the Tradarian MovemeJit. 1 8 1 
 
 "*' I feel this to be most profitable to me, searching me 
 out, and helping me to try myself, and withdraw myself for 
 a time from the hurried business of my ordinary life. The 
 week has had full much in it. But any one of the great 
 sermons would have been too much if the details of it were 
 all to be borne in mind. Each had its own great out- 
 line, which can be profitably remembered, and which 
 could not have been spared. And then the Holy Com- 
 munion, day after day, prevented the feeling of excite- 
 ment or hurry, and left us with thankful and peaceful 
 hearts. It is now all over, and if it has its right effect, 
 it will have taught me many of my manifold faults, which 
 all who know me have seen hitherto better than I have 
 seen them myself. It will have drawn me nearer to our 
 Lord, and have taught me more caution, and also more 
 control of myself, and more consideration of others ; 
 to seek more quiet and repose, and given me a deeper 
 feeling of responsibility in all." He travelled back from 
 Leeds with Dr. Pusey, and ** had a great deal of valuable 
 talk with him," and shortly afterwards wrote the letter 
 which has been already given on page 159. They 
 made their journey south by the new line of railway, 
 which Mrs. Arthur Acland appears to have been some- 
 what nervous about. It helps us to recall to mind the 
 period of the nineteenth century when we read, " With 
 regard to our journey all precautions are now taken, 
 and the railroad is, I believe, in good repute. We were 
 very comfortable, Tom, Dr. Pusey, and I. We said 
 the ' Itinerarium ' and the Compline prayers, and felt 
 ourselves very safe." 
 
 The friendship with Dr. Hook ripened, and proved 
 of a lasting character, and it is interesting to note that 
 
1 82 A Layman s Life in the 
 
 a still closer connection between the two families arose 
 in the next generation, when the Dean of Chichester's 
 son took as the partner of his life Arthur Troyte's 
 fourth daughter. 
 
 In attempting to describe the * personal reUgion " 
 of one who died nearly fifty years ago, it has been only 
 possible to arrive at somewhat general conclusions, 
 and his own writings, correspondence, and habits have 
 been the main sources from which to elicit the truth. 
 A volume of devotions, which he prepared during the 
 years 1839 to 1847 for his own private use, is an addi- 
 tional proof of his own religious convictions and prac- 
 tice, and may to some extent be taken as an example 
 of what others of the early Tractarians would have felt 
 to be right. 
 
 The book consists of about 130 pages, the contents 
 being partly printed prayers pasted in, and partly MS. 
 prayers taken from a great diversity of ancient liturgies, 
 and from the writings of the early Fathers. His great 
 love for ancient forms is apparent throughout ; the 
 headings of the seasons, the days of the week, and the 
 hours of the day are given in Latin; such entries as 
 " Ad Primam," " Ad Vesperas," and prayers to be used 
 on anniversaries so little observed as " Holy Cross day," 
 or " Nomen Jesu," or "Corpus Christi," give the book 
 the appearance of being one belonging to days prior 
 to the Reformation. If it were printed and published 
 at the present time, it would, without doubt at the first 
 glance, be accepted as the compilation of the most 
 advanced Ritualist. But on closer examination, it would 
 be discovered that this was due solely to its external 
 appearance, and that in its substance and in the char- 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 183 
 
 acter of the prayers or meditations, there was nothing 
 to offend even the susceptibilities of an EvangeHcal. As 
 it stands to-day, it is a witness to the fact that a love for 
 symbolism, and a veneration for ancient forms and ancient 
 practices, are altogether consistent with most orthodox 
 and moderate doctrine. It has been already shewn that 
 he could not keep pace with the more advanced of the 
 Oxford party, but he always kept in touch with those 
 whom he first had trusted, and was no doubt considered 
 a High Churchman to the last. 
 
 But it was no party shibboleth that marked his in- 
 dividuality; it was his deep personal religion, his intense 
 anxiety to live with Christ, and to bring others to Him; 
 and as the years passed these tendencies became more and 
 more strongly marked, and the rules he laid down for his 
 own guidance were more stringently observed, and more 
 urgently impressed on those with whom he lived. In the 
 last year of his life, at any rate, he carried his system 
 of self-denial, self-mortification, and keen introspection 
 almost to excess, if it is allowable so to speak of one who 
 still led the busy, hard-working, practical life necessary 
 to his position, and who ever delighted to use the objects 
 and duties of this world as aids to holy and spiritual 
 thoughts. But he seemed, finally, scarcely to take account 
 of the necessities of this present life ; for some years 
 indeed he made a practice of rising from his bed during 
 the night to make use of the office of '' Spiritual Com- 
 munion ; " and an almost uncontrollable longing pos- 
 sessed him to be taken into that closest communion 
 with his heavenly Father which could not be found here 
 on earth. 
 
 As he said himself, "year by year life becomes more 
 
1 84 
 
 A Layman s Life, <^c. 
 
 serious;" he seemed fully conscious that "the clouds 
 of an early evening were, for him, hanging on the horizon, 
 and that the Sun would, for him, soon set in them." 
 
 Trusting more and more firmly, and with ever increasing 
 love and faith, to the promises of Holy Scripture, he 
 seemed indeed to be above with Christ, and with those 
 who had already entered into their rest, rather than still 
 to be here below. The words he had previously used 
 of one greatly loved are indeed most truly applicable to 
 himself: " He lived above the world, and fed upon God's 
 word in deep communion. His ceaseless prayers filled 
 up the hours of the day, and ceaseless meditation filled his 
 soul with Him ; his Saviour, Jesus Christ." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1bt5 last borne, Ibuntsbam, ^cvon, 
 IS5Z-\S57. 
 
 TirHEN Arthur Acland was leaving Dorchester in the 
 year 1848 he made use of the words, 'Sve go on 
 the wide world, having no settled home, nor will it be 
 easy to fix on one," but he knew that there was another 
 home awaiting him, in which all his energies, both mental 
 and physical, would be taxed to the uttermost. He was 
 in complete ignorance of the time that might elapse 
 before the call would come to him to undertake these 
 new duties; this much, however, he did know, — that he 
 \^ as the recognized heir to a large landed property in the 
 North-east of Devonshire, the owner being at the time 
 over eighty years of age. 
 
 It is probable that Sir Thomas Acland had been made 
 acquainted with this prospect some years before, and it 
 may have caused him to put obstacles in the way of his 
 son embarking in any definite profession; but the pre- 
 vious pages will have shewn the reader how excellently 
 equipped Arthur Acland had become for this important 
 change of life. 
 
 It is difificult to realize when picturing to oneself his 
 incessant work, and his mastery of so many technical 
 
1 86 A Layman'' s Life in the 
 
 matters, that he had no real profession, and that there was 
 no necessity for him to undertake the extraordinary number 
 of duties in which he pretty well wore himself out. With 
 him it was indeed considered paramount, that every 
 minute of the day should be spent "in active labour and 
 inward devotion." It was, therefore, quite in accordance 
 with his character as already portrayed that he should 
 have approached these new duties with a feeling of the 
 great responsibility which they would bring with them, and 
 with something like alarm at the thought of so much power 
 for good or evil over the lives of others being placed in 
 his hands. 
 
 Writing to his wife, probably soon after he was first 
 informed of his future inheritance, he says : " Some 
 day we may be in a position which will give you more 
 opportunities than you have had yet for a congenial exer- 
 cise of influence over, and personal charity amongst the 
 poor. Should we ever be there it will probably be a 
 happy sphere. The Church is close to the house, and 
 I imagine the village is also close by. What I most 
 desire is to leave all to God, to accept the prospect at 
 least as an intimation of patience and quiet for the pre- 
 sent, and to pray, as I hope you do both for yourselt 
 and me, for a mind free both from covetousness and care- 
 fulness. 
 
 " It it should please God to provide such a sphere 
 for us, our training has been gradual towards it, and 
 we must pray that it may be rightly used, and we pre- 
 pared for usefulness in it when called to it. How much 
 or how Httle it may be I cannot say. If we make good 
 use of what we have, God may increase it, not for our- 
 selves, but to enable us to serve Him more largely, and 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 187 
 
 His poor, and His Church. Therefore in all things let 
 us wait and trust Him, whether for poverty or wealth." 
 
 As time passed he paid several visits to Huntsham, 
 which was about eighteen miles from his old home, Kil- 
 lerton, and therefore within a drive, and a very real 
 friendship sprang up between himself and his benefactor,, 
 the Rev. E. B. Troyte, D.D., who was both Squire and 
 Rector. 
 
 In a letter written by Arthur Acland to Dr. Troyte 
 for the 84th anniversary of his birthday, he says: "With 
 your kind feelings towards us, you will be glad to hear 
 of ourselves. My wife is, thank God, very well, and so am 
 I, excepting the effects of too much work and attention 
 to the different matters which interest me and are useful, 
 but I am taking the advice of my friends, and resting from 
 all needless employment. 
 
 " I mention this to you, dear Dr. Troyte, because I am 
 sure you will be glad to hear me acknowledge that even 
 if my wife and children were not reason enough to prevent 
 me overworking, I feel my duty to you requires that I 
 should do nothing for the sake of others now which could 
 make me inefficient when I am called to the discharge 
 of those new and responsible duties which your great 
 kindness has put by (if it please God) in store for me 
 some future day." 
 
 Writing again the following year, he took advantage of 
 the birth of another son to say ; — 
 
 " Dear Dr. Troyte, — I write to make a little offer- 
 ing of duty to you. It is a very poor one, but it springs 
 from a giateful desire to do what little is in our power 
 to shew an attention which we hope will not displease 
 
1 88 A Lay mail's Life in the 
 
 so kind a friend. We wish to give our little boy, for 
 one of his names, the name of his family benefactor, 
 * Edward.' You once kindly offered to be Godfather to 
 our eldest boy, but I do not suppose that at your ad- 
 vanced age you would now wish it, and I do not pro- 
 pose it, because I have had such a proof of your forbear- 
 ance, and approval of conscientiousness, in 1845, ^^^^ I 
 do not doubt you will always approve those who act 
 consistently. The tribute I offer is a very, very poor 
 one. I feel that as far as earthly comforts in prospect 
 are concerned we owe you very much more than we can 
 repay by words or compHments, still it is a pleasure that 
 this opportunity is given us. I hope you will kindly let 
 him be considered your Namesake, and give us your best 
 wishes that if he lives he may be a good man, and per- 
 haps some day be what at one time I much wished to 
 be myself, a clergyman. 
 
 " Yours very gratefully and sincerely," 
 
 " Arthur H. Dyke Acland." 
 
 It may be stated here that the Huntsham property had 
 been for two generations only in the possession of the 
 Troyte family. Lady Acland, after the death of her 
 husband, the sixth Baronet, married the Rev. Thomas 
 Troyte, who had been the domestic Chaplain at Killerton. 
 In 1760 the manor was purchased by this gentleman's 
 son, who was succeeded first by one son and afterwards 
 by another son, the latter being the Rev. E. B. Troyte, 
 who was, therefore, practically leaving it back to the 
 family with which there had been so close a connection 
 some three-quarters of a century before, and which had 
 probably been the means of the original purchase. 
 
Days of the T?'actarian Movement. 189- 
 
 After leaving Dorchester, Arthur Acland resided for 
 nearly four years at Teignmouth, in Devonshire, and was 
 therefore within easy reach of Huntsham, and it had been 
 arranged that if Dr. Troyte's condition of health should 
 ever take a serious turn, he was to be summoned at once. 
 It was a most characteristic incident that when the mes- 
 senger came to acquaint him of Dr. Troyte's final illness 
 he was engaged in the work of the restoration of a small 
 chapel on his father's estate, used on the occasion of 
 family burials; and he was actually on his way back 
 across the park, clad in a working suit and carrying his 
 bag of mason's tools on his shoulder, when he was in- 
 formed of the near accession to the property, and that 
 the great change in his duties and position was about 
 to take effect. He went immediately to Huntsham, and 
 was by his benefactor's bedside almost up to the last; 
 he spent several days in close attendance, and letters to- 
 his wife at the time prove what a comfort he was to his 
 dying friend. 
 
 Just a week before the death he describes how he was 
 writing " by the dear old Doctor's bedside after reading 
 the Evening Service" on his last Sunday on earth. It 
 was doubtless a time of much anxiety and considerable dif- 
 ficulty, and he would naturally have wished for the com- 
 fort and companionship of his ever-helpful wife, but he 
 felt it a duty, as well as a *' sad pleasure," to be at 
 Huntsham. " The dear Doctor," he says, " asked for me 
 so frequently in the night and other times, and shewed 
 such signs of pleasure in little ministerings to his wants, 
 and prayer by his side occasionally, that I am quite 
 bound to remain until there appears a probability of 
 this state continuing. I shall then feel at liberty to 
 
iQo A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 return home, saying I will come back at an hour's 
 notice." 
 
 " All is now so open and declared to every one, that 
 while God spares him and us, it becomes a positive duty 
 for me to be more or less backwards and forwards, unless 
 he should again leave his bed, and be able to act for him- 
 self. Our work is marked out for us for the present ; all 
 we need is gratitude, humility, and patience, and a willing 
 offering of what service we can in return." 
 
 The succession to the property was of an exceptional 
 character, for though his age — forty -two years — was 
 much the same as an elder son's might be on succeed- 
 ing his father, it was a very different matter to follow 
 one whose life, habits, and pursuits had been cast in 
 an altogether different mould to what he had been ac- 
 customed to. Those who have been able to grasp, by 
 a perusal of the earlier chapters, the leading points of 
 Arthur Acland's character, can perhaps reahse what it 
 must have been to him to know that he was to make 
 his new home in a place where his predecessor, a clergy- 
 man, had been a devotee of fox-hunting, and if reports 
 were true, had indulged in cock-fighting on Sundays; 
 while all that was most precious in his own estimation 
 had been sadly neglected. An absolutely unprejudiced 
 description of the state of affairs was given shortly after 
 Dr. Troyte's death in an official report to the Com- 
 missioners under the Land Drainage Company's Act; 
 Mr. Arthur Acland (or as he must henceforth be called, 
 Mr. Arthur Troyte) having appHed for assistance under 
 the terms of the Act, to enable him to commence at once 
 the improvements to the property which were so ur- 
 gently needed. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 191 
 
 From this report we learn that the estate was situated 
 in, or embraced portions of, at least ten different parishes, 
 and the writer states that the late Dr. Troyte " lived 
 in a time when sporting was more in repute than agri- 
 cultural skill, when the preservation of foxes and the 
 condition of horses and hounds were held to be matters 
 of weightier moment than the quality of Southdowns or 
 Shorthorns, and the cockpit had greater attractions than 
 the Cattle Show, and having little occasion to look to 
 the amount of his rent roll, sacrificed to a great extent 
 the ' utile ' to the ' dulce,' and dying at an advanced age, 
 left his property in a most neglected condition. Thus 
 the present tenant for Hfe finds himself possessed of many 
 acres, yielding a comparatively small income, of a di- 
 lapidated mansion, of still more dilapidated and ill-ar- 
 ranged farm-buildings, with but few exceptions; whilst 
 the almost total deficiency of labourers' cottages, and 
 last, though not least, the decay of the parish Church, 
 and the want of a School House, call for immediate 
 and heavy outlay on his part. Thus it is that Mr. 
 Troyte has recourse to the powers of the Act to assist 
 him in his onerous duties ; and with all due respect to 
 the memory of the late possessor, I would add, that if in 
 the choice of his successor he was actuated by a laudable 
 desire to make good his own deficiencies^ he was fortunate 
 indeed in selecting the present proprietor, than whom no 
 man is calculated to bring a greater amount of consci- 
 entious zeal to bear upon so good a work ; for the full 
 development of which my best wishes attend his en- 
 deavours." 
 
 Even this account, bad as it is, scarcely exhibits in 
 its true light the most distressful condition of everything 
 
192 A Layman's Life i?t the 
 
 at Huntsham in those days ; and it is difficult indeed tO' 
 realise what Mr. Acland's feelings must have been at the 
 thought of becoming responsible for their rectification. 
 For the last twelve years he had lived in two towns, 
 Dorchester and Teignmouth, both in their way, and in 
 the quiet atmosphere of th^ times, centres of activity; 
 and he himself free to move about, and to take advan- 
 tage of the friendship of some of the leading men in those 
 branches of work in which he was interested. 
 
 He was now called upon to make his home in an 
 isolated parish, without even a village in it, sunk in the 
 depths of the country, with the roads approaching his 
 house almost impassable. It was, indeed, actually found 
 necessary on one of his first visits to the place to send 
 a man walking in front of the carriage to measure the 
 interval between the enormous overgrown hedgerows, to 
 make sure that the carriage could pass. It was a case 
 of common occurrence that if two vehicles met one would 
 have to back until it came to a gate, and going into a 
 field allow the other to pass. Later on it was considered 
 a remarkable improvement when " sidings " were] cut out 
 of the hedges at stated intervals to obviate the incon- 
 venience of finding a gateway ! 
 
 Moreover, he had been accustomed to see on his father's 
 property a most liberal and enlightened management. 
 Everything that the care and forethought of a wealthy 
 landlord could provide had been done for his tenants, 
 their labourers, and the education of their children : and 
 he had himself lived with the constant endeavour of assist- 
 ing the poor, and befriending all within his reach. His 
 predecessor must have had a presentiment that whoever 
 followed him would find the state of affairs somewhat 
 
Days of the Tracta?'ian Movement. 193 
 
 irksome, for it was laid down in the Will as an absolutely- 
 binding condition that the future owner of the property 
 must reside there for six months in every year. To a 
 man of Arthur Acland's temperament this clause was 
 perhaps unnecessary ; if he saw a duty before him, and 
 an opportunity of doing good, he was not likely to desert 
 his post. But another condition did cause him a great 
 deal of anxious thought, and it is believed made him 
 hesitate as to the acceptance of it. He was called upon 
 to discard altogether his surname Acland, and to adopt the 
 name Troyte ; even the somewhat usual custom of making 
 a combination of the two names was prohibited. It was 
 perhaps even harder for him to do this as his home was 
 to be in the county where his father's and forefathers* 
 name had been held for centuries in honourable esteem. 
 
 It may be only a fanciful suggestion, but it is just 
 possible that there was some slight alleviation of his 
 trouble in the fact that he was able to select a new 
 motto, to be associated with the new crest and coat-of- 
 arms, which was sanctioned by Royal Letters Patent. 
 The original motto of the Acland family was " Toujours 
 durant," which at a slightly later period was altered to 
 " Inebranlable " (Resolute, or Steadfast) ; appropriate 
 indeed at all times, as embodying a principle upon 
 which he would have endeavoured to act in whatever 
 work he undertook. But at this crisis of his life, with 
 the certain prospect before him of increased responsi- 
 bilities, a greatly enlarged sphere of influence, and 
 (as he felt sincerely himself) the temptations insepar- 
 able from an accession of wealth, he turned as was 
 his wont to Divine help, and henceforth the motto 
 constantly before him was, " A Deo in Deo." 
 
 o 
 
194 ^ Layman's Life in the 
 
 In September, 1852, he wrote to his father, saying: — 
 ^' The ' Victoria Regina * has arrived, and I may no longer 
 use the old signature. With it we have got the Arms, 
 which are distinguished from the old Arms by a rule of 
 the College, and they have chosen a mark which I 
 was glad to see — a cross crosslet ^ We had leave to 
 choose our own motto, the Doctor having none. I 
 asked for * A Deo in Deo,' and that is given ; I hope 
 it expresses the beginning, continuance, and end of the 
 whole matter such as I desire it to be. It has its 
 crosses, and certainly its temptations, and I hope we 
 shall be brought well through them by God's grace, and 
 it has even now many blessings. 
 
 " Arthur H. D. Troyte." 
 
 This letter is penned in a calmer and more hopeful 
 spirit than some of those written soon after Doctor Troyte's 
 death. *' We are responsible," he then says, *' for every 
 servant, and workman, farm stock, and house arrangement, 
 and it is a matter of impossibility, as far as I can see, 
 unless we plunge into debt at once, perhaps for a life-long 
 embarrassment, to enter this year into anything like ex- 
 penditure of thousands. There are ample habitable rooms 
 for a makeshift ; and one or two carpenters and masons 
 can work under my eye in one part of the house while 
 we are using another. I do not want to be discouraging, 
 but I must so far sympathise as to acknowledge that if 
 I did not beheve all this to be of God, I could willingly 
 abandon it without a sigh. Two or three things are very 
 simple ; by coming here there is a summer holiday for you 
 
 * This family badge is shewn on the title-page. 
 
Days of the Tract ari an Movement. 195 
 
 and the children, an ample provision of horse and carriage ; 
 meat, poultry, and vegetables sufficient for immediate use. 
 If only we are firm in refusing to borrow, we shall get 
 quietly through the year with the help of the sheep 
 and poultry, and some dividends towards the end of the 
 year." 
 
 The great practical difficulty which had to be faced 
 arose from the fact that, notwithstanding the enormous 
 amount of work that had to be undertaken, in addition 
 to the general expense inseparable from a large landed 
 property, and very heavy " Succession duties," Dr. Troyte 
 had left to others all his funded property, and also the 
 whole of the rents for the first year ; the only exception 
 to this arrangement being that a sum of money had been 
 set aside for the building of a Rectory-house. 
 
 It has been necessary to describe the position in which 
 Dr. Troyte's successor found himself, as it would be im- 
 possible without this knowledge to appreciate the master- 
 ful way in which Arthur Troyte solved the problem, and 
 carried out in the short period of his life at Huntsham 
 improvements of the most extensive description in every 
 department of the property. It proves beyond doubt his 
 marvellous ability, his capacity for originating, and super- 
 intending in all their details, works of the most varied 
 character, and maintaining throughout such an influence 
 for good on all those with whom he was brought in 
 contact, that it was never effaced from their lives. Had 
 he approached this great task with any consideration for 
 his own strength, had he carried it on with some slight 
 regard for ordinary human weakness, his life would in 
 all probability have been prolonged ; but his restless 
 activity and intense earnestness propelled him ever on- 
 
ig6 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 wards to produce indeed remarkable results, but at a 
 complete sacrifice of himself. Here, if anywhere, we 
 may learn a lesson of absolute devotion to duty, and 
 find an example difficult, perhaps impossible, for most 
 of us to follow, but certainly worthy of our generous ad- 
 miration. 
 
 There can be very little doubt that had he been 
 able to follow his own inclinations he would have made 
 the restoration of the Parish Church his first care. He 
 found it in a sadly dilapidated condition, and being sit- 
 uated in the middle of the pleasure grounds of Huntsham 
 Court, not fifty yards away from the house, the pres- 
 sing needs of the holy fabric must have been perpet- 
 ually before his eyes. He probably found out at once 
 what would be the nature and extent of the work and 
 prepared the plans and estimates ; but he had a laudable 
 anxiety " that all the timber used on the building should 
 be the produce of his own estate, he therefore at once 
 marked for felling and dedicated to the use of God's 
 House some of the finest trees on the estate suitable for 
 the purpose, and had them prepared for the holy purpose 
 for which they were set apart. During the two years 
 required for seasoning the timber he was actively engaged 
 in improving the dwellings of his tenantry, and erecting 
 a school and school-house for their children. But he 
 did not confine his liberality nor his exertions to the wants 
 of his own parish ; no good work for which his aid was 
 sought within the range of his influence, and it was a 
 very wide range, was undertaken to which his assistance 
 was not readily given." And be it remembered that his 
 property was connected in some way with, or was ac- 
 tually situated in, some ten different parishes, and having 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 197 
 
 spent all his life in the West of England, it was per- 
 fectly certain that his name would have been one of the 
 first in the thoughts of anyone requiring help in a practical 
 manner. 
 
 With him it was not sufficient, nor was it his custom, 
 to take out his cheque-book, send a donation, and think 
 no more of the matter. It was his delight, and one of 
 the guiding principles of his life, to give his personal 
 service, the work of his heart and of his hand, to all 
 good objects. Perhaps his very marked characteristics 
 made it likely that unscrupulous persons would endeavour 
 to impose on him, but whatever the cause, the demands 
 made upon him at this time were excessive, and led 
 him to prepare a circular letter in his own handwriting, 
 and lithographed on his own press, to shew his numerous 
 applicants how impossible it was for him to comply with 
 all their requests, and it may help us to understand how 
 much was necessary, even in that small district, to make 
 up for the neglect of former generations, and how many 
 were the calls on his time and care. 
 
 The following list gives the principal works in which 
 he was interested : — 
 
 ^' Tiverton. The large Town Church undergoing entire 
 
 restoration. 
 '■^ Dulverton. Church of nearly same class, rebuilding 
 
 from the ground. 
 Bampton. Do. do. requiring extensive repairs. 
 " Cove, The Chapel requiring immediate rebuilding." 
 
 Also the following works without any public sub- 
 scription : — 
 
 ''' Huntsham Church. Entire restoration. 
 
 n 
 
198 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 *' Hunt sham School. None existing, but one to be built at 
 once. 
 
 " Shillingford Chapel. In ruins ; to be repaired, and pro- 
 vision made for service. 
 
 *' A Chapel «/.... to be built and endowed. 
 
 " Ancient Chapels at Rewe and Bickleigh now occupied 
 as cottages to be given up, and adapted for religious 
 or charitable objects. 
 
 " Besides the above duties immediately connected 
 with the property, the House itself, many of the farms, 
 and almost all the cottages are in a state of partial, and 
 some of entire, dilapidation." 
 
 But it was not only in building and rebuilding, and 
 restoration of material fabrics that Arthur Troyte was en- 
 gaged, and it was not only by means of his skill as archi- 
 tect, draughtsman, or builder that so great a benefit 
 accrued to the people among whom his lot was now 
 cast ; his personal influence, and his anxiety for the 
 spiritual welfare of all around him, made themselves ap- 
 parent, and produced a most happy effect. "The in- 
 creased attendance at his church, the devout behaviour 
 of those who came with him to worship there, the 
 numbers who shared with him in the Eucharistic Feast,, 
 told of the work he was doing, and the effect of his holy 
 example ; old and young, the farmer and his labourer 
 with their little children, all looked up to him as their 
 adviser in difficulties, their friend in sorrow, their watch- 
 ful visitor in sickness. Nor was he alone in this work 
 of love, for she (his wife) who was taken from him 
 only a few months before he was called to his true home,. 
 
Days of the T^-actarian Movement. 199 
 
 was the sharer in every pious deed, promoter of every act 
 of charity and zeal." 
 
 A simple little anecdote confirms what has been just 
 stated. A man in Arthur Acland's employ was sent to 
 Huntsham with a message not long before Dr. Troyte's 
 death. On reaching his destination, he entered into con- 
 versation with one of the aged Doctor's retainers. In 
 discussing the now imminent change of proprietors, a topic 
 that was much in the minds of those resident on the 
 estate, the Huntsham man remarked, *' Your master, what's 
 coming here, he's the religious sort ain't he? Well, us 
 don't want he here, not at all, us wishes the old Doctor 
 would live on another ten years." Two or three years 
 later the same two men met again, and reference was 
 made to the previous conversation. " Do you still wisii 
 that the old Doctor had lived on for ten years more ? " 
 said the former messenger. " No," was the reply, " us 
 all thinks now he lived ten years too long." 
 
 In repeating this story, there is no intention whatever 
 of endorsing the speaker's opinion ; it is given here merely 
 to emphasise two facts ; firstly, the state of feeling and 
 condition of the people before the change of ownership 
 took place; and secondly, the effect of the example 
 and teaching of a man blessed with a simple practical 
 rehgion and a true and earnest sympathy. It would be 
 altogether unfair to compare and contrast the characters 
 of the two owners of Huntsham ; and if we stand aghast 
 at the idea of a fox-hunting and cock-fighting parson, 
 who, being also the squire of the place and possessed of 
 considerable wealth, had neglected his property and al- 
 lowed his farms and cottages to become scarcely habit- 
 able, let it be mentioned to his honour that he did to 
 
200 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 some extent change his views and his methods before 
 he died. Two instances may well be given here. It 
 has been already stated incidentally that he left a special 
 sum of money for the building of a Rectory-house, feeling 
 of course that as long as he was alive no other residence 
 was required for the clergyman; and it is also stated on 
 most excellent authority that he left particular instruc- 
 tions to his successor that all the books and records re- 
 lating to cock - fighting should be destroyed, and that 
 even the silver spurs used in that cruel pastime should 
 be melted up and the metal put to a more honourable 
 purpose. 
 
 This resolve of the aged squire and rector bears a 
 curious resemblance to what is related of a man of 
 a vastly different character, who had lived two centuries 
 before him. We read in the old chronicle of the time : — 
 " Some three days before his death, Mr. Nicholas Ferrar, 
 lying in his bed, called to him his brother, and said : 
 ' Brother, I would have you go to the Church and mea- 
 sure seven feet to the westward and there let my grave 
 be made. Then go and take out of my study those 
 great hampers full of books; there are many hundreds 
 in all languages, gotten in all places with great search 
 and some cost ; comedies, tragedies, love hymns, and 
 heroical poems. Carry them to the place of my grave, 
 and upon it see you burn them all.' And this he spake 
 with some vehemency and passion of indignation : ' Go, 
 let it be done, let it be done, and then come again to 
 me.' So it was performed, and a great smoke, bonfire, 
 and flame they made, and the men in the fields came 
 running up, supposing a great fire had happened at Little 
 Gidding ; and when they saw that it was an infinite sort 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 201 
 
 of books burning, and heard that Mr. Nicholas Ferrar 
 was like to die, they went their ways home. And within 
 a few days it was by rumour spread abroad, all the 
 country over, that Mr. Nicholas Ferrar lay a-dying, but 
 could not die till he had burned all his conjuring-books, 
 and had made a great fire of them upon the grave he 
 would be buried in." 
 
 Having thus introduced the personality of the saintly 
 Ferrar, and shewn the resemblance of his dying actions 
 to those of Dr. Troyte, it is hardly possible to leave the 
 subject without remarking the peculiar similarity between 
 the life and character of Ferrar and that of Arthur Acland, 
 both before and after he went to Huntsham. It was, 
 indeed, a common sentiment of those who knew him 
 well that he might justly be styled a modern Ferrar. 
 Many of the expressions used in books dealing with 
 Ferrar's character can be applied to Arthur Acland, as 
 if they were written of him. For instance, in the life of 
 Ferrar edited by Canon Carter, it is said : — "His cast of 
 mind was mystical and devotional, rather than theological. 
 Throughout his Hfe, underneath his busy, practical nature, 
 lay the keenest sense of the supernatural He was ever 
 conscious of a mission, a call, of some special vocation. 
 He had no wish, no aim, no ambition but to offer him- 
 self wholly to the worship of God, and to teach those 
 around him to do the same. It was this singleness of 
 purpose, rather than his intellectual vigour, which gave 
 him so great a mastery over those with whom he came 
 in contact. They felt themselves in the presence of one 
 every fibre of whose soul was purified by the flame of 
 Divine Love." 
 
 After this brief digression we must return again to 
 
202 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 the consideration of the hard practical work which pressed 
 so heavily on the new master of Huntsham, and attempt 
 to shew what a marvellous change was wrought by him 
 during his brief sojourn there, extending only to a period 
 of five years. 
 
 He and his family moved from Teignmouth to Hunts- 
 ham in the month of June, 1852. The first duty under- 
 taken was a personal inspection of all the farms and 
 cottages on the estate, and sad indeed he felt at their 
 dilapidated condition. He was above all things sympa- 
 thetic, and it must have tried him sorely to see those 
 who were now dependent on him, living in a state of 
 discomfort and privation, and to be absolutely unable 
 to do anything for them, owing to the financial con- 
 ditions under which he had succeeded to the property. 
 He realised of course that they had a right to look to 
 him for help, but to be forced to withhold that help 
 even as a temporary necessity was a trial which perhaps 
 he had not foreseen. But though unable to commence 
 at once on the task of making good the deficiencies of 
 his predecessor, he was by no means idle. 
 
 Throughout this first summer, he was fully engaged 
 in making himself acquainted with the needs of the 
 estate, and in carrying out much useful preliminary 
 investigation, which would in any case have to be com- 
 pleted before work of a reconstructive nature could be 
 commenced. And perhaps the success which eventually 
 crowned his efibrts may be due to this period of en- 
 forced delay. 
 
 Two schemes of great importance were developed, viz.,. 
 the introduction of a general system of land drainage, con- 
 nected whh which was an extensive plan for irrigation, and 
 
Days of the Tract ariaii Movement. 203. 
 
 also a proposal to open up the country by improving com- 
 munications, and cutting and making roads. To both 
 these matters he was ready and able to bring an ex- 
 perience and practical knowledge which he had acquired 
 previously in helping others, and devoting himself to useful 
 occupations in preference to spending time and money 
 on amusements. Both in taking the necessary levels and 
 measurements on the country side, and in the more tech- 
 nical work of calculation, and plotting on paper, he was as 
 reliable as a professional surveyor. As a proof of the value 
 of this scheme it may be mentioned that in the official 
 report made to the Commissioners for England and Wales 
 it was estimated that the increase of the annual value of 
 the land by the drainage only would be from 10 to 15 per 
 cent., and it is fortunate that in dealing with important 
 subjects such as these, which are of a technical character,, 
 we have the unbiassed opinion of a government official 
 to guide us. His report deals with the various improve- 
 ments contemplated under four principal heads, — Drain- 
 age, Irrigation, Reclamation of land, and Roads. It en- 
 ables us to form a more accurate estimate of the general 
 condition of the property, when we read that it was 
 considered worth while to construct and develope an 
 entirely new industry to meet the requirements of the 
 case : " Mr. Troyte," says the report, " intends to supply 
 the necessary pipes for the drainage scheme, by erecting 
 a new Tile yard in the centre of the Huntsham property^ 
 The materials promise well, and it is proposed to deliver 
 them on the spot, at the same price as they now yield, 
 in Tiverton " (the chief town of the district, 7 miles 
 distant), "thus saving the carriage, and producing, as it is. 
 hoped, an equally good article." 
 
2 04 A Layjuafis Life in the 
 
 A little later, when building and rebuilding farms and 
 cottages was taken in hand, machinery was erected for 
 sawing and preparing the timber, and as a result of 
 these works a large number of hands were kept constantly 
 employed." 
 
 The actual words of the report may well be quoted 
 in describing the improvements made in the laying out 
 of new roads, for the sadly neglected state of the means 
 of communication with the outer world has been already 
 referred to. Under this head the report runs : — " Perhaps 
 nothing has so much tended to retard the agricultural 
 improvement, of the Huntsham district as the existing 
 state of the roads, and since the success of every other 
 farming operation very much depends upon the facility 
 of access to markets, it is of the first importance that 
 this evil should be remedied. Few things on the other 
 hand are better calculated to advance the agricultural 
 character of a district than the introduction of men of 
 capital and experience from a distance ; yet strangers 
 would not tolerate that want of accommodation in this 
 particular to which natives from habit and association 
 have learned to submit. The existing lines of roads 
 (if narrow lanes almost impassable are worthy of the 
 name), and the proposed alterations as traced, seem to 
 leave little doubt as to the expediency of the work. 
 I would state one fact which is worth many conjectures. 
 During conversation with one of the tenants occupying 
 a farm of about 120 acres, he admitted his readiness 
 to give ;£^2o per annum more for his farm, if this increased 
 accommodation were afforded him. Again, a sale of about 
 1,000 oak trees suitable for Navy purposes is advertised 
 to take place, which the Auctioneer estimates to be de- 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 205 
 
 teriorated in value to the amount of £,^00 on account 
 of the inaccessible position of the property." 
 
 The total length of the main road contemplated in 
 this report was about 4-J- miles, and a year or two later 
 an additional length of about i^ miles was constructed ; 
 there was also provision made for some shorter portions 
 connecting farms with the new main road. Huntsham 
 Court, and Church, and the few cottages dignified by 
 the name of the ''village," are situated at the division 
 line between two '* watersheds," over 600 feet above sea 
 level. The new road ascended to this point from both 
 directions, and was so skilfully laid out, that there was 
 hardly a steep gradient in any part of it. Following fairly 
 closely the course of two small streams, one each side 
 of the watershed, it wound pleasantly along the valleys, 
 giving many a beautiful glimpse of oak or beech wood, 
 alternating with the luxuriant verdure of water-meadows, 
 and the warm red soil so characteristic of that part of 
 Devonshire. The road being well made, with a sound 
 foundation, and bounded by neatly-trimmed thorn hedges, 
 gave the impression of a private drive, rather than of 
 a country road, and must have impressed a stranger 
 with the feeling that he was on a well cared for estate. 
 
 It may be realised that the extensive improvements 
 here delineated could not be carried out except at great 
 expense, the estimate given in the official report for drain- 
 age, irrigation, and road-making amounting to over twenty- 
 thousand pounds. This outlay could only be met by 
 borrowing, and the money was obtained under the pro- 
 visions of the West of England and South Wales Land 
 Drainage Company's Act, which was passed for the pur- 
 pose of meeting cases of this kind. 
 
2o6 A Layma7is Life in the 
 
 The first building taken in hand was the Rectory, for 
 which provision had been made by the late owner. Arthur 
 Troyte's old friend and fellow-worker, Mr. Benjamin Ferry, 
 was again employed, and was at Huntsham within four 
 months of the old Doctor's death. A delightful situation 
 was selected, about 400 yards from the Church, on a 
 choice piece of land with a warm aspect, and a charming 
 view of a long well-wooded valley. The foundation-stone 
 was not laid until the following year, 1853, the ceremony 
 being performed nominally by Mr. Troyte's little boy, 
 five years old. Shortly after this, work was commenced 
 on the village Schools, and thus the record for the first 
 year included the important agreement with the Land 
 Drainage Company, necessitating plans and sections of 
 five miles of new roads, in addition to the scheme of 
 drainage for 2,600 acres, and the actual commencement 
 of two very necessary buildings. A reference to the brief 
 -diaries which he kept shews also that he was frequently 
 employed on many County duties which took him away 
 from home. Chief among these were — Magisterial work, 
 Boards of Guardians, attendance at the Bath and West 
 of England Agricultural Society Meeting, at which he 
 superintended the trials of the machinery department, and 
 curiously enough he appears still to have attended regularly 
 to the business of the Infirmary at Teignmouth. 
 
 In this year a commencement was also made in the 
 preparations for the Sawing Mills. The motive power 
 was water, and this necessitated a good deal of levelling, 
 as there was no stream of sufficient volume available. 
 A large pond was made to store the water, which was 
 conveyed to it in small channels from several directions. 
 The water, after it had worked the large driving wheel. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 207 
 
 was conveyed by an underground passage or tunnel to 
 join a stream at a lower level. The tunnel was dry at 
 such times as the saw-mill was at rest, and much fun 
 was enjoyed by the younger members of the family if 
 they could persuade a visitor to walk a little way up the 
 tunnel just before the water was turned on to the wheel, 
 with the result that not infrequently the too-confiding 
 stranger was caught by the downward rush of the stream, 
 and emerged from the tunnel with wet feet. 
 
 The next year, 1854, was full of interest, for in the 
 early part of it active preparations were taken in hand 
 for the rebuilding of the church. Nothing was done to 
 the fabric of the church until July, but for some months 
 previously the materials were being collected, the timber, 
 which had been cut two years before, w^as hauled up to 
 the new saw-mills and got into shape, and all the mould- 
 ings of the windows were carved. Towards the end of 
 the year the Rectory was ready for occupation, and the 
 new schools finished. A school had been opened at 
 Huntsham in the previous year in an ordinary cottage. 
 The new buildings were, however, a great advance on 
 those generally considered good enough at that date. 
 Sir Thomas Acland had been one of the most prom- 
 inent of the pioneers of education, and his sons fol- 
 lowed in his steps. The Huntsham School was a model 
 building which would even satisfy the demands of 
 the most exacting Government Inspector of to-day. The 
 situation chosen was immediately outside the grounds 
 of Huntsham Court, and half-way between the Rectory 
 and the Church. The building was extremely pleasing 
 to the eye, and possessed great architectural merit, 
 and a residence for the teacher was included in the 
 
208 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 general plan. The new road was also approaching com- 
 pletion. 
 
 No wonder that the master spirit, the head and hand 
 that guided unweariedly and incessantly these various 
 works, should at last break down ; and so indeed it 
 happened, for in the autumn of this year Arthur Troyte 
 was compelled to leave home to get, or try to get, a rest. 
 But rest he could not. For having gone to Weston- 
 super-Mare, where he had absolutely no calls of duty, 
 and no ties of friendship, he employed himself in calcu- 
 lating and working out tidal statistics, probably on the 
 same plan as that he had carried out so successfully at 
 Bude Haven some years previously, and for the annual 
 publication of which he still made himself responsible, 
 notwithstanding the great increase of work which had 
 devolved upon him since coming to Huntsham. To- 
 wards the end of every year he still devoted a week 
 or two, with the assistance of wife or daughter, to the 
 computation of these tide tables. 
 
 The chief events of the year 1855 were the completion 
 and opening of the new road, after which the extension 
 of this great boon to the whole neighbourhood was com- 
 menced by carrying the road a further distance of i^ 
 miles down the same valley. In the summer the Bath 
 and West of England Society held its meeting at 
 Tiverton, and he was employed as a judge and organ- 
 izer of the Steam Machinery, in which capacity he 
 had acted on former occasions. It was at this meeting 
 that an exhibition of "Arts and Sciences" was held, 
 to which reference was made in a previous chapter. 
 He was frequently in attendance, giving practical illus- 
 trations of various scientific matters, on one occasion 
 
Days of the Tractarian MovemeJit. 209 
 
 he took all the mechanics who were at that time em- 
 ployed at Huntsham. Later in the year the foundation- 
 stone was laid for a new church in an outlying part of 
 the property, and throughout the year the work on 
 Huntsham Church was continued. The chief object 
 aimed at appears to have been to have all that was pos- 
 sible done to the fabric without interrupting the regular 
 course of public worship. One portion only was taken 
 in hand at a time, and though this naturally delayed the 
 completion of the work, it enabled him to exercise 
 a more careful and minute superintendence, than would 
 have been the case otherwise. The church was only 
 closed for five months during the whole period of 
 two years and four months which the rebuilding oc- 
 cupied. 
 
 It will hardly have escaped notice, that thus far not 
 one word has been said of any improvements made ta 
 his own house, officially described as a "dilapidated 
 mansion ; " and as a matter of fact nothing serious was 
 attempted. Necessary repairs were of course carried out, 
 and plans were prepared for a reconstruction of some 
 portions of it, but nothing of an elaborate or ornamental 
 style would have been contemplated, and nothing be- 
 yond the barest necessity until the farms and cottages 
 were put right and the church finished. 
 
 His own views on the matter were left in writing, and 
 shew the spirit in which he approached this subject : — 
 *' I would thankfully leave to others such a work as 
 restoring and repairing our own house, but if spared 
 I shall, please God, set about it at once, after the church 
 is finished. I have put by some money to do all that 
 is necessary, using our own timber, and the men now 
 
 p 
 
2IO A Layman's Life in the 
 
 employed are capable of doing it. The plans are ready, 
 and everything should be as simple as possible." 
 
 The year 1856 saw the completion of the church, 
 but he was only spared for some six months to see 
 and enjoy with humble gratitude the fruit of his la- 
 bours. This account of the public improvements which 
 he organized and superintended at Huntsham may well 
 be concluded by quoting some passages from a report 
 of the restoration of the church, which was written for 
 the Diocesan Architectural Society in the year 1858. 
 The description is interesting as an example of the fact 
 previously stated, that Arthur Troyte was far in advance 
 of his time, and as a proof that the work he carried out 
 half-a-century ago would bear comparison with much of 
 the best ecclesiastical work of to-day. ''To this work," 
 says the writer, " he brought the experience he had gained 
 in the re-building of four other churches in which he had 
 been previously engaged ; engaged, not as an amateur 
 architect paying an occasional visit to the buildings, but 
 working at the same bench with carpenters and stone- 
 masons, and carving with his own hands the ornamental 
 details which he had himself designed. He found both 
 churchyard and church too small for the parish ; he 
 therefore enlarged the churchyard, and placed a lich-gate, 
 similar to one at Beckenham, Kent, at the entrance. 
 He decided to throw out a transept north of the church, 
 and one for the school children south of the nave, and 
 a vestry. 
 
 " On the morning of the day when the work was com- 
 menced, the workmen were called into his house, where 
 he spoke to them of the holy task which was before them, 
 and prayed with them and for them. The east end of 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 211 
 
 the chancel was first completed ; the new window of 
 Ham-hill stone is particularly worthy of observation. It 
 has three lights and three trefoils in the tracery. Mr. 
 Troyte's fondness for everything symbolical led him to 
 be desirous of preserving the threefold division of the 
 window, but the apparent transom between the lights 
 and the tracery, which gives a heavy appearance to many 
 windows otherwise beautiful, was a difficulty which caused 
 him considerable trouble. But his knowledge of geometry 
 stood him in good stead, and after two architects whom 
 he had consulted had failed, he succeeded in producing 
 a design which for lightness and gracefulness I have 
 never seen surpassed." 
 
 *' The north and south transepts communicate with the 
 nave by a wide four-centred arch of Ham-hill stone, 
 resting on corbels of well-carved foliage. Killerton stone 
 was used for the plinth and strings of the tower, which 
 was taken down to the upper string, and a turret raised 
 at the north-east angle. The high pointed roofs of chan- 
 cel, nave, and transept are covered with tiles burnt in 
 Sussex, and are superior in colour and hardness to any 
 others I have met with elsewhere. The flooring of the 
 church is formed of Maw's encaustic tiles. The seats 
 throughout the church are oak, with carved ends ; a deep 
 groove cut near the outer edge of the book boards is 
 a simple arrangement to p'revent the books from slipping 
 oE A low screen, also of oak, separates the nave from 
 the chancel ; it is formed of open work with tracery in 
 the heads of each division. The prayer-desk faces north, 
 the Lessons are read from an eagle looking west. The 
 pulpit is placed at the north-east angle of the nave. The 
 carpet for the Sacrarium, cushions for the fald-stools 
 
212 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 and for the font were the last work of Mrs. Troyte. The 
 font is placed opposite to the porch, made of Caen stone, 
 richly carved, and was given by the parishioners of 
 Huntsham and the neighbouring parishes, *in token of 
 the deep regard in which the memory of Fanny, wife 
 of Arthur Troyte, is held among them, and in gratitude 
 for her unwearied exertions in promoting the welfare 
 of those about her, and her special love to little 
 children/" 
 
 " The chancel and nave have open cradle roofs of 
 oak. The boarding over the Sacrarium differs from that 
 of the other parts, and would have been coloured blue, 
 with silver stars, had he who designed these beautiful 
 roofs and the whole of the interior fittings of the church 
 Jived to complete this and other contemplated additions. 
 All the windows are filled with stained glass by Wailes, 
 the gift of Robert Williams of Bridehead. In the central 
 light of the east window is a ruby-coloured cross. No 
 figures were introduced, the windows in the chancel 
 having pleasing designs of geometrical tracery, those in 
 the nave and transepts having bands bearing texts ap- 
 propriate to their respective positions. In each of the 
 divisions of the tracery in the west window (which is 
 in the tower) are three campanula, bell-flowers, designed 
 by Mr. Troyte, to illustrate the chime of three bells in 
 the steeple above, and the changes rung upon them. 
 They summoned the parishioners to worship in their 
 restored church on Sunday, November 2nd, 1856." 
 
 ** As the church stands, it is a memorial of his pious 
 zeal in God's service j it is exceedingly beautiful in its 
 simplicity; all its parts bear the impress of his mind 
 who reared them ; all are significant of the high purposes 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 213 
 
 to which they are dedicated ; all formed of the best and 
 most lasting materials which could be procured. No 
 monumental stone records his good deeds. The church 
 is his monument, and his good deeds are written in 
 men's hearts." 
 
 Note. — It is but right to add here that since the article 
 was Avritten for the Diocesan Architectural Society, those 
 who loved him and valued his example have endeavoured 
 to ^perpetuate his memory, and bear witness to the value 
 of his work. In Huntsham Church there is a stained- 
 glass window, placed there in loving recollection of Arthur 
 and Fanny Troyte, and one of their daughters, as well 
 as a brass tablet bearing an inscription in words char- 
 acteristically prepared beforehand by himself, to prevent 
 any tribute of praise being offered to him. At the Dorset 
 County Hospital a beautiful little chapel was given by 
 his brother-in-law, Robert Williams ; and in All Saints' 
 Church, Dorchester, the large west window remains as 
 a sign of the affectionate esteem of many friends, among 
 whom were Dr. Pusey, Mr. Gladstone, and the Rev. 
 J. Keble.— J. E. A. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 1bome XtfCt anD tbe Call to IRest 
 
 TN this concluding chapter attention will be called to 
 Arthur Troyte's domestic life, which thus far has re- 
 ceived only incidental notice. In the privacy of the home 
 may often be seen the true source of those special charac- 
 teristics which, in public life, make a man worthy of our 
 admiration. They are, indeed, frequently the natural 
 result of that state of mind, and the development of 
 those habits which have been formed in early yeaijs, 
 and cultivated in the congenial atmosphere of Home. 
 If earnest religion and true steadfastness of purpose are 
 seen to be the guiding principles in the handling of 
 public duties, we may be sure that in private duties they 
 will take a still more prominent place. 
 
 Notwithstanding his extremely busy life, a life full of 
 varied interests, and his readiness to give his time freely 
 in response to the calls of his numerous friends, the 
 greater part of his work was carried on practically from 
 his own homes. He never went far afield to find em- 
 ployment, and though perhaps he seldom, or never, had 
 what is called " spare time," he was well able to leave 
 the stamp of his own individuality on his own home 
 circle. We should therefore expect to find an orderly 
 arrangement of daily duties, and a simple but sincere 
 
A Layman^ s Life, &'c. 215 
 
 religious tone pervading all the details of domestic occu- 
 pation. 
 
 In considering this subject, we may well confine our 
 attention mainly to the years he lived at Huntsham, 
 for here, at the close of his life, would be seen the ma- 
 tured results of his own experience. 
 
 But mention must first be made of an act of peculiar de- 
 voutness, which on his accession to the Huntsham pro- 
 perty he was enabled to carry into execution, having long 
 waited for the necessary means and opportunity. 
 
 It will be remembered that his first action of any im- 
 portance in public life was in connection with the 
 scheme for the formation of the new parochial district 
 at Chardstock, near Axminster, and the erection of the 
 Church of All Saints. How he laboured in this good 
 cause, how successfully it was brought to a happy con- 
 clusion, how greatly beloved both he and Fanny Acland 
 were by their poor neighbours, has been told already. 
 It is not too much to say that the spiritual needs of 
 the district were practically provided through their 
 efforts, and almost immediately afterwards they were 
 called upon to leave their friends and the scene of their 
 labours, to undertake new duties, and to start a new 
 home in Dorchester. But their anxious care for the 
 welfare of All Saints', Chardstock, and the desire to be 
 permanently connected with it, was manifested in a most 
 touching and characteristic manner. It shall be given 
 in his own words, found on a slip of paper kept with 
 his Will :— 
 
 '* At the time of the Consecration of the Church I made, 
 jointly with my dear wife, an offering (on paper), though 
 anonymously, of the Sarcramental Elements for ever. 
 
2i6 A Lay mattes Life in the 
 
 So long as I live, until this is permanently effected, and 
 during my wife's life if she survive, the cost of them 
 devolves upon us, and if any should be purchased before 
 we know it, the debt is ours. And it is my intention, 
 if it please God to give me the means during my life, 
 and if not then, from my effects, &c., after my death, 
 to obtain a Rent-charge upon, or purchase land as near 
 the Church as possible, from which an income of £^2 
 icy. o^., at least (or if I have the ability of £^^ os. o^.), 
 may be derived for that purpose. The residue at Christ- 
 mas, if there is any, to be applied in giving bread to the 
 poor. 
 
 " And herewith I bless God, Who put it into the hearts 
 of His servants to aid in the first work of erecting this 
 His House, and thus to provide for the food of His 
 people. 
 
 "Arthur H. Dyke Acland." 
 
 This Memorandum was written about the time of his 
 leaving Axminster. Some sixteen years later a note 
 was added on the same paper, saying : — 
 
 '' By God's blessing upon us this was finally effected 
 in 1855 ; my blessed wife, in this our first work of this 
 kind, living to see it completed, and soon after entered 
 into her eternal rest." 
 
 The fund is still in existence, and provides for the ele- 
 ments of Bread and Wine, according to the pious intention 
 of the donor. 
 
 It has been often stated that all his public actions 
 were approached from a distinctly religious standpoint. 
 
Days of the Tract aria n Movement. 217 
 
 His daily tasks were ever connected with holy thoughts; 
 no wonder then that we find the same spirit permeating all 
 his home occupations, and that nothing in the nature 
 of frivolous amusements was ever encouraged. And yet 
 it is the simplest truth to say that there never was a more 
 thoroughly happy and contented family. His tastes and 
 manual dexterity were so diversified, that he was always 
 able to impart to others something that each one found 
 of an interesting and useful character. 
 
 Almost the only work he carried out as an improve- 
 ment to his own house was a small addition to the build- 
 ing of Huntsham Court. Here, in what was called " The 
 Long Room," might have been seen a wonderful collection 
 of needful appliances for the pursuit of these varied occu- 
 pations. At one end of the room there was the litho- 
 graphic press, already mentioned as having been so use- 
 ful to him in his own duties, and children of all ages 
 were able to take part in some one or other of the difi'erent 
 portions of the work. At the south-east corner of the 
 room an excellent little observatory was constructed, 
 containing a good transit instrument, and a small equa- 
 torial telescope. Another portion of the room was fitted 
 up with shelves and cupboards containing a great variety 
 of galvanic and electric instruments, magic - lanterns and 
 microscopes, and appliances for their use, including those 
 required for the preparation of slides. Passing on, would 
 be seen the tables and tools used for bookbinding, for paint- 
 ing and illuminating, the apparatus for distilling, and the 
 requisites for photography, an art then quite in its infancy. 
 A turning-lathe and a small carpenter's shop should also 
 be mentioned to complete this account, which is given 
 here to bear witness to the statement that a due regard 
 
2i8 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 for imparting useful knowledge was one of Arthur Troyte's 
 principles in the bringing up of his children. 
 
 The cultivation of Music was also made a leading 
 feature in the home life. It was not customary in those 
 days for young ladies to learn the violin, but organ, 
 and pianoforte playing, and part-singing were encour- 
 aged. He was himself a good performer on several 
 instruments, and his wife, as long as her health per- 
 mitted, played on the harp, an instrument now too 
 seldom heard. And here may be noted a rule that 
 was made, that on certain days, and at certain seasons, 
 no musical recreation was permitted. This would, no 
 doubt, be laughed at now-a-days, and so indeed would 
 many other of the methods adopted at Huntsham 
 for the purpose of enforcing religious truths ; but the 
 effect was good at the time, and the result was of 
 a lasting and beneficial nature. In the religious atmo- 
 sphere pervading the whole system of life at Huntsham, 
 these ideas were by no means out of place ; religion 
 was not taken up at stated times, or on special occasions, 
 but was interwoven with every common daily duty — 
 " Natural objects and hourly occurrences were invariably 
 connected with spiritual and eternal ones," Domestic 
 worship was, of course, arranged to take a prominent 
 part in the daily routine, and mention should be made 
 here of the gatherings in the large front hall every 
 Monday morning, when all the labourers and mechanics 
 employed at or near the house were brought together 
 to join in the family prayers. This hall was also the 
 scene of other gatherings, which made a deep impression 
 on those who took part in them. At the close of each 
 year, as midnight approached, the family were called 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movevietit. 219 
 
 together to spend the fleeting minutes in prayer and 
 meditation, and to commence the New Year with holy 
 thoughts of thankfulness, and of dedication of their lives 
 to God. In those days midnight services in the Churches 
 were probably unheard of, and though at a later time 
 popular, are now again becoming less frequent. There 
 are many inconveniences, and not a few actual evils, con- 
 nected with them, but none of these can be held to apply 
 to the impressive gatherings in the Huntsham hall. 
 
 Other characteristic customs inaugurated by Arthur 
 Acland many years before may be mentioned. He 
 was anxious to impress upon his children the im- 
 portance of a recollection of their Baptism ; he there- 
 fore instituted the plan of requiring those of the family 
 who were not yet confirmed to answer the first four 
 questions of the Church Catechism on their respective 
 baptismal anniversaries publicly at family prayers ; there 
 was also a special collect and form of thanksgiving used 
 on these occasions. 
 
 All the events of home life — Birthdays, Confirmations,, 
 anniversaries of marriage, remembrance of the departed, 
 commendation before journeys, and thanksgiving for 
 safe return home — were referred to in the daily family 
 prayers, and with singular appropriateness this part of 
 his book "Liturgia Domestica," relating to the joys and 
 sorrows of domestic life, "was dedicated to her, and 
 to those to whom with her he owed under the Divine 
 blessing his own experience of domestic happiness and 
 family devotion." 
 
 Another custom which he kept up to the last involved 
 a still greater demand on his children's capacity for endea- 
 vouring to live up to his own high ideals. He set apart 
 
2 20 A Layman^ s Life in the 
 
 a few minutes of every day to enable him to talk quietly 
 and privately with some one of them ; each child having 
 his or her special day, and thus having the opportunity 
 of asking for his help in their difficulties, and confiding 
 to him their troubles or faults. The very marked element 
 in his character of combining the thoughts of heavenly 
 and spiritual things with all that he saw around him, 
 has been sufficiently described elsewhere, but it is ob- 
 vious that this would have been most observed by 
 those who lived with him, and shared his daily life. A 
 spirit of devotion to duty, and what might almost be 
 termed "of sanctity," was thus apparent in his house, 
 and there was an undefined consciousness that this 
 was indeed the home of no ordinary man. Even visitors 
 to Huntsham became aware of it, and would bear testi- 
 mony to the fact, 'that here was one " who, while he had 
 more than enough to distract his mind, whose head and 
 hand had not even necessary rest from labour — yet was 
 living for heaven and not for earth, and losing no oppor- 
 tunity of leading persons of all classes and callings along 
 that heavenward path he trod himself." 
 
 "There is a sanctity in a good man's home which 
 cannot be renewed in every tenement that rises on 
 its ruins, and I believe that good men would generally 
 feel this; and that they would be grieved to think that 
 the place of their earthly abode, which had seen and 
 seemed almost to sympathise in all their honour, their 
 gladness, or their sufi'ering — that this, with all the record 
 it bare of them, was to be swept away. I say that if 
 men lived like men indeed, their houses would be 
 temples, temples in which it would make us holy to be 
 permitted to live^" 
 
 a Ruskin. 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 221 
 
 Some other scenes of regular occurrence in the House 
 should be described to complete the picture. His 
 early devotion to hospital or dispensary work has been 
 touched upon in the chapters describing his life at 
 Dorchester and Teignmouth. In those places he was 
 mainly employed in assisting in the work of public 
 institutions, but here, in his secluded country home, 
 he decided to make his own house the centre of this 
 beneficent work. He set apart some rooms, formerly 
 used as a laundry, in which the sick and suffering of 
 the parish could assemble once a week, and be treated 
 as *' out-patients " by a local medical gentleman, whose 
 services were retained for the purpose. A generous 
 supply of drugs and medical necessaries was also kept 
 here, which he was well able to dispense himself, hav- 
 ing had much practice in this department of medicine. 
 
 Another gathering of an essentially practical character 
 must have remained long in the memory of those who 
 took part in it, and become closely associated with 
 their recollection of Huntsham Court. Huntsham, it 
 will be remembered, was situated far from any town, 
 and the means of communication were of the most 
 primitive description ; there was not even a grouping 
 together of houses, to deserve the name of village, and 
 shops did not exist. When, therefore, the not unusual 
 " Penny Club " was inaugurated and managed by Mrs. 
 Troyte, it was a most useful developement of the system 
 to provide a place for the purchase of those necessary 
 articles for which the pennies had been saved. They 
 were, indeed, carrying on a custom previously in use at 
 his father's home. In the week preceding Christmas of 
 each year, the large front hall was cleared of its proper 
 
2 22 A Laymajt's Life iji the 
 
 furniture, and was converted into what might well be 
 called now-a-days " Clothing Stores." Several of the 
 leading shopkeepers of the nearest town brought out 
 considerable supplies of such articles as were most likely 
 to be in demand by the labourers and their wives, and 
 were arranged in different parts of the Hall. Blankets 
 and bedding here, corduroy and fustians there ; tapes 
 and buttons and minor accessories in one part, dress 
 materials in another. To each department were allotted 
 two or three assistants and an accountant. At a stated 
 hour the members of the Club were admitted on 
 presentation of their tickets, and for some hours a most 
 busy scene was enacted. The shopkeepers who supplied 
 the goods had very little to do with the actual sale. The 
 goods were brought, so to speak, in bulk, or wholesale, 
 and what was left over was taken back on the following 
 day. The *' retail " business was conducted almost en- 
 tirely by members of the family and their friends. 
 
 The same Hall was also the scene of much innocent 
 amusement and games of various kinds shared in by 
 the whole household and their friends during the 
 Christmas season. 
 
 This will be a suitable place to introduce a subject 
 which has been perhaps too long neglected, viz., the 
 part which Arthur Acland's wife played, and the influence 
 she brought to bear on her husband's life. 
 
 The fact of his marriage with Fanny Williams has 
 been already mentioned, but in dealing with his home 
 life much more should be said about her ^ . 
 
 ^ This sketch of her mother's life and character has been prepared 
 with loving care by one of her daughters. 
 
Days of the Tradarian Movement. 223 
 
 He has left on record his thankful conviction, that 
 it was indeed the good hand of his Heavenly Father that 
 guided him in this part of his life ; keeping her for him,. 
 and smoothing difficulties, which seemed at one time to 
 have nearly crushed his hopes. 
 
 In many ways their lives had been different to each 
 other, though both had had the advantage of religious 
 homes, and both had lived in much the same conditions 
 of life, whether in London or in the country. But whereas 
 he was a member of a large and very active family, she was 
 an only daughter with one brother, and her mother, who 
 was an invalid, led a quiet and retired life. 
 
 They first met in her brother's rooms at Oxford, and 
 their acquaintance continued on religious lines ; the study 
 of the Bible and religious books, which was begun with 
 Mrs. Williams and her son, and afterwards shared in by 
 the daughter, drew them gradually together. 
 
 Her character was reserved, and yet she was a great fa- 
 vourite among her acquaintances. Her singing, her fearless 
 Tiding and driving, the brightness of her nature, which 
 caused her to be called the sunshine of her home, in ad- 
 dition to her deeply religious feelings, made it a very na- 
 tural thing that he should see in her one who would be 
 a valuable companion of his life. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that to leave the home in 
 which, being an only daughter, she was well-nigh idolized, 
 and to enter a large family such as that of the Aclands, 
 in which each member was strenuously engaged in 
 carrying out his or her varying duties, must have been 
 a great trial to her, — a trial which is well known to 
 many whose after lives have been greatly blessed by 
 23erfect union and devotion. The very strength of the 
 
224 A Layman's Life in the 
 
 attachment to the old home is a proof of steadfastness 
 and power of love which augurs well for the entrance 
 into the new life. 
 
 " Home," she writes on one occasion, " is where those 
 dwell with whom we are tenderly united ; where my 
 husband and child are, there is my home." Again, when 
 in after years she had accompanied her husband on one 
 of his many " duty " absences from home, she writes 
 to her children, in a charming account of things she 
 had seen, " I hope, my dear children, you understand 
 that I never wish to leave you all, except from duty," 
 and to this fact may be attributed the very few letters 
 which she wrote to them. 
 
 This love of home was brought into prominence a year 
 before her death, when friends had suggested that her 
 life might be prolonged by residence in a climate which 
 they thought better for her than Huntsham could be; 
 in answer to such kindly meant suggestions, her husband 
 produced on his autographic press a letter explaining 
 at some length his own and her views on the subject : — 
 
 *'We are both agreed in thinking that severance from 
 home, home ties and duties, from Church and Parish, 
 is by no means compensated by an uncertain prospect 
 of a slightly lengthened life. Where there is a large 
 family and many dependants and friends, the loss of all 
 the associations of the latter days of a Christian life in 
 the place where God has cast our lot, is one that we think 
 cannot be made up by anything to those that remain 
 behind, and {as F» especially thifiks) would greatly aggra- 
 vate the bitterness of the last separation to the one who 
 should be called away." After entering in detail on the 
 arrangements made for her comfort in the house, and 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement, 225 
 
 in her own room most of all, he adds : — " Repose of mind 
 is very essential to any hopes of restoration — a warm 
 South room, in a sheltered house, the Church close to 
 the door, and, what is of infinite comfort to a person 
 of her character and habits, her children and her interests 
 around her, other near relations within easy reach, and 
 her own clergyman within five minutes' walk. No un- 
 certain prospects of a little longer life would make up 
 to her for the loss of these great blessings." 
 
 Another marked characteristic was her extreme consci- 
 entiousness in matters of both personal and family duty. 
 Her diary shews a most ardent longing to overcome the 
 faults which she found in herself; her thoughts were 
 continually turned into prayers, and her yearnings after 
 a nearer communion with her Lord are very often ex- 
 pressed in writing. 
 
 The habit of constantly seeking guidance from above 
 was just another point in which she and her husband felt 
 entirely in unison ; hence we find that not only did she 
 forward his plans for the family devotions, but conducted 
 them in his absence. She always joined him in his 
 study after breakfast (after arranging for the household 
 duties of the day), and there before beginning their joint 
 work of whatever kind it might be, they together said 
 the appointed short prayers from his Book of the Hours. 
 
 She was indeed such a Wife and Mother and Mistress as 
 is described in the Book of the Proverbs ; or as St. Peter 
 writes of in his description of an ideal woman. 
 
 Her taste in dress, partly, no doubt, in deference to 
 his wishes, was perfectly simple, but good; her manner 
 that of a true Christian matron, retiring, yet never back- 
 ward where any duty called her. 
 
 Q 
 
2 26 A Layman s Life in the 
 
 Then again, her extremely tender love for little children 
 enabled her to help him not only in his home but in 
 his neighbourhood, and amongst the poor. A touching 
 incident in the training of their children is recorded, in 
 which these young parents were to be seen kneeling by 
 the little bed of their child who, able to speak, had on 
 this occasion refused to do so when bidden. They felt 
 that for her sake they must conquer, and after a long 
 time in prayer and with firmness they prevailed. 
 
 As her children grew older, she made it a rule, unless 
 hindered by ill-health, to rise early enough to be ready 
 to read the Bible with them at 7 o'clock ; and this must 
 have been an effort, as at no time was her health of 
 a robust kind, indeed very often much the reverse. 
 
 During several years she regularly assisted her hus- 
 band in his dispensary work at Axminster, Dorchester, 
 Teignmouth, and Huntsham, and many can still remember 
 with gratitude the loving care she had for themselves 
 as children and for their parents before them. Here we 
 must not forget the encouragement which she gave and 
 the example she set to her daughters in this matter of 
 working for others. 
 
 She was an exquisite needlewoman, not only making 
 clothes for her own little ones in their infancy, but employ- 
 ing her needle for the beautifying of each of the Churches 
 which owed so much to her husband. The carpet for 
 the Sanctuary at Huntsham employed her long after her 
 last illness began, and she spent hours working at it in 
 her easy chair (the large roll of canvass supported across 
 its arms), when many people would have found themselves 
 incapable of any sustained effort. 
 
 It is not too much to say that without her loving care 
 
Days of the Tractarian Moi^ement. 227 
 
 of his health, and without the unselfish, patient, industrious 
 share she — often unseen— took in his pursuits, it would 
 have been impossible for him to get through all that he 
 did. 
 
 This account of the life of her who was to Arthur 
 Acland a very part of his own life, may well close with his 
 own words in a note to the preface of the Vllth Edition 
 of " Daily Steps," in which he refers to her death, Aug. 4^ 
 1856: — "While the notice which follows was yet un- 
 published .... she passed to the everlasting arms of 
 her Saviour. How she was helped by prayer is known 
 to those who witnessed her return home within four days 
 of her release, by a perilous journey for which the good- 
 ness of God gave her faith) strengthened by the reception 
 of the Sacrament of her Lord's Body and Blood. Her 
 work on earth is finished, her rest gained. While un- 
 wearied in her daily task, and in labours of love, she 
 had no hope but in Christ.; and her simple sub- 
 missive trust in Him obtained a part of its reward in 
 an end most peaceful, surrounded by her children, 
 soothed by hymns and texts of Holy Writ, and com- 
 forted by the ministerial offices of a brother. 
 
 *' Their work remains, who have learnt by her life 
 how perseverance in well-doing finds acceptance through 
 Christ ; and by her peaceful death (if death it can be 
 called) what it is to hope and trust in Him Who, in her 
 favourite verse, 'giveth power to the faint, and to them 
 that have no might, increaseth strength.' " 
 
 " ' In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' " 
 
 This was, indeed, the climax of a period of unexampled 
 strain and sorrow, and when added to the anxieties and 
 cares of his daily life, must have been almost overwhelm- 
 
2 28 A Lay mail's Life in the 
 
 ing. Ten months before he had taken part in a some- 
 what prolonged watching over the last days of one 
 "loved as a sister," the wife of his dearest friend and 
 brother-in law, Robert Williams. Less than two months 
 before, his own mother had received her " solemn, sudden 
 call," an instantaneous death removing this much loved 
 parent, and now he experienced himself the sadness of 
 the partings which he had so recently seen and shared 
 with his father and with his friend. 
 
 What his wife had been to him perhaps he scarcely 
 knew himself until she was gone, and into this subject 
 it is not right or wise to enquire too closely. But we may 
 quite safely repeat here his own words, prepared for distri- 
 bution to his nearest relations and most valued friends, 
 shortly after her death : — " The actual disease under which 
 she sank at last, crept on so insidiously, not altogether 
 unlike ailments of former years from which she had re- 
 covered, that it was not really detected until the spring of 
 this year with certainty. We have both of us thought it a 
 duty to live by God's grace prepared for what He. might 
 send, but looking back on over 20 years of unbroken 
 mercies, always to think and speak of the future with what- 
 ever hope His goodness held out from day to day. He 
 has in love given me, step by step, at least a mental warn- 
 ing of what was coming even to the very last, and I have 
 been able both to bow beforehand to His will, and to 
 prepare for it. How much peace this brought to our 
 last united days on earth can scarcely be understood, ex- 
 cept by those who have been in similar trials. It seemed 
 right for me with three widowed brothers, and at last 
 a widowed father, after a far longer enjoyment of each 
 other's help than the average of married Hfe, to accept 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 229 
 
 rather than shrink from what was plainly His coming 
 will. The one great characteristic of my blessed wife's 
 life, after speaking of her unfeigned and hearty accept- 
 ance of the truths of the Gospel and its ordinances, was 
 an uncompromising discharge of daily duties coupled 
 with an unbroken interest in the welfare of all with whom, 
 far or near, rich or poor, duty and former relations had 
 ever associated her. Excuses for not doing what seemed 
 to her a duty were never heard. When positive incapa- 
 bility prevented her discharging them in one form, she 
 immediately took them up in another, which was within 
 her power. This temper of mind led to much thoughtful- 
 ness for others, a great deal of self-neglect, and an unwill- 
 ingness to take the ordinary recreation and refreshment 
 which I too plainly saw were needed, and constantly urged 
 upon her. Always happy at home and deeply attached 
 to the people, and the plans which she had set on foot, 
 and herself worked up for their good, she continued 
 earnestly to forward them from her room chiefly during 
 the last winter and spring with no apparent alteration. 
 At Teignmouth, in June, her disorder seemed suddenly 
 to take an aggravated form. Her great anxiety then 
 was to return home to her quiet room, her books, and 
 the people she loved, in sight of her favourite Church 
 and resting-place. Her faith and patience obtained its 
 reward in three entire days at home full of peace and hope. 
 She has left behind her a memorial never to be forgotten 
 of what God's presence will do for His people in their 
 deepest trials, and an example of doing to the very last 
 * what she could ' for His glory." 
 
 The care and supervision of his nine children, ranging 
 from 20 years of age to 5, was a task which up to 
 
230 A Layman s Life in the 
 
 this period had been entirely left to his wife, and for 
 which, as he himself knew, his busy life and various 
 duties outside his home had left but little, time. Writing 
 to her on one occasion he says : '' Beyond the formal 
 arrangement of family devotion, and some help in the sci- 
 entific parts of education, and suggestions in general and 
 religious education, I do not feel that I have the least ca- 
 pacity for the management and good ordering of a family. 
 All our good order I attribute wholly to you, all would 
 be in a mess if I were alone." 
 
 Another letter written to his elder brother may suffice 
 to shew the spirit in which he met and determined to 
 bear his Cross : — " God has been very good to me in 
 many ways, or I must have utterly broken down. I have 
 been put under many years' training, by repeated 
 anxieties, dangers, and deliverances, and have been 
 led amid many tears that none but God has known of, 
 to an expectation of either this trial or my own removal 
 from her. But latterly, I may say for 15 months, I have 
 by one event after another been led to accept, I hope, 
 with some humiUty and penitence a cross which I plainly 
 saw held up to me nearer or further off from time to time. 
 I can see nothing in the circumstances but great mercies. 
 Tears of gratitude rather than sorrow are at present 
 most in accordance with my feelings. We have been in 
 one sense, suddenly called on to contemplate a life whicfi 
 has only not been seen as it deserved, because it was 
 secret in many things, consistent and persistent in all 
 over a period of twenty years, and the whole now burst 
 on us in a way wonderful to recollect and put together. 
 It is all of God, I hope He has a good purpose for 
 us and others in this chastisement. There have been 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement. 231 
 
 grievous faults in me that needed it or I should not 
 have it. It is useless to dwell much on these, it is 
 better to acknowledge them simply, and then onwards 
 with the work of which she has done a double portion." 
 
 And this resolve was nobly carried out during the 
 ten months of his widowed life. There does not ap- 
 pear to have been the slightest trace of any relaxation 
 of the numerous duties which he had previously taken 
 upon himself ; but there was a very considerable addition 
 to them. Not only did the care and responsibility for 
 his children become a more personal matter than hereto- 
 fore, but conscious (as we may believe he was) of his 
 own early death, he devoted large portions of his time 
 to the preparation of the most explicit instructions and 
 explanations of what should be done whenever it pleased 
 God to summon him. These papers referred both to 
 the plans already decided upon for the improvement of 
 the property and the execution of the various works con- 
 nected therewith, and also dealt somewhat minutely with 
 the future of his children, and arrangements which he 
 considered advisable for their welfare, especially for 
 his eldest son, then only fifteen years old. For three 
 months he was constantly employed in the completion 
 of the Church ; for though the chancel was sufficiently 
 restored to enable it to be used for the administration 
 of the Holy Communion on August 3rd, the very day 
 before his wife's death, the Church itself was not re- 
 opened until Sunday, November 2nd. 
 
 Two short visits were paid during the Autumn, one 
 being to his old friend Mr. Keble, at Hursley, and the 
 other to Bude Haven, which must have been full of 
 memories 01 the September twenty-one years before, 
 
232 A Layman's Life i?t the 
 
 when he and his young bride spent there the first days 
 of their married life. 
 
 But these brief periods of respite from the daily duties 
 at home were by no means periods of idleness, nor even 
 of rest. At a time when there was naturally much 
 personal introspection, and searchings of heart, he would 
 have scorned to relax what had always been one of the 
 guiding principles of his life : " Full of faults myself," 
 he says, " I am, by God's help and goodness, prepared 
 to try at least to carry out consistently the habits of 
 life by which He has made me useful to others. I have 
 held as a principle that I ought to do as much for others, 
 for the Church, and for love, in the way of settled 
 hard work, as I should have done for money and the 
 family, had not God's good providence provided this with- 
 out labour." 
 
 Some special and unexpected difficulties appear to have 
 weighed him down at this time. He writes to his father :— 
 *' You will be sorry to hear that fresh trouble has arisen 
 in which I am involved and feel all at sea again. I sup- 
 posed that I was doing exactly what had been requested, 
 and appear now to have done the opposite. It is very 
 sad, but God never puts His children to the trial in 
 the way he permits me to be tried without very good 
 reasons. I confess that I am deeply tried, but it 
 drives me to God the only refuge, and makes the 
 hope of peace in the grave and a home in Heaven 
 day by day a more acceptable prospect. All depends 
 upon whether we bind the Cross to our hearts, and 
 pray that it may thoroughly do its appointed work, 
 and look for grace that we may not be drawn back 
 into the very things for the removal of which probably 
 
Days of the Tractarian Movement. 
 
 233 
 
 these chastisements were sent. My work is clear enough 
 while it pleases God it should last, and if I venture 
 to look forward it is enough to appal any one. It is 
 more than enough for me day by day, and just for 
 each day I am carried through it." 
 
 The following letter, also written to his father about 
 the same time, is interesting. Father and son, both 
 mourning for the loss of the same loved relative, seem 
 to have been drawn specially together thereby. After 
 a sympathetic reference to a cherished anniversary (his 
 father's birthday), he says : — *' I have before me a diagram 
 consisting of a little broken circle, which has a movable 
 hand in the centre. It belonged to Fanny's mother, 
 and was left with the hand pointing to the numbered 
 years of her life. It is divided into seven periods, and 
 
 they are called Child- 
 hood, Youth, Manhood, 
 Vigour, Maturity, De- 
 cline, Decay. This 
 ^*°last reaches to 70, and 
 beyond there is a blank 
 radiant with light, and 
 ' Eternity ' fills the gap. 
 The future is a subject 
 which I never much 
 liked to contemplate. 
 I still less like to think of, or speculate upon, it now. 
 Our promise is for the day, its needed strength, its 
 food, &c., and I believe those are happiest in trial 
 who can bound their expectations by what is promised. 
 Secure of this they may trust God for all beyond, 
 and whether the call be early, or in maturity, or in 
 
 o, ^^^^\Ty 
 
234 ^ Layjuan's Life in the 
 
 hoary hairs, He will neither forsake nor forget, but be 
 with us in life, with us in death, and let us be with 
 Him throughout all Eternity. I did not think of it 
 while you were here. How tenderly God dealt with 
 my blessed mother, as indeed He did with my dearest 
 Fanny. We each think the best are gone, we are left 
 longer to run the race. God grant that we may reach 
 the end as safely, when, where, and how He pleases. 
 And till then may every blessing be yours, my dearest 
 father, increasing faith and hope and love, increasing 
 joy and peace for Jesu's sake, Whose Spirit filled them 
 and gave them peace." 
 
 Very Httle more remains to be said. In May, 1857, 
 Arthui Troyte went once more to the home of his 
 wife's childhood to stay with his brother-in-law, Robert 
 Williams, The old memories cherished and re-awakened 
 at this time are best given in his own words : — *' I am 
 so very thankful to be here. I sit now in the little 
 room, which they always so kindly have given me, 
 as a little retreat which that saintly mother of dear 
 Fanny sanctified by years and years of early morning 
 prayer. On the 15th September, 1835 (his wedding- 
 day), I met her there at 7 o'clock in the morning, and 
 from there not many minutes after went to Fanny's little 
 study and joined her in prayer. All seems so sanctified. 
 The good guidance of God — our many years' fellowship 
 in occupations not a little weary and laborious — our early 
 readings with the children in later years in this very 
 room; the walks and Httle by-places where 'The Hours' 
 were said together, and which even now, I hope, are 
 heard in 'The Eternal Ear' — all these things consecrate 
 the place, and must to me while time yet lasts. It is 
 
Days of the Tract avian Movement. 235 
 
 a great blessing to me to be here, and I hope a com- 
 fort to poor Robert." 
 
 The first notice in his letters to his father of his last 
 illness occurs in one dated May 27th, 1857, where he 
 speaks of inflammation of the tonsils, and of an ulcer in 
 the throat formed and broken. Of the course of the 
 illness it is not necessary to speak. Those who have 
 been able to grasp even an imperfect idea of his char- 
 acter, can realise for themselves the manner in which 
 the pain and weakness of the disease were endured. But 
 the concluding paragraphs of the preface to the eighth 
 edition of his book, " Daily Steps towards Heaven," 
 published shortly after his death, may well remain as the 
 last words of this brief sketch of his life : — 
 
 "During the few months of his widowhood, while he 
 did not relax in the discharge of his earthly duties, his 
 thoughts, resting on the promises of Scripture, seemed 
 to be above with Christ and those that are with Him, 
 rather than here below ; till after a short illness in a house 
 endeared to himself and the partner of his life by their 
 earliest united recollections, he bore for the last time, 
 on his death-bed, the testimony which, in this book and 
 in his whole manner of living, he desired to bear to the 
 power of God's Word." 
 
 " As he lay at midnight (June 18 — 19, 1857) he seemed 
 conscious that death was drawing near. He asked for 
 his children, laid his hands on them each, and blessed 
 them ; this done, he felt over the bed as seeking for 
 something, took his Bible in his hands, and placing them 
 straight before him, never moved again, but gently said, 
 * Feed me with the precious food of God's most holy 
 Word,' and spoke no more till, as his breath became more 
 
236 "' A Layinaiis Life, ^c, 
 
 faint, the reader paused. He then burst forth, ' I still 
 see and hear ; I am on the brink but Christ has not yet 
 called me. More Words.' Once more he said 'Words,' 
 and so, hearing the Word, he died." 
 
 It is remembered by one who was present that the 
 last words read to him were, " When thou passest through 
 the waters 1 will be with thee ; and through the rivers, 
 they shall not overflow thee ; " and the last words that 
 were heard to pass his lips were, " Speak to me of 
 Jesus." 
 
 " Two small iron crosses, each marked with the initial 
 letter only of a Christian name (F. and A.), at the head 
 of grass graves in a quiet country churchyard, mark the 
 spot where faithful and loving hands laid the bodies of 
 wife and husband, near the Church which their care had 
 just restored." 
 
AS FOR MY RELIGION, I DIE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC AND 
 APOSTOLIC FAITH PROFESSED BY THE WHOLE CHURCH BEFORE 
 THE DISUNION OF EAST AND WEST, MORE PARTICULARLY I DIE 
 IN THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, AS IT 
 STANDS DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL PAPAL AND PURITAN INNO- 
 VATIONS, AND AS IT ADHERES TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE. 
 CROSS." 
 
 (From *'Liturgia Domestica.") 
 
 Bp. Ken. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES. 
 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Acland, Fanny 31, 3/ 
 
 ', 52 
 
 , 6c 
 
 , 88 
 
 Keble, Rev. J. . 24, 71, 88, 
 
 Henry 
 
 
 14 
 
 ,58 
 
 145, 160, 180, 213, 231 
 
 ,, Sir Thomas . 
 
 16, ] 
 
 23, 
 
 207 
 
 
 ,, Lady (mother) 
 
 
 17, 
 
 162 
 
 Lock, Dr. Walter . .160 
 
 „ Tom (brother) 
 
 
 
 
 
 33, 36, 48, 
 
 94, ] 
 
 [57, 
 
 174 
 
 Manning, Rev. H. . . i8o 
 
 ,, brothers and sisters 
 
 
 Markland, Mr. . -57 
 
 
 20, 21 
 
 ,22 
 
 Marriott, Rev. C. . .180 
 
 Adare, Lord . 
 
 
 • 
 
 174 
 
 Marshall, Dr. . . 74 ff 
 Mathison, G. F. . . 34 
 
 Bath, the Marchioness 
 
 of 
 
 , 
 
 57 
 
 Mills, Arthur . . 103 
 
 Beaufort, Admiral . 
 
 
 . 
 
 102 
 
 Monsell, W. . . .174 
 
 Bede, the Venerable . 
 
 
 . 
 
 23 
 
 Moorsom, T. . -174 
 
 Boudler, Rev. T. 
 
 
 , 
 
 147 
 
 
 Brett, Dr. 
 
 
 , 
 
 174 
 
 Nelson, Earl . .71 
 
 Butterfield, W. 
 
 
 • 
 
 174 
 
 Newman, J. H. . 
 
 24, 156, 158 ff, 164, 178 
 
 Campbell, R. 
 
 
 . 
 
 174 
 
 
 Coleridge, Sir J. T. . 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 Palmer, Roundell . .174 
 
 3, 53 
 
 59, 
 
 85. 
 
 174 
 
 Proctor, Rev. C. T. -55 
 
 Coplestone, Rev. J. . 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Pugin, A. Welby . . 44 ff 
 Pusey, Dr. . 159, 170, 180, 213 
 
 Denison, Bishop 
 
 
 . 
 
 54 
 
 
 Dodsworth, Rev. 
 
 
 
 180 
 
 Rhodes, M. . . . 174 
 
 Donkin, Mr. 
 
 
 • 
 
 75 
 
 Richards, Rev. Upton . 180 
 Rogers, F. . . .174 
 
 Ferrar, Nicholas 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 Ruskin, J. . . 14, 26, 61 
 
 Ferry, Benjamin 44, 
 
 48, 
 
 51, 
 
 209 
 
 Sellon, Miss . . .170 
 Simcoe, Miss . . 57 
 
 Fisher, Rev. Osmond 
 Floyer, Mrs. . 
 
 
 
 55 
 56 
 
 Fresne, M. de 
 
 
 • 
 
 177 
 
 Troyte, Dr. E. B. . 41, 187 ff 
 
 Cxladstone, W. E. . 
 
 
 174. 
 
 213 
 
 ,, Fanny . 212, 222 
 
 Glover, Miss . 
 
 
 
 114 
 
 Ward, Rev. W. . .180 
 Washington, Captain . 102 
 
 Haddan, T. . 
 
 
 , 
 
 174 
 
 Williams, Mrs. 8, 29, 39, 133 
 
 Hamilton, Bishop 
 
 
 10 
 
 , 72 
 
 Fanny . 29, 30, 222 
 
 Hardy, Admiral Sir T. 
 
 
 . 
 
 55 
 
 ,, Rev. Isaac . 180 
 
 ,, Captain, R.N. 
 
 
 
 102 
 
 ,, Robert 
 
 Hook, Dr. . I 
 
 58,1 
 
 80 
 
 181 
 
 27, 29, 157, 212, 234 
 
Devotional Morfte 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 The late ARTHUR H. D. [ACLAND] TROYTE. 
 
 DAILY STEPS TOWARDS HEAVEN ; 
 
 Or, Practical Thoughts on the Gospel History, for Every 
 Day in the Year. 26th Edition. 32mo., roan, 2s. 6d. ; 
 morocco, 6s. 
 
 LARGE-TYPE EDITION. Crown 8vo., cloth antique, 5^. 
 
 The Harmony of the Gospels, which is given at the end of 
 the "Daily Steps," has been reprinted separately. 32mo., 
 sewed, 2d. 
 
 LITURGIA DOMESTICA. 
 
 Services for every Morning and Evening in the Week for the Use 
 of Families. Ninth Edition, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 THE HOURS: 
 
 Being Prayers for the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours ; with a 
 Preface and Heads of Devotion for the Day. Seventh Edition. 
 32mo., IS. 
 
 SPIRITUAL COMMUNION ; 
 
 Two Forms of Devotion from the Works of Bishops Patrick and 
 Wilson for those who cannot Pul)licly Communicate. Also 
 Shorter Devotions for the same. 32mo., sewed, ^d. 
 
 THE EVENTS OF HOLY WEEK. 
 
 The Closing Days of Christ's Ministry on Earth, or the events of 
 the Life and Death of our Blessed Lord during Passion, or 
 Holy Week, and from that time till the Ascension. Fcap, 
 8vo., sewed, 2d. 
 
 OXFORD AND LONDON : JAMES PARKER AND CO. 
 
PRINTED BY JAMES PARKER AND CO., 
 CROWN YARD, OXFORD. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk ot any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 
 days prior to due date. 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 SENT ON ILL 
 
 AUGJJjaai 
 
 U- C, BERKELEY 
 
 12,000(11/95) 
 
813:^7 ^^^. 
 
 / 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY