Memoir of Francis Hodgson
Charles Webb Le Bas to Francis Hodgson, 31 October 1850
Brighton: October 31, 1850.
My dear Mr. Provost,—There is now a vacancy at
King’s, and (albeit no Etonian myself) I cannot suppress my anxiety to
know how it is to be filled. It has been understood, I believe, that Dr. Hawtrey is desirous of the appointment;
and, if so, of course all his friends must fervently wish for his success. And
yet, if he does succeed, where can another
Hawtrey be found for Eton?
So it seems that the Church of England is to be
overshadowed by a higher1 episcopate than its own. In
which of the new dioceses is Eton College to be placed? I wonder what certain
members of your fraternity think of this specimen of the Catholic antiquity, of which they are so deeply enamoured? Are they
prepared to accept the Pax Vobiscum of
1 In allusion to the Papal Bull given at Rome
in September 1850, establishing a Roman Catholic Hierarchy in England.
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| PAPAL AGGRESSION. DENMAN’S RETIREMENT. | 313 |
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Monsignore the Cardinal Archbishop
Nicolas—not by Divine permission,
but by the grace of the Holy Apostolic See—etc., etc., etc.? And what
will Her Majesty’s ministers do?—a question which I almost tremble
to ask myself! And will all our Bishops protest as
manfully and faithfully as the Bishop of
London has protested? Are you entirely free from misgivings on
this point? We men of Sussex, it appears, are to be in the diocese of
Southwark! I should be thankful of good tidings of Lord Denman.
Accept the best wishes of Mrs. L.,
and of yours always right truly and faithfully,
Thomas Denman, first baron Denman (1779-1854)
English barrister and writer for the
Monthly Review; he was MP,
solicitor-general to Queen Caroline (1820), attorney-general (1820), lord chief justice
(1832-1850). Sydney Smith commented, “Denman everybody likes.”
Edward Craven Hawtrey (1789-1862)
He tutored the sons of the Earl of Shrewsbury before being appointed assistant-master at
Eton (1814), where he was afterwards headmaster (1834) and, following the death of Francis
Hodgson, provost.
Charles Webb Le Bas (1779-1861)
Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a contributor to the
British Critic, prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral and professor, dean
and principal of the East India College, Haileybury.
