There was much difficulty in reaching any decision. It had been
asserted so often that the disestablishment of the Church was only a
question of time, that the intelligence of the country had gradually
so learned to regard it. Who had said so, men did not know and did
not inquire;--but the words were spoken everywhere. Parsons with
sad hearts,--men who in their own parishes were enthusiastic, pure,
pious, and useful,--whispered them in the dead of the night to the
wives of their bosoms. Bishops, who had become less pure by contact
with the world at clubs, shrugged their shoulders and wagged their
heads, and remembered comfortably the sanctity of vested interests.
Statesmen listened to them with politeness, and did not deny that
they were true. In the free intercourse of closest friendships the
matter was discussed between ex-Secretaries of State. The Press
teemed with the assertion that it was only a question of time. Some
fervent, credulous friends predicted another century of life;--some
hard-hearted logical opponents thought that twenty years would put an
end to the anomaly:--a few stout enemies had sworn on the hustings
with an anathema that the present Session should see the deposition
from her high place of this eldest daughter of the woman of Babylon.
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