Mr. Disraeli and Sir William Harcourt,—the Luther and Melanchthoa of
the New Reformation, as Sir Wilfrid Lawson called them,—have been cementing their ecclesiastical friendship on an appropriate occasion,—the reopening, after elaborate beautifications and alterations, coating from £6,000 to 17,000, of the parish church of Hughenden, which stands in the grounds belong- ing to the Premier's residence. Apparently Mr. Disraeli is burdened with a High-Church Vicar, and wanted Sir William Harcourt to throw over his own perhaps somewhat distrusted because politic Protestantism, the mgis of a thoroughly Erastian reputation. The Bishop of Oxford preached, and after the service a dinner was served in the temporary building which had been used for public worship during the repairs to the church. Mr. Disraeli, in proposing "The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese," trusted that Hughenden had shown to the country "that it is possible to combine the beauty of holiness' with the pro- fession of the pure Protestant faith of the Church of England." In proposing later the health of the guests, he particularly con- nected it with the name of Sir William Harcourt, "as the grandson of one of the greatest dignitaries of the Church in comparatively recent times," and "himself so distinguished, that he was sure he would maintain the honour and reputation of an illustrious family." Mr. Dismeli's delicacy of feeling alone pre- vented him from calling attention to the fact that in ecclesias- tical politics Sir William Harcourt is his devoted disciple, whom he might very well have called, as St. Paul called Timothy and Titus, his "own son in the faith." But from this endearing title Mr. Disraeli refrained.
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