Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/418

 moulding the character of the students, They were attracted by his profound piety, his cheerfulness, his persuasiveness, and his companionable habits. His rule, though gentle, was firm. He taught a theology which, while fundamentally catholic, was free from exotic peculiarities. He aimed at turning out men saturated with the spirit of the Prayer Book. Among his students at Cuddesdon was Stephen Edward Gladstone, son of W. E. Gladstone, whose attention was thus called to King's gifts as a trainer of young clergymen. In February 1873, on the death of Charles Atmore Ogilvie [q. v.], the first professor of pastoral theology at Oxford, Gladstone offered the chair to King. He was installed in the canonry of Christ Church (annexed to the professorship) on 24 April 1873, and took up residence at Oxford. His mother lived with him till her death ten years later.

King treated pastoral theology as the systematic inculcation, not of abstract theories, however venerable, but of lessons practically learnt in pastoral intercourse with the poor, the tempted, and the perplexed, in addition to his statutory lectures, he held every week during the term a voluntary gathering of undergraduates, who assembled in the evening in a kind of adapted wash-house in his garden, which he called his 'Bethel.' There he gave addresses of a more directly spiritual kind, and their influence was profound and permanent. He took a full though not a very conspicuous part in the social and academic life of the university ; he preached in the university pulpit, and in the parish churches of Oxford ; and, aided by his mother, exercised a genial hospitality. As Dr. Pusey (1800-1882) grew old and feeble, and Dr. Liddon (1829-1890) resided less and less in Oxford, King became the most powerful element in the religious life of the university.

In February 1885, on the resignation of Christopher Wordsworth [q. v.], bishop of Lincoln, Gladstone appointed King to the vacant see. He was consecrated in St. Paul's Cathedral on St. Mark's Day, 25 April 1885, the sermon — a highly polemical discourse on the claims of the episcopal office — being preached by his friend Liddon. As soon as King became bishop of Lincoln he arranged to get rid of Riseholme, a huge and straggling house which had been since 1841 the episcopal residence ; and he restored the Old Palace at Lincoln, close to the cathedral, where he spent the rest of his life. He entered with much interest into the public life of the city. In February 1887 he prepared for death and attended on the scaffold a young murderer in Lincoln gaol; a circumstance which was felt to mark a new type of episcopal life and ministration. From that time on, the bishop always ministered to similar cases in Lincoln gaol. The form of episcopal work in which he took the keenest interest was confirming. A round of confirmations was to him a renewal of the best and happiest activities of his earlier manhood ; and, whether he was addressing the school-boys and apprentices of Lincoln, or the fisher-lads of Grimsby, or the ploughboys of the rural districts, he was equally at his ease and equally effective.

King earnestly adhered to the higher form of the Anglican tradition. He held and taught the real objective Presence and the eucharistic sacrifice, and he practised and received confession. His doctrine with regard to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin and the invocation of saints was strictly moderate ; and he discouraged all romanising forms in worship, and all unauthorised additions to the appointed services of the Prayer Book. He had no personal taste for ritualism, but he wore the cope and mitre, and also the eucharistic vestments when celebrating in his private chapel, or in churches where they were used. Some of the more fiery protestants in his diocese began to murmur against these concessions to what they abhorred, and before long the Church Association resolved to prosecute the bishop for illegal practices in divine worship. The only possible method of trying the bishop was to cite him before the archbishop of Canterbury ; but the precedents were doubtful, and the archiepiscopal court had only a nebulous authority. After much preliminary discussion, it was decided that the trial before the archbishop should go forward. It began on 12 Feb. 1889 in the library of Lambeth Palace, the archbishop having as assessors the bishops of London (Temple), Oxford (Stubbs), Rochester (Thorold), Salisbury (Wordsworth), and Hereford (Atlay). Sir Walter Phillimore was counsel for King. The charge was that, when celebrating the Holy Communion in Lincoln Cathedral on 4 Dec. 1887, and in the parish church of St. Peter-at-Gowts, Lincoln, on 18 Dec. 1887, the bishop had transgressed the law in the following points : 1. Mixing water with the sacramental wine during the service, and subsequently consecrating the 'mixed cup.' 2. Standing in the 'eastward position' during the first part