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Hutton attended to the politics, Hutton should take charge of the department of literature. The position of the journal was not satisfactory, and at the commencement of the partnership Hutton and Mr. Meredith further impaired its popularity by resolutely espousing the cause of the Northern States in the American civil war. Public feeling in England ran strongly in favour of the confederates, and it was not until the collapse of the south in 1865 that the courage of the editors obtained its reward. The change in public opinion towards the close of the war gained the journal a hearing, and the general worth of its contents insured it success. Its form and character were in many respects novel, the 'Saturday Review' being the only similar journal in existence, for the 'Examiner,' under Albany Fonblanque [q. v.], which has been suggested as the source of Hutton's inspiration, was different in character. The editors consistently supported the liberal party until its division in 1886, when, though reluctant to withdraw their allegiance to Gladstone, they felt compelled to oppose home rule. To Hutton the breach with Gladstone was especially painful, for the two men had long been united by ties of personal friendship and by a remarkable similarity in their views of life and of the relative importance of things and causes.

In the 'Spectator' Hutton found a pulpit from which he could speak on subjects nearest his heart, as well as on books and events of the day. In theological questions he first made his mark as the champion of Christianity against agnostic and rationalistic teachers. For this task Hutton was qualified by the breadth of his mind, the accuracy of his understanding, and his profound knowledge of current religious thought. Preeminently catholic in spirit he was removed from lesser party differences, and was able to comprehend and reconcile many positions which to smaller men seemed hopelessly antagonistic. While it would be idle to regard him as standing in the first rank of theologians, it may be questioned whether any of his contemporaries influenced public opinion more widely. This influence was exercised both through the 'Spectator' and by means of the vast correspondence he kept up with private persons on matters of religious controversy. As time advanced his sympathy with the high Anglican and Roman positions increased, and while never identifying himself with either party, his later friends, including William George Ward, Dean Church, and Canon Liddon, were drawn from both. For Cardinal Newman also he had a great admiration, regarding the spiritual character of his life as standing in strange contrast 'to the eager and agitated turmoil of confused passions, hesitating ideals, tentative virtues, and grasping philanthropies amid which it has been lived.' He contributed a memoir of 'Cardinal Newman' in 1891 to the series entitled 'English Leaders of Religion.'

Hutton's later literary labours were somewhat overshadowed by his theological writings, but they were not without importance. His literary interests were especially directed to the great writers of the close of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century. Although in such a field he could reveal little hitherto unknown, his intense sympathy rendered his studies of such writers as Scott, Shelley, and Browning of much value. On the critical side his work is less satisfactory, his keen appreciation of the merits of his favourites frequently rendering him incapable of considering their defects. In writers of the late nineteenth century he took less interest, and perhaps in the 'Spectator' he underestimated the literary value of their work. In 1865, on the foundation of the 'Pall Mall Gazette,' Hutton was recommended to the proprietor, Mr. George Smith, by Mr. Frederick Greenwood for the post of editor. Although Mr. Smith preferred to appoint Greenwood himself, Hutton became a contributor, and in 1866 published 'Studies in Parliament' (London, 8vo), a series of sketches of leading politicians, which had appeared in the 'Pall Mall Gazette,' and which are among his happiest writings. In 1871 he issued his 'Essays, Theological and Literary' (London, 2 vols. 8vo). They appeared again, largely recast, in 1877, and in the third edition of 1888 the essays on Shelley and on Browning were further revised. In 1877 Hutton lost his early friend Bagehot, and undertook to edit his writings. This he accomplished in three series. In 1879 appeared 'Bagehot's Literary Studies,' with a prefatory memoir, in 1880 his 'Economic Studies,' and in 1881 his 'Biographical Studies.' Each of these collections went through several editions, the latest appearing in 1895. To the second volume of this 'Dictionary' Hutton contributed a notice of his friend.

Hutton was an original member of the Metaphysical Society, founded in April 1869, and in August 1885 published an article in which he gave a graphic sketch of the society and its chief members in the 'Nineteenth Century,' whose editor, Mr. James Knowles, was the founder of the society. Under the form of an imaginary debate on a paper by William George Ward, he reproduced the