1871 OFFICIAL HONOURS 55 



Locke fathers the pet doctrine of modern Liberalism, 

 that the toleration of error is a good thing in itself, 

 and to be reckoned among the cardinal virtues." l 



Of Mr. Spencer's comparison of the State to a 

 living body in the interests of individualism : 



I suppose it is universally agreed that it would be use- 

 less and absurd for the State to attempt to promote friend- 

 ship and sympathy between man and man directly. But 

 I see no reason why, if it be otherwise expedient, the 

 State may not do something towards that end indirectly. 

 For example, I can conceive the existence of an Established 

 Church which should be a blessing to the community. A 

 Church in which, week by week, services should be 

 devoted, not to the iteration of abstract propositions in 

 theology, but to the setting before men's minds of an ideal 

 of true, just, and pure living ; a place in which those 

 who are weary of the burden of daily cares should find a 

 moment's rest in the contemplation of the higher life 

 which is possible for all, though attained by so few ; a 

 place in which the man of strife and of business should 

 have time to think how small, after all, are the rewards 

 he covets compared with peace and charity. Depend 

 upon it, if such a Church existed, no one would seek to 

 disestablish it. 



The sole order of nobility which, in my judgment, 

 becomes a philosopher, is the rank which he holds in the 

 estimation of his fellow-workers, who are the only com- 

 petent judges in such matters. Newton and Cuvier 

 lowered themselves when the one accepted an idle knight- 

 hood, and the other became a baron of the empire. The 

 great men who went to their graves as Michael Faraday 

 and George Grote seem to me to have understood the 



1 This bears on his speech against Ultramontanism. (See 

 p. 40). 



