14 NOVEMBER 1863, Page 3

The name of Mr. Church has been freely mentioned as

one on whom the choice of the Crown may fitly fall to replace Dean Stanley in the chair of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford. A better appointment could not be made. Mr. Church is known to the public as author of a collection of essays which exhibited a pro- founder and more subtle insight into the thought and framework of the Middle Ages than has ever, perhaps, been displayed else- where. His orthodoxy being beyond dispute, his appointment could not raise any theological cry, and among the orthodox he is one of the most liberal. His one fault, which we fear will be fatal to his prospects, is an absolute inaptitude for pushing himself into notoriety.