Note 53 — CONNOP THIRLWALL[18].

It has been said that the Master was advised to take the course he did by Mr Hugh James Rose, who was in the University at the time, and on Whitsunday, May 18, had preached a sermon at Great S. Mary’s on the ‘Duty of Maintaining the Truth,’ from S. Matt. x. 27: ‘What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops.’ Thirlwall’s letter, however, was not published before May 21, so that, unless the nature of it had been known beforehand, it is clear that anything which Mr Rose had said in his sermon could not have referred to it. That Thirlwall believed that there was some connexion between the sermon, or at any rate the preacher, and his dismissal, is evident from the fact that after showing the Master’s letter to one of the junior Fellows, who expressed indignant surprise that such a course could have been taken, he remarked: ‘Ah! let this be a warning to you to preach truth, if need be, upon the house-tops, but never under any circumstances to preach error.’ Thirlwall was a regular attendant at Great S. Mary’s, and no doubt heard the sermon in question.