long life has brought round him, ever occupied Froude’s place in his heart.  The correspondence shows in part the way in which Froude’s spirit rose, under the sense of having such a friend to work with in the cause which day by day grew greater and more sacred in the eyes of both.  Towards Mr. Keble Froude felt like a son to a father; towards Mr. Newman like a soldier to his comrade, and him the most splendid and boldest of warriors.  Each mind caught fire from the other, till the high enthusiasm of the one was quenched in an early death.

Shortly after this friendship began, the course of events also began which finally gave birth to the Oxford movement.  The break-up of parties caused by the Roman Catholic emancipation was followed by the French and Belgian revolutions of 1830, and these changes gave a fresh stimulus to all the reforming parties in England—­Whigs, Radicals, and liberal religionists.  Froude’s letters mark the influence of these changes on his mind.  They stirred in him the fiercest disgust and indignation, and as soon as the necessity of battle became evident to save the Church—­and such a necessity was evident—­he threw himself into it with all his heart, and his attitude was henceforth that of a determined and uncompromising combatant.  “Froude is growing stronger and stronger in his sentiments every day,” writes James Mozley, in 1832, “and cuts about him on all sides.  It is extremely fine to hear him talk.  The aristocracy of the country at present are the chief objects of his vituperation, and he decidedly sets himself against the modern character of the gentleman, and thinks that the Church will eventually depend for its support, as it always did in its most influential times, on the very poorest classes.”  “I would not set down anything that Froude says for his deliberate opinion,” writes James Mozley a year later, “for he really hates the present state of things so excessively that any change would be a relief to him.” ...  “Froude is staying up, and I see a great deal of him.” ...  “Froude is most enthusiastic in his plans, and says, ’What fun it is living in such times as these! how could one now go back to the times of old Tory humbug?’” From henceforth his position among his friends was that of the most impatient and aggressive of reformers, the one who most urged on his fellows to outspoken language and a bold line of action.  They were not men to hang back and be afraid, but they were cautious and considerate of popular alarms and prejudices, compared with Froude’s fearlessness.  Other minds were indeed moving—­minds as strong as his, indeed, it may be, deeper, more complex, more amply furnished, with a wider range of vision and a greater command of the field.  But while he lived, he appears as the one who spurs on and incites, where others hesitate.  He is the one by whom are visibly most felt the gaudia certaminis, and the confidence of victory, and the most profound contempt for the men and the ideas of the boastful and short-sighted present.