his first pamphlet, ‘A Dissertation on the Primary Objects of Idolatrous Worship,’ which is remarkable for its range of curious learning; but the subject could not attract readers. Jacob Bryant's writings, against which it was directed, were already almost forgotten, and the new school had not yet been thought of. About this time Maitland left London and settled at Taunton, and during the next three or four years his religious views appear to have been gradually changing. On 27 June 1821 he was admitted to deacon's orders at Norwich by Bishop Bathurst, and licensed to the curacy of St. Edmund in that city—a parish where the rector, the Rev. Charles David Brereton, was non-resident. Maitland did not stay long at Norwich, and was admitted to priest's orders by Bishop Ryder of Gloucester; his father having recently retired to that city, father and son living next door to one another. On 22 May 1823 he became perpetual curate of Christ Church, at Gloucester, which had been recently built, and this preferment he held till the end of 1827, when he determined to make a journey to the continent. He had been for some time greatly interested in the subject of the conversion of the Jews, and he wished to see the working of the society among the Jews in Germany and Poland. He started, accordingly, in April 1828, travelling through France, and thence through Germany and Prussia as far as Warsaw. He remained abroad till the autumn, and a series of thirty-six letters written during his absence, which have been preserved, give a very graphic and valuable description of the various places at which he stopped, and the condition of the countries through which he passed. During this journey he made himself master of German, acquired some knowledge of Polish, and his considerable knowledge of Hebrew, and especially Mishnaic literature, proved of advantage to him in his intercourse with the Jewish converts and inquirers. During his absence abroad he published ‘A Letter to the Rev. Charles Simeon,’ in which he strongly advocated the establishment of an institution which might serve as a place of refuge for Jewish converts who only wished to earn their livelihood, and were debarred from doing so when they became avowedly Christians. The proposal commended itself to philanthropists at home, and was at once acted upon, Maitland himself guaranteeing the expense for two years.
Towards the end of Maitland's incumbency at Christ Church, the religious world throughout England had been greatly moved by the eloquence of Edward Irving [q. v.]; and a large school of well-meaning readers of the Scriptures had devoted themselves to what was called the interpretation of the prophecies on the theory first propounded in the twelfth century by Abbot Joachim, and which usually goes by the name of the Year-day Theory. As early as 1826 Maitland had felt very grave doubts as to whether this theory was tenable, and had put forth a pamphlet which he called ‘An Enquiry into the Grounds on which the Prophetic Period of Daniel and St. John has been supposed to consist of 1260 Years.’ The pamphlet attracted great attention, and was the occasion of a paper war, which continued for some years. The result was that the ‘Year-day Theory’ was absolutely demolished by the overwhelming learning and critical ability of the one man who was more than a match for all his assailants. But as one of the side issues in the controversy turned upon the question of the orthodoxy, or rather the protestantism, of the Albigenses and the Waldenses, whom Joseph Milner [q. v.], in his ‘Church History,’ had claimed as among the ‘Heavenly Witnesses’ during the middle ages, Maitland set himself to the task of an exhaustive examination of the tenets of those sectaries, and in 1832 he published, in a volume of 546 pages, his most elaborate work entitled ‘Facts and Documents illustrative of the History, Doctrine, and Rites of the ancient Albigenses and Waldenses.’ The book must be regarded as one of the most masterly monographs in ecclesiastical history which have appeared in England; and, as such, it has been recognised by theologians of all schools at home and abroad. In this volume Maitland had allowed himself to speak with something like contempt of Milner's ‘Church History’ [6th edit. 5 vols. 1824, 8vo; revised and continued by the author's brother, Isaac], a book which, for want of anything better, had for some time been looked upon as a standard work by a large section of the clergy and others. This tone of disparagement had caused much offence in some quarters, and again Maitland was attacked in print, and was compelled to justify his language. But by this time it began to be felt that he was an antagonist whom it was better to leave alone; and although he was not averse to engage in polemics, and did do so when in his judgment it was necessary to vindicate any position he had taken up, the last thirty years of his life were free from such annoyances, as ‘unlearned and ignorant men’ had caused him in the first half of his career.
In 1835 Maitland began to contribute to the ‘British Magazine,’ of which Hugh James
