Letters of Lord Acton
compactness will add to the effect and influence of
our writings more than anything else, and I think
that we three would get on famously together. An
increase of numbers would, I fear, introduce a considerable risk of disagreement or at least a certain indefiniteness and vagueness of opinion which would be
ruinous. As to Ward's refusal, provided he continues
to wish us well, I regret it only because I fear it will
prevent the increase in the size of the Rambler which
you proposed. I strongly doubt whether the scholastic
formal theology of Ward and others, pace Dr Todd,[1] is what is wanted in our time. In the only country where there is great intellectual activity joined to
great learning, in Germany, Catholic theology has
taken a different line and with wonderful fruit. The
adversaries of religion in England are the disciples of its adversaries in Germany, and I conceive that Catholic
divines here cannot do better than follow the example
of those who have so successfully combated every form
of error in the country where the van is of the great
fight. I am not disposed to accept the paradox about
the necessity of ignorance in England, and I think any
man so much inclined to despair and give up the con-
test is better out of the Rambler. But he [Ward] is a
good fellow, and might still be made to render good
service.
You see that I speak with the confidence and openness of an old friend. The confidence you have placed in me makes it incumbent upon me to tell you my
- ↑ Rev. William Gowan Todd was born in 1829, took his degree of doctor in theology in Rome, and was the author of several books. In the later years of his life he founded and managed St Mary's Orphanage, Blackheath, where he died on July 24, 1877.
2
