Education Commission, or the Public Schools Commission, Temple became a member of it, and was a leading spirit. Their report was issued in 1868; chapter ii. on the kinds of education desirable, and chapter vii., containing the recommendations of the commissioners, were written by him. These chapters, together with his Oxford essay, give Temple's mature views on secondary education.
In July 1869 Gladstone offered him the deanery of Durham. This was refused, but in September of the same year he was offered the see of Exeter, which he accepted. His appointment raised a storm of opposition on the ground that he had been a contributor to the notorious 'Essays and Reviews' (1860 ; 12th edit. 1865). His contribution, 'The Education of the World,' was little open to exception, but he had associated himself with writers two of whom were tried and condemned, the one, Rowland Williams [q. v.], for denying the inspiration of scripture, the other, Henry Bristow Wilson [q. v.], for denying the doctrine of the eternity of punishment ; both sentences, however, were on appeal reversed by the privy council. The book had also been censured by the convocation of Canterbury. The earl of Shaftesbury and Dr. Pusey united to oppose his consecration, and it was doubtful beforehand whether the dean and chapter of Exeter would act on the congé d'élire. Ultimately, of the twenty-three members entitled to vote, thirteen were in favour, six against, and four were absent. When the confirmation took place in Bow church, two of the beneficed clergy of the diocese appeared in opposition. Urged on many sides by friends and opponents to make some declaration as to his orthodoxy, he refused, with characteristic firmness, to break silence till after his consecration, which took place on St. Thomas' Day in Westminster Abbey. The consecrating bishops were the bishops of London (Jackson), acting for Archbishop Tait, who was ill, St. David's (Thirlwall), and Ely (Browne). After his consecration he withdrew his essay from future editions of 'Essays and Reviews.' To quote the words of Lightfoot, 'he was courageous in refusing to withdraw his name when it was clamorously demanded, and not less courageous in withdrawing it when the withdrawal would expose him to the criticism of his advanced friends.'
In his change from youthful toryism to liberalism two main ideas possessed his mind : first, the need of raising the condition of the working classes, and secondly, the conviction that their amelioration could only be effected by enabling them to help themselves. A strong advocate of educational reform, he was also a social reformer, as evidenced, among other things, by his strong and persistent advocacy of temperance ; but all his experience strengthened his conviction that neither education nor temperance could have its perfect work apart from religion. As bishop of Exeter he had an early opportunity of putting his views into practice.
Forster's Education Act was passed in 1870. It was necessary for church people to improve and add to their schools, and at a meeting at Exeter, by his words and his example in subscribing 500l., he induced the diocese to raise a large sum for the purpose. It was also necessary to deal with schools of higher rank in the diocese of Exeter. His letter to the mayor on the endowed schools commissioners' proposals carried such weight that the main points for which he contended were eventually adopted. They embodied a system of exhibitions, furnishing a ladder by which the poorest child might rise from the elementary to the highest class of school and so to the university, and the establishment of two good schools for the secondary education of girls. In short, as stated by a member of a subsequent royal commission thirty years later, 'there are more boys and girls per thousand of population receiving secondary education in Exeter than in any other city in this country, due in no small measure to the improvements carried out largely under Dr. Temple.' The same might be said in its degree of Plymouth, where he was instrumental in founding secondary schools. At Rugby he had already taken part in the temperance movement, which had come into prominence partly owing to the report of the committee of convocation of Canterbury in 1869. When as bishop he took the chair in Exeter in 1872 at a meeting of the United Kingdom Alliance, the proceedings were so unruly as to require the intervention of the police, and a bag of flour aimed at the bishop struck him full in the chest. In a short time, however, he was always enthusiastically received, whenever he addressed public meetings (as he frequently did) on the subject. 'He was so much impressed,' he once said, 'with the importance of the movement, that he felt at times he could wish to divest himself of other duties and devote himself entirely to it.'
Notwithstanding the huge extent of a
