Henry Phillpotts - Character

Character

Phillpotts' character was of the type that determined never to give up on a fight and he persisted in applying his standards. There were many ways that unscrupulous clergy could abuse the Episcopal patronage system, but:

"so long as Henry Phillpotts was Bishop of Exeter they avoided the Diocese of Exeter, for they knew that this doughty fighter would fight them to the end if he smelt something improper, whatever the cost to his pocket, however unfavourable the publicity and whatever the inadequacy of his own legal standing." (Chadwick II, 1997, p 212)

He was:

".... a genuinely religious man with his religion concealed behind porcupine quills, he constantly quarrelled in the House of Commons, exposing opponents' follies with consummate ability, a tongue and eyes of flame, an ugly tough face and vehement speech." (Chadwick I, 1997, p 217)

The bishop's strong views and lack of inhibitions in promoting them at times gained him many enemies in key places:

"That devil of a Bishop who inspired more terror than ever Satan did...of whom, however, it must be said that he is a gentleman." (Lord Melbourne, as quoted in Newton, 1968, p173)

Phillpotts at times became unpopular with former friends; one such was Rev. Sydney Smith, a former Tory ally who went on to say;

"I must believe in the Apostolic Succession, there being no other way of accounting for the descent of the Bishop of Exeter from Judas Iscariot."(Lambert, 1939, 39)

The text concerning the woman who anointed the head of Jesus with a 'very precious' ointment was chosen by the Bishop for his sermon at the consecration on 24 August 1837 of The New Cemetery in Exeter. The occasion was reported enthusiastically in the local newspaper The Flying Post (31 August 1837):

"In its language this sermon was most elegant‚ its delivery was a masterpiece of eloquence, and it was one of the most instructive and enlightened discourses that has been heard."

In the Foreword to Davies’ biography of Phillpotts, Prof. Norman Sykes summarises the character of the Bishop:

… Henry of Exeter, like Job’s war-horse, snuffed the battle from afar; and scented, moreover, a remarkable number and variety of contests in which to engage, without exhausting his capacity for polemic. Like William Warburton of an earlier age (though perhaps he would not have relished the comparison) he was a born fighter. It was his fortune furthermore to live in an age when occasions of dispute were legion; and he threw himself with avidity into their several aspects. Born into the era of the unreformed Parliament and Church, he opposed Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform; and was a pluralist who wished to retain in commendam the golden rectory of Stanhope with the See of Exeter, and only compromised by the exchange of living for a rich prebendal stall of Durham, Yet he lived to adjust himself to revolutionary changes in both Church and State. In ecclesiastical matters he was a champion of the principles of the Tractarian revival (a position not to his mind in the leastwise incompatible with mordant criticism of details and individuals); he encouraged the wearing of the surplice, and was a pioneer in the restoration of diocesan synods, and became involved in controversy concerning religious sisterhoods in the Church of England. He was the protagonist in the famous Gorham controversy, and held his ground in defeat when Manning seceded to Rome in protest against the verdict of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Gorham's favour. As a diocesan bishop he was outstanding in administration and pastoral oversight; and his episcopate left its enduring mark on the Diocese of Exeter.

Davies himself explains:

... No biographer of Phillpotts could, I think, complete his task with a feeling of real affection for the subject of his study. His character and gifts must command respect, if not approval; but he exhibited a curious lack of balance, and a failure to appreciate and adapt himself to the mood of the times which must detract from a firm claim to greatness on behalf of one so impervious to the changes in contemporary thought and opinion. He deserves, however, to be commemorated as an outstanding figure in the Anglican Church of the nineteenth century, and in particular for his High Church sympathies before the days of the Oxford Movement, at the same time noting that he could never quite come to terms with the Tractarians; and also for his many innovations in diocesan administration, for example, his opposition to non-residence, his advocacy of theological colleges, and his courage in convening a diocesan synod – perhaps the most important event of his career. This study is therefore both an attempt to do justice to his virtues in fearlessly contending for his convictions, while at the same time not disguising those failings which were such a conspicuous feature of his character.