rile obsession with externals, and that the intellectual rigor which had once demonstrated the familial ties of Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism as two independent bodies of equal validity had dwindled into a weak-kneed aesthetic preoccupation with ancient rites and ceremonies, with the authentic cut of vestments and the proper use of incense.
Hopkins was not especially concerned with the tenets of Ritualism, though he was concerned with decorum in the Anglican liturgy. He was more concerned with the internals of his faith. His major interest was in the historical truth of the Church.
In some ways, the course taken by Hopkins was a reflection of the same course taken earlier by Newman. John Henry Newman was a major figure in the development of Roman Catholicism in England in the nineteenth century, and indeed he exercised a vital influence on the religious life of the nation. Newman left numerous writings about his life and his theology, and these have been influential ever since. His autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua, details his spiritual journey and the development of the theological thought that caused him to change his religious affiliation from the Anglican church to the Roman Catholic Church. Newman spent time in Italy before returning to England in 1833, and by then he had fears developing about the future of the Anglican Church. The political winds had changed and the liberal Whigs were in power. The Anglican Bishops had offended the people by voting against the Reform Bill of 1832. The Anglican Church seemed to be ineffective in countering the tide running against it. John Keble would be the next important influence on Newman's development. Keble made a speech in 1833 in which he condemned the liberalism of the age, fearing that its triumph could greatly divide the individual between his or her duties toward the church and those toward the state. Newman saw this as the start of a religious movement: