The interest grew deeper when he came to touch on the parties to one or other of which all his listeners belonged.

High Church and Low Church were historical and intelligible, but there had arisen lately, the speaker said, a party called the Broad, never before heard of.

He went on to explain what Broad Churchmen were." Disraeli's gibes at Colenso and Maurice are too well known to need repetition here.

The equally famous reference to Darwin will bear to be quoted once more, at least as an introduction for Froude's incisive comment.
"What is the question now placed before society with a glibness the most astounding?
The question is this: Is man an ape or an angel?
I, my lord, am on the side of the angels." "Mr.Disraeli," so Froude continues, "is on the side of the angels.
Pit and gallery echoed with laughter.

Fellows and tutors repeated the phrase over their port in the common room with shaking sides.
The newspapers carried the announcement the next morning over the length and breadth of the island, and the leading article writers struggled in their comments to maintain a decent gravity.