“ His appointment greatly strengthened the preaching power of the Chapter, for, though he could not be compared to the incomparable Liddon, his was in many ways a keener intellect and his interests were wider and more human. But he lacked Liddon's economy of vocal powers; his speech was too rapid for a building that plays havoc with a hurried delivery. His style was at once redundant and vigorous. The epithets came in torrents, yet the shortest of sentences came often as check to the flow of words. He could stir zeal. He could delight the intellect. ”

“ The theological teaching at Oxford needed the encouragement of a vigorous man of wide sympathies who could work well with various groups in the theological faculty. The new professor, in spite of his years, retained his youthfulness, and young men of the most varied character were attracted by his abounding enthusiasm. His grasp of modern theological thought was unmistakable, and few men could expound so attractively the Christian faith in the light of modern philosophy and criticism. ”

“ For Westcott's Peterborough period was the time of the idea of the cœnobium, and he was full of the need of applying Christianity to economic difficulties. Holland was a Christian Socialist before he read with Westcott, but it is not too much to say that the formation of the Christian Social Union drew its inspiration from the dwelling together of this Cambridge prophet and the Oxford son of the prophets. The union decide to have its journal, the Commonwealth, and Canon Holland proved himself an expert editor. ”