He never sympathised with the principles of the Oxford Movement and, on the appearance of Tract 90 in 1841, he drafted the famous protest of the "Four Tutors" against it; but this was his only important contribution to the controversy.

[6] In 1842, he became an undistinguished but useful successor to Arnold as headmaster of Rugby School (one of his pupils was Lewis Carroll); and a serious illness in 1848, the first of many, led him to welcome the comparative leisure that followed upon his appointment to the deanery of Carlisle in 1849.

Not long afterwards, he was consecrated Bishop of London on 22 November 1856 at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, by John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury,[9] as successor to Charles James Blomfield.

With his wife, he was instrumental in organising women's work upon a sound basis, and he did not a little for the healthful regulation of Anglican sisterhoods during the formative period in which this was particularly necessary.

Nor was he less successful in the larger matters of administration and organisation, which brought into play his sound practical judgment and strong common-sense.

The modification of the terms of clerical subscription (1865), the new lectionary (1871), the Burials Act (1880) were largely owing to him; for all of them, and especially the last, he incurred much obloquy at the time.

The world at large knew better; but even Frederick Temple warned him, in the case of Essays and Reviews, "You will not keep friends if you compel them to feel that in every crisis of life they must be on their guard against trusting you.

"[11] As regards the Catholic revival, Tait was concerned with it during the whole of his episcopate and, above all, on the issue of ritualism, on which it naturally came into most direct conflict with the recognised ecclesiastical practice of the day.

[13] His method throughout was the same: he endeavoured to obtain a compliance to the law as declared by the courts; failing this, he made the most earnest efforts to secure obedience to the ruling of the Ordinary for the sake of the peace of the Church; after this, he could do nothing.

A widespread feeling of indignation spread not only among High Churchmen, but among many who cared little or nothing for the ritual practices involved; and it seemed impossible to foretell what the outcome would be.

This proved to be the turning-point; and although the ritual difficulty by no means ceased, it was afterwards dealt with from a different point of view, and the Public Worship Regulation Act became practically obsolete.

The grave is marked by a large Gothic style Celtic cross on a stepped base and is by far the largest monument in the churchyard.

His most important memorial stands in Westminster Abbey: a white marble bust by H. H. Armstead erected in 1884 in the south transept.