The struggle between Pope and sovereign had to be fought out before the struggle between sovereign and Parliament could begin.
Liberals thought that Froude would not have been on the side of the Parliament, and they joined High Churchmen in attacking him.
Spiritual and democratic power were to him equally obnoxious.

He delighted in Plato's simile of the ship, where the majority are nothing, and the captain rules.

His opinions were not popular, except his dislike for the Church of Rome.

He is read partly for his exquisite diction, and partly for the patriotic fervour with which he rejoices in the achievements of England, especially on sea.
Rossetti's fine burden: Lands are swayed by a king on a throne, The sea hath no king but God alone: might be a motto for the title-page of Froude.

The fallacy that brilliant writers are superficial accounts for much of the prejudice in academic circles against which Froude had to contend.