recitation of the Athanasian Creed in the public services of the Church of England, believing, as he said, that the "presence" of the damnatory clauses, "as they stand and where they stand, is a real peril to the Church and to Christianity itself", and that those clauses "are no essential part" of the creed. The project was laid aside because of the hostility of a large body of the clergy, reinforced by the threat of Edward Bouverie Pusey and Canon Henry Parry Liddon to abandon their offices if it were carried. He was elevated to the see of York in January 1891 and enthroned on 17 March. By this time his energies were exhausted, and he died on 5 May, four months after his appointment. He was buried at Peterborough Cathedral. The life-size marble effigy marking his grave lies in the south aisle. Family He married his cousin Anne Smith in 1851. Legacy Magee had taken a prominent part in the Ritual controversy, opposing what he conceived to be romanising excess in ritual, as well as the endeavour of the opposite party to "put down Ritualism", as Disraeli expressed it, by the operation of the civil law. His incisive way of putting things earned for him the title of the "Militant Bishop", but his efforts were ever for peace. Magee's manifold activities, his capability as an administrator, his sound judgment, and his remarkable, insight into the ecclesiastical problems of his time, rank him among the most distinguished of English prelates. Quotes "The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." – W. C. Magee, 1868 "I should say it would be better that England should be free than that England should be compulsorily sober." 1872 Works Anglican sisterhoods (1886) Christ the light of all Scripture (1892) References Cork Past and Present External links Bibliographic directory from Project Canterbury 1821 births 1891 deaths People educated at Kilkenny College People from County Cork Bishops of Peterborough Archbishops of York Auditors of the College Historical Society 19th-century Anglican archbishops Deans of the Chapel Royal, Dublin Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Burials at Peterborough Cathedral 19th-century Church of England bishops