ABSTRACT
Hardy in a sense always remained loyal to the church, and especially the parish church, of his childhood. Yet from the earliest age he had no strict conventional or orthodox faith; and, certainly, at many points in his writing career, he attracted a reputation for opposition to the church which he did nothing to discourage. At the same time, he perennially manifested many vestiges of his Christian and ecclesiastical background, not least in his subscription to the concept of his writing as a vehicle for ethical ideas and influence, and by a determination to stand up for his beliefs whatever the consequence.
