"Maurice was dismissed from his professorships because of his leadership in the Christian Socialist Movement, and because of the supposed unorthodoxy of his "Theological Essays" (1853)." His work "The Kingdom of Christ" had evoked virulent criticism. The publication of his "Theological Essays" in 1853 evoked even more and precipitated his dismissal from King's College. At the instigation of Richard William Jelf, the Principal of the College, the Council of the College, asked Maurice to resign. He refused and demanded that he be either "acquitted or dismissed." He was dismissed. To prevent the controversy from affecting Queen's College, Maurice "severed his relations" with it.