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diff --git a/22088-0.txt b/22088-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..954367d --- /dev/null +++ b/22088-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13794 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 22088 *** + + + + +APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA + +BEING + +A History of his Religious Opinions. + +BY + +JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN. + + "Commit thy way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will do it. + And He will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy + judgment as the noon-day." + +LONDON + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + +AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET + +1890. + +PRINTED BY + +KELLY AND CO., GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, + +AND KINGSTON-ON-THAMES. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The following History of my Religious Opinions, now that it is detached +from the context in which it originally stood, requires some preliminary +explanation; and that, not only in order to introduce it generally to +the reader, but specially to make him understand, how I came to write a +whole book about myself, and about my most private thoughts and +feelings. Did I consult indeed my own impulses, I should do my best +simply to wipe out of my Volume, and consign to oblivion, every trace of +the circumstances to which it is to be ascribed; but its original title +of "Apologia" is too exactly borne out by its matter and structure, and +these again are too suggestive of correlative circumstances, and those +circumstances are of too grave a character, to allow of my indulging so +natural a wish. And therefore, though in this new Edition I have managed +to omit nearly a hundred pages of my original Volume, which I could +safely consider to be of merely ephemeral importance, I am even for that +very reason obliged, by way of making up for their absence, to prefix to +my Narrative some account of the provocation out of which it arose. + +It is now more than twenty years that a vague impression to my +disadvantage has rested on the popular mind, as if my conduct towards +the Anglican Church, while I was a member of it, was inconsistent with +Christian simplicity and uprightness. An impression of this kind was +almost unavoidable under the circumstances of the case, when a man, who +had written strongly against a cause, and had collected a party round +him by virtue of such writings, gradually faltered in his opposition to +it, unsaid his words, threw his own friends into perplexity and their +proceedings into confusion, and ended by passing over to the side of +those whom he had so vigorously denounced. Sensitive then as I have ever +been of the imputations which have been so freely cast upon me, I have +never felt much impatience under them, as considering them to be a +portion of the penalty which I naturally and justly incurred by my +change of religion, even though they were to continue as long as I +lived. I left their removal to a future day, when personal feelings +would have died out, and documents would see the light, which were as +yet buried in closets or scattered through the country. + +This was my state of mind, as it had been for many years, when, in the +beginning of 1864, I unexpectedly found myself publicly put upon my +defence, and furnished with an opportunity of pleading my cause before +the world, and, as it so happened, with a fair prospect of an impartial +hearing. Taken indeed by surprise, as I was, I had much reason to be +anxious how I should be able to acquit myself in so serious a matter; +however, I had long had a tacit understanding with myself, that, in the +improbable event of a challenge being formally made to me, by a person +of name, it would be my duty to meet it. That opportunity had now +occurred; it never might occur again; not to avail myself of it at once +would be virtually to give up my cause; accordingly, I took advantage of +it, and, as it has turned out, the circumstance that no time was allowed +me for any studied statements has compensated, in the equitable judgment +of the public, for such imperfections in composition as my want of +leisure involved. + + * * * * * + +It was in the number for January 1864, of a magazine of wide +circulation, and in an Article upon Queen Elizabeth, that a popular +writer took occasion formally to accuse me by name of thinking so +lightly of the virtue of Veracity, as in set terms to have countenanced +and defended that neglect of it which he at the same time imputed to the +Catholic Priesthood. His words were these:-- + + "Truth, for its own sake, had never been a virtue with the Roman + clergy. Father Newman informs us that it need not, and on the + whole ought not to be; that cunning is the weapon which heaven + has given to the Saints wherewith to withstand the brute male + force of the wicked world which marries and is given in + marriage. Whether his notion be doctrinally correct or not, it + is at least historically so." + +These assertions, going far beyond the popular prejudice entertained +against me, had no foundation whatever in fact. I never had said, I +never had dreamed of saying, that truth for its own sake need not, and +on the whole ought not to be, a virtue with the Roman Clergy; or that +cunning is the weapon which heaven has given to the Saints wherewith to +withstand the wicked world. To what work of mine then could the writer +be referring? In a correspondence which ensued upon the subject between +him and myself, he rested his charge against me on a Sermon of mine, +preached, before I was a Catholic, in the pulpit of my Church at Oxford; +and he gave me to understand, that, after having done as much as this, +he was not bound, over and above such a general reference to my Sermon, +to specify the passages of it, in which the doctrine, which he imputed +to me, was contained. On my part I considered this not enough; and I +demanded of him to bring out his proof of his accusation in form and in +detail, or to confess he was unable to do so. But he persevered in his +refusal to cite any distinct passages from any writing of mine; and, +though he consented to withdraw his charge, he would not do so on the +issue of its truth or falsehood, but simply on the ground that I assured +him that I had had no intention of incurring it. This did not satisfy my +sense of justice. Formally to charge me with committing a fault is one +thing; to allow that I did not intend to commit it, is another; it is no +satisfaction to me, if a man accuses me of _this_ offence, for him to +profess that he does not accuse me _of that_; but he thought +differently. Not being able then to gain redress in the quarter, where I +had a right to ask it, I appealed to the public. I published the +correspondence in the shape of a Pamphlet, with some remarks of my own +at the end, on the course which that correspondence had taken. + +This Pamphlet, which appeared in the first weeks of February, received a +reply from my accuser towards the end of March, in another Pamphlet of +48 pages, entitled, "What then does Dr. Newman mean?" in which he +professed to do that which I had called upon him to do; that is, he +brought together a number of extracts from various works of mine, +Catholic and Anglican, with the object of showing that, if I was to be +acquitted of the crime of teaching and practising deceit and dishonesty, +according to his first supposition, it was at the price of my being +considered no longer responsible for my actions; for, as he expressed +it, "I had a human reason once, no doubt, but I had gambled it away," +and I had "worked my mind into that morbid state, in which nonsense was +the only food for which it hungered;" and that it could not be called "a +hasty or farfetched or unfounded mistake, when he concluded that I did +not care for truth for its own sake, or teach my disciples to regard it +as a virtue;" and, though "too many prefer the charge of insincerity to +that of insipience, Dr. Newman seemed not to be of that number." + +He ended his Pamphlet by returning to his original imputation against +me, which he had professed to abandon. Alluding by anticipation to my +probable answer to what he was then publishing, he professed his +heartfelt embarrassment how he was to believe any thing I might say in +my exculpation, in the plain and literal sense of the words. "I am +henceforth," he said, "in doubt and fear, as much as an honest man can +be, concerning every word Dr. Newman may write. How can I tell, that I +shall not be the dupe of some cunning equivocation, of one of the three +kinds laid down as permissible by the blessed St. Alfonso da Liguori and +his pupils, even when confirmed with an oath, because 'then we do not +deceive our neighbour, but allow him to deceive himself?' ... How can I +tell, that I may not in this Pamphlet have made an accusation, of the +truth of which Dr. Newman is perfectly conscious; but that, as I, a +heretic Protestant, have no business to make it, he has a full right to +deny it?" + +Even if I could have found it consistent with my duty to my own +reputation to leave such an elaborate impeachment of my moral nature +unanswered, my duty to my Brethren in the Catholic Priesthood, would +have forbidden such a course. _They_ were involved in the charges which +this writer, all along, from the original passage in the Magazine, to +the very last paragraph of the Pamphlet, had so confidently, so +pertinaciously made. In exculpating myself, it was plain I should be +pursuing no mere personal quarrel;--I was offering my humble service to +a sacred cause. I was making my protest in behalf of a large body of men +of high character, of honest and religious minds, and of sensitive +honour,--who had their place and their rights in this world, though they +were ministers of the world unseen, and who were insulted by my Accuser, +as the above extracts from him sufficiently show, not only in my person, +but directly and pointedly in their own. Accordingly, I at once set +about writing the _Apologia pro vitâ suâ_, of which the present Volume +is a New Edition; and it was a great reward to me to find, as the +controversy proceeded, such large numbers of my clerical brethren +supporting me by their sympathy in the course which I was pursuing, and, +as occasion offered, bestowing on me the formal and public expression of +their approbation. These testimonials in my behalf, so important and so +grateful to me, are, together with the Letter, sent to me with the same +purpose, from my Bishop, contained in the last pages of this Volume. + + * * * * * + +This Edition differs from the first form of the Apologia as +follows:--The original work consisted of seven Parts, which were +published in series on consecutive Thursdays, between April 21 and June +2. An Appendix, in answer to specific allegations urged against me in +the Pamphlet of Accusation, appeared on June 16. Of these Parts 1 and 2, +as being for the most part directly controversial, are omitted in this +Edition, excepting certain passages in them, which are subjoined to this +Preface, as being necessary for the due explanation of the subsequent +five Parts. These, (being 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, of the Apologia,) are here +numbered as Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively. Of the Appendix, about +half has been omitted, for the same reason as has led to the omission of +Parts 1 and 2. The rest of it is thrown into the shape of Notes of a +discursive character, with two new ones on Liberalism and the Lives of +the English Saints of 1843-4, and another, new in part, on +Ecclesiastical Miracles. In the body of the work, the only addition of +consequence is the letter which is found at p. 228, a copy of which has +recently come into my possession. + +I should add that, since writing the Apologia last year, I have seen for +the first time Mr. Oakeley's "Notes on the Tractarian Movement." This +work remarkably corroborates the substance of my Narrative, while the +kind terms in which he speaks of me personally, call for my sincere +gratitude. + +_May 2, 1865._ + + + + +I make these extracts from the first edition of my Apologia, Part 1, pp. +3, 20-25, and Part 2, pp. 29-31 and pp. 41-51, in order to set before +the reader the drift I had in writing my Volume:-- + + I cannot be sorry to have forced my Accuser to bring out in + fulness his charges against me. It is far better that he should + discharge his thoughts upon me in my lifetime, than after I am + dead. Under the circumstances I am happy in having the + opportunity of reading the worst that can be said of me by a + writer who has taken pains with his work and is well satisfied + with it. I account it a gain to be surveyed from without by one + who hates the principles which are nearest to my heart, has no + personal knowledge of me to set right his misconceptions of my + doctrine, and who has some motive or other to be as severe with + me as he can possibly be.... + + But I really feel sad for what I am obliged now to say. I am in + warfare with him, but I wish him no ill;--it is very difficult + to get up resentment towards persons whom one has never seen. It + is easy enough to be irritated with friends or foes _vis-à-vis_; + but, though I am writing with all my heart against what he has + said of me, I am not conscious of personal unkindness towards + himself. I think it necessary to write as I am writing, for my + own sake, and for the sake of the Catholic Priesthood; but I + wish to impute nothing worse to him than that he has been + furiously carried away by his feelings. Yet what shall I say of + the upshot of all his talk of my economies and equivocations and + the like? What is the precise _work_ which it is directed to + effect? I am at war with him; but there is such a thing as + legitimate warfare: war has its laws; there are things which may + fairly be done, and things which may not be done. I say it with + shame and with stern sorrow;--he has attempted a great + transgression; he has attempted (as I may call it) to _poison + the wells_. I will quote him and explain what I mean.... He + says,-- + + "I am henceforth in doubt and fear, as much as any honest man + can be, _concerning every word_ Dr. Newman may write. _How can I + tell that I shall not be the dupe of some cunning equivocation_, + of one of the three kinds laid down as permissible by the + blessed Alfonso da Liguori and his pupils, even when confirmed + by an oath, because 'then we do not deceive our neighbour, but + allow him to deceive himself?' ... It is admissible, therefore, + to use words and sentences which have a double signification, + and leave the hapless hearer to take which of them he may + choose. _What proof have I, then, that by 'mean it? I never said + it!' Dr. Newman does not signify_, I did not say it, but I did + mean it?"--Pp. 44, 45. + + Now these insinuations and questions shall be answered in their + proper places; here I will but say that I scorn and detest + lying, and quibbling, and double-tongued practice, and slyness, + and cunning, and smoothness, and cant, and pretence, quite as + much as any Protestants hate them; and I pray to be kept from + the snare of them. But all this is just now by the bye; my + present subject is my Accuser; what I insist upon here is this + unmanly attempt of his, in his concluding pages, to cut the + ground from under my feet;--to poison by anticipation the public + mind against me, John Henry Newman, and to infuse into the + imaginations of my readers, suspicion and mistrust of everything + that I may say in reply to him. This I call _poisoning the + wells_. + + "I am henceforth in _doubt and fear_," he says, "as much as any + _honest_ man can be, _concerning every word_ Dr. Newman may + write. _How can I tell that I shall not be the dupe of some + cunning equivocation?_" ... + + Well, I can only say, that, if his taunt is to take effect, I am + but wasting my time in saying a word in answer to his calumnies; + and this is precisely what he knows and intends to be its fruit. + I can hardly get myself to protest against a method of + controversy so base and cruel, lest in doing so, I should be + violating my self-respect and self-possession; but most base and + most cruel it is. We all know how our imagination runs away with + us, how suddenly and at what a pace;--the saying, "Cæsar's wife + should not be suspected," is an instance of what I mean. The + habitual prejudice, the humour of the moment, is the + turning-point which leads us to read a defence in a good sense + or a bad. We interpret it by our antecedent impressions. + + The very same sentiments, according as our jealousy is or is not + awake, or our aversion stimulated, are tokens of truth or of + dissimulation and pretence. There is a story of a sane person + being by mistake shut up in the wards of a Lunatic Asylum, and + that, when he pleaded his cause to some strangers visiting the + establishment, the only remark he elicited in answer was, "How + naturally he talks! you would think he was in his senses." + Controversies should be decided by the reason; is it legitimate + warfare to appeal to the misgivings of the public mind and to + its dislikings? Any how, if my accuser is able thus to practise + upon my readers, the more I succeed, the less will be my + success. If I am natural, he will tell them "Ars est celare + artem;" if I am convincing, he will suggest that I am an able + logician; if I show warmth, I am acting the indignant innocent; + if I am calm, I am thereby detected as a smooth hypocrite; if I + clear up difficulties, I am too plausible and perfect to be + true. The more triumphant are my statements, the more certain + will be my defeat. + + So will it be if my Accuser succeeds in his man[oe]uvre; but I + do not for an instant believe that he will. Whatever judgment my + readers may eventually form of me from these pages, I am + confident that they will believe me in what I shall say in the + course of them. I have no misgiving at all, that they will be + ungenerous or harsh towards a man who has been so long before + the eyes of the world; who has so many to speak of him from + personal knowledge; whose natural impulse it has ever been to + speak out; who has ever spoken too much rather than too little; + who would have saved himself many a scrape, if he had been wise + enough to hold his tongue; who has ever been fair to the + doctrines and arguments of his opponents; who has never slurred + over facts and reasonings which told against himself; who has + never given his name or authority to proofs which he thought + unsound, or to testimony which he did not think at least + plausible; who has never shrunk from confessing a fault when he + felt that he had committed one; who has ever consulted for + others more than for himself; who has given up much that he + loved and prized and could have retained, but that he loved + honesty better than name, and Truth better than dear friends.... + + * * * * * + + What then shall be the special imputation, against which I shall + throw myself in these pages, out of the thousand and one which + my Accuser directs upon me? I mean to confine myself to one, for + there is only one about which I much care,--the charge of + Untruthfulness. He may cast upon me as many other imputations as + he pleases, and they may stick on me, as long as they can, in + the course of nature. They will fall to the ground in their + season. + + And indeed I think the same of the charge of Untruthfulness, and + select it from the rest, not because it is more formidable but + because it is more serious. Like the rest, it may disfigure me + for a time, but it will not stain: Archbishop Whately used to + say, "Throw dirt enough, and some will stick;" well, will stick, + but not, will stain. I think he used to mean "stain," and I do + not agree with him. Some dirt sticks longer than other dirt; but + no dirt is immortal. According to the old saying, Prævalebit + Veritas. There are virtues indeed, which the world is not fitted + to judge of or to uphold, such as faith, hope, and charity: but + it can judge about Truthfulness; it can judge about the natural + virtues, and Truthfulness is one of them. Natural virtues may + also become supernatural; Truthfulness is such; but that does + not withdraw it from the jurisdiction of mankind at large. It + may be more difficult in this or that particular case for men to + take cognizance of it, as it may be difficult for the Court of + Queen's Bench at Westminster to try a case fairly which took + place in Hindostan: but that is a question of capacity, not of + right. Mankind has the right to judge of Truthfulness in a + Catholic, as in the case of a Protestant, of an Italian, or of a + Chinese. I have never doubted, that in my hour, in God's hour, + my avenger will appear, and the world will acquit me of + untruthfulness, even though it be not while I live. + + Still more confident am I of such eventual acquittal, seeing + that my judges are my own countrymen. I consider, indeed, + Englishmen the most suspicious and touchy of mankind; I think + them unreasonable, and unjust in their seasons of excitement; + but I had rather be an Englishman, (as in fact I am,) than + belong to any other race under heaven. They are as generous, as + they are hasty and burly; and their repentance for their + injustice is greater than their sin. + + For twenty years and more I have borne an imputation, of which I + am at least as sensitive, who am the object of it, as they can + be, who are only the judges. I have not set myself to remove it, + first, because I never have had an opening to speak, and, next, + because I never saw in them the disposition to hear. I have + wished to appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober. When shall I + pronounce him to be himself again? If I may judge from the tone + of the public press, which represents the public voice, I have + great reason to take heart at this time. I have been treated by + contemporary critics in this controversy with great fairness and + gentleness, and I am grateful to them for it. However, the + decision of the time and mode of my defence has been taken out + of my hands; and I am thankful that it has been so. I am bound + now as a duty to myself, to the Catholic cause, to the Catholic + Priesthood, to give account of myself without any delay, when I + am so rudely and circumstantially charged with Untruthfulness. I + accept the challenge; I shall do my best to meet it, and I shall + be content when I have done so. + + * * * * * + + It is not my present accuser alone who entertains, and has + entertained, so dishonourable an opinion of me and of my + writings. It is the impression of large classes of men; the + impression twenty years ago and the impression now. There has + been a general feeling that I was for years where I had no right + to be; that I was a "Romanist" in Protestant livery and service; + that I was doing the work of a hostile Church in the bosom of + the English Establishment, and knew it, or ought to have known + it. There was no need of arguing about particular passages in my + writings, when the fact was so patent, as men thought it to be. + + First it was certain, and I could not myself deny it, that I + scouted the name "Protestant." It was certain again, that many + of the doctrines which I professed were popularly and generally + known as badges of the Roman Church, as distinguished from the + faith of the Reformation. Next, how could I have come by them? + Evidently, I had certain friends and advisers who did not + appear; there was some underground communication between + Stonyhurst or Oscott and my rooms at Oriel. Beyond a doubt, I + was advocating certain doctrines, not by accident, but on an + understanding with ecclesiastics of the old religion. Then men + went further, and said that I had actually been received into + that religion, and withal had leave given me to profess myself a + Protestant still. Others went even further, and gave it out to + the world, as a matter of fact, of which they themselves had the + proof in their hands, that I was actually a Jesuit. And when the + opinions which I advocated spread, and younger men went further + than I, the feeling against me waxed stronger and took a wider + range. + + And now indignation arose at the knavery of a conspiracy such as + this:--and it became of course all the greater in consequence of + its being the received belief of the public at large, that craft + and intrigue, such as they fancied they beheld with their eyes, + were the very instruments to which the Catholic Church has in + these last centuries been indebted for her maintenance and + extension. + + There was another circumstance still, which increased the + irritation and aversion felt by the large classes, of whom I + have been speaking, against the preachers of doctrines, so new + to them and so unpalatable; and that was, that they developed + them in so measured a way. If they were inspired by Roman + theologians, (and this was taken for granted,) why did they not + speak out at once? Why did they keep the world in such suspense + and anxiety as to what was coming next, and what was to be the + upshot of the whole? Why this reticence, and half-speaking, and + apparent indecision? It was plain that the plan of operations + had been carefully mapped out from the first, and that these men + were cautiously advancing towards its accomplishment, as far as + was safe at the moment; that their aim and their hope was to + carry off a large body with them of the young and the ignorant; + that they meant gradually to leaven the minds of the rising + generation, and to open the gates of that city, of which they + were the sworn defenders, to the enemy who lay in ambush outside + of it. And when in spite of the many protestations of the party + to the contrary, there was at length an actual movement among + their disciples, and one went over to Rome, and then another, + the worst anticipations and the worst judgments which had been + formed of them received their justification. And, lastly, when + men first had said of me, "You will see, _he_ will go, he is + only biding his time, he is waiting the word of command from + Rome," and, when after all, after my arguments and denunciations + of former years, at length I did leave the Anglican Church for + the Roman, then they said to each other, "It is just as we said: + we knew it would be so." + + This was the state of mind of masses of men twenty years ago, + who took no more than an external and common sense view of what + was going on. And partly the tradition, partly the effect of + that feeling, remains to the present time. Certainly I consider + that, in my own case, it is the great obstacle in the way of my + being favourably heard, as at present, when I have to make my + defence. Not only am I now a member of a most un-English + communion, whose great aim is considered to be the extinction of + Protestantism and the Protestant Church, and whose means of + attack are popularly supposed to be unscrupulous cunning and + deceit, but how came I originally to have any relations with the + Church of Rome at all? did I, or my opinions, drop from the sky? + how came I, in Oxford, _in gremio Universitatis_, to present + myself to the eyes of men in that full blown investiture of + Popery? How could I dare, how could I have the conscience, with + warnings, with prophecies, with accusations against me, to + persevere in a path which steadily advanced towards, which ended + in, the religion of Rome? And how am I now to be trusted, when + long ago I was trusted, and was found wanting? + + It is this which is the strength of the case of my Accuser + against me;--not the articles of impeachment which he has framed + from my writings, and which I shall easily crumble into dust, + but the bias of the court. It is the state of the atmosphere; it + is the vibration all around, which will echo his bold assertion + of my dishonesty; it is that prepossession against me, which + takes it for granted that, when my reasoning is convincing it is + only ingenious, and that when my statements are unanswerable, + there is always something put out of sight or hidden in my + sleeve; it is that plausible, but cruel conclusion to which men + are apt to jump, that when much is imputed, much must be true, + and that it is more likely that one should be to blame, than + that many should be mistaken in blaming him;--these are the real + foes which I have to fight, and the auxiliaries to whom my + Accuser makes his advances. + + Well, I must break through this barrier of prejudice against me + if I can; and I think I shall be able to do so. When first I + read the Pamphlet of Accusation, I almost despaired of meeting + effectively such a heap of misrepresentations and such a + vehemence of animosity. What was the good of answering first one + point, and then another, and going through the whole circle of + its abuse; when my answer to the first point would be forgotten, + as soon as I got to the second? What was the use of bringing out + half a hundred separate principles or views for the refutation + of the separate counts in the Indictment, when rejoinders of + this sort would but confuse and torment the reader by their + number and their diversity? What hope was there of condensing + into a pamphlet of a readable length, matter which ought freely + to expand itself into half a dozen volumes? What means was + there, except the expenditure of interminable pages, to set + right even one of that series of "single passing hints," to use + my Assailant's own language, which, "as with his finger tip he + had delivered" against me? + + All those separate charges had their force in being + illustrations of one and the same great imputation. He had + already a positive idea to illuminate his whole matter, and to + stamp it with a force, and to quicken it with an interpretation. + He called me a _liar_,--a simple, a broad, an intelligible, to + the English public a plausible arraignment; but for me, to + answer in detail charge one by reason one, and charge two by + reason two, and charge three by reason three, and so on through + the whole string both of accusations and replies, each of which + was to be independent of the rest, this would be certainly + labour lost as regards any effective result. What I needed was a + corresponding antagonist unity in my defence, and where was that + to be found? We see, in the case of commentators on the + prophecies of Scripture, an exemplification of the principle on + which I am insisting; viz. how much more powerful even a false + interpretation of the sacred text is than none at all;--how a + certain key to the visions of the Apocalypse, for instance, may + cling to the mind (I have found it so in the case of my own), + because the view, which it opens on us, is positive and + objective, in spite of the fullest demonstration that it really + has no claim upon our reception. The reader says, "What else can + the prophecy mean?" just as my Accuser asks, "What, then, does + Dr. Newman mean?" ... I reflected, and I saw a way out of my + perplexity. + + Yes, I said to myself, his very question is about my _meaning_; + "What does Dr. Newman mean?" It pointed in the very same + direction as that into which my musings had turned me already. + He asks what I _mean_; not about my words, not about my + arguments, not about my actions, as his ultimate point, but + about that living intelligence, by which I write, and argue, and + act. He asks about my Mind and its Beliefs and its sentiments; + and he shall be answered;--not for his own sake, but for mine, + for the sake of the Religion which I profess, and of the + Priesthood in which I am unworthily included, and of my friends + and of my foes, and of that general public which consists of + neither one nor the other, but of well-wishers, lovers of fair + play, sceptical cross-questioners, interested inquirers, curious + lookers-on, and simple strangers, unconcerned yet not careless + about the issue,--for the sake of all these he shall be + answered. + + My perplexity had not lasted half an hour. I recognized what I + had to do, though I shrank from both the task and the exposure + which it would entail. I must, I said, give the true key to my + whole life; I must show what I am, that it may be seen what I am + not, and that the phantom may be extinguished which gibbers + instead of me. I wish to be known as a living man, and not as a + scarecrow which is dressed up in my clothes. False ideas may be + refuted indeed by argument, but by true ideas alone are they + expelled. I will vanquish, not my Accuser, but my judges. I will + indeed answer his charges and criticisms on me one by one[1], + lest any one should say that they are unanswerable, but such a + work shall not be the scope nor the substance of my reply. I + will draw out, as far as may be, the history of my mind; I will + state the point at which I began, in what external suggestion or + accident each opinion had its rise, how far and how they + developed from within, how they grew, were modified, were + combined, were in collision with each other, and were changed; + again how I conducted myself towards them, and how, and how far, + and for how long a time, I thought I could hold them + consistently with the ecclesiastical engagements which I had + made and with the position which I held. I must show,--what is + the very truth,--that the doctrines which I held, and have held + for so many years, have been taught me (speaking humanly) partly + by the suggestions of Protestant friends, partly by the teaching + of books, and partly by the action of my own mind: and thus I + shall account for that phenomenon which to so many seems so + wonderful, that I should have left "my kindred and my father's + house" for a Church from which once I turned away with + dread;--so wonderful to them! as if forsooth a Religion which + has flourished through so many ages, among so many nations, amid + such varieties of social life, in such contrary classes and + conditions of men, and after so many revolutions, political and + civil, could not subdue the reason and overcome the heart, + without the aid of fraud in the process and the sophistries of + the schools. + + [1] This was done in the Appendix, of which the more important + parts are preserved in the Notes. + + * * * * * + + What I had proposed to myself in the course of half-an-hour, I + determined on at the end of ten days. However, I have many + difficulties in fulfilling my design. How am I to say all that + has to be said in a reasonable compass? And then as to the + materials of my narrative; I have no autobiographical notes to + consult, no written explanations of particular treatises or of + tracts which at the time gave offence, hardly any minutes of + definite transactions or conversations, and few contemporary + memoranda, I fear, of the feelings or motives under which, from + time to time I acted. I have an abundance of letters from + friends with some copies or drafts of my answers to them, but + they are for the most part unsorted; and, till this process has + taken place, they are even too numerous and various to be + available at a moment for my purpose. Then, as to the volumes + which I have published, they would in many ways serve me, were I + well up in them: but though I took great pains in their + composition, I have thought little about them, when they were + once out of my hands, and for the most part the last time I read + them has been when I revised their last proof sheets. + + Under these circumstances my sketch will of course be + incomplete. I now for the first time contemplate my course as a + whole; it is a first essay, but it will contain, I trust, no + serious or substantial mistake, and so far will answer the + purpose for which I write it. I purpose to set nothing down in + it as certain, of which I have not a clear memory, or some + written memorial, or the corroboration of some friend. There are + witnesses enough up and down the country to verify, or correct, + or complete it; and letters moreover of my own in abundance, + unless they have been destroyed. + + Moreover, I mean to be simply personal and historical: I am not + expounding Catholic doctrine, I am doing no more than explaining + myself, and my opinions and actions. I wish, as far as I am + able, simply to state facts, whether they are ultimately + determined to be for me or against me. Of course there will be + room enough for contrariety of judgment among my readers, as to + the necessity, or appositeness, or value, or good taste, or + religious prudence, of the details which I shall introduce. I + may be accused of laying stress on little things, of being + beside the mark, of going into impertinent or ridiculous + details, of sounding my own praise, of giving scandal; but this + is a case above all others, in which I am bound to follow my own + lights and to speak out my own heart. It is not at all pleasant + for me to be egotistical; nor to be criticized for being so. It + is not pleasant to reveal to high and low, young and old, what + has gone on within me from my early years. It is not pleasant to + be giving to every shallow or flippant disputant the advantage + over me of knowing my most private thoughts, I might even say + the intercourse between myself and my Maker. But I do not like + to be called to my face a liar and a knave; nor should I be + doing my duty to my faith or to my name, if I were to suffer it. + I know I have done nothing to deserve such an insult, and if I + prove this, as I hope to do, I must not care for such incidental + annoyances as are involved in the process. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +History of my Religious Opinions up to 1833 + +CHAPTER II. + +History of my Religious Opinions from 1833 to 1839 + +CHAPTER III. + +History of my Religious Opinions from 1839 to 1841 + +CHAPTER IV. + +History of my Religious Opinions from 1841 to 1845 + +CHAPTER V. + +Position of my Mind since 1845 + + +NOTES. + +Note A. On page 14. Liberalism + + B. On page 23. Ecclesiastical Miracles + + C. On page 153. Sermon on Wisdom and Innocence + + D. On page 213. Series of Saints' Lives of 1843-4 + + E. On page 227. Anglican Church + + F. On page 269. The Economy + + G. On page 279. Lying and Equivocation + + +SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER. + +1. Chronological List of Letters and Papers quoted in this Narrative + +2. List of the Author's Works + +3. Letter to him from his Diocesan + +4. Addresses from bodies of Clergy and Laity + + +ADDITIONAL NOTES. + +Note 1, on page 12. Correspondence with Archbishop Whately in 1834 + +2, on page 90. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. E. Smedley in 1828 + +3, on page 185. Extract of a Letter of the Rev. Francis Faber about 1849 + +4, on pages 194-196. The late Very Rev. Dr. Russell + +5, on page 232. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John Keble in 1844 + +6, on page 237. Extract from the _Times_ concerning the Author's visit +to Oxford in 1878 + +7, on page 302. The oil of St. Walburga + +8, on page 323. Boniface of Canterbury + + + + +MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HISTORY OF MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS TO THE YEAR 1833. + + +It may easily be conceived how great a trial it is to me to write the +following history of myself; but I must not shrink from the task. The +words, "Secretum meum mihi," keep ringing in my ears; but as men draw +towards their end, they care less for disclosures. Nor is it the least +part of my trial, to anticipate that, upon first reading what I have +written, my friends may consider much in it irrelevant to my purpose; +yet I cannot help thinking that, viewed as a whole, it will effect what +I propose to myself in giving it to the public. + + * * * * * + +I was brought up from a child to take great delight in reading the +Bible; but I had no formed religious convictions till I was fifteen. Of +course I had a perfect knowledge of my Catechism. + +After I was grown up, I put on paper my recollections of the thoughts +and feelings on religious subjects, which I had at the time that I was a +child and a boy,--such as had remained on my mind with sufficient +prominence to make me then consider them worth recording. Out of these, +written in the Long Vacation of 1820, and transcribed with additions in +1823, I select two, which are at once the most definite among them, and +also have a bearing on my later convictions. + +1. "I used to wish the Arabian Tales were true: my imagination ran on +unknown influences, on magical powers, and talismans.... I thought life +might be a dream, or I an Angel, and all this world a deception, my +fellow-angels by a playful device concealing themselves from me, and +deceiving me with the semblance of a material world." + +Again: "Reading in the Spring of 1816 a sentence from [Dr. Watts's] +'Remnants of Time,' entitled 'the Saints unknown to the world,' to the +effect, that 'there is nothing in their figure or countenance to +distinguish them,' &c., &c., I supposed he spoke of Angels who lived in +the world, as it were disguised." + +2. The other remark is this: "I was very superstitious, and for some +time previous to my conversion" [when I was fifteen] "used constantly to +cross myself on going into the dark." + +Of course I must have got this practice from some external source or +other; but I can make no sort of conjecture whence; and certainly no one +had ever spoken to me on the subject of the Catholic religion, which I +only knew by name. The French master was an _émigré_ Priest, but he was +simply made a butt, as French masters too commonly were in that day, and +spoke English very imperfectly. There was a Catholic family in the +village, old maiden ladies we used to think; but I knew nothing about +them. I have of late years heard that there were one or two Catholic +boys in the school; but either we were carefully kept from knowing this, +or the knowledge of it made simply no impression on our minds. My +brother will bear witness how free the school was from Catholic ideas. + +I had once been into Warwick Street Chapel, with my father, who, I +believe, wanted to hear some piece of music; all that I bore away from +it was the recollection of a pulpit and a preacher, and a boy swinging a +censer. + +When I was at Littlemore, I was looking over old copy-books of my school +days, and I found among them my first Latin verse-book; and in the first +page of it there was a device which almost took my breath away with +surprise. I have the book before me now, and have just been showing it +to others. I have written in the first page, in my school-boy hand, +"John. H. Newman, February 11th, 1811, Verse Book;" then follow my first +Verses. Between "Verse" and "Book" I have drawn the figure of a solid +cross upright, and next to it is, what may indeed be meant for a +necklace, but what I cannot make out to be any thing else than a set of +beads suspended, with a little cross attached. At this time I was not +quite ten years old. I suppose I got these ideas from some romance, Mrs. +Radcliffe's or Miss Porter's; or from some religious picture; but the +strange thing is, how, among the thousand objects which meet a boy's +eyes, these in particular should so have fixed themselves in my mind, +that I made them thus practically my own. I am certain there was nothing +in the churches I attended, or the prayer books I read, to suggest them. +It must be recollected that Anglican churches and prayer books were not +decorated in those days as I believe they are now. + +When I was fourteen, I read Paine's Tracts against the Old Testament, +and found pleasure in thinking of the objections which were contained in +them. Also, I read some of Hume's Essays; and perhaps that on Miracles. +So at least I gave my Father to understand; but perhaps it was a brag. +Also, I recollect copying out some French verses, perhaps Voltaire's, in +denial of the immortality of the soul, and saying to myself something +like "How dreadful, but how plausible!" + +When I was fifteen, (in the autumn of 1816,) a great change of thought +took place in me. I fell under the influences of a definite Creed, and +received into my intellect impressions of dogma, which, through God's +mercy, have never been effaced or obscured. Above and beyond the +conversations and sermons of the excellent man, long dead, the Rev. +Walter Mayers, of Pembroke College, Oxford, who was the human means of +this beginning of divine faith in me, was the effect of the books which +he put into my hands, all of the school of Calvin. One of the first +books I read was a work of Romaine's; I neither recollect the title nor +the contents, except one doctrine, which of course I do not include +among those which I believe to have come from a divine source, viz. the +doctrine of final perseverance. I received it at once, and believed that +the inward conversion of which I was conscious, (and of which I still am +more certain than that I have hands and feet,) would last into the next +life, and that I was elected to eternal glory. I have no consciousness +that this belief had any tendency whatever to lead me to be careless +about pleasing God. I retained it till the age of twenty-one, when it +gradually faded away; but I believe that it had some influence on my +opinions, in the direction of those childish imaginations which I have +already mentioned, viz. in isolating me from the objects which +surrounded me, in confirming me in my mistrust of the reality of +material phenomena, and making me rest in the thought of two and two +only absolute and luminously self-evident beings, myself and my +Creator;--for while I considered myself predestined to salvation, my +mind did not dwell upon others, as fancying them simply passed over, not +predestined to eternal death. I only thought of the mercy to myself. + +The detestable doctrine last mentioned is simply denied and abjured, +unless my memory strangely deceives me, by the writer who made a deeper +impression on my mind than any other, and to whom (humanly speaking) I +almost owe my soul,--Thomas Scott of Aston Sandford. I so admired and +delighted in his writings, that, when I was an under-graduate, I thought +of making a visit to his Parsonage, in order to see a man whom I so +deeply revered. I hardly think I could have given up the idea of this +expedition, even after I had taken my degree; for the news of his death +in 1821 came upon me as a disappointment as well as a sorrow. I hung +upon the lips of Daniel Wilson, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, as in two +sermons at St. John's Chapel he gave the history of Scott's life and +death. I had been possessed of his "Force of Truth" and Essays from a +boy; his Commentary I bought when I was an under-graduate. + +What, I suppose, will strike any reader of Scott's history and writings, +is his bold unworldliness and vigorous independence of mind. He followed +truth wherever it led him, beginning with Unitarianism, and ending in a +zealous faith in the Holy Trinity. It was he who first planted deep in +my mind that fundamental truth of religion. With the assistance of +Scott's Essays, and the admirable work of Jones of Nayland, I made a +collection of Scripture texts in proof of the doctrine, with remarks (I +think) of my own upon them, before I was sixteen; and a few months later +I drew up a series of texts in support of each verse of the Athanasian +Creed. These papers I have still. + +Besides his unworldliness, what I also admired in Scott was his resolute +opposition to Antinomianism, and the minutely practical character of his +writings. They show him to be a true Englishman, and I deeply felt his +influence; and for years I used almost as proverbs what I considered to +be the scope and issue of his doctrine, "Holiness rather than peace," +and "Growth the only evidence of life." + +Calvinists make a sharp separation between the elect and the world; +there is much in this that is cognate or parallel to the Catholic +doctrine; but they go on to say, as I understand them, very differently +from Catholicism,--that the converted and the unconverted can be +discriminated by man, that the justified are conscious of their state of +justification, and that the regenerate cannot fall away. Catholics on +the other hand shade and soften the awful antagonism between good and +evil, which is one of their dogmas, by holding that there are different +degrees of justification, that there is a great difference in point of +gravity between sin and sin, that there is the possibility and the +danger of falling away, and that there is no certain knowledge given to +any one that he is simply in a state of grace, and much less that he is +to persevere to the end:--of the Calvinistic tenets the only one which +took root in my mind was the fact of heaven and hell, divine favour and +divine wrath, of the justified and the unjustified. The notion that the +regenerate and the justified were one and the same, and that the +regenerate, as such, had the gift of perseverance, remained with me not +many years, as I have said already. + +This main Catholic doctrine of the warfare between the city of God and +the powers of darkness was also deeply impressed upon my mind by a work +of a character very opposite to Calvinism, Law's "Serious Call." + +From this time I have held with a full inward assent and belief the +doctrine of eternal punishment, as delivered by our Lord Himself, in as +true a sense as I hold that of eternal happiness; though I have tried in +various ways to make that truth less terrible to the imagination. + +Now I come to two other works, which produced a deep impression on me in +the same Autumn of 1816, when I was fifteen years old, each contrary to +each, and planting in me the seeds of an intellectual inconsistency +which disabled me for a long course of years. I read Joseph Milner's +Church History, and was nothing short of enamoured of the long extracts +from St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and the other Fathers which I found +there. I read them as being the religion of the primitive Christians: +but simultaneously with Milner I read Newton on the Prophecies, and in +consequence became most firmly convinced that the Pope was the +Antichrist predicted by Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John. My imagination +was stained by the effects of this doctrine up to the year 1843; it had +been obliterated from my reason and judgment at an earlier date; but the +thought remained upon me as a sort of false conscience. Hence came that +conflict of mind, which so many have felt besides myself;--leading some +men to make a compromise between two ideas, so inconsistent with each +other,--driving others to beat out the one idea or the other from their +minds,--and ending in my own case, after many years of intellectual +unrest, in the gradual decay and extinction of one of them,--I do not +say in its violent death, for why should I not have murdered it sooner, +if I murdered it at all? + +I am obliged to mention, though I do it with great reluctance, another +deep imagination, which at this time, the autumn of 1816, took +possession of me,--there can be no mistake about the fact; viz. that it +would be the will of God that I should lead a single life. This +anticipation, which has held its ground almost continuously ever +since,--with the break of a month now and a month then, up to 1829, and, +after that date, without any break at all,--was more or less connected +in my mind with the notion, that my calling in life would require such a +sacrifice as celibacy involved; as, for instance, missionary work among +the heathen, to which I had a great drawing for some years. It also +strengthened my feeling of separation from the visible world, of which I +have spoken above. + +In 1822 I came under very different influences from those to which I had +hitherto been subjected. At that time, Mr. Whately, as he was then, +afterwards Archbishop of Dublin, for the few months he remained in +Oxford, which he was leaving for good, showed great kindness to me. He +renewed it in 1825, when he became Principal of Alban Hall, making me +his Vice-Principal and Tutor. Of Dr. Whately I will speak presently: for +from 1822 to 1825 I saw most of the present Provost of Oriel, Dr. +Hawkins, at that time Vicar of St. Mary's; and, when I took orders in +1824 and had a curacy in Oxford, then, during the Long Vacations, I was +especially thrown into his company. I can say with a full heart that I +love him, and have never ceased to love him; and I thus preface what +otherwise might sound rude, that in the course of the many years in +which we were together afterwards, he provoked me very much from time to +time, though I am perfectly certain that I have provoked him a great +deal more. Moreover, in me such provocation was unbecoming, both because +he was the Head of my College, and because, in the first years that I +knew him, he had been in many ways of great service to my mind. + +He was the first who taught me to weigh my words, and to be cautious in +my statements. He led me to that mode of limiting and clearing my sense +in discussion and in controversy, and of distinguishing between cognate +ideas, and of obviating mistakes by anticipation, which to my surprise +has been since considered, even in quarters friendly to me, to savour of +the polemics of Rome. He is a man of most exact mind himself, and he +used to snub me severely, on reading, as he was kind enough to do, the +first Sermons that I wrote, and other compositions which I was engaged +upon. + +Then as to doctrine, he was the means of great additions to my belief. +As I have noticed elsewhere, he gave me the "Treatise on Apostolical +Preaching," by Sumner, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, from which I +was led to give up my remaining Calvinism, and to receive the doctrine +of Baptismal Regeneration. In many other ways too he was of use to me, +on subjects semi-religious and semi-scholastic. + +It was Dr. Hawkins too who taught me to anticipate that, before many +years were over, there would be an attack made upon the books and the +canon of Scripture, I was brought to the same belief by the conversation +of Mr. Blanco White, who also led me to have freer views on the subject +of inspiration than were usual in the Church of England at the time. + +There is one other principle, which I gained from Dr. Hawkins, more +directly bearing upon Catholicism, than any that I have mentioned; and +that is the doctrine of Tradition. When I was an Under-graduate, I heard +him preach in the University Pulpit his celebrated sermon on the +subject, and recollect how long it appeared to me, though he was at that +time a very striking preacher; but, when I read it and studied it as his +gift, it made a most serious impression upon me. He does not go one +step, I think, beyond the high Anglican doctrine, nay he does not reach +it; but he does his work thoroughly, and his view was in him original, +and his subject was a novel one at the time. He lays down a proposition, +self-evident as soon as stated, to those who have at all examined the +structure of Scripture, viz. that the sacred text was never intended to +teach doctrine, but only to prove it, and that, if we would learn +doctrine, we must have recourse to the formularies of the Church; for +instance to the Catechism, and to the Creeds. He considers, that, after +learning from them the doctrines of Christianity, the inquirer must +verify them by Scripture. This view, most true in its outline, most +fruitful in its consequences, opened upon me a large field of thought. +Dr. Whately held it too. One of its effects was to strike at the root of +the principle on which the Bible Society was set up. I belonged to its +Oxford Association; it became a matter of time when I should withdraw my +name from its subscription-list, though I did not do so at once. + +It is with pleasure that I pay here a tribute to the memory of the Rev. +William James, then Fellow of Oriel; who, about the year 1823, taught me +the doctrine of Apostolical Succession, in the course of a walk, I +think, round Christ Church meadow; I recollect being somewhat impatient +of the subject at the time. + +It was at about this date, I suppose, that I read Bishop Butler's +Analogy; the study of which has been to so many, as it was to me, an era +in their religious opinions. Its inculcation of a visible Church, the +oracle of truth and a pattern of sanctity, of the duties of external +religion, and of the historical character of Revelation, are +characteristics of this great work which strike the reader at once; for +myself, if I may attempt to determine what I most gained from it, it lay +in two points, which I shall have an opportunity of dwelling on in the +sequel; they are the underlying principles of a great portion of my +teaching. First, the very idea of an analogy between the separate works +of God leads to the conclusion that the system which is of less +importance is economically or sacramentally connected with the more +momentous system[2], and of this conclusion the theory, to which I was +inclined as a boy, viz. the unreality of material phenomena, is an +ultimate resolution. At this time I did not make the distinction between +matter itself and its phenomena, which is so necessary and so obvious in +discussing the subject. Secondly, Butler's doctrine that Probability is +the guide of life, led me, at least under the teaching to which a few +years later I was introduced, to the question of the logical cogency of +Faith, on which I have written so much. Thus to Butler I trace those two +principles of my teaching, which have led to a charge against me both of +fancifulness and of scepticism. + +[2] It is significant that Butler begins his work with a quotation from +Origen. + +And now as to Dr. Whately. I owe him a great deal. He was a man of +generous and warm heart. He was particularly loyal to his friends, and +to use the common phrase, "all his geese were swans." While I was still +awkward and timid in 1822, he took me by the hand, and acted towards me +the part of a gentle and encouraging instructor. He, emphatically, +opened my mind, and taught me to think and to use my reason. After being +first noticed by him in 1822, I became very intimate with him in 1825, +when I was his Vice-Principal at Alban Hall. I gave up that office in +1826, when I became Tutor of my College, and his hold upon me gradually +relaxed. He had done his work towards me or nearly so, when he had +taught me to see with my own eyes and to walk with my own feet. Not that +I had not a good deal to learn from others still, but I influenced them +as well as they me, and co-operated rather than merely concurred with +them. As to Dr. Whately, his mind was too different from mine for us to +remain long on one line. I recollect how dissatisfied he was with an +Article of mine in the London Review, which Blanco White, +good-humouredly, only called Platonic. When I was diverging from him in +opinion (which he did not like), I thought of dedicating my first book +to him, in words to the effect that he had not only taught me to think, +but to think for myself. He left Oxford in 1831; after that, as far as I +can recollect, I never saw him but twice,--when he visited the +University; once in the street in 1834, once in a room in 1838. From the +time that he left, I have always felt a real affection for what I must +call his memory; for, at least from the year 1834, he made himself dead +to me. He had practically indeed given me up from the time that he +became Archbishop in 1831; but in 1834 a correspondence took place +between us, which, though conducted especially on his side in a friendly +spirit, was the expression of differences of opinion which acted as a +final close to our intercourse. My reason told me that it was impossible +we could have got on together longer, had he stayed in Oxford; yet I +loved him too much to bid him farewell without pain. After a few years +had passed, I began to believe that his influence on me in a higher +respect than intellectual advance, (I will not say through his fault,) +had not been satisfactory. I believe that he has inserted sharp things +in his later works about me. They have never come in my way, and I have +not thought it necessary to seek out what would pain me so much in the +reading. + +What he did for me in point of religious opinion, was, first, to teach +me the existence of the Church, as a substantive body or corporation; +next to fix in me those anti-Erastian views of Church polity, which were +one of the most prominent features of the Tractarian movement. On this +point, and, as far as I know, on this point alone, he and Hurrell Froude +intimately sympathized, though Froude's development of opinion here was +of a later date. In the year 1826, in the course of a walk, he said much +to me about a work then just published, called "Letters on the Church by +an Episcopalian." He said that it would make my blood boil. It was +certainly a most powerful composition. One of our common friends told +me, that, after reading it, he could not keep still, but went on walking +up and down his room. It was ascribed at once to Whately; I gave eager +expression to the contrary opinion; but I found the belief of Oxford in +the affirmative to be too strong for me; rightly or wrongly I yielded to +the general voice; and I have never heard, then or since, of any +disclaimer of authorship on the part of Dr. Whately. + +The main positions of this able essay are these; first that Church and +State should be independent of each other:--he speaks of the duty of +protesting "against the profanation of Christ's kingdom, by that _double +usurpation_, the interference of the Church in temporals, of the State +in spirituals," p. 191; and, secondly, that the Church may justly and by +right retain its property, though separated from the State. "The +clergy," he says p. 133, "though they ought not to be the hired servants +of the Civil Magistrate, may justly retain their revenues; and the +State, though it has no right of interference in spiritual concerns, not +only is justly entitled to support from the ministers of religion, and +from all other Christians, but would, under the system I am +recommending, obtain it much more effectually." The author of this work, +whoever he may be, argues out both these points with great force and +ingenuity, and with a thorough-going vehemence, which perhaps we may +refer to the circumstance, that he wrote, not _in propriâ personâ_, and +as thereby answerable for every sentiment that he advanced, but in the +professed character of a Scotch Episcopalian. His work had a gradual, +but a deep effect on my mind. + +I am not aware of any other religious opinion which I owe to Dr. +Whately. In his special theological tenets I had no sympathy. In the +next year, 1827, he told me he considered that I was Arianizing. The +case was this: though at that time I had not read Bishop Bull's +_Defensio_ nor the Fathers, I was just then very strong for that +ante-Nicene view of the Trinitarian doctrine, which some writers, both +Catholic and non-Catholic, have accused of wearing a sort of Arian +exterior. This is the meaning of a passage in Froude's Remains, in which +he seems to accuse me of speaking against the Athanasian Creed. I had +contrasted the two aspects of the Trinitarian doctrine, which are +respectively presented by the Athanasian Creed and the Nicene. My +criticisms were to the effect that some of the verses of the former +Creed were unnecessarily scientific. This is a specimen of a certain +disdain for Antiquity which had been growing on me now for several +years. It showed itself in some flippant language against the Fathers in +the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, about whom I knew little at the time, +except what I had learnt as a boy from Joseph Milner. In writing on the +Scripture Miracles in 1825-6, I had read Middleton on the Miracles of +the early Church, and had imbibed a portion of his spirit. + +The truth is, I was beginning to prefer intellectual excellence to +moral; I was drifting in the direction of the Liberalism of the day[3]. +I was rudely awakened from my dream at the end of 1827 by two great +blows--illness and bereavement. + +[3] Vide Note A, _Liberalism_, at the end of the volume. + +In the beginning of 1829, came the formal break between Dr. Whately and +me; the affair of Mr. Peel's re-election was the occasion of it. I think +in 1828 or 1827 I had voted in the minority, when the Petition to +Parliament against the Catholic Claims was brought into Convocation. I +did so mainly on the views suggested to me in the Letters of an +Episcopalian. Also I shrank from the bigoted "two-bottle-orthodox," as +they were invidiously called. When then I took part against Mr. Peel, it +was on an academical, not at all an ecclesiastical or a political +ground; and this I professed at the time. I considered that Mr. Peel had +taken the University by surprise; that his friends had no right to call +upon us to turn round on a sudden, and to expose ourselves to the +imputation of time-serving; and that a great University ought not to be +bullied even by a great Duke of Wellington. Also by this time I was +under the influence of Keble and Froude; who, in addition to the reasons +I have given, disliked the Duke's change of policy as dictated by +liberalism. + +Whately was considerably annoyed at me, and he took a humourous revenge, +of which he had given me due notice beforehand. As head of a house he +had duties of hospitality to men of all parties; he asked a set of the +least intellectual men in Oxford to dinner, and men most fond of port; +he made me one of this party; placed me between Provost This and +Principal That, and then asked me if I was proud of my friends. However, +he had a serious meaning in his act; he saw, more clearly than I could +do, that I was separating from his own friends for good and all. + +Dr. Whately attributed my leaving his _clientela_ to a wish on my part +to be the head of a party myself. I do not think that this charge was +deserved. My habitual feeling then and since has been, that it was not I +who sought friends, but friends who sought me. Never man had kinder or +more indulgent friends than I have had; but I expressed my own feeling +as to the mode in which I gained them, in this very year 1829, in the +course of a copy of verses. Speaking of my blessings, I said, "Blessings +of friends, which to my door _unasked, unhoped_, have come." They have +come, they have gone; they came to my great joy, they went to my great +grief. He who gave took away. Dr. Whately's impression about me, +however, admits of this explanation:-- + +During the first years of my residence at Oriel, though proud of my +College, I was not quite at home there. I was very much alone, and I +used often to take my daily walk by myself. I recollect once meeting Dr. +Copleston, then Provost, with one of the Fellows. He turned round, and +with the kind courteousness which sat so well on him, made me a bow and +said, "Nunquam minus solus, quàm cùm solus." At that time indeed (from +1823) I had the intimacy of my dear and true friend Dr. Pusey, and could +not fail to admire and revere a soul so devoted to the cause of +religion, so full of good works, so faithful in his affections; but he +left residence when I was getting to know him well. As to Dr. Whately +himself, he was too much my superior to allow of my being at my ease +with him; and to no one in Oxford at this time did I open my heart fully +and familiarly. But things changed in 1826. At that time I became one of +the Tutors of my College, and this gave me position; besides, I had +written one or two Essays which had been well received. I began to be +known. I preached my first University Sermon. Next year I was one of the +Public Examiners for the B.A. degree. In 1828 I became Vicar of St. +Mary's. It was to me like the feeling of spring weather after winter; +and, if I may so speak, I came out of my shell; I remained out of it +till 1841. + +The two persons who knew me best at that time are still alive, beneficed +clergymen, no longer my friends. They could tell better than any one +else what I was in those years. From this time my tongue was, as it +were, loosened, and I spoke spontaneously and without effort. One of the +two, Mr. Rickards, said of me, I have been told, "Here is a fellow who, +when he is silent, will never begin to speak; and when he once begins to +speak, will never stop." It was at this time that I began to have +influence, which steadily increased for a course of years. I gained upon +my pupils, and was in particular intimate and affectionate with two of +our probationer Fellows, Robert Isaac Wilberforce (afterwards +Archdeacon) and Richard Hurrell Froude. Whately then, an acute man, +perhaps saw around me the signs of an incipient party, of which I was +not conscious myself. And thus we discern the first elements of that +movement afterwards called Tractarian. + +The true and primary author of it, however, as is usual with great +motive-powers, was out of sight. Having carried off as a mere boy the +highest honours of the University, he had turned from the admiration +which haunted his steps, and sought for a better and holier satisfaction +in pastoral work in the country. Need I say that I am speaking of John +Keble? The first time that I was in a room with him was on occasion of +my election to a fellowship at Oriel, when I was sent for into the +Tower, to shake hands with the Provost and Fellows. How is that hour +fixed in my memory after the changes of forty-two years, forty-two this +very day on which I write! I have lately had a letter in my hands, which +I sent at the time to my great friend, John William Bowden, with whom I +passed almost exclusively my Under-graduate years. "I had to hasten to +the Tower," I say to him, "to receive the congratulations of all the +Fellows. I bore it till Keble took my hand, and then felt so abashed and +unworthy of the honour done me, that I seemed desirous of quite sinking +into the ground." His had been the first name which I had heard spoken +of, with reverence rather than admiration, when I came up to Oxford. +When one day I was walking in High Street with my dear earliest friend +just mentioned, with what eagerness did he cry out, "There's Keble!" and +with what awe did I look at him! Then at another time I heard a Master +of Arts of my College give an account how he had just then had occasion +to introduce himself on some business to Keble, and how gentle, +courteous, and unaffected Keble had been, so as almost to put him out of +countenance. Then too it was reported, truly or falsely, how a rising +man of brilliant reputation, the present Dean of St. Paul's, Dr. Milman, +admired and loved him, adding, that somehow he was strangely unlike any +one else. However, at the time when I was elected Fellow of Oriel he was +not in residence, and he was shy of me for years in consequence of the +marks which I bore upon me of the evangelical and liberal schools. At +least so I have ever thought. Hurrell Froude brought us together about +1828: it is one of the sayings preserved in his "Remains,"--"Do you know +the story of the murderer who had done one good thing in his life? Well; +if I was ever asked what good deed I had ever done, I should say that I +had brought Keble and Newman to understand each other." + +The Christian Year made its appearance in 1827. It is not necessary, and +scarcely becoming, to praise a book which has already become one of the +classics of the language. When the general tone of religious literature +was so nerveless and impotent, as it was at that time, Keble struck an +original note and woke up in the hearts of thousands a new music, the +music of a school, long unknown in England. Nor can I pretend to +analyze, in my own instance, the effect of religious teaching so deep, +so pure, so beautiful. I have never till now tried to do so; yet I think +I am not wrong in saying, that the two main intellectual truths which it +brought home to me, were the same two, which I had learned from Butler, +though recast in the creative mind of my new master. The first of those +was what may be called, in a large sense of the word, the Sacramental +system; that is, the doctrine that material phenomena are both the types +and the instruments of real things unseen,--a doctrine, which embraces +in its fulness, not only what Anglicans, as well as Catholics, believe +about Sacraments properly so called; but also the article of "the +Communion of Saints;" and likewise the Mysteries of the faith. The +connexion of this philosophy of religion with what is sometimes called +"Berkeleyism" has been mentioned above; I knew little of Berkeley at +this time except by name; nor have I ever studied him. + +On the second intellectual principle which I gained from Mr. Keble, I +could say a great deal; if this were the place for it. It runs through +very much that I have written, and has gained for me many hard names. +Butler teaches us that probability is the guide of life. The danger of +this doctrine, in the case of many minds, is, its tendency to destroy in +them absolute certainty, leading them to consider every conclusion as +doubtful, and resolving truth into an opinion, which it is safe indeed +to obey or to profess, but not possible to embrace with full internal +assent. If this were to be allowed, then the celebrated saying, "O God, +if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul!" would be the highest +measure of devotion:--but who can really pray to a Being, about whose +existence he is seriously in doubt? + +I considered that Mr. Keble met this difficulty by ascribing the +firmness of assent which we give to religious doctrine, not to the +probabilities which introduced it, but to the living power of faith and +love which accepted it. In matters of religion, he seemed to say, it is +not merely probability which makes us intellectually certain, but +probability as it is put to account by faith and love. It is faith and +love which give to probability a force which it has not in itself. Faith +and love are directed towards an Object; in the vision of that Object +they live; it is that Object, received in faith and love, which renders +it reasonable to take probability as sufficient for internal conviction. +Thus the argument from Probability, in the matter of religion, became an +argument from Personality, which in fact is one form of the argument +from Authority. + +In illustration, Mr. Keble used to quote the words of the Psalm: "I will +guide thee with mine _eye_. Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have +no understanding; whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, lest +they fall upon thee." This is the very difference, he used to say, +between slaves, and friends or children. Friends do not ask for literal +commands; but, from their knowledge of the speaker, they understand his +half-words, and from love of him they anticipate his wishes. Hence it +is, that in his Poem for St. Bartholomew's Day, he speaks of the "Eye of +God's word;" and in the note quotes Mr. Miller, of Worcester College, +who remarks in his Bampton Lectures, on the special power of Scripture, +as having "this Eye, like that of a portrait, uniformly fixed upon us, +turn where we will." The view thus suggested by Mr. Keble, is brought +forward in one of the earliest of the "Tracts for the Times." In No. 8 I +say, "The Gospel is a Law of Liberty. We are treated as sons, not as +servants; not subjected to a code of formal commandments, but addressed +as those who love God, and wish to please Him." + +I did not at all dispute this view of the matter, for I made use of it +myself; but I was dissatisfied, because it did not go to the root of the +difficulty. It was beautiful and religious, but it did not even profess +to be logical; and accordingly I tried to complete it by considerations +of my own, which are to be found in my University Sermons, Essay on +Ecclesiastical Miracles, and Essay on Development of Doctrine. My +argument is in outline as follows: that that absolute certitude which we +were able to possess, whether as to the truths of natural theology, or +as to the fact of a revelation, was the result of an _assemblage_ of +concurring and converging probabilities, and that, both according to the +constitution of the human mind and the will of its Maker; that certitude +was a habit of mind, that certainty was a quality of propositions; that +probabilities which did not reach to logical certainty, might suffice +for a mental certitude; that the certitude thus brought about might +equal in measure and strength the certitude which was created by the +strictest scientific demonstration; and that to possess such certitude +might in given cases and to given individuals be a plain duty, though +not to others in other circumstances:-- + +Moreover, that as there were probabilities which sufficed for certitude, +so there were other probabilities which were legitimately adapted to +create opinion; that it might be quite as much a matter of duty in given +cases and to given persons to have about a fact an opinion of a definite +strength and consistency, as in the case of greater or of more numerous +probabilities it was a duty to have a certitude; that accordingly we +were bound to be more or less sure, on a sort of (as it were) graduated +scale of assent, viz. according as the probabilities attaching to a +professed fact were brought home to us, and as the case might be, to +entertain about it a pious belief, or a pious opinion, or a religious +conjecture, or at least, a tolerance of such belief, or opinion or +conjecture in others; that on the other hand, as it was a duty to have a +belief, of more or less strong texture, in given cases, so in other +cases it was a duty not to believe, not to opine, not to conjecture, not +even to tolerate the notion that a professed fact was true, inasmuch as +it would be credulity or superstition, or some other moral fault, to do +so. This was the region of Private Judgment in religion; that is, of a +Private Judgment, not formed arbitrarily and according to one's fancy or +liking, but conscientiously, and under a sense of duty. + +Considerations such as these throw a new light on the subject of +Miracles, and they seem to have led me to reconsider the view which I +had taken of them in my Essay in 1825-6. I do not know what was the date +of this change in me, nor of the train of ideas on which it was founded. +That there had been already great miracles, as those of Scripture, as +the Resurrection, was a fact establishing the principle that the laws of +nature had sometimes been suspended by their Divine Author, and since +what had happened once might happen again, a certain probability, at +least no kind of improbability, was attached to the idea taken in +itself, of miraculous intervention in later times, and miraculous +accounts were to be regarded in connexion with the verisimilitude, +scope, instrument, character, testimony, and circumstances, with which +they presented themselves to us; and, according to the final result of +those various considerations, it was our duty to be sure, or to believe, +or to opine, or to surmise, or to tolerate, or to reject, or to +denounce. The main difference between my Essay on Miracles in 1826 and +my Essay in 1842 is this: that in 1826 I considered that miracles were +sharply divided into two classes, those which were to be received, and +those which were to be rejected; whereas in 1842 I saw that they were to +be regarded according to their greater or less probability, which was in +some cases sufficient to create certitude about them, in other cases +only belief or opinion. + +Moreover, the argument from Analogy, on which this view of the question +was founded, suggested to me something besides, in recommendation of the +Ecclesiastical Miracles. It fastened itself upon the theory of Church +History which I had learned as a boy from Joseph Milner. It is Milner's +doctrine, that upon the visible Church come down from above, at certain +intervals, large and temporary _Effusions_ of divine grace. This is the +leading idea of his work. He begins by speaking of the Day of Pentecost, +as marking "the first of those _Effusions_ of the Spirit of God, which +from age to age have visited the earth since the coming of Christ." Vol. +i. p. 3. In a note he adds that "in the term 'Effusion' there is _not_ +here included the idea of the miraculous or extraordinary operations of +the Spirit of God;" but still it was natural for me, admitting Milner's +general theory, and applying to it the principle of analogy, not to stop +short at his abrupt _ipse dixit_, but boldly to pass forward to the +conclusion, on other grounds plausible, that as miracles accompanied the +first effusion of grace, so they might accompany the later. It is surely +a natural and on the whole, a true anticipation (though of course there +are exceptions in particular cases), that gifts and graces go together; +now, according to the ancient Catholic doctrine, the gift of miracles +was viewed as the attendant and shadow of transcendent sanctity: and +moreover, since such sanctity was not of every day's occurrence, nay +further, since one period of Church history differed widely from +another, and, as Joseph Milner would say, there have been generations or +centuries of degeneracy or disorder, and times of revival, and since one +region might be in the mid-day of religious fervour, and another in +twilight or gloom, there was no force in the popular argument, that, +because we did not see miracles with our own eyes, miracles had not +happened in former times, or were not now at this very time taking place +in distant places:--but I must not dwell longer on a subject, to which +in a few words it is impossible to do justice[4]. + +[4] Vide note B, _Ecclesiastical Miracles_, at the end of the volume. + + * * * * * + +Hurrell Froude was a pupil of Keble's, formed by him, and in turn +reacting upon him. I knew him first in 1826, and was in the closest and +most affectionate friendship with him from about 1829 till his death in +1836. He was a man of the highest gifts,--so truly many-sided, that it +would be presumptuous in me to attempt to describe him, except under +those aspects in which he came before me. Nor have I here to speak of +the gentleness and tenderness of nature, the playfulness, the free +elastic force and graceful versatility of mind, and the patient winning +considerateness in discussion, which endeared him to those to whom he +opened his heart; for I am all along engaged upon matters of belief and +opinion, and am introducing others into my narrative, not for their own +sake, or because I love and have loved them, so much as because, and so +far as, they have influenced my theological views. In this respect then, +I speak of Hurrell Froude,--in his intellectual aspect,--as a man of +high genius, brimful and overflowing with ideas and views, in him +original, which were too many and strong even for his bodily strength, +and which crowded and jostled against each other in their effort after +distinct shape and expression. And he had an intellect as critical and +logical as it was speculative and bold. Dying prematurely, as he did, +and in the conflict and transition-state of opinion, his religious views +never reached their ultimate conclusion, by the very reason of their +multitude and their depth. His opinions arrested and influenced me, even +when they did not gain my assent. He professed openly his admiration of +the Church of Rome, and his hatred of the Reformers. He delighted in the +notion of an hierarchical system, of sacerdotal power, and of full +ecclesiastical liberty. He felt scorn of the maxim, "The Bible and the +Bible only is the religion of Protestants;" and he gloried in accepting +Tradition as a main instrument of religious teaching. He had a high +severe idea of the intrinsic excellence of Virginity; and he considered +the Blessed Virgin its great Pattern. He delighted in thinking of the +Saints; he had a vivid appreciation of the idea of sanctity, its +possibility and its heights; and he was more than inclined to believe a +large amount of miraculous interference as occurring in the early and +middle ages. He embraced the principle of penance and mortification. He +had a deep devotion to the Real Presence, in which he had a firm faith. +He was powerfully drawn to the Medieval Church, but not to the +Primitive. + +He had a keen insight into abstract truth; but he was an Englishman to +the backbone in his severe adherence to the real and the concrete. He +had a most classical taste, and a genius for philosophy and art; and he +was fond of historical inquiry, and the politics of religion. He had no +turn for theology as such. He set no sufficient value on the writings of +the Fathers, on the detail or development of doctrine, on the definite +traditions of the Church viewed in their matter, on the teaching of the +Ecumenical Councils, or on the controversies out of which they arose. He +took an eager courageous view of things on the whole. I should say that +his power of entering into the minds of others did not equal his other +gifts; he could not believe, for instance, that I really held the Roman +Church to be Anti-christian. On many points he would not believe but +that I agreed with him, when I did not. He seemed not to understand my +difficulties. His were of a different kind, the contrariety between +theory and fact. He was a high Tory of the Cavalier stamp, and was +disgusted with the Toryism of the opponents of the Reform Bill. He was +smitten with the love of the Theocratic Church; he went abroad and was +shocked by the degeneracy which he thought he saw in the Catholics of +Italy. + +It is difficult to enumerate the precise additions to my theological +creed which I derived from a friend to whom I owe so much. He taught me +to look with admiration towards the Church of Rome, and in the same +degree to dislike the Reformation. He fixed deep in me the idea of +devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and he led me gradually to believe in +the Real Presence. + + * * * * * + +There is one remaining source of my opinions to be mentioned, and that +far from the least important. In proportion as I moved out of the shadow +of that liberalism which had hung over my course, my early devotion +towards the Fathers returned; and in the Long Vacation of 1828 I set +about to read them chronologically, beginning with St. Ignatius and St. +Justin. About 1830 a proposal was made to me by Mr. Hugh Rose, who with +Mr. Lyall (afterwards Dean of Canterbury) was providing writers for a +Theological Library, to furnish them with a History of the Principal +Councils. I accepted it, and at once set to work on the Council of +Nicæa. It was to launch myself on an ocean with currents innumerable; +and I was drifted back first to the ante-Nicene history, and then to the +Church of Alexandria. The work at last appeared under the title of "The +Arians of the Fourth Century;" and of its 422 pages, the first 117 +consisted of introductory matter, and the Council of Nicæa did not +appear till the 254th, and then occupied at most twenty pages. + +I do not know when I first learnt to consider that Antiquity was the +true exponent of the doctrines of Christianity and the basis of the +Church of England; but I take it for granted that the works of Bishop +Bull, which at this time I read, were my chief introduction to this +principle. The course of reading, which I pursued in the composition of +my volume, was directly adapted to develope it in my mind. What +principally attracted me in the ante-Nicene period was the great Church +of Alexandria, the historical centre of teaching in those times. Of Rome +for some centuries comparatively little is known. The battle of Arianism +was first fought in Alexandria; Athanasius, the champion of the truth, +was Bishop of Alexandria; and in his writings he refers to the great +religious names of an earlier date, to Origen, Dionysius, and others, +who were the glory of its see, or of its school. The broad philosophy of +Clement and Origen carried me away; the philosophy, not the theological +doctrine; and I have drawn out some features of it in my volume, with +the zeal and freshness, but with the partiality, of a neophyte. Some +portions of their teaching, magnificent in themselves, came like music +to my inward ear, as if the response to ideas, which, with little +external to encourage them, I had cherished so long. These were based on +the mystical or sacramental principle, and spoke of the various +Economies or Dispensations of the Eternal. I understood these passages +to mean that the exterior world, physical and historical, was but the +manifestation to our senses of realities greater than itself. Nature was +a parable: Scripture was an allegory: pagan literature, philosophy, and +mythology, properly understood, were but a preparation for the Gospel. +The Greek poets and sages were in a certain sense prophets; for +"thoughts beyond their thought to those high bards were given." There +had been a directly divine dispensation granted to the Jews; but there +had been in some sense a dispensation carried on in favour of the +Gentiles. He who had taken the seed of Jacob for His elect people had +not therefore cast the rest of mankind out of His sight. In the fulness +of time both Judaism and Paganism had come to nought; the outward +framework, which concealed yet suggested the Living Truth, had never +been intended to last, and it was dissolving under the beams of the Sun +of Justice which shone behind it and through it. The process of change +had been slow; it had been done not rashly, but by rule and measure, "at +sundry times and in divers manners," first one disclosure and then +another, till the whole evangelical doctrine was brought into full +manifestation. And thus room was made for the anticipation of further +and deeper disclosures, of truths still under the veil of the letter, +and in their season to be revealed. The visible world still remains +without its divine interpretation; Holy Church in her sacraments and her +hierarchical appointments, will remain, even to the end of the world, +after all but a symbol of those heavenly facts which fill eternity. Her +mysteries are but the expressions in human language of truths to which +the human mind is unequal. It is evident how much there was in all this +in correspondence with the thoughts which had attracted me when I was +young, and with the doctrine which I have already associated with the +Analogy and the Christian Year. + +It was, I suppose, to the Alexandrian school and to the early Church, +that I owe in particular what I definitely held about the Angels. I +viewed them, not only as the ministers employed by the Creator in the +Jewish and Christian dispensations, as we find on the face of Scripture, +but as carrying on, as Scripture also implies, the Economy of the +Visible World. I considered them as the real causes of motion, light, +and life, and of those elementary principles of the physical universe, +which, when offered in their developments to our senses, suggest to us +the notion of cause and effect, and of what are called the laws of +nature. This doctrine I have drawn out in my Sermon for Michaelmas day, +written in 1831. I say of the Angels, "Every breath of air and ray of +light and heat, every beautiful prospect, is, as it were, the skirts of +their garments, the waving of the robes of those whose faces see God." +Again, I ask what would be the thoughts of a man who, "when examining a +flower, or a herb, or a pebble, or a ray of light, which he treats as +something so beneath him in the scale of existence, suddenly discovered +that he was in the presence of some powerful being who was hidden behind +the visible things he was inspecting,--who, though concealing his wise +hand, was giving them their beauty, grace, and perfection, as being +God's instrument for the purpose,--nay, whose robe and ornaments those +objects were, which he was so eager to analyze?" and I therefore remark +that "we may say with grateful and simple hearts with the Three Holy +Children, 'O all ye works of the Lord, &c., &c., bless ye the Lord, +praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.'" + +Also, besides the hosts of evil spirits, I considered there was a middle +race, [Greek: daimonia], neither in heaven, nor in hell; partially +fallen, capricious, wayward; noble or crafty, benevolent or malicious, +as the case might be. These beings gave a sort of inspiration or +intelligence to races, nations, and classes of men. Hence the action of +bodies politic and associations, which is often so different from that +of the individuals who compose them. Hence the character and the +instinct of states and governments, of religious communities and +communions. I thought these assemblages had their life in certain unseen +Powers. My preference of the Personal to the Abstract would naturally +lead me to this view. I thought it countenanced by the mention of "the +Prince of Persia" in the Prophet Daniel; and I think I considered that +it was of such intermediate beings that the Apocalypse spoke, in its +notice of "the Angels of the Seven Churches." + +In 1837 I made a further development of this doctrine. I said to an +intimate and dear friend, Samuel Francis Wood, in a letter which came +into my hands on his death. "I have an idea. The mass of the Fathers +(Justin, Athenagoras, Irenæus, Clement, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, +Sulpicius, Ambrose, Nazianzen,) hold that, though Satan fell from the +beginning, the Angels fell before the deluge, falling in love with the +daughters of men. This has lately come across me as a remarkable +solution of a notion which I cannot help holding. Daniel speaks as if +each nation had its guardian Angel. I cannot but think that there are +beings with a great deal of good in them, yet with great defects, who +are the animating principles of certain institutions, &c., &c.... Take +England with many high virtues, and yet a low Catholicism. It seems to +me that John Bull is a spirit neither of heaven nor hell.... Has not the +Christian Church, in its parts, surrendered itself to one or other of +these simulations of the truth?... How are we to avoid Scylla and +Charybdis and go straight on to the very image of Christ?" &c., &c. + +I am aware that what I have been saying will, with many men, be doing +credit to my imagination at the expense of my judgment--"Hippoclides +doesn't care;" I am not setting myself up as a pattern of good sense or +of any thing else: I am but giving a history of my opinions, and that, +with the view of showing that I have come by them through intelligible +processes of thought and honest external means. The doctrine indeed of +the Economy has in some quarters been itself condemned as intrinsically +pernicious,--as if leading to lying and equivocation, when applied, as I +have applied it in my remarks upon it in my History of the Arians, to +matters of conduct. My answer to this imputation I postpone to the +concluding pages of my Volume. + +While I was engaged in writing my work upon the Arians, great events +were happening at home and abroad, which brought out into form and +passionate expression the various beliefs which had so gradually been +winning their way into my mind. Shortly before, there had been a +Revolution in France; the Bourbons had been dismissed: and I held that +it was unchristian for nations to cast off their governors, and, much +more, sovereigns who had the divine right of inheritance. Again, the +great Reform Agitation was going on around me as I wrote. The Whigs had +come into power; Lord Grey had told the Bishops to set their house in +order, and some of the Prelates had been insulted and threatened in the +streets of London. The vital question was, how were we to keep the +Church from being liberalized? there was such apathy on the subject in +some quarters, such imbecile alarm in others; the true principles of +Churchmanship seemed so radically decayed, and there was such +distraction in the councils of the Clergy. Blomfield, the Bishop of +London of the day, an active and open-hearted man, had been for years +engaged in diluting the high orthodoxy of the Church by the introduction +of members of the Evangelical body into places of influence and trust. +He had deeply offended men who agreed in opinion with myself, by an +off-hand saying (as it was reported) to the effect that belief in the +Apostolical succession had gone out with the Non-jurors. "We can count +you," he said to some of the gravest and most venerated persons of the +old school. And the Evangelical party itself, with their late successes, +seemed to have lost that simplicity and unworldliness which I admired so +much in Milner and Scott. It was not that I did not venerate such men as +Ryder, the then Bishop of Lichfield, and others of similar sentiments, +who were not yet promoted out of the ranks of the Clergy, but I thought +little of the Evangelicals as a class. I thought they played into the +hands of the Liberals. With the Establishment thus divided and +threatened, thus ignorant of its true strength, I compared that fresh +vigorous Power of which I was reading in the first centuries. In her +triumphant zeal on behalf of that Primeval Mystery, to which I had had +so great a devotion from my youth, I recognized the movement of my +Spiritual Mother. "Incessu patuit Dea." The self-conquest of her +Ascetics, the patience of her Martyrs, the irresistible determination of +her Bishops, the joyous swing of her advance, both exalted and abashed +me. I said to myself, "Look on this picture and on that;" I felt +affection for my own Church, but not tenderness; I felt dismay at her +prospects, anger and scorn at her do-nothing perplexity. I thought that +if Liberalism once got a footing within her, it was sure of the victory +in the event. I saw that Reformation principles were powerless to rescue +her. As to leaving her, the thought never crossed my imagination; still +I ever kept before me that there was something greater than the +Established Church, and that that was the Church Catholic and Apostolic, +set up from the beginning, of which she was but the local presence and +the organ. She was nothing, unless she was this. She must be dealt with +strongly, or she would be lost. There was need of a second reformation. + +At this time I was disengaged from College duties, and my health had +suffered from the labour involved in the composition of my Volume. It +was ready for the Press in July, 1832, though not published till the end +of 1833. I was easily persuaded to join Hurrell Froude and his Father, +who were going to the south of Europe for the health of the former. + +We set out in December, 1832. It was during this expedition that my +Verses which are in the Lyra Apostolica were written;--a few indeed +before it, but not more than one or two of them after it. Exchanging, as +I was, definite Tutorial work, and the literary quiet and pleasant +friendships of the last six years, for foreign countries and an unknown +future, I naturally was led to think that some inward changes, as well +as some larger course of action, were coming upon me. At Whitchurch, +while waiting for the down mail to Falmouth, I wrote the verses about my +Guardian Angel, which begin with these words: "Are these the tracks of +some unearthly Friend?" and which go on to speak of "the vision" which +haunted me:--that vision is more or less brought out in the whole series +of these compositions. + +I went to various coasts of the Mediterranean; parted with my friends at +Rome; went down for the second time to Sicily without companion, at the +end of April; and got back to England by Palermo in the early part of +July. The strangeness of foreign life threw me back into myself; I found +pleasure in historical sites and beautiful scenes, not in men and +manners. We kept clear of Catholics throughout our tour. I had a +conversation with the Dean of Malta, a most pleasant man, lately dead; +but it was about the Fathers, and the Library of the great church. I +knew the Abbate Santini, at Rome, who did no more than copy for me the +Gregorian tones. Froude and I made two calls upon Monsignore (now +Cardinal) Wiseman at the Collegio Inglese, shortly before we left Rome. +Once we heard him preach at a church in the Corso. I do not recollect +being in a room with any other ecclesiastics, except a Priest at +Castro-Giovanni in Sicily, who called on me when I was ill, and with +whom I wished to hold a controversy. As to Church Services, we attended +the Tenebræ, at the Sestine, for the sake of the Miserere; and that was +all. My general feeling was, "All, save the spirit of man, is divine." I +saw nothing but what was external; of the hidden life of Catholics I +knew nothing. I was still more driven back into myself, and felt my +isolation. England was in my thoughts solely, and the news from England +came rarely and imperfectly. The Bill for the Suppression of the Irish +Sees was in progress, and filled my mind. I had fierce thoughts against +the Liberals. + +It was the success of the Liberal cause which fretted me inwardly. I +became fierce against its instruments and its manifestations. A French +vessel was at Algiers; I would not even look at the tricolour. On my +return, though forced to stop twenty-four hours at Paris, I kept indoors +the whole time, and all that I saw of that beautiful city was what I saw +from the Diligence. The Bishop of London had already sounded me as to my +filling one of the Whitehall preacherships, which he had just then put +on a new footing; but I was indignant at the line which he was taking, +and from my Steamer I had sent home a letter declining the appointment +by anticipation, should it be offered to me. At this time I was +specially annoyed with Dr. Arnold, though it did not last into later +years. Some one, I think, asked, in conversation at Rome, whether a +certain interpretation of Scripture was Christian? it was answered that +Dr. Arnold took it; I interposed, "But is _he_ a Christian?" The subject +went out of my head at once; when afterwards I was taxed with it, I +could say no more in explanation, than (what I believe was the fact) +that I must have had in mind some free views of Dr. Arnold about the Old +Testament:--I thought I must have meant, "Arnold answers for the +interpretation, but who is to answer for Arnold?" It was at Rome, too, +that we began the Lyra Apostolica which appeared monthly in the British +Magazine. The motto shows the feeling of both Froude and myself at the +time: we borrowed from M. Bunsen a Homer, and Froude chose the words in +which Achilles, on returning to the battle, says, "You shall know the +difference, now that I am back again." + +Especially when I was left by myself, the thought came upon me that +deliverance is wrought, not by the many but by the few, not by bodies +but by persons. Now it was, I think, that I repeated to myself the +words, which had ever been dear to me from my school days, "Exoriare +aliquis!"--now too, that Southey's beautiful poem of Thalaba, for which +I had an immense liking, came forcibly to my mind. I began to think that +I had a mission. There are sentences of my letters to my friends to this +effect, if they are not destroyed. When we took leave of Monsignore +Wiseman, he had courteously expressed a wish that we might make a second +visit to Rome; I said with great gravity, "We have a work to do in +England." I went down at once to Sicily, and the presentiment grew +stronger. I struck into the middle of the island, and fell ill of a +fever at Leonforte. My servant thought that I was dying, and begged for +my last directions. I gave them, as he wished; but I said, "I shall not +die." I repeated, "I shall not die, for I have not sinned against light, +I have not sinned against light." I never have been able quite to make +out what I meant. + +I got to Castro-Giovanni, and was laid up there for nearly three weeks. +Towards the end of May I left for Palermo, taking three days for the +journey. Before starting from my inn in the morning of May 26th or 27th, +I sat down on my bed, and began to sob violently. My servant, who had +acted as my nurse, asked what ailed me. I could only answer him, "I have +a work to do in England." + +I was aching to get home; yet for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo +for three weeks. I began to visit the Churches, and they calmed my +impatience, though I did not attend any services. I knew nothing of the +Presence of the Blessed Sacrament there. At last I got off in an orange +boat, bound for Marseilles. Then it was that I wrote the lines, "Lead, +kindly light," which have since become well known. We were becalmed a +whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio. I was writing verses the whole +time of my passage. At length I got to Marseilles, and set off for +England. The fatigue of travelling was too much for me, and I was laid +up for several days at Lyons. At last I got off again, and did not stop +night or day, (except a compulsory delay at Paris,) till I reached +England, and my mother's house. My brother had arrived from Persia only +a few hours before. This was on the Tuesday. The following Sunday, July +14th, Mr. Keble preached the Assize Sermon in the University Pulpit. It +was published under the title of "National Apostasy." I have ever +considered and kept the day, as the start of the religious movement of +1833. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +HISTORY OF MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS FROM 1833 TO 1839. + + +In spite of the foregoing pages, I have no romantic story to tell; but I +have written them, because it is my duty to tell things as they took +place. I have not exaggerated the feelings with which I returned to +England, and I have no desire to dress up the events which followed, so +as to make them in keeping with the narrative which has gone before. I +soon relapsed into the every-day life which I had hitherto led; in all +things the same, except that a new object was given me. I had employed +myself in my own rooms in reading and writing, and in the care of a +Church, before I left England, and I returned to the same occupations +when I was back again. And yet perhaps those first vehement feelings +which carried me on, were necessary for the beginning of the Movement; +and afterwards, when it was once begun, the special need of me was over. + + * * * * * + +When I got home from abroad, I found that already a movement had +commenced, in opposition to the specific danger which at that time was +threatening the religion of the nation and its Church. Several zealous +and able men had united their counsels, and were in correspondence with +each other. The principal of these were Mr. Keble, Hurrell Froude, who +had reached home long before me, Mr. William Palmer of Dublin and +Worcester College (not Mr. William Palmer of Magdalen, who is now a +Catholic), Mr. Arthur Perceval, and Mr. Hugh Rose. + +To mention Mr. Hugh Rose's name is to kindle in the minds of those who +knew him a host of pleasant and affectionate remembrances. He was the +man above all others fitted by his cast of mind and literary powers to +make a stand, if a stand could be made, against the calamity of the +times. He was gifted with a high and large mind, and a true sensibility +of what was great and beautiful; he wrote with warmth and energy; and he +had a cool head and cautious judgment. He spent his strength and +shortened his life. Pro Ecclesia Dei, as he understood that sovereign +idea. Some years earlier he had been the first to give warning, I think +from the University Pulpit at Cambridge, of the perils to England which +lay in the biblical and theological speculations of Germany. The Reform +agitation followed, and the Whig Government came into power; and he +anticipated in their distribution of Church patronage the authoritative +introduction of liberal opinions into the country. He feared that by the +Whig party a door would be opened in England to the most grievous of +heresies, which never could be closed again. In order under such grave +circumstances to unite Churchmen together, and to make a front against +the coming danger, he had in 1832 commenced the British Magazine, and in +the same year he came to Oxford in the summer term, in order to beat up +for writers for his publication; on that occasion I became known to him +through Mr. Palmer. His reputation and position came in aid of his +obvious fitness, in point of character and intellect, to become the +centre of an ecclesiastical movement, if such a movement were to depend +on the action of a party. His delicate health, his premature death, +would have frustrated the expectation, even though the new school of +opinion had been more exactly thrown into the shape of a party, than in +fact was the case. But he zealously backed up the first efforts of those +who were principals in it; and, when he went abroad to die, in 1838, he +allowed me the solace of expressing my feelings of attachment and +gratitude to him by addressing him, in the dedication of a volume of my +Sermons, as the man "who, when hearts were failing, bade us stir up the +gift that was in us, and betake ourselves to our true Mother." + +But there were other reasons, besides Mr. Rose's state of health, which +hindered those who so much admired him from availing themselves of his +close co-operation in the coming fight. United as both he and they were +in the general scope of the Movement, they were in discordance with each +other from the first in their estimate of the means to be adopted for +attaining it. Mr. Rose had a position in the Church, a name, and serious +responsibilities; he had direct ecclesiastical superiors; he had +intimate relations with his own University, and a large clerical +connexion through the country. Froude and I were nobodies; with no +characters to lose, and no antecedents to fetter us. Rose could not go +a-head across country, as Froude had no scruples in doing. Froude was a +bold rider, as on horseback, so also in his speculations. After a long +conversation with him on the logical bearing of his principles, Mr. Rose +said of him with quiet humour, that "he did not seem to be afraid of +inferences." It was simply the truth; Froude had that strong hold of +first principles, and that keen perception of their value, that he was +comparatively indifferent to the revolutionary action which would attend +on their application to a given state of things; whereas in the thoughts +of Rose, as a practical man, existing facts had the precedence of every +other idea, and the chief test of the soundness of a line of policy lay +in the consideration whether it would work. This was one of the first +questions, which, as it seemed to me, on every occasion occurred to his +mind. With Froude, Erastianism,--that is, the union (so he viewed it) of +Church and State,--was the parent, or if not the parent, the serviceable +and sufficient tool, of liberalism. Till that union was snapped, +Christian doctrine never could be safe; and, while he well knew how high +and unselfish was the temper of Mr. Rose, yet he used to apply to him an +epithet, reproachful in his own mouth;--Rose was a "conservative." By +bad luck, I brought out this word to Mr. Rose in a letter of my own, +which I wrote to him in criticism of something he had inserted in his +Magazine: I got a vehement rebuke for my pains, for though Rose pursued +a conservative line, he had as high a disdain, as Froude could have, of +a worldly ambition, and an extreme sensitiveness of such an imputation. + +But there was another reason still, and a more elementary one, which +severed Mr. Rose from the Oxford Movement. Living movements do not come +of committees, nor are great ideas worked out through the post, even +though it had been the penny post. This principle deeply penetrated both +Froude and myself from the first, and recommended to us the course which +things soon took spontaneously, and without set purpose of our own. +Universities are the natural centres of intellectual movements. How +could men act together, whatever was their zeal, unless they were united +in a sort of individuality? Now, first, we had no unity of place. Mr. +Rose was in Suffolk, Mr. Perceval in Surrey, Mr. Keble in +Gloucestershire; Hurrell Froude had to go for his health to Barbadoes. +Mr. Palmer was indeed in Oxford; this was an important advantage, and +told well in the first months of the Movement;--but another condition, +besides that of place, was required. + +A far more essential unity was that of antecedents,--a common history, +common memories, an intercourse of mind with mind in the past, and a +progress and increase in that intercourse in the present. Mr. Perceval, +to be sure, was a pupil of Mr. Keble's; but Keble, Rose, and Palmer, +represented distinct parties, or at least tempers, in the Establishment. +Mr. Palmer had many conditions of authority and influence. He was the +only really learned man among us. He understood theology as a science; +he was practised in the scholastic mode of controversial writing; and, I +believe, was as well acquainted, as he was dissatisfied, with the +Catholic schools. He was as decided in his religious views, as he was +cautious and even subtle in their expression, and gentle in their +enforcement. But he was deficient in depth; and besides, coming from a +distance, he never had really grown into an Oxford man, nor was he +generally received as such; nor had he any insight into the force of +personal influence and congeniality of thought in carrying out a +religious theory,--a condition which Froude and I considered essential +to any true success in the stand which had to be made against +Liberalism. Mr. Palmer had a certain connexion, as it may be called, in +the Establishment, consisting of high Church dignitaries, Archdeacons, +London Rectors, and the like, who belonged to what was commonly called +the high-and-dry school. They were far more opposed than even he was to +the irresponsible action of individuals. Of course their _beau idéal_ in +ecclesiastical action was a board of safe, sound, sensible men. Mr. +Palmer was their organ and representative; and he wished for a +Committee, an Association, with rules and meetings, to protect the +interests of the Church in its existing peril. He was in some measure +supported by Mr. Perceval. + +I, on the other hand, had out of my own head begun the Tracts; and +these, as representing the antagonist principle of personality, were +looked upon by Mr. Palmer's friends with considerable alarm. The great +point at the time with these good men in London,--some of them men of +the highest principle, and far from influenced by what we used to call +Erastianism,--was to put down the Tracts. I, as their editor, and mainly +their author, was of course willing to give way. Keble and Froude +advocated their continuance strongly, and were angry with me for +consenting to stop them. Mr. Palmer shared the anxiety of his own +friends; and, kind as were his thoughts of us, he still not unnaturally +felt, for reasons of his own, some fidget and nervousness at the course +which his Oriel friends were taking. Froude, for whom he had a real +liking, took a high tone in his project of measures for dealing with +bishops and clergy, which must have shocked and scandalized him +considerably. As for me, there was matter enough in the early Tracts to +give him equal disgust; and doubtless I much tasked his generosity, when +he had to defend me, whether against the London dignitaries or the +country clergy. Oriel, from the time of Dr. Copleston to Dr. Hampden, +had had a name far and wide for liberality of thought; it had received a +formal recognition from the Edinburgh Review, if my memory serves me +truly, as the school of speculative philosophy in England; and on one +occasion, in 1833, when I presented myself, with some of the first +papers of the Movement, to a country clergyman in Northamptonshire, he +paused awhile, and then, eyeing me with significance, asked "Whether +Whately was at the bottom of them?" + +Mr. Perceval wrote to me in support of the judgment of Mr. Palmer and +the dignitaries. I replied in a letter, which he afterwards published. +"As to the Tracts," I said to him (I quote my own words from his +Pamphlet), "every one has his own taste. You object to some things, +another to others. If we altered to please every one, the effect would +be spoiled. They were not intended as symbols _è cathedrâ_ but as the +expression of individual minds; and individuals, feeling strongly, while +on the one hand, they are incidentally faulty in mode or language, are +still peculiarly effective. No great work was done by a system; whereas +systems rise out of individual exertions. Luther was an individual. The +very faults of an individual excite attention; he loses, but his cause +(if good and he powerful-minded) gains. This is the way of things; we +promote truth by a self-sacrifice." + +The visit which I made to the Northamptonshire Rector was only one of a +series of similar expedients, which I adopted during the year 1833. I +called upon clergy in various parts of the country, whether I was +acquainted with them or not, and I attended at the houses of friends +where several of them were from time to time assembled. I do not think +that much came of such attempts, nor were they quite in my way. Also I +wrote various letters to clergymen, which fared not much better, except +that they advertised the fact, that a rally in favour of the Church was +commencing. I did not care whether my visits were made to high Church or +low Church; I wished to make a strong pull in union with all who were +opposed to the principles of liberalism, whoever they might be. Giving +my name to the Editor, I commenced a series of letters in the Record +Newspaper: they ran to a considerable length; and were borne by him with +great courtesy and patience. The heading given to them was, "Church +Reform." The first was on the revival of Church Discipline; the second, +on its Scripture proof; the third, on the application of the doctrine; +the fourth was an answer to objections; the fifth was on the benefits of +discipline. And then the series was abruptly brought to a termination. I +had said what I really felt, and what was also in keeping with the +strong teaching of the Tracts, but I suppose the Editor discovered in me +some divergence from his own line of thought; for at length he sent a +very civil letter, apologizing for the non-appearance of my sixth +communication, on the ground that it contained an attack upon +"Temperance Societies," about which he did not wish a controversy in his +columns. He added, however, his serious regret at the theological views +of the Tracts. I had subscribed a small sum in 1828 towards the first +start of the Record. + +Acts of the officious character, which I have been describing, were +uncongenial to my natural temper, to the genius of the Movement, and to +the historical mode of its success:--they were the fruit of that +exuberant and joyous energy with which I had returned from abroad, and +which I never had before or since. I had the exultation of health +restored, and home regained. While I was at Palermo and thought of the +breadth of the Mediterranean, and the wearisome journey across France, I +could not imagine how I was ever to get to England; but now I was amid +familiar scenes and faces once more. And my health and strength came +back to me with such a rebound, that some friends at Oxford, on seeing +me, did not well know that it was I, and hesitated before they spoke to +me. And I had the consciousness that I was employed in that work which I +had been dreaming about, and which I felt to be so momentous and +inspiring. I had a supreme confidence in our cause; we were upholding +that primitive Christianity which was delivered for all time by the +early teachers of the Church, and which was registered and attested in +the Anglican formularies and by the Anglican divines. That ancient +religion had well nigh faded away out of the land, through the political +changes of the last 150 years, and it must be restored. It would be in +fact a second Reformation:--a better reformation, for it would be a +return not to the sixteenth century, but to the seventeenth. No time was +to be lost, for the Whigs had come to do their worst, and the rescue +might come too late. Bishopricks were already in course of suppression; +Church property was in course of confiscation; Sees would soon be +receiving unsuitable occupants. We knew enough to begin preaching upon, +and there was no one else to preach. I felt as on board a vessel, which +first gets under weigh, and then the deck is cleared out, and luggage +and live stock stowed away into their proper receptacles. + +Nor was it only that I had confidence in our cause, both in itself, and +in its polemical force, but also, on the other hand, I despised every +rival system of doctrine and its arguments too. As to the high Church +and the low Church, I thought that the one had not much more of a +logical basis than the other; while I had a thorough contempt for the +controversial position of the latter. I had a real respect for the +character of many of the advocates of each party, but that did not give +cogency to their arguments; and I thought, on the contrary, that the +Apostolical form of doctrine was essential and imperative, and its +grounds of evidence impregnable. Owing to this supreme confidence, it +came to pass at that time, that there was a double aspect in my bearing +towards others, which it is necessary for me to enlarge upon. My +behaviour had a mixture in it both of fierceness and of sport; and on +this account, I dare say, it gave offence to many; nor am I here +defending it. + +I wished men to agree with me, and I walked with them step by step, as +far as they would go; this I did sincerely; but if they would stop, I +did not much care about it, but walked on, with some satisfaction that I +had brought them so far. I liked to make them preach the truth without +knowing it, and encouraged them to do so. It was a satisfaction to me +that the Record had allowed me to say so much in its columns, without +remonstrance. I was amused to hear of one of the Bishops, who, on +reading an early Tract on the Apostolical Succession, could not make up +his mind whether he held the doctrine or not. I was not distressed at +the wonder or anger of dull and self-conceited men, at propositions +which they did not understand. When a correspondent, in good faith, +wrote to a newspaper, to say that the "Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist," +spoken of in the Tract, was a false print for "Sacrament," I thought the +mistake too pleasant to be corrected before I was asked about it. I was +not unwilling to draw an opponent on step by step, by virtue of his own +opinions, to the brink of some intellectual absurdity, and to leave him +to get back as he could. I was not unwilling to play with a man, who +asked me impertinent questions. I think I had in my mouth the words of +the Wise man, "Answer a fool according to his folly," especially if he +was prying or spiteful. I was reckless of the gossip which was +circulated about me; and, when I might easily have set it right, did not +deign to do so. Also I used irony in conversation, when +matter-of-fact-men would not see what I meant. + +This kind of behaviour was a sort of habit with me. If I have ever +trifled with my subject, it was a more serious fault. I never used +arguments which I saw clearly to be unsound. The nearest approach which +I remember to such conduct, but which I consider was clear of it +nevertheless, was in the case of Tract 15. The matter of this Tract was +furnished to me by a friend, to whom I had applied for assistance, but +who did not wish to be mixed up with the publication. He gave it me, +that I might throw it into shape, and I took his arguments as they +stood. In the chief portion of the Tract I fully agreed; for instance, +as to what it says about the Council of Trent; but there were arguments, +or some argument, in it which I did not follow; I do not recollect what +it was. Froude, I think, was disgusted with the whole Tract, and accused +me of _economy_ in publishing it. It is principally through Mr. Froude's +Remains that this word has got into our language. I think, I defended +myself with arguments such as these:--that, as every one knew, the +Tracts were written by various persons who agreed together in their +doctrine, but not always in the arguments by which it was to be proved; +that we must be tolerant of difference of opinion among ourselves; that +the author of the Tract had a right to his own opinion, and that the +argument in question was ordinarily received; that I did not give my own +name or authority, nor was asked for my personal belief, but only acted +instrumentally, as one might translate a friend's book into a foreign +language. I account these to be good arguments; nevertheless I feel also +that such practices admit of easy abuse and are consequently dangerous; +but then, again, I feel also this,--that if all such mistakes were to be +severely visited, not many men in public life would be left with a +character for honour and honesty. + +This absolute confidence in my cause, which led me to the negligence or +wantonness which I have been instancing, also laid me open, not +unfairly, to the opposite charge of fierceness in certain steps which I +took, or words which I published. In the Lyra Apostolica, I have said +that before learning to love, we must "learn to hate;" though I had +explained my words by adding "hatred of sin." In one of my first Sermons +I said, "I do not shrink from uttering my firm conviction that it would +be a gain to the country were it vastly more superstitious, more +bigoted, more gloomy, more fierce in its religion than at present it +shows itself to be." I added, of course, that it would be an absurdity +to suppose such tempers of mind desirable in themselves. The corrector +of the press bore these strong epithets till he got to "more fierce," +and then he put in the margin a _query_. In the very first page of the +first Tract, I said of the Bishops, that, "black event though it would +be for the country, yet we could not wish them a more blessed +termination of their course, than the spoiling of their goods and +martyrdom." In consequence of a passage in my work upon the Arian +History, a Northern dignitary wrote to accuse me of wishing to +re-establish the blood and torture of the Inquisition. Contrasting +heretics and heresiarchs, I had said, "The latter should meet with no +mercy: he assumes the office of the Tempter; and, so far forth as his +error goes, must be dealt with by the competent authority, as if he were +embodied evil. To spare him is a false and dangerous pity. It is to +endanger the souls of thousands, and it is uncharitable towards +himself." I cannot deny that this is a very fierce passage; but Arius +was banished, not burned; and it is only fair to myself to say that +neither at this, nor any other time of my life, not even when I was +fiercest, could I have even cut off a Puritan's ears, and I think the +sight of a Spanish _auto-da-fè_ would have been the death of me. Again, +when one of my friends, of liberal and evangelical opinions, wrote to +expostulate with me on the course I was taking, I said that we would +ride over him and his, as Othniel prevailed over Chushan-rishathaim, +king of Mesopotamia. Again, I would have no dealings with my brother, +and I put my conduct upon a syllogism. I said, "St. Paul bids us avoid +those who cause divisions; you cause divisions: therefore I must avoid +you." I dissuaded a lady from attending the marriage of a sister who had +seceded from the Anglican Church. No wonder that Blanco White, who had +known me under such different circumstances, now hearing the general +course that I was taking, was amazed at the change which he recognized +in me. He speaks bitterly and unfairly of me in his letters +contemporaneously with the first years of the Movement; but in 1839, on +looking back, he uses terms of me, which it would be hardly modest in me +to quote, were it not that what he says of me in praise occurs in the +midst of blame. He says: "In this party [the anti-Peel, in 1829] I +found, to my great surprise, my dear friend, Mr. Newman of Oriel. As he +had been one of the annual Petitioners to Parliament for Catholic +Emancipation, his sudden union with the most violent bigots was +inexplicable to me. That change was the first manifestation of the +mental revolution, which has suddenly made him one of the leading +persecutors of Dr. Hampden, and the most active and influential member +of that association called the Puseyite party, from which we have those +very strange productions, entitled, Tracts for the Times. While stating +these public facts, my heart feels a pang at the recollection of the +affectionate and mutual friendship between that excellent man and +myself; a friendship, which his principles of orthodoxy could not allow +him to continue in regard to one, whom he now regards as inevitably +doomed to eternal perdition. Such is the venomous character of +orthodoxy. What mischief must it create in a bad heart and narrow mind, +when it can work so effectually for evil, in one of the most benevolent +of bosoms, and one of the ablest of minds, in the amiable, the +intellectual, the refined John Henry Newman!" (Vol. iii. p. 131.) He +adds that I would have nothing to do with him, a circumstance which I do +not recollect, and very much doubt. + + * * * * * + +I have spoken of my firm confidence in my position; and now let me state +more definitely what the position was which I took up, and the +propositions about which I was so confident. These were three:-- + +1. First was the principle of dogma: my battle was with liberalism; by +liberalism I mean the anti-dogmatic principle and its developments. This +was the first point on which I was certain. Here I make a remark: +persistence in a given belief is no sufficient test of its truth: but +departure from it is at least a slur upon the man who has felt so +certain about it. In proportion, then, as I had in 1832 a strong +persuasion of the truth of opinions which I have since given up, so far +a sort of guilt attaches to me, not only for that vain confidence, but +for all the various proceedings which were the consequence of it. But +under this first head I have the satisfaction of feeling that I have +nothing to retract, and nothing to repent of. The main principle of the +movement is as dear to me now, as it ever was. I have changed in many +things: in this I have not. From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the +fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot +enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere +sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery. As well can there be filial +love without the fact of a father, as devotion without the fact of a +Supreme Being. What I held in 1816, I held in 1833, and I hold in 1864. +Please God, I shall hold it to the end. Even when I was under Dr. +Whately's influence, I had no temptation to be less zealous for the +great dogmas of the faith, and at various times I used to resist such +trains of thought on his part as seemed to me (rightly or wrongly) to +obscure them. Such was the fundamental principle of the Movement of +1833. + +2. Secondly, I was confident in the truth of a certain definite +religious teaching, based upon this foundation of dogma; viz. that there +was a visible Church, with sacraments and rites which are the channels +of invisible grace. I thought that this was the doctrine of Scripture, +of the early Church, and of the Anglican Church. Here again, I have not +changed in opinion; I am as certain now on this point as I was in 1833, +and have never ceased to be certain. In 1834 and the following years I +put this ecclesiastical doctrine on a broader basis, after reading Laud, +Bramhall, and Stillingfleet and other Anglican divines on the one hand, +and after prosecuting the study of the Fathers on the other; but the +doctrine of 1833 was strengthened in me, not changed. When I began the +Tracts for the Times I rested the main doctrine, of which I am speaking, +upon Scripture, on the Anglican Prayer Book, and on St. Ignatius's +Epistles. (1) As to the existence of a visible Church, I especially +argued out the point from Scripture, in Tract 11, viz. from the Acts of +the Apostles and the Epistles. (2) As to the Sacraments and Sacramental +rites, I stood on the Prayer Book. I appealed to the Ordination Service, +in which the Bishop says, "Receive the Holy Ghost;" to the Visitation +Service, which teaches confession and absolution; to the Baptismal +Service, in which the Priest speaks of the child after baptism as +regenerate; to the Catechism, in which Sacramental Communion is +receiving "verily and indeed the Body and Blood of Christ;" to the +Commination Service, in which we are told to do "works of penance;" to +the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, to the calendar and rubricks, +portions of the Prayer Book, wherein we find the festivals of the +Apostles, notice of certain other Saints, and days of fasting and +abstinence. + +(3.) And further, as to the Episcopal system, I founded it upon the +Epistles of St. Ignatius, which inculcated it in various ways. One +passage especially impressed itself upon me: speaking of cases of +disobedience to ecclesiastical authority, he says, "A man does not +deceive that Bishop whom he sees, but he practises rather with the +Bishop Invisible, and so the question is not with flesh, but with God, +who knows the secret heart." I wished to act on this principle to the +letter, and I may say with confidence that I never consciously +transgressed it. I loved to act as feeling myself in my Bishop's sight, +as if it were the sight of God. It was one of my special supports and +safeguards against myself; I could not go very wrong while I had reason +to believe that I was in no respect displeasing him. It was not a mere +formal obedience to rule that I put before me, but I desired to please +him personally, as I considered him set over me by the Divine Hand. I +was strict in observing my clerical engagements, not only because they +_were_ engagements, but because I considered myself simply as the +servant and instrument of my Bishop. I did not care much for the Bench +of Bishops, except as they might be the voice of my Church: nor should I +have cared much for a Provincial Council; nor for a Diocesan Synod +presided over by my Bishop; all these matters seemed to me to be _jure +ecclesiastico_, but what to me was _jure divino_ was the voice of my +Bishop in his own person. My own Bishop was my Pope; I knew no other; +the successor of the Apostles, the Vicar of Christ. This was but a +practical exhibition of the Anglican theory of Church Government, as I +had already drawn it out myself, after various Anglican Divines. This +continued all through my course; when at length, in 1845, I wrote to +Bishop Wiseman, in whose Vicariate I found myself, to announce my +conversion, I could find nothing better to say to him than that I would +obey the Pope as I had obeyed my own Bishop in the Anglican Church. My +duty to him was my point of honour; his disapprobation was the one thing +which I could not bear. I believe it to have been a generous and honest +feeling; and in consequence I was rewarded by having all my time for +ecclesiastical superior a man, whom, had I had a choice, I should have +preferred, out and out, to any other Bishop on the Bench, and for whose +memory I have a special affection. Dr. Bagot--a man of noble mind, and +as kind-hearted and as considerate as he was noble. He ever sympathized +with me in my trials which followed; it was my own fault, that I was not +brought into more familiar personal relations with him, than it was my +happiness to be. May his name be ever blessed! + +And now in concluding my remarks on the second point on which my +confidence rested, I repeat that here again I have no retractation to +announce as to its main outline. While I am now as clear in my +acceptance of the principle of dogma, as I was in 1833 and 1816, so +again I am now as firm in my belief of a visible Church, of the +authority of Bishops, of the grace of the sacraments, of the religious +worth of works of penance, as I was in 1833. I have added Articles to my +Creed; but the old ones, which I then held with a divine faith, remain. + +3. But now, as to the third point on which I stood in 1833, and which I +have utterly renounced and trampled upon since,--my then view of the +Church of Rome;--I will speak about it as exactly as I can. When I was +young, as I have said already, and after I was grown up, I thought the +Pope to be Antichrist. At Christmas 1824-5 I preached a sermon to that +effect. But in 1827 I accepted eagerly the stanza in the Christian Year, +which many people thought too charitable, "Speak _gently_ of thy +sister's fall." From the time that I knew Froude I got less and less +bitter on the subject. I spoke (successively, but I cannot tell in what +order or at what dates) of the Roman Church as being bound up with "the +_cause_ of Antichrist," as being _one_ of the "_many_ antichrists" +foretold by St. John, as being influenced by "the _spirit_ of +Antichrist," and as having something "very Anti-christian" or +"unchristian" about her. From my boyhood and in 1824 I considered, after +Protestant authorities, that St. Gregory I. about A.D. 600 was the first +Pope that was Antichrist, though, in spite of this, he was also a great +and holy man; but in 1832-3 I thought the Church of Rome was bound up +with the cause of Antichrist by the Council of Trent. When it was that +in my deliberate judgment I gave up the notion altogether in any shape, +that some special reproach was attached to her name, I cannot tell; but +I had a shrinking from renouncing it, even when my reason so ordered me, +from a sort of conscience or prejudice, I think up to 1843. Moreover, at +least during the Tract Movement, I thought the essence of her offence to +consist in the honours which she paid to the Blessed Virgin and the +Saints; and the more I grew in devotion, both to the Saints and to our +Lady, the more impatient was I at the Roman practices, as if those +glorified creations of God must be gravely shocked, if pain could be +theirs, at the undue veneration of which they were the objects. + +On the other hand, Hurrell Froude in his familiar conversations was +always tending to rub the idea out of my mind. In a passage of one of +his letters from abroad, alluding, I suppose, to what I used to say in +opposition to him, he observes; "I think people are injudicious who talk +against the Roman Catholics for worshipping Saints, and honouring the +Virgin and images, &c. These things may perhaps be idolatrous; I cannot +make up my mind about it; but to my mind it is the Carnival that is real +practical idolatry, as it is written, 'the people sat down to eat and +drink, and rose up to play.'" The Carnival, I observe in passing, is, in +fact, one of those very excesses, to which, for at least three +centuries, religious Catholics have ever opposed themselves, as we see +in the life of St. Philip, to say nothing of the present day; but this +we did not then know. Moreover, from Froude I learned to admire the +great medieval Pontiffs; and, of course, when I had come to consider the +Council of Trent to be the turning-point of the history of Christian +Rome, I found myself as free, as I was rejoiced, to speak in their +praise. Then, when I was abroad, the sight of so many great places, +venerable shrines, and noble churches, much impressed my imagination. +And my heart was touched also. Making an expedition on foot across some +wild country in Sicily, at six in the morning, I came upon a small +church; I heard voices, and I looked in. It was crowded, and the +congregation was singing. Of course it was the mass, though I did not +know it at the time. And, in my weary days at Palermo, I was not +ungrateful for the comfort which I had received in frequenting the +churches; nor did I ever forget it. Then, again, her zealous maintenance +of the doctrine and the rule of celibacy, which I recognized as +Apostolic, and her faithful agreement with Antiquity in so many other +points which were dear to me, was an argument as well as a plea in +favour of the great Church of Rome. Thus I learned to have tender +feelings towards her; but still my reason was not affected at all. My +judgment was against her, when viewed as an institution, as truly as it +ever had been. + +This conflict between reason and affection I expressed in one of the +early Tracts, published July, 1834. "Considering the high gifts and the +strong claims of the Church of Rome and its dependencies on our +admiration, reverence, love, and gratitude; how could we withstand it, +as we do, how could we refrain from being melted into tenderness, and +rushing into communion with it, but for the words of Truth itself, which +bid us prefer It to the whole world? 'He that loveth father or mother +more than Me, is not worthy of me.' How could 'we learn to be severe, +and execute judgment,' but for the warning of Moses against even a +divinely-gifted teacher, who should preach new gods; and the anathema of +St. Paul even against Angels and Apostles, who should bring in a new +doctrine?"--_Records_, No. 24. My feeling was something like that of a +man, who is obliged in a court of justice to bear witness against a +friend; or like my own now, when I have said, and shall say, so many +things on which I had rather be silent. + +As a matter, then, of simple conscience, though it went against my +feelings, I felt it to be a duty to protest against the Church of Rome. +But besides this, it was a duty, because the prescription of such a +protest was a living principle of my own Church, as expressed not simply +in a _catena_, but by a _consensus_ of her divines, and by the voice of +her people. Moreover, such a protest was necessary as an integral +portion of her controversial basis; for I adopted the argument of +Bernard Gilpin, that Protestants "were _not able_ to give any _firm and +solid_ reason of the separation besides this, to wit, that the Pope is +Antichrist." But while I thus thought such a protest to be based upon +truth, and to be a religious duty, and a rule of Anglicanism, and a +necessity of the case, I did not at all like the work. Hurrell Froude +attacked me for doing it; and, besides, I felt that my language had a +vulgar and rhetorical look about it. I believed, and really measured, my +words, when I used them; but I knew that I had a temptation, on the +other hand, to say against Rome as much as ever I could, in order to +protect myself against the charge of Popery. + +And now I come to the very point, for which I have introduced the +subject of my feelings about Rome. I felt such confidence in the +substantial justice of the charges which I advanced against her, that I +considered them to be a safeguard and an assurance that no harm could +ever arise from the freest exposition of what I used to call Anglican +principles. All the world was astounded at what Froude and I were +saying: men said that it was sheer Popery. I answered, "True, we seem to +be making straight for it; but go on awhile, and you will come to a deep +chasm across the path, which makes real approximation impossible." And I +urged in addition, that many Anglican divines had been accused of +Popery, yet had died in their Anglicanism;--now, the ecclesiastical +principles which I professed, they had professed also; and the judgment +against Rome which they had formed, I had formed also. Whatever +deficiencies then had to be supplied in the existing Anglican system, +and however boldly I might point them out, any how that system would not +in the process be brought nearer to the special creed of Rome, and might +be mended in spite of her. In that very agreement of the two forms of +faith, close as it might seem, would really be found, on examination, +the elements and principles of an essential discordance. + +It was with this absolute persuasion on my mind that I fancied that +there could be no rashness in giving to the world in fullest measure the +teaching and the writings of the Fathers. I thought that the Church of +England was substantially founded upon them. I did not know all that the +Fathers had said, but I felt that, even when their tenets happened to +differ from the Anglican, no harm could come of reporting them. I said +out what I was clear they had said; I spoke vaguely and imperfectly, of +what I thought they said, or what some of them had said. Any how, no +harm could come of bending the crooked stick the other way, in the +process of straightening it; it was impossible to break it. If there was +any thing in the Fathers of a startling character, this would be only +for a time; it would admit of explanation, or it might suggest something +profitable to Anglicans; it could not lead to Rome. I express this view +of the matter in a passage of the Preface to the first volume, which I +edited, of the Library of the Fathers. Speaking of the strangeness at +first sight, in the judgment of the present day, of some of their +principles and opinions, I bid the reader go forward hopefully, and not +indulge his criticism till he knows more about them, than he will learn +at the outset. "Since the evil," I say, "is in the nature of the case +itself, we can do no more than have patience, and recommend patience to +others, and with the racer in the Tragedy, look forward steadily and +hopefully to the _event_, [Greek: tô telei pistin pherôn], when, as we +trust, all that is inharmonious and anomalous in the details, will at +length be practically smoothed." + +Such was the position, such the defences, such the tactics, by which I +thought that it was both incumbent on us, and possible for us, to meet +that onset of Liberal principles, of which we were all in immediate +anticipation, whether in the Church or in the University. And during the +first year of the Tracts, the attack upon the University began. In +November, 1834, was sent to me by Dr. Hampden the second edition of his +Pamphlet, entitled, "Observations on Religious Dissent, with particular +reference to the use of religious tests in the University." In this +Pamphlet it was maintained, that "Religion is distinct from Theological +Opinion," pp. 1. 28. 30, &c.; that it is but a common prejudice to +identify theological propositions methodically deduced and stated, with +the simple religion of Christ, p. 1; that under Theological Opinion were +to be placed the Trinitarian doctrine, p. 27, and the Unitarian, p. 19; +that a dogma was a theological opinion formally insisted on, pp. 20, 21; +that speculation always left an opening for improvement, p. 22; that the +Church of England was not dogmatic in its spirit, though the wording of +its formularies might often carry the sound of dogmatism, p. 23. + +I acknowledged the receipt of this work in the following letter:-- + +"The kindness which has led to your presenting me with your late +Pamphlet, encourages me to hope that you will forgive me, if I take the +opportunity it affords of expressing to you my very sincere and deep +regret that it has been published. Such an opportunity I could not let +slip without being unfaithful to my own serious thoughts on the subject. + +"While I respect the tone of piety which the Pamphlet displays, I dare +not trust myself to put on paper my feelings about the principles +contained in it; tending as they do, in my opinion, altogether to make +shipwreck of Christian faith. I also lament, that, by its appearance, +the first step has been taken towards interrupting that peace and mutual +good understanding which has prevailed so long in this place, and which, +if once seriously disturbed, will be succeeded by dissensions the more +intractable, because justified in the minds of those who resist +innovation by a feeling of imperative duty." + +Since that time Phaeton has got into the chariot of the sun; we, alas! +can only look on, and watch him down the steep of heaven. Meanwhile, the +lands, which he is passing over, suffer from his driving. + + * * * * * + +Such was the commencement of the assault of Liberalism upon the old +orthodoxy of Oxford and England; and it could not have been broken, as +it was, for so long a time, had not a great change taken place in the +circumstances of that counter-movement which had already started with +the view of resisting it. For myself, I was not the person to take the +lead of a party; I never was, from first to last, more than a leading +author of a school; nor did I ever wish to be anything else. This is my +own account of the matter; and I say it, neither as intending to disown +the responsibility of what was done, or as if ungrateful to those who at +that time made more of me than I deserved, and did more for my sake and +at my bidding than I realized myself. I am giving my history from my own +point of sight, and it is as follows:--I had lived for ten years among +my personal friends; the greater part of the time, I had been +influenced, not influencing; and at no time have I acted on others, +without their acting upon me. As is the custom of a University, I had +lived with my private, nay, with some of my public, pupils, and with the +junior fellows of my College, without form or distance, on a footing of +equality. Thus it was through friends, younger, for the most part, than +myself, that my principles were spreading. They heard what I said in +conversation, and told it to others. Under-graduates in due time took +their degree, and became private tutors themselves. In their new +_status_, they in turn preached the opinions, with which they had +already become acquainted. Others went down to the country, and became +curates of parishes. Then they had down from London parcels of the +Tracts, and other publications. They placed them in the shops of local +booksellers, got them into newspapers, introduced them to clerical +meetings, and converted more or less their Rectors and their brother +curates. Thus the Movement, viewed with relation to myself, was but a +floating opinion; it was not a power. It never would have been a power, +if it had remained in my hands. Years after, a friend, writing to me in +remonstrance at the excesses, as he thought them, of my disciples, +applied to me my own verse about St. Gregory Nazianzen, "Thou couldst a +people raise, but couldst not rule." At the time that he wrote to me, I +had special impediments in the way of such an exercise of power; but at +no time could I exercise over others that authority, which under the +circumstances was imperatively required. My great principle ever was, +Live and let live. I never had the staidness or dignity necessary for a +leader. To the last I never recognized the hold I had over young men. Of +late years I have read and heard that they even imitated me in various +ways. I was quite unconscious of it, and I think my immediate friends +knew too well how disgusted I should be at such proceedings, to have the +heart to tell me. I felt great impatience at our being called a party, +and would not allow that we were such. I had a lounging, free-and-easy +way of carrying things on. I exercised no sufficient censorship upon the +Tracts. I did not confine them to the writings of such persons as agreed +in all things with myself; and, as to my own Tracts, I printed on them a +notice to the effect, that any one who pleased, might make what use he +would of them, and reprint them with alterations if he chose, under the +conviction that their main scope could not be damaged by such a process. +It was the same with me afterwards, as regards other publications. For +two years I furnished a certain number of sheets for the British Critic +from myself and my friends, while a gentleman was editor, a man of +splendid talent, who, however, was scarcely an acquaintance of mine, and +had no sympathy with the Tracts. When I was Editor myself, from 1838 to +1841, in my very first number I suffered to appear a critique +unfavorable to my work on Justification, which had been published a few +months before, from a feeling of propriety, because I had put the book +into the hands of the writer who so handled it. Afterwards I suffered an +article against the Jesuits to appear in it, of which I did not like the +tone. When I had to provide a curate for my new church at Littlemore, I +engaged a friend, by no fault of his, who, before he had entered into +his charge, preached a sermon, either in depreciation of baptismal +regeneration, or of Dr. Pusey's view of it. I showed a similar easiness +as to the Editors who helped me in the separate volumes of Fleury's +Church History; they were able, learned, and excellent men, but their +after-history has shown, how little my choice of them was influenced by +any notion I could have had of any intimate agreement of opinion between +them and myself. I shall have to make the same remark in its place +concerning the Lives of the English Saints, which subsequently appeared. +All this may seem inconsistent with what I have said of my fierceness. I +am not bound to account for it; but there have been men before me, +fierce in act, yet tolerant and moderate in their reasonings; at least, +so I read history. However, such was the case, and such its effect upon +the Tracts. These at first starting were short, hasty, and some of them +ineffective; and at the end of the year, when collected into a volume, +they had a slovenly appearance. + +It was under these circumstances, that Dr. Pusey joined us. I had known +him well since 1827-8, and had felt for him an enthusiastic admiration, +I used to call him [Greek: ho megas]. His great learning, his immense +diligence, his scholarlike mind, his simple devotion to the cause of +religion, overcame me; and great of course was my joy, when in the last +days of 1833 he showed a disposition to make common cause with us. His +Tract on Fasting appeared as one of the series with the date of December +21. He was not, however, I think, fully associated in the Movement till +1835 and 1836, when he published his Tract on Baptism, and started the +Library of the Fathers. He at once gave to us a position and a name. +Without him we should have had little chance, especially at the early +date of 1834, of making any serious resistance to the Liberal +aggression. But Dr. Pusey was a Professor and Canon of Christ Church; he +had a vast influence in consequence of his deep religious seriousness, +the munificence of his charities, his Professorship, his family +connexions, and his easy relations with University authorities. He was +to the Movement all that Mr. Rose might have been, with that +indispensable addition, which was wanting to Mr. Rose, the intimate +friendship and the familiar daily society of the persons who had +commenced it. And he had that special claim on their attachment, which +lies in the living presence of a faithful and loyal affectionateness. +There was henceforth a man who could be the head and centre of the +zealous people in every part of the country, who were adopting the new +opinions; and not only so, but there was one who furnished the Movement +with a front to the world, and gained for it a recognition from other +parties in the University. In 1829, Mr. Froude, or Mr. Robert +Wilberforce, or Mr. Newman were but individuals; and, when they ranged +themselves in the contest of that year on the side of Sir Robert Inglis, +men on either side only asked with surprise how they got there, and +attached no significancy to the fact; but Dr. Pusey was, to use the +common expression, a host in himself; he was able to give a name, a +form, and a personality, to what was without him a sort of mob; and when +various parties had to meet together in order to resist the liberal acts +of the Government, we of the Movement took our place by right among +them. + +Such was the benefit which he conferred on the Movement externally; nor +were the internal advantages at all inferior to it. He was a man of +large designs; he had a hopeful, sanguine mind; he had no fear of +others; he was haunted by no intellectual perplexities. People are apt +to say that he was once nearer to the Catholic Church than he is now; I +pray God that he may be one day far nearer to the Catholic Church than +he was then; for I believe that, in his reason and judgment, all the +time that I knew him, he never was near to it at all. When I became a +Catholic, I was often asked, "What of Dr. Pusey?"; when I said that I +did not see symptoms of his doing as I had done, I was sometimes thought +uncharitable. If confidence in his position is, (as it is,) a first +essential in the leader of a party, this Dr. Pusey possessed +pre-eminently. The most remarkable instance of this, was his statement, +in one of his subsequent defences of the Movement, when moreover it had +advanced a considerable way in the direction of Rome, that among its +more hopeful peculiarities was its "stationariness." He made it in good +faith; it was his subjective view of it. + +Dr. Pusey's influence was felt at once. He saw that there ought to be +more sobriety, more gravity, more careful pains, more sense of +responsibility in the Tracts and in the whole Movement. It was through +him that the character of the Tracts was changed. When he gave to us his +Tract on Fasting, he put his initials to it. In 1835 he published his +elaborate Treatise on Baptism, which was followed by other Tracts from +different authors, if not of equal learning, yet of equal power and +appositeness. The Catenas of Anglican divines, projected by me, which +occur in the Series were executed with a like aim at greater accuracy +and method. In 1836 he advertised his great project for a Translation of +the Fathers:--but I must return to myself. I am not writing the history +either of Dr. Pusey or of the Movement; but it is a pleasure to me to +have been able to introduce here reminiscences of the place which he +held in it, which have so direct a bearing on myself, that they are no +digression from my narrative. + + * * * * * + +I suspect it was Dr. Pusey's influence and example which set me, and +made me set others, on the larger and more careful works in defence of +the principles of the Movement which followed in a course of +years,--some of them demanding and receiving from their authors, such +elaborate treatment that they did not make their appearance till both +its temper and its fortunes had changed. I set about a work at once; one +in which was brought out with precision the relation in which we stood +to the Church of Rome. We could not move a step in comfort, till this +was done. It was of absolute necessity and a plain duty from the first, +to provide as soon as possible a large statement, which would encourage +and reassure our friends, and repel the attacks of our opponents. A cry +was heard on all sides of us, that the Tracts and the writings of the +Fathers would lead us to become Catholics, before we were aware of it. +This was loudly expressed by members of the Evangelical party, who in +1836 had joined us in making a protest in Convocation against a +memorable appointment of the Prime Minister. These clergymen even then +avowed their desire, that the next time they were brought up to Oxford +to give a vote, it might be in order to put down the Popery of the +Movement. There was another reason still, and quite as important. +Monsignore Wiseman, with the acuteness and zeal which might be expected +from that great Prelate, had anticipated what was coming, had returned +to England by 1836, had delivered Lectures in London on the doctrines of +Catholicism, and created an impression through the country, shared in by +ourselves, that we had for our opponents in controversy, not only our +brethren, but our hereditary foes. These were the circumstances, which +led to my publication of "The Prophetical office of the Church viewed +relatively to Romanism and Popular Protestantism." + +This work employed me for three years, from the beginning of 1834 to the +end of 1836, and was published in 1837. It was composed, after a careful +consideration and comparison of the principal Anglican divines of the +17th century. It was first written in the shape of controversial +correspondence with a learned French Priest; then it was re-cast, and +delivered in Lectures at St. Mary's; lastly, with considerable +retrenchments and additions, it was rewritten for publication. + +It attempts to trace out the rudimental lines on which Christian faith +and teaching proceed, and to use them as means of determining the +relation of the Roman and Anglican systems to each other. In this way it +shows that to confuse the two together is impossible, and that the +Anglican can be as little said to tend to the Roman, as the Roman to the +Anglican. The spirit of the Volume is not so gentle to the Church of +Rome, as Tract 71 published the year before; on the contrary, it is very +fierce; and this I attribute to the circumstance that the Volume is +theological and didactic, whereas the Tract, being controversial, +assumes as little and grants as much as possible on the points in +dispute, and insists on points of agreement as well as of difference. A +further and more direct reason is, that in my Volume I deal with +"Romanism" (as I call it), not so much in its formal decrees and in the +substance of its creed, as in its traditional action and its authorized +teaching as represented by its prominent writers;--whereas the Tract is +written as if discussing the differences of the Churches with a view to +a reconciliation between them. There is a further reason too, which I +will state presently. + +But this Volume had a larger scope than that of opposing the Roman +system. It was an attempt at commencing a system of theology on the +Anglican idea, and based upon Anglican authorities. Mr. Palmer, about +the same time, was projecting a work of a similar nature in his own way. +It was published, I think, under the title, "A Treatise on the Christian +Church." As was to be expected from the author, it was a most learned, +most careful composition; and in its form, I should say, polemical. So +happily at least did he follow the logical method of the Roman Schools, +that Father Perrone in his Treatise on dogmatic theology, recognized in +him a combatant of the true cast, and saluted him as a foe worthy of +being vanquished. Other soldiers in that field he seems to have thought +little better than the _Lanzknechts_ of the middle ages, and, I dare +say, with very good reason. When I knew that excellent and kind-hearted +man at Rome at a later time, he allowed me to put him to ample penance +for those light thoughts of me, which he had once had, by encroaching on +his valuable time with my theological questions. As to Mr. Palmer's +book, it was one which no Anglican could write but himself,--in no +sense, if I recollect aright, a tentative work. The ground of +controversy was cut into squares, and then every objection had its +answer. This is the proper method to adopt in teaching authoritatively +young men; and the work in fact was intended for students in theology. +My own book, on the other hand, was of a directly tentative and +empirical character. I wished to build up an Anglican theology out of +the stores which already lay cut and hewn upon the ground, the past toil +of great divines. To do this could not be the work of one man; much +less, could it be at once received into Anglican theology, however well +it was done. This I fully recognized; and, while I trusted that my +statements of doctrine would turn out to be true and important, still I +wrote, to use the common phrase, "under correction." + +There was another motive for my publishing, of a personal nature, which +I think I should mention. I felt then, and all along felt, that there +was an intellectual cowardice in not finding a basis in reason for my +belief, and a moral cowardice in not avowing that basis. I should have +felt myself less than a man, if I did not bring it out, whatever it was. +This is one principal reason why I wrote and published the "Prophetical +Office." It was from the same feeling, that in the spring of 1836, at a +meeting of residents on the subject of the struggle then proceeding +against a Whig appointment, when some one wanted us all merely to act on +college and conservative grounds (as I understood him), with as few +published statements as possible, I answered, that the person whom we +were resisting had committed himself in writing, and that we ought to +commit ourselves too. This again was a main reason for the publication +of Tract 90. Alas! it was my portion for whole years to remain without +any satisfactory basis for my religious profession, in a state of moral +sickness, neither able to acquiesce in Anglicanism, nor able to go to +Rome. But I bore it, till in course of time my way was made clear to me. +If here it be objected to me, that as time went on, I often in my +writings hinted at things which I did not fully bring out, I submit for +consideration whether this occurred except when I was in great +difficulties, how to speak, or how to be silent, with due regard for the +position of mind or the feelings of others. However, I may have an +opportunity to say more on this subject. But to return to the +"Prophetical Office." + +I thus speak in the Introduction to my Volume:-- + +"It is proposed," I say, "to offer helps towards the formation of a +recognized Anglican theology in one of its departments. The present +state of our divinity is as follows: the most vigorous, the clearest, +the most fertile minds, have through God's mercy been employed in the +service of our Church: minds too as reverential and holy, and as fully +imbued with Ancient Truth, and as well versed in the writings of the +Fathers, as they were intellectually gifted. This is God's great mercy +indeed, for which we must ever be thankful. Primitive doctrine has been +explored for us in every direction, and the original principles of the +Gospel and the Church patiently brought to light. But one thing is still +wanting: our champions and teachers have lived in stormy times: +political and other influences have acted upon them variously in their +day, and have since obstructed a careful consolidation of their +judgments. We have a vast inheritance, but no inventory of our +treasures. All is given us in profusion; it remains for us to catalogue, +sort, distribute, select, harmonize, and complete. We have more than we +know how to use; stores of learning, but little that is precise and +serviceable; Catholic truth and individual opinion, first principles and +the guesses of genius, all mingled in the same works, and requiring to +be discriminated. We meet with truths overstated or misdirected, matters +of detail variously taken, facts incompletely proved or applied, and +rules inconsistently urged or discordantly interpreted. Such indeed is +the state of every deep philosophy in its first stages, and therefore of +theological knowledge. What we need at present for our Church's +well-being, is not invention, nor originality, nor sagacity, nor even +learning in our divines, at least in the first place, though all gifts +of God are in a measure needed, and never can be unseasonable when used +religiously, but we need peculiarly a sound judgment, patient thought, +discrimination, a comprehensive mind, an abstinence from all private +fancies and caprices and personal tastes,--in a word, Divine Wisdom." + +The subject of the Volume is the doctrine of the _Via Media_, a name +which had already been applied to the Anglican system by writers of +repute. It is an expressive title, but not altogether satisfactory, +because it is at first sight negative. This had been the reason of my +dislike to the word "Protestant;" viz. it did not denote the profession +of any particular religion at all, and was compatible with infidelity. A +_Via Media_ was but a receding from extremes,--therefore it needed to be +drawn out into a definite shape and character: before it could have +claims on our respect, it must first be shown to be one, intelligible, +and consistent. This was the first condition of any reasonable treatise +on the _Via Media_. The second condition, and necessary too, was not in +my power. I could only hope that it would one day be fulfilled. Even if +the _Via Media_ were ever so positive a religious system, it was not as +yet objective and real; it had no original any where of which it was the +representative. It was at present a paper religion. This I confess in my +Introduction; I say, "Protestantism and Popery are real religions ... +but the _Via Media_, viewed as an integral system, has scarcely had +existence except on paper." I grant the objection, though I endeavour to +lessen it:--"It still remains to be tried, whether what is called +Anglo-Catholicism, the religion of Andrewes, Laud, Hammond, Butler, and +Wilson, is capable of being professed, acted on, and maintained on a +large sphere of action, or whether it be a mere modification or +transition-state of either Romanism or popular Protestantism." I trusted +that some day it would prove to be a substantive religion. + +Lest I should be misunderstood, let me observe that this hesitation +about the validity of the theory of the _Via Media_ implied no doubt of +the three fundamental points on which it was based, as I have described +them above, dogma, the sacramental system, and anti-Romanism. + +Other investigations which had to be followed up were of a still more +tentative character. The basis of the _Via Media_, consisting of the +three elementary points, which I have just mentioned, was clear enough; +but, not only had the house itself to be built upon them, but it had +also to be furnished, and it is not wonderful if, after building it, +both I and others erred in detail in determining what its furniture +should be, what was consistent with the style of building, and what was +in itself desirable. I will explain what I mean. + +I had brought out in the "Prophetical Office" in what the Roman and the +Anglican systems differed from each other, but less distinctly in what +they agreed. I had indeed enumerated the Fundamentals, common to both, +in the following passage:--"In both systems the same Creeds are +acknowledged. Besides other points in common, we both hold, that certain +doctrines are necessary to be believed for salvation; we both believe in +the doctrines of the Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement; in original +sin; in the necessity of regeneration; in the supernatural grace of the +Sacraments; in the Apostolical succession; in the obligation of faith +and obedience, and in the eternity of future punishment,"--pp. 55, 56. +So much I had said, but I had not said enough. This enumeration implied +a great many more points of agreement than were found in those very +Articles which were fundamental. If the two Churches were thus the same +in fundamentals, they were also one and the same in such plain +consequences as were contained in those fundamentals and in such natural +observances as outwardly represented them. It was an Anglican principle +that "the abuse of a thing doth not take away the lawful use of it;" and +an Anglican Canon in 1603 had declared that the English Church had no +purpose to forsake all that was held in the Churches of Italy, France, +and Spain, and reverenced those ceremonies and particular points which +were Apostolic. Excepting then such exceptional matters, as are implied +in this avowal, whether they were many or few, all these Churches were +evidently to be considered as one with the Anglican. The Catholic Church +in all lands had been one from the first for many centuries; then, +various portions had followed their own way to the injury, but not to +the destruction, whether of truth or of charity. These portions or +branches were mainly three:--the Greek, Latin, and Anglican. Each of +these inherited the early undivided Church _in solido_ as its own +possession. Each branch was identical with that early undivided Church, +and in the unity of that Church it had unity with the other branches. +The three branches agreed together in _all but_ their later accidental +errors. Some branches had retained in detail portions of Apostolical +truth and usage, which the others had not; and these portions might be +and should be appropriated again by the others which had let them slip. +Thus, the middle age belonged to the Anglican Church, and much more did +the middle age of England. The Church of the 12th century was the Church +of the 19th. Dr. Howley sat in the seat of St. Thomas the Martyr; Oxford +was a medieval University. Saving our engagements to Prayer Book and +Articles, we might breathe and live and act and speak, as in the +atmosphere and climate of Henry III.'s day, or the Confessor's, or of +Alfred's. And we ought to be indulgent to all that Rome taught now, as +to what Rome taught then, saving our protest. We might boldly welcome, +even what we did not ourselves think right to adopt. And, when we were +obliged on the contrary boldly to denounce, we should do so with pain, +not with exultation. By very reason of our protest, which we had made, +and made _ex animo_, we could agree to differ. What the members of the +Bible Society did on the basis of Scripture, we could do on the basis of +the Church; Trinitarian and Unitarian were further apart than Roman and +Anglican. Thus we had a real wish to co-operate with Rome in all lawful +things, if she would let us, and if the rules of our own Church let us; +and we thought there was no better way towards the restoration of +doctrinal purity and unity. And we thought that Rome was not committed +by her formal decrees to all that she actually taught: and again, if her +disputants had been unfair to us, or her rulers tyrannical, we bore in +mind that on our side too there had been rancour and slander in our +controversial attacks upon her, and violence in our political measures. +As to ourselves being direct instruments in improving her belief or +practice, I used to say, "Look at home; let us first, (or at least let +us the while,) supply our own shortcomings, before we attempt to be +physicians to any one else." This is very much the spirit of Tract 71, +to which I referred just now. I am well aware that there is a paragraph +inconsistent with it in the Prospectus to the Library of the Fathers; +but I do not consider myself responsible for it. Indeed, I have no +intention whatever of implying that Dr. Pusey concurred in the +ecclesiastical theory, which I have been now drawing out; nor that I +took it up myself except by degrees in the course of ten years. It was +necessarily the growth of time. In fact, hardly any two persons, who +took part in the Movement, agreed in their view of the limit to which +our general principles might religiously be carried. + +And now I have said enough on what I consider to have been the general +objects of the various works, which I wrote, edited, or prompted in the +years which I am reviewing. I wanted to bring out in a substantive form +a living Church of England, in a position proper to herself, and founded +on distinct principles; as far as paper could do it, as far as earnestly +preaching it and influencing others towards it, could tend to make it a +fact;--a living Church, made of flesh and blood, with voice, complexion, +and motion and action, and a will of its own. I believe I had no private +motive, and no personal aim. Nor did I ask for more than "a fair stage +and no favour," nor expect the work would be accomplished in my days; +but I thought that enough would be secured to continue it in the future, +under, perhaps, more hopeful circumstances and prospects than the +present. + +I will mention in illustration some of the principal works, doctrinal +and historical, which originated in the object which I have stated. + +I wrote my Essay on Justification in 1837; it was aimed at the Lutheran +dictum that justification by faith only was the cardinal doctrine of +Christianity. I considered that this doctrine was either a paradox or a +truism,--a paradox in Luther's mouth, a truism in Melanchthon's. I +thought that the Anglican Church followed Melanchthon, and that in +consequence between Rome and Anglicanism, between high Church and low +Church, there was no real intellectual difference on the point. I wished +to fill up a ditch, the work of man. In this Volume again, I express my +desire to build up a system of theology out of the Anglican divines, and +imply that my dissertation was a tentative Inquiry. I speak in the +Preface of "offering suggestions towards a work, which must be uppermost +in the mind of every true son of the English Church at this day,--the +consolidation of a theological system, which, built upon those +formularies, to which all clergymen are bound, may tend to inform, +persuade, and absorb into itself religious minds, which hitherto have +fancied, that, on the peculiar Protestant questions, they were seriously +opposed to each other."--P. vii. + +In my University Sermons there is a series of discussions upon the +subject of Faith and Reason; these again were the tentative commencement +of a grave and necessary work, viz. an inquiry into the ultimate basis +of religious faith, prior to the distinction into Creeds. + +In like manner in a Pamphlet, which I published in the summer of 1838, +is an attempt at placing the doctrine of the Real Presence on an +intellectual basis. The fundamental idea is consonant to that to which I +had been so long attached: it is the denial of the existence of space +except as a subjective idea of our minds. + +The Church of the Fathers is one of the earliest productions of the +Movement, and appeared in numbers in the British Magazine, being written +with the aim of introducing the religious sentiments, views, and customs +of the first ages into the modern Church of England. + +The Translation of Fleury's Church History was commenced under these +circumstances:--I was fond of Fleury for a reason which I express in the +Advertisement; because it presented a sort of photograph of +ecclesiastical history without any comment upon it. In the event, that +simple representation of the early centuries had a good deal to do with +unsettling me in my Anglicanism; but how little I could anticipate this, +will be seen in the fact that the publication of Fleury was a favourite +scheme with Mr. Rose. He proposed it to me twice, between the years 1834 +and 1837; and I mention it as one out of many particulars curiously +illustrating how truly my change of opinion arose, not from foreign +influences, but from the working of my own mind, and the accidents +around me. The date, from which the portion actually translated began, +was determined by the Publisher on reasons with which we were not +concerned. + +Another historical work, but drawn from original sources, was given to +the world by my old friend Mr. Bowden, being a Life of Pope Gregory VII. +I need scarcely recall to those who have read it, the power and the +liveliness of the narrative. This composition was the author's +relaxation, on evenings and in his summer vacations, from his ordinary +engagements in London. It had been suggested to him originally by me, at +the instance of Hurrell Froude. + +The Series of the Lives of the English Saints was projected at a later +period, under circumstances which I shall have in the sequel to +describe. Those beautiful compositions have nothing in them, as far as I +recollect, simply inconsistent with the general objects which I have +been assigning to my labours in these years, though the immediate +occasion which led to them, and the tone in which they were written, had +little that was congenial with Anglicanism. + +At a comparatively early date I drew up the Tract on the Roman Breviary. +It frightened my own friends on its first appearance; and several years +afterwards, when younger men began to translate for publication the four +volumes _in extenso_, they were dissuaded from doing so by advice to +which from a sense of duty they listened. It was an apparent accident, +which introduced me to the knowledge of that most wonderful and most +attractive monument of the devotion of saints. On Hurrell Froude's +death, in 1836, I was asked to select one of his books as a keepsake. I +selected Butler's Analogy; finding that it had been already chosen, I +looked with some perplexity along the shelves as they stood before me, +when an intimate friend at my elbow said, "Take that." It was the +Breviary which Hurrell had had with him at Barbadoes. Accordingly I took +it, studied it, wrote my Tract from it, and have it on my table in +constant use till this day. + +That dear and familiar companion, who thus put the Breviary into my +hands, is still in the Anglican Church. So, too, is that early venerated +long-loved friend, together with whom I edited a work which, more +perhaps than any other, caused disturbance and annoyance in the Anglican +world,--Froude's Remains; yet, however judgments might run as to the +prudence of publishing it, I never heard any one impute to Mr. Keble the +very shadow of dishonesty or treachery towards his Church in so acting. + +The annotated Translation of the Treatises of St. Athanasius was of +course in no sense of a tentative character; it belongs to another order +of thought. This historico-dogmatic work employed me for years. I had +made preparations for following it up with a doctrinal history of the +heresies which succeeded to the Arian. + +I should make mention also of the British Critic. I was Editor of it for +three years, from July 1838 to July 1841. My writers belonged to various +schools, some to none at all. The subjects are various,--classical, +academical, political, critical, and artistic, as well as theological, +and upon the Movement none are to be found which do not keep quite clear +of advocating the cause of Rome. + + * * * * * + +So I went on for years up to 1841. It was, in a human point of view, the +happiest time of my life. I was truly at home. I had in one of my +volumes appropriated to myself the words of Bramhall, "Bees, by the +instinct of nature, do love their hives, and birds their nests." I did +not suppose that such sunshine would last, though I knew not what would +be its termination. It was the time of plenty, and, during its seven +years, I tried to lay up as much as I could for the dearth which was to +follow it. We prospered and spread. I have spoken of the doings of these +years, since I was a Catholic, in a passage, part of which I will here +quote: + +"From beginnings so small," I said, "from elements of thought so +fortuitous, with prospects so unpromising, the Anglo-Catholic party +suddenly became a power in the National Church, and an object of alarm +to her rulers and friends. Its originators would have found it difficult +to say what they aimed at of a practical kind: rather, they put forth +views and principles for their own sake, because they were true, as if +they were obliged to say them; and, as they might be themselves +surprised at their earnestness in uttering them, they had as great cause +to be surprised at the success which attended their propagation. And, in +fact, they could only say that those doctrines were in the air; that to +assert was to prove, and that to explain was to persuade; and that the +Movement in which they were taking part was the birth of a crisis rather +than of a place. In a very few years a school of opinion was formed, +fixed in its principles, indefinite and progressive in their range; and +it extended itself into every part of the country. If we inquire what +the world thought of it, we have still more to raise our wonder; for, +not to mention the excitement it caused in England, the Movement and its +party-names were known to the police of Italy and to the back-woodmen of +America. And so it proceeded, getting stronger and stronger every year, +till it came into collision with the Nation, and that Church of the +Nation, which it began by professing especially to serve." + +The greater its success, the nearer was that collision at hand. The +first threatenings of what was coming were heard in 1838. At that time, +my Bishop in a Charge made some light animadversions, but they _were_ +animadversions, on the Tracts for the Times. At once I offered to stop +them. What took place on the occasion I prefer to state in the words, in +which I related it in a Pamphlet addressed to him in a later year, when +the blow actually came down upon me. + +"In your Lordship's Charge for 1838," I said, "an allusion was made to +the Tracts for the Times. Some opponents of the Tracts said that you +treated them with undue indulgence.... I wrote to the Archdeacon on the +subject, submitting the Tracts entirely to your Lordship's disposal. +What I thought about your Charge will appear from the words I then used +to him. I said, 'A Bishop's lightest word _ex cathedrâ_ is heavy. His +judgment on a book cannot be light. It is a rare occurrence.' And I +offered to withdraw any of the Tracts over which I had control, if I +were informed which were those to which your Lordship had objections. I +afterwards wrote to your Lordship to this effect, that 'I trusted I +might say sincerely, that I should feel a more lively pleasure in +knowing that I was submitting myself to your Lordship's expressed +judgment in a matter of that kind, than I could have even in the widest +circulation of the volumes in question.' Your Lordship did not think it +necessary to proceed to such a measure, but I felt, and always have +felt, that, if ever you determined on it, I was bound to obey." + +That day at length came, and I conclude this portion of my narrative, +with relating the circumstances of it. + + * * * * * + +From the time that I had entered upon the duties of Public Tutor at my +College, when my doctrinal views were very different from what they were +in 1841, I had meditated a comment upon the Articles. Then, when the +Movement was in its swing, friends had said to me, "What will you make +of the Articles?" but I did not share the apprehension which their +question implied. Whether, as time went on, I should have been forced, +by the necessities of the original theory of the Movement, to put on +paper the speculations which I had about them, I am not able to +conjecture. The actual cause of my doing so, in the beginning of 1841, +was the restlessness, actual and prospective, of those who neither liked +the _Via Media_, nor my strong judgment against Rome. I had been +enjoined, I think by my Bishop, to keep these men straight, and I wished +so to do: but their tangible difficulty was subscription to the +Articles; and thus the question of the Articles came before me. It was +thrown in our teeth; "How can you manage to sign the Articles? they are +directly against Rome." "Against Rome?" I made answer, "What do you mean +by 'Rome?'" and then I proceeded to make distinctions, of which I shall +now give an account. + +By "Roman doctrine" might be meant one of three things: 1, the _Catholic +teaching_ of the early centuries; or 2, the _formal dogmas of Rome_ as +contained in the later Councils, especially the Council of Trent, and as +condensed in the Creed of Pope Pius IV.; 3, the _actual popular beliefs +and usages_ sanctioned by Rome in the countries in communion with it, +over and above the dogmas; and these I called "dominant errors." Now +Protestants commonly thought that in all three senses, "Roman doctrine" +was condemned in the Articles: I thought that the _Catholic teaching_ +was not condemned; that the _dominant errors_ were; and as to the +_formal dogmas_, that some were, some were not, and that the line had to +be drawn between them. Thus, 1. The use of Prayers for the dead was a +Catholic doctrine,--not condemned in the Articles; 2. The prison of +Purgatory was a Roman dogma,--which was condemned in them; but the +infallibility of Ecumenical Councils was a Roman dogma,--not condemned; +and 3. The fire of Purgatory was an authorized and popular error, not a +dogma,--which was condemned. + +Further, I considered that the difficulties, felt by the persons whom I +have mentioned, mainly lay in their mistaking, 1, Catholic teaching, +which was not condemned in the Articles, for Roman dogma which was +condemned; and 2, Roman dogma, which was not condemned in the Articles, +for dominant error which was. If they went further than this, I had +nothing more to say to them. + +A further motive which I had for my attempt, was the desire to ascertain +the ultimate points of contrariety between the Roman and Anglican +creeds, and to make them as few as possible. I thought that each creed +was obscured and misrepresented by a dominant circumambient "Popery" and +"Protestantism." + +The main thesis then of my Essay was this:--the Articles do not oppose +Catholic teaching; they but partially oppose Roman dogma; they for the +most part oppose the dominant errors of Rome. And the problem was, as I +have said, to draw the line as to what they allowed and what they +condemned. + +Such being the object which I had in view, what were my prospects of +widening and of defining their meaning? The prospect was encouraging; +there was no doubt at all of the elasticity of the Articles: to take a +palmary instance, the seventeenth was assumed by one party to be +Lutheran, by another Calvinistic, though the two interpretations were +contradictory of each other; why then should not other Articles be drawn +up with a vagueness of an equally intense character? I wanted to +ascertain what was the limit of that elasticity in the direction of +Roman dogma. But next, I had a way of inquiry of my own, which I state +without defending. I instanced it afterwards in my Essay on Doctrinal +Development. That work, I believe, I have not read since I published it, +and I do not doubt at all I have made many mistakes in it;--partly, from +my ignorance of the details of doctrine, as the Church of Rome holds +them, but partly from my impatience to clear as large a range for the +_principle_ of doctrinal Development (waiving the question of historical +_fact_) as was consistent with the strict Apostolicity and identity of +the Catholic Creed. In like manner, as regards the 39 Articles, my +method of inquiry was to leap _in medias res_. I wished to institute an +inquiry how far, in critical fairness, the text _could_ be opened; I was +aiming far more at ascertaining what a man who subscribed it might hold +than what he must, so that my conclusions were negative rather than +positive. It was but a first essay. And I made it with the full +recognition and consciousness, which I had already expressed in my +Prophetical Office, as regards the _Via Media_, that I was making only +"a first approximation to the required solution;"--"a series of +illustrations supplying hints for the removal" of a difficulty, and with +full acknowledgment "that in minor points, whether in question of fact +or of judgment, there was room for difference or error of opinion," and +that I "should not be ashamed to own a mistake, if it were proved +against me, nor reluctant to bear the just blame of it."--Proph. Off. p. +31. + +I will add, I was embarrassed in consequence of my wish to go as far as +was possible in interpreting the Articles in the direction of Roman +dogma, without disclosing what I was doing to the parties whose doubts I +was meeting; who, if they understood at once the full extent of the +licence which the Articles admitted, might be thereby encouraged to +proceed still further than at present they found in themselves any call +to go. + +1. But in the way of such an attempt comes the prompt objection that the +Articles were actually drawn up against "Popery," and therefore it was +transcendently absurd and dishonest to suppose that Popery, in any +shape,--patristic belief, Tridentine dogma, or popular corruption +authoritatively sanctioned,--would be able to take refuge under their +text. This premiss I denied. Not any religious doctrine at all, but a +political principle, was the primary English idea of "Popery" at the +date of the Reformation. And what was that political principle, and how +could it best be suppressed in England? What was the great question in +the days of Henry and Elizabeth? The _Supremacy_;--now, was I saying one +single word in favour of the Supremacy of the Holy See, in favour of the +foreign jurisdiction? No, I did not believe in it myself. Did Henry +VIII. religiously hold Justification by faith only? did he disbelieve +Purgatory? Was Elizabeth zealous for the marriage of the Clergy? or had +she a conscience against the Mass? The Supremacy of the Pope was the +essence of the "Popery" to which, at the time of the composition of the +Articles, the Supreme Head or Governor of the English Church was so +violently hostile. + +2. But again I said this:--let "Popery" mean what it would in the mouths +of the compilers of the Articles, let it even, for argument's sake, +include the doctrines of that Tridentine Council, which was not yet over +when the Articles were drawn up, and against which they could not be +simply directed, yet, consider, what was the object of the Government in +their imposition? merely to get rid of "Popery?" No; it had the further +object of gaining the "Papists." What then was the best way to induce +reluctant or wavering minds, and these, I supposed, were the majority, +to give in their adhesion to the new symbol? how had the Arians drawn up +their Creeds? was it not on the principle of using vague ambiguous +language, which to the subscribers would seem to bear a Catholic sense, +but which, when worked out on the long run, would prove to be heterodox? +Accordingly, there was great antecedent probability, that, fierce as the +Articles might look at first sight, their bark would prove worse than +their bite. I say antecedent probability, for to what extent that +surmise might be true, could only be ascertained by investigation. + +3. But a consideration came up at once, which threw light on this +surmise:--what if it should turn out that the very men who drew up the +Articles, in the very act of doing so, had avowed, or rather in one of +those very Articles themselves had imposed on subscribers, a number of +those very "Papistical" doctrines, which they were now thought to deny, +as part and parcel of that very Protestantism, which they were now +thought to consider divine? and this was the fact, and I showed it in my +Essay. + +Let the reader observe:--the 35th Article says: "The second Book of +Homilies doth contain _a godly and wholesome doctrine, and necessary +for_ these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies." Here the +_doctrine_ of the Homilies is recognized as godly and wholesome, and +concurrence in that recognition is imposed on all subscribers of the +Articles. Let us then turn to the Homilies, and see what this godly +doctrine is: I quoted from them to the following effect: + +1. They declare that the so-called "apocryphal" book of Tobit is the +teaching of the Holy Ghost, and is Scripture. + +2. That the so-called "apocryphal" book of Wisdom is Scripture, and the +infallible and undeceivable word of God. + +3. That the Primitive Church, next to the Apostles' time, and, as they +imply, for almost 700 years, is no doubt most pure. + +4. That the Primitive Church is specially to be followed. + +5. That the Four first General Councils belong to the Primitive Church. + +6. That there are Six Councils which are allowed and received by all +men. + +7. Again, they speak of a certain truth, and say that it is declared by +God's word, the sentences of the ancient doctors, and judgment of the +Primitive Church. + +8. Of the learned and holy Bishops and doctors of the Church of the +first eight centuries being of great authority and credit with the +people. + +9. Of the declaration of Christ and His Apostles and all the rest of the +Holy Fathers. + +10. Of the authority both of Scripture and also of Augustine. + +11. Of Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, and about thirty other +Fathers, to some of whom they give the title of "Saint," to others of +"ancient Catholic Fathers and doctors, &c." + +12. They declare that, not only the holy Apostles and disciples of +Christ, but the godly Fathers also, before and since Christ, were endued +without doubt with the Holy Ghost. + +13. That the ancient Catholic Fathers say that the "Lord's Supper" is +the salve of immortality, the sovereign preservative against death, the +food of immortality, the healthful grace. + +14. That the Lord's Blessed Body and Blood are received under the form +of bread and wine. + +15. That the meat in the Sacrament is an invisible meat and a ghostly +substance. + +16. That the holy Body and Blood of thy God ought to be touched with the +mind. + +17. That Ordination is a Sacrament. + +18. That Matrimony is a Sacrament. + +19. That there are other Sacraments besides "Baptism and the Lord's +Supper," though not "such as" they. + +20. That the souls of the Saints are reigning in joy and in heaven with +God. + +21. That alms-deeds purge the soul from the infection and filthy spots +of sin, and are a precious medicine, an inestimable jewel. + +22. That mercifulness wipes out and washes away sins, as salves and +remedies to heal sores and grievous diseases. + +23. That the duty of fasting is a truth more manifest than it should +need to be proved. + +24. That fasting, used with prayer, is of great efficacy and weigheth +much with God; so the Angel Raphael told Tobias. + +25. That the puissant and mighty Emperor Theodosius was, in the +Primitive Church which was most holy and godly, excommunicated by St. +Ambrose. + +26. That Constantine, Bishop of Rome, did condemn Philippicus, then +Emperor, not without a cause indeed, but very justly. + +Putting altogether aside the question how far these separate theses came +under the matter to which subscription was to be made, it was quite +plain, that in the minds of the men who wrote the Homilies, and who thus +incorporated them into the Anglican system of doctrine, there was no +such nice discrimination between the Catholic and the Protestant faith, +no such clear recognition of formal Protestant principles and tenets, no +such accurate definition of "Roman doctrine," as is received at the +present day:--hence great probability accrued to my presentiment, that +the Articles were tolerant, not only of what I called "Catholic +teaching," but of much that was "Roman." + +4. And here was another reason against the notion that the Articles +directly attacked the Roman dogmas as declared at Trent and as +promulgated by Pius the Fourth:--the Council of Trent was not over, nor +its Canons promulgated at the date when the Articles were drawn up[5], +so that those Articles must be aiming at something else? What was that +something else? The Homilies tell us: the Homilies are the best comment +upon the Articles. Let us turn to the Homilies, and we shall find from +first to last that, not only is not the Catholic teaching of the first +centuries, but neither again are the dogmas of Rome, the objects of the +protest of the compilers of the Articles, but the dominant errors, the +popular corruptions, authorized or suffered by the high name of Rome. +The eloquent declamation of the Homilies finds its matter almost +exclusively in the dominant errors. As to Catholic teaching, nay as to +Roman dogma, of such theology those Homilies, as I have shown, contained +no small portion themselves. + +[5] The Pope's Confirmation of the Council, by which its Canons became +_de fide_, and his Bull _super confirmatione_ by which they were +promulgated to the world, are dated January 26, 1564. The Articles are +dated 1562. + +5. So much for the writers of the Articles and Homilies;--they were +witnesses, not authorities, and I used them as such; but in the next +place, who were the actual authorities imposing them? I reasonably +considered the authority _imponens_ to be the Convocation of 1571; but +here again, it would be found that the very Convocation, which received +and confirmed the 39 Articles, also enjoined by Canon that "preachers +should be _careful_, that they should _never_ teach aught in a sermon, +to be religiously held and believed by the people, except that which is +agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testament, and _which the +Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops have collected_ from that very +doctrine." Here, let it be observed, an appeal is made by the +Convocation _imponens_ to the very same ancient authorities, as had been +mentioned with such profound veneration by the writers of the Homilies +and the Articles, and thus, if the Homilies contained views of doctrine +which now would be called Roman, there seemed to me to be an extreme +probability that the Convocation of 1571 also countenanced and received, +or at least did not reject, those doctrines. + +6. And further, when at length I came actually to look into the text of +the Articles, I saw in many cases a patent justification of all that I +had surmised as to their vagueness and indecisiveness, and that, not +only on questions which lay between Lutherans, Calvinists, and +Zuinglians, but on Catholic questions also; and I have noticed them in +my Tract. In the conclusion of my Tract I observe: The Articles are +"evidently framed on the principle of leaving open large questions on +which the controversy hinges. They state broadly extreme truths, and are +silent about their adjustment. For instance, they say that all necessary +faith must be proved from Scripture; but do not say _who_ is to prove +it. They say, that the Church has authority in controversies; they do +not say _what_ authority. They say that it may enforce nothing beyond +Scripture, but do not say _where_ the remedy lies when it does. They say +that works _before_ grace _and_ justification are worthless and worse, +and that works _after_ grace _and_ justification are acceptable, but +they do not speak at all of works _with_ God's aid _before_ +justification. They say that men are lawfully called and sent to +minister and preach, who are chosen and called by men who have public +authority _given_ them in the Congregation; but they do not add _by +whom_ the authority is to be given. They say that Councils called by +_princes_ may err; they do not determine whether Councils called in the +name of Christ may err." + +Such were the considerations which weighed with me in my inquiry how far +the Articles were tolerant of a Catholic, or even a Roman +interpretation; and such was the defence which I made in my Tract for +having attempted it. From what I have already said, it will appear that +I have no need or intention at this day to maintain every particular +interpretation which I suggested in the course of my Tract, nor indeed +had I then. Whether it was prudent or not, whether it was sensible or +not, any how I attempted only a first essay of a necessary work, an +essay which, as I was quite prepared to find, would require revision and +modification by means of the lights which I should gain from the +criticism of others. I should have gladly withdrawn any statement, which +could be proved to me to be erroneous; I considered my work to be faulty +and open to objection in the same sense in which I now consider my +Anglican interpretations of Scripture to be erroneous; but in no other +sense. I am surprised that men do not apply to the interpreters of +Scripture generally the hard names which they apply to the author of +Tract 90. He held a large system of theology, and applied it to the +Articles: Episcopalians, or Lutherans, or Presbyterians, or Unitarians, +hold a large system of theology and apply it to Scripture. Every +theology has its difficulties; Protestants hold justification by faith +only, though there is no text in St. Paul which enunciates it, and +though St. James expressly denies it; do we therefore call Protestants +dishonest? they deny that the Church has a divine mission, though St. +Paul says that it is "the Pillar and ground of Truth;" they keep the +Sabbath, though St. Paul says, "Let no man judge you in meat or drink or +in respect of ... the sabbath days." Every creed has texts in its +favour, and again texts which run counter to it: and this is generally +confessed. And this is what I felt keenly:--how had I done worse in +Tract 90 than Anglicans, Wesleyans, and Calvinists did daily in their +Sermons and their publications? how had I done worse, than the +Evangelical party in their _ex animo_ reception of the Services for +Baptism and Visitation of the Sick[6]? Why was I to be dishonest and +they immaculate? There was an occasion on which our Lord gave an answer, +which seemed to be appropriate to my own case, when the tumult broke out +against my Tract:--"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast +a stone at him." I could have fancied that a sense of their own +difficulties of interpretation would have persuaded the great party I +have mentioned to some prudence, or at least moderation, in opposing a +teacher of an opposite school. But I suppose their alarm and their anger +overcame their sense of justice. + +[6] For instance, let candid men consider the form of Absolution +contained in that Prayer Book, of which all clergymen, Evangelical and +Liberal as well as high Church, and (I think) all persons in University +office declare that "it containeth _nothing contrary to the Word of +God_." + +I challenge, in the sight of all England, Evangelical clergymen +generally, to put on paper an interpretation of this form of words, +consistent with their sentiments, which shall be less forced than the +most objectionable of the interpretations which Tract 90 puts upon any +passage in the Articles. + +"Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left _power_ to His Church to absolve +all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great mercy +forgive thee thine offences; and by _His authority committed to me, I +absolve thee from all thy sins_, in the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." + +I subjoin the Roman form, as used in England and elsewhere: "Dominus +noster Jesus Christus te absolvat; et ego auctoritate ipsius te absolvo, +ab omni vinculo excommunicationis et interdicti, in quantum possum et tu +indiges. Deinde ego te absolvo à peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris et +Filii et Spiritûs Sancti. Amen." + + * * * * * + +In the sudden storm of indignation with which the Tract was received +throughout the country on its appearance, I recognize much of real +religious feeling, much of honest and true principle, much of +straightforward ignorant common sense. In Oxford there was genuine +feeling too; but there had been a smouldering, stern, energetic +animosity, not at all unnatural, partly rational, against its author. A +false step had been made; now was the time for action. I am told that, +even before the publication of the Tract, rumours of its contents had +got into the hostile camp in an exaggerated form; and not a moment was +lost in proceeding to action, when I was actually fallen into the hands +of the Philistines. I was quite unprepared for the outbreak, and was +startled at its violence. I do not think I had any fear. Nay, I will +add, I am not sure that it was not in one point of view a relief to me. + +I saw indeed clearly that my place in the Movement was lost; public +confidence was at an end; my occupation was gone. It was simply an +impossibility that I could say any thing henceforth to good effect, when +I had been posted up by the marshal on the buttery-hatch of every +College of my University, after the manner of discommoned pastry-cooks, +and when in every part of the country and every class of society, +through every organ and opportunity of opinion, in newspapers, in +periodicals, at meetings, in pulpits, at dinner-tables, in coffee-rooms, +in railway carriages, I was denounced as a traitor who had laid his +train and was detected in the very act of firing it against the +time-honoured Establishment. There were indeed men, besides my own +immediate friends, men of name and position, who gallantly took my part, +as Dr. Hook, Mr. Palmer, and Mr. Perceval; it must have been a grievous +trial for themselves; yet what after all could they do for me? +Confidence in me was lost;--but I had already lost full confidence in +myself. Thoughts had passed over me a year and a half before in respect +to the Anglican claims, which for the time had profoundly troubled me. +They had gone: I had not less confidence in the power and the prospects +of the Apostolical movement than before; not less confidence than before +in the grievousness of what I called the "dominant errors" of Rome: but +how was I any more to have absolute confidence in myself? how was I to +have confidence in my present confidence? how was I to be sure that I +should always think as I thought now? I felt that by this event a kind +Providence had saved me from an impossible position in the future. + + * * * * * + +First, if I remember right, they wished me to withdraw the Tract. This I +refused to do: I would not do so for the sake of those who were +unsettled or in danger of unsettlement. I would not do so for my own +sake; for how could I acquiesce in a mere Protestant interpretation of +the Articles? how could I range myself among the professors of a +theology, of which it put my teeth on edge even to hear the sound? + +Next they said, "Keep silence; do not defend the Tract;" I answered, +"Yes, if you will not condemn it,--if you will allow it to continue on +sale." They pressed on me whenever I gave way; they fell back when they +saw me obstinate. Their line of action was to get out of me as much as +they could; but upon the point of their tolerating the Tract I _was_ +obstinate. So they let me continue it on sale; and they said they would +not condemn it. But they said that this was on condition that I did not +defend it, that I stopped the series, and that I myself published my own +condemnation in a letter to the Bishop of Oxford. I impute nothing +whatever to him, he was ever most kind to me. Also, they said they could +not answer for what some individual Bishops might perhaps say about the +Tract in their own charges. I agreed to their conditions. My one point +was to save the Tract. + +Not a line in writing was given me, as a pledge of the observance of the +main article on their side of the engagement. Parts of letters from them +were read to me, without being put into my hands. It was an +"understanding." A clever man had warned me against "understandings" +some thirteen years before: I have hated them ever since. + +In the last words of my letter to the Bishop of Oxford I thus resigned +my place in the Movement:-- + +"I have nothing to be sorry for," I say to him, "except having made your +Lordship anxious, and others whom I am bound to revere. I have nothing +to be sorry for, but everything to rejoice in and be thankful for. I +have never taken pleasure in seeming to be able to move a party, and +whatever influence I have had, has been found, not sought after. I have +acted because others did not act, and have sacrificed a quiet which I +prized. May God be with me in time to come, as He has been hitherto! and +He will be, if I can but keep my hand clean and my heart pure. I think I +can bear, or at least will try to bear, any personal humiliation, so +that I am preserved from betraying sacred interests, which the Lord of +grace and power has given into my charge[7]." + +[7] To the Pamphlets published in my behalf at this time I should add +"One Tract more," an able and generous defence of Tractarianism and No. +90, by the present Lord Houghton. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +HISTORY OF MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS FROM 1839 TO 1841. + + +And now that I am about to trace, as far as I can, the course of that +great revolution of mind, which led me to leave my own home, to which I +was bound by so many strong and tender ties, I feel overcome with the +difficulty of satisfying myself in my account of it, and have recoiled +from the attempt, till the near approach of the day, on which these +lines must be given to the world, forces me to set about the task. For +who can know himself, and the multitude of subtle influences which act +upon him? And who can recollect, at the distance of twenty-five years, +all that he once knew about his thoughts and his deeds, and that, during +a portion of his life, when, even at the time, his observation, whether +of himself or of the external world, was less than before or after, by +very reason of the perplexity and dismay which weighed upon him,--when, +in spite of the light given to him according to his need amid his +darkness, yet a darkness it emphatically was? And who can suddenly gird +himself to a new and anxious undertaking, which he might be able indeed +to perform well, were full and calm leisure allowed him to look through +every thing that he had written, whether in published works or private +letters? yet again, granting that calm contemplation of the past, in +itself so desirable, who could afford to be leisurely and deliberate, +while he practises on himself a cruel operation, the ripping up of old +griefs, and the venturing again upon the "infandum dolorem" of years in +which the stars of this lower heaven were one by one going out? I could +not in cool blood, nor except upon the imperious call of duty, attempt +what I have set myself to do. It is both to head and heart an extreme +trial, thus to analyze what has so long gone by, and to bring out the +results of that examination. I have done various bold things in my life: +this is the boldest: and, were I not sure I should after all succeed in +my object, it would be madness to set about it. + + * * * * * + +In the spring of 1839 my position in the Anglican Church was at its +height. I had supreme confidence in my controversial _status_, and I had +a great and still growing success, in recommending it to others. I had +in the foregoing autumn been somewhat sore at the Bishop's Charge, but I +have a letter which shows that all annoyance had passed from my mind. In +January, if I recollect aright, in order to meet the popular clamour +against myself and others, and to satisfy the Bishop, I had collected +into one all the strong things which they, and especially I, had said +against the Church of Rome, in order to their insertion among the +advertisements appended to our publications. Conscious as I was that my +opinions in religion were not gained, as the world said, from Roman +sources, but were, on the contrary, the birth of my own mind and of the +circumstances in which I had been placed, I had a scorn of the +imputations which were heaped upon me. It was true that I held a large +bold system of religion, very unlike the Protestantism of the day, but +it was the concentration and adjustment of the statements of great +Anglican authorities, and I had as much right to hold it, as the +Evangelical, and more right than the Liberal party could show, for +asserting their own respective doctrines. As I declared on occasion of +Tract 90, I claimed, in behalf of who would in the Anglican Church, the +right of holding with Bramhall a comprecation with the Saints, and the +Mass all but Transubstantiation with Andrewes, or with Hooker that +Transubstantiation itself is not a point for Churches to part communion +upon, or with Hammond that a General Council, truly such, never did, +never shall err in a matter of faith, or with Bull that man had in +paradise and lost on the fall, a supernatural habit of grace, or with +Thorndike that penance is a propitiation for post-baptismal sin, or with +Pearson that the all-powerful name of Jesus is no otherwise given than +in the Catholic Church. "Two can play at that," was often in my mouth, +when men of Protestant sentiments appealed to the Articles, Homilies, or +Reformers; in the sense that, if they had a right to speak loud, I had +the liberty to speak out as well as they, and had the means, by the same +or parallel appeals, of giving them tit for tat. I thought that the +Anglican Church was tyrannized over by a mere party, and I aimed at +bringing into effect the promise contained in the motto to the Lyra, +"They shall know the difference now." I only asked to be allowed to show +them the difference. + +What will best describe my state of mind at the early part of 1839, is +an Article in the British Critic for that April. I have looked over it +now, for the first time since it was published; and have been struck by +it for this reason:--it contains the last words which I ever spoke as an +Anglican to Anglicans. It may now be read as my parting address and +valediction, made to my friends. I little knew it at the time. It +reviews the actual state of things, and it ends by looking towards the +future. It is not altogether mine; for my memory goes to this,--that I +had asked a friend to do the work; that then, the thought came on me, +that I would do it myself: and that he was good enough to put into my +hands what he had with great appositeness written, and that I embodied +it in my Article. Every one, I think, will recognize the greater part of +it as mine. It was published two years before the affair of Tract 90, +and was entitled "The State of Religious Parties." + +In this Article, I begin by bringing together testimonies from our +enemies to the remarkable success of our exertions. One writer said: +"Opinions and views of a theology of a very marked and peculiar kind +have been extensively adopted and strenuously upheld, and are daily +gaining ground among a considerable and influential portion of the +members, as well as ministers of the Established Church." Another: The +Movement has manifested itself "with the most rapid growth of the +hot-bed of these evil days." Another: "The _Via Media_ is crowded with +young enthusiasts, who never presume to argue, except against the +propriety of arguing at all." Another: "Were I to give you a full list +of the works, which they have produced within the short space of five +years, I should surprise you. You would see what a task it would be to +make yourself complete master of their system, even in its present +probably immature state. The writers have adopted the motto, 'In +quietness and confidence shall be your strength.' With regard to +confidence, they have justified their adopting it; but as to quietness, +it is not very quiet to pour forth such a succession of controversial +publications." Another: "The spread of these doctrines is in fact now +having the effect of rendering all other distinctions obsolete, and of +severing the religious community into two portions, fundamentally and +vehemently opposed one to the other. Soon there will be no middle ground +left; and every man, and especially every clergyman, will be compelled +to make his choice between the two." Another: "The time has gone by, +when those unfortunate and deeply regretted publications can be passed +over without notice, and the hope that their influence would fail is now +dead." Another: "These doctrines had already made fearful progress. One +of the largest churches in Brighton is crowded to hear them; so is the +church at Leeds. There are few towns of note, to which they have not +extended. They are preached in small towns in Scotland. They obtain in +Elginshire, 600 miles north of London. I found them myself in the heart +of the highlands of Scotland. They are advocated in the newspaper and +periodical press. They have even insinuated themselves into the House of +Commons." And, lastly, a bishop in a charge:--It "is daily assuming a +more serious and alarming aspect. Under the specious pretence of +deference to Antiquity and respect for primitive models, the foundations +of the Protestant Church are undermined by men, who dwell within her +walls, and those who sit in the Reformers' seat are traducing the +Reformation." + +After thus stating the phenomenon of the time, as it presented itself to +those who did not sympathize in it, the Article proceeds to account for +it; and this it does by considering it as a re-action from the dry and +superficial character of the religious teaching and the literature of +the last generation, or century, and as a result of the need which was +felt both by the hearts and the intellects of the nation for a deeper +philosophy, and as the evidence and as the partial fulfilment of that +need, to which even the chief authors of the then generation had borne +witness. First, I mentioned the literary influence of Walter Scott, who +turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages. "The general +need," I said, "of something deeper and more attractive, than what had +offered itself elsewhere, may be considered to have led to his +popularity; and by means of his popularity he re-acted on his readers, +stimulating their mental thirst, feeding their hopes, setting before +them visions, which, when once seen, are not easily forgotten, and +silently indoctrinating them with nobler ideas, which might afterwards +be appealed to as first principles." + +Then I spoke of Coleridge, thus: "While history in prose and verse was +thus made the instrument of Church feelings and opinions, a +philosophical basis for the same was laid in England by a very original +thinker, who, while he indulged a liberty of speculation, which no +Christian can tolerate, and advocated conclusions which were often +heathen rather than Christian, yet after all installed a higher +philosophy into inquiring minds, than they had hitherto been accustomed +to accept. In this way he made trial of his age, and succeeded in +interesting its genius in the cause of Catholic truth." + +Then come Southey and Wordsworth, "two living poets, one of whom in the +department of fantastic fiction, the other in that of philosophical +meditation, have addressed themselves to the same high principles and +feelings, and carried forward their readers in the same direction." + +Then comes the prediction of this re-action hazarded by "a sagacious +observer withdrawn from the world, and surveying its movements from a +distance," Mr. Alexander Knox. He had said twenty years before the date +of my Article: "No Church on earth has more intrinsic excellence than +the English Church, yet no Church probably has less practical +influence.... The rich provision, made by the grace and providence of +God, for habits of a noble kind, is evidence that men shall arise, +fitted both by nature and ability, to discover for themselves, and to +display to others, whatever yet remains undiscovered, whether in the +words or works of God." Also I referred to "a much venerated clergyman +of the last generation," who said shortly before his death, "Depend on +it, the day will come, when those great doctrines, now buried, will be +brought out to the light of day, and then the effect will be fearful." I +remarked upon this, that they who "now blame the impetuosity of the +current, should rather turn their animadversions upon those who have +dammed up a majestic river, till it has become a flood." + +These being the circumstances under which the Movement began and +progressed, it was absurd to refer it to the act of two or three +individuals. It was not so much a movement as a "spirit afloat;" it was +within us, "rising up in hearts where it was least suspected, and +working itself, though not in secret, yet so subtly and impalpably, as +hardly to admit of precaution or encounter on any ordinary human rules +of opposition. It is," I continued, "an adversary in the air, a +something one and entire, a whole wherever it is, unapproachable and +incapable of being grasped, as being the result of causes far deeper +than political or other visible agencies, the spiritual awakening of +spiritual wants." + +To make this clear, I proceed to refer to the chief preachers of the +revived doctrines at that moment, and to draw attention to the variety +of their respective antecedents. Dr. Hook and Mr. Churton represented +the high Church dignitaries of the last century; Mr. Perceval, the Tory +aristocracy; Mr. Keble came from a country parsonage; Mr. Palmer from +Ireland; Dr. Pusey from the Universities of Germany, and the study of +Arabic MSS.; Mr. Dodsworth from the study of Prophecy; Mr. Oakeley had +gained his views, as he himself expressed it, "partly by study, partly +by reflection, partly by conversation with one or two friends, inquirers +like himself:" while I speak of myself as being "much indebted to the +friendship of Archbishop Whately." And thus I am led on to ask, "What +head of a sect is there? What march of opinions can be traced from mind +to mind among preachers such as these? They are one and all in their +degree the organs of one Sentiment, which has risen up simultaneously in +many places very mysteriously." + +My train of thought next led me to speak of the disciples of the +Movement, and I freely acknowledged and lamented that they needed to be +kept in order. It is very much to the purpose to draw attention to this +point now, when such extravagances as then occurred, whatever they were, +are simply laid to my door, or to the charge of the doctrines which I +advocated. A man cannot do more than freely confess what is wrong, say +that it need not be, that it ought not to be, and that he is very sorry +that it should be. Now I said in the Article, which I am reviewing, that +the great truths themselves, which we were preaching, must not be +condemned on account of such abuse of them. "Aberrations there must ever +be, whatever the doctrine is, while the human heart is sensitive, +capricious, and wayward. A mixed multitude went out of Egypt with the +Israelites." "There will ever be a number of persons," I continued, +"professing the opinions of a movement party, who talk loudly and +strangely, do odd or fierce things, display themselves unnecessarily, +and disgust other people; persons, too young to be wise, too generous to +be cautious, too warm to be sober, or too intellectual to be humble. +Such persons will be very apt to attach themselves to particular +persons, to use particular names, to say things merely because others +do, and to act in a party-spirited way." + +While I thus republish what I then said about such extravagances as +occurred in these years, at the same time I have a very strong +conviction that those extravagances furnished quite as much the welcome +excuse for those who were jealous or shy of us, as the stumbling-blocks +of those who were well inclined to our doctrines. This too we felt at +the time; but it was our duty to see that our good should not be +evil-spoken of; and accordingly, two or three of the writers of the +Tracts for the Times had commenced a Series of what they called "Plain +Sermons" with the avowed purpose of discouraging and correcting whatever +was uppish or extreme in our followers: to this Series I contributed a +volume myself. + +Its conductors say in their Preface: "If therefore as time goes on, +there shall be found persons, who admiring the innate beauty and majesty +of the fuller system of Primitive Christianity, and seeing the +transcendent strength of its principles, _shall become loud and voluble +advocates_ in their behalf, speaking the more freely, _because they do +not feel them deeply as founded_ in divine and eternal truth, of such +persons _it is our duty to declare plainly_, that, as we should +contemplate their condition with serious misgiving, _so would they be +the last persons from whom we should_ seek support. + +"But if, on the other hand, there shall be any, who, in the silent +humility of their lives, and in their unaffected reverence for holy +things, show that they in truth accept these principles as real and +substantial, and by habitual purity of heart and serenity of temper, +give proof of their deep veneration for sacraments and sacramental +ordinances, those persons, _whether our professed adherents or not_, +best exemplify the kind of character which the writers of the Tracts for +the Times have wished to form." + +These clergymen had the best of claims to use these beautiful words, for +they were themselves, all of them, important writers in the Tracts, the +two Mr. Kebles, and Mr. Isaac Williams. And this passage, with which +they ushered their Series into the world, I quoted in the Article, of +which I am giving an account, and I added, "What more can be required of +the preachers of neglected truth, than that they should admit that some, +who do not assent to their preaching, are holier and better men than +some who do?" They were not answerable for the intemperance of those who +dishonoured a true doctrine, provided they protested, as they did, +against such intemperance. "They were not answerable for the dust and +din which attends any great moral movement. The truer doctrines are, the +more liable they are to be perverted." + +The notice of these incidental faults of opinion or temper in adherents +of the Movement, led on to a discussion of the secondary causes, by +means of which a system of doctrine may be embraced, modified, or +developed, of the variety of schools which may all be in the One Church, +and of the succession of one phase of doctrine to another, while that +doctrine is ever one and the same. Thus I was brought on to the subject +of Antiquity, which was the basis of the doctrine of the _Via Media_, +and by which was not to be understood a servile imitation of the past, +but such a reproduction of it as is really new, while it is old. "We +have good hope," I say, "that a system will be rising up, superior to +the age, yet harmonizing with, and carrying out its higher points, which +will attract to itself those who are willing to make a venture and to +face difficulties, for the sake of something higher in prospect. On +this, as on other subjects, the proverb will apply, 'Fortes fortuna +adjuvat.'" + +Lastly, I proceeded to the question of that future of the Anglican +Church, which was to be a new birth of the Ancient Religion. And I did +not venture to pronounce upon it. "About the future, we have no prospect +before our minds whatever, good or bad. Ever since that great luminary, +Augustine, proved to be the last bishop of Hippo, Christians have had a +lesson against attempting to foretell, _how_ Providence will prosper +and" [or?] "bring to an end, what it begins." Perhaps the lately-revived +principles would prevail in the Anglican Church; perhaps they would be +lost in some miserable schism, or some more miserable compromise; but +there was nothing rash in venturing to predict that "neither Puritanism +nor Liberalism had any permanent inheritance within her." + +Then I went on: "As to Liberalism, we think the formularies of the +Church will ever, with the aid of a good Providence, keep it from making +any serious inroads upon the clergy. Besides, it is too cold a principle +to prevail with the multitude." But as regarded what was called +Evangelical Religion or Puritanism, there was more to cause alarm. I +observed upon its organization; but on the other hand it had no +intellectual basis; no internal idea, no principle of unity, no +theology. "Its adherents," I said, "are already separating from each +other; they will melt away like a snow-drift. It has no straightforward +view on any one point, on which it professes to teach, and to hide its +poverty, it has dressed itself out in a maze of words. We have no dread +of it at all; we only fear what it may lead to. It does not stand on +intrenched ground, or make any pretence to a position; it does but +occupy the space between contending powers, Catholic Truth and +Rationalism. Then indeed will be the stern encounter, when two real and +living principles, simple, entire, and consistent, one in the Church, +the other out of it, at length rush upon each other, contending not for +names and words, or half-views, but for elementary notions and +distinctive moral characters." + +Whether the ideas of the coming age upon religion were true or false, at +least they would be real. "In the present day," I said, "mistiness is +the mother of wisdom. A man who can set down a half-a-dozen general +propositions, which escape from destroying one another only by being +diluted into truisms, who can hold the balance between opposites so +skilfully as to do without fulcrum or beam, who never enunciates a truth +without guarding himself against being supposed to exclude the +contradictory,--who holds that Scripture is the only authority, yet that +the Church is to be deferred to, that faith only justifies, yet that it +does not justify without works, that grace does not depend on the +sacraments, yet is not given without them, that bishops are a divine +ordinance, yet those who have them not are in the same religious +condition as those who have,--this is your safe man and the hope of the +Church; this is what the Church is said to want, not party men, but +sensible, temperate, sober, well-judging persons, to guide it through +the channel of no-meaning, between the Scylla and Charybdis of Aye and +No." + +This state of things, however, I said, could not last, if men were to +read and think. They "will not keep in that very attitude which you call +sound Church-of-Englandism or orthodox Protestantism. They cannot go on +for ever standing on one leg, or sitting without a chair, or walking +with their feet tied, or like Tityrus's stags grazing in the air. They +will take one view or another, but it will be a consistent view. It may +be Liberalism, or Erastianism, or Popery, or Catholicity; but it will be +real." + +I concluded the Article by saying, that all who did not wish to be +"democratic, or pantheistic, or popish," must "look out for _some_ Via +Media which will preserve us from what threatens, though it cannot +restore the dead. The spirit of Luther is dead; but Hildebrand and +Loyola are alive. Is it sensible, sober, judicious, to be so very angry +with those writers of the day, who point to the fact, that our divines +of the seventeenth century have occupied a ground which is the true and +intelligible mean between extremes? Is it wise to quarrel with this +ground, because it is not exactly what we should choose, had we the +power of choice? Is it true moderation, instead of trying to fortify a +middle doctrine, to fling stones at those who do?... Would you rather +have your sons and daughters members of the Church of England or of the +Church of Rome?" + +And thus I left the matter. But, while I was thus speaking of the future +of the Movement, I was in truth winding up my accounts with it, little +dreaming that it was so to be;--while I was still, in some way or other, +feeling about for an available _Via Media_, I was soon to receive a +shock which was to cast out of my imagination all middle courses and +compromises for ever. As I have said, this Article appeared in the April +number of the British Critic; in the July number, I cannot tell why, +there is no Article of mine; before the number for October, the event +had happened to which I have alluded. + +But before I proceed to describe what happened to me in the summer of +1839, I must detain the reader for a while, in order to describe the +_issue_ of the controversy between Rome and the Anglican Church, as I +viewed it. This will involve some dry discussion; but it is as necessary +for my narrative, as plans of buildings and homesteads are at times +needed in the proceedings of our law courts. + + * * * * * + +I have said already that, though the object of the Movement was to +withstand the Liberalism of the day, I found and felt this could not be +done by mere negatives. It was necessary for us to have a positive +Church theory erected on a definite basis. This took me to the great +Anglican divines; and then of course I found at once that it was +impossible to form any such theory, without cutting across the teaching +of the Church of Rome. Thus came in the Roman controversy. + +When I first turned myself to it, I had neither doubt on the subject, +nor suspicion that doubt would ever come upon me. It was in this state +of mind that I began to read up Bellarmine on the one hand, and +numberless Anglican writers on the other. But I soon found, as others +had found before me, that it was a tangled and manifold controversy, +difficult to master, more difficult to put out of hand with neatness and +precision. It was easy to make points, not easy to sum up and settle. It +was not easy to find a clear issue for the dispute, and still less by a +logical process to decide it in favour of Anglicanism. This difficulty, +however, had no tendency whatever to harass or perplex me: it was a +matter which bore not on convictions, but on proofs. + +First I saw, as all see who study the subject, that a broad distinction +had to be drawn between the actual state of belief and of usage in the +countries which were in communion with the Roman Church, and her formal +dogmas; the latter did not cover the former. Sensible pain, for +instance, is not implied in the Tridentine decree upon Purgatory; but it +was the tradition of the Latin Church, and I had seen the pictures of +souls in flames in the streets of Naples. Bishop Lloyd had brought this +distinction out strongly in an Article in the British Critic in 1825; +indeed, it was one of the most common objections made to the Church of +Rome, that she dared not commit herself by formal decree, to what +nevertheless she sanctioned and allowed. Accordingly, in my Prophetical +Office, I view as simply separate ideas, Rome quiescent, and Rome in +action. I contrasted her creed on the one hand, with her ordinary +teaching, her controversial tone, her political and social bearing, and +her popular beliefs and practices, on the other. + +While I made this distinction between the decrees and the traditions of +Rome, I drew a parallel distinction between Anglicanism quiescent, and +Anglicanism in action. In its formal creed Anglicanism was not at a +great distance from Rome: far otherwise, when viewed in its insular +spirit, the traditions of its establishment, its historical +characteristics, its controversial rancour, and its private judgment. I +disavowed and condemned those excesses, and called them "Protestantism" +or "Ultra-Protestantism:" I wished to find a parallel disclaimer, on the +part of Roman controversialists, of that popular system of beliefs and +usages in their own Church, which I called "Popery." When that hope was +a dream, I saw that the controversy lay between the book-theology of +Anglicanism on the one side, and the living system of what I called +Roman corruption on the other. I could not get further than this; with +this result I was forced to content myself. + +These then were the _parties_ in the controversy:--the Anglican _Via +Media_ and the popular religion of Rome. And next, as to the _issue_, to +which the controversy between them was to be brought, it was this:--the +Anglican disputant took his stand upon Antiquity or Apostolicity, the +Roman upon Catholicity. The Anglican said to the Roman: "There is but +One Faith, the Ancient, and you have not kept to it;" the Roman +retorted: "There is but One Church, the Catholic, and you are out of +it." The Anglican urged "Your special beliefs, practices, modes of +action, are nowhere in Antiquity;" the Roman objected: "You do not +communicate with any one Church besides your own and its offshoots, and +you have discarded principles, doctrines, sacraments, and usages, which +are and ever have been received in the East and the West." The true +Church, as defined in the Creeds, was both Catholic and Apostolic; now, +as I viewed the controversy in which I was engaged, England and Rome had +divided these notes or prerogatives between them: the cause lay thus, +Apostolicity _versus_ Catholicity. + +However, in thus stating the matter, of course I do not wish it supposed +that I allowed the note of Catholicity really to belong to Rome, to the +disparagement of the Anglican Church; but I considered that the special +point or plea of Rome in the controversy was Catholicity, as the +Anglican plea was Antiquity. Of course I contended that the Roman idea +of Catholicity was not ancient and apostolic. It was in my judgment at +the utmost only natural, becoming, expedient, that the whole of +Christendom should be united in one visible body; while such a unity +might, on the other hand, be nothing more than a mere heartless and +political combination. For myself, I held with the Anglican divines, +that, in the Primitive Church, there was a very real mutual independence +between its separate parts, though, from a dictate of charity, there was +in fact a close union between them. I considered that each See and +Diocese might be compared to a crystal, and that each was similar to the +rest, and that the sum total of them all was only a collection of +crystals. The unity of the Church lay, not in its being a polity, but in +its being a family, a race, coming down by apostolical descent from its +first founders and bishops. And I considered this truth brought out, +beyond the possibility of dispute, in the Epistles of St. Ignatius, in +which the Bishop is represented as the one supreme authority in the +Church, that is, in his own place, with no one above him, except as, for +the sake of ecclesiastical order and expedience, arrangements had been +made by which one was put over or under another. So much for our own +claim to Catholicity, which was so perversely appropriated by our +opponents to themselves:--on the other hand, as to our special strong +point, Antiquity, while, of course, by means of it, we were able to +condemn most emphatically the novel claim of Rome to domineer over other +Churches, which were in truth her equals, further than that, we thereby +especially convicted her of the intolerable offence of having added to +the Faith. This was the critical head of accusation urged against her by +the Anglican disputant; and as he referred to St. Ignatius in proof that +he himself was a true Catholic, in spite of being separated from Rome, +so he triumphantly referred to the Treatise of Vincentius of Lerins upon +the "Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus," in proof that the +controversialists of Rome, in spite of their possession of the Catholic +name, were separated in their creed from the Apostolical and primitive +faith. + +Of course those controversialists had their own mode of answering him, +with which I am not concerned in this place; here I am only concerned +with the issue itself, between the one party and the other--Antiquity +_versus_ Catholicity. + +Now I will proceed to illustrate what I have been saying of the _status_ +of the controversy, as it presented itself to my mind, by extracts from +my writings of the dates of 1836, 1840, and 1841. And I introduce them +with a remark, which especially applies to the paper, from which I shall +quote first, of the date of 1836. That paper appeared in the March and +April numbers of the British Magazine of that year, and was entitled +"Home Thoughts Abroad." Now it will be found, that, in the discussion +which it contains, as in various other writings of mine, when I was in +the Anglican Church, the argument in behalf of Rome is stated with +considerable perspicuity and force. And at the time my friends and +supporters cried out, "How imprudent!" and, both at the time, and +especially at a later date, my enemies have cried out, "How insidious!" +Friends and foes virtually agreed in their criticism; I had set out the +cause which I was combating to the best advantage: this was an offence; +it might be from imprudence, it might be with a traitorous design. It +was from neither the one nor the other; but for the following reasons. +First, I had a great impatience, whatever was the subject, of not +bringing out the whole of it, as clearly as I could; next I wished to be +as fair to my adversaries as possible; and thirdly I thought that there +was a great deal of shallowness among our own friends, and that they +undervalued the strength of the argument in behalf of Rome, and that +they ought to be roused to a more exact apprehension of the position of +the controversy. At a later date, (1841,) when I really felt the force +of the Roman side of the question myself, as a difficulty which had to +be met, I had a fourth reason for such frankness in argument, and that +was, because a number of persons were unsettled far more than I was, as +to the Catholicity of the Anglican Church. It was quite plain that, +unless I was perfectly candid in stating what could be said against it, +there was no chance that any representations, which I felt to be in its +favour, or at least to be adverse to Rome, would have had any success +with the persons in question. + +At all times I had a deep conviction, to put the matter on the lowest +ground, that "honesty was the best policy." Accordingly, in July 1841, I +expressed myself thus on the Anglican difficulty: "This is an objection +which we must honestly say is deeply felt by many people, and not +inconsiderable ones; and the more it is openly avowed to be a +difficulty, the better; for there is then the chance of its being +acknowledged, and in the course of time obviated, as far as may be, by +those who have the power. Flagrant evils cure themselves by being +flagrant; and we are sanguine that the time is come when so great an +evil as this is, cannot stand its ground against the good feeling and +common sense of religious persons. It is the very strength of Romanism +against us; and, unless the proper persons take it into their serious +consideration, they may look for certain to undergo the loss, as time +goes on, of some whom they would least like to be lost to our Church." +The measure which I had especially in view in this passage, was the +project of a Jerusalem Bishopric, which the then Archbishop of +Canterbury was at that time concocting with M. Bunsen, and of which I +shall speak more in the sequel. And now to return to the Home Thoughts +Abroad of the spring of 1836:-- + +The discussion contained in this composition runs in the form of a +dialogue. One of the disputants says: "You say to me that the Church of +Rome is corrupt. What then? to cut off a limb is a strange way of saving +it from the influence of some constitutional ailment. Indigestion may +cause cramp in the extremities; yet we spare our poor feet +notwithstanding. Surely there is such a religious _fact_ as the +existence of a great Catholic body, union with which is a Christian +privilege and duty. Now, we English are separate from it." + +The other answers: "The present is an unsatisfactory, miserable state of +things, yet I can grant no more. The Church is founded on a +doctrine,--on the gospel of Truth; it is a means to an end. Perish the +Church, (though, blessed be the promise! this cannot be,) yet let it +perish _rather_ than the Truth should fail. Purity of faith is more +precious to the Christian than unity itself. If Rome has erred +grievously in doctrine, then it is a duty to separate even from Rome." + +His friend, who takes the Roman side of the argument, refers to the +image of the Vine and its branches, which is found, I think, in St. +Cyprian, as if a branch cut from the Catholic Vine must necessarily die. +Also he quotes a passage from St. Augustine in controversy with the +Donatists to the same effect; viz. that, as being separated from the +body of the Church, they were _ipso facto_ cut off from the heritage of +Christ. And he quotes St. Cyril's argument drawn from the very title +Catholic, which no body or communion of men has ever dared or been able +to appropriate, besides one. He adds, "Now I am only contending for the +fact, that the communion of Rome constitutes the main body of the Church +Catholic, and that we are split off from it, and in the condition of the +Donatists." + +The other replies by denying the fact that the present Roman communion +is like St. Augustine's Catholic Church, inasmuch as there must be taken +into account the large Anglican and Greek communions. Presently he takes +the offensive, naming distinctly the points, in which Rome has departed +from Primitive Christianity, viz. "the practical idolatry, the virtual +worship of the Virgin and Saints, which are the offence of the Latin +Church, and the degradation of moral truth and duty, which follows from +these." And again: "We cannot join a Church, did we wish it ever so +much, which does not acknowledge our orders, refuses us the Cup, demands +our acquiescence in image-worship, and excommunicates us, if we do not +receive it and all other decisions of the Tridentine Council." + +His opponent answers these objections by referring to the doctrine of +"developments of gospel truth." Besides, "The Anglican system itself is +not found complete in those early centuries; so that the [Anglican] +principle [of Antiquity] is self-destructive." "When a man takes up this +_Via Media_, he is a mere _doctrinaire_;" he is like those, "who, in +some matter of business, start up to suggest their own little crotchet, +and are ever measuring mountains with a pocket ruler, or improving the +planetary courses." "The _Via Media_ has slept in libraries; it is a +substitute of infancy for manhood." + +It is plain, then, that at the end of 1835 or beginning of 1836, I had +the whole state of the question before me, on which, to my mind, the +decision between the Churches depended. It is observable that the +question of the position of the Pope, whether as the centre of unity, or +as the source of jurisdiction, did not come into my thoughts at all; nor +did it, I think I may say, to the end. I doubt whether I ever distinctly +held any of his powers to be _de jure divino_, while I was in the +Anglican Church;--not that I saw any difficulty in the doctrine; not +that in connexion with the history of St. Leo, of which I shall speak by +and by, the idea of his infallibility did not cross my mind, for it +did,--but after all, in my view the controversy did not turn upon it; it +turned upon the Faith and the Church. This was my issue of the +controversy from the beginning to the end. There was a contrariety of +claims between the Roman and Anglican religions, and the history of my +conversion is simply the process of working it out to a solution. In +1838 I illustrated it by the contrast presented to us between the +Madonna and Child, and a Calvary. The peculiarity of the Anglican +theology was this,--that it "supposed the Truth to be entirely objective +and detached, not" (as in the theology of Rome) "lying hid in the bosom +of the Church as if one with her, clinging to and (as it were) lost in +her embrace, but as being sole and unapproachable, as on the Cross or at +the Resurrection, with the Church close by, but in the background." + +As I viewed the controversy in 1836 and 1838, so I viewed it in 1840 and +1841. In the British Critic of January 1840, after gradually +investigating how the matter lies between the Churches by means of a +dialogue, I end thus: "It would seem, that, in the above discussion, +each disputant has a strong point: our strong point is the argument from +Primitiveness, that of Romanists from Universality. It is a fact, +however it is to be accounted for, that Rome has added to the Creed; and +it is a fact, however we justify ourselves, that we are estranged from +the great body of Christians over the world. And each of these two facts +is at first sight a grave difficulty in the respective systems to which +they belong." Again, "While Rome, though not deferring to the Fathers, +recognizes them, and England, not deferring to the large body of the +Church, recognizes it, both Rome and England have a point to clear up." + +And still more strongly, in July, 1841: + +"If the Note of schism, on the one hand, lies against England, an +antagonist disgrace lies upon Rome, the Note of idolatry. Let us not be +mistaken here; we are neither accusing Rome of idolatry nor ourselves of +schism; we think neither charge tenable; but still the Roman Church +practises what is so like idolatry, and the English Church makes much of +what is so very like schism, that without deciding what is the duty of a +Roman Catholic towards the Church of England in her present state, we do +seriously think that members of the English Church have a providential +direction given them, how to comport themselves towards the Church of +Rome, while she is what she is." + +One remark more about Antiquity and the _Via Media_. As time went on, +without doubting the strength of the Anglican argument from Antiquity, I +felt also that it was not merely our special plea, but our only one. +Also I felt that the _Via Media_, which was to represent it, was to be a +sort of remodelled and adapted Antiquity. This I advanced both in Home +Thoughts Abroad and in the Article of the British Critic which I have +analyzed above. But this circumstance, that after all we must use +private judgment upon Antiquity, created a sort of distrust of my theory +altogether, which in the conclusion of my Volume on the Prophetical +Office (1836-7) I express thus: "Now that our discussions draw to a +close, the thought, with which we entered on the subject, is apt to +recur, when the excitement of the inquiry has subsided, and weariness +has succeeded, that what has been said is but a dream, the wanton +exercise, rather than the practical conclusions of the intellect." And I +conclude the paragraph by anticipating a line of thought into which I +was, in the event, almost obliged to take refuge: "After all," I say, +"the Church is ever invisible in its day, and faith only apprehends it." +What was this, but to give up the Notes of a visible Church altogether, +whether the Catholic Note or the Apostolic? + + * * * * * + +The Long Vacation of 1839 began early. There had been a great many +visitors to Oxford from Easter to Commemoration; and Dr. Pusey's party +had attracted attention, more, I think, than in any former year. I had +put away from me the controversy with Rome for more than two years. In +my Parochial Sermons the subject had at no time been introduced: there +had been nothing for two years, either in my Tracts or in the British +Critic, of a polemical character. I was returning, for the Vacation, to +the course of reading which I had many years before chosen as especially +my own. I have no reason to suppose that the thoughts of Rome came +across my mind at all. About the middle of June I began to study and +master the history of the Monophysites. I was absorbed in the doctrinal +question. This was from about June 13th to August 30th. It was during +this course of reading that for the first time a doubt came upon me of +the tenableness of Anglicanism. I recollect on the 30th of July +mentioning to a friend, whom I had accidentally met, how remarkable the +history was; but by the end of August I was seriously alarmed. + +I have described in a former work, how the history affected me. My +stronghold was Antiquity; now here, in the middle of the fifth century, +I found, as it seemed to me, Christendom of the sixteenth and the +nineteenth centuries reflected. I saw my face in that mirror, and I was +a Monophysite. The Church of the _Via Media_ was in the position of the +Oriental communion, Rome was, where she now is; and the Protestants were +the Eutychians. Of all passages of history, since history has been, who +would have thought of going to the sayings and doings of old Eutyches, +that _delirus senex_, as (I think) Petavius calls him, and to the +enormities of the unprincipled Dioscorus, in order to be converted to +Rome! + +Now let it be simply understood that I am not writing controversially, +but with the one object of relating things as they happened to me in the +course of my conversion. With this view I will quote a passage from the +account, which I gave in 1850, of my reasonings and feelings in 1839: + +"It was difficult to make out how the Eutychians or Monophysites were +heretics, unless Protestants and Anglicans were heretics also; difficult +to find arguments against the Tridentine Fathers, which did not tell +against the Fathers of Chalcedon; difficult to condemn the Popes of the +sixteenth century, without condemning the Popes of the fifth. The drama +of religion, and the combat of truth and error, were ever one and the +same. The principles and proceedings of the Church now, were those of +the Church then; the principles and proceedings of heretics then, were +those of Protestants now. I found it so,--almost fearfully; there was an +awful similitude, more awful, because so silent and unimpassioned, +between the dead records of the past and the feverish chronicle of the +present. The shadow of the fifth century was on the sixteenth. It was +like a spirit rising from the troubled waters of the old world, with the +shape and lineaments of the new. The Church then, as now, might be +called peremptory and stern, resolute, overbearing, and relentless; and +heretics were shifting, changeable, reserved, and deceitful, ever +courting civil power, and never agreeing together, except by its aid; +and the civil power was ever aiming at comprehensions, trying to put the +invisible out of view, and substituting expediency for faith. What was +the use of continuing the controversy, or defending my position, if, +after all, I was forging arguments for Arius or Eutyches, and turning +devil's advocate against the much-enduring Athanasius and the majestic +Leo? Be my soul with the Saints! and shall I lift up my hand against +them? Sooner may my right hand forget her cunning, and wither outright, +as his who once stretched it out against a prophet of God! anathema to a +whole tribe of Cranmers, Ridleys, Latimers, and Jewels! perish the names +of Bramhall, Ussher, Taylor, Stillingfleet, and Barrow from the face of +the earth, ere I should do ought but fall at their feet in love and in +worship, whose image was continually before my eyes, and whose musical +words were ever in my ears and on my tongue!" + +Hardly had I brought my course of reading to a close, when the Dublin +Review of that same August was put into my hands, by friends who were +more favourable to the cause of Rome than I was myself. There was an +article in it on the "Anglican Claim" by Dr. Wiseman. This was about the +middle of September. It was on the Donatists, with an application to +Anglicanism. I read it, and did not see much in it. The Donatist +controversy was known to me for some years, as has appeared already. The +case was not parallel to that of the Anglican Church. St. Augustine in +Africa wrote against the Donatists in Africa. They were a furious party +who made a schism within the African Church, and not beyond its limits. +It was a case of Altar against Altar, of two occupants of the same See, +as that between the Non-jurors in England and the Established Church; +not the case of one Church against another, as of Rome against the +Oriental Monophysites. But my friend, an anxiously religious man, now, +as then, very dear to me, a Protestant still, pointed out the palmary +words of St. Augustine, which were contained in one of the extracts made +in the Review, and which had escaped my observation. "Securus judicat +orbis terrarum." He repeated these words again and again, and, when he +was gone, they kept ringing in my ears. "Securus judicat orbis +terrarum;" they were words which went beyond the occasion of the +Donatists: they applied to that of the Monophysites. They gave a cogency +to the Article, which had escaped me at first. They decided +ecclesiastical questions on a simpler rule than that of Antiquity; nay, +St. Augustine was one of the prime oracles of Antiquity; here then +Antiquity was deciding against itself. What a light was hereby thrown +upon every controversy in the Church! not that, for the moment, the +multitude may not falter in their judgment,--not that, in the Arian +hurricane, Sees more than can be numbered did not bend before its fury, +and fall off from St. Athanasius,--not that the crowd of Oriental +Bishops did not need to be sustained during the contest by the voice and +the eye of St. Leo; but that the deliberate judgment, in which the whole +Church at length rests and acquiesces, is an infallible prescription and +a final sentence against such portions of it as protest and secede. Who +can account for the impressions which are made on him? For a mere +sentence, the words of St. Augustine, struck me with a power which I +never had felt from any words before. To take a familiar instance, they +were like the "Turn again Whittington" of the chime; or, to take a more +serious one, they were like the "Tolle, lege,--Tolle, lege," of the +child, which converted St. Augustine himself. "Securus judicat orbis +terrarum!" By those great words of the ancient Father, interpreting and +summing up the long and varied course of ecclesiastical history, the +theory of the _Via Media_ was absolutely pulverized. + +I became excited at the view thus opened upon me. I was just starting on +a round of visits; and I mentioned my state of mind to two most intimate +friends: I think to no others. After a while, I got calm, and at length +the vivid impression upon my imagination faded away. What I thought +about it on reflection, I will attempt to describe presently. I had to +determine its logical value, and its bearing upon my duty. Meanwhile, so +far as this was certain,--I had seen the shadow of a hand upon the wall. +It was clear that I had a good deal to learn on the question of the +Churches, and that perhaps some new light was coming upon me. He who has +seen a ghost, cannot be as if he had never seen it. The heavens had +opened and closed again. The thought for the moment had been, "The +Church of Rome will be found right after all;" and then it had vanished. +My old convictions remained as before. + +At this time, I wrote my Sermon on Divine Calls, which I published in my +volume of Plain Sermons. It ends thus:-- + +"O that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the +one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to +please the world, to please the great, nay even to please those whom we +love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, +courted, followed,--compared with this one aim, of not being disobedient +to a heavenly vision? What can this world offer comparable with that +insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, +that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, +which they have, who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ? +Let us beg and pray Him day by day to reveal Himself to our souls more +fully, to quicken our senses, to give us sight and hearing, taste and +touch of the world to come; so to work within us, that we may sincerely +say, 'Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and after that receive me +with glory. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth +that I desire in comparison of Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but +God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.'" + + * * * * * + +Now to trace the succession of thoughts, and the conclusions, and the +consequent innovations on my previous belief, and the general conduct, +to which I was led, upon this sudden visitation. And first, I will say, +whatever comes of saying it, for I leave inferences to others, that for +years I must have had something of an habitual notion, though it was +latent, and had never led me to distrust my own convictions, that my +mind had not found its ultimate rest, and that in some sense or other I +was on journey. During the same passage across the Mediterranean in +which I wrote "Lead kindly light," I also wrote the verses, which are +found in the Lyra under the head of "Providences," beginning, "When I +look back." This was in 1833; and, since I have begun this narrative, I +have found a memorandum under the date of September 7, 1829, in which I +speak of myself, as "now in my rooms in Oriel College, slowly advancing +&c. and led on by God's hand blindly, not knowing whither He is taking +me." But, whatever this presentiment be worth, it was no protection +against the dismay and disgust, which I felt, in consequence of the +dreadful misgiving, of which I have been relating the history. The one +question was, what was I to do? I had to make up my mind for myself, and +others could not help me. I determined to be guided, not by my +imagination, but by my reason. And this I said over and over again in +the years which followed, both in conversation and in private letters. +Had it not been for this severe resolve, I should have been a Catholic +sooner than I was. Moreover, I felt on consideration a positive doubt, +on the other hand, whether the suggestion did not come from below. Then +I said to myself, Time alone can solve that question. It was my business +to go on as usual, to obey those convictions to which I had so long +surrendered myself, which still had possession of me, and on which my +new thoughts had no direct bearing. That new conception of things should +only so far influence me, as it had a logical claim to do so. If it came +from above, it would come again;--so I trusted,--and with more definite +outlines and greater cogency and consistency of proof. I thought of +Samuel, before "he knew the word of the Lord;" and therefore I went, and +lay down to sleep again. This was my broad view of the matter, and my +_primâ facie_ conclusion. + +However, my new historical fact had already to a certain point a logical +force. Down had come the _Via Media_ as a definite theory or scheme, +under the blows of St. Leo. My "Prophetical Office" had come to pieces; +not indeed as an argument against "Roman errors," nor as against +Protestantism, but as in behalf of England. I had no longer a +distinctive plea for Anglicanism, unless I would be a Monophysite. I +had, most painfully, to fall back upon my three original points of +belief, which I have spoken so much of in a former passage,--the +principle of dogma, the sacramental system, and anti-Romanism. Of these +three, the first two were better secured in Rome than in the Anglican +Church. The Apostolical Succession, the two prominent sacraments, and +the primitive Creeds, belonged, indeed, to the latter; but there had +been and was far less strictness on matters of dogma and ritual in the +Anglican system than in the Roman: in consequence, my main argument for +the Anglican claims lay in the positive and special charges, which I +could bring against Rome. I had no positive Anglican theory. I was very +nearly a pure Protestant. Lutherans had a sort of theology, so had +Calvinists; I had none. + +However, this pure Protestantism, to which I was gradually left, was +really a practical principle. It was a strong, though it was only a +negative ground, and it still had great hold on me. As a boy of fifteen, +I had so fully imbibed it, that I had actually erased in my _Gradus ad +Parnassum_, such titles, under the word "Papa," as "Christi Vicarius," +"sacer interpres," and "sceptra gerens," and substituted epithets so +vile that I cannot bring myself to write them down here. The effect of +this early persuasion remained as, what I have already called it, a +"stain upon my imagination." As regards my reason, I began in 1833 to +form theories on the subject, which tended to obliterate it; yet by 1838 +I had got no further than to consider Antichrist, as not the Church of +Rome, but the spirit of the old pagan city, the fourth monster of +Daniel, which was still alive, and which had corrupted the Church which +was planted there. Soon after this indeed, and before my attention was +directed to the Monophysite controversy, I underwent a great change of +opinion. I saw that, from the nature of the case, the true Vicar of +Christ must ever to the world seem like Antichrist, and be stigmatized +as such, because a resemblance must ever exist between an original and a +forgery; and thus the fact of such a calumny was almost one of the notes +of the Church. But we cannot unmake ourselves or change our habits in a +moment. Though my reason was convinced, I did not throw off, for some +time after,--I could not have thrown off,--the unreasoning prejudice and +suspicion, which I cherished about her at least by fits and starts, in +spite of this conviction of my reason. I cannot prove this, but I +believe it to have been the case from what I recollect of myself. Nor +was there any thing in the history of St. Leo and the Monophysites to +undo the firm belief I had in the existence of what I called the +practical abuses and excesses of Rome. + +To her inconsistencies then, to her ambition and intrigue, to her +sophistries (as I considered them to be) I now had recourse in my +opposition to her, both public and personal. I did so by way of a +relief. I had a great and growing dislike, after the summer of 1839, to +speak against the Roman Church herself or her formal doctrines. I was +very averse to speaking against doctrines, which might possibly turn out +to be true, though at the time I had no reason for thinking they were; +or against the Church, which had preserved them. I began to have +misgivings, that, strong as my own feelings had been against her, yet in +some things which I had said, I had taken the statements of Anglican +divines for granted without weighing them for myself. I said to a friend +in 1840, in a letter, which I shall use presently, "I am troubled by +doubts whether as it is, I have not, in what I have published, spoken +too strongly against Rome, though I think I did it in a kind of faith, +being determined to put myself into the English system, and say all that +our divines said, whether I had fully weighed it or not." I was sore +about the great Anglican divines, as if they had taken me in, and made +me say strong things, which facts did not justify. Yet I _did_ still +hold in substance all that I had said against the Church of Rome in my +Prophetical Office. I felt the force of the usual Protestant objections +against her; I believed that we had the Apostolical succession in the +Anglican Church, and the grace of the sacraments; I was not sure that +the difficulty of its isolation might not be overcome, though I was far +from sure that it could. I did not see any clear proof that it had +committed itself to any heresy, or had taken part against the truth; and +I was not sure that it would not revive into full Apostolic purity and +strength, and grow into union with Rome herself (Rome explaining her +doctrines and guarding against their abuse), that is, if we were but +patient and hopeful. I began to wish for union between the Anglican +Church and Rome, if, and when, it was possible; and I did what I could +to gain weekly prayers for that object. The ground which I felt to be +good against her was the moral ground: I felt I could not be wrong in +striking at her political and social line of action. The alliance of a +dogmatic religion with liberals, high or low, seemed to me a +providential direction against moving towards Rome, and a better +"Preservative against Popery," than the three volumes in folio, in +which, I think, that prophylactic is to be found. However, on occasions +which demanded it, I felt it a duty to give out plainly all that I +thought, though I did not like to do so. One such instance occurred, +when I had to publish a Letter about Tract 90. In that Letter, I said, +"Instead of setting before the soul the Holy Trinity, and heaven and +hell, the Church of Rome does seem to me, as a popular system, to preach +the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and purgatory." On this occasion I +recollect expressing to a friend the distress it gave me thus to speak; +but, I said, "How can I help saying it, if I think it? and I _do_ think +it; my Bishop calls on me to say out what I think; and that is the long +and the short of it." But I recollected Hurrell Froude's words to me, +almost his dying words, "I must enter another protest against your +cursing and swearing. What good can it do? and I call it uncharitable to +an excess. How mistaken we may ourselves be, on many points that are +only gradually opening on us!" + +Instead then of speaking of errors in doctrine, I was driven, by my +state of mind, to insist upon the political conduct, the controversial +bearing, and the social methods and manifestations of Rome. And here I +found a matter ready to my hand, which affected me the more sensibly for +the reason that it lay at our very doors. I can hardly describe too +strongly my feeling upon it. I had an unspeakable aversion to the policy +and acts of Mr. O'Connell, because, as I thought, he associated himself +with men of all religions and no religion against the Anglican Church, +and advanced Catholicism by violence and intrigue. When then I found him +taken up by the English Catholics, and, as I supposed, at Rome, I +considered I had a fulfilment before my eyes how the Court of Rome +played fast and loose, and justified the serious charges which I had +seen put down in books against it. Here we saw what Rome was in action, +whatever she might be when quiescent. Her conduct was simply secular and +political. + +This feeling led me into the excess of being very rude to that zealous +and most charitable man, Mr. Spencer, when he came to Oxford in January, +1840, to get Anglicans to set about praying for Unity. I myself, at that +time, or soon after, drew up such prayers; their desirableness was one +of the first thoughts which came upon me after my shock; but I was too +much annoyed with the political action of the Catholic body in these +islands to wish to have any thing to do with them personally. So glad in +my heart was I to see him, when he came to my rooms with Mr. Palmer of +Magdalen, that I could have laughed for joy; I think I did laugh; but I +was very rude to him, I would not meet him at dinner, and that, (though +I did not say so,) because I considered him "in loco apostatæ" from the +Anglican Church, and I hereby beg his pardon for it. I wrote afterwards +with a view to apologize, but I dare say he must have thought that I +made the matter worse, for these were my words to him:-- + +"The news that you are praying for us is most touching, and raises a +variety of indescribable emotions.... May their prayers return +abundantly into their own bosoms.... Why then do I not meet you in a +manner conformable with these first feelings? For this single reason, if +I may say it, that your acts are contrary to your words. You invite us +to a union of hearts, at the same time that you are doing all you can, +not to restore, not to reform, not to re-unite, but to destroy our +Church. You go further than your principles require. You are leagued +with our enemies. 'The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the +hands of Esau.' This is what especially distresses us; this is what we +cannot understand; how Christians, like yourselves, with the clear view +you have that a warfare is ever waging in the world between good and +evil, should, in the present state of England, ally yourselves with the +side of evil against the side of good.... Of parties now in the country, +you cannot but allow, that next to yourselves we are nearest to revealed +truth. We maintain great and holy principles; we profess Catholic +doctrines.... So near are we as a body to yourselves in modes of +thinking, as even to have been taunted with the nicknames which belong +to you; and, on the other hand, if there are professed infidels, +scoffers, sceptics, unprincipled men, rebels, they are found among our +opponents. And yet you take part with them against us.... You consent to +act hand in hand [with these and others] for our overthrow. Alas! all +this it is that impresses us irresistibly with the notion that you are a +political, not a religious party; that in order to gain an end on which +you set your hearts,--an open stage for yourselves in England,--you ally +yourselves with those who hold nothing against those who hold something. +This is what distresses my own mind so greatly, to speak of myself, +that, with limitations which need not now be mentioned, I cannot meet +familiarly any leading persons of the Roman Communion, and least of all +when they come on a religious errand. Break off, I would say, with Mr. +O'Connell in Ireland and the liberal party in England, or come not to us +with overtures for mutual prayer and religious sympathy." + +And here came in another feeling, of a personal nature, which had little +to do with the argument against Rome, except that, in my prejudice, I +viewed what happened to myself in the light of my own ideas of the +traditionary conduct of her advocates and instruments. I was very stern +in the case of any interference in our Oxford matters on the part of +charitable Catholics, and of any attempt to do me good personally. There +was nothing, indeed, at the time more likely to throw me back. "Why do +you meddle? why cannot you let me alone? You can do me no good; you know +nothing on earth about me; you may actually do me harm; I am in better +hands than yours. I know my own sincerity of purpose; and I am +determined upon taking my time." Since I have been a Catholic, people +have sometimes accused me of backwardness in making converts; and +Protestants have argued from it that I have no great eagerness to do so. +It would be against my nature to act otherwise than I do; but besides, +it would be to forget the lessons which I gained in the experience of my +own history in the past. + +This is the account which I have to give of some savage and ungrateful +words in the British Critic of 1840 against the controversialists of +Rome: "By their fruits ye shall know them.... We see it attempting to +gain converts among us by unreal representations of its doctrines, +plausible statements, bold assertions, appeals to the weaknesses of +human nature, to our fancies, our eccentricities, our fears, our +frivolities, our false philosophies. We see its agents, smiling and +nodding and ducking to attract attention, as gipsies make up to truant +boys, holding out tales for the nursery, and pretty pictures, and gilt +gingerbread, and physic concealed in jam, and sugar-plums for good +children. Who can but feel shame when the religion of Ximenes, Borromeo, +and Pascal, is so overlaid? Who can but feel sorrow, when its devout and +earnest defenders so mistake its genius and its capabilities? We +Englishmen like manliness, openness, consistency, truth. Rome will never +gain on us, till she learns these virtues, and uses them; and then she +_may_ gain us, but it will be by ceasing to be what we now mean by Rome, +by having a right, not to 'have dominion over our faith,' but to gain +and possess our affections in the bonds of the gospel. Till she ceases +to be what she practically is, a union is impossible between her and +England; but, if she does reform, (and who can presume to say that so +large a part of Christendom never can?) then it will be our Church's +duty at once to join in communion with the continental Churches, +whatever politicians at home may say to it, and whatever steps the civil +power may take in consequence. And though we may not live to see that +day, at least we are bound to pray for it; we are bound to pray for our +brethren that they and we may be led together into the pure light of the +gospel, and be one as we once were one. It was most touching news to be +told, as we were lately, that Christians on the Continent were praying +together for the spiritual well-being of England. May they gain light, +while they aim at unity, and grow in faith while they manifest their +love! We too have our duties to them; not of reviling, not of +slandering, not of hating, though political interests require it; but +the duty of loving brethren still more abundantly in spirit, whose +faces, for our sins and their sins, we are not allowed to see in the +flesh." + +No one ought to indulge in insinuations; it certainly diminishes my +right to complain of slanders uttered against myself, when, as in this +passage, I had already spoken in disparagement of the controversialists +of that religious body, to which I myself now belong. + + * * * * * + +I have thus put together, as well as I can, what has to be said about my +general state of mind from the autumn of 1839 to the summer of 1841; +and, having done so, I go on to narrate how my new misgivings affected +my conduct, and my relations towards the Anglican Church. + +When I got back to Oxford in October, 1839, after the visits which I had +been paying, it so happened, there had been, in my absence, occurrences +of an awkward character, compromising me both with my Bishop and also +with the authorities of the University; and this drew my attention at +once to the state of the Movement party there, and made me very anxious +for the future. In the spring of the year, as has been seen in the +Article analyzed above, I had spoken of the excesses which were to be +found among persons commonly included in it:--at that time I thought +little of such an evil, but the new views, which had come on me during +the Long Vacation, on the one hand made me comprehend it, and on the +other took away my power of effectually meeting it. A firm and powerful +control was necessary to keep men straight; I never had a strong wrist, +but at the very time, when it was most needed, the reins had broken in +my hands. With an anxious presentiment on my mind of the upshot of the +whole inquiry, which it was almost impossible for me to conceal from men +who saw me day by day, who heard my familiar conversation, who came +perhaps for the express purpose of pumping me, and having a categorical +_yes_ or _no_ to their questions,--how could I expect to say any thing +about my actual, positive, present belief, which would be sustaining or +consoling to such persons as were haunted already by doubts of their +own? Nay, how could I, with satisfaction to myself, analyze my own mind, +and say what I held and what I did not hold? or how could I say with +what limitations, shades of difference, or degrees of belief, I still +held that body of Anglican opinions which I had openly professed and +taught? how could I deny or assert this point or that, without injustice +to the new light, in which the whole evidence for those old opinions +presented itself to my mind? + +However, I had to do what I could, and what was best, under the +circumstances; I found a general talk on the subject of the Article in +the Dublin Review; and, if it had affected me, it was not wonderful, +that it affected others also. As to myself, I felt no kind of certainty +that the argument in it was conclusive. Taking it at the worst, granting +that the Anglican Church had not the Note of Catholicity; yet there were +many Notes of the Church. Some belonged to one age or place, some to +another. Bellarmine had reckoned Temporal Prosperity among the Notes of +the Church; but the Roman Church had not any great popularity, wealth, +glory, power, or prospects, in the nineteenth century. It was not at all +certain as yet, even that we had not the Note of Catholicity; but, if +not this, we had others. My first business then, was to examine this +question carefully, and see, whether a great deal could not be said +after all for the Anglican Church, in spite of its acknowledged +short-comings. This I did in an Article "on the Catholicity of the +English Church," which appeared in the British Critic of January, 1840. +As to my personal distress on the point, I think it had gone by February +21st in that year, for I wrote then to Mr. Bowden about the important +Article in the Dublin, thus: "It made a great impression here [Oxford]; +and, I say what of course I would only say to such as yourself, it made +me for a while very uncomfortable in my own mind. The great speciousness +of his argument is one of the things which have made me despond so +much," that is, as anticipating its effect upon others. + +But, secondly, the great stumbling-block lay in the 39 Articles. It was +urged that here was a positive Note _against_ Anglicanism:--Anglicanism +claimed to hold, that the Church of England was nothing else than a +continuation in this country, (as the Church of Rome might be in France +or Spain,) of that one Church of which in old times Athanasius and +Augustine were members. But, if so, the doctrine must be the same; the +doctrine of the Old Church must live and speak in Anglican formularies, +in the 39 Articles. Did it? Yes, it did; that is what I maintained; it +did in substance, in a true sense. Man had done his worst to disfigure, +to mutilate, the old Catholic Truth; but there it was, in spite of them, +in the Articles still. It was there,--but this must be shown. It was a +matter of life and death to us to show it. And I believed that it could +be shown; I considered that those grounds of justification, which I gave +above, when I was speaking of Tract 90, were sufficient for the purpose; +and therefore + +I set about showing it at once. This was in March, 1840, when I went up +to Littlemore. And, as it was a matter of life and death with us, all +risks must be run to show it. When the attempt was actually made, I had +got reconciled to the prospect of it, and had no apprehensions as to the +experiment; but in 1840, while my purpose was honest, and my grounds of +reason satisfactory, I did nevertheless recognize that I was engaged in +an _experimentum crucis_. I have no doubt that then I acknowledged to +myself that it would be a trial of the Anglican Church, which it had +never undergone before,--not that the Catholic sense of the Articles had +not been held or at least suffered by their framers and promulgators, +not that it was not implied in the teaching of Andrewes or Beveridge, +but that it had never been publicly recognized, while the interpretation +of the day was Protestant and exclusive. I observe also, that, though my +Tract was an experiment, it was, as I said at the time, "no _feeler_"; +the event showed this; for, when my principle was not granted, I did not +draw back, but gave up. I would not hold office in a Church which would +not allow my sense of the Articles. My tone was, "This is necessary for +us, and have it we must and will, and, if it tends to bring men to look +less bitterly on the Church of Rome, so much the better." + +This then was the second work to which I set myself; though when I got +to Littlemore, other things interfered to prevent my accomplishing it at +the moment. I had in mind to remove all such obstacles as lay in the way +of holding the Apostolic and Catholic character of the Anglican +teaching; to assert the right of all who chose, to say in the face of +day, "Our Church teaches the Primitive Ancient faith." I did not conceal +this: in Tract 90, it is put forward as the first principle of all, "It +is a duty which we owe both to the Catholic Church, and to our own, to +take our reformed confessions in the most Catholic sense they will +admit: we have no duties towards their framers." And still more +pointedly in my Letter, explanatory of the Tract, addressed to Dr. Jelf, +I say: "The only peculiarity of the view I advocate, if I must so call +it, is this--that whereas it is usual at this day to make the +_particular belief of their writers_ their true interpretation, I would +make the _belief of the Catholic Church such_. That is, as it is often +said that infants are regenerated in Baptism, not on the faith of their +parents, but of the Church, so in like manner I would say that the +Articles are received, not in the sense of their framers, but (as far as +the wording will admit or any ambiguity requires it) in the one Catholic +sense." + +A third measure which I distinctly contemplated, was the resignation of +St. Mary's, whatever became of the question of the 39 Articles; and as a +first step I meditated a retirement to Littlemore. Littlemore was an +integral part of St. Mary's Parish, and between two and three miles +distant from Oxford. I had built a Church there several years before; +and I went there to pass the Lent of 1840, and gave myself up to +teaching in the Parish School, and practising the choir. At the same +time, I had in view a monastic house there. I bought ten acres of ground +and began planting; but this great design was never carried out. I +mention it, because it shows how little I had really the idea at that +time of ever leaving the Anglican Church. That I contemplated as early +as 1839 the further step of giving up St. Mary's, appears from a letter +which I wrote in October, 1840, to Mr. Keble, the friend whom it was +most natural for me to consult on such a point. It ran as follows:-- + +"For a year past a feeling has been growing on me that I ought to give +up St. Mary's, but I am no fit judge in the matter. I cannot ascertain +accurately my own impressions and convictions, which are the basis of +the difficulty, and though you cannot of course do this for me, yet you +may help me generally, and perhaps supersede the necessity of my going +by them at all. + +"First, it is certain that I do not know my Oxford parishioners; I am +not conscious of influencing them, and certainly I have no insight into +their spiritual state. I have no personal, no pastoral acquaintance with +them. To very few have I any opportunity of saying a religious word. +Whatever influence I exert on them is precisely that which I may be +exerting on persons out of my parish. In my excuse I am accustomed to +say to myself that I am not adapted to get on with them, while others +are. On the other hand, I am conscious that by means of my position at +St. Mary's, I do exert a considerable influence on the University, +whether on Under-graduates or Graduates. It seems, then, on the whole +that I am using St. Mary's, to the neglect of its direct duties, for +objects not belonging to it; I am converting a parochial charge into a +sort of University office. + +"I think I may say truly that I have begun scarcely any plan but for the +sake of my parish, but every one has turned, independently of me, into +the direction of the University. I began Saints'-days Services, daily +Services, and Lectures in Adam de Brome's Chapel, for my parishioners; +but they have not come to them. In consequence I dropped the last +mentioned, having, while it lasted, been naturally led to direct it to +the instruction of those who did come, instead of those who did not. The +Weekly Communion, I believe, I did begin for the sake of the University. + +"Added to this the authorities of the University, the appointed +guardians of those who form great part of the attendants on my Sermons, +have shown a dislike of my preaching. One dissuades men from +coming;--the late Vice-Chancellor threatens to take his own children +away from the Church; and the present, having an opportunity last spring +of preaching in my parish pulpit, gets up and preaches against doctrine +with which I am in good measure identified. No plainer proof can be +given of the feeling in these quarters, than the absurd myth, now a +second time put forward, 'that Vice-Chancellors cannot be got to take +the office on account of Puseyism.' + +"But further than this, I cannot disguise from myself that my preaching +is not calculated to defend that system of religion which has been +received for 300 years, and of which the Heads of Houses are the +legitimate maintainers in this place. They exclude me, as far as may be, +from the University Pulpit; and, though I never have preached strong +doctrine in it, they do so rightly, so far as this, that they understand +that my sermons are calculated to undermine things established. I cannot +disguise from myself that they are. No one will deny that most of my +sermons are on moral subjects, not doctrinal; still I am leading my +hearers to the Primitive Church, if you will, but not to the Church of +England. Now, ought one to be disgusting the minds of young men with the +received religion, in the exercise of a sacred office, yet without a +commission, and against the wish of their guides and governors? + +"But this is not all. I fear I must allow that, whether I will or no, I +am disposing them towards Rome. First, because Rome is the only +representative of the Primitive Church besides ourselves; in proportion +then as they are loosened from the one, they will go to the other. Next, +because many doctrines which I have held have far greater, or their only +scope, in the Roman system. And, moreover, if, as is not unlikely, we +have in process of time heretical Bishops or teachers among us, an evil +which _ipso facto_ infects the whole community to which they belong, and +if, again (what there are at this moment symptoms of), there be a +movement in the English Roman Catholics to break the alliance of +O'Connell and of Exeter Hall, strong temptations will be placed in the +way of individuals, already imbued with a tone of thought congenial to +Rome, to join her Communion. + +"People tell me, on the other hand, that I am, whether by sermons or +otherwise, exerting at St. Mary's a beneficial influence on our +prospective clergy; but what if I take to myself the credit of seeing +further than they, and of having in the course of the last year +discovered that what they approve so much is very likely to end in +Romanism? + +"The _arguments_ which I have published against Romanism seem to myself +as cogent as ever, but men go by their sympathies, not by argument; and +if I feel the force of this influence myself, who bow to the arguments, +why may not others still more, who never have in the same degree +admitted the arguments? + +"Nor can I counteract the danger by preaching or writing against Rome. I +seem to myself almost to have shot my last arrow in the Article on +English Catholicity. It must be added, that the very circumstance that I +have committed myself against Rome has the effect of setting to sleep +people suspicious about me, which is painful now that I begin to have +suspicions about myself. I mentioned my general difficulty to Rogers a +year since, than whom I know no one of a more fine and accurate +conscience, and it was his spontaneous idea that I should give up St. +Mary's, if my feelings continued. I mentioned it again to him lately, +and he did not reverse his opinion, only expressed great reluctance to +believe it must be so." + +Mr. Keble's judgment was in favour of my retaining my living; at least +for the present; what weighed with me most was his saying, "You must +consider, whether your retiring either from the Pastoral Care only, or +from writing and printing and editing in the cause, would not be a sort +of scandalous thing, unless it were done very warily. It would be said, +'You see he can go on no longer with the Church of England, except in +mere Lay Communion;' or people might say you repented of the cause +altogether. Till you see [your way to mitigate, if not remove this evil] +I certainly should advise you to stay." I answered as follows:-- + +"Since you think I _may_ go on, it seems to follow that, under the +circumstances, I _ought_ to do so. There are plenty of reasons for it, +directly it is allowed to be lawful. The following considerations have +much reconciled my feelings to your conclusion. + +"1. I do not think that we have yet made fair trial how much the English +Church will bear. I know it is a hazardous experiment,--like proving +cannon. Yet we must not take it for granted that the metal will burst in +the operation. It has borne at various times, not to say at this time, a +great infusion of Catholic truth without damage. As to the result, viz. +whether this process will not approximate the whole English Church, as a +body, to Rome, that is nothing to us. For what we know, it may be the +providential means of uniting the whole Church in one, without fresh +schismatizing or use of private judgment." + +Here I observe, that, what was contemplated was the bursting of the +_Catholicity_ of the Anglican Church, that is, my _subjective idea_ of +that Church. Its bursting would not hurt her with the world, but would +be a discovery that she was purely and essentially Protestant, and would +be really the "hoisting of the engineer with his own petar." And this +was the result. I continue:-- + +"2. Say, that I move sympathies for Rome: in the same sense does Hooker, +Taylor, Bull, &c. Their _arguments_ may be against Rome, but the +sympathies they raise must be towards Rome, _so far_ as Rome maintains +truths which our Church does not teach or enforce. Thus it is a question +of _degree_ between our divines and me. I may, if so be, go further; I +may raise sympathies _more_; but I am but urging minds in the same +direction as they do. I am doing just the very thing which all our +doctors have ever been doing. In short, would not Hooker, if Vicar of +St. Mary's, be in my difficulty?"--Here it may be objected, that Hooker +could preach against Rome and I could not; but I doubt whether he could +have preached effectively against Transubstantiation better than I, +though neither he nor I held that doctrine. + +"3. Rationalism is the great evil of the day. May not I consider my post +at St. Mary's as a place of protest against it? I am more certain that +the Protestant [spirit], which I oppose, leads to infidelity, than that +which I recommend, leads to Rome. Who knows what the state of the +University may be, as regards Divinity Professors in a few years hence? +Any how, a great battle may be coming on, of which Milman's book is a +sort of earnest. The whole of _our_ day may be a battle with this +spirit. May we not leave to another age _its own_ evil,--to settle the +question of Romanism?" + +I may add that from this time I had a curate at St. Mary's, who +gradually took more and more of my work. + +Also, this same year, 1840, I made arrangements for giving up the +British Critic, in the following July, which were carried into effect at +that date. + + * * * * * + +Such was about my state of mind, on the publication of Tract 90 in +February 1841. I was indeed in prudence taking steps towards eventually +withdrawing from St. Mary's, and I was not confident about my permanent +adhesion to the Anglican creed; but I was in no actual perplexity or +trouble of mind. Nor did the immense commotion consequent upon the +publication of the Tract unsettle me again; for I fancied I had +weathered the storm, as far as the Bishops were concerned: the Tract had +not been condemned: that was the great point, and I made much of it. + +To illustrate my feelings during this trial, I will make extracts from +my letters addressed severally to Mr. Bowden and another friend, which +have come into my possession. + +1. March 15.--"The Heads, I believe, have just done a violent act: they +have said that my interpretation of the Articles is an _evasion_. Do not +think that this will pain me. You see, no _doctrine_ is censured, and my +shoulders shall manage to bear the charge. If you knew all, or were +here, you would see that I have asserted a great principle, and I +_ought_ to suffer for it:--that the Articles are to be interpreted, not +according to the meaning of the writers, but (as far as the wording will +admit) according to the sense of the Catholic Church." + +2. March 25.--"I do trust I shall make no false step, and hope my +friends will pray for me to this effect. If, as you say, a destiny hangs +over us, a single false step may ruin all. I am very well and +comfortable; but we are not yet out of the wood." + +3. April 1.--"The Bishop sent me word on Sunday to write a Letter to him +'_instanter_.' So I wrote it on Monday: on Tuesday it passed through the +press: on Wednesday it was out: and to-day [Thursday] it is in London. + +"I trust that things are smoothing now; and that we have made a _great +step_ is certain. It is not right to boast, till I am clear out of the +wood, i.e. till I know how the Letter is received in London. You know, I +suppose, that I am to stop the Tracts; but you will see in the Letter, +though I speak _quite_ what I feel, yet I have managed to take out on +_my_ side my snubbing's worth. And this makes me anxious how it will be +received in London. + +"I have not had a misgiving for five minutes from the first: but I do +not like to boast, lest some harm come." + +4. April 4.--"Your letter of this morning was an exceedingly great +gratification to me; and it is confirmed, I am thankful to say, by the +opinion of others. The Bishop sent me a message that my Letter had his +unqualified approbation; and since that, he has sent me a note to the +same effect, only going more into detail. It is most pleasant too to my +feelings, to have such a testimony to the substantial truth and +importance of No. 90, as I have had from so many of my friends, from +those who, from their cautious turn of mind, I was least sanguine about. +I have not had one misgiving myself about it throughout; and I do trust +that what has happened will be overruled to subserve the great cause we +all have at heart." + +5. May 9.--"The Bishops are very desirous of hushing the matter up: and +I certainly have done my utmost to co-operate with them, on the +understanding that the Tract is not to be withdrawn or condemned." + +Upon this occasion several Catholics wrote to me; I answered one of my +correspondents in the same tone:-- + +"April 8.--You have no cause to be surprised at the discontinuance of +the Tracts. We feel no misgivings about it whatever, as if the cause of +what we hold to be Catholic truth would suffer thereby. My letter to my +Bishop has, I trust, had the effect of bringing the preponderating +_authority_ of the Church on our side. No stopping of the Tracts can, +humanly speaking, stop the spread of the opinions which they have +inculcated. + +"The Tracts are not _suppressed_. No doctrine or principle has been +conceded by us, or condemned by authority. The Bishop has but said that +a certain Tract is 'objectionable,' no reason being stated, I have no +intention whatever of yielding any one point which I hold on conviction; +and that the authorities of the Church know full well." + + * * * * * + +In the summer of 1841, I found myself at Littlemore without any harass +or anxiety on my mind. I had determined to put aside all controversy, +and I set myself down to my translation of St. Athanasius; but, between +July and November, I received three blows which broke me. + +1. I had got but a little way in my work, when my trouble returned on +me. The ghost had come a second time. In the Arian History I found the +very same phenomenon, in a far bolder shape, which I had found in the +Monophysite. I had not observed it in 1832. Wonderful that this should +come upon me! I had not sought it out; I was reading and writing in my +own line of study, far from the controversies of the day, on what is +called a "metaphysical" subject; but I saw clearly, that in the history +of Arianism, the pure Arians were the Protestants, the semi-Arians were +the Anglicans, and that Rome now was what it was then. The truth lay, +not with the _Via Media_, but with what was called "the extreme party." +As I am not writing a work of controversy, I need not enlarge upon the +argument; I have said something on the subject in a Volume, from which I +have already quoted. + +2. I was in the misery of this new unsettlement, when a second blow came +upon me. The Bishops one after another began to charge against me. It +was a formal, determinate movement. This was the real "understanding;" +that, on which I had acted on the first appearance of Tract 90, had come +to nought. I think the words, which had then been used to me, were, that +"perhaps two or three of them might think it necessary to say something +in their charges;" but by this time they had tided over the difficulty +of the Tract, and there was no one to enforce the "understanding." They +went on in this way, directing charges at me, for three whole years. I +recognized it as a condemnation; it was the only one that was in their +power. At first I intended to protest; but I gave up the thought in +despair. + +On October 17th, I wrote thus to a friend: "I suppose it will be +necessary in some shape or other to re-assert Tract 90; else, it will +seem, after these Bishops' Charges, as if it were silenced, which it has +not been, nor do I intend it should be. I wish to keep quiet; but if +Bishops speak, I will speak too. If the view were silenced, I could not +remain in the Church, nor could many others; and therefore, since it is +_not_ silenced, I shall take care to show that it isn't." + +A day or two after, Oct. 22, a stranger wrote to me to say, that the +Tracts for the Times had made a young friend of his a Catholic, and to +ask, "would I be so good as to convert him back;" I made answer: + +"If conversions to Rome take place in consequence of the Tracts for the +Times, I do not impute blame to them, but to those who, instead of +acknowledging such Anglican principles of theology and ecclesiastical +polity as they contain, set themselves to oppose them. Whatever be the +influence of the Tracts, great or small, they may become just as +powerful for Rome, if our Church refuses them, as they would be for our +Church if she accepted them. If our rulers speak either against the +Tracts, or not at all, if any number of them, not only do not favour, +but even do not suffer the principles contained in them, it is plain +that our members may easily be persuaded either to give up those +principles, or to give up the Church. If this state of things goes on, I +mournfully prophesy, not one or two, but many secessions to the Church +of Rome." + +Two years afterwards, looking back on what had passed, I said, "There +were no converts to Rome, till after the condemnation of No. 90." + +3. As if all this were not enough, there came the affair of the +Jerusalem Bishopric; and, with a brief mention of it, I shall conclude. + +I think I am right in saying that it had been long a desire with the +Prussian Court to introduce Episcopacy into the new Evangelical +Religion, which was intended in that country to embrace both the +Lutheran and Calvinistic bodies. I almost think I heard of the project, +when I was at Rome in 1833, at the Hotel of the Prussian Minister, M. +Bunsen, who was most hospitable and kind, as to other English visitors, +so also to my friends and myself. The idea of Episcopacy, as the +Prussian king understood it, was, I suppose, very different from that +taught in the Tractarian School: but still, I suppose also, that the +chief authors of that school would have gladly seen such a measure +carried out in Prussia, had it been done without compromising those +principles which were necessary to the being of a Church. About the time +of the publication of Tract 90, M. Bunsen and the then Archbishop of +Canterbury were taking steps for its execution, by appointing and +consecrating a Bishop for Jerusalem. Jerusalem, it would seem, was +considered a safe place for the experiment; it was too far from Prussia +to awaken the susceptibilities of any party at home; if the project +failed, it failed without harm to any one; and, if it succeeded, it gave +Protestantism a _status_ in the East, which, in association with the +Monophysite or Jacobite and the Nestorian bodies, formed a political +instrument for England, parallel to that which Russia had in the Greek +Church, and France in the Latin. + +Accordingly, in July 1841, full of the Anglican difficulty on the +question of Catholicity, I thus spoke of the Jerusalem scheme in an +Article in the British Critic: "When our thoughts turn to the East, +instead of recollecting that there are Christian Churches there, we +leave it to the Russians to take care of the Greeks, and the French to +take care of the Romans, and we content ourselves with erecting a +Protestant Church at Jerusalem, or with helping the Jews to rebuild +their Temple there, or with becoming the august protectors of +Nestorians, Monophysites, and all the heretics we can hear of, or with +forming a league with the Mussulman against Greeks and Romans together." + +I do not pretend, so long after the time, to give a full or exact +account of this measure in detail. I will but say that in the Act of +Parliament, under date of October 5, 1841, (if the copy, from which I +quote, contains the measure as it passed the Houses,) provision is made +for the consecration of "British subjects, or the subjects or citizens +of any foreign state, to be Bishops in any foreign country, whether such +foreign subjects or citizens be or be not subjects or citizens of the +country in which they are to act, and ... without requiring such of them +as may be subjects or citizens of any foreign kingdom or state to take +the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and the oath of due obedience to +the Archbishop for the time being" ... also "that such Bishop or +Bishops, so consecrated, may exercise, within such limits, as may from +time to time be assigned for that purpose in such foreign countries by +her Majesty, spiritual jurisdiction over the ministers of British +congregations of the United Church of England and Ireland, and over +_such other Protestant_ Congregations, as may be desirous of placing +themselves under his or their authority." + +Now here, at the very time that the Anglican Bishops were directing +their censure upon me for avowing an approach to the Catholic Church not +closer than I believed the Anglican formularies would allow, they were +on the other hand, fraternizing, by their act or by their sufferance, +with Protestant bodies, and allowing them to put themselves under an +Anglican Bishop, without any renunciation of their errors or regard to +their due reception of baptism and confirmation; while there was great +reason to suppose that the said Bishop was intended to make converts +from the orthodox Greeks, and the schismatical Oriental bodies, by means +of the influence of England. This was the third blow, which finally +shattered my faith in the Anglican Church. That Church was not only +forbidding any sympathy or concurrence with the Church of Rome, but it +actually was courting an intercommunion with Protestant Prussia and the +heresy of the Orientals. The Anglican Church might have the Apostolical +succession, as had the Monophysites; but such acts as were in progress +led me to the gravest suspicion, not that it would soon cease to be a +Church, but that, since the 16th century, it had never been a Church all +along. + +On October 12th, I thus wrote to Mr. Bowden:--"We have not a single +Anglican in Jerusalem; so we are sending a Bishop to _make_ a communion, +not to govern our own people. Next, the excuse is, that there are +converted Anglican Jews there who require a Bishop; I am told there are +not half-a-dozen. But for _them_ the Bishop is sent out, and for them he +is a Bishop of the _circumcision_" (I think he was a converted Jew, who +boasted of his Jewish descent), "against the Epistle to the Galatians +pretty nearly. Thirdly, for the sake of Prussia, he is to take under him +all the foreign Protestants who will come; and the political advantages +will be so great, from the influence of England, that there is no doubt +they _will_ come. They are to sign the Confession of Augsburg, and there +is nothing to show that they hold the doctrine of Baptismal +Regeneration. + +"As to myself, I shall do nothing whatever publicly, unless indeed it +were to give my signature to a Protest; but I think it would be out of +place in _me_ to agitate, having been in a way silenced; but the +Archbishop is really doing most grave work, of which we cannot see the +end." + +I did make a solemn Protest, and sent it to the Archbishop of +Canterbury, and also sent it to my own Bishop with the following +letter:-- + +"It seems as if I were never to write to your Lordship, without giving +you pain, and I know that my present subject does not specially concern +your Lordship; yet, after a great deal of anxious thought, I lay before +you the enclosed Protest. + +"Your Lordship will observe that I am not asking for any notice of it, +unless you think that I ought to receive one. I do this very serious act +in obedience to my sense of duty. + +"If the English Church is to enter on a new course, and assume a new +aspect, it will be more pleasant to me hereafter to think, that I did +not suffer so grievous an event to happen, without bearing witness +against it. + +"May I be allowed to say, that I augur nothing but evil, if we in any +respect prejudice our title to be a branch of the Apostolic Church? That +Article of the Creed, I need hardly observe to your Lordship, is of such +constraining power, that, if _we_ will not claim it, and use it for +ourselves, _others_ will use it in their own behalf against us. Men who +learn whether by means of documents or measures, whether from the +statements or the acts of persons in authority, that our communion is +not a branch of the One Church, I foresee with much grief, will be +tempted to look out for that Church elsewhere. + +"It is to me a subject of great dismay, that, as far as the Church has +lately spoken out, on the subject of the opinions which I and others +hold, those opinions are, not merely not _sanctioned_ (for that I do not +ask), but not even _suffered_. + +"I earnestly hope that your Lordship will excuse my freedom in thus +speaking to you of some members of your Most Rev. and Right Rev. Body. +With every feeling of reverent attachment to your Lordship, + +"I am, &c." + +PROTEST. + +"Whereas the Church of England has a claim on the allegiance of Catholic +believers only on the ground of her own claim to be considered a branch +of the Catholic Church: + +"And whereas the recognition of heresy, indirect as well as direct, goes +far to destroy such claim in the case of any religious body: + +"And whereas to admit maintainers of heresy to communion, without formal +renunciation of their errors, goes far towards recognizing the same: + +"And whereas Lutheranism and Calvinism are heresies, repugnant to +Scripture, springing up three centuries since, and anathematized by East +as well as West: + +"And whereas it is reported that the Most Reverend Primate and other +Right Reverend Rulers of our Church have consecrated a Bishop with a +view to exercising spiritual jurisdiction over Protestant, that is, +Lutheran and Calvinist congregations in the East (under the provisions +of an Act made in the last session of Parliament to amend an Act made in +the 26th year of the reign of his Majesty King George the Third, +intituled, 'An Act to empower the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the +Archbishop of York for the time being, to consecrate to the office of +Bishop persons being subjects or citizens of countries out of his +Majesty's dominions'), dispensing at the same time, not in particular +cases and accidentally, but as if on principle and universally, with any +abjuration of error on the part of such congregations, and with any +reconciliation to the Church on the part of the presiding Bishop; +thereby giving some sort of formal recognition to the doctrines which +such congregations maintain: + +"And whereas the dioceses in England are connected together by so close +an intercommunion, that what is done by authority in one, immediately +affects the rest: + +"On these grounds, I in my place, being a priest of the English Church +and Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin's, Oxford, by way of relieving my +conscience, do hereby solemnly protest against the measure aforesaid, +and disown it, as removing our Church from her present ground and +tending to her disorganization. + +"John Henry Newman. + +"November 11, 1841." + + * * * * * + +Looking back two years afterwards on the above-mentioned and other acts, +on the part of Anglican Ecclesiastical authorities, I observed: "Many a +man might have held an abstract theory about the Catholic Church, to +which it was difficult to adjust the Anglican,--might have admitted a +suspicion, or even painful doubts about the latter,--yet never have been +impelled onwards, had our Rulers preserved the quiescence of former +years; but it is the corroboration of a present, living, and energetic +heterodoxy, that realizes and makes such doubts practical; it has been +the recent speeches and acts of authorities, who had so long been +tolerant of Protestant error, which has given to inquiry and to theory +its force and its edge." + +As to the project of a Jerusalem Bishopric, I never heard of any good or +harm it has ever done, except what it has done for me; which many think +a great misfortune, and I one of the greatest of mercies. It brought me +on to the beginning of the end. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HISTORY OF MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS FROM 1841 TO 1845. + + +§ 1. + +From the end of 1841, I was on my death-bed, as regards my membership +with the Anglican Church, though at the time I became aware of it only +by degrees. I introduce what I have to say with this remark, by way of +accounting for the character of this remaining portion of my narrative. +A death-bed has scarcely a history; it is a tedious decline, with +seasons of rallying and seasons of falling back; and since the end is +foreseen, or what is called a matter of time, it has little interest for +the reader, especially if he has a kind heart. Moreover, it is a season +when doors are closed and curtains drawn, and when the sick man neither +cares nor is able to record the stages of his malady. I was in these +circumstances, except so far as I was not allowed to die in +peace,--except so far as friends, who had still a full right to come in +upon me, and the public world which had not, have given a sort of +history to those last four years. But in consequence, my narrative must +be in great measure documentary, as I cannot rely on my memory, except +for definite particulars, positive or negative. Letters of mine to +friends since dead have come into my hands; others have been kindly lent +me for the occasion; and I have some drafts of others, and some notes +which I made, though I have no strictly personal or continuous memoranda +to consult, and have unluckily mislaid some valuable papers. + +And first as to my position in the view of duty; it was this:--1. I had +given up my place in the Movement in my letter to the Bishop of Oxford +in the spring of 1841; but 2. I could not give up my duties towards the +many and various minds who had more or less been brought into it by me; +3. I expected or intended gradually to fall back into Lay Communion; 4. +I never contemplated leaving the Church of England; 5. I could not hold +office in its service, if I were not allowed to hold the Catholic sense +of the Articles; 6. I could not go to Rome, while she suffered honours +to be paid to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints which I thought in my +conscience to be incompatible with the Supreme, Incommunicable Glory of +the One Infinite and Eternal; 7. I desired a union with Rome under +conditions, Church with Church; 8. I called Littlemore my Torres Vedras, +and thought that some day we might advance again within the Anglican +Church, as we had been forced to retire; 9. I kept back all persons who +were disposed to go to Rome with all my might. + +And I kept them back for three or four reasons; 1. because what I could +not in conscience do myself, I could not suffer them to do; 2. because I +thought that in various cases they were acting under excitement; 3. +because I had duties to my Bishop and to the Anglican Church; and 4, in +some cases, because I had received from their Anglican parents or +superiors direct charge of them. + +This was my view of my duty from the end of 1841, to my resignation of +St. Mary's in the autumn of 1843. And now I shall relate my view, during +that time, of the state of the controversy between the Churches. + + * * * * * + +As soon as I saw the hitch in the Anglican argument, during my course of +reading in the summer of 1839, I began to look about, as I have said, +for some ground which might supply a controversial basis for my need. +The difficulty in question had affected my view both of Antiquity and +Catholicity; for, while the history of St. Leo showed me that the +deliberate and eventual consent of the great body of the Church ratified +a doctrinal decision as a part of revealed truth, it also showed that +the rule of Antiquity was not infringed, though a doctrine had not been +publicly recognized as so revealed, till centuries after the time of the +Apostles. Thus, whereas the Creeds tell us that the Church is One, Holy, +Catholic, and Apostolic, I could not prove that the Anglican communion +was an integral part of the One Church, on the ground of its teaching +being Apostolic or Catholic, without reasoning in favour of what are +commonly called the Roman corruptions; and I could not defend our +separation from Rome and her faith without using arguments prejudicial +to those great doctrines concerning our Lord, which are the very +foundation of the Christian religion. The Via Media was an impossible +idea; it was what I had called "standing on one leg;" and it was +necessary, if my old issue of the controversy was to be retained, to go +further either one way or the other. + +Accordingly, I abandoned that old ground and took another. I +deliberately quitted the old Anglican ground as untenable; though I did +not do so all at once, but as I became more and more convinced of the +state of the case. The Jerusalem Bishopric was the ultimate condemnation +of the old theory of the Via Media:--if its establishment did nothing +else, at least it demolished the sacredness of diocesan rights. If +England could be in Palestine, Rome might be in England. But its bearing +upon the controversy, as I have shown in the foregoing chapter, was much +more serious than this technical ground. From that time the Anglican +Church was, in my mind, either not a normal portion of that One Church +to which the promises were made, or at least in an abnormal state; and +from that time I said boldly (as I did in my Protest, and as indeed I +had even intimated in my Letter to the Bishop of Oxford), that the +Church in which I found myself had no claim on me, except on condition +of its being a portion of the One Catholic Communion, and that that +condition must ever be borne in mind as a practical matter, and had to +be distinctly proved. All this is not inconsistent with my saying above +that, at this time, I had no thought of leaving the Church of England; +because I felt some of my old objections against Rome as strongly as +ever. I had no right, I had no leave, to act against my conscience. That +was a higher rule than any argument about the Notes of the Church. + +Under these circumstances I turned for protection to the Note of +Sanctity, with a view of showing that we had at least one of the +necessary Notes, as fully as the Church of Rome; or, at least, without +entering into comparisons, that we had it in such a sufficient sense as +to reconcile us to our position, and to supply full evidence, and a +clear direction, on the point of practical duty. We had the Note of +Life,--not any sort of life, not such only as can come of nature, but a +supernatural Christian life, which could only come directly from above. +Thus, in my Article in the British Critic, to which I have so often +referred, in January, 1840 (before the time of Tract 90), I said of the +Anglican Church that "she has the note of possession, the note of +freedom from party titles, the note of life,--a tough life and a +vigorous; she has ancient descent, unbroken continuance, agreement in +doctrine with the Ancient Church." Presently I go on to speak of +sanctity: "Much as Roman Catholics may denounce us at present as +schismatical, they could not resist us if the Anglican communion had but +that one note of the Church upon it,--sanctity. The Church of the day +[4th century] could not resist Meletius; his enemies were fairly +overcome by him, by his meekness and holiness, which melted the most +jealous of them." And I continue, "We are almost content to say to +Romanists, account us not yet as a branch of the Catholic Church, though +we be a branch, till we are like a branch, provided that when we do +become like a branch, then you consent to acknowledge us," &c. And so I +was led on in the Article to that sharp attack on English Catholics, for +their shortcomings as regards this Note, a good portion of which I have +already quoted in another place. It is there that I speak of the great +scandal which I took at their political, social, and controversial +bearing; and this was a second reason why I fell back upon the Note of +Sanctity, because it took me away from the necessity of making any +attack upon the doctrines of the Roman Church, nay, from the +consideration of her popular beliefs, and brought me upon a ground on +which I felt I could not make a mistake; for what is a higher guide for +us in speculation and in practice, than that conscience of right and +wrong, of truth and falsehood, those sentiments of what is decorous, +consistent, and noble, which our Creator has made a part of our original +nature? Therefore I felt I could not be wrong in attacking what I +fancied was a fact,--the unscrupulousness, the deceit, and the +intriguing spirit of the agents and representatives of Rome. + +This reference to Holiness as the true test of a Church was steadily +kept in view in what I wrote in connexion with Tract 90. I say in its +Introduction, "The writer can never be party to forcing the opinions or +projects of one school upon another; religious changes should be the act +of the whole body. No good can come of a change which is not a +development of feelings springing up freely and calmly within the bosom +of the whole body itself; every change in religion" must be "attended by +deep repentance; changes" must be "nurtured in mutual love; we cannot +agree without a supernatural influence;" we must come "together to God +to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves." In my Letter to the +Bishop I said, "I have set myself against suggestions for considering +the differences between ourselves and the foreign Churches with a view +to their adjustment." (I meant in the way of negotiation, conference, +agitation, or the like.) "Our business is with ourselves,--to make +ourselves more holy, more self-denying, more primitive, more worthy of +our high calling. To be anxious for a composition of differences is to +begin at the end. Political reconciliations are but outward and hollow, +and fallacious. And till Roman Catholics renounce political efforts, and +manifest in their public measures the light of holiness and truth, +perpetual war is our only prospect." + +According to this theory, a religious body is part of the One Catholic +and Apostolic Church, if it has the succession and the creed of the +Apostles, with the note of holiness of life; and there is much in such a +view to approve itself to the direct common sense and practical habits +of an Englishman. However, with the events consequent upon Tract 90, I +sunk my theory to a lower level. For what could be said in apology, when +the Bishops and the people of my Church, not only did not suffer, but +actually rejected primitive Catholic doctrine, and tried to eject from +their communion all who held it? after the Bishops' charges? after the +Jerusalem "abomination[8]?" Well, this could be said; still we were not +nothing: we could not be as if we never had been a Church; we were +"Samaria." This then was that lower level on which I placed myself, and +all who felt with me, at the end of 1841. + +[8] Matt. xxiv. 15. + +To bring out this view was the purpose of Four Sermons preached at St. +Mary's in December of that year. Hitherto I had not introduced the +exciting topics of the day into the Pulpit[9]; on this occasion I did. I +did so, for the moment was urgent; there was great unsettlement of mind +among us, in consequence of those same events which had unsettled me. +One special anxiety, very obvious, which was coming on me now, was, that +what was "one man's meat was another man's poison." I had said even of +Tract 90, "It was addressed to one set of persons, and has been used and +commented on by another;" still more was it true now, that whatever I +wrote for the service of those whom I knew to be in trouble of mind, +would become on the one hand matter of suspicion and slander in the +mouths of my opponents, and of distress and surprise to those on the +other hand, who had no difficulties of faith at all. Accordingly, when I +published these Four Sermons at the end of 1843, I introduced them with +a recommendation that none should read them who did not need them. But +in truth the virtual condemnation of Tract 90, after that the whole +difficulty seemed to have been weathered, was an enormous disappointment +and trial. My Protest also against the Jerusalem Bishopric was an +unavoidable cause of excitement in the case of many; but it calmed them +too, for the very fact of a Protest was a relief to their impatience. +And so, in like manner, as regards the Four Sermons, of which I speak, +though they acknowledged freely the great scandal which was involved in +the recent episcopal doings, yet at the same time they might be said to +bestow upon the multiplied disorders and shortcomings of the Anglican +Church a sort of place in the Revealed Dispensation, and an intellectual +position in the controversy, and the dignity of a great principle, for +unsettled minds to take and use,--a principle which might teach them to +recognize their own consistency, and to be reconciled to themselves, and +which might absorb and dry up a multitude of their grudgings, +discontents, misgivings, and questionings, and lead the way to humble, +thankful, and tranquil thoughts;--and this was the effect which +certainly it produced on myself. + +[9] Vide Note C. _Sermon on Wisdom and Innocence._ + +The point of these Sermons is, that, in spite of the rigid character of +the Jewish law, the formal and literal force of its precepts, and the +manifest schism, and worse than schism, of the Ten Tribes, yet in fact +they were still recognized as a people by the Divine Mercy; that the +great prophets Elias and Eliseus were sent to them; and not only so, but +were sent to preach to them and reclaim them, without any intimation +that they must be reconciled to the line of David and the Aaronic +priesthood, or go up to Jerusalem to worship. They were not in the +Church, yet they had the means of grace and the hope of acceptance with +their Maker. The application of all this to the Anglican Church was +immediate;--whether, under the circumstances, a man could assume or +exercise ministerial functions, or not, might not clearly appear (though +it must be remembered that England had the Apostolic Priesthood, whereas +Israel had no priesthood at all), but so far was clear, that there was +no call at all for an Anglican to leave his Church for Rome, though he +did not believe his own to be part of the One Church:--and for this +reason, because it was a fact that the kingdom of Israel was cut off +from the Temple; and yet its subjects, neither in a mass, nor as +individuals, neither the multitudes on Mount Carmel, nor the Shunammite +and her household, had any command given them, though miracles were +displayed before them, to break off from their own people, and to submit +themselves to Judah[10]. + +[10] As I am not writing controversially, I will only here remark upon +this argument, that there is a great difference between a command, which +presupposes physical, material, and political conditions, and one which +is moral. To go to Jerusalem was a matter of the body, not of the soul. + +It is plain, that a theory such as this,--whether the marks of a divine +presence and life in the Anglican Church were sufficient to prove that +she was actually within the covenant, or only sufficient to prove that +she was at least enjoying extraordinary and uncovenanted mercies,--not +only lowered her level in a religious point of view, but weakened her +controversial basis. Its very novelty made it suspicious; and there was +no guarantee that the process of subsidence might not continue, and that +it might not end in a submersion. Indeed, to many minds, to say that +England was wrong was even to say that Rome was right; and no ethical or +casuistic reasoning whatever could overcome in their case the argument +from prescription and authority. To this objection, as made to my new +teaching, I could only answer that I did not make my circumstances. I +fully acknowledged the force and effectiveness of the genuine Anglican +theory, and that it was all but proof against the disputants of Rome; +but still like Achilles, it had a vulnerable point, and that St. Leo had +found it out for me, and that I could not help it;--that, were it not +for matter of fact, the theory would be great indeed; it would be +irresistible, if it were only true. When I became a Catholic, the Editor +of the Christian Observer, Mr. Wilkes, who had in former days accused +me, to my indignation, of tending towards Rome, wrote to me to ask, +which of the two was now right, he or I? I answered him in a letter, +part of which I here insert, as it will serve as a sort of leave-taking +of the great theory, which is so specious to look upon, so difficult to +prove, and so hopeless to work. + +"Nov. 8, 1845. I do not think, at all more than I did, that the Anglican +principles which I advocated at the date you mention, lead men to the +Church of Rome. If I must specify what I mean by 'Anglican principles,' +I should say, e.g. taking _Antiquity_, not the _existing Church_, as the +oracle of truth; and holding that the _Apostolical Succession_ is a +sufficient guarantee of Sacramental Grace, _without union with the +Christian Church throughout the world_. I think these still the firmest, +strongest ground against Rome--that is, _if they can be held_" [as +truths or facts.] "They _have_ been held by many, and are far more +difficult to refute in the Roman controversy, than those of any other +religious body. + +"For myself, I found _I could not_ hold them. I left them. From the time +I began to suspect their unsoundness, I ceased to put them forward. When +I was fairly sure of their unsoundness, I gave up my Living. When I was +fully confident that the Church of Rome was the only true Church, I +joined her. + +"I have felt all along that Bp. Bull's theology was the only theology on +which the English Church could stand. I have felt, that opposition to +the Church of Rome was _part_ of that theology; and that he who could +not protest against the Church of Rome was no true divine in the English +Church. I have never said, nor attempted to say, that any one in office +in the English Church, whether Bishop or incumbent, could be otherwise +than in hostility to the Church of Rome." + + * * * * * + +The _Via Media_ then disappeared for ever, and a Theory, made expressly +for the occasion, took its place. I was pleased with my new view. I +wrote to an intimate friend, Samuel F. Wood, Dec. 13, 1841: "I think you +will give me the credit, Carissime, of not undervaluing the strength of +the feelings which draw one [to Rome], and yet I am (I trust) quite +clear about my duty to remain where I am; indeed, much clearer than I +was some time since. If it is not presumptuous to say, I have ... a much +more definite view of the promised inward Presence of Christ with us in +the Sacraments now that the outward notes of it are being removed. And I +am content to be with Moses in the desert, or with Elijah excommunicated +from the Temple. I say this, putting things at the strongest." + +However, my friends of the moderate Apostolical party, who were my +friends for the very reason of my having been so moderate and Anglican +myself in general tone in times past, who had stood up for Tract 90 +partly from faith in me, and certainly from generous and kind feeling, +and had thereby shared an obloquy which was none of theirs, were +naturally surprised and offended at a line of argument, novel, and, as +it appeared to them, wanton, which threw the whole controversy into +confusion, stultified my former principles, and substituted, as they +would consider, a sort of methodistic self-contemplation, especially +abhorrent both to my nature and to my past professions, for the plain +and honest tokens, as they were commonly received, of a divine mission +in the Anglican Church. They could not tell whither I was going; and +were still further annoyed when I persisted in viewing the condemnation +of Tract 90 by the public and the Bishops as so grave a matter, and when +I threw about what they considered mysterious hints of "eventualities," +and would not simply say, "An Anglican I was born, and an Anglican I +will die." One of my familiar friends, Mr. Church, who was in the +country at Christmas, 1841-2, reported to me the feeling that prevailed +about me; and how I felt towards it will appear in the following letter +of mine, written in answer:-- + +"Oriel, Dec. 24, 1841. Carissime, you cannot tell how sad your account +of Moberly has made me. His view of the sinfulness of the decrees of +Trent is as much against union of Churches as against individual +conversions. To tell the truth, I never have examined those decrees with +this object, and have no view; but that is very different from having a +deliberate view against them. Could not he say _which_ they are? I +suppose Transubstantiation is one. Charles Marriott, though of course he +would not like to have it repeated[11], does not scruple at that. I have +not my mind clear. Moberly must recollect that Palmer [of Worcester] +thinks they all bear a Catholic interpretation. For myself, this only I +see, that there is indefinitely more in the Fathers against our own +state of alienation from Christendom than against the Tridentine +Decrees. + +"The only thing I can think of," [that I can have said of a startling +character,] "is this, that there were persons who, if our Church +committed herself to heresy, _sooner_ than think that there was no +Church any where, would believe the Roman to be the Church; and +therefore would on faith accept what they could not otherwise acquiesce +in. I suppose, it would be no relief to him to insist upon the +circumstance that there is no immediate danger. Individuals can never be +answered for of course; but I should think lightly of that man, who, for +some act of the Bishops, should all at once leave the Church. Now, +considering how the Clergy really are improving, considering that this +row is even making them read the Tracts, is it not possible we may all +be in a better state of mind seven years hence to consider these +matters? and may we not leave them meanwhile to the will of Providence? +I _cannot_ believe this work has been of man; God has a right to His own +work, to do what He will with it. May we not try to leave it in His +hands, and be content? + +"If you learn any thing about Barter, which leads you to think that I +can relieve him by a letter, let me know. The truth is this,--our good +friends do not read the Fathers; they assent to us from the common sense +of the case: then, when the Fathers, and we, say _more_ than their +common sense, they are dreadfully shocked. + +"The Bishop of London has rejected a man, 1. For holding _any_ Sacrifice +in the Eucharist. 2. The Real Presence. 3. That there is a grace in +Ordination[12]. + +"Are we quite sure that the Bishops will not be drawing up some +stringent declarations of faith? Is this what Moberly fears? Would the +Bishop of Oxford accept them? If so, I should be driven into the Refuge +for the Destitute [Littlemore]. But I promise Moberly, I would do my +utmost to catch all dangerous persons and clap them into confinement +there." + +[11] As things stand now, I do not think he would have objected to his +opinion being generally known. + +[12] I cannot prove this at this distance of time; but I do not think it +wrong to introduce here the passage containing it, as I am imputing to +the Bishop nothing which the world would think disgraceful, but, on the +contrary, what a large religious body would approve. + +Christmas Bay, 1841. "I have been dreaming of Moberly all night. Should +not he and the like see, that it is unwise, unfair, and impatient to ask +others, What will you do under circumstances, which have not, which may +never come? Why bring fear, suspicion, and disunion into the camp about +things which are merely _in posse_? Natural, and exceedingly kind as +Barter's and another friend's letters were, I think they have done great +harm. I speak most sincerely when I say, that there are things which I +neither contemplate, nor wish to contemplate; but, when I am asked about +them ten times, at length I begin to contemplate them. + +"He surely does not mean to say, that _nothing_ could separate a man +from the English Church, e.g. its avowing Socinianism; its holding the +Holy Eucharist in a Socinian sense. Yet, he would say, it was not +_right_ to contemplate such things. + +"Again, our case is [diverging] from that of Ken's. To say nothing of +the last miserable century, which has given us to _start_ from a much +lower level and with much less to _spare_ than a Churchman in the 17th +century, questions of _doctrine_ are now coming in; with him, it was a +question of discipline. + +"If such dreadful events were realized, I cannot help thinking we should +all be vastly more agreed than we think now. Indeed, is it possible +(humanly speaking) that those, who have so much the same heart, should +widely differ? But let this be considered, as to alternatives. _What_ +communion could we join? Could the Scotch or American sanction the +presence of its Bishops and congregations in England, without incurring +the imputation of schism, unless indeed (and is that likely?) they +denounced the English as heretical? + +"Is not this a time of strange providences? is it not our safest course, +without looking to consequences, to do simply _what we think right_ day +by day? shall we not be sure to go wrong, if we attempt to trace by +anticipation the course of divine Providence? + +"Has not all our misery, as a Church, arisen from people being afraid to +look difficulties in the face? They have palliated acts, when they +should have denounced them. There is that good fellow, Worcester Palmer, +can whitewash the Ecclesiastical Commission and the Jerusalem Bishopric. +And what is the consequence? that our Church has, through centuries, +ever been sinking lower and lower, till good part of its pretensions and +professions is a mere sham, though it be a duty to make the best of what +we have received. Yet, though bound to make the best of other men's +shams, let us not incur any of our own. The truest friends of our Church +are they, who say boldly when her rulers are going wrong, and the +consequences; and (to speak catachrestically) _they_ are most likely to +die in the Church, who are, under these black circumstances, most +prepared to leave it. + +"And I will add, that, considering the traces of God's grace which +surround us, I am very sanguine, or rather confident, (if it is right so +to speak,) that our prayers and our alms will come up as a memorial +before God, and that all this miserable confusion tends to good. + +"Let us not then be anxious, and anticipate differences in prospect, +when we agree in the present. + +"P.S. I think when friends" [i.e. the extreme party] "get over their +first unsettlement of mind and consequent vague apprehensions, which the +new attitude of the Bishops, and our feelings upon it, have brought +about, they will get contented and satisfied. They will see that they +exaggerated things.... Of course it would have been wrong to anticipate +what one's feelings would be under such a painful contingency as the +Bishops' charging as they have done,--so it seems to me nobody's fault. +Nor is it wonderful that others" [moderate men] "are startled" [i.e. at +my Protest, &c. &c.]; "yet they should recollect that the more implicit +the reverence one pays to a Bishop, the more keen will be one's +perception of heresy in him. The cord is binding and compelling, till it +snaps. + +"Men of reflection would have seen this, if they had looked that way. +Last spring, a very high churchman talked to me of resisting my Bishop, +of asking him for the Canons under which he acted, and so forth; but +those, who have cultivated a loyal feeling towards their superiors, are +the most loving servants, or the most zealous protestors. If others +became so too, if the clergy of Chester denounced the heresy of their +diocesan, they would be doing their duty, and relieving themselves of +the share which they otherwise have in any possible defection of their +brethren. + +"St. Stephen's [Day, December 26]. How I fidget! I now fear that the +note I wrote yesterday only makes matters worse by _disclosing_ too +much. This is always my great difficulty. + +"In the present state of excitement on both sides, I think of leaving +out altogether my reassertion of No. 90 in my Preface to Volume 6 [of +Parochial Sermons], and merely saying, 'As many false reports are at +this time in circulation about him, he hopes his well-wishers will take +this Volume as an indication of his real thoughts and feelings: those +who are not, he leaves in God's hand to bring them to a better mind in +His own time.' What do you say to the logic, sentiment, and propriety of +this?" + +An old friend, at a distance from Oxford, Archdeacon Robert I. +Wilberforce, must have said something to me at this time, I do not know +what, which challenged a frank reply; for I disclosed to him, I do not +know in what words, my frightful suspicion, hitherto only known to two +persons, viz. his brother Henry and Mr. Frederic Rogers,[13] that, as +regards my Anglicanism, perhaps I might break down in the event,--that +perhaps we were both out of the Church. I think I recollect expressing +my difficulty, as derived from the Arian and Monophysite history, in a +form in which it would be most intelligible to him, as being in fact an +admission of Bishop Bull's; viz. that in the controversies of the early +centuries the Roman Church was ever on the right side, which was of +course a _primâ facie_ argument in favour of Rome and against +Anglicanism now. He answered me thus, under date of Jan. 29, 1842: "I +don't think that I ever was so shocked by any communication, which was +ever made to me, as by your letter of this morning. It has quite +unnerved me.... I cannot but write to you, though I am at a loss where +to begin.... I know of no act by which we have dissevered ourselves from +the communion of the Church Universal.... The more I study Scripture, +the more am I impressed with the resemblance between the Romish +principle in the Church and the Babylon of St. John.... I am ready to +grieve that I ever directed my thoughts to theology, if it is indeed so +uncertain, as your doubts seem to indicate." + +[13] Now Lord Blachford. + +While my old and true friends were thus in trouble about me, I suppose +they felt not only anxiety but pain, to see that I was gradually +surrendering myself to the influence of others, who had not their own +claims upon me, younger men, and of a cast of mind in no small degree +uncongenial to my own. A new school of thought was rising, as is usual +in doctrinal inquiries, and was sweeping the original party of the +Movement aside, and was taking its place. The most prominent person in +it, was a man of elegant genius, of classical mind, of rare talent in +literary composition:--Mr. Oakeley. He was not far from my own age; I +had long known him, though of late years he had not been in residence at +Oxford; and quite lately, he has been taking several signal occasions of +renewing that kindness, which he ever showed towards me when we were +both in the Anglican Church. His tone of mind was not unlike that which +gave a character to the early Movement; he was almost a typical Oxford +man, and, as far as I recollect, both in political and ecclesiastical +views, would have been of one spirit with the Oriel party of 1826-1833. +But he had entered late into the Movement; he did not know its first +years; and, beginning with a new start, he was naturally thrown together +with that body of eager, acute, resolute minds who had begun their +Catholic life about the same time as he, who knew nothing about the _Via +Media_, but had heard much about Rome. This new party rapidly formed and +increased, in and out of Oxford, and, as it so happened, +contemporaneously with that very summer, when I received so serious a +blow to my ecclesiastical views from the study of the Monophysite +controversy. These men cut into the original Movement at an angle, fell +across its line of thought, and then set about turning that line in its +own direction. They were most of them keenly religious men, with a true +concern for their souls as the first matter of all, with a great zeal +for me, but giving little certainty at the time as to which way they +would ultimately turn. Some in the event have remained firm to +Anglicanism, some have become Catholics, and some have found a refuge in +Liberalism. Nothing was clearer concerning them, than that they needed +to be kept in order; and on me who had had so much to do with the making +of them, that duty was as clearly incumbent; and it is equally clear, +from what I have already said, that I was just the person, above all +others, who could not undertake it. There are no friends like old +friends; but of those old friends, few could help me, few could +understand me, many were annoyed with me, some were angry, because I was +breaking up a compact party, and some, as a matter of conscience, could +not listen to me. When I looked round for those whom I might consult in +my difficulties, I found the very hypothesis of those difficulties +acting as a bar to their giving me their advice. Then I said, bitterly, +"You are throwing me on others, whether I will or no." Yet still I had +good and true friends around me of the old sort, in and out of Oxford +too, who were a great help to me. But on the other hand, though I +neither was so fond (with a few exceptions) of the persons, nor of the +methods of thought, which belonged to this new school, as of the old +set, though I could not trust in their firmness of purpose, for, like a +swarm of flies, they might come and go, and at length be divided and +dissipated, yet I had an intense sympathy in their object and in the +direction in which their path lay, in spite of my old friends, in spite +of my old life-long prejudices. In spite of my ingrained fears of Rome, +and the decision of my reason and conscience against her usages, in +spite of my affection for Oxford and Oriel, yet I had a secret longing +love of Rome the Mother of English Christianity, and I had a true +devotion to the Blessed Virgin, in whose College I lived, whose Altar I +served, and whose Immaculate Purity I had in one of my earliest printed +Sermons made much of. And it was the consciousness of this bias in +myself, if it is so to be called, which made me preach so earnestly +against the danger of being swayed in religious inquiry by our sympathy +rather than by our reason. And moreover, the members of this new school +looked up to me, as I have said, and did me true kindnesses, and really +loved me, and stood by me in trouble, when others went away, and for all +this I was grateful; nay, many of them were in trouble themselves, and +in the same boat with me, and that was a further cause of sympathy +between us; and hence it was, when the new school came on in force, and +into collision with the old, I had not the heart, any more than the +power, to repel them; I was in great perplexity, and hardly knew where I +stood; I took their part; and, when I wanted to be in peace and silence, +I had to speak out, and I incurred the charge of weakness from some men, +and of mysteriousness, shuffling, and underhand dealing from the +majority. + + * * * * * + +Now I will say here frankly, that this sort of charge is a matter which +I cannot properly meet, because I cannot duly realize it. I have never +had any suspicion of my own honesty; and, when men say that I was +dishonest, I cannot grasp the accusation as a distinct conception, such +as it is possible to encounter. If a man said to me, "On such a day and +before such persons you said a thing was white, when it was black," I +understand what is meant well enough, and I can set myself to prove an +_alibi_ or to explain the mistake; or if a man said to me, "You tried to +gain me over to your party, intending to take me with you to Rome, but +you did not succeed," I can give him the lie, and lay down an assertion +of my own as firm and as exact as his, that not from the time that I was +first unsettled, did I ever attempt to gain any one over to myself or to +my Romanizing opinions, and that it is only his own coxcombical fancy +which has bred such a thought in him: but my imagination is at a loss in +presence of those vague charges, which have commonly been brought +against me, charges, which are made up of impressions, and +understandings, and inferences, and hearsay, and surmises. Accordingly, +I shall not make the attempt, for, in doing so, I should be dealing +blows in the air; what I shall attempt is to state what I know of myself +and what I recollect, and leave to others its application. + +While I had confidence in the _Via Media_, and thought that nothing +could overset it, I did not mind laying down large principles, which I +saw would go further than was commonly perceived. I considered that to +make the _Via Media_ concrete and substantive, it must be much more than +it was in outline; that the Anglican Church must have a ceremonial, a +ritual, and a fulness of doctrine and devotion, which it had not at +present, if it were to compete with the Roman Church with any prospect +of success. Such additions would not remove it from its proper basis, +but would merely strengthen and beautify it: such, for instance, would +be confraternities, particular devotions, reverence for the Blessed +Virgin, prayers for the dead, beautiful churches, munificent offerings +to them and in them, monastic houses, and many other observances and +institutions, which I used to say belonged to us as much as to Rome, +though Rome had appropriated them and boasted of them, by reason of our +having let them slip from us. The principle, on which all this turned, +is brought out in one of the Letters I published on occasion of Tract +90. "The age is moving," I said, "towards something; and most unhappily +the one religious communion among us, which has of late years been +practically in possession of this something, is the Church of Rome. She +alone, amid all the errors and evils of her practical system, has given +free scope to the feelings of awe, mystery, tenderness, reverence, +devotedness, and other feelings which may be especially called Catholic. +The question then is, whether we shall give them up to the Roman Church +or claim them for ourselves.... But if we do give them up, we must give +up the men who cherish them. We must consent either to give up the men, +or to admit their principles." With these feelings I frankly admit, +that, while I was working simply for the sake of the Anglican Church, I +did not at all mind, though I found myself laying down principles in its +defence, which went beyond that particular kind of defence which +high-and-dry men thought perfection, and even though I ended in framing +a kind of defence, which they might call a revolution, while I thought +it a restoration. Thus, for illustration, I might discourse upon the +"Communion of Saints" in such a manner, (though I do not recollect doing +so,) as might lead the way towards devotion to the Blessed Virgin and +the Saints on the one hand, and towards prayers for the dead on the +other. In a memorandum of the year 1844 or 1845, I thus speak on this +subject: "If the Church be not defended on establishment grounds, it +must be upon principles, which go far beyond their immediate object. +Sometimes I saw these further results, sometimes not. Though I saw them, +I sometimes did not say that I saw them:--so long as I thought they were +inconsistent, _not_ with our Church, but only with the existing +opinions, I was not unwilling to insinuate truths into our Church, which +I thought had a right to be there." + +To so much I confess; but I do not confess, I simply deny that I ever +said any thing which secretly bore against the Church of England, +knowing it myself, in order that others might unwarily accept it. It was +indeed one of my great difficulties and causes of reserve, as time went +on, that I at length recognized in principles which I had honestly +preached as if Anglican, conclusions favourable to the cause of Rome. Of +course I did not like to confess this; and, when interrogated, was in +consequence in perplexity. The prime instance of this was the appeal to +Antiquity; St. Leo had overset, in my own judgment, its force as the +special argument for Anglicanism; yet I was committed to Antiquity, +together with the whole Anglican school; what then was I to say, when +acute minds urged this or that application of it against the _Via +Media_? it was impossible that, in such circumstances, any answer could +be given which was not unsatisfactory, or any behaviour adopted which +was not mysterious. Again, sometimes in what I wrote I went just as far +as I saw, and could as little say more, as I could see what is below the +horizon; and therefore, when asked as to the consequences of what I had +said, I had no answer to give. Again, sometimes when I was asked, +whether certain conclusions did not follow from a certain principle, I +might not be able to tell at the moment, especially if the matter were +complicated; and for this reason, if for no other, because there is +great difference between a conclusion in the abstract and a conclusion +in the concrete, and because a conclusion may be modified in fact by a +conclusion from some opposite principle. Or it might so happen that my +head got simply confused, by the very strength of the logic which was +administered to me, and thus I gave my sanction to conclusions which +really were not mine; and when the report of those conclusions came +round to me through others, I had to unsay them. And then again, perhaps +I did not like to see men scared or scandalized by unfeeling logical +inferences, which would not have troubled them to the day of their +death, had they not been forced to recognize them. And then I felt +altogether the force of the maxim of St. Ambrose, "Non in dialecticâ +complacuit Deo salvum facere populum suum;"--I had a great dislike of +paper logic. For myself, it was not logic that carried me on; as well +might one say that the quicksilver in the barometer changes the weather. +It is the concrete being that reasons; pass a number of years, and I +find my mind in a new place; how? the whole man moves; paper logic is +but the record of it. All the logic in the world would not have made me +move faster towards Rome than I did; as well might you say that I have +arrived at the end of my journey, because I see the village church +before me, as venture to assert that the miles, over which my soul had +to pass before it got to Rome, could be annihilated, even though I had +been in possession of some far clearer view than I then had, that Rome +was my ultimate destination. Great acts take time. At least this is what +I felt in my own case; and therefore to come to me with methods of logic +had in it the nature of a provocation, and, though I do not think I ever +showed it, made me somewhat indifferent how I met them, and perhaps led +me, as a means of relieving my impatience, to be mysterious or +irrelevant, or to give in because I could not meet them to my +satisfaction. And a greater trouble still than these logical mazes, was +the introduction of logic into every subject whatever, so far, that is, +as this was done. Before I was at Oriel, I recollect an acquaintance +saying to me that "the Oriel Common Room stank of Logic." One is not at +all pleased when poetry, or eloquence, or devotion, is considered as if +chiefly intended to feed syllogisms. Now, in saying all this, I am +saying nothing against the deep piety and earnestness which were +characteristics of this second phase of the Movement, in which I had +taken so prominent a part. What I have been observing is, that this +phase had a tendency to bewilder and to upset me; and, that, instead of +saying so, as I ought to have done, perhaps from a sort of laziness I +gave answers at random, which have led to my appearing close or +inconsistent. + +I have turned up two letters of this period, which in a measure +illustrate what I have been saying. The first was written to the Bishop +of Oxford on occasion of Tract 90: + +"March 20, 1841. No one can enter into my situation but myself. I see a +great many minds working in various directions and a variety of +principles with multiplied bearings; I act for the best. I sincerely +think that matters would not have gone better for the Church, had I +never written. And if I write I have a choice of difficulties. It is +easy for those who do not enter into those difficulties to say, 'He +ought to say this and not say that,' but things are wonderfully linked +together, and I cannot, or rather I would not be dishonest. When persons +too interrogate me, I am obliged in many cases to give an opinion, or I +seem to be underhand. Keeping silence looks like artifice. And I do not +like people to consult or respect me, from thinking differently of my +opinions from what I know them to be. And again (to use the proverb) +what is one man's food is another man's poison. All these things make my +situation very difficult. But that collision must at some time ensue +between members of the Church of opposite sentiments, I have long been +aware. The time and mode has been in the hand of Providence; I do not +mean to exclude my own great imperfections in bringing it about; yet I +still feel obliged to think the Tract necessary." + +The second is taken from the notes of a letter which I sent to Dr. Pusey +in the next year: + +"October 16, 1842. As to my being entirely with Ward, I do not know the +limits of my own opinions. If Ward says that this or that is a +development from what I have said, I cannot say Yes or No. It is +plausible, it _may_ be true. Of course the fact that the Roman Church +_has_ so developed and maintained, adds great weight to the antecedent +plausibility. I cannot assert that it is not true; but I cannot, with +that keen perception which some people have, appropriate it. It is a +nuisance to me to be _forced_ beyond what I can fairly accept." + + * * * * * + +There was another source of the perplexity with which at this time I was +encompassed, and of the reserve and mysteriousness, of which that +perplexity gained for me the credit. After Tract 90 the Protestant world +would not let me alone; they pursued me in the public journals to +Littlemore. Reports of all kinds were circulated about me. "Imprimis, +why did I go up to Littlemore at all? For no good purpose certainly; I +dared not tell why." Why, to be sure, it was hard that I should be +obliged to say to the Editors of newspapers that I went up there to say +my prayers; it was hard to have to tell the world in confidence, that I +had a certain doubt about the Anglican system, and could not at that +moment resolve it, or say what would come of it; it was hard to have to +confess that I had thought of giving up my Living a year or two before, +and that this was a first step to it. It was hard to have to plead, +that, for what I knew, my doubts would vanish, if the newspapers would +be so good as to give me time and let me alone. Who would ever dream of +making the world his confidant? yet I was considered insidious, sly, +dishonest, if I would not open my heart to the tender mercies of the +world. But they persisted: "What was I doing at Littlemore?" Doing +there! have I not retreated from you? have I not given up my position +and my place? am I alone, of Englishmen, not to have the privilege to go +where I will, no questions asked? am I alone to be followed about by +jealous prying eyes, which take note whether I go in at a back door or +at the front, and who the men are who happen to call on me in the +afternoon? Cowards! if I advanced one step, you would run away; it is +not you that I fear: "Di me terrent, et Jupiter hostis." It is because +the Bishops still go on charging against me, though I have quite given +up: it is that secret misgiving of heart which tells me that they do +well, for I have neither lot nor part with them: this it is which weighs +me down. I cannot walk into or out of my house, but curious eyes are +upon me. Why will you not let me die in peace? Wounded brutes creep into +some hole to die in, and no one grudges it them. Let me alone, I shall +not trouble you long. This was the keen feeling which pierced me, and, I +think, these are the very words in which I expressed it to myself. I +asked, in the words of a great motto, "Ubi lapsus? quid feci?" One day +when I entered my house, I found a flight of Under-graduates inside. +Heads of Houses, as mounted patrols, walked their horses round those +poor cottages. Doctors of Divinity dived into the hidden recesses of +that private tenement uninvited, and drew domestic conclusions from what +they saw there. I had thought that an Englishman's house was his castle; +but the newspapers thought otherwise, and at last the matter came before +my good Bishop. I insert his letter, and a portion of my reply to him:-- + +"April 12, 1842. So many of the charges against yourself and your +friends which I have seen in the public journals have been, within my +own knowledge, false and calumnious, that I am not apt to pay much +attention, to what is asserted with respect to you in the newspapers. + +"In" [a newspaper] "however, of April 9, there appears a paragraph in +which it is asserted, as a matter of notoriety, that a 'so-called +Anglo-Catholic Monastery is in process of erection at Littlemore, and +that the cells of dormitories, the chapel, the refectory, the cloisters +all may be seen advancing to perfection, under the eye of a Parish +Priest of the Diocese of Oxford.' + +"Now, as I have understood that you really are possessed of some +tenements at Littlemore,--as it is generally believed that they are +destined for the purposes of study and devotion,--and as much suspicion +and jealousy are felt about the matter, I am anxious to afford you an +opportunity of making me an explanation on the subject. + +"I know you too well not to be aware that you are the last man living to +attempt in my Diocese a revival of the Monastic orders (in any thing +approaching to the Romanist sense of the term) without previous +communication with me,--or indeed that you should take upon yourself to +originate any measure of importance without authority from the heads of +the Church,--and therefore I at once exonerate you from the accusation +brought against you by the newspaper I have quoted, but I feel it +nevertheless a duty to my Diocese and myself, as well as to you, to ask +you to put it in my power to contradict what, if uncontradicted, would +appear to imply a glaring invasion of all ecclesiastical discipline on +_your_ part, or of inexcusable neglect and indifference to my duties on +_mine_." + +I wrote in answer as follows:-- + +"April 14, 1842. I am very much obliged by your Lordship's kindness in +allowing me to write to you on the subject of my house at Littlemore; at +the same time I feel it hard both on your Lordship and myself that the +restlessness of the public mind should oblige you to require an +explanation of me. + +"It is now a whole year that I have been the subject of incessant +misrepresentation. A year since I submitted entirely to your Lordship's +authority; and, with the intention of following out the particular act +enjoined upon me, I not only stopped the series of Tracts, on which I +was engaged, but withdrew from all public discussion of Church matters +of the day, or what may be called ecclesiastical politics. I turned +myself at once to the preparation for the Press of the translations of +St. Athanasius to which I had long wished to devote myself, and I +intended and intend to employ myself in the like theological studies, +and in the concerns of my own parish and in practical works. + +"With the same view of personal improvement I was led more seriously to +a design which had been long on my mind. For many years, at least +thirteen, I have wished to give myself to a life of greater religious +regularity than I have hitherto led; but it is very unpleasant to +confess such a wish even to my Bishop, because it seems arrogant, and +because it is committing me to a profession which may come to nothing. +For what have I done that I am to be called to account by the world for +my private actions, in a way in which no one else is called? Why may I +not have that liberty which all others are allowed? I am often accused +of being underhand and uncandid in respect to the intentions to which I +have been alluding: but no one likes his own good resolutions noised +about, both from mere common delicacy and from fear lest he should not +be able to fulfil them. I feel it very cruel, though the parties in +fault do not know what they are doing, that very sacred matters between +me and my conscience are made a matter of public talk. May I take a case +parallel though different? suppose a person in prospect of marriage; +would he like the subject discussed in newspapers, and parties, +circumstances, &c., &c., publicly demanded of him, at the penalty of +being accused of craft and duplicity? + +"The resolution I speak of has been taken with reference to myself +alone, and has been contemplated quite independent of the co-operation +of any other human being, and without reference to success or failure +other than personal, and without regard to the blame or approbation of +man. And being a resolution of years, and one to which I feel God has +called me, and in which I am violating no rule of the Church any more +than if I married, I should have to answer for it, if I did not pursue +it, as a good Providence made openings for it. In pursuing it then I am +thinking of myself alone, not aiming at any ecclesiastical or external +effects. At the same time of course it would be a great comfort to me to +know that God had put it into the hearts of others to pursue their +personal edification in the same way, and unnatural not to wish to have +the benefit of their presence and encouragement, or not to think it a +great infringement on the rights of conscience if such personal and +private resolutions were interfered with. Your Lordship will allow me to +add my firm conviction that such religious resolutions are most +necessary for keeping a certain class of minds firm in their allegiance +to our Church; but still I can as truly say that my own reason for any +thing I have done has been a personal one, without which I should not +have entered upon it, and which I hope to pursue whether with or without +the sympathies of others pursuing a similar course.... + +"As to my intentions, I purpose to live there myself a good deal, as I +have a resident curate in Oxford. In doing this, I believe I am +consulting for the good of my parish, as my population at Littlemore is +at least equal to that of St. Mary's in Oxford, and the _whole_ of +Littlemore is double of it. It has been very much neglected; and in +providing a parsonage-house at Littlemore, as this will be, and will be +called, I conceive I am doing a very great benefit to my people. At the +same time it has appeared to me that a partial or temporary retirement +from St. Mary's Church might be expedient under the prevailing +excitement. + +"As to the quotation from the [newspaper], which I have not seen, your +Lordship will perceive from what I have said, that no 'monastery is in +process of erection;' there is no 'chapel;' no 'refectory', hardly a +dining-room or parlour. The 'cloisters' are my shed connecting the +cottages. I do not understand what 'cells of dormitories' means. Of +course I can repeat your Lordship's words that 'I am not attempting a +revival of the Monastic Orders, in any thing approaching to the Romanist +sense of the term,' or 'taking on myself to originate any measure of +importance without authority from the Heads of the Church.' I am +attempting nothing ecclesiastical, but something personal and private, +and which can only be made public, not private, by newspapers and +letter-writers, in which sense the most sacred and conscientious +resolves and acts may certainly be made the objects of an unmannerly and +unfeeling curiosity." + + * * * * * + +One calumny there was which the Bishop did not believe, and of which of +course he had no idea of speaking. It was that I was actually in the +service of the enemy. I had forsooth been already received into the +Catholic Church, and was rearing at Littlemore a nest of Papists, who, +like me, were to take the Anglican oaths which they disbelieved, by +virtue of a dispensation from Rome, and thus in due time were to bring +over to that unprincipled Church great numbers of the Anglican Clergy +and Laity. Bishops gave their countenance to this imputation against me. +The case was simply this:--as I made Littlemore a place of retirement +for myself, so did I offer it to others. There were young men in Oxford, +whose testimonials for Orders had been refused by their Colleges; there +were young clergymen, who had found themselves unable from conscience to +go on with their duties, and had thrown up their parochial engagements. +Such men were already going straight to Rome, and I interposed; I +interposed for the reasons I have given in the beginning of this portion +of my narrative. I interposed from fidelity to my clerical engagements, +and from duty to my Bishop; and from the interest which I was bound to +take in them, and from belief that they were premature or excited. Their +friends besought me to quiet them, if I could. Some of them came to live +with me at Littlemore. They were laymen, or in the place of laymen. I +kept some of them back for several years from being received into the +Catholic Church. Even when I had given up my living, I was still bound +by my duty to their parents or friends, and I did not forget still to do +what I could for them. The immediate occasion of my resigning St. +Mary's, was the unexpected conversion of one of them. After that, I felt +it was impossible to keep my post there, for I had been unable to keep +my word with my Bishop. + +The following letters refer, more or less, to these men, whether they +were actually with me at Littlemore or not:-- + +1. "March 6, 1842. Church doctrines are a powerful weapon; they were not +sent into the world for nothing. God's word does not return unto Him +void: If I have said, as I have, that the doctrines of the Tracts for +the Times would build up our Church and destroy parties, I meant, if +they were used, not if they were denounced. Else, they will be as +powerful against us, as they might be powerful for us. + +"If people who have a liking for another, hear him called a Roman +Catholic; they will say, 'Then after all Romanism is no such bad thing.' +All these persons, who are making the cry, are fulfilling their own +prophecy. If all the world agree in telling a man, he has no business in +our Church, he will at length begin to think he has none. How easy is it +to persuade a man of any thing, when numbers affirm it! so great is the +force of imagination. Did every one who met you in the streets look hard +at you, you would think you were somehow in fault. I do not know any +thing so irritating, so unsettling, especially in the case of young +persons, as, when they are going on calmly and unconsciously, obeying +their Church and following its divines, (I am speaking from facts,) as +suddenly to their surprise to be conjured not to make a leap, of which +they have not a dream and from which they are far removed." + +2. 1843 or 1844. "I did not explain to you sufficiently the state of +mind of those who were in danger. I only spoke of those who were +convinced that our Church was external to the Church Catholic, though +they felt it unsafe to trust their own private convictions; but there +are two other states of mind; 1. that of those who are unconsciously +near Rome, and whose _despair_ about our Church would at once develope +into a state of conscious approximation, or a _quasi_-resolution to go +over; 2. those who feel they can with a safe conscience remain with us +_while_ they are allowed to _testify_ in behalf of Catholicism, i.e. as +if by such acts they were putting our Church, or at least that portion +of it in which they were included, in the position of catechumens." + +3. "June 20, 1843. I return the very pleasing letter you have permitted +me to read. What a sad thing it is, that it should be a plain duty to +restrain one's sympathies, and to keep them from boiling over; but I +suppose it is a matter of common prudence. + +"Things are very serious here; but I should not like you to say so, as +it might do no good. The Authorities find, that, by the Statutes, they +have more than military power; and the general impression seems to be, +that they intend to exert it, and put down Catholicism at any risk. I +believe that by the Statutes, they can pretty nearly suspend a Preacher, +as _seditiosus_ or causing dissension, without assigning their grounds +in the particular case, nay, banish him, or imprison him. If so, all +holders of preferment in the University should make as quiet an _exit_ +as they can. There is more exasperation on both sides at this moment, as +I am told, than ever there was." + +4. "July 16, 1843. I assure you that I feel, with only too much +sympathy, what you say. You need not be told that the whole subject of +our position is a subject of anxiety to others beside yourself. It is no +good attempting to offer advice, when perhaps I might raise difficulties +instead of removing them. It seems to me quite a case, in which you +should, as far as may be, make up your mind for yourself. Come to +Littlemore by all means. We shall all rejoice in your company; and, if +quiet and retirement are able, as they very likely will be, to reconcile +you to things as they are, you shall have your fill of them. How +distressed poor Henry Wilberforce must be! Knowing how he values you, I +feel for him; but, alas! he has his own position, and every one else has +his own, and the misery is that no two of us have exactly the same. + +"It is very kind of you to be so frank and open with me, as you are; but +this is a time which throws together persons who feel alike. May I +without taking a liberty sign myself, yours affectionately, &c." + +5. "August 30, 1843. A. B. has suddenly conformed to the Church of Rome. +He was away for three weeks. I suppose I must say in my defence, that he +promised me distinctly to remain in our Church three years, before I +received him here." + +6. "June 17, 1845. I am concerned to find you speak of me in a tone of +distrust. If you knew me ever so little, instead of hearing of me from +persons who do not know me at all, you would think differently of me, +whatever you thought of my opinions. Two years since, I got your son to +tell you my intention of resigning St. Mary's, before I made it public, +thinking you ought to know it. When you expressed some painful feeling +upon it, I told him I could not consent to his remaining here, painful +as it would be to me to part with him, without your written sanction. +And this you did me the favour to give. + +"I believe you will find that it has been merely a delicacy on your +son's part, which has delayed his speaking to you about me for two +months past; a delicacy, lest he should say either too much or too +little about me. I have urged him several times to speak to you. + +"Nothing can be done after your letter, but to recommend him to go to A. +B. (his home) at once. I am very sorry to part with him." + +7. The following letter is addressed to Cardinal Wiseman, then Vicar +Apostolic, who accused me of coldness in my conduct towards him:-- + +"April 16, 1845. I was at that time in charge of a ministerial office in +the English Church, with persons entrusted to me, and a Bishop to obey; +how could I possibly write otherwise than I did without violating sacred +obligations and betraying momentous interests which were upon me? I felt +that my immediate, undeniable duty, clear if any thing was clear, was to +fulfil that trust. It might be right indeed to give it up, that was +another thing; but it never could be right to hold it, and to act as if +I did not hold it.... If you knew me, you would acquit me, I think, of +having ever felt towards your Lordship in an unfriendly spirit, or ever +having had a shadow on my mind (as far as I dare witness about myself) +of what might be called controversial rivalry or desire of getting the +better, or fear lest the world should think I had got the worse, or +irritation of any kind. You are too kind indeed to imply this, and yet +your words lead me to say it. And now in like manner, pray believe, +though I cannot explain it to you, that I am encompassed with +responsibilities, so great and so various, as utterly to overcome me, +unless I have mercy from Him, who all through my life has sustained and +guided me, and to whom I can now submit myself, though men of all +parties are thinking evil of me." + + * * * * * + +Such fidelity, however, was taken _in malam partem_ by the high Anglican +authorities; they thought it insidious. I happen still to have a +correspondence which took place in 1843, in which the chief place is +filled by one of the most eminent Bishops of the day, a theologian and +reader of the Fathers, a moderate man, who at one time was talked of as +likely on a vacancy to succeed to the Primacy. A young clergyman in his +diocese became a Catholic; the papers at once reported on authority from +"a very high quarter," that, after his reception, "the Oxford men had +been recommending him to retain his living." I had reasons for thinking +that the allusion was made to me, and I authorized the Editor of a +Paper, who had inquired of me on the point, to "give it, as far as I was +concerned, an unqualified contradiction;"--when from a motive of +delicacy he hesitated, I added "my direct and indignant contradiction." +"Whoever is the author of it," I continued to the Editor, "no +correspondence or intercourse of any kind, direct or indirect, has +passed between Mr. S. and myself, since his conforming to the Church of +Rome, except my formally and merely acknowledging the receipt of his +letter, in which he informed me of the fact, without, as far as I +recollect, my expressing any opinion upon it. You may state this as +broadly as I have set it down." My denial was told to the Bishop; what +took place upon it is given in a letter from which I copy. "My father +showed the letter to the Bishop, who, as he laid it down, said, 'Ah, +those Oxford men are not ingenuous.' 'How do you mean?' asked my father. +'Why,' said the Bishop, 'they advised Mr. B. S. to retain his living +after he turned Catholic. I know that to be a fact, because A. B. told +me so.'" "The Bishop," continues the letter, "who is perhaps the most +influential man in reality on the bench, evidently believes it to be the +truth." Upon this Dr. Pusey wrote in my behalf to the Bishop; and the +Bishop instantly beat a retreat. "I have the honour," he says in the +autograph which I transcribe, "to acknowledge the receipt of your note, +and to say in reply that it has not been stated by me, (though such a +statement has, I believe, appeared in some of the Public Prints,) that +Mr. Newman had advised Mr. B. S. to retain his living, after he had +forsaken our Church. But it has been stated to me, that Mr. Newman was +in close correspondence with Mr. B. S., and, being fully aware of his +state of opinions and feelings, yet advised him to continue in our +communion. Allow me to add," he says to Dr. Pusey, "that neither your +name, nor that of Mr. Keble, was mentioned to me in connexion with that +of Mr. B. S." + +I was not going to let the Bishop off on this evasion, so I wrote to him +myself. After quoting his Letter to Dr. Pusey, I continued, "I beg to +trouble your Lordship with my own account of the two allegations" +[_close correspondence_ and _fully aware_, &c.] "which are contained in +your statement, and which have led to your speaking of me in terms which +I hope never to deserve. 1. Since Mr. B. S. has been in your Lordship's +diocese, I have seen him in Common rooms or private parties in Oxford +two or three times, when I never (as far as I can recollect) had any +conversation with him. During the same time I have, to the best of my +memory, written to him three letters. One was lately, in acknowledgment +of his informing me of his change of religion. Another was last summer, +when I asked him (to no purpose) to come and stay with me in this place. +The earliest of the three letters was written just a year since, as far +as I recollect, and it certainly was on the subject of his joining the +Church of Rome. I wrote this letter at the earnest wish of a friend of +his. I cannot be sure that, on his replying, I did not send him a brief +note in explanation of points in my letter which he had misapprehended. +I cannot recollect any other correspondence between us. + +"2. As to my knowledge of his opinions and feelings, as far as I +remember, the only point of perplexity which I knew, the only point +which to this hour I know, as pressing upon him, was that of the Pope's +supremacy. He professed to be searching Antiquity whether the see of +Rome had formerly that relation to the whole Church which Roman +Catholics now assign to it. My letter was directed to the point, that it +was his duty not to perplex himself with arguments on [such] a question, +... and to put it altogether aside.... It is hard that I am put upon my +memory, without knowing the details of the statement made against me, +considering the various correspondence in which I am from time to time +unavoidably engaged.... Be assured, my Lord, that there are very +definite limits, beyond which persons like me would never urge another +to retain preferment in the English Church, nor would retain it +themselves; and that the censure which has been directed against them by +so many of its Rulers has a very grave bearing upon those limits." The +Bishop replied in a civil letter, and sent my own letter to his original +informant, who wrote to me the letter of a gentleman. It seems that an +anxious lady had said something or other which had been misinterpreted, +against her real meaning, into the calumny which was circulated, and so +the report vanished into thin air. I closed the correspondence with the +following Letter to the Bishop:-- + +"I hope your Lordship will believe me when I say, that statements about +me, equally incorrect with that which has come to your Lordship's ears, +are from time to time reported to me as credited and repeated by the +highest authorities in our Church, though it is very seldom that I have +the opportunity of denying them. I am obliged by your Lordship's letter +to Dr. Pusey as giving me such an opportunity." Then I added, with a +purpose, "Your Lordship will observe that in my Letter I had no occasion +to proceed to the question, whether a person holding Roman Catholic +opinions can in honesty remain in our Church. Lest then any +misconception should arise from my silence, I here take the liberty of +adding, that I see nothing wrong in such a person's continuing in +communion with us, provided he holds no preferment or office, abstains +from the management of ecclesiastical matters, and is bound by no +subscription or oath to our doctrines." + +This was written on March 8, 1843, and was in anticipation of my own +retirement into lay communion. This again leads me to a remark:--for two +years I was in lay communion, not indeed being a Catholic in my +convictions, but in a state of serious doubt, and with the probable +prospect of becoming some day, what as yet I was not. Under these +circumstances I thought the best thing I could do was to give up duty +and to throw myself into lay communion, remaining an Anglican. I could +not go to Rome, while I thought what I did of the devotions she +sanctioned to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints. I did not give up my +fellowship, for I could not be sure that my doubts would not be reduced +or overcome, however unlikely I might consider such an event. But I gave +up my living; and, for two years before my conversion, I took no +clerical duty. My last Sermon was in September, 1843; then I remained at +Littlemore in quiet for two years. But it was made a subject of reproach +to me at the time, and is at this day, that I did not leave the Anglican +Church sooner. To me this seems a wonderful charge; why, even had I been +quite sure that Rome was the true Church, the Anglican Bishops would +have had no just subject of complaint against me, provided I took no +Anglican oath, no clerical duty, no ecclesiastical administration. Do +they force all men who go to their Churches to believe in the 39 +Articles, or to join in the Athanasian Creed? However, I was to have +other measure dealt to me; great authorities ruled it so; and a great +controversialist, Mr. Stanley Faber, thought it a shame that I did not +leave the Church of England as much as ten years sooner than I did. He +said this in print between the years 1847 and 1849. His nephew, an +Anglican clergyman, kindly wished to undeceive him on this point. So, in +the latter year, after some correspondence, I wrote the following +letter, which will be of service to this narrative, from its +chronological notes:-- + +"Dec. 6, 1849. Your uncle says, 'If he (Mr. N.) will declare, _sans +phrase_, as the French say, that I have laboured under an entire +mistake, and that he was not a concealed Romanist during the ten years +in question,' (I suppose, the last ten years of my membership with the +Anglican Church,) 'or during any part of the time, my controversial +antipathy will be at an end, and I will readily express to him that I am +truly sorry that I have made such a mistake.' + +"So candid an avowal is what I should have expected from a mind like +your uncle's. I am extremely glad he has brought it to this issue. + +"By a 'concealed Romanist' I understand him to mean one, who, professing +to belong to the Church of England, in his heart and will intends to +benefit the Church of Rome, at the expense of the Church of England. He +cannot mean by the expression merely a person who in fact is benefiting +the Church of Rome, while he is intending to benefit the Church of +England, for that is no discredit to him morally, and he (your uncle) +evidently means to impute blame. + +"In the sense in which I have explained the words, I can simply and +honestly say that I was not a concealed Romanist during the whole, or +any part of, the years in question. + +"For the first four years of the ten, (up to Michaelmas, 1839,) I +honestly wished to benefit the Church of England, at the expense of the +Church of Rome: + +"For the second four years I wished to benefit the Church of England +without prejudice to the Church of Rome: + +"At the beginning of the ninth year (Michaelmas, 1843) I began to +despair of the Church of England, and gave up all clerical duty; and +then, what I wrote and did was influenced by a mere wish not to injure +it, and not by the wish to benefit it: + +"At the beginning of the tenth year I distinctly contemplated leaving +it, but I also distinctly told my friends that it was in my +contemplation. + +"Lastly, during the last half of that tenth year I was engaged in +writing a book (Essay on Development) in favour of the Roman Church, and +indirectly against the English; but even then, till it was finished, I +had not absolutely intended to publish it, wishing to reserve to myself +the chance of changing my mind when the argumentative views which were +actuating me had been distinctly brought out before me in writing. + +"I wish this statement, which I make from memory, and without consulting +any document, severely tested by my writings and doings, as I am +confident it will, on the whole, be borne out, whatever real or apparent +exceptions (I suspect none) have to be allowed by me in detail. + +"Your uncle is at liberty to make what use he pleases of this +explanation." + + * * * * * + +I have now reached an important date in my narrative, the year 1843; but +before proceeding to the matters which it contains, I will insert +portions of my letters from 1841 to 1843, addressed to Catholic +acquaintances. + +1. "April 8, 1841 ... The unity of the Church Catholic is very near my +heart, only I do not see any prospect of it in our time; and I despair +of its being effected without great sacrifices on all hands. As to +resisting the Bishop's will, I observe that no point of doctrine or +principle was in dispute, but a course of action, the publication of +certain works. I do not think you sufficiently understood our position. +I suppose you would obey the Holy See in such a case; now, when we were +separated from the Pope, his authority reverted to our Diocesans. Our +Bishop is our Pope. It is our theory, that each diocese is an integral +Church, intercommunion being a duty, (and the breach of it a sin,) but +not essential to Catholicity. To have resisted my Bishop, would have +been to place myself in an utterly false position, which I never could +have recovered. Depend upon it, the strength of any party lies in its +being _true to its theory_. Consistency is the life of a movement. + +"I have no misgivings whatever that the line I have taken can be other +than a prosperous one: that is, in itself, for of course Providence may +refuse to us its legitimate issues for our sins. + +"I am afraid, that in one respect you may be disappointed. It is my +trust, though I must not be too sanguine, that we shall not have +individual members of our communion going over to yours. What one's duty +would be under other circumstances, what our duty would have been ten or +twenty years ago, I cannot say; but I do think that there is less of +private judgment in going with one's Church, than in leaving it. I can +earnestly desire a union between my Church and yours. I cannot listen to +the thought of your being joined by individuals among us." + +2. "April 26, 1841. My only anxiety is lest your branch of the Church +should not meet us by those reforms which surely are _necessary_. It +never could be, that so large a portion of Christendom should have split +off from the communion of Rome, and kept up a protest for 300 years for +nothing. I think I never shall believe that so much piety and +earnestness would be found among Protestants, if there were not some +very grave errors on the side of Rome. To suppose the contrary is most +unreal, and violates all one's notions of moral probabilities. All +aberrations are founded on, and have their life in, some truth or +other--and Protestantism, so widely spread and so long enduring, must +have in it, and must be witness for, a great truth or much truth. That I +am an advocate for Protestantism, you cannot suppose;--but I am forced +into a _Via Media_, short of Rome, as it is at present." + +3. "May 5, 1841. While I most sincerely hold that there is in the Roman +Church a traditionary system which is not necessarily connected with her +essential formularies, yet, were I ever so much to change my mind on +this point, this would not tend to bring me from my present position, +providentially appointed in the English Church. That your communion was +unassailable, would not prove that mine was indefensible. Nor would it +at all affect the sense in which I receive our Articles; they would +still speak against certain definite errors, though you had reformed +them. + +"I say this lest any lurking suspicion should be left in the mind of +your friends that persons who think with me are likely, by the growth of +their present views, to find it imperative on them to pass over to your +communion. Allow me to state strongly, that if you have any such +thoughts, and proceed to act upon them, your friends will be committing +a fatal mistake. We have (I trust) the principle and temper of obedience +too intimately wrought into us to allow of our separating ourselves from +our ecclesiastical superiors because in many points we may sympathize +with others. We have too great a horror of the principle of private +judgment to trust it in so immense a matter as that of changing from one +communion to another. We may be cast out of our communion, or it may +decree heresy to be truth,--you shall say whether such contingencies are +likely; but I do not see other conceivable causes of our leaving the +Church in which we were baptized. + +"For myself, persons must be well acquainted with what I have written +before they venture to say whether I have much changed my main opinions +and cardinal views in the course of the last eight years. That my +_sympathies_ have grown towards the religion of Rome I do not deny; that +my _reasons_ for _shunning_ her communion have lessened or altered it +would be difficult perhaps to prove. And I wish to go by reason, not by +feeling." + +4. "June 18, 1841. You urge persons whose views agree with mine to +commence a movement in behalf of a union between the Churches. Now in +the letters I have written, I have uniformly said that I did not expect +that union in our time, and have discouraged the notion of all sudden +proceedings with a view to it. I must ask your leave to repeat on this +occasion most distinctly, that I cannot be party to any agitation, but +mean to remain quiet in my own place, and to do all I can to make others +take the same course. This I conceive to be my simple duty; but, over +and above this, I will not set my teeth on edge with sour grapes. I know +it is quite within the range of possibilities that one or another of our +people should go over to your communion; however, it would be a greater +misfortune to you than grief to us. If your friends wish to put a gulf +between themselves and us, let them make converts, but not else. Some +months ago, I ventured to say that I felt it a painful duty to keep +aloof from all Roman Catholics who came with the intention of opening +negotiations for the union of the Churches: when you now urge us to +petition our Bishops for a union, this, I conceive, is very like an act +of negotiation." + +5. I have the first sketch or draft of a letter, which I wrote to a +zealous Catholic layman: it runs as follows, as far as I have preserved +it, but I think there were various changes and additions:--"September +12, 1841. It would rejoice all Catholic minds among us, more than words +can say, if you could persuade members of the Church of Rome to take the +line in politics which you so earnestly advocate. Suspicion and distrust +are the main causes at present of the separation between us, and the +nearest approaches in doctrine will but increase the hostility, which, +alas, our people feel towards yours, while these causes continue. Depend +upon it, you must not rely upon our Catholic tendencies till they are +removed. I am not speaking of myself, or of any friends of mine; but of +our Church generally. Whatever _our_ personal feelings may be, we shall +but tend to raise and spread a _rival_ Church to yours in the four +quarters of the world, unless _you_ do what none but you _can_ do. +Sympathies, which would flow over to the Church of Rome, as a matter of +course, did she admit them, will but be developed in the consolidation +of our own system, if she continues to be the object of our suspicions +and fears. I wish, of course I do, that our own Church may be built up +and extended, but still, not at the cost of the Church of Rome, not in +opposition to it. I am sure, that, while you suffer, we suffer too from +the separation; _but we cannot remove the obstacles_; it is with you to +do so. You do not fear us; we fear you. Till we cease to fear you, we +cannot love you. + +"While you are in your present position, the friends of Catholic unity +in our Church are but fulfilling the prediction of those of your body +who are averse to them, viz. that they will be merely strengthening a +rival communion to yours. Many of you say that _we_ are your greatest +enemies; we have said so ourselves: so we are, so we shall be, as things +stand at present. We are keeping people from you, by supplying their +wants in our own Church. We _are_ keeping persons from you: do you wish +us to keep them from you for a time or for ever? It rests with you to +determine. I do not fear that you will succeed among us; you will not +supplant our Church in the affections of the English nation; only +through the English Church can you act upon the English nation. I wish +of course our Church should be consolidated, with and through and in +your communion, for its sake, and your sake, and for the sake of unity. + +"Are you aware that the more serious thinkers among us are used, as far +as they dare form an opinion, to regard the spirit of Liberalism as the +characteristic of the destined Antichrist? In vain does any one clear +the Church of Rome from the badges of Antichrist, in which Protestants +would invest her, if she deliberately takes up her position in the very +quarter, whither we have cast them, when we took them off from her. +Antichrist is described as the [Greek: anomos], as exalting himself +above the yoke of religion and law. The spirit of lawlessness came in +with the Reformation, and Liberalism is its offspring. + +"And now I fear I am going to pain you by telling you, that you consider +the approaches in doctrine on our part towards you, closer than they +really are. I cannot help repeating what I have many times said in +print, that your services and devotions to St. Mary in matter of fact do +most deeply pain me. I am only stating it as a fact. + +"Again, I have nowhere said that I can accept the decrees of Trent +throughout, nor implied it. The doctrine of Transubstantiation is a +great difficulty with me, as being, as I think, not primitive. Nor have +I said that our Articles in all respects admit of a Roman +interpretation; the very word 'Transubstantiation' is disowned in them. + +"Thus, you see, it is not merely on grounds of expedience that we do not +join you. There are positive difficulties in the way of it. And, even if +there were not, we shall have no divine warrant for doing so, while we +think that the Church of England is a branch of the true Church, and +that intercommunion with the rest of Christendom is necessary, not for +the life of a particular Church, but for its health only. I have never +disguised that there are actual circumstances in the Church of Rome, +which pain me much; of the removal of these I see no chance, while we +join you one by one; but if our Church were prepared for a union, she +might make her terms; she might gain the cup; she might protest against +the extreme honours paid to St. Mary; she might make some explanation of +the doctrine of Transubstantiation. I am not prepared to say that a +reform in other branches of the Roman Church would be necessary for our +uniting with them, however desirable in itself, so that we were allowed +to make a reform in our own country. We do not look towards Rome as +believing that its communion is infallible, but that union is a duty." + +6. The following letter was occasioned by the present made to me of a +book by the friend to whom it is written; more will be said on the +subject of it presently:-- + +"Nov. 22, 1842. I only wish that your Church were more known among us by +such writings. You will not interest us in her, till we see her, not in +politics, but in her true functions of exhorting, teaching, and guiding. +I wish there were a chance of making the leading men among you +understand, what I believe is no novel thought to yourself. It is not by +learned discussions, or acute arguments, or reports of miracles, that +the heart of England can be gained. It is by men 'approving themselves,' +like the Apostle, 'ministers of Christ.' + +"As to your question, whether the Volume you have sent is not calculated +to remove my apprehensions that another gospel is substituted for the +true one in your practical instructions, before I can answer it in any +way, I ought to know how far the Sermons which it comprises are +_selected_ from a number, or whether they are the whole, or such as the +whole, which have been published of the author's. I assure you, or at +least I trust, that, if it is ever clearly brought home to me that I +have been wrong in what I have said on this subject, my public avowal of +that conviction will only be a question of time with me. + +"If, however, you saw our Church as we see it, you would easily +understand that such a change of feeling, did it take place, would have +no necessary tendency, which you seem to expect, to draw a person from +the Church of England to that of Rome. There is a divine life among us, +clearly manifested, in spite of all our disorders, which is as great a +note of the Church, as any can be. Why should we seek our Lord's +presence elsewhere, when He vouchsafes it to us where we are? What +_call_ have we to change our communion? + +"Roman Catholics will find this to be the state of things in time to +come, whatever promise they may fancy there is of a large secession to +their Church. This man or that may leave us, but there will be no +general movement. There is, indeed, an incipient movement of our +_Church_ towards yours, and this your leading men are doing all they can +to frustrate by their unwearied efforts at all risks to carry off +individuals. When will they know their position, and embrace a larger +and wiser policy?" + + +§ 2. + +The letter which I have last inserted, is addressed to my dear friend, +Dr. Russell, the present President of Maynooth. He had, perhaps, more to +do with my conversion than any one else. He called upon me, in passing +through Oxford in the summer of 1841, and I think I took him over some +of the buildings of the University. He called again another summer, on +his way from Dublin to London. I do not recollect that he said a word on +the subject of religion on either occasion. He sent me at different +times several letters; he was always gentle, mild, unobtrusive, +uncontroversial. He let me alone. He also gave me one or two books. +Veron's Rule of Faith and some Treatises of the Wallenburghs was one; a +volume of St. Alfonso Liguori's Sermons was another; and it is to those +Sermons that my letter to Dr. Russell relates. + +Now it must be observed that the writings of St. Alfonso, as I knew them +by the extracts commonly made from them, prejudiced me as much against +the Roman Church as any thing else, on account of what was called their +"Mariolatry;" but there was nothing of the kind in this book. I wrote to +ask Dr. Russell whether any thing had been left out in the translation; +he answered that there certainly were omissions in one Sermon about the +Blessed Virgin. This omission, in the case of a book intended for +Catholics, at least showed that such passages as are found in the works +of Italian Authors were not acceptable to every part of the Catholic +world. Such devotional manifestations in honour of our Lady had been my +great _crux_ as regards Catholicism; I say frankly, I do not fully enter +into them now; I trust I do not love her the less, because I cannot +enter into them. They may be fully explained and defended; but sentiment +and taste do not run with logic: they are suitable for Italy, but they +are not suitable for England. But, over and above England, my own case +was special; from a boy I had been led to consider that my Maker and I, +His creature, were the two beings, luminously such, _in rerum naturâ_. I +will not here speculate, however, about my own feelings. Only this I +know full well now, and did not know then, that the Catholic Church +allows no image of any sort, material or immaterial, no dogmatic symbol, +no rite, no sacrament, no Saint, not even the Blessed Virgin herself, to +come between the soul and its Creator. It is face to face, "solus cum +solo," in all matters between man and his God. He alone creates; He +alone has redeemed; before His awful eyes we go in death; in the vision +of Him is our eternal beatitude. + +1. Solus cum solo:--I recollect but indistinctly what I gained from the +Volume of which I have been speaking; but it must have been something +considerable. At least I had got a key to a difficulty; in these +Sermons, (or rather heads of sermons, as they seem to be, taken down by +a hearer,) there is much of what would be called legendary illustration; +but the substance of them is plain, practical, awful preaching upon the +great truths of salvation. What I can speak of with greater confidence +is the effect produced on me a little later by studying the Exercises of +St. Ignatius. For here again, in a matter consisting in the purest and +most direct acts of religion,--in the intercourse between God and the +soul, during a season of recollection, of repentance, of good +resolution, of inquiry into vocation,--the soul was "sola cum solo;" +there was no cloud interposed between the creature and the Object of his +faith and love. The command practically enforced was, "My son, give Me +thy heart." The devotions then to Angels and Saints as little interfered +with the incommunicable glory of the Eternal, as the love which we bear +our friends and relations, our tender human sympathies, are inconsistent +with that supreme homage of the heart to the Unseen, which really does +but sanctify and exalt, not jealously destroy, what is of earth. At a +later date Dr. Russell sent me a large bundle of penny or half-penny +books of devotion, of all sorts, as they are found in the booksellers' +shops at Rome; and, on looking them over, I was quite astonished to find +how different they were from what I had fancied, how little there was in +them to which I could really object. I have given an account of them in +my Essay on the Development of Doctrine. Dr. Russell sent me St. +Alfonso's book at the end of 1842; however, it was still a long time +before I got over my difficulty, on the score of the devotions paid to +the Saints; perhaps, as I judge from a letter I have turned up, it was +some way into 1844 before I could be said fully to have got over it. + +2. I am not sure that I did not also at this time feel the force of +another consideration. The idea of the Blessed Virgin was as it were +_magnified_ in the Church of Rome, as time went on,--but so were all the +Christian ideas; as that of the Blessed Eucharist. The whole scene of +pale, faint, distant Apostolic Christianity is seen in Rome, as through +a telescope or magnifier. The harmony of the whole, however, is of +course what it was. It is unfair then to take one Roman idea, that of +the Blessed Virgin, out of what may be called its context. + +3. Thus I am brought to the principle of development of doctrine in the +Christian Church, to which I gave my mind at the end of 1842. I had made +mention of it in the passage, which I quoted many pages back (vide p. +111), in "Home Thoughts Abroad," published in 1836; and even at an +earlier date I had introduced it into my History of the Arians in 1832; +nor had I ever lost sight of it in my speculations. And it is certainly +recognized in the Treatise of Vincent of Lerins, which has so often been +taken as the basis of Anglicanism. In 1843 I began to consider it +attentively; I made it the subject of my last University Sermon on +February 2; and the general view to which I came is stated thus in a +letter to a friend of the date of July 14, 1844;--it will be observed +that, now as before, my _issue_ is still Creed _versus_ Church:-- + +"The kind of considerations which weighs with me are such as the +following:--1. I am far more certain (according to the Fathers) that we +_are_ in a state of culpable separation, _than_ that developments do +_not_ exist under the Gospel, and that the Roman developments are not +the true ones. 2. I am far more certain, that _our_ (modern) doctrines +are wrong, _than_ that the _Roman_ (modern) doctrines are wrong. 3. +Granting that the Roman (special) doctrines are not found drawn out in +the early Church, yet I think there is sufficient trace of them in it, +to recommend and prove them, _on the hypothesis_ of the Church having a +divine guidance, though not sufficient to prove them by itself. So that +the question simply turns on the nature of the promise of the Spirit, +made to the Church. 4. The proof of the Roman (modern) doctrine is as +strong (or stronger) in Antiquity, as that of certain doctrines which +both we and Romans hold: e.g. there is more of evidence in Antiquity for +the necessity of Unity, than for the Apostolical Succession; for the +Supremacy of the See of Rome, than for the Presence in the Eucharist; +for the practice of Invocation, than for certain books in the present +Canon of Scripture, &c. &c. 5. The analogy of the Old Testament, and +also of the New, leads to the acknowledgment of doctrinal developments." + +4. And thus I was led on to a further consideration. I saw that the +principle of development not only accounted for certain facts, but was +in itself a remarkable philosophical phenomenon, giving a character to +the whole course of Christian thought. It was discernible from the first +years of the Catholic teaching up to the present day, and gave to that +teaching a unity and individuality. It served as a sort of test, which +the Anglican could not exhibit, that modern Rome was in truth ancient +Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople, just as a mathematical curve +has its own law and expression. + +5. And thus again I was led on to examine more attentively what I doubt +not was in my thoughts long before, viz. the concatenation of argument +by which the mind ascends from its first to its final religious idea; +and I came to the conclusion that there was no medium, in true +philosophy, between Atheism and Catholicity, and that a perfectly +consistent mind, under those circumstances in which it finds itself here +below, must embrace either the one or the other. And I hold this still: +I am a Catholic by virtue of my believing in a God; and if I am asked +why I believe in a God, I answer that it is because I believe in myself, +for I feel it impossible to believe in my own existence (and of that +fact I am quite sure) without believing also in the existence of Him, +who lives as a Personal, All-seeing, All-judging Being in my conscience. +Now, I dare say, I have not expressed myself with philosophical +correctness, because I have not given myself to the study of what +metaphysicians have said on the subject; but I think I have a strong +true meaning in what I say which will stand examination. + +6. Moreover, I found a corroboration of the fact of the logical +connexion of Theism with Catholicism in a consideration parallel to that +which I had adopted on the subject of development of doctrine. The fact +of the operation from first to last of that principle of development in +the truths of Revelation, is an argument in favour of the identity of +Roman and Primitive Christianity; but as there is a law which acts upon +the subject-matter of dogmatic theology, so is there a law in the matter +of religious faith. In the first chapter of this Narrative I spoke of +certitude as the consequence, divinely intended and enjoined upon us, of +the accumulative force of certain given reasons which, taken one by one, +were only probabilities. Let it be recollected that I am historically +relating my state of mind, at the period of my life which I am +surveying. I am not speaking theologically, nor have I any intention of +going into controversy, or of defending myself; but speaking +historically of what I held in 1843-4, I say, that I believed in a God +on a ground of probability, that I believed in Christianity on a +probability, and that I believed in Catholicism on a probability, and +that these three grounds of probability, distinct from each other of +course in subject matter, were still all of them one and the same in +nature of proof, as being probabilities--probabilities of a special +kind, a cumulative, a transcendent probability but still probability; +inasmuch as He who made us has so willed, that in mathematics indeed we +should arrive at certitude by rigid demonstration, but in religious +inquiry we should arrive at certitude by accumulated probabilities;--He +has willed, I say, that we should so act, and, as willing it, He +co-operates with us in our acting, and thereby enables us to do that +which He wills us to do, and carries us on, if our will does but +co-operate with His, to a certitude which rises higher than the logical +force of our conclusions. And thus I came to see clearly, and to have a +satisfaction in seeing, that, in being led on into the Church of Rome, I +was not proceeding on any secondary or isolated grounds of reason, or by +controversial points in detail, but was protected and justified, even in +the use of those secondary or particular arguments, by a great and broad +principle. But, let it be observed, that I am stating a matter of fact, +not defending it; and if any Catholic says in consequence that I have +been converted in a wrong way, I cannot help that now. + +I have nothing more to say on the subject of the change in my religious +opinions. On the one hand I came gradually to see that the Anglican +Church was formally in the wrong, on the other that the Church of Rome +was formally in the right; then, that no valid reasons could be assigned +for continuing in the Anglican, and again that no valid objections could +be taken to joining the Roman. Then, I had nothing more to learn; what +still remained for my conversion, was, not further change of opinion, +but to change opinion itself into the clearness and firmness of +intellectual conviction. + +Now I proceed to detail the acts, to which I committed myself during +this last stage of my inquiry. + + * * * * * + +In 1843, I took two very significant steps:--1. In February, I made a +formal Retractation of all the hard things which I had said against the +Church of Rome. 2. In September, I resigned the Living of St. Mary's, +Littlemore included:--I will speak of these two acts separately. + +1. The words, in which I made my Retractation, have given rise to much +criticism. After quoting a number of passages from my writings against +the Church of Rome, which I withdrew, I ended thus:--"If you ask me how +an individual could venture, not simply to hold, but to publish such +views of a communion so ancient, so wide-spreading, so fruitful in +Saints, I answer that I said to myself, 'I am not speaking my own words, +I am but following almost a _consensus_ of the divines of my own Church. +They have ever used the strongest language against Rome, even the most +able and learned of them. I wish to throw myself into their system. +While I say what they say, I am safe. Such views, too, are necessary for +our position.' Yet I have reason to fear still, that such language is to +be ascribed, in no small measure, to an impetuous temper, a hope of +approving myself to persons I respect, and a wish to repel the charge of +Romanism." + +These words have been, and are, again and again cited against me, as if +a confession that, when in the Anglican Church, I said things against +Rome which I did not really believe. + +For myself, I cannot understand how any impartial man can so take them; +and I have explained them in print several times. I trust that by this +time their plain meaning has been satisfactorily brought out by what I +have said in former portions of this Narrative; still I have a word or +two to say in addition to my former remarks upon them. + +In the passage in question I apologize for _saying out_ in controversy +charges against the Church of Rome, which withal I affirm that I fully +_believed_ at the time when I made them. What is wonderful in such an +apology? There are surely many things a man may hold, which at the same +time he may feel that he has no right to say publicly, and which it may +annoy him that he has said publicly. The law recognizes this principle. +In our own time, men have been imprisoned and fined for saying true +things of a bad king. The maxim has been held, that, "The greater the +truth, the greater is the libel." And so as to the judgment of society, +a just indignation would be felt against a writer who brought forward +wantonly the weaknesses of a great man, though the whole world knew that +they existed. No one is at liberty to speak ill of another without a +justifiable reason, even though he knows he is speaking truth, and the +public knows it too. Therefore, though I believed what I said against +the Roman Church, nevertheless I could not religiously speak it out, +unless I was really justified, not only in believing ill, but in +speaking ill. I did believe what I said on what I thought to be good +reasons; but had I also a just cause for saying out what I believed? I +thought I had, and it was this, viz. that to say out what I believed was +simply necessary in the controversy for self-defence. It was impossible +to let it alone: the Anglican position could not be satisfactorily +maintained, without assailing the Roman. In this, as in most cases of +conflict, one party was right or the other, not both; and the best +defence was to attack. Is not this almost a truism in the Roman +controversy? Is it not what every one says, who speaks on the subject at +all? Does any serious man abuse the Church of Rome, for the sake of +abusing her, or because that abuse justifies his own religious position? +What is the meaning of the very word "Protestantism," but that there is +a call to speak out? This then is what I said: "I know I spoke strongly +against the Church of Rome; but it was no mere abuse, for I had a +serious reason for doing so." + +But, not only did I think such language necessary for my Church's +religious position, but I recollected that all the great Anglican +divines had thought so before me. They had thought so, and they had +acted accordingly. And therefore I observe in the passage in question, +with much propriety, that I had not used strong language simply out of +my own head, but that in doing so I was following the track, or rather +reproducing the teaching, of those who had preceded me. + +I was pleading guilty to using violent language, but I was pleading also +that there were extenuating circumstances in the case. We all know the +story of the convict, who on the scaffold bit off his mother's ear. By +doing so he did not deny the fact of his own crime, for which he was to +hang; but he said that his mother's indulgence when he was a boy, had a +good deal to do with it. In like manner I had made a charge, and I had +made it _ex animo_; but I accused others of having, by their own +example, led me into believing it and publishing it. + +I was in a humour, certainly, to bite off their ears. I will freely +confess, indeed I said it some pages back, that I was angry with the +Anglican divines. I thought they had taken me in; I had read the Fathers +with their eyes; I had sometimes trusted their quotations or their +reasonings; and from reliance on them, I had used words or made +statements, which by right I ought rigidly to have examined myself. I +had thought myself safe, while I had their warrant for what I said. I +had exercised more faith than criticism in the matter. This did not +imply any broad misstatements on my part, arising from reliance on their +authority, but it implied carelessness in matters of detail. And this of +course was a fault. + +But there was a far deeper reason for my saying what I said in this +matter, on which I have not hitherto touched; and it was this:--The most +oppressive thought, in the whole process of my change of opinion, was +the clear anticipation, verified by the event, that it would issue in +the triumph of Liberalism. Against the Anti-dogmatic principle I had +thrown my whole mind; yet now I was doing more than any one else could +do, to promote it. I was one of those who had kept it at bay in Oxford +for so many years; and thus my very retirement was its triumph. The men +who had driven me from Oxford were distinctly the Liberals; it was they +who had opened the attack upon Tract 90, and it was they who would gain +a second benefit, if I went on to abandon the Anglican Church. But this +was not all. As I have already said, there are but two alternatives, the +way to Rome, and the way to Atheism: Anglicanism is the halfway house on +the one side, and Liberalism is the halfway house on the other. How many +men were there, as I knew full well, who would not follow me now in my +advance from Anglicanism to Rome, but would at once leave Anglicanism +and me for the Liberal camp. It is not at all easy (humanly speaking) to +wind up an Englishman to a dogmatic level. I had done so in good +measure, in the case both of young men and of laymen, the Anglican _Via +Media_ being the representative of dogma. The dogmatic and the Anglican +principle were one, as I had taught them; but I was breaking the _Via +Media_ to pieces, and would not dogmatic faith altogether be broken up, +in the minds of a great number, by the demolition of the _Via Media_? +Oh! how unhappy this made me! I heard once from an eye-witness the +account of a poor sailor whose legs were shattered by a ball, in the +action off Algiers in 1816, and who was taken below for an operation. +The surgeon and the chaplain persuaded him to have a leg off; it was +done and the tourniquet applied to the wound. Then, they broke it to him +that he must have the other off too. The poor fellow said, "You should +have told me that, gentlemen," and deliberately unscrewed the instrument +and bled to death. Would not that be the case with many friends of my +own? How could I ever hope to make them believe in a second theology, +when I had cheated them in the first? With what face could I publish a +new edition of a dogmatic creed, and ask them to receive it as gospel? +Would it not be plain to them that no certainty was to be found any +where? Well, in my defence I could but make a lame apology; however, it +was the true one, viz. that I had not read the Fathers cautiously +enough; that in such nice points, as those which determine the angle of +divergence between the two Churches, I had made considerable +miscalculations. But how came this about? why, the fact was, unpleasant +as it was to avow, that I had leaned too much upon the assertions of +Ussher, Jeremy Taylor, or Barrow, and had been deceived by them. Valeat +quantum,--it was all that _could_ be said. This then was a chief reason +of that wording of the Retractation, which has given so much offence, +because the bitterness, with which it was written, was not +understood;--and the following letter will illustrate it:-- + +"April 3, 1844. I wish to remark on William's chief distress, that my +changing my opinion seemed to unsettle one's confidence in truth and +falsehood as external things, and led one to be suspicious of the new +opinion as one became distrustful of the old. Now in what I shall say, I +am not going to speak in favour of my second thoughts in comparison of +my first, but against such scepticism and unsettlement about truth and +falsehood generally, the idea of which is very painful. + +"The case with me, then, was this, and not surely an unnatural one:--as +a matter of feeling and of duty I threw myself into the system which I +found myself in. I saw that the English Church had a theological idea or +theory as such, and I took it up. I read Laud on Tradition, and thought +it (as I still think it) very masterly. The Anglican Theory was very +distinctive. I admired it and took it on faith. It did not (I think) +occur to me to doubt it; I saw that it was able, and supported by +learning, and I felt it was a duty to maintain it. Further, on looking +into Antiquity and reading the Fathers, I saw such portions of it as I +examined, fully confirmed (e.g. the supremacy of Scripture). There was +only one question about which I had a doubt, viz. whether it would +_work_, for it has never been more than a paper system.... + +"So far from my change of opinion having any fair tendency to unsettle +persons as to truth and falsehood viewed as objective realities, it +should be considered whether such change is not _necessary_, if truth be +a real objective thing, and be made to confront a person who has been +brought up in a system _short of_ truth. Surely the _continuance_ of a +person, who wishes to go right, in a wrong system, and not his _giving +it up_, would be that which militated against the objectiveness of +Truth, leading, as it would, to the suspicion, that one thing and +another were equally pleasing to our Maker, where men were sincere. + +"Nor surely is it a thing I need be sorry for, that I defended the +system in which I found myself, and thus have had to unsay my words. For +is it not one's duty, instead of beginning with criticism, to throw +oneself generously into that form of religion which is providentially +put before one? Is it right, or is it wrong, to begin with private +judgment? May we not, on the other hand, look for a blessing _through_ +obedience even to an erroneous system, and a guidance even by means of +it out of it? Were those who were strict and conscientious in their +Judaism, or those who were lukewarm and sceptical, more likely to be led +into Christianity, when Christ came? Yet in proportion to their previous +zeal, would be their appearance of inconsistency. Certainly, I have +always contended that obedience even to an erring conscience was the way +to gain light, and that it mattered not where a man began, so that he +began on what came to hand, and in faith; and that any thing might +become a divine method of Truth; that to the pure all things are pure, +and have a self-correcting virtue and a power of germinating. And though +I have no right at all to assume that this mercy is granted to me, yet +the fact, that a person in my situation _may_ have it granted to him, +seems to me to remove the perplexity which my change of opinion may +occasion. + +"It may be said,--I have said it to myself,--'Why, however, did you +_publish_? had you waited quietly, you would have changed your opinion +without any of the misery, which now is involved in the change, of +disappointing and distressing people.' I answer, that things are so +bound up together, as to form a whole, and one cannot tell what is or is +not a condition of what. I do not see how possibly I could have +published the Tracts, or other works professing to defend our Church, +without accompanying them with a strong protest or argument against +Rome. The one obvious objection against the whole Anglican line is, that +it is Roman; so that I really think there was no alternative between +silence altogether, and forming a theory and attacking the Roman +system." + +2. And now, in the next place, as to my Resignation of St. Mary's, which +was the second of the steps which I took in 1843. The ostensible, +direct, and sufficient reason for my doing so was the persevering attack +of the Bishops on Tract 90. I alluded to it in the letter which I have +inserted above, addressed to one of the most influential among them. A +series of their _ex cathedrâ_ judgments, lasting through three years, +and including a notice of no little severity in a Charge of my own +Bishop, came as near to a condemnation of my Tract, and, so far, to a +repudiation of the ancient Catholic doctrine, which was the scope of the +Tract, as was possible in the Church of England. It was in order to +shield the Tract from such a condemnation, that I had at the time of its +publication in 1841 so simply put myself at the disposal of the higher +powers in London. At that time, all that was distinctly contemplated in +the way of censure, was contained in the message which my Bishop sent +me, that the Tract was "objectionable." That I thought was the end of +the matter. I had refused to suppress it, and they had yielded that +point. Since I published the former portions of this Narrative, I have +found what I wrote to Dr. Pusey on March 24, while the matter was in +progress. "The more I think of it," I said, "the more reluctant I am to +suppress Tract 90, though _of course_ I will do it if the Bishop wishes +it; I cannot, however, deny that I shall feel it a severe act." +According to the notes which I took of the letters or messages which I +sent to him on that and the following days, I wrote successively, "My +first feeling was to obey without a word; I will obey still; but my +judgment has steadily risen against it ever since." Then in the +Postscript, "If I have done any good to the Church, I do ask the Bishop +this favour, as my reward for it, that he would not insist on a measure, +from which I think good will not come. However, I will submit to him." +Afterwards, I got stronger still and wrote: "I have almost come to the +resolution, if the Bishop publicly intimates that I must suppress the +Tract, or speaks strongly in his charge against it, to suppress it +indeed, but to resign my living also. I could not in conscience act +otherwise. You may show this in any quarter you please." + +All my then hopes, all my satisfaction at the apparent fulfilment of +those hopes was at an end in 1843. It is not wonderful then, that in May +of that year, when two out of the three years were gone, I wrote on the +subject of my retiring from St. Mary's to the same friend, whom I had +consulted upon it in 1840. But I did more now; I told him my great +unsettlement of mind on the question of the Churches. I will insert +portions of two of my letters:-- + +"May 4, 1843.... At present I fear, as far as I can analyze my own +convictions, I consider the Roman Catholic Communion to be the Church of +the Apostles, and that what grace is among us (which, through God's +mercy, is not little) is extraordinary, and from the overflowings of His +dispensation. I am very far more sure that England is in schism, than +that the Roman additions to the Primitive Creed may not be developments, +arising out of a keen and vivid realizing of the Divine Depositum of +Faith. + +"You will now understand what gives edge to the Bishops' Charges, +without any undue sensitiveness on my part. They distress me in two +ways:--first, as being in some sense protests and witnesses to my +conscience against my own unfaithfulness to the English Church, and +next, as being samples of her teaching, and tokens how very far she is +from even aspiring to Catholicity. + +"Of course my being unfaithful to a trust is my great subject of +dread,--as it has long been, as you know." + +When he wrote to make natural objections to my purpose, such as the +apprehension that the removal of clerical obligations might have the +indirect effect of propelling me towards Rome, I answered:-- + +"May 18, 1843.... My office or charge at St. Mary's is not a mere +_state_, but a continual _energy_. People assume and assert certain +things of me in consequence. With what sort of sincerity can I obey the +Bishop? how am I to act in the frequent cases, in which one way or +another the Church of Rome comes into consideration? I have to the +utmost of my power tried to keep persons from Rome, and with some +success; but even a year and a half since, my arguments, though more +efficacious with the persons I aimed at than any others could be, were +of a nature to infuse great suspicion of me into the minds of +lookers-on. + +"By retaining St. Mary's, I am an offence and a stumbling-block. Persons +are keen-sighted enough to make out what I think on certain points, and +then they infer that such opinions are compatible with holding +situations of trust in our Church. A number of younger men take the +validity of their interpretation of the Articles, &c. from me on +_faith_. Is not my present position a cruelty, as well as a treachery +towards the Church? + +"I do not see how I can either preach or publish again, while I hold St. +Mary's;--but consider again the following difficulty in such a +resolution, which I must state at some length. + +"Last Long Vacation the idea suggested itself to me of publishing the +Lives of the English Saints; and I had a conversation with [a publisher] +upon it. I thought it would be useful, as employing the minds of men who +were in danger of running wild, bringing them from doctrine to history, +and from speculation to fact;--again, as giving them an interest in the +English soil, and the English Church, and keeping them from seeking +sympathy in Rome, as she is; and further, as tending to promote the +spread of right views. + +"But, within the last month, it has come upon me, that, if the scheme +goes on, it will be a practical carrying out of No. 90, from the +character of the usages and opinions of ante-reformation times. + +"It is easy to say, 'Why _will_ you do _any_ thing? why won't you keep +quiet? what business had you to think of any such plan at all?' But I +cannot leave a number of poor fellows in the lurch. I am bound to do my +best for a great number of people both in Oxford and elsewhere. If _I_ +did not act, others would find means to do so. + +"Well, the plan has been taken up with great eagerness and interest. +Many men are setting to work. I set down the names of men, most of them +engaged, the rest half engaged and probable, some actually writing." +About thirty names follow, some of them at that time of the school of +Dr. Arnold, others of Dr. Pusey's, some my personal friends and of my +own standing, others whom I hardly knew, while of course the majority +were of the party of the new Movement. I continue:-- + +"The plan has gone so far, that it would create surprise and talk, were +it now suddenly given over. Yet how is it compatible with my holding St. +Mary's, being what I am?" + + * * * * * + +Such was the object and the origin of the projected Series of the +English Saints; and, since the publication was connected, as has been +seen, with my resignation of St. Mary's, I may be allowed to conclude +what I have to say on the subject here, though it may read like a +digression. As soon then as the first of the Series got into print, the +whole project broke down. I had already anticipated that some portions +of the Series would be written in a style inconsistent with the +professions of a beneficed clergyman, and therefore I had given up my +Living; but men of great weight went further in their misgivings than I, +when they saw the Life of St. Stephen Harding, and decided that it was +of a character inconsistent even with its proceeding from an Anglican +publisher: and so the scheme was given up at once. After the two first +numbers, I retired from the Editorship, and those Lives only were +published in addition, which were then already finished, or in advanced +preparation. The following passages from what I or others wrote at the +time will illustrate what I have been saying:-- + +In November, 1844, I wrote thus to the author of one of them: "I am not +Editor, I have no direct control over the Series. It is T.'s work; he +may admit what he pleases; and exclude what he pleases. I was to have +been Editor. I did edit the two first numbers. I was responsible for +them, in the way in which an Editor is responsible. Had I continued +Editor, I should have exercised a control over all. I laid down in the +Preface that doctrinal subjects were, if possible, to be excluded. But, +even then, I also set down that no writer was to be held answerable for +any of the Lives but his own. When I gave up the Editorship, I had +various engagements with friends for separate Lives remaining on my +hands. I should have liked to have broken from them all, but there were +some from which I could not break, and I let them take their course. +Some have come to nothing; others like yours have gone on. I have seen +such, either in MS. or Proof. As time goes on, I shall have less and +less to do with the Series. I think the engagement between you and me +should come to an end. I have any how abundant responsibility on me, and +too much. I shall write to T. that if he wants the advantage of your +assistance, he must write to you direct." + +In accordance with this letter, I had already advertised in January +1844, ten months before it, that "other Lives," after St. Stephen +Harding, would "be published by their respective authors on their own +responsibility." This notice was repeated in February, in the +advertisement to the second number entitled "The Family of St. Richard," +though to this number, for some reason which I cannot now recollect, I +also put my initials. In the Life of St. Augustine, the author, a man of +nearly my own age, says in like manner, "No one but himself is +responsible for the way in which these materials have been used." I have +in MS. another advertisement to the same effect, but I cannot tell +whether it ever appeared in print. + +I will add, since the authors have been considered "hot-headed fanatic +young men," whom I was in charge of, and whom I suffered to do +intemperate things, that, while the writer of St. Augustine was in 1844 +past forty, the author of the proposed Life of St. Boniface, Mr. Bowden, +was forty-six; Mr. Johnson, who was to write St. Aldhelm, forty-three; +and most of the others were on one side or other of thirty. Three, I +think, were under twenty-five. Moreover, of these writers some became +Catholics, some remained Anglicans, and others have professed what are +called free or liberal opinions[14]. + +[14] Vide Note D, _Lives of the English Saints_. + + * * * * * + +The immediate cause of the resignation of my Living is stated in the +following letter, which I wrote to my Bishop:-- + +"August 29, 1843. It is with much concern that I inform your Lordship, +that Mr. A. B., who has been for the last year an inmate of my house +here, has just conformed to the Church of Rome. As I have ever been +desirous, not only of faithfully discharging the trust, which is +involved in holding a living in your Lordship's diocese, but of +approving myself to your Lordship, I will for your information state one +or two circumstances connected with this unfortunate event.... I +received him on condition of his promising me, which he distinctly did, +that he would remain quietly in our Church for three years. A year has +passed since that time, and, though I saw nothing in him which promised +that he would eventually be contented with his present position, yet for +the time his mind became as settled as one could wish, and he frequently +expressed his satisfaction at being under the promise which I had +exacted of him." + +I felt it impossible to remain any longer in the service of the Anglican +Church, when such a breach of trust, however little I had to do with it, +would be laid at my door. I wrote in a few days to a friend: + +"September 7, 1843. I this day ask the Bishop leave to resign St. +Mary's. Men whom you little think, or at least whom I little thought, +are in almost a hopeless way. Really we may expect any thing. I am going +to publish a Volume of Sermons, including those Four against moving." + + * * * * * + +I resigned my living on September the 18th. I had not the means of doing +it legally at Oxford. The late Mr. Goldsmid was kind enough to aid me in +resigning it in London. I found no fault with the Liberals; they had +beaten me in a fair field. As to the act of the Bishops, I thought, to +borrow a Scriptural image from Walter Scott, that they had "seethed the +kid in his mother's milk." + +I said to a friend:-- + + "Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni." + + * * * * * + +And now I may be almost said to have brought to an end, as far as is +necessary for a sketch such as this is, the history both of my changes +of religious opinion and of the public acts which they involved. + +I had one final advance of mind to accomplish, and one final step to +take. That further advance of mind was to be able honestly to say that I +was _certain_ of the conclusions at which I had already arrived. That +further step, imperative when such certitude was attained, was my +_submission_ to the Catholic Church. + +This submission did not take place till two full years after the +resignation of my living in September 1843; nor could I have made it at +an earlier day, without doubt and apprehension, that is, with any true +conviction of mind or certitude. + +In the interval, of which it remains to speak, viz. between the autumns +of 1843 and 1845, I was in lay communion with the Church of England, +attending its services as usual, and abstaining altogether from +intercourse with Catholics, from their places of worship, and from those +religious rites and usages, such as the Invocation of Saints, which are +characteristics of their creed. I did all this on principle; for I never +could understand how a man could be of two religions at once. + +What I have to say about myself between these two autumns I shall almost +confine to this one point,--the difficulty I was in, as to the best mode +of revealing the state of my mind to my friends and others, and how I +managed to reveal it. + + * * * * * + +Up to January, 1842, I had not disclosed my state of unsettlement to +more than three persons, as has been mentioned above, and as is repeated +in the course of the letters which I am now about to give to the reader. +To two of them, intimate and familiar companions, in the Autumn of 1839: +to the third, an old friend too, whom I have also named above, I +suppose, when I was in great distress of mind upon the affair of the +Jerusalem Bishopric. In May, 1843, I made it known, as has been seen, to +the friend, by whose advice I wished, as far as possible, to be guided. +To mention it on set purpose to any one, unless indeed I was asking +advice, I should have felt to be a crime. If there is any thing that was +abhorrent to me, it was the scattering doubts, and unsettling +consciences without necessity. A strong presentiment that my existing +opinions would ultimately give way, and that the grounds of them were +unsound, was not a sufficient warrant for disclosing the state of my +mind. I had no guarantee yet, that that presentiment would be realized. +Supposing I were crossing ice, which came right in my way, which I had +good reasons for considering sound, and which I saw numbers before me +crossing in safety, and supposing a stranger from the bank, in a voice +of authority, and in an earnest tone, warned me that it was dangerous, +and then was silent, I think I should be startled, and should look about +me anxiously, but I think too that I should go on, till I had better +grounds for doubt; and such was my state, I believe, till the end of +1842. Then again, when my dissatisfaction became greater, it was hard at +first to determine the point of time, when it was too strong to suppress +with propriety. Certitude of course is a point, but doubt is a progress; +I was not near certitude yet. Certitude is a reflex action; it is to +know that one knows. Of that I believe I was not possessed, till close +upon my reception into the Catholic Church. Again, a practical, +effective doubt is a point too, but who can easily ascertain it for +himself? Who can determine when it is, that the scales in the balance of +opinion begin to turn, and what was a greater probability in behalf of a +belief becomes a positive doubt against it? + +In considering this question in its bearing upon my conduct in 1843, my +own simple answer to my great difficulty had been, _Do_ what your +present state of opinion requires in the light of duty, and let that +_doing_ tell: speak by _acts_. This I had done; my first _act_ of the +year had been in February. After three months' deliberation I had +published my retractation of the violent charges which I had made +against Rome: I could not be wrong in doing so much as this; but I did +no more at the time: I did not retract my Anglican teaching. My second +_act_ had been in September in the same year; after much sorrowful +lingering and hesitation, I had resigned my Living. I tried indeed, +before I did so, to keep Littlemore for myself, even though it was still +to remain an integral part of St. Mary's. I had given to it a Church and +a sort of Parsonage; I had made it a Parish, and I loved it; I thought +in 1843 that perhaps I need not forfeit my existing relations towards +it. I could indeed submit to become the curate at will of another, but I +hoped an arrangement was possible, by which, while I had the curacy, I +might have been my own master in serving it. I had hoped an exception +might have been made in my favour, under the circumstances; but I did +not gain my request. Perhaps I was asking what was impracticable, and it +is well for me that it was so. + +These had been my two acts of the year, and I said, "I cannot be wrong +in making them; let that follow which must follow in the thoughts of the +world about me, when they see what I do." And, as time went on, they +fully answered my purpose. What I felt it a simple duty to do, did +create a general suspicion about me, without such responsibility as +would be involved in my initiating any direct act for the sake of +creating it. Then, when friends wrote me on the subject, I either did +not deny or I confessed my state of mind, according to the character and +need of their letters. Sometimes in the case of intimate friends, whom I +should otherwise have been leaving in ignorance of what others knew on +every side of them, I invited the question. + +And here comes in another point for explanation. While I was fighting in +Oxford for the Anglican Church, then indeed I was very glad to make +converts, and, though I never broke away from that rule of my mind, (as +I may call it,) of which I have already spoken, of finding disciples +rather than seeking them, yet, that I made advances to others in a +special way, I have no doubt; this came to an end, however, as soon as I +fell into misgivings as to the true ground to be taken in the +controversy. For then, when I gave up my place in the Movement, I ceased +from any such proceedings: and my utmost endeavour was to tranquillize +such persons, especially those who belonged to the new school, as were +unsettled in their religious views, and, as I judged, hasty in their +conclusions. This went on till 1843; but, at that date, as soon as I +turned my face Rome-ward, I gave up, as far as ever was possible, the +thought of in any respect and in any shape acting upon others. Then I +myself was simply my own concern. How could I in any sense direct +others, who had to be guided in so momentous a matter myself? How could +I be considered in a position, even to say a word to them one way or the +other? How could I presume to unsettle them, as I was unsettled, when I +had no means of bringing them out of such unsettlement? And, if they +were unsettled already, how could I point to them a place of refuge, +when I was not sure that I should choose it for myself? My only line, my +only duty, was to keep simply to my own case. I recollected Pascal's +words, "Je mourrai seul." I deliberately put out of my thoughts all +other works and claims, and said nothing to any one, unless I was +obliged. + +But this brought upon me a great trouble. In the newspapers there were +continual reports about my intentions; I did not answer them; presently +strangers or friends wrote, begging to be allowed to answer them; and, +if I still kept to my resolution and said nothing, then I was thought to +be mysterious, and a prejudice was excited against me. But, what was far +worse, there were a number of tender, eager hearts, of whom I knew +nothing at all, who were watching me, wishing to think as I thought, and +to do as I did, if they could but find it out; who in consequence were +distressed, that, in so solemn a matter, they could not see what was +coming, and who heard reports about me this way or that, on a first day +and on a second; and felt the weariness of waiting, and the sickness of +delayed hope, and did not understand that I was as perplexed as they +were, and, being of more sensitive complexion of mind than myself, were +made ill by the suspense. And they too of course for the time thought me +mysterious and inexplicable. I ask their pardon as far as I was really +unkind to them. There was a gifted and deeply earnest lady, who in a +parabolical account of that time, has described both my conduct as she +felt it, and her own feelings upon it. In a singularly graphic, amusing +vision of pilgrims, who were making their way across a bleak common in +great discomfort, and who were ever warned against, yet continually +nearing, "the king's highway" on the right, she says, "All my fears and +disquiets were speedily renewed by seeing the most daring of our +leaders, (the same who had first forced his way through the palisade, +and in whose courage and sagacity we all put implicit trust,) suddenly +stop short, and declare that he would go on no further. He did not, +however, take the leap at once, but quietly sat down on the top of the +fence with his feet hanging towards the road, as if he meant to take his +time about it, and let himself down easily." I do not wonder at all that +I thus seemed so unkind to a lady, who at that time had never seen me. +We were both in trial in our different ways. I am far from denying that +I was acting selfishly both in her case and in that of others; but it +was a religious selfishness. Certainly to myself my own duty seemed +clear. They that are whole can heal others; but in my case it was, +"Physician, heal thyself." My own soul was my first concern, and it +seemed an absurdity to my reason to be converted in partnership. I +wished to go to my Lord by myself, and in my own way, or rather His way. +I had neither wish, nor, I may say, thought of taking a number with me. +Moreover, it is but the truth to say, that it had ever been an annoyance +to me to seem to be the head of a party; and that even from +fastidiousness of mind, I could not bear to find a thing done elsewhere, +simply or mainly because I did it myself, and that, from distrust of +myself, I shrank from the thought, whenever it was brought home to me, +that I was influencing others. But nothing of this could be known to the +world. + +The following three letters are written to a friend, who had every claim +upon me to be frank with him, Archdeacon Manning:--it will be seen that +I disclose the real state of my mind in proportion as he presses me. + +1. "October 14, 1843. I would tell you in a few words why I have +resigned St. Mary's, as you seem to wish, were it possible to do so. But +it is most difficult to bring out in brief, or even _in extenso_, any +just view of my feelings and reasons. + +"The nearest approach I can give to a general account of them is to say, +that it has been caused by the general repudiation of the view, +contained in No. 90, on the part of the Church. I could not stand +against such an unanimous expression of opinion from the Bishops, +supported, as it has been, by the concurrence, or at least silence, of +all classes in the Church, lay and clerical. If there ever was a case, +in which an individual teacher has been put aside and virtually put away +by a community, mine is one. No decency has been observed in the attacks +upon me from authority; no protests have been offered against them. It +is felt,--I am far from denying, justly felt,--that I am a foreign +material, and cannot assimilate with the Church of England. + +"Even my own Bishop has said that my mode of interpreting the Articles +makes them mean _any thing or nothing_. When I heard this delivered, I +did not believe my ears. I denied to others that it was said.... Out +came the charge, and the words could not be mistaken. This astonished me +the more, because I published that Letter to him, (how unwillingly you +know,) on the understanding that _I_ was to deliver his judgment on No. +90 _instead_ of him. A year elapses, and a second and heavier judgment +came forth. I did not bargain for this,--nor did he, but the tide was +too strong for him. + +"I fear that I must confess, that, in proportion as I think the English +Church is showing herself intrinsically and radically alien from +Catholic principles, so do I feel the difficulties of defending her +claims to be a branch of the Catholic Church. It seems a dream to call a +communion Catholic, when one can neither appeal to any clear statement +of Catholic doctrine in its formularies, nor interpret ambiguous +formularies by the received and living Catholic sense, whether past or +present. Men of Catholic views are too truly but a party in our Church. +I cannot deny that many other independent circumstances, which it is not +worth while entering into, have led me to the same conclusion. + +"I do not say all this to every body, as you may suppose; but I do not +like to make a secret of it to you." + +2. "Oct. 25, 1843. You have engaged in a dangerous correspondence; I am +deeply sorry for the pain I shall give you. + +"I must tell you then frankly, (but I combat arguments which to me, +alas, are shadows,) that it is not from disappointment, irritation, or +impatience, that I have, whether rightly or wrongly, resigned St. +Mary's; but because I think the Church of Rome the Catholic Church, and +ours not part of the Catholic Church, because not in communion with +Rome; and because I feel that I could not honestly be a teacher in it +any longer. + +"This thought came to me last summer four years.... I mentioned it to +two friends in the autumn.... It arose in the first instance from the +Monophysite and Donatist controversies, the former of which I was +engaged with in the course of theological study to which I had given +myself. This was at a time when no Bishop, I believe, had declared +against us[15], and when all was progress and hope. I do not think I +have ever felt disappointment or impatience, certainly not then; for I +never looked forward to the future, nor do I realize it now. + +"My first effort was to write that article on the Catholicity of the +English Church; for two years it quieted me. Since the summer of 1839 I +have written little or nothing on modern controversy.... You know how +unwillingly I wrote my letter to the Bishop in which I committed myself +again, as the safest course under circumstances. The article I speak of +quieted me till the end of 1841, over the affair of No. 90, when that +wretched Jerusalem Bishopric (no personal matter) revived all my alarms. +They have increased up to this moment. At that time I told my secret to +another person in addition. + +"You see then that the various ecclesiastical and quasi-ecclesiastical +acts, which have taken place in the course of the last two years and a +half, are not the _cause_ of my state of opinion, but are keen +stimulants and weighty confirmations of a conviction forced upon me, +while engaged in the _course of duty_, viz. that theological reading to +which I had given myself. And this last-mentioned circumstance is a +fact, which has never, I think, come before me till now that I write to +you. + +"It is three years since, on account of my state of opinion, I urged the +Provost in vain to let St. Mary's be separated from Littlemore; thinking +I might with a safe conscience serve the latter, though I could not +comfortably continue in so public a place as a University. This was +before No. 90. + +"Finally, I have acted under advice, and that, not of my own choosing, +but what came to me in the way of duty, nor the advice of those only who +agree with me, but of near friends who differ from me. + +"I have nothing to reproach myself with, as far as I see, in the matter +of impatience; i.e. practically or in conduct. And I trust that He, who +has kept me in the slow course of change hitherto, will keep me still +from hasty acts, or resolves with a doubtful conscience. + +"This I am sure of, that such interposition as yours, kind as it is, +only does what _you_ would consider harm. It makes me realize my own +views to myself; it makes me see their consistency; it assures me of my +own deliberateness; it suggests to me the traces of a Providential Hand; +it takes away the pain of disclosures; it relieves me of a heavy secret. + +"You may make what use of my letters you think right." + +[15] I think Sumner, Bishop of Chester, must have done so already. + +3. My correspondent wrote to me once more, and I replied thus: "October +31, 1843. Your letter has made my heart ache more, and caused me more +and deeper sighs than any I have had a long while, though I assure you +there is much on all sides of me to cause sighing and heartache. On all +sides:--I am quite haunted by the one dreadful whisper repeated from so +many quarters, and causing the keenest distress to friends. You know but +a part of my present trial, in knowing that I am unsettled myself. + +"Since the beginning of this year I have been obliged to tell the state +of my mind to some others; but never, I think, without being in a way +obliged, as from friends writing to me as you did, or guessing how +matters stood. No one in Oxford knows it or here" [Littlemore], "but one +near friend whom I felt I could not help telling the other day. But, I +suppose, many more suspect it." + +On receiving these letters, my correspondent, if I recollect rightly, at +once communicated the matter of them to Dr. Pusey, and this will enable +me to describe, as nearly as I can, the way in which he first became +aware of my changed state of opinion. + +I had from the first a great difficulty in making Dr. Pusey understand +such differences of opinion as existed between himself and me. When +there was a proposal about the end of 1838 for a subscription for a +Cranmer Memorial, he wished us both to subscribe together to it. I could +not, of course, and wished him to subscribe by himself. That he would +not do; he could not bear the thought of our appearing to the world in +separate positions, in a matter of importance. And, as time went on, he +would not take any hints, which I gave him, on the subject of my growing +inclination to Rome. When I found him so determined, I often had not the +heart to go on. And then I knew, that, from affection to me, he so often +took up and threw himself into what I said, that I felt the great +responsibility I should incur, if I put things before him just as I +might view them myself. And, not knowing him so well as I did +afterwards, I feared lest I should unsettle him. And moreover, I +recollected well, how prostrated he had been with illness in 1832, and I +used always to think that the start of the Movement had given him a +fresh life. I fancied that his physical energies even depended on the +presence of a vigorous hope and bright prospects for his imagination to +feed upon; so much so, that when he was so unworthily treated by the +authorities of the place in 1843, I recollect writing to the late Mr. +Dodsworth to state my anxiety, lest, if his mind became dejected in +consequence, his health should suffer seriously also. These were +difficulties in my way; and then again, another difficulty was, that, as +we were not together under the same roof, we only saw each other at set +times; others indeed, who were coming in or out of my rooms freely, and +according to the need of the moment, knew all my thoughts easily; but +for him to know them well, formal efforts were necessary. A common +friend of ours broke it all to him in 1841, as far as matters had gone +at that time, and showed him clearly the logical conclusions which must +lie in propositions to which I had committed myself; but somehow or +other in a little while, his mind fell back into its former happy state, +and he could not bring himself to believe that he and I should not go on +pleasantly together to the end. But that affectionate dream needs must +have been broken at last; and two years afterwards, that friend to whom +I wrote the letters which I have just now inserted, set himself, as I +have said, to break it. Upon that, I too begged Dr. Pusey to tell in +private to any one he would, that I thought in the event I should leave +the Church of England. However, he would not do so; and at the end of +1844 had almost relapsed into his former thoughts about me, if I may +judge from a letter of his which I have found. Nay, at the Commemoration +of 1845, a few months before I left the Anglican Church, I think he said +about me to a friend, "I trust after all we shall keep him." + +In that autumn of 1843, at the time that I spoke to Dr. Pusey, I asked +another friend also to communicate in confidence, to whom he would, the +prospect which lay before me. + +To another friend, Mr. James Hope, now Mr. Hope Scott, I gave the +opportunity of knowing it, if he would, in the following Postscript to a +letter:-- + +"While I write, I will add a word about myself. You may come near a +person or two who, owing to circumstances, know more exactly my state of +feeling than you do, though they would not tell you. Now I do not like +that you should not be aware of this, though I see no _reason_ why you +should know what they happen to know. Your wishing it would _be_ a +reason." + +I had a dear and old friend, near his death; I never told him my state +of mind. Why should I unsettle that sweet calm tranquillity, when I had +nothing to offer him instead? I could not say, "Go to Rome;" else I +should have shown him the way. Yet I offered myself for his examination. +One day he led the way to my speaking out; but, rightly or wrongly, I +could not respond. My reason was, "I have no certainty on the matter +myself. To say 'I think' is to tease and to distress, not to persuade." + +I wrote to him on Michaelmas Day, 1843: "As you may suppose, I have +nothing to write to you about, pleasant. I _could_ tell you some very +painful things; but it is best not to anticipate trouble, which after +all can but happen, and, for what one knows, may be averted. You are +always so kind, that sometimes, when I part with you, I am nearly moved +to tears, and it would be a relief to be so, at your kindness and at my +hardness. I think no one ever had such kind friends as I have." + +The next year, January 22, I wrote to him: "Pusey has quite enough on +him, and generously takes on himself more than enough, for me to add +burdens when I am not obliged; particularly too, when I am very +conscious, that there _are_ burdens, which I am or shall be obliged to +lay upon him some time or other, whether I will or no." + +And on February 21: "Half-past ten. I am just up, having a bad cold; the +like has not happened to me (except twice in January) in my memory. You +may think you have been in my thoughts, long before my rising. Of course +you are so continually, as you well know. I could not come to see you; I +am not worthy of friends. With my opinions, to the full of which I dare +not confess, I feel like a guilty person with others, though I trust I +am not so. People kindly think that I have much to bear externally, +disappointment, slander, &c. No, I have nothing to bear, but the anxiety +which I feel for my friends' anxiety for me, and their perplexity. This +is a better Ash-Wednesday than birthday present;" [his birthday was the +same day as mine; it was Ash-Wednesday that year;] "but I cannot help +writing about what is uppermost. And now, my dear B., all kindest and +best wishes to you, my oldest friend, whom I must not speak more about, +and with reference to myself, lest you should be angry." It was not in +his nature to have doubts: he used to look at me with anxiety, and +wonder what had come over me. + +On Easter Monday: "All that is good and gracious descend upon you and +yours from the influences of this Blessed Season; and it will be so, (so +be it!) for what is the life of you all, as day passes after day, but a +simple endeavour to serve Him, from whom all blessing comes? Though we +are separated in place, yet this we have in common, that you are living +a calm and cheerful time, and I am enjoying the thought of you. It is +your blessing to have a clear heaven, and peace around, according to the +blessing pronounced on Benjamin[16]. So it is, my dear B., and so may it +ever be." + +[16] Deut. xxxiii. 12. + +He was in simple good faith. He died in September of the same year. I +had expected that his last illness would have brought light to my mind, +as to what I ought to do. It brought none. I made a note, which runs +thus: "I sobbed bitterly over his coffin, to think that he left me still +dark as to what the way of truth was, and what I ought to do in order to +please God and fulfil His will." I think I wrote to Charles Marriott to +say, that at that moment, with the thought of my friend before me, my +strong view in favour of Rome remained just what it was. On the other +hand, my firm belief that grace was to be found within the Anglican +Church remained too[17]. I wrote to another friend thus:-- + +[17] On this subject, vide my Third Lecture on "Anglican Difficulties," +also Note E, _Anglican Church_. + +"Sept. 16, 1844. I am full of wrong and miserable feelings, which it is +useless to detail, so grudging and sullen, when I should be thankful. Of +course, when one sees so blessed an end, and that, the termination of so +blameless a life, of one who really fed on our ordinances and got +strength from them, and sees the same continued in a whole family, the +little children finding quite a solace of their pain in the Daily +Prayer, it is impossible not to feel more at ease in our Church, as at +least a sort of Zoar, a place of refuge and temporary rest, because of +the steepness of the way. Only, may we be kept from unlawful security, +lest we have Moab and Ammon for our progeny, the enemies of Israel." + +I could not continue in this state, either in the light of duty or of +reason. My difficulty was this: I had been deceived greatly once; how +could I be sure that I was not deceived a second time? I thought myself +right then; how was I to be certain that I was right now? How many years +had I thought myself sure of what I now rejected? how could I ever again +have confidence in myself? As in 1840 I listened to the rising doubt in +favour of Rome, now I listened to the waning doubt in favour of the +Anglican Church. To be certain is to know that one knows; what inward +test had I, that I should not change again, after that I had become a +Catholic? I had still apprehension of this, though I thought a time +would come, when it would depart. However, some limit ought to be put to +these vague misgivings; I must do my best and then leave it to a higher +Power to prosper it. So, at the end of 1844, I came to the resolution of +writing an Essay on Doctrinal Development; and then, if, at the end of +it, my convictions in favour of the Roman Church were not weaker, of +taking the necessary steps for admission into her fold. + +By this time the state of my mind was generally known, and I made no +great secret of it. I will illustrate it by letters of mine which have +been put into my hands. + +"November 16, 1844. I am going through what must be gone through; and my +trust only is that every day of pain is so much taken from the necessary +draught which must be exhausted. There is no fear (humanly speaking) of +my moving for a long time yet. This has got out without my intending it; +but it is all well. As far as I know myself, my one great distress is +the perplexity, unsettlement, alarm, scepticism, which I am causing to +so many; and the loss of kind feeling and good opinion on the part of so +many, known and unknown, who have wished well to me. And of these two +sources of pain it is the former that is the constant, urgent, +unmitigated one. I had for days a literal ache all about my heart; and +from time to time all the complaints of the Psalmist seemed to belong to +me. + +"And as far as I know myself, my one paramount reason for contemplating +a change is my deep, unvarying conviction that our Church is in schism, +and that my salvation depends on my joining the Church of Rome. I may +use _argumenta ad hominem_ to this person or that[18]; but I am not +conscious of resentment, or disgust, at any thing that has happened to +me. I have no visions whatever of hope, no schemes of action, in any +other sphere more suited to me. I have no existing sympathies with Roman +Catholics; I hardly ever, even abroad, was at one of their services; I +know none of them, I do not like what I hear of them. + +"And then, how much I am giving up in so many ways! and to me sacrifices +irreparable, not only from my age, when people hate changing, but from +my especial love of old associations and the pleasures of memory. Nor am +I conscious of any feeling, enthusiastic or heroic, of pleasure in the +sacrifice; I have nothing to support me here. + +"What keeps me yet is what has kept me long; a fear that I am under a +delusion; but the conviction remains firm under all circumstances, in +all frames of mind. And this most serious feeling is growing on me; viz. +that the reasons for which I believe as much as our system teaches, +_must_ lead me to believe more, and that not to believe more is to fall +back into scepticism. + +"A thousand thanks for your most kind and consoling letter; though I +have not yet spoken of it, it was a great gift." + +[18] Vide supr. p. 219, &c. Letter of Oct. 14, 1843, compared with that +of Oct. 25. + +Shortly after I wrote to the same friend thus: "My intention is, if +nothing comes upon me, which I cannot foresee, to remain quietly _in +statu quo_ for a considerable time, trusting that my friends will kindly +remember me and my trial in their prayers. And I should give up my +fellowship some time before any thing further took place." + +There was a lady, now a nun of the Visitation, to whom at this time I +wrote the following letters:-- + +1. "November 7, 1844. I am still where I was; I am not moving. Two +things, however, seem plain, that every one is prepared for such an +event, next, that every one expects it of me. Few, indeed, who do not +think it suitable, fewer still, who do not think it likely. However, I +do not think it either suitable or likely. I have very little reason to +doubt about the issue of things, but the when and the how are known to +Him, from whom, I trust, both the course of things and the issue come. +The expression of opinion, and the latent and habitual feeling about me, +which is on every side and among all parties, has great force. I insist +upon it, because I have a great dread of going by my own feelings, lest +they should mislead me. By one's sense of duty one must go; but external +facts support one in doing so." + +2. "January 8, 1845. What am I to say in answer to your letter? I know +perfectly well, I ought to let you know more of my feelings and state of +mind than you do know. But how is that possible in a few words? Any +thing I say must be abrupt; nothing can I say which will not leave a +bewildering feeling, as needing so much to explain it, and being +isolated, and (as it were) unlocated, and not having any thing with it +to show its bearings upon other parts of the subject. + +"At present, my full belief is, in accordance with your letter, that, if +there is a move in our Church, very few persons indeed will be partners +to it. I doubt whether one or two at the most among residents at Oxford. +And I don't know whether I can wish it. The state of the Roman Catholics +is at present so unsatisfactory. This I am sure of, that nothing but a +simple, direct call of duty is a warrant for any one leaving our Church; +no preference of another Church, no delight in its services, no hope of +greater religious advancement in it, no indignation, no disgust, at the +persons and things, among which we may find ourselves in the Church of +England. The simple question is, Can _I_ (it is personal, not whether +another, but can _I_) be saved in the English Church? am _I_ in safety, +were I to die to-night? Is it a mortal sin in _me_, not joining another +communion? + +"P.S. I hardly see my way to concur in attendance, though occasional, in +the Roman Catholic chapel, unless a man has made up his mind pretty well +to join it eventually. Invocations are not _required_ in the Church of +Rome; somehow, I do not like using them except under the sanction of the +Church, and this makes me unwilling to admit them in members of our +Church." + +3. "March 30. Now I will tell you more than any one knows except two +friends. My own convictions are as strong as I suppose they can become: +only it is so difficult to know whether it is a call of _reason_ or of +conscience. I cannot make out, if I am impelled by what seems _clear_, +or by a sense of _duty_. You can understand how painful this doubt is; +so I have waited, hoping for light, and using the words of the Psalmist, +'Show some token upon me.' But I suppose I have no right to wait for +ever for this. Then I am waiting, because friends are most considerately +bearing me in mind, and asking guidance for me; and, I trust, I should +attend to any new feelings which came upon me, should that be the effect +of their kindness. And then this waiting subserves the purpose of +preparing men's minds. I dread shocking, unsettling people. Any how, I +can't avoid giving incalculable pain. So, if I had my will, I should +like to wait till the summer of 1846, which would be a full seven years +from the time that my convictions first began to fall on me. But I don't +think I shall last so long. + +"My present intention is to give up my Fellowship in October, and to +publish some work or treatise between that and Christmas. I wish people +to know _why_ I am acting, as well as _what_ I am doing; it takes off +that vague and distressing surprise, 'What _can_ have made him?'" + +4. "June 1. What you tell me of yourself makes it plain that it is your +duty to remain quietly and patiently, till you see more clearly where +you are; else you are leaping in the dark." + +In the early part of this year, if not before, there was an idea afloat +that my retirement from the Anglican Church was owing to my distress +that I had been so thrust aside, without any one's taking my part. +Various measures were, I believe, talked of in consequence of this +surmise. Coincidently with it appeared an exceedingly kind article about +me in a Quarterly, in its April number. The writer praised me in kind +and beautiful language far above my deserts. In the course of his +remarks, he said, speaking of me as Vicar of St. Mary's: "He had the +future race of clergy hearing him. Did he value and feel tender about, +and cling to his position?... Not at all.... No sacrifice to him +perhaps, he did not care about such things." + +There was a censure implied, however covertly, in these words; and it is +alluded to in the following letter, addressed to a very intimate +friend:-- + +"April 3, 1845.... Accept this apology, my dear Church, and forgive me. +As I say so, tears come into my eyes;--that arises from the accident of +this time, when I am giving up so much I love. Just now I have been +overset by James Mozley's article in the Remembrancer; yet really, my +dear Church, I have never for an instant had even the temptation of +repenting my leaving Oxford. The feeling of repentance has not even come +into my mind. How could it? How could I remain at St. Mary's a +hypocrite? how could I be answerable for souls, (and life so uncertain,) +with the convictions, or at least persuasions, which I had upon me? It +is indeed a responsibility to act as I am doing; and I feel His hand +heavy on me without intermission, who is all Wisdom and Love, so that my +heart and mind are tired out, just as the limbs might be from a load on +one's back. That sort of dull aching pain is mine; but my responsibility +really is nothing to what it would be, to be answerable for souls, for +confiding loving souls, in the English Church, with my convictions. My +love to Marriott, and save me the pain of sending him a line." + + * * * * * + +I am now close upon the date of my reception into the Catholic Church; +at the beginning of the year a letter had been addressed to me by a very +dear friend, now no more, Charles Marriott. I quote some sentences from +it, for the love which I bear him and the value that I set on his good +word. + +"January 15, 1845. You know me well enough to be aware, that I never see +through any thing at first. Your letter to Badeley casts a gloom over +the future, which you can understand, if you have understood me, as I +believe you have. But I may speak out at once, of what I see and feel at +once, and doubt not that I shall ever feel: that your whole conduct +towards the Church of England and towards us, who have striven and are +still striving to seek after God for ourselves, and to revive true +religion among others, under her authority and guidance, has been +generous and considerate, and, were that word appropriate, dutiful, to a +degree that I could scarcely have conceived possible, more unsparing of +self than I should have thought nature could sustain. I have felt with +pain every link that you have severed, and I have asked no questions, +because I felt that you ought to measure the disclosure of your thoughts +according to the occasion, and the capacity of those to whom you spoke. +I write in haste, in the midst of engagements engrossing in themselves, +but partly made tasteless, partly embittered by what I have heard; but I +am willing to trust even you, whom I love best on earth, in God's Hand, +in the earnest prayer that you may be so employed as is best for the +Holy Catholic Church." + +In July, a Bishop thought it worth while to give out to the world that +"the adherents of Mr. Newman are few in number. A short time will now +probably suffice to prove this fact. It is well known that he is +preparing for secession; and, when that event takes place, it will be +seen how few will go with him." + +I had begun my Essay on the Development of Doctrine in the beginning of +1845, and I was hard at it all through the year till October. As I +advanced, my difficulties so cleared away that I ceased to speak of "the +Roman Catholics," and boldly called them Catholics. Before I got to the +end, I resolved to be received, and the book remains in the state in +which it was then, unfinished. + +One of my friends at Littlemore had been received into the Church on +Michaelmas Day, at the Passionist House at Aston, near Stone, by Father +Dominic, the Superior. At the beginning of October the latter was +passing through London to Belgium; and, as I was in some perplexity what +steps to take for being received myself, I assented to the proposition +made to me that the good priest should take Littlemore in his way, with +a view to his doing for me the same charitable service as he had done to +my friend. + +On October the 8th I wrote to a number of friends the following +letter:-- + +"Littlemore, October 8th, 1845. I am this night expecting Father +Dominic, the Passionist, who, from his youth, has been led to have +distinct and direct thoughts, first of the countries of the North, then +of England. After thirty years' (almost) waiting, he was without his own +act sent here. But he has had little to do with conversions. I saw him +here for a few minutes on St. John Baptist's day last year. + +"He is a simple, holy man; and withal gifted with remarkable powers. He +does not know of my intention; but I mean to ask of him admission into +the One Fold of Christ.... + +"I have so many letters to write, that this must do for all who choose +to ask about me. With my best love to dear Charles Marriott, who is over +your head, &c., &c. + +"P.S. This will not go till all is over. Of course it requires no +answer." + + * * * * * + +For a while after my reception, I proposed to betake myself to some +secular calling. I wrote thus in answer to a very gracious letter of +congratulation sent me by Cardinal Acton:-- + +"Nov. 25, 1845. I hope you will have anticipated, before I express it, +the great gratification which I received from your Eminence's letter. +That gratification, however, was tempered by the apprehension, that kind +and anxious well-wishers at a distance attach more importance to my step +than really belongs to it. To me indeed personally it is of course an +inestimable gain; but persons and things look great at a distance, which +are not so when seen close; and, did your Eminence know me, you would +see that I was one, about whom there has been far more talk for good and +bad than he deserves, and about whose movements far more expectation has +been raised than the event will justify. + +"As I never, I do trust, aimed at any thing else than obedience to my +own sense of right, and have been magnified into the leader of a party +without my wishing it or acting as such, so now, much as I may wish to +the contrary, and earnestly as I may labour (as is my duty) to minister +in a humble way to the Catholic Church, yet my powers will, I fear, +disappoint the expectations of both my own friends, and of those who +pray for the peace of Jerusalem. + +"If I might ask of your Eminence a favour, it is that you would kindly +moderate those anticipations. Would it were in my power to do, what I do +not aspire to do! At present certainly I cannot look forward to the +future, and, though it would be a good work if I could persuade others +to do as I have done, yet it seems as if I had quite enough to do in +thinking of myself." + +Soon, Dr. Wiseman, in whose Vicariate Oxford lay, called me to Oscott; +and I went there with others; afterwards he sent me to Rome, and finally +placed me in Birmingham. + +I wrote to a friend:-- + +"January 20, 1846. You may think how lonely I am. 'Obliviscere populum +tuum et domum patris tui,' has been in my ears for the last twelve +hours. I realize more that we are leaving Littlemore, and it is like +going on the open sea." + +I left Oxford for good on Monday, February 23, 1846. On the Saturday and +Sunday before, I was in my house at Littlemore simply by myself, as I +had been for the first day or two when I had originally taken possession +of it. I slept on Sunday night at my dear friend's, Mr. Johnson's, at +the Observatory. Various friends came to see the last of me; Mr. +Copeland, Mr. Church, Mr. Buckle, Mr. Pattison, and Mr. Lewis. Dr. Pusey +too came up to take leave of me; and I called on Dr. Ogle, one of my +very oldest friends, for he was my private Tutor, when I was an +Undergraduate. In him I took leave of my first College, Trinity, which +was so dear to me, and which held on its foundation so many who had been +kind to me both when I was a boy, and all through my Oxford life. +Trinity had never been unkind to me. There used to be much snap-dragon +growing on the walls opposite my freshman's rooms there, and I had for +years taken it as the emblem of my own perpetual residence even unto +death in my University. + +On the morning of the 23rd I left the Observatory. I have never seen +Oxford since, excepting its spires, as they are seen from the +railway[19]. + +[19] At length I revisited Oxford on February 26th, 1878, after an +absence of just 32 years. Vide Additional Note at the end of the volume. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +POSITION OF MY MIND SINCE 1845. + + +From the time that I became a Catholic, of course I have no further +history of my religious opinions to narrate. In saying this, I do not +mean to say that my mind has been idle, or that I have given up thinking +on theological subjects; but that I have had no variations to record, +and have had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have been in perfect peace +and contentment; I never have had one doubt. I was not conscious to +myself, on my conversion, of any change, intellectual or moral, wrought +in my mind. I was not conscious of firmer faith in the fundamental +truths of Revelation, or of more self-command; I had not more fervour; +but it was like coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on +that score remains to this day without interruption. + +Nor had I any trouble about receiving those additional articles, which +are not found in the Anglican Creed. Some of them I believed already, +but not any one of them was a trial to me. I made a profession of them +upon my reception with the greatest ease, and I have the same ease in +believing them now. I am far of course from denying that every article +of the Christian Creed, whether as held by Catholics or by Protestants, +is beset with intellectual difficulties; and it is simple fact, that, +for myself, I cannot answer those difficulties. Many persons are very +sensitive of the difficulties of Religion; I am as sensitive of them as +any one; but I have never been able to see a connexion between +apprehending those difficulties, however keenly, and multiplying them to +any extent, and on the other hand doubting the doctrines to which they +are attached. Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt, as I +understand the subject; difficulty and doubt are incommensurate. There +of course may be difficulties in the evidence; but I am speaking of +difficulties intrinsic to the doctrines themselves, or to their +relations with each other. A man may be annoyed that he cannot work out +a mathematical problem, of which the answer is or is not given to him, +without doubting that it admits of an answer, or that a certain +particular answer is the true one. Of all points of faith, the being of +a God is, to my own apprehension, encompassed with most difficulty, and +yet borne in upon our minds with most power. + +People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to +believe; I did not believe the doctrine till I was a Catholic. I had no +difficulty in believing it, as soon as I believed that the Catholic +Roman Church was the oracle of God, and that she had declared this +doctrine to be part of the original revelation. It is difficult, +impossible, to imagine, I grant;--but how is it difficult to believe? +Yet Macaulay thought it so difficult to believe, that he had need of a +believer in it of talents as eminent as Sir Thomas More, before he could +bring himself to conceive that the Catholics of an enlightened age could +resist "the overwhelming force of the argument against it." "Sir Thomas +More," he says, "is one of the choice specimens of wisdom and virtue; +and the doctrine of transubstantiation is a kind of proof charge. A +faith which stands that test, will stand any test." But for myself, I +cannot indeed prove it, I cannot tell _how_ it is; but I say, "Why +should it not be? What's to hinder it? What do I know of substance or +matter? just as much as the greatest philosophers, and that is nothing +at all;"--so much is this the case, that there is a rising school of +philosophy now, which considers phenomena to constitute the whole of our +knowledge in physics. The Catholic doctrine leaves phenomena alone. It +does not say that the phenomena go; on the contrary, it says that they +remain; nor does it say that the same phenomena are in several places at +once. It deals with what no one on earth knows any thing about, the +material substances themselves. And, in like manner, of that majestic +Article of the Anglican as well as of the Catholic Creed,--the doctrine +of the Trinity in Unity. What do I know of the Essence of the Divine +Being? I know that my abstract idea of three is simply incompatible with +my idea of one; but when I come to the question of concrete fact, I have +no means of proving that there is not a sense in which one and three can +equally be predicated of the Incommunicable God. + +But I am going to take upon myself the responsibility of more than the +mere Creed of the Church; as the parties accusing me are determined I +shall do. They say, that now, in that I am a Catholic, though I may not +have offences of my own against honesty to answer for, yet, at least, I +am answerable for the offences of others, of my co-religionists, of my +brother priests, of the Church herself. I am quite willing to accept the +responsibility; and, as I have been able, as I trust, by means of a few +words, to dissipate, in the minds of all those who do not begin with +disbelieving me, the suspicion with which so many Protestants start, in +forming their judgment of Catholics, viz. that our Creed is actually set +up in inevitable superstition and hypocrisy, as the original sin of +Catholicism; so now I will proceed, as before, identifying myself with +the Church and vindicating it,--not of course denying the enormous mass +of sin and error which exists of necessity in that world-wide multiform +Communion,--but going to the proof of this one point, that its system is +in no sense dishonest, and that therefore the upholders and teachers of +that system, as such, have a claim to be acquitted in their own persons +of that odious imputation. + + * * * * * + +Starting then with the being of a God, (which, as I have said, is as +certain to me as the certainty of my own existence, though when I try to +put the grounds of that certainty into logical shape I find a difficulty +in doing so in mood and figure to my satisfaction,) I look out of myself +into the world of men, and there I see a sight which fills me with +unspeakable distress. The world seems simply to give the lie to that +great truth, of which my whole being is so full; and the effect upon me +is, in consequence, as a matter of necessity, as confusing as if it +denied that I am in existence myself. If I looked into a mirror, and did +not see my face, I should have the sort of feeling which actually comes +upon me, when I look into this living busy world, and see no reflexion +of its Creator. This is, to me, one of those great difficulties of this +absolute primary truth, to which I referred just now. Were it not for +this voice, speaking so clearly in my conscience and my heart, I should +be an atheist, or a pantheist, or a polytheist when I looked into the +world. I am speaking for myself only; and I am far from denying the real +force of the arguments in proof of a God, drawn from the general facts +of human society and the course of history, but these do not warm me or +enlighten me; they do not take away the winter of my desolation, or make +the buds unfold and the leaves grow within me, and my moral being +rejoice. The sight of the world is nothing else than the prophet's +scroll, full of "lamentations, and mourning, and woe." + +To consider the world in its length and breadth, its various history, +the many races of man, their starts, their fortunes, their mutual +alienation, their conflicts; and then their ways, habits, governments, +forms of worship; their enterprises, their aimless courses, their random +achievements and acquirements, the impotent conclusion of long-standing +facts, the tokens so faint and broken of a superintending design, the +blind evolution of what turn out to be great powers or truths, the +progress of things, as if from unreasoning elements, not towards final +causes, the greatness and littleness of man, his far-reaching aims, his +short duration, the curtain hung over his futurity, the disappointments +of life, the defeat of good, the success of evil, physical pain, mental +anguish, the prevalence and intensity of sin, the pervading idolatries, +the corruptions, the dreary hopeless irreligion, that condition of the +whole race, so fearfully yet exactly described in the Apostle's words, +"having no hope and without God in the world,"--all this is a vision to +dizzy and appal; and inflicts upon the mind the sense of a profound +mystery, which is absolutely beyond human solution. + +What shall be said to this heart-piercing, reason-bewildering fact? I +can only answer, that either there is no Creator, or this living society +of men is in a true sense discarded from His presence. Did I see a boy +of good make and mind, with the tokens on him of a refined nature, cast +upon the world without provision, unable to say whence he came, his +birth-place or his family connexions, I should conclude that there was +some mystery connected with his history, and that he was one, of whom, +from one cause or other, his parents were ashamed. Thus only should I be +able to account for the contrast between the promise and the condition +of his being. And so I argue about the world;--_if_ there be a God, +_since_ there is a God, the human race is implicated in some terrible +aboriginal calamity. It is out of joint with the purposes of its +Creator. This is a fact, a fact as true as the fact of its existence; +and thus the doctrine of what is theologically called original sin +becomes to me almost as certain as that the world exists, and as the +existence of God. + +And now, supposing it were the blessed and loving will of the Creator to +interfere in this anarchical condition of things, what are we to suppose +would be the methods which might be necessarily or naturally involved in +His purpose of mercy? Since the world is in so abnormal a state, surely +it would be no surprise to me, if the interposition were of necessity +equally extraordinary--or what is called miraculous. But that subject +does not directly come into the scope of my present remarks. Miracles as +evidence, involve a process of reason, or an argument; and of course I +am thinking of some mode of interference which does not immediately run +into argument. I am rather asking what must be the face-to-face +antagonist, by which to withstand and baffle the fierce energy of +passion and the all-corroding, all-dissolving scepticism of the +intellect in religious inquiries? I have no intention at all of denying, +that truth is the real object of our reason, and that, if it does not +attain to truth, either the premiss or the process is in fault; but I am +not speaking here of right reason, but of reason as it acts in fact and +concretely in fallen man. I know that even the unaided reason, when +correctly exercised, leads to a belief in God, in the immortality of the +soul, and in a future retribution; but I am considering the faculty of +reason actually and historically; and in this point of view, I do not +think I am wrong in saying that its tendency is towards a simple +unbelief in matters of religion. No truth, however sacred, can stand +against it, in the long run; and hence it is that in the pagan world, +when our Lord came, the last traces of the religious knowledge of former +times were all but disappearing from those portions of the world in +which the intellect had been active and had had a career. + +And in these latter days, in like manner, outside the Catholic Church +things are tending,--with far greater rapidity than in that old time +from the circumstance of the age,--to atheism in one shape or other. +What a scene, what a prospect, does the whole of Europe present at this +day! and not only Europe, but every government and every civilization +through the world, which is under the influence of the European mind! +Especially, for it most concerns us, how sorrowful, in the view of +religion, even taken in its most elementary, most attenuated form, is +the spectacle presented to us by the educated intellect of England, +France, and Germany! Lovers of their country and of their race, +religious men, external to the Catholic Church, have attempted various +expedients to arrest fierce wilful human nature in its onward course, +and to bring it into subjection. The necessity of some form of religion +for the interests of humanity, has been generally acknowledged: but +where was the concrete representative of things invisible, which would +have the force and the toughness necessary to be a breakwater against +the deluge? Three centuries ago the establishment of religion, material, +legal, and social, was generally adopted as the best expedient for the +purpose, in those countries which separated from the Catholic Church; +and for a long time it was successful; but now the crevices of those +establishments are admitting the enemy. Thirty years ago, education was +relied upon: ten years ago there was a hope that wars would cease for +ever, under the influence of commercial enterprise and the reign of the +useful and fine arts; but will any one venture to say that there is any +thing any where on this earth, which will afford a fulcrum for us, +whereby to keep the earth from moving onwards? + +The judgment, which experience passes whether on establishments or on +education, as a means of maintaining religious truth in this anarchical +world, must be extended even to Scripture, though Scripture be divine. +Experience proves surely that the Bible does not answer a purpose for +which it was never intended. It may be accidentally the means of the +conversion of individuals; but a book, after all, cannot make a stand +against the wild living intellect of man, and in this day it begins to +testify, as regards its own structure and contents, to the power of that +universal solvent, which is so successfully acting upon religious +establishments. + +Supposing then it to be the Will of the Creator to interfere in human +affairs, and to make provisions for retaining in the world a knowledge +of Himself, so definite and distinct as to be proof against the energy +of human scepticism, in such a case,--I am far from saying that there +was no other way,--but there is nothing to surprise the mind, if He +should think fit to introduce a power into the world, invested with the +prerogative of infallibility in religious matters. Such a provision +would be a direct, immediate, active, and prompt means of withstanding +the difficulty; it would be an instrument suited to the need; and, when +I find that this is the very claim of the Catholic Church, not only do I +feel no difficulty in admitting the idea, but there is a fitness in it, +which recommends it to my mind. And thus I am brought to speak of the +Church's infallibility, as a provision, adapted by the mercy of the +Creator, to preserve religion in the world, and to restrain that freedom +of thought, which of course in itself is one of the greatest of our +natural gifts, and to rescue it from its own suicidal excesses. And let +it be observed that, neither here nor in what follows, shall I have +occasion to speak directly of Revelation in its subject-matter, but in +reference to the sanction which it gives to truths which may be known +independently of it,--as it bears upon the defence of natural religion. +I say, that a power, possessed of infallibility in religious teaching, +is happily adapted to be a working instrument, in the course of human +affairs, for smiting hard and throwing back the immense energy of the +aggressive, capricious, untrustworthy intellect:--and in saying this, as +in the other things that I have to say, it must still be recollected +that I am all along bearing in mind my main purpose, which is a defence +of myself. + +I am defending myself here from a plausible charge brought against +Catholics, as will be seen better as I proceed. The charge is +this:--that I, as a Catholic, not only make profession to hold doctrines +which I cannot possibly believe in my heart, but that I also believe in +the existence of a power on earth, which at its own will imposes upon +men any new set of _credenda_, when it pleases, by a claim to +infallibility; in consequence, that my own thoughts are not my own +property; that I cannot tell that to-morrow I may not have to give up +what I hold to-day, and that the necessary effect of such a condition of +mind must be a degrading bondage, or a bitter inward rebellion relieving +itself in secret infidelity, or the necessity of ignoring the whole +subject of religion in a sort of disgust, and of mechanically saying +every thing that the Church says, and leaving to others the defence of +it. As then I have above spoken of the relation of my mind towards the +Catholic Creed, so now I shall speak of the attitude which it takes up +in the view of the Church's infallibility. + +And first, the initial doctrine of the infallible teacher must be an +emphatic protest against the existing state of mankind. Man had rebelled +against his Maker. It was this that caused the divine interposition: and +to proclaim it must be the first act of the divinely-accredited +messenger. The Church must denounce rebellion as of all possible evils +the greatest. She must have no terms with it; if she would be true to +her Master, she must ban and anathematize it. This is the meaning of a +statement of mine which has furnished matter for one of those special +accusations to which I am at present replying: I have, however, no fault +at all to confess in regard to it; I have nothing to withdraw, and in +consequence I here deliberately repeat it. I said, "The Catholic Church +holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth +to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in +extremest agony, as far as temporal affliction goes, than that one soul, +I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, +should tell one wilful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing +without excuse." I think the principle here enunciated to be the mere +preamble in the formal credentials of the Catholic Church, as an Act of +Parliament might begin with a "_Whereas_." It is because of the +intensity of the evil which has possession of mankind, that a suitable +antagonist has been provided against it; and the initial act of that +divinely-commissioned power is of course to deliver her challenge and to +defy the enemy. Such a preamble then gives a meaning to her position in +the world, and an interpretation to her whole course of teaching and +action. + +In like manner she has ever put forth, with most energetic distinctness, +those other great elementary truths, which either are an explanation of +her mission or give a character to her work. She does not teach that +human nature is irreclaimable, else wherefore should she be sent? not, +that it is to be shattered and reversed, but to be extricated, purified, +and restored; not, that it is a mere mass of hopeless evil, but that it +has the promise upon it of great things, and even now, in its present +state of disorder and excess, has a virtue and a praise proper to +itself. But in the next place she knows and she preaches that such a +restoration, as she aims at effecting in it, must be brought about, not +simply through certain outward provisions of preaching and teaching, +even though they be her own, but from an inward spiritual power or grace +imparted directly from above, and of which she is the channel. She has +it in charge to rescue human nature from its misery, but not simply by +restoring it on its own level, but by lifting it up to a higher level +than its own. She recognizes in it real moral excellence though +degraded, but she cannot set it free from earth except by exalting it +towards heaven. It was for this end that a renovating grace was put into +her hands; and therefore from the nature of the gift, as well as from +the reasonableness of the case, she goes on, as a further point, to +insist, that all true conversion must begin with the first springs of +thought, and to teach that each individual man must be in his own person +one whole and perfect temple of God, while he is also one of the living +stones which build up a visible religious community. And thus the +distinctions between nature and grace, and between outward and inward +religion, become two further articles in what I have called the preamble +of her divine commission. + +Such truths as these she vigorously reiterates, and pertinaciously +inflicts upon mankind; as to such she observes no half-measures, no +economical reserve, no delicacy or prudence. "Ye must be born again," is +the simple, direct form of words which she uses after her Divine Master: +"your whole nature must be re-born; your passions, and your affections, +and your aims, and your conscience, and your will, must all be bathed in +a new element, and reconsecrated to your Maker,--and, the last not the +least, your intellect." It was for repeating these points of her +teaching in my own way, that certain passages of one of my Volumes have +been brought into the general accusation which has been made against my +religious opinions. The writer has said that I was demented if I +believed, and unprincipled if I did not believe, in my own statement, +that a lazy, ragged, filthy, story-telling beggar-woman, if chaste, +sober, cheerful, and religious, had a prospect of heaven, such as was +absolutely closed to an accomplished statesman, or lawyer, or noble, be +he ever so just, upright, generous, honourable, and conscientious, +unless he had also some portion of the divine Christian graces;--yet I +should have thought myself defended from criticism by the words which +our Lord used to the chief priests, "The publicans and harlots go into +the kingdom of God before you." And I was subjected again to the same +alternative of imputations, for having ventured to say that consent to +an unchaste wish was indefinitely more heinous than any lie viewed apart +from its causes, its motives, and its consequences: though a lie, viewed +under the limitation of these conditions, is a random utterance, an +almost outward act, not directly from the heart, however disgraceful and +despicable it may be, however prejudicial to the social contract, +however deserving of public reprobation; whereas we have the express +words of our Lord to the doctrine that "whoso looketh on a woman to lust +after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." On +the strength of these texts, I have surely as much right to believe in +these doctrines which have caused so much surprise, as to believe in +original sin, or that there is a supernatural revelation, or that a +Divine Person suffered, or that punishment is eternal. + +Passing now from what I have called the preamble of that grant of power, +which is made to the Church, to that power itself, Infallibility, I +premise two brief remarks:--1. on the one hand, I am not here +determining any thing about the essential seat of that power, because +that is a question doctrinal, not historical and practical; 2. nor, on +the other hand, am I extending the direct subject-matter, over which +that power of Infallibility has jurisdiction, beyond religious +opinion:--and now as to the power itself. + +This power, viewed in its fulness, is as tremendous as the giant evil +which has called for it. It claims, when brought into exercise but in +the legitimate manner, for otherwise of course it is but quiescent, to +know for certain the very meaning of every portion of that Divine +Message in detail, which was committed by our Lord to His Apostles. It +claims to know its own limits, and to decide what it can determine +absolutely and what it cannot. It claims, moreover, to have a hold upon +statements not directly religious, so far as this,--to determine whether +they indirectly relate to religion, and, according to its own definitive +judgment, to pronounce whether or not, in a particular case, they are +simply consistent with revealed truth. It claims to decide +magisterially, whether as within its own province or not, that such and +such statements are or are not prejudicial to the _Depositum_ of faith, +in their spirit or in their consequences, and to allow them, or condemn +and forbid them, accordingly. It claims to impose silence at will on any +matters, or controversies, of doctrine, which on its own _ipse dixit_, +it pronounces to be dangerous, or inexpedient, or inopportune. It claims +that, whatever may be the judgment of Catholics upon such acts, these +acts should be received by them with those outward marks of reverence, +submission, and loyalty, which Englishmen, for instance, pay to the +presence of their sovereign, without expressing any criticism on them on +the ground that in their matter they are inexpedient, or in their manner +violent or harsh. And lastly, it claims to have the right of inflicting +spiritual punishment, of cutting off from the ordinary channels of the +divine life, and of simply excommunicating, those who refuse to submit +themselves to its formal declarations. Such is the infallibility lodged +in the Catholic Church, viewed in the concrete, as clothed and +surrounded by the appendages of its high sovereignty: it is, to repeat +what I said above, a supereminent prodigious power sent upon earth to +encounter and master a giant evil. + +And now, having thus described it, I profess my own absolute submission +to its claim. I believe the whole revealed dogma as taught by the +Apostles, as committed by the Apostles to the Church; and as declared by +the Church to me. I receive it, as it is infallibly interpreted by the +authority to whom it is thus committed, and (implicitly) as it shall be, +in like manner, further interpreted by that same authority till the end +of time. I submit, moreover, to the universally received traditions of +the Church, in which lies the matter of those new dogmatic definitions +which are from time to time made, and which in all times are the +clothing and the illustration of the Catholic dogma as already defined. +And I submit myself to those other decisions of the Holy See, +theological or not, through the organs which it has itself appointed, +which, waiving the question of their infallibility, on the lowest ground +come to me with a claim to be accepted and obeyed. Also, I consider +that, gradually and in the course of ages, Catholic inquiry has taken +certain definite shapes, and has thrown itself into the form of a +science, with a method and a phraseology of its own, under the +intellectual handling of great minds, such as St. Athanasius, St. +Augustine, and St. Thomas; and I feel no temptation at all to break in +pieces the great legacy of thought thus committed to us for these latter +days. + +All this being considered as the profession which I make _ex animo_, as +for myself, so also on the part of the Catholic body, as far as I know +it, it will at first sight be said that the restless intellect of our +common humanity is utterly weighed down, to the repression of all +independent effort and action whatever, so that, if this is to be the +mode of bringing it into order, it is brought into order only to be +destroyed. But this is far from the result, far from what I conceive to +be the intention of that high Providence who has provided a great remedy +for a great evil,--far from borne out by the history of the conflict +between Infallibility and Reason in the past, and the prospect of it in +the future. The energy of the human intellect "does from opposition +grow;" it thrives and is joyous, with a tough elastic strength, under +the terrible blows of the divinely-fashioned weapon, and is never so +much itself as when it has lately been overthrown. It is the custom with +Protestant writers to consider that, whereas there are two great +principles in action in the history of religion, Authority and Private +Judgment, they have all the Private Judgment to themselves, and we have +the full inheritance and the superincumbent oppression of Authority. But +this is not so; it is the vast Catholic body itself, and it only, which +affords an arena for both combatants in that awful, never-dying duel. It +is necessary for the very life of religion, viewed in its large +operations and its history, that the warfare should be incessantly +carried on. Every exercise of Infallibility is brought out into act by +an intense and varied operation of the Reason, both as its ally and as +its opponent, and provokes again, when it has done its work, a re-action +of Reason against it; and, as in a civil polity the State exists and +endures by means of the rivalry and collision, the encroachments and +defeats of its constituent parts, so in like manner Catholic Christendom +is no simple exhibition of religious absolutism, but presents a +continuous picture of Authority and Private Judgment alternately +advancing and retreating as the ebb and flow of the tide;--it is a vast +assemblage of human beings with wilful intellects and wild passions, +brought together into one by the beauty and the Majesty of a Superhuman +Power,--into what may be called a large reformatory or training-school, +not as if into a hospital or into a prison, not in order to be sent to +bed, not to be buried alive, but (if I may change my metaphor) brought +together as if into some moral factory, for the melting, refining, and +moulding, by an incessant, noisy process, of the raw material of human +nature, so excellent, so dangerous, so capable of divine purposes. + +St. Paul says in one place that his Apostolical power is given him to +edification, and not to destruction. There can be no better account of +the Infallibility of the Church. It is a supply for a need, and it does +not go beyond that need. Its object is, and its effect also, not to +enfeeble the freedom or vigour of human thought in religious +speculation, but to resist and control its extravagance. What have been +its great works? All of them in the distinct province of theology:--to +put down Arianism, Eutychianism, Pelagianism, Manichæism, Lutheranism, +Jansenism. Such is the broad result of its action in the past;--and now +as to the securities which are given us that so it ever will act in time +to come. + +First, Infallibility cannot act outside of a definite circle of thought, +and it must in all its decisions, or _definitions_, as they are called, +profess to be keeping within it. The great truths of the moral law, of +natural religion, and of Apostolical faith, are both its boundary and +its foundation. It must not go beyond them, and it must ever appeal to +them. Both its subject-matter, and its articles in that subject-matter, +are fixed. And it must ever profess to be guided by Scripture and by +tradition. It must refer to the particular Apostolic truth which it is +enforcing, or (what is called) _defining_. Nothing, then, can be +presented to me, in time to come, as part of the faith, but what I ought +already to have received, and hitherto have been kept from receiving, +(if so,) merely because it has not been brought home to me. Nothing can +be imposed upon me different in kind from what I hold already,--much +less contrary to it. The new truth which is promulgated, if it is to be +called new, must be at least homogeneous, cognate, implicit, viewed +relatively to the old truth. It must be what I may even have guessed, or +wished, to be included in the Apostolic revelation; and at least it will +be of such a character, that my thoughts readily concur in it or +coalesce with it, as soon as I hear it. Perhaps I and others actually +have always believed it, and the only question which is now decided in +my behalf, is, that I have henceforth the satisfaction of having to +believe, that I have only been holding all along what the Apostles held +before me. + +Let me take the doctrine which Protestants consider our greatest +difficulty, that of the Immaculate Conception. Here I entreat the reader +to recollect my main drift, which is this. I have no difficulty in +receiving the doctrine; and that, because it so intimately harmonizes +with that circle of recognized dogmatic truths, into which it has been +recently received;--but if _I_ have no difficulty, why may not another +have no difficulty also? why may not a hundred? a thousand? Now I am +sure that Catholics in general have not any intellectual difficulty at +all on the subject of the Immaculate Conception; and that there is no +reason why they should. Priests have no difficulty. You tell me that +they _ought_ to have a difficulty;--but they have not. Be large-minded +enough to believe, that men may reason and feel very differently from +yourselves; how is it that men, when left to themselves, fall into such +various forms of religion, except that there are various types of mind +among them, very distinct from each other? From my testimony then about +myself, if you believe it, judge of others also who are Catholics: we do +not find the difficulties which you do in the doctrines which we hold; +we have no intellectual difficulty in that doctrine in particular, which +you call a novelty of this day. We priests need not be hypocrites, +though we be called upon to believe in the Immaculate Conception. To +that large class of minds, who believe in Christianity after our +manner,--in the particular temper, spirit, and light, (whatever word is +used,) in which Catholics believe it,--there is no burden at all in +holding that the Blessed Virgin was conceived without original sin; +indeed, it is a simple fact to say, that Catholics have not come to +believe it because it is defined, but that it was defined because they +believed it. + +So far from the definition in 1854 being a tyrannical infliction on the +Catholic world, it was received every where on its promulgation with the +greatest enthusiasm. It was in consequence of the unanimous petition, +presented from all parts of the Church to the Holy See, in behalf of an +_ex cathedrâ_ declaration that the doctrine was Apostolic, that it was +declared so to be. I never heard of one Catholic having difficulties in +receiving the doctrine, whose faith on other grounds was not already +suspicious. Of course there were grave and good men, who were made +anxious by the doubt whether it could be formally proved to be +Apostolical either by Scripture or tradition, and who accordingly, +though believing it themselves, did not see how it could be defined by +authority and imposed upon all Catholics as a matter of faith; but this +is another matter. The point in question is, whether the doctrine is a +burden. I believe it to be none. So far from it being so, I sincerely +think that St. Bernard and St. Thomas, who scrupled at it in their day, +had they lived into this, would have rejoiced to accept it for its own +sake. Their difficulty, as I view it, consisted in matters of words, +ideas, and arguments. They thought the doctrine inconsistent with other +doctrines; and those who defended it in that age had not that precision +in their view of it, which has been attained by means of the long +disputes of the centuries which followed. And in this want of precision +lay the difference of opinion, and the controversy. + +Now the instance which I have been taking suggests another remark; the +number of those (so called) new doctrines will not oppress us, if it +takes eight centuries to promulgate even one of them. Such is about the +length of time through which the preparation has been carried on for the +definition of the Immaculate Conception. This of course is an +extraordinary case; but it is difficult to say what is ordinary, +considering how few are the formal occasions on which the voice of +Infallibility has been solemnly lifted up. It is to the Pope in +Ecumenical Council that we look, as to the normal seat of Infallibility: +now there have been only eighteen such Councils since Christianity +was,--an average of one to a century,--and of these Councils some passed +no doctrinal decree at all, others were employed on only one, and many +of them were concerned with only elementary points of the Creed. The +Council of Trent embraced a large field of doctrine certainly; but I +should apply to its Canons a remark contained in that University Sermon +of mine, which has been so ignorantly criticized in the Pamphlet which +has been the occasion of this Volume;--I there have said that the +various verses of the Athanasian Creed are only repetitions in various +shapes of one and the same idea; and in like manner, the Tridentine +Decrees are not isolated from each other, but are occupied in bringing +out in detail, by a number of separate declarations, as if into bodily +form, a few necessary truths. I should make the same remark on the +various theological censures, promulgated by Popes, which the Church has +received, and on their dogmatic decisions generally. I own that at first +sight those decisions seem from their number to be a greater burden on +the faith of individuals than are the Canons of Councils; still I do not +believe that in matter of fact they are so at all, and I give this +reason for it:--it is not that a Catholic, layman or priest, is +indifferent to the subject, or, from a sort of recklessness, will accept +any thing that is placed before him, or is willing, like a lawyer, to +speak according to his brief, but that in such condemnations the Holy +See is engaged, for the most part, in repudiating one or two great lines +of error, such as Lutheranism or Jansenism, principally ethical not +doctrinal, which are divergent from the Catholic mind, and that it is +but expressing what any good Catholic, of fair abilities, though +unlearned, would say himself, from common and sound sense, if the matter +could be put before him. + +Now I will go on in fairness to say what I think _is_ the great trial to +the Reason, when confronted with that august prerogative of the Catholic +Church, of which I have been speaking. I enlarged just now upon the +concrete shape and circumstances, under which pure infallible authority +presents itself to the Catholic. That authority has the prerogative of +an indirect jurisdiction on subject-matters which lie beyond its own +proper limits, and it most reasonably has such a jurisdiction. It could +not act in its own province, unless it had a right to act out of it. It +could not properly defend religious truth, without claiming for that +truth what may be called its _pom[oe]ria_; or, to take another +illustration, without acting as we act, as a nation, in claiming as our +own, not only the land on which we live, but what are called British +waters. The Catholic Church claims, not only to judge infallibly on +religious questions, but to animadvert on opinions in secular matters +which bear upon religion, on matters of philosophy, of science, of +literature, of history, and it demands our submission to her claim. It +claims to censure books, to silence authors, and to forbid discussions. +In this province, taken as a whole, it does not so much speak +doctrinally, as enforce measures of discipline. It must of course be +obeyed without a word, and perhaps in process of time it will tacitly +recede from its own injunctions. In such cases the question of faith +does not come in at all; for what is matter of faith is true for all +times, and never can be unsaid. Nor does it at all follow, because there +is a gift of infallibility in the Catholic Church, that therefore the +parties who are in possession of it are in all their proceedings +infallible. "O, it is excellent," says the poet, "to have a giant's +strength, but tyrannous, to use it like a giant." I think history +supplies us with instances in the Church, where legitimate power has +been harshly used. To make such admission is no more than saying that +the divine treasure, in the words of the Apostle, is "in earthen +vessels;" nor does it follow that the substance of the acts of the +ruling power is not right and expedient, because its manner may have +been faulty. Such high authorities act by means of instruments; we know +how such instruments claim for themselves the name of their principals, +who thus get the credit of faults which really are not theirs. But +granting all this to an extent greater than can with any show of reason +be imputed to the ruling power in the Church, what difficulty is there +in the fact of this want of prudence or moderation more than can be +urged, with far greater justice, against Protestant communities and +institutions? What is there in it to make us hypocrites, if it has not +that effect upon Protestants? We are called upon, not to profess any +thing, but to submit and be silent, as Protestant Churchmen have before +now obeyed the royal command to abstain from certain theological +questions. Such injunctions as I have been contemplating are laid merely +upon our actions, not upon our thoughts. How, for instance, does it tend +to make a man a hypocrite, to be forbidden to publish a libel? his +thoughts are as free as before: authoritative prohibitions may tease and +irritate, but they have no bearing whatever upon the exercise of reason. + +So much at first sight; but I will go on to say further, that, in spite +of all that the most hostile critic may urge about the encroachments or +severities of high ecclesiastics, in times past, in the use of their +power, I think that the event has shown after all, that they were mainly +in the right, and that those whom they were hard upon were mainly in the +wrong. I love, for instance, the name of Origen: I will not listen to +the notion that so great a soul was lost; but I am quite sure that, in +the contest between his doctrine and followers and the ecclesiastical +power, his opponents were right, and he was wrong. Yet who can speak +with patience of his enemy and the enemy of St. John Chrysostom, that +Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria? who can admire or revere Pope +Vigilius? And here another consideration presents itself to my thoughts. +In reading ecclesiastical history, when I was an Anglican, it used to be +forcibly brought home to me, how the initial error of what afterwards +became heresy was the urging forward some truth against the prohibition +of authority at an unseasonable time. There is a time for every thing, +and many a man desires a reformation of an abuse, or the fuller +development of a doctrine, or the adoption of a particular policy, but +forgets to ask himself whether the right time for it is come: and, +knowing that there is no one who will be doing any thing towards its +accomplishment in his own lifetime unless he does it himself, he will +not listen to the voice of authority, and he spoils a good work in his +own century, in order that another man, as yet unborn, may not have the +opportunity of bringing it happily to perfection in the next. He may +seem to the world to be nothing else than a bold champion for the truth +and a martyr to free opinion, when he is just one of those persons whom +the competent authority ought to silence; and, though the case may not +fall within that subject-matter in which that authority is infallible, +or the formal conditions of the exercise of that gift may be wanting, it +is clearly the duty of authority to act vigorously in the case. Yet its +act will go down to posterity as an instance of a tyrannical +interference with private judgment, and of the silencing of a reformer, +and of a base love of corruption or error; and it will show still less +to advantage, if the ruling power happens in its proceedings to evince +any defect of prudence or consideration. And all those who take the part +of that ruling authority will be considered as time-servers, or +indifferent to the cause of uprightness and truth; while, on the other +hand, the said authority may be accidentally supported by a violent +ultra party, which exalts opinions into dogmas, and has it principally +at heart to destroy every school of thought but its own. + +Such a state of things may be provoking and discouraging at the time, in +the case of two classes of persons; of moderate men who wish to make +differences in religious opinion as little as they fairly can be made; +and of such as keenly perceive, and are honestly eager to remedy, +existing evils,--evils, of which divines in this or that foreign country +know nothing at all, and which even at home, where they exist, it is not +every one who has the means of estimating. This is a state of things +both of past time and of the present. We live in a wonderful age; the +enlargement of the circle of secular knowledge just now is simply a +bewilderment, and the more so, because it has the promise of continuing, +and that with greater rapidity, and more signal results. Now these +discoveries, certain or probable, have in matter of fact an indirect +bearing upon religious opinions, and the question arises how are the +respective claims of revelation and of natural science to be adjusted. +Few minds in earnest can remain at ease without some sort of rational +grounds for their religious belief; to reconcile theory and fact is +almost an instinct of the mind. When then a flood of facts, ascertained +or suspected, comes pouring in upon us, with a multitude of others in +prospect, all believers in Revelation, be they Catholic or not, are +roused to consider their bearing upon themselves, both for the honour of +God, and from tenderness for those many souls who, in consequence of the +confident tone of the schools of secular knowledge, are in danger of +being led away into a bottomless liberalism of thought. + +I am not going to criticize here that vast body of men, in the mass, who +at this time would profess to be liberals in religion; and who look +towards the discoveries of the age, certain or in progress, as their +informants, direct or indirect, as to what they shall think about the +unseen and the future. The Liberalism which gives a colour to society +now, is very different from that character of thought which bore the +name thirty or forty years ago. Now it is scarcely a party; it is the +educated lay world. When I was young, I knew the word first as giving +name to a periodical, set up by Lord Byron and others. Now, as then, I +have no sympathy with the philosophy of Byron. Afterwards, Liberalism +was the badge of a theological school, of a dry and repulsive character, +not very dangerous in itself, though dangerous as opening the door to +evils which it did not itself either anticipate or comprehend. At +present it is nothing else than that deep, plausible scepticism, of +which I spoke above, as being the development of human reason, as +practically exercised by the natural man. + +The Liberal religionists of this day are a very mixed body, and +therefore I am not intending to speak against them. There may be, and +doubtless is, in the hearts of some or many of them a real antipathy or +anger against revealed truth, which it is distressing to think of. +Again, in many men of science or literature there may be an animosity +arising from almost a personal feeling; it being a matter of party, a +point of honour, the excitement of a game, or a satisfaction to the +soreness or annoyance occasioned by the acrimony or narrowness of +apologists for religion, to prove that Christianity or that Scripture is +untrustworthy. Many scientific and literary men, on the other hand, go +on, I am confident, in a straightforward impartial way, in their own +province and on their own line of thought, without any disturbance from +religious difficulties in themselves, or any wish at all to give pain to +others by the result of their investigations. It would ill become me, as +if I were afraid of truth of any kind, to blame those who pursue secular +facts, by means of the reason which God has given them, to their logical +conclusions: or to be angry with science, because religion is bound in +duty to take cognizance of its teaching. But putting these particular +classes of men aside, as having no special call on the sympathy of the +Catholic, of course he does most deeply enter into the feelings of a +fourth and large class of men, in the educated portions of society, of +religious and sincere minds, who are simply perplexed,--frightened or +rendered desperate, as the case may be,--by the utter confusion into +which late discoveries or speculations have thrown their most elementary +ideas of religion. Who does not feel for such men? who can have one +unkind thought of them? I take up in their behalf St. Augustine's +beautiful words, "Illi in vos sæviant," &c. Let them be fierce with you +who have no experience of the difficulty with which error is +discriminated from truth, and the way of life is found amid the +illusions of the world. How many a Catholic has in his thoughts followed +such men, many of them so good, so true, so noble! how often has the +wish risen in his heart that some one from among his own people should +come forward as the champion of revealed truth against its opponents! +Various persons, Catholic and Protestant, have asked me to do so myself; +but I had several strong difficulties in the way. One of the greatest is +this, that at the moment it is so difficult to say precisely what it is +that is to be encountered and overthrown. I am far from denying that +scientific knowledge is really growing, but it is by fits and starts; +hypotheses rise and fall; it is difficult to anticipate which of them +will keep their ground, and what the state of knowledge in relation to +them will be from year to year. In this condition of things, it has +seemed to me to be very undignified for a Catholic to commit himself to +the work of chasing what might turn out to be phantoms, and, in behalf +of some special objections, to be ingenious in devising a theory, which, +before it was completed, might have to give place to some theory newer +still, from the fact that those former objections had already come to +nought under the uprising of others. It seemed to be specially a time, +in which Christians had a call to be patient, in which they had no other +way of helping those who were alarmed, than that of exhorting them to +have a little faith and fortitude, and to "beware," as the poet says, +"of dangerous steps." This seemed so clear to me, the more I thought of +the matter, as to make me surmise, that, if I attempted what had so +little promise in it, I should find that the highest Catholic Authority +was against the attempt, and that I should have spent my time and my +thought, in doing what either it would be imprudent to bring before the +public at all, or what, did I do so, would only complicate matters +further which were already complicated, without my interference, more +than enough. And I interpret recent acts of that authority as fulfilling +my expectation; I interpret them as tying the hands of a +controversialist, such as I should be, and teaching us that true wisdom, +which Moses inculcated on his people, when the Egyptians were pursuing +them, "Fear ye not, stand still; the Lord shall fight for you, and ye +shall hold your peace." And so far from finding a difficulty in obeying +in this case, I have cause to be thankful and to rejoice to have so +clear a direction in a matter of difficulty. + +But if we would ascertain with correctness the real course of a +principle, we must look at it at a certain distance, and as history +represents it to us. Nothing carried on by human instruments, but has +its irregularities, and affords ground for criticism, when minutely +scrutinized in matters of detail. I have been speaking of that aspect of +the action of an infallible authority, which is most open to invidious +criticism from those who view it from without; I have tried to be fair, +in estimating what can be said to its disadvantage, as witnessed at a +particular time in the Catholic Church, and now I wish its adversaries +to be equally fair in their judgment upon its historical character. Can, +then, the infallible authority, with any show of reason, be said in fact +to have destroyed the energy of the Catholic intellect? Let it be +observed, I have not here to speak of any conflict which ecclesiastical +authority has had with science, for this simple reason, that conflict +there has been none; and that, because the secular sciences, as they now +exist, are a novelty in the world, and there has been no time yet for a +history of relations between theology and these new methods of +knowledge, and indeed the Church may be said to have kept clear of them, +as is proved by the constantly cited case of Galileo. Here "exceptio +probat regulam:" for it is the one stock argument. Again, I have not to +speak of any relations of the Church to the new sciences, because my +simple question all along has been whether the assumption of +infallibility by the proper authority is adapted to make me a hypocrite, +and till that authority passes decrees on pure physical subjects and +calls on me to subscribe them, (which it never will do, because it has +not the power,) it has no tendency to interfere by any of its acts with +my private judgment on those points. The simple question is, whether +authority has so acted upon the reason of individuals, that they can +have no opinion of their own, and have but an alternative of slavish +superstition or secret rebellion of heart; and I think the whole history +of theology puts an absolute negative upon such a supposition. + +It is hardly necessary to argue out so plain a point. It is individuals, +and not the Holy See, that have taken the initiative, and given the lead +to the Catholic mind, in theological inquiry. Indeed, it is one of the +reproaches urged against the Roman Church, that it has originated +nothing, and has only served as a sort of _remora_ or break in the +development of doctrine. And it is an objection which I really embrace +as a truth; for such I conceive to be the main purpose of its +extraordinary gift. It is said, and truly, that the Church of Rome +possessed no great mind in the whole period of persecution. Afterwards +for a long while, it has not a single doctor to show; St. Leo, its +first, is the teacher of one point of doctrine; St. Gregory, who stands +at the very extremity of the first age of the Church, has no place in +dogma or philosophy. The great luminary of the western world is, as we +know, St. Augustine; he, no infallible teacher, has formed the intellect +of Christian Europe; indeed to the African Church generally we must look +for the best early exposition of Latin ideas. Moreover, of the African +divines, the first in order of time, and not the least influential, is +the strong-minded and heterodox Tertullian. Nor is the Eastern +intellect, as such, without its share in the formation of the Latin +teaching. The free thought of Origen is visible in the writings of the +Western Doctors, Hilary and Ambrose; and the independent mind of Jerome +has enriched his own vigorous commentaries on Scripture, from the stores +of the scarcely orthodox Eusebius. Heretical questionings have been +transmuted by the living power of the Church into salutary truths. The +case is the same as regards the Ecumenical Councils. Authority in its +most imposing exhibition, grave bishops, laden with the traditions and +rivalries of particular nations or places, have been guided in their +decisions by the commanding genius of individuals, sometimes young and +of inferior rank. Not that uninspired intellect overruled the +super-human gift which was committed to the Council, which would be a +self-contradictory assertion, but that in that process of inquiry and +deliberation, which ended in an infallible enunciation, individual +reason was paramount. Thus Malchion, a mere presbyter, was the +instrument of the great Council of Antioch in the third century in +meeting and refuting, for the assembled Fathers, the heretical Patriarch +of that see. Parallel to this instance is the influence, so well known, +of a young deacon, St. Athanasius, with the 318 Fathers at Nicæa. In +mediæval times we read of St. Anselm at Bari, as the champion of the +Council there held, against the Greeks. At Trent, the writings of St. +Bonaventura, and, what is more to the point, the address of a Priest and +theologian, Salmeron, had a critical effect on some of the definitions +of dogma. In some of those cases the influence might be partly moral, +but in others it was that of a discursive knowledge of ecclesiastical +writers, a scientific acquaintance with theology, and a force of thought +in the treatment of doctrine. + +There are of course intellectual habits which theology does not tend to +form, as for instance the experimental, and again the philosophical; but +that is because it _is_ theology, not because of the gift of +infallibility. But, as far as this goes, I think it could be shown that +physical science on the other hand, or again mathematical, affords but +an imperfect training for the intellect. I do not see then how any +objection about the narrowness of theology comes into our question, +which simply is, whether the belief in an infallible authority destroys +the independence of the mind; and I consider that the whole history of +the Church, and especially the history of the theological schools, gives +a negative to the accusation. There never was a time when the intellect +of the educated class was more active, or rather more restless, than in +the middle ages. And then again all through Church history from the +first, how slow is authority in interfering! Perhaps a local teacher, or +a doctor in some local school, hazards a proposition, and a controversy +ensues. It smoulders or burns in one place, no one interposing; Rome +simply lets it alone. Then it comes before a Bishop; or some priest, or +some professor in some other seat of learning takes it up; and then +there is a second stage of it. Then it comes before a University, and it +may be condemned by the theological faculty. So the controversy proceeds +year after year, and Rome is still silent. An appeal perhaps is next +made to a seat of authority inferior to Rome; and then at last after a +long while it comes before the supreme power. Meanwhile, the question +has been ventilated and turned over and over again, and viewed on every +side of it, and authority is called upon to pronounce a decision, which +has already been arrived at by reason. But even then, perhaps the +supreme authority hesitates to do so, and nothing is determined on the +point for years: or so generally and vaguely, that the whole controversy +has to be gone through again, before it is ultimately determined. It is +manifest how a mode of proceeding, such as this, tends not only to the +liberty, but to the courage, of the individual theologian or +controversialist. Many a man has ideas, which he hopes are true, and +useful for his day, but he is not confident about them, and wishes to +have them discussed, He is willing, or rather would be thankful, to give +them up, if they can be proved to be erroneous or dangerous, and by +means of controversy he obtains his end. He is answered, and he yields; +or on the contrary he finds that he is considered safe. He would not +dare to do this, if he knew an authority, which was supreme and final, +was watching every word he said, and made signs of assent or dissent to +each sentence, as he uttered it. Then indeed he would be fighting, as +the Persian soldiers, under the lash, and the freedom of his intellect +might truly be said to be beaten out of him. But this has not been +so:--I do not mean to say that, when controversies run high, in schools +or even in small portions of the Church, an interposition may not +advisably take place; and again, questions may be of that urgent nature, +that an appeal must, as a matter of duty, be made at once to the highest +authority in the Church; but if we look into the history of controversy, +we shall find, I think, the general run of things to be such as I have +represented it. Zosimus treated Pelagius and C[oe]lestius with extreme +forbearance; St. Gregory VII. was equally indulgent with +Berengarius:--by reason of the very power of the Popes they have +commonly been slow and moderate in their use of it. + +And here again is a further shelter for the legitimate exercise of the +reason:--the multitude of nations which are within the fold of the +Church will be found to have acted for its protection, against any +narrowness, on the supposition of narrowness, in the various authorities +at Rome, with whom lies the practical decision of controverted +questions. How have the Greek traditions been respected and provided for +in the later Ecumenical Councils, in spite of the countries that held +them being in a state of schism! There are important points of doctrine +which have been (humanly speaking) exempted from the infallible +sentence, by the tenderness with which its instruments, in framing it, +have treated the opinions of particular places. Then, again, such +national influences have a providential effect in moderating the bias +which the local influences of Italy may exert upon the See of St. Peter. +It stands to reason that, as the Gallican Church has in it a French +element, so Rome must have in it an element of Italy; and it is no +prejudice to the zeal and devotion with which we submit ourselves to the +Holy See to admit this plainly. It seems to me, as I have been saying, +that Catholicity is not only one of the notes of the Church, but, +according to the divine purposes, one of its securities. I think it +would be a very serious evil, which Divine Mercy avert! that the Church +should be contracted in Europe within the range of particular +nationalities. It is a great idea to introduce Latin civilization into +America, and to improve the Catholics there by the energy of French +devotedness; but I trust that all European races will ever have a place +in the Church, and assuredly I think that the loss of the English, not +to say the German element, in its composition has been a most serious +misfortune. And certainly, if there is one consideration more than +another which should make us English grateful to Pius the Ninth, it is +that, by giving us a Church of our own, he has prepared the way for our +own habits of mind, our own manner of reasoning, our own tastes, and our +own virtues, finding a place and thereby a sanctification, in the +Catholic Church. + + * * * * * + +There is only one other subject, which I think it necessary to introduce +here, as bearing upon the vague suspicions which are attached in this +country to the Catholic Priesthood. It is one of which my accusers have +before now said much,--the charge of reserve and economy. They found it +in no slight degree on what I have said on the subject in my History of +the Arians, and in a note upon one of my Sermons in which I refer to it. +The principle of Reserve is also advocated by an admirable writer in two +numbers of the Tracts for the Times, and of these I was the Editor. + +Now, as to the Economy itself[20], it is founded upon the words of our +Lord, "Cast not your pearls before swine;" and it was observed by the +early Christians more or less, in their intercourse with the heathen +populations among whom they lived. In the midst of the abominable +idolatries and impurities of that fearful time, the Rule of the Economy +was an imperative duty. But that rule, at least as I have explained and +recommended it, in anything that I have written, did not go beyond (1) +the concealing the truth when we could do so without deceit, (2) stating +it only partially, and (3) representing it under the nearest form +possible to a learner or inquirer, when he could not possibly understand +it exactly. I conceive that to draw Angels with wings is an instance of +the third of these economical modes; and to avoid the question, "Do +Christians believe in a Trinity?" by answering, "They believe in only +one God," would be an instance of the second. As to the first, it is +hardly an Economy, but comes under what is called the "Disciplina +Arcani." The second and third economical modes Clement calls _lying_; +meaning that a partial truth is in some sense a lie, as is also a +representative truth. And this, I think, is about the long and the short +of the ground of the accusation which has been so violently urged +against me, as being a patron of the Economy. + +[20] Vide Note F, _The Economy_. + +Of late years I have come to think, as I believe most writers do, that +Clement meant more than I have said. I used to think he used the word +"lie" as an hyperbole, but I now believe that he, as other early +Fathers, thought that, under certain circumstances, it was lawful to +tell a lie. This doctrine I never maintained, though I used to think, as +I do now, that the theory of the subject is surrounded with considerable +difficulty; and it is not strange that I should say so, considering that +great English writers declare without hesitation that in certain extreme +cases, as to save life, honour, or even property, a lie is allowable. +And thus I am brought to the direct question of truth, and of the +truthfulness of Catholic priests generally in their dealings with the +world, as bearing on the general question of their honesty, and of their +internal belief in their religious professions. + + * * * * * + +It would answer no purpose, and it would be departing from the line of +writing which I have been observing all along, if I entered into any +formal discussion on this question; what I shall do here, as I have done +in the foregoing pages, is to give my own testimony on the matter in +question, and there to leave it. Now first I will say, that, when I +became a Catholic, nothing struck me more at once than the English +out-spoken manner of the Priests. It was the same at Oscott, at Old Hall +Green, at Ushaw; there was nothing of that smoothness, or mannerism, +which is commonly imputed to them, and they were more natural and +unaffected than many an Anglican clergyman. The many years, which have +passed since, have only confirmed my first impression. I have ever found +it in the priests of this Diocese; did I wish to point out a +straightforward Englishman, I should instance the Bishop, who has, to +our great benefit, for so many years presided over it. + +And next, I was struck, when I had more opportunity of judging of the +Priests, by the simple faith in the Catholic Creed and system, of which +they always gave evidence, and which they never seemed to feel, in any +sense at all, to be a burden. And now that I have been in the Church +nineteen years, I cannot recollect hearing of a single instance in +England of an infidel priest. Of course there are men from time to time, +who leave the Catholic Church for another religion, but I am speaking of +cases, when a man keeps a fair outside to the world and is a hollow +hypocrite in his heart. + +I wonder that the self-devotion of our priests does not strike a +Protestant in this point of view. What do they gain by professing a +Creed, in which, if their enemies are to be credited, they really do not +believe? What is their reward for committing themselves to a life of +self-restraint and toil, and perhaps to a premature and miserable death? +The Irish fever cut off between Liverpool and Leeds thirty priests and +more, young men in the flower of their days, old men who seemed entitled +to some quiet time after their long toil. There was a bishop cut off in +the North; but what had a man of his ecclesiastical rank to do with the +drudgery and danger of sick calls, except that Christian faith and +charity constrained him? Priests volunteered for the dangerous service. +It was the same with them on the first coming of the cholera, that +mysterious awe-inspiring infliction. If they did not heartily believe in +the Creed of the Church, then I will say that the remark of the Apostle +had its fullest illustration:--"If in this life only we have hope in +Christ, we are of all men most miserable." What could support a set of +hypocrites in the presence of a deadly disorder, one of them following +another in long order up the forlorn hope, and one after another +perishing? And such, I may say, in its substance, is every +Mission-Priest's life. He is ever ready to sacrifice himself for his +people. Night and day, sick or well himself, in all weathers, off he is, +on the news of a sick call. The fact of a parishioner dying without the +Sacraments through his fault is terrible to him; why terrible, if he has +not a deep absolute faith, which he acts upon with a free service? +Protestants admire this, when they see it; but they do not seem to see +as clearly, that it excludes the very notion of hypocrisy. + +Sometimes, when they reflect upon it, it leads them to remark on the +wonderful discipline of the Catholic priesthood; they say that no Church +has so well ordered a clergy, and that in that respect it surpasses +their own; they wish they could have such exact discipline among +themselves. But is it an excellence which can be purchased? is it a +phenomenon which depends on nothing else than itself, or is it an effect +which has a cause? You cannot buy devotion at a price. "It hath never +been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in +Theman. The children of Agar, the merchants of Meran, none of these have +known its way." What then is that wonderful charm, which makes a +thousand men act all in one way, and infuses a prompt obedience to rule, +as if they were under some stern military compulsion? How difficult to +find an answer, unless you will allow the obvious one, that they believe +intensely what they profess! + + * * * * * + +I cannot think what it can be, in a day like this, which keeps up the +prejudice of this Protestant country against us, unless it be the vague +charges which are drawn from our books of Moral Theology; and with a +short notice of the work in particular which by our accusers is +especially thrown into our teeth, I shall bring these observations to a +close. + +St. Alfonso Liguori, then, it cannot be denied, lays down that an +equivocation, (that is, a play upon words, in which one sense is taken +by the speaker, and another sense intended by him for the hearer,) is +allowable, if there is a just cause, that is, in an extraordinary case, +and may even be confirmed by an oath. I shall give my opinion on this +point as plainly as any Protestant can wish; and therefore I avow at +once that in this department of morality, much as I admire the high +points of the Italian character, I like the English rule of conduct +better; but, in saying so, I am not, as will shortly be seen, saying any +thing disrespectful to St. Alfonso, who was a lover of truth, and whose +intercession I trust I shall not lose, though, on the matter under +consideration, I follow other guidance in preference to his. + +Now I make this remark first:--great English authors, Jeremy Taylor, +Milton, Paley, Johnson, men of very different schools of thought, +distinctly say, that under certain extraordinary circumstances it is +allowable to tell a lie. Taylor says: "To tell a lie for charity, to +save a man's life, the life of a friend, of a husband, of a prince, of a +useful and a public person, hath not only been done at all times, but +commended by great and wise and good men. Who would not save his +father's life, at the charge of a harmless lie, from persecutors or +tyrants?" Again, Milton says: "What man in his senses would deny, that +there are those whom we have the best grounds for considering that we +ought to deceive,--as boys, madmen, the sick, the intoxicated, enemies, +men in error, thieves? I would ask, by which of the commandments is a +lie forbidden? You will say, by the ninth. If then my lie does not +injure my neighbour, certainly it is not forbidden by this commandment." +Paley says: "There are falsehoods, which are not lies, that is, which +are not criminal." Johnson: "The general rule is, that truth should +never be violated; there must, however, be some exceptions. If, for +instance, a murderer should ask you which way a man is gone." + +Now, I am not using these instances as an _argumentum ad hominem_; but +the purpose to which I put them is this:-- + +1. First, I have set down the distinct statements of Taylor, Milton, +Paley, and Johnson:--now, would any one give ever so little weight to +these statements, in forming a real estimate of the veracity of the +writers, if they now were alive? Were a man, who is so fierce with St. +Alfonso, to meet Paley or Johnson to-morrow in society, would he look +upon him as a liar, a knave, as dishonest and untrustworthy? I am sure +he would not. Why then does he not deal out the same measure to Catholic +priests? If a copy of Scavini, which speaks of equivocation as being in +a just cause allowable, be found in a student's room at Oscott, not +Scavini himself, but even the unhappy student, who has what a Protestant +calls a bad book in his possession, is judged to be for life unworthy of +credit. Are all Protestant text-books, which are used at the University, +immaculate? Is it necessary to take for gospel every word of Aristotle's +Ethics, or every assertion of Hey or Burnett on the Articles? Are +text-books the ultimate authority, or rather are they not manuals in the +hands of a lecturer, and the groundwork of his remarks? But, again, let +us suppose, not the case of a student, or of a professor, but of Scavini +himself, or of St. Alfonso; now here again I ask, since you would not +scruple in holding Paley for an honest man, in spite of his defence of +lying, why do you scruple at holding St. Alfonso honest? I am perfectly +sure that you would not scruple at Paley personally; you might not agree +with him, but you would not go further than to call him a bold thinker: +then why should St. Alfonso's person be odious to you, as well as his +doctrine? + +Now I wish to tell you why you are not afraid of Paley; because, you +would say, when he advocated lying, he was taking _extreme_ or _special +cases_. You would have no fear of a man who you knew had shot a burglar +dead in his own house, because you know you are _not_ a burglar: so you +would not think that Paley had a habit of telling lies in society, +because in the case of a cruel alternative he thought it the lesser evil +to tell a lie. Then why do you show such suspicion of a Catholic +theologian, who speaks of certain extraordinary cases in which an +equivocation in a penitent cannot be visited by his confessor as if it +were a sin? for this is the exact point of the question. + +But again, why does Paley, why does Jeremy Taylor, when no practical +matter is actually before him, lay down a maxim about the lawfulness of +lying, which will startle most readers? The reason is plain. He is +forming a theory of morals, and he must treat every question in turn as +it comes. And this is just what St. Alfonso or Scavini is doing. You +only try your hand yourself at a treatise on the rules of morality, and +you will see how difficult the work is. What is the _definition_ of a +lie? Can you give a better than that it is a sin against justice, as +Taylor and Paley consider it? but, if so, how can it be a sin at all, if +your neighbour is not injured? If you do not like this definition, take +another; and then, by means of that, perhaps you will be defending St. +Alfonso's equivocation. However, this is what I insist upon; that St. +Alfonso, as Paley, is considering the different portions of a large +subject, and he must, on the subject of lying, give his judgment, though +on that subject it is difficult to form any judgment which is +satisfactory. + +But further still: you must not suppose that a philosopher or moralist +uses in his own case the licence which his theory itself would allow +him. A man in his own person is guided by his own conscience; but in +drawing out a system of rules he is obliged to go by logic, and follow +the exact deduction of conclusion from conclusion, and must be sure that +the whole system is coherent and one. You hear of even immoral or +irreligious books being written by men of decent character; there is a +late writer who says that David Hume's sceptical works are not at all +the picture of the man. A priest might write a treatise which was really +lax on the subject of lying, which might come under the condemnation of +the Holy See, as some treatises on that score have already been +condemned, and yet in his own person be a rigorist. And, in fact, it is +notorious from St. Alfonso's Life, that he, who has the repute of being +so lax a moralist, had one of the most scrupulous and anxious of +consciences himself. Nay, further than this, he was originally in the +Law, and on one occasion he was betrayed into the commission of what +seemed like a deceit, though it was an accident; and that was the very +occasion of his leaving the profession and embracing the religious life. + +The account of this remarkable occurrence is told us in his Life:-- + +"Notwithstanding he had carefully examined over and over the details of +the process, he was completely mistaken regarding the sense of one +document, which constituted the right of the adverse party. The advocate +of the Grand Duke perceived the mistake, but he allowed Alfonso to +continue his eloquent address to the end without interruption; as soon, +however, as he had finished, he rose, and said with cutting coolness, +'Sir, the case is not exactly what you suppose it to be; if you will +review the process, and examine this paper attentively, you will find +there precisely the contrary of all you have advanced.' 'Willingly,' +replied Alfonso, without hesitating; 'the decision depends on this +question--whether the fief were granted under the law of Lombardy, or +under the French Law.' The paper being examined, it was found that the +Grand Duke's advocate was in the right. 'Yes,' said Alfonso, holding the +paper in his hand, 'I am wrong, I have been mistaken.' A discovery so +unexpected, and the fear of being accused of unfair dealing filled him +with consternation, and covered him with confusion, so much so, that +every one saw his emotion. It was in vain that the President Caravita, +who loved him, and knew his integrity, tried to console him, by telling +him that such mistakes were not uncommon, even among the first men at +the bar. Alfonso would listen to nothing, but, overwhelmed with +confusion, his head sunk on his breast, he said to himself, 'World, I +know you now; courts of law, never shall you see me again!' And turning +his back on the assembly, he withdrew to his own house, incessantly +repeating to himself, 'World, I know you now.' What annoyed him most +was, that having studied and re-studied the process during a whole +month, without having discovered this important flaw, he could not +understand how it had escaped his observation." + +And this is the man, so easily scared at the very shadow of trickery, +who is so flippantly pronounced to be a patron of lying. + +But, in truth, a Catholic theologian has objects in view which men in +general little compass; he is not thinking of himself, but of a +multitude of souls, sick souls, sinful souls, carried away by sin, full +of evil, and he is trying with all his might to rescue them from their +miserable state; and, in order to save them from more heinous sins, he +tries, to the full extent that his conscience will allow him to go, to +shut his eyes to such sins, as are, though sins, yet lighter in +character or degree. He knows perfectly well that, if he is as strict as +he would wish to be, he shall be able to do nothing at all with the run +of men; so he is as indulgent with them as ever he can be. Let it not be +for an instant supposed, that I allow of the maxim of doing evil that +good may come; but, keeping clear of this, there is a way of winning men +from greater sins by winking for the time at the less, or at mere +improprieties or faults; and this is the key to the difficulty which +Catholic books of moral theology so often cause to the Protestant. They +are intended for the Confessor, and Protestants view them as intended +for the Preacher. + +2. And I observe upon Taylor, Milton, and Paley thus: What would a +Protestant clergyman say to me, if I accused him of teaching that a lie +was allowable; and if, when he asked for my proof, I said in reply that +such was the doctrine of Taylor and Milton? Why, he would sharply +retort, "_I_ am not bound by Taylor or Milton;" and if I went on urging +that "Taylor was one of his authorities," he would answer that Taylor +was a great writer, but great writers were not therefore infallible. +This is pretty much the answer which I make, when I am considered in +this matter a disciple of St. Alfonso. + +I plainly and positively state, and without any reserve, that I do not +at all follow this holy and charitable man in this portion of his +teaching. There are various schools of opinion allowed in the Church: +and on this point I follow others. I follow Cardinal Gerdil, and Natalis +Alexander, nay, St. Augustine. I will quote one passage from Natalis +Alexander:--"They certainly lie, who utter the words of an oath, without +the will to swear or bind themselves: or who make use of mental +reservations and _equivocations_ in swearing, since they signify by +words what they have not in mind, contrary to the end for which language +was instituted, viz. as signs of ideas. Or they mean something else than +the words signify in themselves and the common custom of speech." And, +to take an instance: I do not believe any priest in England would dream +of saying, "My friend is not here;" meaning, "He is not in my pocket or +under my shoe." Nor should any consideration make me say so myself. I do +not think St. Alfonso would in his own case have said so; and he would +have been as much shocked at Taylor and Paley, as Protestants are at +him[21]. + +[21] Vide Note G, _Lying and Equivocation_. + + * * * * * + +And now, if Protestants wish to know what our real teaching is, as on +other subjects, so on that of lying, let them look, not at our books of +casuistry, but at our catechisms. Works on pathology do not give the +best insight into the form and the harmony of the human frame; and, as +it is with the body, so is it with the mind. The Catechism of the +Council of Trent was drawn up for the express purpose of providing +preachers with subjects for their Sermons; and, as my whole work has +been a defence of myself, I may here say that I rarely preach a Sermon, +but I go to this beautiful and complete Catechism to get both my matter +and my doctrine. There we find the following notices about the duty of +Veracity:-- + +"'Thou shalt not bear false witness,' &c.: let attention be drawn to two +laws contained in this commandment:--the one, forbidding false witness; +the other bidding, that removing all pretence and deceits, we should +measure our words and deeds by simple truth, as the Apostle admonished +the Ephesians of that duty in these words: 'Doing truth in charity, let +us grow in Him through all things.' + +"To deceive by a lie in joke or for the sake of compliment, though to no +one there accrues loss or gain in consequence, nevertheless is +altogether unworthy: for thus the Apostle admonishes, 'Putting aside +lying, speak ye truth.' For therein is great danger of lapsing into +frequent and more serious lying, and from lies in joke men gain the +habit of lying, whence they gain the character of not being truthful. +And thence again, in order to gain credence to their words, they find it +necessary to make a practice of swearing. + +"Nothing is more necessary [for us] than truth of testimony, in those +things, which we neither know ourselves, nor can allowably be ignorant +of, on which point there is extant that maxim of St. Augustine's: Whoso +conceals the truth, and whoso puts forth a lie, each is guilty; the one +because he is not willing to do a service, the other because he has a +wish to do a mischief. + +"It is lawful at times to be silent about the truth, but out of a court +of law; for in court, when a witness is interrogated by the judge +according to law, the truth is wholly to be brought out. + +"Witnesses, however, must beware, lest, from over-confidence in their +memory, they affirm for certain, what they have not verified. + +"In order that the faithful may with more good will avoid the sin of +lying, the Parish Priest shall set before them the extreme misery and +turpitude of this wickedness. For, in holy writ, the devil is called the +father of a lie; for, in that he did not remain in Truth, he is a liar, +and the father of a lie. He will add, with the view of ridding men of so +great a crime, the evils which follow upon lying; and, whereas they are +innumerable, he will point out [at least] the sources and the general +heads of these mischiefs and calamities, viz. 1. How great is God's +displeasure and how great His hatred of a man who is insincere and a +liar. 2. What little security there is that a man who is specially hated +by God may not be visited by the heaviest punishments. 3. What more +unclean and foul, as St. James says, than ... that a fountain by the +same jet should send out sweet water and bitter? 4. For that tongue, +which just now praised God, next, as far as in it lies, dishonours Him +by lying. 5. In consequence, liars are shut out from the possession of +heavenly beatitude. 6. That too is the worst evil of lying, that that +disease of the mind is generally incurable. + +"Moreover, there is this harm too, and one of vast extent, and touching +men generally, that by insincerity and lying faith and truth are lost, +which are the firmest bonds of human society, and, when they are lost, +supreme confusion follows in life, so that men seem in nothing to differ +from devils. + +"Lastly, the Parish Priest will set those right who excuse their +insincerity and allege the example of wise men, who, they say, are used +to lie for an occasion. He will tell them, what is most true, that the +wisdom of the flesh is death. He will exhort his hearers to trust in +God, when they are in difficulties and straits, nor to have recourse to +the expedient of a lie. + +"They who throw the blame of their own lie on those who have already by +a lie deceived them, are to be taught that men must not revenge +themselves, nor make up for one evil by another." + +There is much more in the Catechism to the same effect, and it is of +universal obligation; whereas the decision of a particular author in +morals need not be accepted by any one. + + * * * * * + +To one other authority I appeal on this subject, which commands from me +attention of a special kind, for it is the teaching of a Father. It will +serve to bring my work to a conclusion. + +"St. Philip," says the Roman Oratorian who wrote his Life, "had a +particular dislike of affectation both in himself and others, in +speaking, in dressing, or in any thing else. + +"He avoided all ceremony which savoured of worldly compliment, and +always showed himself a great stickler for Christian simplicity in every +thing; so that, when he had to deal with men of worldly prudence, he did +not very readily accommodate himself to them. + +"And he avoided, as much as possible, having any thing to do with +_two-faced persons_, who did not go simply and straightforwardly to work +in their transactions. + +"_As for liars, he could not endure them_, and he was _continually +reminding_ his spiritual children, _to avoid them as they would a +pestilence_." + +These are the principles on which I have acted before I was a Catholic; +these are the principles which, I trust, will be my stay and guidance to +the end. + +I have closed this history of myself with St. Philip's name upon St. +Philip's feast-day; and, having done so, to whom can I more suitably +offer it, as a memorial of affection and gratitude, than to St. Philip's +sons, my dearest brothers of this House, the Priests of the Birmingham +Oratory, Ambrose St. John, Henry Austin Mills, Henry Bittleston, Edward +Caswall, William Paine Neville, and Henry Ignatius Dudley Ryder? who +have been so faithful to me; who have been so sensitive of my needs; who +have been so indulgent to my failings; who have carried me through so +many trials; who have grudged no sacrifice, if I asked for it; who have +been so cheerful under discouragements of my causing; who have done so +many good works, and let me have the credit of them;--with whom I have +lived so long, with whom I hope to die. + +And to you especially, dear Ambrose St. John; whom God gave me, when He +took every one else away; who are the link between my old life and my +new; who have now for twenty-one years been so devoted to me, so +patient, so zealous, so tender; who have let me lean so hard upon you; +who have watched me so narrowly; who have never thought of yourself, if +I was in question. + +And in you I gather up and bear in memory those familiar affectionate +companions and counsellors, who in Oxford were given to me, one after +another, to be my daily solace and relief; and all those others, of +great name and high example, who were my thorough friends, and showed me +true attachment in times long past; and also those many younger men, +whether I knew them or not, who have never been disloyal to me by word +or deed; and of all these, thus various in their relations to me, those +more especially who have since joined the Catholic Church. + +And I earnestly pray for this whole company, with a hope against hope, +that all of us, who once were so united, and so happy in our union, may +even now be brought at length, by the Power of the Divine Will, into One +Fold and under One Shepherd. + +_May 26, 1864._ +In Festo Corp. Christ. + + + + +NOTES. + +NOTE A. ON PAGE 14. + +LIBERALISM. + + +I have been asked to explain more fully what it is I mean by +"Liberalism," because merely to call it the Anti-dogmatic Principle is +to tell very little about it. An explanation is the more necessary, +because such good Catholics and distinguished writers as Count +Montalembert and Father Lacordaire use the word in a favorable sense, +and claim to be Liberals themselves. "The only singularity," says the +former of the two in describing his friend, "was his Liberalism. By a +phenomenon, at that time unheard of, this convert, this seminarist, this +confessor of nuns, was just as stubborn a liberal, as in the days when +he was a student and a barrister."--Life (transl.), p. 19. + +I do not believe that it is possible for me to differ in any important +matter from two men whom I so highly admire. In their general line of +thought and conduct I enthusiastically concur, and consider them to be +before their age. And it would be strange indeed if I did not read with +a special interest, in M. de Montalembert's beautiful volume, of the +unselfish aims, the thwarted projects, the unrequited toils, the grand +and tender resignation of Lacordaire. If I hesitate to adopt their +language about Liberalism, I impute the necessity of such hesitation to +some differences between us in the use of words or in the circumstances +of country; and thus I reconcile myself to remaining faithful to my own +conception of it, though I cannot have their voices to give force to +mine. Speaking then in my own way, I proceed to explain what I meant as +a Protestant by Liberalism, and to do so in connexion with the +circumstances under which that system of opinion came before me at +Oxford. + +If I might presume to contrast Lacordaire and myself, I should say, that +we had been both of us inconsistent;--he, a Catholic, in calling himself +a Liberal; I, a Protestant, in being an Anti-liberal; and moreover, that +the cause of this inconsistency had been in both cases one and the same. +That is, we were both of us such good conservatives, as to take up with +what we happened to find established in our respective countries, at the +time when we came into active life. Toryism was the creed of Oxford; he +inherited, and made the best of, the French Revolution. + +When, in the beginning of the present century, not very long before my +own time, after many years of moral and intellectual declension, the +University of Oxford woke up to a sense of its duties, and began to +reform itself, the first instruments of this change, to whose zeal and +courage we all owe so much, were naturally thrown together for mutual +support, against the numerous obstacles which lay in their path, and +soon stood out in relief from the body of residents, who, though many of +them men of talent themselves, cared little for the object which the +others had at heart. These Reformers, as they may be called, were for +some years members of scarcely more than three or four Colleges; and +their own Colleges, as being under their direct influence, of course had +the benefit of those stricter views of discipline and teaching, which +they themselves were urging on the University. They had, in no long +time, enough of real progress in their several spheres of exertion, and +enough of reputation out of doors, to warrant them in considering +themselves the _élite_ of the place; and it is not wonderful if they +were in consequence led to look down upon the majority of Colleges, +which had not kept pace with the reform, or which had been hostile to +it. And, when those rivalries of one man with another arose, whether +personal or collegiate, which befall literary and scientific societies, +such disturbances did but tend to raise in their eyes the value which +they had already set upon academical distinction, and increase their +zeal in pursuing it. Thus was formed an intellectual circle or class in +the University,--men, who felt they had a career before them, as soon as +the pupils, whom they were forming, came into public life; men, whom +non-residents, whether country parsons or preachers of the Low Church, +on coming up from time to time to the old place, would look at, partly +with admiration, partly with suspicion, as being an honour indeed to +Oxford, but withal exposed to the temptation of ambitious views, and to +the spiritual evils signified in what is called the "pride of reason." + +Nor was this imputation altogether unjust; for, as they were following +out the proper idea of a University, of course they suffered more or +less from the moral malady incident to such a pursuit. The very object +of such great institutions lies in the cultivation of the mind and the +spread of knowledge: if this object, as all human objects, has its +dangers at all times, much more would these exist in the case of men, +who were engaged in a work of reformation, and had the opportunity of +measuring themselves, not only with those who were their equals in +intellect, but with the many, who were below them. In this select circle +or class of men, in various Colleges, the direct instruments and the +choice fruit of real University Reform, we see the rudiments of the +Liberal party. + +Whenever men are able to act at all, there is the chance of extreme and +intemperate action; and therefore, when there is exercise of mind, there +is the chance of wayward or mistaken exercise. Liberty of thought is in +itself a good; but it gives an opening to false liberty. Now by +Liberalism I mean false liberty of thought, or the exercise of thought +upon matters, in which, from the constitution of the human mind, thought +cannot be brought to any successful issue, and therefore is out of +place. Among such matters are first principles of whatever kind; and of +these the most sacred and momentous are especially to be reckoned the +truths of Revelation. Liberalism then is the mistake of subjecting to +human judgment those revealed doctrines which are in their nature beyond +and independent of it, and of claiming to determine on intrinsic grounds +the truth and value of propositions which rest for their reception +simply on the external authority of the Divine Word. + +Now certainly the party of whom I have been speaking, taken as a whole, +were of a character of mind out of which Liberalism might easily grow +up, as in fact it did; certainly they breathed around an influence which +made men of religious seriousness shrink into themselves. But, while I +say as much as this, I have no intention whatever of implying that the +talent of the University, in the years before and after 1820, was +liberal in its theology, in the sense in which the bulk of the educated +classes through the country are liberal now. I would not for the world +be supposed to detract from the Christian earnestness, and the activity +in religious works, above the average of men, of many of the persons in +question. They would have protested against their being supposed to +place reason before faith, or knowledge before devotion; yet I do +consider that they unconsciously encouraged and successfully introduced +into Oxford a licence of opinion which went far beyond them. In their +day they did little more than take credit to themselves for enlightened +views, largeness of mind, liberality of sentiment, without drawing the +line between what was just and what was inadmissible in speculation, and +without seeing the tendency of their own principles; and engrossing, as +they did, the mental energy of the University, they met for a time with +no effectual hindrance to the spread of their influence, except (what +indeed at the moment was most effectual, but not of an intellectual +character) the thorough-going Toryism and traditionary +Church-of-England-ism of the great body of the Colleges and Convocation. + +Now and then a man of note appeared in the Pulpit or Lecture Rooms of +the University, who was a worthy representative of the more religious +and devout Anglicans. These belonged chiefly to the High-Church party; +for the party called Evangelical never has been able to breathe freely +in the atmosphere of Oxford, and at no time has been conspicuous, as a +party, for talent or learning. But of the old High Churchmen several +exerted some sort of Anti-liberal influence in the place, at least from +time to time, and that influence of an intellectual nature. Among these +especially may be mentioned Mr. John Miller, of Worcester College, who +preached the Bampton Lecture in the year 1817. But, as far as I know, he +who turned the tide, and brought the talent of the University round to +the side of the old theology, and against what was familiarly called +"march-of-mind," was Mr. Keble. In and from Keble the mental activity of +Oxford took that contrary direction which issued in what was called +Tractarianism. + +Keble was young in years, when he became a University celebrity, and +younger in mind. He had the purity and simplicity of a child. He had few +sympathies with the intellectual party, who sincerely welcomed him as a +brilliant specimen of young Oxford. He instinctively shut up before +literary display, and pomp and donnishness of manner, faults which +always will beset academical notabilities. He did not respond to their +advances. His collision with them (if it may be so called) was thus +described by Hurrell Froude in his own way. "Poor Keble!" he used +gravely to say, "he was asked to join the aristocracy of talent, but he +soon found his level." He went into the country, but his instance serves +to prove that men need not, in the event, lose that influence which is +rightly theirs, because they happen to be thwarted in the use of the +channels natural and proper to its exercise. He did not lose his place +in the minds of men because he was out of their sight. + +Keble was a man who guided himself and formed his judgments, not by +processes of reason, by inquiry or by argument, but, to use the word in +a broad sense, by authority. Conscience is an authority; the Bible is an +authority; such is the Church; such is Antiquity; such are the words of +the wise; such are hereditary lessons; such are ethical truths; such are +historical memories; such are legal saws and state maxims; such are +proverbs; such are sentiments, presages, and prepossessions. It seemed +to me as if he ever felt happier, when he could speak or act under some +such primary or external sanction; and could use argument mainly as a +means of recommending or explaining what had claims on his reception +prior to proof. He even felt a tenderness, I think, in spite of Bacon, +for the Idols of the Tribe and the Den, of the Market and the Theatre. +What he hated instinctively was heresy, insubordination, resistance to +things established, claims of independence, disloyalty, innovation, a +critical, censorious spirit. And such was the main principle of the +school which in the course of years was formed around him; nor is it +easy to set limits to its influence in its day; for multitudes of men, +who did not profess its teaching, or accept its peculiar doctrines, were +willing nevertheless, or found it to their purpose, to act in company +with it. + +Indeed for a time it was practically the champion and advocate of the +political doctrines of the great clerical interest through the country, +who found in Mr. Keble and his friends an intellectual, as well as moral +support to their cause, which they looked for in vain elsewhere. His +weak point, in their eyes, was his consistency; for he carried his love +of authority and old times so far, as to be more than gentle towards the +Catholic Religion, with which the Toryism of Oxford and of the Church of +England had no sympathy. Accordingly, if my memory be correct, he never +could get himself to throw his heart into the opposition made to +Catholic Emancipation, strongly as he revolted from the politics and the +instruments by means of which that Emancipation was won. I fancy he +would have had no difficulty in accepting Dr. Johnson's saying about +"the first Whig;" and it grieved and offended him that the "Via prima +salutis" should be opened to the Catholic body from the Whig quarter. In +spite of his reverence for the Old Religion, I conceive that on the +whole he would rather have kept its professors beyond the pale of the +Constitution with the Tories, than admit them on the principles of the +Whigs. Moreover, if the Revolution of 1688 was too lax in principle for +him and his friends, much less, as is very plain, could they endure to +subscribe to the revolutionary doctrines of 1776 and 1789, which they +felt to be absolutely and entirely out of keeping with theological +truth. + +The Old Tory or Conservative party in Oxford had in it no principle or +power of development, and that from its very nature and constitution: it +was otherwise with the Liberals. They represented a new idea, which was +but gradually learning to recognize itself, to ascertain its +characteristics and external relations, and to exert an influence upon +the University. The party grew, all the time that I was in Oxford, even +in numbers, certainly in breadth and definiteness of doctrine, and in +power. And, what was a far higher consideration, by the accession of Dr. +Arnold's pupils, it was invested with an elevation of character which +claimed the respect even of its opponents. On the other hand, in +proportion as it became more earnest and less self-applauding, it became +more free-spoken; and members of it might be found who, from the mere +circumstance of remaining firm to their original professions, would in +the judgment of the world, as to their public acts, seem to have left it +for the Conservative camp. Thus, neither in its component parts nor in +its policy, was it the same in 1832, 1836, and 1841, as it was in 1845. + +These last remarks will serve to throw light upon a matter personal to +myself, which I have introduced into my Narrative, and to which my +attention has been pointedly called, now that my Volume is coming to a +second edition. + +It has been strongly urged upon me to re-consider the following passages +which occur in it: "The men who had driven me from Oxford were +distinctly the Liberals, it was they who had opened the attack upon +Tract 90," p. 203, and "I found no fault with the Liberals; they had +beaten me in a fair field," p. 214. + +I am very unwilling to seem ungracious, or to cause pain in any quarter; +still I am sorry to say I cannot modify these statements. It is surely a +matter of historical fact that I left Oxford upon the University +proceedings of 1841; and in those proceedings, whether we look to the +Heads of Houses or the resident Masters, the leaders, if intellect and +influence make men such, were members of the Liberal party. Those who +did not lead, concurred or acquiesced in them,--I may say, felt a +satisfaction. I do not recollect any Liberal who was on my side on that +occasion. Excepting the Liberal, no other party, as a party, acted +against me. I am not complaining of them; I deserved nothing else at +their hands. They could not undo in 1845, even had they wished it, (and +there is no proof they did,) what they had done in 1841. In 1845, when I +had already given up the contest for four years, and my part in it had +passed into the hands of others, then some of those who were prominent +against me in 1841, feeling (what they had not felt in 1841) the danger +of driving a number of my followers to Rome, and joined by younger +friends who had come into University importance since 1841 and felt +kindly towards me, adopted a course more consistent with their +principles, and proceeded to shield from the zeal of the Hebdomadal +Board, not me, but, professedly, all parties through the +country,--Tractarians, Evangelicals, Liberals in general,--who had to +subscribe to the Anglican formularies, on the ground that those +formularies, rigidly taken, were, on some point or other, a difficulty +to all parties alike. + +However, besides the historical fact, I can bear witness to my own +feeling at the time, and my feeling was this:--that those who in 1841 +had considered it to be a duty to act against me, had then done their +worst. What was it to me what they were now doing in opposition to the +New Test proposed by the Hebdomadal Board? I owed them no thanks for +their trouble. I took no interest at all, in February, 1845, in the +proceedings of the Heads of Houses and of the Convocation. I felt myself +_dead_ as regarded my relations to the Anglican Church. My leaving it +was all but a matter of time. I believe I did not even thank my real +friends, the two Proctors, who in Convocation stopped by their Veto the +condemnation of Tract 90; nor did I make any acknowledgment to Mr. +Rogers, nor to Mr. James Mozley, nor, as I think, to Mr. Hussey, for +their pamphlets in my behalf. My frame of mind is best described by the +sentiment of the passage in Horace, which at the time I was fond of +quoting, as expressing my view of the relation that existed between the +Vice-Chancellor and myself. + + "Pentheu, + Rector Thebarum, quid me perferre patique + Indignum cogas?" "Adimam bona." "Nempe pecus, rem, + Lectos, argentum; tollas licet." "In manicis et + Compedibus, sævo te sub custode tenebo." (_viz. the 39 Articles._) + "_Ipse Deus, simul atque volam, me solvet._" Opinor, + Hoc sentit: _Moriar. Mors ultima linea rerum est._ + +I conclude this notice of Liberalism in Oxford, and the party which was +antagonistic to it, with some propositions in detail, which, as a member +of the latter, and together with the High Church, I earnestly denounced +and abjured. + +1. No religious tenet is important, unless reason shows it to be so. + + Therefore, e.g. the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed is not to + be insisted on, unless it tends to convert the soul; and the + doctrine of the Atonement is to be insisted on, if it does + convert the soul. + +2. No one can believe what he does not understand. + + Therefore, e.g. there are no mysteries in true religion. + +3. No theological doctrine is any thing more than an opinion which +happens to be held by bodies of men. + + Therefore, e.g. no creed, as such, is necessary for salvation. + +4. It is dishonest in a man to make an act of faith in what he has not +had brought home to him by actual proof. + + Therefore, e.g. the mass of men ought not absolutely to believe + in the divine authority of the Bible. + +5. It is immoral in a man to believe more than he can spontaneously +receive as being congenial to his moral and mental nature. + + Therefore, e.g. a given individual is not bound to believe in + eternal punishment. + +6. No revealed doctrines or precepts may reasonably stand in the way of +scientific conclusions. + + Therefore, e.g. Political Economy may reverse our Lord's + declarations about poverty and riches, or a system of Ethics may + teach that the highest condition of body is ordinarily essential + to the highest state of mind. + +7. Christianity is necessarily modified by the growth of civilization, +and the exigencies of times. + + Therefore, e.g. the Catholic priesthood, though necessary in the + Middle Ages, may be superseded now. + +8. There is a system of religion more simply true than Christianity as +it has ever been received. + + Therefore, e.g. we may advance that Christianity is the "corn of + wheat" which has been dead for 1800 years, but at length will + bear fruit; and that Mahometanism is the manly religion, and + existing Christianity the womanish. + +9. There is a right of Private Judgment: that is, there is no existing +authority on earth competent to interfere with the liberty of +individuals in reasoning and judging for themselves about the Bible and +its contents, as they severally please. + + Therefore, e.g. religious establishments requiring subscription + are Anti-christian. + +10. There are rights of conscience such, that every one may lawfully +advance a claim to profess and teach what is false and wrong in matters, +religious, social, and moral, provided that to his private conscience it +seems absolutely true and right. + + Therefore, e.g. individuals have a right to preach and practise + fornication and polygamy. + +11. There is no such thing as a national or state conscience. + + Therefore, e.g. no judgments can fall upon a sinful or infidel + nation. + +12. The civil power has no positive duty, in a normal state of things, +to maintain religious truth. + + Therefore, e.g. blasphemy and sabbath-breaking are not rightly + punishable by law. + +13. Utility and expedience are the measure of political duty. + + Therefore, e.g. no punishment may be enacted, on the ground that + God commands it: e.g. on the text, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, + by man shall his blood be shed." + +14. The Civil Power may dispose of Church property without sacrilege. + + Therefore, e.g. Henry VIII. committed no sin in his spoliations. + +15. The Civil Power has the right of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and +administration. + + Therefore, e.g. Parliament may impose articles of faith on the + Church or suppress Dioceses. + +16. It is lawful to rise in arms against legitimate princes. + + Therefore, e.g. the Puritans in the 17th century, and the French + in the 18th, were justifiable in their Rebellion and Revolution + respectively. + +17. The people are the legitimate source of power. + + Therefore, e.g. Universal Suffrage is among the natural rights + of man. + +18. Virtue is the child of knowledge, and vice of ignorance. + + Therefore, e.g. education, periodical literature, railroad + travelling, ventilation, drainage, and the arts of life, when + fully carried out, serve to make a population moral and happy. + +All of these propositions, and many others too, were familiar to me +thirty years ago, as in the number of the tenets of Liberalism, and, +while I gave into none of them except No. 12, and perhaps No. 11, and +partly No. 1, before I began to publish, so afterwards I wrote against +most of them in some part or other of my Anglican works. + +If it is necessary to refer to a work, not simply my own, but of the +Tractarian school, which contains a similar protest, I should name the +_Lyra Apostolica_. This volume, which by accident has been left +unnoticed, except incidentally, in my Narrative, was collected together +from the pages of the "British Magazine," in which its contents +originally appeared, and published in a separate form, immediately after +Hurrell Froude's death in 1836. Its signatures, [Greek: a, b, g, d, e, +z], denote respectively as authors, Mr. Bowden, Mr. Hurrell Froude, Mr. +Keble, Mr. Newman, Mr. Robert Wilberforce, and Mr. Isaac Williams. + +There is one poem on "Liberalism," beginning "Ye cannot halve the Gospel +of God's grace;" which bears out the account of Liberalism as above +given; and another upon "the Age to come," defining from its own point +of view the position and prospects of Liberalism. + + * * * * * + +I need hardly say that the above Note is mainly historical. How far the +Liberal party of 1830-40 really held the above eighteen Theses, which I +attributed to them, and how far and in what sense I should oppose those +Theses now, could scarcely be explained without a separate Dissertation. + + + + +NOTE B. ON PAGE 23. + +ECCLESIASTICAL MIRACLES. + + +The writer, who gave occasion for the foregoing Narrative, was very +severe with me for what I had said about Miracles in the Preface to the +Life of St. Walburga. I observe therefore as follows:-- + +Catholics believe that miracles happen in any age of the Church, though +not for the same purposes, in the same number, or with the same +evidence, as in Apostolic times. The Apostles wrought them in evidence +of their divine mission; and with this object they have been sometimes +wrought by Evangelists of countries since, as even Protestants allow. +Hence we hear of them in the history of St. Gregory in Pontus, and St. +Martin in Gaul; and in their case, as in that of the Apostles, they were +both numerous and clear. As they are granted to Evangelists, so are they +granted, though in less measure and evidence, to other holy men; and as +holy men are not found equally at all times and in all places, therefore +miracles are in some places and times more than in others. And since, +generally, they are granted to faith and prayer, therefore in a country +in which faith and prayer abound, they will be more likely to occur, +than where and when faith and prayer are not; so that their occurrence +is irregular. And further, as faith and prayer obtain miracles, so still +more commonly do they gain from above the ordinary interventions of +Providence; and, as it is often very difficult to distinguish between a +providence and a miracle, and there will be more providences than +miracles, hence it will happen that many occurrences will be called +miraculous, which, strictly speaking, are not such, that is, not more +than providential mercies, or what are sometimes called "_grazie_" or +"favours." + +Persons, who believe all this, in accordance with Catholic teaching, as +I did and do, they, on the report of a miracle, will of necessity, the +necessity of good logic, be led to say, first, "It _may_ be," and +secondly, "But I must have _good evidence_ in order to believe it." + +1. It _may_ be, because miracles take place in all ages; it must be +clearly _proved_, because perhaps after all it may be only a +providential mercy, or an exaggeration, or a mistake, or an imposture. +Well, this is precisely what I had said, which the writer, who has given +occasion to this Volume, considered so irrational. I had said, as he +quotes me, "In this day, and under our present circumstances, we can +only reply, that there is no reason why they should not be." Surely this +is good logic, _provided_ that miracles _do_ occur in all ages; and so +again I am logical in saying, "There is nothing, _primâ facie_, in the +miraculous accounts in question, to repel a _properly taught_ or +religiously disposed mind." What is the matter with this statement? My +assailant does not pretend to say _what_ the matter is, and he cannot; +but he expresses a rude, unmeaning astonishment. Accordingly, in the +passage which he quotes, I observe, "Miracles are the kind of facts +proper to ecclesiastical history, just as instances of sagacity or +daring, personal prowess, or crime, are the facts proper to secular +history." What is the harm of this? + +2. But, though a miracle be conceivable, it has to be _proved_. _What_ +has to be proved? (1.) That the event occurred as stated, and is not a +false report or an exaggeration. (2.) That it is clearly miraculous, and +not a mere providence or answer to prayer within the order of nature. +What is the fault of saying this? The inquiry is parallel to that which +is made about some extraordinary fact in secular history. Supposing I +hear that King Charles II. died a Catholic, I am led to say: It _may_ +be, but what is your _proof_? + +In my Essay on Miracles of the year 1826, I proposed three questions +about a professed miraculous occurrence: 1. is it antecedently +_probable_? 2. is it in its _nature_ certainly miraculous? 3. has it +sufficient _evidence_? To these three heads I had regard in my Essay of +1842; and under them I still wish to conduct the inquiry into the +miracles of Ecclesiastical History. + + * * * * * + +So much for general principles; as to St. Walburga, though I have no +intention at all of denying that numerous miracles have been wrought by +her intercession, still, neither the Author of her Life, nor I, the +Editor, felt that we had grounds for binding ourselves to the belief of +certain alleged miracles in particular. I made, however, one exception; +it was the medicinal oil which flows from her relics. Now as to the +_verisimilitude_, the _miraculousness_, and the _fact_, of this +medicinal oil. + +1. The _verisimilitude_. It is plain there is nothing extravagant in +this report of her relics having a supernatural virtue; and for this +reason, because there are such instances in Scripture, and Scripture +cannot be extravagant. For instance, a man was restored to life by +touching the relics of the Prophet Eliseus. The sacred text runs +thus:--"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the +Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to +pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of +men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha. And, when the +man was let down, _and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived_, and +stood upon his feet." Again, in the case of an inanimate substance, +which had touched a living Saint: "And God wrought _special miracles_ by +the hands of Paul; so that _from his body_ were brought unto the sick +_handkerchiefs or aprons_, and _the diseases departed from them_." And +again in the case of a pool: "An _Angel went down_ at a certain season +into the pool, and troubled the water; whosoever then first, after the +troubling of the water, stepped in, _was made whole of whatsoever +disease_ he had." 2 Kings [4 Kings] xiii. 20, 21. Acts xix. 11, 12. John +v. 4. Therefore there is nothing _extravagant_ in the _character_ of the +miracle. + +2. Next, the _matter of fact_:--_is_ there an oil flowing from St. +Walburga's tomb, which is medicinal? To this question I confined myself +in my Preface. Of the accounts of medieval miracles, I said that there +was no _extravagance_ in their _general character_, but I could not +affirm that there was always _evidence_ for them. I could not simply +accept them as _facts_, but I could not reject them in their +_nature_;--they _might_ be true, for they were not impossible; but they +were _not proved_ to be true, because there was not trustworthy +testimony. However, as to St. Walburga, I repeat, I made _one_ +exception, the fact of the medicinal oil, since for that miracle there +was distinct and successive testimony. And then I went on to give a +chain of witnesses. It was my duty to state what those witnesses said in +their very words; so I gave the testimonies in full, tracing them from +the Saint's death. I said, "She is one of the principal Saints of her +age and country." Then I quoted Basnage, a Protestant, who says, "Six +writers are extant, who have employed themselves in relating the deeds +or miracles of Walburga." Then I said that her "renown was not the mere +natural _growth_ of ages, but begins with the very century of the +Saint's death." Then I observed that only two miracles seem to have been +"distinctly reported of her as occurring in her lifetime; and they were +handed down apparently by tradition." Also, that such miracles are said +to have commenced about A.D. 777. Then I spoke of the medicinal oil as +having testimony to it in 893, in 1306, after 1450, in 1615, and in +1620. Also, I said that Mabillon seems not to have believed some of her +miracles; and that the earliest witness had got into trouble with his +Bishop. And so I left the matter, as a question to be decided by +evidence, not deciding any thing myself. + +What was the harm of all this? but my Critic muddled it together in a +most extraordinary manner, and I am far from sure that he knew himself +the definite categorical charge which he intended it to convey against +me. One of his remarks is, "What has become of the holy oil for the last +240 years, Dr. Newman does not say," p. 25. Of course I did not, because +I did not know; I gave the evidence as I found it; he assumes that I had +a point to prove, and then asks why I did not make the evidence larger +than it was. + +I can tell him more about it now: the oil still flows; I have had some +of it in my possession; it is medicinal still. This leads to the third +head. + +3. Its _miraculousness_. On this point, since I have been in the +Catholic Church, I have found there is a difference of opinion. Some +persons consider that the oil is the natural produce of the rock, and +has ever flowed from it; others, that by a divine gift it flows from the +relics; and others, allowing that it now comes naturally from the rock, +are disposed to hold that it was in its origin miraculous, as was the +virtue of the pool of Bethsaida. + +This point must be settled of course before the virtue of the oil can be +ascribed to the sanctity of St. Walburga; for myself, I neither have, +nor ever have had, the means of going into the question; but I will take +the opportunity of its having come before me, to make one or two +remarks, supplemental of what I have said on other occasions. + +1. I frankly confess that the present advance of science tends to make +it probable that various facts take place, and have taken place, in the +order of nature, which hitherto have been considered by Catholics as +simply supernatural. + +2. Though I readily make this admission, it must not be supposed in +consequence that I am disposed to grant at once, that every event was +natural in point of fact, which _might_ have taken place by the laws of +nature; for it is obvious, no Catholic can bind the Almighty to act only +in one and the same way, or to the observance always of His own laws. An +event which is possible in the way of nature, is certainly possible too +to Divine Power without the sequence of natural cause and effect at all. +A conflagration, to take a parallel, may be the work of an incendiary, +or the result of a flash of lightning; nor would a jury think it safe to +find a man guilty of arson, if a dangerous thunderstorm was raging at +the very time when the fire broke out. In like manner, upon the +hypothesis that a miraculous dispensation is in operation, a recovery +from diseases to which medical science is equal, may nevertheless in +matter of fact have taken place, not by natural means, but by a +supernatural interposition. That the Lawgiver always acts through His +own laws, is an assumption, of which I never saw proof. In a given case, +then, the possibility of assigning a human cause for an event does not +_ipso facto_ prove that it is not miraculous. + +3. So far, however, is plain, that, till some _experimentum crucis_ can +be found, such as to be decisive against the natural cause or the +supernatural, an occurrence of this kind will as little convince an +unbeliever that there has been a divine interference in the case, as it +will drive the Catholic to admit that there has been no interference at +all. + +4. Still there is this gain accruing to the Catholic cause from the +larger views we now possess of the operation of natural causes, viz. +that our opponents will not in future be so ready as hitherto, to impute +fraud and falsehood to our priests and their witnesses, on the ground of +their pretending or reporting things that are incredible. Our opponents +have again and again accused us of false witness, on account of +statements which they now allow are either true, or may have been true. +They account indeed for the strange facts very differently from us; but +still they allow that facts they were. It is a great thing to have our +characters cleared; and we may reasonably hope that, the next time our +word is vouched for occurrences which appear to be miraculous, our facts +will be investigated, not our testimony impugned. + +5. Even granting that certain occurrences, which we have hitherto +accounted miraculous, have not absolutely a claim to be so considered, +nevertheless they constitute an argument still in behalf of Revelation +and the Church. Providences, or what are called _grazie_, though they do +not rise to the order of miracles, yet, if they occur again and again in +connexion with the same persons, institutions, or doctrines, may supply +a cumulative evidence of the fact of a supernatural presence in the +quarter in which they are found. I have already alluded to this point in +my Essay on Ecclesiastical Miracles, and I have a particular reason, as +will presently be seen, for referring here to what I said in the course +of it. + + * * * * * + +In that Essay, after bringing its main argument to an end, I append to +it a review of "the evidence for particular alleged miracles." "It does +not strictly fall within the scope of the Essay," I observe, "to +pronounce upon the truth or falsehood of this or that miraculous +narrative, as it occurs in ecclesiastical history; but only to furnish +such general considerations, as may be useful in forming a decision in +particular cases," p. cv. However, I thought it right to go farther and +"to set down the evidence for and against certain miracles as we meet +with them," ibid. In discussing these miracles separately, I make the +following remarks, to which I have just been referring. + +After discussing the alleged miracle of the Thundering Legion, I +observe:--"Nor does it concern us much to answer the objection, that +there is nothing strictly miraculous in such an occurrence, because +sudden thunderclouds after drought are not unfrequent; for, I would +answer, Grant me such miracles ordinarily in the early Church, and I +will ask no other; grant that, upon prayer, benefits are vouchsafed, +deliverances are effected, unhoped-for results obtained, sicknesses +cured, tempests laid, pestilences put to flight, famines remedied, +judgments inflicted, and there will be no need of analyzing the causes, +whether supernatural or natural, to which they are to be referred. They +may, or they may not, in this or that case, follow or surpass the laws +of nature, and they may do so plainly or doubtfully, but the common +sense of mankind will call them miraculous; for by a miracle is +popularly meant, whatever be its formal definition, an event which +impresses upon the mind the immediate presence of the Moral Governor of +the world. He may sometimes act through nature, sometimes beyond or +against it; but those who admit the fact of such interferences, will +have little difficulty in admitting also their strictly miraculous +character, if the circumstances of the case require it, and those who +deny miracles to the early Church will be equally strenuous against +allowing her the grace of such intimate influence (if we may so speak) +upon the course of divine Providence, as is here in question, even +though it be not miraculous."--p. cxxi. + +And again, speaking of the death of Arius: "But after all, was it a +miracle? for, if not, we are labouring at a proof of which nothing +comes. The more immediate answer to this question has already been +suggested several times. When a Bishop with his flock prays night and +day against a heretic, and at length begs of God to take him away, and +when he _is_ suddenly taken away, almost at the moment of his triumph, +and that by a death awfully significant, from its likeness to one +recorded in Scripture, is it not trifling to ask whether such an +occurrence comes up to the definition of a miracle? The question is not +whether it is formally a miracle, but whether it is an event, the like +of which persons, who deny that miracles continue, will consent that the +Church should be considered still able to perform. If they are willing +to allow to the Church such extraordinary protection, it is for them to +draw the line to the satisfaction of people in general, between these +and strictly miraculous events; if, on the other hand, they deny their +occurrence in the times of the Church, then there is sufficient reason +for our appealing here to the history of Arius in proof of the +affirmative."--p. clxxii. + +These remarks, thus made upon the Thundering Legion and the death of +Arius, must be applied, in consequence of investigations made since the +date of my Essay, to the apparent miracle wrought in favour of the +African confessors in the Vandal persecution. Their tongues were cut out +by the Arian tyrant, and yet they spoke as before. In my Essay I +insisted on this fact as being strictly miraculous. Among other remarks +(referring to the instances adduced by Middleton and others in +disparagement of the miracle, viz. of "a girl born without a tongue, who +yet talked as distinctly and easily, as if she had enjoyed the full +benefit of that organ," and of a boy who lost his tongue at the age of +eight or nine, yet retained his speech, whether perfectly or not,) I +said, "Does Middleton mean to say, that, if certain of men lost their +tongues _at the command of a tyrant_ for the _sake of their religion_, +and then spoke _as plainly_ as before, nay _if only one person was so +mutilated_ and so gifted, it would not be a miracle?"--p. ccx. And I +enlarged upon the minute details of the fact as reported to us by +eye-witnesses and contemporaries. "Out of the seven writers adduced, six +are contemporaries; three, if not four, are eye-witnesses of the +miracle. One reports from an eye-witness, and one testifies to a fervent +record at the burial-place of the subjects of it. All seven were living, +or had been staying, at one or other of the two places which are +mentioned as their abode. One is a Pope, a second a Catholic Bishop, a +third a Bishop of a schismatical party, a fourth an emperor, a fifth a +soldier, a politician, and a suspected infidel, a sixth a statesman and +courtier, a seventh a rhetorician and philosopher. 'He cut out the +tongues by the roots,' says Victor, Bishop of Vito; 'I perceived the +tongues entirely gone by the roots,' says Æneas; 'as low down as the +throat,' says Procopius; 'at the roots,' say Justinian and St. Gregory; +'he spoke like an educated man, without impediment,' says Victor of +Vito; 'with articulateness,' says Æneas; 'better than before;' 'they +talked without any impediment,' says Procopius; 'speaking with perfect +voice,' says Marcellinus; 'they spoke perfectly, even to the end,' says +the second Victor; 'the words were formed, full, and perfect,' says St. +Gregory."--p. ccviii. + +However, a few years ago an Article appeared in "Notes and Queries" (No. +for May 22, 1858), in which various evidence was adduced to show that +the tongue is not necessary for articulate speech. + +1. Col. Churchill, in his "Lebanon," speaking of the cruelties of +Djezzar Pacha, in extracting to the root the tongues of some Emirs, +adds, "It is a curious fact, however, that the tongues grow again +sufficiently for the purposes of speech." + +2. Sir John Malcolm, in his "Sketches of Persia," speaks of Zâb, Khan of +Khisht, who was condemned to lose his tongue. "This mandate," he says, +"was imperfectly executed, and the loss of half this member deprived him +of speech. Being afterwards persuaded that its being cut close to the +root would enable him to speak so as to be understood, he submitted to +the operation; and the effect has been, that his voice, though +indistinct and thick, is yet intelligible to persons accustomed to +converse with him.... I am not an anatomist, and I cannot therefore give +a reason, why a man, who could not articulate with half a tongue, should +speak when he had none at all; but the facts are as stated." + +3. And Sir John McNeill says, "In answer to your inquiries about the +powers of speech retained by persons who have had their tongues cut out, +I can state from personal observation, that several persons whom I knew +in Persia, who had been subjected to that punishment, spoke so +intelligibly as to be able to transact important business.... The +conviction in Persia is universal, that the power of speech is destroyed +by merely cutting off the tip of the tongue; and is to a useful extent +restored by cutting off another portion as far back as a perpendicular +section can be made of the portion that is free from attachment at the +lower surface.... I never had to meet with a person who had suffered +this punishment, who could not speak so as to be quite intelligible to +his familiar associates." + + * * * * * + +I should not be honest, if I professed to be simply converted, by these +testimonies, to the belief that there was nothing miraculous in the case +of the African confessors. It is quite as fair to be sceptical on one +side of the question as on the other; and if Gibbon is considered worthy +of praise for his stubborn incredulity in receiving the evidence for +this miracle, I do not see why I am to be blamed, if I wish to be quite +sure of the full appositeness of the recent evidence which is brought to +its disadvantage. Questions of fact cannot be disproved by analogies or +presumptions; the inquiry must be made into the particular case in all +its parts, as it comes before us. Meanwhile, I fully allow that the +points of evidence brought in disparagement of the miracle are _primâ +facie_ of such cogency, that, till they are proved to be irrelevant, +Catholics are prevented from appealing to it for controversial purposes. + + + + +NOTE C. ON PAGE 153. + +SERMON ON WISDOM AND INNOCENCE. + + +The professed basis of the charge of lying and equivocation made against +me, and, in my person, against the Catholic clergy, was, as I have +already noticed in the Preface, a certain Sermon of mine on "Wisdom and +Innocence," being the 20th in a series of "Sermons on Subjects of the +Day," written, preached, and published while I was an Anglican. Of this +Sermon my accuser spoke thus in his Pamphlet:-- + + "It is occupied entirely with the attitude of 'the world' to + 'Christians' and 'the Church.' By the world appears to be + signified, especially, the Protestant public of these realms; + what Dr. Newman means by Christians, and the Church, he has not + left in doubt; for in the preceding Sermon he says: 'But if the + truth must be spoken, what are the humble monk and the holy nun, + and other regulars, as they are called, but Christians after the + very pattern given us in Scripture, &c.'.... This is his + definition of Christians. And in the Sermon itself, he + sufficiently defines what he means by 'the Church,' in two notes + of her character, which he shall give in his own words: 'What, + for instance, though we grant that sacramental confession and + the celibacy of the clergy do tend to consolidate the body + politic in the relation of rulers and subjects, or, in other + words, to aggrandize the priesthood? for how can the Church be + one body without such relation?'"--Pp. 8, 9. + +He then proceeded to analyze and comment on it at great length, and to +criticize severely the method and tone of my Sermons generally. Among +other things, he said:-- + + "What, then, did the Sermon _mean_? Why was it preached? To + insinuate that a Church which had sacramental confession and a + celibate clergy was the only true Church? Or to insinuate that + the admiring young gentlemen who listened to him stood to their + fellow-countrymen in the relation of the early Christians to the + heathen Romans? Or that Queen Victoria's Government was to the + Church of England what Nero's or Dioclesian's was to the Church + of Rome? It may have been so. I know that men used to suspect + Dr. Newman,--I have been inclined to do so myself,--of writing a + whole Sermon, not for the sake of the text or of the matter, but + for the sake of one single passing hint--one phrase, one + epithet, one little barbed arrow, which, as he swept + magnificently past on the stream of his calm eloquence, + seemingly unconscious of all presences, save those unseen, he + delivered unheeded, as with his finger-tip, to the very heart of + an initiated hearer, never to be withdrawn again. I do not blame + him for that. It is one of the highest triumphs of oratoric + power, and may be employed honestly and fairly by any person who + has the skill to do it honestly and fairly; but then, Why did he + entitle his Sermon 'Wisdom and Innocence?' + + "What, then, could I think that Dr. Newman _meant_? I found a + preacher bidding Christians imitate, to some undefined point, + the 'arts' of the basest of animals, and of men, and of the + devil himself. I found him, by a strange perversion of + Scripture, insinuating that St. Paul's conduct and manner were + such as naturally to bring down on him the reputation of being a + crafty deceiver. I found him--horrible to say it--even hinting + the same of one greater than St. Paul. I found him denying or + explaining away the existence of that Priestcraft, which is a + notorious fact to every honest student of history, and + justifying (as far as I can understand him) that double dealing + by which prelates, in the middle age, too often played off + alternately the sovereign against the people, and the people + against the sovereign, careless which was in the right, so long + as their own power gained by the move. I found him actually + using of such (and, as I thought, of himself and his party + likewise) the words 'They yield outwardly; to assent inwardly + were to betray the faith. Yet they are called deceitful and + double-dealing, because they do as much as they can, and not + more than they may.' I found him telling Christians that they + will always seem 'artificial,' and 'wanting in openness and + manliness;' that they will always be 'a mystery' to the world, + and that the world will always think them rogues; and bidding + them glory in what the world (i.e. the rest of their countrymen) + disown, and say with Mawworm, 'I like to be despised.' + + "Now, how was I to know that the preacher, who had the + reputation of being the most acute man of his generation, and of + having a specially intimate acquaintance with the weaknesses of + the human heart, was utterly blind to the broad meaning and the + plain practical result of a Sermon like this, delivered before + fanatic and hot-headed young men, who hung upon his every word? + that he did not foresee that they would think that they obeyed + him by becoming affected, artificial, sly, shifty, ready for + concealments and equivocations?" &c. &c.--Pp. 14-16. + +My accuser asked in this passage what did the Sermon _mean_, and why was +it preached. I will here answer this question; and with this view will +speak, first of the _matter_ of the Sermon, then of its _subject_, then +of its _circumstances_. + +1. It was one of the last six Sermons which I wrote when I was an +Anglican. It was one of the five Sermons I preached in St. Mary's +between Christmas and Easter, 1843, the year when I gave up my Living. +The MS. of the Sermon is destroyed; but I believe, and my memory too +bears me out, as far as it goes, that the sentence in question about +Celibacy and Confession, of which this writer would make so much, _was +not preached at all_. The Volume, in which this Sermon is found, was +published _after_ that I had given up St. Mary's, when I had no call on +me to restrain the expression of any thing which I might hold: and I +stated an important fact about it in the Advertisement, in these +words:-- + + "In preparing [these Sermons] for publication, _a few words and + sentences_ have in several places been _added_, which will be + found to express more _of private or personal opinion_, than it + was expedient to introduce into the _instruction_ delivered in + Church to a parochial Congregation. Such introduction, however, + seems unobjectionable in the case of compositions, which are + _detached_ from the sacred place and service to which they once + belonged, and _submitted to the reason_ and judgment of the + general reader." + +This Volume of Sermons then cannot be criticized at all as +_preachments_; they are _essays_; essays of a man who, at the time of +publishing them, was _not_ a preacher. Such passages, as that in +question, are just the very ones which I added _upon_ my publishing +them; and, as I always was on my guard in the pulpit against saying any +thing which looked towards Rome, I shall believe that I did not preach +the obnoxious sentence till some one is found to testify that he heard +it. + +At the same time I cannot conceive why the mention of Sacramental +Confession, or of Clerical Celibacy, had I made it, was inconsistent +with the position of an Anglican Clergyman. For Sacramental Confession +and Absolution actually form a portion of the Anglican Visitation of the +Sick; and though the 32nd Article says that "Bishops, priests, and +deacons, are not _commanded_ by God's law either to vow the state of +single life or to abstain from marriage," and "therefore it is _lawful_ +for them to marry," this proposition I did not dream of denying, nor is +it inconsistent with St. Paul's doctrine, which I held, that it is +"_good_ to abide even as he," i.e. in celibacy. + +But I have more to say on this point. This writer says, "I know that men +used to suspect Dr. Newman,--I have been inclined to do so myself,--of +_writing a whole Sermon, not for the sake of the text or of the matter_, +but for the sake of one simple passing hint,--one phrase, one epithet." +Now observe; can there be a plainer testimony borne to the practical +character of my Sermons at St. Mary's than this gratuitous insinuation? +Many a preacher of Tractarian doctrine has been accused of not letting +his parishioners alone, and of teasing them with his private theological +notions. The same report was spread about me twenty years ago as this +writer spreads now, and the world believed that my Sermons at St. Mary's +were full of red-hot Tractarianism. Then strangers came to hear me +preach, and were astonished at their own disappointment. I recollect the +wife of a great prelate from a distance coming to hear me, and then +expressing her surprise to find that I preached nothing but a plain +humdrum Sermon. I recollect how, when on the Sunday before Commemoration +one year, a number of strangers came to hear me, and I preached in my +usual way, residents in Oxford, of high position, were loud in their +satisfaction that on a great occasion, I had made a simple failure, for +after all there was nothing in the Sermon to hear. Well, but they were +not going to let me off, for all my common-sense view of duty. +Accordingly they got up the charitable theory which this Writer revives. +They said that there was a double purpose in those plain addresses of +mine, and that my Sermons were never so artful as when they seemed +common-place; that there were sentences which redeemed their apparent +simplicity and quietness. So they watched during the delivery of a +Sermon, which to them was too practical to be useful, for the concealed +point of it, which they could at least imagine, if they could not +discover. "Men used to suspect Dr. Newman," he says, "of writing a +_whole_ Sermon, _not_ for the sake of _the text or of the matter_, but +for the sake of one single passing hint, ... _one_ phrase, _one_ +epithet, _one_ little barbed arrow, which, as he _swept magnificently_ +past on the stream of his calm eloquence, _seemingly_ unconscious of all +presences, save those unseen, he delivered unheeded," &c. To all +appearance, he says, I was "unconscious of all presences." He is not +able to deny that the "_whole_ Sermon" had the _appearance_ of being +"_for the sake_ of the text and matter;" therefore he suggests that +perhaps it wasn't. + + * * * * * + +2. And now as to the subject of the Sermon. The Sermons of which the +Volume consists are such as are, more or less, exceptions to the rule +which I ordinarily observed, as to the subjects which I introduced into +the pulpit of St. Mary's. They are not purely ethical or doctrinal. They +were for the most part caused by circumstances of the day or of the +moment, and they belong to various years. One was written in 1832, two +in 1836, two in 1838, five in 1840, five in 1841, four in 1842, seven in +1843. Many of them are engaged on one subject, viz. in viewing the +Church in its relation to the world. By the world was meant, not simply +those multitudes which were not in the Church, but the existing body of +human society, whether in the Church or not, whether Catholics, +Protestants, Greeks, or Mahometans, theists or idolaters, as being ruled +by principles, maxims, and instincts of their own, that is, of an +unregenerate nature, whatever their supernatural privileges might be, +greater or less, according to their form of religion. This view of the +relation of the Church to the world as taken apart from questions of +ecclesiastical politics, as they may be called, is often brought out in +my Sermons. Two occur to me at once; No. 3 of my Plain Sermons, which +was written in 1829, and No. 15 of my Third Volume of Parochial, written +in 1835. On the other hand, by Church I meant,--in common with all +writers connected with the Tract Movement, whatever their shades of +opinion, and with the whole body of English divines, except those of the +Puritan or Evangelical School,--the whole of Christendom, from the +Apostles' time till now, whatever their later divisions into Latin, +Greek, and Anglican. I have explained this view of the subject above at +pp. 69-71 of this Volume. When then I speak, in the particular Sermon +before us, of the members, or the rulers, or the action of "the Church," +I mean neither the Latin, nor the Greek, nor the English, taken by +itself, but of the whole Church as one body: of Italy as one with +England, of the Saxon or Norman as one with the Caroline Church. _This_ +was specially the one Church, and the points in which one branch or one +period differed from another were not and could not be Notes of the +Church, because Notes necessarily belong to the whole of the Church +every where and always. + +This being my doctrine as to the relation of the Church to the world, I +laid down in the Sermon three principles concerning it, and there left +the matter. The first is, that Divine Wisdom had framed for its action +laws, which man, if left to himself, would have antecedently pronounced +to be the worst possible for its success, and which in all ages have +been called by the world, as they were in the Apostles' days, +"foolishness;" that man ever relies on physical and material force, and +on carnal inducements as Mahomet with his sword and his houris, or +indeed almost as that theory of religion, called, since the Sermon was +written, "muscular Christianity;" but that our Lord, on the contrary, +has substituted meekness for haughtiness, passiveness for violence, and +innocence for craft: and that the event has shown the high wisdom of +such an economy, for it has brought to light a set of natural laws, +unknown before, by which the seeming paradox that weakness should be +stronger than might, and simplicity than worldly policy, is readily +explained. + +Secondly, I said that men of the world, judging by the event, and not +recognizing the secret causes of the success, viz. a higher order of +natural laws,--natural, though their source and action were +supernatural, (for "the meek inherit the earth," by means of a meekness +which comes from above,)--these men, I say, concluded, that the success +which they witnessed must arise from some evil secret which the world +had not mastered,--by means of magic, as they said in the first ages, by +cunning as they say now. And accordingly they thought that the humility +and inoffensiveness of Christians, or of Churchmen, was a mere pretence +and blind to cover the real causes of that success, which Christians +could explain and would not; and that they were simply hypocrites. + +Thirdly, I suggested that shrewd ecclesiastics, who knew very well that +there was neither magic nor craft in the matter, and, from their +intimate acquaintance with what actually went on within the Church, +discerned what were the real causes of its success, were of course under +the temptation of substituting reason for conscience, and, instead of +simply obeying the command, were led to do good that good might come, +that is, to act _in order_ to secure success, and not from a motive of +faith. Some, I said, did yield to the temptation more or less, and their +motives became mixed; and in this way the world in a more subtle shape +had got into the Church; and hence it had come to pass, that, looking at +its history from first to last, we could not possibly draw the line +between good and evil there, and say either that every thing was to be +defended, or certain things to be condemned. I expressed the difficulty, +which I supposed to be inherent in the Church, in the following words. I +said, "_Priestcraft has ever been considered the badge_, and its +imputation is a kind of Note of the Church: and _in part indeed truly_, +because the presence of powerful enemies, and the sense of their own +weakness, _has sometimes tempted Christians to the abuse, instead of the +use of Christian wisdom, to be wise without being harmless_; but partly, +nay, for the most part, not truly, but slanderously, and merely because +the world called their wisdom craft, when it was found to be a match for +its own numbers and power." + +Such is the substance of the Sermon: and as to the main drift of it, it +was this; that I was, there and elsewhere, scrutinizing the course of +the Church as a whole, as if philosophically, as an historical +phenomenon, and observing the laws on which it was conducted. Hence the +Sermon, or Essay as it more truly is, is written in a dry and +unimpassioned way: it shows as little of human warmth of feeling as a +Sermon of Bishop Butler's. Yet, under that calm exterior there was a +deep and keen sensitiveness, as I shall now proceed to show. + + * * * * * + +3. If I mistake not, it was written with a secret thought about myself. +Every one preaches according to his frame of mind, at the time of +preaching. One heaviness especially oppressed me at that season, which +this Writer, twenty years afterwards, has set himself with a good will +to renew: it arose from the sense of the base calumnies which were +heaped upon me on all sides. It is worth observing that this Sermon is +exactly contemporaneous with the report spread by a Bishop (_vid. supr._ +p. 181), that I had advised a clergyman converted to Catholicism to +retain his Living. This report was in circulation in February 1843, and +my Sermon was preached on the 19th. In the trouble of mind into which I +was thrown by such calumnies as this, I gained, while I reviewed the +history of the Church, at once an argument and a consolation. My +argument was this: if I, who knew my own innocence, was so blackened by +party prejudice, perhaps those high rulers and those servants of the +Church, in the many ages which intervened between the early Nicene times +and the present, who were laden with such grievous accusations, were +innocent also; and this reflection served to make me tender towards +those great names of the past, to whom weaknesses or crimes were +imputed, and reconciled me to difficulties in ecclesiastical +proceedings, which there were no means now of properly explaining. And +the sympathy thus excited for them, re-acted on myself, and I found +comfort in being able to put myself under the shadow of those who had +suffered as I was suffering, and who seemed to promise me their +recompense, since I had a fellowship in their trial. In a letter to my +Bishop at the time of Tract 90, part of which I have quoted, I said that +I had ever tried to "keep innocency;" and now two years had passed since +then, and men were louder and louder in heaping on me the very charges, +which this Writer repeats out of my Sermon, of "fraud and cunning," +"craftiness and deceitfulness," "double-dealing," "priestcraft," of +being "mysterious, dark, subtle, designing," when I was all the time +conscious to myself, in my degree, and after my measure, of "sobriety, +self-restraint, and control of word and feeling." I had had experience +how my past success had been imputed to "secret management;" and how, +when I had shown surprise at that success, that surprise again was +imputed to "deceit;" and how my honest heartfelt submission to authority +had been called, as it was called in a Bishop's charge abroad, "mystic +humility;" and how my silence was called an "hypocrisy;" and my +faithfulness to my clerical engagements a secret correspondence with the +enemy. And I found a way of destroying my sensitiveness about these +things which jarred upon my sense of justice, and otherwise would have +been too much for me, by the contemplation of a large law of the Divine +Dispensation, and felt myself more and more able to bear in my own +person a present trial, of which in my past writings I had expressed an +anticipation. + +For this feeling and thus speaking this Writer compares me to "Mawworm." +"I found him telling Christians," he says, "that they will always seem +'artificial,' and 'wanting in openness and manliness;' that they will +always be 'a mystery' to the world; and that the world will always think +them rogues; and bidding them glory in what the world (that is, the rest +of their fellow-countrymen) disown, and say with Mawworm, 'I like to be +despised.' Now how was I to know that the preacher ... was utterly blind +to the broad meaning and the plain practical result of a Sermon like +this delivered before fanatic and hot-headed young men, who hung upon +his every word?"--Fanatic and hot-headed young men, who hung on my every +word! If he had undertaken to write a history, and not a romance, he +would have easily found out, as I have said above, that from 1841 I had +severed myself from the younger generation of Oxford, that Dr. Pusey and +I had then closed our theological meetings at his house, that I had +brought my own weekly evening parties to an end, that I preached only by +fits and starts at St. Mary's, so that the attendance of young men was +broken up, that in those very weeks from Christmas till over Easter, +during which this Sermon was preached, I was but five times in the +pulpit there. He would have found, that it was written at a time when I +was shunned rather than sought, when I had great sacrifices in +anticipation, when I was thinking much of myself; that I was ruthlessly +tearing myself away from my own followers, and that, in the musings of +that Sermon, I was at the very utmost only delivering a testimony in my +behalf for time to come, not sowing my rhetoric broadcast for the chance +of present sympathy. + +Again, he says: "I found him actually using of such [prelates], (and, as +I thought, of himself and his party likewise,) the words 'They yield +outwardly; to assent inwardly were to betray the faith. Yet they are +called deceitful and double-dealing, because they do as much as they +can, not more than they may.'" This too is a proof of my duplicity! Let +this writer, in his dealings with some one else, go just a little +further than he has gone with me; and let him get into a court of law +for libel; and let him be convicted; and let him still fancy that his +libel, though a libel, was true, and let us then see whether he will not +in such a case "yield outwardly," without assenting internally; and then +again whether we should please him, if we called him "deceitful and +double-dealing," because "he did as much as he could, not more than he +ought to do." But Tract 90 will supply a real illustration of what I +meant. I yielded to the Bishops in outward act, viz. in not defending +the Tract, and in closing the Series; but, not only did I not assent +inwardly to any condemnation of it, but I opposed myself to the +proposition of a condemnation on the part of authority. Yet I was then +by the public called "deceitful and double-dealing," as this Writer +calls me now, "because I did as much as I felt I could do, and not more +than I felt I could honestly do." Many were the publications of the day +and the private letters, which accused me of shuffling, because I closed +the Series of Tracts, yet kept the Tracts on sale, as if I ought to +comply not only with what my Bishop asked, but with what he did not ask, +and perhaps did not wish. However, such teaching, according to this +Writer, was likely to make young men "suspect, that truth was not a +virtue for its own sake, but only for the sake of the spread of +'Catholic opinions,' and the 'salvation of their own souls;' and that +cunning was the weapon which heaven had allowed to them to defend +themselves against the persecuting Protestant public."--p. 16. + +And now I draw attention to a further point. He says, "How was I to know +that the preacher ... did not foresee, that [fanatic and hot-headed +young men] would think that they obeyed him, by becoming affected, +artificial, sly, shifty, ready for concealments and _equivocations_?" +"How should he know!" What! I suppose that we are to think every man a +knave till he is proved not to be such. Know! had he no friend to tell +him whether I was "affected" or "artificial" myself? Could he not have +done better than impute _equivocations_ to me, at a time when I was in +no sense answerable for the _amphibologia_ of the Roman casuists? Had he +a single fact which belongs to me personally or by profession to couple +my name with equivocation in 1843? "How should he know" that I was not +sly, smooth, artificial, non-natural! he should know by that common +manly frankness, by which we put confidence in others, till they are +proved to have forfeited it; he should know it by my own words in that +very Sermon, in which I say it is best to be natural, and that reserve +is at best but an unpleasant necessity. For I say there expressly:-- + + "I do not deny that there is something very engaging in a frank + and unpretending manner; some persons have it more than others; + in _some persons it is a great grace_. But it must be + recollected that I am speaking of _times of persecution and + oppression_ to Christians, such as the text foretells; and then + surely frankness will become nothing else than indignation at + the oppressor, and vehement speech, if it is permitted. + Accordingly, as persons have deep feelings, so they will find + the necessity of self-control, lest they should say what they + ought not." + +He sums up thus: + + "If [Dr. Newman] would ... persist (as in this Sermon) in + dealing with matters dark, offensive, doubtful, sometimes + actually forbidden, at least according to the notions of the + great majority of English Churchmen; if he would always do so in + a tentative, paltering way, seldom or never letting the world + know how much he believed, how far he intended to go; if, in a + word, his method of teaching was a suspicious one, what wonder + if the minds of men were filled with suspicions of him?"--p. 17. + +Now, in the course of my Narrative, I have frankly admitted that I was +tentative in such of my works as fairly allowed of the introduction into +them of religious inquiry; but he is speaking of my Sermons; where, +then, is his proof that in my Sermons I dealt in matters dark, +offensive, doubtful, actually forbidden? He must show that I was +tentative in my Sermons; and he has the range of eight volumes to gather +evidence in. As to the ninth, my University Sermons, of course I was +tentative in them; but not because "I would seldom or never let the +world know how much I believed, or how far I intended to go;" but +because University Sermons are commonly, and allowably, of the nature of +disquisitions, as preached before a learned body; and because in deep +subjects, which had not been fully investigated, I said as much as I +believed, and about as far as I saw I could go; and a man cannot do +more; and I account no man to be a philosopher who attempts to do more. + + + + +NOTE D. ON PAGE 213. + +SERIES OF SAINTS' LIVES OF 1843-4. + + +I have here an opportunity of preserving, what otherwise would be lost, +the Catalogue of English Saints which I formed, as preparatory to the +Series of their Lives which was begun in the above years. It is but a +first Essay, and has many obvious imperfections; but it may be useful to +others as a step towards a complete hagiography for England. For +instance St. Osberga is omitted; I suppose because it was not easy to +learn any thing about her. Boniface of Canterbury is inserted, though +passed over by the Bollandists on the ground of the absence of proof of +a _cultus_ having been paid to him. The Saints of Cornwall were too +numerous to be attempted. Among the men of note, not Saints, King Edward +II. is included from piety towards the founder of Oriel College. With +these admissions I present my Paper to the reader. + + _Preparing for Publication, in Periodical Numbers, in small 8vo, + The Lives of the English Saints, Edited by the Rev. John Henry + Newman, B.D., Fellow of Oriel College._ + + It is the compensation of the disorders and perplexities of + these latter times of the Church that we have the history of the + foregoing. We indeed of this day have been reserved to witness a + disorganization of the City of God, which it never entered into + the minds of the early believers to imagine: but we are + witnesses also of its triumphs and of its luminaries through + those many ages which have brought about the misfortunes which + at present overshadow it. If they were blessed who lived in + primitive times, and saw the fresh traces of their Lord, and + heard the echoes of Apostolic voices, blessed too are we whose + special portion it is to see that same Lord revealed in His + Saints. The wonders of His grace in the soul of man, its + creative power, its inexhaustible resources, its manifold + operation, all this we know, as they knew it not. They never + heard the names of St. Gregory, St. Bernard, St. Francis, and + St. Louis. In fixing our thoughts then, as in an undertaking + like the present, on the History of the Saints, we are but + availing ourselves of that solace and recompense of our peculiar + trials which has been provided for our need by our Gracious + Master. + + And there are special reasons at this time for recurring to the + Saints of our own dear and glorious, most favoured, yet most + erring and most unfortunate England. Such a recurrence may serve + to make us love our country better, and on truer grounds, than + heretofore; to teach us to invest her territory, her cities and + villages, her hills and springs, with sacred associations; to + give us an insight into her present historical position in the + course of the Divine Dispensation; to instruct us in the + capabilities of the English character; and to open upon us the + duties and the hopes to which that Church is heir, which was in + former times the Mother of St. Boniface and St. Ethelreda. + + Even a selection or specimens of the Hagiology of our country + may suffice for some of these high purposes; and in so wide and + rich a field of research it is almost presumptuous in one + undertaking to aim at more than such a partial exhibition. The + list that follows, though by no means so large as might have + been drawn up, exceeds the limits which the Editor proposes to + his hopes, if not to his wishes; but, whether it is allowed him + to accomplish a larger or smaller portion of it, it will be his + aim to complete such subjects or periods as he begins before + bringing it to a close. It is hardly necessary to observe that + any list that is producible in this stage of the undertaking can + but approximate to correctness and completeness in matters of + detail, and even in the names which are selected to compose it. + + He has considered himself at liberty to include in the Series + such saints as have been born in England, though they have lived + and laboured out of it; and such, again, as have been in any + sufficient way connected with our country, though born out of + it; for instance, Missionaries or Preachers in it, or spiritual + or temporal rulers, or founders of religious institutions or + houses. + + He has also included in the Series a few eminent or holy + persons, who, though not in the Sacred Catalogue, are + recommended to our religious memory by their fame, learning, or + the benefits they have conferred on posterity. These have been + distinguished from the Saints by printing their names in + italics. + + It is proposed to page all the longer Lives separately; the + shorter will be thrown together in one. They will be published + in monthly issues of not more than 128 pages each; and no + regularity, whether of date or of subject, will be observed in + the order of publication. But they will be so numbered as to + admit ultimately of a general chronological arrangement. + + The separate writers are distinguished by letters subjoined to + each Life: and it should be added, to prevent misapprehension, + that, since under the present circumstances of our Church, they + are necessarily of various, though not divergent, doctrinal + opinions, no one is answerable for any composition but his own. + At the same time, the work professing an historical and ethical + character, questions of theology will be, as far as possible, + thrown into the back ground. + +J. H. N. +_Littlemore, Sept. 9, 1843._ + + +CALENDAR OF ENGLISH SAINTS. + + +JANUARY. + 1 Elvan, B. and Medwyne, C. + 2 Martyrs of Lichfield. + 3 Melorus, M. + 4 + 5 Edward, K.C. + 6 Peter, A. + 7 Cedd, B. + 8 Pega, V. Wulsin, B. + 9 Adrian, A. Bertwald, Archb. +10 Sethrida, V. +11 Egwin, B. +12 Benedict Biscop, A. Aelred, A. +13 Kentigern, B. +14 Beuno, A. +15 Ceolulph, K. Mo. +16 Henry, Hermit. Fursey, A. +17 Mildwida, V. +18 Ulfrid or Wolfrid, M. +19 Wulstan, B. Henry, B. +20 +21 +22 Brithwold, B. +23 Boisil, A. +24 Cadoc, A. +25 +26 Theoritgida, V. +27 Bathildis, Queen. +28 +29 Gildas, A. +30 +31 Adamnan, Mo. Serapion, M. + +FEBRUARY. + + 1 + 2 Laurence, Archb. + 3 Wereburga, V. + 4 Gilbert, A. Liephard, B.M. + 5 + 6 Ina, K. Mo. + 7 Augulus, B.M. Richard, K. + 8 Elfleda, A. Cuthman, C. + 9 Theliau, B. +10 Trumwin, B. +11 +12 Ethelwold, B. of Lindisfarne. +13 Cedmon, Mo., Ermenilda, Q.A. +14 +15 Sigefride, B. +16 Finan, B. +17 +18 +19 +20 Ulric, H. +21 +22 +23 Milburga, V. +24 Luidhard, B. Ethelbert of Kent, +25 Walburga, V.A. +26 +27 Alnoth, H.M. +28 Oswald, B. +29 + +MARCH. + + 1 David, Archb. Swibert, B. + 2 Chad, B. Willeik, C. Joavan, B. + 3 Winwaloe, A. + 4 Owin, Mo. + 5 + 6 Kineburga, &c., and Tibba, VV. + 7 Easterwin, A. William, Friar. + 8 Felix, B. + 9 Bosa, B. +10 +11 +12 Elphege, B. Paul de Leon, B.C. +13 +14 Robert, H. +15 Eadgith, A. +16 +17 Withburga, V. +18 Edward, K.M. +19 Alcmund, M. +20 Cuthbert, B. Herbert, B. +21 +22 +23 Ædelwald, H. +24 Hildelitha, A. +25 Alfwold of Sherborne, B. and William, M. +26 +27 +28 +29 Gundleus, H. +30 Merwenna, A. +31 + +APRIL. + + 1 + 2 + 3 Richard, B. + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 Frithstan, B. +10 +11 Guthlake, H. +12 +13 Caradoc, H. +14 _Richard of Bury, B._ +15 Paternus, B. +16 +17 Stephen. A. +18 +19 Elphege, Archb. +20 Adelbare, M. Cedwalla, K. +21 Anselm, Archb. Doctor. +22 +23 George M. +24 +25 +26 +27 +28 +29 Wilfrid II. Archb. +30 Erconwald, B. Suibert, B. _Maud, Q._ + +MAY. + + 1 Asaph, B. Ultan, A. Brioe, B.C. + 2 Germanus, M. + 3 + 4 + 5 Ethelred, K. Mo. + 6 Eadbert, A. + 7 John, Archb. of Beverley. + 8 + 9 +10 +11 Fremund, M. +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 Simon Stock, H. +17 +18 Elgiva, Q. +19 Dunstan, Archb. _B. Alcuin, A._ +20 Ethelbert, K.M. +21 Godric, H. +22 Winewald, A. Berethun, A. _Henry, K._ +23 +24 Ethelburga, Q. +25 Aldhelm, B. +26 Augustine, Archb. +27 Bede, D. Mo. +28 _Lanfranc, Archb._ +29 +30 Walston, C. +31 Jurmin, C. + +JUNE. + + 1 Wistan, K.M. + 2 + 3 + 4 Petroc, A. + 5 Boniface, Archb. M. + 6 Gudwall, B. + 7 Robert, A. + 8 William, Archb. + 9 +10 Ivo, B. and Ithamar, B. +11 +12 Eskill, B.M. +13 +14 Elerius, A. +15 Edburga, V. +16 +17 Botulph, A. John, Fr. +18 +19 +20 Idaberga, V. +21 Egelmund, A. +22 Alban, and Amphibolus, MM. +23 Ethelreda, V.A. +24 Bartholomew, H. +25 Adelbert, C. +26 +27 John, C. of Moutier. +28 +29 _Margaret, Countess of Richmond._ +30 + +JULY. + + 1 Julius, Aaron, MM. Rumold, B. Leonorus, B. + 2 Oudoceus, B. Swithun, B. + 3 Gunthiern, A. + 4 Odo, Archb. + 5 Modwenna, V.A. + 6 Sexburga, A. + 7 Edelburga, V.A. Hedda, B. Willibald, B. Ercongota, V. + 8 Grimbald, and Edgar, K. + 9 _Stephen Langton, Archb._ +10 +11 +12 +13 Mildreda, V.A. +14 Marchelm, C. Boniface, Archb. +15 Deus-dedit, Archb. Plechelm, B. David, A. and Editha of Tamworth, +Q.V. +16 Helier, H.M. +17 Kenelm, K.M. +18 Edburga and Edgitha of Aylesbury, VV. Frederic, B.M. +19 +20 +21 +22 +23 +24 Wulfud and Ruffin, MM. Lewinna, V.M. +25 +26 +27 Hugh, M. +28 Sampson, B. +29 Lupus, B. +30 Tatwin, Archb. and Ermenigitha, V. +31 Germanus, B. and Neot, H. + +AUGUST. + + 1 Ethelwold, B. of Winton. + 2 Etheldritha, V. + 3 Walthen, A. + 4 + 5 Oswald, K.M. Thomas, Mo. M. of Dover. + 6 + 7 + 8 Colman, B. + 9 +10 +11 _William of Waynfleet, B._ +12 +13 Wigbert, A. Walter, A. +14 Werenfrid, C. +15 +16 +17 +18 Helen, Empress. +19 +20 Oswin, K.M. +21 Richard, B. of Andria. +22 Sigfrid, A. +23 Ebba, V.A. +24 +25 Ebba, V.A.M. +26 Bregwin, Archb. _Bradwardine, Archb._ +27 Sturmius, A. +28 +29 Sebbus, K. +30 +31 Eanswida, V.A. Aidan, A.B. Cuthburga, Q.V. + +SEPTEMBER. + + 1 + 2 William, B. of Roschid. William, Fr. + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 Bega, A. + 7 Alcmund, A. Tilhbert, A. + 8 + 9 Bertelin, H. Wulfhilda or Vulfridis, A. +10 Otger, C. +11 _Robert Kilwardby, Archb._ +12 +13 +14 _Richard Fox, B._ +15 +16 Ninian, B. Edith, daughter of Edgar, V. +17 Socrates and Stephen, MM. +18 +19 Theodore, Archb. +20 +21 Hereswide, Q. _Edward II. K._ +22 +23 +24 +25 Ceolfrid, A. +26 +27 _William of Wykeham, B._ +28 Lioba, V.A. +29 _B. Richard of Hampole, H._ +30 Honorius, Archb. + +OCTOBER. + + 1 Roger, B. + 2 Thomas of Hereford, B. + 3 Ewalds (two) MM. + 4 + 5 Walter Stapleton, B. Acca, B. + 6 Ywy, C. + 7 Ositha, Q.V.M. + 8 Ceneu, V. + 9 Lina, V. and _Robert Grostete, B._ +10 Paulinus, Archb. John, C. of Bridlington. +11 Edilburga, V.A. +12 Edwin, K. +13 +14 Burchard, B. +15 Tecla, V.A. +16 Lullus, Archb. +17 Ethelred, Ethelbright, MM. +18 _Walter de Merton, B._ +19 Frideswide, V. and Ethbin, A. +20 +21 Ursula, V.M. +22 Mello, B.C. +23 +24 Magloire, B. +25 _John of Salisbury, B._ +26 Eata, B. +27 Witta, B. +28 _B. Alfred._ +29 Sigebert, K. Elfreda, A. +30 +31 Foillan, B.M. + + +NOVEMBER. + + 1 + 2 + 3 Wenefred, V.M. Rumwald, C. + 4 Brinstan, B. Clarus, M. + 5 Cungar, H. + 6 Iltut, A. and Winoc, A. + 7 Willebrord, B. + 8 Willehad, B. Tyssilio, B. + 9 +10 Justus, Archb. +11 +12 Lebwin, C. +13 Eadburga of Menstrey, A. +14 Dubricius, B.C. +15 Malo, B. +16 Edmund, B. +17 Hilda, A. Hugh, B. +18 +19 Ermenburga, Q. +20 Edmund, K.M. Humbert, B.M. +21 +22 Paulinus, A. +23 Daniel, B.C. +24 +25 +26 +27 +28 Edwold, M. +29 +30 + +DECEMBER. + + 1 + 2 Weede, V. + 3 Birinus, B. Lucius, K. and Sola, H. + 4 Osmund, B. + 5 Christina, V. + 6 + 7 + 8 _John Peckham, Archb._ + 9 +10 +11 Elfleda, A. +12 Corentin, B.C. +13 Ethelburga, Q. wife of Edwin. +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 Winebald, A. +19 +20 +21 Eadburga, V.A. +22 +23 +24 +25 +26 Tathai, C. +27 Gerald, A.B. +28 +29 Thomas, Archb. M. +30 +31 + +N.B. _St. William_, _Austin-Friar_, _Ingulphus_, and _Peter of Blois_ +have not been introduced into the above Calendar, their days of death or +festival not being as yet ascertained. + + + + +CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT. + +SECOND CENTURY. + +182 Dec. 3. Lucius, K. of the British. + Jan. 1. Elvan, B. and Medwyne, C. envoys from St. Lucius to Rome. + +FOURTH CENTURY. + +300 Oct. 22. Mello, B. C. of Rouen. +303 Ap. 23. George, M. under Dioclesian. Patron of England. + June 22. Alban and Amphibalus, MM. + July 1. Julius and Aaron, MM. of Caerleon. +304 Jan. 2. Martyrs of Lichfield. + Feb. 7. Augulus, B.M. of London. +328 Aug. 18. Helen, Empress, mother of Constantine. +388 Sept. 17. Socrates and Stephen, M.M. perhaps in Wales. +411 Jan. 3. Melorus, M. in Cornwall. + +FIFTH CENTURY. + +432 Sept. 16. Ninian, B. Apostle of the Southern Picts. +429 July 31. Germanus, B. C. of Auxerre. + July 29. Lupus, B. C. of Troyes. +502 May 1. Brioc, B. C., disciple of St. Germanus. +490 Oct. 8. Ceneu, or Keyna, V., sister-in-law of Gundleus. +492 Mar. 29. Gundleus, Hermit, in Wales. + July 3. Gunthiern, A., in Brittany. +453 Oct. 21. Ursula, V.M. near Cologne. +bef. 500 Dec. 12. Corentin, B.C. of Quimper. + +FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. + +Welsh Schools. + +444-522 Nov. 14. Dubricius, B.C., first Bishop of Llandaff. +520 Nov. 22. Paulinus, A. of Whitland, tutor of St. David and St. +Theliau. +445-544 Mar. 1. David, Archb. of Menevia, afterwards called from him. +abt. 500 Dec. 26. Tathai, C., master of St. Cadoc. +480 Jan. 24. Cadoc, A., son of St. Gundleus, and nephew of St. Keyna. +abt. 513 Nov. 6. Iltut, A., converted by St. Cadoc. +545 Nov. 23. Daniel, B.C., first Bishop of Bangor. +aft. 559 Apr. 18. Paternus, B.A., pupil of St. Iltut. +573 Mar. 12. Paul, B.C. of Leon, pupil of St. Iltut. + Mar. 2. Ioavan, B., pupil of St. Paul. +599 July 28. Sampson, B., pupil of St. Iltut, cousin of St. Paul de +Leon. +565 Nov. 15. Malo, B., cousin of St. Sampson. +575 Oct. 24. Magloire, B., cousin of St. Malo. +583 Jan. 29. Gildas, A., pupil of St. Iltut. + July 1. Leonorus, B., pupil of St. Iltut. +604 Feb. 9. Theliau, B. of Llandaff, pupil of St. Dubricius. +560 July 2. Oudoceus, B., nephew to St. Theliau. +500-580 Oct. 19. Ethbin, A., pupil of St. Sampson. +516-601 Jan. 13. Kentigern, B. of Glasgow, founder of Monastery of +Elwy. + +SIXTH CENTURY. + +529 Mar. 3. Winwaloe, A., in Brittany. +564 June 4. Petroc., A., in Cornwall. + July 16. Helier, Hermit, M., in Jersey. + June 27. John, C. of Moutier, in Tours. +590 May 1. Asaph, B. of Elwy, afterwards called after him. +abt. 600 June 6. Gudwall, B. of Aleth in Brittany. + Nov. 8. Tyssilio, B. of St. Asaph. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part I. + +600 June 10. Ivo, or Ivia, B. from Persia. +596 Feb. 24. Luidhard, B. of Senlis, in France. +616 Feb. 24. Ethelbert, K. of Kent. +608 May 26. Augustine, Archb. of Canterbury, Apostle of England. +624 Apr. 24. Mellitus, Archb. of Canterbury, } +619 Feb. 2. Laurence, Archb. of Canterbury, } Companions of St. +608 Jan. 6. Peter, A. at Canterbury, } Augustine. +627 Nov. 10. Justus, Archb. of Canterbury, } +653 Sept. 30. Honorius, Archb. of Canterbury, } +662 July 15. Deus-dedit, Archb. of Canterbury. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part II. + +642 Oct. 29. Sigebert, K. of the East Angles. +646 Mar. 8. Felix, B. of Dunwich, Apostle of the East Angles. +650 Jan. 16. Fursey, A., preacher among the East Angles. +680 May 1. Ultan, A., brother of St. Fursey. +655 Oct. 31. Foillan, B.M., brother of St. Fursey, preacher in the + Netherlands. +680 June 17. Botulph, A., in Lincolnshire or Sussex. +671 June 10. Ithamar, B. of Rochester. +650 Dec. 3. Birinus, B. of Dorchester. +705 July 7. Hedda, B. of Dorchester. +717 Jan. 11. Egwin, B. of Worcester. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part III. + +690 Sept. 19. Theodore, Archb. of Canterbury. +709 Jan. 9. Adrian, A. in Canterbury. +709 May 25. Aldhelm, B. of Sherborne, pupil of St. Adrian. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part IV. + +630 Nov. 3. Winefred, V.M. in Wales. +642 Feb. 4. Liephard, M.B., slain near Cambray. +660 Jan. 14. Beuno, A., kinsman of St. Cadocus and St. Kentigern. +673 Oct. 7. Osgitha, Q.V.M., in East Anglia during a Danish inroad. +630 June 14. Elerius, A. in Wales. +680 Jan. 27. Bathildis, Q., wife of Clovis II., king of France. +687 July 24. Lewinna, V.M., put to death by the Saxons. +700 July 18. Edberga and Edgitha, VV. of Aylesbury. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part V. + +644 Oct. 10. Paulinus, Archb. of York, companion of St. Augustine. +633 Oct. 12. Edwin, K. of Northumberland. + Dec. 13. Ethelburga, Q., wife to St. Edwin. +642 Aug. 5. Oswald, K.M., St. Edwin's nephew. +651 Aug. 20. Oswin, K.M., cousin to St. Oswald. +683 Aug. 23. Ebba, V.A. of Coldingham, half-sister to St. Oswin. +689 Jan. 31. Adamnan, Mo. of Coldingham. + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +Part VI.--Whitby. + +650 Sept. 6. Bega, V.A., foundress of St. Bee's, called after her. +681 Nov. 17. Hilda, A. of Whitby, daughter of St. Edwin's nephew. +716 Dec. 11. Elfleda, A. of Whitby, daughter of St. Oswin. +680 Feb. 12. Cedmon, Mo. of Whitby. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part I. + + Sept. 21. Hereswida, Q., sister of Hilda, wife of Annas, + who succeeded Egric, Sigebert's cousin. +654 Jan. 10. Sethrida, V.A. of Faremoutier, St. Hereswida's + daughter by a former marriage. +693 Apr. 30. Erconwald, A.B., son of Annas and St. Hereswida, Bishop + of London, Abbot of Chertsey, founder of Barking. +677 Aug. 29. Sebbus, K., converted by St. Erconwald. + May 31. Jurmin, C., son of Annas and St. Hereswida. +650 July 7. Edelburga, V.A. of Faremoutier, natural daughter + of Annas. +679 June 23. Ethelreda, Etheldreda, Etheltrudis, or Awdry, V.A., + daughter of Annas and St. Hereswida. + Mar. 17. Withburga, V., daughter of Annas and St. Hereswida. +699 July 6. Sexburga, A., daughter of Annas and St. Hereswida. +660 July 7. Ercongota, or Ertongata, V.A. of Faremoutier, + daughter of St. Sexburga. +699 Feb. 13. Ermenilda, Q.A., daughter of St. Sexburga, + wife of Wulfere. +aft. 675 Feb. 3. Wereburga, V., daughter of St. Ermenilda and Wulfere, + patron of Chester. +abt. 680 Feb. 27. Alnoth, H.M., bailiff to St. Wereburga. +640 Aug. 31. Eanswida, V.A., sister-in-law of St. Sexburga, + granddaughter to St. Ethelbert. +668 Oct. 17. Ethelred and Ethelbright, MM., nephews of St. Eanswida. + July 30. Ermenigitha, V., niece of St. Eanswida. +676 Oct. 11. Edilberga, V.A. of Barking, daughter of Annas and St. + Hereswida. +678 Jan. 26. Theoritgida, V., nun of Barking. +aft. 713 Aug. 31. Cuthberga, Q.V., of Barking, sister of St. Ina. +700 Mar. 24. Hildelitha, A. of Barking. +728 Feb. 6. Ina, K. Mo. of the West Saxons. +740 May 24. Ethelburga, Q., wife of St. Ina, nun at Barking. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part II. + +652 June 20. Idaburga, V. } +696 Mar. 6. Kineburga, Q.A. } +701---- Kinneswitha, V. } Daughters of King Penda. + ---- Chidestre, V. } +692 Dec. 2. Weeda, V.A. } +696 Mar. 6. Tibba, V., their kinswoman. + Nov. 3. Rumwald, C., grandson of Penda. +680 Nov. 19. Ermenburga, Q., mother to the three following. + Feb. 23. Milburga, V.A. of Wenlock, } Grand-daughters of + July 13. Mildreda, V.A. of Menstrey, } Penda. +676 Jan. 17. Milwida, or Milgitha, V. } +750 Nov. 13. Eadburga, A. of Menstrey. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part III. + +670 July 24. Wulfad and Ruffin, MM., sons of Wulfere, + Penda's son, and of St. Erminilda. +672 Mar. 2. Chad, B. of Lichfield. +664 Jan. 7. Cedd, B. of London. +688 Mar. 4. Owin, Mo. of Lichfield. +689 Apr. 20. Cedwalla, K. of West Saxons. +690-725 Nov. 5. Cungar, H. in Somersetshire. +700 Feb. 10. Trumwin, B. of the Picts. +705 Mar. 9. Bosa, Archb. of York. +709 Apr. 24. Wilfrid, Archb. of York. +721 May 7. John of Beverley, Archb. of York. +743 Apr. 29. Wilfrid II., Archb. of York. +733 May 22. Berethun, A. of Deirwood, disciple of St. John + of Beverley. +751 May 22. Winewald, A. of Deirwood. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part IV.--Missions. + +729 Apr. 24. Egbert, C., master to Willebrord. +693 Oct. 3. Ewalds (two), MM. in Westphalia. +690-736 Nov. 7. Willebrord, B. of Utrecht, Apostle of Friesland. +717 Mar. 1. Swibert, B., Apostle of Westphalia. +727 Mar. 2. Willeik, C., successor to St. Swibert. +705 June 25. Adelbert, C., grandson of St. Oswald, preacher + in Holland. +705 Aug. 14. Werenfrid, C., preacher in Friesland. +720 June 21. Engelmund, A., preacher in Holland. +730 Sept. 10. Otger, C. in Low Countries. +732 July 15. Plechelm, B., preacher in Guelderland. +750 May 2. Germanus, B.M. in the Netherlands. +760 Nov. 12, Lebwin, C. in Overyssel, in Holland. +760 July 14. Marchelm, C., companion of St. Lebwin, in Holland. +697-755 June 5. Boniface, Archb., M. of Mentz, Apostle of Germany. +712 Feb. 7. Richard, K. of the West Saxons. +704-790 July 7. Willibald, B. of Aichstadt, }} + in Franconia, }} +730-760 Dec. 18. Winebald, A. of Heidenheim, } Children of} + in Suabia, } St. Richard.} +779 Feb. 25. Walburga, V.A. of Heidenheim, }} +aft. 755 Sept. 28. Lioba, V.A. of Bischorsheim, } +750 Oct. 15. Tecla, V.A. of Kitzingen, in Franconia, } Companions + } of St. +788 Oct. 16. Lullus, Archb. of Mentz, } Boniface. +abt. 747 Aug. 13. Wigbert, A. of Fritzlar and Ortdorf, in } + Germany, } +755 Apr. 20. Adelhare, B.M. of Erford, in Franconia, } +780 Aug. 27. Sturmius, A. of Fulda, } +786 Oct. 27. Witta, or Albuinus, B. of Buraberg, in } + Germany, } +791 Nov. 8. Willehad, B. of Bremen, and Apostle of } + Saxony, } Companions +791 Oct. 14. Burchard, B. of Wurtzburg, in Franconia, } of St. +790 Dec 3. Sola, H., near Aichstadt, in Franconia, } Boniface. +775 July 1. Rumold, B., Patron of Mechlin. +807 Apr. 30. Suibert, B. of Verden in Westphalia. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part V.--Lindisfarne and Hexham. + +670 Jan. 23. Boisil, A. of Melros, in Scotland. +651 Aug. 31. Aidan, A.B. of Lindisfarne. +664 Feb. 16. Finan, B. of Lindisfarne. +676 Aug. 8. Colman, B. of Lindisfarne. +685 Oct. 26. Eata, B. of Hexham. +687 Mar. 20. Cuthbert, B. of Lindisfarne. + Oct. 6. Ywy, C. disciple of St. Cuthbert. +690 Mar. 20. Herbert, H. disciple of St. Cuthbert. +698 May 6. Eadbert, B. of Lindisfarne. +700 Mar. 23. Ædelwald, H. successor of St. Cuthbert, in his hermitage. +740 Feb. 12. Ethelwold, B. of Lindisfarne. +740 Nov. 20. Acca, B. of Hexham. +764 Jan. 15. Ceolulph, K. Mo. of Lindisfarne. +756 Mar. 6. Balther, H at Lindisfarne. + " Bilfrid, H. Goldsmith at Lindisfarne. +781 Sept. 7. Alchmund, B. of Hexham. +789 Sept. 7. Tilhbert, B. of Hexham. + +SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. + +Part VI.--Wearmouth and Yarrow. + +703 Jan. 12. Benedict Biscop, A. of Wearmouth. +685 Mar. 7. Easterwin, A. of Wearmouth. +689 Aug. 22. Sigfrid, A. of Wearmouth. +716 Sept. 25. Ceofrid, A. of Yarrow. +734 May 27. Bede, Doctor, Mo. of Yarrow. +804 May 19. _B. Alcuin, A. in France_. + +EIGHTH CENTURY. + +710 May 5. Ethelred, K. Mo. King of Mercia, Monk of Bardney. +719 Jan. 8. Pega, V., sister of St. Guthlake. +714 April 11. Guthlake, H. of Croyland. +717 Nov. 6. Winoc, A. in Brittany. +730 Jan. 9. Bertwald, Archb. of Canterbury. +732 Dec. 27. Gerald, A.B. in Mayo. +734 July 30. Tatwin, Archb. of Canterbury. +750 Oct. 19. Frideswide, V. patron of Oxford. +762 Aug. 26. Bregwin, Archb. of Canterbury. +700-800 Feb. 8. Cuthman, C. of Stening in Sussex. +bef. 800 Sept. 9. Bertelin, H. patron of Stafford. + +EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES. + +793 May 20. Ethelbert, K.M. of the East Angles. +834 Aug. 2. Etheldritha, or Alfreda, V., daughter of Offa, king of + Mercia, nun at Croyland. +819 July 17. Kenelm, K.M. of Mercia. +849 June 1. Wistan, K.M. of Mercia. +838 July 18. Frederic, Archb. M. of Utrecht. +894 Nov. 4. Clarus, M. in Normandy. + +NINTH CENTURY. + +Part I.--Danish Slaughters, &c. + +819 Mar. 19. Alcmund, M., son of Eldred, king of Northumbria, Patron + of Derby. +870 Nov. 20. Edmund, K.M. of the East Angles. +862 May 11. Fremund, H. M. nobleman of East Anglia. +870 Nov. 20. Humbert, B.M. of Elmon in East Anglia. +867 Aug. 25. Ebba, V.A.M. of Coldingham. + +NINTH CENTURY. + +Part II. + +862 July 2. Swithun, B. of Winton. +870 July 5. Modwenna, V.A. of Pollesworth in Warwickshire. + Oct. 9. Lina, V. nun at Pollesworth. +871 Mar. 15. Eadgith, V.A. of Pollesworth, sister of King Ethelwolf. +900 Dec. 21. Eadburga, V.A. of Winton, daughter of King Ethelwolf. +880 Nov. 28. Edwold, H., brother of St. Edmund. + +NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. + +883 July 31. Neot, H. in Cornwall. +903 July 8. Grimbald, A. at Winton. +900 Oct. 28. _B. Alfred, K._ +929 April 9. Frithstan, B. of Winton. +934 Nov. 4. Brinstan, B. of Winton. + +TENTH CENTURY. + +Part I. + +960 June 15. Edburga, V., nun at Winton, granddaughter of Alfred. +926 July 15. Editha, Q.V., nun of Tamworth, sister to Edburga. +921 May 18. Algyfa, or Elgiva, Q., mother of Edgar. +975 July 8. Edgar, K. +978 Mar. 18. Edward, K.M. at Corfe Castle. +984 Sept. 16. Edith, V., daughter of St. Edgar and St. Wulfhilda. +990 Sept. 9. Wulfhilda, or Vulfrida, A. of Wilton. +980 Mar. 30. Merwenna, V.A. of Romsey. +990 Oct. 29. Elfreda, A. of Romsey. +1016 Dec. 5. Christina of Romsey, V., sister of St. Margaret of + Scotland. + +TENTH CENTURY. + +Part II. + +961 July 4. Odo, Archb. of Canterbury, Benedictine Monk. +960-992 Feb. 28. Oswald, Archb. of York, B. of Worcester, nephew to + St. Odo. +951-1012 Mar. 12. Elphege the Bald, B. of Winton. +988 May 19. Dunstan, Archb. of Canterbury. +973 Jan. 8. Wulsin, B. of Sherbourne. +984 Aug. 1. Ethelwold, B. of Winton. +1015 Jan. 22. Brithwold, B. of Winton. + +TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES. + +Missions. + + 950 Feb. 15. Sigfride, B., apostle of Sweden. +1016 June 12. Eskill, B.M. in Sweden, kinsman of St. Sigfride. +1028 Jan. 18. Wolfred, M. in Sweden. +1050 July 15. David, A., Cluniac in Sweden. + +ELEVENTH CENTURY. + +1012 April 19. Elphege, M. Archb. of Canterbury. +1016 May 30. Walston, C. near Norwich. +1053 Mar. 31. Alfwold, B. of Sherborne. +1067 Sept. 2. William, B. of Roschid in Denmark. +1066 Jan. 5. Edward, K.C. +1099 Dec. 4. Osmund, B. of Salisbury. + +ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. + +1095 Jan. 19. Wulstan, B. of Worcester. +1089 May 28. _Lanfranc, Archb. of Canterbury._ +1109 Apr. 21. Anselm, Doctor, Archb. of Canterbury. +1170 Dec. 29. Thomas, Archb. M. of Canterbury. +1200 Nov. 17. Hugh, B. of Lincoln, Carthusian Monk. + +TWELFTH CENTURY. + +Part I. + +1109 _Ingulphus, A. of Croyland._ +1117 Apr. 30. _B. Maud, Q._ Wife of Henry I. +1124 Apr. 13. Caradoc, H. in South Wales. +1127 Jan. 16. Henry, H. in Northumberland. +1144 Mar. 25. William, M. of Norwich. +1151 Jan. 19. Henry, M.B. of Upsal. +1150 Aug. 13. Walter, A. of Fontenelle, in France. +1154 June 8. William, Archb. of York. +1170 May 21. Godric, H. in Durham. +1180 Oct. 25. _John of Salisbury, B. of Chartres._ +1182 June 24. Bartholomew, C., monk at Durham. +1189 Feb. 4. Gilbert, A. of Sempringham. +1190 Aug. 21. Richard, B. of Andria. +1200 _Peter de Blois, Archd. of Bath._ + +TWELFTH CENTURY. + +Part II.--Cistertian Order. + +1134 Apr. 17. Stephen, A. of Citeaux. +1139 June 7. Robert, A. of Newminster in Northumberland. +1154 Feb. 20. Ulric, H. in Dorsetshire. +1160 Aug. 3. Walthen, A. of Melrose. +1166 Jan. 12. Aelred, A. of Rieval. + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + +Part I. + +1228 July 9. _Stephen Langton, Archb. of Canterbury._ +1242 Nov. 16. Edmund, Archb. of Canterbury. +1253 Apr. 3. Richard, B. of Chichester. +1282 Oct. 2. Thomas, B. of Hereford. +1294 Dec. 3. _John Peckham, Archb. of Canterbury._ + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + +Part II.--Orders of Friars. + +1217 June 17. John, Fr., Trinitarian. +1232 Mar. 7. William, Fr., Franciscan. +1240 Jan. 31. Serapion, Fr., M., Redemptionist. +1265 May 16. Simon Stock, H., General of the Carmelites. +1279 Sept. 11. _Robert Kilwardby, Archb. of Canterbury, + Fr. Dominican._ + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + +Part III. + +1239 Mar. 14. Robert H. at Knaresboro. +1241 Oct. 1. Roger, B. of London. +1255 July 27. Hugh, M. of Lincoln. +1295 Aug. 5. Thomas, Mo., M. of Dover. +1254 Oct. 9. _Robert Grossteste, B. of Lincoln._ +1270 July 14. Boniface, Archb. of Canterbury. +1278 Oct. 18. _Walter de Merton, B. of Rochester._ + +FOURTEENTH CENTURY. + +1326 Oct. 5. _Stapleton, B. of Exeter._ +1327 Sept. 21. Edward K. +1349 Sept. 29. _B. Richard, H. of Hampole._ +1345 Apr. 14. _Richard of Bury, B. of Lincoln._ +1349 Aug. 26. _Bradwardine, Archb. of Canterbury, + the Doctor Profundus._ +1358 Sept. 2. Willam, Fr., Servite. +1379 Oct. 10. John, C. of Bridlington. +1324-1404 Sept. 27. _William of Wykeham, B. of Winton._ +1400 William, Fr. Austin. + + +FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + +1471 May 22. _Henry, K. of England._ +1486 Aug. 11. _William of Wanefleet, B. of Winton._ +1509 June 29. _Margaret, Countess of Richmond._ +1528 Sept. 14. _Richard Fox, B. of Winton._ + + + + +NOTE E. ON PAGE 227. + +THE ANGLICAN CHURCH. + + +I have been bringing out my mind in this Volume on every subject which +has come before me; and therefore I am bound to state plainly what I +feel and have felt, since I was a Catholic, about the Anglican Church. I +said, in a former page, that, on my conversion, I was not conscious of +any change in me of thought or feeling, as regards matters of doctrine; +this, however, was not the case as regards some matters of fact, and, +unwilling as I am to give offence to religious Anglicans, I am bound to +confess that I felt a great change in my view of the Church of England. +I cannot tell how soon there came on me,--but very soon,--an extreme +astonishment that I had ever imagined it to be a portion of the Catholic +Church. For the first time, I looked at it from without, and (as I +should myself say) saw it as it was. Forthwith I could not get myself to +see in it any thing else, than what I had so long fearfully suspected, +from as far back as 1836,--a mere national institution. As if my eyes +were suddenly opened, so I saw it--spontaneously, apart from any +definite act of reason or any argument; and so I have seen it ever +since. I suppose, the main cause of this lay in the contrast which was +presented to me by the Catholic Church. Then I recognized at once a +reality which was quite a new thing with me. Then I was sensible that I +was not making for myself a Church by an effort of thought; I needed not +to make an act of faith in her; I had not painfully to force myself into +a position, but my mind fell back upon itself in relaxation and in +peace, and I gazed at her almost passively as a great objective fact. I +looked at her;--at her rites, her ceremonial, and her precepts; and I +said, "This _is_ a religion;" and then, when I looked back upon the poor +Anglican Church, for which I had laboured so hard, and upon all that +appertained to it, and thought of our various attempts to dress it up +doctrinally and esthetically, it seemed to me to be the veriest of +nonentities. + +Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! How can I make a record of what +passed within me, without seeming to be satirical? But I speak plain, +serious words. As people call me credulous for acknowledging Catholic +claims, so they call me satirical for disowning Anglican pretensions; to +them it _is_ credulity, to them it _is_ satire; but it is not so in me. +What they think exaggeration, I think truth. I am not speaking of the +Anglican Church with any disdain, though to them I seem contemptuous. To +them of course it is "Aut Cæsar aut nullus," but not to me. It may be a +great creation, though it be not divine, and this is how I judge of it. +Men, who abjure the divine right of kings, would be very indignant, if +on that account they were considered disloyal. And so I recognize in the +Anglican Church a time-honoured institution, of noble historical +memories, a monument of ancient wisdom, a momentous arm of political +strength, a great national organ, a source of vast popular advantage, +and, to a certain point, a witness and teacher of religious truth. I do +not think that, if what I have written about it since I have been a +Catholic, be equitably considered as a whole, I shall be found to have +taken any other view than this; but that it is something sacred, that it +is an oracle of revealed doctrine, that it can claim a share in St. +Ignatius or St. Cyprian, that it can take the rank, contest the +teaching, and stop the path of the Church of St. Peter, that it can call +itself "the Bride of the Lamb," this is the view of it which simply +disappeared from my mind on my conversion, and which it would be almost +a miracle to reproduce. "I went by, and lo! it was gone; I sought it, +but its place could no where be found," and nothing can bring it back to +me. And, as to its possession of an episcopal succession from the time +of the Apostles, well, it may have it, and, if the Holy See ever so +decide, I will believe it, as being the decision of a higher judgment +than my own; but, for myself, I must have St. Philip's gift, who saw the +sacerdotal character on the forehead of a gaily-attired youngster, +before I can by my own wit acquiesce in it, for antiquarian arguments +are altogether unequal to the urgency of visible facts. Why is it that I +must pain dear friends by saying so, and kindle a sort of resentment +against me in the kindest of hearts? but I must, though to do it be not +only a grief to me, but most impolitic at the moment. Any how, this is +my mind; and, if to have it, if to have betrayed it, before now, +involuntarily by my words or my deeds, if on a fitting occasion, as now, +to have avowed it, if all this be a proof of the justice of the charge +brought against me by my accuser of having "turned round upon my +Mother-Church with contumely and slander," in this sense, but in no +other sense, do I plead guilty to it without a word in extenuation. + +In no other sense surely; the Church of England has been the instrument +of Providence in conferring great benefits on me;--had I been born in +Dissent, perhaps I should never have been baptized; had I been born an +English Presbyterian, perhaps I should never have known our Lord's +divinity; had I not come to Oxford, perhaps I never should have heard of +the visible Church, or of Tradition, or other Catholic doctrines. And as +I have received so much good from the Anglican Establishment itself, can +I have the heart or rather the want of charity, considering that it does +for so many others, what it has done for me, to wish to see it +overthrown? I have no such wish while it is what it is, and while we are +so small a body. Not for its own sake, but for the sake of the many +congregations to which it ministers, I will do nothing against it. While +Catholics are so weak in England, it is doing our work; and, though it +does us harm in a measure, at present the balance is in our favour. What +our duty would be at another time and in other circumstances, supposing, +for instance, the Establishment lost its dogmatic faith, or at least did +not preach it, is another matter altogether. In secular history we read +of hostile nations having long truces, and renewing them from time to +time, and that seems to be the position which the Catholic Church may +fairly take up at present in relation to the Anglican Establishment. + +Doubtless the National Church has hitherto been a serviceable breakwater +against doctrinal errors, more fundamental than its own. How long this +will last in the years now before us, it is impossible to say, for the +Nation drags down its Church to its own level; but still the National +Church has the same sort of influence over the Nation that a periodical +has upon the party which it represents, and my own idea of a Catholic's +fitting attitude towards the National Church in this its supreme hour, +is that of assisting and sustaining it, if it be in our power, in the +interest of dogmatic truth. I should wish to avoid every thing (except +indeed under the direct call of duty, and this is a material exception,) +which went to weaken its hold upon the public mind, or to unsettle its +establishment, or to embarrass and lessen its maintenance of those great +Christian and Catholic principles and doctrines which it has up to this +time successfully preached. + + + + +NOTE F. ON PAGE 269. + +THE ECONOMY. + + +For the Economy, considered as a rule of practice, I shall refer to what +I wrote upon it in 1830-32, in my History of the Arians. I have shown +above, pp. 26, 27, that the doctrine in question had in the early Church +a large signification, when applied to the divine ordinances: it also +had a definite application to the duties of Christians, whether clergy +or laity, in preaching, in instructing or catechizing, or in ordinary +intercourse with the world around them; and in this aspect I have here +to consider it. + +As Almighty God did not all at once introduce the Gospel to the world, +and thereby gradually prepared men for its profitable reception, so, +according to the doctrine of the early Church, it was a duty, for the +sake of the heathen among whom they lived, to observe a great reserve +and caution in communicating to them the knowledge of "the whole counsel +of God." This cautious dispensation of the truth, after the manner of a +discreet and vigilant steward, is denoted by the word "economy." It is a +mode of acting which comes under the head of Prudence, one of the four +Cardinal Virtues. + +The principle of the Economy is this; that out of various courses, in +religious conduct or statement, all and each _allowable antecedently and +in themselves_, that ought to be taken which is most expedient and most +suitable at the time for the object in hand. + +Instances of its application and exercise in Scripture are such as the +following:--1. Divine Providence did but gradually impart to the world +in general, and to the Jews in particular, the knowledge of His +will:--He is said to have "winked at the times of ignorance among the +heathen;" and He suffered in the Jews divorce "because of the hardness +of their hearts." 2. He has allowed Himself to be represented as having +eyes, ears, and hands, as having wrath, jealousy, grief, and repentance. +3. In like manner, our Lord spoke harshly to the Syro-Ph[oe]nician +woman, whose daughter He was about to heal, and made as if He would go +further, when the two disciples had come to their journey's end. 4. Thus +too Joseph "made himself strange to his brethren," and Elisha kept +silence on request of Naaman to bow in the house of Rimmon. 5. Thus St. +Paul circumcised Timothy, while he cried out "Circumcision availeth +not." + +It may be said that this principle, true in itself, yet is dangerous, +because it admits of an easy abuse, and carries men away into what +becomes insincerity and cunning. This is undeniable; to do evil that +good may come, to consider that the means, whatever they are, justify +the end, to sacrifice truth to expedience, unscrupulousness, +recklessness, are grave offences. These are abuses of the Economy. But +to call them _economical_ is to give a fine name to what occurs every +day, independent of any knowledge of the _doctrine_ of the Economy. It +is the abuse of a rule which nature suggests to every one. Every one +looks out for the "mollia tempora fandi," and for "mollia verba" too. + +Having thus explained what is meant by the Economy as a rule of social +intercourse between men of different religious, or, again, political, or +social views, next I will go on to state what I said in the Arians. + +I say in that Volume first, that our Lord has given us the _principle_ +in His own words,--"Cast not your pearls before swine;" and that He +exemplified it in His teaching by parables; that St. Paul expressly +distinguishes between the milk which is necessary to one set of men, and +the strong meat which is allowed to others, and that, in two Epistles. I +say, that the Apostles in the Acts observe the same rule in their +speeches, for it is a fact, that they do not preach the high doctrines +of Christianity, but only "Jesus and the Resurrection" or "repentance +and faith." I also say, that this is the very reason that the Fathers +assign for the silence of various writers in the first centuries on the +subject of our Lord's divinity. I also speak of the catechetical system +practised in the early Church, and the _disciplina arcani_ as regards +the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, to which Bingham bears witness; also +of the defence of this rule by Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, +and Theodoret. + +But next the question may be asked, whether I have said any thing in my +Volume _to guard_ the doctrine, thus laid down, from the abuse to which +it is obviously exposed: and my answer is easy. Of course, had I had any +idea that I should have been exposed to such hostile misrepresentations, +as it has been my lot to undergo on the subject, I should have made more +direct avowals than I have done of my sense of the gravity and the +danger of that abuse. Since I could not foresee when I wrote, that I +should have been wantonly slandered, I only wonder that I have +anticipated the charge as fully as will be seen in the following +extracts. + +For instance, speaking of the Disciplina Arcani, I say:--(1) "The +elementary information given to the heathen or catechumen was _in no +sense undone_ by the subsequent secret teaching, which was in fact but +the _filling up of a bare but correct outline_," p. 58, and I contrast +this with the conduct of the Manichæans "who represented the initiatory +discipline as founded on a _fiction_ or hypothesis, which was to be +forgotten by the learner as he made progress in the _real_ doctrine of +the Gospel." (2) As to allegorizing, I say that the Alexandrians erred, +whenever and as far as they proceeded "to _obscure_ the primary meaning +of Scripture, and to _weaken the force of historical facts_ and express +declarations," p. 69. (3) And that they were "more open to _censure_," +when, on being "_urged by objections_ to various passages in the history +of the Old Testament, as derogatory to the divine perfections or to the +Jewish Saints, they had _recourse to an allegorical explanation by way +of answer_," p. 71. (4) I add, "_It is impossible to defend such a +procedure_, which seems to imply a _want of faith_ in those who had +recourse to it;" for "God has given us _rules of right and wrong_", +_ibid._ (5) Again, I say,--"The _abuse of the Economy_ in _the hands of +unscrupulous reasoners_, is obvious. _Even the honest_ controversialist +or teacher will find it very difficult to represent, _without +misrepresenting_, what it is yet his duty to present to his hearers with +caution or reserve. Here the obvious rule to guide our practice is, to +be careful ever to maintain _substantial truth_ in our use of the +economical method," pp. 79, 80. (6) And so far from concurring at all +hazards with Justin, Gregory, or Athanasius, I say, "It _is plain_ +[they] _were justified or not_ in their Economy, _according_ as they did +or did not _practically mislead their opponents_," p. 80. (7) I proceed, +"It is so difficult to hit the mark in these perplexing cases, that it +is not wonderful, should these or other Fathers have failed at times, +and said more or less than was proper," _ibid._ + +The Principle of the Economy is familiarly acted on among us every day. +When we would persuade others, we do not begin by treading on their +toes. Men would be thought rude who introduced their own religious +notions into mixed society, and were devotional in a drawing-room. Have +we never thought lawyers tiresome who did _not_ observe this polite +rule, who came down for the assizes and talked law all through dinner? +Does the same argument tell in the House of Commons, on the hustings, +and at Exeter Hall? Is an educated gentleman never worsted at an +election by the tone and arguments of some clever fellow, who, whatever +his shortcomings in other respects, understands the common people? + + * * * * * + +As to the Catholic Religion in England at the present day, this only +will I observe,--that the truest expedience is to answer right out, when +you are asked; that the wisest economy is to have no management; that +the best prudence is not to be a coward; that the most damaging folly is +to be found out shuffling; and that the first of virtues is to "tell +truth, and shame the devil." + + + + +NOTE G. ON PAGE 279. + +LYING AND EQUIVOCATION. + + +Almost all authors, Catholic and Protestant, admit, that _when a just +cause is present_, there is some kind or other of verbal misleading, +which is not sin. Even silence is in certain cases virtually such a +misleading, according to the Proverb, "Silence gives consent." Again, +silence is absolutely forbidden to a Catholic, as a mortal sin, under +certain circumstances, e.g. to keep silence, when it is a duty to make a +profession of faith. + +Another mode of verbal misleading, and the most direct, is actually +saying the thing that is not; and it is defended on the principle that +such words are not a lie, when there is a "justa causa," as killing is +not murder in the case of an executioner. + +Another ground of certain authors for saying that an untruth is not a +lie where there is a just cause, is, that veracity is a kind of justice, +and therefore, when we have no duty of justice to tell truth to another, +it is no sin not to do so. Hence we may say the thing that is not, to +children, to madmen, to men who ask impertinent questions, to those whom +we hope to benefit by misleading. + +Another ground, taken in defending certain untruths, _ex justâ causâ_, +as if not lies, is, that veracity is for the sake of society, and that, +if in no case whatever we might lawfully mislead others, we should +actually be doing society great harm. + +Another mode of verbal misleading is equivocation or a play upon words; +and it is defended on the theory that to lie is to use words in a sense +which they will not bear. But an equivocator uses them in a received +sense, though there is another received sense, and therefore, according +to this definition, he does not lie. + +Others say that all equivocations are, after all, a kind of +lying,--faint lies or awkward lies, but still lies; and some of these +disputants infer, that therefore we must not equivocate, and others that +equivocation is but a half-measure, and that it is better to say at once +that in certain cases untruths are not lies. + +Others will try to distinguish between evasions and equivocations; but +though there are evasions which are clearly not equivocations, yet it is +very difficult scientifically to draw the line between the one and the +other. + +To these must be added the unscientific way of dealing with lies:--viz. +that on a great or cruel occasion a man cannot help telling a lie, and +he would not be a man, did he not tell it, but still it is very wrong, +and he ought not to do it, and he must trust that the sin will be +forgiven him, though he goes about to commit it ever so deliberately, +and is sure to commit it again under similar circumstances. It is a +necessary frailty, and had better not be thought about before it is +incurred, and not thought of again, after it is well over. This view +cannot for a moment be defended, but, I suppose, it is very common. + + * * * * * + +I think the historical course of thought upon the matter has been this: +the Greek Fathers thought that, when there was a _justa causa_, an +untruth need not be a lie. St. Augustine took another view, though with +great misgiving; and, whether he is rightly interpreted or not, is the +doctor of the great and common view that all untruths are lies, and that +there can be _no_ just cause of untruth. In these later times, this +doctrine has been found difficult to work, and it has been largely +taught that, though all untruths are lies, yet that certain +equivocations, when there is a just cause, are not untruths. + +Further, there have been and all along through these later ages, other +schools, running parallel with the above mentioned, one of which says +that equivocations, &c. after all _are_ lies, and another which says +that there are untruths which are not lies. + + * * * * * + +And now as to the "just cause," which is the condition, _sine quâ non_. +The Greek Fathers make it such as these, self-defence, charity, zeal for +God's honour, and the like. + +St. Augustine seems to deal with the same "just causes" as the Greek +Fathers, even though he does not allow of their availableness as +depriving untruths, spoken on such occasions, of their sinfulness. He +mentions defence of life and of honour, and the safe custody of a +secret. Also the great Anglican writers, who have followed the Greek +Fathers, in defending untruths when there is the "just cause," consider +that "just cause" to be such as the preservation of life and property, +defence of law, the good of others. Moreover, their moral rights, e.g. +defence against the inquisitive, &c. + +St. Alfonso, I consider, would take the same view of the "justa causa" +as the Anglican divines; he speaks of it as "quicunque finis _honestus_, +ad servanda bona spiritui vel corpori utilia;" which is very much the +view which they take of it, judging by the instances which they give. + +In all cases, however, and as contemplated by all authors, Clement of +Alexandria, or Milton, or St. Alfonso, such a causa is, in fact, +extreme, rare, great, or at least special. Thus the writer in the +Mélanges Théologiques (Liège, 1852-3, p. 453) quotes Lessius: "Si absque +justa causa fiat, est abusio orationis contra virtutem veritatis, et +civilem consuetudinem, etsi proprie non sit mendacium." That is, the +virtue of truth, and the civil custom, are the _measure_ of the just +cause. And so Voit, "If a man has used a reservation (restrictione non +purè mentali) without a _grave_ cause, he has sinned gravely." And so +the author himself, from whom I quote, and who defends the Patristic and +Anglican doctrine that there _are_ untruths which are not lies, says, +"Under the name of mental reservation theologians authorize many lies, +_when there is for them a grave reason_ and proportionate," i.e. to +their character.--p. 459. And so St. Alfonso, in another Treatise, +quotes St. Thomas to the effect, that if from one cause two immediate +effects follow, and, if the good effect of that cause is _equal in +value_ to the bad effect (bonus _æquivalet_ malo), then nothing hinders +the speaker's intending the good and only permitting the evil. From +which it will follow that, since the evil to society from lying is very +great, the just cause which is to make it allowable, must be very great +also. And so Kenrick: "It is confessed by all Catholics that, in the +common intercourse of life, all ambiguity of language is to be avoided; +but it is debated whether such ambiguity is _ever_ lawful. Most +theologians answer in the affirmative, supposing a _grave cause_ urges, +and the [true] mind of the speaker can be collected from the adjuncts, +though in fact it be not collected." + +However, there are cases, I have already said, of another kind, in which +Anglican authors would think a lie allowable; such as when a question is +_impertinent_. Of such a case Walter Scott, if I mistake not, supplied a +very distinct example, in his denying so long the authorship of his +novels. + +What I have been saying shows what different schools of opinion there +are in the Church in the treatment of this difficult doctrine; and, by +consequence, that a given individual, such as I am, _cannot_ agree with +all of them, and has a full right to follow which of them he will. The +freedom of the Schools, indeed, is one of those rights of reason, which +the Church is too wise really to interfere with. And this applies not to +moral questions only, but to dogmatic also. + + * * * * * + +It is supposed by Protestants that, because St. Alfonso's writings have +had such high commendation bestowed upon them by authority, therefore +they have been invested with a quasi-infallibility. This has arisen in +good measure from Protestants not knowing the force of theological +terms. The words to which they refer are the authoritative decision that +"nothing in his works has been found _worthy of censure_," "censurâ +dignum;" but this does not lead to the conclusions which have been drawn +from it. Those words occur in a legal document, and cannot be +interpreted except in a legal sense. In the first place, the sentence is +negative; nothing in St. Alfonso's writings is positively approved; and, +secondly, it is not said that there are no faults in what he has +written, but nothing which comes under the ecclesiastical _censura_, +which is something very definite. To take and interpret them, in the way +commonly adopted in England, is the same mistake, as if one were to take +the word "Apologia" in the English sense of apology, or "Infant" in law +to mean a little child. + +1. Now first as to the meaning of the above form of words viewed as a +proposition. When a question on the subject was asked of the fitting +authorities at Rome by the Archbishop of Besançon, the answer returned +to him contained this condition, viz. that those words were to be +interpreted, "with due regard to the mind of the Holy See concerning the +approbation of writings of the servants of God, ad effectum +Canonizationis." This is intended to prevent any Catholic taking the +words about St. Alfonso's works in too large a sense. Before a Saint is +canonized, his works are examined, and a judgment pronounced upon them. +Pope Benedict XIV. says, "The _end_ or _scope_ of this judgment is, that +it may appear, whether the doctrine of the servant of God, which he has +brought out in his writings, is free from any soever _theological +censure_." And he remarks in addition, "It never can be said that the +doctrine of a servant of God is _approved_ by the Holy See, but at most +it can [only] be said that it is not disapproved (non reprobatam) in +case that the Revisers had reported that there is nothing found by them +in his works, which is adverse to the decrees of Urban VIII., and that +the judgment of the Revisers has been approved by the sacred +Congregation, and confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff." The Decree of Urban +VIII. here referred to is, "Let works be examined, whether they contain +errors against faith or good morals (bonos mores), or any new doctrine, +or a doctrine foreign and alien to the common sense and custom of the +Church." The author from whom I quote this (M. Vandenbroeck, of the +diocese of Malines) observes, "It is therefore clear, that the +approbation of the works of the Holy Bishop touches not the truth of +every proposition, adds nothing to them, nor even gives them by +consequence a degree of intrinsic probability." He adds that it gives +St. Alfonso's theology an extrinsic probability, from the fact that, in +the judgment of the Holy See, no proposition deserves to receive a +censure; but that "that probability will cease nevertheless in a +particular case, for any one who should be convinced, whether by evident +arguments, or by a decree of the Holy See, or otherwise, that the +doctrine of the Saint deviates from the truth." He adds, "From the fact +that the approbation of the works of St. Alfonso does not decide the +truth of each proposition, it follows, as Benedict XIV. has remarked, +that we may combat the doctrine which they contain; only, since a +canonized saint is in question, who is honoured by a solemn _culte_ in +the Church, we ought not to speak except with respect, nor to attack his +opinions except with temper and modesty." + +2. Then, as to the meaning of the word _censura_: Benedict XIV. +enumerates a number of "Notes" which come under that name; he says, "Out +of propositions which are to be noted with theological censure, some are +heretical, some erroneous, some close upon error, some savouring of +heresy," and so on; and each of these terms has its own definite +meaning. Thus by "erroneous" is meant, according to Viva, a proposition +which is not _immediately_ opposed to a revealed proposition, but only +to a theological _conclusion_ drawn from premisses which are _de fide_; +"savouring of heresy is" a proposition, which is opposed to a +theological conclusion not evidently drawn from premisses which are _de +fide_, but most probably and according to the common mode of +theologizing;--and so with the rest. Therefore when it was said by the +Revisers of St. Alfonso's works that they were not "worthy of +_censure_," it was only meant that they did not fall under these +particular Notes. + +But the answer from Rome to the Archbishop of Besançon went further than +this; it actually took pains to declare that any one who pleased might +follow other theologians instead of St. Alfonso. After saying that no +Priest was to be interfered with who followed St. Alfonso in the +Confessional, it added, "This is said, however, without on that account +judging that they are reprehended who follow opinions handed down by +other approved authors." + +And this too I will observe,--that St. Alfonso made many changes of +opinion himself in the course of his writings; and it could not for an +instant be supposed that we were bound to every one of his opinions, +when he did not feel himself bound to them in his own person. And, what +is more to the purpose still, there are opinions, or some opinion, of +his which actually have been proscribed by the Church since, and cannot +now be put forward or used. I do not pretend to be a well-read +theologian myself, but I say this on the authority of a theological +professor of Breda, quoted in the Mélanges Théol. for 1850-1. He says: +"It may happen, that, in the course of time, errors may be found in the +works of St. Alfonso and be proscribed by the Church, _a thing which in +fact has already occurred_." + + * * * * * + +In not ranging myself then with those who consider that it is +justifiable to use words in a double sense, that is, to equivocate, I +put myself under the protection of such authors as Cardinal Gerdil, +Natalis Alexander, Contenson, Concina, and others. Under the protection +of these authorities, I say as follows:-- + +Casuistry is a noble science, but it is one to which I am led, neither +by my abilities nor my turn of mind. Independently, then, of the +difficulties of the subject, and the necessity, before forming an +opinion, of knowing more of the arguments of theologians upon it than I +do, I am very unwilling to say a word here on the subject of Lying and +Equivocation. But I consider myself bound to speak; and therefore, in +this strait, I can do nothing better, even for my own relief, than +submit myself, and what I shall say, to the judgment of the Church, and +to the consent, so far as in this matter there be a consent, of the +Schola Theologorum. + +Now in the case of one of those special and rare exigencies or +emergencies, which constitute the _justa causa_ of dissembling or +misleading, whether it be extreme as the defence of life, or a duty as +the custody of a secret, or of a personal nature as to repel an +impertinent inquirer, or a matter too trivial to provoke question, as in +dealing with children or madmen, there seem to be four courses:-- + +1. _To say the thing that is not._ Here I draw the reader's attention to +the words _material_ and _formal_. "Thou shalt not kill;" _murder_ is +the _formal_ transgression of this commandment, but _accidental +homicide_ is the _material_ transgression. The _matter_ of the act is +the same in both cases; but in the _homicide_, there is nothing more +than the act, whereas in _murder_ there must be the intention, &c., +which constitutes the formal sin. So, again, an executioner commits the +material act, but not that formal killing which is a breach of the +commandment. So a man, who, simply to save himself from starving, takes +a loaf which is not his own, commits only the material, not the formal +act of stealing, that is, he does not commit a sin. And so a baptized +Christian, external to the Church, who is in invincible ignorance, is a +material heretic, and not a formal. And in like manner, if to say the +thing which is not be in special cases lawful, it may be called a +_material lie_. + +The first mode then which has been suggested of meeting those special +cases, in which to mislead by words has a sufficient occasion, or has a +_just cause_, is by a material lie. + +The second mode is by an _æquivocatio_, which is not equivalent to the +English word "equivocation," but means sometimes a _play on words_, +sometimes an _evasion_: we must take these two modes of misleading +separately. + +2. _A play upon words._ St. Alfonso certainly says that a play upon +words is allowable; and, speaking under correction, I should say that he +does so on the ground that lying is _not_ a sin against justice, that +is, against our neighbour, but a sin against God. God has made words the +signs of ideas, and therefore if a word denotes two ideas, we are at +liberty to use it in either of its senses: but I think I must be +incorrect in some respect in supposing that the Saint does not recognize +a lie as an injustice, because the Catechism of the Council, as I have +quoted it at p. 281, says, "Vanitate et mendacio fides ac veritas +tolluntur, arctissima vincula _societatis humanæ_; quibus sublatis, +sequitur summa vitæ _confusio_, ut _homines nihil a dæmonibus differre +videantur_." + +3. _Evasion_;--when, for instance, the speaker diverts the attention of +the hearer to another subject; suggests an irrelevant fact or makes a +remark, which confuses him and gives him something to think about; +throws dust into his eyes; states some truth, from which he is quite +sure his hearer will draw an illogical and untrue conclusion, and the +like. + +The greatest school of evasion, I speak seriously, is the House of +Commons; and necessarily so, from the nature of the case. And the +hustings is another. + +An instance is supplied in the history of St. Athanasius: he was in a +boat on the Nile, flying persecution; and he found himself pursued. On +this he ordered his men to turn his boat round, and ran right to meet +the satellites of Julian. They asked him, "Have you seen Athanasius?" +and he told his followers to answer, "Yes, he is close to you." _They_ +went on their course as if they were sure to come up to him, while _he_ +ran back into Alexandria, and there lay hid till the end of the +persecution. + +I gave another instance above, in reference to a doctrine of religion. +The early Christians did their best to conceal their Creed on account of +the misconceptions of the heathen about it. Were the question asked of +them, "Do you worship a Trinity?" and did they answer, "We worship one +God, and none else;" the inquirer might, or would, infer that they did +not acknowledge the Trinity of Divine Persons. + +It is very difficult to draw the line between these evasions and what +are commonly called in English _equivocations_; and of this difficulty, +again, I think, the scenes in the House of Commons supply us with +illustrations. + +4. The fourth method is _silence_. For instance, not giving the _whole_ +truth in a court of law. If St. Alban, after dressing himself in the +Priest's clothes, and being taken before the persecutor, had been able +to pass off for his friend, and so gone to martyrdom without being +discovered; and had he in the course of examination answered all +questions truly, but not given the whole truth, the most important +truth, that he was the wrong person, he would have come very near to +telling a lie, for a half-truth is often a falsehood. And his defence +must have been the _justa causa_, viz. either that he might in charity +or for religion's sake save a priest, or again that the judge had no +right to interrogate him on the subject. + +Now, of these four modes of misleading others by the tongue, when there +is a _justa causa_ (supposing there can be such),--(1) a material lie, +that is, an untruth which is not a lie, (2) an equivocation, (3) an +evasion, and (4) silence,--First, I have no difficulty whatever in +recognizing as allowable the method of _silence_. + +Secondly, But, if I allow of _silence_, why not of the method of +_material lying_, since half of a truth _is_ often a lie? And, again, if +all killing be not murder, nor all taking from another stealing, why +must all untruths be lies? Now I will say freely that I think it +difficult to answer this question, whether it be urged by St. Clement or +by Milton; at the same time, I never have acted, and I think, when it +came to the point, I never should act upon such a theory myself, except +in one case, stated below. This I say for the benefit of those who speak +hardly of Catholic theologians, on the ground that they admit text-books +which allow of equivocation. They are asked, how can we trust you, when +such are your views? but such views, as I already have said, need not +have any thing to do with their own practice, merely from the +circumstance that they are contained in their text-books. A theologian +draws out a system; he does it partly as a scientific speculation: but +much more for the sake of others. He is lax for the sake of others, not +of himself. His own standard of action is much higher than that which he +imposes upon men in general. One special reason why religious men, after +drawing out a theory, are unwilling to act upon it themselves, is this: +that they practically acknowledge a broad distinction between their +reason and their conscience; and that they feel the latter to be the +safer guide, though the former may be the clearer, nay even though it be +the truer. They would rather be in error with the sanction of their +conscience, than be right with the mere judgment of their reason. And +again here is this more tangible difficulty in the case of exceptions to +the rule of Veracity, that so very little external help is given us in +drawing the line, as to when untruths are allowable and when not; +whereas that sort of killing which is not murder, is most definitely +marked off by legal enactments, so that it cannot possibly be mistaken +for such killing as _is_ murder. On the other hand the cases of +exemption from the rule of Veracity are left to the private judgment of +the individual, and he may easily be led on from acts which are +allowable to acts which are not. Now this remark does _not_ apply to +such acts as are related in Scripture, as being done by a particular +inspiration, for in such cases there _is_ a command. If I had my own +way, I would oblige society, that is, its great men, its lawyers, its +divines, its literature, publicly to acknowledge as such, those +instances of untruth which are not lies, as for instance untruths in +war; and then there could be no perplexity to the individual Catholic, +for he would not be taking the law into his own hands. + +Thirdly, as to playing upon words, or equivocation, I suppose it is from +the English habit, but, without meaning any disrespect to a great Saint, +or wishing to set myself up, or taking my conscience for more than it is +worth, I can only say as a fact, that I admit it as little as the rest +of my countrymen: and, without any reference to the right and the wrong +of the matter, of this I am sure, that, if there is one thing more than +another which prejudices Englishmen against the Catholic Church, it is +the doctrine of great authorities on the subject of equivocation. For +myself, I can fancy myself thinking it was allowable in extreme cases +for me to lie, but never to equivocate. Luther said, "Pecca fortiter." I +anathematize his formal sentiment, but there is a truth in it, when +spoken of material acts. + +Fourthly, I think _evasion_, as I have described it, to be perfectly +allowable; indeed, I do not know, who does not use it, under +circumstances; but that a good deal of moral danger is attached to its +use; and that, the cleverer a man is, the more likely he is to pass the +line of Christian duty. + + * * * * * + +But it may be said, that such decisions do not meet the particular +difficulties for which provision is required; let us then take some +instances. + +1. I do not think it right to tell lies to children, even on this +account, that they are sharper than we think them, and will soon find +out what we are doing; and our example will be a very bad training for +them. And so of equivocation: it is easy of imitation, and we ourselves +shall be sure to get the worst of it in the end. + +2. If an early Father defends the patriarch Jacob in his mode of gaining +his father's blessing, on the ground that the blessing was divinely +pledged to him already, that it was his, and that his father and brother +were acting at once against his own rights and the divine will, it does +not follow from this that such conduct is a pattern to us, who have no +supernatural means of determining _when_ an untruth becomes a +_material_, and not a _formal_ lie. It seems to me very dangerous, be it +ever allowable or not, to lie or equivocate in order to preserve some +great temporal or spiritual benefit; nor does St. Alfonso here say any +thing to the contrary, for he is not discussing the question of danger +or expedience. + +3. As to Johnson's case of a murderer asking you which way a man had +gone, I should have anticipated that, had such a difficulty happened to +him, his first act would have been to knock the man down, and to call +out for the police; and next, if he was worsted in the conflict, he +would not have given the ruffian the information he asked, at whatever +risk to himself. I think he would have let himself be killed first. I do +not think that he would have told a lie. + +4. A secret is a more difficult case. Supposing something has been +confided to me in the strictest secrecy, which could not be revealed +without great disadvantage to another, what am I to do? If I am a +lawyer, I am protected by my profession. I have a right to treat with +extreme indignation any question which trenches on the inviolability of +my position; but, supposing I was driven up into a corner, I think I +should have a right to say an untruth, or that, under such +circumstances, a lie would be _material_, but it is almost an impossible +case, for the law would defend me. In like manner, as a priest, I should +think it lawful to speak as if I knew nothing of what passed in +confession. And I think in these cases, I do in fact possess that +guarantee, that I am not going by private judgment, which just now I +demanded; for society would bear me out, whether as a lawyer or as a +priest, in holding that I had a duty to my client or penitent, such, +that an untruth in the matter was not a lie. A common type of this +permissible denial, be it _material lie_ or _evasion_, is at the moment +supplied to me:--an artist asked a Prime Minister, who was sitting to +him, "What news, my Lord, from France?" He answered, "_I do not know_; I +have not read the Papers." + +5. A more difficult question is, when to accept confidence has not been +a duty. Supposing a man wishes to keep the secret that he is the author +of a book, and he is plainly asked on the subject. Here I should ask the +previous question, whether any one has a right to publish what he dare +not avow. It requires to have traced the bearings and results of such a +principle, before being sure of it; but certainly, for myself, I am no +friend of strictly anonymous writing. Next, supposing another has +confided to you the secret of his authorship:--there are persons who +would have no scruple at all in giving a denial to impertinent questions +asked them on the subject. I have heard a great man in his day at +Oxford, warmly contend, as if he could not enter into any other view of +the matter, that, if he had been trusted by a friend with the secret of +his being author of a certain book, and he were asked by a third person, +if his friend was not (as he really was) the author of it, he ought, +without any scruple and distinctly, to answer that he did not know. He +had an existing duty towards the author; he had none towards his +inquirer. The author had a claim on him; an impertinent questioner had +none at all. But here again I desiderate some leave, recognized by +society, as in the case of the formulas "Not at home," and "Not guilty," +in order to give me the right of saying what is a _material_ untruth. +And moreover, I should here also ask the previous question, Have I any +right to accept such a confidence? have I any right to make such a +promise? and, if it be an unlawful promise, is it binding when it cannot +be kept without a lie? I am not attempting to solve these difficult +questions, but they have to be carefully examined. And now I have said +more than I had intended on a question of casuistry. + + + + +SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER. + +I. + +LETTERS AND PAPERS OF THE AUTHOR USED IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK. + + PAGE +February 11, 1811 3 +October 26, 1823 2 +September 7, 1829 119 +July 20, 1834 41 +November 28, " 57 +August 18, 1837 29 +February 11, 1840 124 + " 21, " 129 +October 29(?)" 132 +November " 135 +March 15, 1841 137 + " 20, " 170 + " 24, " 208 + " 25, " 137 +April 1, " 137 + " 4, " 138 + " 8, " 138 + " 8, " 187 + " 26, " 188 +May 5, " 188 + " 9, " 138 +June 18, " 189 +September 12, 1841 190 +October 12, " 143 + " 17, " 140 + " 22, " 140 +November 11, " 145 + " 14, " 144 +December 13, " 156 + " 24, " 157 + " 25, " 159 + " 26, " 162 +March 6, 1842 177 +April 14, " 173 +October 16, " 171 +November 22, " 193 +Feb. 25, & 28, 1843 181 +March 3, " 182 + " 8, " 184 +May 4, " 208 + " 18, " 209 +June 20, " 178 +July 16, " 179 +August 29, " 213 +August 30, 1843 179 +September 7, " 213 + " 29, " 225 +October 14, " 219 + " 25, " 221 + " 31, " 223 +November 13, " 140 +1843 or 1844 178 +January 22, 1844 226 +February 21, " 226 +April 3, " 205 + " 8, " 226 +July 14, " 197 +September 16, " 227 +November 7, " 230 + " " 211 +November 16, 1844 228 + " 24, " 229 +1844 (?) 225 +1844 or 1845 167 +January 8, 1845 230 +March 30, " 231 +April 3, " 232 + " 16, " 180 +June 1, " 232 + " 17, " 180 +October 8, " 234 +November 8, " 155 + " 25, " 235 +January 20, 1846 236 +December 6, 1849 185 + + + + +II. + +CARDINAL NEWMAN'S WORKS. + +N.B.--This List, originally made in 1865, is now corrected up to 1890. + + +1. SERMONS. + +VOLS. 1-8. Parochial and Plain Sermons. (_Longmans._) + +9. Sermons on Subjects of the Day. (_Longmans._) + +10. University Sermons. (_Longmans._) + +11. Sermons to Mixed Congregations. (_Burns and Oates._) + +12. Occasional Sermons. (_Burns and Oates._) + + +2. TREATISES. + +13. On the Doctrine of Justification. (_Longmans._) + +14. On the Development of Christian Doctrine. (_Longmans._) + +15. On the Idea of a University. (_Longmans._) + +16. An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. (_Longmans._) + + +3. ESSAYS. + +17. Two Essays on Miracles. 1. Of Scripture. 2. Of Ecclesiastical +History. (_Longmans._) + +18. Discussions and Arguments. 1. How to accomplish it. 2. The +Antichrist of the Fathers. 3. Scripture and the Creed. 4. Tamworth +Reading-Room. 5. Who's to blame? 6. An Argument for Christianity. +(_Longmans._) + +19, 20. Essays Critical and Historical. 2 vols. 1. Poetry. 2. +Rationalism. 3. Apostolical Tradition. 4. De la Mennais. 5. Palmer on +Faith and Unity. 6. St. Ignatius. 7. Prospects of the Anglican Church. +8. The Anglo-American Church. 9. Countess of Huntingdon. 10. Catholicity +of the Anglican Church. 11. The Antichrist of Protestants. 12. Milman's +Christianity. 13. Reformation of the Eleventh Century. 14. Private +Judgment. 15. Davison. 16. Keble. (_Longmans._) + + +4. HISTORICAL. + +21-23. Historical Sketches. 3 vols. 1. The Turks. 2. Cicero. 3. +Apollonius. 4. Primitive Christianity. 5. Church of the Fathers. 6. St. +Chrysostom. 7. Theodoret. 8. St. Benedict. 9. Benedictine Schools. 10. +Universities. 11. Northmen and Normans. 12. Medieval Oxford. 13. +Convocation of Canterbury. (_Longmans._) + + +5. THEOLOGICAL. + +24. The Arians of the Fourth Century. (_Longmans._) + +25, 26. Annotated Translation of Athanasius. 2 vols. (_Longmans._) + +27. Tracts. 1. Dissertatiunculæ. 2. On the Text of the Seven Epistles of +St. Ignatius. 3. Doctrinal Causes of Arianism. 4. Apollinarianism. 5. +St. Cyril's Formula. 6. Ordo de Tempore. 7. Douay Version of Scripture. +(_Burns and Oates._) + + +6. POLEMICAL. + +28, 29. The Via Media of the Anglican Church. 2 vols. with Notes. Vol. +I. Prophetical Office of the Church. Vol. II. Occasional Letters and +Tracts. (_Longmans._) + +30, 31. Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching +Considered. 2 vols. Vol. I. Twelve Lectures. Vol. II. Letters to Dr. +Pusey concerning the Bl. Virgin, and to the Duke of Norfolk in Defence +of the Pope and Council. (_Longmans._) + +32. Present Position of Catholics in England. (_Longmans._) + +33. Apologia pro Vita Sua. (_Longmans._) + + +7. LITERARY. + +34. Verses on Various Occasions. (_Longmans._) + +35. Loss and Gain. (_Burns and Oates._) + +36. Callista. (_Longmans._) + +37. The Dream of Gerontius. (_Longmans._) + +¶ It is scarcely necessary to say that the Author submits all that he +has written to the judgment of the Church, whose gift and prerogative it +is to determine what is true and what is false in religious teaching. + + + + +III. + +LETTER OF APPROBATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE +OF BIRMINGHAM, DR. ULLATHORNE. + + +"Bishop's House, June 2, 1864. + +"My dear Dr. Newman,-- + +"It was with warm gratification that, after the close of the Synod +yesterday, I listened to the Address presented to you by the clergy of +the diocese, and to your impressive reply. But I should have been little +satisfied with the part of the silent listener, except on the +understanding with myself that I also might afterwards express to you my +own sentiments in my own way. + +"We have now been personally acquainted, and much more than acquainted, +for nineteen years, during more than sixteen of which we have stood in +special relation of duty towards each other. This has been one of the +singular blessings which God has given me amongst the cares of the +Episcopal office. What my feelings of respect, of confidence, and of +affection have been towards you, you know well, nor should I think of +expressing them in words. But there is one thing that has struck me in +this day of explanations, which you could not, and would not, be +disposed to do, and which no one could do so properly or so +authentically as I could, and which it seems to me is not altogether +uncalled for, if every kind of erroneous impression that some persons +have entertained with no better evidence than conjecture is to be +removed. + +"It is difficult to comprehend how, in the face of facts, the notion +should ever have arisen that during your Catholic life, you have been +more occupied with your own thoughts than with the service of religion +and the work of the Church. If we take no other work into consideration +beyond the written productions which your Catholic pen has given to the +world, they are enough for the life's labour of another. There are the +Lectures on Anglican Difficulties, the Lectures on Catholicism in +England, the great work on the Scope and End of University Education, +that on the Office and Work of Universities, the Lectures and Essays on +University Subjects, and the two Volumes of Sermons; not to speak of +your contributions to the Atlantis, which you founded, and to other +periodicals; then there are those beautiful offerings to Catholic +literature, the Lectures on the Turks, Loss and Gain, and Callista, and +though last, not least, the Apologia, which is destined to put many idle +rumours to rest, and many unprofitable surmises; and yet all these +productions represent but a portion of your labour, and that in the +second half of your period of public life. + +"These works have been written in the midst of labour and cares of +another kind, and of which the world knows very little. I will specify +four of these undertakings, each of a distinct character, and any one of +which would have made a reputation for untiring energy in the practical +order. + +"The first of these undertakings was the establishment of the +congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri--that great ornament and +accession to the force of English Catholicity. Both the London and the +Birmingham Oratory must look to you as their founder and as the +originator of their characteristic excellences; whilst that of +Birmingham has never known any other presidency. + +"No sooner was this work fairly on foot than you were called by the +highest authority to commence another, and one of yet greater magnitude +and difficulty, the founding of a University in Ireland. After the +Universities had been lost to the Catholics of these kingdoms for three +centuries, every thing had to be begun from the beginning: the idea of +such an institution to be inculcated, the plan to be formed that would +work, the resources to be gathered, and the staff of superiors and +professors to be brought together. Your name was then the chief point of +attraction which brought these elements together. You alone know what +difficulties you had to conciliate and what to surmount, before the work +reached that state of consistency and promise, which enabled you to +return to those responsibilities in England which you had never laid +aside or suspended. And here, excuse me if I give expression to a fancy +which passed through my mind. + +"I was lately reading a poem, not long published, from the MSS. De Rerum +Natura, by Neckham, the foster-brother of Richard the Lion-hearted. He +quotes an old prophecy, attributed to Merlin, and with a sort of wonder, +as if recollecting that England owed so much of its literary learning to +that country; and the prophecy says that after long years Oxford will +pass into Ireland--'Vada boum suo tempore transibunt in Hiberniam.' When +I read this, I could not but indulge the pleasant fancy that in the days +when the Dublin University shall arise in material splendour, an +allusion to this prophecy might form a poetic element in the inscription +on the pedestal of the statue which commemorates its first Rector. + +"The original plan of an Oratory did not contemplate any parochial work, +but you could not contemplate so many souls in want of pastors without +being prompt and ready at the beck of authority to strain all your +efforts in coming to their help. And this brings me to the third and the +most continuous of those labours to which I have alluded. The mission in +Alcester Street, its church and schools, were the first work of the +Birmingham Oratory. After several years of close and hard work, and a +considerable call upon the private resources of the Fathers who had +established this congregation, it was delivered over to other hands, and +the Fathers removed to the district of Edgbaston, where up to that time +nothing Catholic had appeared. Then arose under your direction the large +convent of the Oratory, the church expanded by degrees into its present +capaciousness, a numerous congregation has gathered and grown in it; +poor schools and other pious institutions have grown up in connexion +with it, and, moreover, equally at your expense and that of your +brethren, and, as I have reason to know, at much inconvenience, the +Oratory has relieved the other clergy of Birmingham all this while by +constantly doing the duty in the poor-house and gaol of Birmingham. + +"More recently still, the mission and the poor school at Smethwick owe +their existence to the Oratory. And all this while the founder and +father of these religious works has added to his other solicitudes the +toil of frequent preaching, of attendance in the confessional, and other +parochial duties. + +"I have read on this day of its publication the seventh part of the +Apologia, and the touching allusion in it to the devotedness of the +Catholic clergy to the poor in seasons of pestilence reminds me that +when the cholera raged so dreadfully at Bilston, and the two priests of +the town were no longer equal to the number of cases to which they were +hurried day and night, I asked you to lend me two fathers to supply the +place of other priests whom I wished to send as a further aid. But you +and Father St. John preferred to take the place of danger which I had +destined for others, and remained at Bilston till the worst was over. + +"The fourth work which I would notice is one more widely known. I refer +to the school for the education of the higher classes, which at the +solicitation of many friends you have founded and attached to the +Oratory. Surely after reading this bare enumeration of work done, no man +will venture to say that Dr. Newman is leading a comparatively inactive +life in the service of the Church. + +"To spare, my dear Dr. Newman, any further pressure on those feelings +with which I have already taken so large a liberty, I will only add one +word more for my own satisfaction. During our long intercourse there is +only one subject on which, after the first experience, I have measured +my words with some caution, and that has been where questions bearing on +ecclesiastical duty have arisen. I found some little caution necessary, +because you were always so prompt and ready to go even beyond the +slightest intimation of my wish or desires. + +"That God may bless you with health, life, and all the spiritual good +which you desire, you and your brethren of the Oratory, is the earnest +prayer now and often of, + +"My dear Dr. Newman, + +"Your affectionate friend and faithful servant in Christ, + +"+ W. B. ULLATHORNE." + + + + +IV. + +LETTERS OF APPROBATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT FROM CLERGY AND LAITY. + + +It requires some words of explanation why I allow myself to sound my own +praises so loudly, as I am doing by adding to my Volume the following +Letters, written to me last year by large bodies of my Catholic +brethren, Priests, and Laymen, in the course or on the conclusion of the +publication of my Apologia. I have two reasons for doing so. + +1. It seems hardly respectful to them, and hardly fair to myself, to +practise self-denial in a matter, which after all belongs to others as +well as to me. Bodies of men become authorities by the fact of being +bodies, over and above the personal claims of the individuals who +constitute them. To have received such unusual Testimonials in my +favour, as I have to produce, and then to have let both those +Testimonials and the generous feelings which dictated them be wasted, +and come to nought, would have been a rudeness of which I could not bear +to be guilty. Far be it from me to show such ingratitude to those who +were especially "friends in need." I am too proud of their approbation +not to publish it to the world. + +2. But I have a further reason. The belief obtains extensively in the +country at large, that Catholics, and especially the Priesthood, disavow +the mode and form, in which I am accustomed to teach the Catholic faith, +as if they were not generally recognized, but something special and +peculiar to myself; as if, whether for the purposes of controversy, or +from the traditions of an earlier period of my life, I did not exhibit +Catholicism pure and simple, as the bulk of its professors manifest it. +Such testimonials, then, as now follow, from as many as 558 priests, +that is, not far from half of the clergy of England, secular and +religious, from the Bishop and clergy of a diocese at the Antipodes, and +from so great and authoritative a body as the German Congress assembled +last year at Wurzburg, scatter to the winds a suspicion, which it is not +less painful, I am persuaded, to numbers of those Protestants who +entertain it, than it is injurious to me who have to bear it. + + +I. THE DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER. + +The following Address was signed by 110 of the Westminster clergy, +including all the Canons, the Vicars General, a great number of secular +priests, and five Doctors in theology; Fathers of the Society of Jesus, +Fathers of the Order of St. Dominic, of St. Francis, of the Oratory, of +the Passion, of Charity, Oblates of St. Charles, and Marists. + +"London, March 15, 1864. + +"Very Reverend and Dear Sir, + +"We, the undersigned Priests of the Diocese of Westminster, tender to +you our respectful thanks for the service you have done to religion, as +well as to the interests of literary morality, by your Reply to the +calumnies of [a popular writer of the day.] + +"We cannot but regard it as a matter of congratulation that your +assailant should have associated the cause of the Catholic Priesthood +with the name of one so well fitted to represent its dignity, and to +defend its honour, as yourself. + +"We recognize in this latest effort of your literary power one further +claim, besides the many you have already established, to the gratitude +and veneration of Catholics, and trust that the reception which it has +met with on all sides may be the omen of new successes which you are +destined to achieve in the vindication of the teaching and principles of +the Church. + +"We are, + +"Very Reverend and Dear Sir, + +"Your faithful and affectionate Servants in Christ." + +(_The Subscriptions follow._) + +"To the Very Rev. + +"John Henry Newman, D.D." + + +II.--THE ACADEMIA OF CATHOLIC RELIGION. + +"London, April 19, 1864. + +"Very Rev. and Dear Sir, + +"The Academia of Catholic Religion, at their meeting held to-day, under +the Presidency of the Cardinal Archbishop, have instructed us to write +to you in their behalf. + +"As they have learned, with great satisfaction, that it is your +intention to publish a defence of Catholic Veracity, which has been +assailed in your person, they are precluded from asking you that that +defence might be made by word of mouth, and in London, as they would +otherwise have done. + +"Composed, as the Academia is, mainly of Laymen, they feel that it is +not out of their province to express their indignation that your +opponent should have chosen, while praising the Catholic Laity, to do so +at the expense of the Clergy, between whom and themselves, in this as in +all other matters, there exists a perfect identity of principle and +practice. + +"It is because, in such a matter, your cause is the cause of all +Catholics, that we congratulate ourselves on the rashness of the +opponent that has thrown the defence of that cause into your hands. + +"We remain, + +"Very Reverend and Dear Sir, + +"Your very faithful Servants, + +"JAMES LAIRD PATTERSON, + +"EDW. LUCAS, _Secretaries._ + +"To the Very Rev. John Henry Newman, D.D., + +"Provost of the Birmingham Oratory." + +The above was moved at the meeting by Lord Petre, and seconded by the +Hon. Charles Langdale. + + +III.--THE DIOCESE OF BIRMINGHAM. + +In this Diocese there were in 1864, according to the Directory of the +year, 136 Priests. + +"June 1, 1864. + +"Very Reverend and Dear Sir, + +"In availing ourselves of your presence at the Diocesan Synod to offer +you our hearty thanks for your recent vindication of the honour of the +Catholic Priesthood, We, the Provost and Chapter of the Cathedral, and +the Clergy, Secular and Regular, of the Diocese of Birmingham, cannot +forego the assertion of a special right, as your neighbours and +colleagues, to express our veneration and affection for one whose +fidelity to the dictates of conscience, in the use of the highest +intellectual gifts, has won even from opponents unbounded admiration and +respect. + +"To most of us you are personally known. Of some, indeed, you were, in +years long past, the trusted guide, to whom they owe more than can be +expressed in words; and all are conscious that the ingenuous fulness of +your answer to a false and unprovoked accusation, has intensified their +interest in the labours and trials of your life. While, then, we resent +the indignity to which you have been exposed, and lament the pain and +annoyance which the manifestation of yourself must have cost you, we +cannot but rejoice that, in the fulfilment of a duty, you have allowed +neither the unworthiness of your assailant to shield him from rebuke, +nor the sacredness of your inmost motives to deprive that rebuke of the +only form which could at once complete his discomfiture, free your own +name from the obloquy which prejudice had cast upon it, and afford +invaluable aid to honest seekers after Truth. + +"Great as is the work which you have already done, Very Reverend Sir, +permit us to express a hope that a greater yet remains for you to +accomplish. In an age and in a country in which the very foundations of +religious faith are exposed to assault, we rejoice in numbering among +our brethren one so well qualified by learning and experience to defend +that priceless deposit of Truth, in obtaining which you have counted as +gain the loss of all things most dear and precious. And we esteem +ourselves happy in being able to offer you that support and +encouragement which the assurance of our unfeigned admiration and regard +may be able to give you under your present trials and future labours. + +"That you may long have strength to labour for the Church of God and the +glory of His Holy Name is, Very Reverend and Dear Sir, our heartfelt and +united prayer." + +(_The Subscriptions follow._) + +"To the Very Rev. John Henry Newman, D.D." + + +IV.--THE DIOCESE OF BEVERLEY. + +The following Address, as is stated in the first paragraph, comes from +more than 70 Priests:-- + +"Hull, May 9, 1864. + +"Very Rev. and Dear Dr. Newman, + +"At a recent meeting of the clergy of the Diocese of Beverley, held in +York, at which upwards of seventy priests were present, special +attention was called to your correspondence with [a popular writer]; and +such was the enthusiasm with which your name was received--such was the +admiration expressed of the dignity with which you had asserted the +claims of the Catholic Priesthood in England to be treated with becoming +courtesy and respect--and such was the strong and all-pervading sense of +the invaluable service which you had thus rendered, not only to faith +and morals, but to good manners so far as regarded religious controversy +in this country, that I was requested, as Chairman, to become the voice +of the meeting, and to express to you as strongly and as earnestly as I +could, how heartily the whole of the clergy of this diocese desire to +thank you for services to religion as well-timed as they are in +themselves above and beyond all commendation, services which the +Catholics of England will never cease to hold in most grateful +remembrance. God, in His infinite wisdom and great mercy, has raised you +up to stand prominently forth in the glorious work of re-establishing in +this country the holy faith which in good old times shed such lustre +upon it. We all lament that, in the order of nature, you have so few +years before you in which to fight against false teaching that good +fight in which you have been so victoriously engaged of late. But our +prayers are that you may long be spared, and may possess to the last all +your vigour, and all that zeal for the advancement of our holy faith, +which imparts such a charm to the productions of your pen. + +"I esteem it a great honour and a great privilege to have been deputed, +as the representative of the clergy of the Diocese of Beverley, to +tender you the fullest expression of our most grateful thanks, and the +assurance of our prayers for your health and eternal happiness. + +"I am, + +"Very Rev. and Dear Sir, + +"With sentiments of profound respect, + +"Yours most faithfully in Christ, + +"M. TRAPPES. + +"The Very Rev. Dr. Newman." + + +V. AND VI.--THE DIOCESES OF LIVERPOOL AND SALFORD. + +The Secular Clergy of Liverpool amounted in 1864 to 103, and of Salford +to 76. + +"Preston, July 27, 1864. + +"Very Rev. and Dear Sir, + +"It may seem, perhaps, that the Clergy of Lancashire have been slow to +address you; but it would be incorrect to suppose that they have been +indifferent spectators of the conflict in which you have been recently +engaged. This is the first opportunity that has presented itself, and +they gladly avail themselves of their annual meeting in Preston to +tender to you the united expression of their heartfelt sympathy and +gratitude. + +"The atrocious imputation, out of which the late controversy arose, was +felt as a personal affront by them, one and all, conscious as they were, +that it was mainly owing to your position as a distinguished Catholic +ecclesiastic, that the charge was connected with your name. + +"While they regret the pain you must needs have suffered, they cannot +help rejoicing that it has afforded you an opportunity of rendering a +new and most important service to their holy religion. Writers, who are +not overscrupulous about the truth themselves, have long used the charge +of untruthfulness as an ever ready weapon against the Catholic Clergy. +Partly from the frequent repetition of this charge, partly from a +consciousness that, instead of undervaluing the truth, they have ever +prized it above every earthly treasure, partly, too, from the difficulty +of obtaining a hearing in their own defence, they have generally passed +it by in silence. They thank you for coming forward as their champion: +your own character required no vindication. It was their battle more +than your own that you fought. They know and feel how much pain it has +caused you to bring so prominently forward your own life and motives, +but they now congratulate you on the completeness of your triumph, as +admitted alike by friend and enemy. + +"In addition to answering the original accusation, you have placed them +under a new obligation, by giving to all, who read the English language, +a work which, for literary ability and the lucid exposition of many +difficult and abstruse points, forms an invaluable contribution to our +literature. + +"They fervently pray that God may give you health and length of days, +and, if it please Him, some other cause in which to use for His glory +the great powers bestowed upon you. + +"Signed on behalf of the Meeting, + +"THOS. PROVOST COOKSON. + +"The Very Rev. J. H. Newman." + + +VII.--THE DIOCESE OF HEXHAM. + +The Secular Priests on Mission in 1864 in this Diocese were 64. + +"Durham, Sept. 22, 1864. + +"My Dear Dr. Newman, + +"At the annual meeting of the Clergy of the Diocese of Hexham and +Newcastle, held a few days ago at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, I was +commissioned by them to express to you their sincere sympathy, on +account of the slanderous accusations, to which you have been so +unjustly exposed. We are fully aware that these foul calumnies were +intended to injure the character of the whole body of the Catholic +Clergy, and that your distinguished name was singled out, in order that +they might be more effectually propagated. It is well that these +poisonous shafts were thus aimed, as no one could more triumphantly +repel them. The 'Apologia pro Vitâ suâ' will, if possible, render still +more illustrious the name of its gifted author, and be a lasting +monument of the victory of truth, and the signal overthrow of an +arrogant and reckless assailant. + +"It may appear late for us now to ask to join in your triumph, but as +the Annual Meeting of the Northern Clergy does not take place till this +time, it is the first occasion offered us to present our united +congratulations, and to declare to you, that by none of your brethren +are you more esteemed and venerated, than by the Clergy of the Diocese +of Hexham and Newcastle. + +"Wishing that Almighty God may prolong your life many more years for the +defence of our holy religion and the honour of your brethren, + +"I am, dear Dr. Newman, + +"Yours sincerely in Jesus Christ, + +"RALPH PROVOST PLATT, V. G. + +"The Very Rev. J. H. Newman." + + +VIII.--THE CONGRESS OF WÜRZBURG. + +"September 15, 1864. + +"Sir, + +"The undersigned, President of the Catholic Congress of Germany +assembled in Würzburg, has been commissioned to express to you, Very +Rev. and Dear Sir, its deep-felt gratitude for your late able defence of +the Catholic Clergy, not only of England, but of the whole world, +against the attacks of its enemies. + +"The Catholics of Germany unite with the Catholics of England in +testifying to you their profound admiration and sympathy, and pray that +the Almighty may long preserve your valuable life. + +"The above Resolution was voted by the Congress with acclamation. + +"Accept, very Rev. and Dear Sir, the expression of the high +consideration with which I am + +"Your most obedient servant, + +"(Signed) ERNEST BARON MOIJ DE SONS. + +"The Very Rev. J. H. Newman." + + +IX.--THE DIOCESE OF HOBART TOWN. + + +"Hobart Town, Tasmania, November 22, 1864. + +"Very Rev. and Dear Sir, + +"By the last month's post we at length received your admirable book, +entitled, 'Apologia pro Vitâ suâ,' and the pamphlet, 'What then does Dr. +Newman mean?' + +"By this month's mail, we wish to express our heartfelt gratification +and delight for being possessed of a work so triumphant in maintaining +truth, and so overwhelming in confounding arrogance and error, as the +'Apologia.' + +"No doubt, your adversary, resting on the deep-seated prejudice of our +fellow-countrymen in the United Kingdom, calculated upon establishing +his own fame as a keen-sighted polemic, as a shrewd and truth-loving +man, upon the fallen reputation of one, who, as he would +demonstrate,--yes, that he would,--set little or no value on truth, and +who, therefore, would deservedly sink into obscurity, henceforward +rejected and despised! + +"Aman of old erected a gibbet at the gate of the city, on which an +unsuspecting and an unoffending man, one marked as a victim, was to be +exposed to the gaze and derision of the people, in order that his own +dignity and fame might be exalted; but a divine Providence ordained +otherwise. The history of the judgment that fell upon Aman, has been +recorded in Holy Writ, it is to be presumed, as a warning to vain and +unscrupulous men, even in our days. There can be no doubt, a moral +gibbet, full 'fifty cubits high,' had been prepared some time, on which +you were to be exposed, for the pity at least, if not for the scorn and +derision of so many, who had loved and venerated you through life! + +"But the effort made in the forty-eight pages of the redoubtable +pamphlet, 'What then does Dr. Newman Mean?'--the production of a bold, +unscrupulous man, with a coarse mind, and regardless of inflicting pain +on the feelings of another, has failed,--marvellously failed,--and he +himself is now exhibited not only in our fatherland, but even at the +Antipodes, in fact wherever the English language is spoken or read, as a +shallow pretender, one quite incompetent to treat of matters of such +undying interest as those he presumed to interfere with. + +"We fervently pray the Almighty, that you may be spared to His Church +for many years to come,--that to Him alone the glory of this noble work +may be given,--and to you the reward in eternal bliss! + +"And from this distant land we beg to convey to you, Very Rev. and Dear +Sir, the sentiments of our affectionate respect, and deep veneration." + +(_The Subscriptions follow, of the Bishop Vicar-General and eighteen +Clergy._) + +"The Very Rev. Dr. Newman, +&c. &c. &c." + + + + +ADDITIONAL NOTES. + + +NOTE ON PAGE 12. + +CORRESPONDENCE WITH ARCHBISHOP WHATELY IN 1834. + +On application of the Editor of Dr. Whately's Correspondence, the +following four letters were sent to her for publication: they are here +given entire. It will be observed that they are of the same date as my +letter to Dr. Hampden at p. 57. + + +1. + +"Dublin, October 25, 1834. + +"My dear Newman, + +"A most shocking report concerning you has reached me, which indeed +carries such an improbability on the face of it that you may perhaps +wonder at my giving it a thought; and at first I did not, but finding it +repeated from different quarters, it seems to me worth contradicting for +the sake of your character. Some Oxford undergraduates, I find, openly +report that when I was at Oriel last spring you absented yourself from +chapel on purpose to avoid receiving the Communion along with me; and +that you yourself declared this to be the case. + +"I would not notice every idle rumour; but this has been so confidently +and so long asserted that it would be a satisfaction to me to be able to +declare its falsity as a fact, from your authority. I did indeed at once +declare my utter unbelief; but then this has only the weight of my +opinion; though an opinion resting I think on no insufficient grounds. I +did not profess to rest my disbelief on our long, intimate, and +confidential friendship, which would make it your right and your +duty--if I did any thing to offend you or any thing you might think +materially wrong--to remonstrate with me;--but on your general +character; which I was persuaded would have made you incapable, even had +no such close connexion existed between us, of conduct so unchristian +and inhuman. But, as I said, I should like for your sake to be able to +contradict the report from your own authority. + +"Ever yours very truly, + +"R. WHATELY." + + +2. + +"Oriel College, October 28, 1834. + +"My dear Lord, + +"My absence from the Sacrament in the College Chapel on the Sunday you +were in Oxford, was occasioned solely and altogether by my having it on +that day in St. Mary's; and I am pretty sure, if I may trust my memory, +that I did not even know of your Grace's presence there, till after the +Service. Most certainly such knowledge would not have affected my +attendance. I need not say, this being the case, that the report of my +having made any statement on the subject is quite unfounded; indeed, +your letter of this morning is the first information I have had in any +shape of the existence of the report. + +"I am happy in being thus able to afford an explanation as satisfactory +to you, as the kind feelings which you have ever entertained towards me +could desire;--yet, on honest reflection, I cannot conceal from myself, +that it was generally a relief to me, to see so little of your Grace, +when you were at Oxford: and it is a greater relief now to have an +opportunity of saying so to yourself. I have ever wished to observe the +rule, never to make a public charge against another behind his back, +and, though in the course of conversation and the urgency of accidental +occurrences it is sometimes difficult to keep to it, yet I trust I have +not broken it, especially in your own case: i.e. though my most intimate +friends know how deeply I deplore the line of ecclesiastical policy +adopted under your archiepiscopal sanction, and though in society I may +have clearly shown that I have an opinion one way rather than the other, +yet I have never in my intention, never (as I believe) at all, spoken of +your Grace in a serious way before strangers;--indeed mixing very little +in general society, and not overapt to open myself in it, I have had +little temptation to do so. Least of all should I so forget myself as to +take undergraduates into my confidence in such a matter. + +"I wish I could convey to your Grace the mixed and very painful +feelings, which the late history of the Irish Church has raised in +me:--the union of her members with men of heterodox views, and the +extinction (without ecclesiastical sanction) of half her Candlesticks, +the witnesses and guarantees of the Truth and trustees of the Covenant. +I willingly own that both in my secret judgment and my mode of speaking +concerning you to my friends, I have had great alternations and changes +of feeling,--defending, then blaming your policy, next praising your own +self and protesting against your measures, according as the affectionate +remembrances which I had of you rose against my utter aversion of the +secular and unbelieving policy in which I considered the Irish Church to +be implicated. I trust I shall never be forgetful of the kindness you +uniformly showed me during your residence in Oxford: and anxiously hope +that no duty to Christ and His Church may ever interfere with the +expression of my sense of it. However, on the present opportunity, I am +conscious to myself, that I am acting according to the dictates both of +duty and gratitude, if I beg your leave to state my persuasion, that the +perilous measures in which your Grace has acquiesced are but the +legitimate offspring of those principles, difficult to describe in few +words, with which your reputation is especially associated; principles +which bear upon the very fundamentals of all argument and investigation, +and affect almost every doctrine and every maxim by which our faith or +our conduct is to be guided. I can feel no reluctance to confess, that, +when I first was noticed by your Grace, gratitude to you and admiration +of your powers wrought upon me; and, had not something from within +resisted, I should certainly have adopted views on religious and social +duty, which seem to my present judgment to be based in the pride of +reason and to tend towards infidelity, and which in your own case +nothing but your Grace's high religious temper and the unclouded faith +of early piety has been able to withstand. + +"I am quite confident, that, however you may regard this judgment, you +will give me credit, not only for honesty, but for a deeper feeling in +thus laying it before you. + +"May I be suffered to add, that your name is ever mentioned in my +prayers, and to subscribe myself + +"Your Grace's very sincere friend and servant, + +"J. H. NEWMAN." + + +3. + +"Dublin, November 3, 1834. + +"My dear Newman, + +"I cannot forbear writing again to express the great satisfaction I feel +in the course I adopted; which has, eventually, enabled me to contradict +a report which was more prevalent and more confidently upheld than I +could have thought possible: and which, while it was perhaps likely to +hurt my character with some persons, was injurious to yours in the eyes +of the best men. For what idea must any one have had of religion--or at +least of your religion--who was led to think there was any truth in the +imputation to you of such uncharitable arrogance! + +"But it is a rule with me, not to cherish, even on the strongest +assertions, any belief or even suspicion, to the prejudice of any one +whom I have any reason to think well of, till I have carefully inquired, +and dispassionately heard both sides. And I think if others were to +adopt the same rule, I should not myself be quite so much abused as I +have been. + +"I am well aware indeed that one cannot expect all, even good men, to +think alike on every point, even after they shall have heard both sides; +and that we may expect many to judge, after all, very harshly of those +who do differ from them: for, God help us! what will become of men if +they receive no more mercy than they show to each other! But at least, +if the rule were observed, men would not condemn a brother on mere vague +popular rumour, about principles (as in my case) 'difficult to describe +in few words,' and with which his 'reputation is associated.' My own +reputation I know is associated, to a very great degree, with what are +in fact calumnious imputations, originated in exaggerated, distorted, or +absolutely false statements, for which even those who circulate them, do +not, for the most part, pretend to have any ground except popular +rumour: like the Jews at Rome; 'as for this way, we know that it is +every where spoken against.' + +"For I have ascertained that a very large proportion of those who join +in the outcry against my works, confess, or even boast, that they have +never read them. And in respect of the measure you advert to--the Church +Temporalities Act--(which of course I shall not now discuss), it is +curious to see how many of those who load me with censure for +acquiescing in it, receive with open arms, and laud to the skies, the +Primate; who was consulted on the measure--as was natural, considering +his knowledge of Irish affairs, and his influence--long before me; and +gave his consent to it; differing from Ministers only on a point of +detail, whether the revenues of six Sees, or of ten, should be +alienated. + +"Of course, every one is bound ultimately to decide according to his own +judgment; nor do I mean to shelter myself under his example: but only to +point out what strange notions of justice those have, who acquit with +applause the leader, and condemn the follower in the same individual +transaction. + +"Far be it from any servant of our Master, to feel surprise or anger at +being thus treated; it is only an admonition to me to avoid treating +others in a similar manner; and not to 'judge another's servant,' at +least without a fair hearing. + +"You do me no more than justice, in feeling confident that I shall give +you credit both for 'honesty and for a deeper feeling' in freely laying +your opinions before me: and besides this, you might have been no less +confident, from your own experience, that, long since--whenever it was +that you changed your judgment respecting me--if you had freely and +calmly remonstrated with me on any point where you thought me going +wrong, I should have listened to you with that readiness and candour and +deference, which as you well know, I always showed, in the times when +'we took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as +friends;'--when we consulted together about so many practical measures, +and about almost all the principal points in my publications. + +"I happen to have before me a letter from you just eight years ago, in +which, after saying that 'there are few things you wish more sincerely +than to be known as a friend of mine,' and attributing to me, in the +warmest and most flattering terms, a much greater share in the forming +of your mind than I could presume to claim, you bear a testimony, in +which I do most heartily concur, to the _freedom_ at least of our +_intercourse_, and the readiness and respect with which you were +listened to. Your words are: 'Much as I owe to Oriel in the way of +mental improvement, to none, as I think, do I owe so much as to +yourself. I know who it was first gave me heart to look about me after +my election, and taught me to think correctly, and--strange office for +an instructor--to rely upon myself. Nor can I forget that it has been at +your kind suggestion, that I have since been led to employ myself in the +consideration of several subjects, which I cannot doubt have been very +beneficial to my mind.' + +"If in all this I was erroneous,--if I have misled you, or any one else, +into 'the pride of reason,' or any other kind of pride,--or if I have +entertained, or led others into, any wrong opinions, I can only say I +sincerely regret it. And again I rejoice if I have been the means of +contributing to form in any one that 'high religious temper and +unclouded faith' of which I not only believe, with you, that they are +able to withstand tendencies towards infidelity, but also, that +_without_ them, no correctness of abstract opinions is worth much. But +what I meant to point out, is, that there was plainly nothing to +preclude you from offering friendly admonition (when your view of my +principles changed), with a full confidence of being at least patiently +and kindly listened to. + +"I for my part could not bring myself to find relief in escaping the +society of an old friend,--with whom I had been accustomed to frank +discussion,--on account of my differing from him as to certain +principles, whether through a change of _his_ views, or (much more) of +_my own_,--till at least I had made full trial of private and +affectionate remonstrance and free discussion. Even a 'man that is a +heretic,' we are told, even a ruler of a Church is not to reject, till +after repeated admonitions. + +"But though your regard for me does not show itself such as I think mine +would have been under similar circumstances, I will not therefore reject +what remains of it. Let us pray for each other that it may please God to +enlighten whichever of us is, on any point, in error, and recall him to +the truth; and that at any rate we may hold fast that charity, without +which all knowledge, and all faith, that could remove mountains, will +profit us nothing. + +"I fear you will read with a jaundiced eye,--if you venture to read it +at all--any publication of mine; but 'for auld lang syne' I take +advantage of a frank to enclose you my last two addresses to my clergy. + +"Very sincerely yours, + +"RD. WHATELY." + + +4. + +"Oriel, November 11, 1834. + +"My dear Lord, + +"The remarks contained in your last letter do not come upon me by +surprise, and I can only wish that I may be as able to explain myself to +you, as I do with a clear and honest conscience to myself. Your Grace +will observe that the letter of mine from which you make an extract, was +written when I _was_ in habits of intimacy with you, in which I have not +been of late years. It does not at all follow, because I could then +speak freely to you, that I might at another time. Opportunity is the +chief thing in such an office as delivering to a superior an opinion +about himself. Though I never concealed my opinion from you, I have +never been forward. I have spoken when place and time admitted, when my +opinion was asked, when I was called to your side and was made your +counsellor. No such favourable circumstances have befallen me of late +years,--if I must now state in explanation what in truth has never +occurred to me in _this fulness_, till now I am called to reflect upon +my own conduct and to account for an apparent omission. I have spoken +the first opportunity you have given me; and I am persuaded good very +seldom comes of _volunteering_ a remonstrance. + +"Again, I cannot doubt for an instant that you have long been aware in a +measure that my opinions differed from your Grace's. You knew it when at +Oxford, for you often found me differing from you. You must have felt +it, at the time you left Oxford for Dublin. You must have known it from +hearsay in consequence of the book I have published. What indeed can +account for my want of opportunities to speak to you freely my mind, but +the feeling on your part, (which, if existing, is nothing but a fair +reason,) that my views are different from yours? + +"And that difference is certainly of no recent date. I tacitly allude to +it in the very letter you quote--in which, I recollect well that the +words 'strange office for an instructor,--_to rely upon myself_,' were +intended to convey to you that, much as I valued (and still value) your +great kindness and the advantage of your countenance to me at that time, +yet even then I did not fall in with the line of opinions which you had +adopted. In them I never acquiesced. Doubtless I may have used at times +sentiments and expressions, which I should not now use; but I believe +these had no root in my mind, and as such they were mere idle words +which I ought ever to be ashamed of, because they _were_ idle. But the +opinions to which I especially alluded in my former letter as associated +by the world with your Grace's name under the title of 'Liberal,' (but +not, as you suppose, received by me on the world's authority,) are those +which may be briefly described as the Anti-superstition notions; and to +these I do not recollect ever assenting. Connected with these I would +instance the undervaluing of Antiquity, and resting on one's own +reasonings, judgments, definitions, &c., rather than authority and +precedent; and I think I gave very little in to this;--for a very short +time too (if at all), in to the notion that the State, as such, had +nothing to do with religion. On the other hand, whatever I held then +deliberately, I believe I hold now; though perhaps I may not consider +them as points of such prominent importance, or with precisely the same +bearing as I did then:--as the abolition of the Jewish Sabbath, the +unscripturalness of the doctrine of imputed righteousness (i.e. our +Lord's active obedience)--the mistakes of the so-called Evangelical +system, the independence of the Church; the genius of the Gospel as a +Law of Liberty, and the impropriety of forming geological theories from +Scripture. Of course every one changes in opinion between twenty and +thirty; doubtless, I have changed; yet I am not conscious that I have so +much _changed_, as made up my mind on points on which I had no opinion. +E.g. I had no opinion about the Catholic Question till 1829. No one can +truly say I was ever _for_ the Catholics; but I was not against them. In +fact I did not enter into the state of the question at all. + +"Then as to my change of judgment as to the character of your Grace's +opinions, it is natural that, when two persons pursue different lines +from the same point, they should not discover their divergence for a +long while; especially if there be any kind feeling in the one towards +the other. It was not for a very long time that I discovered that your +opinions were (as I now think them) but part of intellectual views, so +different from your own inward mind and character, so peculiar in +themselves, and (if you will let me add) so dangerous. For a long time I +thought them to be but different; for a longer, to be but in parts +dangerous; but their full character in this respect came on me almost on +a sudden. I heard at Naples the project of destroying the Irish Sees, +and at first indignantly rejected the notion, which some one suggested, +that your Grace had acquiesced in it. I thought I recollected correctly +your Grace's opinion of the inherent rights of the Christian Church, and +I thought you never would allow men of this world so to insult it. When +I returned to England, all was over. I was silent on the same principle +that you are silent about it in your letter; that it was not the time +for speaking; and I only felt, what I hinted at when I wrote last, a +bitter grief, which prompted me, when the act was irretrievable, to hide +myself from you. However, I have spoken, with whatever pain to myself, +the first opportunity you have given me. + +"I might appeal to my conscience without fear in proof of the delight it +would give me at this time to associate my name with yours, and to stand +forward as your friend and defender, however humble. I should hope you +know me enough to be sure, that, however great my faults are, I have no +fear of man such as to restrain me, if I could feel I had a call that +way. But may God help me, as I will ever strive to fulfil my first duty, +the defence of His Church, and of the doctrine of the old Fathers, in +opposition to all the innovations and profanities which are rising round +us. + +"My dear Lord, + +"Ever yours most sincerely and gratefully, + +"J. H. NEWMAN. + +"P.S. I feel much obliged by your kindness in sending me your Addresses +to your clergy, which I value highly for your Grace's sake." + + + + +NOTE ON PAGE 90. + +EXTRACT OF A LETTER PROM THE REV. E. SMEDLEY, EDITOR OF THE +"ENCYCLOPÆDIA METROPOLITANA." + +When I urged on one occasion an "understanding" I had had with the +publishers of the "Encyclopædia," he answered, June 5, 1828, "I greatly +dislike the word 'understanding,' which is always _misunderstood_, and +which occasions more mischief than any other in our language, unless it +be its cousin-german 'delicacy.'" + + +NOTE ON PAGE 185. + +EXTRACT OF A LETTER OF THE LATE REV. FRANCIS A. FABER, OF SAUNDERTON. + +A letter of Mr. F. Faber's to a friend has just now (March, 1878) come +into my hands, in which he says, "I have had a long correspondence with +Newman on the subject of my uncle's saying he was 'a concealed Roman +Catholic' long before he left us. It ends in my uncle making an +_amende_." + + +NOTE ON PAGES 194-196. + +I have said above, "Dr. Russell had, perhaps, more to do with my +conversion than any one else. He called on me in passing through Oxford +in the summer of 1843; and I think I took him over some of the buildings +of the University. He called again another summer, on his way from +Dublin to London. I do not recollect that he said a word on the subject +of religion on either occasion. He sent me at different times several +letters.... He also gave me one or two books; Veron's Rule of Faith and +some Treatises of the Wallenburghs was one; a volume of St. Alfonso +Liguori's sermons was another.... At a later date Dr. Russell sent me a +large bundle of penny or halfpenny books of devotion," &c. + +On this passage I observe first that he told me, on one occasion of my +seeing him since the publication of the "Apologia," that I was so far in +error, that he had called on me at Oxford once only, not twice. He was +quite positive on the point; it was when he was, I believe, on his way +to Rome to escape a bishopric. + +Secondly, my own mistake has led to some vagueness or inaccuracy in the +statements made by others. In a friendly notice of Dr. Russell upon his +death, it is said, in the "Times":-- + +"Personally he was unknown to the leaders of the movement, but his +reputation stood high in Oxford. He was often applied to for information +and suggestion on the points arising in the Tractarian controversy. +Through a formal call made by him on Dr. Newman a correspondence arose, +which resulted in the final determination of the latter to join the +Roman Catholic Church." + +On this I remark--(1) that in 1841-5, Dr. Russell was not well known in +Oxford, and it cannot be said that then "his reputation stood high" +there; (2) that he never was "applied to for information" by any one of +us, as far as my knowledge goes; and (3) that his call on me in 1841(3?) +was in no sense "formal;" I had not expected it; I think he introduced +himself, though he may have had a letter from Dr. Wiseman; and no +"correspondence" arose in consequence. He may perhaps have sent me three +letters, independent of each other, in five years; and, as far as I +know, he was unaware of his part in my conversion, till he saw my notice +of it in the "Apologia." + + +NOTE ON PAGE 232. + +EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE REV. JOHN KEBLE TO THE AUTHOR. + +"Nov. 18, 1844.--I hope I shall not annoy you if I copy out for you part +of a letter which I had the other day from Judge Coleridge:-- + +"'I was struck with part of a letter from A. B., expressing a wish that +Newman should know how warmly he was loved, honoured, and sympathized +with by large numbers of Churchmen, so that he might not feel solitary, +or, as it were, cast out. What think you of a private address, carefully +guarded against the appearance of making him the head of a party, but +only assuring him of gratitude, veneration, and love?' &c., &c. + +"I thought I would just let you understand how such a person as +Coleridge feels." + + +NOTE ON PAGE 237. + +EXTRACT FROM THE "TIMES" NEWSPAPER ON THE AUTHOR'S VISIT TO OXFORD IN +FEBRUARY, 1878. + +"The Very Rev. Dr. Newman has this week revisited Oxford for the first +time since 1845. He has been staying with the Rev. S. Wayte, President +of Trinity College, of which society Dr. Newman was formerly a scholar, +and has recently been elected an Honorary Fellow. On Tuesday evening Dr. +Newman met a number of old friends at dinner at the President's +lodgings, and on the following day he paid a long visit to Dr. Pusey at +Christ Church. He also spent a considerable time at Keble College, in +which he was greatly interested. In the evening Dr. Newman dined in +Trinity College Hall at the high table, attired in his academical dress, +and the scholars were invited to meet him afterwards. He returned to +Birmingham on Thursday morning." + + +NOTE ON PAGE 302. + +THE MEDICINAL OIL OF ST. WALBURGA. + +I have received the following on the subject of the oil of St. Walburga +from a German friend, the Rev. Corbinian Wandinger, which is a +serviceable addition to what is said upon it in Note B. He says:-- + +"In your 'Apologia,' 2nd Edition, p. 302, you say you neither have, nor +ever have had, the means of going into the question of the +miraculousness of the oil of St. Walburga. By good chance, there has +arisen a contest not long ago between two papers, a catholic and a +free-thinking one, about this very question, from which I collected +materials. Afterwards I asked Professor Suttner, of Eichstädt, if the +defender of the miraculousness might be fully and in every point +trusted, and I was answered he might, since he was nobody else but the +parson of St. Walburga, Rev. Mr. Brudlacher. + +"You know all the older literature of the oil of St. Walburga, therefore +I restrict myself to statements of a later date than 1625. + +"First of the attempts to explain the oil as a natural produce of the +rock. + +"Some thought of ordinary rock-oil. But the slightest experiment proves +that origin, properties, and effect of the oil of St. Walburga and +petroleum have nothing common with each other. + +"Others thought of a salt-rock, and of solution of the salt particles. +But the marble slab from which the oil drops is of Jura-chalk, and in +the whole Jura is not a single particle of salt to be found, and the +liquor itself does not in the least savour of salt; besides that, if +this were the case, the stone must have crumbled into pieces long since, +whilst it is quite massive still. + +"Others thought of humour in the air, or the so-called sweating of the +stones. But why does the slab which bears the holy relics alone sweat? +and, why do all others beside, above, beneath it, in and out of the +altar-cave, though being of the same nature, remain perfectly dry? Why +should it sweat, the whole church being so dry that not a single humid +spot of a hand's breadth is visible? Why does this slab not sweat except +within a certain period, that is from October 12, the anniversary of +depositing, to February 25, the day of the death of St. Walburga? And +why does it remain dry at every other time, even at the most humid +temperature of the air possible, and in the wettest years, for instance, +1866? Besides, what other stone, and be it in the deepest cave, will +sweat during four or five months a quantity of liquor from six to ten +Mass (a Mass = 1·07 French Litres)? If these naturalists are asked all +this, then they, too, are at the end of their wits. + +"To this point I add two facts which may be proved beyond any doubt; the +one by unquestionable historical records, the other by still living +eye-witnesses. When under Bishop Friedrich von Parsberg the interdict +was inflicted on the city of Eichstädt, during all the year 1239 not a +single drop of liquor became visible on the coffin-plate of St. +Walburga. The contrary fact was stated on June 7, 1835. The cave was +opened on this day by chance, passengers longing to see it. To their +astonishment they found the stone so profusely dropping with oil, that +the golden vase fixed underneath was full to the brim, whereas at this +season never had been observed there any fluid. Some weeks later arrived +the long-wished-for royal decree which sanctioned the reopening of the +convent of St. Walburga; it was signed on that very 7th of June, 1835, +by his Majesty King Louis I. + +"Moreover, let one try to gather water which is dropping from sweating +stone, or glass, or metal, and let him see if it will be pure and +limpid, or rather muddy, filthy, and cloudy. The oil of St. Walburga on +the contrary, is and remains so limpid and crystal, that a bottle, which +had been filled and officially sealed at the reopening of the cave after +the Swedish invasion, 1645, preserves to this day the oil so very clear +and clean as if it had been filled yesterday; an occurrence never to be +observed even on the purest spring-water, according to the testimony of +the royal circuit-physician (K. Bezirksarzt). + +"To this testimony of a naturalist may be added that of a much higher +authority. The renowned naturalist, Von Oken, surely an unquestionable +expert, came one day, while he was Professor in the University of +Munich, to Eichstädt on the special purpose to investigate this +extraordinary phenomenon. The cave was opened to him, he received every +information he wished for, and having seen and examined everything, he +pronounced publicly without any reluctance that he could not explain the +matter in a natural way. He took of the liquor to Munich in order to +subject it to a chemical analysis, and declared then by writing the +result of his researches to be that he could take it neither for natural +water, nor oil, and that, in general, he was not able to explain the +phenomenon as being in accordance with the laws of nature. + +"Let me add the testimony of a historical authority. Mr. Sax, counsellor +of the government (K. Regierungsrath), in his history of the diocese and +city of Eichstädt, after he has spoken of the origin, the properties, +and the effect of the oil of St. Walburga, concludes that 'they are of +such a singular kind, that they not only exceed far the province of +extraordinary nature-phenomena, but that they, in spite of the constant +discrediting and slandering by bullying free-thinkers, preserved the +great confidence of the catholic people even in far distant countries.' + +"Now of the miracles. There are related by the people many thousands, +but, of course, few of them are attested. In the Pastoral paper of +Eichstädt, 1857, page 207, I read that Anton Ernest, Bishop of Brünn, in +Moravia, announces, under Nov. 1, 1857, to the Bishop of Eichstädt, the +recovery of a girl in the establishment of the sisters of charity from +blindness, and sends, in order to attest the fact, the following +document, which I am to translate literally:-- + +"'In the name of the indivisible Trinity. We, Anton Ernest, by God's and +the Holy See's grace, Bishop of Brünn. After we had received, first by +the curate of the establishment of the Daughters of Christian Charity in +this place, and then also from other quarters, the notice that a girl in +the aforesaid establishment had regained the use of her eyes +miraculously in the very moment when she had a vial, containing oil of +St. Walburga, offered to her, brought to her mouth and kissed, we +thought it to be our duty to research scrupulously into the fact, and to +put it beyond all doubt in the way of a special commission, by hearing +of witnesses and a trial at the place of the fact, if there be truth, +and how much of it, in the supposed miraculous healing. + +"'About the report of this commission and the adjoined testimony of the +physician, we have then, as prescribes the Holy Council of Trent (Sess. +25), collected the judgments of our theologians and other pious men; and +as these all were quite in accordance, and the fact itself with all its +circumstances lay before us quite clear and open, we have, after +invocation of assistance of the Holy Ghost, pronounced, judged, and +decided as follows:-- + +"'The instantaneous removal of the most pertinacious eyelid-cramp +(Augenlied krampf), which Matilda Makara during many months had hindered +in the use of her eyes and kept in blindness, and the simultaneous +recurrence of the full eye-sight, phlogistic appearances still remaining +in the eyes, which occurred when Matilda Makara on Nov. 7, 1856, had a +vial with the oil of St. Walburga brought, full of confidence, to her +mouth and kissed, must be acknowledged to be a fact which, besides the +order of nature, has been effected by God's grace, and is therefore a +miracle. + +"'And that the memory of this Divine favour may be preserved, that to +God eternal thanks may be given, the confidence of the faithful may be +incited and nourished, this devotion to the great wonder-worker St. +Walburga may be promoted, we order that this aforegoing decision shall +be affixed in the chapel of the Daughters of Christian Charity in this +place, that it shall be preserved for all times to come, and that the +7th Nov. shall be celebrated as a holiday every year in this aforesaid +establishment. + +"'Given in our Episcopal Residence at Brünn, + +"'Nov. 1, 1857, + +"'(L. S.) Anton Ernest, Bishop.' + +"A second record about St. Walburga I find in the Eichstädt Pastoral +paper, 1858, page 192, from which I take the following: 'The Superioress +of the Convent of St. Walburga had received in summer 1858 the notice of +a miraculous cure written by the Superioress of the Convent of St. +Leonard-sur-Mer, Sussex. At request for an authenticated report, John +Bamber, chaplain of the Convent of the Holy Infant at St. +Leonard-sur-Mer, wrote about the following: "Sister Walburga had been +ill fifteen months, of which five bedridden. The physician pronounced +the malady to be incurable. Large exterior tumour, frequent (thrice or +four times a day) vomitings were caused by the diseased pylorus. The +matter was hopeless, when the Superioress on April 27 thought of using +the oil of St. Walburga. The chaplain brought it on the tongue of the +sick sister, and in the same moment she had a burning feeling which +seemed to her to descend, and to affect especially the sick part. In a +few minutes the inner smart ceased, the tumour fell off, she felt +recovered. Next morning she rose, assisted at the holy mass, +communicated, ate with good appetite. She was quite recovered, but +somewhat feeble, as people always are after a great disease. The +physician, a Protestant, abode by his opinion the malady to be +incurable, acknowledged, however, the healing. His words were: 'I +believe the healing to be effected by the oil of St. Walburga, but how, +I don't know.' As a Protestant he refused to give testimony that the +operation of the oil had been miraculous.' + +"The report is authenticated by Thomas, Bishop of Southwark. + +"Freising, Bayern, + +"September 13, 1873." + + + + +NOTE ON PAGE 323. + +BONIFACE OF CANTERBURY. + +When I made the above reference in 1865 to Boniface of Canterbury, I was +sure I had seen among my books some recent authoritative declaration on +the subject of his _cultus_ in opposition to the Bollandists; but I did +not know where to look for it. I have now found in our Library (Concess. +Offic. t. 2) what was in my mind. It consists of five documents +proceeding from the Sacred Congregation of Rites, with the following +title:-- + + "Emo ac Revmo Domino Card. Lambruschini Relatore, Taurinen. + Approbationis cultûs ab immemorabili tempore præstiti B. + Bonifacio à Subaudiâ Archiepiscopi Cantuarien. Instante + serenissimo Rege Sardiniæ Carolo Alberto. Romæ, 1838." + +Also Dr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark, has kindly supplied me with the +following extract from the Correspondance de Rome, 24 November, 1851, +adding "St. Boniface of Canterbury or of Savoy was beatified +_æquipollenter_ by Gregory XVI.:"-- + + "Le B. Boniface de Savoie, xi de ce nome, petit-fils d'Humbert + iii, Archevêque de Cantorbéry. Confirmation de son culte, + également à la demande du Roi Charles Albert, 7 Sept. 1838. + D'abord moine parmi les Chartreux, puis Archevêque de + Cantorbéry, consacré par Innocent IV. au Concile Général de + Lyons; il occupa le siége 25 ans. Mort en 1270 pendant un voyage + en Savoie. Son corps porté à Haucatacombe; concours des + populations; miracles; son corps retrouvé intact trois siècles + après sa mort. Son nom dans les livres liturgiques. Sa fête + célébrée sans aucune interruption. Sur la relation de Card. + Lambruschini, la S. C. des Rites le 1 Sept. 1838, décida qu'il + constait de cas exceptionnel aux décrets d'Urbain VIII. p. 410." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 22088 *** |