(1913.)
MATTER PECULIAR TO THE 1865 EDITION.
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TaE following History of my. Religious Opinions, now that it is detached from the context m 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 o£ 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
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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."
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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 abound, 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
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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 threo 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 impeach ment 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|
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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 vita sits, of which the present Volume is the Second 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 Apologia in the following particulars:-The original work consisted of seven Parts, which were published in aeries 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 moat part directly controversial, are omitted in this Edition, excepting the latter pages of Part 2, which are subjoined to this Prefacer, 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. 319, a copy of which has recently come into my possession.
[' They appear in this book as pp. 87-8, 95-101, in their place as part of the 1864 volume.]
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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.
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I HAVE been asked to explain more fully what it is I mean by " Liberalism," because merely to call it the Antidogmatic 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 mire: Speaking then in my own way, I proceed to explain what T meant as .a Protestant by Liberalism, and to do so in
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connexion with the circumstances under which that system of opinion came before me at Oxford.
If I might presume to contrast Laeordaire 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 elite 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
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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 reforma tion, 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
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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 dust 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 or 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
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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 FrQude 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
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which in the course of years was formed around him; nor is it easy to set limits to its influence in its day; for multi. tudes of men, who did not profess its teaching, or accept its peculiar doctrines, were willing nevertheless, of 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 lag 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,
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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. 296; and " I found no fault with the Liberals; they had beaten me in a fair field," p. 305.
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 as 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,-1 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
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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 doing in the matter of 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 zeal 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 Y " " Adimam bona." " Nempe pecus, rem, Lectos, argentum ; tollas licet." " In manicis et
Compedibus, sxvo to sub eustode tenebo." (viz. the 39 Articles.) " Ipse Dens, aimul atque volam, me solvet." Opinor,
Hoc sentit : Moriar. Mors udtima linea rerzcm 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.
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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 ZVIahometanism is the manly religion, and existing Christianity the womanish.
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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. _
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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 Apostodica. 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, a, R, y, 8, e, C, denote respectively the authorship of Mr. Bowden, Mr. Hurrell Fronde, Mr. Keble, myself, 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. Another upon " the Age to come," defining from its own point of view the position and prospects of Liberalism, shall be quoted in extenso.
When I would search the truths that in me burn, And mould them into rule and argument, A hundred reasoners pried,-" Hast thou to learn Those dreams are scattered now, those fires are spent? "|
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I xnvE 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 cudtus 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
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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 deal and glorious, moat 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 axe 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 tided and
laboured out of it; and such, again, as have been m 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.
NOTE D.|
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Alban, and Am Ethelreda, V.A Bartholomew, 7 Adelbert, C.
John, C. of Mop Margaret, Cou moxd. JUL' 1 Julius, Aaron, B. Leonorue 2 Oudoceus, B. 3 Gunthiern, A. 4 Odo, Archb.5 Modwenna, V.I. 6 Segburga, A.
7 Edelburga, V.i Willibald, B. 8 Grimbald, and 9 Stephen Langtoi SERIES OF SAINTS' LIVES OF 1843-4. 505The 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.
Littlemore, Sept. 9, 1843. CALENDAR OF ENGLISH SAINTS. JANUARY. 1 Elvan, B. and Medwyne, C. 2 Martyrs of Lichfield. 3 Melorns, M. 5 Edward, K.C. 6 Peter, A. 7 Cedd, B. 8 Pega, V. Wulsin, B. 9 Adrian, A. Bertwald, Archb. Sethrida, V. Egwin, B. Benedict Biscop, A. Aelred, A. Kentigern, B. Benno, A. Ceolulph, K. Mo. Henry, Hermit. Fursey, A. Mildwida, V. Ulfrid or Wolfrid, M. Wulstan, B. Henry, B.10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Brithwold, B. 23 Boisil, A. 24 Cadoc, A. 25 26 27 28 29 Gildas, A. 30 31
Theoritgida V. Bathildis, Queen. Adamnan, Mo. Serapion. M. J. H. N. FEBRUARY. 12 Laurence, Archb. 3 Wereburga, V.
4 Gilbert, A. Liephard, B.bl. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Ina, K. Mo. Augulus, B.M. Richard, K. Elfleda, A. Cuthman, C. Theliau, B. Trumwin, B.
Ethelwold, B. of Lindisfarne. Cedmon, Mo. Ermenilda, Q.A. 13 14 15 Sigefride, B. 16 Finan, B. 17 18 19 20 Ulric, H. 21 22 23 24 141ilburga, V. Luidhard, B. Ethelbert of Kent, K. Walburga, V.A. 25 26 27 Alnoth, H.M. 28 Oswald, B; 29|
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2 Germanns, M. 3 4 5 Ethelred, H. Mo. 6 Eadbert, A.
7 John, Archb. of Beverley. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Simon Stock, H. 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27
Fremund, M. Elgiva, Q. Dunstan, Archb. B. Alcuin, A. Ethelbert, g.M. Godric, H. Winewald, A. Berethun, A. Henry, %. Ethelburga, Q. Aldhelm, B. Augustine, Archb. Bede, D. Mo.|
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630 Nov. 3. 642 Feb.4. 660 Jan. l4.
673 Oct. 7.June 14 Jan. 27. July 24. July 18.
SERIES OF SAINTS' LIVES OF 1843-4. 511 600 June 10. 598 Feb. 24. 616 Feb. 24. 608 May 26. 624 Apr. 24. 619 Feb. 2. 608 Jan.6. 627 Nov. 10. 653 Sept.30. 662 July 15.642 Oct. 29. 646 Mar. 8. 650 Jan. I& 680 May 1.
655 Oct. 31.680 June 17. 671 June 10. 650 Dec. 3. 705 July 7.
717 Jan. 11. SEVENTH CENTURY. PART I. Ivo, or Ivia, B. from Persia. Luidhard, B. of Senlis, in France. Ethelbert, K. of Kent. Augustine, Archb. of Canterbury, Apostle of England. Mellitus, Archb. of Canterbury, Lawrence, Archb. of Canterbury, Companions of Peter, A. at Canterbury, St. Augustine. Justus, Archb.of Canterbury, Honoriua, Arohb. of Canterbury, Dews-dedit, Archb. of Canterbury. SEVENTH CENTURY. PART II. Sigebert, K. of the East Angles. Felix, B. of Dunwich, Apostle of the East Angles. Fursey, A., preacher among the East Angles. Ultan, A., brother of St. Furaey. Foillan, B.M., brother of St. Fursey, preacher in the Netherlands. Botulph, A., in Lincolnshire or Susses. Ithamar, B. of Rochester. Birinus, B. of Dorchester. Hedda, B. of Dorchester. 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. Winefred, V.M. in Wales. Liephard, M.B., slain near Cambray. Benno, A., kinsman of St. Cadocus and St. Kentigern. Osgitha, Q.V.M., in East Anglia during a Danish inroad. Elerius, A. in Wales. Bathildis, Q, wife of Clovis IL, king of France. Lewinna, V.M., put to death by the Saxons. Edberga and Edgitha, W. of Aylesbury.|
512 |
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781 Sept. 7. 789 Sept.7.
703 Jan. 12. 685 Mar. 7.
689 Aug. 22. 716 Sept. 25. 734 May 27. 804 May 19.
710 May 5. 719 Jan. 8. 714 Apr. 11. 717 Nov. 6. 730 Jan. 9. 732 Dec. 27. 734 July 30. 750 Oct. 19. 762 Aug. 26. 700-800 Feb. 8. bef.800 Sept. 9.
793 May 20. 834 Aug. 2.
819 July 17. 849 June 1. 838 July 18. 894 Nov. 4.
~Edelwald, H. successor of St. Cuthbert, in his hermitage. Ethelwold, B. of Lindiafarne. Acca, B. of $exham. Ceolulph, K. Mo. of Lindiafarne. Balther, H. at Lindisfarne. Bilfrid, H. Goldsmith at Lindiafarne. Alchmund, B. of Hexham. Tilhbert, B. of Hexham. ' SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. PART VI.-WEARMO'UTH AND YARROW. Benedict Biscop, A. of Wearmouth. Easterwin, A. of Wearmouth. Sigfrid, A. of Wearmouth. Ceofrid, A. of Yarrow. Bede, Doctor, Mo. of Yarrow. B. Alcuin, A. in France. EIGHTH CENTURY. Ethelred, K. Mo. King of Mercia, Monk of Bardney. Pegs, V., sister of St. Guthlake. Guthlake, H. of Croyland. Wince, A. in Brittany. Bertwald, Archb. of Canterbury. Gerald, A.B. in Mayo. Tatwin, Archb. of Canterbury. Frideawide V. patron of Oxford. Bregwin, Archb. of Canterbury. Cuthman C. of Stening in Sussex. Bertelin, H. patron of Stafford. EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES. Ethelbert, K.M. of the East Angles. Etheldritlia, or Alfreda, V., daughter of Offa, king of Mercia, nun at.Croyland. Kenelm, K.M. of Mercia. Wistan, K.M. of Mercia. Frederic, Archb. M. of Utrecht. Clarus, M, in Normandy: NINTH CENTURY. PART L-DANISH SLAUGHTERS, &C. 819 Mar. 19. Alcmund, M. Son of Eldred, king of Northumbria, Patron of Derby. Edmund K.M. of the East Angles. Fremund, H. M. nobleman of East Anglia. Humbert, B.M. of Elmon in East Anglia. Ebbs, V.A.M. of Coldingham. S2 870 Nov. 20. 862 May 11. 870 Nov. 20. 867 Aug. 25.|
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4,
8,
8,
26,
May 5, _ 9, June 18, September 12, October 12, » 17~ _ 22, November 11, 11 14, WORK. PAGE 107 105 214 . 144 158 . 130 . 221 . 226 . 228 . 231 . 233 . 265 . 300 . 233 233 . 233 . 234 . 280 . 281 . 281 . 234 . 282 . 283 . 238 . 236 . 236 . 240 . 239 December 13, 1841 . 24, . _. 25, _ 26 March 6, 1842 . April 14, _ October 16, _ November 22, _ Feb. 25, & 28,1343 . March 3, » 8~ May 4, 18, June 20, July 16, August 29, 11 30, September 7, 11 2~ October 14, _ 25, _ 31, November 13, 1843 or 1844 January 22, 1844 . February 21, _ April 3, _ 11 8,_ PAGE. 253 . 254 . 256 . 258 . 272 . 268 . 266 . 285 . 275 . 276 . 278 . 300 . 301 . 273 . 273 . 304 . 275 . 305 . 316 . 311 . 312 . 314 . 236 . 272 . 316 . 316 . 297 . 31T
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PAGE July 14, 1844 . . . 2'90 September 16, _ . . 318 November 7, _ . . . 321
_ . . . 303 _ 16, _ . . . 319 _ 24, _ . . . 320 1814 (?) . . . 316 1844 or 1845 . . 263 January 3, 1845 . . . 321 blanch 30, _ . . . 322 April June 3,1845 . 16, _ 1, ,> 17, _ October 8, _ November 8, _ _ 25, _ January 20,1846 . December 6, 1849 . PAGE . 323 . 274 . 323 . 274 . 325 . 252 . 326 327 279|
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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 suffered the honours conferred on me, and the generous feelings which dictated them, to be wasted, and to 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,
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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."
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LETTERS OF APPROBATION, &c.
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, ~ Secretaries. " EDW. LUCAS, " 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
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SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER. 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 claimsof the Catholic Priesthood in England to be treated with becoming
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LETTERS OF APPROBATION, &c. 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
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SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER. 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."YII.-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
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" 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,
"Sir
"The undersigned, President of the Catholic Congress of
Germany assembled in Wurzburg, 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
"By the last month's post we at length received your admirable book, entitled, ` Apologia pro Vita sua,' and the pamphlet, ` What then does Dr. Newman mean?`
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"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 Very Rev. Dr. Newman,
&c.&c.&c"
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