The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-04-02
BOME NEW moons,
Sobn Henry Newman, His Writings and Inc
huence.

nherate- which tlis man initiated thirty Ave
We r. AGO, and VIII ch continues TO mutate the
tabli h Il Church In tho very precincts nd
social str ia where she was presumably the
strongest II IL too early, therefore. Co FIX the
mans place and function in nineteenth century
Britain. but the volume before us C1dr1otcrts-
tics from the Writings NJ John Henr1J Norman.
arr nged by WILLIAM SAMUEL LILLY 10 J.
Sadher s. Co.)-made IN Of extracts from his
voumlnous writings, will assist the reader TO
appreciate his attitude toward some urgent
ciai questions, his acquisitions and metz ods az
aman Of letters. and, what IL more noteworthy,
the causes and circumstances Of bis conversion
20 Rome.
IL has been ncutely said Of Professionalism In
general that II Ia unable to give any finn and
solid for separation besides this, that the
Pope ia Antichrst. We may concede at all
events tn the Church or ENGLAND, being ~ all
schisms the least divergent from the creed and
polln Of Rome, Is specially bound to define and
vipdlcate her rdtson dttrc and she hrs In fsct
discovered nj all times an instructive willingness
20 widen by prejudice and invectivc q breach
whose ORIGIN perhaps was trivial and III defensi-
BILE. In its posture Of vehement aggression
against Puper,, Anglicanism has found a useful,
and. on the whole, a sufficient buckler ag inst
the assaults and insnuations OF Nonconformists.
and through it, character Of Protest mt cham
pion, 3 contrived to give dissent the aspect Of
dsluyalty.
Now. II there IL an institution In EnGlnnd iden.
tined with the Established Church. one whose
privileges and emoluments have not only been
unscathed, hut largely augmented bythe schism,
which has much 10 fear. therefore, from the on
Gro c mcnts OF Noncouformlsts, aud good rea-
son to emphasize her anti-papal ruibLf, that
institu ion T. the University OF oxford. Since
Ridley and Cranmer suffered within her WALL
for the ritual and system they had helped to
frame. oxford has been the focus OF anti
G tNo'ic sentiment, the cxhaustess armory Of
Anglican polemlcs. There has certainly been
no moment since the accession OF the house Of
Brunswi k. when n scheme Of Catholic propa-
Rand In that quarter would not have been
accounted a piece OF transcendent folly. Yet
perhaps no resident or officer OF that uuiver-
st'v had ever won AT the nee Of forty a larger
measure Of confidence and admiration. or might
reason bly look forward to greater nor nd
usefplness In the Church. than Newman. & or
Just iciore the period when he abjured Anr'
ctn tcnrts and went formally over to Rome.
1t Is this feature Of locality and atmosphere
the official function, social status. aud me tai
environment Of the prosely (which invest,
Newman conversion with incsive significance.
We add that he began with mn abundant
stock 4 Anglican intolerance. that in 1875 he
pre- ched sermon declaring the Pope to be
Antchrs', that tour OF Southern Europe sent
him ne more intensely Protestant than ever.
ana that he seems TO have had no intercourse
with Catholic divines or special familiarity
with Roman theology until the decisive step
bad heen overtv taken. In word, his Access
sion 10 the Church Of Rome appears TO have been
solely dictatcd-so fnr as human dgment can
di.cern-hy the conscientious study OF those
patri.tic authOrltfps recorufzed a'ikp "A Roma
and ut Canterbury. bv the history Of early here
sizes and schisms, and by the verv record OF the
Church 81 England We NAV be excused. then,
II We await ourselves Of the appearance Of this
volume to indicate the pivot and M otors Of an
event which, whether we look at its cradle or its
fruits, ranks among the most signal IN Anglican
annals
The period OF Newman's Oxford career Ia
numlned nv galaxy OF brilliant names, some
OF them-w nately, Kehle, Pusey-widely known
and honored in America, others appreciated
within An esoteric circle. Most Of these diyerced
widely in liter DAYS from Newman and fiom
each other, but all at one time were his friends.
and n cir influence IL candidy allowed and esti-
mated IN his account Of the tractarlan move
ment
The future Romanis' began nv nbsorh nc Mt
the age OF fifteen a strong tincture ~ Calyini-m.
One Geneyan tenet AT all events took permanent
TO III MS muu-ine lNea OF a literal heaven
and he'll, Of divine favor and divine wrath, OF
the justified and the unjusriAed. what he SUBJ
sequently called the "detestable doctrine"
that the reGenerate and the justified are orc
and the same. and that the degenerate, rs such,
have the GIFT Of perseverance, seems to have
faded way before he WAS twenty-one.
OF Newman's Undergraduate years. whirh
were o. ssed at Trinity "a small and nowtse nota-
bic college,, we know little, exceut that he
gained IN uncommon share OF academic sue
cess. Otherwise, inceod he could not have Sc
CURED a fellowship at Orlel, "a position frau Rht
just then with the same species of intellectu |
prestige which at present attaches 10 fellow
snip at Baliol. Before, however, he attained
this honor he had become intimate with " hate
ly (afterward Archbishop Of Dublin, who, te-
coming Principal Of 81. Adams Hail. made New
man Vice-Prncipa and Tutor. His obg tons
70 that eminent man, who must later have ex-
pressed with characteristic bluntness the most
sovereign disapproval Of Newman's course, are
freely and gratefully acknowledged In the
"Apolog,." To Dr. wnately," he says, " /
owe great deal. He emphatically opened my
mind, taught me to think and to use my reason.
What he did for me In point OF religious opinion
WIS to impress on me the idea Of visible
Church IA a substantive body or corpora tion ;
next to TX In me those anti Efastian views OF
church poity which formed one OF the most
prominent features OF the Tractaran move
ment. Yet he had done his WORK for me. or
nearly so, when he had taught me to see with
my own eyes and walk with nv own feet"
Certainly no man had greater need OF intellect
ual Independence than be who, setting out
from Oxford and Whately's companlo nshlp, was
TO make the journey To Rome.
The first token which he gave. however, OF
emancipation, was to critcise the Athanasian
creed In spirit which Whately considered
Anan sinGulary enough, too, he discovered at
this time a certain disdain for antiquity which
he was afteTwaId TO venerate as fountain Of
authority In short, be apDears to have been
drifting, about 1877. In the direction OF that lib
eralism which he subsequently stlgmHtzed $50
far concurring with hanselO as 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
suGressful issue, and therefore IL out Of place.
During the first years OF Newmans residence
M Orel he does not seem to have felt thor
ouRhly at home. The daily constitute nal To
which every Oxford man condemns himself was