The morning call., 1890-08-13
CARDINAL NEWMAN.

1t may perhaps be no exaggeration to say
that. in the death of Cardinal Newman. the
Roman Catholic Church has lost the most
influential member of the hierarchy. For
though the late DR.. Newman was only a
cardinal deacon and took no share in the
central administration of the papacy, his
reputation for learning, wisdom and purity
was so wide that in the councils of the
church his opinions commanded weight
which was vOuchSafed to the views of few
other priests. lie was man of clear head
and logical mind; he was heart and soul de-
voted to his faith; and though first and
alone all a churchman, he was at the same
time man of the world who in the fifteenth
or sixteenth century could have been a
statesman.
Into the dOctrinal controversies which led
him after twenty-five years service as min
lister of the Protestant Episcopal Church to
Join the Church of Rome il is not the prov
ince of a secular journal to enter. He was
over thirty years of age when, in cOnjunc-
ton with Dr.. Pussy, he founded that
branch of the Episcopalians known as the
High Church party, or the Tractarans
The clergymen of tina: school attracted dis
eiples by the purity of their lives, the rigor
of their devotion and the earnestness Of
their faith. They were cast in the stamp
of Ignatius Loyola, aud like that militant
ecclesiastic they drew to their banner the
ardent minds of the period, and that class
generally to which religion was not only a
reality but was the only thing worth con-
sidering in life. They joined issue with
churchmen to whom clerical duties were
matters of rontine not to be roughly OBJ
Iruded upon peoples minds, but to be recon-
ciled as far as possible with the common
pursuits of everyday existence. The great
work of the new reformers-the Tracts
for the Times''-acted like a blister on SEN
sitive souls. II reused them to the meaning
of forms and the efficacy of rites. 1t oper-
ated like bugle blast.
From the nature of things the app cal
was addressed to the cultured and refined
class. 10 lead such amovement DIR. Pusey
was too much of a recluse; it required a
high-bred, polished gentleman, moving in
aristocratic circles and familiar with the
impulses and instincts of society. DR.. New
man was such man. He became the rec
ognized leader of the sect, which ought to
have been denominated NewmaniteS in
preference to Puseyites.
The spread of ritualism in the Anglican
Church narrowed the gap between Catnoli-
cism and Episcopalianism. The extreme
Puseyites got so near to the Catholics that
some Of them we're sure 10 0yerstep the di-
Yiding line. Dr. Pusey stood by his old
church to the day of his death. But Dr.
Newman crossed the line, and was received
into the Roman communion. His CONVEX
sion was estimated at its proper value by
the authorities at Rome; post after post
was conferred upon him, and each new
duty which be was called upon to discharge
raised him in the estimation of his superb
ors. His preferment eliminated in his ele-
walton to the rank of Cardinal, just eleven
years ago.
1t is not the priest alone, however, whom
history viii remember, but the broad
minded clear-headed and big-hearted citi-
zen. Cardinal Newman was essentially a
friend Of the people. In fighting their bat
ties he knew no sect nor creed. He was
profoundly convinced that the question Of
labor was the question of the day, and so
universal was the confidence in his wisdom
and his inIpartiality that he was constantly
called upon to arbitrate between working
men and employers, though both were
largely Protestant. When appeals from
distant countries were sent by labor organ
izations to the Pope, his c0unsels were ever
in demand; during large part of the last
decade he was on the road between England
and Rome. His intellect was so subtle and
his mental resources so extensive that he
often solved labor problems which had
been abandoned By authorities on political
economy; and his decisions were final, be-
cause every one knew that his reasonings
were sound and his motives pure. England
could have better afforded TO lose many of
her foremost men rather than John Henry
Newman