New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-12
ABBOTT VERSUS NEWMAN.
THE LATEST ECCLESIASTICAL SENSATION.

ccccslastlcaI miracles. By Edwin A. Abbott. Fec
ond edition. Emo PIP. 81. Macmillan " Co.
II was inevitable that a reaction should follow the
| wave Of cuogy which slgnalized Cardinal Newmans
DEATH and the very enthusiasm of his disciples ana
followers prcciptaed this reaction by calling attention
I'm a challenging spirit TO his literary remains and their
fitness for ethical and educational helps Tho puDca-
ton OF his early letters and memoirs also tended III INC
same direction. by refreshing the public memory con-
corning the Tractarlan movement, and perhaps eSpe
cally by laying open magazine OF facts DeohiIy "Po"
the most vulnerable parts 0: the great Cardinals char
| actor For among these early letters were not few
which In effect pointed examples and illustrations
of a mode of reasoning ethical and other qucSuol9
so tortuous, supersubtlc and ambiguous as 10 Ta'o
anew the gravest considerations in regard 10 ie ce0
OF snch ratocinaton upon teachings 0f recognize"
leader Of men, Cardinal Newman as viii douDuess W
remembered Is not the only distinguished modern VINO
has been charged with habit Of speech ana W'lui.s
which might under conceivable circumstances DC guam
fed a dlsagenuous. Indeed 1t has long been aSserVod
that whole theological system Is based upon Pri'0
pies which, when applied to secular affairs las they '
doubt often are) receive harsh and denunciatoy aP
pcllaves But tie Cardinals personal character was
so exalted noble and pure, that his sterhesu Io
always shrank from imputng 10 him the lo1lcai linpu
tions Ct their charges against his works.
In the circumstances however, 1t was to be expec'eu
that the effort made by some of his friends 10 CONVEX
his writings into cult would rekinde the fire OF con
troversy What was scarcely be expected was tlao
the reaction against Newmanolatry would assume t''o
form that has been stamped upon 1t by the publication
OF the very remarkable book OF d. Abbott which Il
tho subject OF this review. 1t Is not too mich W coy
that iveler poemic has seldom seen the llgl oi '
years Informed by almost fiery zeal charactcTlheu
nv the most uncompromsing and direct statements;
written with a force cOgercy and c0mpactness whlcll
greatly enhance the effect Of its arguments lnl VI
admirable lucid and vlrile reasoning; brilliant IN Illus
tratlon and intrepid to audacty In the folo"lhS
out of its chosen lines 1t IS yet so permeated by IT,
sponsbillty in speech, insisent upon soDreV anu
sincerity that the reader whatever his peposessons Is
fascinated and held from the beginning to the emu"
| To say that DR.. Abbott has written tlGhlng ava
smashing cruqhe upon Ncwman's essay on eccleslas'
teal miracles would, indeed, be quite true, bot Dg o
means all tie truth In this second edition ISSUED only
few weeks after the appearance Of the firs new pref
ace of seventyve pages land prface to be read not
skipped replies tenchantly to the Newmantes' WHO l'h
upon the author furousy soon as the book was OUT
Mr. r. II. Hutton, who wrote life of Newman, some
time since reviewed in The Tribune, appears TO have
been the principal aggressor and accordingly smtten
hip and thigh. Dr. Abbott IS, indeed, formidable foe
When he strikes The blood is apt to follow, and le
strikes hard and often.
"Phylomythus' is, as minated more than a dis
cusson of Newmans essay ecclesiastical miracles,
though il Is full and conclusive discussion OF that
question. But 1t really deals with the ethics OF New
mans theological writings and goes beyond that too
DR.. Abbott himself says in his new preface MY DOCK
is intended as an attack not against Newman himself
but against the whole Of that theological system OF
safety which would pOllute the intellect with the sug
gcston that it is safe to say this and unsafe to say
| that about alleged historical facts. In answer to
some one who had reported a saying that Cardinal
| then Sr) Wseman was an INSCRIPTIONS contio
vcrsalist' Newman replied Uctter II, 324); l dare
| say he is But who Is not How strange an avowal
almost amounting to condemnation And yet, is it
| Il moi fact
that men are expected TO argue with scrupuous honesty
about Thucydides Aristotle but not about the facts
Of the Bible or the history of the Christian Church
Nv war; then is not with Newman but with the system
which Newman in these words (perhapS unconscOuSB)
| condemns
This extract will perhaps give the reader some FAINT
idea Of Dr. Abbotts AIM but it can give no notion Oh
| the spirit with which that aim is followed An Cd
vous objection to controversies projected across tc
grave is met by the explicit statement that the autlo
| had never read Newman's essay on eccleSiasucal
miracle; during the life of the Cardinal. Having read
II he felt that ii necessary TO SAY something III
censure of IT, and hence this volume which Incidentally
touches also upon the Grammar Of Assent ana upon
| some Of the sermons.
| To understand the full scope and bearing OF DIT
Abbott's argument perhaps 1t would be well 1Or inc Ill
tcndnp reader 10 turn first to tho chapters and para
graphs which treat of Newman's casuistry under the
heads "Lubrcatono and Oscillation" The first IS
fern applied to the Cardinals method Of preparing his
readers for the acceptance OF false conclusion Inc
second refers to his alleged practice Of beating bacR
ward and forward after the manner OF yacht IN
hcad.wlnd and thus by degrees approaching INC pohV
upOn which his aim bad been liked from the start
making small concessions TO reason that he might the
easier enforce large exactons from creduy, and pa
rodnr a spcciOis show of fairness IN order that he
| might the more surely impose unwarranable conciu-
| sions upon his victims. These methods, Dr. ADDot1
contends belong to peculiar class OF eccIcslaSuc;u
rhetoric and the art Of assimilation or drawing paTlil
els Il of and among them The lubricator IN this case
AZ least IS supposed. 10 have deceived himself; he Is
NOT charged with conscious deception And the power
NJ seIfdereption thinks the Doctor is the most I'M
norsnt qualification OF ALL for, shaving deceived
Yourself you the more perfectly and artlstcally de-
ccve Others No artist. and therefore no lubricator
on he so truly artistic as when he entirely c0nceas
his art not only from Others but even from himself,
| by being-for the time at eaSt-unconscious OF it
For the purpose of ecclesiastical rhetoric contempt
for logic IS perhaps essential Of the other Qualifca
tions an artistic power of wOrshadng is good; mind
bent on foregone conclusion Is perhaps better; but
perfect power of scfdeceptOn Is unquestonably the
| best OF the three
We cannot undertake TO synOpsze the argument Of
| DR. Abbott on Newman's positions regarding Ecclesl-
| astical Miracles for the examination Is minute and
detailed and will not bear abridemont cOndcnsa-
ton His contention IS that the Cardinal reasons dis
| lngenuously nlogicaly and sophistcally about the
| whole question, ana this he maintains by careful
ANALYSIS of the essay In all its parts As critique
II IS an admirable piece Of work, and we shall be con-
sderablv surprised if the consensus OF Intelligent
oplnion up0n IL IS not 70 the effect that Newmans
whole cdce of reasoning Is demolished aud the futty
of his scrpenne casustry fully exposed We have
said that the critlque trencaut. That word perhaps,
by association conveys TOO much the impression OF mere
bludgcon work. There Is really nothing Of that kind
I'm Dr. Abbotts book II Is terribly In earnest. Of
| that tho reader will be convinced by the first half
dozen pages. But the feeling which inspires II Is not
10 be mistaken for momeDt 1t Is the righteous In
! dIgnotlon of man who believes that ones "yea"
| should be yea and his nay" nay upon en-
countcrng controversalist whose methods are such
that IL might almost be suspected he had no conscience
| That indeed Dr. Abbott effectively chlrgcs-nOt pre-
ciscly against Newman-but against the system which