New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-12
III l..

\ year later he began 10 near conf SONS. / ne
penitents all wanted to go to Rome. and he was
most successful in preventing them, even when
he came himself to believe secretly that the
Church Of Rome the only true Church. Dur
ing these years. in fact: Manning really lived a
double life. His beliefs side and his
interests were on the other He was man who
swayed and moulded by external cir
cumstances He was an opportunist. often. We
believe. without knowing it, who made OPP.
portunism seem the eternal truth Of all the
ages His best work was always done when Re
standing in the centre Of the stage. IL
lumned by the limeight Of publicity, and listen
ing to the noisy applause Of the galleries. To
be successful was the supreme end and aim Of
his life. He loved to be in "the whirl of the
actual" and to men ard women stepping
stones for his own advancement.
We have not space to go into further details
Of Manning's last years in the Anglican Church,
except to say that h, continued 10 the last 10
play double part. sts nding up in public for
Anglicanism, and in private confessing his dis
belief IN IT, That such a course was essentially
dishonest cannot be questioned, hut it is plain
that Manning himself did not think it dishonest.
for he gave his biographer all the documents
that proved it. The case is very well summed
up by Mr.. Gladstone, who on learning the facts
lOI the iiSl tlHIt, 4 lew illiltfiS dSp, sdIu
won't say Manning was insincere: God forbid.
But he was not simple ami Straightforward"
The fact is that Manning was all through his
l.fe, so wrapped up in himself that his moral
perceptions became b!unted. 1t never hard
for him to find plenty of good arguments for a
course of conduct that would advance the inter-
ests of Manning
The immediate ause Ct his conversion to Rome
Gorharn judgement which N
tion OF State supremacy in the Church In matters
pertaining to the faith. There is no evidence
that he ever took any interest in the doctrinal
revival OF the oxford movement The Papacy
as the centre of unity was the dogma that at
tracted him to the Roman Church, and through
out the whole Of his career in the Roman Church
II was the one dogma which he especially loved
to champion. At the time Of his conversion
Wiseman the Cardinal Archbishop Of West
minister, and was engaged in a fierce conflict
with the English Catholics. most of whom were
Low Church" or Gallcan Catholics. while Wise
an Cltramontane Both the principles
and the interests of Manning led him to side
with Wiseman. whose faithful henchman he at
once became. This earned for him the cordial
detestation Of the English Catholics, one Of
whom said, Il hate that man: he Is such for
ward piece" But Wiseman. with Rome behind
him, was immeasurably more important than the
English Catholics. and Manning took good care
that not only Wseman but Rome should be
fully Informed as TO his doings. He was able 10
do this through Monsignor Talbot, English
man. who was the Pope's private chamberlain.
and who for years, as the correspondence between
him and Manning shows, worked" various peo-
pie in Rome. including the Pope himself in the
interests OF Manning. Indeed. it may be said
that almost the whole Of Mannngs career in
the Church of Rome a game of ecclesiastical
intrigue, a game which he loved above every
thing else. He found many others In the Church
adopts in the same game, but in justice to Man.
ming 1t must be admitted that he was easily
able TO beat most OF them. In fact. he at
times so INSCRIPTIONS that he scandalized even
the case-hardened Italian Cardinals. The impress
sion produced by this correspondence between
Manning and Talbot Is most painful one for
1t Is almost wholly record Of petty chcane and
double dealing unreeved by any suggestion OF
noble motives or lofty ideals. Each of the writ
ers is revealed as stabbing in the dark men upon
whom he fawned in public.
Manning's influence over Wiseman soon be-