MORE TITLED CONVERTS.
EARL GHOSVENOR AND THE DTJKE OP LEEDS BECOME CATHOLICS.
The following letter from London appeared in the ' N. Y. Graphic* a short time ago : —
The following paragraph appeared a few days ago in 'Vanity Fair,' a London paper : —
" Society is greatly exercised by the report that> Dukedom is gravitating towards.the Catholic Church." And in the Church 'Herald/ (the Church 'Herald, I may explain, is the organ of the so-called " Catholic party " in the Church of England) the following statement was made :
" Another noble family— recently moved to the highest grade in the peerage — is about to lose its son and heir, who becomes a convert to the Church of Eome, if he has not already actually seceeded. Mr Carey-Ehves, a landed proprietor in the Midland counties, and recently High Sheriff of his shire, has, with his wife and family, likewise joined the Anglo.Eoman communion; and, from what we hear from quarters which are well informed, there can be little doubt that another large and influential in the same direction is imminent."
From information which. I have received, I am able to say that these statements are all quite true, and to give some interesting particulars relating thereto. No careful observer of events ought to be surprised at the accessions which the Church of Koine continually wins to herself in this kingdom. Few are aware, however of the extent of these accessions. In the diocese of Westminster there are exactly one hundred Roman Catholic Churches, of which the greater part are within the Metropolitan District. lam told that all these churches are inconveniently crowded with worshippers, and it is a fact that new churches are yearly built and filled. as fast as they are opened. In many of the London churches those of the Jesuits in Farm street, the Italian clrurch at Hatton Garden, the Carmelite church in Kensington, the Church of the Angels in Bayswater, the Oratory in Kensington and the Procathedral, for instance — it is impossible to rent a seatj and on Sunday morning, after these churches have been filled again and again at Low Masses, the crowds who go them to hear High' Mass fill them from the altar-rails to the doors. These facts show how the Church has drawn to herself the people of the lower and *>• middle classes. But she also catches in her net many o f the upper
ten thousand, and, as -the paragraphs which. I have quoted show, there has just been an unusually large and rich haul of these golden fish. It would lead me too far afield were I descant upon the causes of this, but they may be roughly sketched as follows : Since 1870, a variety of causes have compelled an unusual amount of attention to he directed towards the Roman Church. The proclamation of the infallibility of the Pope challenged the attention of the whole world j the invasion of Borne and the abolition of the temporal power rivetted this attention j the course of events in Europe, and especially in Germany, continued to excite it ; the spectacle of the Church despoiled and persecuted, but bold and uncompromising, commanded admiration and engendered sympathy ; and, perhaps, more Ipotent fch.an all else, the conviction that the Church represented the only principles of true conservatism and anti-revolu-tionism, acted strongly upon the minds of that large class of Englishmen who are conservative to the backbone. To all this was added the moral effect of the deplorable dissensions in their own. Established Church — the spectacle of one party therein declaring that they were " Catholic," and teaching every Roman Catholic dogma, except that of the Papal supremacy; of another party, headed by the bishops, asserting that their church was *' Protestant," and that the doctrines tanght "by their brethren were idolatrous j and of a third party, led by men like Dean Stanley, preaching doctrines that could scarcely be distinguished from rationalation and throwing doubt on the inspiration of the Bible, the apostolic succession, and the efficacy of the sacraments. These things, and others I need not stop to enumerate, have worked powerfully on the English mind; they have driven many into infidelity j they have led others to Rome. There is reason to believe that the stampede in tne latter direction will continue and become really formidable. But now for the particulars concerning the notable conversions above mentioned. The "son and heir" of the "noble family" recently moved to the highest grade in the peerage, " who becomes a convert to the Church of Borne," is Earl Grosvenor, the eldest son of the Marquis, as you will remember, having been made a duke a few months ago. Earl Grosvenor is 21 years of age. At his baptism in 1853, the Queen herself stood sponsor for him in person. He was educated at Oxford, and there displayed an -unusual sobriety and elevation of mind, characteristics which he has since manifested in a remarkable degree. At Oxford his most intimate friend and associate -was a young Roman Catholic gentleman, and this association probably gave to his thoughts the first bent in the direction they have since taken. His father is still comparatively young— he is in his fiftieth year — and, as all the world knows, he is the richest nobleman in England. But this wealth, vast as it now is, mil be almost doubled in the course of the next twenty years. He owns nearly the whole of 'Westminster, and as the long leases on which much of the property is held will fall in before the end of the present century, the income arising therefrom will be greatly increased. So far as ■wealth, station, and influence go, no man in all England would be of greater value to the Chruch of Borne than this young nobleman. The duke who is also about to "go over" is none other than " his Grace, Gteorge Godolphin Osbome, eight Duke of Leeds, and a baronet, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire." The Duke is 72 years old, and is a widower. The Duchess of Leeds, who died not long ago, and of whom I need say nothing to American readers, was the wife of his cousin, whom he succeeded, on his death, without children, in 1859. She, as all her illustrious American family, was a Catholic, and the present Duke, -who became a widower twenty-two years ago, was always rather prepossessed in favor of the old religion. The Duke came to town and put himself under the instruction of Father Dalgairns, of the Oratory, who had been the confessor of the late Duchess, and to whom, by the way, she left as a legacy a large sum of money and a number of precious relics. In due time the Duke found himself ready to embrace the Catholic faith ; he made his first confession, was baptised, and received his first communion*
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New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 85, 12 December 1874, Page 9
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1,143MORE TITLED CONVERTS. New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 85, 12 December 1874, Page 9
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