CARDINAL MANNING.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 117, 23 July 1875, Page 7

CARDINAL MANNING.

"An Aeohbishop op the leish."

2fon Angli Sed They are not Angles but angels," said a famous young monk of Rome, so many centuries ago that the story is now lost in the twilight of fable. We all have heard the story, and there are many of us who have seen beautiful pictures immortalizing the seene — the slave market of semi-pagan Rome, the slave driver and Mb fair-haired, blue-eyed victims, and the pitying young monk, resolving on what he would do when G-od called him to a higher positiion. The years passed and saw the young monk into the chair of Peter, with power to send and call. With a mission from him, the monk Augustine brought to Canterbury the good message which was to make the Angles angels. The centuries have followed the years and the Monk-Pope, wearing the crown of monastic holiness as well as the Papal mitre, has passed to history as a canonized saint. His name — great even among the Papal G-regories and they were all famous and mighty men — has been jointly given with that of St. Andrew to a famous old church on the Ccalian hill. Now, after long centuries, over which we cannot linger, there returns to Rome from within the shadow of that Canterbury, which Gregory's Augustine made famous and holy, an English prelate who, henceforth, will, by the highest title, make the old church of St. Gregory his special care. A dospatch brings the intelligence from Rome, that there, as elsewhere, it has been universally felt, that the most appropriate of all the cardinalitial titles for the new Cardinal Manning, of Westminister, will be that of SS. Andrew and Gregory, once the property of St. Gregory the Great, and the spot from which St. Augustine, of Canterbury, and his companions went out to evangelize Britain. Of all tho strange events of these eventful centuries there are few stranger than this, and fewer still more sug- . gestivo of a hi-torical retrospect of the vicissitudes of the old Church of Rome and its eternal supremacy, amid them all, over the gates of hell. It is not yet fivo half decades since the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord, Henry Edward, Cardinal^ Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, now one or the " Mngea of the Universal Church," " a member of tho Papal body," a bulwark and shield of the Tower of David, was not merely not a Cu*'<olic but was an enemy of the faith and a leader among the dire* c foes of that Roman Church whose message sent from the Codian hill, was at one time the faith of an island which claimed for itself the glory of being the "dowry of Mary." The conversion of Saul the persecutor and reviler, into Paul ihc Apostle of the Gentileßjias almost its parallel in tho transformation of the Archdeacon of Chichester in the English Chnrch into the humble priest of the Oblates of St. Charles in the Mother Church of Rome, in whose service he was to reach tho highest rewards for the very highest labors. Yet the day is within the memory of men when he declaied that "it would seem to be tie will of heaven that the Roman Pontificate may never again be set up in this church and realm." He is to- day laboring to accomplish tho will of heaven which

he knows now is very different from what he thought then, as he himself said the other day in the English College of Rome. There comes to him an honor indeed, and he rejoices that as it comes, it comes in the 'hour of peril and adversity and not in the hours of triumph. He is put forward to lead a forlorn hope in the sight of the' world, but it is a hope wMch has the promise of victory. His own account of the earliest stage of his conversion is this : " I was at Rome., visiting the museums, the ruins, the churches, following the ceremonies like all my compatriots, studying th# city in all its aspects. I never had even the shadow of a doubt of the truth of the Protestant faith, of which I was a minister ; never even the most distant thoughts that I could change from that religion. Nothing that I had seen had made the slightest impression in. that direction, and I was as far from Catholicity as when .quitting England. One morning I entered the church of St. Louis, of the French. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed in one of the altars, probably for a novena. Nothing could be more simple, some candles were lit, the clergy were in simple choir habits kiieeling upon the ground, there were a few of the faithful in the nave. There was a great distance from this to the Pontifical offices of St. Peter's but it was G-od's moment. I felt in the bottom of my heart a mysterious commotion, half light, half attraction, and for the first time in my life it seemed to me that, perhaps here was the truth, and that there would be nothing impossible, in my one day becoming a Catholic. It was not yet conversion, it was I repeat the first appeal of God, as yet, from very far off. I have not been unfaithful j I have prayed; I have sought; I have studied with all the ardor, and all the sincerity of which I was capable, light every "day increased and grace at last crowned the work." Never was there a conversion to Rome which presented to the convert greater temporal disadvantages. There is probably no temporal position so attractive to the scholar and the ecclesiastic as that which Archdeacon Manning held within his control. He was a dignitary of a great body called a Church, he had wealth, influence, position. He had genius, friends and reputation. The loss of all these was assured by his adhesion to the doctrines- of the despised and hated Church of Rome, but as he wrote in the paragraph we have quoted "he was not unfaithful " -to his graces. Henry Edward Manning is the son of a London merchant who was of sufficient social and commercial importance to have reached a seat in the English Legislature. - ' He was born in 1808 at Totterage, in Herefordshire. At a suitable age he was sent to the famous public school of Harrow, whence he proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1830 with distinguished honors. Among his contemporaries was William " Ewart G-ladstone, who graduated the year following with even higher scholastic honors. But Manning in the debating hall, in the University field sports, in the hundred ways in which the youth of England are so nobly educated in colleges which were the creation of Catholic times, stood forth" even more eminent than he was in the mere lecture room or examination hall. He had also among his intimate friends William Palmer, who also subsequently became a Catholic. After graduation the future cardinal became a fellow of Merton College, and took " orders " in the Anglican Establishment. On leaving the University- he married Caroline, fourth daughter of the late Rev. John Sargent, rector of Wool-Lavington, Sussex, and sister of Mrs. Wilberforce, wife of the Rev. Samuel Wilberforce, who in the first instance became Bishop of Oxford, before hie translation . to the See of "Winchester. Both ladies have been for many years deceased, and their distinguished partners widowers. Mrs. Manning died puerjperio primo, leaving no surviving issue. She had three sisters, of whom two became Catholics. Upon the death of his father-in-law he was presented to the living of Wool-Lavington, with G-rafiham, in Sussex, by his friend and brother-in-law, the proprietor of the estate, to whom it descended, upon the demise of the Rev. Mr. Sargent. It was during his residence at Lavmgton he preached and published a series of sermons which to this day are in repute in the English Church. The village church is a small structure in the early English style, and capable of holding about 300 persons. The seats a 1 c open and of unpolished oak ; there is an oak pulpit on the north side of the channel arch, to which the attention of visitors is directed as the one in which Archdeacon Manning preached the sermons to which we have alluded. There is an oak lectern or reading desk beneath the pulpit. Some of the stone carving of the pillars is very beautiiul, representing the ferns of the district, and a baptismal font of Petworth marble is near the entrance. Oaken stalls are placed in the choir, the floor of which is laid with encaustic tiles. In 1840 Dr. Otfce made him archdeacon of the Protestant diocese of Chichester. An archdeaconry in the Catholic hierarchical system, which the Anglicans imitate, if they do not inherit, is an exceedingly responsible position. He is the " eye of the bishop," ociilus episcopi his substitute and delegate in mosf important duties. Archdeacon. Manning made Mb position as little of a sincere as the chains of Anglicanism and the establishment would permit. In preaching, in ; advising and in visiting the poor, he was doing a good which seems to have desex*ved, as it afterwards obtained, the gift of. failh. In 184-1 ; the learned archdeacon was preacher to the University of Oxford, and : continued in that office for two years. His reputat ion and influence 1 naturally increased as lie became more and more known to the world, ■ and his talents, always of the highest order, were duly appreciated by 1 the learned who attended his sermons. In 1844 Archdeacon Manning ■was elected preacher at Lincoln's Inn Chapel, but owing to his ex- > ceedingly conservative principles, another clergyman, of more liberal 1 opinions, v as soon selected to replace him. Prom 1824 to 1860 Dr. < Manning published four volumes of sermons, which were all of them ■ remarkable for theix- beauty and elevation of style. A short time > afterwards he issued an important tieatise on tho Unity of the Church, i which lie dedicated to his iriond, Mr. W. E. Gladstone. His sermons 1 preached at Oxford were first collected in one volume in 184-1.- Few ■ men have enjoyed a greater f.mount of public affection and veneration I than Tr. Mni.nirg, ar.d this^pepiilcr ic^cul ntj.iicfctcd itself even

■whilst lie was a Protestant^ and shows how conscientiously he fulfilled his pastoral duties. In. 1850 people began to remark that Dr. Manning was preaching much less frequently than heretofore and that ho was confining himself almost entirely to his duties as a minister. When in 1850 St. Barnabas' church was consecrated everybody was amazed to hear that Dr. Manning who had promised to preach at its dedication, had refused to do so. He, however, preached once during the octave after its opening. Almost immediately afterwards he announced his intention of leaving the ministry and of re-entering the laity. He gave up his dignity of archdeacon and now styled himself simply Mr. Manning. He had some difficulty to induce the Bishop of Chichester, Dr. Gilbert, to accept his resignation but finally he was obliged to do so. Soon afterwards Dr. Manning made a spiritual retreat and shortly, afterwards was received into the Catholic Church on Passion Sunday, April 6, 1851On Palm Sunday he was confirmed by Cardinal Wiseman and then proceeded to Eome to study theology. He returned to England in 1854 and commenced an extensive career of missionary work, remarkable for its success in bringing over members from the Angti\can fold a greater number of whom it has been ascertained followed Dr. Manning than any other " seceder "in our time. In 1857 he was named Provoat of Westminster, and midsummer that year Dr. Manning established at Bayswater the congregation or community of the Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo, to whom, 1865, he dedicated his celebrated work entiled, " The Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost; or Eeason and Eevelation." Dr. Manning's style differs altogether from that of his predecessor, which was florid and diffuse, while that of the new cardinal is severely Gothic. Ho belongs thoroughly to Oxford in his pronunciation of Latin, which is the only relic remaining of his former associations and walks in. Christ Church meadows — vox et proetera nihil. In 1864 he succeeded Cardinal Wiseman in the archiepiscopal see of Westminster, having been selected directly by the Holy Father. He has ever since enjoyed most wonderful popularity. Indeed, no prelate of the Church of England is so much spoken about or ' written up ' as Archbishop Manning. He is at the head of every popular movement, the object of which is likely to meet with his approval. Since Father Matthew there has been no such temperance advocate and lecturer, and it not unfrequently occurs that His Grace has addressed twenty and thirty thousand persons assembled to hear him in the public parks and squares of London. What a career Las been his, since he took charge of the See which Wiseman had built up. To stand in shadow of his predecessor's greatness, was for a meaner man to be last in the blaze of light which still glowed from the archiepiscopal throne of Westminster. Yet if we follow him year by year, back through his decade we can see steadily increasing from the first year of his new charge, the glory of the succeßßor of Wiseman, who in his administration as a Catholic archbishop of one of the most difficult posts in the world, has afforded another evidence of the marvellous judgment of men which Pio !Nono has bo often exhibited. This year it is his work in defence of the Church, against the attacks of his old college friend ; last year it was work of the same kind, united to the labors of a crusade in behalf of the education of the Irish Catholic children iv London. Another year he is working tooth and nail — if that will express his ardent tenacity — to secure satisfactory legislation for education, and for the election of proper candidates for school boards. Still another year lie is presiding at a national Council and organizing its work. In previous yeara he stood forth at the Vatican Council as a moat earnest and strenuous advocate of those rights of the Holy See which had been most sorely injured by the English heresy and schism. In all the years he hce been enriching the English language and Catholic literature by the productions of his gifted mind. Sermons, essays, addresses, lectures, theological treaties are all pouring from the press bearing the name of Henry Edward, Archbishop of Westminster. Most useful of his literary works, it has always seemed to us, have been thoio short terse epigrammatic letters which he addresses to the London papers the morning after some slander. He. is a born journalist, who, with vigor and promptitude, nails those lies which though they have no logs are very well supplied, with wings. Having the ear of the English people he always finds a placo in the London journals, and the slanders which he has spoiled by two or three sentences are of almost weekly record. It was thus a morning or two after Gladstone's unreasonable and ill-tempered Expostulation, he got in the whole case for the accused Catholics. Of Cardinal Manning's sacerdotal zeal, of his work in the less public walks of his profession we need not speak 1 We have heard of it by word of mouth, from those who owed to him in no small degree all that will come to them of temporal or eternal happiness; we have read of it "between the lines" of newspaper articles regarding his work, we have heard it in the Irish cheer which greets him, whenever he stands among his Irish in Clerkenwell Green ; we have seen it m the grateful gleam of the Irish mother's eye, wJion Bhc recognized the friend of the exile. Let us admit with her that if it is Manning the statesman, the scholar, the journalist, the great leader of men whom we admire, it is the ascotic priest burning out lht> lamp of his life in a fever of zealous love for the poor, whom we love and venerate. The cardinal priest of SS. Gregory and Andrew on the Coelian. is to lay as Gregory the Great was of old, the rpiiitual chief of a miji y city. Thither go daily fair haired, biighl-^yud captives from a far-off island in the West. They are the captives of famine and distress, and they go to the slave markets of a city mightier and greater, more pitiless and more wicked, than the Eome of Augustine, or perhaps even of Augustus. They are not Angles hut they are angels, and the new cardinal's countrymen are not too considerate of their well being. For that ho, Englishman of the English, has found out a placo in his royal heart for these captive children and their desolate parents, there are millions throughout the world who honor his name and love his person, and who have heard -with heartfelt gratitude that he has been placed among the inthuufe councillors of Pio Nono. They do not forget that his labors for their countrymen

in London, are such as Patrick or Columkille, might have parformecf, , and that he is their father and apostle combined. Ruling one of the largest Iriah dioceses in the world — for London has as many Irish in its sorvice as either Dublin or New York— he has long been regarded, not so much for these statistical reasons, as for his affection and warm zeal in their service, as an archbishop of the Irish, more Irish than many Irishmen. — ' Catholic Review/