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his faith。 Newman's conversion; he found; had meant something

more to him than he had first realised。 It had seemed to come as

a call to the redoubling of his Anglican activities; but

supposing; in reality; it were a call towards something very

differenttowards an abandonment of those activities altogether?

It might be 'a trial'; or again it might be a 'leading'; how was

he to judge? Already; before his illness; these doubts had begun

to take possession of his mind。 'I am conscious to myself;' he

wrote in his Diary; 'of an extensively changed feeling towards

the Church of Rome 。。。 The Church of England seems to me to be

diseased: 1。 ORGANICALLY (six sub…headings)。 2。 FUNCTIONALLY

(seven subheadings) 。。。 Wherever it seems healthy; it

approximates the system of Rome。' Then thoughts of the Virgin

Mary suddenly began to assail him :



  '(1) If John the Baptist were sanctified from the womb;       

how much more the B。V。!



   (2) If Enoch and Elijah were exempted from death;        why

not the B。V。 from sin?



   (3) It is a strange way of loving the Son to slight        the

mother!'



The arguments seemed irresistible; and a few weeks later the

following entry occurs 'Strange thoughts have visited me:



(1) I have felt that the Episcopate of the Church of England is

secularised and bound down beyond hope。。。。



(2) I feel as if a light had fallen upon me。 My feeling about the

Roman Church is not intellectual。 I have intellectual

difficulties; but the great moral difficulties seem melting。



(3) Something keeps rising and saying; 〃You will end in the Roman

Church〃。'



He noted altogether twenty…five of these 'strange thoughts'。 His

mind hovered anxiously round



'(1) The Incarnation; (2) The Real Presence;       i。

Regeneration;      ii。 Eucharist; and (3) The Exaltation of S。 M。

and Saints。'



His twenty…second strange thought was as follows: 'How do I know

where I may be two years hence? Where was Newman five years ago?'



It was significant; but hardly surprising; that; after his

illness; Manning should have chosen to recuperate in Rome。 He

spent several months there; and his Diary during the whole of

that period is concerned entirely with detailed descriptions of

churches; ceremonies; and relics; and with minute accounts of

conversations with priests and nuns。 There is not a single

reference either to the objects of art or to the antiquities of

the place; but another omission was still more remarkable。

Manning had a long interview with Pius IX; and his only record of

it is contained in the bald statement: 'Audience today at the

Vatican'。 Precisely what passed on that occasion never

transpired; all that is known is that His Holiness expressed

considerable surprise on learning from the Archdeacon that the

chalice was used in the Anglican Church in the administration of

Communion。 'What!' he exclaimed; is the same chalice made use of

by everyone?' 'I remember the pain I felt;' said Manning; long

afterwards; 'at seeing how unknown we were to the Vicar of Jesus

Christ。 It made me feel our isolation。'



On his return to England; he took up once more the work in his

Archdeaconry with what appetite he might。 Ravaged by doubt;

distracted by speculation; he yet managed to maintain an outward

presence of unshaken calm。 His only confidant was Robert

Wilberforce; to whom; for the next two years; he poured forth in

a series of letters; headed 'UNDER THE SEAL' to indicate that

they contained the secrets of the confessional the whole

history of his spiritual perturbations。 The irony of his position

was singular; for; during the whole of this time; Manning was

himself holding back from the Church of Rome a host of hesitating

penitents by means of arguments which he was at the very moment

denouncing as fallacious to his own confessor。 But what else

could he do? When he received; for instance; a letter such as the

following from an agitated lady; what was he to say?



'MY DEAR FATHER IN CHRIST;



'。。。 I am sure you would pity me and like to help me; if you knew

the unhappy; unsettled state my mind is in; and the misery of

being ENTIRELY; WHEREVER I AM; with those who look upon joining

the Church of Rome as the most awful 〃fall〃 conceivable to any

one; and are devoid of the smallest comprehension of how any

enlightened person can do it。 。。。 My old Evangelical friends;

with all my deep; deep love for them; do not succeed in shaking

me in the least。 。。。



'My brother has just published a book called 〃Regeneration〃;

which all my friends are reading and highly extolling; it has a

very contrary effect to what he would desire on my mind。 I can

read and understand it all in an altogether different sense; and

the facts which he quotes about the articles as drawn up in 1536;

and again in 1552; and of the Irish articles of 1615 and 1634;

STARTLE and SHAKE me about the Reformed Church in England far

more than anything else; and have done so ever since I first saw

them in Mr。 Maskell's pamphlet (as quoted from Mr Dodsworth's)。



'I do hope you have some time and thought to pray for me still。

Mr。 Galton's letters long ago grew into short formal notes; which

hurt me and annoyed me particularly; and I never answered his

last; so; literally; I have no one to say things to and get help

from; which in one sense is a comfort when my convictions seem to

be leading me on and on; and gaining strength in spite of all the

dreariness of my lot。



'Do you know I can't help being very anxious and unhappy about

poor Sister Harriet。 I am afraid of her GOING OUT OF HER MIND。

She comforts herself by an occasional outpouring of everything to

me; and I had a letter this morning。 。。。 She says Sister May has

promised the Vicar never to talk to her or allow her to talk on

the subject with her; and I doubt whether this can be good for

her; because though she has lost her faith; she says; in the

Church of England; yet she never thinks of what she could have

faith in; and resolutely without inquiring into the question

determines riot to be a Roman Catholic; so that really; you see;

she is allowing her mind to run adrift and yet perfectly

powerless。



'Forgive my troubling you with this letter; and believe me to be

always your faithful; grateful and affectionate daughter;



'EMMA RYLE。



'P。S。 I wish I could see you once more so very much。'



How was Manning; a director of souls; and a clergyman of the

Church of England; to reply that in sober truth there was very

little to choose between the state of mind of Sister Emma; or

even of Sister Harriet; and his own? The dilemma was a grievous

one: when a soldier finds himself fighting for a cause in which

he has lost faith; it is treachery to stop; and it is treachery

to go on。



At last; in the seclusion of his library; Manning turned in 

agony to those old writings which had provided Newman with so

much instruction and assistance; perhaps the Fathers would do

something for him as well。 He ransacked the pages of St。 Cyprian

and St。 Cyril; he went through the complete works of St。 Optatus

and St。 Leo; he explored the vast treatises of Tertullian and

Justin Martyr。 He had a lamp put into his phaeton; so that he

might lose no time during his long winter drives。 There he sat;

searching St。 Chrysostom for some mitigation of his anguish;

while he sped along between the hedges to distant sufferers; to

whom he duly administered the sacraments according to the rites

of the English Church。 He hurried back to commit to his Diary the

analysis of his reflections; and to describe; under the mystic

formula of secrecy; the intricate workings of his conscience to

Robert Wilberforce。 But; alas! he was no Newman; and even the

fourteen folios of St。 Augustine himself; strange to say; gave

him very little help。



The final propulsion was to come from an entirely different

quarter。 In November; 1847; the Reverend Mr。 Gorham was presented

by the Lord Chancellor to the living of Bramford Speke in the

diocese of Exeter。 The Bishop; Dr。 Phillpotts; was a High

Churchman; and he had reason to believe that Mr。 Gorham held

evangelical opinions; he therefore subjected him to an

examination on doctrine; which took the form partly of a verbal

interrogatory; lasting thirty…eight hours; and partly of a series

of one hundred and forty…nine written questions。 At the end of

the examination he came to the conclusion that Mr。 Gorham held

heretical views on the subject of Baptismal Regeneration; and he

therefore refused to institute。  Mr。 Gorham; thereupon; took

proceedings against the Bishop in the Court of Arches。 He lost

his case; and he then appealed to the judicial Committee of the

Privy Council。



The questions at issue were taken very seriously by a large

number of persons。 In the first place; there was the question of

Baptismal Regeneration itself。 This is by no means an easy one to

disenta

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