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reason that I should prefer the Pope's acting himself。'



But the Holy Father himself was doubting。 In his indecision; he

ordered a month of prayers and masses。 The suspense grew and

grew。 Everything seemed against Manning。 The whole English

episcopate was opposed to him; he had quarrelled with the

Chapter; he was a convert of but few years' standing; even the

congregated Cardinals did not venture to suggest the appointment

of such a man。 But suddenly; the Holy Father's doubts came to an

end。 He heard a voice a mysterious inward voice whispering

something in his ear。 'Mettetelo li! Mettetelo li!'  the voice

repeated; over and over again。 Mettetelo li! It was an

inspiration; and Pius IX; brushing aside the recommendations of

the Chapter and the deliberations of the Cardinals; made Manning;

by a Pontifical act; Archbishop of Westminster。



Monsignor Talbot's felicity was complete; and he took occasion in

conveying his congratulations to his friend; to make some

illuminating reflections upon the great event。 'MY policy

throughout;' he wrote; 'was never to propose you DIRECTLY to the

Pope; but; to make others do so; so that both you and I can

always say that it was not I who induced the Holy Father to name

you which would lessen the weight of your appointment。 This I

say; because many have said that your being named was all my

doing。 I do not say that the Pope did not know that I thought you

the only man eligible as I took care to tell him over and over

again what was against all the other candidates and in

consequence; he was almost driven into naming you。 After he had

named you; the Holy Father said to me; 〃What a diplomatist you

are; to make what you wished come to pass!〃



'Nevertheless;' concluded Monsignor Talbot; 'I believe your

appointment was specially directed by the Holy Ghost。'



Manning himself was apparently of the same opinion。 'My dear

Child;' he wrote to a lady penitent; 'I have in these last three

weeks felt as if our Lord had called me by name。 Everything else 

has passed out of my mind。 The firm belief that I have long had

that the Holy Father is the most supernatural person I have ever

seen has given me this feeling more deeply。 'Still; I feel as if

I had been brought; contrary to all human wills; by the Divine

Will; into an immediate relation to our Divine Lord。'



'If indeed;' he wrote to Lady Herbert; 'it were the will of our

Divine Lord to lay upon me this heavy burden; He could have done

it in no way more strengthening and consoling to me。 To receive

it from the hands of His Vicar; and from Pius IX; and after long

invocation of the Holy Ghost; and not only without human

influences; but in spite of manifold aria powerful human

opposition; gives me the last strength for such a cross。'





VI



MANNING'S appointment filled his opponents with alarm。 Wrath and

vengeance seemed to be hanging over them; what might not be

expected from the formidable enemy against whom they had

struggled for so long; and who now stood among them armed with

archiepiscopal powers and invested with the special confidence of

Rome? Great was their amazement; great was their relief; when

they found that their dreaded master breathed nothing but

kindness; gentleness; and conciliation。 The old scores; they

found; were not to be paid off; but to be wiped out。 The new

archbishop poured forth upon every side all the tact; all the

courtesy; all the dignified graces of a Christian magnanimity。 It

was impossible to withstand such treatment。 Bishops who had spent

years in thwarting him became his devoted adherents; even the

Chapter of Westminster forgot its hatred。 Monsignor Talbot was

extremely surprised。 'Your greatest enemies have entirely come

round;' he wrote。 'I received the other day a panegyric of you

from Searle。 This change of feeling I cannot attribute to

anything but the Holy Ghost。' Monsignor Talbot was very fond of

the Holy Ghost; but; so far; at any rate as Searle was concerned;

there was another explanation。 Manning; instead of dismissing

Searle from his position of 'oeconomus' in the episcopal

household; had kept him onat an increased salary; and the poor

man; who had not scrupled in the days of his pride to call

Manning a thief; was now duly grateful。



As to Dr。 Errington; he gave an example of humility and

submission

by at once withdrawing into a complete obscurity。 For years the

Archbishop of Trebizond; the ejected heir to the See of

Westminster; laboured as a parish priest in the

Isle of Man。 He nursed no resentment in his heart; and; after a

long and edifying life of peace and silence; he died in 1886; a

professor of theology at Clifton。



It might be supposed that Manning could now feel that his triumph

was complete。 His position was secure; his power was absolute;

his prestige was daily growing。 Yet there was something that

irked him still。 As he cast his eyes over the Roman Catholic

community in England; he was aware of one figure which; by virtue

of a peculiar eminence; seemed to challenge the supremacy of his

own。 That figure was Newman's。



Since his conversion; Newman's life had been a long series of

misfortunes and disappointments。 When he had left the Church of

England; he was its most distinguished; its most revered member;

whose words; however strange; were listened to with profound

attention; and whose opinions; however dubious; were followed in

all their fluctuations with an eager and indeed a trembling

respect。 He entered the Church of Rome; and found himself

forthwith an unimportant man。 He was received at the Papal Court

with a politeness which only faintly concealed a total lack of

interest and understanding。 His delicate mind; with its

refinements; its hesitations; its complexitieshis soft;

spectacled; Oxford manner; with its half…effeminate diffidence…

such things were ill calculated to impress a throng of busy

Cardinals and Bishops; whose days were spent amid the practical

details of ecclesiastical organisation; the long…drawn

involutions of papal diplomacy; and the delicious bickerings of

personal intrigue。 And when; at last; he did succeed in making

some impression upon these surroundings; it was no better; it was

worse。 An uneasy suspicion gradually arose; it began to dawn upon

the Roman authorities that Dr。 Newman was a man of ideas。 Was it

possible that Dr。 Newman did not understand that ideas in Rome

were; to say the least of it; out of place? Apparently; he did

not nor was that all; not content with having ideas; he

positively seemed anxious to spread them。 When that was known;

the politeness in high places was seen to be wearing decidedly

thin。 His Holiness; who on Newman's arrival had graciously

expressed the wish to see him 'again and again'; now; apparently;

was constantly engaged。 At first Newman supposed that the growing

coolness was the result of misapprehension; his Italian was

faulty; Latin was not spoken at Rome; his writings had only

appeared in garbled translations。 And even Englishmen had

sometimes found his arguments difficult to follow。 He therefore

determined to take the utmost care to make his views quite clear;

his opinions upon religious probability; his distinction between

demonstrative and circumstantial evidence; his theory of the

development of doctrine and the aspects of ideasthese and many

other matters; upon which he had written so much; he would now

explain in the simplest language。 He would show that there was

nothing dangerous in what he held; that there was a passage in De

Lugo which supported him that Perrone; by maintaining that the

Immaculate Conception could be defined; had implicitly admitted

one of his main positions; and that his language about Faith had

been confused; quite erroneously; with the fideism of M。 Bautain。



Cardinal Barnabo; Cardinal Reisach; Cardinal Antonelli; looked at

him with their shrewd eyes and hard faces; while he poured into

their ears which; as he had already noticed with distress; were

large and not too cleanhis careful disquisitions; but; it was

all in vain they had clearly never read De Lugo or Perrone; and

as for M。 Bautain; they had never heard of him。 Newman; in

despair;

fell back upon St。 Thomas Aquinas; but; to his horror; he

observed

that St。 Thomas himself did not mean very much to the Cardinals。

With a sinking heart; he realised at last the painful truth: it

was not the nature of his views; it was his having views at all;

that was objectionable。 He had hoped to devote the rest of his

life to the teaching of Theology; but what sort of Theology could

he teach which would be acceptable to such superiors? He left

Rome; and settled down in Birmingham as the head of a small

community of Oratorians。 He did not complain; it was God's will; 

it was better so。 He would watch and pray。



But God's will was not quite so simple as that。 Was it right;

after all; that a man with Newman's in

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