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the little boy came in from the farmyard; and his mother asked

him whether he had seen the peacock。 'I said yes; and the nurse

said no; and my mother made me kneel down and beg God to forgive

me for not speaking the truth。' At the age of four the child was

told by a cousin of the age of six that 'God had a book in which

He wrote down everything we did wrong。 This so terrified me for

days that I remember being found by my mother sitting under a

kind of writing…table in great fear。 I never forgot this at any

time in my life;' the Cardinal tells us; 'and it has been a great

grace to me。' When he was nine years old he 'devoured the

Apocalypse; and I never all through my life forgot the 〃lake that

burneth with fire and brimstone〃。 That verse has kept me like an

audible voice through all my life; and through worlds of danger

in my youth。'



At Harrow the worlds of danger were already around him; but yet

he listened to the audible voice。 'At school and college I never

failed to say my prayers; so far as memory serves me; even for a

day。' And he underwent another religious experience: he read

Paley's Evidences。 'I took in the whole argument;' wrote Manning;

when he was over seventy; 'and I thank God that nothing has ever

shaken it。' Yet on the whole he led the unspiritual life of an

ordinary schoolboy。 We have glimpses of him as a handsome lad;

playing cricket; or strutting about in tasselled Hessian top…

boots。 And on one occasion at least he gave proof of a certain

dexterity of conduct which deserved to be remembered。 He went out

of bounds; and a master; riding by and seeing him on the other

side of a field; tied his horse to a gate; and ran after him。 The

astute youth outran the master; fetched a circle; reached the

gate; jumped on to the horse's back and rode off。 For this he was

very properly chastised; but; of what use was chastisement? No

whipping; however severe; could have eradicated from little

Henry's mind a quality at least as firmly planted in it as his

fear of Hell and his belief in the arguments of Paley。



It had been his father's wish that Manning should go into the

Church; but the thought disgusted him; and when he reached

Oxford; his tastes; his ambitions; his successes at the Union;

all seemed to mark him out for a political career。 He was a year

junior to Samuel Wilberforce; and a year senior to Gladstone。 In

those days the Union was the recruiting…ground for young

politicians; Ministers came down from London to listen to the

debates; and a few years later the Duke of Newcastle gave

Gladstone a pocket borough on the strength of his speech at the

Union against the Reform Bill。 To those three young men; indeed;

the whole world lay open。 Were they not rich; well…connected; and

endowed with an infinite capacity for making speeches? The event

justified the highest expectations of their friends; for the

least distinguished of the three died a bishop。 The only danger

lay in another direction。 'Watch; my dear Samuel;' wrote the

elder Wilberforce to his son; 'watch with jealousy whether you

find yourself unduly solicitous about acquitting yourself;

whether you are too much chagrined when you fail; or are puffed

up by your success。 Undue solicitude about popular estimation is

a weakness against which all real Christians must guard with the

utmost jealous watchfulness。 The more you can retain the

impression of your being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses of

the invisible world; to use the scripture phrase; the more you

will be armed against this besetting sin。' But suddenly it seemed

as if such a warning could; after all; have very little relevance

to Manning; for; on his leaving Oxford; the brimming cup was

dashed from his lips。 He was already beginning to dream of

himself in the House of Commons; the solitary advocate of some

great cause whose triumph was to be eventually brought about by

his extraordinary efforts; when his father was declared a

bankrupt; and all his hopes of a political career came to an end

forever。



It was at this time that Manning became intimate with a pious

lady; the sister of one of his College friends; whom he used to

describe as his Spiritual Mother。 He made her his confidante; and

one day; as they walked together in the shrubbery; he revealed

the bitterness of the disappointment into which his father's

failure had plunged him。 She tried to cheer him; and then she

added that there were higher aims open to him which he had not

considered。 'What do you mean?' he asked。 'The kingdom of

Heaven;' she answered; 'heavenly ambitions are not closed against

you。' The young man listened; was silent; and said at last that

he did not know but she was right。 She suggested reading the

Bible together; and they accordingly did so during the whole of

that Vacation; every morning after breakfast。 Yet; in spite of

these devotional exercises; and in spite of a voluminous

correspondence on religious subjects with his Spiritual Mother;

Manning still continued to indulge in secular hopes。 He entered

the Colonial Office as a supernumerary clerk; and it was only

when the offer of a Merton Fellowship seemed to depend upon his

taking orders that his heavenly ambitions began to assume a

definite shape。 Just then he fell in love with Miss Deffell;

whose father would have nothing to say to a young man without

prospects; and forbade him the house。 It was only too true; what

WERE the prospects of a supernumerary clerk in the Colonial

Office? Manning went to Oxford and took orders。 He was elected to

the Merton Fellowship; and obtained through the influence of the

Wilberforces a curacy in Sussex。 At the last moment he almost

drew back。 'I think the whole step has been too precipitate;' he

wrote to his brother…in…law。 'I have rather allowed the instance

of my friends; and the allurements of an agreeable curacy in many

respects; to get the better of my sober judgment。' His vast

ambitions; his dreams of public service; of honours; and of

power; was all this to end in a little country curacy 'agreeable

in many respects'? But there was nothing for it; the deed was

done; and the Fates had apparently succeeded very effectively in

getting rid of Manning。 All he could do was to make the best of a

bad business。



Accordingly; in the first place; he decided that he had received

a call from God 'ad veritatem et ad seipsum'; and; in the second;

forgetting Miss Deffell; he married his rector's daughter。 Within

a few months the rector died; and Manning stepped into his shoes;

and at least it could be said that the shoes were not

uncomfortable。 For the next seven years he fulfilled the

functions of a country clergyman。 He was energetic and devout; he

was polite and handsome; his fame grew in the diocese。 At last he

began to be spoken of as the probable successor to the old

Archdeacon of Chichester。 When Mrs。 Manning prematurely died; he

was at first inconsolable; but he found relief in the distraction

of redoubled work。 How could he have guessed that one day he

would come to number that loss among 'God's special mercies? Yet

so it was to be。 In after years; the memory of his wife seemed to

be blotted from his mind; he never spoke of her; every letter;

every record; of his married life he destroyed; and when word was

sent to him that her grave was falling into ruin: 'It is best

so;' the Cardinal answered; 'let it be。 Time effaces all things。'

But; when the grave was yet fresh; the young Rector would sit

beside it; day after day; writing his sermons。



II



IN the meantime; a series of events was taking place in another

part of England; which was to have a no less profound effect upon

Manning's history than the merciful removal of his wife。 In the

same year in which he took up his Sussex curacy; the Tracts for

the Times had begun to appear at Oxford。 The 'Oxford Movement';

in fact; had started on its course。 The phrase is still familiar;

but its meaning has become somewhat obscured both by the lapse of

time and the intrinsic ambiguity of the subjects connected with

it。 Let us borrow for a moment the wings of Historic Imagination;

and; hovering lightly over the Oxford of the thirties; take a

rapid bird's…eye view。



For many generations the Church of England had slept the sleep of

the。。fortable。 The sullen murmurings of dissent; the loud

battle…cry of Revolution; had hardly disturbed her slumbers。

Portly divines subscribed with a sigh or a smile to the Thirty…

nine Articles; sank quietly into easy living; rode gaily to

hounds of a morning as gentlemen should; and; as gentlemen

should; carried their two bottles of an evening。 To be in the

Church was in fact simply to pursue one of those professions

which Nature and Society had decided were proper to gentlemen and

gentlemen alone。 The fervours of piety; the zeal of Apostolic

charity; the enthusiasm of self…renunciation these things were

all very well in their way and in th

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