The Civiltá was careful to remark that Dr. Newman had not withdrawn his offensive words. Others no less remarked that he had never confessed to a single point in his own statement till compelled to do so. He had published a contradiction which to ordinary Englishmen would seem to carry an almost complete denial of the whole allegation. But the Standard on April 7 published the following letter, showing that not only the substance of the allegation was correct, but also its details:—
Rome ought to be a name to lighten the heart at all times, and a Council's proper office is, when some great heresy or other evil impends, to inspire hope and confidence in the faithful; but now we have the greatest meeting which ever has been, and that at Rome, infusing into us by the accredited organs of Rome and of its partisans (such as the Civiltá, [the Armonia], the Univers, and the Tablet) little else than fear and dismay. When we are all at rest, and have no doubts, and—at least practically, not to say doctrinally—hold the Holy Father to be infallible, suddenly there is thunder in the clearest sky, and we are told to prepare for something, we know not what, to try our faith, we know not how. No impending danger is to be averted, but a great difficulty is to be created. Is this the proper work of an Œumenical Council?
As to myself personally, please God, I do not expect any trial at all; but I cannot help suffering with the many souls who are suffering, and I look with anxiety at the prospect of having to defend decisions which may not be difficult to my own private judgment, but may be most difficult to maintain logically in the face of historical facts.
What have we done to be treated as the faithful never were treated before? When has a definition de fide been a luxury of devotion and not a stern, painful necessity? Why should an aggressive, insolent faction be allowed to "make the heart of the just sad, whom the Lord hath not made sorrowful"? Why cannot we be let alone when we have pursued peace and thought no evil?
I assure you, my lord, some of the truest minds are driven one way and another, and do not know where to rest their feet—one day determining "to give up all theology as a bad job," and recklessly to believe henceforth almost that the Pope is impeccable, at another tempted to "believe all the worst which a book like Janus says," others doubting about "the capacity possessed by bishops drawn from all corners of the earth to judge what is fitting for European society," and then, again, angry with the Holy See for listening to "the flattery of a clique of Jesuits, Redemptorists, and converts."
Then, again, think of the store of pontifical scandals in the history of eighteen centuries, which have partly been poured forth and partly are still to come. What Murphy inflicted upon us in one way M. Veuillot is indirectly bringing on us in another. And then again the blight which is falling upon the multitude of Anglican Ritualists, etc., who themselves perhaps—at least their leaders—may never become Catholics, but who are leavening the various English denominations and parties (far beyond their own range) with principles and sentiments tending towards their ultimate absorption into the Catholic Church.
With these thoughts ever before me, I am continually asking myself whether I ought not to make my feelings public; but all I do is to pray those early doctors of the Church, whose intercession would decide the matter (Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Basil), to avert this great calamity.
If it is God's will that the Pope's infallibility be defined, then is it God's will to throw back "the times and moments" of that triumph which He has destined for His kingdom, and I shall feel I have but to bow my head to His adorable, inscrutable providence.
You have not touched upon the subject yourself, but I think you will allow me to express to you feelings which, for the most part, I keep to myself....
This letter could not, because of Dr. Newman's reputation, be passed over in silence. The Civiltá well knew how to utilize that reputation, yet it indicates by its mode of dealing with him that it does not set Dr. Newman so high, either intellectually or morally, as his own countrymen do. It treated the whole affair as a temptation of one of a pious imagination but a sickly judgment. The temptation was one peculiar to Englishmen—it was low spirits. An Englishman labouring under that temptation would read the Civiltá, the Armonia, the Univers, etc., with sombre-coloured spectacles. It was a disease in the eyes. Those affected by it looked upon the definition of a verity as a scourge of God, an affliction not merited! Still, as Dr. Newman did not for himself fear it, he would be able to explain it to others. But the definition of a truth was to prove a blight for the poor Anglican Ritualists:—
Do you not perceive that it is only temptation that makes you see everything black?... If the holy doctors whom you invoke, Ambrose, Jerome, etc., do not decide the controversy in your way, it is not, as the Protestant Pall Mall Gazette fancies, because they will not or cannot interpose, but because they agree with St. Peter and with the petition of the majority.... Would you have us make processions in sackcloth and ashes to avert this scourge of the definition of a verity? And if it is defined, when the Fathers chant Te Deum will some of you intone the Miserere? On the contrary, you too will applaud it.... Dupanloup will not merely be resigned, he will be a champion of infallibility, and we shall all together say, Amen, hallelujah! and it also will be a hymn like the song in the Apocalypse.... Get rid of this ugly melancholy temptation. It makes you lose your logic and your English good sense. Even the Protestant journals teach you better, and as one devil cast out another, a Protestant article may serve to cast out a temptation.
The compassionate Jesuits of the Civiltá then proceed to cast the one devil out of Dr. Newman by the aid of two others, which are respectively the Pall Mall Gazette and the Manchester Examiner and Times—the former in an appearance of April 8, the latter in an appearance of April 9. Lest this exorcism should not suffice, it calls to its aid seven other spirits equally evil—the Times, the Saturday Review, the Telegraph, the Daily News, the Spectator, the Standard, and the Echo. All these, fallen angels though they were, had agreed in the opinion that a religious truth had better be told than hidden, and that a Church which had an infallible head ought to know it. Though on this one point right, these Protestant journals had, however, held up the letter of Dr. Newman as a proof of internal division underlying a vaunted unity. But in this they were illogical. With this boast the Civiltá fitly couples a declaration of Dr. Newman, in which the tortured spirit, whose piercing cry had reached the ear of the world through thick walls, and had been identified in spite of artful windings, puts on, in presence of Protestants, another voice, wishing them to become partakers of its satisfaction and repose! M. Veuillot was not the man tamely to find himself coupled with Mr. Murphy by one like Dr. Newman, whom, if repute in England set extravagantly high, certainly he did not. He told how the Univers had begged four thousand pounds for Dr. Newman and sent it to him, on the occasion when he was cast in damages for a libel on Achilli, an ex-censor of the press, at Viterbo, who had become a Protestant:—
"The respectable convict," says Veuillot, "received it and was pleased, but he gave no thanks and showed no courtesy. Father Newman ought to be more careful in what he says; everything that is comely demands it of him. But, at any rate, if his Liberal passion carries him away till he forgets what he owes to us and to himself, what answer must one give him, but that he had better go on as he set out, silently ungrateful?"[373]
Such were the inhospitable jets spouted out upon Dr. Newman by the floundering creature on the back of which the twice "credulous mariner" had pitched his tent. Englishmen may smile at finding Dr. Newman aspersed with the reproach of Liberalism. His puerile spite at the very name of it, as shown in his writings, thus found its Nemesis. M. Veuillot, by a link of connexion which is not obvious, confesses that he too, in youth and inexperience, indulged in dreams of peace. But his mature ideas were ruled by a manlier spirit. "I dream of a long war—long, hot, inexorable, and one that will change the face of the world."
For some time past the Orientals had been receiving and giving cause for solicitude. The incident already related of the Chaldean Patriarch was but a symptom of general uneasiness. The Pontiff had resolved on abrogating the old right of electing bishops, under which the communities nominated three persons, of whom the Patriarch instituted the one whom he preferred. We have seen how the Chaldean Patriarch was overcome. Jussef, the Melchite Patriarch, refused to surrender his rights, and it is said that, in an audience before other Orientals, the Pope went so far as to seize him by the shoulders.[374] The Syrian Patriarch, on receiving the Pope's command, had taken to his bed, and had not yet answered. The Maronite Patriarch had refused his consent, and had, notwithstanding repeated invitations, stayed in Antioch, instead of coming on to the Council.
The Armenians, however, excited more attention than all the others. Their Patriarch, Hassun, had, some time before, surrendered his rights, and while, in consequence, rising high in favour with the Curia, had incurred ill-will among his own people. Rome, taking advantage of his concessions, had made new and exorbitant claims, on which the yoke of the Papacy was thrown off. Imperative orders to submit were disregarded. A special commissioner was sent from Rome to allay the disturbance, but his success was very limited.
For some time rumours had been floating about the city that two Oriental bishops had been thrown into prison. These changed to rumours of an arrest, and an escape. At last the Univers[375] published an account, stating that the theologian attached to an Armenian bishop had used such language respecting the authorities, that Cardinal Barnabò, Prefect of the Propaganda, had ordered him to the Convent of the Passionists. But he refused to go in such terms that the Cardinal Vicar was obliged to employ force. The theologian was then taken from the residence of the bishop, and put into a vehicle. He was, however, so violent that the "agents" let him escape into the house again, and though they there attempted a second time to take him, they finally gave way before the opposition of the bishop.