These points were rather matter of prudence as viewed by Mr. Hope; on two others, touching the questions of 'exemptions' and 'impropriations,' Mr. Hope appears to have been himself unable to go along with the view of the writer of the 'Life of St. Stephen,' whom he considered to defend theprinciplesof exemption too far. Mr. Newman here conceded some alterations, which, however, I am unable to state, not having the proof before me, which Mr. Hope does not quote, but, as finally given, the passages referred to may be found in the 'Life of St. Stephen Harding,' pp. 47-49 and 65.
In the same letter of December 11 Mr. Newman informs Mr. Hope that he had resolved on giving up the 'Lives' as a series, and publishing such as were in type, or were written, as separate works. His comment on the motives which had led him to this decision is of great interest:—
I assure you, to find that the English Church cannot bear the Lives of her Saints (for so I will maintain, in spite of Gladstone, is the fact) does not tend to increase my faith and confidence in her. Nor am I abandoningpublicationbecause I abandon this particular measure. Rather, I consider I have been silent now for several years on subjects of the day, and need not fear now to speak…. If these ['Lives,' as separate works] gradually mount up to the fulness of such an idea as the 'Lives of the Saints' contemplated in process of time, well and good.
He had said in a letter to Mr. Hope of December 5: 'G.'s remarks have shown me thehopelessness, by delay or any other means, of escaping the disapprobation of a number of persons whom I very much respect.' This was in reply to a letter of Mr. Hope's of the same day, which I found it difficult to introduce in its chronological order, and which may conveniently be placed here, as Mr. Hope in it clearly shows that his sympathies, notwithstanding his difficulties, went with the 'Lives,' and, like himself, backs his moral support with open-handed liberality:—
J. R. Hope, Esq. to the Rev. J. H. Newman.
Dec. 5, '43.
Dear Newman,—I enclose the proofs and Gladstone's remarks. The great point made by him here, as elsewhere, at present, is non-estrangement from the existing Ch. of E.; and in this many who are disposed to quarrel with the Reformation are yet heartily disposed to join. In fact, I suppose it will shortly become, if it be not already, the symbol of a party. To that party I do not feel myself at all strongly drawn, and therefore do not sympathise in G.'s views about theLife; but if his views be a fair representative of the best class of opinions such as I allude to, you may conclude that the high Anglicans will be against you. Of the middle and low there never, I suppose, was a doubt.
For my own part, I read the sheets greedily, and felt that they took me back to subjects which were once much in my thoughts, and ought never to have got so far out of them as they have. Nor was I at all put out by the general tone which seems to me inseparable from the subject; but here and there are passages which I think needlessly direct and pointed, so much so indeed as to appear, merely in point of composition, abrupt and wilful. These I think I could point out. G., you see, thinks his objections separable from the main design, which seems to me hardly possible—perhaps you will think the same of mine, but they relate only to isolated passages, and rather to giving them obliqueness than to changing them altogether.
However, I do not mean to say that I could suggest anything which would obviate G[ladstone]'s difficulties, and these are, after all, your main subjects for consideration. What effect they will have upon you I cannot certainly conclude, but in case they should incline you either to delay or to total giving up, I have only to say that I shall be glad to contribute one or two hundred pounds towards defraying the expenses…. In fact, if upon any public eccl. grounds the work is to be delayed or not to go on, I cannot see that my money could be more fitly bestowed than in facilitating the arrangement.
Yours ever truly,
Rev. J. H. Newman.
No need was eventually found for the liberal offer with which the above letter concludes. The following letter, though rather a long one, is certainly not likely to fatigue the reader, and seems almost necessary to be given, in order to complete this part of my subject:—
The Rev. J. H. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq.
Oriel College: Dec. 16, 1843.
My dear Hope,—You have not understood me about Gladstone, doubtless through my own fault. The truth is, I am making a great concession—not to him, but to my respectful feelings towards him. I thought you could see it, and only feared you would think it greater than it really was. So I tried to put you on your guard.
1. I withdrawmy namefromany plan. This is no slight thing. I have frequent letters from people I do not know on the subject of the Lives of the Saints, and doubt not it is raising much talk and interest. A name always gives point to an undertaking—considering my connection with the Tracts of the Times, it would especially to this. You yourself and Badeley (whom, please, thank for some kind trouble he has been at about a book for me) said, 'Delay the plan,foryou will be puttingyourselfat the head of the extreme party—the B[ritish] C[ritic] having stopped:' now, I am more thandelaying, I am withdrawing my name. I am sure this is a great thing, even though my initials occurred to this or that life.
2. I have given up continuity, and that certain and promised. 128 pp. were to come out every month, and the work was to go on to the end, except as unforeseen accidents interfered (as they have). Now we know how difficult it is to keep people up to their work. The work is now left to the unpledged zeal of individuals. And there will be nothing methodical or periodical in it to force itself upon people.
I do consider, then, I have given up a very great deal. But what I have not given up is thewishthat the work should be done; only I have put it under great disadvantages—so great that I do not think it ever will be done—at the utmost fragments will be done—and that without method, precision, unity, and a name.
And why have I done this? 1. Sincerely because I thought both by heading it and by giving it system I should be administering a continual blister to the kind feelings towards me, and the conscientious views of persons I respect as I do G. I assure you it is no pleasant thing to me to lose their good opinion, tho' I can't expect much to keep it. 2. I fear to put up something the Bishops may aim at. I may be charged at, as the Tracts have been. Then J. should be in a very false position. I must move forward or backward, and I dread compulsory moves. 3. What is the most immediate and practical point, I don't think I could get a publisher to take on him theexpenseof aseries, but few people would dread the risk of a single life of one or two hundred pages. Accordingly, I think I shall publish the one of which you saw a bit at once, to see whether it sells. That I shall to a certain extent be connected with it, and that I shall aim at making it a series, is certain; and this, as I said, was my reason for warning you that I was not giving way to G. so fully as I appeared to be.
Ever yrs affly,
P.S.—… What set me most urgently on my present notice was thatI could not help it. Though I gave up my series, which I wished to do,Lives remained, written or printed, or promised,which would appear anyhow, or scarcely could not.
The great event connected with the movement in 1844 was the publication of Ward's 'Ideal of a Christian Church,' which at first caused less excitement than might have been expected, at least in London. Thus Mr. Badeley writes to Mr. Hope (October 26), 'Ward's book passes very quietly here at present;' and again (November 8), 'The book here makes very little noise.' But meanwhile the heads of Houses were moving at Oxford, and on February 13, 1845, a memorable day, the book was condemned, and its author deprived of his degrees by the House of Convocation. Mr. Hope was absent on the Continent at the beginning of the strife, to which his letters do not contain much allusion. Perhaps the same motives of caution upon which he objected to the 'strong meat' of the 'Lives of the English Saints' would have led him to similar views as to the extreme unreserve of the 'Ideal.' When, however, the question of Mr. Ward's condemnation came on, he voted against it, as he was sure to have done if he voted at all. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that on the same occasion it was proposed to pass a censure on No. 90; but this was vetoed by the proctors, and consequently never came to the vote. I find the following draft of an address of thanks to the proctors in Mr. Gladstone's hand, and with the subjoined signatures and date in Mr. Hope's, among the Hope-Scott papers:—
We the u.s. M. of C., understanding that you have resolved to put your negative upon the Proposal relating to the Ninetieth Tract in Convocation on Thursday, the 13th instant, beg leave to tender to you our cordial thanks for a determination which we consider to have been demanded by the principles of our Academical Constit^n.
Manning and self. Feby. 11, '45. J. R. H.
As far as regards Mr. Gladstone, this ought to be compared with a correspondence in the Oakeley case, which will be found citedinfra, p. 58.
To the earlier part of the period now before us belongs some very kind service rendered by Mr. Hope to his dear friend the Rev. W. Adams, Fellow of Merton, and Perpetual Curate of St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, in seeing through the press his celebrated allegory, 'The Shadow of the Cross,' on which there is a rather full correspondence extant (1842-43), but of more special interest as connected with Mr. Adams' biography than his own, except so far as it proves the affectionate intimacy which subsisted between them. One letter of later date (December 15, 1846) is endorsed in Mr. Hope-Scott's handwriting:—'William Adams, R. I. P. sub 'umbra crucis.' J. R. H. S. 1871.' The work was published for the Christian Knowledge Society, of the committee of which Mr. Hope at the time was still a member. In connection with the same society Mr. Hope undertook a serial work, already alluded to (which was in course of publication in 1844), consisting of engravings from Scripture subjects, in a high style of art, from the cartoons of Raphael in the Loggia of the Vatican. Mr. Hope was strongly impressed with the utility of such a work for directing and elevating the taste of the humbler classes and of schools generally, and he expended large sums of money in bringing this out. It was published in numbers containing six plates each, under the superintendence of Professor Gruner, afterwards Director of the Department of Engravings at the Royal Museum at Dresden, and prepared by Signor Corsini, a distinguished Roman draughtsman. Mr. Hope-Scott, indeed, did not carry on the work after the first five numbers (a large and costly business, however), and it was completed by Mr. Gruner alone, who published it under the title of 'Scripture Prints from the Frescoes of Raphael in the Vatican,' edited by Louis Gruner, &c. (London: Houlston and Wright, 1866). Mr. Hope-Scott continued his benefactions to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for several years later than the time now before us. I find a donation of 210_l_. under his name in the year 1847. He had given 200_l_. in November 1846 to the College Chapel at Harrow Weald.
Another undertaking of some importance in which he took great interest in those days, relating both to literature and religion, was the 'Anglia Christiana,' a series of the monuments of English history, which was publishing in 1844-45. Only three volumes of it came out—'Chronicon Monasterii de Bello' (Battle Abbey), Giraldus Cambrensis 'de Institutione Principis,' and 'Liber Eliensis.' Mr. Hope much wished to have had included in the list the work called 'Pupilla Oculi,' a treatise on moral theology by John de Burgh, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge about the year 1385, which was much in use among the clergy before the Reformation. Mr. David Lewis, of Jesus College (as a Catholic so well known for his admirable translations of the works of St. John of the Cross and of St. Teresa), collated the text for him, but I believe it was never published. I find in the Badeley correspondence a very interesting letter of Mr. Hope's dated February 28, 1843, about the 'Pupilla Oculi,' its history and authority. The book had been cited by Mr. Badeley in the Court of Queen's Bench, and by others in the House of Lords, in the case of the Queen v. Willis. Lord Lyndhurst and some of the judges objected to its value as evidence on the ground of its contradicting the common law on the question of legitimation by subsequent marriage. Mr. Hope discusses the subject in a masterly style: I must refrain from quoting such merely antiquarian or legal matter for its own sake, yet will subjoin some paragraphs of the letter which illustrate the line taken by him as a lawyer at that time on the important point of the relations of Church and State:—
There can be, I think, little doubt that in old times the distinction between Church and State was one of jurisdictions rather than of laws. I mean that each was supposed to have its proper subject-matter of legislation as well as of judicial inquiry. Where the subject-matter was conceded to the Church altogether, there the Church law prevailed absolutely; where the subject-matter was of mixed cognizance, there the Church law was modified by the common or the statute law; where the subject was altogether lay, there both the laws and the tribunals of the Church were silenced. When, therefore, we would ascertain whether the law of the Church is to govern a given subject, we must first ascertain how far it was of the exclusive cognizance of the Church; and, if we find that it was principally but not exclusively of ecclesiastical cognizance, how far the common law interfered to modify the ecclesiastical laws by which it was to be determined.
Now, in the case before us, this much, I think, must be admitted, viz. that marriage, as a sacrament, was exclusively subject to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and, therefore, that whatever view the common law might entertain as to the consequence to be attached to this or that form of it, the essence of the sacrament itself was determinable by the doctrine of the Church, and by that alone.
But if this was so, then whatever was accepted by the Church of England as to the essence of marriage must necessarily be allowed to have been the common law upon that point, i.e. there could be no other law by which it could be decided.
Granting, therefore, that J. de Burgh, or any other ecclesiastical writer, has laid down rules upon subjects of mixed jurisdiction which the common law disallows, it by no means follows that his authority is to be slighted where he speaks of matters that were exclusively ecclesiastical. Indeed, the opposition of the common law upon given points, e.g. the legitimation by subsequent marriage, gives a pregnant meaning to its silence upon others.
I find that in the autumn of that year (1843) Mr. Hope spent some time in making researches into the records at York connected with the law of marriage. In a letter to Mr. Badeley (September 28) he says, 'At York I was successful in finding a variety of matrimonial causes, from A.D. 1301 downwards, which I think illustrate the right view of the question. The records there abound in well-preserved forms of proceeding, and it was with regret that I gave up further investigations. The labour, however, of reading and transcribing extracts was occasionally harder than suits holiday work.' In the same letter he speaks with much pleasure of a day spent at Burton Agnes with Archdeacons E. Wilberforce, Manning, &c., and as particularly indebted to the Archbishop of York and his family for the reception they gave him. The correspondence, indeed, affords a gracious epistle from the Archbishop himself (then nearly eighty-six years of age) to Mr. Hope, dated Trentham, September 30, 1843, in which, after expressing his high satisfaction at some legal advice which he had received from him, he goes on to say:—
I have only to add that nothing could gratify us more than your having occasion—and the sooner the better—to refer again to the York archives for any purpose whatever; 'provided always, and be it hereby enacted, that such reference be had during the period of the Archbishop's annual residence at Bishopthorpe.'
Ever truly yrs,
It may here be permitted me to quote a few lines from memoranda about Mr. Hope, kindly written at the request of one of his nearest relatives by a lady whose genius as well as catholic feeling especially fitted her to preserve those traces which I am sure no reader would wish should be allowed to fade away. They afford at once a proof that when doubts as to his religious position were approaching their most painful stage, he never allowed them to interfere with those duties of religion which are binding on all intellectual states alike, and they present a glimpse both of his appearance and manner at that date which will greatly assist the reader in forming an idea of him.
I think it was in 1843 that I first saw your dear brother in Margaret Street Chapel, the favourite place of worship of the Puseyites in those days, and noticed him and his friend Mr. Badeley walking away together, and was more struck with his appearance than with that of any other person I have ever seen before or since…. It is only in pictures that I have ever seen anything equalling, and never anything surpassing, what was, at the time I am speaking of, the ideal beauty of his face and figure.
During the next two years I used often to see him at Margaret Street Chapel, and I may say that his recollection in prayer and unaffected devotion made a strong impression upon me. Having been very little in England since my childhood, it was quite a new thing to me to see a layman in the Anglican Church so devout, but without a tinge of fanaticism or apparent excitement. In 1844 I made acquaintance with Mr. Hope, and met him occasionally in society. He was all that his appearance would have led one to expect; the charm of his manner enhanced the effect of his conversational powers. [Footnote: Lady Georgiana Fullerton to Lady Henry Kerr, May 5 [1881].]
I have not found any record of Mr. Hope's personal religious state about that time, like the diaries of his earlier manhood. He writes, however, to Mr. Newman on March 1, 1844 (from Lincoln's Inn): 'If I can manage it, I should much like to spend Passion Week at or near Oxford. Could you let me into the guest-chamber at Littlemore?' Mr. Newman (March 14) writes in reply that the guest-chamber was quite at his service, but adds: 'Pray do not fancy us in such a state that we can profess a retreat, or any one here able to conduct one.' In another letter Mr. Newman acknowledges 'a splendid benefaction' of Mr. Hope's to the house of Littlemore.
1844-1845.
Mr. Hope's Tour on the Continent in 1844—Visit to Munich—Dr. Pusey's'Library of Roman Catholic Works'—Dr. Pusey and the Spiritual Exercises—His Opinion of the Discipline—Mr. Hope's Visit to Tetschen in 1844—CountLeo Thun and his Friends—Mr. Hope's Interview with Prince Metternich—TheHon. Sir R. Gordon, Ambassador at Vienna—Visit to Prince Palffy and toPrince Lichtenstein—The Hungarian Diet at Presburg—Letter of Manzoni toJ. R. Hope—Visit to Rome—Bishop Grant and Mr. Hope—Mr. Hope resignsChancellorship of Salisbury—Dr. Pusey and the Stone Altar Case—Mr.Oakeley and Mr. Hope—Scottish Episcopalian Church and its Office—Mr.Gladstone endeavours to hold Mr. Hope back—Proposes Tour in Ireland—Conversion of Mr. Newman—Mr. Hope on the Essay on Development—Letter ofMr. Newman to J. R. Hope from Rome—Reopening of Correspondence with Mr.Newman.
At the end of August or beginning of September 1844 Mr. Hope set out for a tour on the Continent, accompanied by Mr. Badeley. Of the earlier days of it I have no information, but they parted at Heidelberg about September 12, Mr. Badeley for the Rhine country and Belgium, Mr. Hope for Munich. By this time, as has already been evident, he was deeply engaged in professional pursuits, and his health had begun to suffer from his unremitting labours. Several passages might be quoted from the letters of his intimate friends, showing the anxiety they felt on the subject. Some real relaxation, however, had at last become necessary; and it would appear that he rather wished to leave the turmoil of the movement, as well as business, behind him. In a letter of Mr. Badeley's to him, dated Brussels, September 22, the following sentence occurs:—'If you like to see what is going on in this [the affair of opposing Dr. Symonds' election as Vice-Chancellor at Oxford] and in Church matters, I will send you the "English Churchman;" but as you said "No," when we parted, I forbear to forward any papers till further orders.' Afterwards, however, 'after all,' he asks Mr. Badeley to send it. On his way to Munich, Mr. Hope stopped at Augsburg, where 'of course he visited Butsch the bookseller,' buys a copy of the 'Summa Divi Thomae Aquinatis,' and seessomegood books which he did not want. At Munich, where he arrived on September 14, rooms were provided for him at the Austrian Legation by the kindness of his friend Count Senfft. These particulars I take from a letter of his to Mr. Badeley, dated Munich, September 22, and subjoin some further details in full:—
D[öllinger] is, I think, remarkably well, and I am more struck with him than ever. I found him already deep in Ward's book, with which he is much struck. I have already had some interesting conversation with him, and anticipate more. He is rector elect of the University, and highly spoken of by all I see. My new acquaintances consist of the Papal Nuntius Viale, a very striking person, Professor Walther, the canonist, and some intelligent Bavarians. I am to visit Görres this evening…. There is an English service here very decently and nicely performed by Mr. de Coetlogon, a man in Scotch orders, and the chapel is a modest but respectable room…. I ask hard questions upon marriage, and receive very doubtful answers; but I am resolved, if possible, to get some definite information from the best sources in Germany.
The following letter, connected with this tour of Mr. Hope's, is also very instructive as to a particular phase of the movement:—
The Rev. Dr. Pusey to J. R. Hope, Esq.
My dear Hope,—I have no news as yet to communicate to you, except that some few are taking up ye matter of ye V. C. in rt earnest, and so I suppose it will be a pitched battle, and we shall win at last, even if but a handful as yet.
I have 2 or 3 commissions for you, wh will not occupy your time, and wh will, I hope, be a subject of interest to you. It is for my little library of R. C. works. The perplexity is to find out ye best books upon difft subjects, for I cannot read all. The general class is, as you know, ascetic books, books of guidance, wh shall give people knowledge of self, enable us to guide consciences, build people up in ye higher life, force them to mental prayer, or give them subjects of meditation in it, the spiritual life, Xtian perfection, holy performance of ordinary actions, love of God, or any Xtian graces in detail, devotions, books on holy seasons—in a word, anything in practical theology in its widest range, or, again, cases of conscience.
I have learnt more or less as to French & Spanish, & some Latin works, but of Italian I know those only of Scupoli, and of German absolutely nothing. The only books I have seen are some sermons by Sailer, wh, altho' clear and energetic, contain nothing wh one did not know before; they have nothing to build people up with.
I shd be glad also of any information on a subject wh I know drew yr thoughts when you were last abroad—the system as to retreats. I saw a book,' Manuale dell' Esercitatori,' but I shd be very glad of any information or any guidance.
If it wd not occupy you too much, I shd be much obliged to you to procure on my account any practical works wh mt be recommended.
Perhaps also Dr. Döllinger could give you some information as to S. Ignatius Loyola, 'Exercitia Spiritualia,' for they seem to have been so often re-moulded, that there is some difficulty to ascertain (1) what is ye genuine form, or at least to obtain a copy, (2) whether any other re- casting of it be found easier to use.
I trust these inquiries will not be so much an encumbrance to you, as lead you to happy subjects and more acquaintance with happy-making books. God bless you ever.
Yrs affectionately,
Christ Church: September 9, 1844.
[P.S.] There is yet a subject on wh I shd like to know more, if you fall in with persons who have ye guidance of consciences,—what penances they employ for persons whose temptations are almost entirely spiritual, of delicate frames often, and who wish to be led on to perfection. I see in a spiritual writer that even for such, corporal severities are not to be neglected, but so many of them are unsafe. I suspect ye 'discipline' to be one of ye safest, and with internal humiliation the best…. Cd you procure and send me one by B.? What was described to me was of a very sacred character; 5 cords, each with 5 knots, in memory of ye 5 wounds of our Lord…. I shd be glad to know also whether there were any cases in wh it is unsafe, e.g. in a nervous person.
On October 1 Mr. Hope left Munich to pay a visit at Tetschen, the seat of his friends the Thun family (described vol. i. p. 42), taking Ratisbon and other places in his way. At Tetschen, where he stayed from October 5 to 12, he found a sad blank in the recent death of the Countess Thun. From an interesting letter to Lady Hope (dated Vienna, October 26, 1844) which furnishes these dates, I transcribe also the following particulars:—
Countess Anna is still in very uncertain health…. The Count himself seems to have rallied lately, but it will be long before he gets over his loss. The second daughter, Countess Inza, seems to be now the stay of the family. Of the sons, only Francis, the eldest, was at home. He is devoted to art, and has besides abundance of business in the management of the estates which his father has made over to him, and with various charitable societies at Prague, in which he and his family are interested. From Tetschen I went to Prague, with Count Joseph Thun, a cousin, with his wife and two sons. At Prague I spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, in constant admiration of the town, to which I did not do justice when I was last there. It is really beautiful, and, out of Italy, I think Edinburgh alone equal to it, of all the towns which I have seen. With Tetschen for summer, and Prague for winter, I think the Thuns have two as charming residences as could be found.
On Tuesday evening [Oct. 15] I left for Königsgrätz, a provincial town, where Leo Thun, the youngest, is officially employed. He is a noble fellow, and has devoted himself for years to the details of business, with a view to becoming useful to Bohemia, to which he is very much attached. He is also prominent among the revivers of the Bohemian language and literature, which is Sclavonic, and has thus become well known in Germany, as well as in Hungary and other countries where there are Sclavonic tribes. The movement is in a political sense important, as well as influential upon manners and modes of thinking, and it has already excited a good deal of discussion and some animosity. It would take too much time, however, to explain what I have learnt of its bearings. With Leo I spent two very agreeable days, and have had much to talk about, as I had not seen him since I was last in Bohemia. I was introduced to thenotablesof the place, hischefand the commander of the garrison (an old Irish officer of the name of Fitzgerald), and saw his mode of life, which to a man with plenty of employment must be convenient, though not very amusing.
From Königsgrätz I started on Thursday night, and arrived here [Vienna] on Saturday week, the 19th [Oct.], and took up my abode at the same inn with Fritz Thun, the diplomat, who was here on his way from Turin, which he has now left for Prague. You will remember how pleasant a person he is, and will be glad to hear that his professional prospects are excellent, as he is in high favour with Prince Metternich, to whom he was strongly recommended by Schwartzenberg, his lastchef. One of my first acts was to call on Sir R. Gordon [the British Ambassador], who has beenmostkind, giving me dinner as often as I can go to him, and assisting me in everything. On the evening of my arrival he took me to Prince Metternich, when I had the honour of a conversation with the great man. George was remembered by him and his daughter, and by the Countess Zichy, the Princess's mother, and I was very kindly received by them all. Palmerston was expected here, and the Prince told Sir R. Gordon that, if he came, I should be invited to meet him at dinner; but unluckily he has changed his plans, so that I shall not see him and Metternich together, which would have been a great sight. I gave Sir Robert your good account of Lady Alicia,[Footnote: Sister of the Earl of Aberdeen and of Sir R. Gordon, died 1847.] and beg that you will in return tell her that Sir R. is very flourishing, and that in my opinion he is a very magnificent ambassador, and, what is better, a very kind one. His establishment is admirablymonté, and I found in François a friend of the Hope family in general. George's letters of introduction I duly received. Schwartzenberg is not here, but I have seen Esterhazy, who has asked me to his country place, about three hours' drive from Vienna…. Besides the people I have named, I have seen others, to whom I get access through Count Senfft, among whom is the Dowager Duchess of Anhalt-Cöthen, a natural sister of the King of Prussia, and a clever woman….
Your affect. Son,
Mr. Hope was unable to accept the invitation of Prince Esterhazy, in consequence of an engagement to visit another Hungarian magnate, Prince Palffy. The latter visit, with various other interesting details, is recorded in the following letter:—
J. R. Hope, Esq., to Edward L. Badeley, Esq.Vienna: Nov. 7, 1844.
Dear Badeley,—[After giving some account of his visit at Tetschen, Mr. Hope goes on to mention his interview with Prince Metternich.] Prince Metternich honoured me with a conversation of some ten minutes or so, and which would probably have been both longer and more interesting but for the intrusion of a German who chose to thrust himself upon us. He spoke of some points of commercial and manufacturing interest, and pleased me very much by the simplicity of his manner. By means of letters which Count Senfft gave me I have also become acquainted with several of the persons who are known as active friends of the R. C.HighChurch party; but I do not know very much of them, and of the Vienna clergy nothing at all….
On Sunday, the 28th [Oct.], I started for my promised visit to Prince Palffy at Malatzka, and arrived there in a few hours. The house resembles most of those one sees abroad, built round a court, with long passages, white exterior, &c., and, as the country round it is very flat and sandy, it cannot be called a very interesting place. It was, however, my first resting-place in Hungary, and as such, an object of curiosity to me. Besides which, I found in it a hearty welcome, and a large family party, which gave me a good idea of the society of the upper class. The Prince is an extensive landowner, holding it all in his own hands (as is generally if not universally the case, both in Bohemia and Hungary), and working it by the tributary labour of the peasants, who, besides a small money payment, contribute labour for a certain number of days in each year. With the obligation of this quittance, the latter class hold in fee the cottages and plots of land which they occupy, and appear to be a thriving and comfortable race. They are, however, exclusively the tax-payers, as the nobles are still free from all imposts. An effort has indeed been made lately, which has partially succeeded, to tax the nobles; and it is probable that amid the numerous reforms of the Hungarian Diet, this will eventually be fully carried out. Our mode of life at Malatzka was to rise when we chose, breakfast in our own rooms, to meet at half-past twelve for luncheon, then to go out, and to dine at six, and to spend the evening in the drawing-room. Coursing, a badger-hunt, and an expedition to a property of the Prince's at the foot of the Carpathians, constituted my out-of-door amusements; and of these, the last at least was very interesting. I saw an immense tract of wood and pasture, a herd of wild oxen, sheep innumerable, a curious stalactite grotto, and an Hungarian farmhouse.
From Malatzka I went, furnished with letters, to the seat of Prince Liechtenstein in Moravia—Eisgrüb. He is one of the richest men in the Austrian dominions, having possessions in Moravia, Bohemia, and Hungary, and several houses in Vienna. A great sportsman, and in this point, at least, a great imitator of English manners. The house at which I was is a summer residence, with very fine pleasure-grounds, park, &c.; but he has an autumn château not far off, which I also visited, and which is a fine specimen of foreign country architecture. Everything about him seemed to teem with expense and luxury, which, although probably not greater than what is to be found in the residences of English noblemen, appears greater from its contrast with the rudeness and simplicity of the general condition of the country. These great nobles seem, in fact, to combine the most striking points of barbarism and civilisation, and to turn them both to their enjoyment. I stayed only one day at Eisgrüb, though I had pressing invitations to remain longer; but I was anxious to go to Presburg to see the Diet, and so returned to Malatzka, which I left again the next morning, Saturday, 2nd Nov., for the seat of the Hungarian Parliament.
At Presburg I spent four days. The place itself is uninteresting, though there are points of beauty about it; but it contains at this moment some of the most turbulent politicians in the world; and their movements are of considerable importance as well to the twelve million souls who constitute the population of Hungary, as to the integrity of the Austrian Empire.
I should write a book were I to tell you all I have heard from different quarters upon this question; but this much seems certain—that Hungary is in a state of violent transition, and that in a few years its internal condition and perhaps its relations to the Austrian monarchy will have undergone a complete revolution. Sir R. Gordon gave me a letter to an Englishman who is employed by the British Embassy to attend the sittings of the Diet; and by his kindness I was enabled to make acquaintance with many of the most distinguished men. I was also present at several debates in the two Chambers of the Diet, and though (the language being Hungarian) I could not understand a word, yet it was most interesting to watch the proceedings of this Magyar Parliament, in which freedom of speech exists as fully as in any assembly in the world. The members all attend in Hungarian costume, which, on common occasions, consists of a laced surtout coat, a cap, and a sword. They speak from their places and without notes. Each member may speak as often as he pleases, and some take advantage of the privilege to a somewhat formidable extent. There seemed to be much fluency and not a little action; but the management of the voice was bad, and energy seemed to pass at once into violence. Though party runs high, organisation is very little understood, and business is transacted both slowly and with very uncertain results. They have the misfortune of all foreign constitutional states, that of desiring to imitate England, i.e. to do in a few years, and designedly, what the accidents of centuries have produced with us. There is, however, no lack either of talent or courage, and one governing mind might make Hungary a nation. It is immensely rich in natural productions, and wants only a market to have a great trade. This they are well disposed to establish with England, and I hope they may succeed; but Austria has interests which I fear may render this difficult. In both Chambers the clergy are represented: in that of the magnates by the Bishops; in the Lower House by deputies of the chapters. To the Primate I was introduced at one of his public entertainments. He is said to have 40 or 60,000_l_. per ann., and his personal carriage as well as his establishment are quite becoming his station. I made acquaintance also with the Archbishop of Erlau, a poet and a man of taste and learning, but victim to the tic douloureux. Lastly, with the Bishop of Csanad (Mgr. Lonowics), who has charmed me. He is well read, in English as well as other literature and history, and is as kind-hearted and Christian a man as I ever met with. Indeed, I shall be tempted to visit Hungary again, if it is only to spend a day or two with him. In the meantime we have established a mutual book- relation. He is to send me works on Hungarian Ecclesiastical Law, addressed to Stewart, and I have promised to send him some things which I beg you will at once see to. [Mr. Hope mentions Winkle's 'Cathedrals;' Ward's 'Ideal;' Newman's last vol. of 'Sermons;' the 'Life of St. Stephen;' Oakeley's 'Life of St. Austin;' and his own pamphlet 'On the Jerusalem Bishopric.']
Yours ever truly,
James R. Hope.
On November 25 we find Mr. Hope at Milan, where he mentions having seen his old acquaintances, Manzoni and Vitali. The following letter will show how much he had impressed the former, brief as their communications had been:—
Alessandro Manzoni to J. R. Hope, Esq.
Milan: 8 Mai, 1845.
Monsieur et respectable ami,—Je profite de l'occasion que me présente mon ancien et intime ami, M. le Baron Trechi, pour me rappeler à votre bon souvenir….
Agréez mes remercîments bien vifs et bien sincères pour lesScripture Printsque Mr. Lewis Gruner a bien voulu me remettre de votre part. Si le nom du peintre n'y était pas, je suis sûr qu'en les voyant, je me serais écrié: Ah! Raphael. C'est tout ce qu'un homme n'ayant, malheureusement, aucune connaissance de l'art, peut vous dire pour vous rendre compte de l'impression que lui a faite la copie. Je ne vous charge de rien pour M. Gladstone, parce que je me donne la satisfaction de lui écrire par cette même occasion. J'espère que nous le reverrons bientôt au ministère. N'allez pas me demander si je suis anglais pour dire: nous; car je vous répondrais quehomo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto; et qu'il n'y a rien d'humaniusque d'aimer à voir le pouvoir uni à la confiance; je ne dis pas: à de hautes facultés; car, malheureusement, le cas est moins rare. [After giving his friend an account of a great family affliction he had sustained in the loss of a beloved daughter, the writer goes on to say:]
Je ne crains pas de vous importuner en vous parlant ainsi de ce qui me touche si profondément: je sais la part que vous prenez à tout ce qui est douleur et confiance en Dieu, par Jésus Christ. Je n'ai pas craint non plus de vous choquer en vous écrivant avec un ton si familier, et comme il conviendrait à une ancienne connaissance; car il me semble que nous le sommes; l'affection et l'estime de ma part et une grande bonté de la vôtre, ont bien pu suppléer le temps. Permettez-moi d'espérer que le bonheur que j'ai de vous connaître n'aura pas été un accident dans une vie, et que des causes plus heureuses que d'autrefois vous ramèneront bientôt encore dans ce pays; et, en attendant, veuillez me garder une petite place dans votre faveur, comme vous êtes toujours vivant dans le mien. Je suis, avec la plus affectueuse considération,
Votre dévoué serviteur et ami,
Mr. Hope proceeded from Milan to Florence and Rome. Almost the only letter referring to this visit to Rome that has come before me is one written to Mr. Badeley on December 19. It contains very little of importance. Much of it is taken up with an account of Sir William Follett, then at Rome, and verging towards his end, of whom Mr. Hope had seen a great deal. Other friends named are Mr. and Mrs. Vivian, and Mr. Waterton. From the latter, Mr. Hope had 'an interesting account of Tickell's reception into the Church of Rome at Bruges. He was himself present, and very much struck by T.'s devout and humble behaviour.'
'Of the Roman clergy,' Mr. Hope remarks, 'I have seen little, and have indeed almost given up my inquiries among them.' He mentions in the same letter that he intended leaving Rome on January 1 or 2, 'and to speed homewardsviâLeghorn, Genoa, Marseilles, and Paris.' Amidst all this apparent coldness, and in spite of all the expressions of disappointment with Rome that have appeared thus far, [Footnote: On the cause of this dissatisfaction an intimate friend of his has observed: 'For myself I think the real and sufficient reason of his disappointment with Rome was, that the Roman authorities naturally and reasonably would not open to a Protestant. They would fear their information would be used against them. They could not know his honesty of purpose.'] it is clear that the secret influence and spirit of the place were working their effect on his mind. A great proof of this will be given further on, in a letter of the Père Roothaan's to a friend relative to Mr. Hope's conversion.
A sentence from a letter of Mr. Hope's about two years afterwards is here in point. 'Your impression of Rome (he writes to Mr. Badeley, October 16, 1847) appears to be similar to that of most who see it for the first time; but it grows upon one, and the recollection will be deeper than the present feeling.'
There is a pleasing note to Mr. Hope, dated December 20, 1844, from Mgr. Grant, then Rector of the English College at Rome, and afterwards the well- known Bishop of Southwark, one of the most beloved and venerated friends of his Catholic period. It merely gives information to assist him in visiting St. John Lateran's, and promises to send an order for St. Peter's. It concludes characteristically: 'I shall be too happy to serve you whenever I can be useful. Although you do not think so, you will find thatlittle peopleare not without some use; and, in the hope that you will allow me an opportunity of proving that I am in the right, I remain, with many thanks for your kindness, &c.,—THOMAS GRANT.' I may here also give a short letter of Bishop Grant's, of later date, illustrating their friendship, and including some traces of its beginning at Rome:—
The Right Rev. Dr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark, to J. R. Hope-Scott, Esq., Q.C.
June 23, 1853.
My dear Mr. Hope-Scott,—Thefrescoeshave arrived, and I hasten to thank you for a gift, valuable in itself, but most dear to me, because it will ever remind me of the beginning of that friendship which has always been so pleasing to me, and which forms one of the consolations that are allowed to me in the midst of the weighty duties of my present state— duties which I little expected when we quarrelled peacefully about Swiss guards and troops of soldiers lining St. Peter's on grand days.
When you next visit the churches and antiquities of Rome, Mary Monica will catch up the ardour that will then probably have gone by for you and myself, and will wonder why you care so little for them; and if I am with you I fear I shall be more tempted to tell her of the quiet rooms in Via della Croce, when I first knew her father, than of the Arch of Drusus, or other pagan monuments that once entertained our attention.
Yours very sincerely,
Mr. Hope-Scott had a high admiration for this saintly Bishop, and used to speak of him as 'theBishop,' always meaning by that Bishop Grant.
Early in 1845, and not many weeks after his return to England, Mr. Hope resigned his chancellorship of Salisbury. It can scarcely be doubted that misgivings as to his religious position, more apparent perhaps to us now than they then were even to himself, were among his leading motives for taking this important step; although the immense accumulation of his business before the Parliamentary committees must have rendered it difficult for him, even with his talents, to hold with it an appointment like that in such times; and feelings of friendship for his successor, the present Sir Robert Phillimore, may also have influenced him. The date of the resignation was Feb. 10.
The judgment of Sir Herbert Jenner Fust in the celebrated 'Stone Altar Case,' by which wooden altars only were permitted, was a severe discouragement to the Tractarian party, being felt to interfere with the idea of sacrifice. From the following passage of a letter (undated) of Dr. Pusey's to Mr. Hope, it appears that he (Mr. Hope) had endeavoured to take a more favourable view. The letter probably belongs to Feb. or March 1845.
I do not know whether the opinion you give is as to law previous to Sir H. J. F.'s decision, and as a ground of appeal against it, or as to what would still be allowed. Would his judgment preclude our having a stone slab, either upon stone pedestals or a wooden panelled altar? I have comforted others with the same topic you mention, that wooden tables are altars by virtue of ye sacrifice, and so that this decision really alters nothing. Still, it does seemingly, and was intended to discountenance the doctrine…. It must be confessed, too, that this decision of Sir H. J. F. is a defeat—only an outward one, and availing nothing while truth spreads within. Still it is well to neutralise the sentence as much as we can.
Ever yrs affectly,
Notwithstanding this, Mr. Hope is remembered, after the adverse decision, to have despondingly asked, 'Where is the use of fighting for the shell when we have lost the kernel?'
Among the other agitations of that time was the prosecution instituted in the Court of Arches by Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, against the Rev. Frederick Oakeley (the late Canon) for views which he had expressed about the Blessed Sacrament. Canon Oakeley, in a conversation I had with him in 1878, gave me the following information as to the part taken by Mr. Hope as his friend and adviser in this case, and general recollections of him. He had resolved to let the case go by default, partly because he felt convinced that it was sure to be decided in favour of the Bishop, as those cases always were; partly because he disliked a subject like the Blessed Sacrament to be bandied about by the lawyers in that way. Mr. Hope, on the other hand, urged him to place himself in the hands of counsel, and thought a good case might be made by reference to books on canon law and Roman writers of the moderate school (Gallican), showing that, in point of fact, the holding of 'all Roman doctrine' (thus interpreted) was compatible with the doctrine of the Church of England. [Footnote:Thus interpreted, observe. Mr. Newman himself, in a letter to Mr. Hope, dated Littlemore, May 14, 1845, says: 'You are quite right in saying I do not take Ward and Oakeley's grounds that all Roman doctrine may be held in our Church, and thatasRoman I have always and everywhere resisted it.'] The principle on which he went was the approximation made out by Sancta Clara and in Tract 90. Mr. Hope had more hopes of the House of Lords than of the Court of Arches, and wished Mr. Oakeley to appeal to the former. If he was afraid of the expenses, he said they would manage all that for him. [Footnote: Mr. Hope had formed a committee (in conjunction with Serjeant Bellasis, Mr. Badeley, and Mr. J. D. Chambers) in order to raise contributions to meet Mr. Oakeley's expenses. I find an exchange of notes dated March 10, 1845, between Mr. Hope and Mr. Gladstone on this matter. Mr. Hope encloses a circular, and invites Mr. Gladstone to contribute, remarking 'As the process must throw light upon many collateral points, I amongst others am much interested in its being well conducted. I am, moreover, as a friend of O.'s, anxious that he should have fair play….This looks like the beginning of the end.' Mr. Gladstone, in reply, alludes to doubts he had had whether he could subscribein reWard. 'Although I am far from having (upon a slight consideration as yet, for I have been very busy with other matters) found them conclusive; for I think we are going to try questions of academical right, and even of general justice.' He therefore declines subscribing in Mr. Oakeley's case, promising to give Mr. Hope his reasons whenever they should meet.]He added, however, 'But I think you are inclined to go over to the Church of Rome; and if that is the case, it is useless to proceed.' Mr. Hope at that time (said the Canon) was a staunch Anglican. He did not, however, see more of him than of any other member of his congregation perhaps once in three months. After Mr. Oakeley had become a Catholic, Mr. Hope once asked him to breakfast, which he accepted rather hesitatingly. At that time he (Mr. Oakeley) thought less favourably of Protestants than he did now, and hinted that he must take a line in conversation that might not be acceptable. Mr. Hope said they need not talk of that, let him come. At this breakfast Mr. Hope mentioned that he had been lately at Rome (he could allude to no other visit than that of 1844-5), where he had seen a procession of the Pope in thesedia gestatoria, and thought how much better it would have been if he had walked in the procession like any other Bishop—that was the line he took. [I ought to add that, later in my conversation with him, Canon Oakeley seemed rather to hesitate whether it was Mr. Hope or some one else who made this observation about the Pope's procession, but in the end he appeared to feel satisfied that it was Mr. Hope.]
In the same troubled spring of 1845 a movement was going on to assimilate the office of the Scottish Episcopalian Church to that of the English. Dean Ramsay of Edinburgh had asked Mr. Hope for a legal opinion on a case in which he was concerned bearing on this. Mr. Hope, in a letter to him dated April 8, declines to meddle with the question, and adds:—
I can hardly tell you how much I deprecate any steps which may tend to diminish the authority of thenativeoffice; how entirely I dissent from any plans of further assimilation to the foreign English Church. Indeed, the consequences of such schemes at this moment would in my opinion be most disastrous.
Some letters of great interest with reference to Mr. Hope's religious position at this period occur in the Gladstone correspondence. Mr. Gladstone, being now thoroughly aware that his friend was entertaining serious doubts as to the Catholicity of the Church of England, writes him a very long and deeply considered letter, appealing in the first place to a promise of co-operation which Mr. Hope had made him in the earlier days of their friendship, and placing before him, with all the power and eloquence of which he is so great a master, what he regarded as the most unanswerable arguments for remaining in the Anglican communion. From this letter I quote the following passages as strictly biographical:—
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. to J. M. Hope, Esq.
13 Carlton House Terrace: Thursday night, May 15, '45.
Private.
My dear Hope,—In 1838 you lent me that generous and powerful aid in the preparation of my book for the press, to which I owe it that the defects and faults of the work fell short of absolutely disqualifying it for its purpose. From that time I began to form not only high but definite anticipations of the services which you would render to the Church in the deep and searching processes through which she has passed and yet has to pass. These anticipations, however, did not rest only upon my own wishes, or on the hopes which benefits already received might have led me to form. In the commencement of 1840, in the very room where we talked to-night, you voluntarily and somewhat solemnly tendered to me the assurance that you would at all times be ready to co-operate with me in furtherance of the welfare of the Church, and you placed no limit upon the extent of such co- operation. I had no title to expect and had not expected a promise so heart-stirring, but I set upon it a value scarcely to be described, and it ever after entered as an element of the first importance into all my views of the future course of public affairs in their bearing upon religion. [Footnote: With this may be compared Mr. Hope's letter to Mr. Gladstone of October 11, 1838, given in chapter ix. (vol. i.).]
* * * * *
If the time shall ever come (which I look upon as extremely uncertain, but I think if it comes at all it will be before the lapse of many years) when I am called upon to use any of those opportunities [the writer had just spoken of 'the great opportunities, the gigantic opportunities of good or evil to the Church which the course of events seems (humanly speaking) certain to open up'], it would be my duty to look to you for aid, under the promise to which I have referred, unless in the meantime you shall as deliberately and solemnly withdraw that promise as you first made it. I will not describe at length how your withdrawal of it would increase that sense of desolation which, as matters now stand, often approaches to being intolerable. I only speak of it as a matter of fact, and I am anxious you should know that I look to it as one of the very weightiest kind, under a title which you have given me. You would of course cancel it upon the conviction that it involved sin upon your part: with anything less than that conviction I do not expect that you will cancel it; and I am, on the contrary, persuaded that you will struggle against pain, depression, disgust, and even against doubt touching the very root of our position, for the fulfilment of any actualdutieswhich the post you actually occupy in the Church of God, taken in connection with your faculties and attainments, may assign to you.
You have given me lessons that I have taken thankfully. Believe I do it in the payment of a debt, if I tell you that your mind and intellect, to which I look up with reverence under a consciousness of immense inferiority, are much under the dominion, whether it be known or not known to yourself, of an agency lower than their own, more blind, more variable, more difficult to call inwardly to account and make to answer for itself—the agency, I mean, of painful and disheartening impressions—impressions which have an unhappy and powerful tendency to realise the very worst of what they picture. Of this fact I have repeatedly noted the signs in you.
I should have been glad to have got your advice on some points connected with the Maynooth question on Monday next, but I will not introduce here any demand upon your kindness; the claims of this letter on your attention, be they great or small, and you are their only judge, rest upon wholly different grounds.
God bless and guide you, and prosper the work of your hands.
Ever your aff'te friend, W. E. GLADSTONE.
J. R. Hope, Esq.
The friends both being in London at the time, the correspondence gives no further light at this point. In July Mr. Gladstone proposed to Mr. Hope that they two should go on a tour in Ireland together. The invitation must be given in his own words:—
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. to J. R. Hope, Esq.
13 C. H. Terrace: July 23, 1845.
My dear Hope,—Ireland is likely to find this country and Parliament so much employment for years to come, that I feel rather oppressively an obligation to try and see it with my own eyes instead of using those of other people, according to the limited measure of my means.
Now your company would be so very valuable as well as agreeable to me, that I am desirous to know whether you are at all inclined to entertain the idea of devoting the month of September, after the meeting in Edinburgh, to a working tour in Ireland with me—eschewing all grandeur, and taking little account even of scenery, compared with the purpose of looking from close quarters at the institutions for religion and education of the country, and at the character of the people. It seems ridiculous to talk of supplying the defects of second-hand information by so short a trip; but though a longer time would be much better, yet even a very contracted one does much when it is added to an habitual though indirect knowledge.
Believe me Your attached friend, W. E. GLADSTONE.
It is much to be regretted that this tour was not accomplished, but various engagements prevented Mr. Hope's accepting the invitation: he spent that part of the vacation in Scotland, and Mr. Gladstone on the Continent. Shortly after the date of the preceding letter Mr. Gladstone appears to have suggested to Mr. Hope the idea of his joining some association for active charity, which is partly illustrated by a correspondence which I shall presently quote; but Mr. Hope (August 6) writes:—
As to the guild or confraternity, I am not at this moment prepared to join it. My reasons are various, but I have not had leisure to think them out. When I have revolved the matter further, perhaps I may trouble you again upon it.
On October 9, 1845, Mr. Newman was received into the Catholic Church, andMr. Hope writes to him on the 20th:—
I was so fully prepared that the event fell lightly on my mind, but the feeling of separation has since grown upon me painfully. The effect which, I think I told you, it would have upon my conduct, is that of forcing me to a deliberate inquiry; but I feel most unfit for it, and look with anxiety to your book as my guide. I hope to be at Oxford early next week, and trust to see you. Meantime, if it be anything to you to know that all my personal feelings towards you remain unaltered, or rather, are deepened, that much I can sincerely say.
On December 1 he speaks of his own joining the Roman Catholic Church as 'what may eventually happen,' adding: 'But I feel that I have yet much before me, both in moral and intellectual exertion, ere I can hope for a conclusion. Meantime I beg your prayers.'
On December 22 he gives his impressions of Newman's 'Essay on Development,' so eagerly expected:—
I have read your bookoncethrough. To apprehend it fully will require one, if not two more perusals. The effect produced upon me as yet is that of perplexity at seeing how wide a range of thought appears to be required for the discussion. I had thought that the principles which I already acknowledge would, upon a careful application, suffice for the solution of the difficulties; but you have taken me into a region less familiar to me, and the extent of which makes me feel helpless and discouraged.
It may be worth mentioning that soon after the 'Essay on Development' came out, Mr. Hope asked a friend at dinner across the table (the anecdote was given me by the latter), 'Have you read the "Extravagant of John"?' To understand this, the unlearned reader must be told that certain celebrated constitutions, decreed by Pope John XXII., are called by canonists the 'Extravagantes Joannis.' The play on the word was one which would be relished by Mr. Hope's friend, who was almost as great a student of the canon law as himself. His meaning, however, may have been that he thought Mr. Newman had taken up a view outside of the received system.
In the two letters I have just quoted Mr. Hope enters, like a kind friend and adviser, into Mr. Newman's plans in the early days of his conversion, but an interruption of the correspondence seems to have followed on Mr. Newman's going to Rome, where he was from autumn, 1846, to the beginning of 1848. It is probable, indeed, that it was the consciousness of his own affection for Mr. Newman, and of Mr. Newman's influence over him, that led Mr. Hope to abstain, during that long interval, from intercourse with a friend whom he regarded with such deep respect and admiration. There is, however, a letter of Mr. Newman's from Rome in the interval, which will be read with great interest, both for his own history and for the light, yet thrilling touch of spiritual kindness which it conveys towards the end. It contains, too, a line explaining his own silence.
The Rev. J. H. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq.
(Private.) Collegio di Prop.: Feb. 23, '47.
My dear Hope,—I have been writing so very, very much lately, that now that I want to tell you something my hand is so tired that I can hardly write a word. We are to be Oratorians. Mgr. Brunelli went to the Pope about it the day before yesterday, my birthday. The Pope took up the plan most warmly, as had Mgr. B., to whom we had mentioned it a month back. Mgr. had returned my paper, in which I drew out my plan, saying, 'Mi piace immensamente,' and repeated several times that the plan was 'ben ideata.' They have from the first been as kind to us as possible, and are ever willing to do anything for us. I have ever been thinking of you, and you must have thought my silence almost unkind, but I waited to tell you something which would be real news. It isnosecret that we are to be Oratorians, but matters of detail being uncertain, you had better keep it to yourself. The Pope wishes us to come here, as many as can, form a house under an experienced Oratorian Father, go through a novitiate, and return. Of course they will hasten us back as soon as [they] can, but that will depend on our progress. Isupposewe shall set up in Birmingham… You are not likely to know the very Jesuits of Propaganda. We are very fortunate in them. The Rector (Padre Bresciani) is a man of great delicacy and real kindness; our confessor, Father Ripetti, is one of the most excellent persons we have fallen in with, tho' I can't describe him to you in a few words. Another person we got on uncommonly with was Ghianda at Milan. Bellasis will have told you about him. We owed a great deal to you there, and did not forget you, my dear Hope. Let me say it, O that God would give you the gift of faith! Forgive me for this. I know you will. It is of no use my plaguing you with many words. I want you for the Church in England, and the Church for you. But I must do my own work in my own place, and leave everything else to that inscrutable Will which we can but adore;… Well, our lot is fixed. What will come to it I know not. Don't think me ambitious. I am not. I have no views. It will be enough for me if I get into some active work, and save my own soul…. My affectionate remembrances to Badeley….
Ever y'rs affectionately, John H. Newman.
I find, towards the end of 1850, a very interesting exchange of letters between Dr. Newman and Mr. Hope, which may conveniently be given here, though chronologically they ought to come later. I first give a letter needed to explain them:—
J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. to the Rev. Stuart Bathurst.
Abbotsford: Nov. 4, '50.
Dear Bathurst,—Your kind letter needed no apologies; and for your prayers and good thoughts for me I thank you much. May they of God be blessed to me in clearer light as well as in a purer conscience! As yet I do not see my way as you have done yours, but I pray that I may not long remain in such doubt as I now have.
From our address I conclude that you are with Newman. Tell him with my kind regards that I hope he has not forgotten me. I have very often thought of him, and have sometimes been near writing to him, but have had nothing definite to say. I have read his last lectures, and wish they were extended to a review of doctrine, and the difficulties which beset it to an Anglican.
Let me hear from you when you have time, and believe me, my dear Bathurst,
Yours ever aff'tly,
James R. Hope.
The Rev. S. Bathurst.
The Very Rev. Dr. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C.
Oratory, Birmingham: Nov. 20, 1850.
My dear Hope,—It is with the greatest pleasure I have just read the letter which you wrote to Bathurst, and which he has forwarded to me…. I now fully see … that your silence has arisen merely from the difficulty of writing to one in another communion, and the irksomeness and indolence (if you will let me so speak) we all feel in doing what is difficult, what may be misconceived, and what can scarcely have object or use.
I know perfectly well, my dear Hope, your great moral and intellectual qualities, and will not cease to pray that the grace of God may give you the obedience of faith, and use them as His instruments. For myself, I say it from my heart, I have not had a single doubt, or temptation to doubt, ever since I became a Catholic. I believe this to be the case with most men—it certainly is so with those with whom I am in habits of intimacy. My great temptation is to be atpeace, and let things go on as they will, and not trouble myself about others. This being the case, your recommendation that I should 'take a review of doctrine, and of the difficulties which beset it to an Anglican,' is anything but welcome, and makes me smile. Surely, enough has been written—all the writing in the world would not destroy the necessity of faith. If all were now made clear to reason, where would be the exercise of faith? The single question is, whetherenoughhas not been done toreducethe difficulties so far as to hinder them absolutely blocking up the way, or excluding those direct and large arguments on which the reasonableness of faith is built.
Ever yours affectionately,
John H. Newman.
J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. to the Very Rev. Dr. Newman.
Abbotsford: Nov. 27, '50.
Dear Newman,—The receipt of your letter gave me sincere pleasure. It renews a correspondence which I value very highly, and which my own stupidity had interrupted. Offence I had never taken, but causes such as you describe much better than I could have done were the occasion of my silence.
You may now find that you have brought more trouble on yourself, for there are many things on which I should like to ask you questions, and I know that your time is already much engaged. However, at present my chief object is to assure you how very glad I am again to write to you, as the friend whom I almost fear I had thrown away. Whatever occurs, do not let us be again estranged. It is not easy, as one gets older, to form new friendships of any kind, and least of all such as I have always considered yours….
Ever, dear Newman,
Yours affectionately
The Very Rev. Dr. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C.
Oratory, Birmingham: November 29, 1850.
My dear Hope,—I write a line to thank you for your letter, and to say how glad I shall be to hear from you, as you half propose, whether or not I am able to say anything to your satisfaction, which would be a greater and different pleasure.
It makes me smile to hear you talk of getting older. What must I feel, whose life is gone ere it is well begun?
Ever yours affectionately,
Congr. Orat.