Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical SketchesMcCarthy, Justin
History
Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches
McCarthy, Justin
Biography
any other source anything so clear, complete, and astonishing as his
cordial acceptance of the uttermost claims of Rome; the prostration of
all reason and judgment before the supposed supernatural attributes of
the Papal throne. In one of the finest passages of his own writings he
says: "My love for England begins with the England of St. Bede. Saxon
England, with all its tumults, seems to me saintly and beautiful. Norman
England I have always loved less, because, although majestic, it became
continually less Catholic, until the evil spirit of the world broke off
the light yoke of faith at the so-called Reformation. Still I loved the
Christian England which survived, and all the lingering outlines of
diocese and parishes, cathedrals and churches, with the names of saints
upon them. It is this vision of the past which still hovers over England
and makes it beautiful and full of the memories of the kingdom of God.
Nay, I loved the parish church of my childhood and the college chapel of
my youth, and the little church under a green hillside where the morning
and evening prayers and the music of the English Bible for seventeen
years became a part of my soul. Nothing is more beautiful in the natural
order, and if there were no eternal world I could have made it my home."
To Dr. Manning the time when saints walked the earth of England is more
of a reality than the day before yesterday to most of us. Where the
ordinary eye sees only a poor, ignorant Irish peasant, Dr. Manning
discerns a heaven-commissioned bearer of light and truth, destined by
the power of his unquestioning faith to redeem perhaps, in the end, even
English philosophers and statesmen. When it was said in the praise of
the murdered Archbishop of Paris that he was disposed to regret the
introduction of the dogma of infallibility, Archbishop Manning came
eagerly to the rescue of his friend's memory, and as one would vindicate
a person unjustly accused of crime, he vindicated the dead Archbishop
from the stigma of having for a moment dared to have an opinion of his
own on such a subject. Of course, if Dr. Manning were an ordinary
theological devotee or fanatic, there would be nothing remarkable in all
this. But he is a man of the widest culture, of high intellectual gifts,
of keen and penetrating judgment in all ordinary affairs, remarkable for
his close and logical argument, his persuasive reasoning, and for a
genial, quiet kind of humor which seems especially calculated to
dissolve sophistry by its action. He is an English gentleman, a man of
the world; he was educated at Oxford with Arthur Pendennis and young
Lord Magnus Charters; he lives at York Place in the London of to-day; he
drives down to the House of Commons and talks politics in the lobby with
Gladstone and Lowe; he meets Disraeli at dinner parties, and is on
friendly terms, I dare say, with Huxley and Herbert Spencer; he reads
the newspapers, and I make no doubt is now well acquainted with the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account