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eminent victorians-第7章

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Brother Drithelm; St。 Amphibalus; St。 WuIstan; St。 Ebba; St。

Neot; St。 Ninian; and Cunibert the Hermit。 Their austerities;

their virginity; and their miraculous powers were described in

detail。 The public learned with astonishment that St Ninian had

turned a staff into a tree; that St。 German had stopped a cock

from crowing; and that a child had been raised from the dead to

convert St。 Helier。 The series has subsequently been continued by

a more modern writer whose relation of the history of the blessed

St。 Mael contains; perhaps; even more matter for edification than

Newman's biographies。



At the time; indeed; those works caused considerable scandal。

Clergymen denounced them in pamphlets。 St。 Cuthbert was described

by his biographer as having 'carried the jealousy of women;

characteristic of all the saints; to an extraordinary pitch'。 An

example was given; whenever he held a spiritual conversation with

St Ebba; he was careful to spend the ensuing ours of darkness 'in

prayer; up to his neck in water'。 'Persons who invent such

tales;' wrote one indignant commentator; 'cast very grave and

just suspicions on the purity of their own minds。 And young

persons; who talk and think in this way; are in extreme danger of

falling into sinful habits。 As to the volumes before us; the

authors have; in their fanatical panegyrics of virginity; made

use of language downright profane。'



One of the disciples at Littlemore was James Anthony Froude; the

younger brother of Hurrell; and it fell to his lot to be

responsible for the biography of St。 Neot。 While he was composing

it; he began to feel some qualms。 Saints who lighted fires with

icicles; changed bandits into wolves; and floated across the

Irish Channel on altar…stones; produced a disturbing effect on

his historical conscience。 But he had promised his services to

Newman; and he determined to carry through the work in the spirit

in which he had begun it。 He did so; but he thought it proper to

add the following sentence by way of conclusion: 'This is all;

and indeed rather more than all; that is known to men of the

blessed St。 Neot; but not more than is known to the angels in

heaven。'



Meanwhile; the English Roman Catholics were growing impatient;

was the great conversion never coming; for which they had prayed

so fervently and so long? Dr。 Wiseman; at the head of them; was

watching and waiting with special eagerness。 His hand was held

out under the ripening fruit; the delicious morsel seemed to be

trembling on its stalk; and yet it did not fall。 At last; unable

to bear the suspense any longer; he dispatched to Littlemore

Father Smith; an old pupil of Newman's; who had lately joined the

Roman communion; with instructions that he should do his best;

under cover of a simple visit of friendship; to discover how the

land lay。 Father Smith was received somewhat coldly; and the

conversation ran entirely on topics which had nothing to do with

religion。 When the company separated before dinner; he was

beginning to think that his errand had been useless; but; on

their reassembling; he suddenly noticed that Newman had changed

his trousers; and that the colour of the pair which he was now

wearing was grey。 At the earliest moment; the emissary rushed

back post…haste to Dr。 Wiseman。 'All is well;' he exclaimed;

'Newman no longer considers that he is in Anglican orders。〃

Praise be to God!' answered Dr Wiseman。 'But how do you know?'

Father Smith described what he had seen。 'Oh; is that all? My

dear father; how can you be so foolish?' But Father Smith was not

to be shaken。 'I know the man;' he said; and I know what it

means。 Newman will come; and he will come soon。'



And Father Smith was right。 A few weeks later; Newman suddenly

slipped off to a priest; and all was over。 Perhaps he would have

hesitated longer still; if he could have foreseen how he was to

pass the next thirty years of his unfortunate existence; but the

future was hidden; and all that was certain was that the past had

gone forever; and that his eyes would rest no more upon the

snapdragons of Trinity。



The Oxford Movement was now ended。 The University breathed such a

sigh of relief as usually follows the difficult expulsion of a

hard piece of matter from a living organism; and actually began

to attend to education。 As for the Church of England; she had

tasted blood; and it was clear that she would never again be

content with a vegetable diet。 Her clergy; however; maintained

their reputation for judicious compromise; for they followed

Newman up to the very point beyond which his conclusions were

logical; and; while they intoned; confessed; swung incense; and

burned candles with the exhilaration of converts; they yet

managed to do so with a subtle nuance which showed that they had

nothing to do with Rome。 Various individuals underwent more

violent changes。 Several had preceded Newman into the Roman fold;

among others an unhappy Mr。 Sibthorpe; who subsequently changed

his mind; and returned to the Church of his fathers; and then

perhaps it was only natural changed his mind again。 Many more

followed Newman; and Dr。 Wiseman was particularly pleased by the

conversion of a Mr。 Morris; who; as he said; was 'the author of

the essay; which won the prize on the best method of proving

Christianity to the Hindus'。 Hurrell Froude had died before

Newman had read the fatal article on St。 Augustine; but his

brother; James Anthony; together with Arthur Clough; the poet;

went through an experience which was more distressing in those

days than it has since become; they lost their faith。 With this

difference; however; that while in Froude's case the loss of his

faith turned out to be rather like the loss of a heavy

portmanteau; which one afterwards discovers to have been full of

old rags and brickbats; Clough was made so uneasy by the loss of

his that he went on looking for it everywhere as long as he

lived; but somehow he never could find it。 On the other hand;

Keble and Pusey continued for the rest of their lives to dance in

an exemplary manner upon the tight…rope of High Anglicanism; in

such an exemplary manner; indeed; that the tightrope has its

dancers still。



IV



MANNING was now thirty…eight; and it was clear that he was the

rising man in the Church of England。 He had many powerful

connections: he was the brother…in…law of Samuel Wilberforce; who

had been lately made a bishop; he was a close friend of Mr。

Gladstone; who was a Cabinet Minister; and he was becoming well

known in the influential circles of society in London。 His talent

for affairs was recognised not only in the Church; but in the

world at large; and he busied himself with matters of such varied

scope as National Education; the administration of the Poor Law;

and the Employment of Women。 Mr。 Gladstone kept up an intimate

correspondence with him on these and on other subjects; mingling

in his letters the details of practical statesmanship with the

speculations of a religious thinker。 'Sir James Graham;' he

wrote; in a discussion of the bastardy clauses of the Poor Law;

'is much pleased with the tone of your two communications。 He is

disposed; without putting an end to the application of the

workhouse test against the mother; to make the remedy against the

putative father 〃real and effective〃 for expenses incurred in the

workhouse。 I am not enough acquainted to know whether it would be

advisable to go further。 You have not proposed it; and I am

disposed to believe that only with a revived and improved

discipline in the Church can we hope for any generally effective

check upon lawless lust。' 'I agree with you EMINENTLY;' he

writes; in a later letter; 'in your doctrine of FILTRATION。 But

it sometimes occurs to me; though the question may seem a strange

one; how far was the Reformation; but especially the Continental

Reformation; designed by God; in the region of final causes; for

that purification of the Roman Church which it has actually

realised?'



In his archdeaconry; Manning lived to the full the active life of

a country clergyman。 His slim; athletic figure was seen

everywhere in the streets of Chichester; or on the lawns of the

neighbouring rectories; or galloping over the downs in breeches

and gaiters; or cutting brilliant figures on the ice。 He was an

excellent judge of horse…flesh; and the pair of greys which drew

his hooded phaeton so swiftly through the lanes were the

admiration of the county。 His features were already beginning to

assume their ascetic cast; but the spirit of youth had not yet

fled from them; so that he seemed to combine the attractions of

dignity and grace。 He was a good talker; a sympathetic listener;

a man who understood the difficult art of preserving all the

vigour of a manly character and yet never giving offence。 No

wonder that his sermons drew crowds; no wonder that his spiritual

advice was sought for eagerly by an ever…growing group of

penitents; no wonder that men would say; when his name was

mentioned; 'Oh; Manning! No power on earth can keep HIM from a

bishopric!'



Such was the fair outward seeming of the Archdeacon's life; but;

the inward reality was different。 The more active; the more

fortunate; the more full of happy promise his existence became;

the more persistently was his secret imagination haunted by a

dreadful visionthe lake that burneth forever with brimstone and

fire。 The temptations of the Evil One are many; Manning knew; and

he knew also that; for him at least; the most subtle and terrible

of all temptations was the temptation of worldly success。 He

tried to reassure himself; but it was in vain。 He committed his

thoughts to a diary; weighing scrupulously his every motive;

examining with relentless searchings into the depths of his

heart。 Perhaps; after all; his longings for preferment were

merely legitimatehopes for 'an elevation into a sphere of higher

usefulness'。 But no。 there was something more than that。 'I do

feel pleasure;' he noted; 'in honour; precedence; elevation; the

society of great people; and all this is very shameful and mean。'



After Newman's conversion; he almost convinced himself that his

'visions of an ecclesiastical future' were justified by the role

that he would play as a 'healer of the breach in the Church of

England'。 Mr。 Gladstone agreed with him; but there was One higher

than Mr。 Gladstone; and did He agree? 'I am pierced by anxious

thoughts。 God knows what my desires have been and are; and why

they are crossed。 。。。 I am flattering myself with a fancy about

depth and reality。 。。。 The great question is: Is God enough for

you now? And if you are as now even to the end of life; will it

suffice you? 。。。 Certainly I would rather choose to be stayed on

God; than to be in the thrones of the world and the Church。

Nothing else will go into Eternity。'



In a moment of ambition; he had applied for

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