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reason that I should prefer the Pope's acting himself。'
But the Holy Father himself was doubting。 In his indecision; he
ordered a month of prayers and masses。 The suspense grew and
grew。 Everything seemed against Manning。 The whole English
episcopate was opposed to him; he had quarrelled with the
Chapter; he was a convert of but few years' standing; even the
congregated Cardinals did not venture to suggest the appointment
of such a man。 But suddenly; the Holy Father's doubts came to an
end。 He heard a voice a mysterious inward voice whispering
something in his ear。 'Mettetelo li! Mettetelo li!' the voice
repeated; over and over again。 Mettetelo li! It was an
inspiration; and Pius IX; brushing aside the recommendations of
the Chapter and the deliberations of the Cardinals; made Manning;
by a Pontifical act; Archbishop of Westminster。
Monsignor Talbot's felicity was complete; and he took occasion in
conveying his congratulations to his friend; to make some
illuminating reflections upon the great event。 'MY policy
throughout;' he wrote; 'was never to propose you DIRECTLY to the
Pope; but; to make others do so; so that both you and I can
always say that it was not I who induced the Holy Father to name
you which would lessen the weight of your appointment。 This I
say; because many have said that your being named was all my
doing。 I do not say that the Pope did not know that I thought you
the only man eligible as I took care to tell him over and over
again what was against all the other candidates and in
consequence; he was almost driven into naming you。 After he had
named you; the Holy Father said to me; 〃What a diplomatist you
are; to make what you wished come to pass!〃
'Nevertheless;' concluded Monsignor Talbot; 'I believe your
appointment was specially directed by the Holy Ghost。'
Manning himself was apparently of the same opinion。 'My dear
Child;' he wrote to a lady penitent; 'I have in these last three
weeks felt as if our Lord had called me by name。 Everything else
has passed out of my mind。 The firm belief that I have long had
that the Holy Father is the most supernatural person I have ever
seen has given me this feeling more deeply。 'Still; I feel as if
I had been brought; contrary to all human wills; by the Divine
Will; into an immediate relation to our Divine Lord。'
'If indeed;' he wrote to Lady Herbert; 'it were the will of our
Divine Lord to lay upon me this heavy burden; He could have done
it in no way more strengthening and consoling to me。 To receive
it from the hands of His Vicar; and from Pius IX; and after long
invocation of the Holy Ghost; and not only without human
influences; but in spite of manifold aria powerful human
opposition; gives me the last strength for such a cross。'
VI
MANNING'S appointment filled his opponents with alarm。 Wrath and
vengeance seemed to be hanging over them; what might not be
expected from the formidable enemy against whom they had
struggled for so long; and who now stood among them armed with
archiepiscopal powers and invested with the special confidence of
Rome? Great was their amazement; great was their relief; when
they found that their dreaded master breathed nothing but
kindness; gentleness; and conciliation。 The old scores; they
found; were not to be paid off; but to be wiped out。 The new
archbishop poured forth upon every side all the tact; all the
courtesy; all the dignified graces of a Christian magnanimity。 It
was impossible to withstand such treatment。 Bishops who had spent
years in thwarting him became his devoted adherents; even the
Chapter of Westminster forgot its hatred。 Monsignor Talbot was
extremely surprised。 'Your greatest enemies have entirely come
round;' he wrote。 'I received the other day a panegyric of you
from Searle。 This change of feeling I cannot attribute to
anything but the Holy Ghost。' Monsignor Talbot was very fond of
the Holy Ghost; but; so far; at any rate as Searle was concerned;
there was another explanation。 Manning; instead of dismissing
Searle from his position of 'oeconomus' in the episcopal
household; had kept him onat an increased salary; and the poor
man; who had not scrupled in the days of his pride to call
Manning a thief; was now duly grateful。
As to Dr。 Errington; he gave an example of humility and
submission
by at once withdrawing into a complete obscurity。 For years the
Archbishop of Trebizond; the ejected heir to the See of
Westminster; laboured as a parish priest in the
Isle of Man。 He nursed no resentment in his heart; and; after a
long and edifying life of peace and silence; he died in 1886; a
professor of theology at Clifton。
It might be supposed that Manning could now feel that his triumph
was complete。 His position was secure; his power was absolute;
his prestige was daily growing。 Yet there was something that
irked him still。 As he cast his eyes over the Roman Catholic
community in England; he was aware of one figure which; by virtue
of a peculiar eminence; seemed to challenge the supremacy of his
own。 That figure was Newman's。
Since his conversion; Newman's life had been a long series of
misfortunes and disappointments。 When he had left the Church of
England; he was its most distinguished; its most revered member;
whose words; however strange; were listened to with profound
attention; and whose opinions; however dubious; were followed in
all their fluctuations with an eager and indeed a trembling
respect。 He entered the Church of Rome; and found himself
forthwith an unimportant man。 He was received at the Papal Court
with a politeness which only faintly concealed a total lack of
interest and understanding。 His delicate mind; with its
refinements; its hesitations; its complexitieshis soft;
spectacled; Oxford manner; with its half…effeminate diffidence…
such things were ill calculated to impress a throng of busy
Cardinals and Bishops; whose days were spent amid the practical
details of ecclesiastical organisation; the long…drawn
involutions of papal diplomacy; and the delicious bickerings of
personal intrigue。 And when; at last; he did succeed in making
some impression upon these surroundings; it was no better; it was
worse。 An uneasy suspicion gradually arose; it began to dawn upon
the Roman authorities that Dr。 Newman was a man of ideas。 Was it
possible that Dr。 Newman did not understand that ideas in Rome
were; to say the least of it; out of place? Apparently; he did
not nor was that all; not content with having ideas; he
positively seemed anxious to spread them。 When that was known;
the politeness in high places was seen to be wearing decidedly
thin。 His Holiness; who on Newman's arrival had graciously
expressed the wish to see him 'again and again'; now; apparently;
was constantly engaged。 At first Newman supposed that the growing
coolness was the result of misapprehension; his Italian was
faulty; Latin was not spoken at Rome; his writings had