NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 5 May 1921, Page 26

NOTES

'Henry Edward Manning" For some time past we have been awaiting with much eagerness the appearance of Shane Leslie's authoritative biography of the second English Cardinal of modern times. At length there has come to hand a goodly volume, published by Burns, Oates, and Washbourne (25/- net), in their usual unimpeachable style, clear in type, well bound, and beautifully illustrated, running to 540 pages. Henry Edward Manning: his life and Labors, is a book that will henceforth hold a place on our shelves beside the great biographies of Wiseman and Newman written by Wilfrid Ward. And in this publication we have at length Shane Leslie's magnum opus, achieved with the ability and brilliancy which his more ephemeral writings have led us to expect from him. This notable work is a complete answer to the misrepresentations of Pufcell, and it tells the world in what way that gentleman's ill-considered and unauthorised Life came to be written, as it was, for the pain and annoyance of many. There are pages in the present volume that tend to throw much' needed light on many of the,vexed problems before us, attested and warranted by authentic documents, the true accounts of such interesting events as the succession to Westminster after the death of Wiseman, the friendships and the differences of opinion between Manning and Newman, and between Manning and Gladstone, the part played by Manning at the Vatican Council, his relations with the Irish Hierarchy, and the Persico mission to Ireland. Great figures move across the pages. There is the redoubtable Croke, the great Archbishop of Dublin, but recently deceased, Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Keane, Wiseman, Newman, Parnell, Chamberlain, Dilke, and so many others who were makers of the history of the last half-century. Shane Leslie has done his work splendidly, and the book is more fascinating than any romance we have read for a long time. The Definition of Infallibility "If any single man were to ascribe to himself the honor of this victory, it would be the Archbishop of Westminster," wrote . Nielson, with reference to the definition of the Infallibility of'the Pope. The chapter which deals with the' Council is of special interest. We quote one passage from it: "Manning's sixty-second birthday was one of calm

triumph. The script of the Infallibility was then in the. hands of the Secretary of the Council, and the weary majority slept the sleep of the justified. The storm which had ushered in Manning's birthday was repeated. On the night of July 17 the thunder rolled amid the domes of the city, and the lightning flashed like living anathemas from the great statues which threaten the outside world from the roof of the Lateran Basilica. In the grey of the morning the Fathers made their way for the last time to the Council. The Definition was solemnly read, declaring the Pope infallible and his definitions irreformable of themselves and not in virtue of the Church's consent, non autem ex consensu ecclesiae. This even was a milder version of the three words sine consensu ecclesiae by which it .. was sought to crush .Gallicanism for ever. No less than 535 Bishops voted Placet. Amid peals of thunder the Fathers gave their vote in turn. Only two, Riccio of Cajazzo and Fitzgerald of Little Rock, voted nonPlacet in order to make their subsequent submission the more striking. As the Pope read the figures with the aid of a taper the lightning burst forth afresh, as though Heaven, some said, were displeased at the action of men. ' They forget Sinai and the Ten Commandments,' was Manning's reply. But the roughness of the weather could hardly defer what the diplomacy of the world had tried to undermine in vain. Fiat Dogma, mat Caelum ! ... On the next dav war broke out between Germany and France. ' The Empire which threatened the Council was swept away, and, indeed, before the last survivor of the Council had died, the Empire of Germany which was erected on its ruins had also passed away. And the Papacy remained."

Relation with Newman and Gladstone Interesting chapters are those that tell of Manning's relations with Newman and Gladstone. In the case of Gladstone a life-long friendship was clouded because of the statesman's sulkiness with one who always put truth first. To this and not to any political motive must be attributed the violent and unjust attacks. made by Gladstone on the Church to which his old friend had been won over. In spite of such clouds as came towards the end it is clear that Manning had a wonderful influence over the statesman and that Ireland benefited greatly from the Cardinal's timely advice and warnings. With Newman relations were very complex. The two men were poles apart in many things. Manning was a man of action and not a little autocratic. Newman was a solitary and a genius, as sensitive as the strings of his own violin. More than one ecclesiastic —MacHale, Cullen, and Vaughan, for instance—jarred that delicate instrument, and perhaps nobody more so than Manning himself. Yet to the end Manning's affectionate regard for the aloof scholar never waned, and he was always making shy approaches towards a warmth that was never realised. "Only as Cardinals were they at unison, for in the Cardinalate there is a higher and sacred unity whjch is never broken. Manning was content that the Church in England should fly Newman's pennant from the masthead, while he continued to hold the tiller." fSffy Ireland ' What touches us most nearly is the light this book throws on Manning's life-long love and service for the land of our fathers. In his early years as' an Archbishop he worked incessantly for" the temporal and spiritual welfare of the Irish people. He was too big and too great to view with anything but scorn that was not concealed those English Catholics who had no gratitude to that land to which they owe to-day and yesterday their Faith and their liberty. His attitud*e to the London Tablet is one instance of his intense feeling on this subject. In later days, when Cardinal MacCabe had passed away, he played a . friend's part again in unmasking and defeating the intrigues of the British Government which tried by every means in its power to keep from the See of. St. Lawrence o'Toole the great Irish Churchman who has only just died, William Walsh. During the days of the Land League

Manning was hand-in-hand with Walsh and Croke, pleading for them where they could not be heard, defending them where they could not defend themselves, and m all things fighting as a lonely Englishman in the cause of Ireland, much as Bishop Amigo fights today. In connection with Ireland the name of Monsignor Persico comes on the page. When you have read this book you will understand how that poor man has been misrepresented and calumniated, how his sentiments towards our country and our people have been misunderstood, and how right Arthur Griffiths was when twenty years ago now he took up his pen in defence of this Italian Prelate who loved Ireland and whose report was not even read in. Rome before the English Catholic wire-pullers had deceived the Pope. Manning's view on- that unfortunate decree is: "The Decree of Leo XIII. was absolutely true, just, and useful. But in the abstract. The condition of Ireland is abnormal lhe Decree contemplates facts which do not exist The political condition of the world is not contained in the deposit. Pontiffs have no infallibility in the world of facts, except only dogmatic. The Plan of■ Campaign is not a dogmatic fact, and it is one thing to say that all legal agreements are binding, and another to say that all agreements in Ireland are legal." That whole chapter ought to be studied well in Rome during the present time, and Manning's advice then is sadly needed now. We hope we have conveyed to our readers some idea ot the importance and interest of this work. It is a book that ought to have a place in the librarv of every educated Catholic. J