BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 



THE LIFE OF CARDINAL NEWMAN.* 



Xo one can properlv write of Cardinal Newman 

 who is not an Oxford man. and an Oxford man 

 of the first half of the nineteenth centurv. For 



JOHN HKNRY NEWMAN. 



From II ilriiwini; in tlie puHSOsiiion of H. K. Willicrforcc, »■!. 



(Fiontiif>ioi- to Vol / ) 



altholl);!) Xewnian liec.inie a Roman Catliolic, lie was 

 lirst, foremiisi, and all the time, the liiu- Iruit of 

 <>xt<)rd eultnre. H<- did some notahle things after 

 he left Oxfonl. Hut it was when he was at 

 Oxford that he ilominaled the relij^ioiis evolution of 

 his tinn'. An I am not an Oxford man, nor a 

 University man of any kind, I am the rankest of 

 rank outsiders when set down In/fore a f)Ook like 

 Mr. Ward's. With frank liimiility, therefore, I 

 .ibstain from any attempt to write any appreciation 

 of this |)owerfnl intelUrt, ami conli'iK' nivself to 

 the mop' moilest task of extrartinn from these two 

 portly volumes some passages which are of per- 

 manent interi-st, dealin;;, as they do, with li\ing 

 questions of to-day, instead of trying to revive the 



interest formerly excited by the controversies as.so- 

 ciated with the name and fame of Cardinal New- 

 man. What I think will most interest and edify mv 

 readers is not to rehash the story of ancient strife, 

 but to let them read, in Newman's own words, what 

 lie believed upon the vital nialtt-rs of life and death, 

 .md the life after death. 



HIS EVANGELICAL FAITH. 



First and foremost Newman was the Evangelical 

 ( 'hristian. He was con\erted under Calvinistic 

 influences when he was still in his teens. It was 

 not the ordinary Methodist coinersiun in form, but 

 it was the same thing in essence : — 



■■J believe." In- writ(\s. "that the imvard conver- 

 sion of wliich I wa.s <-onscious (and of which I am 

 still more certain than that I have hands and feet) 

 Hoidd last to the ne.xt life, and that I was electe<l to 

 eternal t^loiy." (Vol. I., p. 30.) 



He spi>aks of "the reality of eonvension as cuttini; 

 at the root of d<Hibt, providini; a chain between Go<l 

 and the soni that i.s with e\i'vy liid< complete. I 

 know I am risht. How do you know it I' I know that 

 1 know." (Vol. 1., p. 31.)' 



When he came near to the gates of death, and he 

 looked back over nearly four-score vears of life, he 

 declares that if he had to give a rea.son for his full 

 and absolute devotion to the Catholic Roman 

 ( 'hurch he would say : — 



Tho.sc forest and bMrnin^i truths which I learned 

 when a boy from Kvangelical teaching, I have found 

 inipres.sc<l upon my heart with fresli and ever increas- 

 ing lorce by the Iloly Homan {'hurck. That Church 

 ba.s added to tlie simple K\ an^elicalism of my lirst 

 teachers, but it lias obscured, dihiti'd. enfeebled 

 notliiiij; of it. On the <-inilrary. I have fonii<l a 

 power, a resource, a comfort, a eon.solation in our 

 Lord's Divinity and atonenuuit. in His real presence 

 in Communion, in His Divine and Human power, 

 which all ^ood Catholics indeixJ have, but which 

 Kvanfjelical Chri.stians have but faiiitl.v. But I have 

 Mot strength to rO.v niore. (Vol. II., p. .527.) 



HIS CREED IN VERSE. 



In i8yo, writing to a friend, he says: 

 \c)u what I call mv creed " : — 



I -lid 



•"The Life of .Tolin Henry Ni'wni.in," liy Wilfrid 

 Ward. 2 voIh. :)6s. net. (I/onfjinans .ind Cn.) 



.Soul of Chri.st, be my sanctilication ; 

 Hody of Clirisl, be my salvation : 

 ltl<Hi<l of Christ, fill all my veins; 

 Water of Cln-ist's si(l<>, wash <uit my stains; 

 I'a.ssion of Christ, my comfort be; 

 (t i^ood .lesus, listen to u\r. 

 In Thy wounds I fain would bide, 

 Ne'i'r to lio parted from Tliv siile ; 

 (iuard me shouUI the foe assail me; 

 Call mi' when m.v lifi' shall fail me. 

 Hid mi' c(Min' to Thee above, 

 With Thy Suint,H to sin>; Thy love, 

 World n illiciut einl. .\men 

 1. II . p. .VUi.t 



