BCAMNINa 607 MAXOSmXQ
spread and strengthen the Catholic Faith in England. Birmingham. Later in the year he went to Rome to
His pastoral lalx>ur was now no lon^r hampered receive the pallium, returning to England by Novem-
by inward struggles or by the uncertainties of doc- ber, when he was solemnly enthroned, and set himself
trinal differences that troubled the Ang^can arch- to the great work that lay before him. If the choice
deacon. , made bjr the Holv See was naturally received with
Though the old time of storm and stress was ended, satisfaction by all who really knew him. others who he was now to have trouble of another kind; ana had not that advantage regarded it with some mi&- through no fault of his own he found himself involved giving. Yet some who had hitherto misunderstood in a domestic controversy which became the cause of him may possibly have gained a new sense of his considerable misunderstanding. In the circum- power, and of his fitness for the post, from the sermon stances of the time it was almost inevitable that the that he preached at the funeral of Cardinal Wiseman, new community, partly composed of converts and In that graphic sketch of his predecessor's career, apparently aiming at a revival in En^ish Catholic wherein he snowed how the man had been fashioned ecdesiastical Ufe, should be a subject of some differ- and prepared for the work he was destined to do in ence of opinion. Men of the old school, who looked England, the discerning reader may see how well the with suspicion on any novelties, may be pardoned for preacher had grasped the needs and hopes of the coun- feeling alarm at the participation oi the new com- try, and mav moreover be led to reflect how he, too, munitv in the work of the diocesan seminar}r. Likely though in other ways than Wiseman's, had been made enough, neither mde quite understood the ideas and ready to carry the Catholic standard forward to fur- motives of the other. Be this as it may, the majority ther victories. While those who rightly understood of the Metropolitan Chapter adopted views at variance Manning's merits may well have had high hopes for with those of Wiseman and Manning, and in the con- the future, few if any can have anticipated anythinjg troversy that ensued the canons were supported by like the actual accomplishment. For one thing, his Archbishop Errington, at that time Carainal Wise- age and his apparently frail health gave Uttle promise man's coadjutor "with right of succession" to the see. of such a long lease of active and laborious life. He In the event the Oblates had to retire from St. Ed- said himself that he thought he had twelve years of mund's College (1861), where their presence had given work in him; and some may have considered this over offence to the chapter. But the most important out- sanguine. Yet he was to have a life full of strenuous come of the stru^e was the removal of Archbishop and varied labour for more than a quarter of a cen- Errington from his office of coadjutor cum jure 8tu>- tury.
ceasionis. And as this decision of the Holy See fol- He inaugurated a memorial to his predecessor Car- lowed upon a controversy in which Manning took a dinal Wiseman and determined that it should take the conspicuous part, some critics, imperfectly acquainted form of a cathedral for Westminster. In 1868 he was with the facts, have regarded hun as an ambitious able to secure a site^ but in after years a more favour- aspirant for office removing a rival from his path, able one was determmed on. His efforts to procure edu- But in this they strangely mistake the situation, and cation for the poor Catholic children of London were forget or overlook the fact that Manning's part in the unceasing; and in his Lenten Pastoral of 1890 he was controversy was strictly defensive. This can hard(y able to say that the names of 23,599 Catholic children be disputed by any careful and candid student of the were on the books of his parochial schools, and that documents. For even a reader who shared Arch- during the previous quarter of a century 4542 children bishop Errington's unfavourable view of the Oblate had been provided for in the homes of the archdiocese. Community and its position and influence in the dio- He was one of the 500 bishops assembled in Rome to oese could hardly blame the superior of the Oblates take part in the eighteenth centenary of Sts. Peter and for writing a vigorous vindication of himself and his Paul, and he was, therefore, present when Pius IX an- community. nounoed his intention of convoking a General Council.
Though this struggle was certainly not of his seek- He returned to Rome in 1869, arriving for the opening ing, and though he clearlv had no thought of securing of the Vatican Council, 8 December, and was put on the succession for himself; it is none the less true that the Committee " De Fide ". To this Committee, in this controversy with the chapter and the coadjutor March, 1870, was referred the question of Papal In- did lead in the event to his own elevation. If the xoipt- fallibility, and on 18 July the Decree was passed . ure had never come to pass there would have been no On his return to England, Manning protested in the vacancy on Cardinal Wiseman's death, since the coad- press against the charges made by Mr. Gladstone jutor would have succeeded in due course. At the against Catholics who accepted the Vatican Decrees, same time, the attack and the vindication had the and his three pastoral letters published under the title effect of making Manning's merits and labours better "Petri Privile^um" did much to remove prejudice known in Rome, and marked him out as the man and misconception even among Catholics. In 1878 his most in sympathy with Wiseman's policy, and thus "True Story of the Vatican Council "appeared in "The suggested him as a suitable successor. Hence, when Nineteenth Century" in reply to incorrect statements the vacancy occurred on Wiseman's death in February, that had obtained credence. In 1875 he was sum- 1865, the natural result followed. This was made moned to Rome to receive the caidinalate and the more certain when the chapter sent up Archbishop title of Sts. Andrew and Gregory, the church on the Errington's name at the h^ of the tema, and the Coelian, once the home of St. Gregory the Great, other candidates did their best to secure his appoint- whence St. Augustine and his companions had been ment. As the Holy See could hardly accept such a sent to convert England. In 1878 Cardinal Manning reversal of the decision made a few years before, it was took part in the conclave that elected Leo XIII, re- inevitable that the names should be set aside; and the oeiving a vote or two himself in the scrutiny; and pope himself decided to appoint Mgr. Manning. While Pope Leo's encyclical " On the condition of labour", the matter still hung in the balance, Manning endeav- to use the words of Bishop Hedley, " owes something oured to secure the appointment of another, and, in a to the counsels of Cardinal Manning. " confidential letter to Mgr. George Talbot in Rome, A matter of importance which took up not a little of urged the claims of Bishop Ullathome and Bishop his time and caus^ him some anxiety arose at the Low Comthwaite. From resolutions which he made as to Week meeting of the bishops in 1877, when he pro- his future conduct towards the coming archbishop it is posed that they should prepare a petition to be sent to clear that he did not anticipate his own appoint- Kome asking that the pope should determine the rela- naent. tions which ougbt to exist between the regulars and
The new archbishop was consecrated at St. Mary the episcopate. The main questions at issue affected
Moorfields, on 8 June, 1865, by Bishop Ullathome of the right of the bishops to divide missions already ia
