  1844-1845. Mr. Hope's Tour on the Continent in 1844—Visit to Munich—Dr. Pusey's At the end of August or beginning of September 1844 Mr. Hope set out for a tour on the Continent, accompanied by Mr. Badeley. Of the earlier days of it I have no information, but they parted at Heidelberg about September 12, Mr. Badeley for the Rhine country and Belgium, Mr. Hope for Munich. By this time, as has already been evident, he was deeply engaged in professional pursuits, and his health had begun to suffer from his unremitting labours. Several passages might be quoted from the letters of his intimate friends, showing the anxiety they felt on the subject. Some real relaxation, however, had at last become necessary; and it would appear that he rather wished to leave the turmoil of the movement, as well as business, behind him. In a letter of Mr. Badeley's to him, dated Brussels, September 22, the following sentence occurs:—'If you like to see what is going on in this [the affair of opposing Dr. Symonds' election as Vice-Chancellor at Oxford] and in Church matters, I will send you the "English Churchman;" but as you said "No," when we parted, I forbear to forward any papers till further orders.' Afterwards, however, 'after all,' he asks Mr. Badeley to send it. On his way to Munich, Mr. Hope stopped at Augsburg, where 'of course he visited Butsch the bookseller,' buys a copy of the 'Summa Divi Thomae Aquinatis,' and sees some good books which he did not want. At Munich, where he arrived on September 14, rooms were provided for him at the Austrian Legation by the kindness of his friend Count Senfft. These particulars I take from a letter of his to Mr. Badeley, dated Munich, September 22, and subjoin some further details in full:— D[Öllinger] is, I think, remarkably well, and I am more struck with him than ever. I found him already deep in Ward's book, with which he is much struck. I have already had some interesting conversation with him, and anticipate more. He is rector elect of the University, and highly spoken of by all I see. My new acquaintances consist of the Papal Nuntius Viale, a very striking person, Professor Walther, the canonist, and some intelligent Bavarians. I am to visit GÖrres this evening…. There is an English service here very decently and nicely performed by Mr. de Coetlogon, a man in Scotch orders, and the chapel is a modest but respectable room…. I ask hard questions upon marriage, and receive very doubtful answers; but I am resolved, if possible, to get some definite information from the best sources in Germany. The following letter, connected with this tour of Mr. Hope's, is also very instructive as to a particular phase of the movement:— The Rev. Dr. Pusey to J. R. Hope, Esq. My dear Hope,—I have no news as yet to communicate to you, except that some few are taking up ye matter of ye V. C. in rt earnest, and so I suppose it will be a pitched battle, and we shall win at last, even if but a handful as yet. I have 2 or 3 commissions for you, wh will not occupy your time, and wh will, I hope, be a subject of interest to you. It is for my little library of R. C. works. The perplexity is to find out ye best books upon difft subjects, for I cannot read all. The general class is, as you know, ascetic books, books of guidance, wh shall give people knowledge of self, enable us to guide consciences, build people up in ye higher life, force them to mental prayer, or give them subjects of meditation in it, the spiritual life, Xtian perfection, holy performance of ordinary actions, love of God, or any Xtian graces in detail, devotions, books on holy seasons—in a word, anything in practical theology in its widest range, or, again, cases of conscience. I have learnt more or less as to French & Spanish, & some Latin works, but of Italian I know those only of Scupoli, and of German absolutely nothing. The only books I have seen are some sermons by Sailer, wh, altho' clear and energetic, contain nothing wh one did not know before; they have nothing to build people up with. I shd be glad also of any information on a subject wh I know drew yr thoughts when you were last abroad—the system as to retreats. I saw a book,' Manuale dell' Esercitatori,' but I shd be very glad of any information or any guidance. If it wd not occupy you too much, I shd be much obliged to you to procure on my account any practical works wh mt be recommended. Perhaps also Dr. DÖllinger could give you some information as to S. Ignatius Loyola, 'Exercitia Spiritualia,' for they seem to have been so often re-moulded, that there is some difficulty to ascertain (1) what is ye genuine form, or at least to obtain a copy, (2) whether any other re- casting of it be found easier to use. I trust these inquiries will not be so much an encumbrance to you, as lead you to happy subjects and more acquaintance with happy-making books. God bless you ever. Yrs affectionately, E. B. PUSEY.Christ Church: September 9, 1844. [P.S.] There is yet a subject on wh I shd like to know more, if you fall in with persons who have ye guidance of consciences,—what penances they employ for persons whose temptations are almost entirely spiritual, of delicate frames often, and who wish to be led on to perfection. I see in a spiritual writer that even for such, corporal severities are not to be neglected, but so many of them are unsafe. I suspect ye 'discipline' to be one of ye safest, and with internal humiliation the best…. Cd you procure and send me one by B.? What was described to me was of a very sacred character; 5 cords, each with 5 knots, in memory of ye 5 wounds of our Lord…. I shd be glad to know also whether there were any cases in wh it is unsafe, e.g. in a nervous person. On October 1 Mr. Hope left Munich to pay a visit at Tetschen, the seat of his friends the Thun family (described vol. i. p. 42), taking Ratisbon and other places in his way. At Tetschen, where he stayed from October 5 to 12, he found a sad blank in the recent death of the Countess Thun. From an interesting letter to Lady Hope (dated Vienna, October 26, 1844) which furnishes these dates, I transcribe also the following particulars:— Countess Anna is still in very uncertain health…. The Count himself seems to have rallied lately, but it will be long before he gets over his loss. The second daughter, Countess Inza, seems to be now the stay of the family. Of the sons, only Francis, the eldest, was at home. He is devoted to art, and has besides abundance of business in the management of the estates which his father has made over to him, and with various charitable societies at Prague, in which he and his family are interested. From Tetschen I went to Prague, with Count Joseph Thun, a cousin, with his wife and two sons. At Prague I spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, in constant admiration of the town, to which I did not do justice when I was last there. It is really beautiful, and, out of Italy, I think Edinburgh alone equal to it, of all the towns which I have seen. With Tetschen for summer, and Prague for winter, I think the Thuns have two as charming residences as could be found. On Tuesday evening [Oct. 15] I left for KÖnigsgrÄtz, a provincial town, where Leo Thun, the youngest, is officially employed. He is a noble fellow, and has devoted himself for years to the details of business, with a view to becoming useful to Bohemia, to which he is very much attached. He is also prominent among the revivers of the Bohemian language and literature, which is Sclavonic, and has thus become well known in Germany, as well as in Hungary and other countries where there are Sclavonic tribes. The movement is in a political sense important, as well as influential upon manners and modes of thinking, and it has already excited a good deal of discussion and some animosity. It would take too much time, however, to explain what I have learnt of its bearings. With Leo I spent two very agreeable days, and have had much to talk about, as I had not seen him since I was last in Bohemia. I was introduced to the notables of the place, his chef and the commander of the garrison (an old Irish officer of the name of Fitzgerald), and saw his mode of life, which to a man with plenty of employment must be convenient, though not very amusing. From KÖnigsgrÄtz I started on Thursday night, and arrived here [Vienna] on Saturday week, the 19th [Oct.], and took up my abode at the same inn with Fritz Thun, the diplomat, who was here on his way from Turin, which he has now left for Prague. You will remember how pleasant a person he is, and will be glad to hear that his professional prospects are excellent, as he is in high favour with Prince Metternich, to whom he was strongly recommended by Schwartzenberg, his last chef. One of my first acts was to call on Sir R. Gordon [the British Ambassador], who has been most kind, giving me dinner as often as I can go to him, and assisting me in everything. On the evening of my arrival he took me to Prince Metternich, when I had the honour of a conversation with the great man. George was remembered by him and his daughter, and by the Countess Zichy, the Princess's mother, and I was very kindly received by them all. Palmerston was expected here, and the Prince told Sir R. Gordon that, if he came, I should be invited to meet him at dinner; but unluckily he has changed his plans, so that I shall not see him and Metternich together, which would have been a great sight. I gave Sir Robert your good account of Lady Alicia,[Footnote: Sister of the Earl of Aberdeen and of Sir R. Gordon, died 1847.] and beg that you will in return tell her that Sir R. is very flourishing, and that in my opinion he is a very magnificent ambassador, and, what is better, a very kind one. His establishment is admirably montÉ, and I found in FranÇois a friend of the Hope family in general. George's letters of introduction I duly received. Schwartzenberg is not here, but I have seen Esterhazy, who has asked me to his country place, about three hours' drive from Vienna…. Besides the people I have named, I have seen others, to whom I get access through Count Senfft, among whom is the Dowager Duchess of Anhalt-CÖthen, a natural sister of the King of Prussia, and a clever woman…. Your affect. Son, JAMES R. HOPE.Mr. Hope was unable to accept the invitation of Prince Esterhazy, in consequence of an engagement to visit another Hungarian magnate, Prince Palffy. The latter visit, with various other interesting details, is recorded in the following letter:— J. R. Hope, Esq., to Edward L. Badeley, Esq. Vienna: Nov. 7, 1844. Dear Badeley,—[After giving some account of his visit at Tetschen, Mr. Hope goes on to mention his interview with Prince Metternich.] Prince Metternich honoured me with a conversation of some ten minutes or so, and which would probably have been both longer and more interesting but for the intrusion of a German who chose to thrust himself upon us. He spoke of some points of commercial and manufacturing interest, and pleased me very much by the simplicity of his manner. By means of letters which Count Senfft gave me I have also become acquainted with several of the persons who are known as active friends of the R. C. High Church party; but I do not know very much of them, and of the Vienna clergy nothing at all…. On Sunday, the 28th [Oct.], I started for my promised visit to Prince Palffy at Malatzka, and arrived there in a few hours. The house resembles most of those one sees abroad, built round a court, with long passages, white exterior, &c., and, as the country round it is very flat and sandy, it cannot be called a very interesting place. It was, however, my first resting-place in Hungary, and as such, an object of curiosity to me. Besides which, I found in it a hearty welcome, and a large family party, which gave me a good idea of the society of the upper class. The Prince is an extensive landowner, holding it all in his own hands (as is generally if not universally the case, both in Bohemia and Hungary), and working it by the tributary labour of the peasants, who, besides a small money payment, contribute labour for a certain number of days in each year. With the obligation of this quittance, the latter class hold in fee the cottages and plots of land which they occupy, and appear to be a thriving and comfortable race. They are, however, exclusively the tax-payers, as the nobles are still free from all imposts. An effort has indeed been made lately, which has partially succeeded, to tax the nobles; and it is probable that amid the numerous reforms of the Hungarian Diet, this will eventually be fully carried out. Our mode of life at Malatzka was to rise when we chose, breakfast in our own rooms, to meet at half-past twelve for luncheon, then to go out, and to dine at six, and to spend the evening in the drawing-room. Coursing, a badger-hunt, and an expedition to a property of the Prince's at the foot of the Carpathians, constituted my out-of-door amusements; and of these, the last at least was very interesting. I saw an immense tract of wood and pasture, a herd of wild oxen, sheep innumerable, a curious stalactite grotto, and an Hungarian farmhouse. From Malatzka I went, furnished with letters, to the seat of Prince Liechtenstein in Moravia—EisgrÜb. He is one of the richest men in the Austrian dominions, having possessions in Moravia, Bohemia, and Hungary, and several houses in Vienna. A great sportsman, and in this point, at least, a great imitator of English manners. The house at which I was is a summer residence, with very fine pleasure-grounds, park, &c.; but he has an autumn chÂteau not far off, which I also visited, and which is a fine specimen of foreign country architecture. Everything about him seemed to teem with expense and luxury, which, although probably not greater than what is to be found in the residences of English noblemen, appears greater from its contrast with the rudeness and simplicity of the general condition of the country. These great nobles seem, in fact, to combine the most striking points of barbarism and civilisation, and to turn them both to their enjoyment. I stayed only one day at EisgrÜb, though I had pressing invitations to remain longer; but I was anxious to go to Presburg to see the Diet, and so returned to Malatzka, which I left again the next morning, Saturday, 2nd Nov., for the seat of the Hungarian Parliament. At Presburg I spent four days. The place itself is uninteresting, though there are points of beauty about it; but it contains at this moment some of the most turbulent politicians in the world; and their movements are of considerable importance as well to the twelve million souls who constitute the population of Hungary, as to the integrity of the Austrian Empire. I should write a book were I to tell you all I have heard from different quarters upon this question; but this much seems certain—that Hungary is in a state of violent transition, and that in a few years its internal condition and perhaps its relations to the Austrian monarchy will have undergone a complete revolution. Sir R. Gordon gave me a letter to an Englishman who is employed by the British Embassy to attend the sittings of the Diet; and by his kindness I was enabled to make acquaintance with many of the most distinguished men. I was also present at several debates in the two Chambers of the Diet, and though (the language being Hungarian) I could not understand a word, yet it was most interesting to watch the proceedings of this Magyar Parliament, in which freedom of speech exists as fully as in any assembly in the world. The members all attend in Hungarian costume, which, on common occasions, consists of a laced surtout coat, a cap, and a sword. They speak from their places and without notes. Each member may speak as often as he pleases, and some take advantage of the privilege to a somewhat formidable extent. There seemed to be much fluency and not a little action; but the management of the voice was bad, and energy seemed to pass at once into violence. Though party runs high, organisation is very little understood, and business is transacted both slowly and with very uncertain results. They have the misfortune of all foreign constitutional states, that of desiring to imitate England, i.e. to do in a few years, and designedly, what the accidents of centuries have produced with us. There is, however, no lack either of talent or courage, and one governing mind might make Hungary a nation. It is immensely rich in natural productions, and wants only a market to have a great trade. This they are well disposed to establish with England, and I hope they may succeed; but Austria has interests which I fear may render this difficult. In both Chambers the clergy are represented: in that of the magnates by the Bishops; in the Lower House by deputies of the chapters. To the Primate I was introduced at one of his public entertainments. He is said to have 40 or 60,000_l_. per ann., and his personal carriage as well as his establishment are quite becoming his station. I made acquaintance also with the Archbishop of Erlau, a poet and a man of taste and learning, but victim to the tic douloureux. Lastly, with the Bishop of Csanad (Mgr. Lonowics), who has charmed me. He is well read, in English as well as other literature and history, and is as kind-hearted and Christian a man as I ever met with. Indeed, I shall be tempted to visit Hungary again, if it is only to spend a day or two with him. In the meantime we have established a mutual book- relation. He is to send me works on Hungarian Ecclesiastical Law, addressed to Stewart, and I have promised to send him some things which I beg you will at once see to. [Mr. Hope mentions Winkle's 'Cathedrals;' Ward's 'Ideal;' Newman's last vol. of 'Sermons;' the 'Life of St. Stephen;' Oakeley's 'Life of St. Austin;' and his own pamphlet 'On the Jerusalem Bishopric.'] Yours ever truly, James R. Hope. On November 25 we find Mr. Hope at Milan, where he mentions having seen his old acquaintances, Manzoni and Vitali. The following letter will show how much he had impressed the former, brief as their communications had been:— Alessandro Manzoni to J. R. Hope, Esq. Milan: 8 Mai, 1845. Monsieur et respectable ami,—Je profite de l'occasion que me prÉsente mon ancien et intime ami, M. le Baron Trechi, pour me rappeler À votre bon souvenir…. AgrÉez mes remercÎments bien vifs et bien sincÈres pour les Scripture Prints que Mr. Lewis Gruner a bien voulu me remettre de votre part. Si le nom du peintre n'y Était pas, je suis sÛr qu'en les voyant, je me serais ÉcriÉ: Ah! Raphael. C'est tout ce qu'un homme n'ayant, malheureusement, aucune connaissance de l'art, peut vous dire pour vous rendre compte de l'impression que lui a faite la copie. Je ne vous charge de rien pour M. Gladstone, parce que je me donne la satisfaction de lui Écrire par cette mÊme occasion. J'espÈre que nous le reverrons bientÔt au ministÈre. N'allez pas me demander si je suis anglais pour dire: nous; car je vous rÉpondrais que homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto; et qu'il n'y a rien d'humanius que d'aimer À voir le pouvoir uni À la confiance; je ne dis pas: À de hautes facultÉs; car, malheureusement, le cas est moins rare. [After giving his friend an account of a great family affliction he had sustained in the loss of a beloved daughter, the writer goes on to say:] Je ne crains pas de vous importuner en vous parlant ainsi de ce qui me touche si profondÉment: je sais la part que vous prenez À tout ce qui est douleur et confiance en Dieu, par JÉsus Christ. Je n'ai pas craint non plus de vous choquer en vous Écrivant avec un ton si familier, et comme il conviendrait À une ancienne connaissance; car il me semble que nous le sommes; l'affection et l'estime de ma part et une grande bontÉ de la vÔtre, ont bien pu supplÉer le temps. Permettez-moi d'espÉrer que le bonheur que j'ai de vous connaÎtre n'aura pas ÉtÉ un accident dans une vie, et que des causes plus heureuses que d'autrefois vous ramÈneront bientÔt encore dans ce pays; et, en attendant, veuillez me garder une petite place dans votre faveur, comme vous Êtes toujours vivant dans le mien. Je suis, avec la plus affectueuse considÉration, Votre dÉvouÉ serviteur et ami, ALEXANDRE MANZONI.Mr. Hope proceeded from Milan to Florence and Rome. Almost the only letter referring to this visit to Rome that has come before me is one written to Mr. Badeley on December 19. It contains very little of importance. Much of it is taken up with an account of Sir William Follett, then at Rome, and verging towards his end, of whom Mr. Hope had seen a great deal. Other friends named are Mr. and Mrs. Vivian, and Mr. Waterton. From the latter, Mr. Hope had 'an interesting account of Tickell's reception into the Church of Rome at Bruges. He was himself present, and very much struck by T.'s devout and humble behaviour.' 'Of the Roman clergy,' Mr. Hope remarks, 'I have seen little, and have indeed almost given up my inquiries among them.' He mentions in the same letter that he intended leaving Rome on January 1 or 2, 'and to speed homewards vi Leghorn, Genoa, Marseilles, and Paris.' Amidst all this apparent coldness, and in spite of all the expressions of disappointment with Rome that have appeared thus far, [Footnote: On the cause of this dissatisfaction an intimate friend of his has observed: 'For myself I think the real and sufficient reason of his disappointment with Rome was, that the Roman authorities naturally and reasonably would not open to a Protestant. They would fear their information would be used against them. They could not know his honesty of purpose.'] it is clear that the secret influence and spirit of the place were working their effect on his mind. A great proof of this will be given further on, in a letter of the PÈre Roothaan's to a friend relative to Mr. Hope's conversion. A sentence from a letter of Mr. Hope's about two years afterwards is here in point. 'Your impression of Rome (he writes to Mr. Badeley, October 16, 1847) appears to be similar to that of most who see it for the first time; but it grows upon one, and the recollection will be deeper than the present feeling.' There is a pleasing note to Mr. Hope, dated December 20, 1844, from Mgr. Grant, then Rector of the English College at Rome, and afterwards the well- known Bishop of Southwark, one of the most beloved and venerated friends of his Catholic period. It merely gives information to assist him in visiting St. John Lateran's, and promises to send an order for St. Peter's. It concludes characteristically: 'I shall be too happy to serve you whenever I can be useful. Although you do not think so, you will find that little people are not without some use; and, in the hope that you will allow me an opportunity of proving that I am in the right, I remain, with many thanks for your kindness, &c.,—THOMAS GRANT.' I may here also give a short letter of Bishop Grant's, of later date, illustrating their friendship, and including some traces of its beginning at Rome:— The Right Rev. Dr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark, to J. R. Hope-Scott, Esq., Q.C. June 23, 1853. My dear Mr. Hope-Scott,—The frescoes have arrived, and I hasten to thank you for a gift, valuable in itself, but most dear to me, because it will ever remind me of the beginning of that friendship which has always been so pleasing to me, and which forms one of the consolations that are allowed to me in the midst of the weighty duties of my present state— duties which I little expected when we quarrelled peacefully about Swiss guards and troops of soldiers lining St. Peter's on grand days. When you next visit the churches and antiquities of Rome, Mary Monica will catch up the ardour that will then probably have gone by for you and myself, and will wonder why you care so little for them; and if I am with you I fear I shall be more tempted to tell her of the quiet rooms in Via della Croce, when I first knew her father, than of the Arch of Drusus, or other pagan monuments that once entertained our attention. Yours very sincerely, † THOMAS GRANT.Mr. Hope-Scott had a high admiration for this saintly Bishop, and used to speak of him as 'the Bishop,' always meaning by that Bishop Grant. Early in 1845, and not many weeks after his return to England, Mr. Hope resigned his chancellorship of Salisbury. It can scarcely be doubted that misgivings as to his religious position, more apparent perhaps to us now than they then were even to himself, were among his leading motives for taking this important step; although the immense accumulation of his business before the Parliamentary committees must have rendered it difficult for him, even with his talents, to hold with it an appointment like that in such times; and feelings of friendship for his successor, the present Sir Robert Phillimore, may also have influenced him. The date of the resignation was Feb. 10. The judgment of Sir Herbert Jenner Fust in the celebrated 'Stone Altar Case,' by which wooden altars only were permitted, was a severe discouragement to the Tractarian party, being felt to interfere with the idea of sacrifice. From the following passage of a letter (undated) of Dr. Pusey's to Mr. Hope, it appears that he (Mr. Hope) had endeavoured to take a more favourable view. The letter probably belongs to Feb. or March 1845. I do not know whether the opinion you give is as to law previous to Sir H. J. F.'s decision, and as a ground of appeal against it, or as to what would still be allowed. Would his judgment preclude our having a stone slab, either upon stone pedestals or a wooden panelled altar? I have comforted others with the same topic you mention, that wooden tables are altars by virtue of ye sacrifice, and so that this decision really alters nothing. Still, it does seemingly, and was intended to discountenance the doctrine…. It must be confessed, too, that this decision of Sir H. J. F. is a defeat—only an outward one, and availing nothing while truth spreads within. Still it is well to neutralise the sentence as much as we can. Ever yrs affectly, E. B. PUSEY.Notwithstanding this, Mr. Hope is remembered, after the adverse decision, to have despondingly asked, 'Where is the use of fighting for the shell when we have lost the kernel?' Among the other agitations of that time was the prosecution instituted in the Court of Arches by Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, against the Rev. Frederick Oakeley (the late Canon) for views which he had expressed about the Blessed Sacrament. Canon Oakeley, in a conversation I had with him in 1878, gave me the following information as to the part taken by Mr. Hope as his friend and adviser in this case, and general recollections of him. He had resolved to let the case go by default, partly because he felt convinced that it was sure to be decided in favour of the Bishop, as those cases always were; partly because he disliked a subject like the Blessed Sacrament to be bandied about by the lawyers in that way. Mr. Hope, on the other hand, urged him to place himself in the hands of counsel, and thought a good case might be made by reference to books on canon law and Roman writers of the moderate school (Gallican), showing that, in point of fact, the holding of 'all Roman doctrine' (thus interpreted) was compatible with the doctrine of the Church of England. [Footnote: Thus interpreted, observe. Mr. Newman himself, in a letter to Mr. Hope, dated Littlemore, May 14, 1845, says: 'You are quite right in saying I do not take Ward and Oakeley's grounds that all Roman doctrine may be held in our Church, and that as Roman I have always and everywhere resisted it.'] The principle on which he went was the approximation made out by Sancta Clara and in Tract 90. Mr. Hope had more hopes of the House of Lords than of the Court of Arches, and wished Mr. Oakeley to appeal to the former. If he was afraid of the expenses, he said they would manage all that for him. [Footnote: Mr. Hope had formed a committee (in conjunction with Serjeant Bellasis, Mr. Badeley, and Mr. J. D. Chambers) in order to raise contributions to meet Mr. Oakeley's expenses. I find an exchange of notes dated March 10, 1845, between Mr. Hope and Mr. Gladstone on this matter. Mr. Hope encloses a circular, and invites Mr. Gladstone to contribute, remarking 'As the process must throw light upon many collateral points, I amongst others am much interested in its being well conducted. I am, moreover, as a friend of O.'s, anxious that he should have fair play….This looks like the beginning of the end.' Mr. Gladstone, in reply, alludes to doubts he had had whether he could subscribe in re Ward. 'Although I am far from having (upon a slight consideration as yet, for I have been very busy with other matters) found them conclusive; for I think we are going to try questions of academical right, and even of general justice.' He therefore declines subscribing in Mr. Oakeley's case, promising to give Mr. Hope his reasons whenever they should meet.]He added, however, 'But I think you are inclined to go over to the Church of Rome; and if that is the case, it is useless to proceed.' Mr. Hope at that time (said the Canon) was a staunch Anglican. He did not, however, see more of him than of any other member of his congregation perhaps once in three months. After Mr. Oakeley had become a Catholic, Mr. Hope once asked him to breakfast, which he accepted rather hesitatingly. At that time he (Mr. Oakeley) thought less favourably of Protestants than he did now, and hinted that he must take a line in conversation that might not be acceptable. Mr. Hope said they need not talk of that, let him come. At this breakfast Mr. Hope mentioned that he had been lately at Rome (he could allude to no other visit than that of 1844-5), where he had seen a procession of the Pope in the sedia gestatoria, and thought how much better it would have been if he had walked in the procession like any other Bishop—that was the line he took. [I ought to add that, later in my conversation with him, Canon Oakeley seemed rather to hesitate whether it was Mr. Hope or some one else who made this observation about the Pope's procession, but in the end he appeared to feel satisfied that it was Mr. Hope.] In the same troubled spring of 1845 a movement was going on to assimilate the office of the Scottish Episcopalian Church to that of the English. Dean Ramsay of Edinburgh had asked Mr. Hope for a legal opinion on a case in which he was concerned bearing on this. Mr. Hope, in a letter to him dated April 8, declines to meddle with the question, and adds:— I can hardly tell you how much I deprecate any steps which may tend to diminish the authority of the native office; how entirely I dissent from any plans of further assimilation to the foreign English Church. Indeed, the consequences of such schemes at this moment would in my opinion be most disastrous. Some letters of great interest with reference to Mr. Hope's religious position at this period occur in the Gladstone correspondence. Mr. Gladstone, being now thoroughly aware that his friend was entertaining serious doubts as to the Catholicity of the Church of England, writes him a very long and deeply considered letter, appealing in the first place to a promise of co-operation which Mr. Hope had made him in the earlier days of their friendship, and placing before him, with all the power and eloquence of which he is so great a master, what he regarded as the most unanswerable arguments for remaining in the Anglican communion. From this letter I quote the following passages as strictly biographical:— The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. to J. M. Hope, Esq. 13 Carlton House Terrace: Thursday night, May 15, '45. Private. My dear Hope,—In 1838 you lent me that generous and powerful aid in the preparation of my book for the press, to which I owe it that the defects and faults of the work fell short of absolutely disqualifying it for its purpose. From that time I began to form not only high but definite anticipations of the services which you would render to the Church in the deep and searching processes through which she has passed and yet has to pass. These anticipations, however, did not rest only upon my own wishes, or on the hopes which benefits already received might have led me to form. In the commencement of 1840, in the very room where we talked to-night, you voluntarily and somewhat solemnly tendered to me the assurance that you would at all times be ready to co-operate with me in furtherance of the welfare of the Church, and you placed no limit upon the extent of such co- operation. I had no title to expect and had not expected a promise so heart-stirring, but I set upon it a value scarcely to be described, and it ever after entered as an element of the first importance into all my views of the future course of public affairs in their bearing upon religion. [Footnote: With this may be compared Mr. Hope's letter to Mr. Gladstone of October 11, 1838, given in chapter ix. (vol. i.).] * * * * * If the time shall ever come (which I look upon as extremely uncertain, but I think if it comes at all it will be before the lapse of many years) when I am called upon to use any of those opportunities [the writer had just spoken of 'the great opportunities, the gigantic opportunities of good or evil to the Church which the course of events seems (humanly speaking) certain to open up'], it would be my duty to look to you for aid, under the promise to which I have referred, unless in the meantime you shall as deliberately and solemnly withdraw that promise as you first made it. I will not describe at length how your withdrawal of it would increase that sense of desolation which, as matters now stand, often approaches to being intolerable. I only speak of it as a matter of fact, and I am anxious you should know that I look to it as one of the very weightiest kind, under a title which you have given me. You would of course cancel it upon the conviction that it involved sin upon your part: with anything less than that conviction I do not expect that you will cancel it; and I am, on the contrary, persuaded that you will struggle against pain, depression, disgust, and even against doubt touching the very root of our position, for the fulfilment of any actual duties which the post you actually occupy in the Church of God, taken in connection with your faculties and attainments, may assign to you. You have given me lessons that I have taken thankfully. Believe I do it in the payment of a debt, if I tell you that your mind and intellect, to which I look up with reverence under a consciousness of immense inferiority, are much under the dominion, whether it be known or not known to yourself, of an agency lower than their own, more blind, more variable, more difficult to call inwardly to account and make to answer for itself—the agency, I mean, of painful and disheartening impressions—impressions which have an unhappy and powerful tendency to realise the very worst of what they picture. Of this fact I have repeatedly noted the signs in you. I should have been glad to have got your advice on some points connected with the Maynooth question on Monday next, but I will not introduce here any demand upon your kindness; the claims of this letter on your attention, be they great or small, and you are their only judge, rest upon wholly different grounds. God bless and guide you, and prosper the work of your hands. Ever your aff'te friend, W. E. GLADSTONE. J. R. Hope, Esq. The friends both being in London at the time, the correspondence gives no further light at this point. In July Mr. Gladstone proposed to Mr. Hope that they two should go on a tour in Ireland together. The invitation must be given in his own words:— The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. to J. R. Hope, Esq. 13 C. H. Terrace: July 23, 1845. My dear Hope,—Ireland is likely to find this country and Parliament so much employment for years to come, that I feel rather oppressively an obligation to try and see it with my own eyes instead of using those of other people, according to the limited measure of my means. Now your company would be so very valuable as well as agreeable to me, that I am desirous to know whether you are at all inclined to entertain the idea of devoting the month of September, after the meeting in Edinburgh, to a working tour in Ireland with me—eschewing all grandeur, and taking little account even of scenery, compared with the purpose of looking from close quarters at the institutions for religion and education of the country, and at the character of the people. It seems ridiculous to talk of supplying the defects of second-hand information by so short a trip; but though a longer time would be much better, yet even a very contracted one does much when it is added to an habitual though indirect knowledge. Believe me Your attached friend, W. E. GLADSTONE. It is much to be regretted that this tour was not accomplished, but various engagements prevented Mr. Hope's accepting the invitation: he spent that part of the vacation in Scotland, and Mr. Gladstone on the Continent. Shortly after the date of the preceding letter Mr. Gladstone appears to have suggested to Mr. Hope the idea of his joining some association for active charity, which is partly illustrated by a correspondence which I shall presently quote; but Mr. Hope (August 6) writes:— As to the guild or confraternity, I am not at this moment prepared to join it. My reasons are various, but I have not had leisure to think them out. When I have revolved the matter further, perhaps I may trouble you again upon it. On October 9, 1845, Mr. Newman was received into the Catholic Church, and I was so fully prepared that the event fell lightly on my mind, but the feeling of separation has since grown upon me painfully. The effect which, I think I told you, it would have upon my conduct, is that of forcing me to a deliberate inquiry; but I feel most unfit for it, and look with anxiety to your book as my guide. I hope to be at Oxford early next week, and trust to see you. Meantime, if it be anything to you to know that all my personal feelings towards you remain unaltered, or rather, are deepened, that much I can sincerely say. On December 1 he speaks of his own joining the Roman Catholic Church as 'what may eventually happen,' adding: 'But I feel that I have yet much before me, both in moral and intellectual exertion, ere I can hope for a conclusion. Meantime I beg your prayers.' On December 22 he gives his impressions of Newman's 'Essay on Development,' so eagerly expected:— I have read your book once through. To apprehend it fully will require one, if not two more perusals. The effect produced upon me as yet is that of perplexity at seeing how wide a range of thought appears to be required for the discussion. I had thought that the principles which I already acknowledge would, upon a careful application, suffice for the solution of the difficulties; but you have taken me into a region less familiar to me, and the extent of which makes me feel helpless and discouraged. It may be worth mentioning that soon after the 'Essay on Development' came out, Mr. Hope asked a friend at dinner across the table (the anecdote was given me by the latter), 'Have you read the "Extravagant of John"?' To understand this, the unlearned reader must be told that certain celebrated constitutions, decreed by Pope John XXII., are called by canonists the 'Extravagantes Joannis.' The play on the word was one which would be relished by Mr. Hope's friend, who was almost as great a student of the canon law as himself. His meaning, however, may have been that he thought Mr. Newman had taken up a view outside of the received system. In the two letters I have just quoted Mr. Hope enters, like a kind friend and adviser, into Mr. Newman's plans in the early days of his conversion, but an interruption of the correspondence seems to have followed on Mr. Newman's going to Rome, where he was from autumn, 1846, to the beginning of 1848. It is probable, indeed, that it was the consciousness of his own affection for Mr. Newman, and of Mr. Newman's influence over him, that led Mr. Hope to abstain, during that long interval, from intercourse with a friend whom he regarded with such deep respect and admiration. There is, however, a letter of Mr. Newman's from Rome in the interval, which will be read with great interest, both for his own history and for the light, yet thrilling touch of spiritual kindness which it conveys towards the end. It contains, too, a line explaining his own silence. The Rev. J. H. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq. (Private.) Collegio di Prop.: Feb. 23, '47. My dear Hope,—I have been writing so very, very much lately, that now that I want to tell you something my hand is so tired that I can hardly write a word. We are to be Oratorians. Mgr. Brunelli went to the Pope about it the day before yesterday, my birthday. The Pope took up the plan most warmly, as had Mgr. B., to whom we had mentioned it a month back. Mgr. had returned my paper, in which I drew out my plan, saying, 'Mi piace immensamente,' and repeated several times that the plan was 'ben ideata.' They have from the first been as kind to us as possible, and are ever willing to do anything for us. I have ever been thinking of you, and you must have thought my silence almost unkind, but I waited to tell you something which would be real news. It is no secret that we are to be Oratorians, but matters of detail being uncertain, you had better keep it to yourself. The Pope wishes us to come here, as many as can, form a house under an experienced Oratorian Father, go through a novitiate, and return. Of course they will hasten us back as soon as [they] can, but that will depend on our progress. I suppose we shall set up in Birmingham… You are not likely to know the very Jesuits of Propaganda. We are very fortunate in them. The Rector (Padre Bresciani) is a man of great delicacy and real kindness; our confessor, Father Ripetti, is one of the most excellent persons we have fallen in with, tho' I can't describe him to you in a few words. Another person we got on uncommonly with was Ghianda at Milan. Bellasis will have told you about him. We owed a great deal to you there, and did not forget you, my dear Hope. Let me say it, O that God would give you the gift of faith! Forgive me for this. I know you will. It is of no use my plaguing you with many words. I want you for the Church in England, and the Church for you. But I must do my own work in my own place, and leave everything else to that inscrutable Will which we can but adore;… Well, our lot is fixed. What will come to it I know not. Don't think me ambitious. I am not. I have no views. It will be enough for me if I get into some active work, and save my own soul…. My affectionate remembrances to Badeley…. Ever y'rs affectionately, John H. Newman. I find, towards the end of 1850, a very interesting exchange of letters between Dr. Newman and Mr. Hope, which may conveniently be given here, though chronologically they ought to come later. I first give a letter needed to explain them:— J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. to the Rev. Stuart Bathurst. Abbotsford: Nov. 4, '50. Dear Bathurst,—Your kind letter needed no apologies; and for your prayers and good thoughts for me I thank you much. May they of God be blessed to me in clearer light as well as in a purer conscience! As yet I do not see my way as you have done yours, but I pray that I may not long remain in such doubt as I now have. From our address I conclude that you are with Newman. Tell him with my kind regards that I hope he has not forgotten me. I have very often thought of him, and have sometimes been near writing to him, but have had nothing definite to say. I have read his last lectures, and wish they were extended to a review of doctrine, and the difficulties which beset it to an Anglican. Let me hear from you when you have time, and believe me, my dear Bathurst, Yours ever aff'tly, James R. Hope. The Rev. S. Bathurst. The Very Rev. Dr. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. Oratory, Birmingham: Nov. 20, 1850. My dear Hope,—It is with the greatest pleasure I have just read the letter which you wrote to Bathurst, and which he has forwarded to me…. I now fully see … that your silence has arisen merely from the difficulty of writing to one in another communion, and the irksomeness and indolence (if you will let me so speak) we all feel in doing what is difficult, what may be misconceived, and what can scarcely have object or use. I know perfectly well, my dear Hope, your great moral and intellectual qualities, and will not cease to pray that the grace of God may give you the obedience of faith, and use them as His instruments. For myself, I say it from my heart, I have not had a single doubt, or temptation to doubt, ever since I became a Catholic. I believe this to be the case with most men—it certainly is so with those with whom I am in habits of intimacy. My great temptation is to be at peace, and let things go on as they will, and not trouble myself about others. This being the case, your recommendation that I should 'take a review of doctrine, and of the difficulties which beset it to an Anglican,' is anything but welcome, and makes me smile. Surely, enough has been written—all the writing in the world would not destroy the necessity of faith. If all were now made clear to reason, where would be the exercise of faith? The single question is, whether enough has not been done to reduce the difficulties so far as to hinder them absolutely blocking up the way, or excluding those direct and large arguments on which the reasonableness of faith is built. Ever yours affectionately, John H. Newman. J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. to the Very Rev. Dr. Newman. Abbotsford: Nov. 27, '50. Dear Newman,—The receipt of your letter gave me sincere pleasure. It renews a correspondence which I value very highly, and which my own stupidity had interrupted. Offence I had never taken, but causes such as you describe much better than I could have done were the occasion of my silence. You may now find that you have brought more trouble on yourself, for there are many things on which I should like to ask you questions, and I know that your time is already much engaged. However, at present my chief object is to assure you how very glad I am again to write to you, as the friend whom I almost fear I had thrown away. Whatever occurs, do not let us be again estranged. It is not easy, as one gets older, to form new friendships of any kind, and least of all such as I have always considered yours…. Ever, dear Newman, Yours affectionately JAMES R. HOPE.The Very Rev. Dr. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq., Q.C. Oratory, Birmingham: November 29, 1850. My dear Hope,—I write a line to thank you for your letter, and to say how glad I shall be to hear from you, as you half propose, whether or not I am able to say anything to your satisfaction, which would be a greater and different pleasure. It makes me smile to hear you talk of getting older. What must I feel, whose life is gone ere it is well begun? Ever yours affectionately, JOHN H. NEWMAN,Congr. Orat. |
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