Preface{vii} IT may be well by way of introduction to this volume, to state, as simply and in as few words as possible, the aim and scope which I proposed to myself in compiling it. My end has been to contribute, as far as I could, to the wider and more accurate knowledge of a writer concerning whom an amount of ignorance and misunderstanding still prevails, which is especially surprising, considering the high place he admittedly holds, both as a thinker and a master of style. A recent critic has described him, as "the man in the working of whose individual mind the intelligent portion of the English public is more interested than in that of any other living person." [Note 1] This description is, I think, correct: and yet, although Dr. Newman's inner life has from various circumstances been laid completely bare to the world, there is probably no living person who has been so strangely and so persistently misconceived. Into the cause of those misconceptions it is not necessary for me to inquire. It is sufficient to remark that for the last ten years they have been gradually clearing away, and {viii} that he has himself provided the best means for their removal in the books to which the verses quoted on my title-page so aptly apply. In the following pages I have endeavoured to give an account through extracts from those books, of his present views on the chief matters of general interest on which he has written from time to time. I have sought especially to present his mind on the great religious questions which have so largely exercised the intellect of this age, and which, even in the judgment of those who are unable to accept his conclusions, he has faced, investigated, and determined for himself with an unflinching courage, and an unswerving steadfastness of purpose, almost as rare, perhaps, as the high mental endowments which he has brought to the task. Dr. Newman's writings, most of them of an occasional character, ,extend to thirty-four volumes, and in making my selections from them, I have been careful to choose passages which, while suffering the least by severance from the context, would present the ideas I was desirous to exhibit in their completeness and maturity. Hence the title I have given it—a title, I may observe, which does not altogether satisfy me, but for which I have been unable to find any better substitute in English. Hence, too, it is, that I have drawn chiefly from his later writings, for it is, of course, in his Catholic works that his views are found in their full development and final resolution. Such has been the principle upon which I have proceeded in making my selections. In classifying them, my task was less difficult, as each seemed naturally to fall under one of the four divisions of Personal, Philosophical, Historical, and Religious. Part I., denominated Personal {ix} with the exception of the letter appended to it, is taken entirely from the Apologia. Part IV., which is termed "Religious," is subdivided into three sections, styled respectively Protestantism, Anglicanism, and Catholicism, and is intended to exhibit Dr. Newman's views on the more salient characteristics of those systems. Omissions in the text—they are always immaterial—are [Note 2] duly noted, and a few words which I have been obliged to introduce for the sake of continuity, are enclosed in brackets [Note 3], as are also any notes added by me. The notes printed without brackets are Dr. Newman's, and, with [Note 4] one exception, will be found in the original text. In compiling my volume I have primarily endeavoured to consult for readers who, from want of leisure or from other reasons, are unable to procure and peruse for themselves Dr. Newman's writings at large, and who desire to possess, in a compendious form, a summary, prepared with his approval, of his ultimate judgments on the most important matters of which he has written during the last half century. There is, however, another class to whom also my volume may possibly be of service. It may, I think, prove sometimes useful to persons more or less acquainted with Dr. Newman's works, but not always able to find, just when they want it, some striking passage which dwells vaguely in their memories. For the convenience of such readers I have taken care to make the index as copious as I could. On the whole I may, perhaps, say, that I have endeavoured to construct my volume on much the same principles as those which Lord Bacon lays down for the compilation of a book {x} of "Institutions" of the law [Note 5]. "Principally," he says, "it ought to have two properties, the one a perspicuous and clear order or method, and the other an universal latitude or comprehension, that the student may have a little prenotion of everything." And now, perhaps, I have said enough or more than enough in explanation of the manner in which I have discharged my very subordinate part in this work. But I must not omit to record my thanks to my revered friend, Dr. Newman, for the readiness with which he assented to my undertaking it, and for the unwearied patience with which he has allowed me to encroach upon his time by the questions which I have occasionally found it necessary to put to him; nay, more than that, for the thoughtful kindness with which he has himself, in many cases, anticipated difficulties and favoured me with suggestions. I should, however, remark that, in claiming for my compilation his approval, I refer only to the sanction he has given for the statement, that it correctly represents his present opinions on the subjects of which it treats. For the actual selection of the passages, and the order in which they are placed, as well as for the headings prefixed to them, I am solely responsible. It only remains for me to express my
acknowledgments to the various firms which have published for Dr.
Newman for the permission readily accorded me by them to make extracts
from the works in which they are respectively interested, and to Mr.
R. W. Thrupp, Photographer to the Queen, Birmingham, for allowing the
portrait which faces {xi} the title-page to be engraved from a
photograph executed by him. I subjoin a catalogue of the editions of
Dr. Newman's works which I have had before me. They are, I believe, in
all cases the latest. * 1-8. Parochial and Plain Sermons. (Rivingtons.) Ed. of 1873. * 9. Sermons on Subjects of the Day. (Rivingtons.) Ed. of 1871. * 10. University Sermons. (Rivingtons.) 3rd Ed. * 11. Sermons to Mixed Congregations. (Burns and Oates.) 4th Ed. * 12. Occasional Sermons. (Burns and Oates.) 3rd Ed. 13. Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church. (Rivingtons). (Out of print.) * 14. Lectures on Justification. (Rivingtons.) 3rd Ed. * 15. Lectures on the Difficulties of Anglicans, with Letter to Dr. Pusey. (Burns and Oates.) 4th Ed. * 16. Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics. (Burns and Oates.) 4th Ed. * 17. Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. (Burns and Oates.) 4th Ed. * 18. Two Essays on Miracles. (Pickering.) 3rd Ed. * 19, 20. Essays Critical and Historical, with Notes. 1. Poetry. 2. Rationalism. 3. De la Mennais. 4. Palmer on Faith and Unity. 5. St. Ignatius. 6. Prospects of the Anglican Church. 7. The Anglo-American Church. 8. Countess of Huntingdon. 9. Catholicity of the Anglican Church. 10. The Antichrist of Protestants. 11. Milman's Christianity. 12. Reformation of the Eleventh Century. 13. Private Judgment. 14. Davison. 15. Keble. (Pickering.) {xii} * 21. Discussions and Arguments. 1. How to accomplish it. 2. Antichrist of the Fathers. 3. Scripture and the Creed. 4. Tamworth Reading Room. 5. Who's to Blame? 6. An Argument for Christianity. (Pickering.) 22. Pamphlets. 1. Suffragan Bishops. 2. Letter to a Magazine. 3. Letter to Faussett. 4. Letter to Jelf. 5. Letter to the Bishop of Oxford. (Out of print.) * 23. Idea of a University. 1. Nine Discourses. 2. Occasional Lectures and Essays. (Pickering.) 3rd Ed. 24. Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. (Toovey.) 2nd Ed. 25. Annotated Translation of Athanasius. (Parker.) * 26. Theological Tracts. 1. Dissertatiunculae. 2. Doctrinal Causes of Arianism. 3. Apollinarianism. 4. St. Cyril's Formula. 5. Ordo de Tempore. 6. Douay Version of Scripture. (Pickering.) * 27. The Arians of the Fourth Century. (Lumley.) 3rd Ed. * 28-30. Historical Sketches. 1. The Turks. 2. Cicero. 3. Apollonius. 4. Primitive Christianity. 5. Church of the Fathers. 6. St. Chrysostom. 7. Theodoret. 8. St. Benedict. 9. Benedictine Schools. 10. Universities. 11. Northmen and Normans. 12. Medieval Oxford. 13. Convocation of Canterbury. (Pickering.) * 31. Loss and Gain. (Burns and Oates.) 6th Ed. * 32. Callista. (Pickering.) 2nd Ed. * 33. Verses on Various Occasions. (Burns and Oates.) 4th Ed. * 34. Apologia pro Vita sua. (Longmans.) 3rd Ed. The volumes marked with an asterisk have already appeared in the new and uniform edition of Dr. Newman's Works, now in course of publication. Top | Contents | Guides | Home Notes1. Austin: Poetry of the Period, p. 178. 2. By the marks … 3. Thus [
]. 4. At p. 437. 5. Proposal for amending the
Laws of England. Works. Bohn's edition, Vol. I. p. 669. Top | Contents | Guides | Home Newman Reader — Works of John Henry Newman |