Book Review: "Three Cardinals" by E.E. Reynolds

Last month Cluny Media announced a sale on books about Saint John Henry Newman on his feast day, October 9; of course, I already had editions of most of the titles they offered, but I did find two books to buy. I bought one for myself and one for a friend! I can only tell you about the one I bought myself today however, since the other one is a gift and thus a secret.

The one I bought for myself: Three Cardinals: Newman--Wiseman--Manning by E.E. Reynolds, originally published on January 1, 1958.

Cluny's blurb:

John Henry Newman. Nicholas Patrick Wiseman. Henry Edward Manning. These three men, Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, were the leading players in the development of the Church in England during the second half of the nineteenth century. Absent their distinctive and powerful contributions, the English Catholic Church would have been sorely impoverished, its growth stunted, its character encumbered by undue Anglican attachments. Comparing the personalities, achievements, and relationships of his subjects, E. E. Reynolds examines the efforts of Wiseman, first Cardinal Archbishop of England, to establish the Church as an integral part of the national life; the selfless work of Manning to channel the social doctrine of the Church into the educational and economic spheres; and the crowning achievements of Newman to revive, inspire, and sustain the Catholic faith in the hearts of the English people.

Yet there are different kinds of gifts, though it is the same Spirit who gives them, just as there are different kinds of service, though it is the same Lord we serve. (1 Corinthians 12:4, 5)

Praised at its publication in 1958 as an “excellent and readable account” of three outstanding princes of the modern Church, Three Cardinals: Newman, Wiseman, Manning endures as a twofold success in scholarship and literary sympathy.

And the author bio:

Ernest Edwin Reynolds (1894–1981) was an English–Welsh Catholic author and historian. Specializing in the Tudor period and the Protestant Reformation, he wrote over a dozen books, notable among which are his numerous works on Saint Thomas More, his biography of Saint John Fisher, and his Three Cardinals, a study of John Henry Newman, Nicholas Wiseman, and Henry Edward Manning.

Cluny also publishes Reynolds's works on Fisher and More, including a biography of Margaret More Roper. And Reynolds also wrote a survey, The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales: a short history, which you may find reviewed here.

Of course, I know a great deal about the lives of these three men, especially Newman's. I bought the book to explore Reynolds's insights into their characters and their relationships, and I appreciated his intertwining of their lives and their contacts. You may see the table of contents on the publisher's website here. 

Reynolds confirmed my views of Saint John Henry Newman; gave me more insight into Nicholas Wiseman's life and career, especially his success, after that disastrous first pastoral upon the Restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, in making English men and women used to seeing a Catholic Cardinal Archbishop on the lecture circuit. Reynolds astutely analyses the great difficulties Wiseman faced in the many projects and programs of re-creating the infrastructure of the Catholic Church in England after centuries of destruction and persecution.

Reynolds definitely and sadly reinforced my dislike of Henry Manning, whose intransigence and lack of intellectual fortitude fostered his dislike, disagreement, and even condemnation of Newman once Manning was in power. He feared Newman and his influence, often blocking his way. Manning even enumerated to another person the heresies that he accused Newman of holding--yet he did nothing to confront Newman personally to urge him to greater orthodoxy which would be his duty--and Reynolds thoroughly recounts Manning's duplicity when Pope Leo XIII wanted to name Newman a Cardinal. 

When Reynolds describes Bishop Ullathorne confronting Manning about these events, sparks nearly fly off the page (243). And when he recounts Manning's homily at Newman's funeral, he is perplexed by the effusion of love and veneration: "Such an expression must raise once again the problem of Manning's view of friendship. One can only shake one's head and pass on." (p. 254)

In the preface to his book, Reynolds makes an interesting comment about sources and footnotes: there aren't going to be many in the text. He explains that he's only using published sources and most readers will know what they are (like Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua). He further states that he's read so many books and articles that he really can't remember which one inspired which idea or impression!

And I'll have to share this comment Reynolds makes when he discusses the relative lack of staying power of most of Cardinal Manning's works (which he certainly can't and doesn't say of Newman's!) with our local Chesterton group:

[Manning's] pen was used most effectively for immediate purposes; it is the fate of much writing of this kind, once it has served its generation, to lose it appeal when the particular need has passed. We can see this happening with the more controversial writings of an author of the literary quality of G.K. Chesterton; they are losing their point because the grounds of dispute have changed, but this is not to underestimate their worth when they were written." (p. 124)

I think our group would disagree entirely with this point of view. Many of Chesterton's controversial works about the family, contraception, education, social reform, etc., discuss problems we are still facing today in society and culture. Perhaps in 1958, Reynolds was wrong about the changing grounds of dispute.

Nevertheless, I found this an enjoyable and insightful book to read. Highly recommended for those who do have some knowledge of this history and these men--and might be able to recognize the sources Reynolds uses. There is a dated bibliography at the back of the book. No index and no illustrations.

Happy All Saints Day!

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Saints John Fisher and Thomas More in 2022

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have posted the themes for the annual Religious Freedom Week. It was formerly a Fortnight for Freedom, from June 22 to July 4, but it's shorter now. It still begins with the memorial of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More.

Here's what the USCCB posts about these martyrs this year:

Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher were Renaissance men. Talented and energetic, they contributed to the humanist scholarship of early modern England. More wrote theological and philosophical treatises, while making a career as a lawyer and government official. Bishop John Fisher worked as an administrator at Cambridge, confronted the challenge Martin Luther presented to Christian Europe, and most importantly served as Bishop of Rochester. As a bishop, he is notable for his dedication to preaching at a time when bishops tended to focus on politics. These men were brilliant. They both corresponded with Erasmus, who helped Bishop Fisher learn Greek and Hebrew, and who also famously referred to More as a man for all seasons.

Above all their accomplishments, these men bore witness to a deep faith in Christ and his Church. More considered joining religious life and was assiduous in his devotional practices. As a married man, he committed himself wholly to his vocation as a father. At the time, disciplinary practices with children tended to be severe, but More’s children testify to his warmth, patience, and generosity.

St. John Fisher was a model shepherd and demonstrated remarkable humility. He remained in the small Diocese of Rochester his entire episcopal ministry, devoting himself to his local church rather than seeking promotion to a larger, more powerful diocese. . . .

So far I have resisted this temptation: Cluny Media has issued handsome new paperback editions of E.E. Reynolds' biographies of these great martyr saints:

Saint Thomas More: His Life and Works:

Laicorum hominum decus et ornamentum—“the glory and ornament of the laity”: thus did Pope Pius XI define St. Thomas More. In this accomplished study of “the king’s good servant, but God’s first,” E. E. Reynolds demonstrates the aptness of that epithet. Placing the primary emphasis on Thomas More’s religious significance, but without neglecting his political and literary legacy, Reynolds produces a richly detailed portrait of this husband and father, lawyer and statesman, and servant to and martyr for Jesus Christ and his Church. To assist in his interpretations and analyses, Reynolds gathers the many threads of previous scholarship on More by T. E. Bridgett, A. F. Pollard, and R. W. Chambers (to name but a few). Especially valuable is the generous provision throughout the book of primary-source material from More’s own works and correspondence, with the spellings modernized for comfortable reading.

and 

Saint John Fisher: His Life and Works:

Of John Fisher, Pope Pius XI said: “Whenever there was question of defending the integrity of faith and morals…he was not afraid to proclaim the truth openly, and to defend by every means in his power the divine teachings of the Church.” In this compleat biography, E. E. Reynolds provides a thorough account of Fisher’s life and works, detailing his youth and education and storied career—chaplain to Lady Margaret Beaufort, grandmother of Henry VIII; proctor of the University of Cambridge at age twenty-five; ordination to the episcopacy at age thirty-five, to mention but a few; his profound piety and devotion to his pastoral duties; his spirited response to Luther and the Protestant revolt; and his staunch defense of Catherine of Aragon and refusal, even unto death, to submit to Henry VIII’s claims of supreme power.

If I see them in the near future on the shelves at Eighth Day Books, I may succumb to the temptation. I do have an older edition of Reynold's on Saint John Fisher, but a little Westie girl nimbled on it one time years ago. (Amanda must have known about what Francis Bacon said about books: “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”)

Saint John Fisher, pray for us!

Saint Thomas More, pray for us!

Three Poems by St. Robert Southwell

Today is the 425th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Robert Southwell at Tyburn in London.

CatholicCulture.org featured three poems by St. Robert Southwell on a recent podcast:

In this special, post-Valentine’s Day episode, we’ve compiled a selection of three poems by St. Robert Southwell.

Like St. Valentine, St. Robert Southwell was a martyr: an English Jesuit who served as a clandestine missionary in post-Reformation England. There he ministered in secret for six years before he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. After three years of imprisonment and torture, he was convicted of high treason and executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered.

During his time in England, Southwell witnessed the executions of many other Catholics, including those of people he knew personally. It’s in this light, and in light of his own eventual martyrdom, that his poetry carries with it an especial gravity. At once horrified and inspired by the martyrdoms he witnessed, Southwell wrote this paradox into his poetry, as reflected in the poems selected for this episode.

The three poems are "The Burning Babe", "A Child My Choice", and "I Die Alive". These three poems are included in a new anthology from Cluny Media, Lyra Martyrum: The Poetry of the English Martyrs, 1503-1681, edited by Benedict Whalen of Hillsdale College.

Saint Robert Southwell, pray for us!

Golden Years: English Saints by English Greats

Cluny Media sent me a copy of this book for my opinion. As the blurb states:

The English Way, edited by one of the most important Christian humanists and publishers of the twentieth century, Maisie Ward, looks at the lives, ideas, and deaths of the great Roman Catholic Anglo-Saxons. All the men and women in this book served the Church faithfully and with great zeal. Contributors to The English Way include Bede Jarrett and Christopher Dawson, Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton, as well as E. I. Watkin and Maisie Ward herself.

It's a collection of essays about the great English saints of the medieval and recusant era written by the English greats of the early twentieth century. It includes not just the great Anglo-Saxon saints, but the holy men and women of the post-Reformation era. As with all of these compilations, there is a variety of writing styles and voices, academic and popular.

G.K. Chesterton, for example, writes about Alfred the Great, whom he had portrayed in The Ballad of the White Horse, and St. Thomas More. Other great Catholics profiled include St. Bede the Venerable, Julian Norwich, St. Bonaventure, St. Aelred of Rievaulx, St. Thomas of Canterbury, Julian of Norwich,St. John Fisher, St. Edmund Campion, Richard Crashaw, Venerable Mary Ward, Bishop Richard Challoner, and Blessed John Henry Newman. The writers include Bede Jarrett, C.C. Martindale, E.I. Watkin, Hilaire Belloc, David Knowles, Douglas Woodruff, Gervase Mathew and David Mathew, Maisie Ward, and Martin D'Arcy. The collection was originally published by Sheed & Ward.

The passion the writers felt for their subjects often comes through strongly, as when Christopher Dawson laments that the greatest religious poem in English history, The Vision of Pier Plowman by William Langland, was not available to the public in an affordable and complete edition:

Here is the Catholic Englishman par excellence, at once the most English of Catholic poets and the most Catholic of English poets; a man in whom Catholic faith and national feeling are fused in a single flame. He saw Christ walking in English fields in the dress of an English laborer, and to understand his work is to know English religion in its most autochthonous and yet most Catholic form.

[autochthonous means indigenous; I had to look it up!]

Dawson goes on to tell us that Langland tells us much about the fourteenth century, that "age of profound social and spiritual change", "an age of poets and mystics and saints." He notes that England came into its own as English in that century, and compares and contrasts the two great poets of the era in England, Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland. Dawson's essay is a masterpiece of literary exposition and historical explanation. He sees Langland as a great prophet and poet, and has inspired me to search out a readable edition.

Cluny Media has done a great service to readers to bring this book back into print. I have some caveats, however, about their edition. I think we need brief biographies of the contributors, who would have been well known--and some still will be of course-when the book was published. Many of the names were familiar to me, but who was Fr. Aelfric Manson, O. P., who writes about St. Boniface? 

In an otherwise sympathetic and helpful introduction, Bradley Birzer commits a strange error, dating the beatification of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More to 1935, "only two years after the appearance of The English Way." Fisher and More were beatified in 1886--they were canonized in 1935! 

There are some formatting errors too--the wrong author is cited on page 50, for example. The heading for the essay on St. Edmund Campion indicates the essay is about St. Thomas More. In a book dedicated to "Studies in English Sanctity" these are minor things of course. The English Way is great book to read through to see the variety of English saints and Catholic heroes and heroines, and also great just to pick up and read about a certain saint. Highly recommended.