Page:Twelve Years in a Monastery (1897).djvu/212

 Manning is most aptly called. And it must not be imagined that the picture is at all complete—it is not by any means as darkly shaded as the reality. No Catholic could in conscience tell all that is handed down in clerical circles with regard to the relations of Manning, Newman, Ward, the Jesuits, &c. And although the author has made a generous concession in the cause of historical truth, the public have not had the full benefit of his sincerity. If the book could have been published in its original form, it would have been much more interesting, but after spending two years in purgatorial flames as it did, we must take it cum grano salis. Some of my colleagues were intimate with the author’s brother, and gave us continual reports of the painful progress of the work. About two years before its appearance we were told it was finished, and some very spicy letters and anecdotes were promised; then there were rumours of war, the defenders of Manning, the supporters of Ward, the Jesuits, and others threatening legal action, and the work is said to have been much 'doctored.' On the whole the impression of those who seemed to be in the secrets was, that Newman had been treated by all parties in a manner that dare not be made public, and that there were documents kept back which would throw much discredit upon all other prominent Catholics of the period.

However undesirable such a state of things may be, it is no more than any disinterested person would expect.