particularly outside of England—where Catholic priests do not present themselves in the light of schismatic intruders. And it is placed beyond all doubt by the circumstance that the feeling is largely and emphatically shared by Catholic[1] laymen. Influential laymen like Dr. Ward and Dr. Mivart have written forcibly on the subject; and, on reading the correspondence columns of Catholic papers, one finds much eagerness amongst the laity for the ‘higher education,’ not only of women but of the clergy. The broad fact that, with the wider diffusion of recently-acquired knowledge, the theological army has struck its flag and retreated from point after point implies a grave defect even in the intellectual aristocracy of the Church, which does not escape the notice of the layman. It is not, therefore, surprising to find the ordinary clergy much behind the age in questions of general interest.
The last sermon which I preached in a Catholic Church—that of St. Antony at Forest Gate—was an appeal for the higher education of the clergy. I argued that modern thought has entirely changed the position of the religious teacher, and has deeply emphasised the necessity for an intellectual as well as a moral training: and I freely denounced the
- ↑ I make no apology for using the word Catholic as synonymous with Roman. We Romanists felt so proud of the name to which we had clung through the long years when it was a sign of disgrace and persecution that we were loth to part with it.
