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THE PAPAL AGGRESSION! CREATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IN ENGLAND, 1850 APPROVED! Major professor ^ J?, ///? Minor Professor ItfCp&ctor of the Departflfejalf of History Dean"of the Graduate School THE PAPAL AGGRESSION 8 CREATION OP THE SOMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IN ENGLAND, 1850 THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For she Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By Denis George Paz, B. A, Denton, Texas January, 1969 PREFACE Pope Plus IX, on September 29» 1850, published the letters apostolic Universalis Sccleslae. creating a terri- torial hierarchy for English Roman Catholics. For the first time since 1559» bishops obedient to Rome ruled over dioceses styled after English place names rather than over districts named for points of the compass# and bore titles derived from their sees rather than from extinct Levantine cities« The decree meant, moreover, that6 in the Vati- k can s opinionc England had ceased to be a missionary area and was ready to take its place as a full member of the Roman Catholic communion. When news of the hierarchy reached London in the mid- dle of October, Englishmen protested against it with unexpected zeal. Irate protestants held public meetings to condemn the new prelates» newspapers cried for penal legislation* and the prime minister, hoping to strengthen his position, issued a public letter in which he charac- terized the letters apostolic as an "insolent and insidious"1 attack on the queen's prerogative to appoint bishops„ In 1851» Parliament, despite the determined op- position of a few Catholic and Peellte members, enacted the Ecclesiastical Titles Act, which imposed a ilOO fine on any bishop who used an unauthorized territorial title, ill and permitted oommon informers to sue a prelate alleged to have violated the act. But no bishop ever was found guilty under this law, and it was repealed twenty years later. Historians generally have neglected this unique mani- festation of bigotry in the middle of the Victorian era, notwithstanding that the "Papal Aggression," as it came to be called, constitutes an important chapter in the social history of the period. The affair, moreover, involves several problems which have not been satisfactorily resolved* (1) Why did the pope create the hierarchy? (2) Why did the English people reaot so vehemently? (3) Why did Lord John Russell write his Durham Letter? (4) Why did the government fail to enforce the Ecclesias- tical Titles Act? (5) What light, if any, does this episode shed on the Zeitgeist of the Victorian age? This study attempts to answer these questions. In preparing this thesis, I have consulted the Sessional Papers and contemporary newspapers, particularly The Times, for petitions,, arguments against the hierarchy, and for information about public meetings. For documents concerning the Papal Aggression's political effects, Rus- sell's Later Correspondence. Victoria's Letters, the Cam- den Society's Aberdeen-Li even Correspondence. and, of course, the Parliamentary Debates have been used. Since nineteenth century biographies contain many documents, I iv have mined extensively from such rich deposits as Wilfrid. Ward's Wiseman, Walpole*s Russell. Monypenny and Buckle's Disraeli, and Morley's Gladstone. Although the general histories of the period deal only briefly with the subject. Woodward®s Age of Reform and Halevy's Age of Peel and Cob- den are useful for background material. Finally, Bernard Ward's Sequel to Catholic Emancipation, a church history, provides useful information about the Vatican negotiations which resulted in the hierarchy's promulgation« It should be noted that historians employ the phrase "Papal Aggression1" to refer to this episode as they use "Popish Plot" to designate the Titus Gates Affair of 1678. In neither case does the term indicate religious bias. This study is a much enlarged revision of a paper read before the Southwestern Social Science Association in Dallas, Texasv on April 11, 1968. For valuable assistance in serving as midwife to my usually stillborn ideas and in proofreading the entire manuscript, I wish to thank Miss Linda Gund* Denis Go Paz Denton, Texas December, 1968 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ...... «v«..«o«««».*».e. iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS «... vii DRAMATIS FERSONAE ....... ..... viii PROLOGUES THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1559-1850s A TRADITION OF PERSECUTION ....... 1 Chapter I. BIRTH OF THE NEW HIERARCHY,, 18^7-1850 ... 21 II. BRITISH POPULAR REACTION TO THE NEW HIERARCHY1 SPONTANEOUS INDIGNATION OR FOMENTED AGITATION? .......... 35 III. THE BRITISH MINISTERIAL CRISIS OF 1851* POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY OR WHIG FOLLY? * . 6l IV. THE ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES BILL IN PARLIAMENT! BIGOTRY, PATRIOTISM, OR EXPEDIENCY? .............. 86 V. THE PAPAL AGGRESSION OF I85O1 A PROBLEM IN HISTORIOGRAPHY ....... 10^ VI. THE PAPAL AGGRESSION OF I85O1 A RETROSPECT ........ 119 EPILOGUES DISESTABLISHMENT AND REPEAL ........ 132 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE . , , 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..a.®. 13^9 LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. This is the Boy who Chalked up "Mo Popery I "--and Then Ban Away!f t ••••«» 88 vii DRAMATIS PERSONAE Aberdeen, George Hamilton Gordon, Fourth Earl of (1784- i860). Entering public life in 1806 as a Scottish Representative Peer in the Tory interest, Aberdeen attended the Congress of Chatillon and served as ambassador to Vienna. In 1814, he became a United Kingdom peer as Vis- count Gordon of Aberdeen. Entering Wellington's cabinet in 1828 as chancellor of Lancaster, he became foreign secretary the same year. In l84l» he returned to the foreign office, but left with Peel in 1846. After Peel's death, Aberdeen be- came the leader of the Peelites, and in 1852, became premier of the Whig-Peelite coalition. Arundel and Surrey, Edward George Howard, Earl of (1818- I883). The second son of the sixteenth Duke of Norfolk, his title was honorary. He entered Parliament in 1848 as a Roman Catholic member, and in 1869 was created first Baron Howard of Glossop. Bennett# William James (1804-1886). Born In Halifax, N .S., Bennett studied at Oxford and held various cures, 1831-43. Becoming vicar of St. Paul's, Knights- 8 bridge, he promoted the building of St. Barnabas ( Pimlico (consecrated, 1850). After riots and disputes with his bishop, he resigned his livings (November, 1850), and in 1852, became vicar of Frome Selwood, Somerset. In i860, Bennett founded the English Church Union, a society for spreading Anglo-Catholic doctrine. Blomfieldc Charles James, Bishop of London (1786-1857)• Ordained in 1810, Blomfield wrote on classical subjects for both the Edinburgh and Quarterly reviews, and became Bishop of Chester in 1824, Translated to London in 1828, he gained a repu- tation for good administration and tried to take a moderate position in the Tractarlan dispute. Delane, John Thadeus (1817-1879). After studying at Mag- dalen Hall9 Oxford (1835-39)» Delane wrote for The Times, acting as its editor, 1841-77. viii Disraeli, Benjamin, First Earl of Beaoonsfleld (180^-188l). The son of Isaac D'Israeli, a Jew, Disraeli was baptized in 1817. enabling him to enter public life. After studying under tutors, he lived the life of a litterateur, publishing Vivian Grey in 1826. Entering Parliament in 1837 as a Tory, he broke with Peel over protection in 184-3* After Lord George Bentlnck's death in 18*4-8, Disraeli became the Tory leader in the Commons, entering his first cabinet in 1852 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Gladstone, William Ewart (1809-1898). In 1832, a pocket borough returned him to Parliament as a Tory, and in 1834, he entered Peel's administration, first holding a cabinet post in 184-3. When Peel's government fell in 1846, Gladstone foli lowed his leader into opposition, and entered the coalition government in 1852 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Graham* Sir James Robert George, bart. (1792-1861)» In 1818, Graham entered Parliament as a Whig and first held office in 1830. In 1835, he joined the conservative faction, following Peel in 1846. After Peel®s death, he became the leading Peelite in the Commons. In 1852, he rejoined the Whigs. Inglis9 Sir Robert Harry, bart. (1786-1855)• Called to the bar In 1818, Inglis entered Parliament as a Tory in 1824# In 1829, he defeated Peel for the representation for Oxford University and contin- ued to represent it until the end of his career in 1854. Inglis, an old-fashioned country Tory who never held offices was a trustee of the British Museum from 1834 to his death# Keoghg William Nicholas (1817-1878), An Irish Catholic, he entered Parliament in 1847 as a Toryi, but later became a Peelite# In 1852, he became Solicitor General for Ireland in Aberdeen's Ministry. King, Peter John Locke (1811-1885) • In 184-7, King entered Parliament as a radical. Although he never held office, he made a reputation as an advocate of radical reform. Maltby, Edward, Bishop of Durham (1770-1859). An old-line Whig9 he became Bishop of Chlohester In 1831 and ix was translated to Durham In 1836, as the first bishop not possessing palatine powers, Minto* Gilbert Elliott, Second Earl of (1782-1859)* After studying as Eton and Edinburgh, Mlnto entered the Commons, but in 1814, after succeeding to his title, entered the Lords. From 1832 to 1834, he served as envoy to Berlin, He first entered the government in I835, becoming, in 1836, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, Newman, John Henry, Cardinal (18OI-I89O). A graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, Newman was elected a fellow of Oriel in 1822, and received the living of the university church six years later. After visiting the Mediterranean in 1832-33* he joined Keble, Hurrell Froude, and others to write Tracts for the Times, Religious doubts plagued him "after 1839* and, after publishing the poorly re- ceived Tract Ninety (l84l), resigned his living in 1843, Newman converted to the Roman Catholic Church 6n October 9» 1845, After studying for a year in Rome, he returned to England in 184? to establish the Oratory of St, Philip Neri, In 1864 he published his Apologia, and was made a cardinal in 1879 for his services to the church.