Littlemore

From Goulder Chapter I: Places Visited on the Way to Oxford, part 2. Going from Dorchester to Littlemore, we pass abruptly from the middle ages to the nineteenth century. The contrast between the build­ings is great enough – at Dorchester a magnificent abbey church, glori­ous even in its declining years; at Littlemore, a row of one – storeyed cottages. But the difference between the men is greater still – Birinus, a missionary saint belonging to the age of the Anglo-Saxon settlements, powerful no doubt in the conversion of Wessex, but to us remote and shadowy; John Henry Newman,[1] a man who lived in a period which was on the very door-step of our own, whose thoughts are close to our thoughts, whose world did not differ very much from our world. All the same, the buildings at both places served Catholic truth; and the men, so far apart in time, are united in Catholic faith. THE BUILDINGS There is not much to be seen at Littlemore; in fact, the unsuspecting might pass it by without realizing that here was played out one of the most dramatic events in the religious history of modern England. There is a row of cottages shaped like an L. A tablet, let into the outside wall, announces that John Henry Newman, Fellow of Oriel College, Vicar of St Mary the Virgin, afterwards Cardinal, used this building in the years 1842-6, as a place of retreat, study and prayer. The cottages were bought by the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory – which was founded by Newman – in 1951, though some of the alms­people who have lived there ever since he left, still remain. In 1960, the place was thoroughly restored. The entrance is now through a large doorway under the gable halfway along the side of the L fronting the cul-de-sac. To the left, as you enter, at the far end of the little quadrangle, is the hall which served as a library in Newman’s day, and there is an upstairs room at the end of it which was probably used for guests. To the right, at the far end of the range of dwellings, are Newman’s own room and the chapel, the latter being at the very ex­tremity of the building. It has been restored as he had it, with crimson damask hangings, and a white frontal to the altar represents the white curtain which hung from the shelf on which stood Newman’s crucifix and candlesticks. There is also a reading-desk which was used by him. In his bedroom next door is a fender made for him by the local black­smith. It was at one time thought that the oratory in which the future cardinal was received into the Church was the room in the angle of the L but, after the discovery of a plan of the cottages as they were at the time, this theory had to be abandoned. The famous oratory is, in fact, the last room at the far end of the cul-de-sac front. In the quadrangle, the pentise, which enabled members of the community to keep dry as they moved from one part of the building to anther in wet weather, has also been put in order. It has been neatly laid out and the squalid jumble of cabbage plots and broken-down fences, which marred the place until recently, has been been cleared away. The tree which Newman planted, though sadly mangled some years ago when neighbours complained that it shut out the light, still adorns the garden. Close by the cottages is the modern Catholic church, serving a rapidly growing suburb. Nearer the main road is the church which Newman built as a chapel of ease to St Mary’s – the scene of his sermon on the parting of friends. It is a fine building of its type and several relics of the founder are on view at the west end. It is naturally in Anglican hands. THE CONVERSION Newman’s attempt to visualize the Church of England as a part of the Catholic Church had failed. The Tracts for the Times, which he had so assiduously distributed, had caused much resentment. The publication of Tract 90 in the series, in which he claimed that the Thirty-nine Articles of the Book of Common Prayer could bear a Catho­lic interpretation, brought about a storm in academic circles. Heads of colleges condemned it, and the bishop of Oxford prevailed on Newman not to publish any more tracts. These men were sturdy Protestants, and not ashamed of it. Newman bowed to the storm and, on April 19th, 1842, retired to Littlemore. He was joined by several like-minded young clergymen – F. S. Bowles, J. B. Dalgairns[2] and Ambrose St John;[3] and later on, by Richard Stanton. Albany Christie and John Walker – both destined to be Catholic priests – were frequent visitors. In the following Septem­ber, Newman resigned St Mary’s. Meanwhile a strict, community life was developed at Littlemore. “The inmates of the house at Littlemore were leading a life of the utmost self-denial and simplicity. Divine Office was recited daily. There were two meals in the day-breakfast, consisting of tea and bread and butter, taken standing up, and dinner. In Lent, no meat was eaten. The rules of the community prescribed silence for half the day. Reading, writing and praying, were the occupations of the morn­ing; and later, Newman would often take his disciples for a walk.”[4] In the midst of these activities, he was working out his position by writing An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine ; and it became daily more apparent to him that he could find a place in the Church of England no longer. Early in 1845, W. G. Ward’s[5] Ideal of a Christian Church was condemned by convocation, and Newman’s followers began to get restless. During the autumn, some of them sub­mitted to the Holy See. Dalgairns was received at Aston by Father Dominic Barberi[6] of the Passionist Congregation, and St John became a Catholic at Prior Park. On October 3rd, Newman severed his last remaining link with official Oxford and resigned his Oriel fellowship. There was widespread speculation about his next move. Dalgairns, full of zeal for his new-found Faith, had invited Barberi to visit Little­more; but Newman still hesitated. “Fr Dominic, the Passionist ... is coming here” he wrote on October 4th. “It is likely that he will admit me, I am not sure however ... I am not certain.”[7] The final scene is nothing if not dramatic. Newman, sitting waiting for the coming of Barberi, writing letter after letter of farewell to his Anglican friends, preparing for a break which would be absolute; and in the intervals of his writing, getting ready for the long general con­fession which he thought necessary. At last the moment of decision was reached. Dalgairns had already taken his hat and stick for the walk across the fields to meet the Passionist in Oxford. As he was leaving the house, Newman stopped him. “When you see your friend,” he said, “will you tell him that I wish him to receive me into the Church of Christ?”[8] It was three o’clock in the afternoon of October 8th, 1845, and beginning to rain. In Oxford, Dalgairns was joined by St John, and together they met Father Dominic’s coach at the Angel Inn[9] in the High. The rain was falling more heavily and the priest alighted, soaked to the skin but rejoicing to hear the news. At Littlemore, Newman sat alone in the gloom of that miserable October afternoon. I picture him there, his mind exhausted with his long struggle, no longer capable of profound thought, but busily engaged on a thousand little details, thinking of the friends who would be friends no longer, of the familiar places he would never see again, the end of the world in which he had for so long held an honoured place. Beyond this was the unknown, an un­charted world, completely unfamiliar, with new dangers, new faces. To the converts of the present day, the break is often bitter enough; to Newman in 1845, it was agonizing. At length came the sound of voices, the opening and shutting of doors. Dalgairns had taken Barberi to the library fire, and the good priest was trying to get dry, a cloud of steam rising from his wet clothes. Newman came to him as he sat there, knelt down and began his con­fession. He went on and on. At length, the priest, doubtless moved by compassion for his penitent and, perhaps, fearing a little the con­sequences to himself if he sat in wet garments much longer, suggested an adjournment. The confession was finished in the oratory next morning. In the evening of the same day – October 9th – Father Dominic received Newman and his friends, Bowles and Stanton, into the Church. The ceremony took place in the oratory. Dalgairns wrote : “Never shall I forget being present at his making his profession of faith in our oratory.”[10] So it was, that John Henry Newman came to rest in the Church, where he was to find many difficulties, but not one doubt. On the morning of October 10th, Father Dominic celebrated Mass in the oratory with vessels, altar-stone and vestments he had borrowed from the Catholic church in St Clement’s Street,[11] and the converts made their first Holy Communion. On Sunday, October 12th, Newman, Dalgairns and Stanton went to Mass at the church in St Clement’s, and they were there again four days later for Holy Communion. Newman received the sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of Dr Wiseman[12] at Oscott on October 31st. He left Littlemore for good on February 22nd, 1846. “I quite tore myself away,” he wrote to Copeland,[13] “and could not help kissing my bed and mantelpiece, and other parts of the house. I have been most happy there, though in a state of suspense. And there it has been that I have both been taught my way and received an answer to my prayers.”[14] He was ordained priest in Rome in 1848. Littlemore is now disfigured by a modern Catholic church dedicated to Bl. Dominic Barberi, a few yards from the buildings described here. [1] Lived 1801-1890. Cardinal 1879. [2] Died 1876. [3] Died 1875. [4] The Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, by Wilfrid Ward, vol. I, p. 84. [5] Lived 1812-1882. [6] Lived 1792-1849. [7] From an unpublished letter, quoted in an article by Father Henry Tristram of the Birmingham Oratory, in Homage to Newman (published under the auspices of the Westminster Cathedral Chronicle in 1945), p. 31. [8] Homage to Newman, p. 32. [9] The Angel stood on the south side of the High, immediately to the west of the present Examination Schools. [10] Homage to Newman, p. 32. [11] This little church still exists and is used as a school. It stands a little back from St Clement’s Street on the south side, between Jeune Street and Pembroke Street. [12] Archbishop of Westminster, 1850-1865. Cardinal 1850. [13] Lived 1804-1885. Editor of Newman’s Parochial and Plain Sermons. William John Copeland. [14] The Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, by Wilfred Ward, I, p. 117.