that they had been pronounced invalid, any feeling of soreness, as far as the general public was concerned, quickly disappeared. There seemed even a general disposition to agree with the Pope. The ordinary layman, who had never dreamed of crediting his clergyman with anything in the nature of miraculous powers, was not concerned when he understood that it was only these which were denied him. In fact, it was soon apparent that, if the Holy See had proclaimed that the Anglican clergy were indeed "sacrificing Mass priests," with power to forgive sins, and even to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Living God, the national dissent would have found unmistakable utterance. The Cardinal waited for any expression of opinion on the part of the individual Bishops of the Establishment or groups of them. He was confident that no collective reply from the Anglican Hierarchy would ever be attempted.

1 The Bull Apostolicae Curae elicited a reply, not from the collective body of the Anglican Bishops, but from the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York. It endeavoured to meet the indictment of Leo XIII that the Anglican Ordinal did not signify a Sacerdotium, or sacrificing priesthood, by maintaining that in the Anglican rite there was a sacrifice of "thanksgiving," an offering of gifts, and of the souls of the worshippers, &c., all of which clearly fell short of what the Catholic Church means by the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In response to this the Catholic Bishops at once issued a rejoinder—A Vindication of the Bull Apostolicae Curae-in which they brought the whole issue to a crucial point by inviting the Anglican Archbishops to say publicly and plainly and frankly, in view of this argument, whether they did or did not mean that in the Anglican Eucharist there was a true Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ really and objectively present on the altar.

CHAPTER VII

THE TERM "ROMAN CATHOLIC" AND THE

CA

ROYAL DECLARATION

ARDINAL VAUGHAN took the opportunity of the Annual Conference in Newcastle to say a word as to the use of the term "Roman Catholic." In themselves the words are dear to every Catholic. They stand for the affirmation that the Catholic Church is the Church which is in visible union with the Roman See of Peter. They are familiar to us through their use in connection with the army and the navy, the prison administration, and the public elementary and industrial schools. But recent developments of ecclesiastical controversy have done something to make them equivocal. Cardinal Vaughan knew that they were being used in two senses. While Catholics used them to signify the members of the one Church of Christ which has Rome for its centre, Protestant controversialists were using them to convey the suggestion that there are other Catholics-Catholics who are not in communion with the Holy See. According to their theory, there are various sorts of Catholics, differing in doctrine-Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, and Anglo-Catholics.

In view of this double meaning which had come to attach to the term "Roman Catholic," Cardinal Vaughan

felt it was very undesirable that it should be used except in circumstances which made ambiguity or misunderstanding impossible. When, therefore, in 1897, on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, it was proposed to present an Address of Congratulation from the Catholic Hierarchy on behalf of the Catholics in England, Cardinal Vaughan, in submitting a draft Address for the approval of the Home Secretary, Sir Matthew White Ridley, avoided the words "Roman Catholic,” and instead used the form "The Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Province of Westminster." The Home Secretary at once took exception, and on two grounds. He contended that the proper form was "The Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops in England and Wales; " and, secondly, that in any case the Home Office could not recognise "territorial titles which have no validity, though the penalties for assuming them have been repealed." A subsequent letter stated that the correct style was "The Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops in England." The Cardinal tried to meet the difficulty by dropping all territorial allusions, and suggested the phrase "Bishops of the Catholic Church in England." This also was objected to, and in the end the Address was not presented at all. There was the less difficulty in withdrawing it because it appeared that Catholics were not in the privileged list, so that their representatives would not in any case have been received by Her Majesty in person.

At the beginning of the new reign Cardinal Vaughan received an intimation—or perhaps in fairness to others I should say, what he regarded as an intimation-that if the Catholic body wished to present an Address to the King, no difficulty would be raised as to their way of

describing themselves. The Cardinal's view of what took place appears with sufficient clearness in the following extract from a letter to the Home Secretary, Mr. Ritchie : "Permit me to recall certain facts connected with the address to the Queen on the occasion of her Jubilee in 1897. Seeing that the Queen was receiving many deputations, I inquired whether it would be agreeable to Her Majesty to receive one also from her loyal Catholic subjects. The answer was, No, that we were not on the privileged list. Nevertheless, we ventured to draw up an Address to be presented on behalf of the Catholic Bishops in the ordinary way. We at first described ourselves in the usual style, 'The Cardinal Archbishop and the Bishops of the Province of Westminster.' This was sent back to me from the Home Office erasing the words 'Province and the title of 'Cardinal,' for which were to be substituted the words 'Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops in England.' I ventured to amend the Address thus: The Cardinal Archbishop and the Bishops of the Catholic Church in England,' and to express the hope that, all territorial allusions, Roman and otherwise, being thus omitted, the Address might be accepted. But instead of this, I was again requested by the Secretary of State to adhere strictly to the terms that he had dictated. The consequence was that we were unable to present our loyal address to the Queen. After this experience we were not likely to court further failure by suggesting another deputation. And when two or three weeks ago I was approached to know whether I should be willing to head a Catholic deputation to the King and present an Address, I at once raised the difficulty as to episcopal dress and our designation. Upon an assurance that the past objec

tions would not be raised, the Bishops met and heartily adopted the Address which you have now declined to allow." How the misunderstanding arose I do not know. It is certain, however, that Mr. Ritchie proved even more intractable than his predecessor had been. He objected even to the words, "We, the Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Catholic and Roman Church in England." He urged that these words "would still imply our recognition that your Church was the one Catholic Church in England, whereas it is our contention that this is the correct designation of our Church. In all the statutes which exist dealing with the subject your Church is described as the Roman Catholic Church, and this is the description you yourself used in the Address of 1894 and the one I am afraid I must adhere to." This letter was dated from Sandringham, and written on the 28th of April, 1901. The Cardinal accepted it as final, and so had to decide either to accept the dictation of the Home Office or to refuse to present the Address. He was very unwilling at the beginning of a new reign to spoil the general harmony by a note of strife. The term "Roman Catholic" was not only quite unexceptionable in itself, but one every Catholic is necessarily proud of. The objection to its use was in the possibility of a misunderstanding on the part of others. He thought the danger might be guarded against. Mr. Ritchie :

He wrote to

"April 30th, 1901.

"DEAR MR. RITCHIE,-In reply to your note let me say that I have no objection to the term 'Roman Catholic,' provided it is understood.