The Tamworth Reading Room As an Apology for the “Christian

366 Pages·2013·2.1 MB·English

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

John Henry Newman’s Areopagus: The Tamworth Reading Room
As an Apology for the “Christian Difference”

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of the
School of Theology and Religious Studies
Of The Catholic University of America
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

By
David P. Delio

Washington, DC

2013
John Henry Newman’s Areopagus: The Tamworth Reading Room
As an Apology for the “Christian Difference”

David P. Delio, Ph.D.
Director: John T. Ford, C.S.C., S.T.D.

John Henry Newman’s Tamworth Reading Room presents a unique a distillation
of his Anglican thought on education, faith and reason, and the Church. This work of
theology and literature challenged his contemporaries and continues to challenge its
readers today.
Newman crafted seven letters to the editor of The Times of London in February
1841 in response to an address given by a leading British politician, Sir Robert Peel. The
letters, witty and woven with theological and philosophical arguments, contrasted with
Peel’s view of secular knowledge and institutions as means to human fulfillment.
Although the letters were pithy and written for a general audience, they were provocative
and insightful. Together they anticipated Newman’s later works as a Roman Catholic
including the Idea of the University and An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent.
Themes, ideas, and the context of the letters have been treated by a variety of
scholars with varying degrees of accuracy and ability. This study seeks to clarify the
history and interpretations of the Tamworth Reading Room. More importantly, the
dissertation tries to connect the letters to Newman’s deeper theological concerns. In
order to achieve these goals, the aspects of nineteenth century England as well as
biographical portraits of Peel and Newman are narrated. Peel’s address is then detailed
followed by summary interpretations of Newman’s letters. The legacy of the letters is
traced to the end of Newman’s career.
This study does not follow along the lines of particular scholarly interpretations of
the Tamworth Reading Room, e.g., as literature, education, or religious epistemology.
Rather, the dissertation complements these prior efforts, but concludes that the Church
figures as the original idea undergirding the letters. For Newman, the Church and the
faith she proclaimed created a “Christian Difference” to Peel’s vision. The faith of the
Church was flexible and inclusive enough to elevate the truths found in modern
institutions and innovations in knowledge, yet remained distinct in its origin and telos as
the means for human salvation.
This dissertation by David P. Delio fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral
degree in Systematic and Historical Theology approved by John T. Ford, C.S.C., S.T.D.,
as Director, and by Chad C. Pecknold, Ph.D. and Christopher J. Ruddy Ph.D., as Readers.

______________________________________
John T. Ford, C.S.C., S.T.D., Director

______________________________________
Chad C. Pecknold, Ph.D., Reader

______________________________________
Christopher J. Ruddy, Ph.D., Reader
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DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Ella. Her love and support for this project
extend back to when we first met. Her devotion to God, our marriage and family (along
with her gentle, yet persistent, “reminders” to “get it done!”) were at times the only
beacon to keep me focused and to finish. I love you Ella―you are God’s special blessing
for me, Naomi, and so many others.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
Purpose of this Dissertation ............................................................................................ 6
Methodological Considerations ...................................................................................... 8
Chapter 1 – Newman and Peel in Nineteenth Century Britain ......................................... 10
John Henry Newman and Sir Robert Peel .................................................................... 10
Revolution, Recovery, and the Young Robert Peel ...................................................... 12
The Newman Family and the Napoleonic Wars ........................................................... 15
Peel, Newman and the Reaction to Revolution ............................................................ 17
Newman’s Religious Conversion ................................................................................. 19
Peel, Member of Parliament for Oxford ....................................................................... 24
Newman at Oxford ........................................................................................................ 28
Catholic Emancipation .................................................................................................. 31
The Reform Act and the Oxford Movement ................................................................. 37
Peel and the Conservative Ascendency ........................................................................ 40
Newman’s “Great Revolution of Mind” ....................................................................... 47
A Patristic Vacation ...................................................................................................... 49
Newman and Peel: Idealists and Reformers ................................................................. 56
Chapter 2 – Adult Education and Peel’s Tamworth Address ........................................... 58
Sir Robert Peel in 1841 ................................................................................................. 58
The Adult Education Movement ................................................................................... 59
Background to Peel’s Address ...................................................................................... 62
Sir Robert Peel’s Tamworth Address ........................................................................... 66
Press Reaction to the Address ....................................................................................... 79
From Public Address to Pamphlet ................................................................................ 82
The Advent of Catholicus ............................................................................................. 84
Chapter 3 – The Catholicus Letters: Interpretation and Context ...................................... 86
Section 1: The Offer to Respond and Letter 1 .............................................................. 86
The Walters’s Offer .................................................................................................. 87
The British Critic ...................................................................................................... 89
Tract 90 ..................................................................................................................... 97
Avoiding Controversy ............................................................................................. 101
Newman Encounters the Walters ............................................................................ 103
The First Letter: An Anonymous Venture .............................................................. 105
Changing Liaisons: From Walter III to Walter II ................................................... 115
Section 2: Letters 2-4 .................................................................................................. 117
Letters to the Editor and the “Leading Article”: from Anonymous to Catholicus . 118
The Second Letter: Catholicus Appears ................................................................. 120
The “E” Critique ..................................................................................................... 129
The Third Letter: Grace and the Church ................................................................. 132
A Second Note from Walter II ................................................................................ 141
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Newman’s “Incendiary” Response ......................................................................... 143
“Errata” in the Second and Third Letters ................................................................ 145
The Leading Article: Praise for Peel ....................................................................... 145
The Fourth Letter: Rising from the Ashes .............................................................. 147
The Times’ Volte-Face ............................................................................................ 152
Hiatus between Letters Four and Five .................................................................... 154
Another Account of the Hiatus ............................................................................... 156
Section 3: Letters 5-7 .................................................................................................. 159
The Fifth Letter: The Christian Difference ............................................................. 161
The Sixth Letter: Faith as Action, Reason and the Person ..................................... 168
Letter to Henry Wilberforce: The Identity of Catholicus ....................................... 176
The Seventh Letter: Final Arguments and Summary ............................................. 178
Chapter 4 – The Reception and Legacy of the Tamworth Reading Room...................... 184
Section 1: The Reception of the Catholicus Letters ................................................... 185
The Areopagus: “The wise men of Athens heard the Apostle and despised him” . 185
Press Reaction to the Catholicus Letters ................................................................ 194
Newman’s View of the Controversy....................................................................... 204
Peel’s Counter Attack ............................................................................................. 209
The Tamworth Reading Room in the British Critic ................................................ 215
Section 2: The Legacy of the Tamworth Reading Room ............................................ 223
The 1842 Tamworth Report .................................................................................... 223
The Trajectory of Catholicus .................................................................................. 225
Correspondence between Newman and William and Catherine Froude 1844 ....... 226
Peel at Tamworth in 1849 ....................................................................................... 229
Correspondence between Newman and Faber ........................................................ 230
Correspondence between Newman and John Moore Capes ................................... 231
The Idea of a University .......................................................................................... 233
Catholicus in The Catholic Standard ...................................................................... 236
The Apologia Pro Vita Sua ..................................................................................... 237
An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent ................................................................ 238
Discussions and Arguments .................................................................................... 240
The Times’s Obituary .............................................................................................. 243
Conclusion: The Tamworth Reading Room as Kerygma ........................................ 244
Chapter 5 – The Christian Difference ............................................................................. 245
Discovering the Church in the Catholicus Letters ...................................................... 245
Two Traditions ............................................................................................................ 250
The Church as the “Idea” of the Catholicus Letters ................................................... 252
The Literary Form of the Catholicus Letters .............................................................. 255
The Catholicus Letters as an Address on Britain’s Areopagus .................................. 258
The Church in the Parochial and Plain Sermons ....................................................... 264
Newman’s Search for a “Fundamental Faith” ............................................................ 265
The “Idea” of the Catholicus Letters in an Unpublished Sermon .............................. 268
Conclusions Drawn from the “Duty of Christian Educators” ..................................... 275
The Church as the “Christian Difference” .................................................................. 276
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Epilogue ...................................................................................................................... 286
Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 290
Appendix I – Peel’s Address and the Catholicus Letters ............................................ 290
Sir Robert Peel’s Address ........................................................................................... 290
Newman’s Letters of Catholicus ................................................................................ 302
Appendix II - Biographical Entries ............................................................................. 327
Appendix III - Material relevant to the Tamworth Reading Room ............................. 335
1. Newman’s letter to his mother in the wake of Catholic Emancipation .............. 335
2. Newman’s Letter to Jemima Newman in the wake of Catholic Emancipation .. 336
3. Newman’s Letter to His Mother Concerning “Universal Education” ............... 337
4. Excerpt of Henry Brougham’s Speech at the University of Glasgow ............... 339
5. Excerpt of Lushington’s Speech at the Opening of the University of London ... 339
6. Acts of the Apostles (17:16-34, KJV) .................................................................. 340
7. Text of the Morning Chronicle’s review of the Catholicus Letters ................... 341
8. Excerpt on The Catholicus Letters in The Rambler ............................................ 342
Appendix IV – Press Reception of Peel’s Address and the Catholicus Letters.......... 344
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 345
Works Cited ................................................................................................................ 345
Primary Sources: ..................................................................................................... 345
Secondary Sources: ................................................................................................. 349
Works Consulted ......................................................................................................... 356

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge all the mentors and friends who have guided me to this
moment: My father, to whom I owe my spiritual formation, and with whom I was
fortunate enough to study, argue, and contemplate theology; my mother, whose support
and interest in my theological pilgrimage has been a constant consolation; the late-night
philosophical questions and conversations with my cousin Tracy that still spark nostalgia
and continue to enkindle a desire for truth and meaning; my Aunt Denise who has walked
the theological path far ahead of me, and has provided encouragement, guidance, and a
good ear when I needed it; Fr. John Connolly of Sacred Heart Parish in Newton, MA,
who has been a true philosophical and theological mentor. He entered my life at a crucial
moment and has continued to listen and provide sage advice. Chad Pecknold who helped
me to navigate the later stages of my doctoral program and has been a powerful advocate.
Finally, Fr. John T. Ford, C.S.C., who plucked a young man from the graduate school
abyss and opened the door to Newman. Through the years he has exhibited the
hospitality of the Holy Cross, Newman’s personalist touch, and finally good humor while
his votary questioned and commented on a range of topics.

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Introduction

Faith, viewed in its history through past ages, presents us with the fulfilment of
one great idea in particular—that, namely, of an aristocracy of exalted spirits,
drawn together out of all countries, ranks, and ages, raised above the condition of
humanity, specimens of the capabilities of our race, incentives to rivalry and
patterns for imitation (John Henry Newman, The Tamworth Reading Room).1

On 19 January 1841, Sir Robert Peel delivered a speech on “Establishment of a
Library and Reading Room at Tamworth.” 2 As Member of Parliament for Tamworth and
leader of the Tory (Conservative) party, Peel had a vested interest in this project. The
working public in nineteenth century England generally did not have access to libraries.
Peel believed that inaugurating such an institution would broaden his party’s base and
contribute to the betterment of Tamworth’s inhabitants and to English society in general.
The library would provide the people of Tamworth access to the latest trends in science
and technology, thereby enabling them to become more productive citizens. Peel also
believed that scientific and technological knowledge, as well as literature, would inspire
persons to improve their lives intellectually, morally and religiously. In turn, this
knowledge would help mitigate class conflict and propel England into the modern age.
Peel’s speech provoked a flurry of debate in newspapers and periodicals. The
Times of London contacted John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest involved in the

1 Catholicus, Letters to the Editor, The Times, 20 February 1841.

2 Tamworth, in Staffordshire, 100 miles northwest of London, derives its name
from the River Tame.

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