The English Catholic Enlightment: John Lingard and the Cisalpine Movement 1780–1850 by Joseph P. Chinnici, O.F.M. (review)

168 BOOK· REV11ilWS These are all matters that Brown treats in a style characteristically both brilliant and charming. His readers know that it is part of his gift to draw upon, and to illustrate his points by using, a wide variety of sources, many of these not exclusively from the ancient world: in the present volume, for example, he can quote Hegel and Nietzsche as easily as Augustine and Gregory of Tours. And he is as at home in the economic and artistic realms as in the social and theological. Another aspect of Brown's genius is his ability to develop ideas that the texts anl monuments merely suggest or hint at. How legitimately he does this his readers must-of course decide for themselves, but that he does it with a rare mastery of his materials no one will be able to deny. Dominican HOU8e of Studies Washington, D. C. BoNIFAci!: RAMSEY, O.P. The English Catlwlic Enlightment: John Lingard and the Cisalpine Movement 1780-1850. By JosEPH P. CHINNICI, O.F.M. Shepherdstown, W. Va.: Patmos Press, 1980. Pp. 261. $24.95. The obvious point of this book is that John Lingard was a visionary. He was not merely-what he is best remembered for-the historian who put forth such an accurate history of England, but an articulate commentator on the relations between Church and State, on religious toleration, and on the bases of theology. What Lingard in particular, and the Cisalpines in general, had to say about such things needs to be repeated today. There is a cogency to their message which is remarkable in light of the difference in time between our age and theirs. 150 years should render polemic literature outdated, unless there is a quality to the message which transcends the polemic. Such is the case with John Lingard and the Cisalpines. Their message of understanding, of sympathy with opposition, and of intellectual integrity, is one which transcends the particular problems of their day, and is as urgent today as it was in the early lSOO's. The whole theme of the Cisalpine Movement could best be summed up in the expression In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus cariteut, a saying in some opposition to the arrogance of later Catholics. If there was a bridge which could be built between Catholics and Protestants, Lingard insisted that Catholics should build it, that Catholics should take the initiative and be the ones to make the conciliatory gestures. Lingard thought that the greatest bar to union was mistaking principles for details and details for principles. He had a great pride in his Church, and a strong belief that his Church was right, but he tempered these sentiments with the conviction that Ultramontanism was, as John Tracy Ellis once said," devotion to Rome above and beyond the call of duty." llOOK REVIEWS 169 The Cisalpines- were acutely (almost painfully) aware that there was much to the Roman Church which was characteristically un-English, such as litanies, processions, the Latin language, and fasting; and that these should be de-emphasized. These things, they maintained, should not present such an imposing facade as to prevent prospective converts from " coming over." A Catholicism freed of such cultural elements could, they added, be made very appealing to the Anglican of their day. The English Catholic Enlightenment is more an appreciation of the Cisalpine Movement than it is a criticism. The author attempts to bring the neglected Cisalpines to light, and presents so admirable a case for them that we are forced to take notice. The result is a trifle one-sided. Ultramontanists are mentioned or quoted not so much to add to the complexity of the argument as to provide the Cisalpines with a suitable foil. If there is a stylistic defect in the book, it is that it reads too much like a dissertation. There are too many names mentioned too frequently. At each juncture we must be told not only what so-and-so thought, but also who agreed with him, who disagreed with him, and which books or articles they wrote in support of their various positions. This frequent cataIOguing slows down the pace of the...