Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects (review)

After the astonishing success of his Apologia pro vita sua (1864), which effectively restored his reputation among the English public, both Protestant and Catholic, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) went on to publish two major works: An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent (1870) and A Letter Addressed to the Duke of Norfolk (1875); he also re-published many of his earlier writings that had gone out of print but whose re-appearance was surprisingly well received. For these volumes of re-prints, "he dusted down his earlier pieces for the two volume Essays Critical and Historical [1871], his three volume Historical Sketches [1872-1873] and his Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects [1872]" (p. ix).

Discussions and Arguments is a "rather haphazard" collection of a half-dozen items: (I) "How to Accomplish It" reproduces a two-part article that was originally published as "Home Thoughts Abroad.—No. II." in the British Magazine (1836); (II) a set of four sermons that became Tract 83: Advent sermons on Antichrist (1835), but was retitled here as "The Patristical Ideal of Antichrist"; (III) a series of eight lectures that became Tract 85, Part I: Lectures on the scripture proof of the doctrines of the Church (1837), retitled here as "Holy Scripture in its Relation to the Catholic Creed"; (IV) a set of seven letters to The Times (1841) originally published in pamphlet-form as "The Tamworth reading room"; (V) a set of eight letters on the Crimean War (1854-56)—"Who's to blame?"—originally published in an Irish newspaper, The Catholic Standard (1855); and (VI) a lengthy book review, originally published in The Month (1866), about Sir Robert Seeley's Ecce Homo and retitled here as "An Internal Argument for Christianity." Admittedly a disparate set of bed-fellows under the same cover; however, "The publishers knew that his works would sell, such was his reputation, and Newman was easily persuaded to dig out his old literary pieces" (p. x).

The forty-page Introduction by James Tolhurst is not only well documented, but whets readers' appetites for the varied menu to follow. However, one question of curiosity remains: in republishing Tract 85, Part I, one wonders why Newman never mentioned a Tract 85, Part II? Was this because he had planned a second set of lectures, but never gave them? Or did his projections for Part II become sidetracked as he was confronted with the need to defend the Church of England as a via media between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism?

In any case, the extensive "Editor's Notes" (pp. 399-490), expertly prepared by the late Gerard Tracey (1954-2003) and James Tolhurst, furnish more answers than most readers will have questions: biblical, classical, patristic, and scholastic quotations are diligently identified; heresies long dead and theological issues still debated are succinctly explained; Anglican prelates, British politicians, and sundry other historical personalities—ancient, medieval, and modern—both well known and remarkably obscure, are meticulously identified; historical data relating to current events in Newman's day and even geographical details of places that he visited are provided. While Newmanists will be grateful for the many cross-references to other works of Newman, an index would have been an added plus.

On the whole, readers will welcome warmly the publication of this attractive volume that facilitates the enjoyment of these lesser known and often neglected writings of Newman.