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The Political Behavior of the English Catholics, 1850-1867

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2014

Josef L. Altholz
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Extract

In the current revision of Victorian history — shattering the stereotypes of parties and classes and emphasizing instead the unpatterned variations of individual and factional bargaining — political history tends to reduce itself to the social history of special groups. Among these groups are the religious sects and movements, whose effective political activity is a notable feature of the nineteenth century. One such group, however, the Roman Catholics of England (as distinct from those of Ireland), seems to be a special case: as an unpopular minority, alien both to the Establishment and to Nonconformity, they were slow to be assimilated into the mainstream of English life, and their political activity was relatively feeble. Nonetheless, a study of the political behavior of the English Catholics may illustrate the process whereby the members of this religious minority made their adjustment to the society in which they lived.

In the 1850's, the English Catholics represented about three and one-half per cent of the religious population of England and Wales — over 600,000 persons. Their political strength, however, was less than this figure would indicate. One reason for this was that twothirds of the Roman Catholics in England were Irish, immigrants or the children of immigrants; very few of these possessed sufficient property to qualify for the suffrage. In a few places they might be sufficiently numerous and enfranchised to affect an election. This was the case in Preston, where, in 1852, they turned out an anti-Catholic member.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , November 1964 , pp. 89 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1964

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References

1. A good survey of the revision of Victorian historiography is Clark, G. Kitson, The Making of Victorian England (London, 1962)Google Scholar; the best examples of this “Namierization” of nineteenth-century politics are Gash, Norman, Politics in the Age of Peel (London, 1953)Google Scholar, and Hanham, H. J., Elections and Party Management: Politics in the Time of Disraeli and Gladstone (London, 1959)Google Scholar.

2. The census of 1851 indicated 252,783 Catholic attendances; but this low figure cannot be valid, since there were over 500,000 Irish-born in England, most of them presumably nominal Catholics. Protestant alarmists talked of a million or more Catholics in England. The most reasonable estimate is that of 679,067 given by Hughes, Philip, “The English Catholics in 1850,” in Beck, G. A. (ed.), The English Catholics 1850-1950 (London, 1950), pp. 44–45Google Scholar, based on the bishops' reports of 1837-40 (452,000 Catholics), the general rate of increase of population and seventy-five percent of the Irish immigration in the decade. This is a calculation of nominal adherents only; many of the immigrants lost contact with the Church in their new homes.

3. Dobson, William, History of the Parliamentary Representation of Preston (Preston, 1856), pp. 71–72Google Scholar. The chapter on Lancashire in 1868 in Hanham, Elections and Party Management, contains much valuable information on this area in which Catholics played an unusually important role.

4. See the articles on Simeon in the Dictionary of National Biography and in Gillow, Joseph, A Literary and Biographical History, or Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics (London, 1885–1891), V, 507–08Google Scholar.

5. A list of convert peers, peeresses and heirs to peerages after 1850 is given in C[okayne], G. E.., Complete Peerage (London, 1913), IIIGoogle Scholar, App. G.

6. The English Catholic peers in 1850 were, besides Norfolk and Shrewsbury, the Lords Arundell of Wardour, Beaumont, Camoys, Clifford, Dormer, Petre, Stafford, Stourton, and Vaux. There were also about a dozen Scottish and Irish peerages in Catholic hands. For Shrewsbury and Norfolk, see under “Talbot” and “Howard” in the Dictionary of National Biography. The thirteenth Duke of Norfolk, titular head of the English Catholic laity, was virtually out of the Church in 1850; his heir (known as Lord Arundel and Surrey until 1854) was by contrast notably devout.

7. See Halévy, Elie, A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century, tr. Watkin, E. I., (New York, 1951), III, 159Google Scholar, note 2. A description of the Catholic gentry may be found in Mathew, David, “Old Catholics and Converts,” in Beck, , English Catholics 1850-1950, pp. 223–42Google Scholar. See also Ward, Bernard, The Sequel to Catholic Emancipation (London, 1913), II, 34–35Google Scholar.

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9. It was not until 1926 that the penal laws against religious orders were formally abolished. For educational assistance, see Catholic Emancipation 1829 to 1929. Essays by Various Writers (London, 1929), pp. 247–49Google Scholar. Government assistance was administered through the Catholic Poor School Committee, headed by Charles Langdale.

10. The bishops were very fearful of government interference, and some even refused to accept grants rather than submit to inspection. See Cardinal Wiseman to Charles Langdale, Feb. 4, 1854, Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster. A grave controversy arose over the Royal Commission of 1858: see Gasquet, F. A., Lord Acton and his Circle (London, 1906), p. xlixGoogle Scholar.

11. Bequests which included provision for masses violated this law. Purcell, Edmund Sheridan, Life of Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster (New York, 1896), II, 115–16Google Scholar.

12. It is likely that the Durham letter was aimed chiefly at the Puseyites and referred to the “Papal aggression” only as incidental illustration. For accounts of this affair, see Ward, Wilfrid, The Life and Times of Cardinal Wiseman (London, 1897), I, 547ff.Google Scholar; Thureau-Dangin, Paul, The English Catholic Revival in the Nine-teenth Century, tr. Wilberforce, Wilfrid, (London, 1914), I, 446ff.Google Scholar; and Halévy, , History of the English People, IV, 367–71Google Scholar.

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14. The Ecclesiastical Titles Act was a dead letter, and government agencies continued to deal with the bishops as hitherto with the Vicars Apostolic. However, the non-acknowledgement of Catholic titles caused some difficulty when Wiseman was summoned before a Select Committee. For a time government officials addressed him as “The Right Rev. N. Wiseman, D. D.” Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

15. Lord Arundel resigned the family seat of Arundel and accepted Limerick, vacated for him by one of O'Connell's sons. Lord Arundel (who was not re-elected in 1852) became fourteenth Duke of Norfolk in 1854.

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18. This exclusion was commented on by the future Manning, Cardinal, “The Work and the Wants of the Church in England,” Dublin Review, new series, I (1863), 159Google Scholar, and by Henry Wilberforce to Gladstone, June 13, 1859, BM, Add. MSS., 44391 ff. 342-47.

19. For example, “Our Position and Policy,” Rambler, VII (1851), 371–82Google Scholar, and “Civil and Religious Liberty,” Rambler, VIII (1851), 173–80Google Scholar.

20. The history of this movement, curiously neglected for a long time, is given in Whyte, The Independent Irish Party.

21. Lord Edward Howard to Sir George Bowyer, Nov. 18, 1850, Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

22. Bowyer's correspondence with Wiseman is in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster. Whyte, who discusses Bowyer's career as an independent oppositionist (The Independent Irish Party, pp. 129, 137, 139), treats him as if he were a native Irishman. Bowyer usually called himself a “Liberal” (as in Dod's Parliamentary Companion) and was a member of the Reform Club until expelled in 1874. Dictionary of National Biography. See also Gillow, , Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics, I, 282ff.Google Scholar

23. For Lucas, see Whyte, The Independent Irish Party, passim.; Gillow, , Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics, IV, 336–43Google Scholar; Purcell, , Life of Cardinal Manning, I, 649–50Google Scholar; and Snead-Cox, J. G., The Life of Cardinal Vaughan (London, 1910), I, 184–87Google Scholar.

24. As late as 1860 the British Catholics were urged to form their own party by the Prussian Catholic leader August Reichensperger, “The Theory of Party,” Rambler, new series, II (1860), 237–43Google Scholar.

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27. Disraeli spoke of “the generous and courageous manner in which His Eminence accorded us his assistance.” Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 282nGoogle Scholar. Ward, , Life of Cardinal Wiseman, II, 448–49Google Scholar, also cites Disraeli's letter to Bowyer, June 25, 1859, thanking him for the “valuable and truly independent support … which we invariably received at your hands.” On this subject, see Wiseman to Dr. Charles Russell, Apr. 10, 1859, Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

28. Urban, Miriam B., British Opinion and Policy on the Unification of Italy 1856-1861 (Scottdale, Penna., 1938), p. 222Google Scholar. A contemporary Liberal Catholic assessment of this policy is by Simpson, Richard, “Lettre sur le rôle des Catholiques dans les dernières élections en Angleterre,” Le Correspondant, new series, XLVII (1859), 167–71Google Scholar.

29. Urban, , British Opinion, p. 229nGoogle Scholar. See also Beales, Derek, England and Italy 1859-60 (London, 1961), pp. 74–75, 82Google Scholar.

30. Acton to Granville, 1857, Selections from the Correspondence of the First Lord Acton, ed. Figgis, J. N. and Laurence, R. V. (London, 1917), p. 28Google Scholar. Granville was Acton's stepfather.

31. An excellent study of this election is Auchmuty, James J., “Acton's Election as an Irish Member of Parliament,” E.H.R., LXI (1946), 394–405CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32. The Stafford Club had been formed in 1851 to coordinate Catholic resistance to the “no popery” agitation. Purcell, , Life of Cardinal Manning, II, 686;Google Scholar Wiseman to Msgr. Talbot, Aug. 3, 1851, in CardinalGasquet, , “Letters of Cardinal Wiseman,” Dublin Review, CLXIV (1919), 22.Google Scholar

33. Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 366–67Google Scholar; Raven, John, The Parliamentary History of England from … 1832 (London, 1885), p. 183Google Scholar.

34. Acton's notes reveal the indignation of the French Catholic leader Montalembert at the betrayal of the Pope's interests by the British Catholic M. P.s. Cambridge University Library, Add. MSS., 5644 f. 61.

35. Urban, , British Opinion, p. 336nGoogle Scholar.

36. Ibid., pp. 333, 343, 351-52, et passim.

37. Himmelfarb, Gertrude, Lord Acton: A Study in Conscience and Politics (Chicago, 1952), p. 92Google Scholar; Disraeli to King Leopold, Aug. 23, 1860, Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 282.Google Scholar

38. Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 325,Google Scholar quoting Odo Russell, the British diplomatic agent in Rome. The Pope described Lord John Russell as “our bitterest enemy.” Hughes, Philip, “The Coming Century,” in Beck, , English Catholics 1850-1950, p. 17nGoogle Scholar.

39. Disraeli to King Leopold, Dec. 23, 1860, Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 324.Google Scholar

40. Monypenny, and Buckle, , Life of Disraeli, IV, 81, 324.Google Scholar Disraeli continued to work to bring the Catholics into the Tory camp, although he was frequently hindered by Lord Derby's anti-Catholic indiscretions. Ibid., 325, 415.

41. Kenny, Terence, The Political Thought of John Henry Newman (London, 1957), p. 26Google Scholar. For Newman's statement of his views, see his memorandum, May 22, 1882, in Ward, Wilfrid, The Life of John Henry Cardinal Newman (London, 1912), I, 521Google Scholar; for the reasons for his silence, see Newman to Acton, June 7, 1861, Selections from the Correspondence of Lord Acton, pp. 31-33. Other Catholic opponents of the Temporal Power are cited by Urban, , British Opinion, pp. 336–38, 352–53Google Scholar.

42. The history of the Rambler and its successor, the Home and Foreign Review, is given by Altholz, Josef L., The Liberal Catholic Movement in England: The “Rambler” and its Contributors (London, 1962)Google Scholar.

43. Ibid., 133-37, 157-60; Himmelfarb, , Lord Acton, pp. 90–93Google Scholar. For Acton's politics, see also Fasnacht, G. E., Acton's Political Philosophy (London, 1952)Google Scholar; Kochan, Lionel, Acton on History (London, 1954)Google Scholar; and Noack, Ulrich, Katholizität und Geistesfreiheit (Frankfurt, 1936)Google Scholar and Politik als Sicherung der Freiheit (Frankfurt, 1948)Google Scholar.

44. The dispute concerned the naming of a hospital to which Bowyer had donated money. Bowyer (a Knight of Malta) wanted it dedicated to St. John, but Wiseman had a prior commitment to another saint. Archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

45. Hanham, , Elections and Party Management, p. 48Google Scholar. For useful though tendencious accounts of Acton's political career, see Auchmuty, James J., “Acton as a Member of the House of Commons,” [Farouk I University] [Alexandria, Egypt] Bulletin of the Faculty of Arts, V (1949), 31–46Google Scholar, and “Acton: The Youthful Parliamentarian,” Historical Studies, Australia and New Zealand, IX (1960), 131–39Google Scholar.

46. Ward, Wilfrid, William George Ward and the Catholic Revival (London, 1912), pp. 228–31Google Scholar.

47. For Manning's early statements on the Temporal Power, see Leslie, Shane, Henry Edward Manning: His Life and Labours (London, 1921), pp. 188–91Google Scholar. Manning had been a Liberal during his brief official career in the 1830's. His friendship with Gladstone was (rather opportunely) revived in the 1860's; the relevant correspondence is in BM, Add. MSS., 44248. As Archbishop, he denied that he had any “party politics”: “My politics are social politics.” McEntee, Georgiana, The Social Catholic Movement in Great Britain (New York, 1927), p. 23Google Scholar.

48. The decisive breach with Disraeli came when the latter failed to secure the passage of the Irish University Bill. See Hanham, , Elections and Party Management, p. 213Google Scholar. The most striking instance of Manning's attack on Catholic Toryism was his successful effort to take the Tablet out of the hands of Wallis, who was not only Tory but also hostile to Manning's ally, Cardinal Cullen of Dublin. Snead-Cox, , Life of Cardinal Vaughan, I, 189–91, 196–97Google Scholar. The Tablet passed into the hands of the future Cardinal Vaughan, who supported the Liberals in 1868 on the Irish issue but kter showed himself a Conservative.

49. Arundel would have been saved as a “fancy franchise” in 1859 by Disraeli, to assure the English Catholics a seat. When it was disfranchised, Lord Edward Howard sought a seat at Preston but was defeated: Hanham, , Elections and Party Management, p. 301Google Scholar. He was made a peer (Lord Howard of Glossop) by Gladstone in 1869, at the same time as Acton, who had also been defeated in 1868. These were the first English Catholic peerages created since Emancipation (some dormant peerages had been revived earlier in favor of Catholic co-heirs). Howard's nephew, the 15th Duke of Norfolk, who attained his majority in 1868, was a Conservative.

50. Hughes, , “The Coming Century,” in Beck, , English Catholics, 1850-1950 pp. 23–25Google Scholar.

51. Their opportunism led Gladstone to remark that “no Roman Catholic vote is to be had except for a price.” Gladstone to Lord Granville, Nov. 25, 1874, in The Political Correspondence of Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville. ed. Ramm, Agatha [Camden Society, third series, LXXXI-LXXXII] (London, 1952), II, 460Google Scholar.