M.
and Saints.'
His twenty-second strange thought was as follows: 'How do I know
where I may be two years hence? Where was Newman five years ago?'
It was significant, but hardly surprising, that, after his
illness, Manning should have chosen to recuperate in Rome. He
spent several months there, and his Diary during the whole of
that period is concerned entirely with detailed descriptions of
churches, ceremonies, and relics, and with minute accounts of
conversations with priests and nuns. There is not a single
reference either to the objects of art or to the antiquities of
the place; but another omission was still more remarkable.
Manning had a long interview with Pius IX, and his only record of
it is contained in the bald statement: 'Audience today at the
Vatican'. Precisely what passed on that occasion never
transpired; all that is known is that His Holiness expressed
considerable surprise on learning from the Archdeacon that the
chalice was used in the Anglican Church in the administration of
Communion. 'What!' he exclaimed, is the same chalice made use of
by everyone?' 'I remember the pain I felt,' said Manning, long
afterwards, 'at seeing how unknown we were to the Vicar of Jesus
Christ. It made me feel our isolation.'
On his return to England, he took up once more the work in his
Archdeaconry with what appetite he might.
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