never seen the original; but now, was it possible--? He looked
again, and he could doubt no longer. It was Dr. Newman. He sprang
forward, with proffers of assistance. Could he be of any use? 'Oh
no, no!' was the reply. 'Oh no, no!' But the Curate felt that he
could not run away and leave so eminent a character in such
distress. 'Was it not Dr. Newman he had the honour of
addressing?'
he asked, with all the respect and sympathy at his command. 'Was
there nothing that could be done?' But the old man hardly seemed
to understand what was being said to him. 'Oh no, no!' he
repeated, with the tears streaming down his face, 'Oh no, no!'

VII

MEANWHILE, a remarkable problem was absorbing the attention of
the
Catholic Church. Once more, for a moment, the eyes of all
Christendom were fixed upon Rome. The temporal Power of the Pope
had now almost vanished; but, as his worldly dominions steadily
diminished, the spiritual pretensions of the Holy Father no less
steadily increased. For seven centuries the immaculate conception
of the Virgin had been highly problematical; Pio Nono spoke, and
the doctrine became an article of faith. A few years later, the
Court of Rome took another step: a Syllabus Errorum was issued,
in which all the favourite beliefs of the modern world-- the
rights of democracies, the claims of science, the sanctity of
free speech, the principles of toleration-- were categorically
denounced, and their supporters abandoned to the Divine wrath.

Yet it was observed that the modern world proceeded as before.