CARDINAL WISEMAN
437
and, whenever he makes that sacrifice, he will appear a traitor to those whom he is most anxious to serve, while his act 'will be hailed by those \vho are farthest from sharing his opinions as a proof of secret sympathy, and harbinger of future alliance. Thus, the censure \vhich he incurs will most often come from those whose views are essentially his own; and the very matter \vhich calls it forth will be that \vhich elicits the applause of adversaries who cannot bring themselves to believe either in the truth of his opinions, in the integrity of his motives, or in the sincerity of his aims. There are few men living whose career has been more persistently misinterpreted, more bitterly assailed, or more ignorantly judged, than the illustrious person \vho is the head in England of the Church to which we belong. Cardinal Wiselnan has been for many years the chief object of the attacks of those who have desired to injure or degrade our community. He is not only the canonical chief of English Catholics, but his ability, and the devotion of his life to their cause, have made him their best representative and their most powerful champion. No prelate in Christendom is more fully trusted by the Holy See, or exercises a more extensive personal influence, or enjoys so wide a literary renown. Upon him, therefore, intolerance and fanaticism have concentrated their malice. He has had to bear the brunt of that hatred which the holiness of Catholicism inspires in its enemies; and the man who has never been found wanting when the cause of the Church ,vas at stake may boast, with a not un- worthy pride, of the indifference with which he has encountered the personal slander of a hostile press. The Catholics of this country are attached to Cardinal Wisernan by \varmer feelings and. more personal ties than those of merely ecclesiastical subordination. It has been his privilege to gather the spiritual fruits of the Catholic Emanci pation Act; and the history of English Catholicism has been, for a whole generation, bound up with his name. That immense change in the internal condition of the Church in England \vhich distinguishes our days from the
