institutions, this in a portraiture of their lives cannot be omitted, but
certainly need not be canonised as amongst their merits. It seems to me
possible simply to take the Church of their times as _the_ Church,
without entering into the question whether any of the conditions under
which it then existed are necessary for its existence now. And so their
acts done in relation to the Church of their day may be dwelt upon, while
the further question whether the Church of our day is capable of eliciting
such acts may be left to the judgment of the reader.

I am not sure that I have made myself intelligible in this, and still less
whether it is worth your reading, but I fancied that you wished an opinion,
and I give it, _valeat quantum_....

Yrs ever truly,

JAMES R. HOPE.

Rev. J. H. Newman.

_The Rev. J. H. Newman to J. R. Hope, Esq._

Littlemore: Nov. 6, 1843.

My dear Hope,-- ... You have not gone to the bottom of the difficulty. It
is very easy to say, Give facts without comment; but in the first place,
what can be so dry as mere facts? the book won't sell, nor deserve to sell.
It must be ethical; but to be ethical is merely to colour a narrative with
one's own mind, and to give a _tone_ to it. Now this is the
difficulty, altering this or that passage, leaving out this or that
expression, will not alter the case. I will not answer for being aware of