CHAPTER V.

Prospects Of Widening His Sphere Of Action.

Towards the close of the year 1834, Earl Spencer died. George, of course, felt it deeply; he loved his father with, if possible, more than filial affection, for he could look up since his childhood to his paternal example; and all the virtue he was able to practise during his younger days, despite the occasions into which he was cast, he attributed chiefly to the influence of his father's authority. The country lost a statesman, and the Catholics an advocate in the noble earl; his death was therefore regretted by more than his immediate family; but there was one great reason why his son felt so deeply--his father had not died a Catholic. There were many things to make up for his exclusion from the _mementoes_ of his son in the mass, as not being one of those _qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei_; such as, his real natural goodness, his acting up to his lights, and his kind treatment of his son; but they were, of course, poor, weak assuagements to the stern fact that he could not pray publicly for the repose of his soul, and only, by the merest conditional permission, even privately. Father Spencer goes shortly after to Althorp. The new earl thinks proper to prohibit his brother speaking to any except those of his own rank while visiting there. He had, of course, his reasons, but it was a sore trial to Father Spencer, who ever loved the poor, and never felt so happy as when exercising his patience in listening to the detailed account of their sufferings, or in trying to relieve them by words or alms. He put up with it, and a _thank God_ soon made him at home amid lords and ladies for the time of his short stay.

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It may strike some person as a very strange thing that this illustrious convert and great saint, as he really was and appeared to be, should be shut up in a poor hamlet whose name does not appear even on railway maps, and not located in some resort of pride and fashion. But the Honourable and Reverend George Spencer had seen enough of fashion and gentility to be thoroughly disgusted with both the one and the other. He understood no way of going to heaven except that which Our Lord pointed out to us and went Himself first for us to follow, the way of the cross in poverty and humility. Hence he applied to Bishop Walsh for the poorest and worst mission in the diocese. If one will not be inclined to give this good Bishop credit for forwarding the apostolical intentions of his young priest, let him know that there might be also a more inferior motive why he should accede to his request. Priests with private incomes can better subsist in poor missions than those who depend on the charity of their flocks; and we find at present that many, who have property of their own, are appointed, notwithstanding the honourable and creditable prefixes to their names, to missions which are not able to support a priest from their internal resources. These two reasons put together will account for the placing of the Hon. and Rev. George Spencer in the mission of West Bromwich.

St. Thomas defines zeal, "an intense love by which one is moved against and repels whatever is detrimental to the good of his friend, and does his best to prevent whatever is against the honour or the will of God." Alphonsus Rodrigues says: "It is the love of God on fire, and a vehement desire that He should be loved, honoured, and adored by all; and so intense is it, that he who burns therewith tries to communicate its heat to every one." This effect of zeal is the special gleam by which the shining of great saints can be distinguished from ordinary servants of God. They are filled with the love of God, they overflow with it, and dash off floods that sweep down vice and sin by their impetuosity. When obstacles occur to show that the time is not opportune, or that the sluices should not yet be drawn, the saints are far from languishing into ordinary ways. No; the springs are open afresh, their hearts are filling the more {228} they are pent up, and seek avenues on every side and in every way in which they may possibly allow some heavenly water to escape. Such was the zeal of St. Chrysostom, who would be blind if his audience could but see. Such was the love of St. Francis Xavier, who went through unknown and almost inaccessible regions to convert the heathen. Such was the love of St. Teresa, who sighed that she was not a man, because her sex and state forbade her to be an apostle. Such was the Psalmist, when he said, "The zeal of Thy house has eaten me up."

The difference between heavenly zeal and fanaticism is, that one is willing to be directed, the other breaks the bonds of authority. One acts sweetly and consistently, the other intemperately and rashly. One distrusts self, the other begins and ends with self.

Father Spencer was full of zeal. It was, in fact, his zeal that brought him into the Church. Now that he found himself commissioned to propagate God's kingdom, his zeal arose to that of the saints, and began to burst forth and devise means by which that kingdom could be speedily and perfectly spread. He devised plans for the sanctification of the clergy by introducing a kind of religious life amongst them; he formed plans for the perfection of the laity, after an old but abandoned model, which will be described; he had conceived plans of founding a religious institute, of which a devout soul he knew was to be first rev. mother; he had plans of preaching, away at some place or places which he does not tell us about; he had plans for finding out the secret by which the Jesuits became such successful missionaries; he had plans of going to Cambridge for an installation, and bearding the lion of heresy and error in his very den;--and all these he proposed from time to time to his director and diocesan superior, but all met the one fate of being drowned by the cold water thrown upon them. He complains a little, in a letter he wrote at this time, of "the slowness of Catholic prelates with regard to schemes;" but after being told to lay them aside, he resigns himself with perfect submission. He finds out, in a short time, that the Catholic prelates were right, and he drops his wings completely, by saying: "I am resolved to give up forming plans {229} for the future, and I shall try to gain more love of God and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. This again He must give me, and Mary must gain it for me; or rather, I must charge her to persevere in making this request for me, whether I forget it occasionally or not." Besides the crossing of his plans, he has another cross to endure; he loves to visit Hagley, where Lady Lyttelton, his sister, generally lived, and he is received only on condition that he will not speak of religion. This he feels hard, as he loved this sister very much, and thought he could not show a greater proof of his affection than that of communicating to her, if possible, what he prized more than his life--his faith.

One plan he forms, however, which does not meet with the disapproval of his superiors, and that was, to go to London and beg among his aristocratic friends for funds for a new church he intended building at Dudley. He seems to have succeeded pretty well, as there is a nice gothic church there at present, which was built by him. We have only one peculiar incident of his first begging tour.

He took it into his head to go and ask a subscription of the Duchess of Kent, mother to our Queen. He was received kindly by the Duchess, and the Princess Victoria was allowed to be present at the conversation. Father Spencer spoke for some time about the lamentable state of England, on account of its religious divisions; he gave a short account of his own conversion, and wound up by putting forward the claims of the Catholic Church to the obedience of all Christians, as there ought to be but one fold under one shepherd. It may be said that he formed a very favourable opinion of the Princess from this meeting; he said once, when relating the story: "I considered the Princess very sensible and thoughtful. She listened with great attention to everything I said, and maintained a respectful silence, because she sat beside her mother. I had great hopes of her then, and so far they have not been disappointed. I hope ye will all pray for her, and we may one day have the pleasure of seeing her a Catholic." This he said in 1863, and then he was firmly convinced that the Duchess herself had died a Catholic.

He returned soon to his mission in West Bromwich, and {230} writes, in a letter to Mr. Phillipps: "I had a project in my head when I returned, more extensive than any that filled it of late. That is, going to Dublin to see if there I might find some unknown mine out of which I could draw what I want for Dudley. This soon grew into the thought of a tour round Ireland, and the subject of collecting alms for Dudley soon began to look trivial and secondary. I could hardly contain myself at the thoughts of preaching all over Ireland the conversion of England, and exhorting them all to forget their earthly miseries in the view of our spiritual ones, and to begin to retaliate the evils they have endured in the way of the true Christian, not by violent opposition, but by rendering good a thousandfold, or rather beyond reckoning." This scheme was put off for some time, by the advice of the Rev. Mr. Martyn, who seems to have been his director.

In the beginning of August, 1835, Father Spencer got a severe attack of illness: it proceeded principally from over-exertion. He began to spit blood, and as soon as his friends heard of it, his sister, Lady Lyttelton, and his brother-in-law, Lord George Quin, came for him and took him to Hagley, where he might be carefully nursed until he should recover. They set him down to say mass in Stourbridge, and allowed him all the spiritual aid he wished for, even going so far as to invite a priest to come and stay with him, and make Hagley his home for the time. This was in keeping with their usual kindness, and Father Spencer never forgot it; nay, he would treasure up the least act of kindness done him by any one, much more so when received from those who differed from him in religious matters. He writes now, apparently under the shadow of death: one thing looks strange to him when he thinks of dying, that he cannot see why God gives him such a strong desire for an apostolic life if it be not sometime carried into effect. "It may be that He will give me the merit of the desires without their accomplishment, but this seems less probable. His will be done. I only mention this to prevent your being discouraged on my account. What is an illness in His sight? It is easier to restore me my vigour than at first to give it to me. Let us only wait prepared for quick {231} obedience to His call, whether for this world or the next." In another letter, written about the same time, he says: "What I am further to do must be decided by my present _bodily_ director, Dr. Johnstone, to whom for my correction and humiliation the Bishop has committed me."

It seems most likely that he wrote the autobiography during this illness; it has the marks and tokens of his then state of mind upon the first part of it at least.

After his recovery there is talk of his being made a bishop, and some of his friends are doing their best, by writing and so forth, to help his promotion to the mitre. No better idea can be given of the way he felt with regard to this matter, than by introducing a letter he wrote at the time to one of his friends:

"I know you are as eager about everything that concerns me as about your own matters; and that you are now boiling to come and be busy about this most interesting affair. Yet it will prove better to go on quietly. To be sure I should exult if it please God of His own will to enlarge my powers and faculties of advancing His kingdom, trusting to Him to furnish me with graces sufficient; but the call must be clear, and His will manifest, or, I thank God, I have made up my mind to answer, I stir not. And how can I know this but by the rule of obedience? Many reasons strike me _pro_ and _con_. immediately; but these I had better not meditate upon. I shall leave it to Dr. Walsh to decide whether I accept or do not. I cannot be right any other way. If he chooses to hear me plead the cause for myself, stating what I think are the motives _pro_ and _con_., I will do it when he likes; if not, it is certainly better not to go against him. I was at Prior Park three years ago, when Dr. Baines knows that I refused the offer of an Irish clergyman to propose me for an Irish bishopric, on Dr. Walsh's judgment, and he approved of that decision. No doubt he will of this."

We hear nothing further of this, so it is likely Dr. Walsh judged it proper for him to refuse the contemplated honour.

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