Records Volume 77: The Letters of Dr John Lingard to Mrs Thomas Lomax (1835-1851)

APPENDIX: LETTERS FROM LINGARD TO REV. FRANCIS TRAPPES (1841 ) The two surviving letters deserve reproduction because of the frequent mention in the letters to Mrs Lomax of Trappes and his affairs .

Written 12 July 1841, cf. reference to Trappes letter in the last Tablet , ' ' ' [which was that of 10 July ]

My Dear Mr Trappes, Let me thank you for your last letter, and for the trouble which you have taken in copying for me the correspondence between you and Dr Brown . Your object , I conceive, to have been to put me in possession of the exact state of the question between you and him. have read it with attention, and am still of the opinion which I ventured to express in my former letter, that with a little

I

condescension on each side, the matter might be adjusted amicably to the satisfaction of both parties. But when say this, remember that I am totally ignorant whether there exist any disposition either on your part or on his to make the least concession. have not heard a single syllable from him on the I subject of your dispute, since I saw him for a few minutes, as I passed through Lancaster on the 7th of May . My opinion in this respect is confirmed by your letter in the last Tablet (1) , because it is plain to me, that though he mention only in general terms propositions condemned by the Roman see, he must mean propositions condemned in the bull Auctorem fidei, to which you declare your adhesion. Allow me to set you right in one thing. conceive from your postscript that in your opinion the result of the trial at Liverpool (2) had some connection with Dr Brown's letter to you. am convinced that it had not: because two days after he received the pamphlet , he informed me of its contents, and added that he considered it his duty to require from you some condemnation of them, but should do nothing till he went to Liverpool where he should at the trial have the opportunity of seeing and consulting others respecting the manner of doing it. Believe me, My Dear Sir, Most truly yours J. Lingard. Monday.

I

217

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Records Volume 77: The Letters of Dr John Lingard to Mrs Thomas Lomax (1835-1851)

Published on Jan 1, 2000

The Catholic Record Society

The following collection of letters from John Lingard (1) to Mary Frances Sanders (later Mrs Thomas Lomax) has remained in the possession of her descendants, the Trappes-Lomax family; it has not been used by any previous writer on Lingard. A fuller account of Miss Sanders follows; here it suffices to say that she became a Catholic in 1834, and was in consequence banished from her home and family; she took refuge with a Catholic lady in Lancashire, where she met Lingard. The correspondence (2) began in January 1835; Lingard was then aged 63 and a historian of international reputation; she was a young woman of 20. Despite the difference in ages, their acquaintance soon developed into a close and intimate friendship which continued until Lingard's death.