The Sunday letter a sixteen-year-old refused to copy
Saint John Henry Newman took his younger brother's side in the quarrel, and then he blamed himself for the painful scene that followed.
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AI-generated image, in the manner of a pen-and-wash English book illustration of about 1900. No person appears in it.
THE NEWMAN FAMILY HOME, England, October 1, 1821 AD — In the autumn of 1821 AD, Saint John Henry Newman was twenty and home from Oxford for a short stay. His younger brother, Francis Newman, was sixteen. One Sunday after dinner, Francis refused to copy a letter. The question in the house was whether it is a sin to write a letter on a Sunday.
Their mother had brought both boys up in a strict Calvinist religion, and Francis kept its rules stubbornly.
Less than a year before, St. John Henry Newman’s final exams at Oxford had gone badly. Even people who didn’t know him had expected him to get the top marks, called first-class honours. By the time the exams came he was worn out from studying, and he broke down. He got no honours at all in mathematics, and in classics he did far worse than people had expected.
St. John Henry Newman wrote to his father on December 1, 1820 AD: “It is all over, and I have not succeeded.” In the same letter he wrote: “What I feel on my own account is indeed nothing at all, compared with the thought that I have disappointed you.”
Their father, John Newman, had troubles of his own. Some years before, he had been a partner in a London bank that failed. In the end the bank paid back everyone it owed in full. After that, their father took over a brewery at Alton, in Hampshire.
Called downstairs after dinner
On Sunday, September 30, St. John Henry Newman wrote in his journal: “After dinner to-day I was suddenly called downstairs to give an opinion whether I thought it a sin to write a letter on a Sunday. I found dear F. had refused to copy one.” “F.” was his brother Francis. St. John Henry Newman took Francis’s side, and their father decided that both his sons had disobeyed him.
The same journal entry goes on: “A scene ensued more painful than any I have experienced.” St. John Henry Newman blamed himself, and wrote: “I have been sadly deficient in meekness, long-suffering, patience, and filial obedience. With God’s assistance I will redeem my character.”
The next day, October 1, St. John Henry Newman wrote in his journal: “My Father was reconciled to us to day.”
In the same entry, St. John Henry Newman wrote that their father must have been completely sure he was right. The boys must have seemed to their father to be disobeying him, St. John Henry Newman wrote, and their opinions must have looked foolish. Their father was also worn down by everyday worries, St. John Henry Newman added. Their father forgave his sons anyway. St. John Henry Newman called that forgiveness “an example of very striking candour, forbearance and generosity.”
About this story
Catholic Saints News tells the lives of the saints as news from their own time and place. This story was written with AI from the historical record, and we read and approved it before it ran.
The Saints' words. This newspaper will never make a saint say something the historical record does not preserve.
Junior Report. Written for readers ten to twelve, from the same sources and under the same rules as the rest of the paper. The words are shorter, hard terms are explained, and the question at the end is for the reader to think over.
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Image. AI-generated image, in the manner of a pen-and-wash English book illustration of about 1900. No person appears in it. .
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Sources for this story
Listed by paragraph.
- Paragraph 1
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, LETTERS AND EXTRACTS CONNECTING CHAP-, p. 1820 ¶49
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, LETTERS AND EXTRACTS CONNECTING CHAP-, p. 1820 ¶46
- attested I. Giberne Sieveking, Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman, THE TWO BROTHERS--SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS ¶15
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- Paragraph 3
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, CHAPTER I, p. 1820 ¶138
- attested Wilfrid Ward, The Life of John Henry Cardinal Newman, Based on his Private Journals and Correspondence, Vol. I, I, p. 1912 ¶37
- attested Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Newman, John Henry (Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 40), ¶53
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, CHAPTER I, p. 1820 ¶151
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- documented Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) — biografia, VITA E OPERE ¶1
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, HIS CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL LIFE ¶52
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, HIS CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL LIFE ¶61
- attested William Barry, John Henry Newman, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 10, ¶12
- attested Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Newman, John Henry (Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 40), ¶52
- attested I. Giberne Sieveking, Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman, THE TWO BROTHERS--SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS ¶18
- Paragraph 6
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, LETTERS AND EXTRACTS CONNECTING CHAP-, p. 1820 ¶46
- attested I. Giberne Sieveking, Memoir and Letters of Francis W. Newman, THE TWO BROTHERS--SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS ¶15
- documented John Henry Newman; ed. Anne Mozley, Letters and Correspondence of John Henry Newman during his Life in the English Church, with a Brief Autobiography, Vol. I, LETTERS AND EXTRACTS CONNECTING CHAP-, p. 1820 ¶49
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