Newman Studies Journal

Abstract:

I recently revisited John Henry Newman's famous sermon The Second Spring, wondering whether I would find it as moving as it was when I first read it decades ago. I did—but then began to wonder just why it was still so moving. What accounts for the extraordinary effect that this mid-nineteenth century oration has had for so many people, including of course the hardy English clergy who wept openly as Newman spoke to them about the restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy? In what follows I try to answer this question, first by identifying Newman's basic message and then by analyzing the rhetoric that brings his message to life.