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Fallible infallibility? Gladstone's anti-Vatican pamphlets in the light of Mill's On Liberty

Scarre, Geoffrey

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Authors

Geoffrey Scarre



Abstract

When W. E. Gladstone published in November 1874 his spirited pamphlet The Vatican Decrees in their Bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation, he seems to have taken many people by surprise. In its issue of the 21st of that month, Punch printed a cartoon, “An Unexpected Cut” (Figure 1) which portrayed the “Hawarden woodcutter” laying an axe to the stout trunk of a tree labelled “Papal Infallibility,” under the bemused gaze of Mr Punch. To the latter's remark “We didn't expect to find you cutting at that tree, you know,” the ex-Prime Minister dourly retorts: “All right, Mr Punch! I choose my own Trees, and my own Time!” In Gladstone's view, the time was ripe to take a stand against the recent pretensions of the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of its aging pontiff Pius IX, to exercise an absolute and unchallengeable authority over the consciences and actions of Catholics.

Citation

Scarre, G. (2016). Fallible infallibility? Gladstone's anti-Vatican pamphlets in the light of Mill's On Liberty. Victorian Literature and Culture, 44(02), 223-237. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1060150315000595

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 15, 2014
Online Publication Date May 10, 2016
Publication Date Jun 1, 2016
Deposit Date Nov 12, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Victorian Literature and Culture
Print ISSN 1060-1503
Electronic ISSN 1470-1553
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 44
Issue 02
Pages 223-237
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s1060150315000595

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Accepted Journal Article (223 Kb)
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 This paper has been published in a revised form, subsequent to editorial input by Cambridge University Press, in 'Victorian Literature and Culture' (44 (02) 2016 223-237), published by Cambridge University Press.




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