Although Newman is often considered a philosopher and theologian, a litterateur and historian, this article shows that his interest in the public affairs of his day and his political views, which were under-girded by his religious convictions, are found in his letters and diaries, in his essays, and even in his sermons.

This article, originally delivered at the Third Oxford International Newman Conference (Somerville College, 15 August 2004), looks at the long association between Newman and Gladstone and finds a combative mutual respect that survived not only Newman’s conversion but also Gladstone’s attack against Pope Pius IX and English Roman Catholics.

This article looks at Newman’s treatment of superstition in the early Church in his revised edition of An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine and compares it to the way the Whig historians treated superstition in their work, in order to show how the historian in Newman demonstrates how first-century and nineteenth- century perceptions of superstition reaffirm the continuity of the Roman Catholic Church.