Excerpt from Life and Letters of Ambrose Phillipps De Lisle, Vol. 2 of 2<br><br>To Cardinal Wiseman the proposal to establish a Catholic College in Oxford was the very fulfilment of the desire of his heart. It enkindled his imagination and was akin in character to the desire he once expressed that, if not he himself, his successor at all events might celebrate High Mass in Westminster Abbey. The throwing open of its Colleges to Catholics was to him a joy of heart as showing that Oxford had emancipated itself from the bigotry of ancient Protestantism. The Catholic Revival in Oxford meant, as he truly foresaw, a revival to-morrow throughout the land. To him it was an even greater joy, a crown as it were to all his labours, to believe that Catholics would now be able to study once more in the noble Colleges raised by their Catholic forefathers. None knew better than Cardinal Wiseman the practical advantages, apart from all sentimental or ideal considerations, of University education. He was too much in touch with the laity not to feel the deepest sympathy with their desire to share the like intellectual advantages enjoyed by their fellow-countrymen. He had no mistrust of the laity; no apprehension that a Catholic College in Oxford would lead Catholics into heresy or corrupt their morals. On the contrary, with a larger knowledge of life and its dangers or temptations than was possessed by the opponents of Catholic education in the Universities, he believed in the moral force of self-restraint and self-reliance stimulated in the young men in a Catholic College by the confidence reposed in them, and by the consciousness that they represented in the face of the University of which they were members, Catholic principles in faith and action.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.