ABSTRACT
Joseph Berington’s book must be seen as a manifesto on behalf of a group of English Roman Catholic gentry in the Emancipation campaign, and as such must be used with great caution and tested against the facts of history. Gregorio Panzani was an Italian priest attached to the Oratory, sent to England on a purely exploratory mission. His task was to ascertain the situation in England, particularly with regard to the question of the possible appointment of a bishop. The views of Panzani and Berington may be very attractive; the trouble is that they do not square with the facts of history. However, as Maitland has said, ‘The essential matter of history is not what happened but what people thought or said about it.’.
