It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.

At school in Ealing
At the age of seven Newman was sent to Great Ealing School conducted by George Nicholas. Subsequently in a letter nominally addressed to the Duke of Norfolk when Gladstone accused the Roman Church of having "equally repudiated modern thought and ancient history" Newman affirmed that he had always believed in the doctrine and had only feared the deterrent effect of its definition on conversions on account of acknowledged historical difficulties. He said that extreme conditions which could remove bone would also have removed the coffin handles which were found.

In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church where he was eventually granted the rank of cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland which evolved into University College Dublin today the largest university in Ireland.