New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-11
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
"REMINISCENCES OF OXFORD.

Niif!lin Co
The Rev. Thomas Motley is brother-in-law OF
Cardinal Newman. lie was pupil OF Newman NJ
,,x,ord. and was concerned in the religious move
ment Of which Ouel College was the cen're ne"is
fifty wears ago. For somo time he was Editor OF
1Le British Critic. the quarterly organ Oh 'e ''"0
tarian school and when he resigned tie charge Vi
that review. on his return from visit to France
he had nearly made up his mind to become hou''n
Catholic This was some years before newman
went over to Rome; and when Mr. Money u'io'i'N
his ex-tutor OF his hesitating inelnatohs' Ne"m"
advised him to wait until he knew us mno O.'' 80,
The result was that lie never madc the 'hie"
STEP He settled down quietly as cIers' ""u -
the Established Church. a believe, he "rioo',
81 was seeking rest l was distracted anu "o"i,oo
with discussions above my measure, my ia0u'''o'
and my attachments" lie decided tnas no va,
20 90 to Rome there must come to him "a can
,.,,,on IN circumstances" and ineligible alike to
hnsalt and his friends lie has heard no such call,
and he concludes in his old age " that FORMS woros
and customs cannot have the terrible significance
which controyersialists arc apt 10 give them IN
deed. IL is clear that Mr.. Motley was never very
earnest theological lie describes himself as ono Oh
the active Young disciples of Newman who secured
the country with their pockets full OF inc ireshy
,r;n,od q Tracts for the Times" undertaking the
task of distribution which could not be very en-
GENTLY performed by the usual agencies OF inc
booksellers; but he says, - was never realy
serious in a sober. busness-like fashion hau
neither the mower nor the will to enter into any
great argument with the resolution to accept inc
legitimate conclusion. Even when / was sacrinc-
ing my DAYS. my strength my means my prospects,
nv peace and quiet all had. to the cause, IL was
an earthly contest not spiritual one 1t occupied
me. it excited me- il gratifed my vanity II sooted
ms self-compladcncy, il identified me Win "na'
honestly believed to he a very grand crusade !.
offered me the hopes of contributing to great
achievements But good as the cause might De-
and considerable as my part might be In IL, was
never the better man for it, and. not being the
better. never was the wiser In TACT IL was W
me all or most of it, an outside aiiar
This being Mr. Mozley's position with respect to
thc Oxford movement, the reader need not expect
from his book any new light upon the history and
nbilosoohv OF that religious phenomenon. HIS IN
forest in il seems have died away, and we suspect
that his recollection of its phases is not very us
tinct But if he is not qualified to write the history
of Tractarianism. he is an apt person 10 gossip
about the leaders of the school, lie mas losV 'hc
enthusiasm of the disciple; but he retains cordla
regard for those old associates who nave patted
from him whatever direction their steps may have
taken His sketches OF Newmans lie NJ OAio'u
are slight and fragmentary, but always pleasant
his aaectionate and brotherly interest in his
nunls His best work for them was done in private
talks and in revising essays he had set them 10
write He asked more earnest work of them than
other tutors, but most of them became warmly
attached to him. He was always san1g uine; he
found merit where nobody else could discover it !;
and college wiseacres often commented upon the
labor he wasieaFGn barren ground. His appearance
at. mat time was not striking He was thin and
IL with large lustrous eyes he had slight bend
forward; he walked il driven by serious Dusi-
ness and he talked great deal while Walking
The long tailed coat, not always very new' WHICH
he woe at all times, became almost the badge oil
liz followers But he never studied his dress. He
xvas indifferent TO that, he was to matters OF
church yestment and ritual. He had no part IN the
archaeological revival; service i'll his own church
ra. nerformed with Puritanic simplicity. and up to
the very last lie used TO hand around communion In
the pews.
Incidentally Mr. Motley gives curious de-
tails of the state of religion at Oxford and III the
country which have a bearing upon the history OF
the Tractarian movement When Newman ana a
few Others organized meetings for the study OIL
Scripture in 1929 there was no provision either
for students or for teachers in divinity at Oxford.
university that could make Doctors OF DIVINITY
as easily as Birmn CHAM can make brass tokens
nod M occasion for teachers OF examiners" For
tbe degrees in theology, there no more ex-
animation than there is for bogus degree at
PHILADELPHIA In fact they were bogus degrees
and nothing more"
There was then hardly such a thing as Biblical
scholarship in the university or course II could nave
No Mace i'm the much crowded. much clIculnscrlOe'l
,raparation for the schools Our Oriel tutors gave
Exceptional attention to Our New-Iestament Zee
tnres lint these consisted almost entirely IN ouI
construinS the original and having occasionally t.
be corrected some point OF mere schoIarsnp.
remember being told, as an incident OF that very
morning that he very learned tutor OF neighlor
ing college had not opened his mouth once durln
the whole "lecture," except to observe on the
words Draw ont now. i'll the miracle oil cana
"Whence we may infer that the jews uSeo
'spigots.'"
When Dr. Hampden was appointed by the Grown
Reeius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. his Bamp
ton Lectures delivered four years earlier. were
ychemently condemned by the university and he
was deprived of such functions of his proiessorshiI
IA the university could control. But Mr.. Motley
declares that the mass of those who inflicted this
penalty were ignorant of the book, II not incapable
of understanding it, Bishop Wilberforce afterwarC
made the Lectures a reason for demonstrating
against Hampden's nomination to the see OF Here
ford The controversy obliged him subsequently, Il
read the Lectures seriously, which he had neye
done BEFORE and the end was an apology TO Hamp
den on the plea of Ignorance.
Tbirty-four years after the delivery of the lee
fnIes. Hampden, TO his great surprise, anu sone
what qualified pleasure received a letter from Mr.
Gladstone written i'll the very abyss of penitenc
aud self humiliation. He had done his best for
whole generation to understand the lectures, with
out the slightest success AS it utterly past hi
mower TO understand them, he had been clearl,
wrong to condemn them on the information o
others.
The greatest name in patristc theology at Oxtor
was Routh the president of Magdalene. Unfortu
nately he was quite as celebrated for the laxity
his government the extent of his scholarship:
In his excessive care of himself and his almos
morbid craving for longevity-the longevity o
Tithonus-he made a rule of caring for othe