Page 168 - DENG402_HISTORY_OF_ENGLISH_LITERATURE

Unit 21: The Victorian Age (Oxford Movement)

to, we can pick out as good literature only a handful of poems and Apologia, which is, in Hugh Notes
Walker’s words, “eminently and emphatically literature.” As for the rest of the works, they are
biblia abiblia.

Some Tractarians Considered-Keble

John Keble (1792-1866) was Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and an Anglican preacher. It was he, as
we have already said, who started the Oxford movement with his famous sermon of 1833. He
could boast of no intellectual calibre, though he was a saintly, simple, and humble figure. He, as
Compton-Rickett puts it, “gives us the emotional atmosphere of the movement.”

Notes John Keble literary merits are negligible, but some of his poetry is enjoyable for its
sincerity and emotion.

Newman

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was the spirit behind the Movement. Hurrell Froude called him
the “indicating number,” the rest of the Tractarians being just so many ciphers. His contribution to
literature is also the most considerable. His pellucid sincerity and simplicity, which are his
distinguishing marks as both man and as writer, are abundantly visible in his best work Apologia
pro Vita Sua (1864) which he wrote in self-defence in reply to Charles Kingsley’s charge of dishonesty
against both himself and his new Church. Newman was stung into action and immediately took
up the task of writing an apology to explain his conduct. As he puts it, he made his fingers “walk
twenty miles a day” so as to finish his work quickly. The Apologia is characterised by what Hugh
Walker calls a “palpitating humanity which vivifies every line.” In this work Newman has poured
his heart and soul out. “It has,” says W. H. Hutton, “the merits of a letter rather than of a book.” But
Newman is a finished artist. The greatest recommendation of his prose is its directness and
simplicity. This crystalline simplicity, however, is the outcome of a rigorous art and abundant
energy in check.
Newman’s other works, like the Essay of the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), The Idea
of a University Defined (1873), and religious novels Loss and Gain (1848) and Callista (1856), have
also the same qualities of style. Mention may also be made of Newman’s verse.

Did u know? John Henry Newman wrote well, but the only memorable poem written by
him is the famous prayer poem “Lead Kindly Light.”

Hurrell Froude

Richard Hurrell Froude (1803-1836) was a link between Keble and Newman. He was, doubtlessly,
a brilliant young man. He is now chiefly known for his posthumous Remains (1836). He wrote two
of the Tracts for the Times and some poems. He was, as he himself said, quite “hot-headed,” and he
offended quite a number of people.

Pusey
Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882) was a man of very wide learning. He gave his name to the
protagonists of the Oxford movement (who came to be commonly termed “Puseyites”) - But in
almost every respect he is inferior to Newman. As Compton-Rickett observes, “he is far less
attractive as a personality, more questionable in his methods and immeasurably inferior as a
literary craftsman.” Considered from the literary point of view, Pusey’s work is indeed hopeless.

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