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NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY. 



He received most of his early education at a 

 private school in Ealing, kept by Dr. Nicholas, 

 which was famous in its day, and soon found 

 himself at the head of his class, with his broth- 

 er Francis not far below. His teachers said he 

 had extraordinary quickness of understanding, 

 learned what he wished, and wished to learn 

 everything literature, art. science. But he pre- 

 ferred to devote himself to music. When he 

 had not a book in his hand, he was pretty sure 

 to be engaged in practicing on the violin. He 

 composed an opera at the age of twelve, and the 

 name he was familiarly known by was ' the lit- 

 tle Mozart." He was at the same time gay and 

 sprightly, and was as ardent in his devotion to 

 the school games as to his intellectual labors. It 

 was the wish of his parents that he should be- 

 come a lawyer. But an event, apparently insig- 

 nificant, decided his career. Some theological 

 works fell into his hands, amongthem the writ- 

 ings of Thomas Scott, Law's ' Serious Call," and 

 Milner's " Church History." The impression 

 produced on him by these works had the force 

 of a revelation. He received from them, he re- 

 lates in the "Apologia," those '-impressions of 

 dogma" that were never afterward obscured. 

 He also read Newton on the prophecies, and be- 

 came convinced that the Pope was anti-Christ, a 

 conviction that hardly left him until a few years 

 before he became a Catholic. The change was 

 so complete that he scarcely remembered the fif- 

 teen years that preceded it. He heard a myste- 

 rious" voice drawing him toward the temple. He 

 felt also that to work out his destiny he mnst 

 lead a single life. Under the influence of these 

 impressions, he entered Trinity College, Oxford, 

 where he formed friendships that were to encour- 

 age him in his determination. He acquired, al- 

 most from the first moment, an influence over 

 his companions that came from the fascination 

 of his moral nature. The kind of religious de- 

 votion with which they listened to him is said to 

 have been due as much to the singularly melodi- 

 ous tones of his voice as to the commanding sin- 

 cerity of his words. He was graduated in 1820, 

 receiving, to the surprise of his fellow-students, 

 only a third-class. In 1823 he was elected a fel- 

 low of Oriel, the most distinguished college of 

 the university. 



Newman did not feel himself quite at home 

 during his first year of residence. The college 

 contained the most distinguished names in the 

 university Whately, Arnold, Keble, Pusey, 

 Hawkins, Hurrell Fronde, and others. An in- 

 stance of Newman's beautiful feeling of rever- 

 ence for all those whom he considered his supe- 

 riors is shown in his account of what occurred on 

 the day of his election, when he was sent into the 

 Tower to shake hands with the provost and fel- 

 lows. " I bore it till Keble took my hand, and 

 then felt so abashed and unworthy of the honor 

 done me that I seemed quite desirous of sinking 

 into the ground." 



In 1824 he was ordained priest, and was ap- 

 pointed curate of St. Clement's : in 1825 became 

 vice-principal at St. Alban's Hall, and shortly 

 afterward tutor at Oriel. Up to this time he was 

 considered as belonging to the evangelical school 

 of the English Church. Under the influence of 

 Richard Hurrell Froude, the friend to whom he 

 was most attached, and Keble, he gradually 



changed his religious views for others very dif- 

 ferent from those then held in the English 

 Church, and in 1827 he completely separated 

 from the evangelical party in the university. 

 He was appointed vicar of St. Mary's in 1828, 

 and then began by his sermons to lay the basis 

 of the religious system to which his friend Pusey 

 gave his name. As tutor he was exercising an 

 extraordinary influence over all the students who 

 came under his charge, and the progress of his 

 opinions among them began to alarm the college 

 authorities. When remonstrated with he said 

 simply: "I consider the college tutor to have a 

 care of souls," and rather than give way he re- 

 signed his tutorship in 1831. This resignation 

 is generally considered the beginning of the Ox- 

 ford Movement. 



In company with Hurrell Froude he visited 

 Rome in the following year, then traveled 

 through Sicily, and was attacked by fever at 

 Leonforte. lie was believed to be dying, but 

 kept constantly repeating, " I shall not die, I 

 have a work to do." He recovered and reached 

 PJngland in July, 1833. During this journey he 

 wrote " Lead, Kindly Light," a hymn which is 

 now a classic and has become popular with Prot- 

 estants of every denomination. 



On his return Newman found the state of the 

 English Church even more alarming than the 

 news that had reached him in Italy indicated. 

 The Reform act of 1830 had given a democratic 

 impulse to the nation, and the established religion 

 was the first to feel the pressure of the new con- 

 ditions created by it. Bishoprics in Ireland were 

 suppressed, and other symptoms of what he con- 

 sidered grave dangers in the near future were 

 not wanting. Keble delivered his celebrated ser- 

 mon on " National Apostasy," which gave tone 

 to the Oxford Movement, and the anniversary of 

 which Newman afterward observed as a religious 

 festival. According to the theory of the future 

 cardinal, Anglicanism had no foundation unless 

 it had valid credentials to show of its divine in- 

 stitution, and these he firmly believed it had. 

 But where were they to be found ? Clearly in 

 the teaching of the Universal Church. This rea- 

 soning rendered necessary an appeal to the fa- 

 thers and to the history of the Church. New- 

 man had recourse to the fathers, and, as a result 

 of his researches, he invented the " Via Media." 

 or, if it was not invented by him, his powerful 

 genius gave it a passing energy, and for some 

 time it was the point around which the battle 

 raged. This system was intended by him to be 

 a protest against the defects of Protestantism on 

 the one hand, and against the excesses of the 

 Roman Church on the other. To scatter his 

 views throughout the kingdom Newman had re- 

 course to means unknown previously in the his- 

 tory of the English Church. He began the famous 

 " Tracts for the Times," "out of his own head." 

 as he afterward declared, and wrote the first one 

 himself. They were little pamphlets or loose 

 sheets, and were read in every corner of England. 

 The effect produced by them might be compared 

 to that of the " Provincial Letters " in the age of 

 Louis XIV. Their success was like the explosion 

 of a mine, and the ecclesiastical authorities were 

 dismayed; but their representations and pro- 

 tests at first only encouraged the movement. 

 When Tract XC appeared the whole country was 



