OXFORD MOVEMENT 



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OXFORD UNIVERSITY 



fortunately for the world, its famous buildings 

 remained intact. Population in 1911, 53,000. 

 See OXFORD UNIVERSITY. 



OXFORD MOVEMENT, a revival in the 

 Church of England which began at Oxford in 

 1833. The immediate cause was the preaching 

 by John Keble of a powerful sermon on na- 

 tional apostasy. A few men joined Keble in 

 his attempt to reclaim the Church from the 

 state of spiritual apathy into which it had fallen 

 and to restore to public worship the symbolism 

 that was possessed by the Roman Catholic 

 Church in the Middle Ages. The originators 

 of the movement began the publication of a se- 

 ries of tracts called Traces oj the Times. These 

 tracts treated of the doctrine, polity and wor- 

 ship of the Church. Others joined the move- 

 ment and for a time it grew rapidly. Its most 

 eminent advocate was John Henry Newman, 

 who later became a cardinal in the Roman 

 Catholic Church (see NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY). 

 Because of the tracts the leaders of the move- 

 ment were termed Tractarians, and their doc- 

 trine was known as Tractarianism. With the 

 withdrawal of Newman in 1845 the original or- 

 ganization began to disintegrate, but the move- 

 ment was broadened and exerted a considerable 

 influence for a number of years. Its chief out- 

 come was the establishing of the High Church 

 branch of the Church of England. Other re- 

 sults were the quickening of the spiritual life 

 of the Church and raising the standard of wor- 

 ship. See CHURCH OF ENGLAND ; ROMAN CATHO- 

 LIC CHURCH. 



Consult Hall's Short History of the Oxford 

 Movement; Gladstone's Correspondence on Church 

 and Religion. 



OXFORD UNIVERSITY, the oldest uni- 

 versity of England. It is one in which Ameri- 

 cans are especially interested because of the 

 system of Rhodes Scholarships, by which a 

 limited number of students from each English- 

 speaking country in the world may gain admis- 

 sion to it and have their expenses paid at the 

 rate of 81,500 a year for three years (see 

 RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS). 



Oxford University is situated at Oxford, Eng- 

 land, about fifty miles northwest of London. 

 There are a number of traditions relating to 

 the origin of the institution, but no authentic 

 records of the existence of a school at this place 

 previous to 1167 have been found. During this 

 year foreign students were expelled from the 

 University of Paris, and many who returned to 

 England went to Oxford with their masters, 

 and continued their studies. 



This early school was a guild whose chief 

 purpose was to control teaching by restricting 

 the number who might engage in the world of 

 instruction. There is no record of the plan of 

 organization previous to 1214. It is probable 

 that the masters elected one of their number 

 as head officer and bestowed upon him the 

 title of chancellor, a title which the head of 

 the university still bears. The students organ- 

 ized themselves into groups, corresponding in 

 some respects to modern college fraternities. 

 These groups received licenses from the univer- 

 sity and their members lived in homes or inns 

 which were known as halls. Friction between 

 the authorities of the town and the university 

 led to frequent "town-and-gown" riots, and in 

 1209 a large number of students withdrew and 

 went to Cambridge. Finally the university ob- 

 tained a royal charter, freeing it from the con- 

 trol of the town authorities, and later it was 

 given control over the town itself. 



The colleges which now constitute the uni- 

 versity appeared about 1250. At first they were 

 simply endowed boarding houses for poor stu- 

 dents. From this beginning they gradually de- 

 veloped into institutions for instruction. One 

 college followed another, century after century, 

 until in 1917 there were twenty-two in all (be- 

 sides three private halls), combining to form 

 one of the most distinguished institutions of 

 higher education in the world. The head of a 

 college is known as warden, provost, principal, 

 president or master. Each college has its fel- 

 lows, its own students elected to fellowships 

 after graduation. They live at the college, shar- 

 ing in its management, studying and teaching. 

 There are also tutors, or teachers, in each col- 

 lege. Each student is under the direction of a 

 tutor, but in personal matters rather than 

 scholastic. The head of the school, the fel- 

 lows, and the tutors are all known as dons. A 

 few of the best-known colleges among the 

 twenty-seven are University, Balliol, Exeter, 

 Queen's, Magdalen, Corpus Christi, Christ 

 Church and Trinity. Women have been per- 

 mitted to attend lectures since 1884, but they 

 receive no degrees. 



At Oxford there are no recitations. During 

 the morning the professors give lectures which 

 the students attend. The afternoons are given 

 to athletics, and every undergraduate student 

 is expected to take part in the sports of cricket, 

 football, rowing, etc. A part of the university 

 course is "reading," which is done in the even- 

 ings and at odd times and in which there are 

 examinations. The many clubs, literary, debat- 



