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Durham E-Theses A man of extremes - w.g. ward as a member of the church of England Miners, Michael Southworth How to cite: Miners, Michael Southworth (1987) A man of extremes - w.g. ward as a member of the church of England, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6703/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ABSTRACT Michael Southworth Miners M.A. 1987 'A Man of Extremes - V.'.G.. Ward as a Member of The Church of England' The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of V/.G. Ward in the Oxford Movement, with specific reference to his series of Articles in the British Critic and his book 'The Ideal, of a Christian Church.' In the Introduction we examine Ward's family background, and his early education. We also consider the influence of Thomas Arnold, and Ward's 'conversion' to the new Movement through the influence of J.H. Newman. Chapter One deals with Tract Ninety and Ward's defence of it. Chapter Two contains Ward's explanation of his ideas to Pusey, and extracts from the correspondence of Newman and Pusey. In Chapter Three we examine in detail each of Ward's eight Articles in the British Critic. Chapter Four describes the embarrassment that Ward and his group had caused to other members of the Movement, and outlines specifically William Palmer's criticism. In Chapter Five we see Ward's reply in the form of his book 'The Ideal of a Christian Church,' which was largely a development of the ideas expressed in the British Critic Articles. In the final Chapter, we see reactions to Ward's book from different quarters, the disciplinary measures taken against him and his departure from the Church of England to the Church of Rome in I84.5. "A Man of Extremes - W.G. Ward as a Member of the Church of England." by Michael W.V. Southworth Miners, O.D.C. A Thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts in The Department of Theology, in the University of Durham. Oxford 1987. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 1 h SEP 1988 CONTENTS Page PREFACE IV INTRODUCTION (i) From Childhood to Fellow of Balliol College, 1812-1834. (ii) Intellectual Influences 183A-1838 5 (iii) The Oxford Movement iand the Emergence 10 of a Radical Group within it, 1838-184.1 Footnotes 17 CHAPTER I TRACT NINETY 22 (i) Intention and Content 22 (ii) Reactions to Tract Ninety 25 (iii) a) 'A Few Words in Support of Number 90 29 of the Tracts For The Times, partly with reference to Mr. Wilson's Letter.' 10 April 1841 b) 'A Few Words More in Support of 35 Number 90 of the Tracts For The Times.' 21 May 1841 Footnotes 44 CHAPTER II JULY - AUGUST 1841 50 (i) Ward's Letter to Pusey of 23 July 1841 50 (ii) Some Remarks from the Correspondence of 53 Newman to Pusey, July - October 1841 (iii) Events leading to the Publication of Ward' 54 First Article in the 'British Critic', October 1841 Footnotes 61 11 Page CHAPTER III WARD'S EIGHT ARTICLES IN THE 'BRITISH CRITIC 63 OCTOBER 18^1 - OCTOBER ^8A3 (i) Introduction 63 (ii) Article I 'Dr. Arnold's Sermons' - October 18^41 (iii) Article II 'Whately's Essays' - April 1842 70 (iv) Article III 'Heurtley's Four Sermons' - April 184,2 73 (v) Article IV 'Goode's Divine Rule' - July 1842 75 (vi) Article V 'St Athanasius' - October 1842 83 (vii) Article VI 'Church Authority' - January 1843 86 (viii) Article VII 'The Synagogue and - July 1843 The Church' (ix) Article VIII 'Mill's Logic' - October 1843 102 Footnotes 113 CHAPTER IV EVENTS LEADING TO THE APPEARANCE OF 126 'THE IDEAL OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH' JUNE 1844 130 Footnotes CHAPTER V 'THE IDEAL OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH' 132 (i) Preface and Chapter I 132 'Preliminary Remarks' (ii) Chapter II 136 'Of What Kind will Be the Ideal of a Church in Circumstances Like Oixrs?' (iii) Chapter III 140 'Is It Undutiful for the English Church to Aim at Such an Ideal?' Ill Page (iv) Chapter IV 142 'Does Our existing System Resemble that of the Early Centuries?' (v) Chapter V 143 'The Lutheran Doctrine of Justification.' (vi) Chapter VI 147 'On Our Existing Practical Corruption.' (vii) Chapter VII 150 'Additional Suggestions in the Way of Remedy' (viii) Chapter VIII 154 'A Few Words on our Authoritative Formularies' (ix) Chapter IX 155 'The Supremacy of Conscience in the Pursuit of Moral and Religious Truth.' Footnotes 164 CHAPTER VI CONDEMNATION AND SECESSION 170 (i) Reactions from Different Quarters 170 (ii) Disciplinary Measures 176 (iii) January and February 1845 180 (iv) Ward's Degradation 185 (v) The Written Response to Ward 190 (vi) Ward 'Crosses The Rubicon' 194 Footnotes 197 Conclusion 203 Footnotes 207 Bibliography 208 IV PREFACE I wish to express my gratitude to a number of people who have made it possible for me to undertake and finish this thesis. Firstly, ray thanks to the Department of Theology in the University of Durham for having accepted me as a post-graduate student. I am especially grateful to my Supervisor Dr. Sheridan Gilley for his advice, help, and good humour throughout my period of. study. This thesis was begun five years ago while I was a student at Ushaw College. I should like to thank the following for their help at different stages with the typing of the script: Teresa hhilhall of Ushaw College; very speciail thanks to l-iarie Lay at St. Joseph's Priory, Gerrards Cross; Mary Aldworth and Ann Holden at Oxford. I am most grateful to Dawn V^illiams for her careful reading of the text. Finally, I wish to thank my Carmelite Brothers for their prayerful support and encouragement at all times. I should like to dedicate this thesis to Mary, Queen of Carrael, and also to my own mother. Michadl Southworth Mners, O.D.C. Solemnity of St. John of The Cross 1987. Third anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood INTRODUCTION SECTION 1; From Childhood to Fellow of Balliol College. 1812-1834 'Browne, you and I shall never agree, for you will always be a moderate man, which I can never be.'"' This bold statement by an undergraduate offers a penetrating insight into one of the leading figures of the second phase of the Oxford Movement. William George Ward, son of William Ward the Tory Member of Parliament for the City of London, was born in London on 21st March 1812. The Ward family had settled in the Isle of Wight in the eighteenth century, and the squire of the family home, Northwood Park, owned considerable property not only on the island, but also in Hampshire. It has been suggested that Ward's volatile temperament owed something to his inheritance of Spanish blood through the marriage of John Ward to a Spanish lady in 1749. W.G. Ward's mother, Emily Combe, was the daughter of Harvey Combe, also Member of Parliament for the City of London at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was a family background which he shared with two of the leaders of the Catholic Revival, Cardinals Newman and Manning. Wilfrid Ward recorded the following characteristics of his father as a child: His tastes were... very marked and his likes and dislikes very intense. He had a passion for music and the drama, and for mathematics...those who remember seeing him early in general society describe him as a clumsy-looking boy, often sitting apart from the rest of the company, biting his nails, seldom opening his mouth, and looking generally 'bored to death'. Once when staying with his relations at Cobham Park he was taken to a children's dance in the neighbourhood, much against his will, and on being asked by his hostess how he was enjoying himself, replied with the utmost bluntness: 'I expected to find it a bore, but now that I am here, I find it even worse than I had thought'.-^ To the end of his days he was to insist upon saying exactly what he thought; the child was father to the man. His schooling was conventional for the son of upper class parents - a private school, 'Eagle House' at Brookgreen, followed by six years at Winchester College as a Commoner (1823-1829). Among his contemporaries at Winchester were Roundell Palmer (later Lord Selbo'. rne), Edward Cardwell and Anthony Trollope. They were not particularly happy or distinguished years. An exception to this was Ward's success in winning the gold medal for Latin prose composition in 1829, against considerable opposition. Lord Selbo^s^rne wrote about Ward at Winchester in words applicable to the later man: There were seemingly contradictory elements in his character which made him always good company.