Letters of Benjamin Jowett... Master of Balliol College, Oxford;
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II! LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE LETTERS BENJAMIN JOWETT, M.A. jcforfc HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY LETTERS OF BENJAMIN JOWETT, M.A. Ml MASTER OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD ARRANGED AND EDITED BY EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., LL.D. AND LEWIS CAMPBELL, M.A., LL.D. WITH PORTRAIT LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1899 L P 3 t 4 - J&? xj f v I '/7 PREFACE THE present volume is merely a supplement to the Life and Letters of Jowett, published two years ago. It contains a number of letters, partly on special subjects, and partly of more general interest, which could not be included in the previous volumes, and yet seemed to be worth preserving; and also some documents of a more public nature, which throw light on important features of Jowett's career. The letters have been divided into sections, according to the subjects treated in them, an arrangement which has the advantage of bringing together what Jowett thought or suggested about Church Reform, Education, &c., but the disadvantage of separating the letters addressed to one person. This separation is to be regretted, for nothing was more characteristic of Jowett than his devotion to his friends. If all the letters to Morier, for instance, were collected together, they would form the record of a watchful, unwearying friendship, outspoken yet sympathetic, to which it would be difficult to find a parallel. Such an arrangement was, however, incom- patible with the plan of the work, and could not be introduced into this volume. The concluding section contains a few passages gleaned from Jowett's note-books, and some sayings which live in the memory of his friends. EVELYN ABBOTT. CONTENTS PAGB I. CHURCH REFORM AND THE ABOLITION OF RELIGIOUS TESTS i II. EDUCATIONAL 43 III. EUROPEAN POLITICS 53 IV. LETTERS ON INDIA 119 V. MISCELLANEOUS 159 VI. NOTES AND SAYINGS 240 INDEX .... ... 253 LETTERS OF BENJAMIN JOWETT I CHURCH REFORM AND THE ABOLITION OF RELIGIOUS TESTS As Convocation was still in abeyance, synodical action on the part of the Bishops of the Church of England was at this time only occasional. The Episcopal Conference referred to in the following letter may have been a con- sequence of the alarm to which the secession of J. H. Newman and other recent events had given rise. 1 TO A. P. STANLEY . [f November], 1846. What fun it would be to be up the chimney at that Synod of Bishops ! . The conference lasts three hours : at the end 1 In a letter quoted in the Life tary education, began to make ofBishop Wilberforce, vol. i. p. 380, themselves felt. National edu- the Bishop says: 'I hope to go cation was part of the programme down to Fulharn to-day, to meet of Lord John Russell's Govern- the Bishops of Winchester and ment. It was well known that ' Sarum on Lay Reading,' &c., &c., the Government were considering &c. The following letter may some comprehensive plan, and refer to this or to some similar con- the air was full of projects. The ference of which Stanley knew. attention, too, of Churchmen had ' It was during the Parliamentary been peculiarly excited by a recess of the autumn of 1846 that pamphlet by Dr. Hook, the Vicar the first stirring of controversies of Leeds. Meantime the respecting the details of the Bishops were being consulted mutual action of Church and by the Government.' Ibid., p. State, in the matter of elemen- 379. 2 Letters of Benjamin Jowett of it, they all by the most different routes arrive at one con- clusion, that the great thing they want is Money. Excuse all this nonsense. Is not the conclusion the only one a wise man can come to ? Can there be any real Church Eeform, such as giving up Subscription, or Arnold's Pamphlet, without a second Keformation? Has there ever ' been any organic change made in it, like an old Shop estab- ' lished ever since 1572 ? What I want to see is the Universities made somewhat more dependent on the State, so as to become a real link between Church and State, instead of representing the worst half of the Clergy. Catch them young: you may undermine their fierce Toiy and High Church principles at College. National Education will grow up without the Church : in the next generation men will find the limit imaginary and jump over it, and the Church become a truly National Estab- lishment ne sis mild patntus wanting no money nor any- thing else. To B. C. BEODIE. Under the existing regulations no one could proceed to the degree of M.A. without signing anew the Thirty- nine Articles of Religion. Brodie's scientific studies had suggested doubts which made it impossible for him to do so conscientiously. But with a view to an Examinership in Physical Science, under the new Examination Statute, or to such a Professorship as lie afterwards held, the degree was indispensable; and it occurred to him that by having recourse to the obsolete ' : method of graduating by incorporation he might avoid the odious requirement. But for this purpose certain consents were necessary, and lie had written to liis friend Jowett for assistance and advice. BALLIOL, Feb. 16, [1851]. is The Master absent and will be away for the next fortnight : when he returns, if you still wish it. I will bring your case before him. I ought to say that, after looking into the matter, I doubt not exactly the legality, but the expediency of pressing /. Church Reform 3 1 if your claim . I should be indeed glad you could ever be induced to come to Oxford as a Physical Professor, and glad too that you and others should be relieved from signing the 39 Articles. But, in the first place, it is impossible to try your right without the reason of it becoming apparent. The Master will of course ask why you take this circuitous mode of obtaining an M.A. degree instead of the common one. And I think you will rouse the odium theoloyicum without any grounds to justify you in the eyes of the public. Secondly, I cannot see any reason to suppose that this process of in- corporation was intended, in the case of members of the University, to relieve men from any of the forms gone through at the time of taking the degree, but only from the residence and exercises at that time required for a superior degree. The reason why the statute has become a dead letter may probably be that there is no object in any one's availing himself of such a privilege. Thirdly, the statute can only be applied with the consent of the V.-C. and Proctors, which, considering its obsolete character and the object sought to be obtained, they would certainly withhold, and rightly in the opinion of the public. Fourthly, it seems to me that you would be placed in an awkward position from having signed the Articles once and now declining to sign them and yet seeking an Academical position which in part results from that first signature. In throwing the onus on them I fear you would only injure yourself : much as I wish that you should come here and dislike subscriptions of this sort, I could not think the V.-C. wrong for interposing his veto. This is the chief reason I have for not wishing you to proceed further in the matter. Even if the right is clearer than I see it to be I think you will put yourself in a false position by claiming it, after having once signed. I consider it chiefly in reference to the probability of your some day coming here. I do not understand this to be your object in the claim it to be I think it will pressing ; but, supposing so, make a material difference in your comfort in coming here, whether or no the Master, the Hebdomadal Board. &c., already 1 For obtaining the M.A. degree See Life, vol. i. p. 231, where part without subscribing the Articles. of this letter is quoted. B 2 4 Letters of Benjamin Jowett regarded you with suspicion. I think it is quite possible they might be induced in consequence to exert themselves to prevent your appointment, and, on the other hand, it is not impossible that in the course of the next few years some relaxation of the Tests may take place for non-Theological Professors. However this may be, I fear your attempt might not succeed and only do harm to yourself without establishing any principle. Excuse my writing (in haste) in this abrupt manner. I will gladly take trouble about this or any other matter for you. To B. C. BEODIE. BALLIOL, March 12, [? 1851]. I should have answered your letter sooner, but for a great press of work which I have had during the last fortnight. Stanley is of opinion, and I agree in thinking, that it would be better for you to try your right when the Examinership is offered and not now. Suppose you try the right at present it is not possible to conceal the reason, viz. that you decline to ' sign the Articles. The V.-C. then says, This is an evasion of subscription which it is my duty to prevent.' But supposing he, in the dearth of men of science in Oxford, goes out of his way to offer you the Examinership. You then state openly the difficulty, and propose your remedy. I think it is possible that he would think twice (in the present day) before he prevented you from coming in at the Back Door, as otherwise he would display the University in the ludicrous ' ' position of looking in vain for an Orthodox chemist, and finally giving up the Chemistry for the Orthodoxy.