Oxford, the details of its execution would remain to be considered. On
these we do not venture to enter; but desire to record our readiness,
whenever the matter may proceed further, to aid, by personal exertions
or pecuniary contributions, in the promotion of a design which the
exigencies of the country so clearly seem to require.
“Sandon, Ashley, R. Grosvenor, W. Gladstone, T. D. Acland, Philip
Pusey, T. Sothron, Westminster, Carnarvon, T. Acland, Bart., W.
Bramston, Lincoln, Sidney Herbert, Canning, Mahon, W. B. Baring, J.
Nicholl (Judge Advocate), W. T. James, S. R. Glynne, J. E. Denison,
Wilson Patten, R. Vernon Smith, S. Wilberforce, R. Jelf, W. W. Hall,
W. Heathcote, Edward Berens, J. Wooley, Hon. Horace Powys, W. Herbert
(Dean of Manchester), G. Moberley, A. C. Tait.”[359]
In spite of this influential list of signatures no action was taken
by the Board, but the subject gave rise to many pamphlets, one of
which, by the Rev. C. Marriott, deserves a special notice. In it he
propounded a definite scheme for the foundation of a college either
in or out of Oxford, which should contain about one hundred students
living “a somewhat domestic kind of life,” which should be shared in
close intercourse by their tutors. Mr. Marriott received considerable
promises of help towards the endowment of such a college, but his
early death cut short the scheme.[360] The University Commission of
1854 tended to stimulate the desire to make University education
more national; but it was not until 1865 that any definite step was
taken. On Nov. 16 of that year a meeting of graduates was held at
Oriel College, “to consider the question of University Extension with
a view especially to the education of persons needing assistance and
desirous of admission into the Christian ministry.” The conveners of
this meeting were chiefly influenced by the belief that the education
of the national clergy was the unquestionable duty of the Universities,
but that it was to a large extent passing out of their hands. They
recognized, however, that this was far from the sole ground of
University Extension, and especially urged that the system of Local
Examinations required as its natural complement some further movement
which should enable the successful candidates to follow out their
studies at the University itself. At this meeting six sub-committees
were formed to consider various methods of such extension. The history
of Keble College is concerned only with the first of these, of which
Dr. Shirley, the Professor of Ecclesiastical History, was Chairman, the
other members being Professors Bernard, Burrows, Mansel, Pusey, and the
Revs. W. Burgon, R. Greswell, W. Ince, and J. Riddell.
The instructions given to them were to consider the suggestion of
extending the University “by founding a college or hall on a large
scale, with a view not exclusively but especially to the education of
persons needing assistance and desirous of admission into the Christian
ministry.” The substance of the report was to the effect that, without
interfering with either the moral and religious discipline or the
social advantages of an academical life, it would be possible very
considerably to reduce the average of expenditure. With this purpose
they suggest the building of a new Hall, by private subscription, large
enough to hold one hundred undergraduates; for the sake of economy
the rooms should be smaller than in most colleges, they should be
arranged along corridors instead of by staircases, and be furnished
by the College; breakfast as well as dinner should be taken in
common, caution-money and entrance fees abolished, and all necessary
expenditure included in one terminal payment. By this means it was
hoped that the University would be opened to a class of men who cannot
now enter, but without placing them apart from the classes who now
avail themselves of it. The Hall was not to be “such an eleemosynary
establishment as would be sought only by persons of inferior social
position, less cultivated manners, or of attainments and intellect
below the ordinary level of the University, but rather one which is
adapted to the natural tastes and habits of gentlemen wishing to live
economically.”[361]
In the following year (on March 16, 1866) the Rev. John Keble died,
and on the day of his funeral it seemed to his friends that the most
fitting memorial to him would be to build such a college as had been
contemplated by this committee. Mr. Keble had himself joined in the
movement which led to the appointment of the committee; he had seen and
approved the Report. This report was accordingly taken as the basis
of action. The details were, in the main, arranged upon its lines;
perhaps the chief difference was that from the first the preparation
of candidates for Holy Orders was less insisted upon, and more
emphasis was laid upon the duty of providing a suitable education for
all Churchmen, whatever their vocation might be. To quote the words
of the appeal which was issued, “The College was intended first to
be a heartfelt and national tribute of affection and admiration to
the memory of one of the most eminent and religious writers whom the
Church of England has ever produced, one whose holy example was perhaps
even a greater power for good than his _Christian Year_; secondly, to
meet the great need now so generally felt of some form of University
Extension, which may include a large portion of persons at present
debarred through want of means from its full benefits; while, thirdly,
it is hoped that it will prove, by God’s blessing, the loyal handmaid
of our mother Church, to train up men who, not in the ministry only
but in the manifold callings of the Christian life, shall be steadfast
in the faith.”[362] The aims of the promoters of Keble College were,
in a word, exactly the same as those of the munificent founders of the
earlier colleges, viz. to extend University education to those who
could not otherwise enjoy it, to extend it in the form of collegiate
life, and in loyalty to the English Church.
A public appeal for subscriptions was at once made, and these amounted
in a very short time to more than £50,000. The building of the College
was intrusted to Mr. Butterfield. On St. Mark’s Day (the anniversary
of Mr. Keble’s birthday), 1868, the first stone was laid by the
Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Longley); and rooms for one hundred
undergraduates and six tutors were ready for occupation in 1870, and at
Commemoration the first Warden, the Rev. E. S. Talbot, senior student
of Christ Church, was formally installed by the Chancellor of the
University. A council had already been elected by the subscribers: this
constitutes the Governing Body of the College, and perpetuates itself
by co-optation as vacancies arise. The Council elect the Warden, who
nominates the Tutors. On June 6th a Royal Charter of Incorporation was
granted. This, after reciting that the subscribers had joined together
to give public and permanent expression to their feeling of deep
gratitude for the long and devoted services of the Rev. John Keble to
the Church of Christ, and with that intent had resolved to establish a
college or institution in which young men now debarred from University
education might be trained in simple and religious habits, according
to the principles of the Church of England, created the Warden,
Council, and scholars into a corporate body with power to hold lands
not exceeding the value of five thousand pounds (A subsequent amendment
of the Mortmain Act, passed by Parliament in August 1888, extended to
Keble College the exemption of the Mortmain Act, by which persons are
enabled to bequeath property to it.) This Royal Charter carried with it
no academical privileges. It left the Council free to move the College
elsewhere, or even to wind up the Corporation; at the same time it
authorized them, if they saw fit, to obtain the incorporation of the
College within the University of Oxford.
This was not, however, the course actually adopted; the question of
formal incorporation was not free from difficulties, as in previous
cases such incorporation had been generally effected either by Royal
Charter or by an Act of Parliament, and so it has never been raised.
What actually happened was as follows. On June 16th, 1870, a decree was
passed by Convocation, authorizing the Vice-Chancellor to matriculate
students from Keble College pending further legislation. On March 9th,
1871, a new statute dealing with New Foundations for Academical Study
and Education was passed, and on April 8th Keble College was admitted
to the privileges granted by it. By this statute all its members have
in relation to the University the same privileges and obligations as
if they had been admitted to one of the previously existing Colleges
or Halls, and the Warden has with regard to the members of his society
the same obligations, rights, and powers as are assigned to the heads
of existing Colleges or Halls, though the statute does not impose
upon him any other obligations or confer any other right, privilege,
or distinction. Any other statutes in which Colleges are mentioned by
name, such as those respecting the University sermons or the election
of Proctors, would not apply to any such new foundations, unless
so amended as to include them expressly. The statute affecting the
Proctorial cycle was so amended in 1887, and Keble College was for that
purpose placed on a level with other colleges. The further question
whether the head of such a society possesses the rights possessed by
the heads of the earlier colleges has never been decided.[363]
Meanwhile the College had been opened successfully in Michaelmas Term
1870. At that time the north, east, and west blocks were completed,
with a temporary chapel and hall on the south. The rooms were arranged
in corridors, but subsequent experience has since partly modified
this arrangement. The quadrangle south of the gateway was commenced
in 1873, and finished on the eastern side in 1875, on the western in
1882. In 1873 W. Gibbs, Esq., of Tynterfield, laid the foundation of
the permanent Chapel, of which he was the sole and munificent donor.
This was formally opened on St. Mark’s Day, 1876, and on the same day
the foundation-stone of the Hall and Library was laid, these being the
scarcely less munificent gifts of his sons, Messrs. Antony and Martin
Gibbs. The architect of these buildings also was Mr. Butterfield. In
the Chapel, the general aim of the decoration is to set forth the
Christ as the sum and centre of all history, to whom all previous ages
pointed, from whom all subsequent ages have drawn their inspiration.
In the main body of the Chapel the mosaics represent typical scenes
from the lives of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, while the great
prophets and kings of the Old Testament are portrayed in the windows.
Around the Sanctuary the ornament is richer as it attempts to do honour
to the fact of the Incarnation--alabaster and marble take the place of
stone. On either side in the mosaics are seen the Annunciation, the
Birth, the Baptism, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection of the Lord; in
the windows the leading Apostles and Doctors of the Christian Church.
The Ascension is given in the east window; while in the quatre-foil
mosaic, the centre of the whole decoration, appears a vision of the
Lord Himself as described by St. John in the Apocalypse, seated in the
midst of the candlesticks, with the stars in His hand, and the sword
coming out of His mouth. Around the Living Lord are grouped saints of
all the Christian centuries and of every vocation in life. The western
mosaic closes the series with the Last Judgment.
In one respect the arrangement differs from that of all the other
College chapels--all the seats are ranged eastwards, not north and
south. This results from the change which has passed over college
life in Oxford. The earlier chapels were built for colleges in which
every one was in theory a life-member on the foundation, and had
his permanent seat as in a cathedral body; but a modern college
chapel, containing almost exclusively a large passing congregation of
undergraduates, presents conditions much more like that of an ordinary
church, and alike for purposes of worship and of preaching it seemed
better that the whole body should face eastward in the usual manner.
It should also be mentioned that the chapel has not been formally
consecrated, it being a question whether such consecration might not
limit the powers conferred upon the Council by the Charter.
The Hall and Library were formally opened in 1878, Mr. Gladstone being
among the speakers on the occasion. Since then the Hall has been
enriched with a beautiful oil painting of the Rev. J. Keble, painted
by G. Richmond after Mr. Keble’s death from a crayon drawing which he
had made in his lifetime; by portraits of Archbishop Longley, who laid
the foundation stone of the College; of Dr. Shirley, Chairman of the
Committee on whose report the College was based; of Earl Beauchamp, the
senior member of the Council, from the first one of the most strenuous
and munificent friends of the College; of the Rev. E. S. Talbot, the
first Warden (1870-1888); of W. Gibbs, Esq., the donor of the Chapel;
and of J. A. Shaw Stewart, Esq., the treasurer of the original Memorial
Fund and resident Bursar of the College (1876-1880). To these is to be
added soon a portrait of Dr. Liddon, member of the Council (1870-1890),
and of the Rev. Aubrey L. Moore, Tutor (1881-1890). In addition to
these, all of which are connected with the College history, Earl
Beauchamp has presented a portrait of Archbishop Laud.
In the Library the nucleus of the collection was formed by the gift
of the majority of Mr. Keble’s own books and many of his MSS.,
presented mainly by his brother, partly also by his nephew. Among
these are the original drafts of the _Lyra Innocentium_ and many of
the _Miscellaneous Poems_ (written on stray scraps of paper or on
backs of envelopes), of the _Eucharistical Adoration_, the sermons on
Baptism, and the translation of St. Irenæus; and, most interesting of
all, a fair copy made by himself of the greater part of the _Christian
Year_, written in an exquisitely clear and delicate hand in seven
small note-books. Other relics of Mr. Keble, including his study-table
and the candelabrum presented to him by his pupils on leaving Oxford,
are preserved in the common room. The Library has also received large
donations or legacies of books from Cardinal Newman, Archbishop Trench,
Lord Richard Cavendish, Miss Yonge, &c. Quite recently there has been
added to it Dr. Liddon’s library, rich especially in historical,
liturgical, and theological books, and containing also an excellent
collection of Dante literature. Mr. Holman Hunt’s picture, _The Light
of the World_, presented by Mrs. Combe of the University Press, at
present hangs in the Library, though it will probably be ultimately
transferred to the chapel.
Of the history of the internal working of the College there is little
to say. From the opening till the present its rooms have always been
full; and clear proof has thus been given of the reality of the demand
for University extension on such a plan. The annual charge to each
undergraduate is £82 a year, which includes tuition, board, and rent
of furnished rooms; groceries, wines, &c. have been supplied from the
College stores; and a special common room is open to undergraduates,
serving both for entertainment and as a reading-room. Two of those
who have worked as tutors in the College have already been raised to
the Episcopate--Dr. Mylne, the Senior Tutor in the first years of the
College, now Bishop of Bombay, and Dr. Jayne, now Bishop of Chester.
In academical distinction the College has quite held its own with
many of the older Colleges, and has specially gained distinction in
the Honour Schools of Theology, Modern History, and Natural Science.
Several private benefactions, notably those of Miss Wilbraham (1872),
Mrs. William Gibbs (1875), A. J. Balfour, Esq., M.P. (1875), Lady
Gomm (1878), Miss Chafyn Grove (1879), H. O. Wakeman, Esq. (1882),
and a subscription raised to found a “Caroline Talbot” Scholarship in
memory of the first Warden’s mother, have enabled the College to offer
several scholarships for open competition to members of the Church
of England, or to aid those who are already members of the College
to complete their career. There are also special prizes to encourage
the study of theology, such as the Wills and Phillpott’s prizes for
undergraduates, the Liddon prize, and the “Edward Talbot” studentship,
founded to commemorate the services of the first Warden, for graduates;
but these are all the endowments that the College has, and they are
not sufficient to enable it to compete on equal terms with the other
colleges in the offer of scholarships.
The College has also received many advowsons, and is likely to do
useful service to the Church of England as patron of livings.
FOOTNOTES
[1] From the old printed copy in Bodl. Bibl. MSS. Tanner 338, fol. 216.
[2] _Annals of University College_, p. 339.
[3] I have used Mr. William Smith’s rendering of these passages of
Matthew Paris.
[4] This, as Mr. William Smith says, to whose printed volume and MSS.
preserved in the College archives, my obligations are so profuse that
henceforth I will not mention them in detail, was the sum allowed to
the Merton scholars also, and would in an ordinary year purchase twelve
and a half quarters of the best wheat.
[5] This writ of King Richard is only entered on the back of the
ancient roll containing the French Petition, and is not upon Record.
(W. Smith’s _Annals_, p. 311.)
[6] Mr. Wm. Rogers of Gloucestershire, a member of the College. The
speech spoken by Mr. Edw. Hales upon ye setting up of it was printed by
Dr. Charlett. Mr. Hales was afterwards killed at ye Boyne in Ireland
most couragiously fighting for his master King James. (Hearne by Doble,
II. p. 143.)
[7] In the earlier part of this chapter I have been under constant
obligations to the old College history entitled _Balliofergus, or,
a Commentary upon the Foundation, Founders, and Affaires of Balliol
Colledge, Gathered out of the Records thereof, and other Antiquities.
With a brief Description of eminent Persons who have been formerly of
the same House._ By Henry Savage, Master of the said Colledge (Oxford
1668). I am also considerably indebted to Mr. Maxwell Lyte’s _History
of the University of Oxford_ (1886), and to the somewhat perfunctory
and ill-informed account of the College muniments given by Mr. H.
T. Riley in the appendix to the Fourth Report of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission (1874). The Statutes of the College are cited
from the edition prepared for the University Commission of 1850, and
published in 1853. In dealing with later times I have had the advantage
of a number of references kindly furnished me by Dr. G. B. Hill of
Pembroke College, Mr. C. E. Doble of Worcester College, and Mr. C. H.
Firth of Balliol College. Mr. Rashdall, of Hertford College, has been
so good as to look over the proof-sheets of this chapter; and, although
he is not to be held chargeable with any errors that may have escaped
him, I have to thank him for many corrections and suggestions.
[8] The identification seems certain, though the name is suppressed in
the _Chronicon de Lanercost_ (ed. J. Stevenson, 1839), p. 69.
[9] _Chron. de Mailros_, s. a. 1269.
[10] _Statutes of Balliol College_, pp. v.-vii.
[11] In this document we have for the first time the mention of the
_Master_ and Scholars of the House: Savage, p. 18.
[12] See extracts from the deeds in Riley, p. 446.
[13] 13 July 1293: ibid., p. 443.
[14] See Savage, pp. 29 f.; Wood, _Hist. and Antiqq. of the Univ. of
Oxford_ (ed. Gutch), _Colleges and Halls_, pp. 73, 86 f.
[15] In this document the head of the College is styled _Warden_
(Riley, p. 443), a title which occurs in 1303 (Wood, _Colleges and
Halls_, p. 81), and which alternates with that of Master for some time
later. _President_ occurs in 1559; _Statutes_, p. 25.
[16] Wood, _Hist. and Antiqq._ ii. 731-733.
[17] Ibid., pp. 774 f.
[18] Riley, pp. 442 f.; Wood, _Colleges and Halls_, p. 73.
[19] _English Historical Review_, vi. (1891) 152 f.
[20] _Dict. of Nat. Biogr._ xix. (1889) 194-198.
[21] _Statutes of Balliol College_, pp. viii-xix.
[22] It may be remarked that a grant of the year 1343 is noted by
Savage, p. 52, as the first among the College muniments in which the
name _Balliol_ is spelled with a single _l_.
[23] See the extract from a letter of the Rectors, one a Doctor of
Divinity and the other a Franciscan, of 1433, given by Riley, p. 443
_a_.
[24] In 1433: Savage, pp. 64 f.
[25] In 1477: ibid., p. 66.
[26] _Statutes of Balliol College_, pp. 1-22; cf. Lyte, pp. 415 ff.
[27] The eightpence a-week assigned them by the Statutes of
Dervorguilla had been raised to twelve pence so early as 1340, by Sir
William Felton’s benefactions, which also provided funds for clothes
and books (Savage, p. 38). It was now ordered that the sum should not
exceed 1_s._ 8_d._ Besides this Masters were to receive an annual
stipend of 20_s._ 8_d._; Bachelors, of 18_s._ 8_d._ (_Statutes_, p. 14).
[28] Compare Savage, p. 74.
[29] _Statutes_, pp. 38 f.
[30] _Queen’s College Statutes_, p. 14.
[31] We may remember that “between the years 1485 and 1507, Oxford was
visited by at least six great pestilences” (Lyte, p. 380). In 1486 we
find the Fellows of Magdalen sojourning at Witney and Harwell (not far
from Wantage) “tempore pestis.” Rogers, _Hist. of Agric. and Prices_,
iii. (1882) 680.
[32] See W. W. Shirley, _Fasciculi Zizaniorum_ (1858), intr., pp.
xi-xv, 513-528; P. Lorimer, notes to Lechler’s _John Wiclif_ (ed.
1881), pp. 132-137; R. L. Poole, _Wycliffe and Movements for Reform_
(1889), pp. 61-65.
[33] _Dict. of Nat. Biogr._, xi. (1887) 157 f.
[34] Lyte, p. 321.
[35] W. D. Macray, _Ann. of the Bodl. Libr._ (2nd ed., 1890), pp. 6-11.
[36] _Comment. de Scriptt. Brit._ (ed. A. Hall, Oxford 1709), p. 442.
[37] _Scriptt. Brit. Catal._ (Basle 1557), viii. 2.
[38] Leland, p. 460.
[39] Wood, _Hist. and Antiqq. of the Univ. of Oxf., Colleges and
Halls_, p. 89; who notices (vol. ii. 107) that though Balliol Library
lost much in 1550, it also gained some of the spoils of Durham College
at the time of its dissolution.
[40] The substance of the foregoing account is borrowed from the
writer’s article on Grey in the _Dict. of Nat. Biogr._ xxiii. (1890)
212f.
[41] See, on the buildings and inscriptions, Savage, pp. 67-72, Wood,
_Coll. and Halls_, pp. 90-98.
[42] Lyte, p. 326.
[43] Savage, pp. 105-108.
[44] Leland, pp. 475-481; Lyte, pp. 385 f.; _Briefwechsel des Beatus
Rhenanus_ (ed. A. Horawitz & K. Hartfelder, 1886), p. 72.
[45] Lyte, p. 322.
[46] Nevill supplicated for his B.A. degree in 1450: Anstey, _Munim.
Acad. Oxon._ (1868), p. 730 f.
[47] _Reg. of the Univ. of Oxford_, i. (ed. C. W. Boase, 1885) 1.
[48] Leland, pp. 466-468, 476; Lyte, pp. 384 f.
[49] Tanner, _Bibl. Brit. Hib._ (1748), p. 598; Le Neve’s _Fast. Eccl.
Angl._ (ed. T. D. Hardy, Oxford 1854) i. 141.
[50] Leland, p. 462 f.
[51] _Dict. of Nat. Biogr._, xxiii. 351.
[52] Already by Anthony Wood’s time “the old accompts” were lost; “So
A. W. was much put to a push, to find when learned men had been of that
coll.” _Life_ (ed. Bliss, Eccl. Hist. Soc., Oxford 1848), p. 144. So
too _Athen. Oxon._ (ed. Bliss) iii. 959.
[53] Savage, pp. 74-77; Wood’s _City of Oxford_, ed. A. Clark, ii. 3;
P. Heylin’s _Cyprianus redivivus_ (1668), p. 208; Wood’s _Hist. and
Antiqq._ (ed. Gutch), ii. 677.
[54] _Statutes_, p. 30.
[55] P. 33.
[56] P. 35.
[57] Savage, p. 56. After 1718 the payment was made out of the College
revenues: _Statutes_, p. 36.
[58] _Statutes_, p. 31.
[59] Humphrey Prideaux, _Letters to John Ellis_ (ed. E. M. Thompson,
Camden Society, 1875), pp. 12 f., under date 23 August 1674.
[60] _Statutes_, pp. 61-66.
[61] In 1677 the library was increased by the gift of “one of the best
private librarys in England” (Prideaux, p. 61), from the bequest of
Sir Thomas Wendy of Haselingfield, sometime gentleman commoner of the
College. In 1673 these books were valued at £600: Wood, _Colleges and
Halls_, p. 90.
[62] _Statutes_, pp. 25-28.
[63] Ibid., pp. 45-50.
[64] Savage, pp. 85-87.
[65] See Wood, _Colleges and Halls_, pp. 616-619.