THE
P RTAL
October 2011
Page 12
Young Mr Newman –
from Failure to Triumph
by Br Sean of The Work
“An unknown youth of sixteen” was how Newman described himself in his journals on his going
up to Oxford in 1817. It would be here in England’s oldest and most eminent seat of learning that this young
undergraduate was to flourish. For nearly thirty years this would be his home. Like many thousands of
undergraduates that had come before him the university would form and expand Newman’s mind, yet like
few others would Oxford herself be so changed as by this “unknown youth”.
scandal and
perplexity
New beginnings
are
always
something of a
challenge, and for
Newman there
was no exception.
“Drink,
drink,
drink” was how
the conscientious
young
student
described
his
first impressions
of life at Trinity
College
where
he was an undergraduate. Indeed Newman’s journals
reveal much of the scandal and perplexity he felt that
frequent drunken antics of fellow undergraduates
could be so easily tolerated alongside daily prayer in
chapel and obligatory Sunday Communion.
life should take.
His father had
harboured high
ambitions
for
him for the bar,
but his failure at
his finals had all
but wiped out
such prospects.
Yet by 1821 it had
become clear to
him that he had
to give his life to
God’s service.
Oriel College, Oxford
Meanwhile
Newman continued to read authors, particularly from
the Evangelical school, as well as the Caroline Divines
and the Non-Jurors, all of which proved to be defining
for his religious convictions.
fellow of Oriel
Triumph was to follow failure in 1822 when
Newman was elected fellow of Oriel College, which
was considered the hub of Oxford’s finest and the very
nucleus of the university’s intelligentsia. Writing to
Pusey some years later he recounted how he let God’s
providence guide him: “Dear Pusey, you have nothing
to do but keep quiet in mind as well as body…Pie
Newman advanced quickly in his university repone te. I recollect when I was in at the examination
education, securing the college scholarship of Trinity for fellowship in Oriel and very much harassed and
in 1818. Yet as so often was the case in Newman’s life, almost sinking, I happened to look up at the window
success was often tinted with failure, a sign he had and saw that motto in the painted glass. The words
always interpreted as the hand of God’s providence have been a kind of proverb to me ever since. Really
guiding him. In preparation for his final examinations we have nothing to fear.”
in 1820 he was exerting himself so much that he
As the bells of St Mary the Virgin, Trinity and
was reading up to fourteen hours a day. At his final
examinations he broke down completely and failed Oriel pealed loudly through the streets of Oxford for
Newman’s election to such a prestigious post, little was
dismally, gaining a third in his degree.
he aware of what change he and his contemporaries at
Dismayed, Newman was unsure what direction his Oriel would instigate in the coming years.
Yet the brash superficiality of some of his colleagues
and neglect of his tutors did not stop Newman forming
some solid and lasting friendships among like-minded
students who shared his seriousness in the academic
and religious sphere, some of whom would follow him
in the Oxford Movement.