MANSFIELD COLLEGE.
TO all those who love Oxford, and who desire to see her in sympathy with every portion of the religious and intellectual life of the nation, the opening of Mansfield. College is an occasion of no ordinary import. Its establish- ment is a visible testimony that the old feeling of distrust cherished in regard to Oxford by the Free Churches as the result of her former persecuting exclusiveness, has broken down, and that at last the University has become truly national,—can claim a share in the affections and respect not only of a section, but of the people. When tests were abolished, and when the University and every College in it became in law free to all, the problem how to draw the Nonconformists into the life of Oxford, and how to let the spirit of their Churches be represented therein, at once occu- pied her more liberal-minded and thoughtful sons. It was all very well to open the University by a sort of conscience-clause, but the men who were led by the late Professor Green wanted something more than that. Anxious above all things that Orford should be truly national, and so responsive to every worthy phase of English thought and character, they longed to see Nonconformity directly represented in the University. This could not be accomplished by the sons of a number of wealthy Congregationalist or. Unitarian families taking their degrees without being obliged to undergo any theological examination, or without attendance at the College chapel being enforced. If nothing better were achieved, the Nonconformist life of the nation would still remain entirely divorced from the University. Various methods suggested themselves to bring about this fusion at Oxford of the intellectual and religious feel- ings of the whole people so passionately desired by the small band of men who, as we have said before, followed the late Professor Green. The readiest seemed to be the establishment of denominational foundations,—that is, the creation of exclusive Colleges for the Baptists, the Con- gregationalists, or the Unitarians, where the young men. of those bodies could enjoy the privileges of the University under the supervision of ministers of their own creed, and in association with those entertaining similar views to themselves. Fortunately, however, the evils that would have arisen from adopting this course were clearly recog- nised. In Keble, the Church of England has such a College,—a close corporation to which none but communi- cants are admitted. The result is not altogether satis- factory. There is always a risk that men may lose in the confined air of institutions like Keble the freedom and tolerance that should characterise the spiritual life of a University. Very wisely, as we think, the Nonconformist leaders, who became interested in the notion of their Churches taking their proper place at Oxford, abandoned the idea of establishing exclusive Colleges, and adopted a far better plan. They determined to set up at Oxford a foundation which should represent in the University the best side-of English Nonconformity, and yet not interfere with that fusion of classes and creeds within the ordinary Colleges which is beginning to do so much for the national life. Accordingly, they have established Mansfield College, —first, as a school of theology, the lectures of which are to be open to all members of the University; next, as a Training College, to which persons who have taken an Arts degree in the ordinary course can come for such further training in divinity as may be necessary to render them fit for the ministry in the Congregational Churches ; and lastly, as a religious centre for all the Nonconformists scattered throughout the University. In every aspect the scheme is worthy of commendation. To begin with, it is a matter of no small advantage that Churchmen should be enabled to understand that a great school of theology exists outside their own Church, and that there are plenty of Nonconformist divines able to rank with those of the Establishment. In future, the under- graduate who is going to take orders when he goes down, and who is reading for the Divinity Schools, will often find that the best lectures on some point in exegesis or patristic divinity are given at Mansfield, and will attend them accordingly. Who can doubt that one of the results of listening to a course of lectures by some such able and learned theologian as Dr. Fairbairn, -will be to make the curate think twice before he adopts that tone of intellectual condescension towards all " Dis- senting ministers" which is often far more irritating than active hostility ? When Churchmen realise what the teaching at a Nonconformist Training College actually is, and find themselves hard pressed or beaten by Noncon- formist competitors for the divinity prizes of the University, they will doubtless feel somewhat differently towards their Christian co-workers in the parishes. How few of the rank and file of the incumbents understand the true doctrinal position of the various Free Churches !—yet without such understanding how can they treat Nonconformist ministers with intellectual fairness, or even with intellectual courtesy? In the same way, the young men who are going to enter the Congregational ministry will, by attending the lectures of the ordinary Divinity Professors, learn to appreciate far more thoroughly than they often do now the spirit of the Establishment. Next, the fact that the Congregationalist ministers will henceforth be trained in Orford, and that they will be obliged either to have obtained an Arts degree before they enter Mansfield, or else to read for the M.A. pan i passu with their theological studies, will give the advantages of University culture to a large and important portion of the Nonconformist pastorate. It is pleasant, too, to think that before many years are over, it will not be impossible for the Vicar in some country district or small town to find that the minister of the neighbouring chapel was his contemporary at Oxford, and that the night before the schools the latter saved him from a "plough," by confiding a presentiment that this or that piece of the " Ethics " was going to be set as "unseen." Who can doubt that these and a hundred other associations in regard to the river, the cricket-field, or the Union, will help to establish a good feeling between Church and Chapel of a kind now sadly wanting ? Lastly, Mansfield will do valuable work in serving as a religious centre for Nonconformist graduates and undergraduates. Though it is undesirable that the membership of a particular College should be confined to one sect, it is natural that Nonconformist parents should like to feel that their sons will be able to keep in touch while at Oxford with the spiritual influences in which they have been brought up. The existence of the College will give an assurance to fathers and mothers who are not Church people that their boys, when sent to Oxford, will not run the risk of sinking into agnosticism because they can find no religious sympathy of the kind to which • they have been accustomed at home.
"Further, the establishment of Mansfield is a pledge to the whole world of Englishmen that after an interval of two hundred years of exclusion, the oldest University in the land is once again truly national.. For some six generations no Nonconformist has felt any right to feel proud of Oxford, or has been able to regard himself as sharing in her fame. Now, however, not merely in these islands, but throughout the English communities in America, Africa, and Australia, the whole race will realise that it has a share in the glory of the University. When we remember that if we take all the English-speaking and English- descended peoples, a vast majority are not in communion with the Church of England, it can readily be seen that, if Oxford claims to be a metropolis of learning, she must make the members of the Free Churches understand that she once more comprehends the spiritual and intellectual aspirations of the whole race, and that the Baptist or the Congregationalist will henceforth have as much right to be proud of her fame as any Churchman. If the founda- tion of Mansfield College brings about this result, as we believe it will, Oxford may play a greater part in effect- ing the true union of our race than any shadowy scheme of Federalistic Imperialism. If Oxford is joined by her sister, Cambridge, not only in shaking off the old exclu- siveness, but in giving Nonconformist thought its proper share in their regard, they may still be able to maintain themselves as the centres of learning and culture for the whole Anglo-Saxon world. If they do, the founders of Mansfield College will have every right to declare that an end so desirable was in a great measure produced through their agency.
Before leaving the subject of Mansfield College, we cannot help expressing our regret that Mr. Case, the Professor of Moral Philosophy, should have felt in- clined to represent Oxford Churchmen as hostile to the new foundation. In a letter to the Times, he en- deavours to disparage the scheme by pointing out that the Times ought not to have spoken of the establish- ment of Mansfield College as "the resumption within the broad bosom of Alma Mater of that element of Non- conformity which constitutes so considerable a portion of our national life," because the new foundation is not an integral portion of the University. But no more, in Mr. Case's sense, is Keble, though no person who does not wish to perpetrate a verbal quibble would care to describe it as a "Ritualistic boarding-house for undergraduates situated within the Parliamentary borough of Oxford." However, Mr. Case's error of judgment will not hurt Mansfield. The public will prefer to gauge the reception accorded to the College by the fact that some of the best men in Oxford combined to welcome the new- comers. When the Master of Balliol, the President of Corpus, the Provost of Oriel, the Rector of Lincoln, the Principal of Brasenose, the President of Trinity, the • Master of University, the Rector of Exeter, Dr. Hatch, and. Professors Sayee, Nettleship, Dioey, Tyler, and. Sir W. Markly are eager to do honour to Mansfield College, Mr. Case's letter may pass as an individual protest.
Previous page
