The_British_Critic,_A_New_Review_(1793,_Vol

The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The headquarters was in London. The journal ended publication in 1843.

High-church review

The Society for the Reformation of Principles, founded in 1792 by William Jones of Nayland and William Stevens, established the ''British Critic'' in 1793.

Robert Nares Robert Nares (9 June 1753, York – 23 March 1829) was an English clergyman, philologist and author. Life He was born at York in 1753, the son of James Nares (1715–1783), organist of York Minster and educated at Westminster School and Ch ...

and

William Beloe William Beloe (1756 – April 11, 1817) was an English divine and miscellaneous writer. Biography Beloe was born at Norwich the son of a tradesman, and received a liberal education. After a day school in Norwich he was schooled under the Rev. Ma ...

, editor and assistant editor respectively, were joint proprietors with the booksellers and publishers Francis and Charles Rivington. It was started as a monthly, but in 1825 its frequency was shifted to quarterly. Nares and Beloe edited the review for about 20 years. Around 1811 the magazine was bought by Joshua Watson and Henry Handley Norris, associated with the high-church pressure group known as the Hackney Phalanx. After 1825 the review "became more narrowly theological in scope".

Tractarian takeover

The owners were, however, in some difficulty in controlling the editorial line under both Campbell and Boone; and turned eventually to Oxford Movement figures. This move was brought on by the financial losses the ''Critic'' was making by 1836.

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

offered a stable of Oxford writers who would write reviews gratuitously, at a moment when the publisher was considering closing the publication. By the end of 1837 Newman was objecting to Boone's decisions and line (the use of

Joseph Sortain Joseph Sortain (1809–1860) was a British Nonconformist (Protestantism), nonconformist minister, an evangelical Independent, philosophy tutor at Cheshunt College, and biographer of Francis Bacon. A reputed preacher of his time, he was called "the ...

as reviewer and the sympathy shown to Renn Dickson Hampden). Boone resigned by November, and Samuel Roffey Maitland took over; but he was immediately discomfited in early 1838 by a review by

Edward Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years ...

relating to the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

which placed him in a difficult personal position, and resigned. Until 1843 the ''Critic'' was then effectively dominated by the

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

movement, and edited successively by Newman and

Thomas Mozley Thomas Mozley (1806June 17, 1893), was an English clergyman and writer associated with the Oxford Movement. Early life Mozley was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of a bookseller and publisher. His brother, James Bowling Mozley, wou ...

. Under Mozley's editorship the ''Critic'' was strongly partisan, attacking Godfrey Faussett, and allowing Frederick Oakeley and W. G. Ward a free hand. It was closed down in October 1843. In 1844 a replacement publication, the '' English Review'', was set up, by a group including John Kaye, with Rivingtons as published; it appeared to 1853.

List of editors

*1811 Thomas Fanshaw Middleton. In the same year (beginning of the second series) William Van Mildert and Thomas Rennell also served as editors, according to various sources; with Rennell continuing until Lyall took over.Esther Rhoads Houghton, ''A 'New' Editor of the "British Critic"'', Victorian Periodicals Review Vol. 12, No. 3 (Fall, 1979), pp. 102–105. *1816–17 William Rowe Lyall *c.1823–1833 Archibald Montgomery Campbell *1827–1833 Edward Smedley, very much engaged in the periodical, but according to Houghton never actually editor in title. *1834–1837 James Shergold Boone *1837–8 Samuel Roffey Maitland *1838–July 1841

*1841–1843

References

*S. A. Skinner (2004), ''Tractarians and the 'Condition of England': The Social and Political Thought of the Oxford Movement'', Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Notes

{{Reflist, 33em 1793 establishments in Great Britain 1826 disestablishments in the British Empire Anglican newspapers and magazines Conservative magazines published in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom Religious magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1793 Magazines disestablished in 1826