Nicholas Wiseman, The Dublin Review, and the Oxford Movement: A Study with Reference to John Henry Newman, 1836 to 1845

In 1836, a new Roman Catholic periodical, The Dublin Review, was founded by Nicholas Wiseman, Michael Joseph Quin, and Daniel O'Connell. Though religion was only one aspect of its intended focus, the place and identity of Roman Catholicism in post-emancipation Britain was a major emphasis. Of particular focus was the Oxford Movement (1833-1845), otherwise known as Tractarianism. Wiseman, then rector of the English College, Rome, had paid close attention to the Oxford Movement since 1833 and, via the Dublin Review, would critically engage with Tractarian literature and ideas. This paper examines this engagement from 1836 to 1845, discussing Wiseman's polemical responses to the Oxford Movement. Paying attention to the pre-history of the Dublin Review, its importance as a periodical, and its significant influence upon a handful of the leading Tractarians, especially John Henry Newman, Wiseman emerges as an influential polemicist and apologist. Respectful of Tractarian learning and zeal, Wiseman was nonetheless unambiguous in his criticisms of Tractarian ecclesiology-relentless especially in his promotion of the view that the leaders of the Oxford Movement should convert to Roman Catholicism. By 1840, the year Wiseman arrived in England as a bishop, the Dublin Review had significantly dented Newman's confidence in the Tractarian project. Wiseman, the future Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, had, by means of the Dublin Review, made Roman Catholic views on Tractarianism known, heard, and felt in Oxford and Britain. In the case of John Henry Newman, who became a Roman Catholic in 1845, Wiseman could claim a significant victory.