James Shergold Boone (1799–1859) was an English cleric and writer.
Life
Boone was born on 30 June 1799. In 1812 he was sent to
Charterhouse School, and in 1816 he became a student of
Christ Church, Oxford, where in 1817 he obtained a Craven scholarship. With an ordinary degree, he took his B.A. 24 May 1820.
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 ...
, in a discursive chapter of his ''Reminiscences'', speculated that the teaching of
John Russell at Charterhouse had a negative effect on Boone, considered a brilliant student as a young man.
Soon after Boone left Oxford, he was offered a seat in the House of Commons by an owner of a
pocket borough, but declined the offer. He lectured in London, on the "union and mutual relation" of art and science; and took his degree of M.A. 4 March 1823. For some years he was a master at Charterhouse; but having taken
holy orders he accepted in June 1832 the appointment of incumbent of
St. John's Church, Paddington. Here he remained until his death on 26 March 1859; that year he was appointed "select preacher" at Oxford, but was prevented by illness from taking up the duties. A brass was erected to his memory in the chancel of St. John's.
Works
Early works
While an undergraduate, Boone won the chancellor's prize for Latin verse on ''The Foundation of the Persian Empire'', and in 1817 the Newdigate for English verse on the subject of "The Farnese Hercules". In 1820 he received the chancellor's prize for the Latin essay. He published ''Men and Things in 1823: a Poem in three Epistles with Notes'', in which he showed admiration for
George Canning.
Boone wrote ''The Oxford Spy in Verse'', the first four "dialogues" of which appeared in 1818, the fifth and last in 1819. This anonymous satire on Oxford University life created a sensation at the time of its publication.
The criticisms it articulated, from the students' point of view, of the university and its tuition, were well-informed, and reflected what some senior members took to be undergraduate concerns. They were also close to points raised at the time in the ''
Edinburgh Review'', in their concern for modernisation of the syllabus.
Journal editor
In June 1822 the first number of ''The Council of Ten'' was published, a monthly periodical of which Boone was the editor and almost the sole contributor; it lasted a year.
Boone was editor of the ''
British Critic and Theological Review''.
Appointed in 1834, he decided to sharpen the theological focus of the periodical, also cutting back on its function as journal of record for the clergy. He advocated a broad coalition of Protestants, giving immediate offence (according to
Edward Churton
Edward Churton (26 January 1800 – July 1874) was an English churchman and Spanish scholar.
Life
He was born on 26 January 1800 at Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire, the second son of Ralph Churton, archdeacon of St David's. He was educated a ...
, in correspondence with
Arthur Philip Perceval
Arthur Philip Perceval (1799–1853) was an English high church Anglican cleric, royal chaplain and theological writer.
Life
Born on 22 November 1799, he was the fifth and youngest son of Charles George Perceval, 2nd Baron Arden, by his wife Ma ...
).
[Esther Rhoades Houghton and Josef L. Altholz, ''The "British Critic", 1824–1843'', Victorian Periodicals Review Vol. 24, No. 3 (Fall, 1991), pp. 111–118, at pp. 112–3. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20082542]
Boone then came under pressure from the
Tractarians
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 ...
, to include their reviews. By 1837 his position was made untenable by
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 ...
. Boone's attempt to remain above the fray in the row over
Renn Dickson Hampden
Renn Dickson Hampden (29 March 1793 – 23 April 1868) was an English Anglican clergyman. His liberal tendencies led to conflict with traditionalist clergy in general and the supporters of Tractarianism during the years he taught in Oxford (18 ...
had earned him the partisan Newman's enmity. Newman, also, was being urged into a divisive approach that would see tractarian contributions as distinctive and noticeable in the ''Review''.
In a slow-motion coup, the "mild" liberal views associated with Boone were pushed out, despite the efforts of
Henry Handley Norris
Henry Handley Norris (1771–1850) was an English clergyman and theologian. He was the clerical leader of the High Church grouping later known as the Hackney Phalanx, that grew up around him and his friend Joshua Watson.
Life
The son of Henry Ha ...
of the controlling
Hackney Phalanx representing
High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
orthodoxy, and Churton.
Sermons and theoretical works
Boone also wrote:
* ''An Essay on the Study of Modern History'', 1821.
* ''National Education: a Sermon'', 1833.
* ''The Educational Economy of England'', Part i. on the ''External Economy of Education; or the Means of providing Instruction for the People'', 1838.
* ''The Need of Christianity to Cities: a Sermon'', 1844. Connected with
Charles Blomfield's efforts to expand Anglican church provision, this sermon has been called a "jeremiad" against contemporary urban life, attacking its "foul luxuriance".
* ''One, Manifold, or, System; Introductory Argument'', open letter addressed to
Raikes Currie
Raikes Currie (15 April 1801 – 16 October 1881) was Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton from 1837 to 1857. He was a partner of the bank Curries & Co, along with his father, Isaac Currie, in Cornhill, City of London, and had several in ...
, 1848.
* ''Sermons on Various Subjects and Occasions, with a Brief Appendix on the Modern Philosophy of Unbelief'', 1853.
* ''Two Sermons on the Prospect of a General War'', 1854.
* ''The Position and Functions of Bishops in our Colonies; a Sermon'', 1856.
* ''Sermons chiefly on the Theory of Belief'', 1860.
Family
Boone was twice married. There were no children by either marriage.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, James Shergold
1799 births
1859 deaths
19th-century English Anglican priests
English magazine editors
People educated at Charterhouse School
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
English male poets
19th-century English poets
19th-century English male writers
English male non-fiction writers