The British Critic: A New Review[1] was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a
conservative and
high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the
French Revolution. The headquarters was in London.[2] The journal ended publication in 1843.[3]
After 1825 the review "became more narrowly theological in scope".[6]
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.[7] This move was brought on by the financial losses the Critic was making by 1836.
John Henry Newman offered a stable of Oxford writers who would write reviews gratuitously, at a moment when the publisher was considering closing the publication.[8]
By the end of 1837 Newman was objecting to Boone's decisions and line (the use of
Joseph Sortain as reviewer and the sympathy shown to
Renn Dickson Hampden).[9] Boone resigned by November, and
Samuel Roffey Maitland took over; but he was immediately discomfited in early 1838 by a review by
Edward Pusey relating to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners which placed him in a difficult personal position, and resigned.[10] Until 1843 the Critic was then effectively dominated by the
Tractarian movement, and edited successively by Newman and
Thomas Mozley.[11]
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.[3] 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.[12][13]