In the Easter sermon of 1827, during the termly service at which it was customary to take Communion, Newman spoke to the Oriel undergraduates of his responsibility for their welfare: ‘Account of us as thinking much and deeply of your eternal interests, as watching over your souls as those who must give account.’

Newman considered that ‘a Tutor was not a mere academical Policeman, or Constable, but a moral and religious guardian of the youths committed to him’. (Memoir, 1874)