LORD DAVIDSON

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 135, 4 December 1935, Page 17

LORD DAVIDSON

SAW. THREE REIGNS

HIS CAREER IN THE CHURCH

WITHOUT PARALLEL

The career of Randall Thomas Davidsbn, for twenty-five years Archbishop of Canterbury, is without parallel in the annals of the Church of England, writes C. B. Mortlock in the "Daily

Telegraph.

Within two. years of his ordination as priest he was launched on a unique training for the Primacy, and became, indeed, "almost a partner" in it, with Queen Victoria in the role of fairy godmother.

Davidson entered the household of Archbishop Tait as his chaplain, and in the year following his appointment he had become the Primate's- son-in-law by his marriage with Edith Tait. The fathers of. th*: bride and bridegroom had been schoolboys together in Edinburgh.

It is made plain in the biography by Dr. Bell, Bishop of Chichester. that Davidson's solid qualities and his native caution would have been bound in any circumstances to procure him advancement. But it was, his meeting with Queen Victoria when he was 34, and the instantly favourable impression which he made on her, which set his destiny. QUEEN'S ADVISER. In that moment the die was cast. At the Queen's request he had written an account of Archbishop. Tait's last hours, and the immediate-sequel was an interview. ; Davidson recorded that the Queen "certainly -startled "me by the openness of her confidence and by her genuine anxiety to hear all that I had to say." . ■.:'■■"' ".- .' •"..' -From that moment he was the trusted counsellor, of the. Queen; . Within a fortnight she was asking for suggestions in filling two bishoprics and a deanery, and in less than six months he . found' himself installed as Dean,of Windsor, in many respects, the most desirable piece of preferment in the whole Church. : ; . -...-;• ,-;..■ To the end of ..Victoria's life no appointment .in the; Church was made i without his advice.. Moreover, ■he ! won and held the^ confidence of the leaders of the-Church ,on one. hand and the members, of the Court- on the other. Asked once if he thought that besides being a good woman Queen Victoria was really a religious woman, Archbishop Davidson answered, "The talks I have had with her were, much too genuine, too unconventional, too simple in diction, too untheological— I might almost say too matter-of-fact— to justify one in doubting that the religious impulse in her life was definite as well as deep." I KING EDWARD. Incidentally, there is an interesting note on the Prince of Wales (King Edward), who ,in spite of his position and mature age, was largely shut out from Queen Victoria's confidence on matters of State. Davidson noted: "So far as my own experience goes. the member of the family who showed the most unswerving loyalty to the Queen was the Prince of Wales. Difficult as-his position was, and real as Were sometimes the grounds of his :complaint .; ..'. I have personally never heard him say anything but what was absolutely respectful and loyal about the Queen." ' Davidson early came to understand his Royal mistress. An instance of the way he made courtly attention serve spiritjual .ends was the diligence by which lie "never let an anniversary oj a great-grief in the Queen's lil'o pass by without a' letter of sincere and tender feeling." Sometimes, he was embarrassed by her approbation, as when, with great tact arid a good deal of circumlocution, ( '-he demurred from the Queen's strongly-worded suggestion that he should print a volume of his Windsor sermons "for the benefit of high and low." ■ A difficult task which Davidson faced with some trepidation, as no one else was willing to do it, was to restrain the Queen from her intention of publishing a further volume of "Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands." All about the Queen agreed that such a course would be most injudicious, and the letter which Davidson write certainly deserves his own epithet, "a1 careful letter." - SHARP CONFLICT. ■ The matter brought the young Dean into sharp conflict with the Queen, and he offered his resignation. But 'the trouble blew over after a fortnight of complete silence. That book was not published. - • . ■ Dr. Bell's monumental work—it contains more than 1400 pages—illustrates the mind and character of Davidson. His great, though far from spectacular qualities, were little known to the public. It was not until his retirement that there was anything like a popular tribute. He was genuinely taken aback by the extraordinary outburst of gratitude and affection, from all sides which culminated in the National Tribute presented by the Prime Minister. He said at the time to an intimate friend:— "I honestly don't understand it. If I was describing myself I should say I was a funny old fellow of quite mediocre, second-rate gifts and a certain amount of common sense—but that I had tried to do my best. I have tried—and I have tried to stick to my duty; but that is really all there is about it." :. '~ '- " • ■; ■ It will be' news most people that Lord Salisbury suggested:- Davidson, when at the early age of 41, for the ancient and important See of Durham; But-the Queen said she could not spare him. ' Oddly enough, a year later, when the bishopric of Winchester was vacant and the' Queen wished Davidson to be appointed, the' Prime Minister "persisted in his refusal to nominate" him. Instead, he became Bishop of Rochester, but not before the Queen had written that "she repents having ever listened to the proposals for raising him to the Bench—for really for her sake as well as for his she cannot think it is a good thing." Possibly she had in mind the opinion she-had earlier expressed that except in one case "she had never found people promoted to the Episcopate remain what they were before." They did not preach so well! AT WINCHESTER. Promotion to Winchester came, and on the death- of Archbishop Benson' the Queen desired that Davidson should succeed to the Primacy. Again Lord Salisbury demurred; it would not do to put the youngest of the bishops over the heads of all the others. But he wanted him for London. In the event Davidson remained where he was. with the assurance' that it would be an advantage to him if the elderly Temple became Primate "for a short while." After that the Queen's wishes "would then be accomplished." Temple was jealous of Davidson, thinking -he had schemed for the Primacy and failed, whereas the truth was that he owed his own promotion to Davidson's advocacy. Contact with Lambeth was accordingly in abeyance. There were no longer such outspoken communications with the Archbishop as that, for instance, in which the youthful Dean of Windsor had written I

to Benson of the Bishop of Southwell, "I think he wants his eax-s boxed."

The account in Davidson's private papers of the Irish dispute, of 1914 reveals that the King was determined at all costs to prevent an outbreak of civil war.

"Lord Morley (he noted at the time) had a talk with; the King after the Privy Council, and the King—as his Majesty subsequently told, me—gave him a peremptory message for Asquith to say that he adhered to every word that he said about his primary duty being to prevent Civil War,- whatever the consequences to his own reputation or that of the Government." THE WAR. In the Great War, , during.. anxious hours when the collapse of the Russian armies appeared imminent, Mr. Lloyd George said to the Archbishop: "If Russia collapses completely the entire world situation is changed and we must make new arrangements altogether. ... I think we should have to make peace forthwith with Austria -and Turkey on any obtainable terms." During the general strike all was ready for Davidson to broadcast an appeal for conciliation, but at the last minute Sir John Reith cancelled the arrangement, though not without "squirming" at Davidson's spirited protest. An important fact concerning the Malines Conversations between representative Anglican and Roman .Catholic theologians comes out in Cardinal Mercier's letter, which stated that "the Holy See approves and encourages such conversations, and prays God with all its heart to bless them."' Dr. Bell has accomplished a difficult task with a discretion which .would have pleased his old master (he was 10 years Davidson's chaplain), and brings it home that the Archbishop of Canterbury of these days is in an analogous position to a Pope without a Curia and a statesman who is never out of office.