THE NEW PRIMATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20011, 30 July 1928, Page 6

THE NEW PRIMATE.

DR. COSMO G. LANG. MAN OF RARE GIFTS. RAPID RISE IN CHURCH. WIDE EXPERIENCE OF WORK. T>r. Cosmo Gordon Lang, who has been chosen to succeed D.r. Davidson as Archof Canterbury and Primate of All England, was born in 1864, and is the son of the Very Rev. John Marshall Lang, at one time Chancellor and Principal of Aberdeen University, and Moderator of tlie Church of Scotland. Dr. Lang was educated at Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford, where ho highly distinguished himself. Tie was curate of Leeds from 1890 to 189.3, when he was elected Fellow and Dean of Divinity of Magdalen College, Oxford, and appointed vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford (tho university church), in 1894. In 1896 ho became vicar cf Portsea, where he remained until 1901, in which year he was appointed canon of St. Paul's and succeeded the present Bishop of London as Bishop of Stepney. In 1908 he became Archbishop of York. Dr. Lang is a Scotsman and was brought up as a Presbyterian. He went to Oxford with a history scholarship in 1883, and it was while at the university that he came into contact with and under the influence of the High Church movement, ■which was then represented in Oxford by men like Gore, afterwards Bishop of Birmingham: King, the present Bishop of Lincoln; Scott Holland, afterwards Canon of St. Paul's; and Talbot, afterwards Bishop of Winchester. At first he seemed to be marked out for a political career. An Eloquent Speaker. It was at the Union—the great debating society of the University—that ho first came "to the front in Oxford, and he was early recognised as a brilliant speaker and a debater of quite extraordinary powers. At 19 years of age there was hardly any subject upon which he could not have spoken fluently at a moment's notice. Onco when he was behind-hand with his work, he read a philosophical essay to one of his tutors off a sheet of blank paper. He would never have been detected had not tho tutor asked hira to repeat a particular sentence —this he was unable to do—and ho was asked to show his essay. A pen picture of Dr. Lang in his University days was given in the Treasury Magazine some years ago by the Rev. A. D. Tupper-Carey: "As an undergraduate, Dr. Lang had the same deep, rich voice, the same dignified presence, the same flow of eloquent language as he now possesses. If anything, his speaking is quieter and more restrained and less vehement than when he was at Oxford. The first time I saw him was when, as a freshman in 1884, I watched him through the glass doors of. the debating hall at the Union, standing at the table, keeping a vast audience of undergraduates —generally so difficult to please—spell-bound with his magnetic influence. I can see him now, with his head thrown back, his left hand holding his scholar's gown, his right hand stretched slightly forward to give emphasis to his points, and I can still remember my amazement at that extraordinary flow of eloquent language." Choice of a Career. At Oxford, Cosmo Gordon Lang was from the first deeply interested in social questions, and was one of the pioneers of tho University Settlements in the East End of London, lecturing constantly in Bethnal Green and Whitechapel. He was a member of the University Athletic Club, and an original member of the Dramatic Society, reciting at one of their Shakespearean performances a prologue written by Lord Curzon. He was a Conservative in but sympathetic toward the Labour movement, and when he was a curate at Leeds Tom Mann, the Labour leader, was a guest at the Clergy House. Although he apparently did little reading, his Oxford career was a distinguished one. He was a scholar of Balliol and a second-class Lit. Hum. He graduated with a first class in history in 1886, and in 1888 he was elected a Fellow of All Souls' College. After leaving college he went to London to read for the Bar, and received several invitations to stand for Parliament —a career which all his friends believed he would eventually take up. But suddenly ho decided that his vocation was the Church. The day before he was to be called to the Bar, he wired to take his name off the hooks, and to the surprise of all his friends, he entered his name for tho Theological College at Cuddeston, and was confirmed by the Bishop of Lincoln. Within ten years of taking holy orders be rose to the rank of bishop—a record achieved by sheer ability and merit. His first curacy was at Leeds, where for nearly three years (1890-1893) he worked in the heart of the slums, and not only ■worked in the slums, but lived there. For years past tho clergy of that parish had lived in isolated lodgings well outside the slum area, but Cosmo Lang changed all that. Work Among the Poor. Renting an old public house, which had just lost its licence through disorderly management, he fitted it up as a clergy house, and induced four of the unmarried clergy of the diocese to share it with him. iThe old tap-room became the living room, with the bar as a sideboard ; the bottling room, an oratory. The influence of Lang and his fellow-workers increased wonderfully throughout tho sordid neighbourhood. He entered whole-heartedly into the lives of the poor. Ho held services in the common lodging houses—allowing men to smoke and the women to cook their food and drink their tea while they listened to the preacher. He started a club for the men, and a lodging house for boys. He preached every Sunday to overflowing audiences. His young men's class on Sundays numbered 120. He resigned eventually in order to return to Oxford for further study, and within six months was elected a Fellow and Dean of Divinity of Magdalen College. As in the slums, so in the house of learning at Oxford —his influence over men was extraordinary. Ihose who usually would have nothing to do with ordinary clergymen were more than willing to seek his advice, and especially was his influence noticeable over undergraduates of the athletic and fashionable world. For the short time that he was at Oxford ho helped many men of this sort to take Holy Orders. The East End of London. From 1896 to 1901, Cosmo Lang was vicar of Portsea, a parish of 40,000 people —with eight clergy and six churches. There ho preached every Sunday to a congregation of 2000, and took a class of 500 men every Sunday afternoon. In addition, he took a.prominent part in the municipal life of Portsmouth, and preached and lec- j tured frequently in London,. He became one of Queen Victoria's chaplains, and published a book on miracles. After five years' woi k at Portsea he was made a canon of St. Paul's, and on May 1, 1901, was consecrated Bishop of Stepney by the Archbishop of Canteibury, and took up in tho East End of London, the work just vacated by the present Bishop of London. Although Dr. Winnington Ingram was a difficult man to follow, the new Bishop of Stepney quickly established himself in the hearts of tho people of his parish, and as quickly won the respect and- admiration of Ins clergy. In 1908, 20 years ago, he left Stepney to begin his work as Archbishop of York. As Primate of All England, Dr. Lang is not likely to make any sudden op radical changes of policy. Broadly speaking, he may be expected to carry on (be policy of his predecessor^