NEW ARCHBISHOP OF YORK

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 41

NEW ARCHBISHOP OF YORK

DR COSMO GORDON LAXG. CFxoit Our Owit Correspondent.) LONDON, November 20. The action of the Prime Minister in appointing Dr Lang, Biehop of Stepney, to the vacant Archbishopric of York, evoked a chorus' of approval from the raoie conservative section of the press (whose only misgiving was due- to the boldness of the step) and a small cry of dismay from the Radicals. Almost every paper in London — fully cognisant of the youth of Dr Lang; of his Presbyterian parentage and manse upbringing ; of hie celibacy ; and of the claims of older and more orthodox bishops — hailed th 6 appointment as a wise one in. ite time ; a step of boldness and courage eminently necessary at the present juncture of the Church's history, lhat the Church of England is at a erisie, and a ■very critical parting of the waye, nobedy can pretend to doubt. Its peril is its inacth ity in face of the vigorous aggression of the Roman Catholics, its supinenc-s towards the Roman isatuon of its own services and ritual, and its indifference to the staady encroachment of cho Nonconformist form of religion amongst the middle and lower classes. At the great rally of the Faith in June last, attention turned automatically from the leading dignitaries of the Church — the I Archbishop of Canterbury and York am* j the principal bishops themKeivce — to the J youthful .Suffragan who embodied most happily the fcrces which unconsciously appealed to the gathering as essential for the revival of the Anglican religion. Dr Lang «ng!a-g«id attention for his vigour, his earn€stn«i66, his catholicity, and finally for the record of his work among the poor of East London. Colonial bishops, in unofficial conference, singled him out as a man for the promotion of the Church in the colonies, and he lias been invited both to Australia and Cana-da. By those same qualifications he must ai>ereds ba a man for the revival of the Church at Home, for the Establiehed Church to-day is on the threshold of an epoch of colonisation, and it must go forward or pe-rieh. Its regenerat.on must come through a revival of missionary effort, no less in the Englieh-spsaking dominions oversea than in the confines of London and the provinces. The forces needed are the earn© enterprise, the earn* energy, the liberality of view and the spirit of democracy which planted the Colonies of England. And the Government has selected exactly the manto break away from dignified ' supineniess and get to work on the duty before him. Dr Lang is the youngest bishop in England to-day, but one younger has been Archbishop of York. Dr Thoimson was only 43 when he went there in 1863, and a predecessor in 1714 was the same age. Dr Lang is 44. His appointment is due to his g.reat abilities and his hard work, and -* in some measure to his -good foitune in having attracted the attention -of the late. Queen, who was very fond of him. Indeed, it is hinted that had King Edward not also taken a fancy to the new archbishop, the decision of the Prime Minister would have favoured bhe Bishop of Hereford, a much older man, who enjoyed the support of the Radicals. The new Archbishop's wcrk among the pcor has- mad© him a strong social reformer. "Doubtless this has increased hie acceptability to the Liberal Prime Minister. It is not very long since that Dr Lang told an audience thaL a Socialist was not " the terror " that newspapers sometimes made him out to be; he might bs misguided, but he had the interests of the working classes at heart. Moreover, Dr Lang is an extremely broadmiiKbd man. full of to'er-anc-e and ready to work with mini-teis of other denomination's. Only last year he headed a depiitation to the Wealeyan Methodist Conference in the City Road Chapel, and expressed a desire that "Christian ministers of the different denominations might have the opportunity of meeting together for the study of the Bible, for prajer, and for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. There would be less misunderstanding, and they wou'd learn to respect and appreciate each other and to believe the best, and not the worst of one another." Dr Lang is the son of that doyen of the Scottish Church, the Very Rev. Dr John Marshall Lang, former moderator and world-famed scholar and theologian. His bold step in leaving the Scottish for the English Established Church was not made oti a sudden impulse. Hi s uncle (the Rev. Gavin Leng) was for many years minister of St. Andrew's Church in Canada. It is a point worthy of notice that not only has a Scotsman succeeded a Scotsman at York, but also K that at t.he pre-ont time both the English Arohbishop-, are Scotsman. Dr Lang was chaplain to Queen Victoria for two years, ha, been a fellow of All Soul*'. Oxfor.l. for 20 jears. was an enthusiastic member of the Oxford Union, an ardent Rugby foc+baller, a skilful debater, and an eloquent preacher. He served for some time as secretary to the Committee of Toynbee Hall, and he has filled the presidential chair of the Canning Club, Oxford. As a young man \yp wavered between law and politics, decided to op-~i-bin-e the two, and entered (he Inner Temple ac a student with that object. But his de-ep interest in social work in the East End wns ioo strong for him. His legal examinations had been safely passed, and it only remained to wait a few days before ihe name of Lang would be added to trie counsel columns of the ''Law Li.^t." On th« day before " call " night, in 1889, he made up his mind, cancelled hi-s p respects, -ami appeared two years later in the " Clerical Directory.'' "You may be sure of one thing," said a friend^ of the new Archbishop — a friend who has followed his career closely from the beginning, — " he will show himself a 6trong man, a man of independent judgment, a mm who will make up 'his mind as to what is right and follow it through thick and thin. The people who have tri-ed to stop Cosmo Lang from taking- his own < ourse have usually ha.J cause to regret it. A few years ago 'he was announced to speak at a cooperative congress. From all ovs.- the country came lettcrß attempting to dissuade him. The only notice he took of them was a oausiic remark in hia suacch about the curious f~ct of nwny of th<; Ictteis being in identir-.l i.^-iv,, ond a warning fhat the interests (f pnvito tndccs v pro badly served by sveh iii-^ans. He is a man \sho lias an opuron of <u> own about everything and dojM nou ru^sinpi. i-o '.oncoal it. He b.i= Lc"'i 1. .on ■ n to -pc^': scathingly of so'ne of ih r - 'V . cc< u-!y inartistic ' monurrcms in jS- P" I\ CVhp'-h-al. Hy '-vi= =h-on'i- views j <nb .ir ' t\ ranncuf Cilom*,' cl'i^l what lie ones '..'.iLu ll.e 'unnatural puiiut \oicc' vihidh

annoys people by its apparent artificiality. He has no illusions as to the value of church work done with good intention but without brain. 'If church workers,' he had said, ' would only try to undei-stand and deal with the problem presented by one poor family, they would be doing far more good than by rushing about a parish exchanging greetings with the people.' " *' In a sermon in St. Paul's he said, a few years ago, that the craving for pleasure ! had become a disease, one symptom of which was a want of consideration for others, which would not exist in a simple, healthy 1 mmd. 'All admired the gracsful lady in the beautiful dress who flitted among the stalls of a dharity bazaar. But suppose i the dre°s was not paid for, and suppose the I unpaid bill meant to some poor dressmaker. 1 harassed for want of capital, the prospect of losing the home which had kept the aged parents, and the invalid sister in peace! I speak,' added the Bishop, significantly, 'of what I know.' " As Bishop of Stepnoy, under his close friend the Bishop of London, he has been chiefly distinguished a? " the fighting Bishop." 'I am on a lighting platform," he said one day at Wonderland, where he i was a greater attraction to East Enders I than most prize-fights. "It is a good thing | for the old Church to take off its coat in i a gcod cause and put on the gloves."