THE QUIET HOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 9, 2 August 1930, Page 3

THE QUIET HOUR

SUNDAY READING.

TRIBUTE TO LATE ARCHBISHOP; OF CANTERBURY. ] TKe. Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. j Lang), who preached at the' Chapel j Tvoyal, St* James’s Palace, on Sun- I 'day ruoitaing, ' gave a beautifully phased appreciation of the late Archbishop. faking as his text, “After he had' served in his own generation the counsel of Gqd, he- fell on sleep,” the Afchbishop said:— As most of you know, when the light brpse upou tne morning of this Lord’s Day, Randall Thomas David- 1 ion, for forty years Bishop in the j Church of God and for twenty-five. ; years Archbishop of Canterbury, af- | ter baring,' in pis own generation, ; served the counsel of God. fell ' on ; sleep. It is well with him! A PARTING BLESSING. This is not the time and place to rehearse the record of his public life J it is ltd the man himself tout I will speak. When we think of him, one oi the first words that comes into opr. jainds is ‘‘wisdom.” Tie had a- great power in any platter of penetrating to the essential thing. He had an unfailing sensp of balance, of proportion. ff I may be forgiven one word of personal recollection, j shall never forget that, when two days ago, in one of his last moments of, consciousness, he laid His hand on my head in. blessing, the first words wHiicli came quick, but faltering in their utterance, to his lips were, “God give V<m'judgment!” And certainly in rich measure God had given that great gift to him. He had! an instinctive distrust and, indeed,'dislike of all tendencies, whe-ther-in’things human or Divine, of forcing things to logical issues. Ho stood remote, not so much from conviction as from temperament, from all ecclesiastical parties. Ho tried to appreciate them, but in himself he was apart from them. He was always anxious to understand and ap> ( predate even those whose - paint of view, whose temperament, political or religious, was ■ afferent from his own; always generously eager to And a place for them in the fellowship of the Church, and to the younger 1 generation. I know few men who more 'ceaselessly sought to keep themselves ip touch with the spirit of youth.:: As the years of . his Tong ministry' passed he was charged with an overincreasing responsibility. In his own life he had seen the. wonderful extension of this ancient Church of England into every part of the world. I He was himselbvconcerned dbectlv, j whether as chaplain, to • Archbishop Tait or as Bishop or Archbishop, with four of the great Lambeth Conferences. He saw the growth from the one hundred and eight Bishops who were present at the first Conference which he attended to the two. hundred and fifty-two who were present 'When lie presided in 1920, and Re lived to take an interest in the assembly of the next conference six week’s hence, when no fewer than three hundred Bishops from all parts of the world : will assemble in bis old home. All this access of responsibility he herewith -quiet and patient strength, and over this period which he served, as be sa,w the Church so wonderfully expanding and becoming a'• great power throughout the world, Ills one only concern was how could it fulfill the Counsel of God. * A GOOD MAN. An<J yet with all this growth of responsibility, with th© knowledge that men of all kinds and in all parts of the world were increasingly look- ' ing to him for guidance and help, his personal hummty grew with the 'great ’responsibilities. 1 have never known any man called to take so high a place in public life who was himself more hunjtbJe-minded. He was not a man who either, trusted the emotions of religion madia any display of them, but in ms heart ha wag penetrated! with the sense of the exceeding wonder of the love r£ God, and he bore himself dav "by day as a child; wajting upon his Father’s will. Those who went to him in need or in "sorrow or in suffering were alike

sometimes surprised ami always touched and helped by the way in wmrp he led] them into the very heart ol the mercies of Gcd. As I. look buck on those years of bis great work 1 Wnp serve that- Ins one constraining mot-

ive was, in. Tits'" own generation, ro serve the counsel of God. So, as wo take -cup" farewell cl tins great soak we shall think this morning of sr« Wife, that most gracious lady who for more than fitly years gave him unceasing and unlading help, understanding, : and sympathy ; we shall pray that the love of God shall uphold and strengthen her.