Cosmo Lang | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
 Archbishop Lang in 1920 | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Canterbury |
| Installed | 4 December 1928 (1928-12-4) |
| Term ended | 31 May 1942 (1942-05-31) |
| Predecessor | Randall Davidson |
| Successor | William Temple |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
|
| Consecration | 1 May 1901 by Frederick Temple |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864-10-31)31 October 1864 Fyvie Manse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 5 December 1945(1945-12-05) (aged 81) Richmond, Surrey, England |
| Buried | Chapel of St Stephen Martyr,Canterbury Cathedral |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Residence | Lambeth Palace (while in office) |
| Alma mater | |
| Signature |  |
William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth,GCVO, GCStJ, PC (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a ScottishAnglicanprelate who served asArchbishop of York (1908–1928) andArchbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of hisordination, was the most rapid in modernChurch of England history. As Archbishop of Canterbury during theabdication crisis of 1936, he took a strong moral stance, his comments in a subsequent broadcast being widely condemned as uncharitable towards the departed king.
The son of a ScotsPresbyterian minister, Lang abandoned the prospect of a legal and political career to train for theAnglican priesthood. Beginning in 1890, his early ministry was served in slum parishes inLeeds andPortsmouth, except for brief service as Vicar of theUniversity Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford. In 1901 he was appointedsuffraganBishop of Stepney in London, where he continued his work among the poor. He also served as acanon ofSt Paul's Cathedral, London.
In 1908 Lang was nominated as Archbishop of York, despite his relatively junior status as a suffragan rather than adiocesan bishop. His religious stance was broadlyAnglo-Catholic, tempered by theliberal Anglo-Catholicism advocated in theLux Mundi essays. He consequently entered theHouse of Lords as aLord Spiritual and caused consternation in traditionalist circles by speaking and voting against the Lords' proposal to rejectDavid Lloyd George's 1909 "People's Budget". This radicalism was not maintained in subsequent years. At the start of the First World War, Lang was heavily criticised for a speech in which he spoke sympathetically of theGerman Emperor. This troubled him greatly and may have contributed to the rapid ageing which affected his appearance during the war years. After the war he began to promote church unity and at the 1920Lambeth Conference was responsible for the Church's Appeal to All Christian People. As Archbishop of York he supported controversial proposals for the1928 revision of theBook of Common Prayer but, after acceding to Canterbury, he took no practical steps to resolve this issue.
Lang became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1928. He presided over the1930 Lambeth Conference, which gave limited church approval to the use ofcontraception. After denouncing theItalian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and strongly condemningEuropean antisemitism, Lang later supported theappeasement policies of the British government. In May 1937 he presided over thecoronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. On retirement in 1942 Lang was raised to the peerage as Baron Lang of Lambeth and continued to attend and speak in House of Lords debates until his death in 1945. Lang himself believed that he had not lived up to his own high standards. Others have praised his qualities of industry, his efficiency and his commitment to his calling.
Cosmo Gordon Lang was born in 1864 at themanse inFyvie,Aberdeenshire, the third son of the localChurch of Scotland minister,John Marshall Lang, and his wife Hannah Agnes Lang.[1] Cosmo was baptised at Fyvie church by a neighbouring minister, the name "William" being added inadvertently to his given names, perhaps because the locallaird was called William Cosmo Gordon. The additional name was rarely used subsequently.[2] In January 1865 the family moved toGlasgow on John Lang's appointment as a minister in theAnderston district. Subsequent moves followed: in 1868 toMorningside, Edinburgh and, in 1873, back to Glasgow when John Lang was appointed minister to the historicBarony Church.[2]
Among Cosmo's brothers wereMarshall Buchanan Lang, who followed his father into the Church of Scotland, eventually serving as itsModerator in 1935;[3] andNorman Macleod Lang, who served theChurch of England asBishop suffragan of Leicester.
In Glasgow, Lang attended the Park School, a day establishment where he won a prize for an essay on English literature and played the occasional game of football; otherwise, he recorded, "I was never greatly interested in [the school's] proceedings."[2] Holidays were spent in different parts of Scotland, most notably inArgyll to which, later in life, Lang would frequently return. In 1878, at the age of 14, Lang sat and passed hismatriculation examinations. Despite his youth, he began his studies at theUniversity of Glasgow later that year.[2]
At the university Lang's tutors included some of Scotland's leading academics: the Greek scholarRichard Claverhouse Jebb, the physicistWilliam Thomson (who was later created Lord Kelvin) and the philosopherEdward Caird. Long afterwards Lang commented on the inability of some of these eminent figures to handle "the Scottish boors who formed a large part of their classes". Lang was most strongly influenced by Caird, who gave the boy's mind "its first real awakening". Lang recalled how, in a revelation as he was passing throughKelvingrove Park, he expressed aloud his sudden conviction that: "The Universe is one and its Unity and Ultimate Reality is God!"[4] He acknowledged that his greatest failure at the university was his inability to make any progress in his understanding of mathematics, "to me, then and always, unintelligible".[4]
In 1881 Lang made his first trip outside Scotland, to London where he heard the theologian and oratorHenry Parry Liddon preach inSt Paul's Cathedral.[5] He also heardWilliam Ewart Gladstone andJoseph Chamberlain debating in theHouse of Commons.[5] Later that year he travelled to Cambridge to stay with a friend who was studying there. A visit toKing's College Chapel persuaded Lang that he should study at the college; the following January he sat and passed the entrance examination. When he discovered that as part of his degree studies he would be examined in mathematics, his enthusiasm disappeared. Instead, he applied toBalliol College, Oxford, and was accepted.[5] In mid-1882 he ended his studies at Glasgow with aMaster of Arts degree, and was awarded prizes for essays on politics and church history.[6]
Lang started at Balliol in October 1882. In his first term he successfully sat for theBrackenbury Scholarship, described by his biographer John Gilbert Lockhart as "the Blue Ribbon of history scholarship at any University of the British Isles".[7] In February 1883 his first speech at theOxford Union, against thedisestablishment of the Church of Scotland, was warmly received; the chairman likened his oratory to that of the Ancient Greek statesman,Demosthenes.[8] He becamethe Union's president in theTrinity term of 1883,[1] and the following year was a co-founder of theOxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS).[8]
Although Lang considered himself forward-thinking, he joined and became secretary of the Canning Club, the university's principalConservative society. His contemporaryRobert Cecil recorded that Lang's "progressive" opinions were somewhat frowned upon by traditionalTories, who nevertheless respected his ability.[8] Lang later assisted in the founding of the University settlement ofToynbee Hall, a mission to help the poor in theEast End of London.[9] He had been first drawn to this work in 1883, after listening to a sermon in St Mary's Church, Oxford, bySamuel Augustus Barnett, Vicar of St Jude's, Whitechapel.[9] Barnett became the settlement's first leader,[10] while Lang became one of its first undergraduate secretaries. He spent so much time on these duties that he was chided by the Master of Balliol,Benjamin Jowett, for neglecting his studies.[9] In 1886 Lang graduated withfirst-class honours in History;[1] in October he failed to secure a Fellowship ofAll Souls College, blaming his poor early scholastic training in Glasgow.[9]
Lang's career ambition from early in life was to practise law, enter politics and then take office in some future Conservative administration.[9] In 1887 he began his studies for the English Bar, working in the London chambers ofW.S. Robson, a futureAttorney-General, whose "vehement radicalism was an admirable stimulus and corrective to [Lang's] liberal Conservatism".[11] During these years Lang was largely aloof from religion, but continued churchgoing out of what he termed "hereditary respect". He attended services at thenonconformistCity Temple church and sometimes went to St Paul's Cathedral. Of his life at that time he said: "I must confess that I played sometimes with those external temptations that our Christian London flaunts in the face of its young men."[11]
In October 1888 Lang was elected to an All Souls Fellowship, and began to divide his time between London and Oxford.[12] Some of his Oxford friends were training for ordination and Lang was often drawn into their discussions. Eventually the question entered Lang's mind: "Why shouldn'tyou be ordained?"[13] The thought persisted, and one Sunday evening in early 1889, after a visit to thetheological college at Cuddesdon in Oxfordshire, Lang attended evening service atCuddesdon parish church. By his own account, during the sermon he was gripped by "a masterful inward voice" which told him "You are wanted. You are called. You must obey."[13] He immediately severed his connection with the Bar, renounced his political ambitions and applied for a place at Cuddesdon College. With the help of an All Souls contact, the essential step of hisconfirmation into the Church of England was supervised by theBishop of Lincoln.[13] Lang's decision to become an Anglican and seek ordination disappointed his Presbyterian father, who nevertheless wrote to his son: "What you think, prayerfully and solemnly, you ought to do – you must do – we will accept."[14]
After a year's study atCuddesdon, Lang was ordained asdeacon. He rejected an offer of the chaplaincy of All Souls as he wanted to be "up and doing" in a tough parish.[15] Lang identified with theAnglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, in part, he admitted, as a reaction against hisevangelical upbringing in the Church of Scotland.[13] His sympathies lay with the progressive wing of Anglo-Catholicism represented by theLux Mundi essays, published in 1888 by a group of forward-looking Oxford theologians. Among these wasEdward Stuart Talbot, Warden ofKeble, who in 1888 had become Vicar ofLeeds Parish Church. Talbot had contributed the essay entitled "The Preparation for History in Christ" inLux Mundi.[16] On ordination Lang eagerly accepted the offer of acuracy under Talbot, and arrived in Leeds in late 1890.[15]
Leeds Parish Church, rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1841 after an elaborate ceremony,[17] was of almost cathedral size, the centre of a huge parish ministered by manycurates. Lang's district was the Kirkgate, one of the poorest areas, many of whose 2,000 inhabitants were prostitutes.[18] Lang and his fellow curates fashioned a clergy house from a derelictpublic house. He later moved next door, into a condemned property which became his home for his remaining service in Leeds.[19] In addition to his normal parish duties, Lang acted temporarily as Principal of theClergy School, was chaplain to Leeds Infirmary, and took charge of a men's club of around a hundred members. On 24 May 1891 he was ordained to full priesthood.[18]
Lang continued to visit Oxford when time allowed and on a visit to All Souls in June 1893 he was offered the post of Dean of Divinity atMagdalen College. Other offers were open to him; theBishop of Newcastle wished to appoint him vicar of thecathedral church in Newcastle and Benjamin Jowett wished him to return to Balliol as a tutor in theology. Lang chose Magdalen; the idea of being in charge of young men who might in the future achieve positions of responsibility was attractive to him and, in October 1893, with many regrets, he left Leeds.[20]
As Magdalen's Dean of Divinity (college chaplain),[21] Lang hadpastoral duties with the college's undergraduates and responsibility for the chapel and its choir. Lang was delighted with this latter obligation; his concern for the purity of the choir's sound led him to request that visitors "join in the service silently".[20] In 1894 Lang was asked to add to his workload by acting as Vicar of theUniversity Church of St Mary the Virgin, whereJohn Henry Newman had begun his Oxford ministry in 1828.[22] The church had almost ceased to function when Lang took it over, but he revived regular services, chose preachers with care and slowly rebuilt the congregation.[23] In December 1895 he was offered the post of Vicar ofPortsea, a large parish withinPortsmouth on the south coast, but he was not ready to leave Oxford and refused. Some months later he had further thoughts; the strain of his dual appointment in Oxford was beginning to tell and, he claimed, "the thought of this great parish [of Portsea] and work going a-begging troubled my conscience." After discovering that the Portsea offer was still open, he decided to accept, though with some misgiving.[24]
Portsea, covering much of the town of Portsmouth, was a dockside parish of around 40,000 inhabitants with a mixture of housing ranging from neat terraces to squalid slums.[25] The large, recently rebuiltSt Mary's church held more than 2,000 people.[25] Lang arrived in June 1896 to lead a team of more than a dozen curates serving the five districts of the parish. He quickly resumed the kind of urban parish work he had carried out in Leeds; he founded a Sunday afternoon men's conference with 300 men, and supervised the construction of a large conference hall as a centre for parish activities.[26] He also pioneered the establishment of parochial church councils long before they were given legal status in 1919.[27] Outside his normal parish duties, Lang served as chaplain to the local prison,[26] and became acting chaplain to the 2nd HampshireRoyal Artillery Volunteer Corps.[28]
Lang's relationship with his curates was generally formal. They were aware of his ambition and felt that he sometimes spent too much time on his outside interests such as his All Souls Fellowship, but were nevertheless impressed by his efficiency and his powers of oratory.[25] The Church historianAdrian Hastings singles out Portsea under Lang as an example of "extremely disciplined pastoral professionalism".[29] Lang may have realised that he was destined for high office; he is reported to have practised the signature "Cosmo Cantuar" during a relaxed discussion with his curates ("Cantuar" is part of theArchbishop of Canterbury's formal signature).[30] In January 1898 he was invited byQueen Victoria to preach atOsborne House, herIsle of Wight home. Afterwards he talked with the Queen who, Lang records, suggested that he should marry. Lang replied that he could not afford to as his curates cost too much. He added: "If a curate proves unsatisfactory I can get rid of him. A wife is a fixture."[31] He was summoned on several more occasions and in the following January was appointed anHonorary Chaplain to the Queen.[32] These visits to Osborne were the start of a close association with the Royal Family which lasted for the rest of Lang's life.[27] As one of the Queen's chaplains, he assisted in the funeral arrangements after her death in January 1901.[33]
In March 1901 Lang was appointedsuffraganBishop of Stepney and acanon of St Paul's Cathedral.[34] These appointments reflected his growing reputation and recognised his successful ministry in working-class parishes. He wasconsecrated bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury,Frederick Temple, in St Paul's Cathedral, on 1 May;[35] his time would subsequently be divided between his work in the Stepney region and his duties at St Paul's.[35]TheUniversity of Oxford honoured him with the degree ofDoctor of Divinity in late May 1901.[36]
Lang's region of Stepney within the Diocese of London extended over the whole area generally known as London's East End, with two million people in more than 200 parishes. Almost all were poor, and housed in overcrowded and insanitary conditions. Lang knew something of the area from his undergraduate activities at Toynbee Hall, and his conscience was troubled by the squalor that he saw as he travelled around the district, usually by bus and tram.[37]
Lang's liberal conservatism enabled him to associate easily with Socialist leaders such asWill Crooks andGeorge Lansbury, successive mayors ofPoplar; he was responsible for bringing the latter back to regular communion in the Church.[27] In 1905 he and Lansbury joined the Central London Unemployed Body, set up by the government to tackle the region's unemployment problems.[38] That same year Lang took as his personal assistant a young Cambridge graduate and clergyman's son,Dick Sheppard, who became a close friend and confidante. Sheppard was eventually ordained, becoming a radical clergyman and founder of thePeace Pledge Union.[39] Lang believed that socialism was a growing force in British life, and at aChurch Congress inGreat Yarmouth in 1907 he speculated on how the Church should respond to this. His remarks reachedThe New York Times, which warned that modern socialism was often equated with unrest, that "the cry of the demagogue is in the air" and that the Church should not heed this cry.[40]
Much of the work in the district was supported by the East London Church Fund, established in 1880 to provide for additional clergy and lay workers in the poorest districts.[41] Lang preached in wealthier parishes throughout Southern England, and urged his listeners to contribute to the Fund.[42] He resumed his ministry to the army when, in 1907, he was appointed Honorary Chaplain to theCity of London Imperial Yeomanry (Rough Riders).[43] He became chairman of theChurch of England Men's Society (CEMS), which had been founded in 1899 by the merger of numerous organisations doing the same work. Initially he found it "a very sickly infant", but under his leadership it expanded rapidly, and soon had over 20,000 members in 600 branches. Later he became critical of the Church's failure to use this movement effectively, calling it one of the Church's lost opportunities.[42]
Lang's appointment as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral required him to spend three months annually as the canon in residence, with administrative and preaching duties.[44] Following his appointment as canon, he was also appointed treasurer of the cathedral.[45] His preaching on Sunday afternoons caught the attention ofWilliam Temple, Lang's future successor at both York and Canterbury, who was then an undergraduate at Oxford. Temple observed that, in contrast to the Bishop of London's sermons, listening to Lang brought on an intellectual rather than emotional pleasure: "I can remember all his points, just because their connexion is inevitable.... And for me, there is no doubt that this is the more edifying by far."[46] Lang was a member of the cathedral's governing body, the Dean and Chapter, and was responsible for the organisation of special occasions, such as the service of thanksgiving for KingEdward VII's recovery fromappendicitis in July 1902.[44]
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In late 1908 Lang was informed of his election asBishop of Montreal. Letters from theGovernor General of Canada and theCanadian High Commissioner urged him to accept, but the Archbishop of Canterbury asked him to refuse.[47][48] A few weeks later a letter fromH. H. Asquith, the prime minister, informed Lang that he had been nominatedArchbishop of York.[47] Lang was only 44 years old, and had no experience as a diocesan bishop. On the issue of age, theChurch Times believed that Asquith deliberately recommended the youngest bishop available, after strong political lobbying for the appointment of the elderlyBishop of Hereford,John Percival.[49] Such a promotion for a suffragan, and within so short a period after ordination, was without recent precedent in the Church of England. Lang's friendHensley Henson, a futureBishop of Durham, wrote: "I am, of course, surprised that you gostraight to an archbishopric [...] But you are too meteoric for precedent."[47] The appointment was generally well received, although theProtestant Truth Society sought in vain to prevent its confirmation. Strong opponents of Anglo-Catholic practices, they maintained that as Bishop of Stepney Lang had "connived at and encouraged flagrant breaking of the law relating to church ritual".[50]
Lang'selection to York wasconfirmed on 20 January[51] and he was enthroned atYork Minster on 25 January 1909. In 18 years since ordination he had risen to the second-highest position in the Church of England.[52] In addition to his diocesan responsibilities for York itself, he became head of the entireNorthern Province, and a member of theHouse of Lords. Believing that theDiocese of York was too large, he proposed reducing it by forming a newDiocese of Sheffield, which after several years' work was inaugurated in 1914.[53] In the years following his appointment, Lang spoke out on a range of social and economic issues, and in support of improved working conditions. After taking his seat in the House of Lords in February 1909, he made his maiden speech in November in the debate on the controversialPeople's Budget, advising the Lords against their intention to reject this measure. He cast his first Lords vote against rejection, because he was "deeply convinced of the unwisdom of the course the Lords proposed to take". Although his speech was received with respect, Lang's stance was politely reproved by the leading Conservative peerLord Curzon.[54][55]
Despite this socially progressive stance, Lang's political instincts remained conservative. He voted against the1914 Irish Home Rule Bill and opposed liberalisation of the divorce laws.[56] After playing a prominent role inKing George V's coronation in 1911, Lang became increasingly close to the Royal Family, an association which drew the comment that he was "more courtier than cleric".[57] His love of ceremony, and concern for how an archbishop should look and live, began to obscure other aspects of his ministry;[58] rather than assuming the role of the people's prelate he began, in the words of his biographer Alan Wilkinson, to act as a "prince of the church".[59]
When war broke out in August 1914, Lang concluded that the conflict was righteous, and that younger clergy should be encouraged to serve as military chaplains, although it was not their duty to fight. He thereafter was active in recruiting campaigns throughout his province.[60] At a meeting in York in November 1914 he caused offence when he spoke out against excessive anti-German propaganda, and recalled a "sacred memory" of theKaiser kneeling with King Edward VII at the bier of Queen Victoria.[61] These remarks, perceived as pro-German, produced what Lang termed "a perfect hail of denunciation".[62] The strain of this period, coupled with the onset ofalopecia, drastically altered Lang's relatively youthful appearance to that of a bald and elderly-looking man.[61] His friends were shocked; the king, meeting him on the Royal train, apparently burst into guffaws of laughter.[62]
Public hostility against Lang was slow to subside, re-emerging from time to time throughout the war.[62] Lang continued his contribution to the war effort, paying visits to theGrand Fleet and to theWestern Front.[61] He applied all his organisational skills to the Archbishop of Canterbury's National Mission of Repentance and Hope,[63] an initiative designed to renew Christian faith nationwide, but it failed to make a significant impact.[64]
As a result of theBattle of Jerusalem of December 1917, theBritish Empire'sEgyptian Expeditionary Force captured theHoly City, bringing it under Christian control for the first time since theCrusades. As Prelate of theVenerable Order of Saint John, Lang led a service of celebration on 11 January 1918 at the Order's Grand Priory Church,Clerkenwell. He explained that it was 917 years since theOrder's hospital had been founded inJerusalem, and 730 years since they were driven out bySaladin. "London is the city of the Empire's commerce, but Jerusalem is the city of the soul, and it is particularly fitting thatBritish Armies should have delivered it out of the hands of theinfidel."[65]
Early in 1918, at the invitation of theEpiscopal Church of the United States, he made a goodwill visit to America, praising the extent and willingness of America's participation in the war.[66] TheWestminster Gazette called this "one of the most moving and memorable visits ever paid by an Englishman [sic] to the United States".[67]
After the war, Lang's primary cause was that of church unity. In 1920, as chairman of the Reunion Committee at the SixthLambeth Conference, he promoted an "Appeal to all Christian People", described by Hastings as "one of the rare historical documents that does not get forgotten with the years".[68] It was unanimously adopted as the Conference's Resolution 9, and ended: "We [...] ask that all should unite in a new and great endeavour to recover and to manifest to the world the unity of the Body of Christ for which He prayed."[69] Despite initial warmth from the EnglishFree Churches, little could be achieved in terms of practical union betweenepiscopal and non-episcopal churches, and the initiative was allowed to lapse. Historically, the Appeal is considered the starting-point for the more successfulecumenical efforts of later generations.[61][70]
Lang was supportive of theMalines Conversations of 1921–26, though not directly involved.[71] These were informal meetings between leading British Anglo-Catholics and reform-minded European Roman Catholics, exploring the possibility of reuniting the Anglican and Roman communions. Although the discussions had the blessing ofRandall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, many Anglican evangelicals were alarmed by them. Ultimately, the talks foundered on the entrenched opposition of the Catholicultramontanes.[72] A by-product of these conversations may have been the awakening of opposition to the revision of the AnglicanPrayer Book. The focus of this revision, which Lang supported, was to make concessions to Anglo-Catholic rituals and practices in the Anglican service. The new Prayer Book was overwhelmingly approved by the Church's main legislative body, theChurch Assembly, and by the House of Lords. Partly through the advocacy of the fervently evangelicalHome Secretary,Sir William Joynson-Hicks, the revision was twice defeated in the House of Commons, in December 1927 by 238 votes to 205 and, in June 1928, by 266 to 220.[73][74] Lang was deeply disappointed, writing that "the gusts of Protestant convictions, suspicions, fears [and] prejudices swept through the House, and ultimately prevailed."[75]
On 26 April 1923,George V awarded Lang theRoyal Victorian Chain, an honour in the personal gift of the Sovereign[76] After the marriage of Prince Albert, Duke of York (laterGeorge VI) in 1923, Lang formed a friendship with his Duchess (laterQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) which lasted for the rest of Lang's life. In 1926, he baptised Princess Elizabeth (laterElizabeth II) in the private chapel ofBuckingham Palace.[77] In January 1927, Lang took centre-stage in the elaborate ceremonies which marked the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of York Minster.[78]
Archbishop Davidson resigned in July 1928, believed to have been the first Archbishop of Canterbury ever to retire voluntarily.[79] On 26 July Lang was notified by the Prime Minister,Stanley Baldwin, that he would be the successor; William Temple would succeed Lang at York.[80] Lang was enthroned as the new Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 December 1928,[1] the first bachelor to hold the appointment in 150 years. A contemporaryTime magazine article described Lang as "forthright and voluble" and as looking "like George Washington".[79] Lang's first three years at Canterbury were marked by intermittent illnesses, which required periods of convalescence away from his duties.[81] After 1932, he enjoyed good health for the rest of his life.[82]
Lang avoided continuation of the Prayer Book controversy of 1928 by allowing the parliamentary process to lapse. He then authorised a statement permitting use of the rejected Book locally if the parochial church council gave approval. The issue remained dormant for the rest of Lang's tenure at Canterbury.[83] He led the 1930 Lambeth Conference, where further progress was made in improving relations with theEastern Orthodox Churches and theOld Catholics,[81] although again no agreement could be reached with the non-episcopal Free Churches.[84] On an issue of greater concern to ordinary people, the Conference gave limited approval, for the first time, to the use of contraceptive devices, an issue in which Lang had no interest.[85] Through the 1930s Lang continued to work for Church unity. In 1933 the Church of England assembly formed a Council on Foreign Relations and, in the following years, numerous exchange visits with Orthodox delegations took place, a process only halted by the outbreak of war. Lang's 1939 visit to theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as the high point of his ecumenical record.[81]George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, maintained that no one in the Anglican Communion did more than Lang to promote the unity movement.[81]
In 1937 the Oxford Conference on Church and Society, which later gave birth to theWorld Council of Churches,[86] produced what was according to the church historian Adrian Hastings "the most serious approach to the problems of society that the Church had yet managed",[87] but without Lang's close involvement. By this time Lang's identification with the poor had largely vanished, as had his interest in social reform.[88] In the Church Assembly his closest ally was the aristocraticLord Hugh Cecil; Hastings maintains that the Church of England in the 1930s was controlled "less by Lang and Temple in tandem than by Lang and Hugh Cecil".[89] Lang got on well withHewlett Johnson, the pro-communist priest who was appointedDean of Canterbury in 1931.[81]
Lang often spoke in the House of Lords about the treatment of Russian Christians in the Soviet Union. He also denounced the anti-semitic policies of the German government, and he took private steps to help European Jews.[90][91] In 1938 he was instrumental in saving 60 rabbis from Burgenland, who would have been murdered by the Nazis had the archbishop not obtained them entry visas to England.[92]
In 1933, having commented on the "noble task" of assisting India towards independence, he was appointed to the Joint Committee on the Indian Constitution.[91] He condemned the Italian invasion ofAbyssinia in 1935, appealing for medical supplies to be sent to the Abyssinian troops.[90] As the threat of war increased later in the decade, Lang became a strong supporter of the government's policy of appeasing the European dictators, declaring the Sunday after theMunich Agreement of September 1938 to be a day of thanksgivings for the "sudden lifting of this cloud".[90] Earlier that year, contrary to his former stance, he had supported the Anglo-Italian agreement to recognise the conquest of Abyssinia, because he believed that "an increase of appeasement" was necessary to avoid the threat of war.[93] Lang also backed the government's non-intervention policy in regard to theSpanish Civil War, saying that there were no clear issues that required the taking of sides.[88] He described thebombing of Guernica by the Germans and the Italians, on 26 April 1937, as "deplorable and shocking".[94] In October 1937 Lang's condemnation ofImperial Japanese Army actions in China provoked hostile scrutiny by the Japanese authorities of theAnglican Church in Japan, and caused some in that church's leadership to publicly disassociate themselves from theChurch of England.[95]
On the domestic front, Lang supported campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty.[96] He upheld the right of the Church to refuse the remarriage of divorced persons within its buildings,[97] but he did not directly opposeA.P. Herbert'sMatrimonial Causes Bill of 1937, which liberalised the divorce laws – Lang believed "it was no longer possible to impose the full Christian standard by law on a largely non-Christian population."[56] He drew criticism for his opposition to the reform of the ancienttithe system, whereby many farmers paid a proportion of their income to the Church; in the subsequent "Tithe Wars", demonstrators atAshford, Kent ceremonially burned his effigy.[97][98]Near the end of his term in office Lang led a deputation from several church groups to theMinistry of Education, to present a five-point plan for the teaching of religion in state schools. These points were eventually embodied in theEducation Act 1944.[99]
Lang was responsible for drafting King George V's silver jubilee broadcast message in 1935, and the King's last two Christmas messages.[100] This closeness to the throne was not maintained when the king died in January 1936 and was succeeded by his son,Edward VIII. The new king was wary of Lang, whom he had once admired.[100][101] Edward now found Lang to be "rather [...] accustomed to the company of princes and statesmen, more interested in the pursuit of prestige and power than the abstractions of the human soul".[102]
Lang believed that, asPrince of Wales, Edward had not always been wise in his choice of friends and acquaintances, whose standards Lang was later to condemn as "alien to all the best instincts and traditions of his people".[103] The archbishop had been aware for some time of the King's relationship with the AmericanWallis Simpson, then married to her second husbandErnest Simpson. In mid-1936 it became clear that the King intended to marry Simpson either before or shortly after his impending coronation, depending on the timing of her divorce from her husband. Lang agonised over whether he could, with good conscience, administer the Coronation Oath to the king in such circumstances, bearing in mind the Church's teaching on marriage. He confided to his diary his hopes that circumstances might change, or that he might be able to persuade the King to reconsider his actions, but the King refused to meet him.[101] Lang kept close contact withQueen Mary (the queen mother),Stanley Baldwin (the Prime Minister) andAlec Hardinge (the King's Private Secretary).[100] The king believed that Lang's influence was strong, later recalling how from beginning to end he felt the archbishop's "shadowy, hovering presence" in the background.[104] The king's view was accurate; Lang met with Baldwin on seven occasions during the crisis, an "unusual" frequency, and "made the most of his opportunities" to influence Baldwin into taking a firm line.[105][a]
The matter became public knowledge on 2 December 1936 whenAlfred Blunt,Bishop of Bradford, made an indirect comment on the King's "need for Divine Grace".[107] By then the king had unalterably decided that he would abdicate rather than give up Wallis Simpson. All attempts to dissuade him failed, and on 11 December he gave up his throne in favour of his brother,George VI.[108] Two days later Lang broadcast a speech, in which he said: "From God he received a high and sacred trust. Yet by his own will he has [...] surrendered the trust." The king's motive had been "a craving for private happiness" that he had sought "in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage".[109] The speech was widely condemned for its lack of charity towards the departed king[110] and provoked the writerGerald Bullett to publish a satirical punning rhyme:[b]
My Lord Archbishop, what a scold you are!
And when your man is down, how bold you are!
Of Christian charity how scant you are!
And, auld Lang swine, how full of Cantuar![112]
Lang's most recent biographer considers that his broadcast was "arguably the biggest mistake of his primacy."[113] The volume, and vehemence, of the reaction were immense.Alan Don, Lang's secretary and chaplain, wrote in his diary entry for Tuesday 15 December; "A perfect deluge of letters – the majority abusive and even vituperative", and went as far as to venture a rare criticism of his master; "C. C. was a little unfair to the poor King. I wish [he] had submitted his address to one of us beforehand but [...] he trusted his own judgement – which [...] [was] slightly at fault".[114][c]
Lang did not disguise his relief that the crisis was over. He wrote of George VI: "I was now sure that to the solemn words of the Coronation there would now be a sincere response."[116] On 12 May 1937, Langcrowned George VI with full pomp inWestminster Abbey. It was the first coronation to be broadcast.Time magazine recorded: "All through the three-hour ceremony, the most important person there was not the King, his nobles or his ministers, but a hawk-nosed old gentleman with a cream-&-gold cope who stood on a dais as King George approached: The Rt. Hon. and Most Reverend Cosmo Gordon Lang, D.D.. Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England."[117] Supposedly the archbishop fumbled with the Crown[d] but Lang himself was fully satisfied: "I can only be thankful to God's over-ruling Providence and trust that the Coronation may not be a mere dream of the past, but that its memories and lessons will not be forgotten."[119] He also said of the Coronation: "It was in a sense the culminating day of my official life. Once I saw it was going well, I enjoyed every minute." "Thank God that is over!" said his chaplain, as they got into the car to leave. "Lumley, how can you say such a thing!" cried the archbishop. "I only wish it was beginning over again."[120]
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Lang saw his main duty as the preservation of spiritual values during what he deemed to be an honourable conflict.[121] He opposed strategies such as indiscriminate bombing, and on 21 December 1940, in a letter toThe Times signed jointly with Temple andCardinal Hinsley, Lang expressed support for the pope's Five Peace Points initiative.[122] Lang was sympathetic to theSword of the Spirit campaign, founded by Hinsley in 1940 to combat anti-democratic tendencies among Catholics.[122] In May 1941Lambeth Palace, Lang's London home, was hit by bombs and made uninhabitable.[123]
After Germany's attack on Russia in June 1941, Lang said that the Russians must now be regarded as allies, without forgetting or condoning the excesses of the past.[121] His relations withWinston Churchill, prime minister since May 1940, were difficult because "he [Churchill] knows nothing about the Church, its life, its needs or its personnel". There was therefore "uncertainty as to what motives or how much knowledge may determine his decisions [on Church matters]".[124]
During 1941 Lang considered retirement. His main concern was that a Lambeth Conference – "perhaps the most fateful Lambeth Conference ever held" – would need to be called soon after the war. Lang felt that he would be too old to lead it and that he should make way for a younger man, preferably William Temple. On 27 November he informed the prime minister, Winston Churchill, of his decision to retire on 31 March 1942. His last official act in office, on 28 March, was the confirmation of Princess Elizabeth.[121]
On his retirement Lang was raised to thepeerage as Baron Lang of Lambeth, ofLambeth in theCounty of Surrey.[125] He thus remained in the House of Lords, where he attended regularly and contributed to debates. He worried about money, despite a pension, a largegrace and favour house atKew, and some generous cash gifts from well-wishers.[123] In 1943 he spoke in the House of Lords in support of theBeveridge Report on social insurance,[126] and on 9 February 1944 he reiterated his earlier opposition to obliteration bombing.[123] In October 1944 Lang was greatly distressed by the sudden death of William Temple, his successor at Canterbury, writing: "I don't like to think of the loss to the Church and Nation... But 'God knows and God reigns'."[127]
On 5 December 1945 Lang was due to speak in a Lords debate on conditions in Central Europe. On his way toKew Gardens station to catch the London train, he collapsed and was taken to hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. A post-mortem attributed the death to heart failure.[127] In paying tribute the following day,Lord Addison said that Lang was "not only a great cleric but a great man... we have lost in him a Father in God."[128] His body was cremated and the ashes taken to the Chapel of St Stephen Martyr, a side chapel atCanterbury Cathedral.[127]
Theprobate value of Lang's estate was £29 541 (approximately £1,610,000 in 2025).[129][130]
Although Lang was a bishop in England for longer than anyone else in the twentieth century, Hastings says that "of no other is it so hard to address his true significance".[131] His biographer George Moyser said, "His lasting significance is questionable. He was immensely industrious, an exceptional administrator, and was well-connected to leading politicians and aristocrats. But his accomplishments as Archbishop of Canterbury were modest."[132]
According to Lockhart he was a complex character in whom "a jangle of warring personalities... never reached agreement among themselves."[133] Lockhart writes that while Lang's many years of high office saw progress in the cause of Christian reunion, the mark he left on the Church was relatively small; many believed it could have been larger and deeper.[134] While Lang's oratorical and administrative gifts were beyond doubt, Hastings nevertheless claims that as Archbishop of Canterbury, Lang displayed no effective leadership or guidance, turning away from reform and content to be the "final sentinel to theancien régime".[135] Wilkinson says that Lang dealt conscientiously with problems as they arose, but without any overall strategy.[136]
In Hastings's view, Lang was probably more sympathetic to Rome than any other Church of England archbishop of modern times, responsible for a discreet catholicisation of the Church of England's practices.[137] A small outward indication of this was his decision to use acassock as everyday dress and to wear amitre on formal occasions, the first archbishop since theEnglish Reformation to do so.[81] Lang believed that in relation to the supreme truths of the church, rituals and dress were of small account, but that if people's worship was assisted by such customs they should be allowed.[138]
Despite Lang's long involvement with the poorest of society, after becoming Archbishop of York he increasingly detached himself from everyday life. The historian Tom Buchanan wrote that Lang's sympathy with ordinary people was replaced by "an upper class affectation and a delight in the high society in which his office allowed him to move".[88] No archbishop has been as close as Lang to the Royal Family; aChannel Four television history of the British monarchy maintained that Lang "held a view of Christianity in which the monarchy, rather than the cross, stood centre stage as the symbol of the nation's faith".[57] Successive generations of the Royal Family considered him their friend and honoured him. King George V appointed him to the largely ceremonial post ofLord High Almoner, and after the 1937 Coronation George VI created him aKnight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), a rare honour which, like the Royal Victorian Chain, lay in the private gift of the Sovereign.[136] A friend, commenting on the transformation of Lang's perspective, said of him: "He might have beenCardinal Wolsey orSt Francis of Assisi, and he chose to be Cardinal Wolsey."[139]
Lang also received numeroushonorary doctorates from British universities.[136] His portrait was painted many times; after sitting for SirWilliam Orpen in 1924, Lang reportedly remarked to Bishop Hensley Henson of Durham that the portrait showed him as "proud, prelatical and pompous". Henson's recorded reply was "To which of these epithets does Your Grace take exception?"[140][e]
At an early stage in his priesthood Lang decided to lead a celibate life. He had no objection to the institution of marriage, but felt that his own work would be hindered by domesticity. However, he enjoyed the company of women and confessed in 1928, after a visit to theRowntree's chocolate factory, that the sight of the girls there had "stirred up all the instincts of my youth... very little subdued by the passage of years".[117]
George Bell, theBishop of Chichester who had earlier praised Lang's work for church unity, said that Lang's failure to take a lead after the Prayer Book rejection of 1928 meant that the Church of England had been unable to revise its forms of worship or take any effective control of its own affairs.[134] Others have argued that Lang'slaissez-faire approach to the Prayer Book controversy helped to defuse a potentially explosive situation and contributed to an eventual solution.[133] Lang himself was gloomy about his legacy; he believed that since he had not led his country back into an Age of Faith, or marked his primacy with a great historical act, he had failed to live up to his own high standard. Others have judged him more charitably, praising his industry, his administrative ability and his devotion to duty.[133]
Lang wrote several books, including a novel of theJacobite rising of 1745. This had its origins in stories told by Lang to the Magdalen College choirboys during his tenure as Magdalen's Dean of Divinity.[142]
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| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Stepney 1901–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of York 1909–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Canterbury 1928–1942 | |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Lang of Lambeth 1942–1945 | Extinct |
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| People | |
| Other | |
