Cosmo Lang

Lang (like his predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson )
was a Scot and originally a Presbyterian. He was educated at the University Of Glasgow
and at Oxford, and studied law, envisaging a career as a barrister and
probably later as a progressive Conservative politician. However, he became convinced that
he was called to be a priest, and with great reluctance abandoned his
previous plans.

Lang's beliefs were Anglo-Catholic but liberal; seeing the ''Lux Mundi'' essays
as his early ideal. During his career he gently encouraged the Catholic trend
in the Church of England, succeeding in "normalizing" it. He was the first
Archbishop since the Reformation actually to wear a mitre, previously seen as
too Catholic a symbol (although bishops had used them as emblems).

In his early career he was a "slum priest", living in conditions of great
discomfort in a condemned building and mixing with what would now be called
the "underclass". In 1901 he became Suffragan Bishop of Stepney in London.
In 1908 he was appointed Archbishop of York, a stunning promotion which
recognized his status as a rising star.

As Archbishop of York, however, Lang began to behave, at least in public,
more as a "prince of the Church". It was unkindly said of him that "he could
have been St Francis of Assisi or Cardinal Wolsey, and he chose to be
Cardinal Wolsey". Nevertheless those who knew him personally were
impressed more by his kindness and shrewd judgment.

In the First World War, Lang criticized some of the excesses of
anti-German propaganda, and as a result became a target of public
abuse; a shock which seems to have had a deep impact. Contrary to
his public appearance, Lang was a man who lacked inner confidence.

In 1928, when Randall Davidson retired,
Lang was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Davidson's retirement followed,
but was not in fact connected with, Parliament's rejection of the
proposed new Prayer Book . Lang was faced
with calls either to reopen the question or to challenge parliament, but
in fact he took what proved the wiser course of simply letting the
new book come into unofficial use.

Lang had probably gone to Canterbury too late. He was still a superb
speaker and preacher, but the energy that had made him such a star
at the turn of the century had departed. His image was now as "proud,
pompous and prelatical". Soon after appointment, he was seriously
ill, further reducing his energy and impact.

However, he was active in both Church and public affairs in
the 1930s. In 1930 he presided over the Lambeth Conference .
The 1930 conference is especially remembered for its declaration
on Contraception . Previously, the Anglican Church had taken
essentially the same line as Roman Catholicism, opposing
any artificial contraception, and this had been endorsed
at the previous (1920) Lambeth Conference. However in 1930 the
Conference agreed by majority that contraception could in
certain circumstances be justified. Lang did not seem to have
strong views on the subject, and was apparently mainly concerned
with achieving an agreed outcome.

In 1936 he treated A.P. Herbert 's Divorce Law
Reform Bill with neutrality, taking the view that although the
Church disapproved of easier divorce he accepted that the bill
was desirable for the state.

Lang was relatively close to both Stanley Baldwin and
(somewhat more surprisingly) Neville Chamberlain, and
was broadly a supporter of their appeasement policies.

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Cosmo Lang