But I quite agree with you that he is not of the
little day--but of the longer time_.--HENRY JAMES.
The future of Bishop Temple is of more importance to the Church than to
himself. He is one of those solid and outstanding men whose decisions
affect a multitude, a man to whom many look with a confidence which he
himself, perhaps, may never experience.
He cannot, I think, be wholly unaware of this consideration in forming
his judgments, and I attribute, rather to a keen and weighty sense of
great responsibility than to any lack of vital courage, his increasing
tendency towards the Catholic position. One begins to think that he is
likely to disappoint many of those who once regarded him as the future
statesman of a Christianity somewhat less embarrassed by
institutionalism.
It is probable, one fears, that he may conclude at Lambeth a career in
theology comparable with that of Mr. Winston Churchill in politics. Born
in the ecclesiastical purple he may return to it, bringing with him only
the sheaves of an already mouldering orthodoxy.
On one ground, however, there is hope that he may yet shine in our
uneasy gloom with something more effective than the glow of
phosphorescence. He is devoted heart and soul to Labour. Events, then,
may drive him out of his present course, and urge him towards a future
of signal usefulness; for Labour is a force which waits upon
contingency, and moves as the wind moves--now softly, then harshly, now
gently, then with great violence.
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