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FROM-THE-  LIBRARY-OF 
TRINITYCOLLEGETORDNTO 


LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

OF 

BROOKE   FOSS  WESTCOTT 


*;& 


Life  and  Letters 

of 

Brooke  Foss  Westcott 

D.D.,   D.C.L. 

Sometime  Bishop  of  Durham 


BY    HIS    SON 

ARTHUR    WESTCOTT 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 
VOL.  II 


iLonHon 
MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,  LIMITED 

NEW  YORK:  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1903 

All  rights  reserved 


J 


"  To  make  of  life  one  harmonious  whole,  to  realise  the 
invisible,  to  anticipate  the  transfiguring  majesty  of  the  Divine 
Presence,  is  all  that  is  worth  living  for." — B.  F.  W. 


First  Edition  March  1903. 
Reprinted  April  and  October  1903. 


119807 

SEP      6  1985 


BISHOP  WESTCOTT'S  ARMS. 


VOL.  II 


A  2 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    IX 

WESTMINSTER 
1883-1890 

Interview  with  Mr.  Gladstone  —  Installation  at  Westminster  —  Visit  to 
Edinburgh  (University  Tercentenary) — Ordination  of  his  three  sons — 
The  Abbey  threatened — Deaneries  offered — Abbey  Services — Sermons 
and  Lectures — Guidance  of  visitors— Jubilee  Service  ,(1887) — Social 
work  (Peace  and  Arbitration) — Dread  of  popularity — Death  of  Bishop 
Lightfoot — Commentary  on  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews — His  portrait 
and  the  Artist's  impressions — Birmingham  Bishopric  Scheme — Affection 
for  the  Abbey — The  North  Transept  sculptures — Letters  (1884-1890) 

Page  I 


CHAPTER   X 

DURHAM 
1890-1893 

Nomination — Election — Confirmation  —  Consecration  —  Enthronement  — 
Views  on  Gambling — International  Peace  Parliamentary  Congress — 
The  Co-operative  Movement — The  Church  Congress  at  Hull — The 
Gospel  of  Life — Schoolmasters'  Quiet  Day — The  Durham  Coal  Strike 
— His  successful  mediation — Dedication  Service  at  Peterborough — 
Death  of  Professor  Hort — Opening  of  the  Girls'  Grammar  School  at 
Birmingham — The  Incarnation  and  Common  Life — Religious  Thought 
in  the  West— Letters  (1890-1892)  .  .  .  .  91 

vii 


viii  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 

CHAPTER   XI 

DURHAM  (continued) 
1893-1897 

The  Welsh  Church  Suspensory  Bill— Visitation  of  the  Cathedral— Views 
on  "pure  beer" — Last  visit  to  the  Continent — The  Anglican  Mis 
sionary  Conference — Efforts  on  behalf  of  the  Deserving  Unemployed 
— The  junior  clergy  and  foreign  service— Death  of  Archbishop  Benson 
— Christian  Aspects  of  Life — Letters  (1893-1896)  .  Page  171 

CHAPTER    XII 

DURHAM  (continued) 
1897-1900 

His  illness  —  Active  interest  in  Church  Reform — .The  Bicentenary  of 
S.P.C.K.— Visit  to  Dublin— The  Christian  Social  Union— Memorial 
to  Christina  Rossetti — Visit  to  Cambridge — Co-operative  Conference 
at  Auckland  Castle — The  Ritual  Controversy — Homes  for  Aged  Miners 
—Sermons  on  the  War  in  South  Africa — The  Bicentenary  of  S.P.G. 
—Letters  (1897-1900)  .....  245 

CHAPTER   XIII 

DURHAM  (continued) 
1900-1901 

Domestic  sorrows — Last  visit  to  Cambridge — Convocation  Sermon  in  York 
Minster — Death  of  his  wife — Lessons  from  Work — Letters  (1900-1901) 

319 

CHAPTER   XIV 

BISHOP   WESTCOTT   AS   DIOCESAN    AND    "EVERYBODY'S    BISHOP" 

As  Diocesan  (contributed  by  Archdeacon  Boutflower) :  —  Organisation — 
Personal  influence — Judgment  of  character— Auckland  students- 
Patience  and  optimism  —  Sense  of  office — Concentration  of  work — 


CONTENTS  ix 

Breadth  of  outlook — As  National  Churchman — Limitation  of  work — 
Business  babits— Intelligibility — Spiritual  vision.  As  "  Everybody's 
Bishop"  (contributed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Burt,  M.P.) : — "  Everybody's 
Bishop" — Interest  in  Co-operation — "The  pitmen's  Bishop" — The 
Strike  of  1892 — Conferences  at  Auckland  Castle — The  Bishop  as  host — 
His  knowledge  of  social  questions — Conciliation  Conference  in  Durham 
— Northumberland  Miners'  Gala  (1894) — Last  address  to  Durham 
miners — Comparison  with  Shelley — Prophet  and  Saint  Page  360 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE    LAST   WEEK  .          39 2 

APPENDICES 

PUBLIC  TRIBUTES          ...  .       407 

PRAYERS  .  .419 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL          .  .441 

NOTE  ON   HANDWRITING  .        449 

INDEX  .        453 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Photogravure  Portrait.     From  a  Photograph  by  Elliott  and 

Fry,  London,  1890  .  .        Frontispiece 

Bishop  Westcott's  Arms .  .  v 

Facsimile  of  Letter          .  .  .  .  .13 

Sanctuary  Knocker  of  Durham  Cathedral.    From  a  Sketch 

by  Bishop  Westcott  .  .  .  .144 

Pont  du  Card.      From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop  Westcott         .        180 
Window  in  Auckland  Castle.     From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop 

Westcott     .  .  .  .  .  .186 

Screen  in  Auckland  Castle  Chapel.     From  a  Sketch  by 

Bishop  Westcott      .  .  .  .  .264 


CHAPTER    IX 

WESTMINSTER 
1883-1890 

IT  will  be  readily  understood  that  my  father's  removal 
from  Peterborough  provoked  considerable  indignation 
in  the  circle  of  his  friends.  Into  the  workings  of  this 
feeling  it  would  be  improper  to  enter.  But  it  came  to 
pass  that  Mr.  Gladstone  invited  my  father  to  an  inter 
view,  and  expressed  his  earnest  wish  to  serve  him. 
The  sum  of  that  conversation  is  contained  in  these 
few  words  addressed  to  Bishop  Lightfoot : — 

T&thjuly  1883. 

Mr.  Gladstone  practically  offered  me  in  a  conversation  the 
Deanery  of  Exeter,  and  then  most  kindly  went  on  to  say  that 
I  might  prefer  (as  you  did — was  not  that  good  of  him  to 
add  ?)  a  canonry  to  hold  with  Cambridge  work. 

Shortly  after  this  conversation  a  Westminster  canonry 
became  vacant  through  Canon  Barry's  acceptance  of 
the  See  of  Sydney.  Dr.  Barry,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  an  exact  contemporary  of  my  father  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge  ;  so  that  there  was  a  special  fitness 
in  the  bishop-elect  inviting  his  successor  to  preach  the 
sermon  at  his  consecration,  which  took  place  on  1st 
VOL.  II  B 


2  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

January  1884.  On  the  2nd  of  the  following  month 
my  father  was  installed  as  Canon  of  Westminster.  His 
first  sermon  as  such  was  preached  on  27th  April,  and 
was  an  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society.  In  his  text-book  on  that  day  he  entered,  as 
he  was  now  beginning  a  new  work  :  Tliorros  6  tcaXatv. 
Nat  KPE  IHT.1 

The  appointment  had  been  made  the  occasion  of 
many  congratulatory  letters,  and  had  given  general 
satisfaction  ;  but,  more  important,  the  new  Canon  was 
most  warmly  received  by  his  colleagues  at  the  Abbey. 
Other  fellow -workers  hastened  to  echo  the  welcome 
thus  expressed  by  Dean  Bradley  :— 

[i  I/A  October  1883.] 

.  .  .  Now  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  I  should  be 
the  last  to  say  what  unfeigned  joy  your  appointment  will  give 
me.  It  would  be  almost  impertinent  to  praise  the  selection  : 
it  is  permitted  to  rejoice  at  it. 

Between  my  father's  installation  and  his  first  official 
act  came  an  interesting  visit  to  Edinburgh  ;  for  in 
April  1884  he  was  invited  to  attend  the  Tercentenary 
Festival  of  Edinburgh  University,  and  receive  an  hon. 
D.D.  degree.  He  went  there  accordingly,  and  was  the 
guest  of  Professor  Flint.  Once  more  was  his  voice 
heard  in  Edinburgh ;  for  after  the  banquet  which  was 
held  on  the  degree  day  he  was  called  upon  to  respond, 
on  behalf  of  Theology,  to  the  toast  of  "  Theology,  Law, 
and  Medicine,"  proposed  by  Lord  Napier  and  Ettrick. 
Sir  Henry  Maine  subsequently  responded  for  Law,  and 
Professor  Virchow  for  Medicine. 

His  adventures  in  Edinburgh  are  described  in  letters 
to  his  wife,  of  which  the  following  are  fragments  :  — 

1  Faithful  is  He  that  calleth.     Yea,  Lord  Jesus. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  3 

EDINBURGH,  i6th  April  1884. 

My  journey  was  accomplished  easily,  with  an  accompani 
ment  of  two  pleasant  wonders — a  porter  who  even  turned 
away  from  the  coin  which  was  ready,  and  a  cab-driver  who 
asked  for  his  simple  fare  and  said  it  was  all  right.  After 
breakfast  I  took  a  tram  to  the  end  of  Princes  Street,  that  I 
might  hunt  up  Thomson  and  the  Murrays.  .  .  .  Before  dinner 
Professor  Flint's  other  visitors  came — three  Frenchmen,  all 
deputies,  and  all  decorated.  Later,  Dr.  Hatch  came :  an 
Oxford  guest — the  Bampton  lecturer  who  fluttered  St.  Mary's. 
We  were  very  late  in  starting  for  the  great  function,  the  Lord 
Provost's  reception,  and  when  we  got  there  entrance  was 
absolutely  impossible.  The  one  narrow  staircase  was  filled 
by  people  leaving,  and  after  vain  efforts  we  were  able  to 
retreat  without  an  accident.  Our  French  friends  were  tired, 
and  no  one  encouraged  my  zeal  to  see  the  torch  procession. 
So  of  the  official  pleasures  I  am  as  yet  inexperienced. 

\1th  April. 

The  main  thing  yesterday,  indeed  the  centre  of  the  whole 
festival,  was  the  service  at  St.  Giles'.  This  was  perfect. 
Nothing  could  be  more  solemn  or  more  eloquent.  We  met 
in  the  Parliament  House,  which  is  close  by  St.  Giles'.  It  is  a 
very  fine  hall,  and  soon  became  very  gay  with  the  foreign 
academic  dresses  and  uniforms.  The  most  gorgeous  figure 
was  one  of  our  fellow-guests,  M.  Mezieres.  He  wore  a  robe 
of  gold-coloured  silk  trimmed  with  white  fur,  and  a  tall  beef 
eater  sort  of  cap  to  match.  I  could  not  recognise  him. 
Others  had  cerise  satin  gowns ;  others  green ;  stars  and  de 
corations  were  shining  everywhere.  In  due  time — marshalled 
by  an  officer  finer  than  the  historic  drum-major  of  Treves — 
we  formed  into  line, — I  found  myself  with  Professor  Seeley, — 
and  so  we  went  to  the  church  through  lines  of  University 
volunteers.  Being  close  to  the  pulpit,  I  did  not  miss  a  word 
of  the  sermon.  The  service  was  all  printed,  and  one  prayer 
was  full  of  echoes  of  our  Bidding  Prayer — most  pleasant  to 
hear.  The  sermon  1  was  very  fine.  It  would,  I  think,  have 

1  Preached  by  Professor  Flint. 


4  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

satisfied  you,  expressing  the  main  thought  of  the  unity  of  life 
which  I  am  always  trying  to  put  into  words.  To  my  great 
surprise  I  find  that  Dr.  Hatch  is  an  old  schoolfellow.  I  have 
had  some  very  pleasant  talks  with  him.  I  have  not  seen  the 
Bishop  of  Durham  yet.  We  shall,  I  suppose,  meet  to-day. 
The  crush  at  what  are  called  receptions  is  almost  suffocating. 

i%th  April. 

The  degree  and  banquet  day  is  over.  ...  I  will  only 
add  one  or  two  personal  details.  When  we  were  arranged 
for  the  degrees  I  found  that  Mr.  Browning  was  behind  me : 
we  were  arranged  alphabetically,  and  the  D.D.'s  in  the  front 
row.  After  the  ceremony  he  reached  forward  and  spoke  most 
kindly  and  touchingly ;  he  fairly  took  away  my  breath,  yet  it 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  have  a  few  words  with  him.  He  has 
promised  to  write  out  for  me  the  few  lines  of  the  Pope  and 
Guide's  last  words.1  I  shall  treasure  nothing  more. 

Afterwards  I  saw  Sir  J.  Paget,  and  he  asked  me  to  drive 
with  him  to  the  luncheon  of  the  College  of  Physicians ;  so  I 
went  with  him  and  Sir  A.  Clark.  At  the  luncheon  I  sat  by 
Sir  W.  Thomson,  whom  I  had  never  met  at  Cambridge,  and 
just  as  lunch  was  to  begin  my  other  neighbour  said,  "  The 
Chairman  called  your  name :  say  Grace."  So  I  said  the  few 
familiar  words.  We  had  pleasant  talk  during  lunch,  and  then 
I  went  to  sign  my  name  in  the  University  book,  and  bought 
a  cap  which  will  be  a  treasure  for  life.2  Afterwards  I  came 
home  and  prepared  for  the  banquet.  This  was  a  wonderful 
scene.  I  sat  next  Sir  A.  Grant,  not  far  from  the  Bishop  of 
Durham.  We  who  had  to  speak  were  in  a  kind  of  gallery, 
and  commanded  the  whole  hall.  It  was  hard  to  speak,  but  I 
had  a  few  words  to  say,  and  I  said  them.  I  believe  that 
they  were  heard,  and  what  I  said  was  very  well  received,  for 
which  I  am  thankful.  Probably  the  substance  will  be  given. 

In  explanation  of  Browning's   "  touching  "  words  to 
my  father,   it    should    be   noted    that   he   was    a   great 

1  "The  Pope,"  2116  ff. ;  "  Guide"  (2),  2425  f. 

2  He  wore  this  cap  (distinctive  of  Edinburgh  D.D.)  ever  afterwards  as 
part  of  his  robes. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  5 

admirer  of  Browning's  poetry,  and  had  recently  read  a 
paper  "  On  some  Points  in  Browning's  View  of  Life,"  ] 
for  which,  in  all  probability,  the  poet  thanked  him  on 
this  occasion.  Browning  sent  him  shortly  after  this 
meeting  not  only  the  autograph  passages  for  which  he 
made  request,  but  a  line  or  two  to  himself. 

In  Advent  1884  my  father  and  mother  went  on  a 
visit  to  Bishop  Auckland  to  be  present  at  the  ordina 
tion  of  their  three  eldest  sons  by  Bishop  Lightfoot.  It 
had  been  his  intention  to  go  as  usual  to  Addington  for 
the  Ember  season,  but  the  Archbishop  forbade  him 
under  the  circumstances  to  entertain  the  thought.  He 
sent  thither,  however,  the  addresses  which  he  had 
delivered  there  the  previous  Advent,  and  which  were 
now  printed  and  entitled  Some  Thoughts  from  the 
Ordinal.  The  Archbishop,  in  thanking  him  for  "  this 
kindness  to  the  House  of  God,"  adds  :  "  Your  triple 
dedication  to-morrow  will  be  a  crown  of  many  prayers, 
and  I  hope  a  blessed  handing  on  of  holy  training.  It 
is  a  strange  seal  from  God.  We  shall  be  with  you  and 
Mrs.  Westcott  and  the  three."  In  a  letter  written  to 
Bishop  Lightfoot  my  father  speaks  of  this  event  as  "  the 
great  festival  of  our  life."  In  the  following  Advent  he 
witnessed  at  Addington  the  ordination  to  the  priesthood 
by  Archbishop  Benson  of  his  two  eldest  sons,  and  on 
this  occasion  he  delivered  addresses  to  the  candidates. 


To  HIS  WIFE 

ADDINGTON,  i6tA  December  1885. 

I  have  got  my  second  address  nearly  ready,  and  I  must  get 
on  a  little  with  the   third  to-night.     I  wish  that  one  was  a 

1  This  paper,  read  before  the  Cambridge  Browning  Society,  was  in  a 
sense  the  apotheosis  of  that  Society.  It  was  reprinted  by  the  London 
Browning  Society,  and  is  contained  in  Religious  Thougkt  in  the  [Vest. 


6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

little  more  fertile.  However,  I  was  told  yesterday  by  Professor 
Tyndall  that  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill  wrote  everything  three  times  over. 
I  marvel  at  such  patience. 

The  addresses  delivered  by  him  to  ordination  candi 
dates  at  Addington  in  1888  have  also  been  published 
under  the  title  Gifts  for  Ministry. 

In  January  1885,  tne  Dean  being  absent,  my  father 
received  information  of  a  projected  dynamite  out 
rage  in  the  Abbey.  He  immediately  closed  all  the 
doors  but  two,  which  were  closely  guarded,  and  con 
ducted  a  search  for  infernal  machines  all  round  the 
Abbey.  Every  monument  and  nook  and  corner  was 
carefully  explored,  but  happily  nothing  was  discovered. 
The  recent  successful  outrage  in  Whitehall  made  anxious 
precaution  the  more  necessary.  In  writing  to  his  wife 

he  says  : — 

WESTMINSTER,  2.6th  January  1885. 

We  had  an  exciting  morning,  for  in  the  absence  of  the 
Dean  I  was  responsible  for  the  Abbey,  and  it  was  a  public 
day.  After  some  conversation  I  decided  to  close  the  chapels, 
and  to  leave  only  two  doors  open  to  the  Abbey.  In  this  way 
it  can  be  fairly  guarded.  People,  I  hear,  did  not  grumble. 
They  could  understand  the  necessity  too  well.  The  Dean 
returns  to-morrow,  and  then  further  counsel  must  be  taken ; 
but  I  am  sure  that  strict  care  must  be  taken,  if  only  to  rouse 
public  indignation. 

27 'th  January. 

I  spent  my  whole  morning  in  looking  after  the  Abbey.  We 
have  had  ten  detectives  sent  from  the  Home  Office,  and,  as 
far  as  I  can  see,  we  have  taken  all  possible  precautions.  I 
am  glad  that  as  strict  orders  as  possible  were  given  yester 
day.  No  one  has  grumbled.  It  would  have  been  impossible,  or 
at  least  wrong,  of  me  to  leave  the  Abbey  at  the  present  time. 

In  explanation  of  this  last  sentence,  it  should   be 
said  that  his  second  daughter  was  at  this  time  at  the 


ix  WESTMINSTER  7 

point  of  death,  and  he  had  been  summoned  to  Cam 
bridge.  He  was  able  to  leave  for  a  few  hours  on  the 
following  day,  but  was  careful  to  explain  to  those 
concerned  the  reason  of  his  proposed  absence  from  an 
Abbey  service,  lest  he  should  seem  to  be  setting  a  bad 
example  to  others  in  the  matter  of  attendance  on  his 
duties.  A  few  days  later,  when  his  daughter  was 
pronounced  to  be  out  of  danger,  he  wrote  to  her : — 

WESTMINSTER,  yath  January  1885. 

My  dear  Katie — Yet  another  note,  and  to-morrow  I  hope 
to  be  at  home  again,  and  to  speak  face  to  face.  The  last 
week  has  been  very  strange,  opening,  as  it  were,  a  glimpse 
into  another  order,  still  and  clear.  As  we  are  allowed  to 
look  on  this  the  proportion  of  things  is  seen.  Things  are 
seen  to  be  great  and  small  as  they  really  are.  Patience  and 
trust  make  their  power  and  their  beauty  felt. 

I  am  always  glad  to  have  the  last  day's  Psalms  twice  over. 
The  closing  one  is  a  promise  which  we  can  cling  to.  All 
kinds  of  instruments  and  all  kinds  of  experiences  can  be  made 
to  tell  the  same  strain.  May  we  all  learn  it,  and,  as  we  can, 
teach  it ! 

Once  again,  then,  my  dearest  Katie,  "Good  morning." 
Give  my  love  and  thanks  to  Florrie 1  in  especial,  and  to  all. 
May  God  bless  you  ! — Ever  your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

Undeterred  by  my  father's  unwillingness  to  accept 
the  deanery  of  Exeter  in  1883,  Mr.  Gladstone  offered 
him  the  deanery  of  Lincoln  in  1885.  He  wrote  : — 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  WHITEHALL, 
tfh  May  1885. 

Dear  Dr.  Westcott — I  have  received  the  permission  of  Her 
Majesty  to  propose  to  you  that  you  should  succeed  to  the 

1  Miss  Florence  Saunders,  daughter  of  the  late  Dean  Saunders  of  Peter 
borough,  had  nursed  my  sister  through  her  illness. 


8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

vacant  Deanery  of  Lincoln :  an  arrangement  which  I  am  sure 
would  give  great  and  general  satisfaction. 

I  know  the  loss  which  Cambridge  would  suffer  by  your 
removal,  but  I  am  encouraged  in  this  proposal  by  the  belief 
that  it  would  entail  no  diminution,  but,  on  the  contrary,  might 
provide  an  increase  of  scope  for  your  learned  and  much  valued 
labours. — I  remain,  with  much  respect,  very  faithfully  yours, 

W.  E.  GLADSTONE. 

In  reply  my  father  wrote  : — 

...  If  I  could  feel  that  it  would  be  right  for  me  now  to 
seek  comparative  rest,  there  is,  I  think,  no  place  which  with 
all  misgivings  I  should  accept  more  gratefully  than  the  Deanery 
of  Lincoln.  But  while  I  have  fair  strength  I  believe  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  do  better  service  to  the  Church  in  endeavour 
ing  to  influence  future  candidates  for  Holy  Orders  at  Cam 
bridge  than  I  could  possibly  hope  to  do  at  Lincoln.  At  the 
same  time  I  may  add  that  I  am  most  anxious  to  do  a  little 
more  work  at  Westminster.  It  is  indeed  very  little  that  I 
have  yet  been  able  to  do  there,  but  that  little  has  been  of 
intense  interest ;  and  if  I  prove  unable  to  continue  my  work 
here  (st.  at  Cambridge),  as  may  be  the  case,  I  shall  gladly 
give  whatever  strength  is  left  to  me  to  the  Abbey. 

Archbishop  Benson  wrote  to  my  father  in  this  con 
nexion,  and  told  him  that,  being  sure  that  he  would 
decline  it,  he  was  "  not  unwilling  that  Mr.  Gladstone 
should  gratify  his  great  wish  to  offer  it — '  his  duty/  he 
said." 

Yet  another  deanery  was  offered  to  him,  that  of 
Norwich,  by  Lord  Salisbury  in  1889.  In  making  this 
offer  Lord  Salisbury  said  :— 

I  am  only  guided  by  the  knowledge  of  your  great  eminence 
in  theological  learning,  and  the  idea  that  such  a  position 
might  possibly  be  attractive  to  you,  as  giving  special  oppor 
tunities  for  steady  literary  work.  But  of  course  I  have  no 
means  of  knowing  whether  such  a  suggestion  would  be  agree- 


ix  WESTMINSTER  ,   9 

able  to  you,  and  trust  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  have  troubled 
you  to  no  purpose. 

At  Peterborough,  as  has  been  already  noted,  my 
father  had  taken  a  deep  and  effective  interest  in  the 
musical  rendering  of  the  Cathedral  services,  so  that  it 
was  to  be  expected  that  even  in  the  Abbey,  though 
here  naturally  feeling  was  even  more  conservative,  he 
should  venture  to  offer  some  humble  suggestions.  The 
Paragraph  Psalter  was  not  adopted  in  the  Abbey, 
though  the  Psalms  used  at  the  Jubilee  Service  in  1887 
were  taken  from  it.  But  in  one  small  matter  at  least 
his  voice  was  heard,  as  the  following  letter  to  his  wife 
testifies  : — 

St.  Pau?s  Day,  1885. 

My  last  sermon  of  this  residence  has  been  preached,  and 
my  voice  did  not  fail  me.  So  I  am  thankful.  Dr.  Vaughan, 
I  saw,  was  one  of  the  congregation.  We  had  our  hymn  with 
three  verses  in  unison,  and  the  effect  was,  I  think,  very  fine — 
exactly  what  I  expected  it  would  be.  For  these  three  verses 
scarcely  a  voice  was  silent,  and  then  came  two  intermediate 
verses  sung  with  perfect  delicacy  in  harmony.  Mr.  Phillips, 
who  came  in  to  tea,  was  very  much  pleased,  so  that  musically 
the  experiment  was,  I  trust,  not  a  failure. 

At  this  time  the  Children's  Service  on  Holy  Inno 
cents'  Day,  instituted  by  Dean  Stanley,  was  an  estab 
lished  usage.  The  Abbey  was  crowded  on  these 
occasions,  although,  for  the  reason  indicated  in  the 
following  note,  the  children  were  not  specially  con 
spicuous  : — 

To  HIS  WIFE 

Sunday  after  Christinas,  1885. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  to  be  here  for  the  service  to-morrow, 
for  I  have  never  seen  the  Children's  Service — if  indeed  it  is 


io  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  VVESTCOTT         CHAP. 

still  a  children's  service.  For  it  is  said  to  take  two  or  three 
grown-up  people  to  bring  a  child.  I  proposed  a  narrow  hole 
for  all  to  go  through  like  St.  Wilfrid's  at  Ripon. 

Innocents'  Day,  1885. 

I  have  just  come  from  the  service,  which  was  very  in 
teresting.  The  Abbey  was  crowded  by  half- past  two,  but 
the  children  were  not  conspicuous.  No  doubt  they  were 
present  in  numbers,  but  they  were  eclipsed.  The  great 
number  of  mechanics  struck  me  more.  The  transepts  were 
almost  filled  by  them.  The  Dean  took  for  his  subject  the 
sufferings  of  children  in  factories  before  Lord  Shaftesbury's 
work.  A  description  of  England  by  a  Spaniard  who  visited 
the  country  in  1803  was  most  startling.  I  must  look  at  the 
book.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  grandchildren  of  those  who 
were  children  then  should  be  radicals  now.  And  what  was 
the  Church  doing?  I  wonder  whether  our  eyes  are  open 
now. 

The  chief  element  of  the  Canon's  work  at  West 
minster  was  that  connected  with  the  Sunday  afternoon 
sermons.  He  felt  very  keenly  the  responsibility  of 
preaching  to  the  large  congregations  which  assembled 
on  these  occasions.  The  physical  effort  too  was  very 
great.  He  would  return  to  his  stall  after  the  sermon 
in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion,  and  then  remain  for  long 
upon  his  knees  engaged  in  earnest  prayer.  Friends 
would  drop  in  to  tea  after  this  service,  and  the  way  in 
which  my  father  pulled  himself  together  to  entertain 
them  was  a  weekly  wonder. 

In  the  preface  to  a  volume  of  Westminster  sermons 
entitled  Social  Aspects  of  Christianity -,  he  says  :  — 

No  one  indeed  can  tell  what  is  the  effect  which  "the  Abbey" 
and  the  vast  congregations  which  gather  there,  eager  to  listen, 
produce  upon  one  who  first  experiences  it  at  the  close  of  life. 
Of  all  places  in  the  world,  "  the  Abbey,"  I  think,  proclaims  the 
social  Gospel  of  Christ  with  the  most  touching  eloquence. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  n 


It  was  sometimes  quite  a  difficulty  to  reach  the 
pulpit,  as  its  approaches  were  thronged  with  expectant 
auditors,  and  I  have  been  told  that  on  one  occasion, 
when  passing  through  the  crowded  congregation,  the 
sleeve  of  the  Canon's  surplice  caught  in  an  umbrella 
and  pulled  it  to  the  ground.  Whereupon,  aware  of 
the  accident,  he  turned  round  to  pick  up  the  umbrella, 
and  handed  it  to  its  owner  with  an  apologetic  smile, 
and  then  hastened  in  pursuit  of  his  verger,  who  had 
meanwhile  obtained  a  considerable  lead. 

In  the  preface  quoted  above  the  following  interest 
ing  statement  also  occurs  :— 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  recent  theories  of  social 
morality  will  recognise  how  much  I  owe  to  two  writers  who 
are  not  often  joined  together  in  an  acknowledgment  of  deep 
gratitude — Comte  and  Maurice.  In  the  summer  of  1867  I 
was  able  to  analyse  carefully  the  Politique  Positive,  and  I 
found  in  it  a  powerful  expression  of  many  salient  features  of 
that  which  I  have  long  held  to  be  the  true  social  embodiment 
of  the  Gospel,  of  a  social  idea  which  faith  in  Christ  is  alone 
able  to  realise.  Two  years  later  I  read  Maurice's  Social 
Morality.  Few  books  can  teach  nobler  lessons,  and  I  should 
feel  it  hard  to  say  how  much  I  owe  to  it  directly  and  by 
suggestion. 

I  have  not  made  it  any  part  of  my  purpose  to  quote 
reviews  of  my  father's  books,  but  I  sympathise  with 
the  remark  that  "  the  two  sermons  on  Francis  of  Assisi 
and  George  Fox  are  exquisite  examples  of  the  union 
of  learning  and  eloquence,  equally  valuable  as  historical 
criticisms  and  spiritual  exhortations."  ] 

Another  volume  containing  sermons  preached  in 
the  Abbey  is  entitled  Christus  Consummator.  In  these 
sermons  he  endeavoured  to  indicate  "  in  a  general  out- 

1   The  Academy,  28th  January  1888. 


12  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

line,"  "  the  broad  lessons  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
and  then  afterwards  to  point  out  a  little  more  in  detail 
some  special  aspects  of  the  Person  and  Work  of  Christ 
which  correspond  with  the  wants  of  our  position." 

Concerning  this  volume  it  was  remarked  that  "  a 
German  professor,  with  half  the  amount  of  thought  at 
his  disposal,  would  have  issued  two  portly  volumes  of 
Dogmatik." 

Besides  the  regular  Sunday  sermons,  he  also 
delivered  some  lectures  on  week-day  afternoons.  The 
substance  of  lectures  so  delivered  on  the  Revised  Ver 
sion  of  the  New  Testament  was  published  in  The 
Expositor  and  afterwards  in  a  collected  form.1 

In  Holy  Week  1887  he  preached  in  Hereford 
Cathedral  a  series  of  sermons  entitled  The  Victory  of 
the  Cross.  These  are  of  special  interest  as  they  con 
tain,  to  use  his  own  words,  "an  outline  of  the  view  of 
the  Atonement  which  frequent  study  has  led  me  to 
regard  as  both  scriptural  and,  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  word,  natural."  At  the  same  time  he  regretted 
that  "  pressure  of  necessary  work  "  prevented  him  from 
issuing  these  sermons  with  "justificatory  notes." 

Besides  various  sermons  preached  in  other  places 
on  special  occasions,  including  a  sermon  on  Disciplined 
Life  preached  at  St.  James's  Chapel  Royal,  he  read 
papers  at  the  Church  Congresses  at  Portsmouth  in 
1885  anc*  at  Wolverhampton  in  1887. 

At  all  times  he  was  delighted  to  serve  as  guide  to 
the  Abbey  to  interested  visitors.  On  more  than  one 
occasion  he  conducted  large  parties  of  working  men 
and  others  round  the  chapels  and  other  points  of  in 
terest.  On  the  August  bank  holiday  especially  he  was 

1  Some  Lessons  of  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament.     Hodder 
and  Stoughton,  1897. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  13 


ever  observant  of  the  crowds  of  visitors,  and  ready  to 
serve  them  with  his  special  knowledge.  In  a  letter  to 
one  of  his  sons  written  after  the  August  bank  holiday 
of  1884  he  says  : — 

To-day  the  Abbey  has  been  thronged  by  sight -seers.  It 
was  full  at  the  afternoon  service,  and  a  continuous  stream 
kept  flowing  on  all  day.  On  Saturday  I  had  charge  of  a 
party  of  over  200  who  came  from  Derby.  It  is  delightful  to 
see  how  the  work-people  enjoy  the  place. 

A  correspondent  to  the  Westminster  Gazette  re 
marks  concerning  this  feature  of  his  work  :— 

It  fell  to  the  good  fortune  of  myself  and  a  companion  to 
meet  Canon  Westcott,  as  he  then  was,  within  Westminster 
Abbey,  on  the  occasion  of  my  first  visit  to  England's  Valhalla. 
Observing  us  surveying  the  scene  with  something  of  enthu 
siasm,  the  Canon  approached  us,  and,  after  a  question  or 
two,  offered  in  a  most  friendly  way  to  be  our  guide  through  a 
portion  at  least  of  the  Abbey.  We  thanked  him  cordially, 
and  took  the  opportunity  of  mentioning  that  our  interest  was 
aroused  principally  by  the  Catholic — the  Roman  Catholic — 
associations  of  the  place.  Was  the  Canon's  courtesy  dimin 
ished  in  any  way,  think  you,  by  our  intimation?  On  the 
contrary,  it  was  rather  intensified ;  and  without  in  the  least 
trenching  upon  our  religious  susceptibilities,  he  laid  open  to 
us  for  close  on  an  hour  the  treasures  of  his  intimate  know 
ledge.  I  need  not  add  that  Westminster  Abbey  has  always 
had  an  additional  fascination  to  me  for  the  sake  of  the  man 
whose  pleasant  guidance  and  urbanity  gave  such  a  special 
interest  to  our  first  visit. 

The  great  Jubilee  Service  in  the  Abbey  on  2ist 
June  1887  was  an  event  which  filled  my  father  with 
deep  joy  and  thankfulness.  He  was  required  to  don 
for  the  occasion  a  gorgeous  cope  of  cloth  of  gold 
material.  These  copes  had  originally  been  made  up 


14  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

for  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.,  but  the  fabric  was 
said  to  be  of  considerably  earlier  date.  One  little  cir 
cumstance  troubled  him  in  anticipation,  for  he  wrote 
thus  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  : — 

I  heard  at  a  Chapter  on  Monday  that  the  Queen  proposes 
to  come  to  the  Abbey  in  a  bonnet.  It  would  be  a  national 
disaster.  The  empire  sorely  needs  to  honour  the  Queen  as 
Queen. 

Of   the    service    itself   he    wrote    as    follows    to    a 
daughter  : — 

The  day  was  perfect,  and  I  do  not  think  that  there  was 
any  drawback.  The  whole  effect  of  the  Abbey  was  solemn 
and  inspiring.  The  fear  that  it  would  lose  its  character  was 
wholly  groundless.  All  the  great  features  showed  even  more 
magnificently  for  the  congregation  of  ten  thousand  which  was 
gathered  without  crowding  within  it.  The  choir  was  quite 
unchanged.  The  reredos  and  group  of  Valence  monuments 
were  perfectly  open  and  unencumbered.  In  spite  of  the 
long  waiting,  every  one  seemed  to  feel  that  the  service  was  a 
service  and  not  a  pageant  only.  The  "  Amen  "  with  which 
the  service  closes  was  that  one  which  you  have  heard  which 
begins  with  the  faintest  whisper  and  swells  to  a  magnificent 
burst.  This  worthily  completed  the  prayers  and  praises  and 
thanksgivings.  The  Archbishop  said  the  prayers  standing  in 
front  of  the  Communion  Table  looking  west,  so  that  he  could 
be  heard  well.  You  will  read  the  whole  description  in  the 
papers,  and  I  saw  comparatively  little,  though  I  felt  the 
wonderful  presences  about  us.  The  two  scenes  that  struck 
me  most  were  the  reception  of  the  Queen  at  the  west  door 
and  the  Queen  kissing  her  children  at  the  end.  The  papers 
describe  the  latter,  which  was  really  overwhelming,  and  I  was 
not  prepared  for  it.  Nature  has  not  given  me  the  gift  of 
tears,  but  I  felt  my  eyes  grow  dim  as  one  after  another  came 
to  the  Queen  and  she  embraced  them  with  what  could  be 
seen  to  be  discriminating  affection.  She  kissed  the  Princess  of 
Wales  and  the  Crown  Princess  of  Germany  on  both  cheeks. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  15 


The  scene  at  the  entrance  was  even  more  brilliant,  but 
less  touching.  The  two  Archbishops  and  the  Bishop  of 
London  and  the  Dean  went  to  the  temporary  entrance  when 
the  Queen's  procession  was  announced.  The  Canons  and 
the  other  clergy  stood  in  two  lines  by  the  true  west  door. 
The  vestibule  in  front  was  filled  with  the  great  officers  of  the 
household  and  the  heralds  in  their  magnificent  tabards,  all 
in  eager  excitement  hastening  here  and  there,  while  the 
Archbishops  waited  still.  Carriage  after  carriage  drove  up, 
and  the  Princesses  came  in  and  arranged  themselves  in  long 
lines.  Then  the  Princes  came,  who  had  formed  the  Queen's 
guard,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  welcomed  with  homage. 
Lines  of  Princes  were  formed  opposite  to  the  Princesses. 
Then  came  the  Queen  herself.  A  blare  of  trumpets  from 
the  outside  was  answered  by  a  blast  from  within,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  royal  procession  moved  to  the  dais  under  the 
central  tower,  the  Abbey  body  leading  the  way.  Once  only 
for  a  moment  a  kind  of  misgiving  came  over  me.  There 
was  a  slight  rippling  noise  which  seemed  to  grow  rapidly,  as 
the  sound  of  a  long  train  exploding ;  but  it  was  only  the 
rustling  of  the  leaves  of  the  service-books,  which  witnessed 
the  attention  of  the  congregation. 

Everywhere,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  enthusiasm  was 
real  and  unbounded.  The  day  will  have  been  an  immeasur 
able  blessing  to  the  country.  Untold  thousands  will  have 
learnt,  or  recalled  a  half-forgotten  lesson,  that  we  are  a  nation. 

The  boys  all  enjoyed  the  service  immensely,  and  now  all 
are  scattering  or  scattered.  We  wish  that  one  of  the  sisters 
could  have  been  with  us.  However,  we  had  more  than  we 
could  have  dared  to  wish  for. 

While  he  was  at  Westminster  my  father's  interest  in 
social  questions  first  became  manifest.  He  had,  how 
ever,  for  years  previously  been  an  anxious  student  of 
such  matters.  The  effect  he  produced  on  his  hearers 
when  delivering  himself  on  such  vital  topics  is  thus 
described  by  Canon  Scott  Holland  : 1— 

1  In  The  Commonwealth. 


16  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  real  and  vital  impression  made  came  from  the  intensity 
of  the  spiritual  passion,  which  forced  its  way  out  through  that 
strangely  knotted  brow,  and  lit  up  those  wonderful  grey  eyes, 
and  shook  that  thin  high  voice  into  some  ringing  clang  as  of 
a  trumpet.  There  was  a  famous  address,  at  the  founding  of 
the  Christian  Social  Union,  delivered  to  us  in  Sion  College, 
which  none  who  were  present  can  ever  forget.  Yet  none  of 
us  can  ever  recall,  in  the  least,  what  was  said.  No  one  knows. 
Only  we  know  that  we  were  lifted,  kindled,  transformed.  We 
pledged  ourselves ;  we  committed  ourselves ;  we  were  ready 
to  die  for  the  Cause ;  but  if  you  asked  us  why,  and  for  what, 
we  could  not  tell  you.  There  he  was :  there  he  spoke :  the 
prophetic  fire  was  breaking  from  him :  the  martyr  -  spirit 
glowed  through  him.  We,  too,  were  caught  up.  But  words 
had  become  only  symbols.  There  was  nothing  verbal  to 
report  or  to  repeat.  We  could  remember  nothing,  except  the 
spirit  which  was  in  the  words :  and  that  was  enough. 

He  took  the  deepest  interest  in  what,  to  adapt  his 
own  words,  we  might  "call  "  the  application  of  the 
lessons  of  the  Gospel  to  the  problems  of  international 
life." 

On  5th  April,  1889,  a  Conference  of  Christians,  re 
presenting  various  communions  of  Protestant  Christians, 
was  held  under  my  father's  chairmanship  at  his  resi 
dence  (2  Abbey  Gardens,  Westminster)  to  consider  the 
excessive  Armaments  of  Europe.  By  request  of  the 
Conference,  the  Chairman  wrote  a  letter  for  publication 
in  the  Christian  press  calling  attention  to  the  Confer 
ence  and  embodying  the  substance  of  its  resolutions. 
The  following  is  the  letter  : — 

To  the  Editor  of  "  The  Guardian" 

Sir — About  fifteen  years  ago  a  writer  in  the  Times  called 
attention,  in  an  impressive  article,  to  the  armaments  of 
Europe.  He  showed  that  war  itself  could  "add  but  little  to 


ix  WESTMINSTER  17 

the  burden  of  warlike  preparations  which  were  then  carried 
on  in  a  period  of  unbroken  peace  " ;  that  the  forces,  which 
were  gathered  ostensibly  for  security,  were  in  fact  the  chief 
source  of  danger  to  nations  which  were  filled  with  mutual 
suspicion  ;  that  "  the  evil  already  done  was  almost  as  great 
as  any  the  world  had  yet  suffered  from,  and  was  even  more 
difficult  to  remedy."  Since  that  date  the  armaments  have 
been  greatly  increased,  from  six  millions  of  men  under  arms, 
it  is  said,  to  ten  and  a  half  millions ;  the  jealousies  of  the 
European  nations  have  been  inflamed ;  and  those  who  speak 
with  authority  of  the  popular  strain  in  Italy  and  Russia  (if 
not  already  in  France  and  Germany),  describe  it  as  close 
upon  the  breaking  point.  It  can  indeed  hardly  be  otherwise. 
If  material  force  is  to  be  the  only  safeguard  of  freedom  and 
right,  there  can  be  no  prospect  of  peace,  or  even  of  stable 
rest,  except  in  the  dominion  of  a  conqueror  and  the  exhaustion 
of  the  conquered.  A  war  of  despair  seems  to  be  the  natural 
issue  of  an  indefinite  period  of  continuous  mistrust  and  in 
creasing  burdens. 

The  writer  whom  I  have  quoted  laid  the  responsibility 
for  the  evil  upon  governments.  "  If  such  a  state  of  things," 
he  says,  "is  permitted  to  continue,  it  will  be  a  disgrace  to 
European  statesmen."  The  real  blame  ought,  I  think,  to  be 
laid  elsewhere.  It  rests  upon  Christians,  and,  in  the  largest 
measure,  upon  English  Christians,  who  have  been,  and  are, 
in  a  position  to  claim  an  impartial  hearing  from  the  Conti 
nental  powers.  But  as  yet  they  have  not  spoken  with  one 
voice.  Our  unhappy  divisions  have  hid  from  us  the  grandeur, 
the  power,  and  the  obligations  of  our  common  faith  in  Christ, 
to  our  own  great  loss  and  to  the  loss  of  the  world.  There  is, 
however,  a  prospect  that  we  are  beginning  to  take  a  truer 
view  of  our  debt  to  the  world.  During  the  last  few  years 
there  have  been  signs  on  many  sides  that  there  is  a  growing 
conviction  that  Christians,  as  Christians,  have  a  witness  to 
give  on  social  questions.  They  have  spoken  on  temperance 
and  on  purity.  And  now  at  length  the  time  seems  to  have 
come  when  they  can  unite  to  express  some  of  the  views  which 
they  hold  as  to  the  true  relations  of  States. 

In    the   unavoidable    absence   of    Lord    Nelson,    I    was 

VOL.  II  C 


1 8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

allowed  to  preside  here  yesterday  at  a  meeting  in  which  re 
presentatives  of  the  Church  of  England  and  of  the  chief 
Nonconformist  bodies  were  invited  to  consider  their  duty  in 
regard  to  the  warlike  preparations  of  Europe.  The  following 
were  present  at  the  meeting: — Mr.  J.  B.  Braithwaite,  Mr. 
W.  C.  Braithwaite,  Mr.  B.  Broomhall,  Mr.  Percy  W.  Bunting, 
Rev.  Dr.  Clifford,  Rev.  Dr.  Edmond,  Mr.  G.  Gillett,  Rev.  J. 
P.  Gledstone,  Mr.  J.  E.  Mathieson,  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  Mr. 
R.  C.  Morgan,  Rev.  H.  W.  Webb-Peploe,  Rev.  Dr.  Westcott. 
Letters  of  apology  for  absence,  with  expressions  of  full  sym 
pathy  with  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  were  received  from 
Earl  Nelson,  the  Dean  of  Worcester  (Dr.  Gott),  Rev.  Dr. 
Bruce,  Rev.  Dr.  Falding,  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  Rev.  Dr. 
Mackennal,  Rev.  Dr.  Paton,  Rev.  Mark  Guy  Pearse,  Rev. 
Dr.  Reynolds.  After  a  full  exchange  of  opinions,  the  fol 
lowing  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : — 

i.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  present  condi 
tion  of  the  armaments  of  Europe  demands  the 
urgent  attention  of  all  Christian  Communions,  with 
a  view  to 

(1)  United   prayer  to  Almighty   God    upon    this 

subject. 

(2)  Combined  action,  in  any  ways  possible,  for  the 

bringing  about  a  simultaneous  reduction  of 
the  armaments. 

2.  That,  with  the  object  of  carrying  into  effect  the  above 
resolution,  the  members  of  the  present  meeting 
pledge  themselves  to  do  their  utmost  to  bring  the 
resolution  under  the  notice  of  their  respective  Com 
munions. 

3.  That  the  members  of  this  meeting  resolve  themselves 
into  a  Provisional  Committee,  with  power  to  add  to 
their  number,  to  take  such  further  action  as  may 
seem  to  be  desirable;  and  that  Messrs.  G.  Gillett, 
9  Birchin  Lane,  E.G.,  and  W.  C.  Braithwaite,  3  New 
Square,  Lincoln's  Inn,  W.C.,  be  requested  to  act  as 
Hon.  Secretaries  of  the  Committee. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  19 

We  met  for  the  most  part  as  strangers  to  one  another ;  but 
the  spirit  of  the  discussion,  the  calm,  clear,  sober  words  which 
were  spoken,  the  steady  determination  to  keep  the  treatment 
of  the  question  free  from  the  possibility  of  a  political  con 
struction,  the  universal  and  deep  sense  of  what  we  owe  to  our 
one  Master,  in  openly  confessing  His  will,  gave  a  strong  pledge 
of  the  breadth  of  the  sympathy  with  which  the  main  resolution 
is  likely  to  be  received  without  difference  of  class  or  party. 

Other  cognate  subjects  were  touched  upon — the  proposed 
Permanent  Treaty  of  Arbitration  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  the  significance  of  war  as  the  extreme  out 
come  of  that  spirit  of  selfish  competition  which  follows  from 
the  acceptance  of  a  material  standard  of  wellbeing,  the  desira 
bility  of  seeking  co-operation  with  the  movement  on  the  part 
of  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches — but  it  seemed  best  to 
confine  immediate  action  to  a  single  point  on  which  there 
was  complete  agreement. 

The  proposal  to  work  for  the  simultaneous  reduction  of 
European  armaments  is  definite,  and  deals  with  an  urgent 
peril.  It  does  not  involve  any  abstract  theories.  It  is  not 
complicated  by  any  considerations  of  party  politics.  It  em 
phatically  recognises  that  which  is  the  object  of  our  greatest 
statesmen.  Such  a  disarmament  would  secure  the  lasting 
and  honourable  peace  which  the  leaders  of  Europe  have 
shown  lately,  once  and  again,  that  they  sincerely  desire.  And 
we  may  reasonably  hope  that  a  strong  expression  of  popular 
feeling  will  be  welcome  to  those  who  have  the  conduct  of 
affairs,  as  strengthening  and  encouraging  them  to  adopt 
measures  by  which  they  may  be  delivered  from  the  embarrass 
ment  of  a  policy  which  more  and  more  tends  to  turn  the 
provision  for  home  defence  into  a  menace.  We  are  all 
sensible  of  the  difficulties  by  which  the  question  of  disarma 
ment  is  beset,  but  we  cannot  admit  that  they  are  insuperable. 

If  once  we  realise  that  the  true  interests  of  nations  are 
identical,  and  not  antagonistic,  it  must  be  possible  to  find 
some  settlement  of  the  existing  causes  of  debate  upon  the 
Continent,  which  will  satisfy  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  the 
great  and  generous  nations  in  whose  satisfaction  Europe  will 
find  peace. 


20  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  effort  has  a  wider  bearing.  I  will  venture  to  say  that 
the  opportunity  for  this  confession  of  our  Faith  is  a  gift  of 
God.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  superficial  view  to  refer  the  popular 
disparagement  of  Christianity  either  to  critical  objections  to 
its  documents  or  to  objections  to  its  Creed  drawn  from  physical 
science.  It  springs  in  the  last  resort  from  moral  causes. 

Men  can  see  that  if  our  Faith  is  true,  we  ought  to  have 
the  remedy  for  the  great  sorrows  of  the  world,  and  to  show 
openly  that  we  believe  in  its  efficacy.  They  ask  for  great 
deeds,  and  not  only  for  great  words.  The  claim  is  reason 
able,  and  we  must  satisfy  it  or  accept  defeat.  No  unanswer 
able  subtilties  of  literary  or  metaphysical  argument  will  bring 
assurance  to  those  who  long  passionately  for  the  revelation  of 
a  Living  Lord.  But  if  we  are  enabled  to  show  that  we  have 
as  Christians  that  which  inspires  us  to  work  unfalteringly  for  a 
noble  end,  I  believe  that  many  who  now  range  themselves 
against  us  will  be  ready  to  do  homage  to  the  Truth  which 
they  have  misinterpreted  through  our  past  faithlessness. 

In  this  aspect  we  cannot  forget  that  the  favourable  time 
for  Christian  action  may  soon  pass  away.  The  policy  of  dis 
armament,  which  can  now  be  pressed  as  a  service  to  the 
brotherhood  of  nations,  is  likely,  before  long,  to  find  other 
advocacy,  if  the  cause  is  not  won  in  the  Name  of  God.  And 
it  will  be  an  evil  day  for  the  world,  if  that  which  may  now  be 
so  effected  as  to  guard  all  the  noblest  heritages  of  the  past,  is 
at  last  extorted  by  the  revolutionary  movement  of  a  class. 

When  Emerson  said  sadly,  "The  power  of  love  as  the  basis 
of  a  state  has  never  been  tried,"  he  proposed  unconsciously 
the  problem  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  To  acknowledge  the 
task  which  is  laid  upon  us,  even  in  this  single  matter  which  is 
now  offered  as  the  object  of  our  prayers  and  labour,  to 
approach  it  as  men  who  know  that  they  are  not  alone,  to 
recognise  in  our  trials  the  just  retribution  of  our  lukewarmness 
in  times  gone  by,  will  be  at  least,  if  we  see  no  immediate 
success,  to  make  the  fulfilment  of  the  will  of  God  for  the 
nations  easier  for  those  who  shall  come  after  us. 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

2  ABBEY  GARDENS,  WESTMINSTER,. 
April  6,  1889. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  21 


The  above  letter,  which  was  headed  "  Armed 
Europe,"  was  reprinted  in  several  papers,  and  attracted 
considerable  attention  both  in  the  religious  and  secular 
press.1 

A  few  months  later,  in  his  capacity  of  Chairman  of 
the  Provisional  Committee  of  the  Christian  Union  for 
Promoting  International  Concord,  my  father  issued  a 
paper  entitled  "  A  Christian  Policy  of  Peace."  In  this 
paper  he  said  : — 

The  condition  of  Europe  at  the  present  time  is  such  as  to 
excite  at  once  alarm  and  hope.  While  armaments  are  every 
where  growing,  a  conviction  is  also  rapidly  gaining  ground 
that  material  force  cannot  determine  right  or  establish  lasting 
peace.  Above  all,  it  is  more  and  more  clearly  acknowledged 
that  the  attitude  of  great  nations  one  towards  another  is 
inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  Faith. 

Hitherto,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  lessons  of  the  Gospel 
have  not  been  applied  to  the  problems  of  international  life. 
During  the  last  three  centuries  attention  has  been  directed 
mainly  to  questions  of  personal  conduct.  But  the  time  seems 
to  have  now  come  when  Christians  as  Christians  are  required 
to  realise  and  give  effect  to  their  creed  in  the  discharge  of  the 
widest  social  duties — the  duties  not  only  of  class  to  class,  but 
also  of  nation  to  nation  —  as  members  of  one  race.  The 
necessity  is  the  more  pressing  because  the  increase  of  popular 
power  involves  the  increase  of  popular  responsibility,  and  for 
the  people,  as  has  been  truly  said  by  non-Christian  teachers, 
every  question  is  finally  a  religious  question. 

Under  this  aspect  it  is  evident  that  Christianity  offers  a 
revelation  of  the  purpose  of  God  for  the  world,  and  supplies 

1  Commenting  on  this  letter,  the  London  Echo  said  :  "  The  Canon  says 
'  a  war  of  despair  seems  to  be  the  natural  issue  of  an  indefinite  period  of 
continuous  mistrust  and  increasing  burdens.'  These  words  are  important 
when  addressed  by  a  Church  dignitary  to  the  leading  representatives  of 
Christian  Churches.  The  wonder  is  that  the  Churches  have  not  moved 
long  ago.  The  wonder  is  that  men  who  profess  to  be  followers  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace  have  maintained  silence  in  the  face  of  menacing  facts  so 
lorig." 


22  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

a  motive  for  sustained  effort,  and  gives  a  clue  for  movement, 
which  we  need  but  cannot  find  elsewhere.  Christianity  rests 
upon  the  central  fact  that  the  Ward  became  flesh.  This  fact 
establishes  not  only  a  brotherhood  of  men,  but  also  a  brother 
hood  of  nations ;  for  history  has  shown  that  nations  are  an 
element  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  counsel,  by  which 
humanity  advances  towards  its  appointed  end. 

This  larger  truth  we  have  still  to  master.  We  have  learnt 
in  some  degree  that  individual  men  gain  and  suffer  together ; 
that  they  are  strong  by  sacrifice;  that  they  are  made  for 
mutual  service :  we  have  not  yet  learnt  that  it  is  so  with 
nations.  It  may  not  indeed  be  possible  to  see  at  once  how 
the  truth  will  be  applied  in  particular  cases.  Action  must  be 
prepared  by  thought  and  supported  by  a  calm  and  strong 
public  opinion.  Meanwhile,  however,  in  order  that  the 
opinion  may  be  formed,  we,  as  Christians,  are  bound  to  con 
fess  our  faith  in  the  truth,  before  God  and  before  man,  and 
the  simple  confession  will  not  be  in  vain.  As  yet  the  confes 
sion  has  not  been  made  either  in  word  or  in  action.  The 
spiritual  forces  which  conquered  the  old  world  are  still  at  our 
command,  but  we  do  not  appear  to  trust  them  in  dealing  with 
great  evils.  There  is  in  man  a  generous  passion  for  justice 
and  a  deep  craving  for  fellowship,  and  we  do  not  boldly  appeal 
to  the  one  or  rely  upon  the  other.  Thus  our  Faith  itself  is 
disparaged  because  we  fail  to  show  that  it  guides  and  sustains 
us  in  meeting  the  greatest  sorrows  of  life  and  in  claiming  for 
service  the  noblest  instincts  of  men. 

To  realise,  even  in  thought,  that  our  Faith  has  this  widest 
application,  and  to  bear  ourselves  as  realising  it  in  ordinary 
conduct,  will  have  a  practical  effect  upon  others  as  well  as 
upon  our  own  judgments.  When  we  look  back,  we  can  see  that 
national  animosities  are  fed  and  fanned  into  flame  by  trivial 
and  ill-considered  words  and  acts.  Nor  is  it  necessary  that 
we  should  be  confined  to  vague  aspirations,  while  we  rightly 
shrink  from  attempting  to  offer  hasty  solutions  of  the  questions 
which  trouble  peace.  We  can  at  once  recognise  the  part 
which  the  Christian  Society  is  called  upon  to  take  with  regard 
to  the  three  great  measures  which  tend  to  peace  —  media 
tion,  arbitration,  and  (ultimately)  disarmament — and  at  least 


ix  WESTMINSTER  23 

silently  work  for  them.  If  the  heart  of  Christendom  is  moved 
with  one  desire,  it  is  not  possible  to  think  that  opportunities 
will  fail,  through  which  Germany  and  France  may  be  brought 
by  mediation  to  a  loyal  and  magnanimous  acceptance  of  the 
conditions  unjder  which  they  shall  minister  to  the  progress  of 
Europe.  The  United  States  and  England  are  already  bound 
so  closely  together  by  their  common  language  and  common 
descent,  that  an  Arbitration  Treaty  which  shall  exclude  the 
thought  of  a  war — a  civil  war — between  them  seems  to  be 
within  measurable  distance.  When  once  the  general  principle 
of  arbitration  has  been  adopted  by  two  great  nations,  it 
cannot  but  be  that  the  example  will  be  followed,  and  then,  at 
last,  however  remote  the  vision  may  seem,  disarmament  will 
be  a  natural  consequence  of  the  acceptance  of  a  rational  and 
legal  method  of  settling  national  disputes. 

On  another  occasion,  at  the  opening  of  a  speech 
at  a  Peace  Conference,  he  said  :  "  The  question  of  inter 
national  relations  has  not  hitherto  been  considered 
in  the  light  of  the  Incarnation,  and  till  this  has 
been  done,  I  do  not  see  that  we  can  look  for  the 
establishment  of  that  peace  which  was  heralded  at  the 
Nativity."  He  himself  considered  all  things  in  the 
light  of  the  Incarnation.  That  truth  was  to  him  the 
key  to  the  meaning  of  life ;  that  fact  "  the  certain 
promise  of  the  destiny  of  mankind,  and  the  perpetual 
inspiration  of  the  highest  thoughts  and  the  noblest 
actions  of  which  men  are  capable." 

The  following  letters  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury  refer  to  the  matter  of  Peace  : — 

G.W.R.,  itohjuly  1889. 

Yes,  I  was  completely  satisfied  with  the  meeting,  and  felt 
that  the  effort  was  worth  making,  and  that  it  would  not  be 
too  late.  But  then  you  know,  as  I  have  said  before,  I  have 
had  strange  experiences  of  the  utter  neglect  of  the  question 
by  churchmen.  It  ought  to  sadden  us  to  find  how  the 


24  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

temper  of  the  old  French  court  lingers  among  the  clergy  and 

gentry.     Even  the  John  Bullism  of  the interested  me. 

He  said  afterwards  that  "  it  was  good  to  discuss  such  ques 
tions  :  you  got  new  light."  I  would  fain  hope  that  his  speech 
was  made  before  the  illumination.  But  indeed  it  is  our 
fault.  We  have  been  silent  too  long.  At  least  there  is  now 
an  opportunity  of  obtaining  a  hearing,  and  I  hope  that  you 
may  be  able  to  persuade  the  Bishops — you  know  how  I  trust 
them — to  seriously  consider  what  can  be  done.  In  a  short 
time  the  power  will  go  from  our  Church,  and  then  .  .  . 

I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  what  you  say  about  the  Lincoln 
case.  ...  I  hope  still,  because  you  will  not  for  one  moment 
lose  faith  in  your  office. 

WESTMINSTER,  2nd  August  1889. 

I  promised  counsel !  Nay,  but  I  shall  be  glad  to  seek  it, 
and  will  come,  all  being  well,  after  service  on  Sunday.  The 
darkness  does  often  gather  thickly.  Nothing  but  fear,  we 
are  told  by  our  rulers,  can  keep  peace.  Are  we  Christians  ? 

In  his  text-book  on  8th  August  he  entered  this 
reflection,  "  Are  there  demons  among  men  ?  Clothed 
in  humanity  ?  " 

His  increasing  popularity  and  influence  while  at  the 
Abbey  was  a  source  of  no  little  distress  to  him.  The 
following  letter,  written  to  his  wife  on  his  birthday, 
which,  coming  as  it  did  at  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
always  led  him  to  review  his  position,  illustrates  this 
feeling  in  part : — 

WESTMINSTER,  I2tk  January  1888. 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  have  the  good  wishes  this  morning. 
The  N.T.  text  in  the  little  book  had  a  very  clear  voice. 
I  hope  that  I  may  work  a  little  better.  It  is  the  influence 
that  one  seems  to  have  in  some  places,  here  and  there,  which 
troubles  me  most.  It  is  an  opportuity  to  be  used ;  and  I  don't 
see  how  to  use  it.  On  the  other  hand,  to  some  I  am  a  cloud  ; 
and  I  do  not  see  how  to  help  it.  Well,  the  way  may  be  opened. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  25 

That  is  the  only  reason,  I  think,  why  my  sadness  of  heart  is 
hard  to  bear.  Yet  beyond  all  there  is  a  great  hope.  I  am 
sure  that  not  one  pain  felt  or  caused  will  be  without  its  full 
fruit  in  due  time.  Yet  even  so  I  cannot  feel  as  most  do.  I 
dare  draw  no  pictures  ;  and  our  work  must  be  done  here.  So 
may  we  have  strength  to  do  it,  while  the  day  lasts  !  .  .  .  Again 
and  again  I  have  thought  of  getting  a  prayer-desk.  Now  it 
is  furnished. 

I  am  meditating  a  concert  at  St.  James's  Hall  on  Saturday 
afternoon,  is.  Hitherto  I  have  had  no  opportunities  of 
dissipation. 

His  popularity  in  some  quarters  was  in  very  truth  a 
sore  trouble  to  him.  His  eldest  son  has  called  attention 
to  this  striking  fact.  He  says  : l — 

I  remember,  on  a  time  (when  I  was  no  more  than  a 
boy),  I  saw  my  father  one  evening  rest  his  head  upon  his 
hands  and  stand  for  a  long  time  the  picture  of  dejection.  I 
did  not  dare  to  speak ;  but  going  away  next  day,  I  wrote  a 
simple  line  to  ask  if  in  any  way  I  could  share  his  trouble.  The 
answer  came  back  to  me — "  I  am  not  troubled  by  such  things 
as  you  might  think ;  it  is  simply  that  there  are  times  when  I 
feel  just  overwhelmed  by  the  kind  things  which  are  said,  and 
the  gratitude  of  men  :  it  makes  me  quite  afraid."  The  poet, 
you  will  remember,  has  uttered  the  same  thought,  "  The 
gratitude  of  men  has  qftener  left  me  mourning" 

On  this  same  birthday  he  wrote  the  following  touch 
ing  letter  to  his  sons  : — 

WESTMINSTER,  12th  January  1888. 

My  dear  Sons — You  have  expressed  the  truth  which  I  feel 
perhaps  more  continually  and  more  keenly  than  any  other. 
You  seven  are  indeed,  I  know,  "a  part  of  me."  In  you  I 
see  more  clearly  and  more  fully  myself.  If  you  are  allowed  to 
do  good  service,  I  rejoice  to  recognise  how  something  which  I 
tried  to  begin  will  be  carried  to  further  fruit.  If  you  fail,  I 

1  In  a  sermon  preached  in  Peterborough  Cathedral  on  25th  August  1901. 


26  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

see  the  sad  revelation  of  my  own  failures.  But  the  good  and 
ill  are  now  beyond  me.  They  belong  to  independent  lives. 
Yet  so  it  is  that  you  can  give  me  the  noblest  joy  which  any 
one  can  receive,  and,  by  God's  help,  spare  me,  as  far  as  may 
be,  the  only  pain  which,  as  far  as  we  yet  see,  encloses  no  joy. 
May  God  bless  you !  so  I  wish  the  greatest  blessing  for 
myself. — Your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

The  year  1888  was  clouded  for  my  father  by  the 
illness  of  his  old  friend  Bishop  Lightfoot.  Both  he 
and  Archbishop  Benson  were  much  troubled  by  this 
during  their  holiday  time  together  at  Braemar.  He 
wrote  to  Dean  Bradley  : — 

S/A  October  1888. 

.  .  .  During  September  we  were  at  Braemar.  The  Arch 
bishop  was  in  marvellous  force,  but  the  Bishop  of  Durham 
was  very  poorly.  This  was  a  heavy  cloud.  It  is  impossible 
not  to  feel  anxious  about  him,  and  hard  to  discover  where  he 
can  find  the  perfect  rest  which  is  absolutely  necessary. 

The  Bishop  was  compelled  to  winter  at  Bourne 
mouth,  whither  my  father  went  to  pay  him  what  he 
feared  would  be  a  last  visit.  But  the  Bishop  made  a 
wonderful  recovery,  and  my  father  was  summoned  to 
be  present  with  him  at  the  consecration  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Ignatius  the  Martyr,  the  Bishop's  noble  gift  of 
thanksgiving,  and  to  preach  the  sermon.  The  follow 
ing  letters  tell  of  this  visit : — 

To  HIS  WIFE 

CAMBRIDGE,  2$th  ftme  1889. 

...  I  have  tried  to  sketch  my  sermon,  but,  oh  !  it  is  so 
hard.  I  have  read  my  consecration  sermon  almost  with 
despair.  Well,  the  years  take  away — I  hope  that  they  give 
something. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  27 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2nd  Sunday  after  Trinity ,  1889. 

The  Bishop  is  marvellously  well — his  old  self  in  look  and 
manner  and  word.  I  was  quite  fearful  last  night  that  he  was 
exciting  himself  too  much :  he  walked  without  thinking 
upstairs ;  and  he  had  walked  with  me  many  times  round  the 
terrace.  He  is  keenly  interested  in  everything.  I  hope 
that  to-morrow  and  Tuesday  will  not  be  too  exciting.  .  .  . 
As  yet  I  have  not  seen  the  chapel  windows.  I  did  not  look 
round  at  morning  prayers.  The  Bishop  is  to  take  me. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  St.  Peter's  Day,  1889. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Among  my  first  pleasures  here 
must  be  to  write  one  line  to  you  to  tell  you  how  wonderful  it 
is  to  see  the  Bishop  again  in  his  own  home  as  I  saw  him  five 
years  ago.  He  was  ready  to  welcome  me  at  his  study  door, 
fresh  from  a  table  covered  with  books  and  preparations  of 
Clement  for  the  press ;  and  after  tea  he  proposed  a  walk  in 
the  garden.  The  change  from  Braemar,  not  to  speak  of 
Bournemouth,  was  marvellous.  He  was  keenly  interested  in 
everything  ;  spoke  with  his  old  firmness  and  decision  ;  hoped 
that  he  might  "get  something" — not  health  only,  from  his 
proposed  visit  to  Egypt :  catch  a  sight  of  Thessalonica  with  a 
view  to  the  Introduction  to  the  Thessalonians ;  even  listened 
to  me  when  I  said  that  he  must  seriously  think  of  attending 
the  House  of  Lords.  I  hope  that  the  service  on  Tuesday 
may  not  be  too  fatiguing.  I  think  that  he  can  measure  his 
strength  and  will  no  more  overtax  it.  Indeed,  my  coming 
here  to-day  instead  of  going  to  Sunderland  on  Monday  is  due 
to  a  lesson  which  he  gave  me  on  the  necessity  of  avoiding 
too  rapid  travelling.  One's  thoughts  go  back  to  Chambery. 

However,  it  is  not  possible  to  be  too  thankful  for  a  bless 
ing  beyond  hope. 


28  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

WEST  MALVERN,  qthjuly  1889. 

The  consecration  was  a  very  striking  service.  The  church 
is  admirable.  The  Bishop  insisted  on  clustered  and  banded 
piers  to  connect  it  with  Auckland ;  and  he  was  right.  This 
is  the  one  enrichment  which  removes  the  appearance  of 
sternness  from  the  Nave. 

Unhappily  the  improvement  in  the  Bishop's  health 
was  not  maintained,  and  he  was  again  obliged  to  quit 
his  diocese  and  winter  at  Bournemouth,  where  on  2 1  st 
December  he  entered  into  rest.  He  was  buried  in  the 
Chapel  at  Bishop  Auckland  Castle  which  he  had  so 
beautifully  restored.  My  father  was  present  at  the 
funeral  with  his  eldest  son.  From  Durham  Castle  he 
wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

We  have  accomplished  our  journey,  my  dearest  Mary, 
very  pleasantly,  and  are  now  established  in  the  Bishop's 
rooms.  It  is  a  very  touching  and  solemn  welcome.  .  .  . 
How  strange  to  rest  here  !  I  don't  think  that  I  ever  felt  life 
to  be  so  continuous  before.  The  Bishop  is  almost  a  more 
real  presence  than  in  Cambridge  days. 

To  Archbishop  Benson  he  wrote : — 

The  most  kindly  criticisms  which  have  been  made  by 
newspapers  on  Lightfoot  reveal  the  chasm  which  opens 
between  the  Faith  and  the  average  man's  idea  of  the  Faith. 
I  think  that  he  will  be  allowed  to  add  to  all  that  he  has  done 
this  last  lesson,  that  the  Faith  is  a  power  for  life  and  not  a 
thesis  which  can  be  maintained  successfully. 

To  Professor  Hort  he  wrote  : — 

I  am  greatly  grieved  that  takes  such  a  view  of  the 

bishopric.      Something  must    be    done    to   set  the  Bishop's 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  29 


work  in  a  true  light.     A  spiritual  statesman  doing  less  service 
than  a  scholar ! 

In  the  preface  to  the  three  sermons  From  Strength  to 
Strength,  published  In  Memoriam  J.  B.  D.,  my  father 
writes  : — 

Probably  it  has  never  before  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  one 
to  endeavour  to  give  expression  under  the  most  solemn  cir 
cumstances  to  thoughts  suggested  by  three  great  crises  in  the 
life  of  a  friend — for  death  is  for  the  Christian  a  crisis  of  life. 
As  each  occasion  came  I  sought  to  say  what  the  occasion 
itself  told  us  through  him  we  loved,  of  the  office  with  which 
he  was  charged,  of  the  society  which  he  served,  of  the  char 
acter  by  which  the  servant  of  God  is  enabled  to  do  his  work ; 
and  in  each  region  the  description  of  the  Christian  life  and 
the  Christian  Faith  seemed  to  find  a  fresh  fulfilment :  From 
strength  to  strength. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1 889  my  father's  Com 
mentary  on  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  appeared.  The 
preface  to  this  work  is  dated  from  Westminster,  and 
the  expectations  of  Biblical  students  had  been  greatly 
quickened  by  the  study  of  Christus  Consummator, 
which  contained  lectures  on  this  Epistle  delivered  in 
the  Abbey.  In  the  preface  to  this  Commentary  my 
father  says,  "  No  work  in  which  I  have  ever  been  allowed 
to  spend  many  years  of  continuous  labour  has  had  for 
me  the  same  intense  human  interest  as  the  study  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews." 

The  book  was  widely  welcomed  as  "  a  truly  monu 
mental  work,"  as  "  the  greatest  of  many  great  gifts 
which  Dr.  Westcott  has  offered  to  the  Church,"  as  "  an 
expository  and  theological  masterpiece,"  and  the  like. 
One  strongly  marked  feature  of  this  Commentary, 
to  which  particular  attention  was  drawn,  was  its  "  con 
stant  instructiveness,"  which  led  one  writer  to  remark 


30  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

that  "  more  can  be  learnt  from  any  two  or  three  of  its 
pages  than  from  a  volume  of  average  theology."  That 
the  detailed  exegesis  of  the  Epistle  should  be  marked 
by  grammatical  accuracy  and  wide  learning  was,  of 
course,  to  be  expected,  but  it  was  further  enriched  by 
"  that  deep  insight  into  ethical,  spiritual,  and  historical 
truth  characteristic  of  Canon  Westcott " — in  other  words, 
"  that  sympathy  with  the  ultimate  mystery  of  things, 
without  which  a  man  tends  to  become  commonplace." 

This  spiritual  vision,  which  enabled  my  father  to 
see  so  much  that  others  could  not  see,  but  which  he 
supposed  that  they  could  see,  was,  as  several  have  felt, 
both  his  weakness  and  his  strength  as  a  Biblical  com 
mentator.  He  always  disliked  to  be  described  as 
"  mystic,"  being  at  a  loss  to  know,  when  all  appeared 
so  evident  to  himself,  where  the  mystery  came  in.  He 
had  grave  doubts  as  to  his  being  "  a  recluse,"  but  was 
absolutely  certain  that  he  was  not  "  a  mystic." 

During  my  father's  last  year  at  Westminster  he  was 
giving  sittings  to  Sir  W.  B.  Richmond,  R.A.,  for  his 
portrait,  which  is  now  hung  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum 
at  Cambridge.  In  the  following  letter  to  his  wife  he 
makes  mention  of  the  completion  of  the  work  : — 

WESTMINSTER,  tfhjune  1889. 

I  have  received  Mr.  Richmond's  "discharge  and  his 
blessing."  He  was  satisfied  in  the  end.  I  had  not  courage 
to  look  at  the  portrait.  One  thing  only  he  wanted  more  :  a 
photograph  of  my  room  at  the  Divinity  School.  He  said  that 
he  should  like  to  put  a  fragment  of  it  in  the  background.  I 
promised  that  I  would  have  one  taken  for  him.  ...  I  am 
glad  that  the  work  is  happily  over.  It  has  certainly  taught 
me  a  great  deal. 

Frank  Norris  is  going  on  missionary  work  to  China.  The 
Archdeacon  was  greatly  pleased  to  tell  me. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  31 

The  artist,  no  less  than  the  Canon,  appears  to  have 
derived  pleasure  and  profit  from  these  sittings.  The 
artistic  temperament  was  in  my  father  strongly  de 
veloped,  and  a  painter's  view  of  the  spiritual  as  well 
as  philosophical  ends  which  Art  can  and  has  served 
was  interesting  to  his  inquisitive  intelligence.  It  is 
evident  that  the  scholar  and  painter  found  much  in 
common  to  talk  about,  as  the  following  letter  from  Sir 
William  will  show  : — 

I  shall  never  forget  the  day  on  which  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  first  seeing  your  father.  I  had  been  asked  to  paint  his 
portrait,  and,  as  I  had  read  some  of  his  books,  though  I  had 
never  seen  him,  you  may  imagine  with  what  satisfaction  I 
accepted  the  commission.  Dr.  Westcott  was  then  Canon  of 
Westminster.  When  he  entered  my  studio  two  strong  feel 
ings  instantly  took  possession  of  me — delight  that  such  an 
interesting  face  was  to  be  the  subject  of  my  brush,  and  fear 
that  my  power  might  not  be  great  enough  to  hand  down  to 
posterity  a  countenance  so  mobile,  so  flashing,  so  tender,  and 
yet  so  strong ;  and  it  was  with  trepidation  that  I  took  my 
palette  on  my  hand  to  make  the  first  impression  upon  the 
canvas.  That  exquisite  geniality,  supreme  courtesy,  and 
almost  feminine  power  of  sympathy  broke  down  all  obstacles 
between  us,  and  an  hour  of  Dr.  Westcott's  society  told  me 
that  a  magnetic  current  was  started  between  us  so  strong  and 
so  sympathetic  that  at  least  it  would  be  my  fault  if  I  failed 
to  exhibit  anyhow  some  of  the  characteristics  of  that  loveable 
nature  and  strong  character.  I  never  knew  a  man  more 
readily  alive  to  various  interests  than  he,  whose  mind  was  in 
the  highest  degree  receptive;  so  modest  also  that  one  did 
not  fear  to  expose  one's  own  ignorance,  so  that  it  was  sincere. 
It  happened  that,  at  the  time  of  painting  the  portrait,  I  was 
engaged  in  writing,  what,  alas  !  is  not  yet  published,  a  series 
of  lectures  upon  the  work  of  M.  Angelo  on  the  Vault  of  the 
Sixtine  Chapel.  It  is  easily  to  be  imagined  that  such  a  sub 
ject,  a  very  epic,  would  engross  keen  attention  and  enlist 
keen  discussion,  from  my  point  of  view  as  regarded  the  art, 


32  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

from  his  point  of  view  the  ethics.  Could  it  be  possible 
for  a  painter-writer  to  have  ever  had  a  better  opportunity 
of  learning  from  one  whose  life  had  been  spent  in  the 
study  of  the  higher  thoughts,  and  whose  deep  learning 
regarding  the  Hebrew  prophets,  sibyls,  symbols,  and  history 
is  too  well  known  to  need  reiteration  ?  While  these  lectures 
were  being  written,  Dr.  Westcott,  notwithstanding  the  value 
of  moments  in  his  busy  life,  took  the  trouble  to  read  them 
for  me,  and  to  write  elaborate  comments  upon  them,  giving  me 
at  the  same  time  advice  as  well  as  criticism,  and,  above  all, 
encouragement.  It  does  not  often  happen  that  great  scholars 
are  accomplished  men  outside  their  scholarship.  The  elas 
ticity  of  the  mind  is  sometimes  constrained  by  deep  concentra 
tion  upon  one  subject.  But  Dr.  Westcott  had  so  sensitive  a 
mind,  so  quick,  so  subtle,  and  so  expansive,  that  it  could 
take  in  and  master  many  subjects  not  bearing  much  relation 
to  the  main  object  of  its  desires — Theology.  And  what  a 
theology  it  was — how  broad,  how  spiritual,  how,  in  its  hard 
sense,  anti-dogmatic ;  how  progressive,  to  use  a  modern  term. 

I  very  soon  found  out  that  Dr.  Westcott  had  not  only  a 
great  love  of  art  in  all  its  forms,  but  that  he  was  a  real  critic 
of  it,  and  by  no  means  a  superficial  amateur.  We  talked 
about  the  picture  galleries  of  Europe,  and  I  was  surprised  to 
find  how  acutely  he  had  observed,  how  deeply  he  entered 
into  symbolic  meanings  of  great  works  of  art,  but  at  the  same 
time  not  from  a  purely  literary  point  of  view,  having  a  keen 
sense  of  form,  of  colour  and  design  very  uncommon  to  men 
who  have  not  spent  much  time  in  learning  the  technicalities 
of  the  arts  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting.  Of 
architecture  he  was  learned:  he  not  only  knew  what  to 
admire,  but  why,  and  added  to  his  perceptions  of  the  beauty 
of  that  great  art  was  a  rare  knowledge  of  structural  questions, 
so  that,  while  talking  with  him,  one  could  not  but  feel  that 
he  was  a  great  architect  lost  to  the  world. 

His  knowledge  of  music  was  considerable,  and  often  did 
we  draw  analogies  between  the  various  musicians  and  painters, 
endeavouring  to  classify  them  and  find  the  representative  of 
various  moods  in  the  work  of  painters  and  musicians.  Of  the 
relation  of  colour  to  sound  we  talked,  and  Dr.  Westcott  threw 


ix  WESTMINSTER  33 

much  light  upon  the  similar  impressions  upon  the  nervous 
system  produced  by  various  colours  as  by  the  sound  of  various 
instruments.  It  was  like  talking  with  Aristotle.  One  had 
only  to  throw  out  the  hint  of  a  thought,  the  more  abstract  the 
better,  for  that  great  mind  to  disentangle  a  clear  idea  from 
a  fallacy,  to  get  to  the  root  of  the  idea,  and  in  a  few  words 
to  make  an  inchoate  thought  gleam  with  the  light  reflected 
from  his  bright  intelligence. 

I  remember  one  thing  he  said  which  made  a  great  impres 
sion.  Something  led  us  to  talk  about  genius  and  character. 
I  was  praising  genius,  and  taking  no  notice  of  character  as  its 
great  buttress.  He  turned  and  said  quietly,  and  with  some 
sadness,  "  I  have  seen  more  young  men  fail  in  early  life  from 
the  absence  of  character  than  from  the  absence  of  genius." 
He  believed  that  genius  without  character  was  like  a  fully- 
equipped  ship  without  a  rudder.  Mould  your  character,  make 
it  firm,  even  self-willed,  and  if  you  have  genius  you  will  make 
your  mark.  Character  alone  will  move  the  world  and  influence 
your  generation,  but  genius  alone  is  like  the  bread  cast  upon 
the  waters,  which  will  return  to  you  after  many  days.  It  was 
delightful  to  watch  the  ever  moving  face,  like  the  seasons  for 
its  variety — how  those  clear  grey  eyes  flashed,  and  the  brows 
became  almost  knotted  with  the  intensity  of  a  thought  grow 
ing  behind  them,  and  then,  when  the  thought  was  brought  to 
birth,  the  wrinkles  were  smoothed  out,  and,  like  the  cloudless 
sky  of  a  summer  day,  his  splendid  domed  forehead  exposed  a 
serenity  and  calm  almost  godlike.  There  was  no  part  of  his 
face  which  did  not  illustrate  emotion ;  worn  with  thought, 
puckered  with  conflicting  struggles,  the  whole  countenance 
told  the  history  of  a  temperament  wearing  itself  away  with 
conflict.  The  spiritual  expression  was  prevented  from  being 
sentimental  by  the  virility  in  the  man's  nature.  One  could  see 
under  that  sweet  face  the  possible  presence  of  a  great  storm, 
and  under  that  restrained  nature  a  fire  and  a  passion  burning 
the  very  life.  And  it  was  this  sort  of  perfection  of  human 
attributes  which  gave  the  charm  as  well  as  the  force  to  his 
character.  One  felt  in  the  presence  of  a  man  that  knew  the 
fire,  but  whose  spiritual  nature  knew  how  to  use  it  for  good. 
The  poetic  temperament  was  largely  developed.  His  admira- 

VOL.  II  D 


34  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

tion  for  Tennyson  was  great,  but  he  loved  Browning  more ; 
the  latter  he  thought  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern 
teachers.  There  was  some  affinity  between  the  mind  of  the 
theologian  and  the  poet — the  same  love  of  the  transcendental, 
the  same  effort  to  express  thoughts  scarcely  touchable  in  so 
clumsy  a  vehicle  as  language  relatively  is,  the  same  passionate 
love  for  all  that  belongs  to  our  race — its  faults,  its  struggles, 
enterprises,  and  failures — and  the  same  keenness  to  unravel 
difficult  knots.  This  strong  characteristic  rendered  to  the 
writing  of  the  poet  as  well  as  the  theologian  a  certain  air  of 
symbolic  obscurity — a  style  difficult  to  follow  because  the  ideas 
were  so  remote  and  so  unusual.  It  is  not  often  that  genius 
is  manifest,  but  it  was  in  Dr.  Westcott,  because  the  intuitive, 
the  instinct,  almost  childlike,  was  allied  in  him  to  self-mastery. 
As  long  as  I  live  I  shall  never  forget  the  hours  I  spent  with 
him.  He  sat  to  me  pretty  well  daily  for  a  fortnight  nearly 
the  whole  of  each  day,  and  when  the  end  came  I  was  so  tired 
with  the  strain,  so  exhausted  by  the  effort  to  keep  going  and 
in  touch  with  such  a  vivid  personality,  that  life  seemed  to 
have  gone  out  of  me ;  every  one  else  seemed  so  dull,  so 
monotonous  after  the  sparkle,  the  glamour,  the  freshness  of 
the  contact  with  that  eager  and  fresh  mind. 

We  corresponded  a  good  deal,  but  his  letters  to  me  would 
not  be  of  general  interest.  Unfortunately,  I  never  went  to 
visit  him  in  Durham.  I  am  sorry  now,  and  I  reflect  that  it  is 
a  pity  ever  to  lose  sight  of  such  an  influential  personality  as 
his  was ;  but  life  brings  to  us  all  our  special  duties,  and  his  and 
mine  were  different.  The  loss  to  England  of  such  a  man  as 
Bishop  Westcott  cannot  be  overstated. 

On  his  birthday  in  1890  he  entered  in  his  little 
text -book:  "Little  hope.  Yet  hold  fast.  No  rest. 
What  remains  to  do  ? "  A  few  days  later  he  was  at 
Birmingham  with  Archbishop  Benson  to  address  a 
great  meeting  on  behalf  of  the  Birmingham  Bishopric 
scheme.  In  concluding  his  speech  on  this  occasion  he 
said  that  "  he  knew  what  a  debt  he  owed  to  Birming 
ham — a  debt  which  he  could  not  pay  ;  he  knew  the 


ix  WESTMINSTER  35 

power  and  spirit  of  Birmingham,  its  large  resources, 
and  its  wants,  and  he  believed  he  acknowledged  most 
fittingly  the  debt  which  he  could  not  pay  when  he 
commended  the  formation  of  the  Bishopric  of  Birming 
ham  and  Coventry  to  their  silent  and  secret  devotion 
and  their  generous  munificence,  in  the  full  assurance 
that  the  work  would  by  God's  grace  be  accomplished, 
and  bring  great  blessing  to  the  city,  and — might  he 
not  also  say,  when  they  thought  what  the  influence  of 
great  cities  was  on  popular  opinion  ? — great  blessing  to 
the  nation." 

My  father's  time  at  Westminster  was  now  drawing 
to  a  close.  His  last  appearances  there  were  tinged 
with  sorrow,  for  his  last  sermon  was  that  which  he 
preached  on  Bishop  Lightfoot,  and  his  last  ceremony 
the  funeral  of  Robert  Browning.  It  was  hard  for 
him  to  leave  Westminster.  It  had  been  his  intention 
to  resign  his  Cambridge  work  and  devote  himself 
exclusively  to  the  Abbey.  Canon  Robinson  said  : — 

He  loved  this  Abbey  Church,  of  which  he  was  six  years  a 
Canon,  with  a  quite  peculiar  affection,  because  it  witnessed 
in  a  unique  manner,  as  he  said,  to  the  consecration  of  every 
form  of  service  which  man  is  capable  of  offering  to  God. 
No  thought  was  more  often  in  his  mind  and  on  his  lips  than 
that  which  he  has  left  us  here  symbolised  in  stone  upon  the 
outside  of  our  northern  porch.  There  you  will  see,  in  a 
design  which  we  owe  to  him,  a  representation  of  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men  bringing  each  his  peculiar  gift  to  the 
ascended  and  glorified  Lord.  For  the  Incarnation  had  taught 
him  that  every  form  of  human  effort  was  capable  of  consecra 
tion  ;  and  that  only  as  each  brings  that  which  is  his  own  pre 
destined  contribution  can  the  fulness  of  life  be  offered  to 
Christ,  and  the  purposes  of  God  for  man  be  carried  to  its 
issue.1 

1  Canon  Armitage  Robinson,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  4th  August  1901. 


36  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

So  he  has  left  some  visible  memorial  at  the  Abbey. 
The  following  letter  to  the  Dean  concerns  these 
sculptures  : — 

CAMBRIDGE,  2%th  February  1890. 

My  dear  Dean — The  studies  of  the  heads  are  full  of 
interest.  How  delightful  to  see  the  Archbishop  as  Grostete  ! 
If  you  are  in  real  need  of  a  preacher  I  shall,  of  course,  obey 
your  command ;  but  otherwise  I  would  rather  not  preach. 
A  sermon  means  to  me  a  week's  work,  and  I  have  already 
two  to  write  for  May.  You  will  understand  then  how  I  never 
accept  an  "  invitation  "  to  preach.  The  summer  sermons  are 
already  rilling  up  fragments  of  thought.  For  a  third  service 
I  like  the  Litany  with  hymns,  etc.,  far  better  than  the 
"  shortened  Evening  Prayer."  I  will  send  the  photographs 
to  Mr.  Pearson  by  this  post.  Our  North  front  will  have  a 
meaning. — Ever  yours,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

The  Dean  has  also  written  saying : — 

Your  father  took  great  interest  in  the  sculptures  outside 
the  North  Transept.  The  entrance  was  restored  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  late  Mr.  Pearson,  who  carried  out  the 
designs  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott ;  but  the  sculptures  were  largely 
chosen  by  your  father. 

I  can  remember  how  my  father  was  wont  to  call 
attention  with  much  satisfaction  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
Madonna  there  depicted  it  is  the  Child,  and  not  the 
Virgin  Mother,  Who  is  crowned. 


The  following  letters  are  selected  from  those  written 
by  my  father  during  the  years  1884-1890  : — 


TX  WESTMINSTER  37 

To  HIS  WIFE 

CAMBRIDGE,  %th  March  1884. 

If  I  can  go  to  the  concert  on  Thursday,  I  will  certainly  do 
so.  To  hear  a  violin  is  about  the  greatest  pleasure  I  know, 
though  Joachim  did  not  come  up  to  my  ideal  last  time. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

2%th  March  1884. 

Will  you  not  ever  take  a  Divinity  degree  ?  We  slowly 
strengthen  our  forces.  There  may  be  an  additional  Essay 
which  will  serve  for  the  Exercise.  I  have  pleaded  with 
Vaughan.  Can  you  not  come  together  ?  What  is  the  faculty 
for  if  not  to  receive  the  loyal  support  of  all  who  serve  its 
cause  ?  Do  think  of  it.  In  another  generation  it  may  be 
too  late. 

For  the  last  week  I  have  spent  my  leisure  in  Maurice's 
Life.  I  never  knew  before  how  deep  my  sympathy  is  with 
most  of  his  characteristic  thoughts.  It  is  most  refreshing  to 
read  such  a  book  —  such  a  life. 

To  ARCHDEACON  F.  W.  FARRAR 

(On  the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  l) 

CAMBRIDGE,  2ist  April  1884. 
My  dear  Farrar  —  The  AtSa^  is  certainly  most  interesting. 


It  seems  to  me  to  be  one  form  of  the  transcription  of  a  very 
early  —  even  apostolic  —  oral  teaching.  But  it  will  be  necessary 
to  collate  all  the  forms  in  which  "  the  Two  Ways  "  is  found,  to 
justify  this  conclusion.  I  do  not  suppose  that  this  is  the 
source,  but  probably  the  earliest  "  extant  "  written  representa 
tive  of  the  tradition.  It  would  be,  I  think,  very  unsafe  to 
draw  negative  conclusions  from  teaching  designed  for  a  special 
purpose.  The  first  reading,  I  confess,  saddened  me  more 

1  Archdeacon  Farrar  wrote  on  the  Didache  in  the  Contemporary  and  the 
Expositor  in  May  1884. 


38  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

than  I  can  say.     The  second  reading  showed  more  gleams  of 
spiritual  truth. 

(1)  p.  30.  The  parallelism  seems  to  me  decisive  in  favour 
of  the  translation  which  you  give ;  and  the  active  sense  of 
Karao-Krjvovv  is  amply  supported  by  Ps.  xxii.  2,  ets  TOTTOV  x^<"js 
€K€t  //,e  Ko/reovc.     I  don't  understand  Bryennios'  note. 

(2)  p.  43.  I  naturally  took  6 p.  Tpcnr.  as  Harnack,  and  did 
not  feel  the  difficulty  which  many  have  felt. 

(3)  p.  43.  ets  /AVO-T.  KOO-/A.  is  perhaps  corrupt.     Harnack's 
interpretation  is  to  me  incomprehensible.     JEK/<A.7?crtas  seems 
to  me  ace.  pi.  (as  Bryennios  takes  it),  and  not  gen.  sing.    The 
reference  may  be  to  some  forms  of  assembly  which  excited 
suspicion.      In  this  connexion  it  might  be  possible  to  give 
some  sense  to  pva-r.  KOO-/A.  as  the  object  of  such  meetings. 

But   €7T€XW 

(4)  p.  48.  I  marked  crma,  but  the  sense  seems  to  be  clear. 
The  Lexicon  gives  it  for  "  a  batch  "  (i.e.  of  bread).     I  have  not 
looked  out  the  reference  which  is  added,  but  I  feel  no  doubt. 

(5)  P-  54-  I  do  not  feel  clear  that  the  text  is  sound.     But 
if  it  is,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Bryennios'  first  rendering 
may  be  right :   "  shall  be  saved  by  the  very  curse  itself,"  i.e. 
by  Him  Whom,  in   these  evil  days,  men   speak  of  as   "the 
curse  "  (comp.  i  Cor.  xii.  3). 

(6)  ov  yap  epx-     I  had  taken  Christ  (from  0eos)  as   the 
subject  of  epx-5  "  He  cometh  not  to  call  after  outward  position, 
but  to  those  whom  .  .  ." 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  talk  in  this  way  over  the  book.  I 
hear  that  Mr.  Hatch  is  to  lecture  on  it  at  Westminster. — 
Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

There  is  an  article  on  the  book  in  the  new  number  of  the 
Andover  Review^  which  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  read.  I 
was  away  all  last  week.  Shall  I  bring  the  book  ? 


To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

zydjune  1884. 

I  hope  that  I  may  see  my  way  at  Westminster.     How 
the    words    come    back    to    us    all    who    have   a    Gospel   to 


ix  WESTMINSTER  39 

preach !     IIPOSTAYTATmKANOS.1     But  we  do  not  send 

ourselves. 

i 

To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (REV.  C.  H.  PRIOR) 

WESTMINSTER,  i^th  August  1884. 

My  dear  Charlie — We  were  very  glad  to  have  your  letter 
this  morning.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  you  have  done 
right — that  is,  that  you  have  chosen  the  work  where  you  will 
be  able  to  do  best  service.  Just  now  Cambridge  calls  for 
every  support.  To  have  the  opportunity  of  giving  strength 
to  what  is  best  there  is  as  great  a  blessing  as  can  be  received. 
I  am  very  glad  that  you  looked  at  the  whole  matter  carefully. 
I  feel  sure  that  you  will  have  no  cause  for  regret.  All  join  in 
love. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

WESTMINSTER,  26th  August  1884. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  have  read  through  the  slips  of 
Cyprian  with  very  great  interest.  It  is  not  always  easy  reading, 
but  it  is  always  rewarding.  I  have  added  a  few  queries  chiefly 
to  accents  and  the  like.  I  think  that  at  the  end  of  it  I  should 
add  a  line  to  say  (what  Catechesis  in  2  implies)  that  C.  became 
a  Catechumen.  An  ordinary  reader  will  be  thankful  for  the 
resting-place.  This  is  poor  criticism,  but  I  have  no  better  to 
offer.  The  summer  will,  I  hope,  bring  many  sheets.  For  us 
Scotland  is  on  many  accounts  impossible.  I  wish  that  it 
were  otherwise.  I  feel  very  much  tempted  to  stay  for  a  little 
time  here  and  quietly  dream  about  the  Abbey ;  but  we  have 
no  plans.  The  wonder  of  the  place  grows,  but  I  see  nothing 
yet  clearly. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

CAMBRIDGE,  nth  October  1884. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  return  the  sheets  of  Cyprian,  which 
I  have  kept  too  long  and  with  too  little  purpose.  At  least  I 
have  read  them  with  great  interest,  and  set  a  few  pencil  marks 

1  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?  (2  Cor.  ii.  16). 


40  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

at  the  side  which  will,  I  think,  speak  for  themselves  if  they 
have  anything  to  say.  .  .  . 

These  are  trivial  criticisms ;  you  will  see  the  little  pencil 
marks,  and  it  is  not  worth  while  to  dwell  on  them.  It  would 
be  most  convenient  to  you,  I  think,  to  do  all  the  correction 
in  slip.  I  hope  that  you  are  pressing  forward. — Ever  yours 
affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

A  very  big  P.S.  Since  my  note  was  written  I  have  been 
desired  to  ask  if  it  would  be  possible  for  you  to  preach  in 
King's  College  Chapel  on  23rd  November.  Arthur1  will 
plead  better  than  I  can,  and  I  think  that  he  will.  The  Bishop 
of  Lincoln  would  have  come,  I  believe,  if  he  could  have 
done  so. 

%th  November  1884. 

I  always  grieve  over  the  neglect  of  SeScwy/xei/ot.2  The 
blessedness  lies  in  the  victory,  does  it  not  ?  and  not  in  the 
conflict. 

To  THE  BISHOP  OF  DURHAM 

2^tk  November  1884. 

I  do  not  feel  less  than  you  do  the  importance  of  Durham, 
but  if  Durham  is  to  have  a  growing  stream  of  men  the  spring 
must  not  be  dried.  You  will  be  stronger  as  we  are  stronger 
here,  and  I  do  feel  very  anxious  for  the  future.  .  .  .  We  have 
given  some  men  joyfully ;  we  lent  others — to  learn  and  then  to 
teach  us. 

CAMBRIDGE,  >jth  Febrtiary  1885. 

My  dear  Bishop — It  is  natural  that  we  should  look  at  wants 
from  our  different  points  of  view.3  The  needs  of  Durham  do 
not  make  the  needs  of  Cambridge  less.  I  am  not  inclined  to 
be  despondent,  but  the  state  of  things  here  is  most  critical. 

1  Mr.  A.  C.  Benson,  who  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  King's  College. 

2  Who  have  been  persecuted  (St.  Matt.  v.  10). 

3  Dr.  Harmer,  the  present  Bishop  of  Adelaide,  at  that  time  Fellow  of 
King's,  and  Domestic  Chaplain  to  Bishop  Lightfoot,  was  "  the  bone  of 
contention  "  in  the  correspondence  of  which  these  two  letters  are  part. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  41 


If  I  could  I  would  call  back  every  clerical  fellow  to  his  College. 
If  you  would  look  at  the  life  you  would  feel  as  I  do.  It  is 
simply  for  this  reason  that  I  have  always  clung  to  my  place, 
hoping  yet  to  do  a  little,  though  more  weary  than  I  can  say. 
Of  course,  I  think  that  a  College  has  a  claim  upon  its  members 
if  it  needs  them.  I  only  wish  that  you  could  for  an  hour  or 
two  see  what  the  position  is.  I  cannot  change  my  opinion. 
That  is  all. 

I  have  promised  to  preach  for  LI.  Davies  to-morrow  week. 
Shall  you  take  a  subject  to-morrow  which  I  can  either  avoid 
or  emphasise  ?  The  text  on  a  postcard  may  be  enough  to 
guide  me. — Ever  yours,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

CAMBRIDGE,  27^  Febrttary  1885. 

I  had  a  long  conversation  with  Mr.  Longman  about  the 
Epochs,  and  begged  him  to  place  the  work  in  Professor 
Creighton's  charge.  I  gave  Mr.  Longman  all  the  ideas  I 
had,  but  told  him  that  absolutely  I  would  have  nothing  more 
to  do  with  the  scheme.  I  gave  him  an  outline  of  subjects 
which  I  drew  up  for  my  Harrow  pupils,  greatly  preferring  a 
biographical  method. 

To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  qtk  March  1885. 

My  dear  Dean — It  would  be  treason  for  any  one  to  take 
the  Dean's  place  on  Whitsunday.  Alas,  too,  I  have  to  preach 
at  St.  James's,  and  I  was  preaching  in  town  last  week.  The 
"  Coleridge  "  must  have  been  full  of  interest.  Mr.  Lowell  is 
one  of  the  most  pleasant  speakers  I  have  ever  heard.  West 
minster  is  dearer  to  me  than  ever.  I  wish  I  could  be  there 
as  much  in  body  as  in  heart,  but  at  present  I  hardly  dare 
leave  Cambridge.  You  will  doubtless  go  to  the  V.  C.  when 
you  come  to  preach.  We  can  offer  nothing  but  the  rudest 
shelter ;  but  if  other  worthier  hospitality  should  fail,  you  will 
not  refuse  our  welcome  ? — Ever  yours,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


42  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

CAMBRIDGE,  'jth.  May  1885. 

My  dear  Dean — I  am  very  sorry  that  I  cannot  be  with  you 
to-day.  I  had  to  spend  yesterday  in  town  on  an  examination 
meeting,  and  hardly  know  how  I  shall  get  through  my  work. 
That  is  the  old,  old  story.  After  next  week  I  could  come  up 
on  a  Tuesday  or  Thursday.  I  have  a  meeting  on  Thursday 
afternoon  at  2.  Perhaps,  if  you  found  it  convenient  to  meet 
at  4,  the  two  meetings  might  fit  together. 

The  result  at  Harrow  is  a  cause  for  great  thankfulness.  I 
think  that  Welldon  has  in  him  the  capacity  of  being  epoch- 
making  in  school  work,  and  we  have  reached,  I  think,  a  crisis. 
— Yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

I  had  not  one  moment's  doubt  about  Lincoln.1  Having 
known  Westminster,  I  could  not  leave  it :  not  to  speak  of 
Cambridge. 

CAMBRIDGE,  tfkjune  1885. 

My  dear  Dean — I  am  sure  that  I  am  too  loyal  to  do  any 
thing  but  maintain  the  wisdom  of  my  Dean,  and  I  am  sure 
too  that  a  Dean  should  not  be  absent  from  the  great  Festivals 
of  his  Church.  It  will  be  well  to  make  some  rule  about 
assistance  in  the  distribution  of  the  elements  at  large  Com 
munions.  For  the  first  time  for  many  years  I  was  lately  present 
in  a  Church  when  the  elements  were  administered  to  a 
"  railful "  at  a  time,  and  I  was  much  impressed  by  the  solemn 
silence.  Perhaps  Convocation  may  sanction  this. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  about  the  Confessor's  Chapel,  and  hope 
to  see  Queen  Philippa's  tomb  restored.  It  is  the  one  tomb 
that  can  be  restored  with  absolute  certainty,  and  it  would  be 
a  marvellously  beautiful  work. 

But  I  am  writing  with  a  request.  The  Archbishop  has 
promised  to  attend  a  meeting  for  the  Delhi  mission  on  22nd 
June  at  3  P.M.  Could  you  allow  us  to  meet  as  before  in  the 
Jerusalem  Chamber  or  in  the  College  Hall  ? 

I  find  that  I  must  go  to  the  levee  on  Tuesday.  Are  you 
going  ?  and,  if  so,  will  you  take  me  under  your  wing  ?  I  have 
a  meeting  at  4,  and  so  must  try  to  go  early. 

1  He  had  recently  declined  the  Deanery  of  Lincoln. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  43 

I  should  like  to  think  about  the  central  figure  of  the 
Porch.  —  Yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

(On  criticisms  of  the  Westcott  and  Hort  Greek  Testament) 


I  looked  through  the  notices  with  much  interest.  The 
French  ones  were  quite  a  revelation  of  careful  study.  .  .  . 
The  different  sources  make  them  more  remarkable.  The 
R.C.  criticism  is  very  characteristic.  The  sudden  introduc 
tion  of  dogmatic  reasons  sounds  half  ironical. 

How  very  touching  Reuss's  letter  is.  I  must  try  to  find 
courage  to  send  him  the  Epistles  of  St.  John. 

To  C.  DALRYMPLE,  ESQ.,  M.P. 

WESTMINSTER,  2^th  August  1885. 

My  dear  Dalrymple  —  I  delayed  thanking  you  for  youi 
kind  present,  which  represents,  I  hope,  first-fruits  of  a  well- 
earned  holiday,  till  I  had  seen  Lord  Bute.  He  proposed  to 
come  this  week,  and  on  Tuesday  he  called  and  drove  me  to 
Chiswick.  We  had  a  very  long  talk,  which  was  to  me  of 
very  deep  interest.  Lady  Bute  was  confined  to  her  room, 
so  that  we  were  quite  alone.  I  hope  to  see  him  again  next 
week,  if  he  is  still  kept  here.  I  wish  that  he  had  more 
friends.  The  sudden  transition  from  Turnham  Green  to  the 
cedar  walk  stirred  thoughts  which  it  is  hard  to  bring  to  peace. 
However,  I  am  not  going  to  sketch  a  social  essay  on  a  sheet 
of  notepaper.  I  hope  that  you  will  get  rest  before  the 
struggle  begins.  —  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

ST.  AUGUSTINE'S,  CANTERBURY, 
2$th  September  1885. 

...  It  was  a  revelation  to  me  that  R.C.  priests  could  be 
so  ill-informed,  especially  as  -  said  that  he  made  the 


44  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

points  at  issue  between  the  Anglican  and  Roman  Churches 
the  subject  of  thorough  study. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  paragraph  about  Establishment  was  sad. 
What  shall  we  say  of  the  tendency  to  Republican  Govern 
ment?  Is  no  tendency  to  be  resisted?  It  is  the  old,  old 
story.  Our  rulers  say  to  us,  What  should  you  like  and  we 
will  do  it  ?  I  wish  that  our  laymen  would  speak  out.  The 
question  is  theirs  rather  than  ours. 

I  have  called  here  to  see  Arthur  on  my  way  back  to 
Cambridge.  The  work  of  the  place  is  full  of  interest  and 
encouragement.  The  wall  of  the  Roman  St.  Pancras  stand 
ing  on  part  of  the  boundary  of  the  butcher's  field. 


To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

CAMBRIDGE,  ist  October  1885. 

My  dear  Arthur — I  send  by  this  post  -to  "  the  librarian  " l  a 
copy  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  for  St.  Augustine's.  I  am 
very  glad  to  add  the  stone  to  the  cairn.  The  visit  was  a 
great  pleasure  to  me.  I  can  now  realise  your  life  fully,  and 
it  is  a  life  to  rejoice  in,  with  abundant  opportunities  for  useful 
work.  You  could  not,  I  think,  be  more  happily  engaged. 

I  had  a  good  time  at  Rochester,  and  found  the  Dean.  In 
the  end  I  found  myself  at  Snow  Hill  and  my  luggage  at 
Victoria.  But  we  are  happily  reunited.  Just  now  I  am 
nearly  bewildered  with  papers  and  disorder.  I  hope  to  get 
straight  soon. — Ever  your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  -$rd  October  1885. 

My  dear  Dean — If  there  is  no  more  serious  business  on 
Tuesday,  and  you  can  make  a  quorum  without  me,  I  will  ask 
your  permission  to  be  absent.  I  have  to  come  to  town  on 
Wednesday  and  to  go  to  Portsmouth  on  Thursday,  and  this 
at  the  beginning  of  term  is  rather  trying.  However,  what  has 

1  I.e.  to  me  in  my  official  capacity. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  45 


to  be  done  is  done.     This  is  one  of  the  most  cheerful  lessons 
of  life. 

Lord  Shaftesbury's  has  been  a  noble  life,  and  complete  in 
its  way,  though  I  wish  that  he  had  left  Theology  alone.  To 
study  that  we  want  an  unusual  endowment  of  modesty.  We 
shall  all  be  glad  if  he  rests  in  the  Abbey. 

Have  you  had  any  certain  information  about  the  consecra 
tion  of  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury?  I  should  like  to  make 
arrangements  to  be  present  if  possible.  I  feel  sure  that  he 
will  justify  his  self-denying  acceptance.  I  hope  that  you  are 
getting  rest. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

CAMBRIDGE,  26th  November  1885. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Don't  call  me  or  even  think  me 
ungrateful  if  I  have  not  thanked  you  before  for  the  volume  of 
wise  counsel1  which  has  gladdened  us  all.  Its  reception  has 
been  almost  as  cheering  as  the  utterance. 

But  I  doubt  if  I  should  have  broken  off  the  work  of  a 
lecture  even  for  the  pleasure  of  saying  this,  which  you  would 
know  I  feel. 

...  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  in  England  has  done 
better  or  more  helpful  work  on  the  O.T.  than  Dr.  Cheyne. 
He  is  singularly  thorough,  sympathetic,  and  sincere,  so  that 
his  positive  results  come  with  a  fresh  force.  I  doubt  whether 
anything  has  had  a  better  general  effect  on  O.T.  study  than 
his  frank  exposition  of  the  steps  by  which  he  won  his  way  to 
faith  in  revelation.  Under  unfavourable  circumstances  he 
has  done  most  valuable  work,  and  I  cannot  but  wish  that  he 
should  have  the  opportunities  and  the  stimulus  of  University 
life.  If  you  consider  Old  Testament  exegesis,  there  is  no 
one,  I  think,  who  has  done  or  is  likely  to  do  more  useful 
work.  I  need  not  say  that  on  many  points  I  am  bold  enough 
to  disagree  with  him,  but  he  is  always  most  truly  reverent  in 
spirit,  and  just. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

1   The  Seven  Gifts,  the  Archbishop's  Primary  Visitation  Charge. 


46  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  tyh  December  [1885  ?]. 

My  dear  Dean — I  am  grieved  that  you  have  all  these 
little  worries  and  anxieties.  It  is  worry,  not  work,  that  kills. 

Mr.  Pearson's  letter  is  very  satisfactory.  He  will,  of  course, 
take  care  that  we  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  models 
themselves.  Nothing  could  be  better  than  this.  As  to  the 
Library,  the  safe,  as  I  have  ventured  to  plead,  for  our  prim 
ary  treasures  is  the  first  necessity.  An  insurance,  as  one 
insures  one's  own  books,  is  a  reasonable  and  inexpensive 
provision  for  replacing  the  mass.  For  the  safe  I  do  plead 
again.  The  sub-Dean  seemed  to  say  that  he  had  one,  which 
could  be  transferred.  I  should  be  very  glad  if  this  could  be 
considered. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

WESTMINSTER,  Innocents'  Day,  1885. 

Very  many  thanks  for  the  sight  of  's  letter,  which  I 

return.  He  has  been  advised  well,  I  am  sure ;  and  he  must 
learn  to  see  that  the  monastic  life  is  not  one  hair-breadth 
higher  than  any  other.  All  the  self-denial  after  which  he 
aspires  and  more  is  within  his  reach. 

.  .  .  We  want,  I  think,  a  very  great  increase  of  the 
episcopate.  But  I  am  not  going  to  write  an  article.  Any 
action  ought  to  come  from  within,  not  from  without. 

It  was  very  cheering  to  see  the  men  at  Addington.  There 
is  hope  while  such  freely  offer  themselves. 

(On  the  death  of  Dr.  Henry  Bradshaw) 

CAMBRIDGE,  \ifh  February  1886. 

My  dear  Archbishop — You  will  have  felt  for  Cambridge 
and  for  King's  in  this  most  unexpected  and  irreparable  loss. 
All  we  can  say  is  that  there  was  nothing  of  sadness  in  the 
circumstances  but  the  suddenness ;  and  I  do  not  know  that, 


ix  WESTMINSTER  47 

when  we  are  free  from  other  claims,  there  can  be  a  greater 
blessing  than  the  freshness  of  work  to  the  end.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  a  bright  welcome  back,  but  had  not  seen  B. 
again.  On  Wednesday  he  dined  at  J.  W.  Clark's  with  a 
small  party,  and  was  in  good  spirits.  He  went  home,  and  in 
the  morning  his  bed -maker  found  him  sitting  in  his  chair 
with  an  open  book,  but  his  work  here  was  done. 

It  has  been  a  great  joy  to  us  all  that  during  these  last  two 
years  the  University  at  large  has  known  him  and  given  him 
every  honour  it  could.  His  loss  to  the  College  cannot  be 
estimated.  There  he  was  supreme  for  good.  His  justice 
and  absolute  unselfishness  made  his  voice  final.  The  funeral 
is  to  be  on  Monday  at  2.15  in  the  College.  I  wish  that  you 
could  have  been  with  us.  We  can  only  do  our  work. — Ever 
yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

CAMBRIDGE,  iqtk  March  1886. 

My  dear  Hort — By  a  most  strange  coincidence  I  have 
had  the  enclosed  note  this  morning  from  Mr.  Eyre,  who  has 
really  edited  the  E.  and  S.  Aids.  It  expresses,  I  need  hardly 
say,  what  I  feel  most  strongly.  It  would  be,  I  think,  most 
unworthy  of  the  University  to  construct  a  new  book  sub 
stantially  on  the  lines  of  the  Queen's  Printers'  Bible.  Of 
the  subjects  contained  in  the  scheme  a  large  part  are  treated 
there  as  well  as  they  can  be  treated.  There  is  no  doubt  room 
for  improvement  and  some  additions.  I  have  spoken  often 
before  on  the  subject,  and  I  see  no  reason  to  alter  any  opinion 
I  have  expressed.  I  should  feel  deeply  humiliated  if  the 
Press  were  to  imitate  Oxford  in  this  matter.  Their  offence 
would  be  much  greater.  Mr.  Eyre,  I  should  add,  had  not 
written  to  me  before. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  only  lapse  of  time 
that  led  my  father  to  finally  give  his  countenance  to 
the  Cambridge  Companion  to  the  Bible,  but  he  did, 


48  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

as  a  matter  of  fact,  contribute  to  that  work,  which  was 
published  in  1893 — an  Appendix,  on  Sacred  Books  of 
other  Faiths. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

27 'tk  March  1886. 

It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  me  to  read  some  more 
pages  of  the  Cyprian.  The  only  result  has  been  a  few  minute 
pencil  marks  in  the  margin  which  are  of  no  moment.  Per 
haps  I  may  add  that  I  once  took  the  trouble  to  hunt  down 
Galland's  name.  He  was  of  French  descent,  and  in  the 
Italian  authorisation  of  his  work  he  is  called  Galland :  the 
common  name  Gallandi  which  you  follow,  I  think,  has  no 
authority.  There  is  a  kind  of  satisfaction  in  being  right  even 
in  such  a  trifle.  More  will  follow  soon,  I  hope. 

I  could  not  make  out  who  the  bold  Lord  Grimthorpe 
might  be.  The  mystery  was  disclosed  the  other  day  and  I 
ceased  to  wonder. 

22nd  April  1886. 

If  you  could  have  been  at  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Society  you  could  have  saved  them  from  the  great  error  which 
they  have  made  of  asking,1  as  it  seems,  those  who  prepare 
pupils  what  their  examination  should  be.  The  very  essence 
of  an  examination  is  that  it  should  offer  a  standard  and  not 
simply  repeat  an  easy  tradition.  A  glance  which  I  had  of 
the  memorandum  sent  to  the  Examination  Board  surprised 
me  very  greatly  by  its  form.  I  should  be  glad  to  speak  some 
time  with  you  on  the  whole  question  of  Training  Colleges, 
which  is  likely  to  become  very  important. 

itfhjune  1886. 

I  will  endeavour  to  say  what  I  think  on  the  very  serious 
questions  which  you  propose ;  but  I  ought  first  to  say  that  I 
feel  strongly  that  the  adoration  of  a  localised  Presence  in  the 
consecrated  elements  appears  to  me  to  be  one  of  our  most 

1  "  But,  my  dear  Westcott,  I  was  present"  confesses  the  Archbishop, 
and  explains. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  49 

real  and  grave  and  growing  perils.  I  cannot  therefore  think 
that  the  Rubric  is  "  unsuitable  under  the  circumstances  "  of 
the  Church  at  Zanzibar :  quite  the  reverse. 

1 .  Even  if  there  were  authority  (and  there  does  not  appear 
to  be)  to  omit  the  Rubric,  I  should  deeply  regret  the  omission. 

2.  It  seems  to  me  quite  evident  that  many  of  the  omitted 
clauses  can  be  rendered :  e.g.,  "  signification  of  our  humble 
and  grateful,"  "  and  not  here,"  "  Christ's  Body";  and  "  natural 
Body  and  Blood  "  appears  to  be  translated,  and  surely  there 
fore  "  natural  Flesh  and  Blood  "  can  be. 

It  would  not,  again,  be  difficult  to  adapt  the  language  of 
the  translation  of  the  second  Commandment  to  the  clause 
"  for  that  were  idolatry  ..." 

3.  No  doubt  the  language  of  the  Rubric  is  unguarded,  but 
it  saves  us   from  the  error  of  connecting  the   Presence   of 
Christ's  glorified  humanity  with  place :   "  heaven  is  a  state 
and  not  a  place." 

I  cannot  therefore  but  think  that  you  should  require  the 
most  exact  rendering  of  the  whole. 

i6th  August  1886. 

.  .  .  This  being  so,  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  come  to 
Addington  in  Ember  week,  if  you  were  kind  enough  to 
wish  me  to  do  so.  The  Abbey  more  than  commands  one's 
time.  Happily,  I  know  how  many  you  have  to  take  this 
vacant  place,  and  you  won't  tell  me  to  resign. 

y>tk  August  1886. 

...  I  don't,  of  course,  accept  your  judgment  of  such  work 
as  I  can  do  at  Ember-tide  except  as  a  most  touching  sign 
of  your  affection.  .  .  . 

I  forgot  to  say  before  that  I  should  have  been  glad  if  you 
could  have  written  out  a  little  more  at  length  the  great  moral 
at  the  end  of  the  last  Cyprian  proof — the  establishment  of  a 
free  representative  council.  As  you  could  not  print  it  in 
capitals,  it  seemed  to  want  more  space.  It  is  strange  for  me 
to  plead  for  a  little  expansion. 

i$th  September  1886. 

...  I  have  been  reading  for  the  tenth  time  Emerson's 
Essays,  and  trying  to  see  his  world.     I  find  it  very  hard — 
VOL.  II  E 


50  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

harder  than  to  bring  the  world  which  I  do  see  into  a  tend 
ency  towards  harmony.  The  lessons  of  Westminster  seemed 
to  be  stranger  than  ever  this  summer.  Are  we  all  som 
nambulists  ? 

What  I  can  do  at  King's  without  Ryle l  I  don't  know.  I 
have  been  thinking  that  I  ought  to  give  up.  It  is  impossible 
to  do  many  things.  However,  one  phrase  always  comes  back 
— I  have  had  to  think  of  it  a  good  deal — oV  W^Ktv  K\r)p6vopov 
TravTwv2:  yes,  Travrwv3:  nothing  less  gives  "peace,"  still  less 
"joy." 

To    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER  (MRS.  E.   G.  KiNG) 

TOWYN,  \%th  September  1886. 

.  .  .  We  are  constantly  thinking  of  you  all.  But  now  the 
suspense  is  over,  you  can  but  look  more  quietly  to  the  end,4 
and  we  were  very  glad  to  hear  last  night  the  few  words  which 
spoke  of  sleep  and  calm  resting.  We  need  not,  nay,  we 
cannot  think  those  unhappy  who  are  called  away  from  trial 
soon,  only  to  have  the  memory  of  gentle  patience  and  smiles 
as  their  portion  in  life. 

To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  New  Year's  Eve,  1887. 

My  dear  Dean — Let  me  congratulate  you  on  the  appear 
ance  of  Job,  and  thank  you  most  heartily  for  the  gift  which 
binds  the  two  years  together.  It  used  to  be  my  part  at 
Peterborough  summer  after  summer  to  endeavour  to  read  the 
Book.  So  at  least  I  know  a  little  of  the  difficulties  and  a 
little  of  the  questions  which  it  raises.  I  rejoice  that  you 
have  given  a  home  in  the  Abbey  to  interpretation  of  Scrip 
ture.  It  always  seems  to  me,  though  I  have  been  required 
to  spend  so  much  time  on  other  subjects,  that  we  need  above 
all  things  to  learn  and  to  teach  the  lessons  of  the  Bible.  It 
is  of  deep  interest  to  know  how  the  Old  Testament  grew,  till 

1  The  present  Bishop  of  Exeter. 

2  Whom  He  appointed  heir  of  all  things  (Heb.  i.  2). 

3  Of  all  things. 

4  The  death  of  his  granddaughter  Ruth. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  51 

the  Apostles  were  trained  by  the  collection  of  Books  which 
we  have. 

I  see  a  paragraph  to-day  that  the  Bishop  of  Lahore  is  to 
be  consecrated  in  the  Abbey  on  Epiphany.  If  it  is  true,  I 
should  like  to  be  present  for  India's  sake.  .  .  . 


To  THE  RIGHT  HON.  G.  CUBITT,  M.P. 

WESTMINSTER,  qth  January  1887.    . 

My  dear  Cubitt — I  am  very  sorry  that  I  missed  you  the 
other  day,  for,  apart  from  other  reasons,  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  talk  over  with  you  a  scheme  which  I  have  very  greatly 
at  heart.  However,  the  enclosed  papers  will  explain  it  fairly 
well.  There  is,  I  can  say  without  reserve,  nothing  which 
seems  to  me  to  be  of  more  importance  for  the  University  at 
the  present  time  and  for  the  Church.  The  Bishops  are  very 
naturally  requiring  that  candidates  for  Holy  Orders  should 
have  some  special  training  before  entering  on  their  work. 
This  is  afforded  by  Diocesan  and  other  special  Colleges. 
But  it  is  almost  a  necessity  that  the  kind  of  training  furnished 
in  these  should  be  narrower  and  less  largely  human  than  that 
which  can  be  gained  at  the  University.  At  the  same  time,  it 
will  be  little  less  than  disastrous  if  the  candidates  for  Holy 
Orders  are  all  carried  away  from  the  University  to  complete 
their  special  education.  We  shall  lose  the  best  men  just 
when  their  influence  is  most  valuable.  In  a  few  years  what 
is  now  possible  will,  I  think,  be  no  longer  possible.  I  am 
therefore  most  anxious  to  see  that  which  has  been  done 
tentatively  made  independent  before  my  own  work  is  over. 
You  will,  I  am  sure,  sympathise  with  the  effort,  and  help  it  as 
you  may  feel  right.  ...  I  waited  in  silence  for  ten  years  till 
some  of  the  younger  men  spoke  to  me,  and  I  have  not  had  a 
greater  joy  at  Cambridge  than  that  which  they  gave  me.  But 
now  the  time  has  come  for  something  more. 

The  New  Year  is  full  to  overflowing  with  anxieties.  I 
hope  that  you  are  zealous  for  Imperial  Federation.  For  the 
first  time  I  have  found  a  political  object  in  which  I  can  feel 
a  keen  interest. — With  all  good  wishes,  ever  yours  affection 
ately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


52  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

(On  examination  for  the  Durham  B.D.  degree) 

DURHAM,  nth  January  1887. 

Our  work  is  over.  There  has  been  a  great  but  necessary 
slaughter,  with  encouragement.  I  don't  think  that  the 
candidates  had  realised  that  the  Examination  was  a  serious 
matter.  However,  we  were  unanimous,  and  we  have  fixed  a 
just  standard  for  the  future. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

CAMBRIDGE,  zist  March  1887. 

I  do  indeed  wonder  how  you  can  live.  But  then  sacrifice 
takes  many  shapes.  My  idea  as  to  the  Episcopal  letter  on 
Peace  was  of  something  wholly  apart  from  political  interpre 
tations.  Yet  I  feel  the  difficulties.  But  ought  the  Christian 
Church  to  be  silent  ?  Ought  the  great  moral  victories  to  be 
won  outside  her  organisation  ? 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

CAMBRIDGE,  i&th  March  1887. 

My  dear  Arthur — As  far  as  I  can  judge,  you  have  done 
rightly  in  seriously  entertaining  the  idea  of  the  Madras  work. 
No  work  can  be  more  important,  and  it  must  grow  in  import 
ance  from  day  to  day.  Moreover,  by  way  of  sentiment, 
Madras  is  the  one  place  in  India  with  which  we  have  old 
connexions.  ...  I  have  been  in  town  all  day,  but  I  wish  to 
send  you  a  line  of  good  wishes. — Your  most  affectionate 
father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

HUNSTANTON,  St.  Mark's  Day>  1887. 

,   <  ••»  .  As  to  the  second  question,  the  Vaudois  are  doubtless 
interesting,  and  private   members  of  our  Church   may  feel 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  53 


rightly  a  wish  to  help  them.  But  you  represent  our  Church, 
and  cannot  act  as  a  private  Churchman,  and  it  does  not  seem 
to  me  that  the  Vaudois  claim  an  ecclesiastical  recognition. 
The  position  of  the  small  Protestant  bodies  on  the  Continent 
is,  no  doubt,  one  of  great  difficulty.  But  our  Church  can,  I 
think,  only  deal  with  churches  growing  to  fuller  life.  I  hope 
that  I  have  not  judged  wrongly.  I  have  just  come  here  to 
gain  a  little  strength. 

To  HIS  SECOND  DAUGHTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  qth  Sunday  after  Easter ;  1887. 

My  dear  Katie — To  my  great  regret  I  have  nothing  to 
send  you  as  a  birthday  greeting.  I  had  hoped  that  my  new 
little  book  would  have  been  ready.  As  it  is,  it  will  follow,  I 
trust,  in  a  week  or  two,  and  you  will  be  content  to  wait. 
This  perhaps  will  be  as  welcome  as  anything,  though  it  deals 
with  several  subjects  which  do  not  fall  within  your  natural 
range  of  interest ;  for  words  spoken  by  those  we  love  have  a 
full  meaning.  Their  power  is  not  limited  to  what  they  say 
directly.  They  have  a  kind  of  living  friendliness,  and  bring 
many  messages  with  them,  and  have  a  voice  almost  ever 
fresh.  And  this  seems  to  me  to  be  the  secret  of  the  power  of 
Holy  Scripture.  That  always  addresses  us  with  a  new  voice  of 
love.  It  means  just  what  we  need  when  we  wait  patiently  to 
listen.  But  we  must  wait.  May  the  sunshine  to-morrow  be 
as  bright  as  to-day,  and  the  bright  beginning  of  a  very  happy 
year  ! — Ever  your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  RIGHT  HON.  G.  CUBITT,  M.P. 

WESTMINSTER,  ipth  April  1887. 

I  have  ascertained  that  Sir  A.  Aitchinson,  late  Governor  of 
the  Punjab,  will  be  able  to  attend  a  Delhi  Meeting  on  the 
28th  or  3oth.  There  could  be  no  more  important  witness  to 
the  work.  Mr.  Lefroy  could,  I  believe,  attend  then.  I  have 
written  to  him.  I  have  to  go  to  Cambridge  to-morrow  even 
ing,  but  I  hope  to  return  on  Thursday,  and  shall  stay  here, 


54  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

all  being  well,  for  a  week.  If  you  could  see  me  on  Thursday 
or  Friday,  I  could  come  over  to  the  House  at  any  time.  If  we 
decide  to  have  a  meeting,  we  must  endeavour  to  make  it  a 
success. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

DURHAM,  tyhjune  1887. 

.  .  .  Here  the  weather  continues  bright,  but  I  am  afraid 
that  my  sketch-book  will  not  find  employment.  I  have  set 

my  heart  on  the  Sanctuary  ring,1  but The  Dean  is  really 

delightful.  I  find  that  he  expected  that  I  should  be  an 
eminently  dry,  learned  person,  lost  in  books,  with  whom  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  get  on;  and  he  is  rather 
amused  to  find  that  I  care  more  for  souls  than  syllables,  and 
that  I  have  a  kind  of  belief  in  a  Church.  I  have  never  had 
an  opportunity  before  of  coming  face  to  face  with  the  old 
Oxford  Movement. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

M.R.,  ityhjuly  1887. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  was  summoned  to  Birmingham 
to-day,  but  your  note  fortunately  came  just  as  I  was  starting. 
I  am  very  glad  that  you  have  written  the  note,  which  seems 
to  me  to  be  wise  and  careful.  It  seems  always  well  to  press 
on  men  the  use  of  the  original  term  Theotokos,  which  natur 
ally  leads  them  to  think  of  the  truth.  For  myself,  I  will  never 
use  the  term  "  Mother  of  God,"  which  we  owe,  I  fancy,  to 
the  imperfection  of  Latin.  It  might  be  well,  especially  in  a 
Mohammedan  neighbourhood,  to  keep  to  a  word  which  is 
obviously  technical  and  calls  for  explanation,  and  to  avoid  the 
use  of  a  phrase  which  seems  to  be  clearly  intelligible,  but 
then  in  a  wrong  sense.  I  often  think  of  your  cares.  But  I 
feel  sure  that  strength  is  given  according  to  the  sense  of 
them.  OENAP£7AMEN02  .  .  . — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

In  1.  9  I  should  prefer  to  say  "  firmly  holds  the  doctrine 
1  See  p.  144. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  55 


expressed  by  ^COTOKOS."  I  do  not  like  seeming  to  admit  the 
possibility  of  contradicting  the  Truth  on  such  a  point.  Perhaps 
the  best  translation  may  be,  "  Mother  of  Him  Who  in  the 
unity  of  His  Person  was  God." 


TO    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER    (MRS.   E.  G.  KlNO) 

WEST  MALVERN,  yd  August  1887. 

My  dear  Mary — Your  letter  yesterday  had  prepared  me  for 
that  to-day.1  You  will  fancy  how  much  you  have  been  in  the 
minds  of  all  of  us  lately.  But  what  can  I  say  ?  Perhaps  I 
cannot  even  feel  as  sorry  as  many  do  when  a  little  one  re 
ceives  an  early  discharge  from  the  hard  and  sad  battle  of  life. 
We  can  see  very  little,  but  we  can  be  sure  that  "  it  is  well 
with  the  child,"  and  our  longer  and  chequered  lives  bring 
sorrowful  misgivings.  Yet  we  must  thankfully  do  our  work 
and  bear  our  loads,  as  it  is  given  to  us,  sure  with  a  certainty 
that  nothing  can  shake  that  not  one  effort  truly  made  can  be 
lost,  and  not  one  pain,  borne  as  from  God,  be  unfruitful. 
Love  and  strength  to  all. — Ever  your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

We  wish  that  we  could  be  with  you,  but  perhaps  the  quiet 
is  better. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

WEST  MALVERN,  tf/i  August  1887. 

I  have  been  working  fiercely  at  the  Notes  on  the  Hebrews, 
which  seem  very  much  like  what  you  say  the  Church  in  Africa 
was  before  Cyprian — chaos.  In  any  case  they  must  be  made 
into  a  semblance  of  order  this  summer,  or  they  will  remain  chaos 
always.  I  feel  very  sadly  that  I  cannot  work  as  in  old  time 
The  Master  of  Balliol  was  here  last  week  and  I  had  some 
walks  and  talks  with  him,  full  of  interest  and  instruction. 
His  fear  of  the  men  of  "  science  "  almost  amused  me. 

1  Informing  him  of  the  death  of  his  infant  grandson  Eric. 


56  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR 

WESTMINSTER,  St.  MichaeVs  Day,  1887. 

My  dear  Farrar — Your  most  kind  note  welcomed  me  when 
I  came  back  about  2  in  good  time  for  the  afternoon  service. 
It  was  a  pleasure  to  Arthur,  I  think,  to  see  us  to  the  last.  It 
is  the  first  break  in  our  family  for  life's  work.  His  work  will 
be  of  great  difficulty  and  interest.  I  hope  that  he  may  have 
strength  to  do  good  service. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

The  above  letter  brings  to  mind  how,  just  as  he 
was  leaving  the  ship  in  which  I  sailed,  he  took  from  his 
pocket  a  small  Greek  Testament  and  slipped  it  into  my 
hand,  saying,  "  It  is  one  that  I  have  sometimes  used." 


To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

igth  November  1887. 

My  dear  Dean — No  notice  of  a  Chapter  Meeting  has 
reached  me.  If  it  is  next  Monday  I  have,  to  my  sorrow,  a 
meeting  at  London  House  at  4,  which  I  must  attend. 

I  shall  heartily  agree  with  the  judgment  of  the  other 
Canons.  If  the  Estates  are  surrendered  for  a  money  payment, 
it  is  important  to  reserve  some  right  of  revision.  In  the  case 
of  the  Bishops  the  surrender  is  (is  it  not  ?)  for  the  tenure  of 
each  occupant  of  the  see.  Would  it  be  possible  for  the 
surrender  to  be  capable  of  revision  from  time  to  time  by  the 
unanimous  request  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  say  on  the  coming 
of  each  Dean  ?  My  proper  stipend  fixed  in  money  is  ^£40 
per  annum,  which  no  one,  I  fancy,  would  think  adequate  as 
it  was  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  I  will  gladly  come  on  to 
Westminster  after  my  meeting  if  you  will  summon  me.  A 
message  to  London  House  would  find  me  at  4.  I  shall  be 
very  glad  when  you  are  free  from  this  worry.— Ever  yours 
most  sincerely,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  57 

HASTINGS,  i8M  December  1887. 

My  dear  Dean — I  am  very  sorry  that  I  have  given  you  so 
much  trouble  only  to  save  myself  a  journey.  For  I  think  that 
your  kind  explanation  of  the  business  does  not  offer  me  any 
hope  of  being  of  use.  .  .  . 

It  would,  I  think,  be  in  every  way  well  for  the  Chapter  to 
set  up  the  tablet,  and  perhaps  the  Little  Cloister  might  be 
marked  as  the  place  for  such  memorials.  It  is  connected 
with  the  Music  School,  the  Precentor,  and  the  Master  of  the 
Choristers.  As  to  the  Fabric  Fund,  we  must  submit  to  the 
inevitable.  We  ought  on  no  account  to  go  into  debt.  The 
condition  with  the  contractor  has  been  satisfied,  and  the 
scaffolding  will  remain  for  the  resumption  of  the  work  when 
there  are  means  to  continue  it. 

The  sun  refuses  to  shine,  but  at  least  one  can  be  quiet 
here.  If  there  should  be  any  new  business,  a  message  will 
bring  me  up  at  once. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

WESTMINSTER,  St.  T/iomas1  Day>  1887. 

I  delayed  answering  your  letter  till  I  had  seen  the  Dean. 
He  enters  most  heartily  into  the  plan,  and  will  let  the  invita 
tions  go  in  his  name.  I  will  communicate  with  the  Dean  of 
Windsor.  It  would  be  natural  and  good  in  every  way,  I 
think,  that  there  should  be  a  service  here  before  the  Synod, 
and  that  you  should  preach.  The  Dean  again  heartily  agrees. 
He  is  anxious  that  the  Abbey  should  be  made  as  serviceable 
as  possible.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  WIFE 

WESTMINSTER, 
2nd  Sunday  after  Epiphany,  1888. 

...  I  have  done  a  little  thinking,  though  I  am  afraid  that 
it  does  not  end  in  any  very  bright  conclusions.  But  if  the 
world  ought  to  be  a  world  of  love,  how  can  one  look  on  it 


58  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

and  feel  satisfied  ?  Exactly  in  proportion  as  one  feels  failure 
one  must  feel  sorrow,  unless  one  can  add  the  sure  conviction 
that  the  failure  is  the  way  to  final  triumph.  There  cannot  be 
rest,  I  think,  in  anything  short  of  this.  Yet  how  hard  it  is  to 
wait  without  a  sign.  But  none  the  less  the  Christian  faith,  if 
it  is  held  in  its  simplicity,  must  be  a  Gospel.  What  we  hear 
preached  commonly  is  to  my  ears  simply  a  sentence  of 
despair.  There  you  have  the  sum  of  my  thinking.  "  Rebel 
lious  pride  "  ?  I  do  not  think  so. 

WESTMINSTER,  %th  April  1888. 

.  .  .  To-day  has  been  a  good  deal  interrupted.  The 
police  found  a  visitor  carrying  off  a  piece  of  the  Abbey.  .  .  . 
I  felt  that  the  law  ought  to  take  its  course.  It  is  the  first 
case  ever  detected.  The  man  was  fined  405.  The  discussion 
kept  the  bell  rather  lively :  not  to  speak  of  the  "  effigies."  .  .  . 
Yesterday  I  was  chiefly  reading  M.  Arnold.  I  wish  that  he 
was  not  so  vain :  his  poetry  is  free  from  this  fault.  .  .  . 

It  may  be  remarked  in  connexion  with  the 
above  that  my  father  had  made  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold's 
acquaintance  in  Harrow  days.  I  remember  being 
present  on  one  occasion  when  they  had  a  most  ani 
mated  conversation  on  the  Harrow  School  cricket- 
ground. 

That  his  feelings  towards  the  poet  were  kindly  is 
evident  from  the  following  words,  also  addressed  to 
his  wife : — 

l&h  April  1888. 

The  evening  papers  are  always  startling.  The  first  placard 
I  saw  was  "Sudden  Death  of  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold."  Only 
yesterday  we  were  smiling  at  his  little  peculiarities,  and  now  .  .  . 
I  tried  to  get  a  paper,  but  failed. 

i7/A  April  1888. 

I  am  going  out  to  see  if  I  can  get  some  small  edition  of 
M.  Arnold's  poems.  I  want  the  one  on  Rugby  Chapel. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  59 


Will  you  see  what  the  lines  were  which  he  wrote  for  me  with 
his  autograph  ?     As  yet  I  have  not  seen  a  paper. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.  [no  date]. 

This  morning  I  made  up  my  mind  to  preach  my  Windsor 
sermon  (sc.  at  St.  James').  I  thought  that  the  other  might  be 
unintelligible,  and  as  I  had  written  it  I  had  no  scruple  on  the 
ground  of  idleness.  It  was  a  very  wet  morning  and  the  con 
gregation  was  rather  less  than  usual,  but  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glad 
stone  were  there.  I  was  much  struck  by  the  change  in  his 
look.  He  was  singularly  altered,  weary,  and  sad,  as  it  seemed. 
The  Archbishop  said  that  he  and  Mrs.  Benson  started  for  St. 
James',  and  were  driven  back  by  the  rain.  I  promised  to 
go  to  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy  Bishops'  dinner :  so  you  see 
sparks  of  duty  are  still  alive. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

2ist  April  1888. 

...  If  I  had  the  command  of  ghosts  just  at  present,  I 
think  that  Bismarck's  sleep  would  be  a  good  deal  disturbed. 
Perhaps  it  is  well  that  I  haven't. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

CAMBRIDGE,  Trinity  Sunday,  1888. 

...  I  am  constantly  thinking  of  "Rejoice  always,"  but 
the  prospect  before  St.  Paul  when  he  wrote  was  very  different 
from  our  prospect  and  retrospect.  He  could  say  "  The  Lord 
is  at  hand,"  but  we  have  not  mastered  the  correlative  truth. 
To  me  the  wretchedness  and  apparent  failure  of  the  world  is 
terrible.  I  know  that  it  isn't  all;  but  the  comfort  which 
many  find  would  only  add  to  my  sorrow.  The  hopeless 
torture  of  the  worst  would  bring  no  satisfaction.  However,  I 
hope  that  light  will  come.  I  tried  at  Hereford  to  show  the 
few  rays  that  have  reached  me. 


60  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  gth  October  1888. 

My  dear  Dean — It  is  pleasant  to  hear  of  Stanley.  In 
many  ways  the  earlier  part  of  the  Life  will  be  the  most  in 
structive.  A  first  visit  to  London  !  I  hope  that  he  came  to 
Westminster.  .  .  . 

To  THE  REV.  E.  PRICE 

(On  the  Old  Testament) 

WESTMINSTER,  i2th  November  1888. 

I  know  no  book.  No  one,  I  think,  who  is  fairly  acquainted 
with  the  conditions  of  the  problems  will  be  hasty  to  write. 
We  have  much  to  learn,  and  the  scantiest  materials  to  teach 
us.  Meanwhile  we  must  be  patient,  and  above  all  not  pledge 
the  Faith  to  a  special  decision  on  "  critical  "  questions.  For 
us  the  O.T.  is  that  of  the  apostolic  age.  How  it  came  to  be 
we  will  reverently  seek  to  know.  I  cannot  see  that  any  con 
ceivable  result  affects  spiritual  truth. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

•$rd  January  1889. 

.  .  .  The  sight  of  your  cares  makes  me  ashamed,  but  I 
am  sure  that  there  is  strength  provided  for  the  work  given  to 
us.  In  my  better  moments  I  can  even  feel  it.  And  it  is 
with  the  greatest  as  with  the  least. 

The  old  words  came  back  to  me  at  Addington  :  MH<£OBOY 
MONON  III2TEYE.1  It  is  enough. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

MOSELEY,  qth  January  1889. 

.  .  .  S.  R.'s  correction  of  his  blunders  was,  I  think,  the 
worst  point  about  him.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  on 

1  Fear  not :  only  believe. 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  61 


what  critical  basis  he  formed  his  judgment,   but   his  later 
defence  of  it  has,  I  think,  no  interest  whatever. 

As  Lightfoot  cannot  remould  his  essays  on  the  work,  I 
feel  sure  that  it  is  best — and  good — simply  to  reprint,  adding 
footnotes  to  indicate  (i)  changes  in  S.  R.;  (2)  possible  errors  ; 
(3)  new  sources,  and  a  prefatory  note  pointing  out  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  reprint.  .  .  . 

The  above  letter  refers  to  the  proposed  republica- 
tion  of  Bishop  Lightfoot's  Essays  on  the  work  entitled 
Supernatural  Religion,  concerning  which  work  Bishop 
Lightfoot  said,  "  I  found  that  a  cruel  and  unjustifiable 
assault  was  made  on  a  very  dear  friend,  to  whom  I 
was  attached  by  the  most  sacred  personal  and  theo 
logical  ties."  This  very  dear  friend  was,  of  course,  my 
father. 

To  HIS  THIRD  DAUGHTER  (MRS.  C.  H.  PRIOR) 

MOSELEY,  12th  January  1889. 

My  dear  Daisy — Very  many  thanks  for  your  good  wishes 
and  the  translation  of  them  into  living  form.  Children  and 
children's  children  are  the  best  inheritance  we  can  leave  to 
the  world.  I  should  have  been  very  glad  to  be  at  your 
party,  for  I  think  that  I  have  some  capacity  for  games  yet ; 
and  it  is  an  unusual  honour  to  have  a  Festival  in  one's  life 
time. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

MOSELEY,  i2tk  January  1889. 

...  I  am  tempted  to  use  Confucius'  words,  "No  one 
knows  me  "  ;  but  that  is  a  happy  thing  in  many  ways.  Life 
and  truth  grow  more  and  more  mysterious.  I  think  that  it 
is  my  superficial  success  which  troubles  me  most.  However, 
I  sometimes  try  to  do  my  best,  and  in  great  things  I  can 
keep  hope  fresh. 


62  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 


To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

CAMBRIDGE,  2$th  February  1889. 

I  am  confined  to  the  house  to-day,  so  that  I  must  be 
absent  from  the  Delhi  Committee.  I  am  very  sorry,  but 
there  is  no  help  for  it. 

I  have  looked  through  the  printed  slips  and  endeavoured 
to  make  the  necessary  corrections,  and  to  suggest  the  way 
in  which  they  can  be  made  into  a  Report.  I  hope  that  the 
notes  will  be  intelligible.  As  for  the  spelling,  e.g.  Delhi  and 
Dehli,  Brahmin  and  Brahman,  I  don't  know  that  uniformity 
is  necessary  or  desirable. 

I  assume  that  you  will  be  able  to  go  to  the  meeting. 
If  unhappily  you  cannot  go,  can  you  send  the  papers  to 
Edwards  ? 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

WESTMINSTER,  6th  April  1889. 

My  dear  Davies — I  rejoice  to  have  an  occasion  for  writing 
when  I  cannot  doubt  as  to  my  feeling.  I  most  heartily  con 
gratulate  you  on  your  third  and  crowning  happiness  in  the 
Bell.1  This  year  my  residence  made  it  impossible  for  me  to 
examine,  but  I  saw  this  morning  that  your  son  had  fulfilled 
the  confident  hopes  which  I  heard  expressed  before  I  left 
Cambridge.  You  are  unique,  I  fancy,  in  your  triple  diadem. 

I  could  not  write  about  your  leaving  London.  D. 
Vaughan  told  me  the  other  day  that  you  wrote  very  happily 
from  Westmoreland.  Still,  it  is  very  far  away,  and  it  is  hard 
to  live  on  oneself.  I  can  understand  the  eager  desire  for 
rest;  but  I  suppose  that  rest  becomes  impossible  after  a 
time.  My  chief  hope  is  that  you  have  stores  of  materials 
which  only  need  arrangement.  We  have  a  son  who  is  curate 
to  our  old  tutor  at  Kendal.  I  hope  that  he  may  see  you. — 
Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

1  Three  sons  of  Dr.  Llewellyn  Davies  successively  won  the  Bell  Uni 
versity  Scholarship, 


,x  WESTMINSTER  63 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

Easter  Eve ;  1889. 
MH^OBOY 

Eri2EIMIOnPi2T02KAIOE2XAT02 
KAIOZftN l 

To    HIS    FOURTH    SON 

WESTMINSTER,  ijth  April  1889. 

My  dear  George — My  birthday  greetings  to  you  must  be 
confined  to  words  which  become  thanksgivings  and  prayers. 
The  last  days  have  been  full  of  blessing  and  hope  for  you 
and  Foss.  Everything,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  points  to  a 
definite  call  which  you  have  heard.  The  call  comes  when 
you  have  the  fulness  of  life  to  give  to  work  than  which  none 
can  be  nobler.  We  must  not  speculate  on  what  you  may  be 
allowed  to  do,  if  the  work  is  committed  to  you.  It  is  enough 
that  you  have  offered  yourselves  for  service.  What  is  seen  is 
after  all  an  imperfect  sign  of  what  is  done.  May  God  bless 
you  in  the  coming  year  with  all  patience  and  courage  and 
hope,  and  give  you  the  joy  of  complete  self-surrender  ! — Ever 
your  most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  REV.  MEREDITH  J.  HUGHES 

(On  the  Body  of  our  Risen  Lord) 

WESTMINSTER,  27 th  April  1889. 

My  dear  Sir — You  expose  with  perfect  accuracy  the  com 
plete  misrepresentation  of  my  words  by  Mr.  Conder.2  The 

1  Fear  not ;    I  am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  Living  one  (Rev. 
i.  18). 

2  Dr.  Conder,  in  his  Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Christ,  p.  196,  quotes  the 
following  passage  from  Bishop  Westcott's  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,  and 
adds  the  subjoined  comment : — 

"The  body,  which  was  recognised  as  essentially  the  same  body,  had 
yet  undergone  some  marvellous  change,  of  which  we  gain  a  faint  idea  by 
what  is  directly  recorded  of  its  manifestations.  Under  a  physical  image, 
that  change  is  presented  to  us  by  our  Lord  Himself  in  the  absence  of 
blood,  the  symbol  and  seat  of  corruptible  life "  (St.  Luke  xxiv.  39 ; 


64  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

whole  force  of  my  sentence  lies  in  the  phrase,  "under  a 
figure."  Again  and  again,  in  the  little  book  to  which  Mr. 
Conder  refers,  I  have  pointed  out  that  we  have  no  right  to 
introduce  anything  material,  anything  which  involves  limita- 
tation  of  time  and  space,  into  conceptions  of  the  unseen 
world,  except  as  figures  necessary  for  our  minds.  In  Scrip 
ture  "  blood "  has  a  distinct  connotation ;  the  significant 
omission  of  "  blood  "  in  the  passage  in  St.  Luke  could  not 
fail  to  suggest  to  a  Jewish  reader  a  peculiarity  in  the  con 
ditions  of  the  life  of  the  Risen  Lord :  to  interpret  "  flesh  and 
bones  "  physiologically  appears  to  me  to  be  essentially  absurd. 
We  can  only  see  the  truth,  81  fa-o-n-rpov  kv  aiviypaTi.  That  is 
enough.  In  this  connexion  I  have  often  quoted  Spenser's 
fine  lines : 

Of  the  soul  the  body  form  doth  take, 

For  soul  is  form,  and  doth  the  body  make. 

Personally,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  revelation  of  the 
Risen  Lord  points  to  a  form  of  existence  different  in  kind, 
and  not  only  in  conditions,  from  the  present,  in  which  nothing 
is  lost,  but  all  that  we  now  see  is  indefinitely  transfigured  in 
a  divine  union. 

But  our  powers  fail  us  when  we  try  to  define  such  thoughts 
So  we  wait  in  humble  patience  and  confess  our  weakness. — 
Yours  most  faithfully,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  THE  BISHOP  OF  DURHAM 

CAMBRIDGE,  zyk  May  1889. 

My  dear  Bishop — Words  are  not  needed  to  assure  you 
how  we  all  join  in  your  thanksgiving.  It  is,  as  the  Arch- 

Eph.  v.  30  ;  The  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,  p.  239).  Dr.  Conder  comments 
thus  :  "  In  these  two  passages  our  Saviour's  body  is  spoken  of  as  having 
*  flesh  and  bones,'  not  flesh  and  blood.  Hence  Dr.  Westcott  infers  that 
it  was  bloodless,  the  whole  of  the  blood  having  been  shed  on  the  cross.  But 
a  body  of  bloodless  flesh  and  bone  would  no  more  be  a  '  glorified  body ' 
than  a  body  of  flesh  and  blood  :  it  would  be  a  corpse." 

(Dr.  Abbott,  too,  in  a  suggestive  article  on  the  same  subject  in  the 
Contemporary  Review,  illustrates  a  certain  hypothesis  by  the  "curious 
theory  of  Bishop  Westcott,  that  the  risen  body  of  Christ  had  flesh  and 
bones,  but  no  blood,  blood  being  with  the  Jews  the  symbol  and  seat  of 
corruptible  life.")— M.  J.  H. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  65 

bishop  writes,  "  one  of  the  Magnalia  of  God  and  a  sign  " 
that  you  are  given  to  the  Bishop's  work  again. — Ever  your 
affectionately,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

HUNSTANTON,  ijtA June  1889. 

.  .  .  Sometimes  I  seem  to  fear  that  we  have  lost  faith 
altogether:  that  Christians  have  accepted  the  gods  of  Epi 
curus  for  the  Living  God.  Those  who  represent  the  democ 
racy  of  the  future  —  how  near?  —  have  not  ratified  the 
exchange  on  their  part.  I  see  clearly  how  little  can  be  done 
till  men  have  had  time  to  think,  but  it  does  seem  to  be  of 
vital  importance  that  Christian  teachers  should  point  out  the 
end  towards  which  we  should  work  and  pray.  But  I  must 
not  inflict  on  you  my  paper  by  anticipation. 


TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

WEST  MALVERN,  Ztkjuly  1889. 

My  dear  Brooke — My  conversation  with  the  Bishop  had 
not  prepared  me  for  the  offer.1  Of  course  our  words  were 
few  except  about  others.  The  choice  is  beset  by  difficulties. 
I  did  say  that  I  felt  doubt  as  to  your  acceptance  of  such  an 
office;  and  I  should  not  dare  to  counsel  you  to  accept  it 
unless  you  felt  that  it  gave  you  a  fuller  field  for  work.  The 
needs  of  schools  are  very  great  and  they  are  increasing,  and 
I  think  that  you  are  right  in  judging  your  prospect  of  success 
in  a  headmastership  and  a  professorship.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  a  joy  to  us  that  the  Bishop  thought  you  worthy. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  world  it  will  seem  a  sacrifice  to  keep 
to  Rugby,  but  your  work  will  gain  in  force  from  the  new 
dedication. 

Mamma  thinks  with  me.  I  fancy  indeed  that  we  all 
think  the  same.  The  strength  of  life  lies  in  its  unity.  In 

1  Bishop  Lightfoot  offered  my  brother,  who  was  at  the  time  an  assistant- 
master  at  Rugby,  the  Greek  Professorship  in  Durham  University,  with  a 
Canonry  in  the  Cathedral. 

VOL.  II  F 


66  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

any  case  the  Bishop's  letter  will  be  a  great  encouragement. 
May  God  bless  you  and  guide  you  !  Love  to  all. — Ever  your 
most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BALE,  yd  September  1889. 

We  are  so  far  on  our  homeward  journey,  and  in  the  hour 
of  waiting  I  must  try  to  thank  you  for  your  letter.  One  by 
one  our  sons  have  left  us,  and  now  only  Harry  remains.  It 
has  been  a  very  interesting  and  a  very  solemn  time.  Over 
all  there  was  the  feeling  of  a  final  "  Good-bye."  .  .  . 

It  is  difficult  to  forecast  the  future.  The  Charge  will  be 
an  important  element,  for  of  course  it  will  be  a  manifesto  of 
the  party.  They  have  learnt  in  a  singular  way  the  secret  of 
Roman  power :  they  yield  absolutely  nothing.  During  these 
four  weeks  I  have  had  many  sad  thoughts.  I  can  even  see  a 
place  for  the  despair  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren.  Yet  surely 
we  have  a  Gospel.  But  is  this  the  sphere  of  its  victory  ? 
One  looks  upon  crowds  and  upon  single  men  with  an  intense 
desire  to  see  the  mark  of  brotherhood,  and  yet  how  often  to 
find  only  bewilderment. 

I  had  not  thought  of  saying  all  this.  There  is  a  glory  in 
autumn  woods.  It  must  mean  well.  I  hope  that  you  all.  feel 
the  freshness  and  the  power  of  the  summer. 


TO    HIS    YOUNGEST    SON 
(In  Mr.  Whitelaw's  House  at  Rugby) 

CAMBRIDGE,  I'jth  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1889. 

My  dear  Basil — Let  me  add  my  good  wishes  to  all  the 
other  good  wishes  on  your  birthday.  We  were  very  much 
pleased  to  hear  of  the  Divinity  Prize.  I  had  no  idea  that 
there  was  anything  of  the  kind  in  prospect.  It  is  a  good 
omen  for  your  work  with  Mr.  Whitelaw,  and  now  you  will  be 
able  to  make  some  returns  to  him  for  his  boundless  kindness. 

I  had  hoped  to  send  you  the  small  selections  from  Brown- 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  67 


ing,  but  you  must  take  this  as  a  promissory  note.  The  book 
shall  come  in  time.  It  is  one  of  those  which  I  commonly 
carry  about  with  me.  I  will  mark  the  titles  of  a  few  favourites. 
Mr.  Whitelaw  is  as  great  an  admirer  of  Browning  as  I  am. 

You  will  have  heard  that  G.  and  F.  started  off  happily. 
K.  has  had  a  Winchester  cross  made  for  mamma,  with  the 
hair  of  the  four  absent  brothers  and  their  initials.  Love  to 
Brooke  and  kindest  remembrance  to  Mr.  Whitelaw. — Ever 
your  most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

All  Saints'  Eve,  1889. 

.  .  .  Do  you  not  think  that  it  would  be  well  for  -  to 
use  (within  some  limits)  the  treasures  of  Lambeth  ?  I  was 
greatly  impressed  by  the  sight  of  Cranmer's  commonplace 
book.  Could  he  make  some  preliminary  investigations  for 
the  terrible  and  most  instructive  history  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  VI.  ?  That  the  English  Church  escaped  that  period 
seems  to  me  the  most  convincing  proof  of  God's  care  for  it.  ... 

Your  example  will,  I  hope,  lead  clerical  meetings  to  discuss 
social  questions.  At  present  we  can  hardly  go  further.  There 
are  few  books,  I  fear,  to  recommend.  But  what  is  required 
is  that  we  should  feel  that  the  Faith  has  something  to  say  to 
Ethics  —  and  to  do  ... 

My  letters  (in  the  old  Trinity  dialect)   are  "  come  for." 


To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

CAMBRIDGE,  St.  Thomas'  Day,  1889. 

My  dear  Dean  —  I  am  bewildered.  It  had  not  even 
occurred  to  me  that  the  morning  sermon  on  the  2Qth  would 
touch  on  Browning,  as  I  seem  to  gather  from  your  letter.  If 
the  Precentor  is  able  to  preach,  I  feel  that  he  is  the  right 
person  to  preach  in  any  case.  It  would  violate  my  deepest 
feelings  in  such  a  matter  for  any  one  else  even  to  seem  to 

1  (Christ)  shall  shine  upon  thee  (Eph.  v.  14). 


68  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

say,  "  Let  me  do  for  you  a  very  difficult  task."  Every  member 
of  our  body  ought  to  be  held  to  be  the  best  man  for  the  work 
which  falls  to  him.  And  as  to  Browning,  I  feel  scarcely  less 
strongly  that  you  are  the  only  person  who  ought  to  say  the 
few  words  which  require  to  be  spoken  in  our  name.  You 
will  understand,  I  am  sure,  what  I  mean ;  and  I  have  spoken 
my  whole  mind.  If  the  Precentor  feels  unable  to  preach,  and 
asks  you  to  find  a  deputy,  and  you  can  find  no  better,  I  will 
do  my  best ;  but  I  could  not  possibly  write  to  the  Precentor 
myself,  because  I  believe  in  an  office,  and  have  seen  in 
experience  that  he  who  has  a  work  given  him  does  it  best,  if 
he  believes,  not  in  himself,  but  in  his  work.  Forgive  all  this, 
but  it  belongs  to  the  very  foundations  of  my  life.  How  I 
grieve  to  add  one  slightest  question  to  your  cares. — Ever  yours 
most  sincerely,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

CAMBRIDGE,  tfh  February  1890. 

You  will  feel,  I  hope,  in  many  ways  how  all  hearts  are  with 
you  to-day.  It  is  the  beginning  of  a  decisive  act  in  the  history 
of  our  Church,  and  I  cannot  think  that  God  will  leave  unvindi- 
cated  His  servants  who  trust  in  Him. 

(On  Old  Testament  Criticism) 

CAMBRIDGE,  qth  March  1890. 

The  picture  which  you  draw  is  sad,  but  I  too,  in  my  way, 
know  that  it  is  true.  We  want — and  I  know  that  I  want, 
which  is  something — a  living  faith.  When  we  are  quite  sure 
that  God  is  speaking  now — and  He  is  speaking — we  shall  not 
grow  wild  in  discussing  how  He  once  spoke. 

I  have  purposely  refrained  from  reading  Lux  Mundi,  but  I 
am  quite  sure  that  our  Christian  faith  ought  not  to  be  perilled 
on  any  predetermined  view  of  what  the  history  and  character 
of  the  documents  contained  in  the  O.T.  must  be.  What  we 
are  bound  to  hold  is  that  the  O.T.,  substantially  as  we  receive 
it,  is  the  Divine  record  of  the  discipline  of  Israel.  This  it 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  69 


remains,  whatever  criticism  may  determine  or  leave  undeter 
mined  as  to  constituent  parts.  No  one  now,  I  suppose,  holds 
that  the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis,  for  example,  give  a 
literal  history — I  could  never  understand  how  any  one  reading 
them  with  open  eyes  could  think  they  did — yet  they  disclose 
to  us  a  Gospel.  So  it  is  probably  elsewhere.  Are  we  not 
going  through  a  trial  in  regard  to  the  use  of  popular  language 
on  literary  subjects  like  that  through  which  we  went,  not 
without  sad  losses,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  popular  language 
on  physical  subjects  ?  If  you  feel  now  that  it  was,  to  speak 
humanly,  necessary  that  the  Lord  should  speak  of  the  "  sun 
rising,"  it  was  no  less  necessary  that  He  should  use  the  names 
"  Moses  "  and  "  David "  as  His  contemporaries  used  them. 
There  was  no  critical  question  at  issue.  (Poetry  is,  I  think, 
a  thousand  times  more  true  than  History :  this  is  a  private 
parenthesis  for  myself  alone.)  As  far  as  I  can  judge,  the 
young  High  Church  party  need  patient  discipline,  and  they 
are  quite  out  of  sympathy  with  the  generation  above.  It  will 
be  most  disastrous  if  for  want  of  loving  sympathy  they  are 
driven  to  revolt  . 


TO    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER  (MRS.   E.  G.   KiNG) 

IGth  May  1890. 

...  I  have  already  had  a  letter  addressed :  Mr.  B.  F. 
Dunelm  (which  is  flattering  to  my  caligraphy  at  least). 

The  following  letters,  written  to  the  Hon.  Victoria 
Lady  Welby,  cover  a  period  of  about  twenty  years, 
but  it  has  seemed  best  to  keep  them  in  connected 
series.  Lady  Welby  says  by  way  of  introduction  :— 

"  My  intercourse  and  correspondence  with  the  Bishop 
originally  arose  from  reading  his  Commentary  on  St. 
John's  Gospel  at  Algiers  in  1880.  In  this  study  it 
came  home  to  me  with  special  force  that  beyond  the 
scholar,  beyond  the  theologian,  beyond  even  the  saint, 


70  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

there  was  revealed  a  thinker  of  spiritual  insight  in  a 
deeper  than  mystical  sense,  as  *  mystical '  is  usually 
understood  and  used. 

"  I  was  myself  then  engaged  in  revising  and  arrang 
ing  the  collection  of  notes  and  extracts  from  letters 
which  were  afterwards  published  as  Links  and  Clues. 

"  As  the  letters  abundantly  show,  my  appeal  to  Dr. 
Westcott  for  help  in  what  I  felt  to  be  a  hazardous 
undertaking  met  with  a  most  generous  response,  in  a 
spirit  of  rare  humility.  No  trouble  seemed  too  great, 
no  time  too  precious  to  be  bestowed  on  work,  however 
crude,  that,  in  his  eyes,  touched  on  the  deeper  issues  of 
life.  No  words  of  mine  indeed  could  express  the 
reverent  thankfulness  which  I  must  always  feel  for  the 
way  in  which  he  met  a  mode  of  thinking  which  must 
often  have  jarred  upon  the  scholar's  ear,  and  which 
even  then  included  elements  necessarily  strange  to  any 
received  system  of  religious  interpretation. 

"  It  can  only  here  be  added  that  the  subjects  on 
which  our  interviews  and  correspondence  alike  turned 
brought  out  with  peculiar  emphasis  his  deep  sense  of 
the  difficulties  inherent  in  giving,  as  it  were,  the  thoughts 
of  the  morning  after  the  darkness,  in  the  language  of 
the  evening  before  it.  He  saw  very  clearly  that  many 
true  things  remained  to  be  said  which  could  not  be 
rightly  and  safely  said  by  responsible  teachers  so  long 
as,  from  the  present  conditions  of  language  and  from 
the  pressure  of  inherited  usage,  they  must  suggest 
misleading  associations. 

"  Thus  much  that  the  Bishop  actually  said  or  wrote 
is  inevitably  for  most  of  us  somewhat  hard  to  interpret 
by  current  or  conventional  standards.  But  to  me  at 
all  events  this  seemed  to  be  ultimately  due  not  to  failure, 
but  to  achievement :  he  saw  more  than  it  is  yet  possible 


ix  WESTMINSTER  71 

in  any  fully  definite  form  to  express.  And  those  who 
are  aware  of  this,  and  of  what  it  implies,  must  feel  that 
this  really  prophetic,  this  more  than  predictive  element 
in  the  Bishop's  thought  may  well  become  clearer  in 
days  to  come,  when  we  shall  have  learnt  more  perfectly 
to  distinguish  between  that  which  is  but  passing  form 
and  that  which  is  of  living  and  enduring  value." 

\6tk  October  1880. 

The  Bishop  of  Peterborough  has  informed  me  of  your  most 
interesting  work,  and  of  your  opinion  that  I  might  perhaps  be 
of  some  service  in  connexion  with  some  details  in  it.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  offer  such  an  opinion 
as  I  may  be  able  upon  any  points  which  you  may  be  pleased 
to  submit  to  me.  .  .  . 

27 (A  October  1880. 

I  look  forward  with  deep  interest  to  the  opportunity  of 
reading  your  Essay.  We  need  indeed  no  teachers,  but  the 
Bible  and  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  is  speaking  to  us  in  social 
and  individual  life.  Our  loss  is  that  too  often  we  cannot 
believe  and  act  as  believers  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  actually 
speaking  to  us.  ... 

6tk  November  1880. 

The  office  of  critic  is  a  very  light  and  a  very  agreeable  one. 
I  agree  most  heartily,  I  need  not  say  so,  with  your  great  lines 
of  thought,  and  do  not  doubt  that  the  mode  in  which  you 
present  the  different  points  will  bring  them  out  with  power  to 
very  many.  The  end  of  writing  is,  I  imagine,  to  help  others 
to  make  truth  their  own. 

One  or  two  details  seemed  to  me  to  be  worth  remark, 
which  I  may  be  allowed  to  notice : — 

P.  i.   "  Resist  not  evil,"  Matt.  v.  39.     It  is  very  likely  that 
the  word  here  is  masculine:   "the   evil  man." 
The  thought  is  suggestive. 
„       "  Prayer."    The  Divine  conception  lies  in  John  xv.  7. 


72  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

P.  2.  "The  wrath  to  come."  The  primary  meaning,  the 
judgment  on  unbelieving  Israel,  is  important  for 
the  universal  sense. 

„  "Which  shall  not  be  manifested."  The  exact  lan 
guage  in  St.  Mark  iv.  2  2  is  most  remarkable.  There 
is  a  divine  purpose  of  revelation  even  in  the 
hiding. 

P.  6.  "Once  by  ...  always  by  ...  God."  I  do  not 
feel  sure  that  I  understand  these  words,  which 
are,  I  think,  ambiguous.  It  is  important  to  make 
it  quite  clear  that  all  union  of  man  with  God  is 
in  the  Son — the  Son  of  Man. 

P.  8.  I  should  shrink  from  saying  that  "  there  must  have 
been  sin,"  as  distinct  from  the  possibility  of  sin, 
which  is  included  in  finiteness.  I  have  endea 
voured  to  give  reasons  why  the  discipline  of  finite- 
ness  was  adequate,  in  my  little  book  on  the 
Resurrection. 

P.  9.  "Called  him  friend."  It  is  important  to  distinguish 
the  word  used  here,  which  expresses  only  com 
panionship,  from  that  used  in  St.  John  xv.  13. 
The  difference  is  suggestive. 

P.  14.  "Thou  hast  the  words  of  ..."  It  is  a  slight  point 
yet  significant  that  the  original  only  gives  "words" 
without  the  definite  article. 

These  are  very  small  things,  yet  there  is  indeed  nothing 
small  in  Scripture.  Every  syllable,  as  Origen  said,  has,  I 
believe,  its  force,  and  the  words  are  living  words  for  us. 

You  will,  I  trust,  be  able  to  reach  many  who  would  regard 
with  suspicion  those  whose  work  it  is  to  study  divine  things. 
The  full  thought  of  God  as  Love  and  Fire  on  which  you 
dwell  is  that  which  is  able  to  bring  hope  and  peace  to  us 
when  we  dare  in  faith  to  look  at  the  world  as  it  is.  Again 
and  again  the  marvellous  succession  rises  :  God  is  spirit — light 
— love :  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire. 

I2tk  November  1880. 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  sending  a  second  fragment  of  the 
MS.,  which  I  have  continued  to  read  with  deep  interest  and 


ix  WESTMINSTER  73 

pleasure.  If  I  may  select  any  section,  perhaps  I  may  say 
that  the  analysis  of  pure  "  childlikeness  "  seemed  to  me  to  be 
singularly  complete  and  suggestive. 

The  section  on  "Faith"  may,  I  hope,  be  reconsidered. 
The  conception  is  one  of  great  difficulty  and  importance, 
and  our  interpretation  of  common  words  varies.  But  it  is 
scarcely  right  to  put  "  pistis "  and  "  pistos "  (apistos)  in 
direct  parallelism.  The  word  "faithfulness,"  as  it  would  be 
understood  by  most  English  readers,  would  not,  as  far  as  I 
can  judge,  convey  the  idea  of  "  pistis  "  in  the  cardinal  phrases 
"  justified  by  "  or  "  through  faith  " :  still  less  in  such  con 
nexions  as  Hebrews  xi.  Nor  again  does  it  seem  to  me  to 
convey  that  notion  of  personal  devotion  and  self- surrender 
to  that  which  is  recognised  as  higher  and  nobler  which  you 
rightly  claim  for  "pistis." 

November  1880. 

Your  last  note  expresses  the  essential  thought  of  the  differ 
ence  between  faith  and  faithfulness  to  which  I  wished  to 
point.  Faith  when  it  becomes  a  power  in  a  man  must  issue 
in  faithfulness :  faithfulness  is  the  vital  expression  of  faith, 
but  it  presupposes  it.  The  man  of  faith  (pistos]  is  necessarily 
faithful ;  and  he  (not  pistis)  forms  the  opposite  to  apistos. 
The  great  truth  on  which  you  insist  will,  I  believe,  be 
strengthened  by  the  distinction  between  the  power  (faith) 
and  the  manifestation  of  the  power  (faithfulness)  in  relation 
to  Him  to  whom  faith  is  directed,  and  by  whose  life  it  lives. 
I  feel  that  it  is  quite  sufficient  to  have  said  so  much.  You 
will  decide  whether  the  way  of  presenting  the  teaching  of 
Holy  Scriptures  which  I  try  to  mark  is  just. 

With  regard  to  the  phrase  the  "  two  Mes,"  it  may  be 
enough  to  add  the  qualifying  clause  which  you  give.  The 
passage  of  Augustine  observes  the  universal  rule  of  Catholic 
writers  in  distinguishing  two  natures  in  one  "  Me  "  (person). 
We  very  soon  find  ourselves  lost  in  mysteries  here ;  but 
remembering  St.  John's  emphatic  "  I "  as  including  both  the 
divine  and  human  natures  of  the  Incarnate  Lord,  I  always 
prefer  to  speak  of  "the  two  aspects  of  the  Lord's  divine- 
human  Person,"  or  to  use  some  such  phrase.  By  this  mode 
of  expression  the  most  precious  fact  of  the  unity  of  the 


74  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Lord's  Person  is  guarded,  and  yet  we  are  enabled  to  regard 
Him  as  truly  man  and  truly  God. 

nth  December  1880. 

I  am  extremly  glad  that  the  difficulty  as  to  the  rearrange 
ment  of  the  thoughts  on  Faith  has  been  so  happily  removed. 
It  would  have  been  most  undesirable  to  alter  that  which  had 
been  found  of  use,  and  yet  I  do  not  think  that  you  did  full 
justice  to  your  ideas. 

You  speak  with  so  much  kindness  of  my  little  books  that 
I  venture  to  send  one  tiny  one  which  is  not  likely  to  fall  in 
your  way.  I  am  told  that  it  has  been  found  serviceable,  and 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  sympathise  with  the  thoughts  which 
I  have  endeavoured  to  suggest. 

zoth  March  1881. 

I  am  very  glad  that  your  book  is  so  near  completion. 
May  it  find  a  hearty  welcome,  and,  what  you  will  value  far 
more,  may  it  bring  light  to  many  ! 

I  have  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  but  I  do  not 
know  his  address  at  present.  If  you  think  that  such  a  refer 
ence  as  you  propose  to  make  will  be  of  the  least  service,  I 
cannot  but  rejoice  to  express  my  sympathy  with  your  work. 
I  would  only  ask  on  my  own  account  that  the  words  "of 
almost  priceless  value  "  may  be  omitted.  I  cannot  imagine 
any  way  in  which  the  time  which  is  given  me  could  be  better 
used  than  in  the  endeavour  to  make  truth  in  the  least  degree 
clearer. 

ist  April  1881. 

I  have  heard  from  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  who  has  been 
on  a  confirmation  tour  in  Northumberland,  and  he  instructs 
me  to  say  that  you  are  at  full  liberty  to  make  the  representa 
tion  which  you  propose  if  you  think  it  desirable,  with  the 
omission  of  the  words  (qf  almost  priceless  value]  to  which  I 
ventured  to  call  attention. 

May  I  express  my  hearty  thanks  to  you  for  your  con 
gratulations  on  our  son's  success.  The  kindness  of  friends 
on  this  occasion  makes  one  feel  more  than  ever  how  real  the 
unity  of  life  is  in  joy  or  in  sorrow.  This  is  what  we  most 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  75 


require    to    feel    commonly   and    not    only    in    exceptional 
moments. 

yoth  June  1 88 1. 

I  have  read  with  great  interest,  though  only  too  hastily, 
the  slips  which  you  have  kindly  sent  me.  "  But  I  say  unto 
you  "  expresses  exactly  one  of  my  deepest  convictions  as  I 
should  try  to  express  it.  There  is  only  one  short  paragraph 
which  is  open  to  misunderstanding,  I  think,  in  "Suggestions," 
a  paragraph  in  slip  120  beginning  "Think  of  the  hand  as 
Good  .  .  .  ,"  and  ending  "  Goodness  is  one." 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  use  of  the  abstract  "  Goodness," 
which  answers  to  "Godhead"  and  not  "God,"  is  dangerous, 
I  should  be  inclined  to  say  that  the  conception  of  God  as 
Love  complete  and  self-sufficing  includes  a  Trinity.  We 
cannot,  as  far  as  I  see,  think  of  love  without  (so  to  speak) 
subject,  object,  and  uniting  power. 

The  thought  is  Augustine's.  What  you  say  of  the 
"  Monadic  "  conception  of  God  is,  I  think,  most  just.  You 
would  be  interested  by  what  Martensen  in  his  Dogmatics 
says  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

I  trust  that  your  thoughts  may  stir  many  thoughts  that 
will  be  to  bring  first  patience  and  then  peace. 

Tftth,  July  1 88 1. 

When  I  came  home  late  last  night  from  the  most  anxious 
work  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts  Commission,  I  found  the 
welcome  of  your  most  kind  present.  The  form  in  which  Mr. 
Macmillan  has  outwardly  clothed  it  is  not,  I  think,  unworthy. 
May  you  know,  with  the  deep  sense  of  blessing,  that  the 
"  links  "  help  to  bind  many  lives  and  many  hearts  together 
in  truer  harmony,  and  that  the  "clues"  encourage  many 
thoughtful  minds  to  follow  new  tracks  which  lead  to  a  larger 
apprehension  of  the  Truth,  in  Whom,  as  in  When,  all  that  is 
practical  finds  completeness  and  reconciliation  ! 

qth  August  1881. 

.  .  .  The  lessons  of  Ecclesiastes  sound  now  day  by  day 
sadly  in  our  ears,  but  there  is  something  beyond  that  sad  cry 
of  despairing  weariness. 


76  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

8M  August  1 88 1. 

...  I  confess  that  I  was  glad  to  read  the  call  of  Jeremiah 
this  afternoon  after  Ecclesiastes.  I  can  see  only  a  very 
little  way  into  the  darkness  of  that  book  and  of  the  book  of 
Job.  But  for  us  darkness  is  a  necessity. 

loth  August  1 88 1. 

Your  note  this  morning  was  most  welcome,  for  I  could 
not  but  feel  some  anxiety  lest  you  might  suffer  from  the 
fatigue  of  a  most  hurried  journey,  and  a  conversation  neces 
sarily  broken,  in  which  many  thoughts  could  hardly  find 
expression. 

It  did  not  for  a  moment  occur  to  me  that  what  you  said 
most  truly  of  the  infirmities  and  temporal  accidents  of  human 
interpretations  of  the  Truth  could  be  extended  to  those  who 
in  Divine  Providence  have  preserved  the  original  records  of 
it.  As  we  are  enabled  we  each  hear  them  speak  still  in  our 
own  tongue ;  but  their  utterance — so  it  seems  to  me — never 
changes. 

I  was  anxious  to  ask  you  not  only  to  interpret  the  thoughts 
of  spiritual  things  being  independent  in  themselves  of  the 
limitations  of  time  and  space  under  which  we  necessarily 
embody  them,  but  also  to  work  out  more  fully  the  Scriptural 
view  of  the  difference  between  the  effects  of  the  Death  and  of 
the  Blood  of  Christ.  There  is,  I  believe,  a  very  fine  Jewish 
saying  "that  the  foundation,  the  essence  of  sacrifice  is  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood."  When  this  idea  is  made  clear  I 
fancy  that  many  will  find  light  on  what  seems  dark. 

It  is  indeed  a  perilous  privilege  to  have  one's  work  centred 
in  Holy  Scripture.  Those  to  whom  it  is  given  need  help  on 
every  side,  and  I  cannot  but  thank  -  you  again  for  the  help 
which  you  have  given. 

i2tk  August  1 88 1. 

May  I  so  far  disobey  your  words  as  at  least  to  thank  you 
for  the  most  interesting  note  which  you  enclosed  ?  I  had 
never  before  connected  Joshua  xxiv.  27  with  Luke  xix.  40. 
For  the  rest,  is  it  not  always,  must  it  not  be  always,  that 
thoughts  are  given  to  us  to  make  our  own  or  not  ?  Of  our 
selves  we  cannot  reach  the  unseen  and  eternal. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  77 

Of  all  the  changes  in  the  R.V.  that  in  Luke  xxi.  19  is  the 
one  to  which  perhaps  I  look  with  most  hope.  We  think  of 
our  souls  as  something  given  to  us  complete,  and  not  as 
something  given  to  us  to  win. 

26th  September  1881. 

Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  in  sending  me 
the  extracts  from  the  Spectator  and  the  thoughts  on  Life  and 
Death. 

There  is  an  ambiguity  in  the  use  of  the  words  "  hate," 
"sin,"  "sins"  which  causes  misunderstanding,  and  has  done 
so,  I  think,  in  the  review.  I  hate  or  love  what  I  apprehend 
to  be  the  true  indivisible  person.  I  cannot  hate  and  love 
the  same  person  at  the  same  time.  I  condemn,  it  may  be, 
certain  acts  of  his,  certain  elements  in  him,  but  I  do  not  there- 
'fore  hate  him.  I  can  however  hate  "the  sin"  of  which  he 
has  admitted  the  influence,  so  far  as  I  regard  it  as  the  mani 
festation  of  a  power  which  is  certainly  not  the  man.  Sin  is 
separable  from  man  because  it  is  not  of  his  essence,  as  he 
was  made  in  the  image  of  God. 

There  is  very  much  in  the  thoughts  on  Life  and  Death 
which  is  true  and  precious,  but  the  statements  seem  to  me 
to  require  careful  guarding.  The  line  of  thought  for  the 
most  part  requires  "  death  "  to  be  taken  as  coequal  to  "  the 
mature  close  of  a  fulfilled  life."  This  death  in  its  actual  cir 
cumstances  is  not  for  us.  The  fruit  is  gathered  unripe, 
bruised,  to  our  eyes  wasted,  nay,  the  fruit  commonly  is  not 
allowed  to  form.  The  sadness  of  death  is  that  it  breaks 
into  and  breaks  off  work.  From  Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse 
death,  as  it  is,  is  always,  I  think,  regarded  as  the  issue  of  sin. 
The  Resurrection  seems  to  me  to  be  the  image  of  the  transi 
tion  of  man  unfallen  to  the  higher  life.  And  this  is  the 
Revelation  of  the  Gospel.  Death,  terrible  as  it  is  in  its  actual 
circumstances,  is  transfigured.  Meanwhile  we  must  work 
under  the  conditions  of  the  present.  We  dare  not  hasten 
death.  Our  New  Year's  greeting  must  not  be  that  our 
friend  is  a  year  nearer  to  death.  It  is  enough  that  we  offer 
ourselves  wholly  to  do  and  to  suffer  till  the  end.  Being  what 
we  are,  we  can  only  be  made  perfect  through  sufferings,  yet 
the  suffering  is  grievous  in  proportion  as  we  see  its  true 


78  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

nature  and  necessity.  The  two  sides  of  the  Truth  find  their 
absolute  expression  in  John  xvii.  and  Mark  xiv.  32,  which 
followed^  greatest  of  mysteries. 

Our  acceptance  of  your  kind  invitation  must  be  delayed. 
My  holiday  time  has  just  come  to  an  end  and  Cambridge 
work  is  pressing  now. 

On  a  remarkable  piece  of  Saxon  sculpture  the  other  day  I 
saw  a  most  significant  arrangement  of  scenes  from  the  Lord's 
Life.  The  Infant  in  the  manger  pointed  to  by  human 
spectators  was  next  to  the  Risen  Lord  borne  aloft  by  angels. 
This  expresses  your  thought  in  a  symbol.  In  the  same 
sculpture  the  Crucifixion  was  represented  simply  by  a  lamb 
laid  unbound  upon  a  cross.  Surely  the  workman  was  more 
than  a  poet. 

7//z  March  1882. 

The  one  remark  which  I  should  venture  to  make  in  refer 
ence  to  your  Exposition  of  the  symbolism  of  fire  is  that,  as  far 
as  I  remember,  fire  describes  the  action  of  the  Divine  Nature 
not  in  itself  but  relatively  to  man  as  he  is,  that  is,  fallen. 

"God  is  spirit,  light,  love,"  and  then  "our  God  is  con 
suming  fire."  The  difference  of  expression  seems  to  me  to 
be  significant.  I  always  think  that  the  three  other  sentences 
include  all  that  we  ever  know  of  God  as  He  is.  Light  and 
love  include  all  that  is  suggested  by  fire  without  the  need  of 
purification.  Indeed,  the  more  one  reflects  on  the  triad,  the 
more  full  of  depths  of  meaning  does  it  become.  In  thinking 
over  this  first  Epistle  of  St.  John,  it  has  necessarily  come 
much  before  me.  To  pass  from  such  thoughts  to  "  Ecclesi- 
tical  Courts  "  is  a  trial  which  must  be  borne  :  good  may 
come  from  this  labour.  Those  who  love  our  Church  will  not 
forget  the  task  of  those  who  have  to  bear  it. 

1882. 


I  had  the  pleasure  of  some  long  conversations  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Shorthouse  last  Easter.  Mrs.  Shorthouse,  I  fancy, 
inspired  much  of  John  Inglesant  :  her  criticism  would  be 
scarcely  less  valuable  than  her  husband's. 

It  is  very  encouraging  that  Links  and  Clues  has  found  a 
universal  welcome,  I  did  not  doubt  that  it  would.  We 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  79 


are  all  feeling  towards  the  same  end.     Unhappily  we  turn 
scaffolding  into  fences. 

The  future  of  women  may  well  cause  deep  anxiety.  Their 
power  is  incalculable.  My  seven  boys  teach  me  what  a 
mother  and  sister  mean. 

I  hope  that  you  may  have  followed  the  old  fashion  of 
putting  a  motto  over  the  door  of  your  new  home.  Psalm 
cxxi.  8,  interpreted  by  John  x.  9,  is  a  promise  for  work  and 
for  rest. 

list  July  1882. 

You  must  not  thank  me  for  any  suggestions  which  I  may 
be  enabled  to  offer ;  still  less  think  that  I  deserve  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  patient  waiting.  The  Truth  seems  to  me  to  be 
so  overwhelmingly  vast  and  manifold  that  I  shrink  from 
drawing  any  outline  except  provisionally,  lest  I  should  exclude 
something  or  add  something  in  opposition  to  Divine  teaching. 
The  womanly  office  is  surely  not  the  type  of  the  Divine 
effluence  itself,  but  of  the  reception  of  the  Divine,  and  of  the 
fitting  it  for  action  on  the  sphere  of  earth  among  men. 

The  other  two  notes  are,  I  think,  quite  true.  By  dwelling 
on  the  formation  of  Christ  in  the  believer  I  wished  specially 
to  point  to  the  consecration  and  transfiguration  of  the  indi 
vidual  man,  not  as  if  the  whole  Christ  (so  to  speak)  were 
realised  in  any  one,  but  Christ  according  to  the  measure  of 
each.  Thus  every  believer  in  his  degree  may  be  understood 
to  contribute  to  the  realisation  of  "  the  fulness  "  of  Him  who 
finds  fulfilment  in  all. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  should  be  inclined  to  accept  the 
estimate  of  the  writings  of  the  so-called  "Hermes  Trisme- 
gistus"  given  in  the  review.  The  writings  which  bear  the 
name  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  of  which  I  gave  some 
account  in  the  Contemporary  Review  for  1867,  are  far  more 
important. 

3oM  January  1883. 

I  must  have  failed  to  convey  my  meaning  if  I  seemed  to 
question  in  any  way  the  universality  of  the  Lord's  Presence. 
It  is  the  localising,  i.e.  of  necessity  the  materialising,  of  His 
Presence  which  seems  to  me  to  be  most  perilous,  and  I  should 


8o  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

shrink  from  any  form  of  words  and  act  of  worship  which 
countenances  this  localisation.  "  Clasp  me  not,  for  I  am  not 
yet  ascended." 

I  do  not  think  that  I  understand  the  meaning  of  "  adoration 
of  the  consecrating  gift."  I  shrink  again  from  separating  the 
Gift  and  the  Giver.  The  Lord  gives  nothing  apart  from  Him 
self.  The  famous  mystical  aphorism,  "  Thou  needest  me  even 
as  I  need  Thee,"  always  seems  to  me  to  be  full  of  danger. 

The  revelation  of  God  as  love  seems  to  describe  the  internal 
fulness  of  infinite  (Tripersonal)  life  to  which  the  finite  cannot 
add  anything. 

Perhaps  your  thought,  if  I  rightly  apprehend  it,  would  be 
expressed  by  " .  .  .  not  to  adoration  of  Him  who  offers  Him 
self  through  that  which  He  consecrates."  The  "for"  in  the 
address  to  Mary  needs  and  will  repay  much  pondering. 

Wi  February  1883. 

It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  St.  John  iii.  16  touches  the 
question  at  issue.  The  words  there  deal  with  the  act  of  the 
Father's  sacrifice,  the  one  Gift  which  He  made  historically. 
Just  as  the  Son  is  said  to  have  given  Himself.  Once  the 
manifestation  has  been  made  in  time  and  space  that  men  may 
realise  it  spiritually.  Is  not  that  the  meaning  of,  "  It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away  "  ?  It  is  the  fashion  now  to 
depreciate  Hooker,  but  I  cannot  go  one  line  beyond  his  teach 
ing  on  the  Holy  Communion.  But  I  must  not — or  rather  I 
need  not — write  more.  You  will  see  the  point  which  I  wish 
to  guard,  and  I  think  that  you  wish  to  guard  it  too. 

1st  March  1884. 

I  have  at  length  been  able  to  read,  though  only  hastily, 
your  notes  on  St.  John.  This  I  have  done  with  the  greatest 
interest.  They  express  admirably  thoughts  which  I  wished 
to  suggest,  and  seem,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  to  bring  into 
prominence  aspects  of  Truth  which  may  be  helpful. 

My  doubt  as  to  a  periodical  made  up  of  pregnant  fragments 
comes  from  such  experience  as  I  have  had  of  the  general 
unwillingness  of  readers  to  pause  for  thought.  If  one  or  two 


IX 


WESTMINSTER  81 


suggestive  paragraphs  could  be  separated  by  some  space  which 
should  constrain  the  reader  to  linger  over  them,  then  it  would 
be  well.  But  this  end  can  only  be  gained,  I  think,  if  at  all, 
in  a  book  to  which  we  turn  again  and  again.  As  you  allow 
me,  I  will  keep  the  notes  on  St.  John ;  for  Mrs.  Westcott,  who 
is  away  from  home,  will  be  glad  to  see  them. 

Pardon  this  most  hasty  and  unworthy  note.  I  did  not 
wish  to  meet  the  full  pressure  of  another  work  till  I  had 
thanked  you  in  some  way. 

6th  June  1884. 

If  I  could  fill  the  Crucifix  with  life  as  you  do  I  would 
gladly  look  on  it,  but  the  fallen  Head  and  the  closed  Eye 
exclude  from  my  thought  the  idea  of  glorified  humanity. 
The  Christ  to  whom  we  are  led  is  One  who  "hath  been 
crucified,"  who  hath  passed  through  the  trial  victoriously  and 
borne  the  fruits  to  Heaven.  I  dare  not  then  rest  on  this  side 
of  the  glory. 

i6th  October  1885. 

I  have  read  the  Questions  which  you  kindly  sent  me  with 
great  interest.  They  suggest  thoughts  which  cannot  but  be 
helpful.  Can  copies  of  them  be  obtained  ?  I  should  like 
to  place  them  in  the  hands  of  some  of  my  more  reflective 
hearers  here. 

What  can  I  say  as  to  your  letters  on  St.  John  ?  As  far  as 
I  have  any  voice  in  the  matter,  I  cannot  but  be  glad  that 
teaching  which  I  hold  to  be  most  true  and  needful  should 
find  an  attractive  interpreter.  I  have  not,  however,  any  right 
to  use  the  notes  except  in  a  possible  edition  with  the  Greek 
text  for  which  I  have  made  preparation ;  but  I  feel  sure  that 
Mr.  Murray  would  be  glad  to  give  you  the  fullest  permission 
to  use  what  you  may  want. 

There  are  some  points  brought  out  in  connexion  with  the 
Epistles  which  are  required,  I  think,  for  a  fairly  complete 
exhibition  of  St.  John's  teaching  for  us.  The  Gospel  of 
Creation  is,  it  seems  to  me,  the  central  foundation-stone  of 
the  structure  of  Truth  for  us. 

I  should  shrink  from  writing  anything  in  the  way  of  preface. 
It  would  be  wholly  unnecessary  and  obtrusive.  But  if  you 

VOL  II.  G 


82  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

think  that  it  would  be  of  any  use,  I  could  in  the  Christmas 
vacation — I  expect  to  be  at  Westminster  in  January — read 
the  MS. 

I  grieve  to  hear  of  your  continued  suffering.  But  if  we  are 
true  scholars  we  can  learn  however  we  are  taught. 

I  am  writing  from  an  examination  room,  so  you  will 
pardon  me. 

2nd  January  1886. 

The  letters  have  reached  me  quite  safely,  and  I  hope  to 
make  them  part  of  my  Sunday  reading.  Perhaps  we  may 
hope  to  realise  some  day  that  the  five  senses  are  not  the 
measure  of  the  universe,  nor  even  of  our  universe.  But  the 
marvels  which  they  can  discern  occupy  us  more  and  more. 

$th  February  1886. 

I  feel  very  guilty  that  I  have  kept  your  notes  so  long,  but 
my  month  at  Westminster  was  a  time  of  absorbing  engage 
ments,  and  I  could  hardly  give  to  them  the  time  I  wanted. 
However,  I  have  very  little  to  say  in  detail. 

I  know  very  little  of  the  Expositor,  but  as  far  as  I  can 
judge  it  has  a  wide  and  healthy  influence.  When  the  editor 
asked  for  my  last  August  Sermons  I  did  not  hesitate  as  to 
sending  them,  since  one  or  two  had  been  printed  without 
authority.  And  I  think  that  you  would  find  an  appreciative 
body  of  readers  for  detached  thoughts.  Indeed,  I  think  that 
writing  in  fragments  is  perhaps  the  most  effective  way  of 
writing,  if  the  object  is — as  it  surely  must  be — to  stir  others 
to  quiet  reflection.  I  have  therefore  no  doubt  as  to  my 
answer. 

2Qtk  February  1886. 

Your  notes  have  been  kept  far  too  long,  and  I  find  that  it 
is  vain  to  keep  them  longer  in  the  hope  of  reading  parts  of 
them  again  more  carefully. 

As  far  as  I  can  judge,  you  have  brought  out  and  illustrated 
very  effectively  the  thoughts  which  I  was  most  anxious  to 
suggest.  I  have  therefore  very  little  to  offer  in  the  way  of 
criticism  in  addition  to  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the 
great  pains  which  you  have  taken  in  enforcing  lessons  which  I 


ix  WESTMINSTER  83 

had   left  often   only  as    hints.      One   or   two   small  g  points 
struck  me : — 

P.  8.  The  close  of  the  "Curse  of  Kehama  "  itself  might  be 
quoted :  again  and  again  I  have  turned  to  the 
passage.  As  to  the  ai/o>#ev  in  St.  John  iii.  3,  I  still 
prefer  the  rendering  "anew"  to  "from  above." 
It  seems  to  include  and  transcend  the  alternative 
rendering  :  others,  I  know,  think  differently. 

P.  1 8.  I  should  shrink  from  speaking  directly  of  "the  Son 
of  Man  "  as  in  heaven  before  the  Incarnation. 
He  who  became  Incarnate  in  time  was  in  heaven 
in  His  unchanged  and  unchangeable  personality. 
That  is  enough  for  us.  The  Incarnation  brought 
no  modification  to  His  Person. 

P.  24,  v.  28.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  understand  "animal 
organism." 

P.  46.  My  most  serious  difficulty  is  as  to  the  symbolism 
of  fire.  Fire  seems  to  me  always  to  have  relation 
to  something  perishable  which  has  to  be  removed. 
So  it  is  that  while  in  the  other  cases  it  is  said 
"  God  is  .  .  .,"  in  this  case  it  is  said  "  Our  God  is 
.  .  .,"  i.e.  in  relation  to  us  sinful,  corrupted  crea 
tures  in  need  of  purification  through  chastening. 

These  are  very  tiny  remarks.  You  will  at  least  accept 
them  as  an  expression  of  most  hearty  sympathy  with  the  great 
lines  of  your  thoughts. 

22nd  March  1886. 

I  have  read  with  far  more  sorrow  than  surprise  the  letters  of 
Mr.  Jukes  which  you  have  kindly  sent  to  me.  Criticisms  of 
the  kind  have  been  common  in  all  ages.  As  hard  things  were 
said  by  good  men  of  the  labours  of  Jerome,  Erasmus,  and  the 
Revisers  of  1611  as  have  been  said  of  their  successors.  The 
Spirit  of  God  has  hitherto  answered  them  by  the  life  of  His 
Church,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  He  will  answer  them 
so  still.  Mr.  Jukes  has  singular  gifts  of  spiritual  insight  and 
spiritual  sympathy.  But  he  has  not  the  scholar's  instinct,  and 
he  has  not  had  the  scholar's  training.  The  conception  which 
he  has  of  the  work  of  textual  criticism  is  amazing.  There  are 


84  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

unquestionably  variations  of  readings  in  Greek  MSS.,  sup 
ported,  too,  by  every  possible  variety  of  evidence.  At  some 
point  or  other  every  one  must  be  in  doubt  as  to  the  true  text — 
unless  we  claim  immediate  inspiration — and  when  the  principle 
is  admitted  all  else  is  of  degree.  To  speak  of  the  two  cases 
noticed,  I  do  not  know  how  to  ascertain  the  judgments  of 
the  early  Church  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the  Sacred  Books 
but  by  documentary  evidence.  This  connects  the  Catholic 
Epistles  with  the  Acts  by  simply  overwhelming  authority,  and, 
with  all  respect  to  Mr.  Jukes,  as  I  believe,  with  true  spiritual 
judgment.  Again,  the  question  as  to  words  from  the  Cross 
is  not  whether  they  are  spoken  by  the  Lord — that  I  hold 
most  certainly — but  whether  they  formed  part  of  the  original 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke — a  very  different  question.  I  believe  that 
the  Lord  said  that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive," 
but  I  am  not  tempted  to  introduce  the  words  into  a  Gospel. 
No  fulness  of  religious  power  can  justify  any  one  in  saying 
what  the  record  of  Revelation  shall  be.  The  world  is  not 
what  I  should  have  expected,  nor  the  Church,  nor  the  Bible. 
But  no  disappointment  leads  me  to  distrust  the  process  by 
which  God  has  been  pleased  to  enable  me  to  study  each 
manifestation  of  Himself  honestly.  It  was  my  privilege  to 
read  for  ten  years  with  Dr.  Scrivener,  to  learn  his  reasons  as 
well  as  his  conclusions.  No  one  honours  his  single-minded 
devotion  to  Biblical  study  more  than  I  do,  but  it  would  be 
positively  ridiculous  to  compare  the  thought  which  he  has 
spent  on  criticism  with  that  which  Dr.  Hort  has  spent  upon 
it.  And  here  I  must  protest  against  any  one  endeavouring 
to  separate  my  judgment  from  Dr.  Hort's.  Except  when  I 
have  recorded  dissent,  I  agree  heartily  and  independently  with 
every  critical  conclusion  in  the  revised  text.  The  repeated 
processes  of  over  thirty-five  years  have  more  and  more  con 
vinced  me  of  their  absolute  general  truth.  I  should  be  the 
last  to  rate  highly  textual  criticism  ;  but  it  is  a  little  gift  which 
from  school  days  seemed  to  be  committed  to  me.  I  have 
tried  to  put  it  to  account,  and  certainly  it  has  been  my  joy  to 
find  in  almost  every  result  which  I  have  been  forced  to  main 
tain  as  true,  a  new  source  of  light.  So  it  will  be  while  the 
world  lasts. 


ix  WESTMINSTER  85 

Our  greatest  danger  now  is  —  and  I  speak  with  knowledge 
which  is  unusually  wide  —  from  the  tendency  of  devout  believers 
to  identify  their  own  views  with  the  Divine  Truth  as  to  the 
Written  Word.  I  hear  opinions  maintained  which  I  am  sure 
cannot  be  maintained  justly.  I  do  in  my  heart  believe  that 
every  syllable  of  Holy  Scripture,  as  Origen  said,  has  its  work  ; 
but  I  hope  I  may  be  saved  from  the  presumption  of  saying, 
"  It  is  this,  this  only." 

I  am  grieved  that  any  of  these  critical  questions  should 
trouble  you.  It  has  been  my  duty  to  give  a  large  part  of  my 
life  to  them  as  affecting  the  New  Testament,  and  at  least  with 
the  result  that  there  I  feel  absolutely  sure,  having  tried  every 
word. 

21th  March  1886. 

I  am  grieved  that  my  writing  should  have  caused  you  any 
difficulty.  I  remember  well  looking  at  the  offending  word, 
but  I  decided  that  it  was  legible.  The  word  is  "processes." 
I  wished  to  say  that  during  long  and  varied  work  I  had  been 
led  to  examine  questions  of  text  from  many  different  points 
of  sight  and  by  many  methods,  now  historically  and  now 
critically,  from  the  side  of  usage  and  from  the  side  of  inter 
pretation,  and  on  the  whole  I  have  always  been  led  to  the 
same  result,  that  the  most  ancient  text  is  in  every  way  the 
best.  Again  and  again  I  have  found  a  first  disappointment 
changed  into  a  gain.  Here  as  elsewhere  God  deals  with  us 
as  men,  and  requires  us  to  use  with  absolute  devotion  every 
point  of  human  discipline  in  His  service.  I  have  learnt  some 
of  my  most  precious  lessons  from  those  who  would  hold 
themselves  to  be  bitter  opponents. 

I  think  that  the  notes  might  be  made  most  useful  papers. 
All  I  would  suggest  would  be  that  my  part  should  be  placed 
in  the  background.  If  you  called  the  paper  "  Some  Thoughts 
from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,"  the  title  would  be  more  true 
and  in  every  way  better.  I  have  always  heard  Good  Words 
spoken  of  most  highly. 

1886. 


I  do  not  expect  to  be  at  Westminster  till  the  end  of  July 
for  my  residence  in  August.     Just  now  I  am  so  tired  and 


86  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

good-for-nothing  that  I  must  get  some  rest  to  prepare  for  the 
Abbey.  The  congregations  there  move  me  more  than  I  can 
express,  and  I  feel  a  corresponding  desire  to  say  some  words 
which  may  guide  those  who  are  eager  to  learn  the  Holy 
Scripture  and  its  message  to  us. 

Your  note  came  unaccompanied  by  any  paper.  You  will 
sympathise  at  least  with  the  title  of  the  sermon  which  I 
venture  to  send.  I  am  ashamed  to  trouble  you  with  it. 


l^thjune  1886. 

Let  me  thank  you  most  heartily  for  the  papers.  I  do  not 
see  the  Spectator  -,  and  so  the  parable  is  new  to  me.  It  is  as 
if  Andersen  had  brought  his  genius  to  theology.  There  is  no 
lesson  more  needed  than  that  our  five  senses  do  not  measure 
being.  And  our  senses,  how  different  they  are  in  power  ! 
What  Butler  heard,  Seeker  could  not  hear. 


December  1886. 

I  wish  that  I  had  a  lecture  here  which  I  wrote  on  the 
subject,  and  then  I  could  give  you  an  answer  in  words  not 
written  to  meet  any  question,  but  just  the  simple  expression 
of  independent  conviction.  But  indeed  you  will  anticipate 
all  I  can  say.  I  am  utterly  unable  to  form  a  conception  of 
"  order  "  except  as  the  expression  (for  me)  of  a  Divine  will. 
And  Scripture  teaches  me  that  a  miracle  is  essentially  a 
"  sign  "  of  the  Divine  presence  which  I  can  recognise.  It 
must  then  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Divine  will  seen  as 
"  order,"  for  that  will  is  one,  though  we  regard  it  in  parts. 
Surely  the  very  word  "  sign  "  —  .so  long  obscured  —  is  a  perfect 
answer  to  the  question  which  you  propose.  The  sign  must 
agree  with  the  character  of  Him  whom  it  indicates.  That  it 
appears  singular  to  us  is  simply  a  warning  that  we  do  not 
know  all.  Under  this  aspect  Babbage's  famous  illustration 
from  a  mathematical  series  is,  I  think,  as  far  as  it  goes, 
perfectly  just. 

22nd  December  1887. 

Let  me  thank  you  most  heartily  for  remembering  me  at 
this  Christmas  time.  I  rejoice  that  your  words  find  such 


ix  WESTMINSTER  87 

wide  and  varied  welcome.  They  must  bear  fruit.  As  the 
years  go  on  I  seem  to  feel  more  and  more  that  a  revelation 
in  life  will  alone  meet  our  present  questionings.  We  must 
show  that  our  faith  is  powerful.  I  cannot  tell  whether  the 
sight  of  East  London  or  West  London  is  to  me  more  depress 
ing.  And  still  the  message  of  Christmas  can  transfigure 
both.  .  .  .  We  now  hope,  but  when  our  hearts  fail  us  the 
lesson  of  this  morning  comes  with  fresh  strength.  We  in  our 
thinking  see  no  way,  and  God,  who  is  greater  than  our 
hearts,  says  "My  thoughts  are  not  as  your  thoughts."  So  we 
can  be  still  and  wait. 

2.1st  July  1889. 

Let  me  thank  you  for  your  note  and  the  enclosed  papers, 
which  I  have  read  with  great  interest.  No  one,  as  you  know, 
can  believe  more  firmly  than  I  do  that  we  are  living  in  a 
time  of  revelation,  and  that  the  teachings  of  physical  science 
are  to  be  for  us  what  Greek  literature  was  in  the  twelfth 
century.  But  I  think  that  we  are  in  more  real  danger  from 
impatience  than  from  blindness.  I  do  not  think,  as  far  as 
my  experience  has  gone,  that  there  is  any  unwillingness  on 
the  part  of  our  responsible  teachers  to  listen  to  new  tidings, 
but  there  is  serious  peril  lest  in  our  haste  we  should  take  the 
signs  for  the  truth  itself.  Does  it  seem  to  you  that  many 
appear  to  regard  the  phenomena  of  the  outer  world  as  the 
very  type  of  reality,  and  the  knowledge  which  we  gain  of 
these  as  the  type  of  knowledge  ?  To  me,  I  confess,  they  are 
no  more  than  shadows,  witnessing  to  that  which  casts  them — 
shadows  which  we  must  reach,  but  existing  only  in  virtue  of 
the  substance  which  lies  beyond.  You  will  at  once  feel  all 
I  mean.  So  again  with  regard  to  the  Bible,  I  cannot  forget 
that  the  Old  Testament  substantially  as  we  have  it  was  the 
Bible  of  the  Lord  and  the  Apostles.  That  is  a  fact  of 
momentous  importance.  How  it  came  to  be  is  a  question 
of  deep  interest,  but  secondary.  Dr.  King — it  greatly  in 
terested  us  to  see  that  you  know  our  son-in-law's  book — puts 
the  truth  admirably :  the  Temple  is  that  in  which  we 
worship  ;  the  stones  of  which  it  is  built  may  have  come  from 
many  quarries,  and  even  from  earlier  buildings.  Whatever 
we  have  to  learn,  and  our  lessons  are  limited  only  by  our 


88  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

powers,  I  see  no  likelihood  that  we  shall  have  to  change  one 
syllable  of  our  two  Creeds.  Whatever  men  have  found  to 
kindle  hope  lies  all  in  the  few  syllables,  "the  Word  became 
flesh,"  and  I  cannot  conceive  anything  which  can  go  beyond 
it.  But  it  lies  itself  beyond  the  region  of  experiment,  and 
yet  for  us,  as  it  seems,  it  is  necessarily  true  when  we  look  out 
over  life  as  it  is  made  known  to  us.  ... 

Mrs.  Westcott  desires  most  specially  to  thank  you  for  the 
little  poem.  I  like  to  recall  the  touching  incident  of  the  late 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  seeking  very  shortly  before  his  death  the 
blessing  of  his  infant  grandchild,  whose  hands,  at  his  request, 
were  laid  upon  his  head. 

Shall  you  not  gather  up  your  scattered  parables  into  a 
volume  ?  They  would  speak  to  many  anxious  souls. 

6th  May  1890. 

It  was  at  the  time  a  disappointment  to  us  that  you  could 
not  be  seen  to  be  with  us  on  St.  Philip's  Day.  But  in  the 
Service  I  think  that  every  one  felt  that  the  departed  and  the 
absent,  as  we  speak,  were  really  nearest.  The  solemn  calm 
which  filled  the  Abbey  touched  every  one  deeply.  I  need 
not  ask  you  to  think  of  my  work,  which  now  must  take  new 
forms.  This  you  will  not  fail  to  do ;  and  may  God  bless 
more  and  more  abundantly  the  gifts  of  insight  and  influence 
which  He  has  given  you  for  the  fuller  realisation  of  His 
counsels  of  wise  and  righteous  love  ! 

i6tk  April  1892. 

Let  me  wish  you  every  blessing  in  your  most  interesting 
gathering.  In  Cambridge  days  I  found  by  experience  how 
good  it  was  for  men  of  different  studies  to  speak  freely 
together.  Physicists  are  beginning,  I  think,  to  recognise 
that  they  deal  only  with  abstractions,  and  that  such  a  fact  as 
the  Incarnation  is  alone  able  to  give  reality  to  human  know 
ledge.  May  the  light  of  Easter  be  over  all  your  communings  ! 

yd  May  1893. 

Your  letter  is  most  touching  and  full  of  hope.  No  one,  I 
think,  could  possibly  guide  one  who  feels  the  need  of  the 


ix  WESTMINSTER  89 

childly  mind  more  surely  to  its  joy  and  peace  than  you  can 
do.  May  you  have  the  great  privilege  now !  I  have  always 
felt  a  tender  regard  for  Professor  Tyndall.  We  met  many, 
many  years  ago,  I  think  at  Harrow,  and  in  later  times  not 
infrequently  as  members  of  the  Governing  Body  of  Harrow. 
I  shall  never  forget  a  very  simple  remark  of  Professor  Tyndall, 
which  revealed  the  strange  misunderstandings  that  often 
separate  us.  Some  painful  correspondence  came  before  the 
Governors,  and  I  quite  casually  expressed  my  sympathy  with  the 
sorrow  of  one  who  had  put  aside  our  faith.  Professor  Tyndall 
was  surprised  that  I  should  so  feel  with  one  who  had  (as  I 
thought)  wandered  far  away — surprised,  and  yet  greatly  pleased. 
"  I  will  tell  him,"  he  said,  "what  you  say." 

All  that  can  be  done  you  can  do,  and  may  God  bless  you 
in  the  doing ! 

Jt&  November  1896. 

Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  most  sympathetic  note 
and  the  accompanying  Essay.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  read  the 
Essay  when  I  can  secure  a  little  leisure  for  quiet  thought. 
The  continual  claims  of  necessary  work  at  present  fill  all  my 
time. 

I  am  obliged  to  confess,  as  you  know,  that  I  hold  that 
our  power  of  grasping  and  expressing  Truth  is  very  limited. 
We  must  affirm  at  once  if  we  are  to  suggest  what  we  dimly 
see  "through  a  mirror  in  a  riddle,"  but,  as  things  are,  action 
is  for  us  an  adequate  interpreter. 

The  published  reports  of  the  Charge  which  I  have  seen 
were  more  or  less  imperfect.  Before  long  I  hope  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  sending  you  a  fair  copy  of  it. 

l8M  March  1899. 

You  will  understand  how  heartily  I  agree  with  the  main 
thought  which  you  illustrate  and  enforce.  Perhaps  I  should 
place  physical  science  on  a  lower  level  than  you  are  inclined 
to  assign  to  it.  The  validity  which  it  has  is  due  to  abstrac 
tions  which  are  suggested  by  phenomena  and  not  expressed 
by  them.  And  further,  I  suppose  that  we  all  feel  that  to 
every  statement  based  on  our  observation  we  must  add  "plus 
infinity. " 


90  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT     CHAP,  ix 

We  thought  much  of  your  great  sorrow.  I  have  had  twice 
in  the  last  three  months  to  face  the  prospect  of  a  sorrow  like 
it;  but  I  cherish  the  faith,  however  unworthily,  that  even 
through  the  sorest  losses,  perhaps  through  the  sorest  most, 
the  unchangeable  and  eternal  is  brought  nearer  to  us. 

I  wish  that  I  could  linger  over  these  lessons ;  but  I  have 
to  prepare  for  a  large  gathering  here  this  afternoon.  .  .  . 

i$th  February  1900. 

Your  work  is  of  very  great  interest,  but  it  raises  very  great 
difficulties  of  which  account  must  be  taken.  It  does  not 
appear  to  me  to  be  possible  to  combine  parts  of  different 
Psalms  into  an  apparent  whole  without  great  confusion  of 
thought.  An  example  at  once  presents  itself  in  the  combina 
tion  of  Psalms  xxiii.  and  xxiv.  The  break  of  thought  between 
verses  6  and  7,  which  are  printed  as  if  they  were  continuous, 
is  startling.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  essential  that  there 
should  be  a  break  between  passages  taken  from  different 
Psalms.  Every  Psalm  has  its  "motive,"  and  it  is  a  great  loss 
to  run  one  into  another. 

The  few  words  which  you  say  in  your  letter  would  be  a 
most  sufficient  and  impressive  preface  without  any  words 
from  another.  Still,  I  will  gladly  say  a  few  words  if  the 
Psalms  are  kept  distinct.  I  should,  however,  in  any  case 
prefer  your  own  words,  which,  if  it  must  be,  though  I  do  not 
see  why,  may  be  anonymous. 

yhjune  1901. 

The  help  of  friends  has  been  wonderful,  and  I  value  yours 
very  greatly.  The  heading  of  your  letter1  brings  back  the 
first  eighteen  years  of  our  married  life,  full  of  hopes  and 
efforts  which  have  been  crowned  beyond  possible  expectation. 
The  "  fragments  which  remain  "  here  as  elsewhere  are  more 
than  the  provision  for  the  feast. 

1  Harrow. 


CHAPTER    X 

DURHAM 
1890-1893 

AFTER  the  death  of  Bishop  Lightfoot,  the  See  of 
Durham  remained  unfilled  for  an  unusually  long  period. 
Various  explanations  of  this  delay  were  current  at  the 
time,  one  of  the  more  widely  accepted  being  that  the 
vacant  See  had  been  offered  to  my  father  and  declined 
by  him,  the  following  months  being  spent  in  inducing 
him  to  reconsider  his  decision.  This  explanation  is 
certainly  not  the  true  one,  for  he  received  no  warning 
of  the  impending  offer  until  5th  March,  when  he  was 
filled  with  "  conflicts  of  thought "  by  a  letter  from 
Archbishop  Benson.  To  this  he  replied  at  once : 

CAMBRIDGE,  $th  March  1890. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  can  say  nothing,  and  I  am  utterly 
overwhelmed.  If  you  knew  my  unutterable  unfitness  and 
weakness,  you  would  not  write  as  you  do.  For  the  present 
only  pray  p)  eio-evey/c^s  ets  Trei/aocr/AoV.1  If  the  trial  comes, 
perhaps  light  will  break.  At  present  all  is  dark,  utterly  dark. 
May  God  guide  you  ! — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

1  Lead  us  not  into  temptation  (or  trial). 
91 


92  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

It  had  been  the  Queen's  wish  from  the  first  that  he 
should  succeed  his  dear  friend  and  colleague  Bishop 
Lightfoot,  and  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  dated  so 
early  as  3rd  January  Her  Majesty  had  said,  "  I  have 
understood  that  you  consider  Canon  Westcott  as  the 
fittest  successor  to  Bishop  Lightfoot  ?  " 

On  6th  March  my  father  received  a  letter  from 
Lord  Salisbury  saying  — 

I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that  Her  Majesty  has 
been  pleased  to  signify  her  intention  of  nominating  you  to 
the  vacant  See  of  Durham,  if  you  are  disposed  to  accept  the 
charge  which  will  thus  be  placed  upon  you. 

Hereupon  my  father  wrote  again  to  the  Archbishop  : 
A  note  has  come.     Ac^^w/^ei/  eKTeveo-Tepov.2       B.  F.  W. 


This  offer  was  indeed  a  sore  trial  to  him.  For 
some  days  he  wrestled  in  prayer,  noting  in  his  text 
book  on  the  8th  that  "light  is  breaking."  On  the 
I  ith  his  decision  was  made,  and  he  enters  "ovtcen  eyco"  s 
and  doubly  underlines  his  two  texts  for  the  day,  which 
were  these  : 

Jer.  i.  8.  Be  not  afraid  of  their  faces  :  for  I  am  with  thee 
to  deliver  thee,  saith  the  Lord. 

2  Cor.  xii.  9.  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  :  for  my 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness. 

He  then  wrote  to  Lord  Salisbury  saying  — 

CAMBRIDGE,  nth  March  1890. 

After  considering  most  carefully  the  subject  of  your  Lord 
ship's  letter,  and  taking  the  counsel  of  those  friends  whose 

1  Life  of  Archbishop  Benson,  ii.  293. 
-  Let  us  pray  more  earnestly.  3  No  longer  I. 


x  DURHAM  93 

judgment  I  ought  to  obey,1  I  have  the  honour  to  inform 
your  Lordship  that  I  do  not  feel  justified  in  declining  the 
heavy  charge  which  Her  Majesty  proposes  to  commit  to  me. 
I  must  therefore  ask  your  Lordship  to  convey  to  Her  Majesty 
my  most  dutiful  acceptance  of  the  office  to  which  it  is  Her 
Majesty's  gracious  purpose  to  nominate  me. 

I  can  only  hope  that  I  may  be  enabled,  if  I  enter  on  the 
work,  to  fulfil  it  according  to  the  full  measure  of  my  power  in 
the  spirit  of  the  late  Bishop. 


On  the  same  day  he  wrote  the  following  letters  : — 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

CAMBRIDGE,  nth  March  1890. 

You  will  help  me  henceforth  with  double  grace.  I  have 
obeyed  what  seems  to  be  a  clear  voice.  A  most  helpful  note 
came  from  Davidson  this  morning,  and  I  have  just  written  to 
Lord  Salisbury. 

The  three  verses  which  came  in  regular  order  to  me  this 
morning  were  Jer.  xxix.  n,  Jer.  i.  8,  and  2  Cor.  xii.  9. 

Could  any  promises  meet  the  case  more  completely  ? 
Yes :  HAYNAMI2ENA20ENEIATEAEIOYTAI.2 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

CAMBRIDGE,  nth  March  1890. 

My  dear  Brooke  —  After  anxious  thought  I  have  this 
morning  accepted  the  Bishopric  of  Durham.  If  I  could  tell 
you  the  way  in  which  the  offer  came  you  would,  I  am  sure, 
feel  that  I  was  bound  to  obey  "  a  clear  call,"  even  in  evening 
time.  In  the  prospect  of  such  a  charge  every  thought  of 
fitness  vanishes.  There  can  be  no  fitness  or  unfitness,  but 
simply  absolute  surrender.  I  think  that  I  can  offer  all ;  and 
God  will  use  the  offering.  You  and  Basil  will  think  of  me 

1  In  especial  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Benson),  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  (Davidson),  and  Professor  Hort. 
8  Power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness. 


94  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

in  the  prayer  for  the  Clergy.  You  can  tell  Basil,  but  of 
course  you  will  not  speak  to  others  of  the  nomination  till  it 
is  announced. 

But  I  must  say  no  more,  and  I  have  just  been  interrupted. 

May  God  give  His  blessing  to  His  workers ! — Ever  your 
most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT.  * 


The  appointment,  which  was  announced  on  the 
I  3th,  was  received  with  a  general  chorus  of  approval, 
although  in  some  quarters  it  was  regretted  that  the 
offer  had  come  so  late,  and  fears  were  expressed  that 
the  new  Bishop  might  not  in  his  few  remaining  years 
find  strength  for  the  performance  of  his  arduous  duties. 
He  was  now  in  his  sixty-sixth  year  and  was  called  to 
carry  on  the  final  labours  of  one  who  had  been  his 
pupil:  but  in  a  spirit  of  absolute  self -surrender  he 
devoted  all  that  he  was  and  had  to  this  last  work. 

The  following  letters  are  an  indication  of  the  spirit 
in  which  he  was  prepared  to  face  the  hard  future : — 


TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

CAMBRIDGE,  izth  March  1890. 

One  word  only.  I  rejoice  that  you  think  it  right  that  I 
should  give  myself  to  the  work,  and  I  rejoice  that  you  should 
conceive  the  thought  of  helping  in  it.  You  will  help  it  more 
perhaps  than  any  by  doing  the  work  to  which  you  have  been 
already  called.  I  hope  that  you  may  be  one  of  my  chaplains, 
and,  if  we  dare  look  forward,  come  sometimes  to  breathe 
young  faith  into  our  new  labourers.  In  any  case  I  shall  feel 
that  the  three  Durham  sons 1  bind  me  with  living  ties  to  the 
fulness  of  our  Church's  work — education,  missions,  pastoral 
charge,  and  in  that  order. 

1  See  p.  5, 


x  DURHAM  95 

To  THE  RIGHT  HON.  G.  CUBITT,  M.P. 

CAMBRIDGE,  i^th  March.  1890. 

I  do  indeed  need  your  prayers  and  not  your  congratula 
tions.  It  was — of  this  I  feel  sure — a  clear  duty  to  face  the 
work.  The  thoughts  of  friends  will  help  me. 

We  had  a  Delhi  meeting  this  afternoon,  for  which  I  wrote 
a  short  letter,  which  I  enclose.  .  .  . 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

CAMBRIDGE,  iqth  March  1890. 

I  can  only  say  that  I  had  no  choice.  To  have  refused 
this  burden,  as  things  were,  would  have  been  simple  faithless 
ness.  What  you  say  of  Bishop  Auckland  gives  a  new  sacred- 
ness  to  the  place.  We  may,  I  hope,  some  day  think  over 
our  vows  together  there.  I  need  not  say  "  pray  for  us." 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

CAMBRIDGE,  itfh  March  1890. 

Let  me  thank  you  from  my  heart  for  your  most  kind 
welcome,  the  first,  I  think,  which  came  from  without.  I 
know  how  much  I  shall  need  your  counsel  and  help,  and  I 
feel  sure  that  you  will  give  me  both  most  generously.  My 
hope  is  that  which  comes  from  unreserved  obedience,  and 
my  strength  will  be  from  the  sympathy  and  prayers  of  those 
with  whom  I  am  called  to  serve.  Mrs.  Westcott,  for  her 
part,  is  looking  anxiously  for  the  help  which  Mrs.  Watkins 
can  give. 

The  one  note  of  apprehension  voiced  in  the  matter 
of  this  appointment  being  the  subject  of  the  new 
Bishop's  age,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  how  that 
matter  was  regarded  by  an  old  friend.  The  testimony 
comes  from  the  sick-bed  of  Dean  Vaughan,  who  on  24th 
March  1894  dictated  a  most  touching  message  to 


96  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

the  Bishop  of  Durham,  "  the  idol  of  my  later  life."  In 
forwarding  the  message  Mr.  F.  G.  Pelham  says  :  "  It 
was  with  some  difficulty  that  I  could  take  it  down  in 
the  sick-room,  and  the  voice  was  very  often  weak,  but 
he  chose  his  words  with  all  his  accustomed  care."  This 
is  the  message  : — 

I  said  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  that  if  God  spared 
his  life  for  three  years  it  would  not  be  in  vain. 

Again  : 

If  that  voice,  that  look,  that  elevation  of  thought  were 
spared  for  three  years  to  that  Northern  population,  they  would 
find  in  them  a  charm  of  persuasion  and  a  force  which,  though 
I  know  he  would  not  like  me  to  say  it,  they  had  not  found 
even  in  Bishop  Lightfoot.  May  God  grant  that  in  extreme 
old  age  he  may  preserve  them  all ! 

After  he  had  been  duly  elected,  the  Bishop -elect 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Archdeacons  of 
Durham  and  Auckland  : — 

CAMBRIDGE,  itfh  April  1890. 

My  dear  Archdeacons — Having  just  received  the  official 
notice  of  my  election  to  the  Bishopric,  I  take  the  earliest 
opportunity  of  approaching  through  you  the  clergy  of  the 
diocese. 

You  have  indeed  already  interpreted  the  wish  which  I 
could  not  but  form  as  soon  as  I  was  nominated  to  the  office 
by  asking  on  my  behalf  the  prayers  of  the  people  whom  I 
have  been  called  to  serve ;  yet  I  feel  that  I  ought  now  to 
acknowledge  myself  my  own  great  needs. 

A  Bishop  before  his  consecration — and  I  earnestly  beg 
that  all  who  are  interested  in  the  right  discharge  of  the  office, 
and  who  in  the  diocese  is  not  ?  will  carefully  study  the  Service 
for  Consecration — promises  among  other  things,  under  circum 
stances  of  the  most  impressive  solemnity,  that  he  will  "  faith 
fully  exercise  himself  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  call  upon 


x  DURHAM  97 

God  by  prayer  for  the  true  understanding  of  the  same  " ;  that 
he  will  "  drive  away  all  erroneous  and  strange  doctrine  con 
trary  to  God's  Word" ;  that  he  will  "  show  himself  in  all  things 
an  example  of  good  works  unto  others  "  ;  that  he  will  "  main 
tain  and  set  forward,  as  much  as  lies  in  him,  quietness,  love, 
and  peace  among  all  men  " ;  that  he  will  "  be  merciful  for 
Christ's  sake  to  poor  and  needy  people,  and  to  all  strangers 
destitute  of  help." 

Such  promises,  which  have  been  required  in  the  Western 
Church  for  many  centuries,  necessarily  receive  new  applica 
tions  from  age  to  age.  In  the  present  day  they  pledge  him 
who  makes  them  to  face  in  the  light  of  our  Christian  Faith 
some  of  the  gravest  problems  of  social  and  national  life.  They 
cannot  be  fulfilled,  even  so  far  as  human  frailty  allows  their 
fulfilment,  except  by  the  special  help  of  God.  In  the  exercise 
of  spiritual  oversight,  temptations  to  restless  activity,  to  haste, 
to  self-will  must  constantly  imperil  the  maintenance  of  wise, 
just,  and  sympathetic  government.  The  unceasing  pressure 
of  small  cares  upon  the  attention  of  a  Bishop  tends  to  thrust 
out  of  his  sight  those  larger  duties  of  the  Episcopate  which 
require  calm  and  sustained  thought  and  study.  In  no  other 
position  are  the  impulses  of  unreflecting  benevolence  more 
likely  to  disturb  the  action  of  that  quiet  and  patient  self- 
devotion  through  which  all  stable  reforms  are  accomplished. 

In  the  prospect  of  these  heavy  obligations  and  of  these 
peculiar  trials,  I  therefore  ask  you  to  request  the  clergy  of  the 
diocese  to  solicit  in  my  name  the  prayers  of  their  parishioners 
that  "  strength  and  power "  may  be  granted  me  to  perform 
that  which  God  "has  given  me  a  good  will  to  do."  The 
supplications  of  the  diocese,  however  they  may  be  answered, 
cannot  be  in  vain. 

Perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  suggest  that,  if  the  request  is 
made  at  morning  or  evening  prayer  on  the  Sunday  before  the 
day  fixed  for  my  consecration,  notice  may  be  given  that  a 
silence  will  be  "  kept  for  a  space  "  after  the  petition  in  the 
Litany  for  "Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,"  or,  after  the 
"  Prayer  for  the  Clergy  and  People,"  during  which  the  congre 
gation  may  offer  together  their  special  petitions. 

In  writing  thus  I  know  that  I  give  expression  to  the  feeling 

VOL.  II  H 


98  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

which  is  uppermost  in  your  own  hearts.  From  the  beginning 
of  our  common  work  we  shall  wish  to  acknowledge  that  our 
only  hope  of  effective  service,  in  things  both  great  and  small, 
lies  in  the  open  and  practical  confession  of  fellowship  in  the 
Word  who  became  flesh,  the  Head  from  whom  all  the  body 
increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God. — Believe  me  to  be,  my 
dear  Archdeacons,  yours  most  faithfully, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT,  Bishop-elect. 

P.S. — The  consecration  has  now  been  fixed  for  ist  May, 
the  Festival  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  James,  at  Westminster 
Abbey,  at  10.30  A.M. 

The  confirmation  of  the  Bishop's  election  took  place 
in  York  Minster  on  3<Dth  April,  when  the  Bishop  of 
Beverley,  as  Commissioner  of  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
declared  that  the  election  of  Dr.  Westcott  by  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  of  Durham  was  rightfully  and  lawfully 
made,  and  desired  his  admission  into  the  real,  actual, 
and  corporate  possession  of  the  Bishopric. 

On  the  same  afternoon  an  interesting  gathering  of 
old  Birmingham  boys  was  held  in  the  Chapel  of  Lambeth 
Palace,  by  the  kind  invitation  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  It  was  thought  fitting  that  former  mem 
bers  of  the  school  of  which  the  Primate  and  Dr.  Westcott 
(as  also  the  late  Bishop  Lightfoot)  were  such  dis 
tinguished  pupils  should  meet  together  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  a  service  to  pray  for  the  wellbeing  of  the  new 
Bishop  of  Durham.  The  service  consisted  of  the  Litany, 
Psalms  cxxi.  and  cxxii.,  and  a  hymn,  together  with 
passages  from  the  Consecration  Service  and  the  blessing 
by  the  Archbishop.  The  occasion  was  one  which  will 
long  live  in  the  memory  of  all  those  who  were  present. 
My  father  had  hoped  to  have  been  present  at  this 
gathering,  as  the  following  note  to  the  Archbishop 
shows  ;  but  circumstances  prevented  his  attendance  ; — 


x  DURHAM  99 

CAMBRIDGE,  \>]th  April  1890. 

I  have  just  heard  that  ist  May  is  definitely  fixed  for  the 
Service.  How  the  thought  crushes  out  every  lingering  relic 
of  self !  Words  are  vain.  aAA,'  avro  TO  TTVU  o-wavTiAa 
rrj  dcrdeveiy  o^aeov  .  .  .  vTrcpevTvy^dv^i  (rT€vayfw'i<s  aA 
.  .  .  How  can  I  thank  you  enough  for  the  thought  of  a 
gathering  at  Lambeth?  It  must  be  a  strength  both  to 
Mrs.  Westcott  and  to  myself.  We  shall  most  gratefully  accept 
your  invitation.  How  Lambeth  has  been  wrought  into  our 
lives ! 

On  the  following  day,  ist  May,  the  Feast  of  St. 
Philip  and  St.  James,  the  Bishop-elect  was  consecrated 
in  Westminster  Abbey.  An  early  train  from  Cam 
bridge  brought  down  hosts  of  University  men,  Trinity 
and  King's  being  well  represented.  The  Provost  of 
Eton,  the  Headmaster  of  Harrow,  and  several  heads  of 
houses  from  Oxford  occupied  seats  in  the  choir. 
Altogether  it  was  a  striking  testimony  to  the  unique 
popularity  of  Dr.  Westcott  among  all  sorts  and  condi 
tions  of  men. 

Long  before  the  commencement  of  the  service  at 
half-past  ten  the  reserved  portions  of  the  Abbey  were 
rilled  with  ticket-holders,  whilst  the  part  allotted  to  the 
general  public  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  The 
brilliant  sunshine  took  away  even  the  generally  pre 
vailing  gloom  of  the  Abbey.  The  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  simply  wearing  academical  dress,  and 
accompanied  by  his  two  domestic  chaplains,  took  his 
seat  in  the  choir  in  the  stall  next  to  the  Dean's.  In 
the  meantime  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Assistant- 
Bishops,  the  Bishop-elect,  and  the  Dean  and  Canons  of 
Westminster  assembled  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber. 

1  But  the  Spirit  Himself  helpeth  our  infirmity  .   .   .  maketh  intercession 
with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered. — Adapted  from  Rom.  viii.  26. 


ioo          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Sir  John  Hassard  was  also  present,  with  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury's  license  under  hand  and  seal 
welcoming  his  Grace  of  the  Northern  Province  into 
the  Southern  Province  to  perform  all  Archiepiscopal 
and  Episcopal  acts,  and  the  Dean  of  Westminster  went 
through  the  usual  formality  of  reading  and  signing  his 
protest  against  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  having 
any  jurisdiction  whatever  within  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  procession,  which  started  from  the  nave,  was  a 
long  and  imposing  one.  The  eight  Assistant-Bishops 
who  accompanied  the  Archbishop  of  York  were  the 
Bishops  of  Winchester,  Carlisle,  Exeter,  Oxford,  Ripon, 
Truro,  Wakefield,  and  Bishop  Barry  (Assistant-Bishop 
of  Rochester).  The  procession  also  included  the  Dean 
of  Durham  and  Archdeacon  Watkins,  who  attended  on 
behalf  of  the  Durham  Chapter ;  the  Dean  of  West 
minster  and  Canons  Rowsell  and  Furse  represented 
the  body  of  which  Dr.  Westcott  was  a  member ;  the 
Provost  of  King's  College,  Cambridge  (the  Rev.  A. 
Austen -Leigh),  of  which  college  Dr.  Westcott  was  a 
Fellow,  was  present ;  whilst  the  Master  of  Trinity  (Dr. 
Butler),  as  Vice-Chancellor,  walked  in  the  procession 
as  the  representative  of  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
All  the  Divinity  professors  were  present,  either  in  the 
procession  or  the  congregation,  which  was  also  a  very 
representative  one.  Lord  Grimthorpe,  in  his  scarlet 
gown,  attended  as  Chancellor  of  York.  The  Arch 
bishop  of  York  at  once  commenced  the  office  for  Holy 
Communion,  the  responses  and  the  Nicene  Creed  being 
sung  to  "  Thorne  "  in  E  flat.  The  Bishop  of  Carlisle  was 
the  Epistoler,  and  he  chose  from  the  alternative  selec 
tions  Acts  xx.  17.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  read 
the  Gospel.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Nicene  Creed, 
Dr.  Hort,  Lady  Margaret's  Professor  of  Divinity, 


x  DURHAM  101 

preached  a  very  able  sermon,  which  was  listened  to 
with  the  deepest  attention.  The  text  chosen  was 
Eph.  iv.  12,  13,  and  in  the  course  of  his  sermon  Dr. 
Hort  said  : 

We  are  met  together  from  north  and  from  south,  from  the 
old  Northumbrian  diocese  and  the  central  capital  of  the 
realm  and  many  a  scattered  parish,  to  join  in  the  act  of 
worship  by  which  a  Chief  Pastor  of  the  Church  is  to  be 
hallowed  for  his  office  to-day — for  the  office  which,  more  than 
any  other,  links  past  and  present  visibly  together ;  the  office 
which,  varying  in  prerogatives  and  in  sphere  of  action  from 
age  to  age,  is  now  more  than  ever  before  the  organ  of  active 
unity,  the  chief  power  by  which  all  scattered  powers  that  make 
for  building  up  are  drawn  forth  and  directed. 

In  commending  him  now  to  your  prayers,  I  find  my  lips 
sealed  by  a  sacred  friendship  of  forty  years  from  speaking  as 
I  might  otherwise  perhaps  have  desired  to  do.  But  in  truth 
there  can  be  little  need  that  a  single  voice  should  attempt 
to  utter  what  is  already  in  the  mind  of  thousands.  Yet  a 
few  words  must  be  ventured  on  for  the  sake  of  others.  One 
who  has  laboured  unceasingly  to  bring  his  countrymen  face  to 
face  with  the  New  Testament  Scriptures;  one  for  whom 
Christian  truth  is  the  realm  of  light  from  which  alone  the 
dwellers  on  earth  receive  whatever  power  they  have  to  read 
the  riddle  of  the  world  or  choose  their  own  steps ;  one  to 
whom  the  Christian  society  is  almost  as  a  watchword,  and 
who  hears  in  every  social  distress  of  the  times  a  cry  for  the 
help  which  only  a  social  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  can 
give — such  a  one  assuredly  will  not  fail  to  find  channels  by 
which  these  and  other  like  gifts  from  the  ascended  Giver  may 
flow  forth  for  the  common  good. 

Under  these  auspices  he  goes  forth  to  carry  forward  the 
enterprise  which  has  dropped  from  the  hands  of  the  cherished 
friend,  united  with  him  as  in  a  common  work  and  purpose 
so  as  the  object  of  reverent  love  and  trustful  hope.  There 
must  be  many  present  here  to-day  whose  recollections  of 
the  twin  day  eleven  years  ago  are  full  of  the  echoes  of 
some  of  the  words  then  spoken  from  this  pulpit.  What 


102          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

other  last  words  could  speak  to  us  now  with  so  grateful  a 
sacredness  ? 1 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon  Dr.  Westcott  proceeded 
to  the  Islip  Chapel  to  put  on  his  rochet,  the  choir 
singing  meanwhile  the  quartette  from  Mendelssohn's 
Elijah,  "  Cast  thy  burden  on  the  Lord."  The 
anthem  was  Dr.  Westcott's  own  choice,  and  it  is 
certain  that  nothing  could  have  better  expressed  the 
humble  and  trustful  spirit  manifested  by  him  during 
his  consecration  than  the  sweet  and  restful  strains  of 
this  well-known  composition.  Upon  his  return  he  was 
presented  by  the  Bishops  of  Carlisle  and  Winchester. 
Lord  Grimthorpe  read  the  Queen's  mandate,  and  after 
the  oath  of  canonical  obedience  had  been  repeated  by 
Dr.  Westcott,  Precentor  Flood  Jones  proceeded  with 
the  Litany.  The  Archbishop  of  York  took  up  his  part 
at  the  versicle  before  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  continued 
the  proper  intonation  throughout.  Upon  the  questions 
of  examination  being  put,  Dr.  Westcott's  answers  were 
given  most  impressively,  each  reply  being  repeated 
with  such  earnestness  as  to  impart  into  it  the  devotion 
of  a  prayer.  During  his  absence  to  complete  the 
episcopal  habit,  Goss's  anthem,  "  O  pray  for  the  peace 
of  Jerusalem,"  was  sung.  Upon  returning,  the  "  Veni 
Creator  "  was  rendered  by  the  Archbishop  of  York  and 
the  choir  conjointly,  as  arranged  by  Dr.  Monk,  late 
organist  of  York  Minster,  the  alternate  lines  being 
taken  by  his  Grace.  The  Assistant-Bishops  formed  in 
the  following  order  on  each  side  :  on  the  right  of  the 
Archbishop,  the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Exeter, 
Bishop  Barry,  and  the  Bishop  of  Ripon  ;  on  the  left 
the  Bishops  of  Carlisle,  Truro,  Wakefield,  and  Oxford. 

1  This  sermon  was  very  costly  to  Dr.  Hort.     See  his  Life,  ii.  372  ff. 


x  DURHAM  103 

All  assisted  in  the  consecration,  and  the  service  for 
Holy  Communion  was  proceeded  with.  The  offertory, 
which  realised  over  £51,  was  devoted  to  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions — the  S.P.G.,  C.M.S.,  A.C.S.,  and 
C.P.A.  During  an  interval  after  the  prayer  for  the 
Church  militant  a  portion  of  the  congregation  left,  but 
the  number  of  communicants  was  very  large — about 
300 — the  administration  occupying  a  considerable 
time.  The  first  communicants  after  the  Bishops  and 
clergy  within  the  sacrarium  were  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  his  two  domestic  chaplains.  The 
Dean  of  Westminster  read  the  invitation,  and  Minor 
Canon  Price  (sacrist)  said  the  confession.  At  the 
close  of  the  service  the  newly -consecrated  Bishop 
returned  with  his  brother  prelates  to  the  Jerusalem 
Chamber,  where  he  received  many  congratulations 
from  his  numerous  friends.  The  Bishop  of  Durham's 
chaplains  were  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  John  Grey,  who  had 
acted  in  the  same  capacity  to  the  late  Bishop  at  his 
consecration  eleven  years  before,  and  his  eldest  son,  the 
Rev.  F.  B.  Westcott,  late  Fellow  of  Trinity,  Cambridge. 
On  the  day  of  his  consecration  the  new  Bishop 
wrote  to  his  second  daughter : — 

WESTMINSTER, 
SS.  Philip  and  James  [May  i],  1890. 

The  service  is  over,  and  it  was,  I  think,  very  solemn,  and 
the  sun  shone  brightly.  My  texts  again  were  full  of  hope : 
Is.  xxvi.  3,  4;  John  xiv.  27.  Could  any  words  speak  more 
encouragement  ? 

The  Cuthbert's  Cross  is  exactly  what  I  shall  treasure  all 
my  life,  and  when  I  lie  at  rest  I  trust  that  it  may  be  laid 
upon  my  breast  So  Cuthbert's  was  found.  But  I  must  not 
try  to  write  more. 

The  cross  mentioned  above  was  an  exact  facsimile 


io4          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

(but  not  in  gold,  of  which  the  Bishop  would  have  none) 
of  the  cross  buried  with  St.  Cuthbert.1 

On  the  next  day  he  wrote  to  each  of  his  sons 
abroad  to  the  following  effect : — 

The  service  yesterday  was  full  of  sunshine  without  and,  I 
hope,  within. 

In  this  crowded  morning  I  can  only  steal  time  while  some 
are  waiting  to  see  me  to  use  the  privilege  of  my  new  office 
and  send  you  the  fulness  of  blessing  from  one  new  called  to 
be  a  Father  in  God. 

May  God  bless  you  in  your  work,  which  is  His  work  ! 

On  1 3th  May  the  Bishop  went  to  Windsor  to  do 
homage  to  the  Queen.  This  was  successfully  accom 
plished,  although  on  arrival  at  the  Castle  it  was  dis 
covered  that  neither  he  nor  Lord  Knutsford,  who 
accompanied  him,  had  a  copy  of  the  oath.  The 
position  was  rather  serious,  but  the  wires  were  set  in 
motion,  and  the  Bishop  was  enabled  to  read  his  oath 
from  the  telegraph  forms  supplied  by  the  local  post- 
office. 

Next  day  the  Bishop  entered  his  diocese,  being  wel 
comed  at  Darlington  Station  by  the  Mayor  and  Cor 
poration  of  Darlington,  who  presented  him  with  an 
address,  and  by  the  local  clergy.  The  same  evening  he 
drove  through  the  gaily -decorated  streets  of  Bishop 
Auckland  to  receive  an  address  at  the  Town  Hall  from 
the  townsfolk  and  clergy,  and  so  to  the  Castle. 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  on  the  day  when  my 
father  first  visited  Bishop  Auckland,  after  his  nomina 
tion  to  the  See  of  Durham,  one  of  his  texts  for  the 
day  had  been  the  words  addressed  to  him  by  his  old 

1  This  Cross  was  presented  to  the  Bishop  by  his  daughters,  having  been 
made  with  scrupulous  exactitude  under  the  supervision  of  the  present  Bishop 
of  Bristol. 


x  DURHAM  105 

schoolmaster  at  their  last  interview,  "  Fear  not  :  only 
believe."  These  words,  with  a  new  sacredness  from  that 
association,  he  had  carefully  underlined  as  he  pondered 
them  anew. 

Already  welcomed  to  his  diocese,  the  Bishop  had 
yet  to  be  enthroned.  The  day  appointed  for  this  cere 
mony  was  Ascension  Day,  I  5th  May,  the  same  day  on 
which  his  predecessor  eleven  years  before  had  been 
enthroned.  In  his  sermon  on  this  occasion,  preached 
from  the  words,  "  Brethren,  pray  for  us "  ( I  Thess.  v. 
25),  he  said  : — 

We  cannot  but  look  back  to  the  i5th  of  May  eleven  years 
ago,  when,  speaking  in  this  place,  my  predecessor  laid  open 
the  secret  of  his  life  and  work,  the  reverent  fixing  of  his 
soul's  eye  upon  the  vision  of  the  eternal  presence,  a  vision  of 
righteousness  and  grace  and  glory,  which  is  for  the  believer 
a  vision  of  purification  and  strength.  And  now,  as  we 
humbly  hope,  for  him  the  vision  of  faith  has  become  the 
vision  of  experience,  and  he  "  sees  the  face  "  of  Him  on 
whom  he  trusted.  We  cannot  but  look  back  again  to  last 
Ascension  Day,  when  the  thanksgiving  of  the  whole  Diocese, 
as  of  one  heart,  found  expression  here,  because  he  whom  all 
loved  was  given  for  a  time  from  death  to  life.  And  now  his 
elder  friend  has  been  charged  to  take  up,  as  strength  may  be 
given,  his  interrupted  work — interrupted,  indeed,  yet  crowned 
by  the  last  wonderful  summer  of  great  words  and  great  deeds, 
and  not  incomplete  if  the  fulness  of  service  is  in  the  perfec 
tion  of  devotion  acknowledged  by  universal  reverence  and 
affection.  We  cannot  but  look  back,  and  if  at  first  we  are 
touched  with  natural  sorrow  in  the  retrospect,  sorrow  is  soon 
turned  into  hope.  We  perceive,  even  with  our  feeble  powers, 
that  beneath  all  these  vicissitudes  one  unchanging  counsel  of 
love  goes  forward  to  its  accomplishment,  that  work  and  rest, 
effort  and  self-surrender,  the  stress  of  conflict  and  the  silence 
of  the  grave,  are  facts  of  the  one  life  whereby  alone  we  live. 
What  is  lost  to  the  eye  rises  transfigured  in  the  soul,  and  we 
come  to  know  that  when  the  Lord  said,  "  It  is  expedient  for 


io6          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

you  that  I  go  away,"  He  revealed  a  divine  law,  by  which  each 
bereavement,  each  apparent  loss,  becomes  through  His  grace 
the  source  of  new  spiritual  blessings.  We  cannot  but  look 
back,  and  we  cannot  but  look  forward.  Looking  back,  then, 
in  the  spirit  of  devout  gratitude  to  the  example  of  him  whom 
God  has  taken  to  Himself,  and  looking  forward  in  the  spirit 
of  simplest  obedience  to  the  call  which  he  has  uttered,  I  say 
now  with  a  full  heart,  "Brethren,  pray  for  us."1 

Previous  to  his  enthronement  the  Bishop  had  visited 
Durham  School  and  received  a  Latin  address,  which,  as 
he  said,  reminded  him  of  the  Latin  address  which  as 
a  schoolboy  he  had  fruitlessly  read  to  the  Prince 
Consort ;  and  he  subsequently  received  an  address  from 
the  students  of  Durham  University,  of  which  learned 
body  he  was,  in  virtue  of  his  office,  Visitor.  This  address 
was  the  outcome  of  a  spontaneous  feeling  of  admira 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  undergraduates  for  their  new 
Visitor,  and  much  pleased  the  Bishop,  who  made  an 
inspiring  reply  thereto.  After  this  proceeding  the 
Bishop  shook  hands  with  as  many  as  he  could  reach, 
and,  picking  up  his  bag,  hurried  off  to  the  Cathedral, 
where  he  was  to  hold  his  first  Confirmation.  This  little 
incident  of  the  Bishop  and  his  bag  recalled  the  remark 
of  the  old  verger,  who  lamented  the  degeneracy  of  the 
days,  exclaiming,  "  Things  are  comin'  to  a  fine  pass 
noo,  when  the  Bishop  of  Dor'm  comes  heor  wi'  his  aan 
carpet  bag." 

One  of  the  Bishop's  first  public  speeches  was  on  the 
subject  of  the  great  national  evil  of  Gambling.  His 
views  on  this  matter  are  concisely  stated  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  about  this  time  to  the  National  Anti- 
Gambling  League,  wherein  he  says  : — 

1  The  whole  sermon,  of  which  the  above  is  the  opening  passage,  is 
published  in  my  father's  The  Incarnation  and  Common  Life. 


x  DURHAM  107 

Allow  me  to  express  a  most  earnest  hope  that  your  meeting 
will  be  a  success.  The  evil  of  gambling  is  powerful  every 
where,  but  in  the  North  it  is  grievously  widespread.  The 
questions  involved  in  the  subject  are  complicated  and  far- 
reaching,  and  some  of  the  utterances  which  I  have  seen  ap 
pear  to  me  to  have  been  unguarded.  I  trust,  therefore,  that 
one  result  of  the  meeting  will  be  to  secure  that  action  shall 
be  prepared  by  a  careful  discussion  and  determination  of  the 
essential  character  of  the  evil.  When  the  inherent  waste 
and  selfishness  and  cruelty  of  gambling — the  hope  of  gaining 
through  another's  loss — in  all  its  forms  are  once  clearly  appre 
hended,  such  an  intelligent  and  strong  public  opinion  will 
be  formed  as  will  make  legislation  possible  and  effective. 
And  many  who  at  present  feel  that  the  mental  relaxation 
obtained  by  games  of  chance  is  an  ample  return  for  the  stake 
which  is  involved  in  them  will,  I  believe,  be  led  to  give  up, 
for  the  sake  of  others,  a  form  of  amusement  which  is  liable 
to  serious  misunderstanding  and  grave  abuses. 

On  another  occasion  he  said  : — 

A  great  Italian  politician,  whose  name  has  almost  become 
synonymous  with  cynical  wisdom,  recommended  that  the 
government  which  wished  to  obtain  success  for  a  State  should 
encourage  gambling  among  its  enemies  and  put  it  down  by 
military  force  at  home,  and  thought — thought  rightly — that  a 
nation  of  gamblers  was  condemned  to  fatal  ruin. 

In  June  1890  the  Bishop  received  from  Durham  Uni 
versity  the  degree  of  D.D.  by  Diploma,  Dr.  Hort  receiving 
the  honorary  degree  of  D.D.  on  the  same  occasion. 

In  the  same  month  my  father  went  up  to  London 
and  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  attended 
the  International  Peace  Parliamentary  Congress.  He 
thus  describes  his  experiences  in  letters  to  his  wife  : — 

22nd  July. 

Yesterday  I  went  to  the  House,  but  was  not  much  edified 
except  by  the  splendour  of  the  building,  and  of  the  Library 


1  08          LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

in  especial,  which  I  visited  for  the  first  time.  I  saw  Lord 
Powis.  He  told  me  something  of  the  ways  of  the  place. 
This  morning  I  went  to  the  Peace  Parliamentary  Congress. 
It  was  not  very  impressive.  All  foreigners  have  a  tendency 
to  speak  at  once,  and  there  was  little  business  or  thought,  but 
a  good  deal  of  zeal.  Mr.  Bradlaugh  moved  the  adoption  of 
the  Report.  What  should  you  have  said  if  I  had  seconded  it  ? 
I  am  not  sure  whether  I  shall  go  to-morrow.  There  are  very 
few  Englishmen  present. 


I  went  to  the  House  again  yesterday.  It  is  a  strange 
sight  —  sight  to  me  more  than  sound,  for  every  one  generally 
talks  to  himself,  without  caring  in  the  least  degree  (so  it 
seems)  whether  he  is  heard  or  not.  I  saw  two  or  three  of 
my  old  friends,  including  Lord  Spencer  and  Lord  Cross.  .  .  . 

This  morning  I  went  to  the  Peace  Congress  again,  and  as 
I  was  asked  to  say  a  few  words,  I  did.  It  seemed  right  that 
the  Christian  view  should  find  expression,  and  the  audience, 
chiefly  French  and  Germans,  listened  kindly.  I  tried  to  read 
the  parable  of  Durham. 

Now  I  have  engagements  at  2,  3,  4,  and  5,  and  then  I 
shall  give  myself  a  holiday. 

This  is  his  reading  of  the  Durham  parable  :  — 

A  Bishop  of  Durham  could  not  look  upon  the  two  great 
buildings  immemorially  connected  with  his  office  —  the  Castle 
and  the  Cathedral,  rising  side  by  side,  parts  of  one  whole  — 
without  knowing  that,  for  him  at  least,  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
duties  were  inseparably  combined.  He  could  not  look  back 
upon  the  history  of  his  See  without  knowing  that  he  must 
face,  with  whatever  skill  and  courage  he  could  command,  all 
the  problems  which  arose  from  time  to  time  affecting  the 
wellbeing  of  man  ;  and  he  was  sure  they  would  respect  the 
frank  expression  of  his  own  convictions  if  he  said  that  his 
deep  interest  in  this  holy  subject  of  their  deliberations  rested 
upon  his  Christian  faith.  When  St.  Paul,  eighteen  centuries 
ago,  used  that  memorable  expression,  writing  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  "  We  are  all  one  man  in  Christ,"  he  announced  the 


x  DURHAM  109 

principle  which,  during  the  eighteen  centuries  that  followed, 
the  nations  were  slowly  endeavouring  to  interpret  and 
embody. 

The  Bishop's  great  interest  in  the  Co-operative 
Movement  is  well  known,  and  inasmuch  as  his  published 
works  contain  his  most  weighty  utterances  on  this 
subject,  it  seems  hardly  requisite  to  reproduce  any 
fragments  of  such  speeches  here ;  but  the  following 
simple  words,  forming  part  of  a  response  to  a  vote  of 
thanks,  have  a  special  interest : — 

The  work  is  one  in  which,  as  I  said,  I  have  taken  the 
keenest  interest,  even  from  my  schoolboy  days.  I  can 
remember  what  very  few  here  can  remember — a  great  placard 
on  a  house  in  Birmingham  indicating  Robert  Owen's  first 
movement,  "  Labour  Exchange."  I  asked  then,  as  a  little 
boy,  the  meaning  of  it.  I  got  some  vague  and,  perhaps,  not 
very  complete  explanation,  but  an  interest  was  excited  then 
which  has  never  ceased.  When  I  was  at  Cambridge,  the 
movement  begun  by  Professor  Maurice,  Canon  Kingsley,  and 
Mr.  Hughes,  who  still  remains  to  see  its  triumph,  took  shape. 
I  was  deeply  interested  in  it  then,  and  the  success  which  it 
has  achieved  in  one  field  is,  I  feel  sure,  a  pledge  of  the  success 
which  it  now  must  seek  in  another  field.  I  do  trust  that  this 
meeting  may  have  some  practical  results.  Though  I  myself 
have  spoken  of  what  appear  to  be  somewhat  distant  and, 
perhaps,  transcendental  objects,  I  wish  you  to  bear  them  in 
mind.  Other  speakers  have  addressed  themselves  to  objects 
more  definitely  within  reach.  I  trust  that  one  result  of  this 
meeting  will  be  that  those  who  have  the  administration  of  the 
stores  will  provide  that  their  administration  shall  present  a 
model  of  what  retail  trade  could  be ;  that  they  will  lead  the 
way  in  fixing  hours ;  that  they  will  provide,  in  some  way,  for 
pensions  for  those  who  have  served  them  faithfully ;  that  they 
will  secure  that  the  workman  shall  feel  that  he  has  a  deep 
interest  in  the  work,  and  that  he  shares  the  full  pleasure  of 
its  success,  for  that  is  the  soul  of  co-operation.  Man  must 
trust  man.  He  must  enter  into  the  pleasures  and  feel  the 


no          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

sorrows  of  his  fellows ;  and  as  he  gives  the  whole  of  his  life 
to  the  work,  he  knows  that  he  will  enter  on  the  fulness  of  the 
lives  of  all  with  whom  he  is  united  in  the  living  bond  of 
human  union.  That  is  what  co-operation  means.  That  is 
an  end  which,  I  trust,  this  meeting  will  bring  a  little  nearer 
to  accomplishment.  I  again  thank  you.  I  feel  that  a 
Bishop's  work  is  well  fulfilled  in  being  present  at  a  meeting 
like  this. 

Owing  to  the  indisposition  of  the  Archbishop  of 
York,  the  Bishop  of  Durham  was  required,  at  very  short 
notice,  to  preside  at  the  Church  Congress  held  at  Hull 
in  October  1890.  To  many  the  Bishop's  conduct  on 
this  occasion  was  quite  a  revelation.  The  "  recluse " 
showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  affairs.  His  opening 
address  came  "  as  a  surprise  to  every  one,  except  perhaps 
those  who  knew  him  best.  It  was  expected  that  he 
would,  as  he  reasonably  might  have  done,  claim  exemp 
tion  from  the  task,  and  confine  his  remarks  to  a  few 
pleasantries  ;  but  what  he  really  did  was  to  deliver  an 
address  which  will  rank  with  the  ablest  productions  of 
his  predecessors  in  the  presidential  chair."  As  this 
address  was  drawing  to  a  close  a  sudden  blaze  of  sun 
light  lit  up  the  crowded  platform.  "  How  the  frail 
form  quivers,  and  how  the  thin,  penetrating  voice 
gathers  earnestness  and  vigour  as  he  draws  to  an 
eloquent  close,  whilst  he  declares  that  God  is  in  our 
midst  as  surely  as  He  has  been  before,  and  that  in  such 
a  Presence  all  petty  differences  must  shrivel  up  as  in  a 
great  furnace.  And  then  a  great  stillness,  and  then 
the  multitude  breaks  into  a  tumult  of  applause,  as  he 
sinks  back  into  his  seat,  and  buries  his  trembling  head 
between  his  prayerful  hands.  A  really  sublime  moment 
was  this,  the  sublimity  of  which  was  intensified  by  the 
rising  to  its  feet  of  all  that  vast  assemblage,  and  by  the 


x  DURHAM  in 

singing  in  splendid  unity  of  the  magnificent  hymn  of 
antiquity,  *  Veni  Creator  Spiritus.'  " 

The  Bishop's  paper  on  Socialism,  which  is  said  to 
have  "  fluttered  the  ecclesiastical  dovecots "  at  this 
Congress,  was  republished  by  him  in  his  The  Incarnation 
and  Common  Life. 

The  Church  Congress  of  1 890  was  generally  regarded 
as  a  success,  but  what  my  father  thought  of  it  does  not 
appear.  He  wrote  one  letter  thence  to  his  wife : — 

CHURCH  CONGRESS,  HULL, 
HENGLER'S  CIRCUS,  y>th  September  1890. 

You  will  see,  my  dearest  Mary,  that  I  am  performing 
"  Presidential  functions  " — by  writing  to  you  !  The  first  meet 
ing  is  nearly  over.  The  question  has  not  been  a  burning  one, 
and  all  things  have  so  far  gone  well ;  but  perhaps  the  report 
which  you  get  will  give  you  fuller  accounts.  Mr.  Boutflower 
is  a  very  careful  guardian,  and  my  hosts  are  most  kind.  I 
think  that  I  see  Mr.  Alder,  but  I  have  altogether  failed  to 
elicit  an  answering  smile.  I  must  say  no  more.  Love  to  all. 
— Ever  your  most  affectionate,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

In  December  1890  the  Bishop  notes  one  day  in  his 
text-book  that  he  was  able  to  do  a  little  work  at  The 
Gospel  of  Life ',  being  the  "  first  non-episcopal  work  "  that 
he  had  been  able  to  do  since  he  had  come  to  Durham. 
Besides  his  numerous  diocesan  engagements,  the  Bishop 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  from  time  to  time  to  attend  important 
meetings  in  London, and  deliver  speeches  on  such  matters 
as  University  Extension,  Peace,  and  Church  Defence. 
Besides  this,  he  promoted  private  conferences  at  Auck 
land  Castle  on  social  questions,  the  subjects  considered 
during  1891  being  National  Insurance  and  Co-opera 
tion.  In  addition  to  his  own  cares,  too,  he  sympathised 
in  many  anxieties  with  Archbishop  Benson,  to  whose 


112  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

appeals  he  never  turned  a  deaf  ear.  In  the  midst  of 
all  this  work  it  is  little  short  of  marvellous  that  he  was 
able  by  laborious  use  of  his  brief  autumn  holidays  to 
prepare  for  the  press  The  Gospel  of  Life.  This  work, 
so  sadly  incomplete,  is  the  last  of  his  Essays.  All  that 
he  published  thereafter  were  collections  of  sermons  and 
speeches,  to  the  preparation  of  which  all  his  thoughts 
were  now  perforce  directed. 

In  connexion  with  this  work  a  reviewer  said  : 1 — 

Bishop  Westcott  is  a  great  Christian  philosopher  as  well  as 
expositor.  He  has  had  given  to  him  one  of  the  keenest 
minds  of  the  nineteenth  century — keen  in  analysis,  in  insight, 
in  far-reaching  vision,  sweeping  sometimes  to  the  very  border 
lands.  He  has  a  quick  apprehension  of  analogies  and  general 
laws,  and  sees  at  once  the  significance  and  bearing  of  new 
facts.  We  repeat,  he  is  in  every  way  one  of  the  greatest 
intellectual  forces  of  the  day.  Now  no  reader  can  put  down 
this,  or  any  one  of  his  volumes,  without  saying,  whether  he 
agrees  with  him  or  not — "  This  man  believes  with  all  his  heart 
and  soul  and  mind  and  strength."  He  has  the  surest  possible 
confidence  in  the  future  of  the  Christian  faith.  Others  may 
see  a  peradventure,  like  a  worm  i'  th'  bud ;  he  sees  nothing 
but  a  new  earth,  the  morning  star,  and  the  seventh  heaven. 
When  one  of  our  greatest  has  this  so  boundless  hope,  we  may 
take  courage.  For  our  part,  in  reading  what  he  writes,  we 
are  always  thankful  most  of  all  for  the  contagious  warmth  and 
glow  of  the  Saviour's  living  touch.  It  gleams  on  every  living 
page.  Too  many  who  discuss  these  things  do  it  with  the 
formal  spirit  of  the  mere  searcher  after  truth.  Their  cold 
steel  pierces  to  the  dividing  asunder,  and  they  do  manage  to 
show  us  the  true  and  the  false,  but  in  the  process  they  chill 
our  very  joints  and  marrow.  The  great  northern  Bishop  never 
sins  this  sin.  Long  may  he  live,  and  his  light  shine  bright 
and  yet  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day ! 

This   book   is   properly  connected  with   my  father's 

1  In  the  Review  of  the  Chiirches. 


x  DURHAM  113 

work  at  Cambridge,  and  has  been  already  mentioned  ; 
but  it  is  a  Durham  work  too,  for  it  is  a  silent  witness 
to  the  sacrifice  involved  in  his  acceptance  of  the  See. 

In  January  1892  the  Bishop  gave  four  addresses  at 
a  Quiet  Day  for  Schoolmasters  held  at  Harrow.  These 
addresses  were  privately  printed  under  the  title  of  ©EOT 
STNEPrOI.1 

The  two  following  letters  are  concerned  with  that 
undertaking : — 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  \2.th  May  1891. 

I  have  been  pondering  at  stray  moments  for  nearly  a  week 
as  to  whether  I  ought  to  undertake  the  next  Masters'  Quiet 
Day.  It  is  at  Wellington,  which  is  far  off,  and  has  no  special 
claim,  and  I  cannot  feel  sure  that  I  ought  to  give  up  the 
time  and  strength  to  this  work.  You  will  know  better  than  I 
do,  from  experience,  whether  I  ought  to  make  the  effort.  So 
give  me  your  counsel.  One  can  only  do  a  certain  amount 
of  work. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2Qth  January  1892. 

.  .  .  The  meeting  at  Harrow  was  most  touching.  Influenza 
kept  away  a  third  of  our  company,  but  I  felt  no  want  of 
numbers.  A  remark  in  The  Guardian  which  spoke  of  "a 
loose  view  of  ordination  " — or  something  of  the  kind — as  justi 
fying  or  excusing  the  ordination  of  masters,  made  me  burn 
with  indignation. 

Archbishop  Benson  consulted  my  father  in  April  as 
to  a  subject  for  the  devotional  meeting  of  the  Church 
Congress  of  1892.  In  reply  (i2th  April)  to  the  Arch 
bishop's  letter  he  says,  "  Would  not  your  subject  be 
'  Christian  Doctrine  and  Christian  Life  ?  '  I  find  it  hard 

1  God's  fellow-workers.     I  Cor.  iii.  9. 
VOL.  II  I 


114          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

enough  to  fit  the  two  together  as  things  are."  To  a 
further  suggestion  that  he  should  himself  speak  or  write 
on  this  subject,  he  replied  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i6tk  May  1892. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Alas  !  it  is  absolutely  impossible. 
All  being  well,  I  must  give  a  Charge  in  October,  and  every 
spare  hour  and  all  stray  thoughts  must  be  turned  to  this.  You 
cannot  imagine  how  work  grows  and  strength  and  heart  fail ; 
yet  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  continue  to  offer  what 
one  has. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  third  year  of  the  Bishop's  episcopate  was 
destined  to  be  eventful.  In  the  following  letters  to 
his  wife  he  comments  on  its  advent : — 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  y>th  April  1892. 

The  eve  of  my  last  birthday.1  How  many  thoughts  it 
raises  !  Perhaps  I  have  done  as  much  as  I  ever  hoped 
to  do,  and  yet  how  little  it  is,  how  fragmentary,  and  how 
imperfect !  The  work  has  been  very  exhausting,  but  I 
think  that  I  have  borne  it  very  fairly  well,  and  next  week 
will,  with  the  exception  of  two  meetings,  be  comparatively 
quiet. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  SS.  Philip  and  Tames,  1892. 

And  so,  my  dearest  Mary,  I  have  really  entered  on  my 
third  year.  May  whatever  is  given  of  it  to  use  be  made 
more  fruitful !  It  has  been  a  most  bright  day,  but  with  a 
cold  wind. 

I  have  just  been  to  see  our  stable-boy.  He  seems  to 
have  had  a  kick  about  a  fortnight  ago,  and  it  has  taken  a 
bad  turn.2 

1  My  father's  "last  birthday"  was,  of  course,  the  day  of  his  consecra 
tion.      The  dates  of  his  installations  at  Peterborough  and  Westminster 
were  also  "birthdays." 

2  The  boy  died.     The  Bishop  himself  conducted  the  service  by  the 
grave's  side,  while  his  chaplain  read  the  lesson. 


x  DURHAM  115 

When  my  father  was  appointed  to  the  See  of 
Durham  a  paper  remarked  :  "  We  shall  not  be  surprised 
to  hear  of  his  acting  as  arbitrator  in  some  great  mining 
quarrel  between  masters  and  men,  and  whatever  he 
does  he  will  do  so  well  as  to  ensure  respect  for  his 
decision."  This  prophecy  was  remarkably  verified, 
and  his  episcopate  will,  I  suppose,  continue  to  be  memor 
able  on  account  of  his  successful  mediation  in  the  great 
struggle  in  the  coalfields  of  Durham  in  1892. 

So  early  as  April  1891  the  Coal-owners'  Associa 
tion  had  intimated  that,  in  view  of  the  recent  consider 
able  fall  in  the  prices  of  coal  and  coke,  a  reduction  in 
wages  could  not  be  long  deferred.  Hereupon  anxious 
communications  were  exchanged  between  the  Mining 
Federation  and  the  Owners'  Association,  until  it  became 
evident  that  there  could  be  no  issue  but  a  general 
Strike.  On  3rd  March  1892  the  Bishop  addressed  a 
letter  to  his  clergy  in  which  he  says  : — 

You  will,  I  think,  agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  it  is  our 
duty,  in  the  present  time  of  great  anxiety,  when  our  chief 
industry  is  threatened  by  serious  dangers,  to  request  the 
prayers  of  our  congregations  that  it  may  please  God  to  grant 
to  all  on  whom  rests  the  responsibility  of  counsel  or  action 
in  regard  to  the  matters  now  in  dispute  such  a  spirit  of  for 
bearance  and  considerate  wisdom  as  may  avert  the  national 
calamity  which  hangs  over  us. 

On  9th  March  work  at  the  pits  ceased,  and  was  not 
resumed  until  3rd  June.  The  immediate  effect  of  the 
Strike  was  to  put  between  80,000  and  90,000  men  out 
of  work.  But  the  other  industries  of  the  county  were 
also  affected.  In  the  Cleveland  district  distress  and 
poverty  soon  ensued.  The  shipping  interest  was 
partially  paralysed.  The  railway  mineral  traffic  was 


n6          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

suspended,  and  about  two  hundred  trains  belonging  to 
the  North-Eastern  Railway  were  brought  to  a  standstill. 
In  the  engineering  industry  men  were  put  on  short 
time,  and  business  among  tradesmen  gradually  declined. 
Both  sides,  in  view  of  the  widespread  distress,  were 
anxious  to  justify  their  conduct  in  the  eyes  of  the 
general  public  by  means  of  letters  to  the  press.  But 
into  the  details  of  this  terrible  struggle,  which  inflicted 
a  loss  on  the  country  which  can  hardly  be  estimated l 
(in  wages  alone  about  .£1,100,000),  it  is  unnecessary 
here  to  enter.  The  Bishop's  action  is  what  concerns 
us.  The  following  letters  to  the  Rev.  E.  Price,  Rural 
Dean  of  Bishop  Auckland,  illustrate  this  point : — 


To  REV.  E.  PRICE 

GRANGE,  itfh  April  1892. 

At  the  very  beginning  I  wrote  to  the  Federation,  but  had 
no  encouragement  whatever  to  attempt  any  service.  A  few 
days  ago  I  wrote  to  the  wisest  leader  of  the  men,  but  as  yet  I 
have  had  no  answer.  I  was  not  sure  of  his  address.  But  I 
am  more  than  half  afraid  that  the  warning  in  the  last  Federa 
tion  circular,  that  "  the  men  wanted  no  outside  interference," 
might  perhaps  have  a  personal  meaning.  If  the  first  ballot 
places  the  settlement,  as  I  hope  it  will,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Board — this  I  suppose  will  be  known  to-morrow — I  could 
not,  I  imagine,  be  of  use.  If  the  ballot  is  unfavourable  to  a 
settlement,  I  will  write  at  once.  It  is  doubtful  whether  we 
can  hear  the  result  here.  If  it  is  against  leaving  the  matter  in 
the  hands  of  the  Board,  will  you  let  Basil  know,  and  ask  him 
to  telegraph  to  me,  that  I  may  not  lose  a  post  ? 

I  think  that  I  have  not  lost  any  opportunity  so  far,  though 
there  is  indeed  little  to  show.  It  has  been  to  me  a  time  of 
the  deepest  anxiety. 

1  Generally  computed  at  about  ,£3,000,000. 


x  DURHAM  117 

GRANGE,  Easter  Eve  \_i6tk  April],  1892. 

My  friend,  in  whose  judgment  I  think  all  would  rely,  tells 
me  that  in  his  opinion  outside  interference  would  do  harm, 
and  that  there  is  no  opening  for  me.  What  I  can  learn  at 
present  of  the  result  of  the  last  ballot  makes  me  feel  very  un 
happy.  The  men  seem  to  distrust  their  Board.  I  shall 
consult  my  friend  again  on  this  new  issue.  I  met  by  accident 
a  leading  statesman  to-day,  and  he  thought  that  I  could  not 
do  anything  as  yet.  Alas  ! 

But  may  Easter  bring  light  to  you  and  to  all ! 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  y>tk  April  1892. 

I  have  written  to  my  authoritative  counsellor  on  the  Strike 
question,  and  asked  him  to  telegraph  to  me  if  he  thinks  that 
I  can  do  any  good  by  writing.  Every  one,  I  believe,  knows 
quite  well  that  I  am  most  anxious  to  do  anything  which  will 
really  be  of  service. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  May. 

I  have  had  a  message  that  such  a  letter  "will  not  do 
harm,  and  may  do  good."  So  I  have  written  a  few  lines  to 
you,  which  I  leave  in  your  hands. 

The  following  open  letter  to  Mr.  Price  was  published 
in  the  Times: — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2nd  May  1892. 

My  dear  Mr.  Price  —  You  know  well  with  what  deep 
anxiety  and  sorrow  I  have  watched  the  course  of  the  Strike 
which  has  brought  widespread  loss  and  distress  on  Durham 
and  the  neighbouring  districts.  If  I  have  refrained  from 
offering  open  counsel,  it  has  been  because,  in  the  judgment 
of  those  who  were  best  able  to  advise  me,  I  was  more  likely 
to  do  harm  than  good  by  such  interference.  Yet  it  is  difficult 
for  me  to  remain  silent  when  I  have  received  the  charge  to 
set  forward,  as  far  as  lies  in  me,  peace  among  all  men.  It  is 
not,  indeed,  for  me  to  offer  any  opinion  on  the  question  in 


n8          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

dispute.  It  would  be  well,  I  think,  if  we  all  remembered  that 
these  can  only  be  dealt  with  satisfactorily  by  a  few  represent 
ative  men  who  are  able  to  investigate  in  conference  every 
fact  and  statement  which  is  alleged,  frankly,  fully,  and 
patiently,  with  adequate  and  comprehensive  knowledge.  It 
has  been  for  the  holding  of  such  a  conference,  invested  with 
full  powers,  that  I  have  pleaded  in  private  whenever  I  have 
had  an  opportunity  of  speaking. 

The  owners  and  miners  have  several  Boards,  to  whose 
experience,  knowledge,  and  sagacity  the  decision  might,  as 
far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  be  unreservedly  entrusted.  If, 
however,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  this  dispute,  it 
should  seem  well  to  obtain  an  independent  opinion,  I  can 
not  but  believe  that  a  Board  composed  of  three  representa 
tives  of  the  owners  and  three  representatives  of  the  miners 
and  three  business  men  unconnected  with  this  special  in 
dustry  would  command  universal  confidence. 

No  argument  could  fail  to  receive  due  weight  in  the 
deliberations  of  such  a  body.  The  grounds  of  their  verdict 
would,  I  imagine,  be  laid  before  the  world,  and  masters  and 
men  would  alike  be  gainers  by  the  loyal  acceptance  of  a 
policy  of  just  conciliation. 

It  seems  to  me  that  far  more  is  now  at  stake  than  the  fair 
adjustment  of  a  local  difference.  We  are  required  to  con 
sider,  under  the  stress  of  sharp  trial,  our  true  relations  to  one 
another  and  the  wider  effect  of  our  action  both  in  the  present 
and  the  future. 

In  our  quiet  moments  we  all  recognise  that  the  right 
conduct  of  life  depends  upon  mutual  trust  and  upon  the 
endeavour  to  fulfil  duties  rather  than  to  maintain  rights. 
The  wellbeing  of  labour  cannot  be  independent'  of  the  well- 
being  of  trade.  Experience  proves  that  in  the  long  run  all 
classes  in  a  nation  rejoice  and  suffer  together.  This  con 
sciousness  of  our  fellowship  as  men  is  coming  more  and  more 
to  influence  the  character  of  our  ordinary  intercourse.  It 
includes,  as  I  hold,  the  solution  of  some  of  the  problems 
which  most  perplex  us,  and  I  cannot  therefore  but  hope  that 
all  with  whom  the  settlement  or  continuance  of  the  present 
struggle  rests  will  take  account  of  the  larger  number  of 


x  DURHAM  119 

sufferers  outside  who  have  no  voice  in  the  matter,  in  deter 
mining  the  course  which  they  will  adopt,  and  be  enabled  to 
set  aside,  if  need  be,  the  exclusive  maintenance  of  what  they 
hold  to  be  their  special  interests  for  the  sake  of  the  common 
good. 

Would  that  I  could  do  anything  to  further  the  meeting  of 
such  a  conference  as  I  have  sketched  !  It  would  be  truly  a 
Bishop's  work. — Yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

This  last  letter  prepared  the  way  for  more  direct 
action,  so  that  before  the  end  of  the  month  the  Bishop 
was  enabled  to  approach  the  conflicting  bodies.  Accord 
ingly,  on  25th  May,  he  forwarded  the  following  letter  to 
the  Chairman  of  the  Owners'  Association  and  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Federation  Board  :— 

My  dear  Sir — The  time  seems  to  have  come  when  one 
who  has  necessarily  watched  the  course  of  the  present  dis 
astrous  Strike  with  deep  and  dispassionate  anxiety  should 
express  an  opinion  on  the  facts,  which  do  not  require  any 
technical  knowledge  for  their  interpretation. 

There  appears  to  be  an  agreement  between  both  parties 
as  to  the  substantial  reduction  in  wages  which  is  required, 
and  as  to  the  method  to  be  employed  for  the  settlement  of 
future  differences  as  to  wages.  I  plead  most  earnestly  that 
this  general  agreement  should  at  once  be  carried  into  effect. 

In  accordance  with  this  view,  the  last  resolution  adopted 
by  the  Owners  on  Saturday  suggests  a  just  and  honourable 
arrangement,  which  would,  I  believe,  be  of  lasting  benefit  to 
the  great  industries  of  the  county. 

I  would  therefore  propose  that  the  pits  should  be  opened 
with  the  least  possible  delay  on  two  conditions : 

1.  That  there  should  be  an  immediate  reduction  of  wages 
of  10  per  cent. 

2.  That  the  question  of  any  further  reduction  should  be 
referred  to  a  Wages  Board,  to  be  established  with  full  powers 
to  deal  with  this  and  with  all   future   differences  as  to  the 
increase  or  reduction  of  wages. 

Such  a  Board  would,  I  feel  confident,  call  out  and  deepen, 


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122          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

ship  that  the  formation  of  a  Wages  Board  was  not  a  portion  of 
the  original  question  in  dispute,  but  was  introduced  by  the 
Owners  after  the  lapse  of  four  weeks  from  the  commencement 
of  the  lock-out,  and  even  then  not  as  a  means  for  the  settle 
ment  of  the  present  dispute ;  and  by  the  introduction  of  this 
subject,  and  the  raising  of  their  claims  to  13 £  per  cent,  they 
have  complicated  and  aggravated  the  situation.  Inasmuch  as 
the  letter  of  your  Lordship  has  appeared  in  the  press,  and  as 
the  public  may  not  have  the  facility  of  reference  to  the  Owners' 
resolution,  we  therefore  consider  it  advisable  to  give  similar 
publicity  to  this,  together  with  the  resolution  upon  which  you 
base  your  suggestions  for  a  conference.  Whilst  we  are  thank 
ful  to  your  Lordship  for  this  further  manifestation  of  sympathy 
and  willingness  to  help,  we  would  be  ready  to  accept  your 
offer  to  meet  the  Owners  in  your  presence  as  soon  as  they 
intimate  their  desire  to  do  so,  for  we  cannot  forget,  and  it 
would  be  unjust  to  our  membership  were  we  not  to  state,  that 
we  have  hitherto  made  every  effort  to  settle  this  dispute,  and 
are  of  opinion  that  the  blame  for  the  prolongation  rests  solely 
with  the  employers. — Believing  that  your  Lordship  will  concur 
in  this,  we  are,  on  behalf  of  the  workmen,  yours  respectfully, 

W.  H.  LAMBTON.         L.  TROTTER. 

ERNEST  FOSTER.          JOHN  WILSON. 


On  3Oth  May  the  Bishop  was  in  London,  having  to 
attend  the  annual  meeting  of  the  International  Arbitra 
tion  Association,  when  he  received  the  final  telegram  : — 

The  Federation  Board  and  Owners'  Wages  Committee  are 
prepared  to  meet  your  Lordship  at  Auckland  at  12.30  o'clock 
to-morrow  (Tuesday).  Hope  this  convenient.  Please  reply. 

The  Bishop  was  able  to '  catch  an  evening  train  to 
Durham,  and  sleep  there,  arriving  at  Bishop  Auckland 
on  the  following  morning.  But  before  he  left  London 
an  interesting  incident  occurred.  He  was  presiding  at 
the  International  Arbitration  meeting  above  mentioned, 


x  DURHAM  123 

and  "  towards  the  close  of  the  proceedings  he  mentioned 
his  intended  effort  to  bring  about  a  settlement  of  the 
great  Colliery  Strike,  and  then  with  simple,  unaffected 
earnestness  he  invited  the  prayers  of  his  hearers  for 
the  success  of  his  undertaking,  and  for  the  Divine 
blessing  upon  its  issue.  Very  instructive,  as  well  as 
very  appropriate,  was  this  public  confession  of  the  power 
and  efficacy  of  prayer.  Neither  in  London  nor  else 
where  are  mixed  audiences  habituated  to  such  an 
acknowledgment,  though  they  greatly  need  to  be  re 
minded  of  this  truth.  And  it  required  some  boldness, 
even  in  a  Bishop,  thus,  from  a  metropolitan  platform, 
to  prove  his  fidelity  to  his  God." 

On  the  next  day  the  Representatives  of  Capital  and 
Labour  met  at  Auckland  Castle,  where  together  they 
partook  of  luncheon  with  the  Bishop.  Then  the 
Conference  on  wages  commenced.1 

The  Bishop,  in  opening  the  proceedings,  said  that 
when  he  was  appointed  to  the  See  he  was  asked 
whether  he  would,  according  to  his  power,  set  forward 
love  and  peace  among  all  men.  It  was  in  this  spirit 
that  he  had  offered  his  services  to-day.  They  all 
wanted  to  arrive  at  a  just  and  honourable  settlement, 
and  he  appealed  to  each  side  to  subordinate  their  own 
immediate  interests  for  the  common  good.  He  put 
forward  three  considerations : 

1.  That   all   the  disturbing  influences  of  the  past 
few  weeks  should   be  put  aside,  and  the  problem  be 
faced  with  a  sincere  desire  to  achieve  a  settlement. 

2.  Not   to   look    alone   upon  the  immediate  result 
of  to  -  day's   meeting,  but    to   consider   the  judgment 

1  Sir  David  Dale  has  kindly  forwarded^  what  is,  he  says,  an  almost 
verbatim  account  of  the  proceedings  at  this  Conference,  of  which  I  gladly 
avail  myself  in  part. 


I24          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

which  would  be  passed  upon  that  result  a  few  months 
or  a  year  hence. 

3.  That  what  they  were  striving  for  finally  should 
not  merely  be  the  settlement  of  the  present  difficulty, 
but,  what  was  far  more  important,  the  establishment  of 
real  fellowship  between  capital  and  labour. 

In  conclusion,  he  urged  that,  as  the  Durham  coal 
trade  had  been  noted  for  its  conciliation  in  the  past, 
it  should  be  conciliatory  now. 

The  leaders  of  either  party  having  thanked  the 
Bishop  for  his  assistance,  then  conferred  together  under 
his  chairmanship.  After  considerable  discussion,  the 
two  parties  separated  and  considered  the  matter  apart, 
the  Bishop  passing  to  and  fro  between  them.  Eventu 
ally  the  Bishop,  addressing  the  Owners'  Committee, 
appealed  for  a  mitigation  of  terms ;  what  they  all 
wanted  to  arrive  at  was  an  endurable  arrangement. 
Let  him  be  allowed  to  plead  for  what,  in  the  present 
distress,  was  generous — a  present  reduction  of  10  per 
cent.  He  knew  a  little  of  the  feelings  of  the  men  ;  he 
had  passed  in  and  out  among  them,  and  during  this 
sore  time  of  trial  he  had  certainly  been  (let  him  say  it) 
proud  of  their  endurance.  They  had  shown  manliness 
and  power  in  courageously  adhering  to  what  they 
considered  their  solemn  obligation,  and  therefore  he 
thought  they  could  be  trusted.  Then  again  the  Owners 
must  consider — if  they  would  pardon  him  for  saying 
so — they  had  to  deal  with  a  body  of  men  who  had,  he 
supposed,  exhausted  their  earnings  to  the  uttermost. 
He  should  think  now  that  most  of  them,  at  any  rate, 
were  not  only  destitute  but  in  debt.  And  there  was 
the  further  consideration,  which  the  Owners  could 
estimate  far  better  than  he  could,  what  was  likely  to 
be  the  effect  of  this  nearly  three  months'  idleness  on 


x  DURHAM  125 

those  who  are  engaged  in  this  occupation — were  they 
likely  to  be  able  to  exercise  their  skill  to  their  own 
greatest  profit?  Therefore,  not  in  the  least  degree 
challenging  the  perfect  equity  of  the  uttermost  claim 
the  Owners  made  (he  was  not  competent  to  do  that), 
but  simply,  he  would  use  a  very  strong  word,  implor 
ing  them  to  consider  the  future,  to  regard  the  judg 
ment  which  would  be  passed  upon  their  action  to-day 
a  year  hence,  he  implored  them  to  be  generous  to  the 
utmost.  He  believed  in  his  heart  that  they  would 
reap  an  ample  return  ;  he  believed  that  if  the  men  saw 
that,  after  an  explanation  given  and  received,  the 
Owners  conceded  what  they  (the  men)  had  no  doubt 
very  reluctantly  offered,  there  would  be  at  least  the 
beginning  of  that  cordial  trust  which  might  be  the 
foundation  of  better  things.  He  might  say  that  what 
had  pained  him  most  during  the  whole  of  this  disas 
trous  strike  had  been  that  the  men  had  neither  trusted 
one  another  nor  their  Owners  ;  neither  their  leaders 
nor  their  employers.  He  felt  at  least  that  if  the 
Owners  were  to  press  as  they  could — he  did  not  ques 
tion  that — as  they  could  press  (he  could  only  call  it  a 
solution)  a  solution  by  starvation,  that  the  outlook  of 
the  whole  industry  of  England  was  likely  to  be  very 
serious.  He  therefore  with  whatever — he  did  not  like 
to  use  such  a  word  as  influence — but  with  whatever 
weight  the  experience  of  his  office,  and  his  knowledge 
of  men,  and  the  sense  of  his  responsibility  (as  he  had 
said,  to  set  forward  love  and  peace  among  all  men), 
could  give  him,  asked  them  at  any  rate  to  consider 
with  favour  whether  they  could  not  accept  such  an 
arrangement  as  was  contemplated — he  meant  to  accept 
it  until  the  trade  had  regained  its  normal  state  and 
they  were  able  to  lay  the  whole  case  before  a  Board 


126          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

competent  to  deal  with  it  in  its  totality.  He  knew 
the  difficulties  ;  he  knew  they  pressed  ;  he  had  inquired 
enough  to  know  that  they  were  unequal  in  different 
quarters  ;  but  still  he  believed  that  those  who  for  the 
moment  might  possibly  lose  would,  in  the  end,  gain. 

At  a  later  stage  of  the  meeting,  the  Bishop  informed 
the  Owners  that  the  men  had  an  alternative  offer : 

First,  An  immediate  reduction  of  7|-,  and  all  above  that 
(whatever  it  might  be  in  addition)  to  be  referred  to  arbitra 
tion,  with  the  recommendation  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Wages  Board — which  he  (the  Bishop)  imagined  would  not 
deal  with  this  claim. 

Or  Second^  A  present  reduction  of  10  per  cent  and  a 
similar  undertaking  to  the  best  of  their  ability  to  establish  a 
complete  Conciliation  Board. 

He  then  stated  that  he  had  not  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt  about  the  Federation  Board's  conviction  of  the 
necessity  for  a  Conciliation  Board,  and  they  also 
expressed  the  opinion  that  "  leaders  must  be  leaders." 

The  Committee,  after  deliberating  in  private,  adopted 
the  following  resolution  : — 

The  Federation  Board  having  offered  explanations  as  to 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  conciliation  in  the  future, 
which  the  Bishop  of  Durham  recommends  the  Owners  to 
accept  as  satisfactory,  and  the  Bishop  having  strongly 
appealed  to  the  Owners — not  on  the  ground  of  any  judg 
ment  on  his  part  of  the  reasonableness  or  otherwise  of  the 
Owners'  claim  of  13  \  per  cent,  but  solely  on  [the  ground  of 
consideration  for  the  impoverished  condition  of  the  men  and 
of  the  generally  prevailing  distress — to  reopen  the  pits  at  a 
present  reduction  of  10  per  cent  (that  is,  from  35  to  25  per 
cent  above  standard)  with  the  full  expectation  that  wages  will 
be  hereafter  amicably  settled  by  the  system  of  conciliation 
contemplated,  the  Owners  yield  to  the  Bishop's  appeal  on 
these  grounds  and  assent  thereto. 


x  DURHAM  127 

This  was  afterwards  read  to  the  men  in  the  presence 
of  the  Bishop,  who  expressed  his  satisfaction,  stating  that 
this  was  the  happiest  five  minutes  of  his  life. 

Meanwhile  an  anxious  crowd  of  several  thousands 
was  waiting  without.  One  of  them  thus  describes  his 
experiences : — 

I  formed  one  of  a  crowd  of  several  thousands  who  yester 
day  waited  more  or  less  patiently  outside  the  episcopal  palace 
at  Auckland  for  five  mortal  hours  to  receive  the  earliest 
possible  intelligence  of  the  issue  of  the  negotiations  pro 
ceeding  within.  Although  we  were  scattered  over  a  wide 
area,  there  was  no  mistake  we  did  form  a  big  crowd.  Filling 
the  spacious  Market-place,  standing  uneasily  in  groups  on  its 
uncomfortable  coble  stone  pavement,  or  sitting  perilously  on 
the  rickety  wooden  stalls  placed  ready  for  next  day's  market ; 
squatting  pitman  fashion  on  our  "hunkers,"  back  to  the  wall, 
we  formed  a  long  line  down  the  whole  length  of  the  great 
gates  to  the  Castle  entrance ;  and  most  of  all,  crowded  on 
the  carriage  drive  inside  the  park,  and  pressing  up  against  the 
iron  gates  of  the  handsome  stone  screen  which  divides  off 
the  private  gardens  of  the  Castle  from  the  beautiful  park  so 
generously  thrown  open  to  the  public.  We  are  already 
waiting  when  the  accredited  representatives  of  capital  and 
labour,  in  whose  hands  rest  the  issues  of  peace  or  a  prolonga 
tion  of  the  disastrous  war,  arrive.  The  coal-owners  drive  up 
in  a  big  lumbering  omnibus  of  the  pattern  so  familiar  in  the 
Lake  district,  and  we  accord  them  a  very  frigid  sort  of  wel 
come.  We  cannot  forget  their  refusal  of  the  10  per  cent  the 
other  week,  and  it  would  take  a  centrifugal  pump  to  force  a 
cheer  from  us  for  them  as  they  pass.  A  very  different  recep 
tion  awaits  the  members  of  the  Federation  Board  as  they 
trudge  up,  headed  by  Secretary  Patterson,  looking  a  dozen 
years  older  and  greyer  for  the  strain  and  stress  of  the  past 
twelve  weeks,  for  we  cheer  them  heartily,  and  then  settle 
down  to  wait  as  patiently  as  we  can  for  the  result.  Some  of 
us  seek  the  nearest  house  of  refreshment  within  the  meaning 
of  the  Act,  but  most  of  us  wait  quietly  about  the  Castle 
entrance,  going  out  into  the  Market-place  for  a  draw  of  the 


128  LIFE   OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

cutty  now  and  then,  for  smoking  is  forbidden  in  the  park. 
At  two  o'clock  the  stragglers  are  all  back,  for  the  reporters, 
who  went  in  at  the  opening  of  the  Conference,  said  they  had 
been  told  to  return  at  two.  A  couple  of  them  pass  the  big 
gate  and  enter  the  Castle,  only  to  return  with  no  news,  and 
in  this  case  no  news  is  bad  news,  for  every  additional  half- 
hour  seems  to  render  a  settlement  less  likely.  We  can  see 
the  heads  of  the  negotiators  ever  and  anon  at  one  of  the 
windows.  There  seems  some  hitch,  for  whilst  the  Federation 
leaders — Wilson,  Galbraith,  and  Palmer,  of  Silksworth  fame — 
are  conversing  eagerly  in  the  big  bow  window  of  the  confer 
ence  room,  the  coal-owners  are  seen  debating  in  another 
apartment.  The  two  sides  appear  to  reunite  and  again  to 
separate,  and  still  no  word  or  sign  of  a  settlement.  The 
suspense  is  terrible,  no  word  is  spoken,  yet  each  reads  in  his 
neighbour's  face  the  reflection  of  his  own  fears  that  the 
negotiations  have  failed.  Even  the  news  of  Sir  Hugo's 
victory  at  Epsom  fails  to  arouse  more  than  the  faintest  ripple 
of  interest  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd.  The  two  reporters 
again  make  their  way  through  our  midst,  and  cross  the 
grounds  into  the  Castle.  So  long  do  they  remain  that  we 
are  assured  there  must  be  some  news  this  time,  but  no — they 
have  only  been  inspecting  the  chapel  —  the  conference  is 
likely  to  last  at  least  another  hour.  Our  gloom  deepens,  for 
the  chances  of  settlement  now  seem  very  remote.  A  cab 
which  has  been  waiting  inside  the  grounds  draws  off,  but  it  is 
empty.  The  big  omnibus  drives  up  again,  and  surely,  we 
think,  the  meeting  will  be  over  now.  Vain  hope.  The  cab, 
we  learn,  has  gone  to  the  station  to  delay  the  special  train  by 
which  the  Bishop  is  to  travel  south.  A  footman  hurries  down 
from  the  Castle  to  the  gate  at  which  we  wait,  and  we  are  on 
the  tiptoe  of  expectation,  but  he  is  only  charged  with  a 
request  that  we  will  keep  off  the  grass.  As  the  minutes 
slowly  pass  the  excitement  becomes  intense.  The  reporters 
get  to  the  front  again  as  the  police  sergeant  comes  down  to 
the  gate,  and  force  their  way  inside.  The  man  in  blue  ex 
postulates — he  has  orders  to  admit  no  one,  but  the  men  of 
letters  are  inside  and  inside  they  stick,  arguing  the  matter  out, 
but  budging  not  an  inch.  Presently — at  ten  minutes  to  five 


x  DURHAM  129 

precisely — there  is  quite  a  buzz  of  excitement  amongst  us, 
for  the  Conference  is  evidently  breaking  up.  Genial  Billy 
Golightly,  the  confidential  secretary  of  the  Miners'  Union, 
appears  in  the  bow  window  and  signals  "victory,"  holding  up 
his  ten  fingers  to  indicate  the  terms.  "That's  good  enough," 
says  a  Gazette  reporter,  and  he's  off  like  a  shot  before  the  rest 
of  his  confreres  are  aware  of  the  signal.  We  hardly  dare 
believe  the  news,  however :  it  seems  too  good  to  be  true.  The 
big  omnibus  rolls  out  laden  with  coal-owners,  who  vouchsafe 
to  us  the  information  that  "  it's  settled,"  but  are  silent  as  to 
terms.  Another  reporter  who  has  been  up  in  the  Castle 
now  returns  with  confirmation  of  the  glad  tidings :  "  Strike 
settled,  10  per  cent."  The  news  spreads  like  wildfire. 
Scores  rush  off  to  carry  it  into  the  town  or  wire  it  to  waiting 
friends.  The  Bishop — all  smiles,  and  evidently,  as  he  told 
a  Gazette  reporter,  well  satisfied  with  the  result  of  his  day's 
work — drives  out  in  a  cab,  with  Mr.  David  Dale  and  Mr. 
Patterson  as  his  companions,  for  the  station.  We  raise  a 
mighty  cheer  for  the  Bishop,  which  is  taken  up  and  re-echoed 
through  the  Market-place,  but  we  wait  for  confirmation  of  the 
news.  John  Wilson,  "  Lance  "  Trotter,  Lambton,  Sam  Gal- 
braith,  and  the  rest  of  the  men's  leaders  follow  on  foot,  and 
we  literally  mob  them  as  they  pass  through  the  gates.  They 
confirm  our  tidings,  with  the  added  information  that  a  meeting 
is  to  be  held  on  Friday  at  Newcastle  to  settle  details. 
Another  and  a  mightier  cheer  goes  up.  Wilson  and  his  col 
leagues  are  caught  and  fairly  hugged  by  some  of  the  more 
enthusiastic,  whilst  others  of  us  seize  and  waltz  one  another 
round  on  the  carriage-drive  as  madly  as  ever  we  danced  at  a 
flower-show  ball.  Hats  and  caps  are  thrown  into  the  air,  and 
we  cheer  ourselves  hoarse.  Our  slow  advance  up  Great 
Gates  and  through  the  Market-place  is  like  a  triumphal  pro 
cession,  the  cheers  ringing  out  without  cessation,  whilst  the 
Federation  Board  have  to  undergo  an  ordeal  of  hand-shaking 
which  would  unnerve  an  American  President.  The  Strike  is 
over,  and  the  masters  have  accepted  our  offer. 

This  Conference  took  place  on  1st  June.      Work  at 
the  pits  was  resumed  on  3rd  June. 
VOL.  II  K 


130          LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

Next  day  the  Bishop  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  the  incumbents  of  the  diocese  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  2nd  June  1892. 

Reverend  and  dear  Brother — I  shall,  I  am  sure,  give  ex 
pression  to  your  own  desire  in  requesting  you  to  ask  your 
parishioners  to  offer  their  humble  and  hearty  thanks  to  God 
for  our  happy  deliverance  from  the  strife  by  which  the  diocese 
has  been  long  afflicted ;  and  to  pray  that  we  may  all  here 
after  be  enabled  through  His  help  to  set  forward  more 
effectually  than  before  the  cause  of  brotherhood  and  love,  by 
which  we  are  taught  that  Christians  should  be  known. — 
Yours  most  faithfully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  same  day  the  papers  at  home  and  abroad  were 
full  of  the  Bishop's  praises.  This  circumstance,  how 
ever,  would  not  contribute  much  to  his  thankfulness 
and  joy  at  the  conclusion  of  the  strife.  Nor  yet  would 
he  have  derived  much  satisfaction  from  some  of  the 
abuse  which  was  at  the  same  time  heaped  upon  him  ; 
for  it  was  so  palpably  unmerited.  There  will  always 
be  people,  I  suppose,  incapable  of  believing  in  dis 
interested  action,  so  persons  were  not  wanting  on  this 
occasion  who  declared  that  the  Bishop  was  merely 
acting  in  the  interests  of  his  own  income,  which 
was  popularly  supposed  to  depend  on  royalties  on 
coal.1 

One  person,  seized  with  the  divine  afflatus,  bursts 
into  song  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Durham  is  useful  at  last, 

He  has  settled  the  strike,  all  trouble  is  past, 

For  this  he,  I  think,  is  entitled  to  thanks, 

His  royalties  should  now  rise  at  once  on  the  banks. 

1  Such  sentiments  as  those  quoted  above  were  not  very  generally  enter 
tained  ;  but  it  is  painful  to  reflect  that  they  were  publicly  expressed  by  a 
candidate  for  Parliament. 


x  DURHAM  131 

The  Bishop  with  his  ten  thousand  a  year 
Wrung  out  of  labour,  brings  many  a  tear, 
Has  he  assisted  in  all  the  distress  ? 
Yes,  he  has  helped  them  to  ten  per  cent  less. 

The  poet  concludes  by  apostrophising  the  Bishop 
thus  :  "  Filthy  with  lucre,  most  reverend  divine." 

Another  indignant  miner,  in  a  very  lengthy  prose 
document,  asserts,  "  A  ten  per  cent  reduction  from  your 
vast  income  or  sumptuous  living  would  make  a  great 
change  in  your  larder  or  wine-cellar."  And  yet  the 
good  Bishop  regularly  gave  away  twenty-five  per  cent 
of  his  income  in  charity  ;  was  a  teetotaller  for  others' 
sake,  although  from  his  boyhood  up  to  about  his 
fiftieth  year  he  had  been  accustomed  to  alcoholic 
beverages  ;  and  would,  if  left  to  himself,  have  subsisted 
entirely  on  dry  toast  and  weak  tea. 

The  Bishop  always  felt  that  it  was  a  degradation 
to  be  dragged  about  by  horses,  and  although  in  his  old 
age  he  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the  indignity,  he 
would  always  sit  miserably  huddled  up  in  a  corner  of 
the  carriage  with  his  back  to  the  horses,  as  a  sort  of 
protest  against  the  horrid  necessity.  Such  was  the 
reality.  But  the  indignant  miner  in  a  grand  flight  of 
fancy  exclaims,  "  When  you  are  taking  your  pleasant 
driving  out,  driven  along  by  your  postilion  and  other 
retinue  in  your  splendid  equipage  and  richly-caparisoned 
and  well-fed  steeds  .  .  ." 

Two  letters  written  by  the  Bishop  after  his  success 
ful  mediation  may  be  here  given  : — 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

G.  N.  R. ,  &td June  [  1 892]. 

Very  many  thanks  for  your  most  kind  sympathy.  We 
ought,  as  we  have  before  asked  the  help  of  God,  to  thank 
Him  for  the  mercy  which  He  has  shown  us. 


132          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 


To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  June  1892. 

My  dear  Hort — Your  thought  of  me  in  this  heavy  strain 
is  very  welcome.  It  was  worth  doing  at  any  cost ;  and  I 
have  just  received  a  telegram  from  the  Secretaries  of  the  two 
bodies  saying  that  the  arrangements  for  recommencing  work 
are  so  far  completed  that  they  will  not  require  to  trouble  me 
again.  I  was  appointed  to  settle  any  difference  that  might 
arise  as  to  the  reinstatement  of  the  old  men.  The  men 
have  shown  great  powers  of  obedience,  endurance,  and  self- 
control,  and  I  completely  trust  their  loyalty. 

It  will  be  some  time  before  I  shall  be  quiet  again.  The 
last  half-hour  of  waiting  on  Wednesday  was  terrible.  I  dare 
not  think  what  failure  would  have  meant.  At  the  end  the 
owners  were  glad,  I  believe,  that  they  had  made  the  con 
cession,  but  I  had  to  speak  as  my  office  enabled  me  to  speak. 
—Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Most  of  the  world  was  content  to  echo  "  Blessed  are 
the  peacemakers,"  and  that  is  surely  comment  enough 
on  this  incident  in  the  Bishop's  life.  Yet  to  mitigate 
the  horrors  of  the  pitman's  poetry  quoted  above  I 
venture  to  reproduce  another  little  piece  which  has  a 
truer  ring : — 

THE  PIT  WIFE'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE  SAFETY  LAMP1 

My  canny  wee  lamp  has  come  back  to  wor  hoose, 
After  th'  pit  has  been  three  months  loose  ; 
A'  sure  I's  as  pleased  as  when  Sail  wes  born, 
For  Geordie  gans  back  te  work  in  th3  morn. 

1  At  the  commencement  of  the  Strike,  all  the  miners  handed  over  their 
lamps  to  the  colliery  officials.  When  work  is  resumed,  the  miners  invari 
ably  carry  home  their  own  lamps,  which  are  looked  upon  by  the  wives  as 
part  of  the  furniture.  The  presence  of  the  lamp  again  in  the  house  is 
supposed  to  call  forth  the  above  lines. 


x  DURHAM  133 

My  canny  wee  lamp  hangs  up  in  its  place, 
An'  I've  polish'd  its  bonny  wee  face  ; 
I've  missed  it  sair,  an'  been  lonely  an'  lorn, 
But  Geordie  gans  back  te  work  in  th'  morn. 

My  canny  wee  lamp  luiks  se  pleasant  an'  bright, 
As  it  hangs  on  the  wall  both  by  day  and  by  night, 
That  I  knaw  there's  no  fear  of  trouble  or  sorrowing 
For  Geordie  gans  back  te  work  in  th'  morn. 

My  canny  wee  lamp's  th'  best  friend  I've  got, 
For  like  me  it's  a  share  in  wor  Geordie's  lot, 
An'  for  poonds  I  wouldn't  noo  from  it  be  torn, 
For  Geordie  gans  back  te  work  in  th'  morn. 

My  canny  wee  lamp  in  the  pit  thy  light  shed, 
So  that  Geordie  may  earn  for  th'  bairns  thor  bread, 
An'  to  hunger  an'  care  keep  all  of  us  foreign, 
As  Geordie  gans  back  te  work  in  th'  morn. 

J.  R. 

Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Conference 
in  the  Castle  the  Bishop  took  train  for  Peterborough,  to 
take  part  in  a  solemn  service  of  dedication  of  the  new 
work  in  the  Cathedral.  Once  more  he  there  occupied 
the  pulpit  from  which  he  had  so  often  preached.  His 
text  on  this  occasion  was,  "  Not  unto  themselves,  but 
unto  you,"  and  in  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  said  : — 

The  occasion  for  which  we  are  gathered  together  con 
strains  us  to  recall  these  far-reaching  thoughts  of  inspiring 
obligation  and  active  gratitude.  Every  work  of  loving  faith 
is  a  spring  of  inspiration  for  those  to  whose  care  it  is  entrusted. 
We  know  what  this  Minster  has  been  to  many  in  the  past. 
We  know  how  it  has  borne  for  centuries  an  intelligible 
message  to  waiting  hearts  by  the  peculiar  features  of  its 
structure :  how  it  has  symbolised  the  wide  welcome  of  the 
faith  by  the  amplitude  of  its  unique  portal ;  how  it  has 
expressed  the  self-devotion  of  service  in  the  unity  of  the  long 
nave,  guarded  through  changing  styles ;  how  it  has  shown  in 
the  western  porch  that  an  urgent  peril  may  be  made  the 


134          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

occasion  of  a  fresh  beauty;  how  it  speaks  to  us  in  the 
southern  spire  of  a  loyal  skill  with  which  a  master  crowns  the 
unfinished  design  of  another  with  a  work  of  matchless  grace. 

Thus  the  mediaeval  builders  wrote  their  thoughts  in  their 
temples  for  our  learning ;  and  the  lesson  has  not  been  un 
heeded  here  or  unfruitful.  Among  the  memories  of  this 
Minster  none  is  dearer,  I  think,  to  those  who  love  it,  than 
that  in  troublous  times,  when  in  the  judgment  of  sober  men 
we  seemed  to  be  on  the  verge  of  a  revolution,  its  guardians 
accomplished  on  a  noble  scale  the  work  of  restoration,  which 
as  a  sign  and  a  call  has  since  quickened  corporate  Church 
life  throughout  our  land.  That  work  trained  on  the  spot 
a  school  of  artists  and  craftsmen  of  whom  the  city  may  be 
proud.  To-day  children  complete  the  work  of  their  fathers, 
and  hand  on  the  great  tradition  which  they  have  received, 
showing  in  new  forms  that  faithfulness,  life,  hope  are  the  un 
changeable  attributes  of  true  art. 

So  it  is  that  everything  about  us  speaks  of  tender  rever 
ence  for  the  work  of  our  fathers  and  of  confident  trust  in  the 
work  of  our  children.  Here,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  old  and  new 
meet  together.  And  it  is  as  shrines  guarding  the  offerings  of 
every  generation  that  our  great  churches  do  their  work,  and 
bind  age  to  age  with  natural  piety,  sacraments  to  us  in  a 
most  true  sense  "of  the  grace  of  life,"  active  in  many  parts 
and  in  many  fashions.  If  we  forget  the  past  in  the  most 
generous  and  thankful  enthusiasm  for  that  which  God  has 
shown  to  us,  we  shall  not  wisely  serve  the  future.  But  in  this 
Minster  such  forgetfulness  is  impossible.  Change  follows 
change,  but  all  changes  are  harmonised  by  one  unchanging 
life.  The  legend  of  Oswald,  which  connects  Peterborough 
with  rny  northern  home,  tells  us  in  a  noble  parable  how 
simplicity  of  devotion  clothes  the  corruptible  with  incorruption. 
The  arm  hallowed  by  deeds  of  love  can  never  decay.  The 
fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away,  but  he  who  doeth  the  will 
of  God — who  strives  only  to  express  His  glory  by  thought 
and  work — abideth  for  ever. 

Such  thoughts  carry  us  forward.  When  it  was  my  happy 
privilege  to  minister  here,  I  was  glad  to  speak  once  and  again 
of  our  debt  to  the  past.  Now  I  wish  to  speak  of  our  debt  to 


x  DURHAM  135 

the  future.  It  is  but  another  aspect  of  the  same  truth.  For, 
as  we  contemplate  our  gathered  treasures,  we  cannot  but  ask 
to  what  use  we  shall  put  them,  and  so  we  pass  on  to  the 
wider  question  of  the  office  which  we  are  called  to  fulfil  for 
our  children. 

The  dedication  ceremony  was  performed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  said  afterwards  in  a 
speech  delivered  at  the  public  luncheon  in  the  Corn 
Exchange : — 

Our  cathedrals  are  in  themselves  a  great  lesson  of  the 
unity  of  the  Church  during  the  past  ages,  and  I  attribute  the 
spread  of  the  desire  for  their  restoration  largely  to  the  publi 
cation  some  thirty  years  ago  of  a  series  of  articles  by  Canon 
Westcott,  when  he  first  came  to  Peterborough  from  Harrow,  in 
Macmillarfs  Magazine.  The  determination  which  has  ex 
pressed  itself  since  then  to  see  that  every  cathedral  in  the 
land  is  properly  restored  has  been  very  marked. 

On  the  following  day  my  father  returned  to  Bishop 
Auckland,  and  notes  in  his  text -book  that  he  saw 
"  some  smiling  faces  in  the  park."  A  few  days  later 
he  gathered  together  a  private  Conference  at  the  Castle 
to  consider  the  question  of  profit-sharing. 

The  Bishop's  brief  holiday  this  year  was  devoted  to 
work  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  to  the 
Charge  which  he  delivered  at  his  Primary  Visitation  in 
the  following  November.  This  Charge  was  entitled 
"  The  Incarnation — a  Revelation  of  Human  Duties," 
and  attracted  general  and  serious  attention.  From  it 
I  will  quote  but  one  brief  paragraph  which  one  has 
described  as  "  a  nugget  of  gold  "  :— 

Men  cannot,  even  with  a  show  of  reason,  press  their 
"  rights  "  to  the  uttermost.  They  ask  for  forgiveness  as  they 
have  forgiven — forgiven,  that  is,  real  wrongs — forgone  just 


136          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

claims.  We  have  indeed  "  no  rights  but  duties  "  ;  and  these 
can  never  be  discharged  in  full.  In  strictness  of  account  we 
must  remain  debtors  to  the  end ;  and  through  the  obligations 
of  our  Faith  we  are  debtors  to  all  who  need  us. 

In  October  1892  the  Bishop  was  present  at  the 
opening  of  the  winter  session  of  the  Durham  College 
of  Medicine  at  Newcastle.  He  says  of  this  function  in 
a  letter  to  his  wife : — 

NEWCASTLE,  qth  October  1892. 

The  meeting  is  over.  It  was  a  wild  scene,  but  the  men 
really  listened  very  patiently  to  me.  As  a  rule,  they  sprang 
rattles  and  blew  trumpets  and  shouted  and  sang  "  For  he's  a 
jolly  good  fellow  "  and  the  like.  There  was  not  the  faintest 
attempt  at  discipline,  and  the  poor  men  were  at  the  extreme 
end  of  a  long  crowded  room.  However,  I  spoke  over  all  the 
rest  to  them  and  they  seemed  to  follow.  .  .  . 

The  following  are  some  of  the  words  that  he  spoke  : — 

Our  work,  let  us  remember,  is  our  life,  and  not  simply  the 
means  for  our  living.  It  is  our  work  which  makes  us  what  we 
are  and  what  we  shall  be.  You  are  justly  proud  of  your  pro 
fession.  You  are  called  to  a  work  which  opens  for  you  a  field 
of  inexhaustible  research.  You  are  called  to  render  direct 
service  to  men,  and  a  service  of  which  the  good  is  recognised 
gratefully  and  at  once.  And  sometimes,  perhaps,  in  my  own 
work,  I  have  been  almost  tempted  to  envy  the  physician  the 
speed  and  the  certainty  of  his  own  return.  But  then  we  know 
that  each  profession  has  its  dangers  exactly  in  proportion  as 
it  is  engrossing.  I  know  the  dangers  of  your  profession  be 
cause  I  know  the  dangers  of  my  own.  Both  studies,  the 
study  of  theology  and  the  study  of  medicine,  are  engrossing, 
and  therefore  they  tend  to  be  one-sided.  We  theologians  are 
tempted  to  regard  only  moral  forces  and  moral  results.  The 
physician,  on  the  other  hand,  is  tempted  only  to  regard 
physical  forces  and  physical  results.  But  if  the  two  studies 
stand,  as  it  were,  at  the  opposite  extremes  of  the  one  great 
study  of  life,  here  also  the  proverb  is  true  that  extremes 


x  DURHAM  137 

meet.  In  old  times,  you  will  remember,  priest  and  physician 
were  one,  and  now  when  the  area  of  knowledge  has  so  in 
definitely  increased,  when  now,  therefore,  this  is  no  longer 
possible,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  of  positively  vital  importance 
that  the  priest  and  the  physician  should  be  mutually  conversant 
with  each  other's  principles  and  with  each  other's  methods. 

The  close  of  this  eventful  year  in  my  father's  life 
was  shadowed  by  the  death  of  his  "  more  than  a 
brother  "  Professor  Hort.  The  following  letters  reveal 
in  part  his  loss  : — 

To  MRS.  HORT 

(The  day  on  which  Professor  Hort  died) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  St.  Andrew's  Day,  1892. 

Dear  Mrs.  Hort — What  can  I  say  ?  A  note  which  I  had 
yesterday  from  Dr.  Moulton,  enclosing  one  from  you,  caused 
me  fresh  anxiety,  but  yet  I  cannot  feel  that  an  end  has  come. 
You  know  what  Dr.  Hort  has  been  to  me  for  more  than  forty 
years — far  more  than  a  brother,  a  constant  strength  and 
inspiration.  His  life  has  passed  into  many  lives.  Thus  we 
cannot  wholly  lose  him.  That  he  should  have  exhausted  his 
last  resource  of  strength  in  devotion  to  a  friend  made  the 
close  of  work  like  the  whole  course.  We  were  last  together 
here.  We  two  felt  the  presence  of  a  third ;  and  now  I  must 
strive  to  do  what  remains  to  be  done  unguided  by  the  two  voices 
which,  as  long  as  I  could  appeal  to  them,  never  failed  me. 

God  will  support  and  comfort  you  all. — Ever,  in  affectionate 
sympathy,  yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

(The  day  of  Professor  Hort's  funeral) 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  >jth  December  1892. 

Mv  dear  Archbishop — "Stet":  yes  indeed,  and  may  it 
always  be  so.1  I  hardly  know  my  true  self  otherwise. 

•9 

1  The  Archbishop  had  addressed  him  as  "My  dear  Westcott,"  and  had 
decided  to  let  it  so  stand. 


13$          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

We  knew  that  you  would  be  with  us  as  you  could.  The 
end  was  as  calm  and,  now  we  know  all,  as  happy  as  it  could 
have  been.  If  it  had  been  deferred  organic  disease  might 
have  caused  great  distress.  No  doubt  the  effort  to  complete 
the  article  on  Lightfoot,  in  which  he  was  keenly  and  joyously 
interested,  hastened  the  crisis,  and  this  very  devotion,  as  we 
believe,  averted  suffering.  "  Do  not  wake  me,"  he  said  (for 
the  usual  refreshment),  and  the  words  were  fulfilled.  I  never 
saw  death  more  beautiful ;  but  indeed  there  was  no  trace  of 
death,  only  quiet  waiting  for  the  call. 

He  can  have  no  successor  as  far  as  I  can  see.  How  have 
we  failed  ?  But  God  will  work  in  other  ways. 

I  hope  that  you  keep  well.  Your  cares  are  constantly 
present  to  me. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

On  the  same  day  he  wrote  to  his  eldest  son 
saying : — 

The  last  service  is  over,  and  I  have  had  the  last  sight. 
Nothing  could  be  less  like  death.  It  was  perfect  peace. 

It  is  strange — very  strange — to  stand  now  alone,  the 
survivor  of  younger  friends.  Yet  while  it  is  day  we  must 
work  still.  My  heart  is  sad  for  Cambridge.  But  God  fulfils 
His  will. 

To  HIS  SIXTH  SON 

AUCKLAND,  2nd  Sunday  in  Advent ';  1892. 

You  will  perhaps  already  have  heard  of  the  great  sorrow 
which  has  befallen  us  this  week.  Dr.  Hort  passed  away  in 
sleep  in  the  early  morning  of  St.  Andrew's  Day.  He  had 
been  long  ill,  but  when  Brooke  was  at  Cambridge  he  saw  him, 
and  found  him  better  than  he  expected.  I  am  very  glad  that 
he  had  that  last  talk.  He  was,  you  know,  his  godson  and 
Dr.  Lightfoot's.  And  now  both  are  gone,  and  I,  the  eldest 
of  the  three,  remain  still  to  do  what  work  I  can.  So  the  last 
link  with  the  Cambridge  which  I  knew  is  gone.  The  loss 
will  be  very  heavy,  and  there  is  no  one  to  occupy  the  vacant 
place.  How  hard  to  look  back  twenty  years,  when  we  three 
worked  together,  and  could  guide  the  teaching  in  our  own 


DURHAM 


139 


subject,  and  now  all  has  passed  into  other  hands,  and  to  other 
forms  of  thought.  May  it  all  be  for  good  !  Yet  I  had  hoped 
that  Dr.  Hort  would  have  worked  on  with  me  to  the  end. 

I  expect  to  go  on  from  Cambridge  to  London.  On  Tuesday 
evening  I  have  promised  to  speak  in  Exeter  Hall — a  great 
undertaking.  This  I  have  only  done  once  before ;  but  I 
did  not  think  it  right  to  decline,  as  I  had  arranged  to  be 
in  town. 

The  Exeter  Hall  speech  mentioned  above  was 
delivered  by  the  Bishop  at  a  meeting  of  the  Church 
Pastoral  Aid  Society.  He  then  said  : — 

It  cannot  be  too  often  insisted  on  that  to  cope  with 
prevailing  evils  is  not  alone  the  work  of  the  clergy  and  the 
ordinary  lay  worker.  The  help  of  every  Christian  man  or 
woman  is  needed,  and  should  be  called  forth  to  use  all 
influence  for  the  spread  of  God's  kingdom.  Leakage  and 
loss  would  be  unknown  if  every  one  recognised  his  or  her 
responsibility  in  seeking  to  bring  others  to  Christ.  Above 
all,  let  us  show  the  power  of  example  by  a  Christian  life. 
That  life  lived  is  of  infinitely  more  value  than  words.  Let 
it  be  evidenced  in  the  home  and  family  life.  Some  say  it 
is  a  hard  thing.  And  so  it  is  a  hard  thing.  But  do  we 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  living  Worker  who  takes  of  the 
things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  unto  us?  If  we  do  so 
believe  in  Him,  all  things  are  possible ;  but  if  not,  we  can 
do  nothing. 

In  January  1893  the  Bishop  visited  his  native  town, 
Birmingham,  to  be  present  at  the  opening  of  the 
Grammar  School  for  Girls  at  Camp  Hill.  On  his  way 
thither  he  wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

YORK,  24th  January  1893. 

.  .  .  The  first  crossing  of  the  Tees *  was  as  yesterday.  I 
hope  that  things  have  not  gone  backward,  and  yet  how  little 

1  The  river  Tees  is  the  southern  boundary  of  the  county  and  diocese  of 
Durham. 


140          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

the  mass  of  the  people  is  touched.  Yet  I  hardly  see  what 
more  can  be  done.  We  don't  believe  enough.  Sometimes  I 
think  that  we  are  too  weary  to  believe.  Well,  I  will  try  to 
look  at  some  notes  now.  .  .  . 

The  address  which  he  delivered  at  Camp  Hill  con 
tained,  besides  his  splendid  tribute  to  his  old  master, 
Bishop  Prince  Lee,1  a  plea  for  "  distinctive  womanhood." 
He  said  : — 

Humanity  would  be  impoverished  if  women  were  to  set 
themselves  to  do  all  that  men  do,  as  their  rivals  and  not  their 
helpmates.  I  do  not  attempt  to  adjust  in  any  balance  the 
gifts  and  graces  of  men  and  women.  I  only  contend  that 
they  are  different,  and  precious  because  they  are  different.  I 
cannot  compare  their  relative  value,  nor  can  I  compare  the 
relative  value  of  the  services  which  great  poets  and  great 
artists  render  to  their  countrymen.  But  I  know  this  :  that 
the  world  is  richer  through  the  services  of  poet  and  artist 
alike,  far  richer  than  it  would  be  if  one  were  lost  in  the  other. 
And  even  if  it  may  seem  to  be  an  old  man's  prejudice,  I  can 
form  no  loftier  wish  for  woman  than  the  poet  formed  forty 
years  ago,  that 

at  the  last  she  set  herself  to  man, 
Like  perfect  music  unto  noble  words. 

The  Bishop  stayed  on  this  occasion  with  his  only 
sister,  Mrs.  Sabin,  who  resided  at  Moseley.  From  her 
house  he  wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

MOSELEY,  5.45  {26th  January  1893]. 

.  .  .  All  has  gone  off  well,  I  think.  Every  one  was  most 
kind.  Dr.  Dale  was  singularly  cordial,  and  even  spoke  of  the 
"  Lord  Bishop  "  once  or  twice ;  but  he  rightly  preferred  "  Dr. 
W."  I  saw  Dr.  Watson  2  also.  The  afternoon  was  very  wet, 
but  there  was  a  good  gathering.  .  .  . 

1  See  vol.  i.  pp.  25-28.  2  See  vol.  i.  p.  174. 


DURHAM 


141 


On  the  last  day  of  April  1893  the  first  three  years 
of  my  father's  episcopate  were  completed.  On  that 
day  he  wrote  to  a  son  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
qth  Sunday  after  Easter ;  1893. 

To-morrow,  as  you  may  remember,  is  the  anniversary  of 
my  consecration.  I  have  completed  three  years  of  service 
here.  It  is  very  hard  to  believe.  Very  little  seems  to  have 
been  done,  and  yet  I  have  tried  to  do  all  that  lay  in  my 
power.  As  yet  I  have  not  seen  all  the  parishes  in  the  diocese, 
but  I  am  coming  gradually  to  know  them.  It  is  at  least  a 
satisfaction  that  many  good  men  have  come  to  work  here. 
The  change  which  has  been  made  in  the  last  twenty  years  is, 
every  one  says,  very  wonderful.  But  there  are  troublous 
times  before  us,  and  things  move  quickly. 

Several  of  the  Sermons  and  Addresses  delivered  by 
the  Bishop  in  these  first  years  of  his  episcopate  were 
published  by  him  in  a  volume  entitled  The  Incarnation 
and  Common  Life.  In  the  preface  to  this  book  he 
says  : — 

It  can  very  rarely  happen  that  one  who  has  spent  long 
and  busy  years  as  student  and  teacher  should  be  suddenly 
called  at  the  close  of  life  to  the  oversight  of  a  diocese  in 
which  the  problems  of  modern  life  are  presented  in  the  most 
urgent  and  impressive  form.  Such  a  transition  brings  with 
it  of  necessity  many  strange  experiences.  It  gives  by  its  very 
unexpectedness  a  singular  reality  to  earlier  thoughts.  The 
Faith  which  has  been  pondered  in  quiet  must  without  pre 
paration  be  brought  into  the  market-place  and  vindicated 
as  a  power  of  action.  In  the  following  pages  I  have 
endeavoured  to  express  what  I  have  felt  from  time  to  time 
when  I  have  been  called  upon  to  consider  some  particular 
phase  of  our  present  life,  and  to  mark,  however  imperfectly, 
the  application  of  the  Gospel  to  our  own  difficulties  and 
sorrows  and  duties.  The  highest  conceivable  attestation  of  a 


142          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

Divine  revelation  lies  in  its  power  to  meet  each  new  want  of 
man  as  it  arises,  and  to  gain  fresh  force  from  the  growth  of 
human  knowledge.  The  message  of  the  Incarnation  satisfies 
this  criterion  in  unexpected  ways,  and  our  distresses  enable 
us  to  feel  its  wider  applications. 

In  concluding  a  review  of  this  volume,  a  writer  in 
the  Cambridge  Review  says  : — 

In  this,  as  in  all  Dr.  Westcott's  writings,  the  grace  of  his 
thought  finds  fit  expression  in  beautiful  language.  As  regards 
the  tone  of  this  book,  perhaps  the  most  marked  feature  is  its 
never-failing  brightness  and  hope.  The  writer  fully  realises 
that  these  are  days  of  trial,  but  to  him  "days  of  trial  are 
days  of  insight."  In  the  second  of  two  sermons  which  are 
added  as  an  appendix  to  the  volume  he  deals  with  a  subject 
which  he  has  made  in  a  special  sense  his  own — the  Con 
ditions  of  a  Progressive  Revelation.  He  shows  how  many  a 
time  gain  has  come  to  Christian  faith  through  apparent  loss, 
and  then  touches  on  the  questions  about  the  Bible  which  are 
to  many  the  special  trial  of  the  present  day.  I  cannot  re 
frain  from  one  last  quotation  on  this  subject : — "  It  is  not 
surprising  that  those  who  have  not  been  specially  led  to 
study  the  problems  of  Biblical  inquiry  should  be  startled 
when  they  are  told  abruptly  how  many  points  of  contact  in 
form  or  substance  our  Scriptures  have  with  other  writings, 
how  fragmentary  they  are,  how  intensely  human  in  their 
structure  and  characteristics,  how  we  can  see  them,  as  it 
were,  built  up  out  of  different  parts,  witnessing  to  different 
sources,  reflecting  natural  influences.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  many  devout  believers  should  by  admitting  such  con 
clusions  seem  to  lose  a  Divine  Presence  in  the  light  of  which 
they  have  lived.  Yet  here  also  the  Power,  which  they  have 
clothed  for  themselves  in  a  vesture  of  man's  device,  says  with 
a  voice  of  tender  warning,  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away ;  and  already  we  are  coming  to  know  the  blessing 
which  the  withdrawal  of  old  opinions  discloses ;  to  know,  as 
we  have  never  known  before,  that  the  Bible  is  a  living  Book, 
one  in  many  parts  springing  directly  in  external  form  out  of 


x  DURHAM  143 

the  manifold  fulness  of  that  human  life  to  which  it  still 
speaks ;  to  know  that  it  offers  the  past  to  us  not  as  a  dead 
thing  but  as  a  clear  mirror  of  eternal  Truth ;  to  know  that  in 
that  record  of  the  Divine,  marked  in  some  sense  with  the 
traces  of  our  infirmities,  we  can  find  the  interpretation  of 
God's  present  dealings  with  the  world." 

Another  work  published  during  these  first  years  at 
Durham  was  Religious  ThougJit  in  the  West.  The 
Essays  contained  in  this  volume  were  written  earlier, 
very  much  earlier  in  some  cases,  in  my  father's  life,  and 
mention  has  already  been  made  of  them.  The  work 
was  planned  "  very  early  in  life,"  but  unhappily  was 
never  finished  as  designed. 

The  completed  book  was  to  demonstrate  of  Western 
civilisation  that  "it  is  true  in  every  realm  of  man's  activity, 
true  in  action,  true  in  literature,  true  in  art,  that  the  works 
which  receive  the  most  lasting  homage  of  the  soul  are  those 
which  are  most  Christian,  and  that  it  is  in  each  the  Christian 
element,  the  element  which  answers  to  the  fact  of  the  Incar 
nation,  to  the  fellowship  of  God  with  man  as  an  accomplished 
reality  of  the  present  order,  which  attracts  and  holds  our 
reverence." 

This  clear  statement  of  the  scope  and  aim  of  the  writer  is 
made  still  clearer  by  the  denial  that  it  can  be  shown  that 
"the  vital  force  of  any  other  great  religion  is  alien  from 
Christianity,"  and  by  the  insistence  that  "we  are,  we  must  be, 
as  believers  in  Christ,  in  the  presence  of  a  living,  that  is,  of  a 
speaking  God."  To  show  what  is  meant  by  this  last  sen 
tence,  the  paper  on  Browning's  Teaching  is  inserted ;  and  to 
enable  us  to  comprehend  quite  fully  the  spirit  in  which  the 
whole  scheme  was  to  have  been  carried  out,  Dr.  Westcott 
gives  us  the  charming  sketch  of  Benjamin  Whichcote,  which 
might  almost  be  called  the  soul  of  the  volume.  The  elaborate 
essay  on  Christian  Art  atones  for  the  absence  in  the  earlier 
essays  of  any  attempt  to  prove  that  in  great  art  Christ  must 
be  found  making  it  great. 


144 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 


CHAP. 


The  sentences  we  have  quoted  above  contain  indeed  a 
splendid  and  a  sufficient  creed ;  a  creed  which  gives  a  real 
and  glorious  content  to  the  phrase  so  easily  spoken — the 
divinity  of  Christ.  But  it  is  so  far  from  the  creed  of  orthodox 
Christianity  that  to  recite  it  saddens  us  rather  than  cheers. 
Most  Christians  do  not  dare  to  allow  any  inspiration  to 
"  profane  "  writers,  as  they  profanely  call  them,  lest  the  authors 


SANCTUARY  KNOCKER  OF  DURHAM  CATHEDRAL. 
From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop  Westcott  (see  p.  54). 

of  the  New  Testament  should  be  jealous.  .  .  .  Against  this 
blindness,  this  indifference  to  Christ's  honour,  Dr.  Westcott's 
book  was  to  have  protested.  He  would  prove  the  Incarnation 
by  demonstrating  that  poets  and  painters  and  philosophers 
have  achieved  greatness  when  they  have  expressed  with  con 
viction  some  part  of  the  truth  of  Christianity — when  they 
have  agreed  with  Christ.  We  find  it  hard  to  reconcile  our 
selves  to  the  loss  of  the  completed  work.1 

1  Quoted  from  The  Academy. 


x  DURHAM  145 

The  following  letters  belong  to  the  first  two  years 
of  my  father's  episcopate  (1890-92) : — 


TO    HIS    FOURTH    AND    FIFTH    SONS 

CAMBRIDGE,  itfh  March  1890. 

My  dear  George  and  Foss — I  must  economise,  you  see,  and 
I  rejoice  too  to  think  of  you  as  one  in  two  forms.  Mamma 
will  have  told  you  of  the  work  which  I  have  dared  to  accept. 
Happily  I  was  only  called  to  obey.  There  was  practically  no 
choice.  That  is  a  comfort  to  me.  But  the  chief  comfort  is 
that  I  know  that  from  our  household,  and  from  many  friends 
and  strangers,  will  come  streams  of  silent  help.  The  piles  of 
letters  which  have  reached  us  already  tell  this ;  and  I  trust 
that  I  may  be  enabled  to  do  something  to  make  the  reality  of 
the  one  life  more  evident.  My  first  text  will  be,  I  think, 
"  Brethren,  pray  for  us  " — "  Brethren  and  children,  pray  for 
us."  To  hear  of  your  work  is  a  great  encouragement.  May 
God  bless  you  in  it ! — Ever  your  most  affectionate  father, 

B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 

To  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR 

CAMBRIDGE,  24^  March  1890. 

I  cannot  wonder  that  you  need  some  change  and  rest. 
The  perpetual  strain  which  you  are  able  to  bear  amazes  me. 
But  the  joy  of  the  work  in  reaching  so  many  thousand  hearts 
must  be  a  great  support. 

The  lessons  of  the  last  few  months  have  taught  me  as  I 
never  knew  it  before  the  reality  of  the  One  Life  in  which  we 
live,  and  which  shows  itself  in  many  ways  through  us.  Nothing 
is  ours,  and  there  can  be  no  separation. 

If  the  day  of  Consecration  comes  we  shall  greatly  miss  you, 
and  still  we  shall  feel  you  to  be  very  near. 

I  have  never  been  further  than  Milan.  You  will,  I 
hope,  go  to  Assisi.  It  is  one  of  the  shrines  which  I 
should  gladly  have  visited.  The  town,  I  fancy,  retains  its 
old  character. 

VOL  II.  L 


146          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

CAMBRIDGE,  2nd  April  1890. 

It  is  a  great  relief  to  me  to  have  Mr.  Lee's  letter  which 
you  have  kindly  enclosed,  but  these  anxious  delays  are  a  piece 
of  salutary  discipline. 

If  I  may  give  counsel,  I  should  charge  you  earnestly  to 
avoid  all  risk.  You  have  assured  me — and  this  assurance  I 
value — that  you  would  concur  in  the  nomination  which  will 
be  submitted  to  the  Chapter,  and  I  imagine  that  provision 
can  be  made  for  their  legal  action. 

Our  visit  to  Auckland  was  most  satisfactory.  It  opened 
out  indeed  fresh  and  even  bewildering  prospects  of  work, 
but  the  charge  which  has  been  received  in  loyal  obedience 
can  be  borne.  .  .  . 

To  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR 

CAMBRIDGE,  $th  April  1890. 

First  of  all,  let  me  ask  most  earnestly  that  to  you  I  may 
always  be  "  Westcott."  What  have  I  done  to  lose  my  person 
ality  and  become  an  office  ?  For  the  present,  financial  reasons 
give  an  answer  to  the  proposal  which  you  most  kindly  make. 
The  expenses  of  entering  on  the  orifice  are  so  considerable 
that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  borrow  largely  from  my  bankers  for 
necessary  things,  and  I  should  not  feel  it  right  to  do  so  for 
what  is  at  least  unnecessary.  At  present,  indeed,  I  am  not 
technically  eligible,  and  I  hope  that  whatever  claims  a  bishop 
may  seem  to  have  for  the  honour  will  not  be  injured  by  delay. 
It  would  indeed  be  an  honour  and  a  pleasure  to  meet  face 
to  face  the  most  distinguished  men  who  are  found  at  the 
Athenaeum,  but  I  feel  that  my  working  time  must  now  be  very 
short,  and  I  must  confine  myself  more  closely  than  heretofore, 
if  possible,  to  my  proper  work.  The  Archbishop  has  most 
kindly  offered  me  rooms  at  Lollards'  Tower,  so  that  I  shall 
have  a  home  in  London.  To  belong  to  the  Athenaeum  was 
a  dream  of  early  days,  but  I  remember  consulting  Lightfoot 
about  it,  and  he  said  decidedly,  "  It  is  not  worth  while,"  and 


x  DURHAM  147 

my  dream  was  scattered.     I  do  hope  that  you  will  have  real 
rest  and  find  new  life  in  Italy. 

One  word  more.  I  am  too  old  to  change  my  name: 
please  let  me  be  "  Westcott "  to  the  end,  or  you  will  rob  me 
of  myself. 

TO    HIS    ELDEST   SON 

(In  reply  to  congratulations  on  his  appointment  as  Hon.  Fellow  of 
Trinity) 

WESTMINSTER,  qth  May  1890. 

Yes,  I  was  pleased,  for  the  honour  was  unexpected.  There 
was,  however,  an  opinion,  I  believe,  that  as  long  as  I  was  on 
the  foundation  as  Professor  I  was  ineligible.  In  any  case,  the 
appointment  was  very  gracefully  made  now. 

I  have  not  thanked  you  for  mostly  kindly  taking  care  of 
poor  Mep.1  The  dog  is  far  more  than  a  dog  to  me.  He  is 
a  symbol.  .  .  .  Your  cats  will,  I  trust,  teach  him  forbearance. 
Anyhow,  thank  you  very  much  for  caring  for  the  creature. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

WESTMINSTER,  i2th  May  1890. 

The  pressure  of  necessary  work  at  present  would  make  it 
impossible  for  me  to  touch  the  question  of  which  you  write. 
.  .  .  Gore  is  perfectly  able  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  it  is 
significant  that  he  has  been  elected  Bampton  Lecturer.  My 
fear  is  that  the  reaction  will  go  too  far. 

I  spoke  to  the  Archbishop  last  night,  and  he  completely 
agreed  with  me.  ...  I  strongly  object  to  the  word  insdtia. 
The  idea  of  knowledge  does  not  come  in  at  such  a  stage. 
The  position  as  to  critical  details  is  purely  neutral  and  inde 
terminate.  This  is,  I  think,  a  vital  point.  David  is  not  a 
chronological,  but  a  spiritual  person  in  relation,  e.g.,  to  Ps.  ex. 
I  write  hastily  and  crudely  after  more  than  three  hours'  letters. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  26th.  May  1890.  ..; 

Will  you  offer  to  the  Council  of  the  Clergy  Training  School 
my  warm  thanks  for  their  most  generous  words.     Nothing  in 
1  See  vol.  i.  p.  317. 


1 48          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

which  I  have  been  allowed  to  take  part  at  Cambridge  offers 
more  full  assurance  of  becoming  a  permanent  source  of  bless 
ing  to  the  University  and  the  Church.  The  School  has 
slowly  and  naturally  grown,  and  it  will  grow. 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  iqthfune  1890. 

The  question  of  stained  windows  requires  careful  considera 
tion,  and  I  think  that  it  must  be  considered  without  delay 
and  rules  laid  down ;  but  I  have  not  felt  it  well  in  the  one 
case  which  has  come  before  me  to  depart  from  the  precedent 
which  I  found.  I  only  required  that  the  Incumbent  at  whose 
request  the  permission  for  the  insertion  of  the  windows  was 
granted  should  state  that  in  his  opinion  the  design  was  suited 
to  the  Church,  to  the  particular  position,  and  to  any  other 
windows  which  the  Church  contained.  You  will  agree,  I  am 
sure,  with  the  necessity  of  the  queries. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

STOCKTON,  yd  Sunday  after  Trinity 
\\stjuly\  1890. 

One  word  only  to  say  that  I  preached  my  sermon  without 
MS.,  was  welcomed  by  two  Mayors,  marched  between  two 
lines  of  scarlet  volunteers — Tambour-Major  at  the  head — and 
this  afternoon  I  shook  hands  with  about  four  hundred  church 
workers,  and  said  to  each  group  the  most  appropriate  words 
I  could  muster ;  visited  a  home  of  G.F.S. ;  and  now  after 
service  have  met  the  Churchwardens.  The  day  has  been 
fine,  and  I  hope  that  some  good  may  have  been  done. 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  zistjuly  1890. 

.  .  .  On  Saturday  I  heard  of  Dr.  Vaughan's  attack,  and 
walked  to  the  Temple.  I  had  a  long  talk  with  Mrs.  Vaughan 
— for  two  hours,  I  should  think.  Dr.  Vaughan  was  sleeping 
then,  but  I  promised  to  go  after  the  afternoon  service  on 
Sunday.  So  I  went  to  the  Abbey — Dr.  Farrar  preached — 


x  DURHAM  149 

and  after  service  I  necessarily  had  a  few  words  with  the  Dean 
and  Dr.  Farrar.  Both  seemed  to  be  very  well.  Then  I  went 
to  the  Temple,  talking  all  the  way  with  an  American,  who 
said  that  that  was  the  way  busy  men  did  business  in  the  States 
(alas !),  and  then  I  found  Dr.  Vaughan.  He  was  as  kind  and 
sympathetic  as  usual,  and  interested  in  the  work  of  the  North, 
which  he  curiously  watches.  He  seemed  to  be  weak,  but  the 
tea  was  forthcoming.  "  I  think  nothing,"  he  added,  "  of  a 
house  in  which  tea  is  not  laid  on  to  every  storey."  So  we  talked 
a  little,  and  then  I  hastened  back  to  Lambeth,  having  originally 
promised  to  have  tea  there,  and  stayed  till  after  ten,  talking 
of  many  things.  Mrs.  Vaughan  gave  me  the  occasion  for  a 
merry  laugh.  Two  American  literary  ladies  strolled  along  a 
road  from  Boston  till  they  came  to  the  first  milestone,  which 
bore  the  inscription,  "  1  m.  from  Boston."  They  took  it  for  a 
sepulchral  monument,  and  in  enthusiasm  exclaimed,  "How 
touching  !  How  simple  !  How  human  !  'I'm  from  Boston.' 
So  the  dead  speak  !  "  I  hope  there  are  milestones  in  America, 
and  if  not  the  incident  may  be  transferred  to  Lincolnshire. 
She  said  likewise  that  the  following  appeared  in  an  Indian 
paper:  "A  new  god  has  appeared  on  the  frontier,  but  the 
police  are  after  him."  You  have  the  two  occasions  of  my 
laughter,  and  I  hope  you  will  use  them. 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  zqthjuly  1890. 

.  .  .  Yesterday  I  went  by  penny  boat  to  St.  Paul's.  It 
was  really  enjoyable.  The  river  and  trees  were  bright  and 
sunny.  My  neighbour  looked  at  me  for  a  time,  and  conclud 
ing,  I  hope,  that  I  was  a  "  conversable  "  person,  said,  "  I  wish 
my  wife  were  here.  I'm  trying  to  describe  the  scene  to  her 
in  a  letter;  but  who  can  do  it?"  So  he  put  away  paper 
and  pencil.  Then  after  a  pause  he  said,  "Now,  who  are 
you  ? "  I  told  him,  and  after  a  few  more  words  he  said, 
"  Well,  it  does  me  good :  it  makes  my  heart  warm.  You're 
the  Bishop  of  Durham  !  I  had  the  Bishop's  hand  laid  on  me, 
you  know — the  good  old  Bishop  of  St.  David's ;  but  I  never 
had  a  word  from  a  Bishop  since."  So  he  shook  hands  and 
went  with  kind  wishes,  having  made  the  edifying  discovery 
that  even  bishops  are  men. 


ISO         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  THE  BISHOP  OF  MINNESOTA 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE, 
BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  23^  August  [1890]. 

My  dear  Brother — What  can  I  say  that  does  not  altogether 
fall  short  of  what  I  feel  ?  Even  in  a  very  humble  way  I  feel 
here  how  those  whom  we  do  not  see  are  chief  powers  in  our 
life.  In  the  few  weeks  in  which  I  have  been  allowed  to  work 
I  can  feel  how  to  me  and  to  others  Bishop  Lightfoot  is  the 
great  present  power.  We  all  recognise  him,  and  hear  his 
voice,  and  perceive  his  guidance,  and  know  that  now  the 
influence  is  freed  from  every  earthly  admixture.  The  truth 
was  forced  upon  me  last  week  when  it  was  my  duty  to  conse 
crate  the  Church  of  St.  Columba — a  duty  which  he  was 
eagerly  looking  foward  to,  so  that  on  his  last  journey  to 
Bournemouth  he  took  with  him  all  the  literature  to  prepare 
his  sermon — and  it  fell  to  me  to  preach  as  at  the  twin  Church 
of  St.  Ignatius,  not  quite  a  year  ago,  when  we  were  full  of 
thanksgiving  for  his  restoration.  .  .  .  You  will  be  constantly 
in  our  thoughts,  and  we  are  glad  that  you  know  the  home 
that  is  lent  to  us.  Perhaps  you  may  even  see  us  in  it.  It  is  a 
great  thing  that  every  one  must  feel  that  the  Chapel  is  the 
heart  of  it.  Such  memories  are  a  marvellous  inheritance  to 
be  used  for  the  whole  Church,  and  I  think  that  they  can  be 
used.  .  .  . — With  most  grateful  and  affectionate  remembrances, 
ever  yours,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

qth  September  1890. 

It  seems  to  be  a  clear  duty  to  be  present  (all  being  well) 
at  Eden's  consecration,  yet  I  hardly  know  how  I  can  spare 
the  time ;  and  I  must  obey  you,  though  I  cannot  be  of  use. 
My  heart  often  fails  me.  Things  seem  to  be  so  utterly 
wrong.  Perhaps  God  will  give  us  the  grace  of  self-surrender. 
The  confidence  and  self-assertion  of  men  terrify  me. 


x  DURHAM  151 

To  THE  REV.  E.  PRICE 

(On  his  acceptance  of  the  Vicarage  of  Bishop  Auckland) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  *]th  October  1890. 

My  dear  Mr.  Price — It  is  a  cause  of  very  great  thankful 
ness  to  me  that  you  see  your  way  clearly  to  undertake  what 
is  a  heavy  charge  and  yet,  I  believe,  a  noble  opportunity  for 
work,  and  that  Mrs.  Price  feels  the  call  no  less  deeply.  May 
God  give  you  both  the  joy  of  service  to  the  fulness  of  every 
g:ft!  There  will  be  room  for  all.  I  have  written  to  the 
Church  wardens  to  announce  the  appointment. 

For  every  reason  it  will  be  desirable  that  you  should  come 
among  us  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  and  if  you  can 
formally  enter  on  your  work  on  St.  Andrew's  Day  it  will  be  a 
most  happy  omen. 

You  will  forgive  a  short  note.  Just  now  I  hardly  know 
how  to  do  my  necessary  work  in  any  way.  Again,  may  God 
bless  you  ! — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ^th  October  1890. 

The  general  spirit  of  the  Congress  was  excellent.  Lord 
Halifax  was  most  affecting.  I  think  that  his  extremest 
opponents  would  feel  his  intense  devoutness.  I  must  not  try 
tD  write  more.  It  seems  to  be  true  of  our  Church,  ME6 
HMQN062.1 

(On  receipt  of  proof  of  the  Lambeth  Judgment) 

G.N.R.,  2.ist  October  1890. 

.  .  .  The  corrections  seem  to  be  all  improvements.  I 
have  made  a  few  notes  on  my  way  to  Newcastle  (not  an  in 
vasion  of  my  brother's  Diocese).  The  last  page  you  do  not 
give,  I  see.  It  seems  very  hard  to  criticise  that  in  writing. 
Something  should  be  said,  but  the  manner  of  saying  is  in- 

1  God  is  with  us. 


152          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

finitely  difficult.  The  Court  needs  to  be  majestic  and  yet 
fatherly  in  its  counsels.  Is  not  power  given  with  work  done 
as  God's  work  ?  XAPI2T12612.1 

I  cannot  but  be  very  thankful  for  the  Judgment,  and 
believe  with  fresh  confidence  that  it  will  prove  to  have  been 
a  great  opportunity  greatly  used. 

OENAPEAMENOSEIIITEAESEL2 

/ 

The  above  note  is  written  in  pencil.      On  it  Arch 
bishop    Benson     has    endorsed    "  See     final     note 
approval.      Deo  gratias." 


To  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR 

(On  his  appointment  as  Chaplain  to  the  House  of  Commons) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i^th  October  1890. 

My  dear  Farrar — Day  after  day  I  have  wished  to  write 
one  line  to  say  with  what  pleasure  I  heard  of  your 
appointment  to  the  House  of  Commons.  It  is  an  office 
of  singular  interest  and  dignity,  and  binds  together  with  a 
natural  fitness  St.  Margaret's,  St.  Peter's,  and  St.  Stephen's. 
Happily  it  will  not  perceptibly  add  to  your  labours. 

The  work  here  seems  to  grow.  Reading  is  absolutely 
impossible;  yet  there  are  some  things  to  encourage,  but 
sorrows  which  startle.  So  it  must  be  in  parish  work. — Ever 
yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

r 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2-jth  October  1890. 

...  I  have  found  "  Cherry  Ripe  "  3  and  brought  it  to  the 
study,  so  that  now  I  hope  that  I  may  like  the  room  better. 

1  Thanks  be  to  God. 

2  He  who  began  .  .   .   will  perfect.     Phil.  i.  6. 

3  My  father  was  very  pleased  with  the  coloured  print  of  this  picture. 
It  had  hung  for  years  in  his  room  in  the  Divinity  School  at  Cambridge. 


DURHAM  153 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  St.  Stephen's  Day,  1890. 

My  dear  Archdeacon — If  we  are  strong,  and  I  believe 
that  we  are,  by  the  sympathy  and  help  of  our  fellow-workers, 
I  certainly  ought  to  be  able  to  face  my  overwhelming  work. 
At  least  I  feel  how  much  I  owe  to  you  and  other  counsellors. 
May  God  enable  us  to  do  His  work,  and  give  us  the  joy  of 
knowing  that  we  strive  to^ serve  Him  in  the  fulness  of  our  life  ! 

Mrs.  Westcott  joins  me  in  heartiest  good  wishes  to  Mrs. 
Watkins. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely  and  gratefully, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  REV.  E.  PRICE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ^ist  January  1891. 

My  dear  Mr.  Price — After  very  careful  consideration,  I 
think  that  I  shall  best  consult  the  interests  of  the  Rural 
Deanery  by  inviting  you  to  undertake  the  office  of  Rural 
Dean.  The  only  senior  clergyman  who  might  naturally  have 
been  asked  to  undertake  this  office  would  not,  I  have  reason 
to  believe,  do  so.  I  am,  as  you  know,  very  anxious  to  put 
the  greatest  energy  possible  into  the  organisation,  and  it  will 
be  an  advantage  to  me  to  have  a  Dean  near  at  hand  to 
whom  I  can  show  unreservedly  what  is  in  my  mind ;  and  I 
think  that  you  would  be  ready  to  consider  independently  and 
sympathetically  what  suggestions  I  might  make. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i6tk  March  1891. 

If  the  ","  m  Luke  xxiv.  45  was  deliberately  adopted — I 
don't  know  how  I  agreed  to  it  without  margin — it  must  remain  ; 
but  I  think  that  we  shall  do  well  to  use  the  first  opportunity 
to  settle  some  reserved  points  (when  ?).  All  these  things  are 
rapidly  going  out  of  my  mind,  and  the  pressure  of  work  in 
creases  as  rapidly  as  strength  fails. 


154          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

I  rejoice  that  you  are  going  to  West  Malvern.  No  place 
except  Norway  has  done  me  so  much  good.  We  were  even 
dreaming  of  getting  there  for  a  few  days  soon,  but  it  is  quite 
hopeless. 

The  Extension  Meeting  was  in  some  ways  the  most  im 
pressive  meeting,  except  one  or  two  at  Hull,  that  I  ever 
attended.  The  number  of  young  men  was  very  large. 

There  must  be  no  change  in  my  name  on  the  title-page. 
All  is  true  and  as  it  should  be. 

I  have  to  preach  about  St.  Patrick  to-morrow,  all  being 
well.  What  a  striking  figure  he  is  ! 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  April  1891. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Not  in  courtly  Spanish  phrase,  but 
most  simply  and  truly,  what  I  may  seem  to  have  is  yours.  If 
you  can  use  any  or  all  of  things  which  bear  my  name  I  shall 
be  delighted. 

How  fascinating  the  Visions  must  be :  half  pictorial  and 
half  symbolic — are  they  not  ? — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.   DUNELM. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  St.  Marti s  Day,  1891. 

...  I  must  speak  in  the  same  sense  as  to  the  suggestion 
of  my  name  for  a  statue.  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  best  for 
me  to  express  no  opinion  on  any  matter  connected  with  my 
old  work.  It  might  easily  be  perplexing.  That  volume  is 
quite  closed. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  6th  May  1891. 

v  My  dear  Davies — It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  welcome 
your  Hulsean  Lectures  this  morning.  No  subject  is  more 
hopeful,  and  I  can  divine  in  some  way  how  you  will  give  it 
force.  At  present  I  cannot  read,  and  I  can  hardly  think; 


x  DURHAM  155 

yet  there  are  a  few  things  which  can  be  done  of  which  the 
doing  seems  to  give  pleasure  wholly  beyond  their  worth. 

Now  that  spring  seems  to  be  coming  I  venture  to  ask 
whether  you  and  Mrs.  Davies  could  not  promise  us  a  little 
visit,  say  next  month.  You  know  that  the  place  is  worth 
seeing,  and  it  would  be  a  very  great  pleasure  to  us  to  see 
you. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  \$th  May  1891. 

To  my  dismay  I  see  that  the  C.M.S.  meeting  is  in  June. 
I  fancied  it  was  in  July.  When  shall  we  be  quiet  ?  I  rejoice 
that  you  have  a  day  or  two  of  change.  If  your  work  did  not 
bring  the  needed  strength  I  should  be  afraid.  But  happily 
work  that  is  offered  as  a  sacrifice  always  does. 

Every  refreshment  and  joy  of  peace  to  you  all  in  the 
fulness  of  Pentecost. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

HOUSE  OF  LORDS,  ityhjunc  1891. 

You  see,  my  dearest  Mary,  I  have  come  to  fulfil  my  duties 
by  appearing.  Our  meeting  is  over.  It  was  full  of  interest. 
Mr.  Gladstone,  who  bore  traces  of  illness,  spoke  vigorously 
and  well.  It  was  delightful  to  watch  his  eye  catch  fire  as 
he  went  on,  and  at  the  end  he  spoke  touchingly  of  Cardinal 
Manning  as  the  one  other  survivor  of  those  who  had  taken 
part  in  the  first  meeting.  Cardinal  Manning,  who  occupied 
relatively  the  place  which  I  had,  was  one  of  my  points.  I 
said  something  of  what  I  had  intended  to  say. 

I  am  rather  tired,  but  still  I  get  on  very  fairly  well.  It  is 
very  close  still.  Love  to  all. — Ever  your  most  affectionate 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  2yd  June  1891. 

We  had  a  very  fair  Delhi  Meeting,  but  our  statesmen 
could  not  come.  There  was  a  great  Indian  debate  in  the 


156          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

House.  The  Bishop  of  Calcutta  came,  but  at  4  J.  Wright 
had  not  appeared.  We  waited  some  minutes ;  still  he  did 
not  come,  and  Mr.  Cubitt  said  we  ought  to  begin.  So 
after  a  few  words  I  began.  In  ten  minutes  or  so  Wright 
came  in.  I  finished  and  he  began.  Then  after  a  time  he 
paused,  hesitated,  paused  longer,  and  was  obliged  to  sit  down, 
almost  fainting.  The  Bishop  of  Calcutta  most  kindly  rose, 
and  I  took  out  Wright  for  a  little  quiet.  He  soon  recovered, 
and  promised  to  come  to  tea  here ;  and  then  I  went  to  the 
House,  for  I  felt  that  a  Bishop  ought  not  to  be  absent  at  an 
Indian  debate.  It  was  fairly  interesting.  The  Government 
were  well  defended.  The  Duke  of  Argyle  spoke  very  brightly. 
I  could  not  stay  to  the  end,  for  I  asked  J.  Wright  to  come  at 
8.  Love  to  all.  I  am  just  expecting  Mr.  Tupper.1 — Ever 
your  most  affectionate  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


JARROW,  yd  July  1891. 

So  far  I  have  done  my  work,  and  am  just  now  preparing 
for  my  evening  sermon.  I  spent  an  hour  or  more  this  after 
noon  in  looking  over  the  great  shipyard.  I  could  only  get 
a  glimpse,  yet  it  was  full  of  interest.  At  one  end  ironstone 
came  in,  and  at  the  other  end  it  had  passed  out  an  iron 
clad.  I  saw  several  of  the  men  and  the  managers,  and  learnt 
something  and  hope  to  learn  more. 


TO    HIS    FOURTH    AND    FIFTH    SONS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ytfhjttly  1891. 

My  dear  George  and  Foss — May  God  continue  to  bless 
and  keep  you  in  your  work  !  I  do  not  know  when  I  have  felt 
deeper  joy  than  in  reading  your  last  letters,  or  greater  thank 
fulness.  The  quiet  confidence  was  a  sure  sign  of  Divine  help. 
The  work,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  which  has  been  given  you  to 
do  is  full  of  encouragement. 

The  work  here  grows  and  grows,  and  I  have  always  to  be 

1  A  favourite  Harrow  pupil  of  my  father's,  now  holding  a  distinguished 
position  in  the  Indian  Civil  Service. 


x  DURHAM  157 

talking.     Yet  I  hope  to  move  some  to  action,  and  now  I  am 
looking  forward  to  a  brief  space  for  thinking. 

Again  and  again  may  God  bless  you ! — Ever  your  most 
affectionate  father,  B.  F.  WESTCOTT. 


To  HIS  WIFE 

NEWCASTLE,  ijth  October  1891. 

I  am  living  a  vagrant  life,  and  to-day  have  not  been  able 
to  write  a  single  letter.  It  has  been  the  day  of  the  formal 
opening  of  the  Bensham  Schools,  for  which  I  secured  Lord 
Londonderry.  .  .  .  The  function,  to  which  I  had  looked  for 
ward  with  some  anxiety,  passed  off  very  well,  and  I  think  that 
Lord  L.  was  satisfied  that  it  was  worth  attending.  It 
was  his  first  visit  to  Gateshead.  He  asked  kindly  after  you. 
On  Monday  I  go  to  Darlington  for  S.P.G.,  and  I  find  that  it 
is  a  magic-lantern  lecture.  I  have  mildly  remonstrated.  I 
hardly  think  that  it  was  worth  my  while  going.  The  Bishop 
is,  I  find,  very  rightly  under  the  circumstances,  in  smaller 
letters  than  the  lecturer. 

Mr.  Tupper  left  this  morning.  We  had  some  quiet  talks. 
.  .  .  Mr.  B.  was  very  much  impressed  by  him.  He  learnt 
more,  he  said,  from  him  in  one  talk  than  from  both  our  Indian 
visitors.  ...  I  caught  the  charwoman  kneeling  on  the  stones 
without  a  mat,  and  duly  scolded  her,  but  she  was  deaf !  So 
much  for  well-meaning  efforts. 

The  Bishop,  though  "  in  smaller  letters,"  went  with 
becoming  humility  to  the  lecture,  and  remarks,  "  My 
lecture,  i.e.  the  lecture  to  which  I  partly  listened,  went 
off  well  last  night.  ...  As  soon  as  the  room  was 
darkened  I  escaped,  and  did  a  little  fair  work  before 
returning." 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2ist  October  1891. 

Our  Conference  is  over,  and  it  has  been  most  hopeful. 
The  spirit  of  every  one  was  beautiful,  and  if  nothing  comes 
but  a  better  understanding  of  great  employers  and  the  leaders 
of  labour,  the  work  is  a  true  bishop's  work. 


158          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  ARCHDEACON  FARRAR 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $ist  October  1891. 

My  dear  Farrar — It  is  difficult  to  know  how  to  thank  you 
for  your  new  work.  I  can  only  marvel  at  the  magnitude  and 
variety  of  the  services  which  you  are  enabled  to  render  by 
bringing  to  every  type  of  reader  the  most  noble  truths.  The 
power  is  a  gift  for  which  we  must  all  be  thankful.  May  it 
bring  to  you  more  and  more  the  joy  of  fruitful  service  ! 

The  experience  of  constant  action  and  constant  speaking 
is  new  to  me.  Books  are  practically  inaccessible.  My  heart 
often  fails  me,  yet  I  try  not  to  look  backward. — Ever  yours 
affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  %th  February  1892. 

.  .  .  My  "  opium  literature "  has  been  far  from  cheering. 
It  is  extremely  difficult  to  tell  what  the  truth  is.  The 
violence  and  contradiction  of  authorities  is  bewildering.  I 
wonder  whether  Lord  Cross  will  be  able  to  throw  any  light 
upon  the  subject.  He  wishes,  I  am  sure,  to  do  right. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

G.N.R.,  i8M  February  1892. 

.  .  .  The  best  hope  for  our  Church,  whatever  the  future 
may  be,  lies,  I  feel  sure,  in  the  clear  affirmation  of  the  final 
responsibility  of  Bishops.  I  have,  you  know,  a  private  long 
ing  for  a  pope,  but  that  is  a  development.  It  is  hard,  indeed, 
to  accept  the  burden  of  government,  but  when  accepted  it 
must  be  borne,  and  we  must  wholly  forget  ourselves,  and 
think  only  of  what  is  done  through  us  and  Who  works.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Benson  will  admire  (?)  my  openness  of  mind  if  she 
hears  that  I  have  spent  sixpence  to  learn  what  "  Mrs.  Jose 
phine  Butler,  Mrs.  Sheldon  Amos,  and  Mrs.  Bramwell  Booth  " 
think  of  "Woman's  Place  in  Church  Work." 


x  DURHAM  159 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOPTHORPE,  zyd  February  1892. 

...  I  got  to  the  Minster  in  excellent  time,  and,  after 
finishing  a  letter  or  two,  was  able  to  robe  for  the  service.  All 
the  Bishops  of  the  Northern  Province  were  there.  The 
Bishop  of  Liverpool  looked  remarkably  well.  The  general 
effect  of  the  Minster  was  singularly  beautiful.  It  has  a 
wonderful  power  of  space,  of  grandeur,  of  far-reaching  ampli 
tude,  and  then  the  stained  glass  in  the  bright  light  was 
radiant.  The  Bishops'  scarlet  too  gave  colour  to  the  scene. 
After  the  service  the  two  Houses  met  in  full  Synod.  The 
Archbishop  proposed  very  quietly  and  well  an  address  to  the 
Queen,  and  a  letter  of  condolence  to  the  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Wales.  Then — but  all  this  will  be  in  the  papers — the 
Bishop  of  Liverpool  proposed  a  resolution  about  the  late 
Archbishop,  and  I  proposed  a  resolution  about  the  Bishop  of 
Carlisle.  I  said,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  pretty  nearly  all 
that  I  intended  to  say.  .  .  . 

After  lunch  the  Upper  House  went  to  their  deliberations 
alone.  To  my  great  surprise,  the  Bishop  of  Wakefield's  reso 
lution  about  the  R.V.  came  on.  The  Bishops  of  Manchester 
and  Liverpool  spoke,  and  then  I  was  obliged  to  speak  on  the 
moment.  I  said  some  things,  I  hope,  which  were  worth 
saying.  In  any  case,  I  felt  what  I  did  say,  and  I  think  that 
I  made  that  at  least  clear.  .  .  . 

Perhaps  it  may  be  worth  while  for  me  to  have  a  few  notes 
which  I  made  on  a  Report  on  the  Prayer  Book.  Mr.  Bout- 
flower  will  find  them  in  my  little  packet  of  engagements,  and 
perhaps  he  will  send  them.  There  is  a  printed  paper  on 
"  Variations  in  the  Modern  Editions  of  the  Prayer  Book,"  and 
inside  it  are  two  sheets  of  note-paper  with  some  facts  recorded 
on  them.  I  should  like  to  have  the  Report  and  the  notes, 
but  it  is  of  no  consequence  if  they  are  not  easily  found. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  March  1892. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Magee's  letter  was  touching.  I  was  very  fond 
of  the  Archbishop,  and  I  think  that  he  knew  it. 


160         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  HIS  THIRD  DAUGHTER 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i*jth  March  1892. 

My  dear  Daisy — The  three  subjects  which  you  give  are 
all  good.  I  don't  know  that  I  could  write  a  paper  on  any  one 
of  them.  Perhaps  I  should  try  the  third :  "  The  Danger  of 
making  Children's  Lives  too  Pleasant."  "  It  is  good  for  a  man 
(and  for  a  woman)  to  bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth."  There 
is  a  good  lecture  by  Professor  Maurice  on  the  different 
theories  of  education  in  his  Lectures  on  Education.  I  read 
it  before  speaking  at  Harrow.  Next,  I  should  take  the  first 
subject.  Here,  again,  you  would  find  help  in  one  of  my 
very  few  favourite  books,  Maurice's  Social  Morality  —  not 
directly  indeed,  but  suggestively  as  to  what  the  family  is,  and 
how  it  leads  onward  and  is  not  complete  in  itself.  Either  of 
these  subjects  would  repay  thought,  I  am  sure.  As  I  have  to 
speak  about  everything,  it  may  be  that  I  shall  have  to  speak 
about  these  matters  before  long.  Then  I  must  ask  for  your 
paper.  Sometimes  I  should  be  glad  to  be  silent  and  not 
have  to  listen — a  vain  effort,  alas  !  too  often.  Love  to  all. — 
Ever  your  most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  MRS.  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  8t&  Aprii  1892. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Watkins  —  The  ready  worker  is  always 
burdened.  The  enclosed  comprehensive  request,  I  confess, 
made  me  angry.  I  shrink  with  my  whole  nature  from  the 
Chicago  Show  \  yet  Baroness  Burdett  -  Coutts  claims  respect. 
Would  it  be  possible  for  you  to  put  on  a  sheet  of  paper  for 
me  the  names  of  the  societies  in  the  Diocese  which  come 
within  her  scope?  You  can  do  this  more  easily  and  more 
completely,  I  think,  than  any  one.  I  can  add  a  few  notes — 
most  unwillingly  and  grudgingly  for  such  a  purpose. — Yours 
most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


DURHAM  161 

To    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  nth  May  1892. 
My  dear  Brooke  —  May  God  bless  your  work  and  you  in 


the  doing  of  it  !     The  old  words  are  true,  KaXov  rb 

?!  eATris  /zeyaAt/.1    May  the  prize  be  won  and  the  hope  fulfilled  ! 

—  Ever  your  most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

SOUTH  SHIELDS,  i2th  May  1892. 

...  I  duly  went  to  Sunderland  yesterday.  We  had  a 
good  meeting,  and  tea,  and  I  hope  that  some  results  may 
follow  from  it.  Canon  Scott  Moncrieff  told  us  that  he  had 
met  an  excellent  old-fashioned  Churchman  who  thought  that 
"  the  Bishop  ought  not  to  come  so  frequently  to  the  town  or 
take  part  in  a  Parish  Tea.  '  In  old  times,'  he  said,  '  we  saw 
the  Bishop  once  in  two  or  three  years,  and  we  thought  a  great 
deal  of  him?" 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  2istjtme  1892. 

Five  years  ago  —  how  short  the  time  —  and  that  great 
service  !  It  seems  yesterday. 

My  journey  was  accomplished  well.  I  had  tea  at  Gran- 
tham,  and  again  when  I  reached  here.  The  Bishops  of 
Chichester  and  Oxford  are  in  residence.  I  hope  that  the 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  may  come  up  to-day.  The  quiet  of  this 
place  is  soothing  and  disturbing.  It  reveals  such  a  spectacle 
of  things  undone  and  unattempted  and  miserably  done  and 
overwhelmingly  rewarded.  What  will  be  the  end  ? 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  mid  June  1892. 

...  I  saw  Mrs.  Benson  this  morning,  and  hope  to  go 
with  them  to  the  Queen's  Concert  :  so  I  shall  be  well  cared 
for.  Now  my  "  few  words  "  this  afternoon  are  heavily  on  my 
mind.  There  is  very  little  time  to  think.  I  saw  Mr.  Rich 
mond  yesterday.  He  was  driving,  and  got  out  to  tell  me  of 
his  work  at  St.  Paul's. 

1  Fair  is  the  prize  and  the  hope  great. 
VOL.  II  M 


1 62          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \st  July  1892. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Welldon  was  very  cordial  when  I  saw  him  at 
Governor's  Speech  Day,  to  which  I  was  happily  able  to  go. 
The  Concio  spoken  by  a  son  of  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith  had  a 
touching  reference  to  the  Durham  strike.  It  was  just  forty 
years  since  I  went  to  Harrow.  Things  have,  I  think, 
improved  in  the  interval.  Mr.  Tom  Mann,  I  hear,  says  that 
Mr.  Drage's  tale  Cyril  expresses  better  than  anything  the 
views  of  his  party.  When  I  asked  for  the  book  at  King's 
Cross,  the  keeper  of  the  stall,  with  a  magnificent  air  of  offended 
superiority,  said,  "  I  never  keep  the  book."  Who  is  Messrs. 
Smith's  censor  ? 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

(On  the  Confirmation  of  a  Romanist) 

ROBIN  HOOD'S  BAY,  qth  August  1892. 

.  .  .  The  question  raised  in  the  letter  is  one  on  which  I 
have  had  occasion  to  act.  A  similar  case  occurred  in  Durham 
and  the  clergyman  consulted  me.  I  directed  him  to  inquire 
whether  the  candidate  was  clear  that  he  had  received  no 
imposition  of  hands — a  blow  is  essentially  different  in  idea, 
and  so  is  the  application  of  chrism — for  I  have  been  told 
that  some  Roman  bishops,  following  the  old  ritual,  use  the 
imposition.  And  when  he  replied  quite  definitely  that  he 
had  not,  I  said  that  he  ought  not  to  be  received  to  Holy 
Communion  in  our  Church  till  the  imposition  of  hands  had 
been  given.  I  offer  no  opinion  as  to  what  is  Confirmation 
elsewhere  or  in  the  abstract,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
our  Church  requires  the  laying  on  of  hands.  In  like  manner 
I  could  imagine  that  if  I  joined  the  Greek  Church  I  might 
reasonably — yet  on  far  less  strong  grounds,  as  I  think — be 
required  to  accept  chrism,  and  I  should  gladly  obey.  The 
fulness  of  the  conception  of  Confirmation — the  open  confession 
and  the  laying  on  of  hands — seems  to  me  to  have  been  pro 
videntially  committed  to  our  keeping,  and  we  are  bound  to 
guard  the  trust  jealously.  .  .  . 


x  DURHAM  163 

ROBIN  HOOD'S  BAY,  ist  September  1892. 

It  will  be  delightful  if  you  can  spare  us  a  day  or  two  at 
Auckland.  .  .  .  Could  you  say  some  quiet  words  about  the 
perils  of  statistical  religion  ?  It  is  alarming  how  the  energies 
of  the  clergy  are  taken  up  in  tabulating  results.  I  have 
boldly  cut  out  all  figures  from  the  Visitation  questions. 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

ROBIN  HOOD'S  BAY,  September  1892. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  us  to  read  your  bright,  hopeful 
letters  week  by  week.  Life  and  work  have  evidently  gained 
by  your  great  change. 

May  the  gain  grow  in  blessing  !  You  answered  quite  truly. 
I  am  obliged  to  decline  every  invitation  to  write  or  speak  out 
of  the  range  of  my  own  proper  duties.  It  grows  harder  and 
harder  to  write.  Since  I  have  been  here  I  have  been  work 
ing  uninterruptedly  at  my  Charge,  and  shall  barely  finish  it. 
What  you  say  of  missionary  policy  is  most  true.  You  know 
how  earnestly  I  have  always  pleaded  for  strong  centres. 
These  ought  to  be  amply  provided  for  and  left  with  the 
responsibility  for  aided  work  in  their  districts.  The  general 
idea  is  now  finding  acceptance.  Delhi  is  recognised  as  a 
thoroughly  good  type,  and  I  hope  that  Cawnpore  may  be 
organised  on  the  same  model.  Unfortunately  I  cannot 
attend  the  S.P.G.  meetings,  for  I  am  very  rarely  in  town. 
If  you  could  send  a  memorandum  I  would  make  a  point  of 
going  to  the  discussion.  It  would,  I  think,  be  perfectly 
proper  for  you  in  your  new  office  to  offer  suggestions. 

This  is  the  finest  day  we  have  had,  and  I  hope  that  we 
may  have  an  expedition  in  the  afternoon. 

With  love  to  you  and  your  wife  included  in  you. — Ever 
your  most  affectionate  father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

ROBIN  HOOD'S  BAY,  12th  September  1892. 

My  dear  Davies — We  are  delighted  to  hear  that  you  will 
be  able  to  come  to  us.  Month  after  month  now  for  more 


1 64          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

than  two  years  I  have  been  longing  for  the  occasion,  but 
there  has  been  no  quiet  space.  Now  I  have  been  obliged  to 
give  up  the  purpose  of  going  abroad  for  a  fortnight,  so  that  I 
can  look  for  comparative  freedom  till  the  Ordination.  How 
much  there  is  that  I  should  like  to  talk  over.  It  is  the 
rapidity  and  irreversibility  of  movement  that  most  alarms  me. 
Every  time  we  read  Jeremiah — the  most  tragic  book  in  the 
Old  Testament — thoughts  of  the  future  must  grow  sad.  Yet 
there  is  time. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  PROFESSOR  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  zyth  September  1892. 

My  dear  Hort — It  is  at  least  satisfactory  to  have  so  full  an 
account  of  your  summer,  though  I  would  not  willingly  have 
given  you  the  trouble  of  writing  so  long  a  letter.  I  feel  able 
to  interpret  the  whole  not  unfavourably,  and  I  could  not  but 
feel  very  anxious  about  the  return  journey.  Of  our  summer 
I  have  little  to  say.  The  thought  of  my  Charge  and  the 
draft  of  it  occupied  me  while  I  was  at  Robin  Hood's  Bay.  .  .  . 

These  Ordination  times  always  bring  hope ;  but  it  is  im 
possible  not  to  feel  here  that  things  are  moving  with  alarming 
rapidity,  and  that  power  is  going  to  those  who  have  not  learnt 
to  use  it. 

LI.  Davies  and  his  wife  were  to  have  come  to  us  last  week, 
but  at  the  last  moment  they  were  hindered  by  the  death  of 
Professor  Robertson,  his  wife's  brother-in-law.  It  was  a  great 
disappointment,  for  I  had  waited  for  two  years  for  a  leisure 
time  to  see  him.  He  still  seems  to  be  very  happy.  How 
many  things  one  would  have  gladly  heard  from  him.  .  .  . 

You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  Brooke  is  in  very  good 
spirits  and  happy  at  Sherborne. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

30^  September  1892. 

...  I  actually  drove  into  Durham.  I  had  a  complica 
tion  of  engagements  and  I  shrank  from  the  walking  to  and 
from  the  station,  etc. 


x  DURHAM  165 

TO    HIS    YOUNGEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2ist  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1892. 

My  dear  Basil — I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  your  work 
goes  on  so  happily.  I  should  like  to  go  to  Professor  Mar 
shall's  lectures. 

Remembering  the  south-west  spire  and  the  inserted  porch, 
I  will  send  for  the  picture  of  the  West  Front  these  words  : 

Love  crowns  a  broken  purpose  with  the  grace 

Of  loyal  duty ; 
And  finds  in  fault  acknowledged  a  new  place 

For  strength  and  beauty. 

Ever  your  most  affectionate  father,          B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  West  Front  spoken  of  in  the  above  letter  is  that 
of  Peterborough  Cathedral.  My  father  loved  to  gaze 
on  it,  especially  in  the  sunset  glow.  He  greatly 
admired  the  south-west  spire,  which  is  far  superior  to 
the  north-west  one.  It  is,  I  believe,  the  work  of  a  later 
architect,  who,  loyally  following  out  the  designs  of  a 
predecessor,  crowned  the  work  with  a  spire  of  exquisite 
grace.  He  would  often  point  out  how  the  porch  in 
serted  at  a  later  date  into  the  central  arch  of  the  grand 
portico  as  a  supporting  wedge,  really  gave  new  beauty 
as  well  as  strength  to  the  Front. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

SOUTH  SHIELDS,  lyh  November  1892. 

...  I  have  just  been  looking  at  the  Schools  under  in 
spection.  The  children  are  of  the  poorest :  bare  feet  and 
rags,  with  sad  sickness-stamped  faces  in  many  cases.  It  is 
hard,  very  hard,  to  look  to  their  future.  Would  it  have  been 
better  for  them  not  to  have  been  ?  Yet  that  cannot  be. 
We  can  and  must  hope  still.  ,  .  , 


166          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  zgth  November  1892. 
I  was   really  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 


work.  A  graduate  .  .  .  translated  yvovs  a?rb  TOU 
eSa>/»?o-aTo  TO  Trrw/wi,1  "  he  purchased  the  sepulchre  from  the 
centurion."  It  is  hard  to  trace  the  connexion  in  letters  or 
thought.  There  certainly  is  a  wonderful  disregard  of  grammar 
in  these  latter  days. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

November  1892. 

Since  I  am  called  upon  to  impose  a  burden,  I  dare  not 
shrink  from  laying  it  on  him  who  will,  I  believe,  by  God's 
help,  bear  it  best  ;  and  in  doing  this  I  think  that  I  follow  the 
guidance  of  the  Spirit.  God  grant  that  you  too  may  see  your 
own  duty  plainly  !  To  His  counsel  and  love  I  commit  you. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  December  1892. 

May  God  bless  the  sacrifice  which  you  have  made  !  The 
decision  is,  I  believe,  for  the  good  of  our  whole  work. 
Nothing  shall  be  said  of  the  change  till  you  announce  it.  I 
will  enclose  a  few  words  for  your  people.  Just  now  I  cannot 
write  more. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  "  few  words  " 
enclosed  :  — 

My  dear  Friends  —  You  know  well  what  deep  interest 
I  have  taken  in  the  work  which  -  has  most  happily 
done  among  you.  I  feel,  therefore,  that  I  ought  to  tell 
you  myself  that  I  have  felt  it  my  duty,  having  regard 
to  the  wellbeing  of  our  diocese,  to  place  on  him  a 
heavy  burden,  in  bearing  which  he  will  have,  I  am  sure,  your 
sympathy  and  prayers.  .  .  . 

1  When  he  learned  it  of  the  centurion,  he  granted  the  corpse, 


x  DURHAM  167 

I  need  not  tell  you  how  great  is  the  sacrifice  which  he 
makes.  But  he  has  himself  learnt,  and  he  has  taught  you, 
that  it  is  by  willing  and  glad  sacrifice  that  we  show  our  life. 
You  then  in  giving  him  to  others  share  in  the  joy  of  wider 
service,  and  know  that  you  contribute,  as  I  believe,  to  the 
good  of  our  Church.  .  .  . 

May  God  in  His  great  love  make  your  loss  a  gain  to  you  ! 
— Believe  me  to  be  your  faithful  Father  in  God, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  Innocents'  Day,  1892. 

Every  good  wish  from  all  our  household  to  all  yours. 
How  thoughts  press  in  the  "  changes  of  life "  !  To  stand 
survivor ! 

...  It  would  be  a  very  serious  thing  if  the  Archbishop 
were  to  decorate  men  of  the  older  Universities  who  can  seek 
from  their  own  University  whatever  degrees  their  work  fairly 
claims.  I  have  never  been  able  to  assent  to  the  degree  of 
D.D.  honoris  causa  apart  from  special  work.  If  Dr.  Hort 
joined  in  the  request  I  will  heartily  support  it. 

I  shrink  from  testimonials  and  memorials,  except  such  as 
are  purely  personal.  A  portrait  is  almost  the  only  thing 
that  I  care  for.  There  ought  to  be  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Hort 
at  Rugby.  .  .  . 

I  am  trying  to  prepare  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Cathedral 
— a  very  hard  task.  There  has  not  been — so  I  find  to  my 
amazement — a  regular  Visitation  since  1725.  What  a  wonder 
ful  power  of  life  there  is  in  great  societies  !  .  .  . 

To  THE  REV.  C.  H.  PRIOR  AND  FAMILY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i2th  January  1893. 

i.  My  dear  Charlie — I  must  endeavour  to  write  six  letters 
on  a  sheet ;  which  even  my  daily  experiences  in  efforts  for 
brevity  leaves  difficult.  At  least  I  must  begin  by  thanking 
you  for  the  very  beautiful  night  clock.  I  feel  as  if  I  should 


1 68          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

hope  to  wake  (at  least  at  first)  a  dozen  times  in  the  dark  to 
read  its  message ;  but  then 

2.  My  dear   Daisy — You  will   warn  me  of  the  perils  of 
curiosity,  and  bid  me  take  all  things  quietly,  and  if  need  be 
wait  to   be  called.      Still,  even   years    don't  take  away  the 
desire  to  do  all  one  can,  and  my  skating  was  quite  heroic  (in 
its  way) ;  yet 

3.  My  dear  little  Daisy — I  am  not  sure  that  I  should  be 
as  nimble  at  Blindman's  Buff  as  I  used  to  be,  or  at  Turn  the 
Trencher,  when  your  mother  and  uncles  and  aunts  thought 
it  excellent  fun  to  call  "Shoe-strings"  every  moment,  and 
laugh   at  my  struggles  to  catch    the   ill -spun  plate ;  but  at 
least 

4.  My  dear  Herman — You  will  think  that  it  is  very  bold 
of  me  not  to  be  afraid  to  tumble  on  the  ice,  even  when  Mep, 
who  was  my  constant  companion,  ran  across  me  and  jumped 
up  with  ill-timed  attention  ;  for  you  know 

5.  My  dear  Foss — That  old  men  can't  be  wound  up  like 
trains,  and  I  almost  think  that   they  like  to  sit  quietly  over 
their  desk  better  than  have  dinner-parties  ;  and  now 

6.  My  dear  Lallie — You  must  have  the  last  line,  which 
shall  be  thanks  and  love  and  kisses  to  all,  that  you  shall  give 
for  me. — Ever  your  affectionate  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  2Oth  January  1893. 

My  dear  Archdeacon — It  seems  best  to  send  the  enclosed 
to  you.  I  have  told  Mr.  Macmillan  (i)  that  I  do  not  know 
whether  anything  fuller  is  designed ;  (2)  that  you  know  more 
than  any  one  of  the  Bishop's  Durham  life ;  and  (3)  that  Mr. 
R.  Burn  knows  perhaps  most  of  his  active  Cambridge  life. 
He  withdrew  from  University  business  in  a  great  degree  after 
I  returned — most  characteristically,  I  think,  to  leave  me  a  free 
field. — Ever  yours,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


x  DURHAM  169 

To  MRS.  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i$th  Febniary  1893. 

Your  most  precious  present  has  just  reached  me.  Apart 
from  the  general  reasons  which  make  the  books  a  most 
welcome  treasure,  each  one  has  a  peculiar  value.  The  Greek 
Testament,  because  it  is  a  Greek  Testament,  and  has  been 
used.  I  have  also  one  which  belonged  to  Dr.  Tregelles. 
The  Primasius,  because  it  belonged  to  Bleek,  and  seems  to 
have  been  used  by  him  in  preparing  his  edition  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  is  a  very  familiar  work.  The 
Rupert  of  Deutz,  because  Rupert  attracted  me  more  perhaps 
than  any  mediaeval  writer,  and  I  remember  talking  in  old 
days  of  writing  a  lecture  on  him.  I  must  then  feel  very 
grateful  to  Professor  Ryle  for  interpreting  your  most  kind 
wish  most  perfectly. 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $th  March  1893. 

My  dear  Archdeacon — Wherever  you  are  absent  you  will 
be  sorely  missed :  wherever  you  are  present  your  help  will  be 
valued.  Having  uttered  this  oracle,  I  must  leave  you  to 
compare  the  claims  of  the  Province  and  the  Diocese.  The 
Prolocutor  writes  to  me  rather  sadly  as  to  the  prospects  of  the 
Sustentation  scheme. 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

YORK,  gtk  March  1893. 

The  great  event  in  the  family,  the  carrying  on  of  the  name 
to  a  new  generation,  requires  me  also  to  send  you  all  con 
gratulations  and  good  wishes.  It  is  a  strange  and  happy 
coincidence  that  the  fresh  link  should  be  added  at  Madras, 
and  the  names  which  you  have  chosen  bind  the  past  to  the 
present.1  May  the  grandson  have  the  joy  of  good  service 
when  his  time  for  work  comes  ! 

1  The  birth  of  George  Foss  Westcott,  who  was  named  after  the  eldest 
son  of  his  great-great-great-grandfather,  Foss  Westcott.  The  child  was 
baptized  in  the  same  church,  St.  Mary's  in  Fort  St.  George,  in  which 
Foss  Westcott  was  first  married  and  his  eldest  son  christened. 


170          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT      CHAP,  x 

I  have  come  here  for  a  meeting  of  Convocation.  The 
main  work,  I  imagine,  is  the  Church  Patronage  Bill,  and 
perhaps  the  Distress  of  the  Clergy,  which  in  agricultural 
dioceses  is  very  serious.  .  .  . 

The  Indian  letters  are  a  weekly  delight  to  us.  G.  and 
F.  seem  to  be  happy  and  doing  a  good  work,  and  laying  the 
foundations  for  the  work  to  come.  At  least  they  know  what 
the  difficulties  are. 

As  yet  there  is  no  light  on  the  Tinnevelly  Bishopric.  .  .  . 
But  I  am  still  an  optimist.  Your  work  seems  to  be  full  of 
hope.  Love  to  the  little  one,  however  you  may  be  able  to 
convey  it,  and  to  his  mother. 


To  HIS  WIFE 

GATESHEAD,  21  st  March  1893. 

.  .  .  The  Confirmation  was  perfectly  ordered  and  most 
reverent.  There  were  about  150  candidates.  What  pleased 
me  most  perhaps  was  a  line  of  bright,  dirty  little  children  and 
mothers  with  babies  sitting  on  each  side  of  the  path  to  the 
church  on  the  raised  kerb.  They  looked  as  happy  as  could 
be,  and  replied  to  my  few  questions  most  merrily.  There  is 
a  good  deal  of  unlooked-for  power  ot  getting  pleasure  in  the 
world. 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i8M  April  1893. 

I  left  my  blue  rug  in  Cosin's  Library  this  afternoon. 
What  such  a  portent  of  forgetfulness  can  mean  I  dare  not 
ask ;  but  will  you  kindly  shelter  the  neglected  comforter  till 
I  can  claim  it.  Fortunately  I  have  another. 


CHAPTER    XI 

DURHAM   (continued) 
1893-1897 

THE  year  1893  will  be  memorable  in  Church  History 
for  the  determined  attack  made  upon  the  Church  ot 
England  by  means  of  the  Welsh  Church  Suspensory 
Bill.  In  opposition  to  this  measure  the  Bishop  made 
several  speeches  and  wrote  sundry  letters.  His  own 
very  decided  view  was  that  the  nation  must  have  its 
spiritual  organ,  and  his  great  speech  made  at  the 
Church's  demonstration  in  the  Albert  Hall  was  ex 
pressive  of  that  belief.  A  few  days  previous  to  the 
Albert  Hall  meeting  he  had  addressed  a  vast  con 
course  at  Sunderland  and  had  been  cheered  to  the 
echo,  but  such  a  crisis  as  that  which  then  threatened 
demanded  of  him  service  beyond  his  own  Diocese, 
so  that  he  ventured  to  speak  in  a  building  wherein 
in  younger  days  he  would  have  been  totally  inaudible. 
The  effort  was  most  exhausting  and  only  partially  suc 
cessful,  but  even  so  he  "  made  a  profound  impression 
on  his  hearers,  who  cheered  again  and  again  whilst  his 
lordship  was  speaking."  No  doubt  oratorically  the 
feature  of  the  meeting  was  the  speech  of  the  Duke  of 
Argyll,  who,  being  a  Presbyterian,  stood  on  an  Anglican 

171 


i/2          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

platform  and  "  won  the  heartfelt  sympathy  of  the  ten 
thousand  listeners  when,  in  a  manly  apologia,  he  ad 
mitted  the  mistake  which  was  made  in  disestablishing 
the  Church  of  Ireland."  However,  it  was  generally 
admitted  that  the  Bishop  of  Durham's  speech  was  the 
one  that  really  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  His 
subject,  as  already  indicated,  was  "  The  Idea  of  a 
Spiritual  Organ  of  the  Nation."  In  the  course  of  his 
speech  he  said: — 

The  English  nation  has  had  from  the  first  a  spiritual  organ 
in  the  National  Church.  It  has  proved  on  the  largest  scale 
the  truth  of  that  noble  line  of  Spenser — 

For  soule  is  forme,  and  doth  the  bodie  make. 

Shall  we  then  disown  that  which  is  the  peculiar  glory  of  our 
inheritance?  Shall  we  mutilate  the  body  of  our  common 
life  ?  Shall  we  cast  away  for  ever  that  which  openly  proclaims 
that  the  life  of  the  nation  is  Divine  ?  Is  such  a  change,  is 
such  a  sacrifice,  in  view  of  the  general  direction  of  human 
growth,  an  advance  or  a  fall  ?  Is  it  a  generous  reaching  forth 
to  a  nobler  ideal  or  a  disastrous  national  retrogression  ?  And 
why  is  the  sacrifice  to  be  made  ?  It  is  said  that  the  National 
Church  has  failed  as  a  spiritual  organ  of  the  nation.  Has  it 
failed  more  than  any  other  organ  through  which  the  nation 
exerts  its  vital  forces  ?  The  confession  of  the  national  faith 
through  the  National  Church  may  be  imperfect,  but  it  is  in 
creasingly  powerful  as  a  witness  and  rich  in  promise  for  the 
future.  The  National  Church,  I  say,  is  powerful  as  a  witness. 
It  witnesses  that  religion  is  not  an  accident  of  human  nature, 
but  an  essential  element  in  every  true  human  body.  It  brings 
all  the  great  crises  of  national  life  into  direct  connexion  with 
the  unseen  and  the  eternal ;  and  this  continual,  unforced, 
natural  exhibition  of  the  sacred  destiny  of  things  exercises 
silently  a  subtle,  penetrating  influence  far  and  wide.  It  is 
different  in  kind  from  the  acknowledgment  of  the  spiritual  by 
an  assembly  of  individual  citizens.  The  fulness  of  the  truth 
may  not  yet  be  apprehended,  but  the  idea  is  with  us ;  and, 


xi  DURHAM  173 

for  statesmen,  ideas  are  the  support  of  resolute  patience,  and 
for  the  people  they  guard  political  enterprise  from  the  irony 
of  selfishness.  At  the  same  time  the  National  Church  is,  as 
I  said,  rich  in  promise.  It  is  progressive,  because  it  is  living. 
It  has  proved  from  age  to  age  that  it  can  embody  the  spirit 
of  the  people.  It  has  taken  up  and  interpreted  new  thoughts 
according  to  the  proportion  of  the  faith  at  the  Reformation, 
at  the  Caroline  reaction,  at  the  Evangelical  revival,  at  the 
Oxford  movement,  and  now,  again,  amidst  the  social  aspira 
tions  of  the  present  day.  The  National  Church  is  no  exotic. 
It  is  not  the  representative  of  a  particular  school,  or  a  small 
group  of  men.  Guarding  treasures  new  and  old,  it  assures  to 
its  members  a  healthy  freedom.  It  is  in  constant  touch  with 
every  class  of  society,  and  draws  from  the  contact  sober 
wisdom.  It  cannot,  as  long  as  it  is  national,  become,  like 
the  Roman  Church  in  France,  a  power  antagonistic  to  the 
State.  It  is  sustained  and  stimulated  by  the  sense  of  a  uni 
versal  obligation — an  obligation  to  bring  all  the  beneficent 
activities  of  the  faith  to  the  poorest  as  their  birthright,  and 
to  offer  the  solaces  of  religion  to  those  who  need  them,  and 
not  only  to  those  who  seek  them.  We  have,  then,  in  Eng 
land  (to  say  all  briefly)  that  which  gives  unique  completeness 
to  our  national  life,  a  truly  National  Church;  a  Church  which 
has  shaped  popular  aspirations  and  welcomed  popular  in 
fluences  ;  a  Church  which  has  again  and  again  proved  its 
power  to  assimilate  new  truths  and  to  awaken  dormant 
forces;  a  Church  which  in  great  crises  has  been  able  to 
reconcile  order  with  progress ;  a  Church  which  has  used  in 
the  past,  and  with  quickened  energy  is  striving  to  use  better 
now,  for  the  good  of  the  whole  people,  its  great  possessions 
and  great  place,  and  to  bring  together  all  classes  in  the  unity 
of  one  life,  and  to  offer,  in  all  its  freedom  and  grace,  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor.  Shall  we,  then — this  is  the  question 
proposed  to  this  vast  and  representative  gathering — shall  we 
take  the  first  step,  I  do  not  say  to  destroy  the  English  Church 
— that  is  impossible ! — but  to  deprive  the  English  nation  of 
its  spiritual  organ  ?  "  By  nothing,"  it  has  been  said  most 
truly,  "  is  England  so  glorious  as  by  her  poetry  " — glorious, 
that  is,  by  the  "  noble  and  profound  application  of  ideas  to 


174         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

life."  The  National  Church  is,  I  believe,  the  most  con 
spicuous  sign  and  the  richest  source  of  this  characteristic 
glory,  for  it  maintains  through  every  failure  the  application 
of  the  divinest  idea  to  every  fragment  of  a  people's  life. 

On  1st  August  1893  the  Bishop  preached  a  sermon1 
in  Newcastle  Cathedral  before  the  British  Medical  As 
sociation.  The  sermon  was  entitled  "  The  Manifold 
Revelation  of  Truth."  Another  specially  interesting 
sermon 2  of  this  year  was  that  which  he  preached  before 
the  Church  Congress  at  Birmingham.  On  this  latter 
occasion  he  spoke  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  Philip's  Church, 
which  stirred  in  him  the  memory  of  his  baptism.  The 
Bishop's  text  was  Ephes.  ii.  19,  and  his  subject 
"  Citizenship,  Human  and  Divine."  In  the  course  of 
his  sermon  he  said  : 

Such  thoughts  are  natural  to  me  here  and  to-day,  when  I 
recall  how  England  and  Birmingham  have  grown  since  I  was 
christened  in  this  church.  Every  great  building  which  re 
presents  the  social  life  of  the  city — a  city,  alas !  still  without 
a  cathedral — schools,  libraries,  art  galleries,  halls,  council- 
chambers,  courts  of  justice,  have  arisen  since  then.  Taken 
together  this  splendid  array  of  municipal  institutions  is  an 
impressive  witness  to  the  fulness  of  life.  Each  one  ought  to 
be,  each  one  may  be,  a  sanctuary  in  which  fellow-citizens  of 
the  saints  meet  to  prepare  for  their  work  and  to  fulfil  it. 
Each  one — whatever  occasions  may  seem  to  have  been  lost 
— is  still  a  sign  and  a  call  to  men  who  are  citizens  of  heaven 
and  earth. 

The  Bishop  was  obliged  to  leave  Birmingham  in 
haste  and  proceed  to  Stockton,  to  be  present  at  the 
opening  of  the  Ropner  Park  by  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of 

1  Published  in  his  The  Incarnation  and  Common  Life. 
2  Published  in  his  Christian  Aspects  of  L,tfe. 


XI 


DURHAM  175 


York.     In  a  speech  delivered  there  after  the  luncheon 
he  said  : — 

The  chief  magistrate  of  this  ancient  Corporation,  which 
was  in  old  times  so  closely  connected  with  the  Bishops  of 
Durham,  has  made  a  noble  provision  for  his  own  people,  and 
has  handed  down,  as  we  trust,  his  name  as  an  example  to 
those  who  will  come  after  him ;  and  the  head  of  our  Royal 
house  in  the  third  generation  has  been  graciously  pleased  to 
share  in  the  joy  of  the  town,  and,  by  sharing  in  it,  to  increase 
it  a  hundredfold.  I  say  that  such  munificence  and  such 
sympathy  must  greatly  help  and  encourage  all  those  who, 
like  the  ministers  of  Christ,  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
service  of  the  people. 

In  December  1893  my  father  attended  a  Conference 
at  St.  Paul's  on  "  Commercial  Morality."  I  mention  this 
fact  not  because  it  was  the  only,  or  even  the  most  im 
portant,  conference  that  he  attended  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  but  because  in  connexion  with  this  meeting 
he  has  noted  in  his  text-book  that  he  conversed  with 
some  one  unnamed  on  the  matter  of  "  laughter "  and 
"  the  clown."  Many  a  time  have  I  heard  him  remark 
that  he  could  not  fit  the  clown  into  his  scheme  of  the 
universe,  and  have  often  wondered  whether  the  very 
funniest  of  funny  men  could,  if  allowed  a  chance,  have 
induced  him  to  smile.  Never  during  the  whole  course 
of  his  life,  I  suppose,  had  he  any  leisure  or  inclination 
for  amusement,  and  he  deeply  lamented  what  he  con 
sidered  to  be  the  overdoing  of  amusements  in  these 
latter  days. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1893  my  father  wrote  a 
Prefatory  Note  to  the  late  Professor  Hort's  Hulsean 
Lectures  entitled  The  Way,  the  Truth,  the  Life  ;  and  one 
also  to  the  brief  Memoir  of  the  late  Bishop  Lightfoot, 
which  was  reprinted  from  the  Quarterly  Review.  The 


1 76          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

following  two  letters  to  Mrs.  Hort  are  concerned  with 
this  labour  of  love,  and  the  former  of  them  mentions 
the  window  in  Great  St.  Mary's  Church  in  Cambridge, 
in  which  my  father's  features  are  depicted  in  the  re 
presentation  of  St.  Thomas,  Bishop  Lightfoot  as  St. 
Matthew  being  on  his  right  and  Professor  Hort  as  St. 
James  on  his  left.  It  may  here  be  remarked  that 
Bishop  Lightfoot  portrayed  my  father  to  illustrate 
Benedict  Biscop  in  a  window  of  the  Chapel  at 
Auckland. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  28th  September  1893. 

The  very  beautiful  photographs l  reached  us  safely  yester 
day,  but  I  delayed  my  thanks  till  to-day  in  the  hope  that  I 
might  be  able  to  send  the  little  Prefatory  Note  for  your  con 
sideration.  This  I  am  able  to  do.  You  will  feel  how  hard 
it  was  to  write  anything :  how  very  hard  not  to  write  too 
much  or  too  little.  I  have  tried  to  say  just  the  few  things 
which  general  readers  ought  to  know  and  no  more.  You 
cannot  feel  as  strongly  as  I  do  how  utterly  inadequate  the 
words  are. 

The  treatment  of  the  figures  in  the  windows  is  very  strik 
ing,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  and  Mrs.  Westcott  is  greatly 
pleased  with  all.  Till  I  covered  up  Dean  Stanley's  beard  I 
could  not  recognise  him.  The  idealisation  of  Dr.  Arnold  is 
very  fine,  and  it  was  an  impressive  thought  to  make  him  the 
young  man  of  the  whole  group.  The  look  of  Dr.  Lightfoot 
is  also  most  beautifully  rendered.  How  solemn  to  stand  in 
the  company  of  the  unseen  ! 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2ist  November  1893. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Hort — It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  receive 
the  long-expected  volume.  Its  appearance  is  most  attractive. 
The  colour  is  a  relief  from  our  habitual  brown  livery,  and  the 
whole  form  of  the  book  seems  to  be  worthy.  Thank  you 

1  The  photographs  of  the  window.  Dean  Stanley's  features  serve  for 
St.  Matthias,  Professor  Maurice's  for  St.  Simon,  and  Dr.  Arnold's  for  St. 
Jude. 


xi  DURHAM  177 

for  connecting  this  copy  with  happy  memories  of  the  past. 
Almost  at  the  same  time  I  was  called  upon  to  write  a  few 
lines  in  introduction  to  a  reprint  of  the  article  on  Dr.  Light- 
foot  from  the  Quarterly.  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  one  ever 
had  such  friends  as  have  been  given  to  me,  and  I  feel  them 
to  be  my  friends  still. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

An  interesting  event  of  this  year  was  the  Bishop's 
Visitation  of  the  Cathedral.  He  approached  this  enter 
prise  in  the  regular  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  was 
much  surprised,  as  he  commenced  his  arrangements,  to 
discover  that  the  Cathedral  body  had  apparently  not 
been  visited  since  the  days  of  Bishop  Cosin  (1660- 
1674),  his  amazement  being  but  slightly  mitigated  by 
a  subsequent  discovery  of  a  Visitation  in  1725.  These 
discoveries,  however,  did  not  deter  him  from  performing 
what  he  considered  to  be  an  obvious  duty,  and  the 
Visitation  was  held  accordingly. 

My  father  was  a  frequent  advocate  of  the  cause  of 
the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  both  on 
public  platforms  and  otherwise,  but  he  was,  of  course, 
temperate  in  his  speeches  on  this  subject,  and  would 
not  condemn  the  moderate  use  of  pure  beer.  In  fact, 
his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  pure  beer  involved  him  in  a 
correspondence  which  was  published  in  the  newspapers 
in  the  latter  part  of  1893,  and  his  picture,  together 
with  some  of  the  following  words  spoken  by  him,  was 
utilised  for  the  adornment  of  the  advertisement  of  a 
brewer  of  pure  beer  : — 

My  idea  is  that  they  might  have  a  public-house  in  which 
good  beers  alone  would  be  sold.  ...  If  they  were  to  estab 
lish  what  I  would  call  a  temperance  public-house,  it  should 
be  limited  to  the  sale  of  good  beer  together  with  non-intoxi 
cants.  I  would  rigidly  exclude  wine  and  spirits. 

VOL.  II  N 


1 78          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  Bishop  proceeded  to  define  pure  beer  as  "  the 
product  of  barley  malt  and  hops  only,  no  chemical  or 
other  injurious  substitute  for  malt  being  used." 

The  Bishop  was  himself  a  teetotaller  because  of 
the  present  necessity,  and  although  he  sometimes  with 
seeming  seriousness  professed  to  be  much  drawn  towards 
beer,  I  never  saw  him  taste  any  of  the  seductive  fluid. 

My  father's  last  visit  to  the  Continent  was  paid  in 
1894.  He  then  went  to  the  south  of  France,  having 
his  youngest  son  for  a  companion.  The  following 
letters  to  his  wife  narrate  some  of  their  experiences : — 

AVIGNON,  nth  April  1894. 

.  .  .  Avignon  is,  I  think,  the  most  impressive  city  I  have 
ever  seen.  There  is  scarcely  any  trace  of  the  industries  of 
to-day.  All  except  one  straight  street  to  a  modern  Place 
and  the  Place  itself  is  of  the  Middle  Ages,  or  at  least  of  the 
old  world.  Even  our  hotel  has  an  old  tower  included  in  it, 
with  some  illustrious  shield  carved  on  its  walls.  There  is, 
too,  a  most  beautiful  public  garden  on  the  edge  of  a  cliff  over 
the  Rhone  which  commands  a  view  of  the  city  and  the  country 
round.  The  view  is  magnificent,  with  walls  of  distant  moun 
tains  on  all  sides,  and  in  front,  opposite  to  the  Castle  of  the 
Popes,  the  Castle  of  the  King.  After  breakfast  we  started  to 
see  the  Cathedral  and  the  Papal  Palace.  The  Palace  is  a 
barrack  for  1500  soldiers.  They  sleep  in  what  was  once 
Chapel  and  Council -Chamber.  The  sight  of  the  military 
arrangements  was  not  the  least  interesting  part  of  the  visit. 
The  Cathedral  has  a  good  bit  of  Roman  work  built  into  it. 
After  an  early  lunch,  we  went  to  see  the  King's  Castle  across 
the  river,  in  which  is  a  wonderful  little  Byzantine  chapel, 
utterly  unlike  anything  Western,  just  as  if  it  had  come  from 
Greece.  We  then  visited  the  fragment  of  the  great  twelfth - 
century  bridge,  which  has  on  it  another  chapel  of  great  in 
terest.  Then  we  went  to  the  public  gardens  for  another 
survey  of  the  place,  and  I  was  filled  to  the  brim  with  sight 
seeing.  This  morning  we  start  for  the  Pont  du  Card  and 


xi  *  DURHAM  179 

Nismes  and  go  on  to  Aries ;  to-morrow  night  we  intend  to 
return  here. 

ARLES,  nth  April,  10  P.M. 

We  have  accomplished  our  day  far  more  easily  than  I  ex 
pected.  We  had  a  splendid  time  at  the  Pont  du  Gard.  I 
could  not  but  think  that  perhaps  every  block  had  cost  the 
life  of  a  captive  Gaul.  It  was  laid  assuredly  in  men.  We 
saw  Nismes  also  very  well.  The  old  amphitheatre  was  being 
arranged  for  a  bull-fight  next  Sunday.  The  ages  meet. 


ARLES,  \2th  April  1894. 

Having  seen  Avignon,  Nismes,  and  Aries,  we  have  changed 
— or  rather  I  have  changed — our  plans,  and  we  propose  to  go 
to  Paris  and  on  to-night  so  as  to  reach  London  on  Friday 
evening  instead  of  Saturday.  Three  days'  sight-seeing  is  as 
much  as  I  can  accomplish.  It  is  most  exciting  work,  and  I 
have  accumulated  more  experiences  than  ever  before,  I  think, 
in  so  short  a  time :  Rome,  early  Christianity,  and  the  Middle 
Ages  have  in  some  way  lived  before  us.  Still,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  be  quiet  (?)  at  home  again.  We  have  seen  no  paper, 
heard  no  news,  and  had  no  letter  since  we  left,  but  we  hope 
to  find  a  letter  at  Avignon  before  we  start.  .  .  . 

P.L.M.R.,  itfh  April. 

We  have  nearly  accomplished  our  journey  to  Paris,  so  that 
we  are  almost  in  sight  of  home.  We  (i.e.  Basil)  chose  the  second 
train  for  our  journey.  When  it  reached  Avignon,  it  appeared 
that  it  was  quite  full.  We  (i.e.  I)  went  all  along  the  carriages 
and  found  no  place.  ...  At  last  I  saw  a  carriage  in  which 
there  were  only  three  people,  one  reposing  at  length,  and  I 
boldly  entered ;  Basil  lingered,  but  I  bade  him  mount,  and 
all  proved  well.  .  .  .  The  journey  was  fairly  comfortable. 
A  wash  and  coffee  restored  us,  and  I  had  provided  a  bottle 
of  milk  for  my  own  satisfaction.  B.  will  have  none  of  it. 

This  shall  be  posted  at  Paris.  We  had  no  letter  before 
we  left  last  night,  but  I  asked  the  landlord  to  forward  it. 


i8o 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 


Subsequently,  in  a  letter  to  his  youngest  son,  he 
recalls  the  memories  of  this  brief  excursion  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  27 'th  May  1894. 

I  often  think  of  the  basement  of  the  Roman  wall  at  Aries  : 
that  and  the  Pont  du  Gard  impressed  me  most  of  all  the  special 
things  we  saw.  All  the  spirit  of  Rome  was  in  them.  Per 
haps  the  spirit  of  Faith  was  in  the  cloisters  of  St.  Trophimus, 


PONT  DU  GARD. 
From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop  Westcott. 

or  even  more  in  the  West  front,  and  in  one  or  two  of  the 
sarcophagus'  (I  cannot  write  a  plural);  the  spirit  of  war  in 
Avignon  ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  world  in  the  Amphitheatre. 
Patience,  sympathy,  co-operation  as  yet  were  not.  I  never 
learnt  so  much  in  three  days. 

In  May  1894  a  Missionary  Conference  of  the 
Anglican  Communion  was  held  in  London.  My 
father  preached  the  inaugural  sermon  of  this  Con 
ference  in  St.  Paul's.  He  also  presided  at  some  of 
the  meetings,  which  were  held  in  St.  James's  Hall. 
The  following  letter  to  his  wife  tells  of  these  events  : — 


XI 


DURHAM  181 


LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  29* 'k  May  1894. 

A.  told  me  this  morning  that  he  had  written  to  you  about 
the  service.1  I  think  that  he  enjoyed  it,  and  I  was  very  glad 
that  he  was  able  to  be  there.  It  was  a  strange  experience. 
I  am  glad,  on  the  whole,  to  have  had  it,  but  I  certainly  don't 
want  to  have  it  again.  It  was  rather  like  a  great  party. 
After  the  service  was  over  I  saw  Bishop  Smyth.  He  said, 
"  Do  you  remember  Miss  Saunders  ?  She  is  waiting  to  speak 
to  you."  And  to  my  amazement  by  Miss  Heaton's  side  Aggie  2 
was  standing.  She  had  come  home  unexpectedly  :  for  health's 
sake,  I  think.  I  contrived  to  get  to  the  meeting  this  morn 
ing.  Of  course,  the  first  person  whom  I  saw  was  Precentor 
Venables.  But  I  saw  many  other  old  friends.  The  second 
person  I  saw  was  Canon  Young.  He  spoke  kindly.  The 
last  person  I  saw  was  Miss  Patteson.  Then  in  the  midway 
I  saw  Bishop  Hicks.  He  seemed  to  be  very  well.  He  said 
that  he  tried  to  catch  Basil.3  Then  the  Bishop  of  North 
Dakota  and  other  Americans.  .  .  . 

Will  you  send  me  the  pair  of  black  cloth  gloves  which  is 
in  my  right-hand  top  drawer  (I  think) ;  or,  failing  this,  a  right- 
hand  glove,  of  which  you  will  find  several  on  the  hall  table. 
At  present  I  feel  inadequately  clothed  with  one  glove.  The 
other  was  sacrificed  to  St.  Paul's. 

On  1 7th  June  the  Bishop  was  at  Cambridge,  where 
he  preached  a  sermon  before  the  University,  and  spoke 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge  on  the  following  evening.  He  thus  de 
scribes  his  Cambridge  visit  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  : — 

1  I  happened  to  be  home  from  India  on  furlough  at  this  time,  and  was 
engaged  to  take  a  modest  part  in  this  Conference,  so  my  father  invited  me 
to  be  his  chaplain  on  this  occasion.     Similarly,  in  the  following  year,  when 
he  preached  the  annual  sermon  before  the  Church  Missionary  Society  at 
St.  Bride's,  he  invited  another  missionary  son,  George,  to  be  his  chaplain. 
Both  sermons  are  published  in  his  Christian  Aspects  of  Life. 

2  Miss  Agnes  Saunders,  daughter  of  the  late  Dean  Saunders,  engaged 
in  mission  work  in  Natal. 

3  His  youngest  son,  for  work  in  Bloemfontein  Diocese. 


1 82          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

CAMBRIDGE,  iSthfune  1894. 

Well,  my  Sunday  is  over.  It  was  a  very  hard  day,  but 
full  of  interest.  It  was  more  pleasant  to  see  old  faces  and 
old  places  than  I  had  expected  it  would  be.  Every  one  was 
very  cordial.  .  .  .  After  the  sermon  I  walked  with  the  V.C. 
(and  the  Bedells)  to  King's  Lodge.  Then  I  went  to  Chapel 
(in  surplice  and  M.A.  hood,  to  claim  my  membership),  and 
sat  in  my  old  stall  next  to  Canon  Churton,  and  looked  again 
upon  the  Angel  of  the  Baptism.  The  music  seemed  to  me 
interminable  and  unintelligible.  Really,  one  must  try  to  think 
what  Church  music  means.  I  could  not  fit  this  in  anywhere ; 
but  then  I  was  tired. 

After  service  I  went  to  the  Lodge  to  tea,  and  invited 
myself  to  Hall  to-night.  The  Provost  took  me  over  the  new 
buildings.  In  one  most  beautiful  set  of  rooms  I  found  to 
my  surprise  the  author  of  Dodo}-  I  returned  home  by  the 
Backs,  rested  a  little,  and  then  C.2  and  I  went  (by  invitation) 
to  Hall  at  Trinity.  The  Master  was  most  kind.  I  met  a 
good  many  old  friends ;  and  after  leaving  the  Combination 
Room  we  saw  all  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  Lodge.  .  .  . 
The  Lodge  was  never  in  such  order. 

This  morning  I  am  keeping  in  to  write  letters.  I  go  to 
lunch  with  the  Master  of  Clare  in  order  to  prepare  for  the 
meeting ;  then  to  tea  with  Basil ; 3  then,  as  I  said,  with  C.  to 
Hall  at  King's. 

In  December  of  the  same  year  he  was  again  in 
Cambridge,  whither  he  had  gone  to  deliver  his  Pre 
sidential  Address  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Chris 
tian  Social  Union.  At  the  opening  of  the  address  he 
said  : — 

It  is  impossible  for  me  not  to  express  my  thankfulness 
that  I  am  allowed  now,  at  the  close  of  life,  to  welcome  here, 
in  Cambridge,  the  representatives  of  a  great  and  vigorous 

1  Known  to  my  father  as  the  son  of  Archbishop  Benson. 

2  His  son-in-law,  Charles  H.  Prior,  Tutor  of  Pembroke. 

3  His  youngest  son,  an  undergraduate  of  Trinity. 


xi  DURHAM  183 

society  of  the  young,  which  embodies  the  desire  of  my  under 
graduate  days  fifty  years  ago,  that  we  who  believe  should 
seriously  endeavour  to  make  our  Christian  Faith  the  direct 
rule  of  our  whole  life — of  our  social  and  civic  and  national 
life — keeping  our  ideal  steadily  in  view  while  we  face  the 
perplexing  details  of  conduct. 

In  July  of  this  year  the  Bishop  had  addressed  some 
thousand  members  of  a  great  and  vigorous  society  of 
the  still  younger,  called  the  Dicky  Bird  Society.  It 
was  at  Newcastle  that  he  spoke  to  these.  He  said  : — 

My  dear  Children — for  it  is  to  you  I  must  speak  now — it 
would  be  quite  impossible  to  put  into  words  the  one-hundredth 
part  of  the  thoughts  that  are  naturally  stirred  in  one  by  the 
sight  of  such  a  gathering  as  this ;  for  Uncle  Toby,  with  the 
most  perfect  wisdom,  has  strictly  limited  me  to  five  or  six 
minutes,  and  therefore  I  will  only  offer  to  you  three  thoughts 
— first,  one  which  you  have  learned  long  ago ;  one  which  I 
hope  you  are  practising  now ;  and  one  which  I  trust  you  will 
fulfil  in  future  time.  You  have  all  learned  at  home  one 
lesson — a  lesson  which  is  for  all  life.  I  mean,  that  we  can 
all  understand  man  and  bird  and  beast  by  loving.  It  is  true 
that  not  only  "he  prayeth  best,"  but  he  knoweth  best  "who 
loveth  best  all  things  both  great  and  small."  And  is  it  not 
true  that  when  you  have  watched  tenderly,  patiently,  rever 
ently  anything  that  falls  under  your  notice,  you  have  found  in 
it  something  to  marvel  at  ?  And  wonder  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom.  That  is  our  first  thought — we  learn  by  loving. 
And  then  our  own  lives  grow  richer  as  we  love  more.  Our 
Father  has  committed  to  our  care  the  world  which  He  has 
made,  and  every  insect,  every  leaf  has  a  message  to  us  from 
Him.  And  we  can  understand  what  each  says.  We  can 
read  it  with  the  eyes  of  our  heart  if  we  will.  And  yet  is  it 
not  true  that  many  children,  and  many  men,  go  about  in  this 
most  wonderful  world  as  if  they  were  blind  and  deaf  outcasts 
for  whom  the  sky  has  no  glory  and  the  air  has  no  music, 
because  they  have  no  love  and  are  poor  in  the  midst  of 
boundless  wealth?  Do  you  ask  what  the  birds  say — what 


1 84          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

do  the  sparrow,  the  dove,  the  linnet,  the  thrush  say?  "I 
love;  I  love."  The  cruel  must  always  be  solitary.  Some 
one  asked  long  ago  in  Rome,  "  Who  is  with  the  Emperor  ?  " 
and  the  answer  was  "  Not  even  a  fly  ";  for  he  amused  himself 
by  killing  them.  How  very  different  from  the  Uncle  Toby 
from  whom  your  Uncle  Toby  is  named.  "  Go,  poor  fly,"  he 
said  to  the  insect  that  teased  him — "get  thee  gone.  Why 
should  I  hurt  thee !  The  world  is  surely  wide  enough  for 
both  thee  and  me."  You  remember  that  you  have  promised, 
members  of  the  Dicky  Bird  Society,  that  you  will  be  kind  to 
all  living  things.  Will  you  think  it  very  strange  if  I  ask  you 
to  reckon  flowers  among  living  things  ?  I  never  see  a  hand 
ful  of  golden  buttercups  or  purple  spikes  of  foxgloves  thrown 
upon  the  road  to  be  trodden  under  foot  without  being  very 
deeply  grieved.  Every  petal  is  a  miracle  of  beauty  and  ought 
to  be  lingered  over  very  lovingly.  There  may  be  a  dull, 
coarse,  selfish  man — 

A  primrose  by  a  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  is  to  him, 
And  it  is  nothing  more — 

but  for  the  kindly  soul,  which  can  recognise  its  Father's 
works,  "  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  can  give  thoughts  that 
do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears."  That  is  our  second  thought. 
Our  whole  lives  grow  richer  as  we  love  more.  And  here  is 
the  third  thought — that  love  grows  stronger ;  that  the  gentle, 
kindly  love  of  children  will,  if  it  is  duly  cherished,  grow  in 
time  to  the  strong,  courageous  love  of  men  and  women.  No 
true  member  of  the  Dicky  Bird  Society,  when  grown  up,  will 
ever  take  share  in  cruel  sports  or  will  ever  use  ornaments 
which  mean  the  destruction,  the  death  of  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  God's  creatures.  My  dear  children,  lay  this  to 
your  heart,  and  resolve  now,  here,  together  in  this  grand 
assembly,  that  you  will  never  "blend  with  pleasure  or  with 
pride  the  sorrow  of  the  meanest  thing  that  feels."  We  learn 
by  loving ;  we  grow  richer  as  we  love  more.  Love  grows  by 
use ;  and,  my  young  friends,  when  the  time  comes  for  you, 
by  your  conduct,  to  shape  custom,  dare  great  things  through 
love  and  for  the  sake  of  love. 


xi  DURHAM  185 

One  of  the  chief  events  of  1894  as  concerning  my 
father  was  his  attendance  and  speech  at  the  Northum 
berland  miners  annual  Gala  at  Blyth.  This  will  be 
described  on  another  page.  My  father  notes  in  his 
text-book  that  it  was  a  "  thoughtful,  impressive  gather 
ing."  In  the  same  book  he  notes  the  birth  of  a  new 
granddaughter  in  the  Castle,  and  her  christening  by 
himself  in  the  Castle  Chapel  on  All  Saints'  Day.  Other 
items  of  domestic  interest  are  chronicled  there,  one  of 
which  tempts  me  to  say  a  word.  On  Christmas  Day 
he  enters  :  "  Evening  reading  :  Andersen  :  Goblin 
Market."  The  meaning  of  this  is  that  after  we  had,  in 
family  conclave  assembled,  exchanged  Christmas  gifts, 
receiving  them  with  appropriate  words  from  my  father's 
hands,  he  read  to  us,  according  to  ancient  custom,  a 
fairy  tale.  This  was  always  a  great  treat,  reserved 
exclusively  for  Christmas  Day.  Some  of  these  tales 
so  read  have  left  a  lasting  remembrance.  I  can  hear 
him  now  reading  of  the  dog  with  "eyes  as  big  as 
saucers,"  every  tone  of  his  voice  adding  to  the  marvels 
of  the  story.  But  the  dog  with  eyes  as  big  as  saucers 
was,  I  remember,  eclipsed  by  one  "  with  eyes  as  big  as 
towers,"  after  mention  of  whom  an  impressive  pause 
was  made  that  we  might  summon  up  the  vision  of  this 
awesome  animal. 

The  Bishop  took  the  greatest  pleasure  in  sharing 
the  moving  associations  of  his  official  residence,  and 
especially  the  Chapel,  with  as  many  as  he  could  receive. 
It  would  be  a  long  task  to  chronicle  all  such  gatherings, 
but  one  of  the  most  interesting  was  held  in  July  1894, 
when  the  Bishop  entertained  at  Auckland  Castle  the 
members  of  the  University  Extension  Committee  of 
the  Seaton  Delaval  Colliery.  These  Northumberland 
miners  were  particularly  keen  in  the  matter  of  in- 


186 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 


tellectual    pursuits,    and    had    on    previous    occasions 
availed    themselves    of   the    counsel    of  their    learned 


WINDOW  IN  AUCKLAND  CASTLE. 
From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop  Westcott. 

neighbour,  who  had  once  by  their  invitation  addressed 
their  University  Extension  class.  This,  therefore,  was 
their  return  visit.  The  Bishop's  son  met  the  party  at 


XI 


DURHAM  187 


the  station,  and  on  their  arrival  at  the  Castle  the  Bishop 
greeted  each  one,  and  showed  them  the  interesting 
features  of  the  house.  After  luncheon  the  Bishop  took 
his  guests  round  the  garden,  pointing  out  his  favourite 
views,  and  his  collection  of  Alpine  and  other  plants, 
which  were  a  special  feature  of  the  garden.  The  after 
noon  was  enlivened  by  the  music  of  the  Pelton  Fell 
Colliery  Band,  who  had  come  over  to  express  their 
general  goodwill  towards  the  Bishop,  and  to  "  show  him 
that  there  was  a  Brass  Band  at  Pelton  Fell."  The 
Bishop  subsequently  conducted  both  parties  of  his  guests 
round  the  Chapel,  and  gave  them  tea  in  the  big  drawing- 
room.  After  tea  the  Bishop  held  a  short  service  in  the 
Chapel,  and  gave  his  blessing  to  his  guests.  The  Seaton 
Delaval  miners,  feeling  that  a  mere  verbal  expression 
of  their  thanks  was  inadequate,  sent  the  Bishop  an 
illuminated  address  of  gratitude  handsomely  framed, 
which  for  want  of  wall  space  was  placed  on  a  chair  in 
the  Bishop's  study,  and  so  situated,  faced  the  Bishop 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

On  1 2th  January  1895  my  father  notes  in  his  text 
book  :  "  Full  term  of  years  completed.  %«pt9  roS  #eo3." 
On  the  same  day  he  wrote  to  his  youngest  daughter, 
Mrs.  Prior,  in  the  matter  of  his  birthday  cake,  which  she 
purposed  to  adorn  with  the  number  of  candles  appro 
priate  to  his  age. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i2tk  January  1895. 

...  Ah  !  the  seventy  candles !  The  only  way  to  deal 
with  them  which  occurs  to  me  is  to  abolish  the  cake :  which 
could  not  find  room  for  them.  The  necessity  is  a  parable. 

It  is  strange  to  feel  that  the  working  time  that  comes  now 
is  a  clear  gift  over  and  above  the  allotted  span.  In  some 
ways  I  feel  as  strong  as  ever. 

So,  his  years   notwithstanding,  he  entered  on  the 


1 88          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

duties  of  the  new  year  with  wonderful  vigour,  and  per 
formed  numerous  diocesan  engagements,  not  the  least 
important  of  which  was  the  opening  of  the  Lightfoot 
Memorial  Chapter -house  at  Durham.  Having  been 
installed  in  the  Episcopal  chair  therein,  he  said  : — 

This  seat  shows  most  plainly  what  is  the  relation  of  the 
Bishop  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter.  It  shows  most  plainly 
that  the  Dean  and  Chapter  are  the  appointed  Council  of  the 
Bishop.  It  shows  most  plainly  that  the  Mother  Church  of 
the  Diocese  is  the  centre  of  all  diocesan  work.  Friends,  if 
that  great  truth  had  been  recognised  during  the  last  four 
centuries,  we  should  have  been  spared,  I  believe,  many  of 
those  unhappy  divisions  by  which  we  are  at  present  distressed. 
If  that  great  truth  can  be  embodied  actively  while  there  is 
still  opportunity,  I  believe  that  we  shall  be  enabled  to  over 
come  many  of  the  difficulties  which  we  can  foresee  in  the 
near  future.  Here  we  have  the  members  of  the  foundation 
once  gathered  together  in  their  full  numbers — the  signs  of 
corporate  life  which  is  enriched  by  all  difference  of  opinion 
and  which  is  strong  enough  to  overcome  all  individualism. 
Here  we  have  a  solid  basis  for  wise  and  effective  government 
and  administration.  Here  we  have  the  promise  of  a  unity 
necessarily  far  more  abiding  than  any  unity  which  can  be 
created  by  the  commanding  influence  of  any  single  man. 
Thoughts,  my  friends,  crowd  upon  thoughts  when  we  look 
forward  to  the  future.  May  those  who  come  after  me,  and 
who  occupy  this  place,  be  able  to  fulfil  the  hopes  which  are 
natural  to-day !  And  may  I  say  that  I  believe  the  fabric  itself 
is  fitted  to  sustain  such  hopes.  A  Bishop  of  Durham  can 
never  come  to  this  Cathedral  or  Chapter-house  without  reading 
afresh  in  the  most  impressive  form  the  spiritual  lessons — may 
I  say  inspiring  principles  ? — of  his  office.  His  Throne  in 
the  Cathedral  was  built  by  one  of  his  predecessors  over  the 
tomb  in  which  he  now  lies.  His  seat  in  the  Chapter-house 
is  a  loyal  tribute  paid  in  honour  of  a  life  of  service.  In  the 
one  place  the  most  solemn  thought  of  a  certain  Divine  judg 
ment  deepens  the  sense  of  a  responsibility ;  in  the  other  place 
the  thought  of  human  sympathy  kindles  an  enthusiasm  for 


xi  DURHAM  189 

labour.  And  for  those  for  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  hallows 
that  sense  of  responsibility — that  passion  for  labour — all 
things  are  possible.  Therefore,  I  venture  to  say  that  our 
hopes  are  as  laudable  as  our  aims,  and  I  trust  in  my  heart 
God  will  fulfil  them  to  our  children. 

The  Bishop  was  also  able  to  perform  several  extra- 
diocesan  services,  including  a  speech  at  a  great  Temper 
ance  demonstration  in  Newcastle,  where  he  appeared 
on  the  same  platform  with  the  present  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  One  of  his  many  missionary  sermons 
also  was  preached  in  the  earlier  part  of  1895,  being 
the  annual  sermon  before  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  St.  Bride's  Church.  Concerning  this  he 
wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  30^/2  April  1895. 

.  .  .  After  tea  George  and  I  went  together  to  St.  Bride's. 
I  had  him  as  Chaplain,  which  appeared  to  be  seemly.  It  was 
a  most  impressive  gathering.  Every  one  seemed  to  take  part. 
I  was  told  that  I  might  preach  an  hour,  but  I  was  merciful 
and  contented  myself  with  seven  minutes  less.  I  saw  a  good 
many  friends  after :  Sir  J.  Kennaway,  Mr.  R.  Lang,  Mr.  W. 
Hough,  Mr.  G.  Gedge,  and  Mr.  Knight. 

One  brief  quotation  only  from  this  sermon  must 
suffice.  The  words  express  his  convictions  as  re 
gards  missionary  work  compressed  into  the  smallest 
compass  : — 

Foreign  Missions,  St.  Paul  teaches  us,  are  an  open  witness 
to  the  will  of  God  for  the  world.  Foreign  Missions  proclaim 
a  living  Saviour  and  King  of  all  men.  Foreign  Missions 
vindicate  for  the  Church  the  energy  of  a  Divine  life.  Foreign 
Missions,  in  a  word,  express  a  great  hope,  kindle  a  sovereign 
love,  feed  an  unconquerable  faith ;  and  we,  too  often  de 
pressed,  chilled,  disheartened  by  the  cares  of  the  passing 
day,  require  the  inspiration  which  they  bring  for  the  blessing 
of  our  lives. 


190          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England  held  their 
Annual  Show  at  Darlington  in  1895,  and  the  Bishop 
was  invited  to  preach  at  the  service  held  in  the  Show- 
yard  on  Sunday,  23rd  June.  The  service  was  intended 
solely  for  those  connected  with  the  Show,  and  the 
Bishop  was  given  to  understand  that  his  congregation 
would  be  chiefly  composed  of  farm -servants,  grooms, 
stockmen,  shepherds,  and  the  like  ;  and  so  indeed  it 
was,  and  a  more  interesting  congregation  than  some 
eight  hundred  of  such  he  can  seldom  have  addressed. 
The  Bishop  spoke  to  them  on  "  The  Fellowship  of 
Work,"  introducing  his  subject  with  these  words  : — 

My  dear  friends,  when  a  great "  assembly  like  this  is 
gathered  together,  of  men  who  meet  for  an  hour  or  so  in 
public  worship,  and  then,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  will  never 
meet  again  face  to  face  till  we  stand  before  the  Judgment 
Seat  of  God,  it  is  necessary  that  he  who  speaks  shoukbchoose 
some  subject  which  equally  touches  all — some  subject  which 
enters  into  the  common  business  of  our  daily  life — some 
subject  which  calls  into  play  all  the  forces  of  our  Christian 
faith.  It  is  necessary  that  he  should  use  words  which  are 
most  certain,  which  are  of  the  widest  meaning,  and  which 
every  one  who  hears  can  prove  for  himself.  Of  such  a  subject 
I  wish  to  speak.  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  fellowship  of  work, 
in  which  we  are  all  united,  and  I  would  ask  you  all  for  your 
selves  to  try  my  words,  and  see  if  your  hearts  do  not  assure 
you  that  they  are  true. 

But  this  continuous  strain  taxed  his  strength  ex 
ceedingly,  and  a  local  paper,  speaking  of  a  speech  which 
he  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Candlish  Memorial 
Hall  at  Seaham  Harbour  in  June  1895,  said  : — 

The  right  rev.  gentleman  displayed  remarkable  energy 
while  delivering  his  speech,  but  towards  its  close  he  had  to 
rest  against  the  wall.  His  Lordship  has  for  about  half-a- 
dozen  years  done  an  amazing  amount  of  what  may  be  called 


xi  DURHAM  191 

extra-prelatic  work,  and  considering  his   advanced  age    his 
effort  last  Saturday  was  really  wonderful. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  Bishop's 
health  should  have  failed  as  it  did  when  he  went  for 
his  summer  holiday  to  Spennithorne,  in  Wensleydale. 
There  he  suffered  much  pain,  and  was  unable  to  sleep  at 
nights,  making  little  progress  with  his  Ephesians, 
which  was  still  his  chief  holiday  work.  The  local 
medical  man,  however,  inspired  him  with  confidence, 
and  he  describes  him  in  his  text-book  as  a  "  wise, 
quiet,  thoughtful  man  of  a  former  age." 

The  following  entry  in  his  text-book  is  interest 
ing  :  — 


August.  —  A  weary  day.     Barabbas  wild  and  utterly 
unhistorical.     Think  of  Pilate  and  Caiaphas. 

I  forbear  comment. 

Under  the  wise  and  thoughtful  doctor's  care  the 
Bishop  made  some  progress,  and  was  able  to  enjoy  the 
last  few  days  of  his  holiday  and  enter  on  his  work 
again. 

On  his  return  to  Bishop  Auckland  he  invited 
the  members  of  the  North  of  England  Primitive 
Methodist  Preachers'  Association  to  visit  the  Castle. 
"  Addressing  the  members  in  the  Chapel,  the  Bishop 
expressed  the  pleasure  he  felt  in  meeting  them  in  a 
place  so  full  of  the  records  of  the  Christian  heroism  of 
their  common  ancestors.  In  such  circumstances  they 
were  made  to  feel  that  they  were  in  very  deed  one 
family.  But  their  thoughts  were  carried  a  little  further, 
for  they  could  not  help  feeling  a  desire  for  more  of 
that  outward  unity  without  which  they  could  never 
make  a  true  impression  upon  the  world.  It  was  not  for 


1 92  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

him  to  say  how  this  unity  would  be  brought  about, 
but  there  were  two  things  about  which  he  felt  quite 
sure.  The  first  was  that  it  was  not  God's  will 
that  they  should  for  ever  continue  to  be  divided  as 
they  were  unhappily  at  the  present,  for  though  in  His 
infinite  wisdom  God  might  bring  blessing  out  of  their 
divisions,  yet  it  was  not  such  a  state  of  things  as  would 
convince  the  world.  The  second  point  was  that  it  was 
quite  clear  that  no  scheme  of  man,  no  scheme  of  man's 
wisdom,  would  ever  bring  back  their  lost  blessing. 
This  would  be  the  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  as  they 
unweariedly  prayed  to  Him  to  fulfil  His  will.  Mean 
while,  he  could  say  at  least  this  much,  that  the  end 
would  be  brought  about  sooner  as  they  strove  to  under 
stand  each  other  better,  and  as  they  endeavoured  not 
only  to  speak  but  to  live  the  truth  in  love.  His  hope 
was  that  these  feelings  might  be  encouraged  by  their 
meeting  in  that  unique  chapel.  His  Lordship  then 
called  upon  the  Rev.  R.  Fen  wick  to  read  the  first 
sixteen  verses  of  4th  Ephesians,  and,  after  a  period  of 
silent  prayer,  the  Bishop  pronounced  the  benediction. 
The  company  were  next  entertained  to  tea  by  Mrs. 
Westcott ;  and  the  Rev.  R.  Fenwick  having  expressed 
the  acknowledgments  of  the  company  for  their  re 
ception,  an  adjournment  was  made  to  the  lawn,  where 
a  photograph  was  taken  of  those  assembled." 

My  father's  health  was  sufficiently  restored  to  enable 
him  to  preside  over  the  Diocesan  Conference  at  Stock 
ton  in  the  following  October.  A  Report  of  the  Con 
ference  says  that  he  "  opened  the  proceedings  by  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  suggestive  addresses  he  has  ever 
delivered  since  he  came  to  Durham." 

In  November  the  Bishop  fulfilled  several  engage 
ments  in  London.  One  of  these  was  the  delivery  of 


xi  DURHAM  193 

a  sermon  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church  Army  at 
St.  Mary  at  Hill,  Eastcheap,  on  "  The  Deserving  Un 
employed  and  how  to  help  them."  In  the  course  of 
this  address  he  said  : — 

The  problem  of  the  unemployed  in  the  next  genera 
tion  is  pressed  on  our  serious  study ;  but  the  problem 
which  is  before  us  now  is  humbler  and  simpler,  and  yet 
vast  enough  to  perplex  the  most  sagacious.  A  fortnight 
ago  I  had  the  privilege  of  discussing  a  fragment  of  the 
question  in  a  conference  between  men  representative  of 
capital  and  labour,  and  nothing  came  out  more  clearly  than 
the  necessity  of  determining  a  definite  policy  before  the  time 
of  action  has  come.  We  must  consider  our  aim,  and  the 
course  which  we  intend  to  follow,  and  the  grounds  of  our 
confidence  while  there  is  opportunity  for  calm  reflection. 
So  it  is  also  with  regard  to  the  distress  by  which  we  are 
always  encompassed.  We  must  have  a  policy  and  know  the 
ground  of  the  hope  with  which  it  inspires  us,  and  while  we 
must  deal  with  men  individually,  we  must  remember  we 
cannot  deal  with  them  rightly  if  we  deal  with  them  as  if 
they  were  alone.  We  are  severally  members  of  a  body. 
As  to  deserving  unemployed  and  how  to  help  them,  I 
assume  that  it  is  our  duty  and  our  desire  to  help  them ; 
but  help  is  of  many  kinds.  There  is  material  help,  moral 
help,  and  spiritual  help,  and  all  three  forms  of  help  are 
necessary.  The  Church  Army  offers  all  in  wise  and  effec 
tive  harmony.  It  has  a  policy  which  is  wise  and  effective. 
The  material  help  is  so  administered  as  to  develop  self- 
respect,  to  discipline  and  encourage  the  feeble  and  the 
broken-hearted.  The  moral  help  is  supplied  by  the  natural 
intercourse  of  an  ordered  family,  to  which  the  destitute  and 
the  wanderer  are  introduced.  The  spiritual  help  is  offered 
simply  and  directly  in  every  case ;  for  I  read  joyfully  that 
at  the  free  meals  a  short,  bright  Gospel  service  is  given  to 
revive  hope. 

The  Bishop  also  pointed  out  in  the  course  of  this 
sermon   that  multitudes  •  of  those  who   are   called   the 
VOL.  II  O 


194          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

richer  and  busier  classes  are  in  reality  both  poor  and 
unemployed.  "  Are  not  those  poor  whose  feelings  are 
atrophied  ?  Are  not  those  unemployed  whose  power 
of  devotion  and  service  find  no  exercise  ? "  This 
striking  address  led  The  Spectator  to  discourse  on 
"  the  rich  poor "  and  "  the  busy  unemployed."  It 
penetrated  even  further,  and  led  to  an  invitation 
to  the  Bishop  to  preside  at  a  Demonstration  of 
the  Unemployed  in  Trafalgar  Square.  This  invita 
tion  the  Bishop  declined,  stating  in  his  reply  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Social 
Concord,  from  whom  it  emanated  :  "  I  could  not  offer 
an  opinion  on  your  particular  scheme  without  more 
particular  information.  In  any  case,  I  cannot  but 
think  that  such  a  scheme  could  not  be  profitably  dis 
cussed  at  a  mass  meeting." 

About  the  same  time  the  Bishop  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  North- Eastern 
Daily  Gazette : — 

Sir — It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the  comparative 
failure  of  special  funds  raised  for  the  relief  of  the  unemployed 
in  periods  of  exceptional  distress  under  the  management  of 
committees  formed  at  the  time.  Experience  shows  that  the 
larger  part  of  such  funds  fall  to  those  who  are  chronically 
unemployed  either  from  moral  or  from  physical  incapacity, 
and  not  to  those  who  suffer  from  temporary  causes.  It  appears 
also  that  the  distress  itself  is  sometimes  exaggerated  by  men 
who  habitually  depend  on  the  casual  benevolence  of  others, 
and  so  use  the  opportunity  for  their  own  advantage.  There 
are  even  cases  in  which  the  distribution  of  the  relief  is  made 
to  serve  private  ends.  On  the  other  hand,  special  funds, 
which  under  the  same  circumstances  have  been  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Guardians  of  the  Poor  to  be  distributed 
through  their  own  officers,  have  fulfilled  their  object  admir 
ably  so  far  as  they  have  'reached ;  but  this  method  of 
administering  relief  offends  a  natural  sentiment,  and  is  un- 


xi  DURHAM  195 

popular  with  the  class  which  it  is  desired  to  assist.  It  seemed, 
therefore,  to  some  who  were  familiar  with  the  problems 
of  poor  relief  in  Durham  and  on  the  Tyneside,  that  it  would 
be  desirable,  at  a  time  when  there  is  no  pressure  of  distress, 
to  consider  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to  combine  the 
popularity  of  the  "  public "  fund  with  the  effectiveness  of 
administration  secured  by  the  officers  of  the  poor  law.  With 
this  view  a  Conference  was  held  at  Auckland  on  25th  and 
26th  October,  when,  after  full  discussion,  the  subjoined 
Resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted.  They  furnish  an 
outline  of  procedure  which,  while  it  uses  to  the  full  the 
special  knowledge  of  those  who  are  in  the  largest  sense 
guardians  of  the  poor,  both  in  the  establishment  and  in  the 
distribution  of  the  special  relief  fund,  yet  by  the  method 
of  distribution  sharply  distinguishes  this  relief  from  the  relief 
provided  by  the  Poor  Law,  to  which  the  chronically  unem 
ployed  are  rightly  left.  The  Resolutions  are  published  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  lead  to  a  careful  consideration  of  the 
subject  in  the  district,  so  that  if,  unhappily,  another  period 
of  distress  come  upon  us,  a  general  policy  may  have  been 
adopted  in  the  great  centres  of  population  by  which  it  can 
be  dealt  with  effectively.  Those  gentlemen  to  whose  names 
an  asterisk  is  prefixed  were  unable  to  attend  the  Conference, 
but  expressed  afterwards  their  approval  of  the  Resolutions. — 
Yours  faithfuly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  2yd  November  1895. 


COPY  OF  RESOLUTIONS 

It  was  resolved  : — 

I.  That  where  exceptional  distress   exists,  or  is   said  to 
exist,  it  is  desirable  that  all  efforts  to  relieve  it  should  be 
made  in   concert  with  the   Guardians ;  and  that  any  body 
which  may  already  have  been  formed,  or  may  be  formed,  to 
relieve  it  should  co-operate  with  them. 

II.  That  with  a  view  to  such  co-operation  it  is  desirable 
that   a   permanent    representative    committee    of   men    and 
women  should  be  formed  in  each  Union  on  the  lines  of  the 


196  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

Charity  Organisation  Society,  which  would  be  prepared  to 
deal  with  the  distress. 

III.  That  such  committee  determine,  after  communication 
with  the  Guardians,  when  it  is  desirable  that  an  appeal  for 
funds  should  be  issued. 

IV.  That  while  every  advantage  should  be  taken  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  relieving  officers,  the  actual  distribution  of 
the  funds  should  not  be  in  their  hands,  but  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  paid  agents  of  the  committee. 

V.  That  in  view  of  the   evils  of  overlapping  and  multi 
plication  of  agencies,  it  is  desirable  that  all  administration  of 
relief  should  be  centred  in  such  a  committee ;  and  that  on 
the  one  hand  the  co-operation  of  existing  charities  should 
be  sought,  and  on  the  other  the  institution   of  rival  funds 
should  be  discouraged. 

C.  D.  BAINES.  W.  MOORE  EDE. 

HUGH  BELL.  *J.  HARRISON. 
C.  B.  P.  BOSANQUET.       *A.  HENDERSON. 

*B.  C.  BROWNE.  R.  LAUDER  jun. 
T.  BURT.  R.  ROPNER. 

DAVID  DALE.  WALTER  WILLSON. 

B.  F.  DUNELM.  *J.  WILSON. 

2$th  November  1895. 

Another  of  the  Bishop's  London  engagements  in  this 
November  was  a  Conference  held  in  London  House, 
under  the  presidency  of  Bishop  Temple,  to  discuss 
Temperance  legislation  and  obtain  the  united  views  of 
clerical  representatives  of  the  various  Christian  bodies  in 
England  and  Scotland.  My  father  was  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
Conference  adopted  several  resolutions.  One  was  as 
follows  : — 

(2)  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Conference,  the  following 
reforms  are  ripe  for  legislation  : — (a)  The  more  effective  treat 
ment  of  habitual  inebriates  ;  (t>)  Further  restriction  of  Sunday 


xi  DURHAM  197 

trading  (England) ;  (c)  Registration  of  clubs ;  (d)  Raising  the 
age  under  which  the  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  to  young  persons 
for  their  own  consumption  is  illegal ;  (e)  Determining  an  age 
under  which  the  delivery  of  alcoholic  liquors  to  very  young 
children  shall  be  illegal ;  (/)  Shortening  of  the  hours  during 
which  public-houses  shall  be  open  on  week-days,  subject  to 
discretion  of  the  local  authorities  to  make  exceptions  where 
necessary. 

Towards  the  close  of  November  the  Bishop  visited 
Manchester,  where  he  discoursed  to  the  Christian  Social 
Union  on  "The  Christian  Law,"  it  being  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  Union  "  to  claim  for  the  Christian  Law 
the  ultimate  authority  to  rule  social  practice."  In 
opening  his  address  he  said  : — 

But  what  is  "  the  Christian  Law  "  ?  We  are  often  reminded 
that  Christ  left  no  code  of  Commandments.  It  is  in  Him — 
in  His  Person  and  His  work — the  Law  lies.  He  has  given, 
indeed,  for  our  instruction  some  applications  of  the  negative 
precepts  of  the  Decalogue  to  the  New  Order.  He  has  added 
some  illustrations  of  positive  duties — almsgiving,  prayer,  fasting. 
He  has  set  up  an  ideal  and  a  motive  for  life  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  He  has  endowed  His  Church  with  spiritual  power,  and 
has  promised  that  the  Paraclete,  sent  in  His  Name,  shall  guide  • 
it  into  all  the  Truth. 

The  Christian  Law,  then,  is  the  embodiment  of  the  Truth 
for  action  in  forms  answering  to  the  conditions  of  society  from 
age  to  age.  The  embodiment  takes  place  slowly,  and  it  can 
never  be  complete.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  rest  indolently 
in  the  conclusions  of  the  past.  In  each  generation  the  obliga 
tion  is  laid  on  Christians  to  bring  new  problems  of  conduct 
and  duty  into  the  Divine  light,  and  to  find  their  solution  under 
the  teaching  of  the  Spirit. 

The  unceasing  effort  to  fulfil  the  obligation  establishes  the 
highest  prerogative  of  man,  and  manifests  the  life  of  the 
Church.  From  this  effort  there  can  be  no  release ;  and  the 
effort  itself  becomes  more  difficult  as  human  relations  grow 
fuller,  wider,  more  complex. 


198          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

At  the  time  of  these  annual  public  meetings  of  the 
Christian  Social  Union  meetings  of  the  Union's  Council 
were  usually  held.  I  am  led  to  conclude  from  brief 
remarks  in  my  father's  text-book  that  he  sometimes 
found  these  meetings  somewhat  trying.  The  nature  of 
his  trouble  may  be  inferred  from  information  supplied 
that  "  he  acted  as  a  restraining  influence  upon  those 
who  would  confine  the  Union  practically  to  the  promul 
gation  of  advanced  socialistic  views." 

Concerning  this  visit  to  Manchester  he  writes  to  his 
Canadian  son  : — 

MANCHESTER,  2$tk  November  1895. 

You  see  I  am  in  a  kind  of  strange  land.  We  have  had  a 
public  meeting  of  the  Christian  Social  Union,  of  which  I  am 
President.  I  felt  bound  to  come,  though  it  is,  I  think,  the 
first  meeting  that  I  have  attended  outside  Durham,  except 
in  London.1  It  was  a  very  remarkable  meeting.  The  hall, 
which  holds  about  1500,  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  Canon 
Gore  and  Canon  Scott  Holland  were  the  other  two  speakers 
— Westminster  and  St.  Paul's. 

In  Advent  1895  the  Bishop  received  a  letter  from 
some  of  his  younger  clergy  on  the  subject  of  Foreign 
Service.  In  this  letter  the  following  paragraph  occurs  : — 

Will,  then,  your  Lordship,  we  would  deferentially  ask,  con 
sider  whether  in  any  way  men  can  be  encouraged  to  intimate 
either  unitedly  or  individually,  but  privately,  to  their  Bishop 
that  they  wish  to  be  at  his  free  disposal,  if  occasion  should 
arise,  for  home  or  foreign  service,  at  least  until  further  notice  ? 
Would  your  Lordship  be  willing  to  keep  some  such  confiden 
tial  list  of  names  as  that  we  indicate,  and  from  time  to  time 
definitely  to  invite  your  younger  clergy  to  face  the  question  of 
volunteering  ?  Such  an  offer  might,  we  presume,  be  accom- 

1  He  seems  to  have  reckoned  Newcastle  as  part  of  Gateshead  ;  but  was 
careful  not  to  invade  his  brother  of  Newcastle's  Diocese  without  per 
mission. 


xi  DURHAM  199 

panied  by  any  limitations  as  to  sphere  or  term  of  service  that 
God  may  have  already  made  plain  to  the  offerer ;  indeed,  it 
is  just  to  find  guidance  where  these  fail  that  the  scheme  is 
proposed.  We  say  that  we  cannot  judge  for  ourselves  the 
comparative  needs  of  the  foreign  and  home  policies  of  the 
Church.  We  note  that  it  is  not  expected  of  the  private 
soldier  in  an  earthly  army  to  select  his  own  post  and  his  own' 
manoeuvres.  We  do  not  think  that  it  should  be  always  left 
to  private  soldiers  in  the  Divine  army  of  aggression  to  do  so. 
We  think  that  those  who  stand  on  the  Church's  watch-towers 
may  be  willing  to  organise  and  direct  us  if  they  are  once 
convinced  that  we  are  willing  to  obey  orders  and  thankful  to 
have  them  to  obey. 

The  Bishop  replied  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  Epiphany,  1896. 

My  dear  Sons — It  was  impossible  for  me  to  read  your 
letter  without  the  deepest  emotion  and  thankfulness ;  and 
perhaps  the  feeling  was  stronger  because  I  received  it  on  the 
morrow  of  the  largest  ordination  that  I  have  been  allowed  to 
hold,  in  which  I  seemed  to  have  a  vision  of  the  generation  of 
labourers  who  will  carry  on  the  work  which  I  must  soon  leave. 
Your  letter  rightly  recognises  that  our  ministerial  commission 
is  essentially  world-wide,  even  as  our  Church  is ;  and  that  the 
choice  of  our  place  of  service  ought  to  be  made  in  full  view 
of  the  whole  field.  In  many  cases,  no  doubt,  the  work  which 
has  been  "  afore  prepared  "  for  the  young  minister  is  plainly 
determined  by  circumstances,  which  are  part  of  God's  disci 
pline  for  us,  or  by  some  clear  voice  of  His  Spirit ;  but  in 
many  more  there  are  no  decisive  claims  at  home  or  abroad  to 
guide  his  choice.  Where  this  relative  freedom  exists  you 
think  that  it  is  an  opportunity  for  the  right  use  of  which  you 
may  reasonably  seek  counsel  from  those  who  are  set  over 
you,  without  laying  aside  your  own  personal  responsibility, 
and  this  the  more  because  during  the  first  two  years  of 
your  ministry,  when  new  thoughts  are  revealed,  new  powers 
developed,  new  hopes  kindled,  you  are  brought  into  intimate 
and  filial  relations  with  them.  You  think,  if  I  understand 


200          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

you  rightly,  that  a  Bishop,  from  his  age  and  experience,  is 
likely  to  know  the  needs  of  home  and  foreign  work  far  better 
than  you  can,  and  to  weigh  them  impartially.  You  think 
that  if  you  follow  his  judgment  where  your  own  judgment 
fails  you  will  be  saved  from  the  misgivings  which  attend  the 
fulfilment  of  a  charge  that  has  been  self-sought,  or  taken,  as  it 
were,  by  chance  and  without  conviction.  And,  above  all,  you 
think  that  if  a  Bishop  is  commissioned  to  "  send "  no  less 
than  to  "  ordain  "  ministers  of  Christ,  he  may  look  for  special 
guidance  if  he  undertakes  the  weighty  charge  which  you  pro 
pose  to  lay  upon  him.  Taking  account  of  all  these  things,  I 
dare  not  decline  the  charge  which  you  offer,  however  much  I 
may  shrink  from  it,  believing  most  surely  that,  through  the 
prayers  of  many,  the  grace  which  was  given  me  at  my  conse 
cration  will  help  me  in  my  endeavours  to  fulfil  it.  There  will 
indeed  be  need  of  great  care  in  determining  the  details  of  the 
scheme.  But  these  can  be  left  for  future  consideration.  It 
is  enough  now  to  say  that  I  accept  the  charge  as  a  duty  of  my 
office.  And  I  accept  the  charge  with  better  hope  because  I 
feel  that  your  movement  tends  to  present  missionary  work  as 
the  work  of  the  Church  through  the  spiritual  action  of  its 
appointed  rulers,  without  disturbing  in  the  least  degree  the 
work  of  the  great  Societies.  It  shows  openly  that  the  work 
of  our  Church  at  home  and  abroad  is  one  work — one  work 
throughout  the  world,  one  in  its  conditions,  its  requirements, 
its  qualifications,  its  outward  recognition,  so  that,  by  the 
interchange  of  clergy,  many  stations  in  the  mission  field 
will  become,  so  to  speak,  outlying  parts  of  English  parishes 
— as  we  have  known  at  least  in  one  case  in  Durham — and 
the  living  sense  of  the  Communion  of  Saints  will  be  to  us 
even  in  this  form  a  strength  and  an  inspiration.  Men  united 
by  such  a  purpose  can  hardly  fail  to  deepen  and  spread 
intelligent  interest  in  Foreign  Missions,  and,  without  limiting 
in  any  way  our  wider  obligations,  call  out  in  our  whole  body 
a  worthier  acknowledgment  of  the  primary  debt  which  the 
National  Church  owes  to  our  fellow-citizens  and  fellow-subjects 
in  other  lands.  May  I  go  yet  further  and  say  that  your 
letter  appears  to  me  to  have  a  message  of  hope  wider  than  the 
immediate  subject  of  it.  It  touches  indirectly  the  character 


XI 


DURHAM  201 


of  our  Church  life.  You  speak  of  "  the  independence  which 
is  at  once  the  safeguard  and  the  danger  of  our  English  Clergy." 
At  the  present  time  this  independence,  unless  it  is  chastened, 
threatens  to  destroy  our  corporate  unity.  Authority  is  already 
in  some  cases  held  of  light  account  in  the  presence  of  resolute 
and  impressive  self-assertion,  and  those  to  whom  authority  is 
committed  are  tempted  to  doubt  the  validity  of  their  endow 
ment.  Strong  and  happy  shall  we  be  if,  in  the  spirit  of  your 
letter,  we  all  come  to  recognise  that  the  title  "  Father  in  God  " 
is  not  merely  a  venerable  phrase,  but  the  acknowledgment 
of  a  divine  gift  whereby  the  Church  is  at  once  disciplined 
and  supported  when  dutiful  respect  is  the  instinctive  response 
to  watchful  love. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

On  25th  April  the  Bishop  was  present  at  the  laying 
of  the  foundation-stone  of  the  New  Shire  Hall  in 
Durham.  After  the  happy  accomplishment  of  this 
ceremony,  a  luncheon  followed,  whereat  it  fell  to  the 
Bishop's  lot  to  propose  the  toast  of  the  Durham  County 
Council.  In  the  course  of  his  speech  he  said  : — 

There  are  some  things  which  I  still  desire,  and  you  will 
pardon  me  if  I  take  an  unfair  advantage  of  this  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  the  Council.  I  am  anxious  to  see  two  things 
done  in  this  county.  I  wish  to  see  some  experiments  made 
of  a  labour  colony.  I  have  no  doubt  the  chairman  has  read 
the  remarkable  report  of  Mr.  Hazell,  of  Leicester,  as  to  his 
small  experiment.  If  you  will  consider  that  recital,  I  think 
you  will  feel  that  it  is  worth  your  while  to  see  if  something 
may  not  be  done  in  Durham  to  solve,  it  may  be  only  in  a 
small  degree,  but  in  an  effectual  degree,  the  problem  of  the 
unemployed.  I  have  mentioned  one  of  my  great  desires,  now 
as  to  the  second.  I  have  visited  the  County  Asylum  with 
the  deepest  interest  and  the  greatest  thankfulness.  I  have 
never  seen  an  institution  which  more  completely  deserves  our 
confidence  and  more  admirably  fulfils  its  office.  What  I 
desire  is  some  asylum  for  a  class  of  sufferers  even,  perhaps, 
more  pitiable  than  our  lunatics — our  inebriates.  It  is  a 


202          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

question  which  I  think  ought  to  be  taken  up  by  the  County 
Council.  What  the  Council  has  done  in  the  past  encourages 
me  to  hope  they  will  face  that  problem  too.  I  trust  that 
this  day  will  be  a  fresh  beginning  in  the  Council's  service  to 
the  county.  I  do  trust  that  the  building,  of  which  the  founda 
tion  has  been  so  happily  laid  this  morning,  may  gather  round 
it  associations  worthy  of  its  purpose — that  it  may  be  a  land 
mark  of  our  civil  progress.  And  I  trust  that  the  Shire  Hall 
of  the  county  will  stand  in  time  to  come  by  the  side  of  the 
Cathedral  and  the  Castle,  and  witness  no  less  worthily  to 
the  growth  of  the  public  life  of  Durham  to  those  who  shall 
come  after. 

In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  sons  he  makes  mention  of 
this  ceremony,  and  further  describes  how  he  was  occu 
pied  about  this  time  : — 

AUCKLAND,  yd  Sunday  after  Easter,  1896. 

Yesterday  I  had  an  unusual  and  interesting  function, 
taking  part  in  the  laying  of  the  foundation-stone  of  the  new 
home  of  the  Durham  County  Council.  The  Lord  Lieutenant, 
Lord  Durham,  laid  the  stone,  and  I  said  a  short  prayer  after 
wards,  and  then  there  was  a  great  luncheon  and  speaking. 
This  week  there  are  many  meetings :  one  for  the  Missions  to 
Seamen,  at  which  Miss  VVeston  is  to  speak.  To-morrow  I 
am  hoping  to  go  to  see  the  friends  of  the  men  killed  in  the 
terrible  explosion  at  Willington,  of  which  you  will  have  seen 
some  notice.  It  happened  that  only  a  few  men,  compara 
tively,  were  down  the  pit  at  the  time ;  otherwise  the  loss  of 
life  would  have  been  enormous.  Only  four,  I  think,  were 
saved  out  of  all. 

The  Bishop  had  been  in  London  on  February  1896, 
when,  besides  attending  various  meetings,  he  was  pre 
sent  at  the  opening  of  the  Church  House  by  H.R.H. 
the  Duke  of  York,  and,  with  Bishop  Temple,  was  a 
member  of  a  Deputation  which  waited  upon  Lord 
Salisbury  to  solicit  legislation  on  the  lines  of  the  re- 


xi  DURHAM  203 

solutions  of  the  London  House  Conference  on  Temper 
ance.  He  was  there  again  in  May  involved  in  a  round 
of  conferences,  committees,  and  other  meetings.  The 
effect  of  them  appears  to  have  been  depressing,  for  he 
writes  to  his  wife  :  — 

CHURCH  HOUSE,  WESTMINSTER, 
K)th  May  1896. 

.  .  .  These  meetings  always  make  me  rather  sad.  It  is 
so  difficult  —  through  one's  own  fault  —  to  feel  that  they  are 
Divine  Councils.  They  ought  to  be.  It  is  all  our  fault,  our 
own  fault,  our  own  great  fault  —  yet  it  is.  Then  I  feel  that 
there  is  so  very  much  that  I  don't  know  ;  and  it  is  too  late  to 
learn.  By  this  time  one  is  "there"  and  one  stays  "there." 
Alas! 

The  Bishop  spent  his  summer  holiday  of  1896  at 
Sedbergh.  Here,  on  3Oth  August,  he  preached  at  a 
Flower  Service.  Altogether  this  Flower  Service  was 
rendered  an  "  unique  "  occasion,  for  the  Bishop  preached 
in  the  evening,  his  eldest  son,  Brooke,  in  the  morning, 
and  his  fifth  son,  Foss,  in  the  afternoon.  The  Bishop's 
text  was  "  Consider  the  lilies."  In  the  course  of  his 
sermon  he  said  :  — 

Consider  l  the  lilies  :  learn  the  lesson  2  of  the  lilies.  Study, 
that  is,  diligently  what  Nature  teaches  in  all  that  comes  before 
you,  and  take  the  teaching  into  life.  For  many  obedience  to 
the  command  is  impossible.  For  many,  "  barricadoed  ever 
more  within  the  walls  of  cities,"  no  green  meadows,  or  golden 
corn  -lands,  or  flower  -bordered  lanes,  or  fern  -wreathed  hill 
sides  are  accessible.  They  have  indeed  great  problems  of 
life  pressed  upon  them  in  the  din  and  tumult  of  street  and 
mart.  Of  these,  however,  we  do  not  speak  now.  But  you, 
my  friends,  have  about  you  all  the  varied  wealth  of  the 
country,  and  God  bids  you  consider  it,  learn  its  lesson.  To 
do  so  requires,  as  I  said,  a  continuous  effort.  You  will  be 


aTe,  St.  Luke  xii.  27. 
2  KarafJuideTc,  St.  Matt.  vi.  28. 


204          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

learners  to  your  lives'  end  under  this  discipline  of  loving 
watchfulness.  The  reward  for  a  lesson  mastered  will  be  to 
the  true  scholar  a  new  lesson :  the  reward  of  a  precept,  as  it 
was  said  in  old  times,  is  a  precept.  A  duty  fulfilled  opens 
the  way  to  a  new  duty.  "  Grace  for  grace  "  is  the  beneficent 
law  of  the  Divine  school  in  which  we  are  all  scholars.  To 
him  that  has  used  his  talent  well  more  is  given. 

I  saw  here  a  few  days  ago,  as  many  of  you  must  have  seen 
often,  a  perfect  parable  of  human  life.  I  was  standing  in  sun 
shine  :  a  storm-cloud  hung  over  the  valley.  On  the  cloud 
was  the  rainbow,  the  token  of  the  covenant;  and  on  the 
horizon  the  distant  hills  lay  in  untroubled  light.  From  the 
light  to  the  light — not  from  the  darkness  to  the  darkness — 
that  is  the  figure  of  the  life  of  faith,  though  transitory  shadows 
may  cross  the  way  of  the  believer. 

My  father's  love  of  flowers  and  of  all  the  beauties 
of  Nature  was  very  marked.  When  we  were  children 
he  would  take  us  for  long  walks,  and  be  for  ever  find 
ing  interesting  flowers,  ferns,  and  mosses.  His  ardour 
was  never  chilled,  though  we  were  wont  to  receive  his 
discoveries  with  decided  coldness.  He  would  never  be 
induced  to  believe  that  we  were  unfamiliar  with  the 
Latin  names  with  which  he  greeted  his  flowery  friends. 
At  Peterborough,  I  remember,  he  offered  a  prize  to  the 
boys  of  the  King's  School  for  the  best  collection  of 
wild-flowers. 

At  his  September  Ordination  the  Bishop  ordained 
his  youngest  son  Basil  a  Deacon,  and  a  few  days  later 
bade  him  a  last  farewell  as  he  started  for  India  to  join 
the  Cambridge  Brotherhood  at  Delhi.  He  thus  de 
scribes  his  leaving  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yth  October  1896. 

I  saw  Basil  off  this  morning.  He  went  in  good  spirits, 
and  is  quite  clear  and  happy  as  to  his  future  work.  The  last 


xi  DURHAM  205 

few  weeks  have  been  a  busy  time,  full  of  many  thoughts,  but 
there  is  very  much  to  be  thankful  for;  yet  it  was  strange  to 
feel  when  the  train  passed  out  of  the  station  that  it  is  most 
unlikely,  all  being  well,  that  I  shall  see  him  again. 

In  the  latter  part  of  September  the  feelings  of  the 
country  were  greatly  stirred  by  the  news  of  "Armenian 
Atrocities,"  and  my  father,  who  was  possessed  of  con 
siderable  information  on  the  subject,  addressed  a  large 
meeting  at  Bishop  Auckland,  proposing  a  resolution 
"  urging  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  expedite  such 
measures  as  in  its  judgment  shall  secure  the  permanent 
discontinuance  of  such  barbarities  in  the  future."  He 
also  wrote  the  following  letter  (which  was  read  at  a 
public  meeting  in  Sunderland)  to  one  of  the  clergy  of 
that  town: — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  yoth  September  1896. 

Dear  Mr.  Talbot — I  should  have  deeply  regretted  my 
inability  to  attend  the  meeting  on  Friday  evening  if  I  had  not 
already  spoken  at  some  length  on  the  Armenian  question ;  as 
it  is,  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  what  I  said  here  ten  days  ago. 
I  don't  think  that  more  words  are  necessary  to  deepen  the 
horror  and  indignation  which  all  our  countrymen,  without 
distinction  of  class  or  party  or  creed,  feel  at  the  events  of  the 
last  year.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  we  ought  to  lay  to  heart 
more  seriously  than  we  have  done  the  sad  and  unexpected 
lesson  which  we  have  received  as  to  the  intense  and  general 
suspicion  in  which  our  foreign  policy  is  regarded  on  the  Con 
tinent,  and  to  use  every  effort  to  modify  a  judgment  which  we 
know  to  be  utterly  unjust.  In  this  respect  the  meetings  which 
are  being  held  throughout  the  country  are  likely  to  be  of  per 
manent  service.  They  have  already,  it  is  evident,  produced 
a  sensible  effect  abroad.  The  clear  and  spontaneous  voice 
of  the  whole  nation  will  be  sufficient  to  convince  the  most 
sceptical  of  our  sincerity  and  unselfishness  at  the  present 
time.  When  this  end  is  gained  we  may  be  sure  that  active 
sympathy  with  the  victims  of  Turkish  misrule,  which  has 


206          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

hitherto  been  checked  by  inveterate  distrust  of  us,  will  find 
powerful  expression  in  France  and  Germany  and  Russia. 
Meanwhile,  I  cannot  doubt  that  isolated,  aggressive  action 
on  our  part  would  be  disastrous  to  the  Armenians  and  dis 
astrous  to  Europe.  Our  duty  is  to  show  our  desire  to  fulfil 
our  own  obligations  in  loyal  co-operation  with  all  who  share 
them.  And  for  my  own  part  I  cannot  but  trust  that  the 
present  distress  may  lead  us  to  the  establishment  of  a  cordial 
understanding  with  Russia,  on  which  hangs,  as  far  as  I  can 
judge,  not  only  the  fate  of  Armenia,  but  the  fate  of  Asia. 
We  have,  I  venture  to  think,  adequate  grounds  for  con 
fidence.  Those  who  disparage  the  concert  of  the  Powers 
appear  to  have  forgotten  Crete.  Not  many  weeks  ago  Crete 
seemed  to  offer  a  problem  not  less  full  of  peril  than  Armenia. 
That  problem  has  been  happily  solved  by  the  joint  action  of 
the  Powers.  The  difficulties  in  dealing  with  the  Armenians 
are  no  doubt  greater,  and  for  these  difficulties  I  cannot  but 
hold  the  Armenian  Revolutionary  Committee  largely  respon 
sible  (see  Blue  Book,  pp.  37  H.,  57);  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  every  friend  of  Armenia  is  bound  to  condemn  openly  the 
acts  and  words  of  reckless  conspirators,  which  are  scarcely 
less  detestable  than  the  bloody  reprisals  of  the  Sultan.  At 
the  same  time,  there  is  ample  scope  for  our  prayers  and  for 
our  alms;  and  I  trust  that  the  generous  sympathy  of  the 
meeting  will  take  a  practical  shape  in  the  opening  of  a  county 
relief  fund,  to  which  I  will  give  £2$,  for  the  homeless  and 
destitute  sufferers.  With  the  most  earnest  hopes  that  the 
meeting  by  its  wise  moderation  and  unanimity  will  contribute 
effectively  to  the  cause  of  justice  and  peace,  I  am,  yours 
most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  Rev.  R.  T.  Talbot. 

On  23rd  September  1896  the  Bishop,  in  reopening 
St.  Stephen's  Church  at  South  Shields,  unveiled  a 
memorial  tablet  placed  there  in  honour  of  some  brave 
pilots  of  that  town  and  of  others  who  had  lost  their 
lives  by  the  capsizing  of  the  lifeboat  Providence  some 
years  before.  There  was  a  crowded  congregation,  com- 


xi  DURHAM  207 

posed  largely  of  pilots  and  their  wives,  members  of  the 
volunteer  Life  Brigade,  and  the  Lifeboat  crews,  who 
wore  their  uniforms.  After  unveiling  the  tablet  the 
Bishop  said  : — 

There  is  a  very  old  familiar  saying  that  it  is  men  and  not 
walls  which  make  the  city,  and  its  truth  has  been  confirmed 
by  the  experience  of  all  ages.  And  we  to-day  in  our  own 
happy  country  are,  I  think,  coming  more  and  more  to  feel 
practically  that  our  wealth  lies  in  noble  men  and  women. 
When  we  reckon  up  this  wealth  of  human  lives  we  must  count 
in  our  treasure  not  only  those  who  are  still  labouring  with  us 
in  all  the  toils  and  dangers  of  earthly  life,  but  those  also  who 
have  passed  from  our  side,  who  have  entered  into  their  rest. 
They  also  are  still  with  us,  helping  us  by  the  recollection  of 
what  they  have  done,  and  helping  us  also  by  the  effects  of 
their  deeds,  which  go  on  for  ever  bearing  fruit  whilst  the  world 
lasts.  But  memory  is  fleeting,  and  therefore  it  is  well  that  we 
should  provide  ourselves  with  some  memorials  which  may 
recall  the  past  to  our  side.  It  is  well  that  we  should  com 
memorate  those  who  have  served  their  countrymen  nobly  and 
well,  and  that  we  should  commemorate  them  in  our  churches, 
that  those  whom  God  has  enabled  to  do  great  things  in 
the  past  may  speak  to  us  still  from  the  walls  of  His  house.  I 
can  well  remember  with  what  deep  interest  and  thankfulness, 
on  my  first  visit  to  South  Shields,  I  saw  in  the  chancel  of 
St.  Hilda's,  hanging  from  the  roof,  the  model  of  the  lifeboat. 

The  path  of  the  seafaring  man's  life  is  beset  with  unusual 
hardships  and  perils,  and  the  least  reflection  shows  what  a  debt 
we  owe  to  them.  We  owe  to  them  in  a  large  measure  our 
world-wide  empire,  the  very  means  of  our  subsistence,  the 
necessaries  and  luxuries  of  our  daily  life,  and  I  often  think  we 
do  not  remember  sufficiently  clearly  at  what  a  cost  of  life  these 
services  are  rendered. 

There  is  just  one  incident  in  the  history  of  the  calamity  we 
are  thinking  of  which  especially  touches  me.  I  read  that  a 
week  or  two  after  that  great  sorrow,  when  twenty  men  out  of 


208          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

twenty-four  perished  in  a  moment,  the  same  boat  was  manned 
to  carry  succour  to  a  vessel  in  distress,  and  its  coxswain  was 
one  of  those  four  men  who  had  escaped  from  the  terrible  and 
recent  catastrophe.  Men  of  self-denying  bravery  have  there 
fore  their  reward.  In  this  sense  we  can  say  in  truth  that 
perfect  love  casts  out  fear.  I  trust  this  memorial  will  be  to 
other  pilots  an  encouragement,  and  that  in  some  human  fashion 
it  may  make  the  house  of  God  dearer  to  them. 

The  death  of  Archbishop  Benson  ( 1 1  th  October)  was 
a  painful  shock  to  my  father.  His  deep  sorrow  and 
sense  of  loss  is  reflected  in  many  of  the  letters  which  he 
wrote  in  the  autumn  of  1896.  The  following  letter, 
addressed  to  his  son  Bernard  in  Canada,  in  part  reveals 
his  distress  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2Oth  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1896. 

You  will  have  felt  with  us  much  this  week  in  the  heavy  loss 
which  we  have  suffered.  No  blow  ever  came  so  unexpectedly, 
and  for  me  it  changes  the  whole  future.  No  one  can  take  the 
Archbishop's  place  in  my  life.  I  hardly  know  how  I  can  go 
again  to  Lambeth  with  another  there.  To  lose  the  last  of  the 
close  friends  with  whom  I  began  work  nearly  fifty  years  ago  is 
indeed  terrible,  and  I  was  the  oldest  of  the  four.  Still,  alone 
I  must  endeavour  to  do  what  is  still  given  me  to  do.  It  was 
very  touching  that  the  first  message  of  sympathy  which  I  had 
was  from  Dr.  Vaughan,  who  is  himself  lying  between  life  and 
death. 

Yet;  bereft  of  his  three  life-long  friends,  he  laboured 
on,  never  for  a  moment  permitting  his  private  sorrows  to 
interfere  with  his  public  duties. 

A  few  days  later  he  commenced  his  second  Visita 
tion,  and  in  the  opening  of  the  first  part  of  his  Charge, 
delivered  in  his  Cathedral  Church  at  Durham,  he  thus 
referred  to  the  sad  event : — 


xi  DURHAM  209 

I  have  said  that  a  Visitation  is  necessarily  a  most  solemn 
season ;  and  this  Visitation  comes  at  a  time  when  the  whole 
Anglican  communion  is  bowed  down  by  a  sudden  and  over 
whelming  blow.  Not  many  days  ago,  when  we  looked  for 
ward  to  the  coming  year,  which  must  deeply  affect  the  future 
of  our  Church  at  home  and  abroad,  we  rejoiced  in  the  con 
fident  hope  that  one  who  was  uniquely  fitted  by  natural  gifts 
and  varied  experience  to  vindicate  its  apostolic  authority  and 
bind  in  closer  fellowship  all  its  members,  would  use  nobly  to 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  Christendom  the  great 
opportunities  over  which  he  had  long  meditated.  A  visit  to 
Ireland  had  proved  under  new  conditions  his  power  to  inspire 
the  enthusiasm  of  service  and  to  win  all  hearts  by  gracious 
sympathy  and  self-forgetful  devotion.  The  public  mission 
was  accomplished.  The  words  of  peace  fell  on  his  ears  in 
the  House  of  God,  and,  as  we  humbly  believe,  he  entered 
into  life.  In  a  crisis  of  anxiety  he  bade  us  pray  to  God  that 
he  would  "cleanse  and  defend  His  Church."  In  our  bereave 
ment  let  us  not  doubt  that  the  prayer — we  know  not  how — 
will  find  uninterrupted  fulfilment.  Such  losses,  indeed,  bring 
a  corresponding  gain.  They  give  a  human  reality  to  the 
unseen  world.  Those  on  whom  we  look  no  longer,  are,  in 
some  sense,  felt  to  be  more  continuously  near  than  when  they 
moved  among  us  under  the  conditions  of  earth ;  and  their 
spiritual  presence  supplies  a  living  and  intelligible  form  to 
the  Communion  of  Saints,  through  which  we  enter  on  the 
powers  of  the  eternal  life.  The  lesson  is  for  us  all ;  but  for 
give  me  if,  in  this  stress  of  universal  grief,  I  venture  to  speak 
of  that  which  is  personal,  for  I  need  your  help  more  sorely 
than  ever.  It  was  by  the  counsel  and  with  the  encourage 
ment  of  the  late  Archbishop  that  I  dared  to  come  here. 
During  the  six  years  which  have  passed  since,  that  counsel 
and  encouragement  have  never  failed  me.  Now  he  has 
passed  away,  the  last  of  the  three  friends  with  whom  I  began 
to  work  forty-seven  years  ago,  and  I,  the  eldest  of  the  little 
band,  must  face  alone  whatever  may  still  be  given  me  to  do. 
Once  again,  then,  I  am  constrained  to  repeat  the  request 
which  I  have  made  twice  before,  and  made,  as  I  know,  not 
in  vain,  "Brethren,  pray  for  us." 

VOL.  II  P 


210          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  remaining  portions  of  the  Charge  were  delivered 
at  Sunderland  and  Bishop  Auckland,  the  title  given  by 
him  to  the  complete  Charge  being  "  Some  Conditions 
of  Religious  Life." 

In  November  my  father  spent  a  day  at  Cambridge, 
whither  he  went  to  support  the  movement  for  estab 
lishing  a  Cambridge  House  in  South  London.  He 
thus  describes  his  visit  in  a  letter  to  a  son  : — 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
24//z  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1896. 

On  Tuesday  I  went  to  Cambridge.  The  meeting  about 
the  "  Cambridge  House  "  was  in  the  large  room  of  the  Guild 
hall.  It  was  crowded  from  end  to  end.  I  never  before  saw 
such  'a  meeting  in  Cambridge.  The  men  were  most  enthusi 
astic,  and  I  fully  hope  that  the  work  will  be  accomplished. 
The  Committee — Charlie  was  a  very  active  member — must 
have  worked  hard  to  organise  the  gathering.  I  proposed  the 
main  resolution,  and  Mr.  Balfour  seconded  it.  It  was  very 
good  of  him  to  come.  The  next  morning  I  had  to  go  to 
Sunderland,  where  we  had  a  good  meeting  of  Church  Workers. 
The  journey  and  speaking  were  together  fatiguing.  Yester 
day  we  had  a  large  meeting  of  National  Schoolmasters.  To 
day  I  have  kept  in  all  day,  and  trust  that  the  rest  will  do  me 
good,  for  I  have  to  go  out  to-morrow  and  the  next  day. 

On  ist  December  1896  the  Bishop  presided  over 
the  annnal  public  meeting  of  the  Christian  Social 
Union,  which  was  held  in  the  Colston  Hall  at  Bristol. 
On  his  way  to  Bristol  he  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
his  wife : — 

N.E.R.,  ist  December. 

MY  DIARY 

Reached  Darlington  quite  happily.  Began  letters.  Found 
place  in  an  empty  through  compartment. 

Thirsk. — Have  now  finished  day's  letters,  and  found  the 


xi  DURHAM  2ii 

missing  spectacles — such  is  the  gift  of  peace — and  shall  begin 
to  think  over  papers.     The  sun  is  shining  brightly. 

York. — Have  my  ticket  to  Bristol,  and  two  fellow-travellers 
with  rugs  and  furs,  enough  to  make  me  warm  by  reflection, 
if  I  needed  it ;  but  cape  and  rug  are  most  effectual. 

Chesterfield. — Still  getting  on  well.  About  to  take  egg. 
Hope  that  it  is  the  right  time. 

Derby. — We  have  had  quite  a  long  wait,  but  there  is  no 
excuse  yet  for  tea.  I  have  made  a  hole  in  my  mountain  of 
sandwiches.  Now  we  are  off  for  Birmingham,  I  suppose. 
The  carriage  is  wonderfully  smooth  in  running. 

Birmingham. — We  had  quite  a  long  pause  in  the  Central 
Station,  and  now  I  am  once  more  alone.  I  saw  no  familiar 
sights,  and  we  went  out  by  some  new  line.  Now  we  have 
passed  Bromsgrove,  and  shall  pause  next,  I  suppose,  at 
Worcester. 

Gloucester. — We  did  not  visit  Worcester,  and  now  the 
journey  seems  to  be  drawing  to  an  end.  I  have  just  given 
up  my  ticket,  which  brings  the  fact  home.  The  clouds  came 
over  the  sky  about  midday,  and  there  were  no  glimpses  of  the 
Malvern  Hills.  Now,  too,  it  is  quite  dark,  and  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  see  Stinchcombe.  How  like  a  dream  it  all  seems — 
fifty-five  years  or  more.  How  much  better  the  opportunities 
of  work  might  have  been  used ;  and  how  great  the  transitory 
rewards  have  been.  I  will  read  my  paper  again  and  get  it 
ready. 

Bristol. — I  have  had  tea.  Mr.  Abbot  has  called,  and  I 
am  just  going  to  the  meeting. 

On  this  occasion  Canons  Scott  Holland  and  Gore 
also  addressed  the  meeting,  and  the  three  speeches  were 
published  together.  My  father's  subject  was  "  The 
True  Aims  and  Methods  of  Education."  In  the  course 
of  his  address  he  said  : — 

We  are  at  all  times  unconsciously  educating  others  by  our 
own  example.  Our  standard  of  duty  in  the  discharge  of  business 
and  in  the  use  of  leisure  necessarily  influences  the  desires 
and  the  actions  of  those  who  look  to  us  for  guidance.  The 


212          LIFE  OF   BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

young  are  quick-eyed  critics,  and  the  sight  of  quiet  devotion 
to  work,  of  pleasure  sought  in  common  things — and  all  truly 
precious  things  are  common — will  enforce  beyond  question 
some  great  lessons  of  school.  We  do  not,  as  far  as  I  can 
judge,  rate  highly  enough  our  responsibility  for  the  customary 
practices  of  society.  Not  infrequently  we  neutralise  our 
teaching  through  want  of  imagination  by  failing  to  follow  out 
the  consequences  of  some,  traditional  custom.  We  seem  to 
be  inconsiderate  when  we  are  only  ignorant. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  remark  that  the  right  use  of  leisure 
is  an  object  of  education  not  second — this  is,  you  remember, 
the  judgment  of  Aristotle — even  to  the  right  fulfilment  of 
work.  In  this  respect  an  obligation  is  laid  upon  the  more 
cultured  classes  to  watch  needfully  the  pattern  which  they 
set,  lest  those  who  follow  them  at  a  distance  should  be  cor 
rupted  in  their  amusements. 

The  public  meeting  at  Bristol  was  followed,  as 
usual,  by  the  Council  Meeting,  and  by  a  second  meet 
ing  at  Oxford.  He  thus  relates  the  story  of  his  annual 
excursion  on  the  Union's  behalf  in  letters  to  members 
of  his  family  : — 

BRISTOL,  2nd  December  1896. 

One  line  only.  I  am  just  starting  for  Oxford  very  indif 
ferently  prepared.  We  had  a  long  meeting  this  morning, 
partly  exciting,  but  all  ended  well.  The  meeting  last  even 
ing  was  very  large  and  hearty.  I  was  not  so  tired  as  I 
expected  to  be.  Probably  to-night  will  tire  me  more.  .  .  . 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2nd  Sunday  after  Advent,  1896. 

My  great  expedition  to  Bristol  and  Oxford  passed  off 
better  than  I  could  have  hoped.  On  Tuesday  I  had  an 
eight  hours'  journey  to  Bristol,  and  then  in  the  evening  I 
spoke  to  a  big  meeting  of  2000  or  so  in  the  largest  hall  in 
the  city.  On  Wednesday  there  was  an  early  service  and  a 
Council  Meeting  of  three  hours,  then  a  journey  to  Oxford. 


xi  DURHAM  213 

Again  I  spoke  in  the  evening  to  a  large  meeting  in  Christ 
Church  Hall.  It  was  very  generous  of  the  College  to  let  us 
have  the  meeting  there.  On  Thursday  I  came  home  through 
Birmingham,  and  it  took  me  nearly  twelve  hours.  So  you 
see  I  must  still  have  a  reserve  of  strength,  though  I  generally 
feel  tired. 

On  5th  January  1897  the  Bishop  presided  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Peace  Society  in  Darlington.  He  there 
said  that,  as  slavery  had  been  put  away,  they  might  also 
confidently  look  for  the  suppression  of  war.  Some 
weeks  later  he  was  speaking  on  the  same  subject,  in  a 
sermon  on  War,  preached  in  St.  Thomas'  Church, 
Sunderland.  This  address  "  was  delivered  to  a  large 
congregation  of  men ;  and,  probably  to  the  dismay  of 
the  Bishop,  it  was  repeatedly  applauded.  His  Lord 
ship,  however,  took  no  notice  of  this  innovation." 

On  I  pth  January  the  Bishop  delivered  a  speech  at  a 
conversazione  at  the  Newcastle  Church  Institute.  He 
was  there  by  the  invitation  of  the  Bishop  of  Newcastle, 
who  also  spoke.  The  Bishop  took  the  opportunity  of 
explaining  his  relations  with  Newcastle.  He  said  : — 

A  Bishop  of  Durham  must  feel  when  he  crosses  the  Tyne 
that  he  is  coming  in  some  sense  to  his  old  home.  However 
we  may  regard  the  relations  between  Northumberland  and 
Durham — whether  we  look  upon  Northumberland  as,  through 
Lindisfarne  and  Hexham,  the  mother  of  the  See  of  Durham, 
or  whether  we  look  upon  Durham  as  in  later  years  the 
mother  of  the  See  of  Newcastle — it  is  ever  clear  that  the  rela 
tions  of  the  two  dioceses  are  most  close,  most  affectionate. 

On  22nd  January  the  Bishop  addressed  a  very  large 
congregation  of  men  in  St.  Columba's,  Gateshead, 
taking  for  his  subject  "Fellowship  in  Work."  He  notes 
in  his  text-book  that  this  was  a  "  very  striking  service." 


2i4          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

On  I  5th  February  the  Bishop  addressed  the  follow 
ing  letter  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Church  Reform 
League  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
l$th  February  1897. 

My  dear  Mr.  Fry — I  have  carefully  considered  the  papers 
which  you  have  sent  to  me.  The  main  objects  of  the  C.R.L., 
by  which  I  understand  the  power  of  self-government  in  the 
Church,  subject  to  constitutional  limitations,  the  recognised 
authority  of  the  laity  within  definite  spheres,  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  an  effective  discipline,  can  hardly  fail  to  com 
mend  themselves  to  those  who  desire  to  see  our  Church  life 
developed  in  full  vigour.  At  the  same  time,  the  proposed 
method  of  legislation  is  that  which,  under  present  circum 
stances,  is  alone  likely  to  be  practicable.  But  the  attainment 
of  the  objects  of  the  League  will  require  wise  and  resolute 
patience.  The  reformation  of  Convocation,  and  the  legal 
establishment  of  corresponding  Houses  of  Laymen,  form  the 
first  steps ;  and  we  can  all  feel  the  difficulties  by  which  these 
fundamental  changes  are  beset.  However,  frank  discussion 
of  such  questions  can  only  do  good,  and  it  may  lead  in  due 
time  to  the  formation  of  a  concordant  opinion  among  Church 
men  which  will  make  legislation  both  possible  and  effective. 
For  such  a  result  we  can  gladly  work  and  wait. — Yours  most 
faithfully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

On  3 1st  December  1896  my  father  had  sent  to 
press  the  first  packet  of  papers  for  his  new  book. 
This  book  is  entitled  Christian  Aspects  of  Life,  and 
contains  most  of  the  important  sermons,  speeches,  and 
addresses  delivered  by  him  during  the  years  1893- 
1896,  including  his  second  Visitation  Charge.  The 
book  was  not  published  until  the  year  1897  was  far 
advanced,  but  it  seems  fitting  to  mention  it  here,  be 
cause  it  is  a  memorial  of  the  four  years  with  which  this 
chapter  deals. 


xi  DURHAM  215 

This  volume  is  dedicated  "  To  the  most  dear 
memory  of  Joseph  Barber  Lightfoot,  D.D.,D.C.L.,  LL.D., 
Lord  Bishop  of  Durham  ;  Fenton  John  Anthony  Hort, 
D.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Lady  Margaret's  Professor  of 
Divinity,  Cambridge ;  Edward  White  Benson,  D.D., 
D.C.L.,  Lord  Archbishop  of  Canterbury — whose  friend 
ship  has  been  inspiration  and  strength  throughout  my 
life." 

In  the  preface  he  says  : — 

We  require,  I  cannot  doubt,  to  modify  very  largely  both 
our  ideas  and  our  practice ;  to  study  more  carefully  than  we 
have  ever  done  the  characteristic  endowments  and  history  of  our 
nation  and  of  our  Church  in  relation  to  other  peoples  and  other 
faiths ;  to  calculate  the  moral  effects  of  the  popular  types  and 
aims  of  education ;  to  bring  the  differences  of  our  work  and 
circumstances  under  the  ennobling  influences  of  one  supreme 
fellowship ;  to  cultivate  generally  the  capacity  for  delight  in 
the  common  treasures  of  mankind  and  Nature;  to  strive 
habitually  to  see  God  in  His  works  and  in  His  working.  All 
this  has  been  made  possible  for  us  by  our  faith ;  and  the  pre 
vailing  currents  of  opinion  are  favourable  to  an  effective 
review  of  our  present  position.  There  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  judge  conduct  by  reference  to  the  whole,  and  to  the  eternal; 
to  subordinate  personal  to  social  interests. 

The  book  was  very  warmly  welcomed,  and  from  the 
numerous  notices  of  it  many  remarks  of  interest  might 
be  gathered  ;  but  of  all  that  I  have  read  I  think  that 
the  following  is  almost  the  most  striking  remark,  as 
calling  attention  to  a  very  important  feature  in  my 
father's  method  of  dealing  with  men,  and  solely  for 
that  reason  I  quote  it : — 

"  He  has  found  a  way,"  says  a  reviewer  in  The  Yorkshire 
Post,  "  of  speaking  to  the  heart  of  the  people — to  the  rugged 
nature  of  the  Durham  miner  no  less  than  to  the  trained 
intelligence  and  the  cultivated  mind.  Other  teachers  are  no 


216          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

less  sincere,  and  in  their  way  no  less  outspoken.  Why  is  it, 
then,  that  the  Bishop  of  Durham  moves  men  where  others 
seem  only  to  create  a  passing  interest  ?  We  suspect  that  the 
explanation  may  be  found,  at  least  in  part,  in  one  character 
istic  of  the  Bishop's  words.  He  is  not  content  to  explain 
Christian  duty  and  urge  its  performance :  he  always  suggests 
in  some  subtle  way  his  conviction  that  men  only  want  to  know 
their  duty  to  discharge  it.  He  has  faith  not  only  in  his 
message,  but  in  those  to  whom  he  declares  it.  Such  a  faith 
is  often  infectious.  Men  who  are  trusted  are  put  upon  their 
mettle,  and  the  Bishop's  hearers  feel  the  fascination  of  his 
confidence  in  their  good  intent." 


The  following  are  selected  letters  written  during  the 
years  1893-96  : — 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  May  1893. 

Before  the  day  closes  let  me  offer  you  my  warmest  con 
gratulations  on  the  happy  work  crowned  by  to-day's  Festival. 
Let  me  also  at  the  same  time  thank  you  not  less  warmly  for 
the  courage  and  candour  and  devotion  with  which  you  have 
fulfilled  a  most  difficult  charge.  The  response  which  you  have 
felt  shows  that  the  people  of  the  North  know  how  to  honour 
and  trust  manly  virtues.  May  God  bless  you  and  the  partner 
of  your  service  with  the  fulness  of  the  Lord's  joy  ! 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  May  1893. 

My  dear  Davies — We  are  rejoiced  to  hear  that  you  can 
come.  I  will  write  to  Vaughan,  and  will  you  back  up  my  re 
quest  ?  I  can  get  some  free  time  at  any  dates  within  the 
first  fortnight  of  June.  Controversy  is  always  distressing,  but 
the  Welsh  Liberals  are  grievously  provoking.  The  narrow 
ness  of  their  view  is  humiliating  for  thinking  men. — Ever 
yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


xi  DURHAM  217 

Q 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  241/1  May  1893. 

...  As  for  your  kind  thought  of  me,  I  shrink  from  any 
thing  which  costs  money.  If  a  workman  engaged  on  the 
Church  could  put  together  two  pieces  of  wood  with  his  own 
hands,  that  I  should  value. 

This  was  done,  and  the  Bishop  treasured  the  Cross 
so  made. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

iqthjttne  1893. 

...  It  was  a  quiet  little  service.  A  curious  phial  placed 
on  a  dish  on  the  Retable  exhaled  a  column  of  incense-like 
smoke  or  vapour  in  the  midst  of  six  candles.  jBut  the  candles 
perhaps  were  needed,  and  the  incense  rose  spontaneously  (as 
far  as  I  could  see),  so  that  it  was  not  an  "  ornament "  or  a 
"  ceremony,"  and  no  rubric  was  broken.  One  smiles  some 
times  with  a  heavy  heart.  .  .  . 

To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  "  NORTH-EASTERN  DAILY 
GAZETTE  " l 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
i3M  July  1893. 

Dear  Sir — Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  the  copy  of  the 
article  on  the  late  trial,  which  I  have  read  with  great  interest. 
The  whole  result  will,  I  hope,  tend  to  the  advancement  of  the 
causes  which  you  have  at  heart  —  the  elevation  of  our  pit 
village  population  and  the  strengthening  of  the  spirit  of 
conciliation  in  trade  disputes.  I  have  derived  very  much 
instruction  from  your  articles,  and  I  may  add  that  when  I 
have  thought  it  right  to  make  private  representation  to  the 
owners  of  pit  property,  I  have  been  greatly  encouraged  by 

1  This  letter  was  not  intended  for  publication,  but  was  published  by 
permission. 


2i 8          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

the  spirit  in  which  my  words  have  been  received.  A  higher 
standard  of  life  is  everywhere  coming  to  be  acknowledged ; 
and  when  the  family  is  held  in  due  honour,  as  you  most 
rightly  say,  the  better  times  for  which  we  look  will  be  near 
at  hand.  There  is  nothing  which  I  endeavour  so  earnestly 
to  teach  at  Confirmations  as  the  duties  and  the  privileges  of 
the  family,  and  I  am  grateful  to  you  for  the  courage  and  the 
wisdom  with  which  you  have  spoken  on  this  vital  subject. — 
Yours  faithfully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  COUNTY  BREWERS'  SOCIETY 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
i$tk  November  1893. 

Sir — I  am  not  sorry  to  have  an  opportunity  of  explaining 
what  I  said  at  Sunderland  on  2nd  November,  as  unhappily 
my  words  were  not  correctly  reported.  I  did  not  say  that 
"all  the  brutality  that  makes  drunkenness  so  hideous  is  due 
to  adulteration."  What  I  said  was:  "The  more  I  examine 
the  facts  brought  before  me,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that 
the  brutality  which  makes  drunkenness  hideous  is  due  (either) 
to  (the  use  of)  adulterated  beer  or  to  (the  use  of)  spirits." 

These  words  express  my  present  conviction.  At  the  same 
time,  I  accept  without  reserve  the  statement  of  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  that  "in  no  case  was  the  existence  of  a 
noxious  ingredient  found "  in  the  samples  of  beer  analysed 
last  year ;  but  this  fact  does  not  touch  my  contention. 

The  Excise  Acts  are  largely  to  blame  for  the  present 
unsatisfactory  state  of  things.  Let  me  explain  my  meaning. 
Alcohol  is  not,  as  I  hold,  uniform  in  its  effects  wherever  present : 
I  believe  that  its  effect  depends  very  greatly  on  the  combina 
tion  in  which  it  is  found.  This  has  been  pointed  out  by  Dr. 
Mortimer  Granville  both  elsewhere  and  in  a  paper  read  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Diocesan  C.E.T.S.  at  Stockton  last 
year.  Thus,  the  action  of  distilled  and  fermented  liquors  on 
the  drinker  is,  I  believe,  essentially  different.  I  regard 
distilled  spirits  as  a  powerful  and  often  salutary  drug,  but 
not  as  a  safe  beverage  in  any  case.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
consider  "  pure  beer," — by  which  I  understand  (to  quote  the 


xi  DURHAM  219 

words  of  a  brewer's  advertisement  which  was  sent  to  me  a 
few  days  ago)  "  the  product  of  barley-malt  and  hops  only,  no 
chemicals  or  any  other  injurious  substitute  for  malt  being 
used," — to  be  an  innocent  and  wholesome  beverage.  But  the 
Inland  Revenue  Act  of  1880  has  recognised  substitutes  for 
malt,  and  beer  may  be  made,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  without  any 
malt.  Such  beer  I  can  only  regard  as  "adulterated" — 
because  it  is  not  what  the  purchaser  demands  and  expects — 
though  it  would  be  passed  by  the  public  analysts  as  satisfying 
the  legal  tests.  The  case  is  fairly  stated  in  an  article  from 
Food  and  Sanitation,  reprinted  in  The  Temperance  Chronicle  for 
1 5th  September  1893.  Nor  have  I  sufficient  evidence,  as  I 
have  in  the  case  of  beer  made  of  malt  and  hops,  to  assure  me 
that  the  liquor,  which  is  certainly  not  "pure  beer,"  is  innocent 
or  wholesome.  Much  that  comes  under  my  notice  suggests 
a  different  conclusion.  I  may  be  wrong ;  but  the  wholesome 
or  unwholesome  character  of  the  drink  can  only  be  deter 
mined  by  careful  observation  in  a  sufficient  number  of  cases, 
and  I  desire  that  the  truth  or  falsity  of  my  statement  may  be 
established  in  this  way.  No  chemical  analysis  can  settle  the 
point. 

Here,  then,  may  I  ask  for  your  co-operation  ?  You  are,  I 
cannot  doubt,  as  anxious  as  I  am  to  lessen  the  unquestionable 
evils  of  drinking.  If  in  every  charge  of  drunkenness  the 
magistrates  were  to  ascertain  what  the  person  charged  had 
been  drinking,  and  where  he  had  been  drinking,  and  to 
record  the  details,  we  should  soon  have  a  body  of  facts  at 
our  command  which  would  guide  to  a  right  course  of  action. 
It  might  appear  that  pure  beer  is  not  so  harmless  as  I  hold  it 
to  be ;  or  that  "  beer  "  made  wholly  or  largely  with  substitutes 
for  malt  is  as  harmless  as  pure  beer,  contrary  to  my  present 
conviction ;  or  that  spirits  are  not  so  dangerous  as  they  seem 
to  be.  In  any  case,  light  would  be  gained  on  a  most  difficult 
question,  which  every  Englishman  must  desire  to  see  solved 
for  the  go.od  of  his  country. 

Will  the  brewers  of  Durham  join  me  in  a  request  to  the 
magistrates  to  make  such  a  record  as  I  have  described? 
The  inquiry  is  for  their  interest,  as  it  is  for  the  interest  of 
temperance. 


220          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

I  need  not  say  that  I  greatly  regret  that  my  words  were 
misreported,  and  that  what  I  did  say  has  been  misunderstood  ; 
but  if  the  suggestion  which  I  have  made  be  adopted,  I  shall 
feel  that  real  good  has  come  from  the  correspondence. — 
Yours  faithfully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

H.  A.  Newton,  Esq. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  Afh  December  1893. 

...  I  have  been  reading  Ruskin,  as  far  as  I  have 
attempted  to  read,  and  was  amused  to  find  one  of  my  own 
favourite  sayings  word  for  word — "  that  the  question  is  not 
why  men  don't  go  to  church,  but  why  they  do."  It  is  a  very 
grave  question,  and  one  or  two  things  which  I  said  last  week 
will  indicate  why  I  think  that  its  gravity  is  overlooked. 


To  THE  REV.  DR.  MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  "2nd  January  1894. 

My  dear  Dr.  Moulton — It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  me 
to  find  your  letter  and  kind  greetings  when  I  returned  just 
now  from  a  meeting  of  the  Lightfoot  Memorial  Committee  at 
Durham.  How  strangely  the  past  comes  before  us  !  Of  the 
little  company  who  were  so  closely  and  so  long  bound  together 
in  work  and  thought  and  feeling,  you  and  I  now  alone  remain, 
and  it  has  been  my  task  to  write  prefatory  words  to  the 
writings  of  two  younger  friends  of  forty  years'  fellowship. 
Yet  I  trust  that  the  past  lives  in  its  fulness  and  bears  fruit 
in  some  way  through  us.  No  change  of  duties  could  be 
more  complete  than  mine,  and  yet  I  do  not  feel  changed. 
In  a  week  or  two  I  hope  to  send  you  a  little  collection  of 
words  spoken  here  in  the  last  three  years.  I  hope  that  they 
show  no  break  in  continuity.  But  the  rapidity  with  which 
social  questions  move  often  alarms  me.  On  the  28th  I  am 
looking  forward  to  a  very  important  and  anxious  meeting  of 
employers  and  employed  on  conciliation.  You  will  perhaps 
be  interested  in  the  invitation,  of  which  I  enclose  a  copy  (in 


XI 


DURHAM  221 


bad  imitation,  I  think,  of  my  writing),  and  I  know  that  I 
shall  have  your  sympathy. — With  heartiest  good  wishes  for 
the  coming  year  and  kindest  remembrances,  ever  yours 
affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

I  wish  that  you  would  address  me,  as  my  old  friends  do, 
by  my  old  name. 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  I'jth  Jamtary  1894. 

My  dear  Archdeacon — It  would  be  wrong  for  me  to 
decline  to  answer  your  question,  though  you  know  how  un 
willing  I  am  to  seem  to  wish  to  influence  your  judgment 
by  my  own. 

I  know  perhaps  more  of  Tyne  Dock  than  of  any  parish, 
hardly  excepting  Bishop  Auckland,  partly  from  Mr.  Bout- 
flower's  devotion  to  it,  and  partly  from  my  knowledge  of  the 
younger  clergy  there. 

You  may  remember  that  I  was  called  upon  to  appoint  a 
curate -in -charge  shortly  after  I  came  here.  I  made  most 
careful  inquiries,  and  Mr.  King  was  one  of  the  two  men  who 
were  named  to  me  with  unanimous  and  emphatic  com 
mendations  for  a  most  difficult  work.  Mr.  King  accepted 
the  charge,  and  I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  wisdom  and 
power  with  which  he  has  fulfilled  it.  He  has  a  singular  gift 
of  considerateness  and  sympathy.  His  spiritual  influence  on 
characters  hard  to  approach  is  remarkable.  He  has  given 
strength  to  a  society  of  Church  workers  for  the  town.  He 
has  very  largely  by  his  own  efforts  built  a  fine  parish  room. 
I  need  not  speak  of  his  self-denial  and  devotion.  .  .  . 

If  he  were  appointed  to  the  Vicarage  he  would,  I  believe, 
make  the  parish  a  centre  for  the  young  devout  life  of  the 
Diocese  even  in  a  fuller  degree  than  it  has  been  for  the  last 
few  years. 

I  do  not  know  who  the  other  candidates  are,  and  I  write 
absolutely  and  not  relatively. — Ever  yours, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 


222          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  zgth  January  1894. 

We  have  now  passed  Peterborough,  my  dearest  Mary,  and 
I  must  begin  my  report.  My  three-quarters  of  an  hour  at 
Darlington  allowed  me  to  deal  with  some  correspondence. 
Then  in  due  time  I  got  into  the  shakiest  train  by  which  I 
have  travelled  for  years.  It  was  almost  impossible  either  to 
read  or  write,  and  for  a  long  time  I  wrapped  myself  up  as 
warmly  as  I  could  and  applied  the  smelling-bottle — we  must 
get  a  new  one — and  tried  to  compose  myself  to  philosophic 
composure.  It  was  a  hard  and  only  partially  successful 
struggle.  However,  at  Grantham,  by  prodigious  efforts,  I 
got  a  cup  of  tea,  which  was  refreshing,  and  illustrated  the 
movement  of  the  train  in  unexpected  ways,  and  now  I  am 
warm  again.  It  has  not,  however,  been  a  fruitful  journey, 
nor  yet  a  restful  one.  It  may  have  other  equally  great  merits. 
If  shaking  up  is  good  for  a  "recluse,"  I  shall  be  improved 
assuredly.  You  will  see  how  hard  writing  is. — Ever  your 
most  affectionate  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Finsbury  Park — tickets  collected— King's  Cross. 


LOLLARDS'  TOWER  PRESENTATION,  1894. 

.  .  .  The  Debate  last  night  was  lively,  but  I  hear  very 
little  (alas !).  However,  I  saw  Lord  Ashcombe,  and  had  a 
long  and  pleasant  talk  with  him.  He  introduced  me  to 
Mr.  Forster,  the  author  of  the  Parish  Councils  Bill,  and  I 
had  a  pleasant  talk  with  him.  I  noticed  a  strange  oversight 
in  the  Bill,  which  I  pointed  out  to  him — that  there  is  no 
provision  in  it  guarding  Sundays.  Public  meetings  may  be 
held  in  schoolrooms  on  Sundays  as  it  stands  at  present.  He 
seemed  to  be  quite  willing  to  have  it  amended  in  this  respect. 
I  hope  to  see  him  again  to-night.  What  a  wonderful  answer 
Mr.  Gladstone's  was.  Three  paragraphs  to  say  nothing  and 
everything  and  anything. 

I  enclose  a  proof  of  the  Lent  Letter.  I  am  sorry  that  you 
could  not  look  through  it  in  MS.  It  is  clear,  I  hope. 


xi  DURHAM  223 

As  far  as  I  can  see,  I  shall  come  home  to-morrow.  The 
Archbishop  goes  to  Oxford  to  preach  on  Sunday,  so  that  there 
is  no  reason  for  staying.  .  .  . 


To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  Ash  Wednesday  [1894]. 

My  dear  Davies — Very  many  thanks  for  your  sermon,  which 
I  have  read  for  my  Homily  this  afternoon.  I  need  not  say 
how  heartily  I  agree  with  it.  More  and  more  I  feel  that  the 
secret  of  all  life  of  man  and  the  world  lies  in  the  words  «i/ 
X/OMTTW.  You  will  receive  in  a  day  or  two,  if  you  have  not 
already  received  them,  some  endeavours  to  express  the 
thought  in  many  ways  which  I  have  made  since  I  have  been 
here — all  indeed  that  I  have  been  able  to  write.  I  know 
that  you  will  sympathise  with  me.  Do  not  therefore  acknow 
ledge  it. 

I  was  very  sorry  that  I  could  not  see  you  either  here  or 
at  Durham  when  you  came  for  the  D.D.  I  was  half  inclined 
to  accuse  you  of  faithlessness,  but  we  cannot  make  our  own 
arrangements. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  iqth  February  1894. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  showing  me  the  letters 
on  the  Madras  bishopric.  It  is  strange  that  neither  of  the 
Bishops  seem  to  realise  the  idea  of  a  Tranquebar  bishopric 
with  a  commission  for  parts  of  Madras.  The  case  is  parallel 
to  Lucknow  and  not  to  Chota  Nagpore,  at  least  according  to 
my  wish.  Nor  do  I  see  why  the  Government  should  object. 

I  have  read  what  you  say  on  "  Spiritual  Power  "  with  the 
greatest  thankfulness.  It  seems  to  me  that  Rome  and  the 
Ritualists  force  on  us  "working  substitutes."  I  feel  more 
and  more  inclined  to  press  a  greater  reform.  The  external 
is  smothering  all  true  life. 

May  I  say  too  that  I  agree  with  all  you  say  on  "The 


224          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Higher  Criticism  "  ?  (Why  "  higher  "  ?  The  word  bewilders 
me  always.) 

I  trust  most  earnestly  that  something  will  be  done  in  the 
visitation  of  Churches.  I  think  that  I  shall  make  a  beginning 
at  home  and  sacrifice  the  vases  of  flowers  in  the  Chapel.  (It 
will  not  cost  me  much.)  They  are  post-Cosinian. 

It  is  so  cold  that  I  can  hardly  hold  the  pen. 


To  SIR  C.  DALRYMPLE,  BART.,  M.P. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  %th  March  1894. 

My  dear  Dalrymple — It  is  most  kind  of  you  to  have 
written  something  more  than  the  brief  bulletin  which  I  have 
seen  from  day  to  day.  That  on  Tuesday  night  first  caused 
me  great  alarm.  Dr.  Vaughan  is  the  last  of  those  whom  I 
looked  to  as  my  masters.  We  must  wait  and  hope.  There 
is  no  one  to  do  his  unique  work.  .  .  . 


To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
$th  Sunday  after  Easier,  1894. 

...  I  expect  that  you  will  have  been  to  Little  St.  Mary's 
this  morning,  and  I  wonder  whether  you  will  go  to  King's.  I 
ought  to  have  given  you  an  order,  if  that  is  one  of  my 
privileges.  It  may  be  you  will  prefer  Trinity.  I  was 
delighted  with  the  Psalms  at  Peterborough.  I  am  very 
proud  of  having  helped  in  that  work.  I  often  wished  that 
King's  would  have  followed.  There  is  an  article  on  Miss 
Rossetti  by  Lily  Watson  in  the  Sunday  at  Home, — very  well 
written.  She  appears  to  have  taken  literature  for  lawn- 
tennis.1  ...  I  must  have  a  little  walk  round  the  garden. 
We  have  no  lilacs  out  yet,  but  I  have  a  saxifrage  or  two,  and 
one  or  two  blue  trumpets  of  gentian. 

1  My  father  appears  to  have  confounded  Mrs.  Watson,  the  writer,  with 
Miss  Watson,  daughter  of  his  old  friend  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Watson,  D.Sc., 
F.R.S.,  at  one  time  lady  champion  at  lawn-tennis. 


xi  DURHAM  225 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  31^  July  1894. 

My  dear  Davies — It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  thank 
you  and  Mrs.  Davies  enough  for  my  delightful  visit.  I  only 
regret  that  Mrs.  Westcott  was  not  with  me.  The  weather 
helped  to  make  the  pleasure  complete,  though  I  am  not  sure 
that  I  understand  what  to  do  with  flies  which  will  not  go 
their  way.  Such  meetings  bring  many  thoughts.  Above  all, 
perhaps,  the  sense  of  the  mysterious  unity  of  life  dominates. 
That  €L<S  in  Galatians  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  syllables 
in  the  N.T. 

But  I  must  not  attempt  to  write  a  letter.  The  old  power  of 
routine  work  has  possession  of  me. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  following  letters  to  Miss  Bunyon,  who  had 
asked  my  father  to  write  a  paper  for  the  first  number 
of  The  Children  of  the  Church,  illustrate  the  care  he 
bestowed  on  the  accomplishment  of  such  an  under 
taking.  As  Miss  Bunyon  says  in  forwarding  these 
letters,  "  that  the  Bishop  should  have  taken  the  trouble 
not  only  to  make  a  fresh  calculation,  but  far  more  to 
explain  it  to  me  with  his  own  hand,  was  a  lesson  and 
encouragement." 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  %th  November  1894. 

Dear  Madam — I  took  some  pains  about  my  figures.  The 
estimates  quoted  by  Bishop  Lightfoot  are  more  than  forty  or 
fifty  years  old.  However,  the  latest  calculation  which  I  find 
is  that  by  Wagner  and  Tapon,1  which  gives  the  whole  popu 
lation  as  1,480,000,000,  and  the  Christians  as  327,000,000. 
It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  ascertain  exactly  or  even  approxi 
mately  (with  certainty)  the  population  of  Asia  and  Africa. 
Still,  taking  this  latest  reckoning,  it  might  be  well  to  write 
"one-fourth"  instead  of  "one-fifth."  I  was  struck  by  the 

1  Bevolkering  der  Erde,  1891. 
VOL.  II  Q 


226          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

correspondence  of  the  other  proportion  with  that  in  our 
Empire,  where  we  are  sure  of  our  figures.  Still,  as  Bishop 
Lightfoot  says,  let  us  avoid  exaggeration. — Yours  most  faith 
fully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  loth  November  1894. 

My  dear  Madam — I  shall  be  glad  to  let  the  estimate 
stand  as  I  have  now  given  it,  as  it  is  based  on  one  definite 
calculation  ("not  one-fourth  according  to  the  latest  reckon 
ing  ").  This  form  of  words  will  show  that  the  estimate  is 
made  from  special  data  and  give  it  more  weight. 

With  all  good  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  work,  yours 
most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

N.E.R.,  $th  December  1894. 

.  .  .  Would  it  not  be  well  to  point  out  to  that 

there  has  never  been  any  authoritative  theory  of  the  Atone 
ment  laid  down  in  our  Church,  or  in  any  of  the  historic 
Churches  ?  The  fact  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  and  for 
the  whole  world  is  firmly  held,  and  we  endeavour  to  see  what 
lights  this  fact  throws  upon  our  own  state  and  our  relations 
to  God  and  man.  That  is  all.  I  wish  that  I  were  better  read 
in  Anglican  literature  on  the  subject.  I  have  been  told  that 
A.  T.  Lyttelton's  essay  in  Lux  Mundi  is  good,  but  I  have 
not  read  it.  The  only  books  which  I  found  helpful  when  I 
was  endeavouring  to  study  the  question  ten  years  or  so  ago 
were  the  familiar  books  of  Dale  and  M'Leod  Campbell.  The 

latter  would,  I  think,  appeal  to from  its  subtlety.  Dale's 

later  treatment  in  his  last  book — Christian  Doctrine — is,  I 
think,  fair  and  thoughtful. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  took  more  pains  on  anything 
than  on  the  lectures  on  the  subject  which  I  gave  at  Hereford 
Cathedral  (The  Victory  of  the  Cross).  No  doubt  many  do 
not  agree  with  me,  but  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  would 
say  that  the  view  which  I  maintain  is  opposed  to  anything  in 
our  formularies.  I  wish  that  I  could  be  of  more  help. 


XI 


DURHAM  227 


I  enclose  a  letter  from  Canon  Grey,  which  will,  I  trust,  be 
intelligible  in  itself.  He  suggested  to  me  a  public  meeting 
on  the  Disestablishment  question.  I  pointed  out  the 
undesirability  of  a  Bishop  taking  such  a  step,  but  said  that 
I  could  attend  any  meeting  called  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant. 
...  I  do  not  myself  think  that  such  a  meeting  would  really  do 
good.  I  have  written  two  letters  to  the  Diocese  already,  and 
spoken  at  least  twice  at  great  meetings.  It  is,  I  feel  sure, 
the  quiet  work  in  every  parish  which  will  tell.  Still,  I  shall 
be  glad  of  any  word  of  counsel  which  you  can  give  me.  So 
the  care  of  all  the  Churches  must  come  to  you. 

I  am  on  my  way  from  Cambridge,  where  I  spent  yesterday 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Christian  Social  Union,  which  was  full  of 
interest. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  St.  John's  Day,  1894. 

.  .  .  May  your  strength  be  stronger  than  your  cares  :  then 
we  shall  all  rejoice,  and  be  strong  with  your  strength. 

How  one's  thoughts  go  back  to-day  to  that  open  grave, 
and  feel  that  he  lives  still. 

To  THE  REV.  DR.  MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  New  Year's  Day,  1895. 

Alas  !  that  I  should  have  caused  you  to  take  so  much 
trouble  by  a  passing  word.  At  least  you  give  me  occasion  to 
wish  you  all  blessings  in  the  coming  year.  This  year  brings 
me  to  the  normal  term  of  life.  Yet  work  remains  on  all  sides 
while  days  are  given,  but  it  is  ever  harder  to  do.  I  hope 
that  the  sense  of  dependence  grows  stronger.  Hope  itself 
does  not  grow  less.  My  day's  visit  to  Cambridge  was  filled 
up  with  engagements,  but  it  was  encouraging  to  see  that 
fulness  of  young  life  again. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  ^th  January  1895. 

I  have  just  used  my  stylograph  for  the  most  important 
service  of  stirring  up  my  tea ;  that  work  successfully  done, 


228          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

leads  naturally  to  its  normal  use.  At  Doncaster  I  looked 
out  for  the  tea-boy,  and  you  would  have  been  amused  (not 
without  some  touch  of  compassion,  I  hope)  if  you  had  seen 
me  struggling  to  manipulate  without  apparent  effort  a  half- 
gallon  (or  so)  earthenware  teapot.  However,  I  broke  nothing, 
and  was  refreshed.  .  .  .  Now  I  think  we  have  come  to  Fins- 
bury,  but  the  windows  are  sheets  of  ice-tracery.  .  .  . 


To  A  CLERGYMAN 

(On  "  receiving"  Nonconformists) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  Lady  Day,  1895. 

It  is,  I  think,  edifying  to  "  receive  "  into  the  congregation 
those  who  have  been  baptized  by  Nonconformists ;  but  the 
service  deals  only  with  the  case  of  infants.  Yet  adaptation  is 
allowable.  The  Confirmation  Service  altogether  omits  the 
case  of  persons  baptized  as  adults,  and  I  am  constantly  per 
plexed  when  I  ask  the  question  as  it  is  given.  Latitude  of 
interpretation  must  be  assumed.  In  the  matter  of  reception 
it  seems  to  me  that  our  practice  is  too  lax.  Still,  no  absolute 
command  is  given  :  "it  is  expedient." 

To  MRS.  HORT 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  z^th  September  1895. 

Let  me  thank  you  for  the  new  volume,1  which  reached  me 
last  night.  This  is  of  exceptional  interest  to  me,  for  if  ever  I 
find  a  few  spare  minutes  I  spend  them  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Ephesians,  to  which  I  have  turned  longing  thoughts  for  I 
hardly  know  how  many  years. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

YORK  STATION,  ink  October  1895. 

...  At  Lincoln  I  walked  up  to  see  the  Roman  gate,  which 
edified  me,  and  just  looked  through  the  gate  at  the  Minster. 

1  Professor  Hort's  Prolegomena  to  the  Romans  and  the  Ephesians, 


xi  DURHAM  229 

In  a  photographer's  I  saw  a  large  photograph  of  Bishop 
Whipple,  and  I  could  not  resist  asking  if  they  had  it  in  cabinet 
size.  They  had  the  negative  and  could  print  one.  I  could 
not  resist :  I  hope  that  it  was  not  extravagant.  .  .  . 


To  A  CLERGYMAN 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
26tk  December  1895. 

You  will  know  how  constantly  and  how  anxiously  I  have 
thought  of  your  Mission  since  I  read  the  correspondence  of 
the  Bishop  of and . 

I  have  endeavoured  to  regard  the  question  from  every 
point  of  view,  in  order  to  see  my  duty  clearly,  if  I  might  be 
enabled  to  do  so.  One  thing  appears  to  me  to  be  evident, 
and  this  is  the  essential  point,  that  the  question  at  issue  is 
not  the  edification  of  the  parish,  but  the  fundamental  prin 
ciple  of  our  corporate  life  as  a  Church.  If  any  Priests  of  our 
Church  are  allowed  without  check  to  disregard  its  formularies, 
however  richly  they  may  be  endowed  with  spiritual  powers, 
there  is  no  longer  any  tie  to  bind  us  together.  Our  Church 
becomes  a  mere  aggregate  of  congregations.  I  am  fully 
satisfied  by  the  testimony  of  others  as  to  the  remarkable 

work  which has  done,  and  as  to  the  influence  which 

he  is  able  to  exercise  by  his  presentation  of  the  Gospel.  Yet 
I  cannot  but  doubt  whether  in  the  end  a  teacher  can  bring 
permanent  spiritual  blessing  to  others  as  long  as  he  is 
obviously  deficient  in  the  elementary  graces  of  humility, 
meekness,  and  obedience.  After  all,  these  are  the  graces 
which  are  least  conspicuous  in  our  own  communion,  and  it 
seems  to  me  to  be  the  duty  of  us  all,  at  whatever  cost,  when 
the  opportunity  is  given,  to  show  how  highly  we  rate  them. 

You  will  see,  then,  that  for  this  reason,  which  touches,  as 
you  will  recognise,  the  very  soul  of  our  common  life,  I  counsel 
you  most  earnestly  to  put  off  your  Mission.  Believe  me  that 
I  feel  very  deeply  the  disappointment  and  pain  which  this 
will  cause.  Yet  God  in  His  love  provides  for  us  wonderful 
and  unexpected  compensations.  Not  one  prayer,  not  one  hope 


230          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

will  be  made  void ;  and  you  will  be  enabled  to  strengthen  in 
your  measure  that  which  is  weakest  among  us. 

May  God  guide  you  to  see  His  will !  We  are  come,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  to  a  turning-point  in  our  history. 

Believe  me  to  be,  in  truest  sympathy,  yours  affectionately 
in  our  one  Lord,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
Sunday  after  Christmas ;  1895. 

Even  to-day  I  must  write  to  express  my  deep  thankfulness 
that  you  have  been  enabled  to  follow  my  counsel.  Though 
I  could  have  wished  that  you  should  have  felt  as  I  do  the 
gravity  of  the  point  at  issue,  it  is  a  joy  to  me  that  you  accept 
my  judgment,  as  of  one  who  must  give  account.  You  do  not 
indeed  recognise,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  that  the  reason  why  I 

cannot  welcome 's  services  among  us  is  that  he  claims 

to  set  aside  at  his  own  will  the  solemn  promises  which  he 
made  at  his  ordination  and  his  licensing  to  serve  in  our 
Church.  .  .  .  Nothing  that  has  happened  since  I  came 
to  Durham  has  caused  me  more  anxiety  and  distress.  The 
trial  will  be,  I  trust,  not  without  lasting  fruit.  I  shall  confide 
more  than  ever  in  the  loyalty  and  affection  of  the  clergy,  and 
feel  that  this  loyalty  adds  a  more  solemn  character  to  my  own 
responsibility.  May  God  through  the  prayers  of  many  enable 
me  to  fulfil  it ! 

To  THE  REV.  DR.  MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  lyth  January  1896. 

(rj  Your  unfailing  kindness  leaves  nothing  unnoticed.  There 
is  now  no  one  living  with  whom  I  have  been  allowed  to  work 
so  long  and  so  closely  as  yourself,  and  your  good  wishes  are 
proportionately  precious.  I  know  how  often  my  impatience 
has  been  reproved  and  corrected  by  your  example.  Every 
day  I  feel  now  to  be  a  special  gift,  yet  I  find  it  ever  harder 
to  use  what  comes  beyond  my  full  period  of  labour.  Some 
times  I  look  half  sadly  at  notes  on  the  Ephesians.  That  was 
my  great  disappointment  last  summer.  Still,  the  days  are 


xi  DURHAM  231 

filled  with  little  duties  which  are,  I  hope,  not  without  some 
fruit.  On  the  whole,  I  think  that  England  has  borne  all  our 
recent  sorrows  well.  You  will,  I  hope,  remember  the  doctor's 
orders.  I  do  carefully. 


TO    HIS    SEVENTH    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  z^th  January  1896. 

My  dear  Basil — I  must  send  one  line  to  say  with  what 
thankfulness  we  heard  this  morning  that  you  had  satisfied  the 
doctors.  Now  we  can  confidently  hope  that  your  wish  will  be 
fulfilled,  and  the  more  I  think  over  the  prospect,  the  more 
confident  I  am  that  you  have  been  called  to  a  work  in  which 
you  are  likely  to  offer  the  best  service,  and  so  to  find  the 
surest  joy.  Our  strength  is  to  feel  that  we  have  welcomed 
the  work  "  which  God  afore  prepared  "  for  us.  ... 


To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $th  March  1896. 

...  I  was  particularly  interested  in  your  reference  to  the 
"  backward  "  influence  of  faith.  It  is  one  of  my  pet  visions. 
It  came  to  me  when  I  tried  to  recall  the  original  of  "to 
perform  the  mercy  promised  to  our  forefathers."  The  Greek 
was  a  great  revelation  of  hope.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2Qth  May  1896. 

I  got  through  a  hard  day  yesterday  very  fairly  well,  and  in 
the  interval  between  two  engagements  I  had  an  hour  at  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery.  The  chief  thing  which  impressed 
me  was  the  very  small  place  which  the  clergy  occupy  in  the 
history  of  England.  .  .  .  Late  in  the  afternoon  I  went  to  a 
small  conference  at  Grosvenor  House.  Just  as  I  was  going 
in  another  meeting  was  coming  out.  Even  Dukes,  you  see, 
do  work.  I  spoke  to  Cardinal  Vaughan,  though  I  am  not 
drawn  to  him.  .  .  . 


232          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


,To  CANON  AUSTEN 

WHITBY,  17 'th  Sunday  after  Trinity 
[i6th  September}  1896. 

My  dear  Canon  Austen — If  I  endeavour  to  answer  your 
kind  request,1  I  can  do  so  only  according  to  my  own  experi 
ence.  We  can  each  see  only  a  little  of  the  infinite,  and  not 
perhaps  that  which  rightly  attracts  the  eyes  of  another. 

To  me  it  appears  that  the  Spirit  is  teaching  us  now  above 
all  things  the  unity  of  life,  of  all  life,  nay,  of  all  being,  of  the 
seen  and  the  unseen ;  and  that  specially  for  the  inspiration  of 
our  action  He  is  leading  us  to  give  reality  to  the  fellowship  of 
man  with  men  and  of  man  with  God. 

Since  I  have  been  here  I  have  spent  the  chief  part  of  my 
time  in  reflecting  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  which  in 
the  fewest  words  commends  this  aspect  of  Creation  to  us,  and 
it  is  to  my  mind  of  intense  practical  significance.     If  we  be 
lieve  in  the  unity  shown  under  three  different  aspects  in  Eph. 
ii.  14-18,  hope  and  confidence  will  return,  when  we  look  on 
the  unfathomable  sadnesses  of  life  ;  if  we  believe  that  for  each 
one  of  us  a  work  is  prepared  which  we  can  do  if  we  surrender 
ourselves  to  God  (ii.  10),  we  shall  be  saved  from  the  restless 
anxiety  of  self-chosen  plans ;  if  we  believe  that  all  the  details 
of  ordinary  life  have  a   spiritual  side  and  opportunities   of 
service  (v.  20  f. ;  comp.  Col.  iii.   17),   we  shall  be   enabled 
perhaps  to  preach  our  Gospel  a  little  more  effectually  in  life. 
TOnNEYMATHCAAHGEIACOAHrHCEIYMACEICIIA 
CANTHNAAH0EIAN. 
Eri2EIMIHAAH0EIA. 
EPXOMAITAXY.  AMHNEPXOYKYPIEIHCOY.2 

Let  me  ask  your  sympathy  and  help.  6EOYECMENCYN 
EPrOI.3 — Yours  most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

1  For  some  helpful  thought. 

2  The  Spirit  of  truth  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth.     I  am  the  truth. 
I  come  quickly.     Amen  :  come,  Lord  Jesus. 

3  We  are  God's  fellow-workers. 


xi  DURHAM  233 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $th  October  1896. 

...  I  read  your  paper,  I  need  hardly  say,  with  hearty 
agreement.  A  party  of  Baptist  ministers  came  here  a  few 
days  ago  to  see  the  Chapel  and  have  tea.  After  some  kindly 
words,  the  President  said,  in  reply  to  some  remarks  about 
their  having  a  share  in  the  treasures  of  the  place,  "  Well,  yes, 
after  all  the  Church  is  the  mother  of  us  all."  Certainly 
bitterness  is  diminishing.  .  .  . 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i$th  October  1896. 

God  bless  you  for  your  kind  words  of  sympathy  in  this 
great  sorrow,  which  changes  all  the  future.  Now  one  seems 
to  stand  alone.  But  while  I  can  work  in  any  way  the  work 
must  be  done.  .  .  . 

To  SIR  C.  DALRYMPLE,  BART,  M.P. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  I'jth  October  1896. 

My  dear  Dalrymple — The  kind  thoughts  of  friends  are  a 
great  comfort  to  me  in  this  overwhelming  sorrow.  To  be  left 
alone  at  the  end  of  life  is  an  unexpected  and  sore  trial.  Yet 
for  a  little  while  work  must  be  faced  in  the  loneliness.  How 
ever,  the  unseen  world  seems  to  be  brought  nearer  as  it  grows 
fuller. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  first  message  I  had — how  characteristic — was  from 
Dr.  Vaughan. 

To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (THE  REV.  C.  H.  PRIOR) 

AUCKLAND,  zyd  October  1896. 

My  dear  Charlie — My  heart  sinks  within  me,  but  it  is  a 
clear  duty  to  do  what  I  can.  My  one  desire  will  be  to  be 
as  quiet  as  I  can  during  my  brief  visit.  ...  I  tremble  at  the 


234          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

thought  of  going  to  Lambeth.      There  is   no   one  now  to 
whom  I  can  naturally  turn. 

Love  to  all. — Ever  yours  most  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.  N.  R. ,  2nd  November  1896. 

...  It  has  been  very  hard  to  work,  but  I  have  done  a 
little,  as  I  had  forty-five  minutes  at  Darlington.  I  hope  that 
I  shall  be  able  to  think  quietly  at  Lollards'  Tower,  but  it  will 
be  very  difficult.  It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  like  a  survivor 
of  another  order — one  of  the  erratic  blocks  on  the  downs. 
Still,  there  is  some  work  to  be  done  still,  and  if  I  can  say 
what  I  want  to  say  at  Cambridge,  it  will  be  just  the  last  word 
which  I  should  like  to  say  there,  summing  up  the  twenty 
years'  work.  But  speaking  depends  on  the  mind.  .  .  . 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER, 
2$rd  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1896. 

This  has  been  rather  a  sad  Sunday,  my  dearest  Mary. 
It  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise.  I  went  to  the  early 
service  in  the  Parish  Church,  and  then  had  my  morning 
prayer  in  the  Chapel.  It  was  impossible  not  to  think  of  the 
past — of  the  changes  since  I  first  sat  in  the  gallery,  and  of  the 
coming  change  at  Llandaff.  If  I  could  work  with  any  heart  it 
would  be  different,  but  I  seem  to  be  quite  unable.  It  has  been 
a  happy  thing  that  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  has  been  staying  here 
all  the  time.  He  is  always  cheery,  and  so  is  Mrs.  Stubbs. 

Yesterday  Mr.  Hensley  came  in  to  afternoon  tea.  He  is 
still  very  busy  with  new  work,  which  he  does  not  like  so  much 
as  the  old.  .  .  . 

This  afternoon  I  went  to  the  Abbey  and  saw  some  old 
faces.  Alas  !  I  could  not  hear  the  sermon.  Good-night. 

To  THE  REV.  DR.   MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  12th  January  1897. 

.  .  .  Certainly  as  the  years  go  on  one  grows  more  and 
more  anxious  to  see  the  Faith  translated  into  daily  life.  I 


xi  DURHAM  235 

cannot  think  that  society  is  a  true  embodiment  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  my  daily  grief  is  that,  while  I  have  had  visions  of  a  better, 
I  have  done  nothing  to  give  the  vision  a  permanent  shape. 
"The  world  is  too  much  with  us."  Still,  the  news  of  the 
Arbitration  Treaty  with  the  U.S.A.  this  morning  is  a  message 
of  hope,  and  we  ought  to  take  courage.  Scarcely  a  day 
passes  when  I  do  not  try  to  make  the  promise  my  own : 
KTrpr&jQt  rots  ^"u^as  v/uoi/.1 

But  in  your  letter,  so  full  of  thoughts  for  me,  you  say 
nothing  of  yourself. 

...  I  grieve  to  find  that  the  Revisers  have  not  given 
a  place  to  the  Latin  addition  in  Ecclus.  xxiv.  1 8 2  in  the 
margin.  The  phrase  is  a  philosophy  of  education. 

Perhaps  your  son  will  send  me  a  line  to  tell  me  how  you 
are. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

yzth  Jamtary  1897. 

I  am  very  sorry  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  take  much  out 
ward  share  in  the  Mission.  I  have  no  hope  of  being  able  to 
go  out  to-morrow.  My  visit  to  Gateshead  was  a  sharp  lesson ; 
and  I  seem  to  be  unable  to  shake  off  my  cold.  But  my 
thoughts  will  be  constantly  with  you,  and  I  earnestly  pray 
and  trust  that  your  efforts  will  be  blessed  by  a  great  quickening 
of  devotion  among  us ;  above  all,  may  I  say,  by  a  deeper  sense 
of  the  responsibilities  and  the  opportunities  of  home. 


To  HIS  THIRD  DAUGHTER  (MRS.  C.  H.  PRIOR) 

...  I  have  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Stepney,  and  should 
be  glad  to  bring  the  plan  of  a  University  for  women  once 
again  before  the  Senate.  I  am  quite  clear  still,  as  I  have 
always  been,  that  this  is  the  right  solution  of  the  Degree 
question  in  the  interests  of  women  themselves,  and  I  am 
surprised  that  the  Syndicate  set  it  aside  so  summarily.  .  .  . 

1  Ye  shall  win  your  souls. 

2  Ego  mater  pulchrae  dilectionis,  et  timoris,  et  agnitionis,  et  cunctae 
spei.     In  me  gratia  omnis  viae  et  veritatis  :   in  me  omnis  spes  vitae  et 
virtutis.— Vg.     Cf.  text  of  A.V. 


236          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  following  letters  to  Dr.  Moulton  are  concerned 
with  the  Revision  of  the  Apokrypha,  and  belong  to 
the  period  when  they  two  were  the  only  survivors  of 
the  Cambridge  Committee  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  iqth  April  1894. 

My  dear  Dr.  Moulton — I  am  sorry  that  my  wanderings 
last  week  had  delayed  so  long  the  answer  to  your  letter, 
which  reached  me  this  morning  on  my  return  from  abroad. 
The  change  which  you  propose  in  our  work  appears  to  be 
required,  and  I  am  glad  that  it  has  not  escaped  your  notice : 
yet  how  could  it  do  so?  What  you  tell  me  of  the  later 
labours  which  you  have  borne  alone  makes  me  almost  sad.  I 
wish  that  every  one  knew,  as  I  now  alone  know,  what  you  have 
done  for  the  work.  I  hope,  however,  that  there  is  joy  in 
quiet,  unnoticed  labour.  I  am  constantly  recalling  Browning's 
lines : 

"  Paid  by  the  world,  what  dost  thou  owe 
Me  ?  "   God  might  question. 

Three  days  this  week  were  spent  at  Avignon,  Nimes, 
Aries,  and  the  old  world  and  Middle  Ages  seemed  to  live 
again.  It  was  a  wonderful  and  most  unexpected  experience. 
Forgive  a  half-sheet. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 


TYNE  DOCK,  28M  April  1894. 

.  .  .  According  to  the  precedent  of  the  N.T.,  the  Greek 
readings  adopted  in  the  Apokrypha  (am  I  not  right  ?)  will  be 
published  separately.  .  .  I  should  be  glad  to  speak  to  you 
of  the  olives  and  the  palms,  and  of  the  new  and  old  worlds 
which  I  saw  for  a  few  hours  at  Avignon,  Nimes,  and  Aries. 
The  earth  is  full  of  strange  mysteries.  A  detail  which  im 
pressed  me  as  much  as  anything  was  the  base  moulding  of 
a  singularly  perfect  fragment  of  the  Roman  walls  at  Aries. 
Men  who  wrought  so  were  worthy  to  be  masters  of  the  world, 
though  they  thought  nothing  of  human  lives. 


DURHAM  237 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  22nd  May  1894. 

I  have  read  the  corrected  Preface  carefully,  and  see 
nothing  to  criticise.  It  will  be  necessary  to  date  the  Preface. 
Perhaps  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  add  a  place  to  the  date,  and 
it  would  be  difficult  to  choose  between  the  three  centres.  If 
a  place  be  named,  I  think  that  it  should  be  Westminster,  for 
the  sake  of  the  association. 

It  is  very  satisfactory  that  the  various  readings  will  be 
collected. 

SPENNITHORNE,  29^  August  1895. 

It  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  get  your  letter  this  morning, 
though  I  do  groan  over  the  labour  which  you  continue  to 
lavish  in  most  unselfish  generosity  on  the  Apokrypha.  Yet 
it  must  bear  its  fruit.  As  far  as  I  can  remember,  there  was 
never  any  mention  of  the  Americans  in  regard  to  the  Revision 
of  the  Apokrypha.  It  was  felt,  I  imagine,  that  they  would 
not  be  interested  in  the  work.  .  .  .  The  Preface  states  the 
facts  correctly,  and  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  occasion 
for  referring  to  America. 

It  is  good  news  to  hear  of  the  Marginal  References.  I 
hope  that  the  references  to  N.T.  will  be  given  in  full  in  some 
edition.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  a  valuable  collection. 

For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  completely  broke  down 
at  the  beginning  of  my  holiday  nearly  a  month  ago ;  but 
now  at  length  I  am  beginning  slowly  to  regain  strength, 
though  I  am  forbidden  to  work. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  January  1896. 

Your  letter  is  a  most  cheering  welcome  to  the  work  of  the 
New  Year.  The  account  which  you  are  able  to  give  of 
yourself  is  full  of  encouragement,  and  at  length  the  Apokrypha 
has  appeared.  I  can  only  hope  that  no  residue  of  burden 
is  left  upon  you.  The  reception  of  the  Revision  was  kind 
beyond  expectation.  Perhaps  in  time  critics  will  see  that 
when  they  can  consider  closeness  of  translation  apart  from 
natural  prepossessions  it  commends  itself,  and  apply  the 
lesson  to  the  R.V.  of  the  New  Testament.  One  thing,  how- 


238          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

ever,  I  much  regret :  that  your  heavy  and  unwearied  labours 
were  not  recognised  in  the  Preface.  Every  one  ought  to  know 
what  this  book  owes  to  you.  The  References  will  now,  I 
hope,  be  carried  steadily  forward  to  completion.  For  my 
own  part,  I  feel  that  years  tell.  I  cannot  work  either  so 
quickly  or  so  long  as  in  time  gone  by,  and  the  sorrows  of 
the  great  world  press  heavily  on  us  just  now. 

We  all  missed  you  greatly  at  the  Temperance  Conference. 
The  Prohibitionists  once  more  showed  themselves  to  be 
unstatesmanlike  and  impracticable.  Yet  the  whole  effect  will 
have  been  good.  May  God  give  you  strength  and  blessing  in 
all  you  do  ! — Ever  yours  gratefully  and  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i2th  March  1896. 

You  know  how  strongly  I  feel  on  the  question  of  the  read 
ings  adopted  in  the  Revision  of  the  Apokrypha.  It  appears  to 
me  that  it  cannot  be  your  duty  to  put  these  in  a  form  for  the 
printers  and  take  the  responsibility  for  them.  If  you  have 
collected  materials  in  doing  a  work,  which  again  was  not 
your  work,  you  could  place  these  in  the  hands  of  the  several 
companies  and  leave  them  to  provide  for  the  preparation  for 
the  press.  In  any  case,  I  cannot  doubt  that  you  ought  to  go 
on  with  your  own  work  at  present.  If,  when  this  is  done,  the 
readings  are  still  not  ready,  you  may  perhaps  then  give  help. 
I  have  grieved  that  you  have  laboured  so  much  to  complete 
work  which  was  undertaken  by  others.  However,  such  self- 
devotion  must  bring  some  great  reward.  But  let  me  say 
again  that  your  present  duty  lies  in  completing  the  References. 

It  is  very  encouraging  to  hear  that  your  strength  does 
not  fail.  You  ask  about  mine.  I  do  not  seem  ever  to  have 
really  recovered  from  last  summer,  yet  I  can  get  through  my 
work  in  some  way  ;  but  how  much  is  half-done  or  left  undone. 
Yet  there  is  endless  ground  for  thankfulness  that  I  have  been 
allowed  to  do  even  so  much. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  following  letters  were  written  to  a  lady  who, 
having  read  my  father's  books  and  heard  several  of  his 


xi  DURHAM  239 

sermons  in  Westminster  Abbey,  wrote  to  him  stating 
certain  spiritual  difficulties  which  perplexed  her.  My 
father  replied,  inviting  her  to  go  and  see  him  at  his 
residence  in  Abbey  Garden. 

Miss  Cordeux  subsequently  had  several  further 
interviews  with  my  father,  and  continued  in  corre 
spondence  with  him  until  the  end.  She  writes  to  me 
saying — "  I  cannot  presume  to  call  myself  a  friend  of 
your  father's — the  title  means  so  much.  I  feel  his 
goodness  and  wisdom  and  true  greatness  so  deeply  that 
I  am  conscious  of  not  being  worthy.  He  was  kind  to 
me — that  is  all.  He  would  have  helped  any  one  or  any 
living  thing  that  had  appealed  to  him  for  help." 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
1st  Stinday  in  Advent,  1890. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — The  difficulties  which  you  express 
more  or  less  trouble  all  who  venture  on  the  perilous  way  of 
thinking.  The  real  answer  to  them — solution  we  shall  not  find 
while  we  are  what  we  are — lies  in  the  recognition  of  the  limits 
of  our  powers  of  thought  and  of  our  thoughts.  In  stating  your 
first  difficulty  you  have,  I  think,  overlooked  the  truth  which 
points  to  the  direction  in  which  we  can  find  peace.  The 
work  of  the  Lord  did  not  simply  restore  man  to  the  position 
in  which  he  was  created,  but  fulfilled  for  man  the  destiny  for 
which  God  created  him.  The  fulfilment  of  this  destiny  for  a 
finite  creature  involved  (as  far  as  we  can  see)  the  possibility 
of  a  fall.  But  in  spite  of  this  self-assertion  the  Son  of  God 
gained  for  man  the  consummation  of  his  nature  by  the  perfect 
fulfilment  of  the  Divine  will.  .  .  .  The  fact  of  what  you  speak 
of  as  "  unmerited  sorrow  "  does  not  trouble  me.  I  meet  with 
equally  unmerited  good ;  and  both  facts  force  me  to  recog 
nise  that  the  little  life  which  is  now  my  own  is  part  of  one 
vaster  life  to  which  it  is  my  joy  to  minister.  From  the  little 
which  I  can  see  I  can  believe  that  the  purpose  of  God,  as  we 
speak,  which  cannot  be  truly  regarded  in  parts,  is  perfectly 
fulfilled. 


240          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  difficulty  about  the  Resurrection  I  have  felt,  and 
have  dealt  with  in  my  little  book.  Here  again  the  thought  of 
the  larger  life  of  humanity  comes  to  our  help.  We  live — so 
far  as  we  do  live — in  Christ.  And  here  the  whole  tendency 
of  modern  inquiry  comes  to  my  help,  and  not  to  my  undoing. 
Everything  helps  us  to  feel  our  dependence  one  on  another — 
to  feel  that  we  are  but  parts,  members  of  a  great  body.  In 
the  consciousness  of  this  fact,  which  finds  its  highest  expression 
in  the  Incarnation,  by  which  the  Son  of  God  took  not  a  man 
but  humanity  to  Himself,  I  find  an  infinite  power  of  waiting. 
As  yet  we  only  see  one  side  of  suffering.  It  evidently  has 
another  as  to  God. 

If  pure  and  noble  aims  for  the  present  miss  the  Truth,  it 
is,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  because  they  think  that  they  may  claim 
the  power  of  perfect  vision,  and  of  drawing  sharp  outlines  for 
that  which  is  boundless.  We  are  not  minds  only.  Perhaps  I 
have  spoken  half  in  riddles ;  but  I  think  that  I  shall  so  help 
you  best.  You  will  find  peace,  and  not  simply  receive  it. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  have  had  no  time  to  write  before.  This 
new  work  is  absorbing.  If  I  can  think  over  any  fresh  ques 
tions,  I  hope  that  you  will  be  sure  that  I  shall  gladly  do  so. 

In  our  patience  we  shall  win  our  souls.  They  are  not  our 
own  yet. — Yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  Easter  Eve,  1891. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — Let  me  thank  you  for  your  kind 
remembrance  of  me  and  for  the  beautiful  flowers  which  ex 
pressed  it.  The  Arums  will,  I  hope,  find  a  place  in  our 
Chapel,  which  is  the  glory  of  the  house.  Happily,  the  power 
of  life  and  service,  and  so  the  capacity  for  joy,  is  not  limited 
by  activity.  I  am  just  now  trying  to  set  down  some  thoughts 
about  the  blessing  of  a  still  life — which  certainly  can  never 
be  given  to  a  Bishop. — With  every  good  wish  for  Easter, 
yours  most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  29/7*  May  1891. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — You  will  imagine  how  difficult  it  is 
for  me  to  find  here  any  time  for  quiet  thought,  still  less  for 


XI 


DURHAM  241 


putting  my  thoughts  into  shape.  The  question  which  you 
raise  is  complicated.  For  a  certain  distance  we  can  see 
clearly,  and  then  comes  a  barrier  which  we  cannot  overleap. 

Every  physical  effect,  as  physical,  follows  an  inexorable 
sequence.  This  is  the  will  of  God.  So  far  we  are  on  certain 
ground.  Under  one  aspect  every  bodily  ailment  corresponds 
— must  correspond — with  some  violation  of  order  near  or  far 
off;  and  we  may  be  quite  sure  that,  since  every  consequence 
in  the  physical  order  is  the  expression  of  the  will  of  Him 
who  is  Love  and  Wisdom  and  Righteousness,  it  will  in  the 
end  bring  that  which  we  desire.  Physical  suffering  is  then  in 
itself  part  of  God's  discipline,  and  on  a  large  scale  contribu 
tory  to  restoration. 

But  then  we  have  to  take  account  of  the  connexion  of 
the  spiritual  with  the  material.  Hunger,  e.g.,  is  salutary  in 
itself,  but  Satan  may  use  it  for  temptation.  We  may  give 
admission  to  his  influence.  Then  he  can  use  for  evil  under 
the  conditions  of  this  life  that  which  is  from  God.  And  on 
the  other  side  we  can  by  God's  help  accelerate  the  healing 
power  of  suffering.  I  have  endeavoured  to  suggest  some 
thoughts  on  this  subject  in  the  fifth  sermon  on  "  The  Victory 
of  the  Cross." 

The  phrase  "  rebuked  the  fever  "  must  be.  compared  with 
corresponding  phrases  in  the  O.T.,  e.g.  Ps.  Ixviii.  30  (R.V.), 
cvi.  9;  Nahum  i.  4;  Matt.  viii.  26.  It  appears  to  me  to  be 
more  than  a  personification.  I  can  feel  a  little  of  that  which 
is  implied  in  it  by  reference  to  Rom.  viii.  18  ff. 

You  will  see  that  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  possible  to 
obtain  an  individual  solution  of  your  problem ;  but  in  the 
endeavour  to  gain  a  larger  view  of  the  Redemption  of  the 
world  I  catch  sight  of  that  which  is  sufficient  to  bring  rest 
and  hope. 

You  will  be  able  and  willing  to  fill  up  the  meagre  outline, 
which  is  all  that  I  can  draw. — Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2,-^rd  December  1893. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — Let   me  thank  you  for  your  most 
kind   remembrance   of  me  and  my  great  needs.     Faith  and 
VOL.  II  R 


242          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

patience  are  our  sorest  wants  in  the  stress  of  work.  To  faith 
all  things  are  possible,  and  the  promise  is  that  in  patience  we 
shall  win  our  souls,  and,  if  so,  our  people  too. 

It  would  have  been  a  great  pleasure  to  show  you  Auckland. 
Our  Chapel  is  unique  in  interest. 

It  is  happy  for  us,  I  think,  that  we  have  no  choice  as  to 
strength  or  weakness.  The  service  of  waiting  and  bearing  is 
not  the  least  fruitful.  Those  who  are  called  to  it  may  silently 
and  in  a  moment  help  weary  workers.  May  you  know  this 
joy ! — With  every  good  wish  for  Christmas,  yours  most  truly, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ityh  September  1894. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — On  my  return  home  I  found  your 
questions.  They  are  indeed  questions  which  must  always 
haunt  us,  and  to  which  we  cannot  find  any  complete  answer. 
But  all  seems  to  me  to  lie  implicitly  in  the  fact  to  which 
consciousness  witnesses  most  clearly,  the  coexistence  of 
finite  beings  with  an  Infinite  Being.  If  a  finite  being  exists 
with  power  of  self-determination,  there  must  be  the  possibility 
of  self-assertion,  i.e.  sin,  and  of  all  that  must  follow  from  this 
disharmony.  We  view  effects  dispersedly  and  in  succession, 
and  men  as  disconnected,  but  this  is  simply  a  consequence 
of  our  limited  powers.  To  God  "  all  creation  is  one  act  at 
once."  And  we  must  remember  that,  however  great  the  suffer 
ing  may  be  which  God  allows — or  rather  which  follows  sin 
by  His  righteous  law — He  has  more  than  matched  it  by 
His  spontaneous  love :  "  God  so  loved  the  world  .  .  ."  In 
this  too  He  has  shown  that  there  is  another  side  to  suffering. 
(If  you  have  not  read  J.  Hinton's  Mystery  of  Pain,  it  will,  I 
think,  suggest  helpful  thoughts.)  You  speak  of  intellect,  but 
intellect  has  very  little  to  do  with  character ;  in  capacity  for 
love  men  are  nearly  equal,  as  it  seems. 

You  will  anticipate  that  I  should  demur  to  your  interpre 
tation  of  the  word  "  ordering."  This  in  regard  to  the  action 
of  God  does  not  indicate  arrangement  from  moment  to 
moment,  but  such  laws — as  we  speak — as  infallibly  secure  the 
end  which  we,  with  perfect  knowledge,  shall  desire.  A 
Belgian  historian  (F.  Laurent)  has  written  eighteen  volumes  to 


xi  DURHAM  243 

show,  by  a  general  survey  of  the  life  of  humanity,  that  men,  in 
endeavouring  to  fulfil  their  own  ends,  establish  a  Divine  end 
wholly  different.  What  I  have  said  suggests  that  no  prophecy 
requires  a  fulfilment.  Knowledge  beforehand  no  more  causes 
an  event  than  knowledge  after.  The  words  in  St.  Matthew 
xvi.  24  are  very  hard.  But  life  is  a  perilous  gift.  If  the 
being  of  Judas  had  ceased  with  his  earthly  life  the  words 
would  have  been  true.  His  remorse  must  have  outweighed 
all  the  joy  of  his  past  life. 

Do  you  not,  to  suggest  one  last  thought,  feel  that  the 
parallel  between  an  earthly  father  and  a  heavenly  Father  is 
misleading?  No  earthly  father  can  feel  what  sin  is.  His 
difficulty  is  to  realise  its  consequences.  Our  appeals  to  God 
are,  in  one  sense,  a  feeble  endeavour  to  make  His  will  our 
own.  If  you  have  never  looked  up  Bishop  Butler's  sermon 
on  "The  Ignorance  of  Man,"  you  will  find  it  very  instructive. 
— Yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2$th  September  1894. 

...  I  feel  sure  that  we  can  rest  in  the  Lord  and  wait. 
When  it  is  obvious  that  we  see  an  infinitesimal  fragment  of 
life,  and  when  at  the  same  time  we  believe  in  the  work  and 
Person  of  the  Son  of  Man,  I  do  not  see  what  ground  there  is 
for  doubt.  Love  is  seen  to  triumph  through  and  over  sin  and 
suffering  on  the  Cross  and  on  the  Mount.  This  is  enough. 
Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  may  be  goods  which 
prove  to  be  goods  only  if  sought  for  ?  Our  Lord  prayed  for 
deliverance  from  His  "  hour."  We  may  pray  in  like  manner, 
and  yet  find  that  the  spirit  of  our  prayer  is  answered  otherwise 
than  we  judged  best. 

I  cannot  see  that  we  can  say  that  God  is  responsible  for 
the  action  of  creatures  whom  He  has  created  with  personal 
responsibility.  He  is  (if  we  may  so  speak)  responsible  for  the 
end,  and  for  this  He  has  made  provision.  All  between  be 
ginning  and  end  is  in  form  determined  by  man's  responsible 
action.  I  think  I  have  said  all  I  have  to  say  on  this  in  The 
Victory  of  the  Cross,  which  you  may  know.  .  .  . 


244          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT     CHAP,  xi 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i8M  September  1895. 

Dear  Miss  Cordeux — It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  tell  me  of 
your  anxiety  and  trial.  A  Bishop  naturally  bears  many  sorrows 
in  his  heart,  and  it  helps  him  to  think  of  them,  for  in  this  way 
he  feels  more  keenly  how  much  he  is  himself  helped  by  in 
numerable  friends.  From  what  you  say,  I  fancy  that  an  invalid 
daughter  of  ours,  who  is  now  perhaps  the  brightest  and  most 
helpful  member  of  our  household,  went  through  the  treatment 
which  is  prescribed  for  you.  If  it  did  not  do  all  that  we  had 
hoped,  she  has  had  a  very  happy,  useful  life  since.  May  this 
at  least  be  your  experience !  The  most  effective  service  is 
often  that  of  the  weak. 

May  God  comfort  and  strengthen  you,  and  enable  you  to 
hear  His  silent  message  ! — Yours  most  sincerely, 

B.  F.   DUNELM. 


CHAPTER    XII 

DURHAM  (continued] 
1897-1900 

THOUGH  the  Bishop  was  far  from  well  in  June  1897, 
he  was  able  to  attend  the  "  Diamond  "  Jubilee  Service 
in  Westminster  Abbey  on  the  2Oth,  and  be  present  at 
the  short  service  without  St.  Paul's  on  the  22nd.  On 
this  latter  occasion  he  contrived  to  take  up  his  position 
in  a  humbler  room  than  that  intended  for  him,  and 
appears  to  have  regarded  the  pageant  with  mixed 
feelings,  for  he  enters  in  his  text-book,  "  Is  the  army 
the  nation  ?  or  the  strength  of  the  nation  ?  " 

He  wrote  a  short  paper  on  Lessons  of  the  Reign, 
which  appeared  in  The  Commonwealth  for  June.  The 
article  opens  with  these  words : — 

The  memorable  saying  of  Pascal  that  "  humanity  is  a  man 
who  lives  and  learns  for  ever  "  (qui  subsiste  toujours  etqui  apprend 
continuellemeni)  suggests  a  standard  by  which  we  can  measure 
the  progress  of  a  nation  during  each  period  of  its  life.  To 
apply  it  to  the  present  time,  What  have  we  learnt  during  the 
last  sixty  years  ?  And  in  asking  the  question,  I  do  not  think 
directly  of  the  increase  of  our  knowledge  of  phenomena  and 
of  the  records  of  the  past,  but  of  the  effect  which  our  deeper 
insight  into  Nature  and  our  completer  apprehension  of  the 
course  of  history  have  had  upon  our  views  of  life — of  its 
conditions,  its  duties,  its  destiny.  These  views  finally  deter- 

245 


246          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

mine  the  character  of  a  nation,  and  reveal  its  growth  or  its 
decay.  Great  wealth  and  wide  empire,  which  commonly  fill 
our  thoughts  when  we  begin  to  estimate  national  prosperity, 
are  opportunities  of  service  and  nothing  more :  a  blessing  or 
a  curse  as  they  are  used. 

Looking  back,  then,  over  the  experiences  of  my  life,  I  seem 
to  see  clearly  that  in  our  Queen's  reign  we  have  learnt  a  great 
truth,  we  have  received  a  great  hope,  we  have  been  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  great  danger.  As  we  deal  with  the  truth, 
the  hope,  the  danger,  so  will  our  future  be. 

In  July  his  illness  became  more  pronounced,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  rest.  Persistent  rumours  as  to  his 
intended  resignation  were  circulated  at  this  time,  and 
even  speculation  as  to  his  probable  successor  was  rife. 
In  view  of  the  Lambeth  Conference  of  this  year  he  had 
not  made  many  Diocesan  engagements  for  July,  so  that 
he  was  able  to  comfort  himself  with  the  thought  that 
his  work  did  not  greatly  suffer.  He  was,  however, 
missed  in  the  counsels  of  the  Bishops,  and  Bishop 
Whipple  has  remarked,  "  The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Westcott 
was  absent  from  the  Conference,  greatly  to  the  sorrow 
of  his  brethren.  He  has  been  to  me  a  much  loved 
friend,  and  his  writings  and  personal  letters  are  a  price 
less  possession."  l  To  the  Bishop  himself  his  inability 
to  preach  at  the  Miners'  Service  in  Durham  Cathedral, 
to  which  he  had  been  looking  forward  with  thankfulness 
and  hope,  was  a  sorer  trial. 

The  following  letters  were  written  by  him  during 
his  illness  • — 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  jpthjune  1897. 

...  As  far  as  I  can  tell,  it  is  not  likely  that  I  shall  be  able 
to  go  to  town  on  Saturday,  but  as  yet  the  doctor  says  nothing 

1  Lights  and  Shadows  of  a  Long  Episcopate^  p.  465. 


xii  DURHAM  247 

definitely.  We  shall  see.  It  is  strange  to  be  lying  down  all 
day ;  but  I  think  that  I  am  getting  on,  though  it  is  far  more 
slowly  than  ever  before.  So  years  tell.  .  .  . 

I  contrive  to  get  my  letters  done  day  by  day,  but  that  is 
practically  all  I  can  do.  What  a  fortunate  thing  it  is  that  I 
have  no  diocesan  work  before  me.  I  can  rest  without  serious 
trouble,  for  the  Lambeth  Conference  does  not  lie  very  heavy 
on  me.  .  .  . 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  July  1897. 

I  have  just  come  in  from  my  drive.  How  strange  it 
seems !  The  Park  was  looking  wonderfully  beautiful,  like  a 
magnificent  series  of  Turners ;  all  the  outlines,  even  to  the 
most  distant  hills,  were  marked,  and  clothed  in  a  dress  of 
sunshine,  soft  and  half  transparent.  We  went  round  by  the 
Old  Hall,  and  if  the  flowers  were  not  so  beautiful  as  yesterday, 
it  was  a  different  pleasure  to  see  a  pitman  gathering  a  handful 
of  honeysuckle. 

The  Bishops  will  be  having  a  bright  time  at  Richborough, 
but  I  never  really  felt  that  I  could  be  with  them.  .  .  . 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

igthjtily  1897. 

You  may  have  heard  that  I  have  completely  broken  down. 
It  is  a  heavy  blow,  if  not  wholly  unexpected.  All  my  engage 
ments  must  be  cancelled,  and  among  them,  to  my  very  great 
regret,  the  short  address  at  the  Service  on  the  24th.  I  will 
try  to  send  a  short  message.  How  to  rest  I  hardly  know. 
No  doubt,  all  being  well,  I  shall  learn. 

So  the  Bishop  was  unable  to  attend  the  Miners' 
Service  in  the  Cathedral  to  which  he  had  looked  forward 
so  keenly.  His  message  was  delivered  to  the  congrega 
tion  by  the  Archdeacon,  and  was  as  follows  : — 

I  need  not  tell  you,  my  friends,  with  what  keen  and  thank 
ful  expectation  I  have  long  looked  forward  to  to-day,  and  with 


248          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

what  heavy  disappointment  I  now  find  myself  unable  to  take 
part  in  this  great  gathering  in  our  Father's  house ;  for  the 
House  of  God  is  the  home  of  men,  even  as  the  vision  of  God 
is  the  light  of  men.  All  who  meet  in  this  august  Cathedral 
this  afternoon  must  feel  that  they  are  not  strangers  one  to 
another,  but  equal  heirs  of  the  divine  patrimony.  The  service 
in  which  they  join  must  press  upon  them  with  irresistible  force 
the  sovereign  truth  that  they  are  brethren  in  Christ.  To  carry 
this  truth  into  the  ordinary  life  of  each  passing  day  is,  I  believe, 
to  find  a  remedy  for  the  sorrows  by  which  we  are  still  saddened 
and  perplexed.  So  then  may  God  in  His  infinite  love  enable 
all  who  come  here  year  by  year  to  realise  in  His  presence  the 
obligations  and  the  blessings  of  their  kinsmanship  one  with 
another  and  with  their  common  Lord.  To  this  end  I  venture 
to  repeat  the  first  words  which  I  used  in  this  place  seven 
years  ago,  and  say,  "  Brethren,  pray  for  us,  even  as  we  with 
full  hearts  pray  for  you." 

The  Archdeacon  went  on  to  mention  that  to  his  own 
great  sorrow,  to  the  great  sorrow  of  nearly  two  hundred 
bishops  assembled  together  in  conference,  and  to  the 
great  loss  of  the  whole  Church,  the  Bishop  had  been 
absent  from  the  Lambeth  Conference  then  assembled 
in  London  ;  but  that  his  Lordship  wrote  that,  great  as 
was  his  sorrow  at  being  absent  from  that  conference  of 
bishops,  his  sorrow  was  greater  still  at  being  absent 
from  the  gathering  in  Durham  Cathedral  that  day. 

In  August  the  Bishop  went  to  Fyling  Hall  for  his 
annual  holiday,  and  was  able  to  make  a  little  progress 
with  his  Ephesians.  He  was  also  at  this  time  reading 
Ruskin  and  Mozley's  sermons,  though  the  latter  did  not 
displace  the  sermons  of  Dean  Vaughan  as  his  Sunday 
reading  ;  for  on  every  Sunday  during  the  later  years  of 
his  life  he  read  a  sermon  of  Dean  Vaughan's,  and  from 
time  to  time  he  adds  to  the  simple  entry  "  C.  J.  V.,"  a 
reference  to  the  particular  volume  he  was  taking  up. 


xii  DURHAM  249 

In  October  the  Bishop's  health  was  restored  suffi 
ciently  to  enable  him  to  preside  at  his  Diocesan  Con 
ference  at  South  Shields,  whereat  he  made  a  notable 
speech  on  the  subject  of  Church  Reform,  and  urged  a 
plea  in  favour  of  self-government.  In  the  course  of  his 
speech  he  said  : — 

In  the  last  eleven  years  something  has  been  accomplished 
towards  the  correction  of  ecclesiastical  abuses.  The  Clergy 
Discipline  Act  of  1892  has  removed  the  worst  scandals  as  to 
criminous  clerks.  Successive  Patronage  Bills  have  received 
general  support,  and  though  they  have  been  defeated  by  the 
opposition  of  an  interested  minority,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I 
think,  that  their  main  provisions  will  before  long  become  law. 
But  the  discussions  on  these  measures  have  made  it  evident 
that  Parliament,  as  it  is  now  constituted,  is  not  able  to  deal 
effectually  in  ordinary  debate  with  questions  of  Church  reform. 
It  no  longer  represents  Church  feeling,  and  has  not  time  for 
ecclesiastical  legislation.  The  Church  itself  must  obtain  the 
power  of  self-government,  with  due  safeguards  for  the  rights 
of  the  State  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  constitu 
tion,  if  it  is  to  be  freed  from  the  evils  which  still  impair  the 
efficiency  of  its  work.  There  is  nothing  unprecedented  in 
such  a  claim.  The  self-government  of  the  Established  Church 
of  Scotland  justifies  the  extension  of  like  power  to  the  Church 
of  England.  It  is  then,  I  believe,  to  the  obtaining  of  this 
reasonable  self-government  that  our  efforts  must  be  directed 
now  rather  than  to  any  series  of  reforms  in  detail.  And  here 
the  preliminary  condition  is  to  secure  an  adequate  representa 
tion  of  the  whole  Church,  through  which  its  mind  can  be 
authoritatively  expressed.  To  quote  the  words  of  a  resolution 
passed  last  February  by  both  Houses  of  the  Convocation  of 
York,  "The  reform  of  the  Houses  of  Convocation  and  the 
legal  representation  of  lay  members  of  the  Church  should 
precede  any  application  for  a  change  in  the  present  process  of 
legislation  on  ecclesiastical  matters."  If  this  fundamental 
reform  can  be  effected,  there  are  satisfactory  precedents  for 
legislation  through  reports  of  such  representative  bodies  laid 
upon  the  table  of  the  House. 


250          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

In  the  following  month  he  visited  Leicester  to  preside 
at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Christian  Social  Union. 
In  his  address  on  this  occasion  he  set  forth  some  reflec 
tions  engendered  by  the  recent  Jubilee  celebrations. 
He  said  : — 

Within  the  last  few  months  the  whole  nation  has  been 
moved  by  a  spectacle  in  which  the  extent,  the  resources,  the 
unity,  and  the  loyalty  of  the  British  Empire  were  displayed 
with  unparalleled  completeness,  and  the  solemn  grandeur  ot 
the  spectacle  has  not  been  marred  by  any  popular  voice  of 
vainglory.  The  pageant  was,  perhaps  necessarily,  military  in 
form ;  but  no  one,  I  think,  rests  in  the  belief  that  our  strength 
lies  in  material  forces.  A  splendid  vision  was  spontaneously 
interpreted ;  squadrons  and  batteries  in  long  procession  were 
recognised  as  symbols  of  the  treasures  committed  to  our 
keeping,  and  of  our  resolve  to  guard  them.  The  large  repre 
sentation  of  colonial  troops  kept  far  away  the  thought  of 
aggression,  while  it  vividly  expressed  the  variety  of  the  elements 
united  in  the  Empire.  Two  things,  in  a  word,  were  set  out 
before  the  world  in  speaking  imagery — the  grandeur  of  our 
heritage  and  our  readiness,  if  need  be,  to  die  in  defence  of  our 
trust.  In  the  face  of  such  intelligible  signs,  the  dullest  minds 
have  gained  a  new  sense  of  what  we  owe  to  our  fellow-men,  a 
new  estimate  of  our  opportunities  and  of  our  responsibilities. 
Our  social  ideal  and  our  personal  ideal  have  both  been 
ennobled ;  we  have  received  a  powerful  impulse  of  self-realisa 
tion,  not  as  units  in  an  aggregate,  but  as  members  in  a  body. 
Even  when  the  outward  has  associated  itself  with  the  most 
impressive  majesty,  the  Unseen  has  been  acknowledged  as 
paramount. 

The  following  letter  to  Dr.  LI.  Davies  illustrates  his 
desire  for  ecclesiastical  self-government,  and  summons 
up  memories  of  the  friendships  of  his  undergraduate 
days : — 

zyd  November  1897. 

My  dear  Davies — Your  kind  words  were  very  welcome, 
and  I  am  most  grateful  for  them.  Shall  I  say  that  I  expected 


XII 


DURHAM  251 


that  you  would  agree  with  me  on  our  duty  to  seek  for  self- 
government  for  the  Church,  as  the  necessary  crown  of  Church 
life  ?  The  end  will  be  far  off,  for  we  have  at  present  very 
little  Church  life.  Therefore  it  seems  to  me  to  be  more 
necessary  to  make  our  object  plain.  But  this  is  a  subject  too 
great  for  correspondence.  I  have  therefore  ventured  to  hope 
that  you  might  be  able  to  come  to  Auckland  for  a  day  or  two 
and  talk  the  question  over.  I  am  obliged  to  keep  very  quiet 
now.  .  .  . 

I  am  on  my  way  back  from  Leicester,  where  I  stayed  with 
Vaughan  for  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Christian  Social 
Union.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Vaughan  were  very  well,  and  it 
was  delightful  to  see  them  in  their  home.  I  had  not  been 
there  before.  We  had  very  little  time  for  talking,  but  old 
days  came  back  very  pleasantly. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

It  was  the  Bishop's  custom  to  write  a  letter  each 
Lent  to  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Diocese,  suggest 
ing  some  subject  for  quiet  meditation  during  the  sacred 
season.  From  his  Lenten  letter  of  1898  I  quote  the 
following : — 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  the  Evangelical  Revival 
called  out  among  Churchmen,  as  far  as  it  reached,  an  effectual 
sense  of  personal  responsibility.  The  Oxford  Revival,  in  the 
middle  of  the  century,  quickened  anew  the  sense  of  corporate 
life.  But  the  Evangelical  movement  touched  only  a  small 
part  of  human  interests.  It  left  out  of  account  whole  regions 
of  thought  and  action.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Oxford 
movement  was  dominantly  ecclesiastical  and  theological. 
Larger  experience  has  taught  us  that  all  that  truly  belongs  to 
man  has  its  place  in  the  divine  order — a  place  which  must  be 
occupied  by  strenuous  endeavour.  We  need  therefore  once 
again  to  press  on  all  those  who  seek  Christian  privileges  the 
acknowledgment  of  Christian  obligations  as  Christian.  We 
need  to  accept  no  rest  till  every  Churchman  and  Church- 
woman  has  recognised  the  good  works  which  God  afore  prepared 
for  them  to  doy  and  has  offered  them  for  the  blessing  of  the 


252  LIFE  OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

whole  society  in  such  a  way  that  each  offering  is  part  of  the 
life  of  the  offerer. 

In  spite  of  the  innumerable  sorrows  and  distresses  by 
which  we  are  beset,  the  outlook  is  not  without  encouragement. 
There  are  signs  that  English  Churchmen — to  look  no  further 
— are  coming  to  realise  the  unique  greatness  of  the  spiritual 
charge  which  the  Prayer  Book  lays  upon  them  ;  signs  that 
they  are  learning  that  the  master-truth  which  is  now  brought 
home  to  us,  that  our  possessions,  our  efficiency,  our  life  itself, 
depend  on  others,  must  find  active  expression  through  the 
faith  of  Christ;  signs  that  the  co-operation  of  men  widely 
different  in  character  and  place  will  manifest  to  the  world  the 
social  power  of  the  Gospel ;  signs  that  once  more  in  the  face 
of  unbelief  and  non-belief  the  Son  of  Man  will  vindicate  His 
sovereignty  by  showing  that  He  satisfies  every  need  and 
every  capacity  which  the  struggles  of  a  new  age  have  dis 
closed. 

The  year  1898  was  celebrated  throughout  the 
Anglican  Church  as  the  Bicentenary  year  of  the 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge,  and 
the  Bishop  took  great  interest  in  the  celebration.  He 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  Society's  behalf  in  the 
Cathedral,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said  : — 

The  great  questions  by  which  we  are  disturbed  are  all 
finally  religious  questions.  We  have  yet  to  learn  through  the 
teaching  of  the  Spirit  that  in  education,  in  work,  in  inter 
course,  Christian  knowledge  brings  the  guidance  which  we 
require.  We  are  in  danger  of  losing  sight  of  the  nature  of 
true  education,  and  the  real  significance  of  work,  of  the 
highest  blessing  of  intercourse.  We  are  in  danger,  I  say,  of 
losing  sight  of  the  nature  of  true  education.  For  the  educa 
tion  which  is  truly  education  is  not  that  which  communicates 
knowledge  or  power,  but  that  which  quickens  intellectual, 
moral,  spiritual  life ;  not  that  which  arms  the  vigour  of  self- 
interest,  but  that  which  calls  out  devotion  to  social  duty ;  not 
that  which  concentrates  our  efforts  on  what  we  can  gain  for 


xii  DURHAM  253 

ourselves,  but  directs  us  to  joys  which  grow  greater  as  they 
are  shared  by  others ;  which  enables  us,  in  a  word,  to  take 
possession  of  the  wealth  for  which  we  were  made  as  men ;  to 
gain  the  vision  of  God ;  to  hold  converse  with  our  Father  in 
heaven.  All  things  are  ours.  The  whole  world,  with  its 
innumerable  beauties  and  its  inexhaustible  wonders,  is  a 
kingdom  prepared  for  us.  Yet  how  many  live  as  strangers  in 
the  midst  of  that  which  is  their  own.  Too  often  we  fail  to 
prepare  ourselves  in  early  days  for  the  highest  enjoyment  of 
mature  years.  The  immeasurable  depths  of  the  starry  sky 
touch  us  with  no  ennobling  awe.  The  light  of  setting  suns 
kindles  in  us  no  sense  of  heavenly  glory.  We  are  not  moved 
by  the  outward  spectacles  of  earth  and  sky ;  still  less  are  we 
trained  to  interpret  them.  Yet  everything  on  which  we  look 
js  a  thought  of  God  made  visible.  All  nature  is  a  parable, 
but  we  must  have  the  heart  which  watches  and  receives 
before  we  can  read  its  meaning.  Still,  as  it  has  been  well 
said,  "we  are  all  poets  in  our  youth,"  and  it  is  the  work  of 
education  to  cultivate  in  the  young  the  poet's  faculty;  the 
faculty  of  seeing  the  infinite  in  common  things ;  of  piercing 
to  the  spiritual  which  underlies  phenomena.  And  yet  more, 
true  education  teaches  us  not  only  to  see  God,  but  also  to 
hold  converse  with  Him.  Our  necessary  occupation  with 
material  things  tends  to  deaden  our  perception  of  spiritual 
realities.  Yet  the  unseen  is  the  largest  part  of  life.  Heaven 
lies  about  us  not  in  infancy  alone ;  and  by  swift,  silent  pauses 
for  thought,  for  recollection,  for  aspiration,  we  can  not  only 
keep  fresh  the  influence  of  that  diviner  atmosphere,  but 
breathe  it  more  habitually.  Words  spoken  to  our  Father  are 
not  measured  by  time.  They  do  not  so  much  interrupt  work 
as  quicken  it.  They  open  the  treasuries  of  another  world, 
hallowing,  ennobling,  blessing  the  simplest  duties.  We  all 
feel  what  we  owe  to  earthly  friends — how  poor  and  cheerless 
and  ineffective  our  work  would  be  without  their  sympathy ; 
and  the  Lord  Himself  has  said  in  words  which  reach  to  all 
who  love  Him :  "  No  longer  do  I  call  you  servants  .  .  . 
but  I  have  called  you  friends."  He  is  our  friend  still,  seen 
with  the  eyes  of  the  heart.  To  turn  to  Him,  to  walk  with 
Him,  to  open  to  Him  our  doubts,  our  wants,  our  griefs,  our 


254          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

joys,  is  to  find  temptations  overcome,  hope  rekindled,  earth 
transformed. 

A  few  days  later  the  Bishop  visited  Stockton  to 
open  the  new  premises  of  the  Stockton  and  Thornaby 
Boys'  Brigade  and  Working  Lads'  Home.  On  this 
occasion  he  delivered  a  "  most  encouraging  address " 
on  the  three  mottoes  of  the  Boys'  Brigade :  "  God  be 
thanked  for  prevention,"  "  We  help  those  who  try  to 
help  themselves,"  "The  child  is  father  to  the  man." 
The  following  are  some  of  the  words  that  he  said  anent 
the  second  of  these  mottoes  : — 

You  help  those  who  help  themselves.  It  is  something 
more  than  a  home  you  intend  to  give.  And  here  we  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  what  natural  experience  shows  to  be 
a  practical  and  universal  law — we  must  ask  something  from 
those  whom  we  desire  to  serve.  We  cannot  benefit  unless 
those  who  receive  the  benefit  make  some  effort.  We  are 
often  tempted  to  think,  for  example,  that  we  can  give  other 
people  useful  thoughts.  I  venture  to  think  we  can  do 
nothing  of  the  kind.  We  can  give  them  half-a-crown,  but  we 
cannot  give  them  a  real  thought.  They  may  use  it,  but  it  is 
not  their  own,  and  until  they  make  it  their  own,  it  will  really 
be  of  no  service  at  all  to  them.  You  intend  by  what  you  do 
for  these  boys  really  to  mould  their  character,  and  you  ask 
the  boys  therefore,  when  they  receive  something  from  you,  to 
give  something  in  return.  This,  I  believe,  is  the  universal 
law  of  Nature.  Nature  requires  us  sooner  or  later,  in  some 
way  or  other,  to  pay  the  full  price  of  every  gift,  for  it  is  after 
all  a  gift  that  she  makes  us. 

After  a  brief  Easter  holiday  spent  at  Harrogate,  my 
father,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  his  chaplain  son, 
crossed  for  the  first  and  last  time  St.  George's  Channel, 
to  receive  the  honorary  degree  of  D.D.  from  Dublin 
University.  This  degree  has  been  very  rarely  conferred, 


XII 


DURHAM  255 


only,  in  fact,  twelve  times  since  1595,  the  last  recipient 
of  the  degree  having  been  the  Hon.  John  Chetwyn 
Talbot  in  1812.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  the 
Examination  Hall  of  Trinity  College.  The  Public 
Orator,  Professor  Tyrrell,  in  presenting  the  Bishop  to 
the  Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Rosse,  K.P.,  described  him 
as  "  in  learning  a  second  Origen,  in  piety  a  second 
Augustine."  l 

The  days  spent  in  Dublin  were  by  no  means  holi 
days,  for   the  Bishop  preached  before   the   University 

1  This  is  the  full  text  of  the  speech  :— 

Praehonorabilis  Cancellarie  totaque  Universitas,  duco  ad  vos  virum 
inter  doctores  et  theologos  et  (quod  non  est  minimum)  inter  cives  ipsos 
quotidianos  prae  ceteris  eminentem,  reverendissimum  Brooke  Foss 
Westcott,  Episcopum  Dunelmensem,  D.D.,  D.C.L.  Rudimenta  adole- 
scentiae  optime  posuit  litteris  humanioribus  Cantabrigiae  felicissime  excultis ; 
postea  sacrae  theologiae  Professor  primas  partes  egit  inter  eos  qui  textum 
Novi  Testamenti  firmis  fundaminibus  constabiliverunt,  et  divinas  illas 
Apostolorum  commentationes  doctrina  singular!  illustraverunt.  Apicem 
episcopalem  consecutus,  huic  addidit  non  minus  veram  gloriam  coronae 
civicae.  Cedat  mitra  togae:  videre  mihi  videor,  Vir  Reverendissime, 
ipsum  cumulum  laudis  tuae,  cum  certamina  ilia  funesta  inter  nummatos  et 
operarios  composuisti,  cum 

Civium  ardor  prava  iubentium 

felici  tuo  temperamento  victus  et  placatus  conquievit.  Praestat  dixisti, 
ut  Neptunus  ille  apud  Virgilium, 

Praestat  motos  componere  fluctus. 

Venit  mihi  in  mentem  totius  loci  illius  nobilissimi  hunc  virum  contem- 
planti  tarn  strenuum  pro  veritate  ac  fide  propugnatorem,  tarn  mitem  inter 
cives  pacificatorem  : 

Ac  veluti  magno  in  populo  cum  saepe  coorta  est 
Seditio,  saevitque  animis  ignobile  vulgus, 
lamque  faces  et  saxa  volant,  furor  arma  ministrat : 
Turn  pietate  gravem  ac  meritis  si  forte  virum  quem 
Conspexere  silent,  arrectisque  auribus  adstant : 
Ille  regit  dictis  animos  et  pectora  mulcet. 

Talem  virum  duco  ad  vos  purpura  nostra  decorandum,  purpuram 
nostram  decoraturum.  Illvirorum  illorum  Cantabrigiensium,  Hort,  Light- 
foot,  Westcott,  unum  superstitem,  Vitae  Evangelii  auctorem  et  propa- 
gatorem,  doctrina  alterum  Origenem,  pietate  alterum  Augustinum,  liben- 
tissime  sane  graduatis  nostris  adscribimus. 


256          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

and  delivered  an  address  to  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society 
in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral.  He  also,  as  a  "  distinguished 
stranger,"  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  all  the  members 
rising  to  their  feet  and  applauding  at  his  entrance. 
The  Bishop  had  ample  opportunity  during  his  stay 
of  about  two  hours  at  the  Synod  of  "  making  himself 
acquainted  with  the  perfervidum  ingenium  Hibernicorum, 
and  of  listening  to  some  interesting  and  original  dis 
sertations  on  the  antecedents  of  the  Church  of  Ireland 
and  its  patron  Saint." 

The  Bishop  and  his  wife  both  thoroughly  enjoyed 
this  visit,  and  were  greatly  pleased  with  the  warmth  of 
their  welcome.  They,  together  with  their  chaplain  son, 
Henry,  were  the  guests  of  Provost  Salmon  during  their 
stay  in  Dublin.  My  father  writes  in  his  text-book  on 
2  ist  April,  "  A  great  day  :  full  of  interest." 

On  28th  May  my  father  was  present  at  Mr.  Glad 
stone's  funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey.  A  few  days 
previously,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  the  Bede  College, 
Durham,  he  had  referred  to  the  great  leader's  death, 
saying  :— 

I  cannot  forbear  from  saying  that  it  must  seem  to  many 
of  us  that  the  festival  of  the  Ascension  was  a  fitting  day  for 
the  passing  of  him  whose  life,  whatever  we  may  think  as  to 
the  measures  which  he  either  favoured  or  carried  into  effect, 
was  continuously  animated  by  the  desire  for  truth  and  justice 
and  righteousness;  who  in  everything  he  did  was  at  least 
filled  with  a  noble  spirit,  and  who  turned  all  his  powers  to 
the  pursuit  of  noble  ideals. 

Before  the  time  for  his  holiday,  or,  more  correctly 
speaking,  his  change  of  work  arrived,  the  Bishop  had 
several  important  summer  engagements  to  fulfil,  in 
cluding  an  address  to  the  miners  in  Durham  Cathedral, 


xii  DURHAM  257 

and  a  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Shire  Hall.  He 
seems  to  have  been  making  speeches  most  days  about 
this  time  ;  but  he  never  appeared  to  be  at  a  loss  for 
ideas  or  for  words  wherewith  to  clothe  them.  Referring 
to  a  speech  delivered  by  the  Bishop  at  the  laying  of 
a  memorial  stone  of  the  Auckland  District  Cottage 
Hospital,  some  one  observed,  that  he  was  "  The  grandest 
ould  man  fer  taaken  ivver  aa  cum  akross  yit — wen  y'eer 
Jim  taak  et's  just  like  reeden  a  byuk — clivver.  He  tyuk 
his  hat  off  i'  th'  blazen  hot  sun,  an'  aa  thowt  he  lukt 
th'  varry  sowl  o'  gudeness.  He  wanted  nee  Bishop's 
hat  te  mak  'im  luk  gud  wij  that  gud,  onnest,  upreet, 
an'  smilen  fyes.  Aa  mebbis  canna  discribe  things  as 
aa  owt  te  dee,  but  there's  nee  mistak  aboot  et — th' 
Bishop's  a  gloryus  ould  man.  Aa's  setisfised  this 
koonty  '11  loss  a  bonny  gud  man  wen  Bishop  West- 
cott's  gyen." 

The  following  similar  testimony  refers  primarily  to 
the  speech  he  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Shire 
Hall  :— 

The  speech  of  Bishop  Westcott  was  an  intellectual  treat, 
and  it  made  a  noticeable  impression  upon  the  assembly. 
There  is  always  a  special  charm  about  the  orations  of  Bishop 
Westcott.  They  are  delivered  with  a  quiet,  easy  flow  of 
language  that  is  almost  rhythmic,  and  the  words  strike  home 
immediately.  Reporters  admire  him  greatly  as  a  man  and  as 
a  thinker,  but  they  have  no  reason  to  wax  enthusiastic  over 
his  deliverances.  Like  the  late  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  he 
is  something  of  a  terror  to  the  shorthand  writers,  not  because 
he  speaks  rapidly,  but  because  his  thoughts  are  expressed  in 
uncommon  and  often  unfamiliar  phrases.  To  report  verbatim 
Dr.  Westcott  when  he  is,  if  I  may  use  an  athletic  term,  in 
form,  is  an  experience. 

The  summer  holiday  was  spent  at  Goathland,  and 
was  devoted,  as  in  recent  years,  to  work  on  the  Epistle 
VOL.  II  s 


258          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

to  the  Ephesians,  which  so  prospered  that  on  1st 
September  he  made  a  note  to  the  effect  that  the  draft 
notes  on  the  text  were  finished,  and  expressed  his 
thankfulness  in  his  usual  manner. 

On  1 6th  October  the  Bishop  preached  a  sermon  in 
the  Cathedral  on  behalf  of  the  Church  of  England 
Temperance  Society.  In  the  course  of  this  sermon  he 
said  :— 

Force — legislation  cannot  work  a  moral  revolution.  Legis 
lation  depends  for  its  efficacy  upon  strong  public  opinion, 
and  there  lies  the  difficulty.  There  is  a  large  class  tolerant 
of  intemperance,  and  it  is  not  regarded  by  them  in  its  anti 
social  character.  The  excuse  often  pleaded,  "He  is  no 
one's  enemy  but  his  own*"  reveals  the  popular  misconcep 
tion  of  the  vice.  He  who  is  his  own  enemy  is  the  enemy  of 
every  one  to  whom  he  is  a  debtor :  he  robs  his  friends  and 
fellow-men  of  himself.  The  remedy,  therefore,  must  be  more 
prevailing  than  legislation  —  than  force.  The  desire  for 
excitement  is  a  natural  instinct  answered  wrongly.  We  all 
feel  depressed  by  the  monotonous  dulness  of  common  life. 
"Wine  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,"  and  we  look  upon  it 
as  one  of  God's  gifts.  We  long  for  the  quickened  pulse,  the 
livelier  utterance,  the  keener  animation,  the  fuller,  intenser 
life — we  love  the  generous  freedom  of  good  fellowship.  The 
desire  is  not  wrong,  and  must  be  rightly  satisfied.  I  once 
asked  a  Labour  leader  what  would  cure  intemperance  and 
gambling,  and  the  reply  was,  "  Nothing  but  religion."  I 
believe  that  to  be  absolutely  true. 

The  autumn  found  him  once  more  engaged  in  the 
service  of  the  Christian  Social  Union.  On  25th 
October  he  addressed  a  very  large  and  appreciative 
audience  at  Macclesfield  on  "  The  Organisation  of 
Industry,"  the  Bishop  of  Chester  being  in  the  chair. 
This  address,  which  was  published  in  the  Economic 
Review,  attracted  considerable  attention.  In  the  open 
ing  of  the  speech  he  said  ; — 


xii  DURHAM  259 

The  organisation  of  industry,  if  we  reflect  upon  the  mean 
ing  of  the  words,  is  seen  to  be  the  organisation  of  national 
life.  As  citizens  we  are  all  bound  to  be  workers ;  and  it  has 
been  one  of  my  chief  joys  to  watch  the  gradual  acceptance  of 
the  master-thoughts  of  corporate  obligations  and  corporate 
interdependence,  till  now  it  is  (may  I  not  say  ?)  universally 
acknowledged  among  Englishmen  that  we  all  belong  to  one 
body,  in  which  the  least  member  has  his  proper  function. 
For  us,  then,  the  organisation  of  industry  is  such  a  co 
ordination  of  the  forces  of  the  nation  as  will  issue  in  the 
noblest  national  life,  to  which  each  worker  in  due  measure 
brings  his  individual  service,  while  he  shares  in  its  fulness 
according  to  his  capacity.  It  will  be  directed  not  only  to 
the  production  of  material  wealth,  but  also  to  the  develop 
ment  of  personal  character.  It  will  take  account  of  those 
to  whom,  in  the  stress  of  our  present  circumstances,  no 
appropriate  employment  is  open.  In  other  words,  a  perfect 
industrial  organisation  will  lead  to  the  harmonious  use  of  all 
the  resources  of  the  nation,  its  treasures  of  physical  strength 
and  skill,  of  capital,  of  intelligence,  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
common  good ;  it  will  be  ordered  with  a  view  to  the  healthy 
discipline  and  satisfaction  of  the  whole  of  each  individual 
life ;  it  will  deal  with  the  masses  of  the  unemployed  and  of 
the  partially  employed;  and,  though  I  cannot  accept  the 
measures  which  the  minority  of  the  Labour  Commission 
recommended,  I  am  ready  to  accept  their  statement  that  it  is 
"high  time  thatithe  whole  strength  and  influence  ...  of 
the  community  should  be  deliberately,  patiently,  and  persist 
ently  used  to  raise  the  standard  of  life  of  its  weaker  .  .  . 
members."1 

Writing  subsequently  to  Mr.  J.  C.  Medd,  the 
President  of  the  Macclesfield  branch  of  the  C.S.U.,  he 
said  :  "  It  (sc.  the  meeting  at  Macclesfield)  has  been 
my  most  encouraging  experience,  and  your  whole  pro 
gramme  ought  to  serve  as  an  example.  I  hope  that 
you  will  give  your  experience  to  Birmingham." 

1  Report  of  the  Labour  Commission^  p.  146. 


26o          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  following  letter  to   the  Dean  of  Westminster 
also  makes  mention  of  this  meeting  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  $ist  October  1898. 

My  dear  Dean — Yes,  indeed,  "Westcott"  not  "now  and 
then,"  but  always,  if  you  love  me  (dare  I  say?)  as  I  love 
Westminster.  It  is  most  kind  of  you  to  take  notice  of  my 
wanderings.  The  visit  to  Macclesfield  was  a  great  effort,  but 
full  of  interest.  The  question  was  one  which,  as  you  know, 
I  feel  intensely.  It  is  the  little  message  which  I  have  for 
the  North.  The  meeting,  I  should  say,  was  one  of  the 
Christian  Social  Union,  of  which  I  happen  to  be  President. 
The  platform  was  therefore  confined  to  members  of  the 
Society,  which,  from  no  narrow  motive,  is  confined  to  Church 
men.  My  desire  was  simply  to  supply  some  suggestions  for 
thought. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

In  a  letter  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Prior,  he  throws 
further  light  upon  the  Union's  platform  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  24^  January  1898. 

The  title  "  Christian  Social  Union "  is  capable  of  mis 
construction,  but  I  do  not  know  that  it  could  be  easily  im 
proved.  The  corresponding  American  Society  is  "  The  Church 
Social  Union,"  which  is  not  better.  Membership  of  the 
Union  is  limited  to  Churchmen  and  Churchwomen  bona  fide. 
I  said  a  few  words  on  this  limitation  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Stanton  read  at  the  meeting  at  Cambridge  in  November 

1892.  It  is   printed   in   the  Economic  Review   for  January 

1893.  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  (what  I  feel)  that  the 
condition  does  not  really  narrow  the  Union,  but  only  gives  it 
the  necessary  foundation  of  faith.     Any  branch  can  obtain, 
if  it  seems  well,  the  co-operation  of  others.     The  use  of  the 
word  "  Christian  "  is  positive  and  not  negative.      It  says  that 
the  work  of  the  Union  is  founded  on  the  Christian  Creed. 
It  says  nothing  of  others.      "  Social "  again  is  necessary.      It 
indicates  that  the  aim  of  the  Union  is  to  influence  our  social 
life,  as  distinguished  from  our  individual  life.     It  is  perhaps 


XII 


DURHAM  261 


unfortunate  that  the  two  first  epithets  suggest  the  title 
"Christian  Socialist,"  but  the  members  of  the  Union  are  by 
no  means  pledged  to  what  is  called  Christian  Socialism — a 
most  vague  phrase.  I  tried  to  set  out  the  duties  of  members 
in  a  paper  contained  in  Christian  Aspects  of  Life.  The  central 
one  is  quiet  study.  It  is  worse  than  vain  to  attempt  to 
"  do  "  anything  before  you  are  master  of  the  subject.  Yet  so 
much  every  one  can  do  personally,  quietly  reflect  whether 
this  act  or  this  habit  is  for  the  glory  of  God.  I  think  that 
Canon  Gore  would  speak  wisely  and  usefully  on  the  three 
objects  of  the  Society,  and  I  think  that  he  would  insist  on 
thought  and  study.  .  .  . 

This  meeting  at  Macclesfield  was  not  the  regular 
annual  meeting  of  the  Union,  which  the  Bishop  always 
made  a  point  of  attending,  but  a  special  gathering 
promoted  by  the  zeal  of  the  President  of  the  local 
branch  of  the  Union.  The  regular  meeting  was  held 
in  Birmingham  in  the  following  month.  Here,  accord 
ingly,  on  the  platform  of  the  Town  Hall,  the  Bishop 
appeared  on  2pth  November,  to  address  the  members 
on  "  Social  Service."  It  was  natural  that  such  a  place 
should  stir  up  in  him  the  memories  of  his  boyhood. 

It  is  impossible  (he  said)  to  describe  the  feelings  with 
which  I  stand  here  this  evening  in  the  hall  of  my  native  city 
and  look  back  upon  all  that  I  owed  to  Birmingham  in  my 
school  years.  Those  were  stirring  years.  We  who  passed 
through  them  felt  that  the  old  order  was  changing,  and  that 
a  revolution  was  going  on  about  us  the  issue  of  which  could 
not  be  foreseen.  The  first  event  of  which  I  have  a  clear 
recollection  was  the  meeting  of  the  Political  Union  on  New- 
hall  Hill  in  1831.  I  can  see  still  the  crown  and  Royal 
standard  in  front  of  the  platform,  which  reassured  my  childish 
heart,  startled  by  wild  words  of  violence  and  rebellion.  The 
Chartist  movement  followed  soon  after.  I  listened  to  Feargus 
O'Connor,  and  I  saw  the  blackened  ruins  in  the  Bull  Ring 
guarded  by  soldiers.  Then  came  the  Corn  Law  agitation 


262          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

and  the  Factory  Acts.  The  Young  England  party  strove  to 
mitigate  the  antagonisms  of  classes,  and  Disraeli  described  in 
memorable  trilogy,  Coningsby,  Sybil,  and  Tancred,  the  con 
flicts  of  opinion,  the  life  and  aspiration  by  which  they  were 
surrounded.  Meanwhile  the  Oxford  movement  was  raising 
in  new  forms  the  fundamental  questions  of  authority  and 
faith,  and  Strauss  assailed  with  unmatched  power  the  founda 
tions  of  the  Gospel.  They  were  stirring  times :  political, 
economic,  social,  religious  changes  came  in  quick  succession, 
and,  looking  forward  already  to  the  work  of  a  priest  and  a 
teacher,  I  watched  them  with  the  keenest  interest. 

Between  these  two  excursions  in  the  interest  of 
the  Social  Union,  the  Bishop  had  performed  various 
Diocesan  duties,  including  a  second  Visitation  of  the 
Cathedral ;  but  there  was  another  extra-diocesan  ser 
vice  which  he  rendered  which  should  not  be  lightly 
passed  over — his  sermon  at  the  Dedication  of  the 
Memorial  to  Miss  Rossetti  in  Christ  Church,  Woburn 
Square.  "  This  address,  delivered  with  the  deepest  feel 
ing,  characterised  by  great  delicacy  of  treatment,  and 
clothed  in  language  of  poetic  beauty,  held  an  audi 
ence,  comprising  many  prominent  literary  and  clerical 
figures,  in  enthralled  interest."  The  address  was  pub 
lished  as  An  Appreciation  of  the  late  Christina  Georgina 
Rossetti. 

The  Bishop  had  a  profound  respect  for  the  genius 
of  this  gifted  poetess,  and  in  writing  to  Mr.  Mackenzie 
Bell,  the  biographer  of  Christina  Rossetti,  who  had  asked 
permission  to  use  a  letter  which  ultimately  appeared  in 
his  work,  he  said  :— 

It  will  be  a  very  great  pleasure  to  me  if  you  think  the 
letter  of  any  use.  I  wrote  it  by  the  encouragement  of  a 
friend  [Miss  Heaton  of  Leeds],  who  thought  I  might  without 
presumption  express  my  sympathy  with  Mr.  Rossetti  on  the 
death  of  his  sister,  for  whom  I  felt  a  reverent  admiration. 


xii  DURHAM  263 

The  letter  cannot  adequately  express  what  I  felt,  but  at  least 
it  indicated  a  little. 

From  Auckland  Castle  he  wrote  again  to  the  same 
correspondent  on  nth  January  1898  : — 

Let  me  offer  you  my  most  hearty  thanks  for  the  beautiful 
volume  \Christina  Rossetti :  a  Biographical  and  Critical  Study\ 
which  has  just  reached  me.  I  look  forward  to  reading  it  with 
the  greatest  pleasure  and  profit.  I  am  glad  to  think  how 
widely  Miss  Rossetti's  influence  is  now  reaching  through  her 
"  Verses."  I  see  the  book  everywhere,  and  find  that  it  speaks 
to  the  heart  whenever  a  reader  listens  reverently  to  the  words 
and  waits,  as  a  poet  must  be  read.  You  will,  I  cannot  doubt, 
make  many  your  debtor. 

On  1 4th  September  of  the  same  year  the  Bishop, 
in  acknowledging  a  copy  of  Mr.  Bell's  Pictures  of  Travel 
and  other  Poems,  said  to  him  : — 

I  naturally  turned  to  the  lines  on  Miss  Rossetti.  They 
are,  I  think,  admirable  in  thought  and  form,  worthy  of  marble. 
The  last  piece  ["  Miracles  "]  I  had  read  before.  It  seems  to 
me  to  express  a  marked  truth.  We  see  fragments  of  life,  and 
dare  to  pass  judgment  on  them  severally.  To  God  all  life 
that  is  truly  life  is  one. 

Again  I  am  constrained  to  make  mention  of  the 
Bishop's  love  of  hospitality,  in  recording  another  happy 
gathering  at  the  Castle  which  occurred  in  July  1898, 
when  the  Bishop  received  the  members  of  the  Seaham 
Harbour  Bottle-workers'  Institute,  whom  he  had  invited 
to  visit  him.1  On  the  arrival  of  his  guests,  about  thirty 

1  The  Bishop  had  first  become  acquainted  with  the  Seaham  Harbour 
bottle-workers  some  years  previously,  when  he  produced  a  deep  impression 
upon  them  in  an  address  which  he  delivered  at  some  function  in  connexion 
with  their  Institute.  He  had  on  that  occasion  referred  to  an  interesting 
episode  connected  with  the  history  of  their  works.  On  finding  that  there 
was  no  record  of  this  episode,  the  Bishop  presented  to  the  Institute  a  record 
of  the  incident,  illuminated  and  framed,  which  was  hung  on  the  walls  of 
the  Institute  for  a  memorial. 


264          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 
in  number,  the  Bishop,  as  was  his  wont  on  such  occa- 


" 


' 

^aJTfe^^^^fe^  __=.  ii i/-  • 


SCREEN  IN  AUCKLAND  CASTLE  CHAPEL. 
From  a  Sketch  by  Bishop  Westcott. 

sions,  himself  conducted  them   round   the   Castle   and 


XII 


DURHAM  265 


garden,  pointing  out  the  various  objects  of  interest. 
After  tea  the  Bishop  was  photographed  in  a  group 
picture  in  the  midst  of  the  party.  This  was  at  their 
special  request.  They  also  asked  the  Bishop  to  let 
them  have  a  hymn  and  prayer  with  him,  and  to  give 
them  his  blessing.  A  brief  service  was  accordingly 
held  in  the  Chapel,  and  the  Bishop  spoke  a  few  words, 
which  were  received  with  rapt  attention.  The  bottle- 
workers  subsequently  sent  the  Bishop  an  enlarged  and 
framed  copy  of  the  photograph  taken  that  day,  which 
remained  to  the  last  in  the  Bishop's  study  amidst  the 
dearest  memorials  of  his  life. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1898,  and  in  January  1899,  my 
mother  was  very  seriously  ill,  and  the  Bishop  felt  most 
anxious.  Towards  the  end  of  the  month  Dr.  Hume  of 
Newcastle  was  called  into  consultation,  and  on  ist 
February  my  father  wrote  in  his  text-book,  "  A  little 
better  hope."  Very  little  hope  had  been  entertained 
of  my  mother's  recovery,  and  it  was  her  own  firm 
conviction  that  she  had  been  prayed  back  to  life  by  my 
father.  The  following  letter,  written  from  Durham  on 
the  day  of  the  Advent  Ordination  in  1898,  shows  in  a 
measure  how  my  father  bore  this  trial  : — 


To  HIS  WIFE 

DURHAM,  afh  Simday  in  Advent,  1898. 

The  Service  is  happily  over.  The  sun  (as  usual)  came  out 
for  a  little  time  just  at  the  close  and  gave  brightness  to  it. 
Mr.  Strong  preached  an  excellent  sermon  on  St.  John  xxi. 
1 8.  Dr.  Farrar  said  it  was  too  short.  The  semicircle  of 
priests  was  an  impressive  and  hopeful  sight.  All  the  men 
seemed  to  be  serious  and  fully  in  earnest,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  cause  misgiving  for  the  future.  .  .  .  This  has 


266          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

been  a  very  wonderful  week.  It  has  brought  some  wholly 
new  experiences,  and  I  am  very  thankful  for  its  lessons  as 
well  as  for  its  blessings.  Perhaps  the  lessons  themselves  are 
the  greatest.  I  can  wait  for  more  news  to-morrow  without 
anxiety. 

My  father  himself  was  very  poorly  in  April,  and 
with  difficulty  got  through  his  necessary  work.  In 
March,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  a  very  large 
audience,  he  had  been  unable  to  preside  at  a  Centenary 
Meeting  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Exeter 
Hall.  But  on  28th  February  1899  he  had  addressed 
the  Durham  Junior  Clergy  Society  in  the  Chapter 
house  on  "  The  Study  of  the  Bible."  In  this  address 
he  (indicated  some  characteristics  of  the  study  of 
Scripture  which  he  had  found  to  be  of  primary  im 
portance.  He  mentioned  seven  :  "  The  study  must  be 
systematic,  thorough,  wide,  historical,  patient,  reverent, 
vital."  On  these  characteristics  he  enlarged,  and 
afterwards  in  his  concluding  words  said  : — 

I  charge  you,  then,  to  prize  and  to  use  your  peculiar 
spiritual  heritage  which  was  most  solemnly  committed  to  you 
at  your  ordination.  Our  English  Church  represents  in  its 
origin  and  in  its  growth  the  study  of  the  Bible.  In  the 
study  of  the  Bible  lies  the  hope  of  its  future.  For  the  study 
of  the  Bible  in  the  sense  in  which  I  have  indicated  is  of 
momentous  importance  at  the  present  time,  and  it  is  rare; 
there  is  much  discussion  about  the  Bible,  but,  as  I  fear, 
little  knowledge  of  it.  We  are  curious  to  inquire — and 
it  is  a  reasonable  curiosity — when  this  book  and  that  was 
written ;  but  we  are  contented  to  be  ignorant  of  what  this 
book  or  that  contains.  We  remain  blind  to  the  magnificent 
course  of  the  Divine  education  of  the  world ;  and  still  less 
do  we  dwell  upon  the  separate  phrases  of  "  friends  of  God 
and  prophets,"  and  question  them  and  refuse  to  let 
them  go  till  they  have  given  us  some  message  of  warn 
ing  or  comfort  or  instruction.  Such  failures,  such  neglect 


xii  DURHAM  267 

seal  the  very  springs  of  life.  They  deprive  us  of  the 
remedies  for  our  urgent  distresses.  Who  does  not  know 
them?  We  are  troubled  on  all  sides  by  wars  and  rumours 
of  wars,  by  the  restlessness  and  anxiety  of  nations  and 
classes ;  we  ask  impatiently  if  this  wild  confusion  is  the 
adequate  result  of  eighteen  centuries  of  the  Gospel  of  Peace  ? 
We  ask  impatiently,  and  the  Bible  offers  us  an  interpreta 
tion  of  a  history  and  life  not  unlike  our  own,  and 
helps  us  to  see  how  the  counsel  of  God  goes  forward 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  human  fortunes  and  human 
wilfulness.  Our  hearts  again  constantly  fail  us  for  fear  of 
the  things  which  are  coming  on  the  world.  The  Bible  in 
spires  us  with  an  unfailing  hope.  We  are  yet  further  per 
plexed  by  conflicts  of  reasoning,  by  novelties  of  doctrines, 
by  strange  conclusions  of  bold  controversialists.  The  Bible 
provides  us  with  a  sure  touchstone  of  truth,  while 

The  intellectual  power,  through  words  and  things, 
Goes  sounding  on,  a  dim  and  perilous  way, 

and  brings  us  back  to  a  living  fellowship  with  Him  who  is  the 
Truth. 

On  1 6th  May  the  Bishop  preached  a  sermon  in  St. 
Margaret's,  Westminster,  on  "  International  Concord." 
He  had  on  more  than  one  occasion  recently  expressed 
his  pleasure  at  the  Czar's  invitation  to  the  Hague 
Conference.  He  now  said  : — 

The  invitation  of  the  Czar,  which  has  found  universal 
acceptance,  has  opened  new  fields  for  a  beneficent  discussion 
of  the  problems  of  national  life.  Whatever  may  be  the 
results  of  the  Conference,  the  Conference  itself  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  nations.  Much  has  been  already 
done  when  the  duty  of  considering  whether  anything  can  be 
done  has  been  acknowledged.  Questions  which  till  lately 
were  supposed  to  belong  only  to  dreamers  have  claimed  the 
attention  of  statesmen.  The  practical  belief  that  a  noble  end 
can  be  approached  is  in  itself  a  blessing ;  and  if  public 


268          LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

opinion  once  demands  an  Arbitration  Court  for  nations,  we 
need  have  no  fear  that  its  verdicts  will  fail  to  be  enforced. 
Public  opinion  will  be  strong  enough  to  uphold  the  judgment 
of  the  body  which  is  its  own  organ.  After  all,  the  voice, 
when  it  finds  clearer  expression,  is  stronger  than  the  sword. 


The  closing  words  of  his  sermon  were  : — 

But  you  may  ask,  Acknowledging  all  this,  what  can  we  do  ? 
Summarily,  then,  we  can  cherish  the  noblest  ideal  we  have 
formed  of  the  destiny  of  mankind — the  gift  of  our  faith — and 
refuse  to  surrender  one  ray  of  its  glory  under  the  uttermost 
stress  of  disappointment.  We  can  keep  hope  fresh — "hope, 
the  paramount  duty  which  heaven  lays,  for  its  own  honour, 
on  man's  suffering  heart."  We  can  bring  an  access  of  fervour, 
especially  at  this  time,  to  the  prayer  that  it  may  please  God  to 
give  to  all  nations  "unity,  peace,  and  concord,"  which,  unique 
in  its  completeness,  as  far  as  I  know,  has  been  over  three 
centuries  and  a  half  the  voice  of  our  English  Church.  We 
can  approach  every  question  of  foreign  policy  from  the  point 
of  sight  of  the  Christian  creed,  by  which  our  noblest  thoughts 
are  purified  and  strengthened.  We  can  check  in  ourselves 
and  in  others  every  temper  which  makes  for  war,  or  ungenerous 
judgment,  or  presumptuous  claims,  or  promptings  of  self- 
assertion,  the  noxious  growth  of  isolation  and  arrogance  and 
passion ;  we  can  endeavour  to  understand  the  needs,  to  feel 
the  endowments,  the  traditional  aspirations  of  other  countries; 
we  can  do  gladly,  unweariedly,  patiently  what  lies  in  us  to 
remove  the  suspicions  and  misunderstandings  which  serve, 
perhaps,  more  to  stir  animosities  among  nations  than 
ambition  or  pride.  We  can  honour  all  men ;  we  can,  to  say 
all  in  one  sentence,  assure  ourselves  by  quiet  thought  that  the 
glory  of  a  nation  does  not  lie  in  claiming  unlimited  domina 
tion,  but  in  fulfilling  its  office  for  the  great  commonwealth  of 
men,  and  so  preparing  within  its  own  sphere  the  advent  of 
international  concord.  By  such  efforts  we  shall  hasten  the 
Lord's  coming.  If  we  cannot  hope  to  see  the  full  splendour  of 
that  day,  at  least  it  has  been  the  joy  of  my  own  life  to  watch 
the  brightening  promise  of  its  dawn. 


xii  DURHAM  269 

Writing  to  his  wife  the  next  day  he  said  : — 

CHURCH  HOUSE,  i^th  May  1899. 

.  .  .  Mrs.  Davidson  went  with  me  to  St.  Margaret's.  I 
said  what  I  had  to  say  and  the  congregation  listened.  I  had 
a  very  kind  note  this  morning  from  Canon  Scott  Holland. 
He  wants  the  sermon  for  The  Commonwealth.  After  the 
sermon  I  went  to  a  gathering  in  the  Little  Cloisters.  A  great 
part  of  the  congregation  adjourned  there.  Lord  and  Lady 
Monteagle  and  their  daughter  were  there.  I  was  very  glad 
to  see  them.  They  were  very  full  of  kind  inquiries,  and  had 
heard  of  our  visit  to  Dublin.  .  .  . 

We  are  now  at  the  Board  of  Missions.  A  paper  is  being 
read  which  I  cannot  hear,  and  but  for  the  sake  of  appearances, 
I  should  run  away.  .  .  . 

From  Westminster  my  father  proceeded  to  Cam 
bridge,  where  he  had  the  privilege,  in  opening  the  new 
premises  of  the  Clergy  Training  School,  of  seeing  some 
of  the  fruit  of  his  earlier  labours.  The  opening 
ceremony  was  witnessed  by  a  large  gathering  representa 
tive  of  various  interests  in  the  University,  the  Bishop 
being  met  at  the  entrance  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely  and 
the  Council  and  Principal  of  the  School.  Several 
speeches  followed  the  religious  portion  of  the  ceremony. 
The  first  speaker  was  Dr.  Swete,  the  Regius  Professor 
of  Divinity.  After  him  my  father  spoke,  and  then  the 
Bishop  of  Ely  and  Professor  Jebb,  M.P.  Bishop  West- 
cott  in  the  course  of  his  speech  said  : — 

To-day  I  am  privileged  to  take  part  in  the  opening  of 
the  Clergy  Training  School,  in  which  the  English  Church 
claims  a  place  in  the  University  for  the  fullest,  completest 
training  of  the  candidates  for  its  ministry.  What  were  only 
aspirations  in  my  own  time  have  become  established  facts 
now.  The  Clergy  Training  School  especially  represents  the 
idea  which  was  the  master-thought  in  the  whole  of  my  work 


2;o         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

at  Cambridge,  and  I  think  I  may  venture  to  say  of  those  with 
whom  I  was  allowed  to  work.  That  idea  was  that  the 
training  of  the  clergy  and  laity  should  be  as  far  as  possible 
conducted  under  the  same  conditions.  Both  alike  should  be 
filled  with  the  inspiration  of  their  faith,  and  guided  by  the 
power  of  whole-hearted  devotion  to  their  several  works.  I 
recognise,  of  course,  that  there  are  many  cases  in  which  such 
a  training  is  impossible.  I  still  believe  heartily  in  the  great 
work  which  our  cathedrals  can  do.  No  one  can  feel  more 
keenly  than  I  do  the  necessity  which  candidates  for  the 
ministry  have  for  times  of  quiet  thought,  for  special  discipline, 
and  for  devotional  preparation,  but  I  do  not  see  why  that  need 
be  separated  from  the  University.  At  the  same  time,  I 
venture  to  say  that  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  importance  to  the 
whole  nation — and  never  of  greater  importance  than  at  the 
present  time — that  the  clergy  should  be  under  the  most 
favourable  conditions  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  feelings 
and  thoughts  of  the  laity,  and  that  the  laity  on  their  part 
should  become  familiar  with  the  thoughts  of  the  clergy,  and 
that  from  this  real  knowledge  should  spring  mutual  confidence 
between  both.  It  would  be,  I  believe,  disastrous  if  the 
education  of  the  clergy  were  to  be  separated  by  some  chasm 
from  the  education  of  the  laity. 

Writing  to  his  wife  that  same  evening  he  said  : — 

CAMBRIDGE,  \%th  May  1899. 

Our  meeting  is  over.  The  day  was  beautifully  fine,  and 
there  was  a  very  good  gathering.  I  was  very  tired,  and  did 
not  feel  as  much  at  home  with  my  audience  as  I  usually  do. 
However,  I  said  several  things  that  I  wished  to  say.  To  my 
great  surprise  when  I  sat  down  after  speaking  I  found  Lord 
Ashcombe  sitting  behind  me.  The  function  will  undoubtedly 
have  done  good,  and  the  Bishop  strongly  approves  the  idea 
of  the  School.  ...  I  saw  Sir  G.  Stokes.  He  was  full  of 
vigour. 

St.  Peter's  Day  was  always  signalised  at  Auckland 
Castle  by  a  reunion  of  "  The  Sons  of  the  House."      In 


xii  DURHAM  271 

1899,  in  view  of  the  Consecration  of  one  of  their 
number,  the  Rev.  G.  L.  King,  to  the  Bishopric  in 
Madagascar,  the  Bishop  invited  the  Brotherhood  to 
meet  in  London.  The  following  letter  to  his  wife 
describes  the  day  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  St.  Peter's  Day,  1899. 

Alas  !  my  dearest  Mary,  it  is  now  nearly  8  P.M.,  and  I 
have  not  had  a  moment  in  which  to  write  any  note ;  but  all 
has  passed  off  very  happily,  and  the  weather  has  been  perfect 
— sunny  and  fresh.  There  was  a  goodly  gathering,  as  you  will 
probably  see  in  The  Times.  As  the  Bishop  of  London  was 
not  there,  I  read  the  Gospel,  and  the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
read  the  Epistle.  There  was  a  large  congregation,  and  the 
mass  of  our  "  brethren  "  placed  just  in  front  of  the  pulpit 
had  a  very  striking  effect.  Elsewhere  ladies  were  dominant. 
We  were  able  to  sit  down  to  lunch  a  little  before  two.  The 
room  was  very  nicely  arranged  with  plenty  of  blue  cornflowers 
and  poppies.  It  just  held  us :  we  were  ninety- one.  At 
about  half-past  three  we  went,  most  of  us  by  river,  to  West 
minster.  Abbey  Garden  was  looking  its  best.  Our  old 
house  is  well  draped  now  with  Virginia  creeper.  The  Dean 
came  in  to  look  at  us.  The  tables  were  under  the  trees,  and 
Mr.  Taylor  was  on  the  spot  with  his  camera.  When  tea  was 
over  I  had  only  ten  minutes  to  look  at  my  papers.  The 
service  was  at  six.  The  favourite  hymn,  "  The  day  Thou 
gavest,"  was  sung  with  great  vigour.  Every  one  seemed  to 
be  in  excellent  spirits. 

On  8th  July  the  Bishop  went  to  Canterbury  to  be 
present  at  the  unveiling  of  the  monument  of  Arch 
bishop  Benson  by  H.R.H.  the  Duchess  of  Albany.  On 
his  return  to  his  rooms  in  the  Lollards'  Tower  he  wrote 
an  account  of  the  day  to  his  wife  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  %th  July  1899. 

It  has  been  a  most  interesting  day.  I  was  fortunate  in 
my  company  in  going  to  Canterbury — the  Bishop  of  Win- 


272          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Chester  and  Mrs.  Davidson,  Arthur  Benson,  and  Sir  J. 
Kennaway.  I  had  a  good  talk  with  Arthur.  There  was  a 
great  array  at  the  station  to  meet  the  Duchess.  Carriages 
were  waiting  to  take  us  to  the  Deanery.  Mrs.  Farrar  re 
ceived  me  very  warmly,  and  inquired  after  you  most  kindly. 
There  was  a  large  luncheon  party.  Just  before  the  service 
a  thunderstorm  came,  but  there  was  a  covered  way  into  the 
Cathedral  so  that  this  caused  no  inconvenience.  The 
Cathedral  was  crowded.  .  .  .  The  peals  of  thunder  made 
a  most  solemn  accompaniment  to  the  music.  .  .  .  The 
monument  is,  I  think,  very  fine.  The  figure  lies  under  a 
very  rich  twelfth  century  canopy  in  a  recess  of  the  south 
wall.  .  .  . 

I  did  not  see  Mrs.  Benson  anywhere,  but  after  I  had 
returned  to  the  Deanery  I  saw  Arthur,  and  he  asked  me  if 
I  could  see  his  mother ;  so  I  was  delighted  to  go  at  once 
to  Dr.  Mason's,  and  there  I  found  Mrs.  Benson,  Margaret, 
Fred,  and  Hugh.  Mrs.  Benson  looks  quite  her  old  self.  It 
was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  see  her  again,  and  I  only  wished 
that  you  could  have  been  with  me.  I  almost  lost  my  train, 
for  I  could  not  but  stay  there  talking.  Mr.  Ridge  found  me 
a  seat  with  the  two  Archbishops  and  Mrs.  Temple ;  and  Mrs. 
Temple  most  kindly  brought  me  home.  It  has  been  a  most 
memorable  time,  and  I  am  most  thankful  that  I  was  able 
to  go. 

On  1 5th  July,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Bishop,  a 
large  number  of  representatives  from  Co-operative 
Societies  in  the  county  of  Durham  met  for  a  Conference 
at  Auckland  Castle.  In  the  course  of  his  opening 
address  the  Bishop  said  : — 

We  are  not  condemning  cheapness  as  cheapness,  but  the 
cheapness  which  springs  from  bad  workmanship  and  unsatis 
factory  conditions  of  labour.  Many  of  the  cheapest  articles, 
happily,  are  produced  under  the  best  conditions.  Personal 
profit  can  never  rightly  be  the  ruling  motive,  either  of  pro 
ducer  or  consumer.  The  ruling  motive  must  be  due  fulfil 
ment  of  a  citizen's  duty.  Whatever  be  the  superficial  con- 


xii  DURHAM  273 

flicts  between  the  producer  and  consumer,  in  the  end  the 
interests  are  identical — that  they  may  contribute  to  their 
utmost  to  the  ennobling  of  life.  There  can  be  no  permanent 
rest  until  each  worker  is  proud  of  his  work,  finds  pleasure  in 
doing  it,  and  feels  that  through  his  work  he  can  gain  a  noble 
character.  Let  us  all  try  to  educate  ourselves  to  desire  good 
things  well  made,  to  look  beyond  every  article  to  the  work 
shop  in  which  it  was  produced.  This  duty  is  laid  upon  this 
generation  by  the  change  which  has  so  far  come  over  the 
conditions  of  industry.  No  doubt  the  work  is  difficult ;  but 
is  there  anything  worth  doing  that  is  not  difficult  ? 

On  iith  October  the  Bishop  attended  an  Industrial 
Conference  at  Newcastle,  on  which  occasion  he  moved 
the  following  resolution  : — 

That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  labour  co-partnership 
is  in  full  consonance  with  the  highest  principles  of  ethics  and 
religion,  and  is  not  less  favourable  to  the  material  interests  of 
the  State.1 

My  father  was  very  much  troubled  about  this  time 
by  the  Ritual  Controversy.  Writing  to  his  son  in 
Canada  he  said  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2$th  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1899. 

I  feel  very  anxious  as  to  the  result  of  our  Church  differ 
ences.  Self-will  is  a  very  hard  enemy  to  fight.  When  it 
comes  into  action  all  sense  of  proportion,  and  even  of  truth,  is 
lost.  Happily  these  troubles  do  not  affect  you,  nor  indeed 
are  they  seen  in  Durham ;  but  yet  the  English  Church  is — or 
ought  to  be — one  in  all  its  parts.  For  the  rest  of  the  time 
I  was  in  town  I  was  very  busy,  and  did  not  even  visit  the 
Abbey  or  the  National  Gallery,  but  I  did  what  I  had  to  do. 

He  was  himself  at  this  time  quoted  in  a  Hearing 
before  the  two  Archbishops  as  having  authorised 

1  This  speech  is  published  in  Words  of  Faith  and  Hope. 
VOL.  II  T 


274          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Reservation.  This,  however,  he  denied  in  a  letter  to 
Chancellor  Dibdin,  which  the  latter  read  in  the  sujpse- 
quent  course  of  the  Hearing.  He  wrote  :— 


AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  i8M  July  1899. 

My  dear  Chancellor — I  have  just  seen,  with  great  surprise, 
that  Mr.  Hansell  stated  in  his  address  at  Lambeth  that  I 
have  authorised  Reservation  in  certain  cases.  I  have  not 
done  anything  of  the  kind.  What  I  have  done  is  that  I  have 
endeavoured  to  show  how  the  cases  in  which  Reservation  is 
declared  to  be  necessary  may  be  met  without  Reservation. 
In  two  cases  I  have  allowed  incumbents,  who  have  applied 
to  me,  to  adopt  the  following  usage,  which  I  believe  to  be 
legal,  as  it  is  certainly  primitive.  Immediately  after  the  con 
secration,  one  of  the  assistant  clergy  may  take  the  elements 
to  the  sick  person,  so  that  administration  to  the  sick  may  be 
coincident  with  the  administration  to  the  congregation.  The 
sick  person,  in  fact,  is  to  be  treated  as  a  member  of  the 
congregation.  This,  I  hold,  is  what  Justin  Martyr  describes. 
I  further  directed  that  the  sick  person  should  be  enabled,  by 
the  assistance  of  some  friend,  to  follow  the  service  so  as  to 
be  prepared  to  receive  in  due  course.  The  usage  was  to 
be  adopted  only  in  exceptional  cases.  I  stated  my  view  at 
York  Convocation  in  May,  but  the  report  has  not  yet  been 
published.  Whether  the  usage  is  legal  or  not,  it  certainly 
excludes  Reservation  and  does  not  authorise  it.  There  is, 
indeed,  no  question  on  which  I  feel  more  strongly,  and  I 
cannot  understand  how  my  action  has  been  misinterpreted. 
I  insisted  strongly,  in  both  cases,  on  the  fact  that  there  should 
be  no  Reservation.  It  is  clear  to  me  Justin  Martyr  describes 
coincident  and  not  subsequent  administration  to  the  absent. 
— Yours  most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  the  Bishop, 
though  personally  disposed  to  be  content  with  the  very 
simplest  ritual,  was  scrupulously  anxious  to  be  fair  in 
his  dealings  with  those  who  differed  from  him  in  this 


XII 


DURHAM  275 


respect.  This  will,  I  trust,  be  abundantly  clear  from 
letters  written  by  him  to  clergy  in  his  Diocese. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  my  father's  social  labours 
during  the  year  1899,  mention  should  be  made  of  two 
matters  in  which  he  took  the  deepest  interest,  one  being 
that  which  found  expression  in  the  Durham  Aged 
Miners'  Homes,  the  other  the  Merchant  Seamen 
difficulty. 

Early  in  the  year  the  Bishop  had  invited  a  number 
of  representatives  of  Miners'  Lodges  to  a  Conference  at 
Auckland  Castle  on  the  question  of  Aged  Miners' 
Homes.  In  welcoming  the  delegates  assembled  in  the 
Castle  drawing-room,  he  said  : — 

We  are  in  a  house  which  has  been  closely  connected  with 
the  Bishopric  of  Durham  for  more  than  700  years,  and 
which  possesses  features  of  considerable  interest.  You  find 
hung  on  the  walls  the  portraits  of  people  who  have  lived  in 
the  house  for  350  years.  I  should  like  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  portrait  of  Bishop  Barrington,  who  was  Bishop  of 
Durham  at  the  end  of  the  last  century  and  the  beginning  of 
this.  There  has  scarcely  been  any  social  reform  which  has 
been  accomplished  during  the  century  which  Bishop  Barrington 
did  not  start.  He  started  the  idea  of  co-operation.  He  was 
the  first  who  seriously  took  in  hand  the  education  of  the 
poor.  He  fought  a  law-suit  and  won  it  and  ;£i6oo,  which 
he  spent  upon  education.  Bishop  Barrington  was  really  the 
first  inventor  of  the  familiar  phrase  of  "  Three  acres  and  a 
cow."  He  was  anxious  that  every  one  should  possess  some 
small  holding.  His  object  was  that  every  one  in  the  county 
should  feel  a  real  interest  in  the  life  of  his  parish,  and  have  a 
stake  in  it.  The  first  man  to  discover  Bishop  Barrington's 
merits,  strangely  enough,  was  Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake,  the  real 
father  of  present-day  co-operation.  I  think  you  will  be  glad 
to  find  that  the  portrait  of  such  a  Bishop  is  looking  down  upon 
our  meeting. 

The  Conference  was  eminently  practical,  and  so  it 


276          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

came  to  pass  that  later  in  the  year  the  Bishop  was 
invited  to  be  present  at  the  opening  of  the  Homes  by 
Mr.  J.  Wilson,  M.P.  The  day  was  really  a  great  day 
in  the  history  of  the  Durham  miners,  for  it  marked  the 
successful  attainment  of  an  epoch-making  enterprise. 
That  the  miners  turned  up  in  considerable  force  may  be 
concluded  from  the  fact  that  six  or  seven  colliery  bands 
put  in  an  appearance.  Before  the  commencement  of 
the  proceedings  the  Bishop,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Wilson, 
visited  some  of  the  Homes,  which  were  already  tenanted, 
and  conversed  with  their  inmates.  Feeling  a  desire  to 
eat  a  sandwich,  with  which,  in  his  usual  anxiety  not  to 
be  burdensome  to  any  one,  he  had  provided  himself, 
the  Bishop,  at  Mr.  Wilson's  suggestion,  entered  one  of 
the  cottages  in  which  tea  had  been  prepared.  The 
good  woman  of  the  house  summoned  her  neighbours  to 
her  assistance,  and  one  of  them,  as  she  came  in,  to  the 
great  delight  of  the  Bishop,  seized  his  hand  and  said, 
"  Good  day,  hinny  ;  I's  glad  to  see  tha." 

Subsequently  the  Bishop  made  a  speech,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  said  : — 

I  have  spoken  of  the  general  improvement  in  the  conditions 
and  character  of  English  industry.  I  cannot  forbear  saying  a 
few  words  about  the  changes  which  have  come  over  the 
industry  of  Durham  in  this  last  half- century.  Durham  has 
played  a  conspicuous  part  in  industrial  questions,  and  I  am 
proud  of  what  you  have  been  enabled  to  do.  Some  at  least 
on  the  platform  will  know  what  were  the  conditions  in  Durham 
fifty  years  ago.  Just  after  I  had  taken  my  degree  in  1848  I 
read  a  little  pamphlet  on  the  conditions  of  life  in  Durham 
given  by  a  Government  inspector,  and  I  was  horrified  by  the 
picture  he  drew.  You  will  know  the  facts.  Well,  what  have 
been  the  results  of  self-help  and  co-operation  ?  Think  what 
you  have  been  enabled  to  accomplish — of  the  Conciliation 
Board,  of  the  Permanent  Relief  Fund,  and  of  this  last  venture 


XII 


DURHAM  277 


of  faith,  your  Homes  for  Aged  Miners.  These  movements 
are  all  continuous ;  they  all  express  the  same  thought,  the 
same  conviction,  and  witness  to  the  power  of  faith.  * 

In  the  matter  of  merchant  seamen  the  Bishop  was 
much  distressed  in  view  of  the  continuous  decrease  in  the 
number  of  English  sailors.  In  the  latter  part  of  1899 
he  made  two  speeches  concerning  seamen,  the  first  at 
the  opening  of  the  extension  of  the  Seamen's  Church 
and  Institute  at  South  Shields,  and  the  second  at  the 
opening  of  a  new  wing  of  the  Seamen's  Mission  Institute 
at  Sunderland.  In  the  course  of  his  speech  at  the 
latter  place  the  Bishop  said  : — 

At  the  present  time — and  this  fact  we  need  to  take  to 
heart — from  thirty  to  forty  per  cent  of  the  men  in  our  merchant 
navy  are  foreigners.  The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
Mr.  Ritchie,  has  stated  that  if  the  whole  of  the  Naval  Reserve 
was  called  up,  our  ships,  instead  of  being  partially  manned  by 
foreigners,  would  be  altogether  manned  by  foreigners.  Surely 
a  startling  result !  Mr.  Holt,  the  well-known  Liverpool  ship 
owner,  in  his  memorandum  to  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
the  subject,  says  that  unless  some  provision  is  at  once  made 
for  the  training  of  boys,  the  employment  of  foreign  sailors 
must  of  necessity  considerably  increase,  and  ten  years  hence, 
in  those  circumstances,  a  British  crew  will  be  almost  unobtain 
able.  The  matter  requires  to  be  dealt  with  immediately,  and 
on  a  large  scale.  It  is,  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  our  country, 
the  most  vital  question  of  the  day.  I  think  that  these  words, 
strong  as  they  are,  are  not  exaggerated.  We  are,  at  the 
present  time,  face  to  face  with  a  great  evil  and  a  great 
danger. 

The  Bishop's  feeling  on  this  matter  is  further 
evidenced  by  what  he  says  in  the  following  letter 
addressed  to  his  son  in  Canada  : — 


278          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 

^  yd  Sunday  in  Advent,  1899. 

On  Monday  I  spoke  at  Sunderland  about  the  continued 
and  rapid  decrease  in  the  number  of  English  sailors,  which  is 
a  most  grave  and  unregarded  danger,  and  I  hope  that  the 
subject  will  be  taken  up.  Probably  we  shall  have  a  con 
ference  l  of  shipowners  to  consider  it  preliminarily,  and  then 
he  matter  can  be  started  seriously.  So  far  I  have  had 
favourable  answers  to  my  suggestion.  It  seems  to  me  to  be 
a  Bishop's  work  if  no  one  else  deals  with  it. 

In  an  address  delivered  at  his  Diocesan  Conference, 
held  at  West  Hartlepool  on  23rd  October,  the  Bishop 
treated  of  the  evils  of  overcrowding.  He  then  said  : — 

The  conditions  of  our  chief  industry  are  unfavourable  to 
family  life.  These,  to  a  certain  extent,  can  be  overcome ; 
but  the  evils  of  overcrowding,  when  it  exists,  are  practically 
insuperable.  And  we  may  well  be  moved  to  sad  reflection 
when  we  know  that,  with  the  single  exception  of  Northumber 
land,  Durham  contains  more  overcrowding  than  any  county 
in  England,  and  that  the  percentage  of  overcrowding  in 
Gateshead  is  the  highest  in  all  the  large  towns  of  England — 
more  than  twice  as  large  as  that  of  London — while  the  per 
centage  in  Sunderland  is  little  below  it.  Examples  taken 
respectively  from  a  town  and  a  village  will  show  the  nature  of 
the  evil. 

The  facts  as  to  overcrowding,  and  the  consequences  of  the 
facts,  are  not  always  in  evidence,  and  we  have  dull  imagina 
tions.  In  no  other  way  can  I  account  for  the  complete  failure 
of  two  schemes  for  the  erection  of  workmen's  dwellings  in  the 
diocese  from  want  of  support.  I  plead  then  in  the  name  of 
our  Faith,  I  plead  on  behalf  of  those  who  by  God's  will  are 
"joint-heirs  with  us  of  the  grace  of  life,"  that  in  every  urban 
and  rural  district  some  from  amongst  us  should  learn  the 

1  The  Conference  met  at  Auckland  Castle  in  the  following  January,  and 
was  described  by  my  father  as  "  most  encouraging." 


xii  DURHAM  279 

facts  as  to  overcrowding  and  make  them  known.  The  evils 
will  then  be  met.  The  awakened  Christian  conscience  will 
find  no  rest  till  the  remediable  causes  of  moral  infection  are 
removed.  To  corrupt  the  development  of  life  is  not  less 
criminal  than  to  maim  the  body.  We  are  guilty  of  conniving 
at  the  defilement  of  temples  of  God  till  we  face  the  problem 
according  tc  our  opportunities,  and  strive  to  solve  it. 

It  is  small  wonder  that  the  North  of  England  came 
to  view  my  father  "  as  an  earnest  social  reformer," 
though  in  the  South  he  was  best  known  as  "  a  scholar 
and  author."  The  writer  who  records  this  impression 
describes  how  the  Bishop  "  descended  a  pit  shaft  and 
inspected  the  principal  workings  of  the  mine,"  and  how 
he  made  a  visit  of  inspection  to  dilapidated  miners' 
cottages.  "  He  went  into  a  large  number  of  the  houses, 
and  even  ascended  the  ladders  to  the  garrets  of  many. 
The  familiar,  slightly  bent  figure  and  the  refined, 
thought -furrowed  features  of  his  Lordship  formed  a 
quaint  and  striking  picture  in  the  iow-roofed  garret  of 
a  pitman's  home." 

My  father  was  deeply  grieved  by  the  death  of  his 
son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Charles  Herman  Prior,  Fellow  and 
Tutor  of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  which  occurred 
on  3  i  st  October,  after  a  period  of  anxious  waiting  for 
the  inevitable  end.  The  following  letters  were  written 
to  his  daughter  at  that  time  of  trial : — 

You  will  know  how  constantly  our  thoughts  are  with  you, 
and  how  hard  it  is  to  put  thoughts  into  words ;  still  perhaps 
they  can  make  themselves  felt  without  them.  I  hope  that 
you  had  the  bright  midday  sunshine  which  came  to  us  unex 
pectedly  after  a  cold  dull  morning.  Even  such  things  help 
us.  I  find  it  still  impossible  to  realise  your  anxiety.  The 
change  has  come  so  suddenly.  Yet  I  think  that  you  feel  some 
corresponding  strength.  The  times  when  I  have  been  most 
anxious  have  been  just  those  when  I  have  felt  most  the 


280          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

unseen  greatness  of  life.  Power  has  seemed  to  flow  in  not 
thought  of  before.  We  have  come  already,  though  for  the 
most  part  our  eyes  are  holden,  to  innumerable  hosts  of  minis 
tering  spirits  and  to  God  Himself.  There  can  be  no  loss  of 
that  which  is  most  precious.  All  this  you  and  Charlie  will 
be  feeling.  It  is  very  hard  to  put  the  feeling  into  definite 
shape,  but  it  is  a  revelation  of  peace. 

May  God  abundantly  strengthen  and  comfort  you  both ! 

22nd  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1899. 

There  can  be  but  one  answer  to  your  letter.  It  is  a  joy  to 
all  of  us  to  be  able  to  do  anything  which  can  give  Charlie 
pleasure.  The  spot  in  Harrow  Churchyard  is  a  home-like 
spot,  and  we  shall  be  glad  for  it  to  be  yours.  All  seems  like 
a  dream  yet.  Such  events  reveal  the  nature  of  life.  They 
force  us  to  feel  that  what  we  see  is  only  a  sign  of  that  which 
is.  I  had,  like  all  others,  looked  forward  with  such  confident 
hope  to  the  continuance  of  C.'s  work  in  the  College.,  already 
most  rich  in  blessing,  that  I  cannot  think  of  it  as  ended,  but 
only  as  transfigured.  Life  is  more  than  the  present  forms  of 
life,  and  must  be  effective  according  to  its  nature  when  it 
passes  out  of  sight.  We  tremble  when  we  say  it,  yet  earthly 
loss,  even  the  most  overwhelming,  is  not,  if  we  hold  our  faith, 
loss  in  the  eternal  light.  We  may  perhaps  see  how  when  the 
Lord  said,  "It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away,"  He 
interpreted  our  separations.  He  went  away  not  to  leave,  but 
to  be  nearer  to  His  people. 

We  have  a  service  here  this  morning  at  the  same  time  as 
yours.  God  be  with  you  both ! 

All  Saints'  Day,  1899. 

I  had  just  been  thinking  over  one  of  my  day's  texts, 
"  There  is  left  therefore  a  Sabbath  rest  for  the  people  of 
God,"  when  your  letter  came  to  me,  and  then  I  went  to 
Chapel  to  take  the  day's  Communion  Service.  The  text  and 
the  service  say  better  than  words  all  that  I  would  say.  Your 
letter  was  a  great  comfort :  you  have  found  strength  and 
hope.  May  God  deepen  them  as  the  days  go  on  !  "  He 
which  began  will  perfect." 


xii  DURHAM  281 

It  will  be  best  for  me  to  go  to  Harrow.  .  .  .  Forgive  this 
very  hasty  note,  for  just  now  I  am  a  little  pressed.  God  bless 
you  all ! 

The  following  letter  on  the  same  subject  is  written 
to  his  son  in  Canada  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2$rd  Sunday  after  Trinity ',  1899. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  after  my  last  letter  that 
Charlie  passed  to  rest  on  the  Eve  of  All  Saints'.  .  .  .  The 
expressions  of  sympathy  from  all  sides  are  most  touching.  I 
cannot  tell  what  will  happen  to  the  College  or  to  the  College 
Mission :  he  has  been  the  very  life  of  both.  But  we  see  only  a 
little  way.  I  went  down  to  Harrow  on  Friday,  and  was  able  to 
take  the  part  of  the  service  by  the  grave.  The  only  available 
place  was  our  old  grave,  which  you  will  remember.  The 
yews  and  cypresses  planted  near  have  grown  wonderfully,  and 
it  is  a  quiet,  beautiful  spot.  There  was  a  service  at  Pembroke 
on  Friday.  Sir  G.  Stokes  read  the  lesson,  and  the  Master  of 
Trinity  took  the  prayers.  .  .  .  Harrow  Church  was  decorated 
with  wreaths  of  white  flowers  as  if  it  had  been  Easter,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  service  was  Easter-like.  We  have  thought  of  little 
else,  as  you  may  imagine,  this  last  week.  All  still  seems  to  me 
to  be  a  dream.  In  the  summer  I  had  no  suspicion  of  danger, 
and  I  had  looked  forward  to  his  work  at  Pembroke  with  un 
bounded  hope. 

No  year  in  my  father's  later  life  would  have  been 
complete  without  some  work  done  for  the  Christian 
Social  Union.  The  year  1899  was  no  exception,  and 
my  father  addressed  a  crowded  meeting  of  the  Union 
at  Liverpool  in  November.  Of  this  gathering  the 
Liverpool  Daily  Post  said  :  "  There  has  not  been  so 
fine  a  meeting  or  such  admirable  speaking  in  Liverpool 
for  many  years  as  at  Hope  Hall  yesterday  evening. 
The  Bishop  of  Durham's  opening  address  on  the 
Christian  Rule  of  Expenditure  was,  even  as  a  composi- 


282          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

tion,  quite  masterly."      In  the  course  of  this  speech  he 
said  : — 

A  well-ordered  budget  is,  I  cannot  but  think,  as  necessary 
for  a  citizen  as  for  a  nation.  I  will  go  further,  and  suggest  that 
it  is  worthy  of  consideration  whether  such  budgets  should  not 
in  their  main  features  be  public  or  accessible.  In  any  case 
our  own  should  be  such  that  we  should  not  shrink  from 
publishing  it. 

A  complete  scheme  of  expenditure  will  naturally  fall  into 
four  divisions:  (i)  Contributions  to  public  works ;  (2)  gifts 
of  private  munificence  and  charity;  (3)  provision  for  those 
dependent  upon  us  ;  (4)  personal  expenditure — food,  clothing, 
shelter,  books,  works  of  art,  recreation.  In  due  measure,  and 
with  necessary  limitations,  all  these  objects  must  be  con 
sidered  by  every  one ;  and  I  must  think  that  the  second  and 
first  form  a  first  claim  on  our  resources.  If  they  are  left  out 
of  account  till  every  family  and  personal  requirement  is  satis 
fied  as  it  presents  itself,  there  is  little  hope  that  any  residuum 
will  remain  to  meet  them.1 

During  the  course  of  this  year  the  Bishop  found 
time  to  contribute  one  or  two  short  articles  on  religious 
topics  to  the  press.  He  wrote  a  brief  paper,  entitled 
"The  Rest  Day  of  the  Heart,"  for  the  first  special 
issue  of  Guard  your  Sundays  ;  "  another,  entitled  "  The 

1  I  may  mention,  as  the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  the  publication  of 
private  budgets,  that  my  father's  expenditure  under  the  first  and  second 
heads  was  considerably  in  excess  of  a  fourth  of  his  whole  income,  while  his 
expenditure  on  "books,  works  of  art,  recreation"  was  quite  a  negligible 
quantity.     His  expenditure  during  the  years  of  his  episcopate,  I  may  add, 
was  in  excess  of  his  episcopal  income,  and  he  was  most  scrupulous  in 
refraining  from  using  any  of  his  "  official  income"  for  private  purposes. 

2  Early  in  the  year  he  had  written  the  following  letter  to  the  editor  of 
The  News  on  the  subject  of  "  Guard  your  Sundays  "  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  -i\th  April  1899. 

My  dear  Sir — I  send  you  a  word  of  most  hearty  good  wishes  for  your 
work. 

In  every  Confirmation  address  I  endeavour  to  press  on  all  who  hear  me 
the  simple  counse  "Guard  your  Sundays."  I  believe  that  England 


xii  DURHAM  283 

Glory  of  a  Nation,"  for    The  News ;  another,  entitled 
"  Biblical  Criticism,"   for  The  Churchman.     From  each 
of  these  articles  I  select  one  brief  extract. 
From  "  The  Rest  Day  of  the  Heart"  : — 

The  Christian  Sabbath  is,  in  a  word,  the  day  of  spiritual 
communion  with  God  in  men,  with  men  in  God.  On  our 
Sunday  we  too  must  strive  "to  be  in  the  Spirit."  Such  an 
effort  is  required  by  all  of  us.  If  we  reflect  on  our  nature 
and  our  position  we  shall  at  once  feel  our  want  of  this  "  rest 
of  the  heart."  Mere  repose,  amusement,  physical  pleasure 
bring  no  real  restoration  to  the  toiler  wearied  by  a  week  of 
heavy  labour.  They  all  belong  to  the  same  order  as  our 
daily  work.  They  cannot  convey  the  invigorating  force  of 
new  influences — they  open  no  fresh  springs  in  the  parched 
soul.  I  would  not  underrate  the  effects  of  literature,  of  art, 
of  culture,  of  science;  but  they  demand  a  heavy  price  for 
their  ennobling  lessons.  Many  of  us  cannot  pay  it ;  and 
God  shows  to  us  a  loftier  and  better  way.  He  offers  Himself 
to  us,  the  source  of  all  goodness  and  truth  and  beauty,  to  be 
reached  by  the  affections.  That  way  we  all  know,  we  have 
all  followed.  In  our  most  pressing  needs,  in  our  seasons  of 
desolation  and  distress,  we  turn  to  the  sympathy  of  a  friend 
for  the  support  and  refreshment  which  we  require. 

From  "  The  Glory  of  a  Nation  "  : — 

It  is,  I  know,  commonly  said  that  Christianity  has  done 
nothing  towards  the  establishment  of  peace  in  nineteen 
centuries.  No  statement  can  be  more  false.  Christianity 
has  disclosed  the  principle  on  which  alone  peace  can  be 
firmly  based.  It  has  affirmed  beyond  denial  the  dignity 

owes  her  stability  and  greatness  to  the  general  observance  of  the  Day  of 
Rest  and  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture.  The  two  are  bound  together,  and 
exactly  in  proportion  as  we  neglect  one  or  the  other  we  prepare  our 
national  ruin. 

In  these  times  of  restless  excitement  and  engrossing  business  I  do  not 
see  when  we  can  reflect  calmly  on  the  greatest  things — the  things  unseen 
and  eternal — if  the  quiet  of  Sunday  is  taken  from  us,  "the  Day  of  the 
Rest  of  the  heart." — Yours  most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


284         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

and  the  responsibility  of  man  as  man ;  it  has  made  clear  the 
reality  and  the  obligations  of  corporate  life ;  it  has  set  before 
us  the  final  unity  of  human  society ;  and  out  of  these  three 
truths  rises  the  ideal  of  the  international  concord,  the 
membership  of  nations.  The  ideal  is  not  of  our  own 
making ;  it  is,  as  Mazzini  said,  beyond  us  and  supreme  over 
us.  It  is  not  the  creation,  but  the  gradual  discovery  of  the 
human  intellect.  It  has  been  discovered  now,  and  it  rests 
with  us  to  embody  the  discovery  in  the  strength  of  the  faith 
through  which  it  has  been  made  known. 

From  "  Biblical  Criticism  "  : — 

My  personal  experience,  however  partial  and  imperfect  it 
has  been,  justifies  the  confidence  which  I  have  expressed  in 
the  results  of  the  unreserved  acceptance  of  the  responsibilities 
of  our  position.  The  first  Greek  book  which  I  possessed 
was  a  copy  of  the  manual  edition  of  Griesbach's  revision  of 
the  New  Testament.  When  I  began  to  examine  the  char 
acteristics  of  the  different  apostolic  writings,  I  turned  to  the 
brilliant  writings  of  F.  C.  Baur.  When  at  a  later  time  I 
desired  to  form  some  idea  of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  world,  I  prepared  myself  for  the  task  by  making  a  care 
ful  analysis  of  the  Politique  Positive  of  Comte.  Griesbach, 
Baur,  Comte  were  in  keenest  opposition  to  current  opinions. 
Griesbach  has  laid,  as  I  believe,  the  immovable  foundations 
of  textual  criticism.  How  profoundly  I  differ  from  Baur  and 
Comte  in  fundamental  beliefs  I  need  not  say.  But  I  owe  to 
all  a  lasting  debt.  In  various  and  unexpected  ways  all 
illuminated  for  me  the  apostolic  Gospel. 

My  work  has  been  centred  in  the  New  Testament.  I 
cannot  speak  of  the  Old  Testament  with  adequate  knowledge. 
Yet  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  doubt  that  when  the  Bible  of 
the  old  Church  has  been  investigated  with  the  thoroughness 
and  devotion  which  have  brought  the  apostolic  writings  into 
the  fulness  of  life,  it  will  gain  in  a  corresponding  degree  both 
in  significance  and  in  power.  It  is  when  the  books  of  the 
Bible  are  studied  as  other  books  and  compared  with  other 
books  that  their  unique  character  is  proved  beyond  con- 


xii  DURHAM  285 

troversy.  And  two  facts  must  never  be  forgotten.  The  Old 
Testament  substantially  as  we  have  it  was  the  Bible  of  the 
Lord  and  the  Apostles  ;  and  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  of  whom 
is  the  Christ  according  to  the  flesh,  implies  a  history  ade 
quate  to  account  for  its  character. 

In  an  Advent  letter  of  this  year  the  Bishop  asked 
for  consideration  of  "  that  which  is  the  very  soul  of  the 
Christian  life — Prayer,  and  especially  Intercession."  In 
this  letter  the  following  weighty  words  occur : — 

At  the  present  season,  and  under  the  stress  of  our  present 
anxieties,  it  is  natural  that  we  should  reflect  on  the  duty  and 
blessings  of  systematic  and  corporate  intercession.  Our 
ordinary  services,  and  particularly  our  Litany,  offer  an  out 
line  which  can  be  filled  up  and  quickened  with  a  new  life  as 
our  special  needs  are  brought  into  clear  light  by  quiet  medita 
tion.  And  this  exercise  tends  to  meet  some  obvious  defects 
in  our  spiritual  life.  We  have,  in  a  great  degree,  lost  the 
power  of  sustained  private  devotion.  We  are,  to  a  great 
degree,  unable  to  "  wait  still  upon  God  " ;  we  habitually  take 
refuge  in  manuals  when  we  might,  I  think,  listen  with  more 
profit  for  the  voice  of  the  Spirit ;  and  in  special  emergencies 
we  ask  that  some  set  form  of  words  should  be  provided  for 
us  when  we  are  called  to  give  a  personal  utterance  to  the 
deep  thoughts  of  our  own  hearts.  Now  particular  attention 
will  be  directed  to  one  part  of  our  Prayer  Book  and  now  to 
another ;  now  one  petition,  now  another,  will  be  emphasised 
by  a  solemn  pause  for  silent  prayer.  Thus  words  which  are 
unimpressive  in  their  general  form  will  be  kindled  by  a  direct 
and  individual  application.  And  even  more  than  this,  spaces 
of  silence  in  worship  will  bring,  I  dare  to  hope,  something 
more  than  we  commonly  enjoy  of  that  sense  of  the  Divine 
Presence  which  has  been  at  all  times  the  support  of  saints. 

The  above  passage  leads  one  to  remark  that  the 
one  book  of  devotion  which  the  Bishop  continually 
studied  was  Thomas  a  Kempis'  De  Imitatione  Christi 


286          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  Bishop  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  pro 
gress  of  the  war  in  South  Africa  during  the  early 
months  of  1900,  and  both  in  private  letters  and  in  his 
text-bopk  thankfully  acknowledges  the  successes  which 
at  1  this  time  were  given  to  our  arms.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  January,  when  the  magnitude  of  the  crisis  was 
being  more  fully  recognised,  he  was  asked  to  preach  a 
sermon  on  the  subject  of  the  war.  The  request  came 
from  the  Rev.  E.  Price,  Vicar  of  Bishop  Auckland,  to 
whom  he  replied  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yd  January  1900. 

Though  I  do  not  see  clearly  how  I  can  write  a  sermon,  I 
fully  recognise  the  duty  which  lies  upon  me  to  speak  on  such 
an  occasion  if  you  invite.  I  will  then  try  to  say  something 
on  Sunday  morning,  and  before  the  Litany.  This  will  not 
be  irregular,  I  think.  Only  I  must  ask  that  you  do  not 
make  this  known.  It  can  make  no  difference  who  preaches 
at  such  a  time. 

The  Bishop's  wish  that  the  sermon  should  not  be 
notified  was  clearly  respected,  for  a  local  paper 
remarks  that,  "owing  to  comparative  absence  of  an 
nouncement,  there  was  only  a  somewhat  small  con 
gregation  present."  The  sermon  made  frequent  refer 
ence  to  petitions  in  the  Litany,  pointing  out  their 
applicability  to  present  circumstances.  The  Bishop's 
opening  words  were: — 

To-day  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  God  face  to  face  with 
a  great  crisis  and  a  great  opportunity.  We  have  at  length 
realised  the  nature  of  the  struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
For  a  long  time  the  question  at  issue  was  obscured  by  sub 
sidiary  disputes.  The  Boer  ultimatum  disclosed  the  real 
nature  of  the  controversy.  Till  this  was  published  I  cherished 
the  hope  that  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  problem  was  possible, 
but  now  it  is  clear  to  me  that  the  steady  endeavour  of  the 


xii  DURHAM  287 

Boers  to  secure  supremacy  in  South  Africa  made  war  sooner 
or  later  inevitable. 

Nor  do  I  think  that  their  ambition  was  unnatural.  Their 
character  and  past  history,  the  traditions  and  achievements 
of  their  countrymen,  inspired  them  with  reasonable  hopes  of 
dominion.  The  vacillations  of  our  own  policy  made  it  un 
certain  whether  we  were  resolved  to  maintain  our  position. 
But  when  once  the  situation  was  realised  we  awoke  to  the 
sense  of  our  duty.  Our  unpreparedness  showed  the  sincerity 
of  our  desire  for  peace.  Yet  we  could  not  decline  the 
challenge  to  "the  cold,  cruel  arbitrament  of  war."  It  was 
impossible  for  us  to  submit  to  arbitration  the  fulfilment  of 
our  imperial  obligations. 

In  the  following  month  the  Bishop  preached  a 
sermon  on  the  same  subject  in  his  Cathedral,  at  a 
service  of  intercession  for  those  suffering  from  the  war. 
This  sermon  has  been  published  under  the  title  The 
Obligations  of  Empire ',  and  in  the  preface  thereto  the 
Bishop  says  : — 

For  many  years  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  plead  the  cause  of 
international  peace  and  arbitration.  I  do  not  recall  one  word 
which  I  have  spoken  or  abandon  one  hope  which  I  have 
cherished.  The  duty  of  fulfilling  a  trust  is  not  a  matter  for 
arbitration,  and,  if  need  be,  must  be  preferred  to  the  main 
tenance  of  peace. 

In  March  the  Bishop  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  the  active  service  company  of  the  Durham  Artillery 
Militia,  which  was  read  on  parade  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  2otk  March  1900. 

My  dear  Friends — Though  we  have  never  met  face  to  face, 
I  venture  to  call  you  "friends,"  for  your  voluntary  offer  of 
yourselves  to  our  Queen  binds  us  together  by  the  tie  of 
service  to  our  common  country.  Your  vicar  has  asked  me  to 


288          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

write  to  you  a  few  words  of  good-speed  before  you  leave 
Sunderland.  I  do  so  most  gladly  and  thankfully. 

The  hearts  of  those  whose  work  is  at  home  must  go  out 
with  truest  sympathy  and  gratitude  to  those  who  fight  our 
battles  abroad.  A  great  crisis  has  revealed  the  Empire  to 
itself.  We  feel  from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  as  we 
have  never  felt  before,  that  we  are  one  people,  charged  with 
a  great  mission,  and  united  by  a  history  which  is  our  inspira 
tion  to  noble  deeds.  All  minor  differences  of  class  and 
opinion  are  lost  in  universal  desire  to  fill  Imperial  obligations 
according  to  our  opportunities,  and  to  preserve  unimpaired 
for  the  next  generation  the  inheritance  which  we  have  our 
selves  received. 

In  this  eager  rising  of  the  nation  to  the  call  of  duty  you 
have  taken  a  foremost  place.  You  will  go  from  among  us, 
supported  by  a  generous  tradition,  to  show  not  only  what  is 
the  courage  of  Englishmen,  but  also  what  is  their  devotion 
to  freedom  and  righteousness.  You  will  crush  down  every 
prompting  of  pride  and  vain-glory  and  self-seeking,  and  strive 
as  you  can  to  make  it  clear  to  Boer  and  Kaffir  alike  that  you 
seek  the  highest  good  of  all  who  come  within  the  sphere  of 
English  influence.  You  will  reconcile  unflinching  resolution 
with  tenderness,  and  temper  daring  with  self-control.  You 
will  remember  that  it  is  your  part  not  only  to  win  battles,  but 
to  lay  the  sure  foundations  of  a  greater  Britain  in  liberty  and 
justice. 

Your  great  commander  has  given  you  the  watchword  ot 
victory.  "  By  the  help  of  God,"  Lord  Roberts  wrote  a  week 
ago,  "and  by  the  bravery  of  Her  Majesty's  soldiers,  the 
troops  under  my  command  have  taken  possession  of  Bloem- 
fontein."  That  is  the  true  order  of  the  forces  by  which  you 
will  gain  success.  You  will  seek  the  blessing  of  God  first,  and 
then  you  will  use  to  the  uttermost  with  resolute  courage  the 
powers  with  which  He  has  endowed  you. 

In  this  spirit  may  you  be  enabled  to  meet  hardships, 
privations,  dangers,  sufferings,  the  shadow  of  death,  and  feel 
the  presence  of  God  about  you  in  every  trial.  May  He  keep 
you  and  bless  you  abundantly ;  and  may  you  each,  looking  to 
Him,  know  in  your  own  souls,  as  has  been  said  by  one  of  old 


xii  DURHAM  289 

time,  that  "The  vision  of  God  is  the  life  of  man." — Your 
most  faithful  fellow-servant,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To    Colonel    Ditmas    and    the   officers  and   men  of  the 
Durham  Artillery  ordered  to  the  front. 

Later  in  the  year  the  Bishop  delivered  at  the 
Newcastle  Church  Congress  an  address  entitled  "  Our 
Attitude  towards  the  War." 

To  return  to  other  matters.  The  Bishop  was  in 
London  in  January,  and  was  carried  off  by  his  eldest 
son  in  a  hansom  (reckless  extravagance  !)  in  the  morning 
(wild  dissipation !)  to  see  the  Vandyck  Exhibition. 
Concerning  this  adventure  he  wrote  to  his  wife : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  ityh  January  1900. 

Brooke  carried  me,  my  dearest  Mary,  to  see  the  Vandycks 
this  morning — a  piece  of  unparalleled  dissipation — and  brought 
a  hansom  to  the  door  for  the  purpose.  The  collection  of 
pictures  as  a  whole  disappointed  me.  There  were  perhaps  a 
dozen  of  the  greatest  excellence — not  more.  The  mass  were 
without  meaning  or  nobility :  finely  dressed  men  and  women 
in  satin  and  gold  lace,  without  any  visible  souls.  But  on 
reflection  it  was  a  revelation  of  the  Civil  War.  Such  men 
and  women  obviously  could  not  rule  England.  One  portrait 
of  Charles  I. — there  are  about  half-a-dozen — showed  the 
pathos  of  the  situation,  and  a  picture  of  Strafford  and  his 
Secretary,  the  tragedy  of  it  in  fulfilment.  Otherwise  the  men 
and  women  of  character  were  foreigners.  If  on  one  side  the 
collection  pleased  me  less  than  I  had  expected,  it  taught  me 
more.  The  most  commanding  work  was  a  Doge  of  Genoa, 
Spinola.  So  I  had  my  lesson  in  history  rather  than  in  art. 

On  1 8th  March  the  Bishop  opened  the  new  stores  of 

the  Consett  Co-operative  Society.      He  was  presented 

with  a  gold  key  for  the  purpose  ;    but  though  grateful 

for  this  attention,  he  would  assuredly  have  been  better 

VOL.  II  U 


290          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

pleased  with  a  key  of  less  costly  material.  Of  all  the 
trowels,  keys,  knockers,  etc.,  presented  to  him  he 
cherished  most  a  steel  key  made  from  the  shoe  of  a 
pony  which  was  brought  up  from  the  pit  at  the  time  of 
the  great  strike  and  died  during  that  trying  time.  In 
the  evening,  at  a  public  meeting,  my  father  made  a 
speech  on  "  Co-operative  Ideals." 

He  makes  mention  of  his  day  at  Consett  in  a  letter 
to  his  Canadian  son  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
"2nd  Sunday  in  Lent,  1900. 

Yesterday  I  had  a  very  interesting  day,  one  of  my  out 
side  functions.  I  opened  the  new  building  of  the  Consett 
Co-operative  Society,  which  I  have  visited  before.  They  had 
a  lunch,  and  a  great  meeting  in  the  evening.  I  spoke  at 
both.  On  such  occasions  you  meet  people  whom  you  do  not 
meet  in  Church,  and  I  think  it  is  useful  for  them  to  feel  that 
a  bishop  enters  into  their  thoughts.  They  always  listen  very 
attentively,  and  are  warmly  sympathetic.  Co-operation  has 
been  for  a  long  time  a  favourite  subject  of  mine,  so  that  I  had 
something  to  say. 

The  year  1900  was  celebrated  as  the  Bi-centenary 
year  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 
In  these  celebrations  my  father  took  an  active  part. 
He  was  present  at  the  reception  of  Colonial  and 
Missionary  Workers  by  the  Archbishops  at  the  Church 
House,  and  thus  describes  his  experiences  there  in  a 
letter  to  his  wife  : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  31^  May  1900. 

.  .  .  After  lunch  yesterday  we  went  to  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Missions :  then  to  a  meeting  of  Joint  Committees  of 
Convocation :  then  I  went  to  the  Missionary  Reception. 
The  room  was  already  full,  and  an  official  offered  to 
"  introduce  me  to  their  Graces."  I  was  amused,  and  when  I 


xii  DURHAM  291 

told  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  he  was  delighted,  and 
shook  hands  with  enthusiasm,  to  the  amusement,  I  think,  of 
the  bystanders.  As  soon  as  possible  I  lost  myself  in  the 
crowd.  ...  I  was  asked  to  say  a  few  words,  but  I  said  that  I 
was  too  tired.  As  I  was  going  out,  however,  I  was  carried  on 
to  the  platform  to  "  support  the  Archbishops  "  and  after  they 
had  spoken,  and  the  Bishop  of  Newcastle,  who  said  that  he 
was  made  to  speak  because  I  wouldn't,  I  looked  on  the  great 
crowd  and  felt  as  if  I  must  say  what  we  owe  to  missionaries, 
and  thank  the  workers  as  well  as  welcome  them.  So  I  asked 
for  five  minutes,  and  said  something  of  what  I  felt,  and  the 
words  seemed  to  be  well  received.  When  I  apologised  to  the 
Archbishop  on  my  inconsistency,  he  said  "he  admired  such 
inconsistency."  It  was  right,  I  think;  I  could  not  help  it. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  few  words  that  he 
spoke : — 

My  friends,  I  owe  you  a  great  apology  for  daring  to  speak 
now.  The  Bishop  of  Newcastle  said  most  truly  that  when  I 
was  invited  to  do  so,  I  said  I  felt  wholly  incapable ;  but  to 
look  upon  this  audience  is  to  feel  a  necessary  impulse  not 
only  to  welcome  our  workers  in  the  Mission  field,  but  to 
thank  them  most  heartily  for  what  they  are  doing  for  us  at 
home.  It  is  that  on  which  I  wish  to  lay  the  greatest  stress. 
Working  out  in  the  Mission  field  they  are  able,  unconsciously 
it  may  be,  to  make  us  feel  something  more  of  the  real  propor 
tion  of  that  which  unites  us  and  that  which  separates  us.  At 
home  within  our  narrow  limits,  tendencies  and  powers  com 
pressed  assume  something  of  an  explosive  character,  but  in 
the  wider  fields  of  Mission  work  they  find  natural  opportunities 
for  expansion,  and  vindicate  themselves  in  characteristic  forms 
of  work.  And,  my  friends,  it  is  not  only  in  this  way  that  you 
help  us,  but  still  more  by  enabling  us  to  feel  that  new  con 
viction — the  victorious  universality  of  our  own  faith. 

My  father  always  delighted  to  honour  a  missionary. 
That  he  should  have  forgotten  his  tiredness  in  the 
impulse  to  thank  the  workers  in  the  Mission  field  is 


292          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

but  one  illustration  of  his  habitual  attitude  towards 
missionaries.  I  will  mention  one  other  incident  which 
is  more  striking.  He  was,  in  the  most  charitable  spirit, 
an  enemy  of  what  some  people  call  "  the  tobacco  habit," 
believing  that  it  created  a  purely  artificial  need  ;  but  on 
one  occasion  he  actually  invited  a  guest  to  smoke  a  cigar 
in  his  own  study.  The  guest  was  a  Missionary  Bishop, 
who  was,  I  believe,  quite  unaware  of  the  extravagant 
honour  done  to  him.  The  smell  of  tobacco  smoke  was 
offensive  to  the  Bishop.  He  would  as  a  rule  bear  it  in 
silence  ;  but  I  remember  once  when  I  was  seated  with 
him  on  the  top  of  a  tram-car  he  turned  to  me  and  said, 
"  Surely  that  man  is  smoking  some  very  bad  tobacco." 
At  Cambridge  he  would  actually  proctorise  under 
graduates  if  he  met  them  smoking  in  academical  dress. 
While  on  this  subject  I  will  venture  to  quote  a 
fragment  from  a  letter  to  one  of  his  missionary  sons, 
which  is  very  characteristic  of  my  father.  But  the 
main  point  is  that  it  gives  some  expression  of  his  fixed 
opinion  that,  at  a  Missionary  gathering  or  meeting,  a 
missionary  is  a  more  important  consideration  than  an 
Archdeacon  or  even  a  Bishop  who  has  not  engaged  in 
missionary  work  :— 

CHURCH  HOUSE,  29^  May  1900. 

.  .  .  Apparently  you  will  be  on  Deputation  work  when  I 
hope  to  come  up  to  town  for  the  Bicentenary.  This  surprises 
and  disappoints  me,  for  I  fully  expected  that  you  would  be 
there.  Indeed,  I  thought  that  you  came  home  chiefly  for 
this  purpose.  As  it  is,  I  cannot  tell  why  I  am  coming  at  all, 
except  to  swell  the  numbers.  .  .  . 

On  22nd  June  my  father  went  to  Newcastle  to  be 
present  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
new  Infirmary  by  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales.  He 


xii  DURHAM  293 

was  not  required  to  do  anything  on  this  occasion,  so 
we  must  reckon  the  day  as  a  holiday  granted  to  him 
self  in  honour  of  royalty.  On  the  2Qth  of  the  same 
month,  St.  Peter's  Day,  he  was  persuaded  by  the  "  Sons 
of  the  House  "  to  plant  a  tree  in  the  park  at  Auckland. 
On  28th  July  the  Bishop  again  addressed  the 
Durham  miners  at  their  service  in  the  Cathedral.  In 
opening  his  address  the  Bishop  said  : — 

A  great  modern  writer  has  said,  "If  I  looked  into  a 
mirror,  and  did  not  see  my  face,  I  should  have  the  sort  of 
feeling  which  actually  comes  upon  me  when  I  look  into  this 
living  busy  world  and  see  no  reflexion  of  its  Creator."  It  is 
a  startling  and  terrible  image.  I  know  no  more  impressive 
one  in  literature,  and  have  we  not  all  felt  something  of  the 
same  kind  ?  We  look  upon  the  life  of  men  whom  God  has 
made  in  His  own  image,  and  expect  to  find  everywhere 
tenderness,  self-control,  self-sacrifice,  love  in  its  thousand 
shapes;  instead  of  this  we  are  met  on  all  sides  by  selfish 
ness,  self-indulgence,  passion,  carelessness  of  all  things  except 
the  desire  of  the  moment.  As  Cardinal  Newman  says,  it  is 
as  if  we  looked  into  a  mirror  and  did  not  see  our  face.  If, 
indeed,  what  we  see  upon  the  surface  were  all,  I  do  not  think 
that  life  could  be  lived.  But,  thank  God,  it  is  not  all.  When 
a  sudden  crisis  comes,  commonplace  men,  men  hitherto  in 
no  way  distinguished  from  their  fellows,  prove  themselves 
heroes.  They  hear  in  their  own  souls  the  voice  of  God, 
and  without  one  thought  lay  down  their  lives  to  save  their 
comrades.  Your  own  work,  your  own  experience,  is  fertile 
in  acts  of  unlooked-for  and  unprepared  self-devotion.  Such 
deeds  correct  our  first  impressions.  They  show  us  the  true 
man;  and  we  rejoice.  God  has  not  left  the  world  which 
He  called  into  being,  though  He  hide  Himself,  and  if  the 
eyes  of  our  hearts  are  open  we  can  see  Him.  We  rejoice 
in  the  signs  of  a  divine  nature.  We  look  away  from  the 
troubled,  turbid  surface  of  things  to  the  springs  of  life,  and 
find  there  a  call  to  undoubting  faith  and  unwearied  labour. 
It  is  true  that  what  we  find  around  us,  and  what  we  feel 


294          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

within  ourselves,  may  fill  us  with  dismay ;  but  none  the  less 
we  believe  that  our  Father  made  the  world,  and  He  sent 
His  Son  to  be  its  Saviour,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  ever 
waiting  to  cleanse  and  strengthen  all  who  turn  to  Him. 

Concerning  this  Service  he  wrote  to  a  son  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
1th  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1900. 

Yesterday  was  the  Miners'  Service  in  the  Cathedral.  In 
the  morning  I  felt  very  poorly,  and  feared  that  I  should  not 
be  able  to  go.  However,  I  got  better,  and  drove  over  with 
H.  There  was  a  very  large  gathering,  and  the  bands  seemed 
to  me  to  do  their  part  very  much  better  than  when  I  was 
there  two  years  ago.  In  the  congregation  were  Mr.  J.  Burns 
and  Mr.  T.  Mann,  who  had  been  speaking  at  the  Demonstra 
tion.  I  hope  that  I  made  myself  fairly  heard. 

In  his  Lessons  from  Work  will  be  found  most  of  the 
important  sermons  and  speeches  delivered  by  my  father 
during  the  three  years  chronicled  in  this  chapter. 


The  following  are  selected  letters  belonging  to  this 
period  (1897-1900): — 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $tk  May  1897. 

...  To  my  consternation  I  have  just  remembered  that  I 
promised  long  ago  to  consecrate  St.  Columba's,  Gateshead,  on 
his  day,  gth  June,  the  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  G.F.S.  The 
Consecration  is  in  the  afternoon,  and  I  hope  that  the  time 
may  be  so  arranged  as  to  allow  me  to  fulfil  my  engagement 
in  Durham.  Otherwise,  what  penance  must  I  suffer  ?  I  will 
do  what  I  can  as  soon  as  Canon  Moore  Ede  returns,  and 


XII 


DURHAM  295 


perhaps  I  might  come  late  to  Durham,  or  the  service  might 
be  deferred  till  6.30.  However,  nothing  need  be  done  at 
present  except  the  making  of  my  confession. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \yth  May  1897. 

...  I  do  not  object  to  women  sharing  men's  studies  and 
men's  amusements  (I  think  that  I  draw  a  line  at  football), 
but  to  women  adopting  men's  standard.  I  hardly  think  that 
you  would  wish  them  to  adopt  men's  standard  in  eating, 
drinking,  or  cycling.  Surely  the  whole  question  at  issue  lies 
in  this.  Forgive  me.  I  feel  as  if  I  could  suffer  martyrdom 
for  this  principle.  I  remember  discussing  it  with  your  sister 
just  when  Girton  was  started,  and  nothing  since  has  caused 
me  to  feel  even  a  passing  doubt.  There  are  few  things  of 
which  one  could  say  as  much.  Again,  forgive  me. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  $ist  May  1897. 

...  At  Darlington  one  of  the  representatives  at  the  Strike 
meeting,  just  five  years  ago,  came  and  sat  by  me  and  talked 
pleasantly  and  hopefully  of  things.  He  thought  that  the 
men  were  coming  gradually  to  wish  for  a  Conciliation  Board. 
Perhaps  I  may  still  see  it  re-established.  He  spoke  very 
warmly  of  the  proposed  service  in  the  Cathedral.  "There 
would  be  such  a  congregation  as  there  never  had  been." 
There  is  power  in  a  historic  Church  after  all. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2yd  June  1897. 

The  Form  issued  for  the  2oth  was  authorised  by  an 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses  of  the 
Northern  Convocation,  and  by  the  Upper  House  of  Canter 
bury.  It  had  therefore  full  authority. 

As  I  said  at  Sunderland,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  any  addi- 


296          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

tions  or  variations  in  Church  Services,  and  to  authorise  them 
as  far  as  I  may  have  power,  after  due  consideration. 

I  hope  that  a  Collect  for  the  Conference  may  be  put  out 
by  the  two  Archbishops.  Failing  this,  I  think  that  it  will  be 
best  to  ask  the  prayers  of  the  Congregation,  and  perhaps  to 
adapt  the  Collect  for  Whitsunday.  I  am  always  anxious  to 
speak  through  our  regular  services. 


To  THE  BISHOP  OF  MINNESOTA 

ROBIN  HOOD'S  BAY,  25^  August  1897. 

My  dear  Bishop — One  word  only  of  farewell  and  thanks. 
The  sermon  I  had  read  before,  but  I  was  very  glad  to  have 
a  copy  from  yourself.  The  All  Saints'  address  was  new.  I 
have  read  it  with  deep  interest.  How  utterly  unable  we  are 
to  give  form  to  the  unseen,  and  how  silent  Scripture  is  when 
we  consider  the  curiosity  of  man.  I  often  think  that  the 
revelation  which  will  meet  our  opened  eyes  is  the  reality  of 
the  ineffable  fellowship  "in  Christ,"  a  new  type  of  life,  in 
which  the  members  consciously  enjoy  the  life  of  the  whole 
body  through  its  Head.  What  visions  open  out  from  Eph. 
iii.  21,  with  the  true  reading  R.V.?  Though  it  is  a  great 
disappointment  to  us  not  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you 
here,  I  cannot  wonder  that  you  have  found  it  impossible  to 
fit  in  the  visit.  I  am  glad  that  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
meet  you  at  St.  Paul's.  Still  I  had  hoped  yet  once  more 
to  hear  something  of  your  work,  which  seemed  to  bring  me 
nearer  to  the  unseen  world  than  anything  else  that  I  have 
ever  known. 

May  the  manifold  blessings  which  you  have  experienced 
still  follow  you. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  A  MEMBER  OF  Y.M.C.A.  AT  CONSETT 

(On  the  subject,  "  Has  theatre-going  a  moral  or  an  immoral  tendency  ?  ") 

[Date  nnknown.~\ 

Dear  Sir — The  constant  pressure  of  work  has  delayed  my 
answer  to  you,  and  now  I  can  only  write  in  brief.  The 


xii  DURHAM  297 

question  of  the  theatre  has  caused  me  great  perplexity  from 
my  early  days,  and  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever  been  able 
to  give  more  than  a  personal  solution  of  it.  We  must  dis 
tinguish  the  stage  itself  from  the  circumstances  with  which  it 
is  often  attended.  The  universal  instinct  towards  dramatic 
representations  appears  to  me  to  show  that,  like  music  and 
art,  they  answer  to  a  natural  and  a  right  desire.  I  can  easily 
imagine  them  to  be  so  constituted  as  to  produce,  not  only 
innocent  recreation,  but  positive  good  ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
the  conditions  under  which  they  are  given,  for  the  most  part 
in  England,  are  certainly  unfavourable  to  a  healthy  effect. 
Yet  this  need  not  be  so;  and  I  think  that  in  England  the 
theatre  could  be  made  as  helpful  as  the  concert -room.  I 
have  not  been  to  the  theatre  since  my  early  boyhood,  and  I 
don't  think  that  a  play  could  give  me  either  profit  or  pleasure. 
The  best  acting,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  falls  far  below  my 
ideal,  and  for  me  the  excitement  would  not  be  good.  But  I 
dare  not  judge  others  by  myself.  The  only  rule  I  can  offer, 
and  seek  to  follow,  is  to  consider  whether  I  find  that  a 
particular  amusement  helps  me  to  do  my  work  better.  Then 
I  can  regard  it  as  a  gift  of  God  to  be  used  with  a  view  to 
His  service.  The  rule  applies  generally,  and  when  we  are  in 
doubt,  it  is  wise  to  resist  it,  and  we  shall  soon  gain  a  habit 
of  right  judgment.  The  most  harmless  pastime  may  become 
bad  for  a  particular  person.  Yet  I  don't  think  any  one  who 
honestly  applies  the  rule  which  I  have  given  will  go  wrong. 
Yet  I  must  add,  that  we  must  consider  others  and  often  deny 
ourselves,  lest  we  should  lead  a  friend  to  follow  our  example 
which  would  be  hurtful  to  him. — Yours  most  truly, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  REV.  DR.  MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \$th  January  1898. 

My  dear  Dr.  Moulton — It  is  most  kind  of  you — in  any 
other  case  it  would  have  been  unexpected  kindness — to  think 
of  my  birthday,  i2th  January,  a  day  quite  without  note  in 
calendars.  You  know  that  one  of  my  central  tenets  is  the 
provisional  nature  of  time,  so  that  the  thought  is  supreme 


298  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

over  chronology.  I  am  most  thankful  that  I  am  again  able 
to  do  my  work  fairly,  yet  how  much  less  well  than  I  could 
wish.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  hear  something  of  your  work, 
especially  of  the  References.  Will  you  kindly  tell  me — I  am 
ashamed  to  ask  the  question — whether  I  sent  you  a  copy  of 
my  last  little  book  ?  When  the  book  appeared  I  was  much 
distracted,  and  the  fear  has  come  to  me  that  the  intention 
was  not  fulfilled.  If  this  is  so  I  will  repair  my  neglect  at 
once.  The  Notes  on  the  R.V.  I  feel  tolerably  sure  I  did 
send.  But  forgetfulness  is  one  of  the  penalties  of  years. — 
With  every  good  wish  for  the  coming  year,  yours  always 
affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

CHURCH  HOUSE,  i%th  January  1898. 

We  are  meeting  to-day,  you  see,  not  at  Lambeth,  but  at 
the  Church  House.  It  has  hardly  the  same  effect,  but  there 
is  a  good  meeting.  My  own  very  innocent  proposal  has  not 
found  favour.  There  is,  I  fear,  very  little  hope  of  anything 
being  done  towards  effective  Church  reform,  yet  the  "little 
hope  "  lives  still. 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  igtkjamiary  1898. 

My  first  meeting  is  over,  my  dearest  Mary,  that  of  the 
Joint  Committee  of  the  P.E.  It  was  a  small  meeting,  but  very 
pleasant — Dr.  Ince  and  Canon  Bernard  and  myself.  These 
meetings  carry  me  back  twenty-four  years,  and  have  many 
memories  ....  I  had  a  good  night  in  two  acts  only,  though 
I  was  haunted  by  Dreyfus !  and  I  fully  expect  to  get  through 
my  day's  work. 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

2.vth  January  1898. 

...  I  am  very  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  more  should 
be  done  to  develop  the  sense  of  independent  responsibility  in 
the  native  pastorate.  I  know  the  difficulties,  at  least  in  some 
degree,  but  they  cannot  be  greater  than  met  the  early  teachers 
in  Africa.  .  .  .  Definite  authority  calls  out  new  forms  of  self- 
control.  The  task  will  be  slow,  but  if  the  end  is  clearly 


xii  DURHAM  299 

proposed,  it  can  be  surely  reached  step  by  step.  We  have 
an  equally  difficult  work  before  us  at  home,  to  give  a  clear 
form  to  the  responsibility  of  the  laity.  ...  At  the  Bishops' 
meeting  on  Tuesday  I  tried  to  get  one  step  forward  in  this 
movement,  but  in  vain.  However,  I  shall  try  again  and  yet 
again  in  the  next  few  weeks,  and  strive  to  keep  hope  fresh. 

I  am  better  on  the  whole  than  I  was  at  Spennithorne,  but 
I  soon  grow  tired,  and  the  thought  of  what  I  want  to  do  and 
leave  undone  often  saddens  me.  I  am  a  bad  correspondent, 
but  you  know  that  you  and  your  house  and  your  work  are 
continually  in  my  thoughts.  The  weekly  letters  are  our 
weekly  joy. 

To  HIS  FIFTH  SON 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  2Qth  January  1898. 

.  .  .  The  first  photograph  of  the  assembly  of  men  and 
women  in  the  temple  court  was  a  revelation  to  me.  It  would 
be  quite  worth  while  to  write  an  account  of  the  practice,  the 
occasions,  the  audiences,  the  books  used,  and  the  like.  .  .  . 
Your  work  seems  to  be  shaping  itself  very  completely,  and  I 
think  that  all  the  institutions  promise  to  be  permanent. 
There  will  not,  I  trust,  be  another  tabula  rasa  at  Cawnpore. 
It  is  a  very  happy  thing  that  your  relations  both  with  the 
Government  and  the  S.P.G.  are  harmonious.  I  am  proud  of 
our  English  administration  as  a  whole.  I  hope  that  you  saw 
Mark  Twain's  summary  description  of  it,  to  the  effect  that  if 
a  monument  were  set  up  on  the  scene  of  every  noble  deed 
the  Indian  landscape  would  grow  monotonous.  .  .  .  Will  you 
give  my  kindest  remembrances  to  our  Durham  ladies,  and 
say  with  what  pleasure  I  hear  from  time  to  time  of  their  work, 
which  is  followed  by  the  sisters  with  deep  interest.  They 
have,  I  trust,  taken  the  much  needed  holiday.  .  .  .  You  are 
constantly  in  our  thoughts  and  thanksgivings.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (THE  REV.  E.  G.  KING,  D.D.) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2^h  January  1898. 

My  dear  Edward — Let  me  congratulate  you  on  the 
completion  of  the  first  part  of  your  book,  and  heartily  wish  it 


300          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

success.     The  last  paragraph  of  the  introduction  to  Psalm 
xli.  is  really  the  moral  of  the  whole. 


To  HIS  SIXTH  SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
Septuagesima  (6th  February)  1898. 

This  morning  I  was  greatly  troubled  by  a  telegram  which 
told  me  of  the  sudden  death  of  Dr.  Moulton.  Only  yesterday 
we  were  reading  an  account  of  a  meeting  in  London  on 
behalf  of  the  Leys  School,  at  which  he  spoke.  As  yet  I  know 
no  details,  but  I  am  afraid  that  the  anxiety  about  the  School 
must  have  hastened  the  end.  He  was,  I  think,  the  most 
self-sacrificing  man  I  ever  knew,  and  I  have  been  very  happy 
in  my  friends.  Now  no  one  is  left  of  those  with  whom  I 
worked  specially.  I  remain  the  youngest  of  all. 

TO    HIS   ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  Ascension  Day,  1898. 

Only  one  word  in  reply  to  your  kind  offer.  Mep  must  be 
unique.  Poor  fellow,  he  was  to  me  a  touching  parable,  and 
taught  me  very  much.  I  had  no  wish  for  a  dog  before,  and 
he  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  my  pets. 

The  Festival  is  a  significant  day  for  Mr.  Gladstone's 
passing.  He  always  "  aspired  to  heaven  "  in  all  he  did,  and 
it  will  be  for  this,  I  think,  that  he  will  be  remembered  rather 
than  for  anything  which  he  did. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  zqthjune  1898. 

Yesterday  was  a  busy  day,  but  not  altogether  unfruitful,  I 
trust.  There  was  a  somewhat  perplexing  Conference  on 
Missionary  Organisation  in  the  afternoon.  Our  two  Arch 
deacons  manfully  helped  me,  and  we  did  what  may  lead  to 
some  good.  .  .  .  We  had  a  little  meeting  here  yesterday — 
London,  Winchester,  Sarum,  with  myself — at  which  a  really 


xii  DURHAM  301 

important  and  solid  agreement  on  principles  was  reached. 
Later  I  thought  I  would  give  myself  a  holiday,  and  went  to 
House  of  Commons  to  hear  a  little  of  the  debate  on  the 
Benefices  Bill.  I  found  Mr.  Humphreys  Owen  speaking. 
Afterwards  I  sent  a  card  to  him,  and  he  came,  and  we  had  a 
little  very  pleasant  talk. 

CHURCH  HOUSE,  bthjuly  1898. 

.  .  .  After  breakfast  I  was  forced  to  go  and  look  for  some 
spectacles.  This  involved  a  long,  very  hot  walk ;  but  in  due 
time  I  reached  the  Church  House.  There  was  a  long  and 
discursive  discussion  on  Prayers  for  the  Dead.  Just  before 
lunch  the  question  of  Reservation  came  on.  I  delivered  my 
soul.  The  discussion  was  continued  after  lunch.  There  was 
wavering,  as  I  expected.  I  spoke  again,  and  I  think  that 
what  I  said  had  some  effect.  The  general  result  was  hopeful. 
It  is  now  past  4.30,  and  my  ears — the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
— has  gone  long  since,  so  that  I  am  hopelessly  ignorant  of 
what  is  being  said.  We  shall  be  dismissed  soon,  I  trust. 


To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ist  August  1898. 

...  I  could  not  suppose  that  the  violent  outbreak  would 
in  any  way  prejudice  your  work.  I  have  expressed  my  con 
viction  that  you  loyally  obey  the  Prayer  Book,  and  I  shall 
gladly  bear  this  testimony  at  any  time.  What  causes  me 

anxiety  is  the   fact  to  which refers.     I   believe  that 

the  clergy  generally  do  not  appreciate  rightly  the  general 
dislike  of  Englishmen  to  ornate  services,  but  I  had  supposed 
that  the  shocking  violence  of  —  -  would  have  moved  the 
indignation  of  all  Churchmen.  Unhappily  it  has  not  done  so 
any  more  than  Mr.  Kensit's.  We  must  take  account  of  the 
fact.  .  .  . 

GOATHLAND,  Iff/I  August  1898. 

I  have  made  a  fixed  rule  never  to  take  any  public  part  in 
a  Bazaar.  .  .  .  You  will  easily  understand  how  full  of  anxiety 
and  even  fear  this  time  is.  I  do  not  see  my  way  at  all 


302          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

clearly.  I  trust  absolutely,  as  I  have  said,  the  loyalty  of  all 
the  Durham  clergy.  I  should  be  faithless  and  ungrateful  if  I 
did  not ;  but  at  the  same  time  I  feel  that  many  elsewhere 
forget  their  ordination  promises,  and  that  not  a  few  are 
Roman  in  heart  and  policy.  The  grievous  thing  is  that  there 
is  no  mode  of  effective  action.  As  the  law  stands  at  present 
vestments  have  been  declared  illegal.  I  believe  that  since 
that  judgment  was  given  the  question  has  been  placed  in  a 
clearer  light,  and  that  vestments  are  legal.  But  most  un 
happily  there  is  no  court  in  which  the  question  can  be 
argued  afresh.  This  places  a  Bishop  in  a  most  serious 
position.  .  .  . 

GOATHLAND,  2nd  September  1898. 

I  see  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  a  "  special  com 
memoration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist "  and  of  those  departed  in 
the  faith,  but  I  should  certainly  think  that  every  instinct  of 
truth  and  reverence  would  lead  Englishmen  to  avoid  holding 
them  on  days  specially  connected  with  the  worst  corruptions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  ...  I  need  scarcely  say  that  no 
calendar  has  any  authority  except  that  in  the  Prayer 
Book.  .  .  . 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i2th  November  1898. 

...  At  the  present  time  everything  seems  to  me  to  fall 
into  insignificance  compared  with  the  maintenance  of  our 
inheritance  in  a  National  Church.  We  must  all  sink  ourselves 
utterly  to  maintain  the  notes  of  the  Kingdom — righteousness, 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  As  I  told  Lord  Halifax 
when  he  sent  me  his  Bradford  speech,  his  utterances  fill 
me  almost  with  despair.  Yet  I  cling  to  hope;  may  God 
fulfil  it. 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i$th  December  1898. 

.  .  .  The  doctor  has  just  been.  He  gives  an  excellent 
report.  "  The  heart  quite  changed."  Benedicto  benedicatur. 


DURHAM  303 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  ibthjamiary  1899. 

So  far,  I  have  had  an  easy  journey,  and  have  already  had 
my  tea  at  Doncaster,  but  all  my  other  provisions  remain  in 
reserve.  I  have  been  as  idle  as  you  could  have  wished  me 
to  be.  I  have  finished  my  story,  In  His  Steps,  which  asks 
questions  that  I  have  been  asking  all  my  life,  and  answers 
them  in  one  way,  and  essentially,  I  believe,  in  the  right  way, 
but  the  answer  is  made  effective  by  an  unusual  combination 
of  circumstances.  Canon  Moore  Ede  was  impressed  by  the 
book,  and  asked  me  to  read  it.  He  fancies  that  it  will  make 
people  think.  That  it  should  have  such  a  wide  popularity  is 
a  proof  that  the  mass  of  men  are  not  satisfied.  How  can 
they  be  ? 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  ityhjamiary  1899. 

.  .  .  You  will  have  seen  one  result  of  our  meeting  in  The 
Times.  I  hear  that  it  was  well  spoken  of.  It  was,  I  think, 
the  best  course  possible.  No  one  can  deny  that  the  Arch 
bishop  is  a  spiritual  person,  and  refuse  to  plead  before  him. 
The  difficulty  has  been  to  give  the  extreme  men  an  oppor 
tunity  for  setting  out  their  case.  .  .  . 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  I  shall  go  to  the  Tate  Gallery 
after  lunch.  See  how  gay  I  am  ! 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yyth  January  1899. 

I  believe  that  the  statements  about  reservation  and  incense 
are  absolutely  untrue.  But  the  Bishops  have  now  given  an 
opportunity  for  pleading  the  case  before  a  court  of  which  the 
spiritual  competency  is  unquestionable.  I  do  not  know  how 
a  man  can  belong  to  the  Catholic  Church  unless  he  is  a  loyal 
member  of  some  branch  of  it. 

The  question  of  the  age  of  candidates  for  Confirmation  is 
one  of  pastoral  experience.  I  have  had  unusual  opportunities 
of  forming  a  judgment,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  a 
late  age  is  best  for  the  religious  life. 


304          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOPTHORPE,  %th  February  1899. 

.  .  .  The  afternoon  was  spent  in  rather  dull  committee 
meetings,  but  like  all  things  they  come  to  an  end,  and  the 
Archbishop  brought  me  up  here.  Mrs.  Maclagan  was  most 
kind  in  her  inquiries,  and  said  that  she  had  been  hearing  all 
kinds  of  stories  of  my  "  youthful  indiscretions  "  from  Canon 
Tristram.  But  I  refuted  all  stories  by  pleading  that  I  did 
not  skate. 

You  will  be  amused  by  the  note  which  I  enclose.  How 
long  would  it  take  me  to  write  my  letters  in  his  hand.  He 
described  himself  as  a  very  humble  fellow-servant  with  me : 
"You  are  head  of  this  great  diocese,  and  I  am  the  organ- 
blower  at  Holy  Trinity  Church."  I  was  delighted. 

TO    HIS    YOUNGEST    SON 

(On  Marriage  with  Deceased  Wife's  Sister  and  Private  Confession.) 
BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2isf  February  1899. 

On  every  ground,  both  religious  and  social,  I  think  that 
marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  is  to  be  most  gravely 
condemned.  As  far  as  our  own  Church  is  concerned,  no  one 
who  has  contracted  such  a  marriage  could  be  legally  received 
to  Holy  Communion.  This  rule  would,  I  cannot  doubt,  be 
enforced  at  Delhi.  Your  friend  must  face  this  consequence. 
Possibly  some  Nonconformist  body  might  receive  him,  but  as 
far  as  I  can  judge,  his  connexion  with  your  Mission  must 
cease  if  he  so  marries.  It  is  not  a  question  whether  our 
Church  is  narrow  or  not :  the  Church  must  enforce  its  laws 
on  its  members ;  and  its  members  must  submit  their  opinions 
to  its  clear  judgment.  For  us  the  question  is  settled,  and, 
as  I  hold,  most  rightly  settled. 

There  can  again  be  no  question  as  to  the  mind  of  our 
Church  about  private  confession.  At  the  last  meeting  of 
Convocation  I  presented  a  report  upon  it;  and  I  pointed 
out  the  significant  changes  in  the  Exhortation  before  Holy 


xii  DURHAM  305 

Communion  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  1552,  which  are  well 
worthy  of  study.  As  Bishop  Wilberforce  said  truly,  "It  is 
medicine  and  not  food."  As  far  as  I  have  observed,  the 
habitual  practice  of  confession  tends  to  produce  a  character 
in  many  ways  attractive,  but  not  strong.  Nothing  can  in 
crease  the  effect  which  the  study  of  the  Passion  leaves  upon 
us.  But  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  John  leads  us  to 
think  more  of  God  than  of  ourselves.  The  wonderful  words 
in  Phil.  iii.  12-14  describe  our  true  temper.  Fellowship 
with  the  living  Christ  is  protection  and  strength  and  inspira 
tion.  Nothing  can  take  its  place.  I  know  too  well  how 
feebly  we  hold  it.  You  have  Dr.  Dale's  Ephesians,  I  think : 
there  is  much  in  it  which  sets  out  clearly  what  I  have  wished 
to  suggest.  Let  the  Holy  Spirit  speak  to  you  through  the 
New  Testament.  He  will  help  us  to  find  there  what  we 
need. 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  March  1899. 

I  feel  that  to-day  I  must  write  a  line,  for  by  the  time  the 
note  reaches  you,  you  will  have  been  left  alone,  and  will  be 
feeling  the  first  trials  of  loneliness.  Such  separations  are  the 
condition  of  Indian  work,  and  I  always  rejoice  to  believe 
that  some  corresponding  power  is  given.  .  .  . 

We  are  still  in  a  very  troubled  state,  and  I  do  not  think 

that  we  have  reached  the  end  by  any  means.  

— I  have  a  letter  of  his  with  me — is  singularly  dangerous 
from  his  personal  goodness  and  amazing  narrowness.  Yet  I 
have  not  given  up  hope.  In  Durham  there  is  nothing  to 
cause  any  uneasiness.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (THE  REV.  E.  G.  KING,  D.D.) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2gth  March  1899. 

I  am  sorry  to  have  kept  the  sheet  so  long,  but  I  have 
been  greatly  pressed  lately,  and  now  that  the  pressure  is 
taken  off  I  am  good  for  nothing.  I  have  read  the  notes 
with  great  interest.  I  have  always  been  inclined  to  think 

VOL.  II  X 


306          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

that  Ps.  xliii.  was  an  addition  by  another  writer  to  Ps.  xlii. 
Is  it  not  extremely  difficult  to  account  for  the  separation? 
Combination  is  more  intelligible.  But  in  this  case  the  two 
Psalms  were  intended  to  form  a  whole,  so  that  your  argu 
ment  is  not  disturbed.  The  quotation  from  Browning1  is 
not  continuous,  and  the  break  should,  I  think,  be  marked. 
Is  not  the  "a"  significant?  It  is  curious  that  in  the 
collected  edition  of  the  poems  "  He "  in  the  last  line  is 
printed  "he." 

G.N.R.,  igthjune  1899. 

...  I  have  been  reading  as  far  as  I  could  Ruskin's  Fors. 
It  is  a  terribly  true  indictment  of  society  and  clergy.  But 
what  can  we  do  ?  Will  light  come  ? 

To  HIS  WIFE 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  zothfane  1899. 

We  have  had  our  morning  addresses.  They  have  been 
very  good  and  true.  Alas  !  the  difficulty  is  to  transform  the 
true  into  act.  The  world  is  very  strong,  and  for  us  omni 
present.  .  .  .  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  there  can  be 
peace  on  the  earth  from  without  while  it  continues  what  it 
is.  Death  must  precede  life;  conflict,  peace.  Absolute 
surrender  to  One  is  the  condition  of  the  harmonies  which  are 
faintly  and  imperfectly  indicated  by  human  relations.  The 
fragment  seems  to  be  so  precious  that  we  fail  to  see  that  it 
hides  the  whole.  .  .  . 

To  THE  REV  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2.6th  June  1899. 

...  I  cannot  find  any  basis  for  the  High  Church  theory 
in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  based,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  on 
assumed  knowledge  of  what  the  Divine  plan  must  be.  I 

1  On  the  earth  the  broken  arcs  :  in  the  heaven  a  perfect  round. 

Enough  that  He  heard  it  once ;  we  shall  hear  it  by-and-by. 

Abt  Vogler. 


XII 


DURHAM  307 


had  occasion  to  look  through  the  N.T.  not  long  ago  with 
special  reference  to  the  question,  and  I  was  greatly  impressed 
by  a  fact  which  seems  to  have  been  overlooked.  All  the 
apostolic  writers  are  possessed  (as  I  think  rightly  in  essence) 
by  the  thought  of  the  Lord's  return.  They  show  no  sign  of 
any  purpose  to  create  a  permanent  ecclesiastical  organisation. 
Whatever  is  done  is  to  meet  a  present  need,  as,  e.g.,  the 
mission  of  Titus  to  Crete.  The  very  condition  laid  down  for 
the  Apostolate  excludes  the  idea  of  the  perpetuation  of  their 
office.  Is  not  this  true  ?  What  followed  when  the  Lord  (as 
I  think)  did  come  is  a  wonderful  revelation  of  the  Providence 
of  God.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

N.E.R.,  $thjuly  1899. 

.  .  .  Foss  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to  me ;  but  I  saw 
most  here  of  the  other  two  children.  He  was  singularly 
bright  and  frank  and  observant,  and  he  seemed  to  be  very 
happy.  .  .  . 

The  above  fragment  concerning  his  grandchildren 
reminds  one  of  the  pleasure  that  my  father  took  in 
their  society.  He  would  nearly  always  find  time 
while  having  his  tea  to  draw  railway  engines  and  the 
like  for  their  delectation,  and  was  much  delighted  if 
they  detected  any  error  in  his  delineation.  I  re 
member  his  lifting  up  his  hands  in  amazement  as  he 
reviewed  all  the  animals  of  the  Noah's  ark  arranged  in 
procession  round  the  dining-room  table,  and  how  he 
delighted  the  children  by  pretending  to  imagine  that 
the  camel  was  an  elephant,  and  otherwise  laying  him 
self  open  to  correction,  so  as  to  leave  behind  an  agree 
able  impression  that  he  was  a  well-meaning  but  sadly 
ill-informed  old  man.  He  would  even  descend  to  the 
floor  to  assist  in  building  operations.  On  the  occasion 
of  his  last  picnic,  to  Bolton  Castle  in  Wensleydale, 


308          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

whither  he  went  with  several  grandchildren  in  1900, 
he  saw  the  little  Foss  peering  down  into  a  dungeon, 
and  stooped  down  to  look  through  the  same  hole,  and 
then  remarked,  "  Do  you  think  that  is  where  we  are  to 
have  tea  ?  "  and  when  the  youngster  laughingly  replied, 
in  a  voice  that  he  could  not  fail  to  hear,  "  No  ;  not  in 
that  dark  hole,"  he  professed  to  be  much  relieved. 


To  CANON  D.  CREMER 

MlDDLEHAM,  2.6th  August  1899. 

My  dear  Sir — I  do  not  know  Wendt's  book,  and  it  is 
impossible  for  me  now  to  read  it.  It  is  not  likely  that  I 
could  reopen  questions,  which  I  have  once  studied  as  care 
fully  as  I  could,  with  any  profit.  As  far  as  I  can  remember, 
I  said  very  shortly  what  I  hold  to  be  the  "  Lord's  coming  " 
in  my  little  book  on  the  Historic  Faith.  I  hold  very 
strongly  that  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem  was  the  coming  which 
first  fulfilled  the  Lord's  words ;  and,  as  there  have  been  other 
comings,  I  cannot  doubt  that  He  is  "  coming  "  to  us  now. 

I  tried  vainly  to  read  's  book.  I  cannot  grasp  his 

meaning,  and  I  cannot  find  any  trace  of  Greek  theology  in 
his  views.  He  seems  to  me  to  deny  the  Virgin  birth.  In 
other  words,  he  makes  the  Lord  a  man,  one  man  in  the  race, 
and  not  the  new  man — the  Son  of  man  in  whom  the  race 
is  gathered  up.  To  put  the  thought  in  another  and  a 
technical  form,  he  makes  the  Lord's  personality  human, 
which  is,  I  think,  a  fatal  error;  fatal,  I  mean,  theoretically. 
In  practice  we  can  happily  live  on  inconsistent  beliefs. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  27  th  October  1899. 

...  .  I  have  always  found  you,  like  the  other  clergy  of  our 
diocese,  ready  to  follow  as  you  promised,  "with  a  glad 
mind,"  counsels  which  I  have  given.  At  the  same  time,  I 
must  add,  I  trust  that  I  shall  never  attempt  to  abridge  on 


XII 


DURHAM  309 


this  side  or  that  the  large  liberty  which  is  allowed  by  our 
Church  to  her  children. 

To  HIS  WIFE 
LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  i$th  November  1899. 

.  .  .  Being  very  busy,  I  was  hardly  disturbed  by  an  open 
ing  of  the  door,  and  looking  up  I  saw  Mr.  Hensley  and  then 
Mrs.  Hensley.  They  stayed  some  little  time,  and  were  most 
kind  in  their  inquiries,  and  seemed  to  be  well.  I  dined  with 
the  rest  of  our  party,  and  then  the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and 
Salisbury  came  into  my  room,  and  we  had  a  long  talk  of  all 
things  and  more.  Certainly  there  is  very  much  to  cause 
alarm.  I  feel  sure  that  (as  in  South  Africa)  a  war  is  inevit 
able.  The  causes  alleged  may  be  trivial,  but  behind  there  is 
the  conflict  of  Roman  and  Anglican  principles  which  are 
absolutely  irreconcilable,  and  I  cannot  fight.  Alas  !  fighters 
are  needed. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  #h  December  1899. 

...  I  don't  think  that  I  have  ever  used  the  word 
"  mystics " :  it  is  so  hopelessly  vague,  and  it  suggests  an 
esoteric  teaching  which  is  wholly  foreign  to  the  Christian. 
But  from  Cambridge  days  I  have  read  the  writings  of  many 
who  are  called  mystics  with  much  profit.  Every  one  who 
believes  that  phenomena  are  "  signs "  of  the  spiritual  and 
eternal  receives  the  name,  and  to  believe  in  the  Incarnation 
involves  this  belief,  does  it  not  ?  After  all,  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis  is  the  Protevangelium. 

We  had  an  interesting  meeting  of  the  Christian  Social 
Union  at  Liverpool.  I  said  a  few  words  on  expenditure,  in 
which  I  dared  to  express  what  I  have  felt  all  my  life,  and 
practised,  I  fear,  too  little.  You  will,  I  am  afraid,  find  fault 
with  me.  The  paper  is  to  appear  in  the  Economic  Review. 
My  own  desire  is  to  express  all  the  details  of  life  in  terms  of 
life. 


310  LIFE   OF   BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

To  SIR  C.  DALRYMPLE,  BART.,  M.P. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  26//z  December  1899. 

My  dear  Dalrymple — It  is  most  kind  of  you  to  remember 
old  days  and  send  us  the  affectionate  greetings  in  which  the 
past  lives.  Though  we  have  no  friends  at  the  front,  it  was 
impossible  not  to  feel  the  nation's  sorrow  yesterday;  but 
we  read  Tennyson's  Epilogue  to  the  Idylls,  and  felt  thankful 
that  the  nation  has  answered  to  its  mission.  As  a  whole, 
our  countrymen  seem  to  me  to  be  untouched  by  the  spirit 
of  vengeance  or  covetousness  or  pride  which  Mr.  Stead 
attributes  to  them.  They  have  acknowledged  Imperial 
obligations,  and  resolved  at  all  cost,  God  helping  them,  to 
endeavour  to  fulfil  them.  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  what  you 
say  of  the  Harrow  reredos.  ...  I  think  that  the  work  was 
Sir  A.  Blomfield's,  who  was  always  sober  and  dignified.  Mrs. 
Westcott  is  really  better,  but  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  the  life 
of  an  invalid.  Our  Indian  letters  are  a  weekly  spring  of 
joy  and  thankfulness.  All  our  sons  are  well  and  full  of 
work  and  hope. 

You  remember,  I  trust,  that  Auckland  is  on  your  way  to 
the  south. — With  every  good  wish  for  the  Festivals,  ever  yours 
affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (THE  REV.  E.  G.  KING) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  2nd  January  1900. 

You  cannot  imagine  how  helpless  I  am  become,  and 
occupied  in  details  when  great  things  call  for  continuous 
thought.  .  .  . 

The  notes  on  Ps.  xlviii.  are  specially  interesting.  I  confess 
that  I  am  wholly  unable  to  believe  that  Ps.  li.  was  a  national 
Psalm.  Its  personal  character  seems  to  be  ingrained.  That 
it  should  be  applied  to  the  nation  seems  intelligible. 


xii  DURHAM  311 

To  HIS  WIFE 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  yh  January  1900. 

.  .  .  The  Archbishop  of  C.  is  very  amusing.  He  said 
that  he  could  not  profess  to  have  an  open  mind ;  he  had 
come  to  a  definite  opinion,  and  nothing  would  alter  it.  But 
yet  he  would  serve  on  a  committee  to  consider  the  matter.  I 
suppose  that  he  meant  to  convert  others.  His  vigour  is 
delightful. 

To  J.  C.  MEDD,  ESQ. 

(On  the  Boer  War) 

\^>th  January  1900. 

My  dear  Mr.  Medd — Let  me  thank  you  for  your  interest 
ing  letter.  I  agree  with  nearly  all  of  it  except  the  conclusion  at 
which  you  arrive,  but  I  know  nothing  of  the  intrigues  of  which 
you  speak.  You  cannot  condemn  the  Jameson  Raid  more 
sternly  than  I  do.  I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  felt  more  anxious 
till  it  became  clear  that  the  English  people  would  not  be  led 
away  (like  the  Poet  Laureate)  by  the  false  romance  of  the 
attack.  And  again,  you  cannot  shrink  more  than  I  do  from 
a  man  like  Mr.  Rhodes. 

But  the  causes  of  the  war  lie  deeper.  I  had  hoped  that 
our  generosity  after  Majuba  might  have  altered  the  Boer 
feeling,  and  I  have  often  expressed  my  joy  at  that  peace ;  but 
it  is  very  doubtful  now  whether  it  was  not  dictated  by  fear 
rather  than  by  generosity,  and  it  was  certainly  misunderstood. 
I  do  not  say  that  the  Boer  antagonism  and  ambition  were 
criminal,  but  we  were  bound  to  resist  them.  The  form  of 
their  ultimatum  expressed  their  real  feeling.  What  we  may 
have  to  suffer  I  do  not  know,  but  I  feel  no  doubt  that  our 
duty  is  clear.  May  God  fulfil  His  will;  that  is  what  we 
desire  to  serve. — Ever  yours  most  truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

(Concerning  a  Fresco) 

Tfith  January  1900. 

You  will  notice  that does  not  answer  the  most  serious 

question  which  I  asked.     Is  there  any  authority  for  repre- 


312          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

sen  ting  the  Lord  in  glory  with  both  hands  raised  and  open? 
Surely  the  ordinary  attitude  of  blessing  is  most  natural.  To 
represent  St.  John  as  beardless  and  aged  is  to  depart  alike 
from  early  and  late  usage.  Personally  I  dislike  equally  the 
Hand  and  the  Tetragrammaton,  but  if  the  latter  is  used  it 
should  be  correct.  The  treatment  of  the  angel  hosts  in  the 

fresco  to  which refers  is  wholly  different  from  that  which 

he  has  adopted.  I  suppose  that  of  the  Evangelists  St.  Mark 
and  St.  Luke  would  be  the  youngest. 

I  have  not  the  least  wish  to  act  as  critic;  but  I  am 
anxious  about  the  attitude  of  the  Lord.  For  the  rest  the 
sketch  is  quite  sufficient  for  the  Faculty,  but  I  shall  be  glad 
to  be  answered  on  this  one  point. 


To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

BISHOPTHORPE,  20tk  Febritary  1900. 

I  was  not  sure  how  you  would  feel  about  the  war.  It  is 
an  encouragement  that  you  and  Vaughan  are  at  one  with  me 
in  this  grave  question.  The  nation  seems  to  be  learning  a 
lesson  which  it  had  to  learn,  and  I  think  that  the  idea  of 
Empire  will  grow  clearer.  The  aspect  of  Ruskin's  character 
on  which  you  dwell  is  of  very  great  interest.  The  sentence 
which  seems  to  me  to  sum  up  his  later  teaching,  "  There  is 
no  wealth  but  life,"  is  another  side  of  it.  All  my  reading  of 
him  is  less  than  ten  years  old,  but  he  has  been  one  of  my 
best  teachers  since  I  came  to  the  North.  Won't  you  replace 
your  goose-headed  snakes  by  something  better  in  his  honour  ? 
We  have  the  same  monsters  on  our  local  railway,  and  I  always 
recall  his  sketch. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOPTHORPE,  2ist  February  1900. 

We  may,  I  think,  this  morning  let  our  hearts  rise  in 
thanksgiving.  Intercession  and  prayer  have  their  fruit,  which 
will  not,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  be  in  vain.  I  rejoice  specially 
for  the  Queen's  sake.  The  last  months  must  have  been  a 
sore  trial,  and  she  has  borne  all  bravely.  Now  she  will  leave, 


XII 


DURHAM  313 


by  God's  blessing,  her  Empire  firmer  and  with  truer  views  of 
its  calling  than  ever.  We  are  just  going  to  Convocation,  but 
I  felt  that  I  must  write  one  word  first. 


TO    HIS   YOUNGEST    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
2nd  Sunday  in  Lent  \\ith  March\  1900. 

It  was  a  great  joy  to  me  to  learn  from  your  letter  to  K. 
that  you  propose  to  offer  yourself  as  a  candidate  for  Priests' 
Orders  at  Advent.  You  will  find  the  priesthood  a  great  help 
in  your  work,  and  still  I  am  not  at  all  sorry  that  you  have 
waited  some  time  for  the  office.  The  quiet  unhurried  pre 
paration  and  the  gathered  experience  will  be  most  valuable. 

It  always  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that  you  use  all 
your  opportunities  for  intercourse  with  the  natives.  The 
power  of  sympathy  with  them  seems  to  me  to  be  your  great 
gift,  and  it  may  become  of  priceless  importance.  It  always 
seems  to  me  that  the  great  defect  of  our  Indian  missions  has 
been  the  unwillingness  to  take  pains  to  understand  native 
feeling  and  to  meet  it. 

To  CANON  D.  CREMER 

2Qtk  April  1900. 

I  have  a  vague  feeling  that  Dr.  Vaughan  has  given  in  a 
sermon  a  sense  to  Kpardv,  in  St.  John  xx.  23,  similar  to  that 
which  you  give.  I  did  not  feel  able  to  follow  him,  though  I 
do  not  feel  satisfied  with  that  which  I  have  so  far  been  able 
to  see.  .  .  . 

TO    HIS    ELDEST   SON 

zqtk  April  1900. 

I  must  have  the  pleasure  of  addressing  you  by  your  new 
title  as  soon  as  possible,  but  not,  I  hope,  prematurely.  I  was 
instituted  in  a  dingy  lawyer's  office  without  any  service. 
Things  have  improved  in  form  at  least,  and  forms  speak. 
You  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  have  opportunities  of  speaking  on 


314          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Education  from  time  to  time.  At  length,  to  my  great  joy, 
elementary  education  is  set  free  from  the  slavery  of  earning 
grants,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  that  the  Teachers'  Union  was 
enthusiastic  on  the  change,  whatever  some  School  Boards 
may  think.  The  Old  Foundations  have  a  great  advantage 
over  the  new  in  their  Greater  Chapter.  It  is  impossible  to 
inspire  Honorary  Canons,  a  creation  of  yesterday,  with  any 
sense  of  corporate  life,  or  to  gain  for  them  cordial  recognition 
from  the  Residentiaries :  yet  patience  !  May  you  have  joy 
and  blessing  in  your  office.  I  expect  a  full  account  of 
Yetminster  parva. 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER    (MRS.   E.   G.   KiNG) 

z^tk  April  1900. 

My  dear  Mary — We  shall  be  celebrating  your  wedding-day 
by  a  great  service  to-morrow.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  and  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  who  will  present  the  new  Bishop  of  Liver 
pool,  were  both  consecrated  on  St.  Mark's  Day,  and  there  are 
the  memories  of  Archbishop  Benson  and  Bishop  Lightfoot. 
You  will,  we  trust,  have  a  happy  day,  and  many  days,  at 
Ventnor.  .  .  .  Brooke  will  be  keeping  the  Festival  too.  I 
was  very  grateful  to  the  Bishop  for  recognising  his  work.  We 
shall  be  very  glad  when  you  are  able  to  send  direct  news  from 
the  Cape.1  The  youngest  son  of  the  Dean,  who  has  just 
taken  his  degree  at  Oxford,  has  joined  the  Yeomanry,  and  is 
now,  I  fancy,  at  the  front.  Love  to  all. — Ever  your  most 
affectionate  father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

BISHOPTHORPE,  St.  Mark's  Day,  1900. 

It  has  been  a  long  day,  but  the  great  service  passed  over 
very  well,  and  thoughts  of  Salisbury  mixed  happily  with  it.  So 
large  a  party  were  expected  from  Liverpool  that  it  was 
necessary  to  have  the  Consecration  in  the  nave,  a  temporary 

1  His  daughter's  eldest  son,  Edward  Westcott  King,  enlisted  in  the 
Dorset  Yeomanry  for  service  in  South  Africa. 


xii  DURHAM  315 

Holy  Table  being  placed  at  the  east  end.  All  the  Bishops  of 
the  Northern  Province  were  present,  and  the  Bishops  of 
Oxford  and  Exeter.  ...  I  had  a  few  words  with  the  new 
Bishop,  and  I  find  that  I  sat  next  to  Mrs.  Chavasse  at  lunch. 
Dr.  Moule  looked  remarkably  well.  Of  course  I  heard 
nothing  of  the  sermon.  I  was  far  behind.  .  .  . 


To  THE  REV.  E.  PRICE 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
St.  Philip  and  St.  James,  1900. 

My  dear  Mr.  Price — Your  most  kind  remembrance  is  a 
great  encouragement.  The  associations  of  Westminster  are 
very  dear,  and  it  has  been  a  great  joy  to  me  to  have  you  near 
who  share  them.  The  blessings  which  have  been  given  me 
have  been  beyond  hope.  I  have  endeavoured,  however  feebly 
and  imperfectly,  to  use  almost  unparalleled  opportunities.  In 
all  failures  comes  the  assurance  that  God  fulfils  His  work. — 
Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  \4fhjune  1900. 

I  read  Lord  Roberts'  despatch  last  night  before  leaving. 
It  put  me  in  good  heart  again.  How  quiet  and  reassuring 
and  far-seeing.  Nothing  is  overlooked  by  him. 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  i^tkjtme  1900. 

I  have,  you  see,  reached  "  home."  After  posting  my  letter 
I  had  my  breakfast,  and  then  went  on  to  Baker  Street.  In  a 
short  time  I  started  for  Harrow.  It  took  me  a  long  time  to 
walk  up  the  hill.  An  overwhelming  storm  came  on  just  as 
I  had  reached  Mr.  RendalFs  old  house,  and  I  was  forced  to 
shelter  for  some  little  time.  There  was  a  large  meeting  of 
Governors,  and  I  am  glad  I  went.  .  .  .  We  afterwards  went 
into  the  Chapel.  The  inlaid  panels  round  the  apse  and  the 
reredos  are  very  remarkable.  The  very  rapid  increase  in  the 
memorial  tablets  is  most  touching.  The  last  in  the  arcade, 


316          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

where  are  the  memorials  of  Masters,  is  to  I.  D.  Walker,  with 
a  striking  inscription.  .  .  .  Afterwards  H.1  walked  with  me 
to  the  station.  We  went  by  the  churchyard.  Now  I  have 
had  tea,  and  may  perhaps  go  to  sleep.  I  am  proud  to  have 
got  on  so  well.  Lord  Roberts  helped  me. 

HOUSE  OF  LORDS,  tfthjune  1900. 

You  will  see  that  I  have  been  carried  off  to  support  the 
Archbishop.  Having  listened  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  for 
about  half-an-hour,  I  feel  that  I  want  a  change.  ...  I  had 
a  reward  for  coming,  for  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  introduced 
me  to  Lord  Pembroke,  a  new  Governor  of  Sherborne.  .  .  . 
We  have  had  a  good  "  quiet  day,"  and  choosing  my  place 
well  I  heard  three  addresses — more  than  I  have  heard  for  a 
year.  I  am  called  to  the  House. 


TO    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER    (MRS.    E.    G.    KiNG) 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  27 tk  June  1900. 

I  send  on  the  Indian  letters  to  you.  They  are  ever  more 
than  usually  interesting.  We  were  very  glad  to  hear  that  you 
managed  your  journey  so  well.  Six  changes  !  I  growl  at  two. 
We  have  had  hard  work  these  two  days,  and  the  next  days 
will  be  exciting.  We  both  hope  for  a  fine  St.  Peter's  Day, 
and  to-day  looks  far  more  promising.  As  soon  as  I  have  had 
my  tea,  which  is  waiting,  I  am  going  to  imitate  "  the  woolly- 
headed  blackamoor,"  but  my  umbrella  is  brown.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  WIFE 

G.N.R.,  tfhjuly  1900. 

I  enclose  my  certificate,2  my  dearest  Mary,  this  time 
expressed  in  symbols  of  nature  and  not  of  society.  .  .  .  You 
remembered,  no  doubt,  that  this  is  Daisy's  wedding-day. 
How  strange  Peterborough  will  seem.  .  .  . 

1  His  grandson,  Herman  Brooke  Prior,  a  scholar  of  Harrow. 

2  It  was  my  father's  custom  to  send  to  my  mother  his  paper  napkin  to 
certify  that  he  had  succeeded  in  getting  some  tea  on  his  journey. 


xii  DURHAM  317 

The  crops  look  very  fine  in  the  misty  sunlight ;  and  I  have 
done  a  little  thinking  and  reading.  Sometimes  I  feel  as  if  I 
had  something  to  say,  and  then  all  seems  to  be  vain.  Yet  if 
words  are  given  they  must  be  spoken,  but  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  forget  self.  .  .  . 


To  

(On  Usury) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i8M  July  1900. 

My  dear  Sir — May  I  ask  you  to  believe  that  I  have  care 
fully  studied  the  question  of  "  interest "  with  frankness  and 
care  at  various  times  during  the  last  thirty  years.  ...  I  am 
not  aware  that  "  the  Church  "  has  ever  expressed  a  judgment 
upon  the  question,1  nor  can  I  admit  that  there  are  any 
ecclesiastical  opinions  upon  it  which  require  the  adhesion 
of  any  English  Churchman.  .  .  .  The  loan  contemplated  in 
mediaeval  times,  and,  speaking  generally,  in  ancient  times,  as 
in  India  now,  was  to  meet  an  urgent  personal  need,  and  not 
for  profitable  commercial  use.  It  is  obviously  immoral  to 
make  the  distress  of  another  an  occasion  for  personal  advan 
tage,  but  I  am  wholly  unable  to  see  that  it  is  immoral  for  me 
to  place  money  which  I  hold  as  God's  steward  in  the  hands 
of  another  for  productive  employment,  while  I  receive  from 
him  something  less  than  he  reasonably  calculates  to  obtain 
himself  from  the  use  of  it.  ... 

Mr.  Hobson's  criticism  on  Mr.  Ruskin's  arguments  (John 
Ruskiri)  pp.  144  ff.)  is,  I  believe,  substantially  just.  Money, 
like  all  other  forces,  material  and  spiritual,  may  be  misused. 
It  must  be  administered  as  a  trust  with  a  view  to  securing 
the  highest  good,  but  it  must  be  administered  fruitfully  both 
for  him  who  dispenses  it  and  for  him  who  receives  it. 

I  can  assure  you  that,  however  much  you  may  condemn 
my  judgment,  I  am  not  less  anxious  than  you  are  to  bring 

1  The  writer  of  the  letter  to  which  the  above  is  a  reply  fowarded  the  state 
ment  that  "  The  Church  has  declared  on  authority  that  usury  is  mortal  sin, 
but  Churchmen,  including  the  Bishops  and  officers  who  are  under  obligation 
to  declare  this,  are  culpably  silent  on  the  point,  if  indeed  they  do  not  actually 
take  usury  when  they  have  money  to  invest,  as  they  call  it." 


3i8        LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT      CHAP,  xn 

into  the  ordinary  business  of  life  every  principle  which  I  hold 
to  be  true ;  but  in  a  long  life  I  have  learnt  the  truth  of  the 
Lord's  promise,  that  we  shall  win  our  souls  in  patience. — 
Yours  most  faithfully,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  CANON  D.  CREMER 

2$thjuly  1900. 

I  find  that  I  have  not  made  a  reference  to  the  place  in 
which  Dr.  Vaughan  defended  the  sense  of  "  overcome  "  for 
Kpareiv  in  St.  John  xx.  It  was,  unless  my  memory  fails  me, 
in  a  separate  sermon,  and  I  do  not  know  how  it  can  be 
recovered  except  by  the  help  of  the  British  Museum 
Catalogue. 

Dr.  LI.  Davies'  quiet  wisdom  is  most  delightful.  One  of 
my  puzzles  is  how  it  has  not  received  the  public  recognition 
which  it  deserves.  Perhaps  it  is  well  for  serene  happiness 
and  work. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

DURHAM  (continued} 
1900-1901 

THE  last  year  of  my  father's  life  was  marked  by  two 
severe  domestic  sorrows — the  deaths  of  his  youngest 
son,  Basil,  and  of  his  wife.  When  he  saw  his  youngest 
son  start  four  years  before  to  join  the  Cambridge 
Mission  at  Delhi,  he  remarked  that,  if  all  went  well,  he 
could  not  hope  to  see  him  again,  as  his  ordinary  fur 
lough  would  not  be  due  till  1903.  The  Bishop  was 
staying  at  Aysgarth,  in  Wensleydale,  for  his  customary 
summer  holiday  when  he  received  by  cable  the  news  of 
his  son's  sudden  death  from  cholera.  The  news  was  a 
very  painful  shock  both  to  the  Bishop  and  to  Mrs. 
Westcott,  who  had  hardly  borne  the  parting  from  her 
youngest  child,  and  they  waited  with  much  anxiety 
for  details  of  the  seizure.1  The  two  weekly  letters  re 
ceived  from  their  son  after  the  news  of  the  end  had 
reached  them  were  cheerful,  and  spoke  of  his  coming 
holiday  and  approaching  ordination  to  the  priesthood  ; 
the  third  mail  brought  the  anxiously-awaited  tidings. 

1  In  his  text-book,  under  the  date  2nd  August,  the  Bishop  noted, 
"  Basil  t.  It  is  well  with  the  child  "  ;  and  it  should  be  added  that  Basil, 
the  Benjamin  of  the  family,  was  commonly  spoken  of  as  "the  child." 

319 


320          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

From  the  various  letters  received  my  father  prepared  a 
full  account  of  the  sad  event,  which  he  forwarded  to  his 
son  in  Canada  : — 

AYSGARTH,  %th  Sunday  in  Trinity ',  1900 
[27 'th  August}. 

We  have  now  had  full  details  from  Dehli.  The  loss  was 
most  sudden  and  unexpected.  On  Sunday  Basil  was  well  but 
tired,  and  looking  forward  to  his  coming  holiday.  For  some 
weeks  he  had  taken  the  Chaplain's  work,  as  the  place  was 
vacant,  and  so  he  preached  in  the  evening  on  the  character 
istic  text,  Matt.  v.  8, — he  had  been  taking  the  Beatitudes 
for  a  series  of  sermons, — and  afterwards,  as  usual,  spent  the 
evening  with  Professor  Rudra,  who  has  sent  us  a  vivid  and 
most  interesting  account  of  the  time.  Basil  was  most 
cheerful,  full  of  hope,  and  happy  in  his  work.  On  Monday 
he  took  his  College  work,  and  in  the  evening  attended  a 
soldiers'  Sing-song,  at  which  he  is  said  to  have  been  most 
helpful  and  in  good  spirits.  On  Tuesday  he  took  his  class 
early  in  the  morning,  but  on  returning  he  felt  poorly,  and  sent 
to  say  that  he  could  not  come  to  breakfast  at  about  10.30. 
Mr.  Kelley,  who  has  some  knowledge  of  medicine,  came  to  see 
him,  and  was  alarmed  by  the  symptoms.  He  went  for  the 
civil  surgeon,  who  saw  at  once  the  nature  of  the  attack,  but 
yet,  as  it  was  not  severe,  hoped  that  B.  might  be  able  to  resist 
it.  Two  nurses  came,  and  everything  was  done  that  could 
be  done.  When  the  doctor  came  in  the  evening  Basil  said, 
"Ah,  doctor,  it  is  no  good.  I  cannot  fight  against  it." 
Otherwise  he  said  nothing.  About  1.45  on  the  next  morning 
he  passed  quietly  away.  A  telegram  was  sent  to  Cawnpore 
as  soon  as  the  seriousness  of  the  attack  was  realised.  G.  and 
F.  were  able  to  catch  a  train  about  half  an  hour  after  they 
received  the  message,  but  they  did  not  reach  Dehli  till  about 
5.  They  had  a  service  of  Holy  Communion  in  the  temporary 
Chapel  which  Basil  had  fitted  up,  with  the  familiar  Sistine 
Madonna  over  the  Holy  Table ;  and  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
morning.  The  Commander  of  the  Artillery  sent  a  gun- 
carriage  with  four  volunteers  to  carry  him  to  the  Cemetery, 
but  they  preferred  to  use  the  usual  wheeled  bier.  The 


xni  DURHAM  321 

soldiers,  however,  laid  him  in  the  grave.  We  all  feel  that  a 
pure  and  beautiful  life  was  offered  freely,  and  that  the  offering 
has  been  received  and  will  surely  be  blessed.  As  G.  says  in 
his  letter  this  morning,  "the  thought  of  victory  is  upper 
most  ";  but  the  brothers  must  feel  it  very  deeply.  F.  says,  "  How 
strange  that  I  should  have  gone  into  the  heart  of  the  cholera- 
stricken  district  and  be  quite  well,  and  that  B.  should  have 
been  called  away."  We  cannot  understand,  but  we  can  trust 
B.  will  help  us  more  now,  with  nearer  and  more  present  help, 
than  when  he  was  with  us. 

The  Bishop  received  a  large  number  of  messages  of 
sympathy,  to  all  of  which  he  wrote  replies  with  his  own 
hand.  The  following  are  some  of  those  which  I  have 
seen  : — 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

AYSGARTH,  %th  August  1900. 

Let    me   thank   you    for    expressing    so    completely   the 
thoughts  which  we  desire  to  welcome.  .  .  .  We  looked  for 
ward    to  some  future  fruitfulness    of  his    singular  power  of  ' 
sympathy,  and  the  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  crown  the  pro 
mise  as  fulfilment. 

To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.  DAVIES 

AYSGARTH,  loth  August  1900. 

Let  me  thank  you  most  heartily  for  your  letter.  Old  times 
came  back  very  vividly  when  on  the  same  day  I  had  letters 
from  yourself,  Vaughan,  and  Scott-Moncrieff.  This  has  been 
a  heavy  and  most  unexpected  blow.  Basil  had  a  singular  gift 
of  sympathy,  and,  what  is  rare  in  these  later  days,  "almost 
oriental  courtesy,"  as  a  friend  said.  These  endowments  stood 
him  in  good  stead  in  his  work,  and  I  looked  forward  confi 
dently  to  the  time  when  he  would  be  a  Hindoo  to  Hindoos. 
It  must  be  enough  for  us  to  know  that  the  Master  accepted 
early  the  offering  which  he  gladly  made.  The  unseen  must 
be  the  larger  part  of  our  life. 

VOL.  II  Y 


322          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 


To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER  (DR.  BRADLEY) 

AYSGARTH,  22nd  August  1900. 

My  dear  Dean — Words  were  not  needed  to  assure  us  of 
your  sympathy  in  our  sudden  and  unexpected  loss.  We  had 
thought  that  the  Indian  climate  suited  Basil.  He  had  not 
had  a  day's  illness  since  he  went  there.  But  his  strength 
was  really  exhausted,  and  when  the  attack  of  cholera  came  he 
had  no  power  to  resist  it.  He  passed  away  in  a  few  hours, 
and  before  his  brothers  could  reach  him  from  Cawnpore.  He 
had  singular  spiritual  gifts,  and  even  now  I  feel  sure  that  they 
will  bear  abundant  fruit. 

I  was  very  glad  to  see  in  the  papers  that  you  are  quite 
strong  again.  Church  troubles  do  not  vex  you  in  the 
sanctuary  of  Westminster.  Sometimes  I  almost  lose  heart, 
but  we  have  survived  even  greater  perils. — Ever  yours  affec 
tionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  the  brothers  at  Cawnpore  he  wrote : — 

AYSGARTH,  i6th  August  1900. 

My  dear  George  and  Foss — You  will  know  how  our  hearts 
are  with  you.  To  you  the  loss  must  be  a  sharper,  nearer 
sorrow  than  to  us.  But  you  have  seen  Basil  in  his  work,  and 
must  feel  even  more  clearly  than  we  can  what  happy  work  it 
was,  and  how  fruitful  in  its  promise.  Nothing  has  ever  made 
me  understand  so  surely  how  little  time  and  measurable  re 
sults,  as  we  speak,  have  to  do  with  completeness  of  service. 
We  speak  of  promise  and  fondly  dwell  upon  it,  and  then  God 
sees  fulfilment  and  crowns  it.  ... 

I  feared  at  first  very  greatly  how  the  news  would  affect 
mother  and  K.  For  one  day  mother  was  very  unwell,  and  for 
a  little  time  K.  could  not  sleep ;  but  now  both  are  as  well  as 
before,  and  bright  weather  has  come,  which  will  do  good. 
We  kept  A.'s  birthday  here  yesterday,  and  shall  keep  D.'s  to 
day.  Every  one  is  most  kind.  We  wait  anxiously  for  details. 
Two  letters  have  come  from  Dehli  since  we  had  the  message, 


XIII 


DURHAM  323 


full  of  hope  and  plans  for  the  holidays.  So  there  cannot  have 
been  much  time  of  suspense. 

B.,  A.,  and  H.1  are  very  well,  and  in  good  spirits. 

May  God  guard  and  keep  you  !  You  will  not,  I  know,  for 
your  work's  sake,  neglect  any  possible  care.  Affectionate 
remembrance  to  all. — Ever  your  most  loving  father, 

B.  F.   DUNELM. 


AYSGARTH,  2yd  August  1900. 

My  dear  George — We  were  most  thankful  to  have  your 
and  F.'s  letters.  I  only  wish  that  Basil  could  have  seen  you 
in  the  solitary  hours  of  weakness.  He  heard,  I  trust,  that 
you  were  on  your  way.  That  little  touch  of  home  would 
have  cheered  him.  We  had  most  kind  letters  from  the 
Bishop,  Lady  Young,  Mr.  Sanders,  Miss  Byam,  Miss  Stanley, 
Mr.  Allnutt,  Mr.  Wright,  Mr.  French,  and,  above  all  perhaps, 
from  Mr.  Rudra,  giving  a  wonderfully  vivid  and  bright  account 
of  the  last  Sunday  evening.  This  you  must  see.  Every  one 
on  every  side  has  been  most  kind,  and  I  can  see  that  Basil 
was  making  himself  known.  My  confident  hope  is  that  his 
sudden  call  away  will  make  his  life  of  sympathy  and  self- 
sacrifice  immeasurably  more  fruitful  than  it  has  seemed  to  be 
to  our  eyes.  The  Master  has  crowned  it. 

.  .  .  We  should  like  his  grave  to  be  marked,  as  that  at 
Harrow,  by  an  enclosure  and  a  plain  cross  laid  upon  it.  You 
probably  have  a  photograph ;  if  not,  I  will  send  one.  The 
inscription  on  the  sloping  edge  may  be  "Rev.  R.  Basil 
Westcott,  M.A.,  of  the  S.P.G.  and  Cambridge  Mission.  Born 
1871  ;  fell  asleep  1900.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart:  for 
they  shall  see  God."  I  should  think  that  white  marble  would 
be  the  best  material. 

The  Cemetery  is,  I  gather,  not  well  kept.  I  should  be 
glad  to  know  whether  some  arrangement  cannot  be  made  to 
secure  that  it  shall  be  properly  tended.  I  shall  be  glad  to 
contribute  to  the  expense ;  and  perhaps  others  might  wish  to 
help.  I  am  sure  that  Basil  would  have  valued  this  care. 
Perhaps  a  little  planting  is  possible.  Your  gardening  experi- 

1  The  Bishop's  three  eldest  sons,  who  were  with  him  at  the  time. 


324          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

ence  will  be  valuable.  Whatever  you  do  or  think  ought  to 
be  done,  I  shall  gladly  approve  and  provide  for.  The  rever 
ence  for  God's  acre  ought  to  be  an  object  lesson,  a  true 
Christian  sermon.  Many  things  may  occur  to  you  or  to  us 
later,  but  feel  that  you  have  full  power  in  all  respects. 

Our  thoughts,  as  you  know,  are  full  of  you.  Mamma  felt 
the  strain  yesterday  very  much.  It  could  not  be  otherwise, 
but  she  is  much  better  to-day.  Now  we  know  all  that  we  can 
know. 

Foss,  of  course,  is  part  of  you,  and  he  will  give  his  counsel. 
Will  you  thank  Blair  for  his  most  kind  letter  ?  Mamma  cannot 
write. 

May  G«d  guard  and  bless  you  all ! — Ever  your  most 
affectionate  father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  Bishop  placed  a  brass  Memorial  Tablet  to  his 
son  in  the  Chapel  at  Auckland,  where  he  had  ordained 
him  Deacon.  The  Bishop's  singular  gift  in  the  com 
position  of  Latin  inscriptions  was  never,  I  think,  more 
happily  exemplified  than  in  these  touching  words : — 

IN    MEMORIAM 

ROBERTI    BASILII    WESTCOTT 

BROOKE    FOSS    EPI    DUNELMENSIS 

FILII    NATU    MINIMI 

QUI    QUUM    EVANGELIUM 

SINGULARI    MORUM    SUAVITATE 

VITAE    INNOCENTIA    FIDEI    CONSTANTIA 

PER    QUADRENNIUM    INDIS    COMMENDASSET 

INTER    MINISTRANDUM 
SUBITO    MORBO    CORREPTUS 

IN    DNO    OBDORMIVIT 

NATUS    MDCCCLXXI    OBIIT    MCM 

BEATI    MUNDO    CORDE 

The  following  is  the  translation  of  the  above,  which 
the  Bishop  gave  to  one  of  his  daughters  : — 

To  the  memory  of  Robert  Basil  Westcott,  youngest  son  of 


XIII 


DURHAM  325 


Brooke  Foss,  Bishop  of  Durham,  who,  after  he  had  com 
mended  the  Gospel  to  the  Hindus  for  four  years,  by  remark 
able  sweetness  of  character,  purity  of  life,  constancy  of  faith, 
in  the  midst  of  his  service,  seized  by  a  sudden  illness,  fell 
asleep  in  the  Lord.  Born  1871  ;  died  1900.  Blest  are  the 
pure  in  heart. 

On  26th  September  the  Bishop  presided  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Newcastle  Church  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  "  War,"  and,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
himself  spoke.  In  October  he  was  very  active,  speaking 
at  several  meetings,  including  missionary  meetings 
connected  with  the  Bicentenary  Celebration  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  at  Spenny- 
moor,  Sunderland,  and  Cambridge,  and  a  meeting 
of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  at 
Stockton ;  but  his  most  important  utterance  during 
the  month  was  the  Charge  delivered  by  him  at  his 
third  Episcopal  Visitation  of  the  Diocese.  This  Charge, 
entitled  "  The  Position  and  Call  of  the  English  Church," 
was  delivered  in  two  portions,  the  first  two  sections 
being  preached  in  the  Cathedral  on  I5th  October,  and 
the  concluding  three  sections  at  St.  Cuthbert's,  Dar 
lington,  on  the  25th.  The  opening  words  of  this 
Charge  will  serve  to  indicate  its  character  and  suggest 
its  importance.  They  are  these  : — 

At  the  close  of  life,  when  we  look  back  over  our  experi 
ence,  the  conflicts  and  controversies  which  we  have  watched 
assume  new  proportions.  We  can  discern  more  clearly  than 
before  the  essential  questions  which  they  involved,  and  set 
aside  the  disturbing  exaggerations  caused  by  secondary  issues. 
We  become  conscious  of  the  illusoriness  of  partial  views. 
We  learn  to  distrust  speedy  results.  And  if  we  are  tempted 
to  hope  for  less  in  the  near  future,  our  confident  expectation 
of  "  the  times  of  restoration  of  all  things  "  is  strengthened  by 
the  vision  of  a  continuous  movement  in  the  affairs  of  men 


326          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

and  a  clearer  sense  of  its  direction.  At  the  same  time  truths 
on  which  we  have  long  dwelt,  which  we  have  often  laboured 
to  express,  which  we  have  tested  in  the  stress  of  life,  press 
upon  us  with  irresistible  force.  And  now,  when  I  am  once 
more  allowed  to  address  you  in  this  most  solemn  time  of 
visitation,  I  am  constrained  to  endeavour  to  set  out,  however 
imperfectly,  what  seem  to  me  at  the  end  to  be  some  of  the 
chief  conclusions  which  I  have  reached  in  the  course  of  my 
own  working  time  as  to  the  present  position  and  call  of  our 
Church. 

In  November  the  Bishop  was  still  as  active  as  ever. 
On  the  6th  he  spoke  for  the  last  time  on  his  favourite 
subject  of  Education.  The  occasion  was  the  opening 
of  the  new  Science  Buildings  of  the  North-Eastern 
Counties'  School  at  Barnard  Castle,  by  Lord  Barnard. 
In  the  course  of  his  speech  the  Bishop  spoke  of  the 
growing  tendency  to  estimate  the  worth  of  education 
by  its  commercial  value,  to  treat  it  as  a  means  whereby  a 
certain  number  of  scholars,  well  trained,  might  outstrip 
their  rivals  in  the  race  for  wealth.  He  continued  : — 

I  will  say  at  once  that,  if  I  thought  that  was  the  principal 
idea  of  education,  if  that  was  the  purpose  of  this  great  school, 
I  should  not  be  here  this  afternoon.  I  have  come  with  an 
entirely  different  view  of  what  education  is.  No  examination 
can  test  the  highest  qualities.  The  true  results  of  education 
are  not  to  be  gauged  after  six  months  or  a  year.  They  show 
themselves  in  manhood.  Education,  as  I  understand  it,  is 
not  a  preparation  for  commerce  or  the  professions,  but  the 
moulding  of  a  noble  character,  a  training  for  life — for  life  seen 
and  unseen — a  training  of  citizens  of  a  heavenly  as  well  as 
of  an  earthly  kingdom,  for  generous  service  in  Church  and 
State. 

On  the  26th  the  Bishop  was  at  Leeds  in  the  service 
of  the  Christian  Social  Union.  He  took  for  the  sub 
ject  of  this,  his  last  address  to  the  Union,  a  matter  which 


xin  DURHAM  327 

was  continually  troubling  his  mind,  namely,  Progress. 
In  spite  of  indignant  protests  from  sundry  would-be 
purists,  he  insisted  on  pronouncing  this  perplexing 
word  with  an  6.  But  its  pronunciation  was  to  him 
the  least  part  of  its  difficulty.  He  thus  states  his 
case : — 

We  are  assured  that  this  is  an  age  of  progress.  Parties 
commend  their  claims  to  us  on  the  ground  that  they  are  pro 
gressive.  It  is  assumed  we  are  agreed  on  the  meaning  of  the 
terms,  and  yet  a  very  little  reflection  will  show  that  this  is 
not  the  case.  There  are  serious  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
the  sphere,  scope,  and  standard  of  progress.  Change,  even 
when  popular,  is  not  necessarily  progress,  nor  movement, 
however  rapid.  Before  we  can  determine  whether  a  move 
ment  is  really  progress  we  must  determine  the  end  it  is 
desired  to  reach.  Progress  is  an  advance  towards  an  ideal. 
If  we  wish  to  estimate  human  progress  we  must  fix  the  human 
ideal. 

In  December  my  father  paid  his  last  visit  to  Cam 
bridge,  to  preach  for  the  second  time  at  the  Trinity 
College  Commemoration.  Amongst  other  guests  as 
sembled  on  this  occasion  were  the  Lord  Chief  Justice, 
Viscount  Goschen,  and  Sir  W.  MacCormac.  The 
service  in  Chapel  was  followed,  in  accordance  with 
ancient  custom,1  by  a  banquet  and  speeches.  In  the 
Bishop's  sermon  the  following  passage  occurs : — 

In  this  Chapel  and  in  these  Courts  fifty-six  years  ago  I  saw 
visions,  as  it  is  promised  that  young  men  shall  see  them  in  the 
last  days — visions  which  in  their  outward  circumstances  have 
been  immeasurably  more  than  fulfilled.  I  have  had  an 
unusually  long  working  time,  and  I  think  unequalled  oppor 
tunities  of  service.  Where  I  have  failed,  as  I  have  failed 
often  and  grievously,  it  has  not  been  because  I  once  saw  an 

1  See  vol.  i.  p.  45. 


328          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

ideal,  but  because  I  have  not  looked  to  it  constantly,  steadily, 
faithfully ;  because  I  have  distrusted  myself  and  distrusted 
others ;  because  again  and  again  I  have  lost  the  help  of 
sympathy,  since  I  was  unwilling  to  claim  from  those  "who 
called  me  friend  "  the  sacrifice  which  I  was  myself  ready  to 
make.  So  now  an  old  man  I  dream  dreams  of  great  hope, 
when  I  plead  with  those  who  will  carry  forward  what  my  own 
generation  has  left  unattempted  or  unaccomplished,  to  welcome 
the  ideal  which  breaks  in  light  upon  them,  the  only  possible 
ideal  for  man,  even  the  fullest  realisation  of  self,  the  com- 
pletest  service  of  others,  the  devoutest  fellowship  with  God : 
to  strive  towards  it  untiringly  even  if  it  seems  "to  fade  for 
ever  and  for  ever  as  we  move." 

In  this  sermon  my  father  also  mentioned  "  the  Cam 
bridge  motto  :  '  I  act,  therefore  I  am.'  "  This  reference 
to  "  the  Cambridge  motto  "  attracted  notice  and  seemed 
to  demand  an  explanation,  which  request  forthcoming, 
my  father  replied  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \^th  January  1901. 

My  dear  Mr.  Sedley  Taylor — I  thought  that  every  one  was 
familiar  with  Whichcote's  saying,  perhaps  because  I  have 
dwelt  on  it  and  quoted  it  so  long.1  He  was  to  my  mind  a 
truly  representative  Cambridge  man,  and  the  way  in  which  he 
repeats  the  words  leads  me  to  think  that  it  was  a  watchword 
in  his  time — an  answer,  and,  as  I  think,  a  complete  answer, 
to  Cogito,  ergo  sum.  Do  you  not  think  that  the  saying  does 
give  truly  the  Cambridge  view  of  things :  we  must  take 
account  not  of  one  part  of  our  nature  only,  but  of  all.  My 
few  hours'  visit  deepened  my  faith  in  the  mission  of  the 
University.  The  roots  of  life  lie  there.  —  Ever  yours  most 
sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  Bishop's  eldest  son,  a  former  Fellow  of  the 
College,  also  attended  the  Commemoration,  concerning 
which  my  father  wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

1  e.g.  Religious  Thoiight  in  the  West,  p.  307. 


xni  DURHAM  329 

TRINITY  LODGE,  CAMBRIDGE, 
nth  December  1900. 

The  sermon  is  preached,  my  dearest  Mary — a  strangely 
touching  experience,  after  thirty-two  years  once  again ;  and  I 
could  repeat  my  old  convictions.  Deo  gratias.  Brooke  met 
me  at  the  railway  station.  After  we  had  put  our  luggage  on 
a  cab,  we  found  that  the  Master  had  sent  a  carriage  to  meet 
us,  and  so  we  actually  drove  to  the  very  door.  The  Master 
kindly  met  us  on  the  staircase,  and  Mrs.  Butler  gave  us  some 
tea.  I  am  in  the  Royal  room  which  was  fitted  up  for  the 
Queen  and  Prince  Albert  when  he  was  installed  as  Chancellor.1 

Early  in  January  1901  the  Bishop  preached  at  a 
"  Sunday  afternoon  service  for  men "  in  St.  Thomas', 
Sunderland,  on  the  subject  of  "  Social  Responsibilities." 
This  address  was  so  frequently  interrupted  by  applause 
that  a  local  paper  was  moved  to  comment  at  length 
upon  the  circumstance,  and  to  regret  the  introduction 
of  the  manners  of  the  City  Temple  into  Church.  In  the 
course  of  this  sermon  the  Bishop  said  :— 

A  great  many  years  ago  I  read  a  book  in  which  it  was 
stated  that  we  are  free  to  do  as  we  like  in  all  matters  that 
concern  ourselves  alone.  I  confess  that  my  own  soul  at  once 
rebelled  against  the  double  assumption  in  that  statement. 
Freedom  is  not  to  do  as  we  like,  it  is  the  capacity  of  doing 
what  we  ought.  There  is  nothing  in  which  a  man's  actions 
concern  himself  alone :  they  must  affect  others,  however 
slightly.  There  is  a  phrase  often  used  in  the  North  with  com 
placent  pride — "We  keep  to  ourselves."  We  cannot  avoid 
responsibility  by  keeping  to  ourselves.  We  have  no  right  to 
keep  to  ourselves.  We  are  not  our  own.  We  receive  from 
others  our  birth,  our  growth  and  education,  and  as  it  as  an 
unquestionable  fact  that  we  live  by  others,  surely  it  is  an 
unquestionable  duty  that  we  should  live  for  others.  It  is 
worth  while  noticing  that  we  wrong  our  neighbour  just  as 

1  See  vol.  i.  p.  48. 


330          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

much  by  what  we  leave  undone  as  by  what  we  do.  In  the 
Confession  the  sins  of  omission  come  first.  Then  it  follows 
that  it  is  not  for  ourselves  alone  that  we  are  bound  to  cultivate 
our  powers  and  use  our  opportunities. 

About  the  same  time,  on  the  invitation  of  Canon 
Savage,  he  lent  his  countenance  to  a  parish  At  Home 
at  South  Shields.  It  was  no  uncommon  circumstance 
for  him  to  be  present  at  a  parochial  tea  after  some 
ecclesiastical  or  other  function,  but  this  entertainment 
stood,  so  to  speak,  on  its  own  merits,  and  greatly  pleased 
him,  for  he  wrote  to  a  son : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
1st  Sunday  after  Epiphany,  1901. 

One  evening  last  week  I  went  to  a  parish  "  At  Home  "  at 
South  Shields.  It  was  a  very  interesting  gathering.  It  was 
held  in  a  very  fine  hall,  and  members  of  the  congregation  had 
provided  all  the  materials  for  the  entertainment.  People  of 
"  all  sorts  and  conditions  "  mixed  quite  freely  together.  I 
wish  that  such  ways  of  showing  fellowship  were  more  common. 
There  is  too  little  of  the  feeling  in  our  Church. 

The  Bishop,  who  had  always  been  intensely  loyal, 
was  much  moved  by  the  death  of  the  Queen.  He 
mentions  it  in  the  following  letter  to  Dr.  Llewelyn 
Davies  :  — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  31^  January  1901. 

My  dear  Davies — The  Queen's  death  has  been  indeed 
OTTWS  ay  aTTOKaA/ix^too-n/  IK  TroAAwi/  KapSiuv  SiaAoytoyW.1  Mon 
archy  has  been  shown  in  a  new  light,  and  we  must  all  pray 
that  the  King  will  take  the  lesson  to  heart.  His  first  words 
were  most  encouraging.  May  he  find  some  wise  friend  !  I 
greatly  trust  Mr.  Balfour. 

No ;  I  was  not  thinking  of  any  special  time,  but  of  the 
walks  after  our  Saturday  evening  essay,  when  we  touched  on 

1  That  thoughts  out  of  many  hearts  may  be  revealed  (St.  Luke  ii.  35). 


XIII 


DURHAM  331 


all  things — C.  B.  S.,  D.  J.  V.,  and  we  two.  I  was  looking  at 
a  little  of  Latham's  book  yesterday ;  four  or  five  sheets  I  read 
in  their  original  form  many  years  ago.  The  living  directness 
of  his  writing  is  delightful.  He  is  always  in  the  presence  of 
facts,  and  looks  through  the  records  to  that  which  is  beyond 
as  no  German  ever  seems  to  do. 

Just  now  I  have  been  confined  to  the  house  for  more  than 
a  fortnight,  and  shall  be  a  prisoner  for  some  time  still.  It  is 
hard  to  recover  strength  after  an  acute  attack  of  bronchitis. 
I  can,  however,  attend  to  my  correspondence. — Ever  yours 
affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

He  also  referred  to  the  Queen's  death  at  some  length 
in  his  Diocesan  Conference  in  the  following  month. 

He  was  far  from  well  at  this  time,  and  on  account 
of  ill-health  had  been  absent  from  an  important  Diocesan 
meeting  in  Durham  in  support  of  the  S.P.G.  Bicen 
tenary  Fund.  But  he  wrote  a  letter  which  was  read  at 
the  meeting. 

The  Bishop  had  been  invited  by  Archbishop  Mac- 
lagan  to  preach  a  sermon  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
Convocation  of  York  in  the  following  month.  He 
promised  to  do  so  in  the  following  terms : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
22nd January  1901. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  feel  very  deeply  the  kindness  of 
your  invitation,  and  if  no  other  engagement  is  made  I  will 
endeavour  to  say  a  few  words.  But  on  such  an  occasion 
would  it  not  be  well  for  your  Grace  to  speak  to  us  ?  A  pas 
toral  charge  of  authority  would  be  very  helpful.  We  all  need 
the  counsels  of  those  who  are  set  over  us,  given  because  they 
are  set  over  us. 

We  are  face  to  face  with  unparalleled  dangers,  I  think, 
and  with  not  less  hope  if  only  we  can  remember  6Vt  e£  avrov 
Kal  81  avrov  KOL  ei's  OLVTOV  TO,  Trdvra. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 


332          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

But  as  the  day  drew  near  it  became  very  doubtful 
whether  his  health  would  permit  of  his  attending 
Convocation.  On  the  1 8th  February  he  wrote  to  Arch 
deacon  Watkins,  saying : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i8//z  February  1901. 

.  .  .  The  doctor  has  given  his  consent  to  my  going  to 
Convocation ;  but  he  still  strongly  objects  to  my  preaching. 
I  hope,  at  any  rate,  to  bring  my  sermon  with  me. 

In  the  event  he  was  happily  able  not  only  to  attend 
Convocation,  but  also  to  preach  the  sermon  which  he 
had  prepared,  and  reported  to  his  wife : — 

YORK  MINSTER,  22nd  February  1901. 

The  trial  is  over,  and  I  was  able  to  bear  it  quite  well. 
There  was  the  Bidding  Prayer  before  the  sermon,  and  I  did 
not  feel  quite  sure  when  I  read  it  that  I  should  get  through 
easily,  but  when  I  once  started  I  got  on  quite  well,  and  my 
voice  appeared  to  be  clear.  There  was  not  one  cough  during 
the  preaching,  or  after  it.  I  had  asked  the  Dean  if  I  might 
go  to  the  Deanery  if  I  felt  tired ;  but  I  was  not  even  so  tired 
as  usual,  and  contrived  during  the  morning  session  to  do  my 
work,  and  went  (as  usual)  to  the  Deanery  to  lunch.  Lady 
Emma  was  most  kind  in  her  inquiries  after  you  and  K. 

The  Bishop  took  for  the  text  of  his  sermon,  "  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world," 
and  in  opening  his  subject  said  : — 

This  promise  is  the  crown  of  the  world-wide  commission 
to  the  Church.  It  is  introduced  so  as  to  claim  special  atten 
tion  in  view  of  expected  difficulties.  It  points  to  the  Divine 
power  through  which  alone  the  evangelisation  of  the  nations 
can  be  accomplished — a  work  beyond  all  the  natural  resources 
of  men.  It  takes  account  of  the  varying  circumstances  which 
the  messengers  of  the  Gospel  will  have  to  encounter — seasons 


xin  DURHAM  333 

of  tranquillity  and  of  storm,  of  sunshine  and  of  darkness.  It 
places  in  sharp  contrast  the  immutability  of  God  and  the  suc 
cession  of  earthly  changes.  It  marks  an  immediate,  personal 
presence  of  the  Lord,  not  in  His  working  only  but  of  Himself, 
Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man.  Lo  !  I  am  with  you  all  the  days 
unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

The  promise  is  unrevoked  and  unexhausted.  It  is  still 
available  for  us,  a  present  source  of  hope  and  strength  in  our 
times  of  anxiety.  And  yet,  like  other  universal  truths,  it  is 
often  unremembered.  Our  attention  is  arrested  by  that  which 
is  partial,  unexpected,  exceptional,  and  not  by  that  which 
underlies  all  phenomena  and  is  beyond  them. 

We  that  are  not  all, 
As  parts,  can  see  but  parts,  now  this,  now  that. 

And  yet  at  the  present  time,  restless,  distracted,  perplexed  as 
we  are,  we  seem  to  have  been  made  capable  of  the  greatest 
thoughts.  We  have  been  stirred  as  never  before  by  the  re 
velation  of  the  power  of  a  noble  life,  the  embodiment  of  the 
elementary  duties  of  labour,  truthfulness,  and  sympathy ;  we 
have  been  ennobled  by  the  consciousness  of  unique  oppor 
tunities  to  be  used  for  the  common  good.  .  .  .  We  have  been 
sobered  by  the  discipline  of  sharp  trials.  We  have,  in  a  word, 
heard  in  our  souls  voices  of  God  declaring  to  us  the  glory, 
the  responsibility,  the  perils  of  life.  Happy  shall  we  be  if, 
inwardly  touched  by  these  living  voices,  we  take  courage  to 
draw  near  to  Him  that  speaketh.  To  see  Him,  look  to  Him, 
to  obey  His  gracious  drawing,  to  trust  in  Him,  will  bring  back 
to  us  blessings,  personally,  socially,  spiritually. 

During  March  and  the  earlier  part  of  April  the 
Bishop  was  fully  occupied  with  his  ordinary  diocesan 
work,  and  being  in  very  indifferent  health,  stood  in  great 
need  of  a  little  rest  and  change.  In  these  circum 
stances  he  consented  to  accompany  his  eldest  son  on 
a  brief  visit  to  Richmond  in  Yorkshire.  This  was  his 
last  little  holiday,  and  proved  a  very  happy  time  both 
to  himself  and  his  son.  He  wrote  thence  to  his  wife  : — 


334          LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

RICHMOND,  i6tk  April  1901. 

We  have  had  a  typical  April  day.  In  the  morning  we 
had  a  sunny  walk  round  the  Castle  terrace,  just  escaping  a 
shower ;  and  this  afternoon  we  walked  to  Easby  Abbey,  and 
marvelled  at  a  parable  of  sunlight  on  the  trunks  of  the  beech 
trees  rising  out  of  a  carpet  of  celandine  and  anemones.  Now 
I  am  bidden  to  sketch  the  Grey  Friars'  tower,  which  is  in 
front  of  our  window.  Brooke  has  brought  me  a  pencil  for 
the  purpose,  so  I  must  try  to  obey.  It  has  been  a  really 
helpful  day. 

The  3oth  April  was  the  last  day  of  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  episcopate,  and  on  this  day,  the  eve  of  his 
twelfth  birthday,  he  received  the  congratulations  of  his 
wife,  to  whom  he  replied  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  30^  April  1901. 

Very  many  thanks  for  your  congratulations.  It  has  been 
a  wonderful  eleven  years,  and,  on  the  whole,  a  happy  and,  I 
hope,  a  useful  time.  But  I  feel  that  the  work  has  been  practi 
cally  done,  and  I  don't  want  to  spoil  it.  May  God  bless  you  ! 

On  the  following  day  he  wrote  to  a  daughter : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  SS.  Philip  and  James. 

Very  many  thanks  for  your  loving  congratulations.  "  In 
the  twelfth  year  of  our  consecration."  It  is  most  wonderful. 
The  years  have  been,  on  the  whole,  I  trust,  useful,  as  they  have 
been  happy.  Yesterday  I  had  an  encouraging  Confirmation, 
and  I  look  for  another  to-day. 

On  the  same  day  his  wife  came  home  from  a  brief 
stay  at  the  Archdeaconry  in  Durham,  her  last  visit 
from  home.  My  father  wrote  at  once  to  Archdeacon 
Watkins  : — 

My  dear  Archdeacon — It  is  impossible  for  me  to  thank 
Mrs.  Watkins  and  yourself  adequately  for  your  great  kindness 


xin  DURHAM  335 

to  Mrs.  Westcott.  The  change  will,  I  feel  sure,  have  done 
lasting  good,  though  the  singularly  depressing  weather  yester 
day  made  the  journey  home  tiring.  However,  a  good  night 
has  brought  refreshment,  and  there  is  a  promise  of  sunshine, 
which  will  tell,  I  hope,  on  your  cold. — Ever  yours  affection 
ately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Unhappily  the  benefits  of  this  little  change  were 
not  lasting,  and  when  the  Bishop  later  in  the  month 
returned  from  his  meetings  in  London,  he  found  his 
wife  already  lying  on  her  last  bed  of  sickness.  The 
two  last  letters  of  the  very  many  that  he  had  written 
to  her  were  dated  from  his  rooms  in  the  Lollards' 
Tower : — 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  2\st  May  1901. 

.  .  .  We  had  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury  and  Winchester  at 
breakfast,  and  Mrs.  Wordsworth  as  President. 

The  Bishops'  Meeting  in  the  morning  was  good.  The 
Archbishop  has  become  a  convert  to  sound  views  on  the 
Education  question,  and  there  is  really  hope  that  something 
may  be  done.  .  .  .  This  afternoon  I  went  to  the  Harrow 
Meeting.  It  was  quite  a  large  gathering.  You  will  see  from 
the  enclosed  what  a  splendid  bequest  Mr.  Bowen  has  made  to 
the  School  .  .  .  and  he  forbids  any  monument  or  sum  of 
money  to  be  raised  in  his  memory. 

22nd  May  1901. 

My  dearest  Mary — The  enclosed  will  bring  joy  to  you. 
You  will  observe  that  it  is  marked  "private,"  so,  before  speak 
ing  to  strangers,  we  must  wait  for  the  public  announcement. 
The  letter  is  singularly  considerate.1 

I  have  sent  a  line  to  Brooke,  adding  that  you  will  send  the 

1  Mr.  Balfour  said:  "I  thought  it  best  to  say  nothing  to  you  until 
everything  was  settled,  lest  any  ignorant  person  should  conceivably  suggest 
that  yoii  had  moved  in  the  matter  ;  and  I  only  write  now  to  say  how  glad  I 
am  to  have  secured  a  son  of  yours  for  a  Crown  incumbency.  .  .  .  The 
patronage,  curiously  enough,  was  originally  vested  in  the  Bishop  of  Durham, 
as  the  parish  formed  part  of  the  County  Palatinate." 


336          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

letter  to  him.  K.,  of  course,  can  keep  a  secret.  Your  letter 
has  just  come.  It  is  short,  yet  on  the  whole  satisfactory. 
"  Let  us  give  thanks."  —  Ever  your  most  affectionate 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

The  enclosure  in  his  last  letter  was  a  letter  from  Mr. 
A.  J.  Balfour  informing  him  that  his  second  son,  at  that 
time  in  Madras,  had  telegraphed  his  acceptance  of  a 
nomination  to  a  Crown  living  in  Yorkshire.  The  Bishop 
had  immediately  telegraphed  the  news  to  his  wife,  who, 
on  receipt  of  it,  before  she  left  her  sitting-room  for  the 
last  time,  wrote  her  congratulations  to  her  son,  and 
joined  with  her  daughter  in  thanksgiving. 

My  father  had  not  kept  a  diary  since  his  early  days 
at  Cambridge,  but,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  he 
noted  a  few  items  of  special  interest  in  his  interleaved 
daily  text-book.  About  the  time  of  his  wife's  death 
these  entries  are  unusually  full,  and  very  touching.  I 
now  venture  to  reproduce  what  he  wrote  in  those  days 
of  sore  trial,  without  alteration,  save  in  the  writing  in 
full  of  words  which  he  had  abbreviated  : 


May.  —  <1>  very  poorly. 

May.  —  To  Lamesley.  Consecration  of  Burial-ground. 
Lord  Ravens  worth,  "  God  bless  you."  On  return  the  mes 
sage,  "The  home-call  came  about  six."  "Perfect  peace." 
What  shall  I  give  unto  the  Lord  ?  The  fragments  that  are 
left.  Last  copy  of  little  book  to  press. 

2<)th  May.  —  Messages  from  all  sides.  Resting-place 
chosen.  Can  do  little,  think  little,  except  of  necessary  things. 

$ist  May.  —  $  laid  to  rest  in  Chapel.  All  most  reverent, 
and  full  of  encouragement.  Deo  gratias.  May  God  guide  and 
strengthen  me  now  to  work  more  truly. 

•^rd  June.  —  To  Auckland.  Lonely  home,  yet  full  of  God's 
love. 

The  home-call  came  to  his  wife  at  about  six  o'clock 


xiii  DURHAM  337 

in  the  evening  of  28th  May.  The  Bishop  was  away 
at  the  time,  as  he  felt  in  duty  bound  to  fulfil  his  pro 
mise  to  consecrate  that  day  an  addition  to  the  Church 
yard  at  Lamesley.  His  devotion  to  duty  on  this  occa 
sion  was  most  gratefully  appreciated  by  the  people  of 
Lamesley,  many  of  whom,  including  Lord  Ravensworth, 
came  to  the  station  to  meet  him.  He  was,  moreover, 
escorted  from  the  station  to  the  church  by  the  Kibbles- 
worth  Miners'  Brass  Band.1  The  Bishop  spoke  at  the 
service  of  consecration  on  the  subject  of  Immortality. 
His  words  were  simple,  and,  amongst  other  things,  he 
said  : 

If  we  consider  how  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  looked 
upon  the  subject  of  death,  we  shall  find  that  their  faith  and 
hope  were  shadowy.  The  Jews  had  no  absolute  confidence 
in  the  future,  but  they  had  a  bold  hope.  Their  religion  and 
their  experience  had  taught  them  that  God  would  not  deseri 
them  at  the  last,  and  they  hoped  for  what  they  dared  not 
name.  From  the  resurrection  of  Christ  dates  the  Christian 
hope  of  the  future.  From  this  time  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
has  slowly  but  surely  found  its  home  in  the  Christian  heart. 
From  about  the  third  century  "  cemetery,"  meaning  a  sleeping- 
place,  has  been  the  name  given  to  a  burial-ground.  Sleeping, 
as  understood  by  us,  means  rest ;  hence  the  using  of  the  term 
"  cemetery  "  :  and  "  God's  acre  "  implies  a  faith  in  the  future 
after  the  sleep  is  over. 

It  was  a  striking  coincidence  that  such  words  as 
these  were  on  the  Bishop's  lips  and  in  his  heart  as  his 
wife  was  falling  asleep  in  the  sure  hope  of  a  happy 
waking.  On  his  return  home  the  Bishop  was  met  at 
the  station  and  received  the  message  which  he  has 
recorded. 

1  The  Bishop  invited  the  Kibblesworth  Band,  who  had  come  on  this 
occasion  to  do  him  honour,  to  pay  him  a  visit  at  Auckland  on  some  future 
occasion,  and  one  of  his  last  requests  was  that  this  invitation  should  not  be 
forgotten.  It  was  not. 

VOL.  II  Z 


338          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

On  the  morning  of  that  day  he  had  written  to  his 

eldest  son  :— 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  28^  May  1901. 

It  was  a  very  great  comfort  to  me  to  have  your  letters  this 
morning.  They  expressed  just  what  I  hoped  you  would  feel. 
Mary  and  Daisy  both  came  yesterday,  and  they  will  be  a  great 
help  with  Indian  letters  and  the  like.  Mamma  is  conscious 
from  time  to  time.  She  recognised  them  both.  But  for  the 
most  part  she  lies  in  a  comatose  state,  and  is  quite  unable  to 
hold  any  conversation.  This  is  the  worst  symptom.  Dr.  Hume 
came  to  consult  with  Dr.  M'Cullagh  yesterday  evening,  and 
he  seemed  to  take  a  rather  more  hopeful  view,  but  the  danger 
is  very  great.  Happily  there  is  no  pain,  but  only  frequent 
restlessness. 

We  have  arranged  for  the  Ordination  candidates  to  go  to 
Durham,  where  all  has  been  happily  provided.  These  open 
ings  into  the  unseen  are  revelations  of  life  which  we  need. 
The  past  lives  with  its  untold  blessings  and  these  are  ours  for 
ever. 

In  the  evening  he  wrote  again  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  28^  May  1901. 

My  dear  Brooke — The  end  came  this  afternoon  suddenly, 
and  without  pain.  When  I  went  into  the  room  to  say  a  silent 
good-bye  before  going  to  consecrate  a  burial-ground,  I  seemed 
to  feel  a  change,  and  that  it  was  a  last  look  at  my  helper  for 
forty-eight  years.  .  .  .  We  are  sure  that  all  is  in  love. 
Mother  has,  I  think,  been  very  happy  here,  and  has  won  all 
hearts.  Circumstances  determine  that  the  funeral  must  be  on 
Friday  afternoon  in  the  Chapel. 

May  we  treasure  and  use  all  the  love  which  has  been 
showered  upon  us !  I  think  that  it  will  be  more  powerful 
than  ever.  God  bless  you ! — Ever  your  most  affectionate 
father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Almost  the  first  message  of  sympathy  which  the 
Bishop  received  came  from  his  sons  in  India.  He 
replied  at  once  to  his  sons  in  Cawnpore : — 


DURHAM  339 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ztyh  May. 

The  telegram  was  a  great  joy  to  us.  It  came  at  breakfast 
time  on  Wednesday.  For  once  I  was  inclined  to  speak  kindly 
of  a  modern  "improvement."  It  has  been  a  great  support  to 
have  the  three  sisters.  I  hardly  know  when  last  they  were  all 
together  before:  never  here,  I  feel  sure.  Daisy  is  staying 
here  till  the  holidays  ;  and  probably  she,  with  her  family,  will 
make  this  her  home  while  my  work  lasts.  .  .  . 

K.  is  very  cheerful.  She  greatly  comforted  me  by  saying 
that  it  was  well  that  mother  was  called  home  first.  She  could 
hardly  have  borne  the  lonely  burden.  I  rejoice  to  think  how 
happy  the  eleven  years  have  been,  and  every  one  recognises 
what  she  did  for  the  Diocese. 

I  have  seen  Canon  Body  and  Deaconess  Annie,  and  all  the 
difficulties  with  the  W.M.A.  are  happily  settled. 

On  the  same  day  he  wrote  to  his  son  in  Madras  : — 

I  must  add  one  word.  Mamma  heard  the  good  news  of 
your  appointment,  and  was  able  to  rejoice  in  it.  The  charge 
will  leave  ample  time  for  other  work.  .  .  . 

Her  children  are  mother's  best  memorial,  but  the  letters 
which  come  in  from  all  sides  show  how  great  her  influence 
was.  I  shall  have  to  live  on  the  memory. 

It  was  quite  impossible  for  my  father,  greatly  as  he 
would  have  desired  to  do  so,  to  answer  with  his  own 
hand  all  the  letters  of  sympathy  which  he  received  at 
this  time.  Several  of  those  which  he  did  write  have 
come  into  my  hands,  and  among  them  the  following  : — 


To  A  CLERGYMAN 

Tpth  May  1901. 

Let  me  thank  you   for  expressing  so  truly  what   is   my 
strength,  "the  love  of  my  sons."    Through  this  and  the  vision 


340          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

of  the  beautiful  life  which  remains  with  me  I  can  still  look 
forward  to  work,  if  it  be  God's  will. 


To  MRS.  HORT 

DURHAM,  istjune  1901. 

No  words  are  needed  to  tell  me  of  your  affection  and  help. 
What  brings  me  thankful  joy  is  that  our  people  in  the  North 
show  that  they  have  learnt  what  Mrs.  Westcott  was.  She  had 
won  their  hearts,  and  will  move  them  still  The  old  students 
speak  of  her  as  "the  Mother  of  the  Brotherhood,"  and  in 
deed  she  was.  The  Service  yesterday  was  all  we  could  have 
wished ;  and  to-morrow  I  hope  to  hold  the  Ordination.  The 
memory  is  bright  to  guide  if  there  is  more  to  be  done.  When 
reading  a  letter  like  yours  I  say  in  my  heart  naturally,  "  I  must 
take  it  and  show  it  to  her."  Arthur1  has  written  a  loving 
message.  There  is,  indeed,  love  on  every  side ;  but  it  is  the 
love  for  her  which  is  the  crown  of  all. 

To  THE  DEAN  OF  WESTMINSTER 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  $thjune  1901. 

My  dear  Dean — Your  affection  never  fails.  The  sympathy 
and  help  of  friends  have  sustained  me  wonderfully ;  and  the 
memory  of  a  beautiful  life  closed  in  peace  will  be  an  un 
changing  light  through  the  days  to  come. — Ever  yours  affec 
tionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  YORK 

i 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  6th  June  1901. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Let  me  thank  you  for  your  most 
kind  words  of  sympathy.  A  friend  tells  me  that  Mrs.  West 
cott  said  to  her  many  years  ago,  "  There  is  always  joy  in  deep 
mourning."  I  think  that  I  can  understand  the  paradox.  Un 
expected  fountains  of  strength  are  opened,  and  we  understand 
more  the  words,  "  I  came  that  they  may  have  life." 

1  Sir  Arthur  Hort,  the  Bishop's  godson. 


XIII 


DURHAM  341 


I  trust  that  the  Bishop  of  Tasmania  may  recognise  the 
greatness  of  the  call.  —  Ever  gratefully  and  affectionately 
yours,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  HON.  MRS.  MACLAGAN 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
6th  June  1901. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Maclagan — The  kindness  of  friends  is  over 
whelming.  What  a  wonderful  revelation  of  life  sorrow  is  !  That 
which  we  do  not  see  with  our  eyes  proves  its  sovereignty,  and 
I  pray  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  use  the  gift  which  others  have 
won  for  me  for  the  better  doing  of  whatever  work  may  remain 
for  me.  The  recollection  of  the  singular  kindness  which  we 
received  at  Bishopthorpe  has  been  a  continual  joy  to  Mrs. 
Westcott  and  myself.  How  can  I  then  but  dare  to  sign  my 
self  ever  yours  gratefully  and  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  THE  REV.  J.  LL.   DAVIES 

2istjune  1901. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  answer  as  I  would  the  friends 
whose  words  bring  strength.  The  thing  which  has  struck  me 
most  is  the  way  in  which  a  great  sorrow  reveals  a  larger  life. 
When  we  came  here  I  was  afraid  that  the  cares  of  her  posi 
tion  would  oppress  Mrs.  Westcott,  whose  whole  heart  was  in 
her  home.  But  it  was  not  so.  She  told  me  again  and  again 
that  these  eleven  years  were  the  happiest  of  her  life.  They 
brought  countless  opportunities  for  showing  little  kindnesses, 
and  it  is  a  joy  to  me  to  see  how  many  speak  of  her  "loving 
motherliness."  She  was,  I  think,  a  perfect  Bishop's  wife,  a 
mother  in  God  to  all  whom  she  touched.  .  .  .  Our  thoughts 
naturally  now  go  back  to  old  days.  I  am  overwhelmed  when 
I  reflect  on  the  opportunities  which  have  been  given  me :  and 
what  is  the  account  ? — Ever  yours,  with  the  affection  of  seven- 
and-fifty  years,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


342          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 
To  his  son  in  Canada  he  wrote  :  — 

1st  Sunday  in  Trinity  ',  1901 


It  is  a  very  great  joy  to  me  to  find  how  mother's  affection 
and  tenderness  and  self-devotion  were  recognised  on  all  sides. 
She  was  a  true  Bishop's  wife,  and  people  feel  it.  No  epithets 
occur  more  often  in  the  letters  which  reach  us  than  "gracious" 
and  "motherly,"  and  both  are  most  true.  The  old  students 
feel  what  she  added  to  St.  Peter's  Day.  We  must  try  to  keep 
the  spirit.  .  .  .  She  suffered  no  pain,  and  she  lies  in  the 
Chapel  which  she  dearly  loved.  It  is  well  that  she  was  spared 
the  loneliness  which  perhaps  I  can  better  bear,  and  the  break 
ing  up  of  the  household  and  the  entering  a  new  home.  D. 
will,  I  expect,  take  charge  of  this  house  and  make  it  her  home 
while  my  work  lasts  ;  but  that  cannot  be  very  long,  though  the 
wonderful  kindness  of  the  people  of  all  ranks  makes  me 
anxious  to  serve  them  yet  a  little  longer  and  better. 

yd  Sunday  in  Trinity,  1901 
\_2ydjune]. 

We  are  growing  little  by  little  to  understand  the  altered 
home,  though  I  am  always  saying  to  myself,  "  I  must  go  and 
show  this  to  mother."  My  heart  rather  fails  me,  yet  I  am  really 
anxious  to  do  some  better  work  for  mother's  sake.  Our  great 
St.  Peter's  Day  gathering  will  be  to-morrow  week,  and  I  trust 
that  I  may  be  fairly  well.  As  Mr.  Boutflower  is  leaving,  it  will 
be  an  unusually  interesting  occasion.  It  will  be  impossible  to 
fill  his  place,  but  I  daresay  he  will  be  able  to  help  us  still  and 
keep  the  old  spirit  alive. 

Mrs.  Westcott's  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Castle 
Chapel  on  Friday,  May  3ist.  The  Chapel  was  filled 
with  clergy  of  the  Diocese  and  other  friends,  and  many 
beautiful  wreaths  which  had  been  sent  were  placed  on 
the  steps  of  the  altar.  The  service  was  opened  with 
the  hymn,  "  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past  "  ;  and  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  first  part  of  the  service,  the  coffin, 


xiii  DURHAM  343 

which  had  hitherto  rested  in  the  centre  aisle,  was  borne 
to  the  south-east  corner  of  the  building,  four  "  Sons  of 
the  House  "  and  four  gardeners  being  the  bearers.  The 
Bishop  stood  at  the  head  of  the  grave,  with  his  sons 
Brooke  and  Henry  on  either  side.  The  committal 
portion  of  the  service  was  read  by  Canon  Westcott, 
the  eldest  son,  and  the  Rev.  T.  Middlemore-Whithard 
cast  earth  upon  his  sister's  coffin.  Before  the  con 
cluding  prayers  were  said  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Westcott, 
the  hymn,  "  Peace,  perfect  peace "  was  sung,  and  a 
third  hymn,  "  For  all  the  saints  who  from  their  labours 
rest,"  was  sung  before  the  blessing.  The  Bishop  him 
self  gave  the  blessing,  and  it  was  noticed  that,  though 
his  voice  as  he  pronounced  it  showed  strong  emotion, 
the  words  were  distinctly  uttered.  This  conclusion  of 
the  service  was  very  moving,  and  brought  tears  to 
many  eyes.  Then  followed  the  Nunc  Dimittis,  and  as 
a  concluding  voluntary  on  the  organ,  "  Oh  rest  in  the 
Lord." 

At  the  same  time  a  Memorial  Service  was  held  in 
Durham  Cathedral,  and  was  attended  by  the  Mayor 
and  members  of  the  Corporation.  The  Lesson  was 
read  by  the  Dean,  and  in  the  course  of  the  service 
Spohr's  anthem,  "  Blest  are  the  departed,"  was  sung. 

The  loss  of  her  whom  he  had  known  and  loved 
since  his  boyhood  did  not  cause  the  Bishop  to  cease 
from  his  work  for  a  moment.  It  has  been  already 
mentioned  that,  after  he  had  said  his  last  silent  farewell 
to  her  on  the  day  of  her  death,  he  bravely  set  forth  to 
do  his  immediate  duty,  but  it  has  not  been  mentioned 
that  in  the  midst  of  his  deep  anxiety  he  had  on  the 
preceding  day  gone  to  Middlesbrough  and  there  opened 
an  Exhibition  of  the  Co-operative  Union  of  Great 
Britain,  the  Congress  of  which  was  then  in  session 


344          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

His  speech  on  this  occasion  was  on  the  subject  of 
Industrial  Co-partnership. 

On  the  3rd  June  the  Bishop  was  present  at  a 
service  held  in  the  Cathedral  to  welcome  home  the 
Durham  volunteers  from  the  war.  He  had  come  in 
order  to  give  the  men  his  blessing.  At  a  later  stage 
of  the  proceedings  Lord  Durham  said  that  he  was 
sure  he  spoke  for  them  all  when  he  said  that  they 
deeply  felt  the  action  of  their  revered  Bishop,  who,  in 
spite  of  the  great  bereavement  from  which  he  was 
suffering,  came  to  the  Cathedral  that  afternoon  to  do 
honour  to  the  men  who  had  served  their  country. 
They  had  reason  to  be  proud  of  their  Bishop  as  well 
as  of  their  volunteers. 

On  1 2th  June  a  Sale  of  Work  in  aid  of  the  S.P.G. 
Bicentenary  Fund  was  held  in  the  Castle  grounds. 
The  Sale  was  opened  by  the  Bishop's  eldest  daughter, 
Mrs.  King,  who,  by  her  mother's  request,  took  the  place 
which  she  would  have  filled  had  her  life  been  spared. 
Concerning  this  Sale,  my  father  wrote  to  Archdeacon 

Watkins  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  nth  June  1901. 

.  .  .  We  have  had  a  most  interesting  gathering  of  "all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men "  and  women :  most  of  whom 
had  not  seen  the  Chapel  before.  I  rejoice  because  it  was 
Mrs.  Westcott's  Festival. 

The  above  note  calls  to  mind  again  the  Bishop's 
joy  in  sharing  the  beauties  of  his  Castle  and  Chapel 
with  all  comers.  One  of  the  latest  visiting  parties  was 
composed  of  mothers  from  Monkwearmouth,  whose 
visit  is  thus  recalled  by  the  Vicar,  the  Rev.  D.  S. 
Boutflower,  in  his  Parochial  Magazine : — 

Our  Mothers'  Meetings  will  remember  our  debates  as  to 
our  summer  excursion,  and  how  urgent  advice  was  given  to 


XIII 


DURHAM  345 


go  at  once  to  Bishop  Auckland,  whilst  we  could  be  sure  of 
the  warmest  of  welcomes.  We  went  there,  and  saw  the  great 
home  of  many  great  men,  men  who  have  made  English  history 
and  guided  the  minds  of  Englishmen — Cardinal  Wolsey,  and 
men  wiser  than  he  because  they  were  less  ambitious,  Tunstall 
and  Cosin  and  Butler  and  Lightfoot ;  and  then  we  saw  the 
kindest  and  most  far-sighted  of  all  the  Bishops  of  Durham, 
going  cheerily  to  his  favourite  work  of  teaching,  and  pausing 
for  a  few  minutes  to  show  us  his  own  special  garden  of  rare 
wild-flowers.  None  of  us  thought  that  within  a  fortnight  one 
of  the  few  surviving  great  men  of  England  would  be  taken 
from  us.  And  now  we  are  rather  staggered  to  hear  that  he 
is  gone,  the  man  with  heart  and  mind  so  grandly  balanced, 
who  was  never  known  to  have  favourites,  but  loved  all  the 
world,  and  each  man  alike ;  the  man  of  genius,  who  in  any 
sort  of  company  made  himself  least  of  all ;  the  man  of 
strength,  who  was  gentle  to  the  humblest.  We  are  thankful 
for  our  recollections  of  him.  His  books  will  remain  behind 
him,  but  they  give  no  adequate  idea  of  his  wonderful 
personality.  That  which  we  read  is  not  quite  the  same  as 
that  which  we  have  seen  and  known  and  our  hands  have 
handled.  But  the  best  of  these  treasured  memories  will  be 
that  they  will  have  for  us  no  alloy  of  sorrow.  Bishop 
Westcott  was  an  instance  of  the  fulfilment  of  our  Lord's 
purposes  to  men :  "  I  came  that  they  might  have  life,  and 
have  it  more  abundantly."  "These  things  have  I  spoken 
unto  you,  that  your  joy  may  be  full." 

When  my  father  wrote  in  his  text-book  on  the  day 
on  which  his  wife  died,  "  Last  copy  of  little  book  to 
press,"  he  noted  the  virtual  completion  of  his  Lessons 
from  Work.  The  book  was  published  at  Whitsuntide, 
appearing  in  the  brief  interval  of  time  which  elapsed 
between  the  death  of  his  wife  and  his  own  death.  On 
the  Dedication  page  he  has  placed  the  following  words : 
"  I  had  purposed  to  dedicate  this  book  to  my  wife,  for 
forty-eight  years  my  unfailing  counsellor  and  stay :  I 
now  dedicate  it  to  her  memory." 


346          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  volume  contains  most  of  the  important 
utterances,  including  his  last  Charge,  delivered  by 
him  during  the  last  four  years  of  his  life.  He  has 
described  it  as  a  little  book,  yet  it  is  comparatively 
bulky,  and  even  so  does  not  contain  all  that  he  had 
collected  for  it.  In  the  preface  he  says  : — 

The  papers  are  bound  together  by  one  underlying  thought. 
In  each  case  I  approached  my  subject  in  the  light  of  the 
Incarnation ;  and  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  from  first  to 
last  how  this  central  fact  of  history — the  life  of  all  life — 
illuminates  the  problems  which  meet  us  alike  in  our  daily 
work  and  in  our  boldest  speculations.  The  more  frankly  we 
interrogate  our  own  experience,  and  the  more  patiently  we 
study  the  "  world  of  wonder  and  opportunity "  in  which  we 
are  placed,  the  more  confidently  we  shall  apply  to  the 
announcement  the  Word  became  flesh,  the  sentence  in  which 
Tertullian  sums  up  the  evidence  for  the  being  of  God:  "  Habet 
testimonia  totum  hoc  quod  sumus  et  in  quo  sumus." 

The  reunion  of  the  "Sons  of  the  House"  took  place  as 
usual  on  St.  Peter's  Day,  and  on  the  same  date  t^e 
Bishop  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  seeking  advice 
as  to  his  duties  and  privileges  at  the  Coronation.  The 
following  is  the  complete  letter  : — 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
St.  Peter's  Day,  1901. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  was  greatly  distressed  by  the 
summons  to  the  York  meeting  of  the  two  Convocations,  for 
which  I  was  wholly  unprepared,  and  which  I  cannot  attend. 
It  would  surely  be  well  if  such  meetings  could  find  a  place  in 
the  list  of  Fixed  Days,  so  that  they  could  be  provided  for 
early.  When  Diocesan  engagements  are  made  I  find  it 
practically  impossible  to  alter  them.  At  the  same  time, 
nothing  is  more  important  than  this  joint  meeting,  and  I  wish 
to  express  my  very  deep  regret  that  I  cannot  be  present. 

I  find  that  my  predecessors  made  an  application  in  writing 


xni  DURHAM  347 

for  the  recognition  of  their  place  at  the  Coronation  of  the 
King.  I  suppose  I  may  follow  their  precedent,  but  I  do  not 
see  to  whom  the  application  should  be  addressed  in  this  case. 
Would  it  be  possible  for  me  to  leave  it  in  your  Grace's 
hands  ? 

I  should  have  been  glad  if  it  had  been  possible  to  have 
had  a  few  words  with  you  about  the  action  of  the  Committee 
on  Professorial  Certificates  at  Cambridge.  I  hope  that  it  may 
be  possible  for  us  to  address  before  the  long  vacation  a 
request  to  Dr.  Swete  for  some  scheme  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Professors,  would  be  reasonable  and  satisfactory.  I 
was  amazed  at  the  picture  drawn  of  the  occupations  of  the 
Oxford  undergraduates :  it  answered  to  nothing  in  my  ex 
perience. — Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Several  members  of  the  family  noticed  how  my 
father  endeavoured  after  the  loss  of  his  wife  to  fulfil  to 
them  as  far  as  he  could  the  place  of  both  parents.  Not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  he  was,  as  he  has  expressed 
it  in  his  text -book,  "tired"  or  "very  tired"  almost 
every  day,  he  added  to  his  many  other  burdens  the  task 
of  writing  weekly  letters  to  his  children  in  the  place  of 
their  mother.  The  wonderfully  touching  thought  in 
the  first  paragraph  of  the  following  letter  to  his  fourth 
son  shows  how  anxious  he  was  to  do  what  he  could  in 
her  place : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \%thjuly  1901. 

My  dear  George — I  find  that  mother  used  to  send  you 
and  Foss  at  certain  intervals  ^£7  :  ics.  each.  I  do  not  know 
when  the  payments  were  made,  and  I  think  it  better  to  send 
the  sum. 

.  .  .  What  we  want  to  bring  home  to  the  Hindus  is  that 
Christianity  is  not  a  power  of  thought  but  of  life.  That  is 
one  reason  why  I  feel  the  importance  of  community  missions. 

We  have  been  having  very  hot  weather  (for  us),  8o°-84°  in 
the  shade.  This  morning  I  thought  that  I  was  going  to  be 
ill  from  it,  but  I  am  better  now.  I  hope  to  speak  at  the 


348          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

Miners'  Service  at  Durham  on  Saturday.  This  is  a  very 
moving  occasion,  and  I  hope  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  say 
what  I  have  to  say. 

This  will  be  the  last  serious  work  before  the  holiday.    You 
would  be  pleased  to  see  (little)  Foss's l  success  at  Eton. 

The  holiday  here  mentioned,  for  which  he  had  made 
arrangements,  did  not  come.  Did  he  really  expect  it  ? 
The  following  little  incident  related  by  the  Rev.  F.  C. 
Macdonald,  Vicar  of  St.  Hilda's,  Sunderland,  shows 
how  unwilling  he  was  to  look  forward.  "  On  3rd  July," 
says  Mr.  Macdonald,  "the  last  time  I  saw  him,  he 
promised,  if  possible,  to  come  next  September  to  preach 
in  St.  Hilda's.  '  But,'  he  said,  '  I  am  very  tired.'  I 
said,  '  It  will  be  after  your  holiday,  my  lord.'  He 
smiled,  that  beautiful  smile  that  seemed  like  a  glimpse 
of  heaven,  and  said,  '  Good-bye.'  " 


The  following  are  a  few  more  letters,  including 
several  dealing  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
which  were  written  during  this  last  year : — 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

AYSGARTH,  6tk  August  1900. 

My  attention  has  been  called  to  two  notices  in  the  Parish 
Magazine  for  August,  p.  ii :  (i)  that  the  Holy  Eucharist  will 
be  specially  offered  on  behalf  [of  the  Christians  massacred  in 
China] ;  and  again,  (2)  that  the  Holy  Eucharist  will  be  offered 
on  behalf '(of  the  Rev.  ). 

You  know,  I  am  sure,  that  I  am  most  anxious  not  to 
abridge  in  the  least  degree  the  liberty  which  our  Church 

1  His  grandson  Foss  Prior,  recently  elected  to  a  Scholarship  at  Eton. 


xiii  DURHAM  349 

allows  to  her  children ;  but  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  thought 
conveyed,  naturally,  by  the  words  which  I  have  underlined  is 
alien  from  her  teaching.  It  is  possible  to  put  a  meaning  upon 
them  which  can  be  reconciled  with  Anglican  doctrine,  but 
they  cannot  fail,  in  my  opinion,  both  to  mislead  and  to  cause 
serious  trouble  to  very  many. 

When  present  controversies  threatened  to  become  serious, 
I  considered  very  carefully,  in  conference  with  some  other 
bishops  of  large  knowledge  and  experience,  the  attitude  of 
our  Church  with  regard  to  prayers  for  the  Dead.  We  agreed 
unanimously  that  we  are,  as  things  are  now,  forbidden  to  pray 
for  the  Dead  apart  from  the  whole  Church  in  our  public 
Services.  No  restriction  is  placed  upon  private  devotions. 
The  language  is  "with  them  we,"  "we  and  all  Thy  Church," 
"  we  with  all  those  that  are  ..."  It  is  therefore,  as  far  as 
I  can  judge,  allowable  to  make  a  pause  in  the  Prayer  for  the 
Church  Militant,  when  the  congregation  can  remember  those 
who  are  "in  Christ."  The  subject  is  indeed  one  of  the 
greatest  obscurity,  and  where  Scripture  is  silent  it  is  perilous 
to  theorise.  In  fact,  all  that  we  know  is  summed  up  in  the 
words  "  in  Christ."  In  that  unity  there  is  an  effective  fellow 
ship  of  life. 

I  shall,  of  course,  be  ready  to  consider  anything  you  may 
wish  to  say  upon  the  subject,  but  I  do  not  think  that  I  have 
overlooked  any  point  affecting  the  position  of  our  own  Church 
now.  Have  you  used  the  phrase  for  any  time?  I  have 
never  noticed  it  before. 

May  God  in  His  infinite  love  bring  us  all  to  unity  h  x^. 

AYSGARTH,  tyh  August  1900. 

My  main  object  in  writing  to  you  was  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  very  grave  ambiguity,  to  say  no  more,  in  the  phrase 
"the  Holy  Eucharist  will  be  offered  for  ..."  I  felt  sure 
that  you  intended  to  express  what  you  now  say,  but  no 
ordinary  reader,  bearing  in  mind  the  language  of  Art.  xxxi., 
could  so  understand  the  words,  and  I  venture  to  hope  that 
you  will  see  the  need  of  modifying  them.  I  do  not  think 
that  any  serious  objection  could  be  urged  against  some  such 
form  as  this :  "  At  the  Service  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  A.  B. 


350          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

will  be  remembered."  Since  there  is  much  misunderstanding 
as  to  the  different  way  in  which  our  Church  regards  public 
and  private  prayers  for  the  dead,  I  thought  it  well  to  point 
out  the  limitation  which  is  placed  on  public  prayers  in  our 
present  formularies,  and,  as  I  think,  for  sufficient  reasons. 
Surely  the  mode  of  existence  of  the  departed  is  a  question 
of  overwhelming  difficulty.  The  silence  of  Scripture,  when 
compared  with  men's  fancies,  is  most  instructive.  The  single 
clause  "  in  Christ "  contains  practically  all  that  we  know,  and 
it  is  enough.  .  .  . 

To  HIS  SECOND  SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \yh  September  1900. 

The  memorandum  on  Superintendents  is  just  what  I 
wanted,  and  I  hope  that  something  may  be  done  to  give 
definiteness  to  the  office. 

On  the  general  principle  involved  in  the  inquiry  which 
you  send  I  feel  strongly.  As  far  as  possible  we  must  en 
deavour  in  a  translation  of  the  Bible  to  reproduce  the  original, 
leaving  undefined  what  is  undefined,  or  in  rare  cases  giving 
the  possible  alternatives  clearly.  The  translation  of  Trveu/m 
was  found  in  revision  work  to  be  of  singular  difficulty.  In 
some  cases  alternative  translations,  such  as  I  have  mentioned, 
were  given,  e.g.  Eph.  v.  1 8.  I  do  not  know  what  the  resources 
of  Telugu  are,  and  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  that  in  the 
passage  which  I  have  quoted  late  Latin  MSS.  add  sancto 
wrongly.  I  should  therefore  deprecate  the  following  the 
practice  which  is  described,  unless  there  is  the  possibility  of 
using  some  device  answering  to  italic  type  to  show  that  holy 
is  an  interpretation  only.  As  a  general  rule  the  exact  form  of 
expression  used  in  the  original  should  be  kept.  I  hope  that 
I  have  made  myself  clear. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  YORK 

AUCKLAND,  yh  October  1900. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Can  you  kindly  tell  me  when  you 
propose  to  issue  your  mandate  for  the  election  of  Proctors  ? 


xni  DURHAM  351 

I  have  had  not  a  few  inquiries  on  the  subject.  May  I  also 
thank  you  for  the  copy  of  your  Congress  sermon  ?  I  should 
like  some  time  to  have  an  opportunity  of  speaking  on  one 
grave  point  I  am  utterly  unable  to  understand — how  "the 
Body  broken  "  and  "  the  Blood  shed  "  can  be  identified  with 
the  Person  of  the  Lord.  I  find  no  warrant  in  our  Prayer 
Book  or  ancient  authorities  for  such  an  identification.  But 
this  is  too  great  a  subject  for  cursory  writing ;  yet  the  more  I 
see  of  modern  statements  the  more  I  am  amazed. — Ever 
yours  most  sincerely,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  %th  October  1900. 

My  dear  Archbishop — Let  me  thank  you  for  your  kindness 
in -writing  to  me.  I  read  your  marginal  note  on  p.  71  with 
great  thankfulness. 

As  far  as  I  venture  to  form  an  opinion  on  the  Lord's 
presence  in  Holy  Communion,  I  certainly  agree  with  the  view 
which  you  express  on  p.  8.  The  circumstances  of  the  Institu 
tion  are,  we  may  say,  spiritually  reproduced.  The  Lord 
Himself  offers  His  Body  given  and  His  Blood  shed.  But 
these  gifts  are  not  either  separately  (as  the  Council  of  Trent) 
or  in  combination  Himself.  The  remarks  of  Archdeacon 
Freeman  on  this  point  are,  I  think,  substantially  true;  and 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  habitually  use  part  only  of  the 
words  of  Institution. 

If  I  understand  rightly  the  reference  on  p.  5,  I  do  not  feel 
sure  that  the  words  in  St.  John  vi.  can  be  pressed — though 
the  use  made  of  them  is  most  true;  are  they  not  of  much 
wider  application  ?  Then,  too,  the  Lord  does  not  speak  of 
His  "  Body." 

I  shrink  with  my  whole  nature  from  speaking  of  such  a 
mystery,  but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  vital  to  guard  against  the 
thought  of  the  Presence  of  the  Lord  "in  or  under  the  forms 
of  bread  and  wine."  From  this  the  greatest  practical  errors 
follow. 

Perhaps  I  may  add  that  I  try  to  give  the  thought  at  the 

1  Sermon  preached   by  the    Archbishop    at    the    Newcastle    Church 
Congress. 


352          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

end  of  the  first  paragraph  on  p.  7  by  saying  "  represent  His 
human  nature  as  He  lived  and  died  for  us  under  the  conditions 
of  earthly  life." 

How  soon  we  are  lost.     "  In  Christ "  sums  up  all :   "  we  in 
Him  ;  He  in  us." — Ever  yours,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 


To  A  CLERGYMAN 

AUCKLAND,  i$th  October  1900. 

...  I  cannot  admit  the  parallel  which  you  draw  between 
Incense  and  Evening  Communion.  The  question  of  Incense 
has  been  decided  after  an  exhaustive  inquiry  by  the  authority 
designated  in  the  Prayer  Book  to  settle  ambiguities  of  direc 
tion.  The  question  of  Evening  Communions  has  never  been 
argued. 

Personal  opinion  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of 
Incense.  The  voice  of  final  authority  in  our  own  Church  has 
spoken  to  us  as  to  our  duty  now.  It  is  this  which  extreme  men 
will  not  see.  Alas  ! 

AUCKLAND,  zyd  October  1900. 

...  As  to  the  great  question  which  you  raise  in  the 
postscript,  I  have  said  all  I  dare  to  say  in  a  lecture  on  the 
Historic  Faith.  This  I  would  not  deliver  orally.  We  can 
hardly  realise  our  incapacity  for  dealing  with  the  future.  Two 
things  seem  to  lie  at  the  foundation  of  being.  There  cannot 
be  a  lost  good  :  there  cannot  be  an  unrequited  evil.  This  is 
enough.  No  good  is  apart  from  Christ ;  and  in  Him  alone 
is  life. 

To  HIS  WIFE 

LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  itfh  November  1900. 

I  have  had  so  far  a  rather  hard,  but  yet  a  satisfactory  day. 
We  had  a  fairly  full  breakfast  party,  though  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford  was  not  well  enough  to  come.  But  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  and  Mrs.  Davidson  and  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury 
are  iall  vigorous.  The  morning  was  taken  up  by  a  meeting 
of  the  Committee  of  the  Boards  of  Missions.  . 


xin  DURHAM  353 

On  returning  here  I  received  a  telegram  from  Miss  Cor- 
deux,  regretting  that  she  was  kept  at  home  by  neuralgia.  So 
now,  after  tea,  I  am  going  to  set  to  work  to  finish  my  Lecture, 
having  prepared  myself  by  reading  once  again  Mazzini's  Essay 
on  Carlyle,  If  you  want  to  know  what  I  think  about  history 
just  look  at  it.  There  is  a  copy  of  the  little  book  in  the 
middle  shelf  in  my  dressing-room. 


To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yst  December  1900. 

What  can  I  say  of  your  most  kind  words  ?  You  know,  I 
trust,  how  deeply  I  feel  my  incalculable  debt  to  you  for 
most  generous  and  unfailing  help  during  the  last  ten  years. 
I  could  not  have  done  what  I  have  done — and  I  am  sadly 
conscious  of  innumerable  failures — without  it.  Again  and 
again  you  have  anticipated  my  needs,  and  accepted  every 
burden  gladly. 

May  God  abundantly  bless  all  your  labours,  and  crown 
them  even  now  with  joy  ! 

To  A  WORKING  MAN 

(who  had  asked  him  the  meaning  of  "  Do  this  " *) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  \st  January  1901. 

Dear  Sir — The  questions  which  you  ask  have  been,  as 
you  well  know,  most  keenly  debated.  I  can  only  give  you 
the  conclusions  which  I  have  reached  after  long  and  careful 
consideration  of  (I  may  say)  all  the  evidence  which  has  been 
brought  forward. 

i.  In  the  context  in  which  the  words  occur  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  TOVTO  Trotem;,  do  this,  can  mean  only  do 
this  act  (including  the  whole  action  of  hands  and  lips),  and  not 
sacrifice  this  ;  and  that  the  Latin  also  can  have  only  the  same 
meaning.  This  is  the  sense  given  in  the  passage  as  quoted 

1  I  once  heard  Archbishop  Benson  ask  my  father's  opinion  on  this  same 
matter,  that  is  to  say,  he  introduced  in  a  spirit  of  inquiry  a  conversation  on 
the  "  sacrificial  use  "  of  Troietv. 

VOL.  II  2  A 


354          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

in  every  ancient  Liturgy  where  there  is  an  unambiguous  inter 
pretation  of  the  words.  I  may  add  that  this  is  also  the  sense 
given  in  the  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 

2.  The  TOVTO  €cm,  this  is,  must  be  taken  in  the  same  sense 
in  "this  is  my  Body,"  and  in  "this  cup  is  the  New  Testa 
ment."  It  cannot  be  used  of  material  identity.  The  best 
illustration  appears  to  me  to  be  in  St.  John  xv.  i.  The  Lord 
is  most  really  (and  yet  not  materially)  "  the  True  Vine."  In 
this  case  I  feel  that  impressions  of  sense  are  apt  to  lead 
us  astray.  Perhaps  you  will  be  helped  in  reflection  by  con 
sidering  that  the  Lord  says,  "This  is  my  Body,"  and  not 
"This  is  my  Flesh."  But  I  must  not  attempt  to  enter  into 
details.  I  will  only  add  that  in  giving  the  interpretation  of 
TOVTO  TroieiTc,  I  have  taken  full  account  of  the  interesting 
passages  quoted  from  Justin  Martyr. 

May  we  all  turn  from  strife  about  words  to  the  Living 
Lord  Himself,  who  is  with  us  all  the  days ! — Yours  most 
truly,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  ARCHDEACON  WATKINS 

Wjjth  January  1901. 

The  brown  envelope  alarmed  me  for  a  moment  as  it  always 
does,  but  all  is  well.  Mrs.  Watkins  most  kindly  took  charge 
of  a  note  for  Lord  Northbourne  from  me.  I  felt  that  I  could 
be  more  sure  of  its  reaching  its  destination  through  such  kind 
ness  than  through  the  post.  Faith  in  persons  is  stronger 
than  faith  in  systems. 

To  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  YORK 

AUCKLAND  CASTLE,  BISHOP  AUCKLAND, 
'jth  February  1901. 

My  dear  Archbishop — The  history  of  our  Registry  is,  I 
should  think,  unique.  Till  recently  the  registrar  was  Mr. 
Lowther  Barrington,  nephew  of  the  Bishop.  His  patent, 
according  to  tradition,  was  provisionally  made  out  before  he 
was  born.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  ever  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  the  office  personally.  As  far  back  as  my  knowledge  goes, 
Mr.  Booth  was  deputy -registrar.  Three  or  four  years  ago 


xni  DURHAM  355 

Mr.  Booth's  health  failed,  and  he  took  his  nephew,  Mr. 
Lazenby,  into  partnership.  I  then  appointed  Mr.  Lazenby  as 
joint -registrar,  and  gave  him  succession  to  the  office.  He 
has,  in  point  of  fact,  done  all  the  work  since,  for  Mr.  Booth's 
health  completely  gave  way.  The  Dean  and  Chapter,  how 
ever,  did  not  confirm  Mr.  Lazenby's  appointment,  so  that  is 
valid  only  for  my  term  of  office. 

I  am  very  doubtful  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  be  at  the 
meeting  on  Thursday.  I  am  strangely  weak  still,  but  the 
doctor  is  quite  satisfied.  I  conclude  that  you  did  not  suffer 
by  your  sermon  to  us. — Ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  ith  May  1901. 

My  dear  Archbishop — I  am  extremely  sorry  to  be  absent 
from  Convocation.  Yesterday  morning  I  felt  quite  well,  and 
wrote  almost  boastfully  to  Mrs.  Maclagan,  but  in  the  evening 
I  collapsed  completely.  I  have  had  heavy  and  exhausting 
work  for  the  last  fortnight.  However,  my  doctor  says  that 
with  a  few  days'  rest  I  shall  be  right  again,  so  I  must  sub 
stitute  quiet  for  debates,  and  hope  to  be  able  to  do  my  part 
better  later.  It  is  a  very  special  disappointment  not  to  be 
present  at  the  Session  with  the  Lay  House.  This  is  a  most 
happy  beginning.  Our  laymen,  I  gather,  think  that  the 
debates  are  unduly  compressed.  What  we  want  most  is  the 
clear  expression  of  the  opinions  of  average  men.  I  do  most 
earnestly  trust  that  nothing  will  hinder  me  from  coming  to 
the  next  Bishops'  Meeting,  but  I  feel  very  uncertain  from  day 
to  day.  Your  change  was,  I  hope,  refreshing  in  every  way. — 
Ever  yours  affectionately,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

To  A  CLERGYMAN 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  i$th  May  1901. 

Let  me  thank  you  for  your  letter.  It  is  just  one  of  those 
letters  which  bring  encouragement.  I  wish  that  more  would 
think  of  the  heavy  burden  of  those  who  are  charged  with 
authority.  .  .  . 


356          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

I  am  not  able  to  change  my  judgment  about  the  crucifix 
in  connexion  with  the  Holy  Table. 

Surely  the  "  reserved  sacrament "  in  a  secret  Chapel  for 
private  purposes  is  as  sad  as  some  of  the  uses  of  the  conse 
crated  elements  quoted  from  early  writers.  Can  it  be  Chris 
tian  in  conception  ? 

2.  I   think  that   the    silent    remembrance,    undefined   in 
character  as    befits    our  ignorance,   is    quite    allowable    and 
helpful.     I   generally  make  a  pause  in  the  Prayer  for  the 
Church  Militant. 

The  only  phrase  in  the  prayers  which  causes  me  misgiving 
is  that  at  the  top  of  page  2 10  :  as  it  reads  "  the  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords"  is  in  apposition  with  "the  bread  of 
Angels."  I  shrink  from  such  an  identification.  It  may  be 
intended  to  describe  two  things  distinct,  which,  as  far  as  I 
dare  to  define  my  belief,  is,  I  think,  right.  But  the  words 
startle  me  in  reading.  Perhaps  you  will  say  what  you  think. 

With  this  exception,  I  feel  able  to  sanction  the  use  of  the 
form. 

3.  I  entirely  agree  with  what  you  say  on  education.     The 
settlement  cannot  be  far  distant.     The  poor  Education  Board 
gladly  does  what  it  can.     Perhaps  I  shall  be  able  to  give  some 
help,  but  the  claims  this  year  for  schools  in  distress  have  been 
unusually  heavy. 

4.  You  will  make  it  clear  that  it  is  not  fervour  but  self-will 
which  is  checked.     We  are  all  stronger  for  work  if  we  are  con 
scious  that  we  have  at  any  cost  recognised  divine  authority  as 
it  comes  to  us.     The  spirit  of  the  Colossian  false  teachers  is 
active  in  our  age  too. 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  rjth  May  1901. 

I  have  learnt  to  distrust  every  deduction  when  the  premises 
are  infinite.  You  know,  I  have  no  doubt,  Archdeacon  Free- 
man's Principles  of 'Divine  Service.  His  remarks  on  "Adoration" 
are,  as  it  seems  to  me,  of  the  greatest  value.  Modern  High 
Churchmen  seem  to  have  forgotten  him  and  Mr.  Scudamore. 
Did  you  ever  consider  how  we  can  pass  from  the  separate 
gifts  of  the  Lord's  Body  broken  and  Blood  poured  out  to  the 
totus  et  integer  Christus  in  each  ?  I  do  not  wish  any  answer. 


xin  DURHAM  357 

ov    fiviv  8vb  TI  T/oets  crvvrpypevoi  els  TO  e/zbv  oi/o/Aa  e/cet  et/xt 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  istjune  1901. 

Your  request  causes  me  perplexity.  It  appears  to  me  that 
such  devotions  as  "  the  Litany  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  are  wholly 
without  authority  from  Holy  Scripture,  and  I  dare  not  trust 
human  logic  in  such  a  matter.  I  do  not  forget  the  Litany  or 
the  Veni  Creator,  but  the  effect  of  these  is  to  my  mind  quite 
different.  At  the  same  time,  I  fully  recognise  that  many  who 
have  a  claim  to  be  heard  in  our  Church  think  otherwise,  and 
I  do  not  take  upon  myself  to  forbid  the  use  :  but  I  cannot 
sanction  the  use  with  personal  conviction.  This  liberty  of 
action  will,  I  hope,  meet  your  need.  Hymns  Ancient  and 
Modern^  if  you  compare  the  first  and  last  editions,  show  how 
these  forms  of  devotion  have  spread  in  recent  times. 


To  THE  REV.  J.  H.  MOULTON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND  ,  6th  June  1901. 

My  dear  Moulton — Let  me  thank  you  most  heartily  for 
your  kind  words.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  how  much  I 
know  that  I  owe  to  the  help  of  friends  at  the  present.  A 
great  sorrow  becomes  the  revelation  of  the  larger  life.  You 
refer  to  my  last  Charge.  May  I  then  venture  to  enclose  a 
copy  ?  It  expresses  not  a  few  of  my  greatest  hopes.  It  is 
perhaps  enough  for  us  to  see  them  far  off  and  greet  them. 
— With  kindest  remembrances,  ever  yours  affectionately, 

B.  F.  DUNELM. 

TO    HIS    ELDEST    DAUGHTER    (MRS.    KiNG) 

G.N.R.,  zyhfune  1901. 

So  far  we  have  had  a  very  successful  journey.  It  has  been 
very  close,  but  there  has  not  been  any  glare.  I  looked  vainly 

1  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in 
the  midst  of  them  (St.  Matt,  xviii.  20). 


358          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

for  Crayke,  though  I  thought  that  I  saw  the  E.R.1  We 
were  very  late  at  York,  and  I  grew  alarmed  (again)  about  my 
ticket,  as  the  porters  said  I  should  not  have  time  to  get  it. 
However,  at  Doncaster  the  Guard  (they  call  him  "Con 
ductor  "  now)  watched  over  me,  and  I  got  not  only  my  ticket 
but  some  tea  also.  This  has  now  been  finished,  and  I  am 
even  aspiring  to  do  a  little  work.  As  yet  I  have  done 
nothing.  I  always  used  to  send  mamma  one  of  my  paper 
napkins  as  a  token  of  my  repast,  but  now  they  represent  trade 
instead  of  art. 


To  HIS  SON-IN-LAW  (DR.  KING) 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  yhjtdy  1901. 

.  .  .  Mary  did  not  seem  to  be  tired  by  our  gathering  of 
old  students,  and  of  course  she  was  keenly  interested  by  it. 
Now  we  shall  try  to  fall  into  the  old  ways  as  far  as  possible. 
Yet  the  blank  does  not  grow  less,  though  I  can  hardly  realise 
what  it  means.  I  am  always  unconsciously  looking  for  some 
thing  which,  indeed,  is  with  me. 

TO    HIS    FOURTH    SON 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  nth  July  1901. 

.  .  .  The  food  question  appears  to  me  to  be  dealt  with 
finally  by  St.  Paul,  e.g.  i  Cor.  viii.,  Rom.  xiv.  I  could  never 
admit  that  to  eat  meat  or  to  drink  wine  is  wrong  in  itself. 
We  may  wisely  make  concessions,  but  it  is  necessary  to  protest 
against  exaggeration. 

In  my  last  note  I  do  not  think  that  I  mentioned  a  point 
which  I  think  vital — perhaps  the  most  vital — in  presenting 
the  Christian  Faith.  Our  Faith  is  not  a  philosophy  primarily 
which  lies  within  the  province  of  the  intellect,  but  personal 
devotion  to  a  Person,  and  therefore  coextensive  with  human 
nature,  and  appealing  to  all  our  powers.  This  can  be  made 
clear,  I  think.  Just  now  a  critic  asks  me,  "What  has  the 

1  The  Easingwold  Railway,  which  is,  I  believe,  the  smallest  independent 
railway  in  the  world. 


xin  DURHAM  359 

Incarnation  to  do  with  war  .  .  .  with  the  organisation  of 
industry,  with  buying  and  selling  .  .  .  with  expenditure  ? " 
That  such  questions  can  be  asked  by  a  man  of  average  intelli 
gence  is  a  terrible  proof  of  our  failure  to  make  our  message 
known.  You  will  have  seen  that  it  is  hoped  that  Montgomery 
(an  old  Harrow  man),  Bishop  of  Tasmania,  will  accept  the 
Secretaryship  of  S.P.G.  What  a  revolution  he  will  accom 
plish  !  It  will  be  new  life. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

BISHOP   WESTCOTT   AS   DIOCESAN   AND   "EVERY 
BODY'S   BISHOP" 

BEFORE  entering  on  my  narrative  of  the  last  week  of 
my  father's  life,  I  desire  to  place  before  his  friends  two 
separate  views  of  his  work  set  forth  by  those  most 
competent  to  speak  of  the  matters  of  which  they  sever 
ally  treat.  Archdeacon  Boutflower  was  my  father's 
Domestic  Chaplain  throughout  his  episcopate,  and  can 
therefore  speak  with  full  knowledge  of  the  Bishop's 
Diocesan  work,  to  which  single  aspect  of  the  Bishop's 
manifold  activities  he  has,  by  my  request,  confined  his 
view. 

Mr.  Thomas  Burt,  M.P.,  has  considered  my  father 
from  an  entirely  different  point  of  view,  as  a  social 
worker  and  "  everybody's  Bishop."  Mr.  Burt  was,  I 
believe,  the  "  authoritative  counsellor  "  on  whose  judg 
ment  he  relied  in  seizing  the  appropriate  moment  for 
intervention  in  the  great  coal  dispute.  His  noble 
appreciation  will,  I  am  confident,  be  read  with  singular 
interest  and  gratitude  by  all  to  whom  my  father's 
memory  is  dear. 

360 


CHAP,  xiv       "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  361 

BISHOP  WESTCOTT  AS  DIOCESAN 
(Contributed  by  the  Venerable  C.  H.  BOUTFLOWER) 

The  Bishop's  greatness  was  not  made,  it  was  only  illus 
trated,  in  the  diocese  to  which  he  was  called  at  the  age  of 
sixty -five ;  and  this  illustration  was  not  for  the  most  part 
found  in  new  organisation  or  transformation  of  the  old,  for 
he  succeeded  to  the  work  of  a  life-long  friend  whose  practical 
doings  satisfied  him,  and  he  always  spoke  of  himself  in  the 
earlier  years  of  his  episcopate  as  sent  to  continue  for  a  few 
years  longer  Bishop  Lightfoot's  work.  Moreover,  one  of  his 
most  English  characteristics  was  an  inclination  to  adapt, 
rather  than  to  change  or  create.  This  inclination  was  strength 
ened  by  his  great  personal  modesty  and  his  instinctive  sense 
of  unity  with  all  the  past.  He  cared  to  make  no  structural 
alterations  at  Auckland  Castle ;  he  was  even  slow  to  rebuild 
the  ruinous.  He  delighted  to  see  the  things  of  the  past 
made  to  answer  to  the  needs  of  a  new  life;  and  in  what 
was  undeniably  and  inevitably  new,  from  a  brick  church 
to  a  co-operative  society,  he  delighted  to  discover  links  of 
continuity. 

Two  or  three  characteristic  developments,  however,  did 
embody  his  ideas  in  a  new  and  constructive  shape — notably 
the  periodical  private  conferences  between  the  employers  and 
representatives  of  labour  on  social  questions  (referred  to  else 
where);  or  again,  the  Union  of  Church  Workers,  which  in 
Sunderland  he  specially  strove  to  foster;  or  the  Diocesan 
Missionary  Union,  in  which,  for  practical  purposes,  but  partly 
also  as  a  witness  to  an  idea,  he  tried  to  bring  into  line  all  the 
work  done  for  Foreign  Missions  in  the  Diocese.  Of  any  such 
new  or  exceptional  actions  the  Bishop  always  gave  his  inter 
pretation.  It  was  not  any  instinct  for  centralisation  or 
machinery  which  inspired  them,  but  his  ruling  idea,  the 
address  of  the  collect  for  All  Saints'  Day — that  collect  which 
he  so  often  used  on  occasions  when  those  who  did  not  know 
him  wondered  why. 

But  for  the  most  part  it  was  in  the  touch  applied  to  what 


362          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

he  found   and  used   that   Bishop  Westcott's   principles   and 
characteristics  were  illustrated. 
What  were  these  characteristics? 

It  was  as  the  prophet1  of  great  ideas  rather  than  the 
master  of  men  that  the  Bishop  seemed  to  lay  his  hand  on 
the  Diocese.  Not  as  the  strong  man,  who  possesses  potent 
convictions,  but  as  one  who  is  strongly  possessed  by  them,  he 
brought  men  face  to  face  with  the  truth,  and  not  with  his 
own  will.  He  took  no  delight  in  generalship.  The  burden 
of  responsibility  was  to  him,  to  the  last,  a  burden.  When 
some  diocesan  living  fell  vacant,  it  was  with  a  real  sense 
of  relief  that  he  would  turn  to  the  Calendar  and  ascertain 
that  the  patronage  was  not  in  the  Bishop's  hands.  There 
was  nothing  of  the  Napoleon  about  him.  Both  by  tempera 
ment  and  by  conviction  he  would  have  shrunk  from  the  ex 
ercise  of  conscious  personal  influence,  just  as  he  would  never 
remove  from  even  a  young  man  the  responsibility  of  a  per 
sonal  decision,  however  readily  he  would  advise  him  upon  it. 
The  Bishop's  own  abundant  charm  of  manner  and  person, 
of  eye  and  word,  struck  any  stranger;  but  what  he  used  in 
dealing  with  men  was  none  of  these  things,  but  the  Truth 
itself  as  he  saw  and  appealed  to  it. 

He  would  not  use  men  even  for  good  ends  at  any  sacrifice 
of  their  true  self:  he  would  only  consent  to  make  them  act 
when  they  could  see ;  and  he  would  not  thank  men  for  any 
service  performed,  as  though  it  were  done  for  himself.  "  My 
clergy,"  "  I  wish  you  to  do  this  for  me " — phrases  potent 
with  inspiration  on  some  good  men's  lips,  and  to  which  people 
would  have  responded,  were  not  such  as  he  used,  or  would 
have  allowed  himself,  even  to  win  a  crisis,  or  to  raise  Diocesan 
funds,  for  which  he  often  said  that  he  was  a  bad  beggar. 

No  diocese  in  England  probably  contained  such  an  amount 
of  ready-made  loyalty  to  the  personal  bishop  as  that  which 
Bishop  Lightfoot  left  to  his  friend's  hands,  and  notably  was 

1  Nowadays  one  can  scarcely  use  the  word  "  prophet "  without  apology 
to  the  reader  ;  but  no  other  word  will  do.  The  present  writer  took  a 
literary  friend  to  hear  the  Bishop  preach  to  Ordination  candidates.  As 
they  came  out  the  friend  said,  "  My  good  man,  that  is  not  preaching,  that 
is  prophesying."  So  it  was: 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  363 

this  the  case  with  the  men  trained  for  ordination  at  Auckland 
Castle,  who,  on  any  decision,  were  disposed  to  consult  the 
bishop's  wish  and  ask  no  further  questions.  But  to  this 
Bishop  Westcott  never  resorted  save  in  the  most  guarded  way. 
Now  and  again  it  might  be  this  spring  of  loyalty  which  really 
won  a  point  of  danger,  or  preserved  the  threatened  peace  of 
the  Durham  Diocese  in  matters  which  would  have  led  to 
ritual  troubles  elsewhere ;  but  it  was  for  the  official  Bishop, 
and  not  for  himself,  that  on  such  occasions  he  claimed  loyalty. 
Men  will  remember  not  the  mesmeric  control  of  a  great 
man,  but  the  presence  of  and  above  them  of  a  faith  and  an 
insight  into  eternal  ideas,  which  did  not  aim  at  achieving 
situations  but  at  opening  the  eyes  of  men. 

In  practical  insight  into  men  and  things  this  habit  of 
calculating  ideas  rather  than  persons,  and  of  expecting  that 
others  would  be  moved  mainly  by  the  same  instinct,  made 
the  Bishop  less  acute  than  many  smaller  men  as  a  judge  of 
character,  and  of  probable  cause  and  effect.  Himself  leaning 
on  none,  though  interested  in  all,  and  dissatisfied  with  personal 
influence,  he  was  inclined  to  overlook  it,  and  to  expect  from 
organisation  on  true  principles  that  effectiveness  which  mainly 
depends  on  the  man  behind  it.  Considering  his  own  great 
learning  and  peculiar  appreciation  of  scholarship  in  others, 
the  trifling  weight  he  attached  to  these  things  in  his  estimate 
of  men's  usefulness  was  most  striking  and  beautiful.  But  the 
aliveness  of  a  man  to  certain  ideas  (as  distinct  from  mere 
learning)  which  were  to  him  of  primary  importance,  would 
sometimes  lead  him  to  miscalculate  the  man's  general  effici 
ency  and  power.  This,  however,  is  probably  true  of  every 
man  with  any  ideas,  unless  he  is  also  a  born  judge  of  men. 

Of  one  small  but  important  sphere  of  the  Bishop's  per 
sonal  influence  notice  must  not  here  be  omitted,  though  only 
future  years  can  measure  its  effect,  namely,  his  work  with 
the  men  reading  at  the  Castle  for  ordination,  "  the  Students," 
as  they  were  often  called  by  the  townsmen  and  servants, 
though — perhaps  from  a  sense  that  this  was  not  the  primary 
aspect  of  their  existence  —  it  was  not  a  name  commonly 
affected  by  themselves.  Of  the  origin  under  Bishop  Light- 


364          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

foot  of  this  prominent  feature  of  the  life  at  Auckland  Castle, 
or  of  the  ideas  which  dominated  it,  there  is  no  need  to 
speak  here,  since  those  ideas  were  not  of  Bishop  Westcott's 
creation,  though  he  heartily  accepted  them  and,  in  all  except 
the  personal  control  and  generalship  above  referred  to,  used 
them  to  the  full.  This  element  of  his  Durham  life  was  to 
him  the  happiest  extension  of  Cambridge  work.  Once  a 
week  on  the  busiest  days — if  not  on  one  evening,  then  on 
another,  if  not  in  the  evening,  then  at  some  special  time — he 
would  bury  himself  for  a  short  time  in  his  old  lecture-room 
notes,  and,  carrying  an  armful  of  books,  cross  over  for  what  I 
believe  was  the  most  congenial  hour  of  the  week.  Cambridge 
was  with  him  again :  and  he  addressed  us  round  the  table  as 
"  Mr.,"  an  outrage  on  Auckland  usages.  But  it  was  a  rare 
privilege  for  six  or  eight  men,  joined  sometimes  by  a  clerical 
caller  who  had  stayed  to  be  present.  But  most  of  all  are  the 
men  he  taught  likely  to  remember  those  Friday  evenings  in 
his  study,  which  were  a  continuation  of  the  Sunday  afternoons 
at  Cambridge.  It  was  a  sort  of  "  Socratic  dialectic."  Some 
one  read  a  paper,  perhaps  on  architecture,  perhaps  on  a  poem 
of  Browning's,  perhaps  on  "  the  three  laws  of  motion  as 
applied  to  human  conduct."  Then  the  Bishop  would  ask 
or  answer  questions,  draw  out  the  leading  ideas  suggested, 
read  aloud  some  favourite  lines  from  his  book -shelves, 
and  finally  sum  up  the  whole  with  an  interest  ever  fresher 
and  more  intense  than  that  of  the  most  interested  listener. 

In  general  intercourse  two  traits  marked  the  Bishop's 
dealing  with  others.  He  was  singularly  patient  and  gentle 
both  with  the  froward  and  the  stupid ;  but  his  patience  was  of 
grace  rather  than  of  natural  temperament.  It  was  also  costly ; 
for  he  would  allow  an  interview  to  occupy  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  rather  than  appear  impatient,  when  all  that  was  to  be 
said  had  been  said  in  the  first  ten  minutes.  But  what 
most  struck  men  was  his  persistence  in  assuming  the  best  of 
them,  both  mentally  and  morally.  Commonplace  men  who 
ventured  on  remarks  found  themselves,  as  interpreted  by  the 
Bishop,  the  possessors  of  unsuspected  depths  of  wisdom  and 
observation.  And  morally  his  optimism  was,  as  regards  men, 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  365 

extraordinary,  and  amounted  to  a  practical  danger  as  well  as 
a  spiritual  power.  At  the  close  of  a  long  life  of  accurate 
observation  this  was  wonderful  enough.  It  was  the  reflection 
of  his  own  intense  purity  of  soul.  "  Man  naturally  Christian  " 
was  his  belief  to  the  last.  He  could  easily  suspect  things,  but 
not  men.  Titian's  picture  of  "  The  Tribute  Money  "  was  one 
that  hung  in  his  own  room.  "  It  is  one  of  the  only  two  quite 
satisfactory  pictures  of  the  Lord's  face  that  I  know,"  he  would 
say ;  and  his  delight  in  it  was  probably  explained  by  his  own 
interpretation  of  it.  "It  seems  to  say,  '  You  do  not  really  mean 
that  ?  You  are  better  than  your  own  judgment.' " 

When  it  fell  to  Bishop  Westcott  to  deal  with  one  of  the 
longest  and  most  glaring  cases  of  clerical  immorality,  nothing 
could  be  more  pathetic  than  his  persistent  suspicion,  even 
after  all  was  closed,  that  there  might  yet  be  some  hallucina 
tion.  It  was  almost  a  refusal  to  believe  in  deliberate  wicked 
ness  in  men.  "  It  shakes  one's  faith  in  human  nature  "  was 
the  painful  remark  such  moments  would  wring  from  him. 

From  this  it  will  be  best  understood  why  the  sympathy 
which,  as  Bishop,  he  always  took  pains  to  show  with  parochial 
Missions  was  of  a  diffident  and  unfamiliar  kind;  and  why 
some  of  his  clergy,  whose  work  lay  most  in  dealing  with  open 
and  degraded  sin,  would  say,  "  The  Bishop  does  not  seem  to 
believe  in  the  Fall !  " 

The  deliberate  rejection  of  personal  influence  in  favour 
of  principles,  and  the  great  humility  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  did  not  exclude  a  very  definite  assertion  of  office, 
which  indeed  was  one  of  the  principles  that  he  maintained. 
The  avidity  with  which,  to  use  his  own  phrase,  he  would 
"  guard  the  inheritance "  formed  a  piquant  contrast  to  his 
personal  modesty.  His  satisfaction  in  the  coronet  round  the 
mitre  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham's  arms  as  a  witness  to  the 
past,  and  the  vigour  with  which  he  would  denounce  its  un 
authorised  adoption  by  the  two  Archbishops,  contrasted  quite 
consistently  with  his  habit  of  sitting  huddled  up  with  his 
back  to  the  horses,  as  a  personal  protest  against  being  the 
owner  of  a  carriage ;  from  the  door  of  which,  by  the  way,  he 
preferred  to  have  the  said  mitre  deleted.  How  jealously 


366          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

he  would  inspect  a  legal  document,  and  correct  the  Crown 
lawyers,  who  had  failed  to  note  that,  whatever  other 
Bishops  might  be,  a  Bishop  of  Durham  was  traditionally 
such  by  "Divine  Providence,"  and  not  merely  by  "Divine 
Permission." 

The  slightest  liberty  taken  even  by  his  most  esteemed 
officials  with  his  episcopal  prerogatives  would  have  sensibly 
displeased  him.  On  one  such  occasion  he  remarked  to  his 
Chaplain,  "I  am  exceedingly  particular  about  these  things. 
About  the  personal,  you  know,  I  never  care.  It  may  be  a 
new  light  to  you,  but  I  think  I  should  be  seriously  annoyed 
if  any  one  went  into  a  room  before  me  who  ought  officially  to 
follow  me."1  And  this  sense  of  office  stood  him  in  good 
stead  as  chairman,  when  his  natural  gentleness  and  lack  of 
decisive  manner  might  have  seemed  likely  to  be  a  drawback. 
Within  six  months  of  his  consecration,  when  at  the  shortest 
notice  he  had  to  take  the  Archbishop's  place  as  Chairman  of 
the  Hull  Church  Congress,  he  discharged  the  office  to  every 
one's  admiration ;  and  there  are  easier  chairs  to  take  than 
that  of  a  Church  Congress. 

This  same  sense  of  the  dignity  due  to  things  official  made 
him  careful  in  all  public  ceremony.  Fastidiously  artistic  as 
he  was,  his  private  tastes  in  most  outward  things  were 
avowedly  in  the  direction  of  Quaker-like  simplicity.  Yet  the 
institution  of  an  incumbent,  which  for  convenience  had  been 
performed  by  one  Bishop  of  Durham  in  a  railway  station,  was 
in  its  impressiveness,  as  conducted  by  Bishop  Westcott  in  his 
private  Chapel  only,  constantly  the  occasion  of  remark. 
k'My  last  institution,"  remarked  one  of  his  clergy,  "was  done 

by  the  Bishop  of while  eating  a  pork  pie  for  his  lunch." 

No  such  ceremony  could  be  slight  to  him,  but  the  reason 
of  this  lay  deeper  than  a  desire  to  edify.  He  reverenced  his 
office  because  he  believed  in  it;  and  illustrated  his  belief 
in  his  own  attitude  to  all  offices  that  called  for  reverence. 
When  Archbishop  Benson  came  to  visit  him,  the  exchange 

1  In  illustration  of  the  above,  I  may  be  permitted  to  remark  that  my 
father  was  invited  on  a  certain  occasion  to  meet  Royalty  at  a  great  house 
within  his  Diocese  ;  but  having  been  informed  that  a  Roman  prelate  would 
be  present  and  be  granted  precedence  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  he  felt 
constrained  to  respectfully  decline  the  invitation. — A.  W. 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  367 

of  deference,  personal  and  official,  was  one  of  the  prettiest 
sights  to  see.  The  Bishop  (punctilious  in  sending  a  son  or 
Chaplain  to  meet  other  guests)  must  himself  go  to  meet  the 
Archbishop,  and  wait  on  him  in  the  house  with  delicate 
attention ;  and  yet  it  was  obvious  that  the  relations  of 
Neville's  Court  could  not  in  their  own  sphere  be  reversed. 
It  was  plain  which  was  the  master  and  which  the  disciple,  in 
private  intercourse. 

His  own  belief  in  office  was  further  illustrated  when  he  said 
in  conversation,  that  watching  the  Archbishop's  life  had  con 
vinced  him  of  the  truth  that  there  is  a  real  grace  given  with 
office :  the  mere  man,  as  he  had  known  him,  could  never 
have  done  it.  "  You  mean,"  asked  a  friend,  "  that  he  has 
risen  to  the  office?"  "No,"  said  the  Bishop,  "I  mean  that 
he  has  been  raised  to  it." 

Yet  to  the  end  Bishop  Westcott  "bore  office."  The 
words  apply  strictly :  it  was  a  burden.  Seven  years  after  his 
consecration  he  was  discussing  titles  with  his  Chaplain,  and 
said  how  greatly  he  disliked  the  more  than  necessary  use  of 
"My  lord."  "I  experience,"  he  said,  "the  sensations  of 
that  man  described  in  some  southern  clime  where  elementary 
bleeding  is  practised,  who  has  to  sit  on  a  stone  in  the  river 
while  a  number  of  very  little  arrows  are  shot  into  him.  Each 
one  draws  just  a  little  blood.  It  is  said  to  be  wholesome, 
but  it  is  certainly  unpleasant." 

Although  the  Bishop's  following  was  English  rather  than 
Diocesan,  and  though  he  was  never  deterred  by  his  own  great 
dislike  of  travelling  from  attending  such  distant  duties  as  the 
Bishops'  meetings  at  Lambeth,  or  those  of  the  Governing 
Body  at  Harrow,  yet  he  very  seldom  went  outside  the  Diocese 
in  response  to  any  of  the  constant  appeals  which  were  made 
to  him,  except  for  one  or  two  pet  objects  such  as  the  Christian 
Social  Union,  which  he  considered  had  a  special  claim  upon 
his  time.  He  felt  strongly  that  many  public  men  dissipate 
in  a  multitude  of  interests  the  strength  which  properly  belongs 
to  the  special  life-work  which  they  have  undertaken.  He  felt 
that  he  must  live  one  chapter  of  his  life  at  a  time,  and  that 
Durham  required  all  his  best  powers.  His  exact  attendance 


368          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

at  the  diocesan  meetings,  where  he  considered  that  it  was  his 
duty  ex  officio  to  be  present,  was  a  positive  regret  to  some  who 
knew  the  value  of  his  time  and  energy.  He  seldom  would 
weigh  even  the  greatest  personal  claim  or  opportunity  against 
an  official  engagement,  and  he  would  not  allow  himself  to 
attend  Archbishop  Benson's  funeral  because  it  clashed  with 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Rural  Deans. 

But  this  concentration  on  diocesan  duty  was  no  reproduc 
tion  on  a  diocesan  scale  of  that  narrow  parochial  absorption 
into  which  zealous  clergymen  so  easily  fall.  For  whilst  his  own 
activities  were  thus  severely  concentrated,  his  sympathies  and 
outlook  were  unceasingly  busy  for  the  whole  world  of  men  and 
things.  "  How  one  will  miss  that  keen  interest  of  his  in  every 
thing  under  the  sun — and  beyond  it !"  wrote  one  of  his  diocesan 
laymen  after  his  death.  TTWS  av  apurra  ot  SKV&U  TroAirewtcv1 
is  the  instance  that  Aristotle  selects  of  what  no  sane  man 
could  be  said  to  "  deliberate  on  "  (/3ovA.eveiv) ;  but  he  could 
hardly  have  selected  a  more  characteristic  instance  of  the  sort 
of  thing  on  which  the  Bishop  loved  to  deliberate,  as  many  a 
closely-catechised  missionary  had  cause  to  testify.  And  in 
practice  also  it  was  the  same.  To  a  degree  that  caused  con 
cern  to  some  he  was  generous  in  his  readiness  to  make 
the  best  things  of  Durham  available  for  the  Church  at  large. 
Bishop  Lightfoot's  policy  had  undoubtedly  been  to  collect, 
and  for  the  present  keep,  in  the  Durham  Diocese,  which  he 
found  weak,  all  the  strongest  elements  he  could  command. 
Bishop  Westcott's  confidence  in  the  Durham  he  found 
was  such  that  he  would  lift  no  finger  to  retain  the  men  whose 
loss  he  personally  regretted,  when  wider  work  was  offered  to 
them  elsewhere ;  while  for  Foreign  Missions  he,  himself  the 
father  of  four  missionary  sons,  enthusiastically  gave  his  best. 
During  his  episcopate  thirty-six  men  in  orders  went  out  from 
Durham,  with  the  Bishop's  direct  mission  or  glad  approval, 
to  foreign  or  colonial  service.  Whether  this  policy  of  disper 
sion  was  carried  too  far — whether  he  left  the  Diocese  as  strong 
in  men  as  he  found  it,  in  spite  of  the  constant  influx  of  men 
trained  under  his  own  eye — will  be  a  matter  of  opinion  ;  but 
there  can  be  no  question  that  in  devotion  to  his  own  diocesan 

1  What  would  be  the  best  polity  for  the  Scythians. 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  369 

work  he  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  bishop  of  the  whole 
Church,  and  that  the  Church  was  wider  than  England.  The 
real  root  alike  of  his  own  concentration  and  of  his  wide  sym 
pathies  lay  in  the  same  principle,  namely,  his  realisation  of 
the  one  Body  of  Christ,  in  which,  without  confusion,  and 
without  possible  conflict  of  interests,  each  member  must 
discharge  his  own  office  and  no  other. 

As  a  bishop  of  the  National  Church,  his  own  writings  will 
best  speak  for  him.  He  was  a  National-Churchman,  not  by 
circumstance  or  inheritance  merely,  but  by  profound  conviction. 
For  the  nation  was  to  him  an  entity,  and  must  have  a  religion 
over  and  above  the  religion  of  its  individual  members.  But 
the  reader  will  look  in  vain  in  his  Charges  for  more  than  veiled 
reference  to  such  things  as  "  burning  questions,"  and  what  are 
called  periodically  "  crises  "  in  the  English  Church.  Of  these 
he  said  (in  1898):  "No,  I  don't  think  I  could  speak  on 
'present  controversies'"  (i.e.  ritual  matters,  etc.),  "even  at  a 
Diocesan  Conference.  It  all  seems  to  me  so  alien  to  the  great 
things  of  our  Faith." 

He  did  not  ignore  the  possibility  of  a  situation  in  which 
the  inheritance  of  a  National  Church  might  have  to  be 
sacrificed,  if  the  State  should  take  some  action  that  compro 
mised  vital  principles  of  the  Church  ;  but  he  did  not  consider 
this  to  be  seriously  threatened  for  the  present,  except  by  the 
self-will  of  some  of  the  clergy  themselves.  And  his  sense  of 
proportion  made  him  demand  a  patience  which  would  not 
lightly  throw  away  "  such  a  priceless  heritage  "  for  the  sake  of 
a  paper  theory  or  a  transient  alarm. 

Not  only  did  the  Bishop,  after  his  elevation  to  the 
episcopate,  concentrate  himself  on  the  Diocese,  but,  on 
another  principle,  he  limited  the  quantity  of  work  he  put 
into  it.  The  gain  was  not  in  relaxation,  for  he  had  lost  the 
art  of  unstringing  the  bow,  and  for  years  holiday  had  been  to 
him,  he  said,  some  change  of  work ;  but  it  was  in  preparation 
and  quality.  To  most  modern  bishops  it  would  seem  too 
expensive  a  habit  in  time  to  take  only  one  Confirmation  in  a 

VOL.  II  2  B 


370          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

day,  particularly  when  coupled  with  an  inability  to  spend  the 
night  happily  away  from  home — an  inability  which  absorbed 
an  enormous  quantity  of  the  Bishop's  time  and  nerve-power 
in  travel,  and  was  only  partly  compensated  by  his  power  of 
working  undisturbed  in  station  waiting-rooms.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  every  Confirmation  was  to  him  a  fresh  and 
exciting  occasion.  His  clergy  and  people  felt  it  to  be  so. 
The  Bishop  sometimes  looked  tired,  but  he  never  proved 
"  stale  " ;  because,  indeed,  nothing  ever  became  stale  to  him. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  that  his  public  work  to  the  last  should 
have  borne  this  stamp  of  spiritual  intensity  and  perpetual 
freshness  if  he  had  attempted  to  fill  his  agenda  list  after  the 
manner  of  more  ordinary  modern  bishops. 

The  Bishop's  refusal  to  esteem  quantity  was  really  more 
than  an  accidental  necessity  of  preparation.  His  refusal  to 
have  any  dealings  with  shorthand -clerk,  typewriter,  or  tele 
phone  was  a  semi -serious  protest  against  what  he  regarded 
as  symbols  of  the  impatience  of  the  age.  He  would  even 
cause  inconvenience  by  his  reluctance  to  use  the  telegraph. 
To  allude  to  any  of  these  things  as  parts  of  "  modern  pro 
gress  "  was  the  surest  "  draw,"  and  always  elicited  the  inquiry, 
"  Progress  towards  what  ?  " 

This  recalls  the  favourite  lay  inquiry,  "Has  your  Bishop 
business  habits  ?  "  The  artificial  habits  of  a  modern  business 
training  the  Bishop  had  not.  He  had  not  been  accustomed  to 
dictate  letters,  to  employ  clerks,  to  use  the  copying-press  and 
so  forth,  and  to  some  extent  his  work  was  hampered  by  this. 
But  in  his  own  more  literary  ways  he  was  most  methodical,  and 
most  prompt.  His  letters,  written  (mostly  by  return  post)  with 
his  own  hand,  were  vainly  deplored  by  the  Diocese,  though  it 
is  true  that  he  had  the  gift  of  expressing  them  very  concisely, 
and  when  he  delegated  writing  it  seldom  satisfied  him.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  he  suffered  from  the  Cambridge  instinct  of 
perfection.  No  two  words  meant  the  same  thing  to  him.  A 
comma  was  all-important,  and  two  ways  of  framing  a  sentence 
could  not  be  equally  true.  Family,  chaplains,  and  clergy 
deplored  the  cost  of  it ;  but  perhaps  the  Westcott  and  Hort 
Greek  Testament  was  worth  the  price. 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  371 

Parallel  to  that  freshness  of  powers  and  interest  which 
the  Bishop  brought  to  his  last,  day  of  work,  and  still  more 
wonderful,  was  the  freshness  of  hope  and  sympathy  which  he 
carried  to  the  end.  This,  no  doubt,  was  cultivated  in  con 
templation,  but  it  was  a  singular  grace  of  temperament  to  start 
with.  In  mind  he  never  grew  old.  Occasionally  he  would 
say,  "  I  am  too  old  for  such  things  now " ;  but  it  was  not 
really  true,  and  only  half-serious.  To  most  men  there  comes 
a  time  when  they  grow  tired  of  readaptation  and  of  looking 
forward.  They  speak  of  the  past  with  a  touch  of  regret,  and 
the  young  feel  that  they  are  out  of  sympathy.  There  were  no 
signs  of  this  about  our  dear  Bishop  to  the  last.  He  was  more 
hopeful  than  the .  youngest  of  us.  He  welcomed  every  new 
development,  if  only  he  was  persuaded  it  was  true  develop 
ment,  and  he  waited  for  more.  The  Divine  Spirit  he  believed 
in  was  a  living  Spirit,  speaking  and  moving  in  the  Church 
to-day,  and  he  trusted  every  fresh  age  to  add  to  the  glory  of 
God's  revelation.  And  he  expected  God  still  to  send  messages 
through  Samuel  to  Eli.  "You  must  see  visions,"  he  said  to 
one  of  his  younger  clergy — "  I  despair  of  you  if  you  don't. 
Visions  belong  to  youth ;  when  you  are  older  you  will  only 
dream  dreams."  (It  was  a  favourite  interpretation  with  him 
of  Acts  ii.  17.) 

This  trait  of  character  may  seem  to  belong  rather  to  the 
man  than  to  the  bishop ;  but  it  is  mentioned  here  because  it 
explains  how  the  Bishop's  inspiration  never  waxed  old,  in  the 
ears  of  those  who  were  able  to  hear  him,  and  why  especially 
the  younger  clergy  were  drawn  to  him.  And  thus  it  was  too 
that,  in  a  diocese  where  the  problems  of  labour  and  society 
were  yearly  taking  fresh  development,  he  was  pre-eminently 
fitted  to  win  the  ear  and  retain  the  sympathy  of  the  leaders 
of  the  new  order. 

Some  who  knew  him  only  through  his  books  will  be  apt 
to  suppose  that  this  sympathy  suffered  in  expression  by  the 
characteristic  abstractness  of  his  thought  and  diction.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  his  addresses  given  in  simple  surroundings 
were  remarkably  (and  increasingly)  simple  in  utterance  for 
the  plain  and  concrete-minded  folk  who  make  the  industrial 
Diocese  of  Durham.  But,  short  of  this,  his  fervour  and  sym- 


372          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

pathy  with  the  whole  breadth  of  their  life  was  enough  to 
ensure  attention  and  deep  impression  among  an  audience  of 
pit-folk,  or  a  company  of  Confirmation  children. 

But  in  all  it  was  not  himself  that  he  offered,  but  the 
Truth  ;  and  the  Truth  to  him  was  nothing  short  of  the  faith 
of  the  Incarnation.  He  was  only  strong  because  He  saw, 
and  took  time  to  see.  "Vita  hominis,  visio  Dei,"  he  was 
never  tired  of  quoting.  His  TroXiVev/xa  was  in  heaven,  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  unseen  he  met  all  life,  and  you  could  not 
surprise  him  out  of  it.  In  this  atmosphere  he  worked  and 
breathed.  Not  only  God  Himself,  but  the  cloud  of  witnesses, 
the  communion  of  the  unseen  Body  of  Christ,  were  more  real 
to  him  than  the  things  seen.  It  was  his  habit  to  attend  the 
early  celebration  at  the  adjoining  church  on  Sunday  mornings, 
but  during  the  hours  of  matins  he  preferred  to  sit  alone,  with 
Prayer  Book  and  always  the  Greek  Testament,  in  his  beautiful 
chapel.  There  lay  Bishop  Cosin  and  Bishop  Lightfoot  between 
him  and  the  altar;  there  from  the  windows  looked  down 
Aidanj  Cuthbert,  Bede,  and  all  the  Northern  saints.  The 
unseen  company,  realised  by  the  help  of  the  place  and  its 
associations,  seemed  to  be  more  to  him  than  the  living 
crowd  in  the  modern  building.  He  told  more  than  one 
friend  that,  when  his  younger  son  died  in  India,  it  seemed  to 
him  as  though  he  was  given  back  to  them  in  nearness  now 
that  the  barrier  of  space  was  removed  by  death. 

One  kindred  illustration  of  this  spirit  may  be  added.  Find 
ing  the  Bishop  struggling  late  and  minutely  one  night  over 
the  draft  of  a  service  for  the  Dedication  of  Gifts  in  some 
humble  church,  his  Chaplain  said,  "Well,  my  Lord,  that 
congregation  will  not  be  a  critical  one :  they  are  accustomed 
to  anything."  With  a  gentle,  surprised  smile,  such  as  Elisha's 
might  have  been  in  Dothan,  the  Bishop  looked  up  from  his 
desk  and  said,  "You  forget:  who  are  'the  congregation'? 
We  are  only  an  infinitesimal  part  of  it !  "  The  words,  and  the 
way  they  were  spoken,  will  not  be  easy  to  forget. 

Finally,  in  the  clearness  of  this  faith,  in  this  sense  of  the 
unity  of  all  life  and  work  EN  XPI2TI2I,  he  was  able  to  meet 
the  supreme  bereavement  of  his  life.  People  who  did  not 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  373 

understand  him  enough  were  "  so  sorry  for  the  Bishop " 
because  he  was  away  on  diocesan  work,  meeting  the 
Lamesley  miners,  on  the  afternoon  when  his  wife  died. 
They  did  not  know  that  the  Bishop  said,  "I  think,  even  if 
I  had  known,  I  should  have  wished  still  to  go."  They  did 
not  understand  the  comfort  that  work  was  to  him,  not 
because,  as  with  most  of  us,  it  helped  him  to  forget,  but 
because  it  helped  him  to  realise :  it  belonged  to  the  expres 
sion  of  perfect  faith,  and  to  the  oneness  of  all  life  in  Christ. 
What  all  did  see  was  that  from  his  wife's  grave-side  he  went 
up  to  Durham  himself  to  conduct  the  ordination  and  attend 
the  usual  committees,  and  that  for  two  months  more  God 
privileged  him  to  show  us  that  it  was  no  strained  and 
momentary  triumph  over  natural  feeling,  but  "  the  revelation 
of  the  Risen  Lord"  which  prevailed;  and  then,  without  a 
shadow  of  anxiety  or  regret,  he  passed  from  the  eleven  years 
of  work  thrust  upon  him  just  when  he  was  thinking  of  rest,  to 
the  rest  of  that  world  which  he  had  so  long  "  seen  afar  off," 
yet  always  closer  than  others. 


BISHOP  WESTCOTT  AS  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP" 
(Contributed  by  Mr.  THOMAS  BURT,  M.P.) 

I  gladly  respond  to  a  suggestion  that  I  should  say  a  word, 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Trade  Unionist  and  social  reformer, 
on  the  late  Bishop  Westcott.  Would  that  a  theme  so  noble 
could  find  a  more  skilful  pen  ! 

No  death  in  this  locality  within  my  recollection  produced 
such  profound  and  widespread  sorrow,  such  a  deep  sense  of 
personal  loss  among  men  of  all  classes  and  of  all  creeds,  as 
did  that  of  the  good  Bishop.  At  the  Wesleyan  Conference 
held  in  Newcastle  about  the  time,  an  eloquent  tribute  was 
paid  to  his  memory,  in  which  he  was  described  as  "the 
Bishop  not  only  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  of  all  the 
Churches."  In  a  community  noted  for  its  attachment  to 
Nonconformity  that  was  a  high  testimonial.  To  overleap 
the  sectarian  fences  which  divide  men,  to  win  the  confidence, 
good-will,  yea,  the  affection,  of  members  of  other  churches 


374          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

was  certainly  a  notable  victory.  The  Bishop's  lofty  station, 
his  great  reputation  as  a  scholar  and  a  theologian,  his  breadth 
and  catholicity  of  spirit,  his  fine  geniality  and  gentleness  of 
nature,  his  unaffected  piety — these  qualities  no  doubt  par 
tially,  or  wholly,  accounted  for  his  conquest  over  the  hearts 
of  men  of  other  creeds.  That  was  a  great  achievement. 
But  to  have  become  everybody's  Bishop — the  Bishop  of  the 
toiler  in  mine  and  factory,  the  Bishop  of  the  creedless,  of 
those  who  attend  neither  churches  nor  chapels,  who  have 
ceased  to  believe  in  them,  if  they  ever  believed — that  surely 
was  a  more  marvellous  achievement  still.  Yet  that  was 
accomplished  by  Dr.  Westcott.  Here  at  length  appeared  a 
real  Bishop  and  Pastor,  intensely  believing  in  his  Church, 
with  a  deep,  an  abiding,  almost  an  overpowering  sense  of  the 
greatness  and  sacredness  of  his  functions  and  his  mission. 

Bishop,  pastor,  church — to  the  multitude  the  words  have 
a  cold,  distant,  technical  sound,  carrying  with  them  little 
significance.  Their  roots  lie  embedded  in  foreign  tongues, 
too  seldom  enflowering  into  life  to  strengthen  and  beautify 
the  souls  of  men.  Yet  they  have  greatly  served  humanity, 
and,  if  they  were  alive  and  real,  they  might  serve  it  again. 
Eternal  is  the  need.  The  Bishop  is  the  spiritual  overseer — 
the  man  who  sees  ;  the  pastor  is  the  feeder  and  the  guardian 
of  men.  The  Church — where  is  it  ?  and  what  is  it  ?  Split 
into  fragments — every  fragment  crying  out  that  it  is  the  true 
Church,  the  only  true  Church.  There  is  a  true  Church.  It 
is  to  be  found,  according  to  a  great  Churchman,  John 
Ruskin  :  "  Wherever  one  hand  meets  another  helpfully  :  that 
is  the  only  holy  or  mother  Church  which  ever  was  or  ever 
shall  be."  That  universal  Church, 

Lofty  as  is  the  love  of  God, 
And  ample  as  the  wants  of  man, 

was  Dr.  Westcott's  Church.  And  never  was  there  a  truer 
Bishop  and  pastor  than  he ;  never  did  the  life  and  deeds  of  a 
good  man  bring  home  more  directly  to  the  bosoms  of  masses 
of  men  the  meaning  of  such  watchfulness  and  helpfulness,  or 
show  more  clearly  the  zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  the  great 
and  holy  work  could  be  performed. 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S   BISHOP"  375 

There  was  not  a  movement  for  the  improvement  of  the 
workers'  condition  which  had  not  the  Bishop's  sympathy  and 
support.  All  the  great  self-help  organisations — temperance, 
friendly  societies,  thrift  in  every  form,  trade  unions,  co-opera 
tion — every  one  received  his  benediction  and  his  practical 
assistance.  Not  only  did  he  help  existing  institutions,  he 
originated  new  ones. 

Like  his  distinguished  predecessor,  Dr.  Lightfoot,  the  late 
Bishop  took  the  warmest  interest  in  the  Co-operative  move 
ment.  Among  the  finest  tributes  to  Bishop  Westcott's 
memory  was  one  from  the  pen  of  that  veteran  co-operator 
G.  J.  Holyoake.  The  words  are  few,  but  fitting.  They  are 
warmly  appreciative,  and  show  that  singular  felicity  of  phrase 
and  that  keen  insight  into  character  which  are  as  surely  Mr. 
Holyoake's  at  eighty-four  as  they  were  his  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood.  In  theological  opinion  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Holy 
oake  were  doubtless  widely  sundered ;  in  spirit  they  were  one 
From  the  Bishop's  address  at  the  Middlesbrough  Co-operative 
Congress,  Mr.  Holyoake  quotes  what  is  probably  the  most 
precise  and  the  most  perfect  definition  of  true  co-operation 
ever  given  :  "  The  co-operative  ideal  of  production  is  that  all 
who  combine  in  a  business  should  be  partners  in  it :  partners 
in  the  contribution  of  capital,  partners  in  profit  or  loss, 
partners  in  control  and  development,  and  partners  in  responsi 
bility."  That  ideal  we  should  strive  to  realise  and  to  embody 
in  our  industrial  life. 

Of  late  years  Dr.  Westcott  was  sometimes  called — perhaps 
not  without  a  touch  of  derision — "the  pitmen's  bishop." 
Beyond  doubt  he  greatly  loved  the  pitmen.  He  strove  to 
lessen  their  burdens  and  to  improve  their  material  condition, 
to  enlighten  their  minds  and  to  ennoble  their  character. 
Thus  he  won  the  confidence,  the  admiration,  the  warmest 
affection  of  thousands.  That  was  the  only  reward  he  valued; 
if  indeed  he  cared  at  all  for  reward.  But  the  Bishop  knew 
nothing  of  narrowness  or  exclusiveness.  He  cared  for  pitmen 
not  as  workers  only,  or  mainly,  but  as  men.  Bounded  by  no 
sect  or  creed,  his  sympathies  were  all-embracing.  He  was 
greater  far  than  any  class  or  institution;  broader  far  than 
his  own  broad  Church. 


376          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  late  Bishop  had  scarcely  been  enthroned  in  his 
bishopric  before  he  put  himself  in  direct  touch  with  the 
workers.  By  settling  a  great  labour  dispute  he  rendered  to 
the  Durham  miners  and  to  the  community  generally  a 
memorable  service.  From  time  to  time  he  convened  con 
ferences  of  employers  and  employed  and  of  social  reformers 
at  Auckland  Castle.  Consider  what  all  this  meant.  New 
to  his  great  position,  with  advancing  years,  with  no  super 
abundance  of  physical  energy,  with  the  exacting  demands  of 
a  wide  populous  diocese,  with  a  devout  belief  in  his  station 
and  his  mission,  with  a  devouring  zeal  for  his  work,  he  held  no 
sinecure;  and  he  might  well  have  been  excused  had  he  con 
fined  himself  to  his  purely  ecclesiastical  functions. 

It  was  in  1892  that  the  great  industrial  conflict  broke  out 
and  raged  over  the  whole  mining  district  of  Durham.  The 
struggle  was  long  and  bitter ;  trade  was  paralysed ;  suffering 
was  keen  and  widespread.  Through  the  Bishop's  tact, 
temper,  skill,  mastery  of  the  facts,  peace  was  restored,  and 
future  disputes  were  made  less  likely  by  the  formation  of  a 
Conciliation  Board. 

For  an  outsider — a  comparative  stranger  with  no  great 
commercial  reputation — to  intervene  with  effect  in  such  a 
struggle  was  exceedingly  difficult.  Passion  ran  high,  pre 
judices  were  rife,  jealousies  and  suspicions  were  in  the  air. 
There  were  those  on  both  sides  who  were  not  eager  for  a 
peaceful  settlement,  and  who  strongly  resented  extraneous 
interference.  "What  could  a  bishop  know  about  industrial 
complications  and  the  intricacies  and  exigencies  of  trade? 
Let  this  high  ecclesiastic  look  after  his  clergy  and  his 
churches ;  let  this  scholarly  recluse  attend  to  his  books  and 
his  studies  !  Besides,  was  the  Bishop  himself  wholly  disin 
terested?  Did  not  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  derive 
large  revenues  from  mining  royalties  in  Durham  ? "  These 
were  the  querulous  mutterings  of  the  few,  couched  in  language 
less  polite,  but  not  less  emphatic  than  I  have  used.  The 
miners  generally  as  well  as  the  employers  welcomed  the 
Bishop's  mediation.  They  knew  that  he  had  no  personal 
object  to  serve,  and  that  no  interest  could  bias  him.  By  his 
action  he  earned  the  gratitude  of  a  great  industrial  community. 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  377 

It  was  a  splendid,  an  unforgettable  service,  which  only  a 
strong,  brave,  true  man  could  have  rendered. 

The  conferences  at  Auckland  Castle  were  numerous  and 
invaluable.  I  had  the  honour  (a  great  honour  I  esteemed  it) 
to  be  invited  to  many  of  them,  I  think  to  all,  but  only  on  two 
occasions  was  I  able  to  be  present.  With  the  Bishop  as 
convener  and  host,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  selection  of 
the  guests  was  dictated  by  no  spirit  of  exclusiveness.  Repre 
sentative  men  of  all  classes  and  of  every  school  of  thought — 
religious,  political,  and  social — were  there.  Experienced 
arbitrators,  employers  of  labour,  captains  of  industry  in  nearly 
every  department  of  trade  large  and  small,  agents  and 
secretaries  of  trade  unions  connected  with  mining,  ship 
building,  engineering,  and  other  industries,  were  present ;  as 
were  also  leading  co-operators,  and  men  who  had  been  long 
and  intimately  associated  with  the  administration  of  the  poor 
laws,  with  the  management  of  schools  and  colleges,  and  with 
the  direction  of  the  municipal  life  of  the  people. 

Happily,  in  mining,  and  in  some  other  trades,  the  spirit 
and  methods  of  conciliation  had  made  some  headway  before 
the  Bishop  came  to  the  North.  Employers  and  workmen 
were  accustomed  to  discuss  their  differences ;  sliding  scales 
and  arbitration  had  been  tried.  Joint  committees  and  wages 
boards  had  been  established.  Some  of  the  Bishop's  guests 
were  well  known  to  each  other,  and  had  often  met  in  council 
or  in  combat.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  many  men  were 
brought  together  who  met  for  the  first  time,  and  whose 
interests  as  employers  and  employed  made  it  exceedingly 
desirable  that  they  should  become  personally  acquainted. 
Moreover,  there  was  a  freedom  of  discussion,  a  frankness  of 
intercourse  on  these  occasions  hardly  attainable  when  the 
same  men  met  as  partizans  and  advocates. 

I  have  spoken  of  those  who  attended  the  conferences  as 
the  Bishop's  guests.  I  have  called  them  representative  men  ; 
they  were  not  delegates.  Most  of  them  coming  from  distant 
places  arrived  the  night  before  the  conference,  sleeping  at 
the  Castle.  A  word  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure  may  be  of 
interest.  After  dinner  a  paper  was  read  by  one  of  the  guests. 
This  was  followed  by  conversation  in  which  the  pros  and  cons 


378          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

were  freely  discussed.  Next  morning,  at  the  conference 
proper,  the  proceedings  were  more  formal.  The  Bishop 
presided  and  delivered  a  short  address,  in  which  he  outlined, 
always  with  ample  knowledge,  with  terseness  and  lucidity,  the 
chief  points  for  consideration.  Further  discussion  followed, 
and  usually  a  resolution  expressing  the  views  of  the  con 
ference  was  formulated  and  adopted.  A  brief  report  was 
afterwards  printed  and  circulated  amongst  those  who  had 
been  present.  All  this  obviously  involved  much  corre 
spondence  and  routine  work.  The  Bishop  himself  supervised 
everything,  and  knew  every  detail.  And  he  had  always  a 
willing,  capable  helper  in  Canon  Moore  Ede,  who  brought 
to  all  social  and  labour  questions  great  knowledge  and  sym 
pathy,  a  clear  head  and  a  facile  pen  to  give  fitting  form  and 
shape  to  the  decisions.  Between  the  Bishop  and  the  Canon 
— kindred  spirits — the  relationship  was  beautiful — like  that 
of  father  and  son  when  at  their  best. 

As  a  host  the  Bishop  was  perfect;  every  attention,  no 
obtrusiveness.  If  any  one  was  forgotten,  it  was  himself. 
And  himself — his  own  needs — he  did  sometimes  forget. 
"  Plain  living,  high  thinking " :  that  seemed  his  motto ;  it 
was  certainly  his  practice.  Yet  the  Bishop  was  no  sour 
ascetic.  He  could  not  perhaps  say,  as  Landor  said  of  himself, 
that  he 

warmed  both  hands  before  the  fire  of  life, 

but  he  liked  to  see  other  people's  hands  warmed.  He  seemed 
to  enjoy  life,  and  was  unaffectedly  happy  whenever  he  wit 
nessed  rational  human  wellbeing  and  enjoyment. 

The  Bishop  loved  to  show  his  visitors  the  relics,  pictures, 
and  works  of  art  in  the  Castle.  The  fine  old  building  is 
itself  full  of  historial  interest,  carrying  the  mind  far  away  into 
"  the  dark  backward  and  abysm  of  time  "  when  the  Bishops 
of  the  Palatinate  were  princes  and  warriors,  rather  than 
spiritual  overseers  specially  set  apart  to  look  after  the  souls  of 
men.  Hanging  on  the  walls  are  portraits  of  many  of  those, 
and  the  Bishop  knew  the  history  of  them  all.  It  would  take 
me  far  beyond  the  scope  of  these  notes  to  dwell  upon  this, 
or  to  tell,  if  I  could,  the  exquisite  pleasure  it  gave  to  those 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  379 

privileged  to  hear  this  man  of  learning  and  of  fine  artistic  tastes 
talk  at  his  best  on  subjects  that  were  dear  to  him.  But  one 
incident  I  must  mention,  for  it  greatly  impressed  me.  Going 
around  the  Chapel  and  pointing  out  its  objects  of  beauty  and 
interest,  the  Bishop  paused  at  the  grave  of  Dr.  Lightfoot. 
In  touching  words  he  spoke  of  his  predecessor's  great  attain 
ments  and  noble  qualities  of  head  and  heart :  of  his  learning, 
his  manliness,  his  strength  of  character  and  purity  of  soul. 
"  He  was  my  friend,"  said  the  Bishop.  I  was  reminded  of 
another  incident — pathetic  also,  but  not  uninspiring.  When 
I  was  looking  at  a  portrait  of  Richard  Cobden  on  one 
occasion,  John  Bright  came  and  stood  by  my  side.  Never 
having  myself  seen  Cobden,  I  asked  Mr.  Bright  if  the  likeness 
was  a  good  one.  "Excellent,"  was  the  reply;  "but  come 
here,"  moving  a  few  paces,  "  this  is  the  view  I  like  best." 
Then,  with  trembling  lip  and  tearful  eye,  the  great  orator, 
looking  again  at  the  portrait,  said,  "  My  friend,  one  of  the 
best  men  I  ever  knew  !  "  Bright's  portrait  now  hangs  beside 
Cobden's,  as  Westcott's  body  lies  beside  Lightfoot's. 

What  shadows  we  are,  what  shadows  we  pursue. 

And  yet  I  felt  in  listening  to  John  Bright,  as  I  felt  afterwards 
in  listening  to  Bishop  Westcott,  when  speaking  of  their  friends, 
that  surely  our  human  life,  whether  it  be  given  for  a  day  or  for 
ever,  can  bring  us  nothing  more  precious  than  the  communion 
and  comradeship  of  true  pure  souls. 

But  let  no  one  imagine  that  business  was  forgotten.  We 
were  not  at  the  Castle  as  tourists  or  antiquarians.  The  sight 
seeing,  though  neither  frivolous  nor  unprofitable,  was  a  mere 
interlude,  taking  place  in  the  very  early  hours  of  the  morning. 
In  truth  externals,  even  the  most  significant  and  commanding, 
appeared  to  possess  but  little  attraction  for  the  Bishop.  He 
valued  them  only  so  far  as  they  carried  a  meaning  and  a 
message  to  humanity  ;  so  far  as  they  bore  upon  human  eleva 
tion  and  improvement.  On  this,  the  uplifting  of  man 
materially,  morally,  spiritually,  all  his  deepest  thoughts 
centred. 

Punctually  at  ten  o'clock  the  Bishop  took  the  chair,  and 
an  admirable  chairman  he  was.  Look  at  him  for  a  moment. 


38o          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

I  wish  I  could  picture  him.  The  photographer's  art  has 
made  tens  of  thousands  familiar  with  his  features,  not 
wholly  without  success.  The  result  is  sometimes  striking 
and  pleasing — yet  always  disappointing,  to  those  who  knew 
the  man.  How  could  it  be  otherwise?  The  photo 
grapher  may  show  in  outline  the  form  of  the  features ; 
the  broad,  lofty  forehead,  indicative  of  mental  power. 
But  what  painter,  what  artist,  could  do  justice-  to  the 
expressive  face?  Spiritual,  gentle,  kindly  it  was  in  every 
lineament,  yet  withal  strong  and  masculine,  showing  power, 
resolution,  determination,  not  less  than  benignity  and  good 
will.  Then  the  eyes,  grave,  yet  without  sadness,  bright,  clear, 
penetrating;  peering,  as  it  were,  and  seeing  "into  the  very 
life  of  things  "  :  eyes  which  seemed  to  behold  things  near  and 
far,  to  pierce  the  outward  material  veil  and  to  see 

Through  life  and  death,  through  good  and  ill,  through  his 
own  soul. 

The  Bishop's  business  aptitude,  his  firm  grip  of  the 
essential  facts,  his  intimate  knowledge  of  social  economics 
and  industrial  life,  must  have  astonished  some  of  the  clever 
practical  men  who  attended  these  conferences.  If  any  of 
them  imagined  that  the  Bishop  was  a  mere  amateur  in  social 
questions,  endeavouring  as  a  pupil  to  learn  something  of  their 
intricacies  and  mysteries,  such  a  person  would  be  speedily 
undeceived.  To  have  appeared  in  the  role  of  a  pupil  would 
have  been  no  discredit — quite  the  reverse.  Men  were  there 
who  knew  one  or  another  of  these  questions  in  every  detail ; 
who  had  striven  to  master  their  underlying  principles,  and 
had  been  driven  into  sharp  conflict  at  close  quarters  with  the 
hard,  stubborn  facts  of  everyday  life.  Gladly  would  these 
men  have  told  all  they  knew.  But  Dr.  Westcott,  the  most 
teachable  of  men,  had  little  or  nothing  to  learn.  It  was  soon 
apparent  that  he  had  for  long  years  deeply  studied  all  the 
great  social  problems  of  the  day ;  that  he  had  dug  to  their 
very  foundations.  The  doctrines  and  principles  of  political 
economy,  as  taught  by  its  master  exponents,  were  familiar 
to  him.  Idealist  though  he  was,  he  was  no  visionary.  He 
acted  on  Emerson's  advice:  he  "hugged  his  fact,"  knowing 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  381 

well  that  the  reformer  cannot  without  peril  shut  his  eyes  to 
the  solid  realities  of  existence.  His  highly-trained  and  acute 
intellect,  and  his  quickness  of  perception,  enabled  the  Bishop 
to  speedily  master  the  facts,  while  his  ready  sympathy  and 
his  vivid  imagination  helped  him  to  see  the  bearing  of  the 
facts  upon  the  everyday  life  of  the  workers. 

Facts  he  soon  mastered,  science  he  knew;  but  it  was 
always  apparent  that  the  moral,  the  ethical  side  of  things  was 
what  he  cared  for  supremely.  Surely  there  must  be  right  and 
wrong  even  in  commerce,  even  between  buyer  and  seller, 
between  employer  and  employed.  Do  the  right,  eschew  the 
wrong.  If  the  wheels  are  to  run  without  creaking,  if  they 
are  not  to  stop  entirely,  the  human  element,  kindness,  gentle 
ness,  as  well  as  strict  justice,  must  be  seen  and  practised 
between  man  and  man.  That  this  aspect  of  political  economy 
is  being  more  and  more  recognised  in  our  day  is  due  largely 
to  the  teachings  of  gifted  men  like  John  Ruskin  and  Bishop 
Westcott. 

As  an  inspiring,  as  an  educational  force,  the  value  of  these 
conferences  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  Nor  were  they 
inspiring  and  educational  only ;  results  of  vast  practical  im 
portance  emanated  from  them.  An  immense  impulse  was 
given  to  the  movement  for  providing  homes  for  the  aged 
miners — which  from  its  beginning  had  the  warmest  sympathy 
and  support  of  the  Bishop.  Still  more  powerfully  did  these 
conferences  stimulate  ideas  and  principles  of  conciliation 
between  employers  and  workmen.  That  Boards  of  Concilia 
tion  are  in  active  operation  to-day  in  Northumberland  and 
Durham  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  Bishop's  initiative 
and  helpfulness. 

A  requisition  signed  by  employers  and  representatives  of 
the  workmen  who  had  discussed  at  Auckland  Castle  the 
question  "  How  to  avoid  Strikes  ?  "  asked  the  Bishop  to  con 
vene  a  general  conference  of  representatives  of  the  coal,  iron, 
and  steel  trades.  Promptly  and  cheerfully  he  acceded  to  the 
request.  In  his  letter  of  invitation  the  Bishop  said :  "  A  full 
and  frank  exchange  of  opinion  on  the  conditions  of  the 
problems  to  be  solved  will,  I  trust,  contribute  to  the  establish 
ment  of  a  Board  or  Boards  of  Conciliation,  which  will  com- 


382          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

mand  the  lasting  and  intelligent  confidence  of  all  who  are 
interested  in  our  great  local  industries." 

To  the  Bishop's  invitation  the  response  was  most  gratifying. 

The  Conference  was  held  in  the  Miners'  Hall,  Durham, 
on  2oth  January  1894,  the  Bishop  himself  presiding. 

The  gathering  was  large  and  thoroughly  representative, 
and  included  nearly  every  prominent  trade  union  leader  in 
Northumberland,  Durham,  and  North  Yorkshire.  Employers 
of  labour  on  a  large  scale,  and  officials  of  employers'  associa 
tions  were  present  in  considerable  numbers. 

After  the  Bishop's  address  I  was  called  upon  to  open  the 
discussion.  I  was  followed  by  Sir  David  Dale,  who,  himself 
an  employer  of  labour,  has  had  the  unusual,  if  not  the  unique, 
honour  of  having  been  nominated  more  than  once  by  work 
men  in  his  own  trade  as  an  umpire  to  settle  serious  differences 
between  employers  and  employed.  Subsequent  speakers 
included  Mr.  John  Wilson,  M.P.  (the  worthy  secretary  of  the 
largest  miners'  trade  union  in  the  world),  Mr.  William  Whit- 
well  (Chairman  of  the  North  of  England  Iron  and  Steel 
Conciliation  Board),  Mr.  Gumming  (working  miner,  Hetton), 
Mr.  Robert  Knight  (Secretary,  Boilermakers'  Association), 
Mr.  John  Lee  (miner,  Leamside),  Mr.  E.  Trow,  Darlington 
(Secretary,  Iron  Workers'  Association),  Mr.  J.  Hugh  Bell 
(Middlesbrough),  and  Mr.  Johnson  (of  the  Durham  Miners' 
Association). 

The  Bishop's  opening  speech  was  short  and  to  the  point. 
It  was  an  impressive  and  eloquent  plea  for  the  application 
of  reason  to  the  settlement  of  industrial  conflicts.  The  object 
aimed  at  was  stated  with  that  terseness,  clearness,  and  pre 
cision  of  which  the  Bishop  was  a  master. 

"They  desired  to  find  some  method  of  settling  with 
substantial  justice  the  grievous  differences  which  arose  in 
their  industries,  without  interruption  of  work;  a  method 
which  should  be  permanent,  authoritative  ;  a  method  which 
should  rest  on  principles  which  were  accepted  alike  by  em 
ployers  and  employed  with  full  and  intelligent  conviction ; 
a  method  by  which  the  strong  organisations  of  both  sides 
might  co-operate — and  it  was  only  through  strong  organisa 
tions  that  such  co-operation  was  possible — for  the  main- 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  383 

tenance  of  peace  and  right  by  rational  and  exhaustive 
debate." 

The  Bishop  showed  his  familiarity  with  the  great  work 
in  the  promotion  of  harmonious  industry  which  had  been 
already  accomplished  in  the  iron  trade,  as  well  as  in  the 
Northumberland  and  Durham  coal  trade.  He  spoke  of  the 
success  which  for  more  than  twenty  years  had  attended  the 
labours  of  the  Joint  Committees  in  peacefully  settling  sectional 
disputes.  With  statesmanlike  instinct  he  suggested  that 
similar  methods,  with  any  necessary  modifications,  might  be 
adopted  for  the  adjustment  of  county  or  general  differences. 

Sagacious,  practical,  showing  a  complete  grasp  and  mastery 
of  the  subject,  the  Bishop's  address  was  in  every  respect 
admirably  fitted  to  the  occasion.  The  poetic,  the  ideal  side 
of  the  Bishop's  nature  came  into  play  for  a  moment  in  the 
concluding  sentences.  "Let  them  then  complete,  at  least 
in  plan  and  purpose,  the  task  which  had  been  prepared 
through  one  and  twenty  years.  In  no  way  could  they  serve 
the  cause  of  industry  more  effectually,  and  he  could  desire 
nothing  better  for  those  two  counties  which  formed  the  old 
See  of  Durham  than  that  they  should  still  hold  their  place  in 
the  field  of  British  industry  till  the  end  is  reached.  Till  the 
end  is  reached  !  Might  he  dare  to  express  his  hope  ?  till  the 
passion  for  private  gain  is  tempered,  if  not  displaced,  by  the 
enthusiasm  for  public  service ;  till  employer  and  employed, 
gradually  recognising  their  place,  work  side  by  side  as  fellow- 
workers  for  the  good  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  strength 
and  joy  of  one  life  !  " 

That  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  the  Bishop  address  a 
public  meeting.  Only  once  again  did  I  hear  him,  and  the 
speech  then  delivered  was  more  striking  and  memorable  still 
— something  to  be  enshrined  in  the  heart  and  memory  as  a 
life-long  possession.  This  was  at  the  Northumberland  Miners' 
Gala  held  at  Blyth  in  1894.  The  annual  Gala  is  a  great 
event,  a  sort  of  red-letter  day  in  the  Northumbrian  pitman's 
calendar.  It  is  anticipated  with  eager  expectation.  The 
miners,  young  and  old,  male  and  female,  troop  to  the  trysting- 
place  in  their  thousands.  The  term  "gala"  is  suggestive  of 
mirth,  festivity,  playfulness ;  and  truly  the  holiday -making 


384          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

spirit  has  scope  and  verge  enough  on  that  day.  But  the  graver, 
the  educational  side  of  life  is  not  wholly  neglected.  The 
great  feature  of  the  day  is  a  mass  meeting  at  which  speeches 
on  social  and  labour  topics  are  delivered.  In  1894  the 
Bishop  was  invited,  and  to  the  great  joy  of  the  miners  the 
invitation  was  promptly  accepted.  This  was  the  thirty-second 
anniversary.  At  one  time  or  another  over  that  long  period 
successive  meetings  had  been  addressed  by  eminent  statesmen 
and  by  great  orators,  by  John  Morley  and  Charles  Bradlaugh  ; 
by  distinguished  labour  leaders,  by  Alexander  Macdonald  and 
Lloyd  Jones  ;  and  by  many  other  men  of  note,  some  still 
living,  others  of  them  passed  away. 

I  had  been  present  myself  as  a  speaker  at  thirty-one  of 
the  galas.  Many  of  them  had  been  held,  as  was  this,  on  the 
shores  of  the  northern  sea.  In  outward  aspect,  therefore,  the 
scene  was  not  unfamiliar.  The  day  was  brilliantly  fine,  a 
refreshing  sea  breeze  tempering  the  burning  rays  of  the  July 
sun.  Massed  around  the  platform  was  a  crowd  of  some  five 
or  six  thousand  intelligent  listeners. 

The  late  Mr.  John  Nixon,  the  President  of  the  Miners' 
Union — a  true  brave  man  to  the  innermost  core  of  his  being 
— was  chairman.  Other  speakers  were  Mr.  Clare  (of  the 
Newcastle  Trades  Council),  Mr.  Fen  wick,  M.P.,  and  myself. 
The  speakers  were  supported  by  the  committees  and  the 
officials  of  the  Association — Mr.  Ralph  Young  (secretary),  Mr. 
J.  H.  Scott  (treasurer),  Mr.  H.  Boyle,  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Nixon  in  the  Presidency,  being  present.  All  this  was  accord 
ing  to  use  and  wont.  One  thing  only  was  new — the  presence 
of  a  Bishop.  Never  before  had  a  Church  dignitary,  nor  so 
far  as  I  can  remember  any  ecclesiastic,  been  invited  as  a 
speaker.  To  whatever  cause  the  omission  might  be  due, 
bigotry  certainly  had  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  since  the  miners 
justly  pride  themselves  on  the  breadth  and  catholicity  of  their 
platform.  As  evidence  of  this  it  was  only  necessary  to  look 
at  the  rostrum  that  day.  Catholic  and  protestant,  episco 
palian  and  nonconformists  of  every  section,  agnostic  and 
secularist,  creedless  men  and  men  incapable  of  defining  their 
creed,  sat  there  side  by  side.  And  the  platform  was,  I  should 
say,  in  this  respect  fairly  typical  of  the  audience.  Whatever 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  385 

the  creed  or  profession,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  crowd 
was  absolutely  free  from  any  taint  of  bigotry  and  narrow- 
mindedness.  Yet  the  Bishop  had  probably  never  before 
addressed  so  large  an  assemblage  of  which  churchmen  formed 
so  small  a  proportion.  But  a  fairer,  a  more  open-minded, 
a  finer  audience  orator  could  not  desire.  Frankly  democratic, 
with  an  appetite  and  a  digestion  for  the  strongest  meat,  it  is 
nevertheless  broadly  tolerant  of  opinions  other  than  its  own. 
It  would  not  perhaps  be  called  an  educated  audience  in  the 
ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term,  but  it  is  certainly  highly 
intelligent  and  keenly  responsive  to  every  noble  utterance, 
to  every  appeal  to  freedom,  to  conscience  and  right  dealing 
between  man  and  man. 

As  a  rule  the  miners'  meeting  is  not  boisterously  demon 
strative,  though  by  its  hand-clapping  and  cheers  it  expresses 
unstintedly  its  appreciation  of  a  fine  sentiment,  a  great  truth, 
or  a  telling  phrase.  Concentrated,  quiet  attention  is  its 
prevailing  attitude.  Now  and  then  an  ejaculation,  hardly  fit 
for  fastidious  ears,  is  thrown  out  by  some  enthusiast  in  the 
crowd.  This  is  usually  meant  to  imply  agreement  with  the 
speaker,  and  is  further  intended  to  encourage  him  to  higher 
flights  of  oratory.  Translated  into  more  polite  language,  its 
equivalent  would  be,  "  God  bless  you  !  More  power  to  your 
elbow  !  "  So  it  is  interpreted  alike  by  speaker  and  audience, 
being  received  with  the  utmost  good-humour,  as  a  contribu 
tion  from  one  who  swears  his  benedictions  as  he  does  his 
anathemas,  through  inability  to  find  in  any  extant  dictionary 
or  lexicon  words  emphatic  enough  to  express  his  highly- 
charged  feelings.  Happily,  however,  the  Bishop  was  sub 
jected  to  no  irregular  interruptions,  nor  indeed  to  any  avoid 
able  interruption  whatever. 

Even  with  every  advantage,  with  the  finest  of  audiences 
and  the  best  of  weather,  the  surroundings  of  the  Gala  are  not 
wholly  favourable  to  effective  oratory.  Itinerant  showmen, 
with  their  brass  bands  and  loud -sounding  organs,  some  of 
them  apparently  driven  by  steam,  and  shouters  of  wares  of 
many  kinds,  are  present  in  large  numbers.  Every  effort  is 
made  by  the  Committee  to  keep  them  at  a  distance,  but 
their  clamorous,  inharmonious  noises  break  in  upon  speaker 

VOL.  II  2  C 


386          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

and  audience  with  startling  and  distracting  effect.  That  the 
Bishop  would  receive  every  attention  and  appreciation  no 
one  doubted ;  but  it  was  desirable  tbat  he  should  have  a 
quiet,  orderly  hearing. 

Those  of  us  who  had  learnt  to  love  and  reverence  him 
were  not  without  our  misgivings  as  to  how  he  would  discharge 
his  task.  That  his  mental  equipment  was  perfect  we  knew, 
and  we  doubted  not  that  a  great  moral  and  intellectual  treat 
was  in  store  for  the  audience  provided  he  could  make  him 
self  heard.  But  would  his  voice  reach  the  crowd?  Would 
he  have  physical  strength  and  endurance  to  hold  the  atten 
tion  of  the  large  audience  to  the  end?  A  glance  at  the 
somewhat  frail,  attenuated  figure,  after  the  wear  and  tear  of 
its  seventy  years,  showed  that  such  misgivings  were  not 
wholly  without  reasonable  foundation.  Our  doubts  were 
soon  dissipated. 

When  the  Bishop  with  beaming  face  rose  to  address  the 
crowd,  the  very  first  sentence  he  uttered  went  straight 
to  their  ears,  and  to  their  hearts.  In  simple  words, 
charged  with  deepest  feeling,  he  told  how  pleased,  how 
touched  he  was  to  receive  the  invitation  of  the  Executive  to 
be  present.  Why  had  they  offered  him  such  a  privilege? 
It  was,  he  thought,  "  because  they  believed  his  whole  soul 
was  turned  to  the  desire  to  spread  among  men  peace,  good 
will,  and  fellowship."  The  warm  general  applause  which 
greeted  the  sentiment  proved  that  every  word  had  been 
heard.  The  Bishop  spoke  with  animation,  with  fervour, 
indeed  with  vehemence,  and  one  still  wondered  how  long 
this  high  pressure  could  be  sustained.  Would  there  not  be 
a  collapse?  No,  from  beginning  to  end — and  the  speech 
was  not  a  short  one — sign  there  was  none  of  faltering  or 
feebleness.  The  audience  hung  upon  the  speaker's  words, 
as  indeed  well  they  might,  for  they  were  listening  to  a  saint 
and  prophet  at  a  time  when  prophets  and  saints  with  a 
message  and  with  courage  to  deliver  it  are  not  too  plentiful. 

Called  upon  to  address  the  assemblage  immediately  after 
the  Bishop  had  spoken,  I  notice  from  the  newspaper  report 
that  I  characterised  his  speech  as  "perfect."  In  the  heat 
and  haste  of  impromptu  speech  one  does  not  always  select  the 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  387 

most  fitting  word.  "  Perfect  "  is  a  strong  epithet,  one  which 
should  be  sparingly  used  of  any  human  performance  or  pro 
duction.  But  I  do  not  think  the  term  was  at  all  extravagant 
when  applied  to  the  Bishop's  speech.  Needless  to  say,  there 
was  no  frothy  declamation,  there  was  no  rhetoric,  good  or 
bad,  there  was  indeed  nothing  that  could  be  fairly  called 
striking  oratory,  and  yet  oratory  at  its  best  seldom  produces 
so  profound  an  impression.  It  would  be  presumptuous  for 
me  to  dwell  upon  its  high  intellectual  qualities,  but  a  plain, 
unscholarly  man  may  remark  on  the  beautiful  simplicity  of 
its  phraseology.  This  great  scholar,  master  of  many  languages, 
dead  and  living,  uttered  no  word  or  phrase  which  was  above 
the  comprehension  of  the  most  illiterate  hearer. 

No  summary  could  do  justice  to  such  a  speech,  and  indeed 
from  its  very  terseness  it  would  be  difficult  to  summarise.  I 
can  only  in  roughest  outline  indicate  some  of  its  more  salient 
points.  There  were  first  two  or  three  light  autobiographical 
touches.  The  Bishop  told  how  among  his  earliest  recollec 
tions  of  public  events  was  when,  a  child  of  six,  he  went  to  a 
great  meeting  of  the  political  unions  at  Birmingham  just 
before  the  first  Reform  Bill.  Afterwards  he  saw  houses  burnt 
down,  and  the  streets  of  Birmingham  occupied  by  soldiers. 
When  at  Cambridge  for  one  of  his  examinations,  the  late 
Lord  Derby  came  into  the  room  and  said,  "  Louis  Philippe 
has  landed  in  England."  That  was  during  the  Revolution  of 
1848.  "The  first  time  he  went  abroad  he  passed  between 
the  outposts  of  two  contending  armies  in  the  insurrections  of 
1849."  He  had  therefore  followed  with  interest  the  develop 
ment  of  the  popular  cause.  One  great  truth  had  been 
brought  home  to  him :  "  the  real  nature  of  the  nation,  the 
idea  that  it  is  a  social  organism,  a  real  body  with  a  true  life, 
the  idea  that  humanity  itself  is  'a  man  who  lives  and  grows 
for  ever,'  as  Pascal  said.  Looking  at  this  great  fact,  that  the 
nation  was  a  body  of  which  they  were  all  members,  he  had 
learnt  three  lessons  amongst  others,  namely,  that  they  must 
guard  the  treasures  of  the  past  for  the  sake  of  the  present 
and  the  future ;  that  they  must  develop  the  powers  of  each 
man  for  the  sake  of  the  whole ;  that  they  must  cultivate  asso 
ciation,  keeping  in  view  'the  social  destiny  of  every  work.'  " 


388          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

Then  the  Bishop  paid  a  generous  tribute  to  the  splendid 
service  rendered  not  only  to  the  workers,  but  to  the  whole 
community,  by  friendly  societies,  co-operative  societies,  and 
trade  unions.  In  all  this  the  speaker  carried  the  meeting 
entirely  with  him.  But  he  did  not  shrink  from  uttering  his 
innermost  thought  whether  his  audience  agreed  with  him  or 
not.  Probably  one  of  the  hardest  things  for  that  democratic 
assemblage  to  listen  to  without  protest  was  the  Bishop's  bold 
declaration  in  favour  of  inequality  of  social  condition.  "  He 
believed  it  was  well  that  some  men  should  have  a  high  place 
and  large  means  " ;  but  then,  he  hastened  to  add,  such  men 
were  in  the  position  of  trustees  and  administrators  who  were 
bound  to  use  their  means  "  simply  and  solely  for  God  and 
the  nation,  without  any  distinction  of  class."  This  trustee 
ship,  this  responsibility  for  the  proper  use  of  wealth,  was 
emphasised  in  other  portions  of  the  address.  "  All  labour, 
labour  of  the  head  and  labour  of  the  hand,  had  a  social 
destiny ;  all  that  they  had  was  committed  to  their  steward 
ship  for  the  common  service,  and  it  was  only  in  that  way  they 
could  find  peace."  ..."  Privileged  inheritance  should  be 
regarded  as  a  call  to  exceptional  devotion."  "  The  formation 
of  character  and  not  the  accumulation  of  riches  was  the  final 
end  of  the  State,  and  he  believed  that  co-operation  was  the 
real  means  to  secure  it." 

The  Bishop  concluded  with  an  eloquent  appeal  to  young 
men  to  cherish  high  thought,  and  to  live  strong,  pure,  noble 
lives.  "  Man  truly  lived  only  while  he  served ;  let  them  not 
sacrifice  the  whole  to  the  part,  the  future  to  the  present,  the 
spiritual  to  the  temporal." 

The  speech  was  certainly  an  unqualified  success.  It  was 
a  victory  of  intellect,  of  spirit,  of  soul  over  physical  weakness 
and  infirmity ;  something  to  strengthen  one's  wavering  faith 
in  man's  immortality. 

Accompanying  the  Bishop  on  the  way  from  the  meeting, 
I  personally  thanked  him,  as  the  meeting  collectively  had 
done,  for  his  speech,  and  I  said  how  warmly  his  kindness 
and  his  utterances  had  been  appreciated  by  the  audience. 
"Yes,"  he  responded  with  a  smile,  "it  was  indeed  a  fine 
audience.  They  were  exceedingly  kind ;  but  I  don't  think 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  389 

they  believe  strongly  in  Bishops,  or  in  the  doctrines  they 
preach.  I  fear  they  partly  suspect  that  I  don't  believe  in 
them  myself,  but  there  they  are  mistaken."  Yes,  indeed  ! 
If  any  one  had  come  to  that  meeting  doubting  the  strength 
and  intensity  of  the  Bishop's  convictions,  he  could  not 
possibly  have  left  it  with  any  such  doubt.  Dr.  Westcott  was 
perhaps  right  in  supposing  that  the  crowd  had  no  great  belief 
in  Bishops  or  in  their  Church.  But  they  did  believe  in  him, 
in  his  absolute  sincerity,  in  his  unselfishness,  and  devotion  to 
right. 

The  Bishop's  last  address  was  delivered  to  the  Durham 
miners  in  the  Cathedral  on  their  annual  gala  day.  That 
address  has  a  pathos  of  its  own,  since  it  was  his  last,  and 
apparently  felt  by  the  speaker  himself  to  be  his  last,  public 
utterance.  The  discourse  was  as  beautiful  as  it  was  touching 
and  impressive.  Brief,  yet  complete,  and  instinct  with  love, 
it  reveals  the  man  and  indicates  the  secret  of  his  power. 
"  Men  had  a  common  heritage  and  a  common  duty ;  all  were 
responsible  in  their  measure  for  the  formation  of  that  public 
opinion  which  was  the  inspiration  and  strength  of  just  laws." 
"The  only  abiding  motive  which  would  support  them  in 
the  patient  and  resolute  endeavour  to  use  their  heritage,  to 
fulfil  their  duty,  to  fashion  an  effective  Christian  public 
opinion,  was  love."  "  Fear  and  hope  passed  away,  but 
there  was  that  which  never  passed  away — the  love  that  never 
faileth." 

Then  came  a  personal  touch — a  reference  to  the  resolu 
tions  he  had  formed  and  the  promises  he  had  made  when  he 
was  installed  as  Bishop  of  Durham :  "At  the  most  solemn 
hour  of  my  life  I  promised  that,  by  the  help  of  God,  I  would 
maintain  and  set  forward,  as  far  as  in  me  lay,  quietness,  love, 
and  peace  among  all  men,  and  that  I  would  show  myself 
gentle  and  be  merciful,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  the  poor  and 
needy,  the  stranger  and  the  destitute.  I  have  endeavoured, 
with  whatever  mistakes  and  failures,  to  fulfil  that  promise." 
Never  were  solemn  vows  more  faithfully  kept.  If  there  had 
been  mistakes  and  failures,  they  were  few  and  trivial,  such  as 
are  inseparable  from  human  weakness  and  fallibility. 

I  am  reminded  of  Shelley's  self-imposed  vow — 


390          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

I  will  be  wise, 

And  just,  and  free,  and  mild,  if  in  me  lies 
Such  power ;  for  I  grow  weary  to  behold 
The  selfish  and  the  strong  still  tyrannise 
Without  reproach  or  check. 

Shelley  was  a  true  democrat  and  (despite  some  errors  in 
his  life)  he  is  perhaps  the  most  intensely  spiritual  and  ideal, 
as  he  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  musical  and  melodious,  of 
our  poets.  In  the  words  I  have  cited  there  is  none  of  the 
fierce  aggressiveness  of  the  revolutionist.  Wisdom,  justice, 
gentleness — in  a  word,  love — these  are  to  be  the  all-conquer 
ing  weapons  of  the  reformer.  They  alone  will  bring  ultimate 
and  permanent  victory. 

Let  it  shock  no  pious  soul  that  I  think  of  Shelley  and 
Westcott  at  the  same  time.  Shelley  with  his  short,  broken, 
not  wholly  spotless  life ;  Westcott  with  his  fulness  of  years, 
through  them  all  "  wearing  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless 
life  "  ;  consecrated  by  Heaven  itself  before  ever  hand  of  man 
had  been  laid  upon  him,  as  a  great  spiritual  teacher.  It  is 
not  for  us  to  judge.  In  the  pitying  eye  of  Heaven  allowance 
will  be  made  for  human  frailty  and  failure.  Shelley  and 
Westcott  were  not  wholly  alien  souls.  What  Mr.  Stopford 
Brooke  so  finely  says  of  Shelley  may  be  said  with  equal  truth 
of  Dr.  Westcott.  "  There  was  one  thing  at  least  that  Shelley 
grasped  and  realised  with  force — the  moralities  of  the  heart 
in  their  relation  to  the  progress  of  mankind.  Love  and  its 
eternity ;  mercy,  forgiveness,  and  endurance,  as  forms  of  love  ; 
joy  and  freedom,  justice  and  truth  as  the  results  of  love ;  the 
sovereign  right  of  Love  to  be  the  ruler  of  the  universe,  and 
the  certainty  of  its  victory." 

Poet  and  divine  thus  deliver  one  message  to  humanity 
— "That  ye  love  one  another."  One  sings  it  in  song;  the 
other  preaches  it  in  sermon.  Too  often  the  message  is 
unheard,  or  unheeded.  Yet  let  us  take  courage  from  what 
we  have  witnessed.  We  have  seen  that  when  a  teacher  lives 
and  acts  his  creed,  embodying  it  in  a  brave  and  selfless  life, 
his  message,  despite  all  hindrances,  will  find  its  way  to  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  men. 

In  an  age  of  materialism  and  mammon  worship,  when  so 


xiv  "EVERYBODY'S  BISHOP"  391 

many  men  seem  to  have  lost  their  faith  in  another  world  and 
their  ideals  i-n  this ;  in  this  "  iron  time  of  doubts,  disputes, 
distractions,  fears,"  it  is  something  to  have  had  such  a  high- 
souled  prophet  and  saint  among  us  as  Dr.  Westcott.  He  has 
not  lived  in  vain :  his  life  has  been  an  example  and  an 
inspiration  to  tens  of  thousands,  fruitful  now  and  charged 
with  benediction  and  blessing  to  future  generations. 

Creeds  pass,  rites  change,  no  altar  standeth  whole, 

yet  the  human  heart  now,  as  of  old,  leaps  with  joyful  alacrity 
to  welcome  messages  of  love  and  wisdom  from  a  true,  brave 
teacher. 


CHAPTER    XV 

THE    LAST    WEEK 

THE  Bishop  had  promised  to  preach  to  the  miners  at 
their  annual  service  in  the  Cathedral  on  Saturday,  2Oth 
July,  and  being  anxious  not  to  disappoint  them,  and 
feeling  far  from  well,  he  went  to  bed  early  on  the 
Friday  evening,  hoping  to  feel  better  in  the  morning. 
The  2Oth  was  a  very  warm  day,  and  knowing  how 
greatly  the  heat  tried  the  Bishop,  his  family  felt  very 
anxious  as  to  the  effect  of  this  great  exertion,  though 
he  himself  was  very  cheerful.  In  the  morning  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  his  eldest  son  : — 

BISHOP  AUCKLAND,  mthjuly  1901. 

My  dear  Brooke — I  read  the  S.P.G.  sermon1  with  great 
pleasure.  It  was  delightfully  fresh,  and  had  just  those 
personal  touches  which  are  most  helpful.  This  heat  nearly 
prostrates  me,  and  I  have  to  speak  to  the  miners  in  the 
Cathedral  this  afternoon. — Ever  your  most  affectionate 
father,  B.  F.  DUNELM. 

Latin  Elegiacs  do  not  flow  just  now. 

After  an  early  lunch  the  Bishop,  accompanied  by 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Prior,  and  his  son  Henry,  Domestic 

1  Sermon  preached  by  Canon  Westcott  in  Sherborne  Abbey. 
392 


CHAP,  xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  393 

Chaplain,  drove  to  Durham.  The  Bishop,  as  usual,  sat 
with  his  back  to  the  horses,  and  as  it  was  very  hot,  an 
umbrella  was  held  over  him  for  protection  from  the 
sun.  On  arrival  at  Durham  he  went  straight  to  the 
Chapter- house  to  robe.  There  he  was  joined  by  the 
Dean  and  all  the  members  of  the  Chapter,  except 
Canon  Farrar,  who  was  unfortunately  indisposed.  The 
procession  then  formed,  the  Bishop,  supported  by  the 
Dean  and  the  Archdeacon  of  Durham,  and  followed  by 
his  son,  coming  last.  As  this  procession  entered  at  the 
south-west  door,  a  miners'  band  entered  at  the  north 
west  door.  This  band  was  playing  with  much  feeling 
"  Abide  with  me :  fast  falls  the  eventide,"  and  many  of 
the  large  congregation  assembled  in  the  Cathedral  were 
visibly  affected  by  its  moving  strains.  When  the  time 
came  for  the  Bishop's  address  he  ascended  the  pulpit 
and  began  his  sermon  in  "  a  voice  which  for  fulness  and 
vigour  I  have  never  heard  him  use  before." 

The  concluding  words  of  this  last  message  were  :— 

One  word  more.  About  eleven  years  ago,  in  the  prospect 
of  my  work  here,  at  the  most  solemn  hour  of  my  life,  I 
promised  that,  by  the  help  of  God,  "I  would  maintain  and 
set  forward,  as  far  as  should  lie  in  me,  quietness,  love,  and 
peace  among  all  men";  and  that  "I  would  show  myself 
gentle  and  be  merciful  for  Christ's  sake  to  poor  and  needy 
people  and  to  all  strangers  destitute  of  help."  I  have 
endeavoured,  with  whatever  mistakes  and  failures,  to  fulfil  the 
promise,  and  I  am  most  grateful  to  you,  and  to  all  over  whom 
I  have  been  set,  for  the  sympathy  with  which  my  efforts  have 
been  met.  So  I  have  been  enabled  to  watch  with  joy  a 
steady  improvement  in  the  conditions,  and  also,  I  trust,  in  the 
spirit  of  labour  among  us.  At  the  present  time  Durham 
offers  to  the  world  the  highest  type  of  industrial  concord 
which  has  yet  been  fashioned.  Much,  no  doubt,  remains  to 
be  done ;  but  the  true  paths  of  progress  are  familiar  to  our 
workers  and  our  leaders,  and  are  well  trodden.  While,  then, 


394         LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

so  far  I  look  back,  not  without  thankfulness,  and  look  forward 
with  confident  hope,  I  cannot  but  desire  more  keenly  that 
our  moral  and  spiritual  improvement  should  advance  no  less 
surely  than  our  material  improvement.  And  therefore,  since 
it  is  not  likely  that  I  shall  ever  address  you  here  again,  I 
have  sought  to  tell  you  what  I  have  found  in  a  long  and 
laborious  life  to  be  the  most  prevailing  power  to  sustain  right 
endeavour,  however  imperfectly  I  have  yielded  myself  to  it — 
even  the  love  of  Christ ;  to  tell  you  what  I  know  to  be  the 
secret  of  a  noble  life,  even  glad  obedience  to  His  will.  I 
have  given  you  a  watchword  which  is  fitted  to  be  the  inspira 
tion,  the  test,  and  the  support  of  untiring  service  to  God  and 
man  :  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us. 

Take  it  then,  my  friends,  this  is  my  last  counsel,  to  home 
and  mine  and  club :  try  by  its  Divine  standard  the  thorough 
ness  of  your  labour  and  the  purity  of  your  recreation,  and  the 
Durham  which  we  love,  the  Durham  of  which  we  are  proud — 
to  repeat  the  words  I  used  before — will  soon  answer  to  the 
heavenly  pattern.  If  Tennyson's  idea  of  heaven  was  true, 
that  "heaven  is  the  ministry  of  soul  to  soul,"  we  may 
reasonably  hope,  by  patient,  resolute,  faithful,  united  en 
deavour,  to  find  heaven  about  us  here,  the  glory  of  our 
earthly  life. 

After  the  sermon,  the  hymn  "  Praise,  my  soul,  the 
King  of  Heaven  "  was  sung  to  the  accompaniment  of 
all  the  bands. 

Such  was  the  Bishop's  farewell  to  his  Cathedral  and 
his  people. 

After  the  service,  being  very  tired,  he  proceeded  to 
the  Archdeaconry,  where  he  remained  for  some  time  in 
close  conversation  with  the  Archdeacon  in  his  study, 
until  he  was  summoned  by  his  son  to  tea. 

On  returning  home,  it  was  arranged  that  there 
should  be  a  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  in  his 
invalid  daughter's  room  on  the  following  morning,  and 
the  Bishop  retired  early  to  rest. 


xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  395 

On  the  next  day,  the  Seventh  Sunday  after  Trinity, 
which  in  the  previous  year  had  been  the  last  Sunday 
of  his  youngest  son  on  earth,  the  quiet  service  was  held 
as  arranged,  his  son  Henry  being  the  celebrant.  In 
his  anxiety  not  to  overtire  his  father,  the  Chaplain 
omitted  the  Prayer  of  Humble  Access,  which,  as  will 
afterwards  appear,  rather  troubled  the  Bishop.  The 
Bishop  took  his  place  in  the  arm-chair  by  his  daughter's 
bed,  which  had  been  his  wife's  customary  seat,  and  he 
afterwards  remarked, "'  It  seemed  so  strange  being  in 
mamma's  place." 

The  Bishop,  being  very  tired,  lay  down  in  the 
afternoon  until  tea  -  time,  after  which  he  said  a 
short  Evensong  with  his  daughters  and  went  early 
to  bed. 

On  Monday,  the  22nd,  the  Bishop  kept  to  his  room 
most  of  the  day,  as  he  was  in  pain  and  was  more 
comfortable  when  lying  down.  He  was  able,  however, 
to  see  Mrs.  Watkins,  who,  according  to  an  arrangement 
made  on  the  previous  Saturday,  came  over  with  some 
friends  to  see  the  Castle  and  Chapel.  The  last  entry 
in  his  text-book  was  made  on  this  day.  It  is  barely 
legible,  but  I  read  it  as  : 

"  In  terrible  (?) 1  pain  and  discomfort.  Mrs. 
Watkins  .  .  ." 

In  the  papers  this  day  there  were  various  comments 
on  the  Bishop's  words  of  the  previous  Saturday,  especi 
ally  as  to  the  words  "  It  is  not  likely  that  I  shall  ever 
address  you  again."  The  general  line  of  comment  was, 
"  Are  we  about  to  lose  the  precious  ministrations  of  our 
matchless  Bishop  ? "  and  the  words  were  commonly 
interpreted  as  an  indication  of  his  approaching  resig- 

1  This  word  "terrible"  is  not  a  likely  word  for  him  to  have  used,  but 
I  can  make  nothing  else  of  it.     The  cause  of  death  was  peritonitis. 


396          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

nation  ;  for  it  was  not  until  Friday  that  the  report  of 
his  serious  illness  appeared  in  the  papers. 

That  night  the  Bishop  could  not  sleep,  and  at  about 
1.30  A.M.  his  invalid  daughter  was  startled  by  a  knock 
at  her  bedroom  door.  Her  father  came  in,  saying  how 
sorry  he  was  to  disturb  her,  and  hoping  that  he  had 
not  waked  her.  He  had  come  to  look  for  a  spirit- 
lamp,  to  prepare  himself  a  hot -water  bottle  for  the 
relief  of  his  pain.  The  spirit-lamp  had,  however,  been 
lent  to  Mrs.  Prior,  and  the  Bishop  insisted  on  going  to 
find  it  himself. 

On  Tuesday,  the  23rd,  the  Bishop  was  much  the 
same,  but  it  was  decided  that  he  must  not  be  left  alone 
any  more.  He  endeavoured  to  deal  with  his  letters, 
but  his  Chaplain  son  found  it  advisable  to  keep  away 
from  him  as  much  as  possible,  as  he  was  too  eager  for 
business. 

On  Wednesday,  the  24th,  the  Bishop's  condition 
was  to  all  outward  appearance  unchanged.  He  was 
still  anxious  about  his  correspondence,  and  dictated 
some  replies  to  letters  in  the  afternoon. 

Thursday,  the  25th,  St.  James's  Day,  found  the 
Bishop  very  weak,  and  at  the  early  service  in  the 
Chapel  the  household's  prayers  were  asked  for  him. 
His  medical  attendant  Dr.  M'Cullagh,  who  had  visited 
him  three  times  on  the  previous  day,  was  anxious  for 
a  second  opinion,  and  Dr.  Hume  of  Newcastle  was 
summoned.  The  Bishop's  children  sat  with  him  all 
day,  and  his  invalid  daughter  vapourised  him  with 
eau-de-Cologne,  and  held  his  hot  hands  within  her 
cold  ones,  which  comforted  him  much.  He  could 
hardly  even  now  be  kept  from  work,  and  insisted  on 
writing  a  cheque,  his  last,  to  enable  a  poor  clergyman 
to  get  a  summer  holiday.  He  was  very  urgent  that 


xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  397 

his  son  should  take  the  carriage  to  the  station  to  meet 
Dr.  Hume.  The  physician  arrived  at  five  o'clock,  and 
when  the  Chaplain  went  in  to  remind  him  of  his  train, 
he  found  the  Bishop  talking  to  him  in  an  animated  way 
about  the  Roman  Wall  and  other  Tyneside  antiquities. 
On  his  way  to  the  station,  Dr.  Hume  wired  for  a  nurse, 
who  arrived  that  evening.  The  Bishop  received  the 
nurse  with  one  of  his  most  beautiful  smiles,  and  hoped 
she  would  be  able  to  amuse  herself,  and  expressed  his 
belief  that  he  would  give  no  trouble. 

In  the  course  of  that  afternoon  the  Bishop  made 
a  parting  present  to  his  Domestic  Chaplain,  the  Rev. 
C.  H.  Boutflower,  who  was  leaving  to  take  up  work  in 
Furness.  As  the  Chaplain  knelt  at  his  bedside,  the 
Bishop  laid  his  hands  on  him  and  blessed  him. 

On  Friday,  the  26th,  the  Bishop  felt  better,  and  was 
quite  bright.  Archdeacons  Watkins  and  Long  came 
over  in  the  morning  to  discuss  what  should  be  done  in 
the  matter  of  the  gathering  of  Lay-workers,  which  was 
to  be  held  in  the  Castle  on  the  Saturday.  It  was  decided 
to  postpone  the  meeting,  but  the  Bishop  was  unable  to 
see  the  Archdeacons,  and  was  not  informed  of  the  post 
ponement.  Several  telegrams  of  inquiry  were  received 
during  this  and  the  following  day.  In  the  evening  the 
Bishop,  who  had  taken  a  sudden  change  for  the  worse  at 
about  5.30,  rallied,  and  would  discuss  his  correspondence 
(of  some  days  previous)  and  the  arrangements  for  the 
Meeting  of  Lay-workers  on  the  morrow  with  his  son. 

Telegrams  were  dispatched  that  evening  summon 
ing  the  Bishop's  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  King,  and  his 
eldest  son,  Canon  Brooke  Westcott,  who  were  the  only 
other  children  in  England  at  that  time.  The  doctor 
returned  late  in  the  evening  and  remained  with  the 
Bishop  during  the  night. 


398          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

The  Bishop  rested  well  that  night,  and  was  cheer 
ful  in  the  morning,  though  very  weak.  When  the 
nurse  came  in  early  she  found  him  lying  with  his 
hands  folded,  saying  over  quietly  the  iO3rd  Psalm: 
"  Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  soul :  and  all  that  is  within  me 
praise  His  holy  Name.  Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  soul  : 
and  forget  not  all  His  benefits." 

Canon  Westcott  arrived  at  about  mid-day,  having 
travelled  all  night  from  Sherborne.  The  Bishop  was 
very  pleased  to  see  him,  and  remarked  how  good  it  was 
of  him  to  have  come  to  take  his  place  at  the  Lay- 
workers'  Meeting.  In  the  morning  the  Bishop  dictated 
the  following  message  to  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese  : 
"  The  Bishop  of  Durham,  who  is  lying  seriously  ill  at 
Auckland  Castle,  desires  that  the  prayers  of  all  the 
congregations  of  the  Diocese  may  be  offered  on  his 
behalf." 

On  this  day  the  Bishop  received  a  message  of  sym 
pathy  from  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  then  sitting  at 
Newcastle,  to  which  he  listened  with  pleasure,  and  said, 
"  It  is  very  kind  of  them."  1 

In  the  afternoon  his  invalid  daughter  had  been 
carried  to  the  Bishop's  room  to  sit  with  him.  He 
asked  her  for  some  water,  saying,  "  There  is  nothing  so 
nice  as  cold  water."  For  a  long  time  his  daughter  sat 
holding  her  father's  hands  and  leaning  on  his  bed,  and 
then  she  lay  down  on  her  mother's  little  sofa  to  have  a 
quiet  Evensong.  This  the  Bishop  noticed,  and  said, 
"  Could  you  give  me  mamma's  old  Prayer  Book,  if  you 

1  The  Rev.  D.  T.  Young,  in  proposing  this  Resolution,  said  :  "  He  is 
the  Bishop  of  all  the  Christian  Churches,  and  we  are  all  indebted  to  his 
scholarship  and  his  saintly  influence."  The  Rev.  J.  H.  Moulton,  the  son 
of  the  Bishop's  old  friend  and  fellow  -  worker,  seconded  the  Resolution, 
which,  after  a  few  sympathetic  words  from  the  President,  was  carried 
unanimously. 


XV 


THE  LAST  WEEK  399 


are  not  using  it  ? "  So  she  returned  to  the  bedside 
with  the  book  in  her  hand,  but  gave  him  a  lighter  one, 
which  had  been  given  to  our  mother  by  her  youngest 
son.  He  then  asked  for  the  Psalms,  and  said,  "  Let  me 
have  the  book,  that  I  may  lose  none  of  it  "  ;  and  added, 
"  Some  people  think  that  the  Psalms  are  so  sad  :  but  to 
me  they  are  full  of  praise  and  thanksgiving."  So  they 
read  all  the  Psalms,  morning  and  evening,  for  the  27th 
day  of  the  month.  At  first  the  Bishop  tried  to  say 
alternate  verses,  but  this  was  more  than  he  could  do,  so 
he  listened  and  joined  in  the  Gloria.  When  this 
reading  was  finished  the  Bishop,  after  thanking  his 
daughters  very  lovingly,  added,  "  All  I  can  do  is  a  little 
bit  of  praise.  Just  a  little  bit  of  praise." 

Mrs.  King  arrived  that  evening,  and  though  the 
same  change  had  come  over  her  father  as  on  the  previous 
evening,  he  recognised  and  welcomed  her.  He  seems 
now  for  the  first  time  to  have  realised  how  near  the 
end  was,  for  he  remarked  at  this  time,  "  Now  we  are  all 
together,  as  we  were  before,"  referring  to  the  gathering 
two  months  previous,  when  his  wife  fell  asleep. 

Mrs.  King  had  not  been  there  long  when  through 
the  open  window  the  Bishop  heard  a  church  bell  ring 
ing,  and  concluding  that  it  was  supper-time,  turned  to 
her  and  said,  "  You  ought  to  go  to  supper."  "  She 
replied,  "  Oh,  father,  I  have  not  been  here  very  long, 
and  would  like  to  stay."  The  Bishop  then  addressed 
the  same  words  to  his  third  daughter,  Mrs.  Prior,  but 
she  replied,  "  Oh,  father,  it  is  not  quite  time  yet."  He 
then  caught  sight  of  his  son  at  a  little  distance  and 
said,  "  Then,  Harry,  you  ought  to  go."  The  son  con 
sented.  Then  the  Bishop,  in  a  very  weak  voice,  was 
heard  to  say,  speaking  slowly  and  with  great  difficulty, 
"  The  family  discipline  seems  to  me  to  leave  much  to 


400          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

be  desired."  His  children  had  often  heard  him  humor 
ously  make  similar  laments ;  and  the  words  clearly 
showed  how  much  he  was  even  then  his  own  old  self. 

So  his  children  had  to  leave  him  and  go  to  supper. 
When  they  returned  from  their  meal,  they  were  informed 
that  the  end  was  near.  They  gathered  round  his  bed, 
and  his  eldest  son  offered  prayer.  The  Bishop  asked 
that  he  would  first  say  the  Prayer  of  Humble  Access 
(which  he  had  missed  on  the  previous  Sunday)  and 
then  the  General  Thanksgiving.  After  these  prayers, 
the  Bishop  asked  for  each  of  his  children  by  name. 
His  eyes  were  dim  now,  and  he  could  not  see  them  ; 
but  as  each  answered  to  his  name  the  Bishop  greeted 
their  voices  with  an  answering  smile.  The  Bishop 
then  asked  for  the  Psalms.  His  son  Henry  proceeded 
to  read  the  I2ist  Psalm,  one  of  the  Morning  Psalms 
for  the  27th  day.  The  Bishop  was  not  satisfied  :  he 
wanted  the  Evening  Psalms.  They  were  read,  and  how 
beautiful  they  were.  "  Before  the  morning  watch,  I 
say,  before  the  morning  watch.  .  .  .  Lord,  I  am  not  high- 
minded  :  I  have  no  proud  looks."  Then  his  children 
began  to  sing  some  of  his  favourite  hymns,  and  first  of 
all,  "  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past."  The  hymns 
seemed  to  comfort  the  Bishop  greatly,  for,  until  he 
finally  lost  consciousness,  he  was  uneasy  at  any  pause. 

As  the  Bishop  lay  unconscious,  the  members  of  the 
household  were  brought  in  to  take  a  last  look  at  their 
faithful  friend  and  pastor.  Besides  the  Bishop's 
children,  Miss  A.  Prior,  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Boutflower,  the 
Rev.  E.  Price,  Vicar  of  Bishop  Auckland,  and  Dr. 
M'Cullagh  were  present.  Gathered  round  the  bedside, 
they  continued  singing  hymns.  Once,  when  they  paused, 
the  nurse  said,  "  Sing  on,  please  :  it  comforts  him  ";  and 
so  the  old  familiar  hymns  went  on.  The  Prayer  of 


xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  401 

Commendation  and  the  Collect  for  All  Saints'  Day  were 
said  by  the  Vicar.  So  at  about  1 1 . 1  o  the  good  Bishop 
peacefully  fell  asleep  and  entered  into  rest. 

The  following  day  being  Sunday,  the  sad  news  ol 
the  Bishop's  death  became  known  by  the  tolling  of 
many  bells,  which,  both  at  Newcastle  and  Durham 
Cathedrals,  and  in  many  towns  and  villages  throughout 
the  North,  took  the  place  of  the  ordinary  chimes. 
There  were  many  pulpit  references  made  that  day,  both 
in  Churches  and  Nonconformist  Chapels,  to  the  loss 
sustained  by  the  whole  body  of  Christians. 

Messages  of  sympathy  from  individuals  and  public 
bodies  poured  in  daily  from  all  sides,  and  bore  testi 
mony,  if  such  were  needed,  to  the  affectionate  esteem  in 
which  the  saintly  prelate  had  been  held. 

The  Bishop's  body  rested  in  its  coffin  in  the  great 
entrance  hall  from  Wednesday  evening  until  Thursday 
night ;  it  was  then  removed  into  the  centre  of  the 
Chapel  on  a  wheeled  bier,  and  left  between  the  graves 
of  Bishop  Cosin  and  Bishop  Lightfoot,  in  the  centre  of 
the  Chapel.  So  it  remained  during  Evensong  in  Chapel, 
and  during  the  service  on  the  following  morning. 

On  the  Friday  morning  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Dr. 
Llewellyn  Davies,  Mrs.  Hort,  with  her  eldest  son  and  his 
wife,  arrived  at  the  Castle,  Mrs.  Prior's  elder  children 
having  arrived  on  Thursday  evening.  At  the  celebra 
tion  of  Holy  Communion  in  Chapel  at  8  A.M.,  all 
the  guests  in  the  house  were  present,  and  the  members 
of  the  household  met  once  more  around  the  altar  in  the 
Chapel.  It  was  an  impressive  service.  Canon  West- 
cott  celebrated,  assisted  by  his  brother  Henry.  In  the 
early  afternoon  the  bier  with  the  coffin  on  it  was  rever 
ently  removed  through  the  main  entrance  and  brought 
in  at  the  side  door  into  the  smaller  entrance  hall. 

VOL.  II  2  D 


402          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         CHAP. 

The  funeral  took  place  in  the  Castle  Chapel  on 
Friday,  2nd  August,  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  for 
the  convenience  of  invited  guests  special  trains  were 
run  from  Darlington,  Newcastle,  and  Sunderland. 

The  dominant  note  of  the  proceedings  was  that  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving  for  the  faithful  labours  ended 
and  the  peaceful  entrance  into  rest.  There  was  no 
gloom  of  funeral  trappings,  the  grave  itself  being  lined 
with  purple  cloth  and  bordered  with  flowers,  while  the 
sun  shining  through  the  coloured  windows  lent  bright 
ness  to  the  scene  with  varied  light. 

As  the  Chapel  at  Auckland  Castle  would  not  accom 
modate  the  large  number  of  persons  of  all  classes  in 
the  North  of  England  who  desired  to  be  present  at 
the  funeral,  only  those  who  received  invitations  were 
admitted.  The  list  of  invitations,  however,  was  a  very 
representative  one.  Fellow-dignitaries  of  the  Church, 
the  diocesan  clergy  and  lay  workers,  the  local  govern 
ing  bodies  of  the  djocese,  the  Universities,  the  mis 
sionary  agencies  of  the  Church,  Nonconformist  bodies, 
social  organisations  like  the  co-operative  movement ; 
and  last,  but  by  no  means  the  least  important,  the 
toiling  masses  so  near  to  the  heart  of  Bishop  Westcott 
— all  were  represented  in  the  congregation  which 
assembled  to  render  the  last  solemn  service  to  one 
who  had  used  high  station  and  great  ability  in  the 
advancement  of  his  fellow -men.  In  order  to  make 
room  for  so  large  a  number  all  the  movable  seats  had 
been  taken  out  of  the  Chapel,  and  the  congregation, 
which  numbered  about  four  hundred,  for  the  most  part 
had  to  stand  during  the  whole  of  the  service. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  coffin  on  its  wheeled  bier 
was  brought  out  from  the  south  entrance  of  the  Castle 
to  the  main  north  entrance  leading  to  the  Chapel.  The 


xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  403 

short  distance  was  lined  on  both  sides  by  members  of 
the  2nd  Volunteer  Battalion  of  the  Durham  L.I.,  whose 
band  played  Chopin's  Funeral  March.  The  procession 
was  headed  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishops  of 
Winchester,  Rochester,  Exeter,  Newcastle,  and  Salis 
bury,  and  the  following  Examining  Chaplains  of  the 
late  Bishop  : — Revs.  Dr.  Strong  (Dean  of  Christ  Church), 
Canon  Savage,  J.  A.  Kempthorne,  A.  M.  Knight,  and 
E.  Price  (Vicar  and  Rural  Dean  of  Auckland).  Then 
came  the  Marshal,  followed  by  the  permanent  staff  of 
the  2nd  V.B.D.L.I.  ;  Verger,  Chancellor  Dibdin  ;  the 
Bishop's  legal  secretary  (Mr.  J.  G.  Wilson).  The  Rev. 
C.  H.  Boutflower  carried  the  pastoral  staff,  and  Mr.  J. 
M'Clemens,  subsacrist  and  senior  vesturer  at  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  formerly  servant  to  the  deceased  prelate, 
carried  the  Bishop's  mace.  The  body  was  enclosed  in  a 
leaden  coffin,  with  a  panelled  oak  shell  with  brass  mount 
ings.  The  breast-plate  bore  the  inscription :  "  Brooke  Foss 
— Bishop — Born  January  12,1825;  died  July  27,1901 ." 

The  family  had  requested  that  no  wreaths  should 
be  sent,  and  only  those  from  near  relatives  and  from  a 
distance  were  accepted,  and  these  were  placed  before 
the  altar.  On  the  coffin  itself,  as  it  rested  in  the  hall, 
a  simple  laurel  wreath  sent  by  the  daughters  of  Arch 
deacon  and  Mrs.  Watkins  was  the  only  floral  tribute.1 

Following  the  bier  came  members  of  the  late  Bishop's 
family,  some  near  friends,  the  Castle  servants,  and  "  the 
Sons  of  the  House."  The  opening  sentences  were  read 
by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  after  which  the  Bishop's 
favourite  hymn,  "  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,"  was 
sung.  The  poth  Psalm  followed,  the  alternate  verses 

1  Other  wreaths  from  the  family,  and  a  few  from  representative  bodies, 
were  placed  on  and  around  the  coffin  before  it  was  finally  conveyed  into 
the  Chapel;  and  three  wreaths  (from  his  sons,  his  daughters,  and  the 
Cawnpore  Brotherhood)  were  lowered  with  it  into  the  grave. 


404          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT        CHAP. 

being  said  by  the  Master  of  Trinity  (Dr.  Butler).  The 
Dean  of  Durham  (Dr.  Kitchin)  read  the  Lesson.  The 
committal  sentences  were  very  impressively  said  by  the 
Rev.  Canon  Westcott,  and  during  this  solemn  committal 
of  a  father's  body  to  the  earth  by  a  son  it  was  felt  that 
the  very  climax  of  the  whole  ceremony  was  reached. 
This  portion  of  the  service  concludes  with  the  words 
"  They  rest  from  their  labours  " — words  which  exactly 
express  what  was  in  each  man's  mind  as  he  stood  in 
the  bright,  pleasant  Chapel — in  itself  by  no  means  sug 
gestive  of  the  tomb.  "  Now  the  labourer's  task  is  o'er  " 
having  been  sung,  the  Rev.  H.  Westcott  said  the  re 
maining  collects,  and  the  hymn  "  Peace,  perfect  peace  " 
followed.  The  Archbishop  of  York  pronounced  the  Bene 
diction,  after  which  the  Nunc  Dimittis  and  the  Doxology 
were  sung.  The  service  over,  the  congregation  filed 
past  the  open  grave,  the  organist  meanwhile  playing 
"  Oh  rest  in  the  Lord  "  and  the  Hallelujah  Chorus. 

The  Bishop's  body  was  laid  in  the  same  grave  to 
which  he  had  committed  his  wife's  body  two  months 
before.  It  is  now  covered  by  a  slab,  surmounted  by 
St.  Cuthbert's  Cross,  and  bearing  the  following  inscrip 
tion,  composed  by  the  Bishop  : — 

HIC    REQUIESCUNT    IN    SPE 
STUDIORUM    AFFECTUUM    FIDEI    CONSORTES 

BROOKE    FOSS    WESTCOTT,  S.T.P. 
EPISC.    DUNELM.  MDCCCXC-MCMI 

ET 
SARA    LOUISA   MARIA 

CONJUX    EJUS 
DUORUM    ALTER    NATUS    MDCCCXXV 

OBIIT    MCMI 
ALTER  A   NATA    MDCCCXXX 

OBIIT   MCMI 
EGO  VENI    UT   VITAM    HABEANT 


xv  THE  LAST  WEEK  405 

On  the  following  day  (Saturday)  the  Chapel  was 
open  from  9.30  A.M.  until  6  P.M.,  when  a  continuous 
stream  of  visitors,  including  many  miners  and  other 
working-men  friends,  reverently  passed  by  the  late 
Bishop's  open  grave,  and  read  the  inscription  prepared 
to  mark  the  final  resting-place  of  the  bodies  of  the 
Bishop  and  his  wife. 

It  was  my  father's  express  wish  that  there  should 
be  no  subscription  for  any  public  memorial  to  him,  to 
which  request  both  his  family  and  friends  have  affec 
tionately  yielded. 

I  do  not  know  that  anything  remains  to  be  said. 
My  purpose  in  writing  this  memoir  of  my  father  will 
have  singularly  failed  if  those  who  have  followed  the 
story  of  his  life  do  not  feel  that  it  was  a  life  grand  in 
its  consistency,  full  in  its  achievement,  and  beautiful  in 
its  earthly  close.  Our  Christian  Faith  assures  us  that 
it  is  not  ended  yet.  He  is,  as  he  was,  "  in  Christ." 


,      APPENDIX    I 

PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 
BISHOP  WESTCOTT 

MANY  Resolutions  and  Minutes  of  Public  Bodies  relating  to  the 
services  rendered  to  the  community  by  Bishop  Westcott  were 
kindly  forwarded  to  the  surviving  members  of  his  family.  A 
representative  selection  from  these  is  here  added. 

CONVOCATION  OF  THE  PROVINCE  OF  YORK 

Proposed  by  His  Grace  the  President,  seconded  by  the  Pro 
locutor,  and  carried  in  silence,  the  members  of  the  Convocation 
rising  in  their  places. 

The  Convocation  of  York,  assembled  in  full  Synod,  desires  to 
record  its  sense  of  the  signal  loss  which  has  been  sustained  by 
the  Church  of  England,  and  especially  in  its  Northern  Province, 
by  the  recent  departure  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Durham,  Dr.  Brooke 
Foss  Westcott.  A  man  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  and  deeply 
learned  in  Christian  philosophy,  he  was  able  to  bring  out  of  his 
treasures  things  new  and  old,  and  to  apply  to  the  needs  and 
circumstances  of  his  own  generation  the  great  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  His  earnest  desire  and  endeavour  were  to 
promote  the  highest  welfare  of  the  human  family  by  proclaiming 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  His  words 
of  wise  counsel  and  calm  judgment,  and,  above  all,  his  ever- 
welcome  presence  and  charming  personality,  were  a  continual 
strength  and  comfort  to  those  who  were  associated  with  him  in 
the  Upper  House  of  Convocation,  and  made  their  impression, 
beyond  all  doubt,  on  the  whole  Northern  Synod. 

407 


4o8          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT          APP. 


DURHAM  DIOCESAN  CONFERENCE 

Proposed  by  the  Archdeacon  of  Durham,  seconded  by  Lord 
Barnard,  and  resolved  unanimously  : 

That  this  Diocesan  Conference,  at  its  first  meeting  since  the 
lamented  death  of  its  late  President,  Brooke  Foss,  by  Divine 
Providence  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham,  desires  with  reverent  affec 
tion  to  place  on  record  an  expression  of  its  devout  thankfulness 
for  the  singular  benefits  conferred  upon  the  Diocese  during  the 
eleven  years  of  his  Episcopate,  and  of  its  sense  of  the  loss  which 
the  Church  at  large  and  this  Diocese  in  particular  has  suffered  by 
his  removal  from  the  sphere  of  his  earthly  ministry. 

Succeeding  to  the  labours  of  his  great  predecessor  and  life-long 
friend,  Dr.  Westcott  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  Diocese  rich  and 
rare  natural  gifts,  wide  learning,  deep  thought,  exact  scholarship, 
courage  which  never  faltered,  energy  which  never  slackened, 
generous  munificence  in  which  the  left  hand  knew  not  what  the 
right  hand  did,  and  above  all  the  attractive  power  of  a  spiritual 
personality  which  knew  not  self  and  lived  for  God  and  for 
mankind. 

"  A  learned  man "  and  "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,"  he  "  con 
tended  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  Saints," 
and  found  in  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  in  the  Bible  and  in 
the  Church,  the  explanation  of  the  past,  the  interpretation  of  the 
present,  and  sure  confidence  for  the  future ;  for  "  he  was  a  good 
man  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith." 

It  is  characteristic  of  his  work  among  us  that  his  last  public 
utterance  was  addressed  to  a  great  congregation  of  miners 
welcomed  to  his  Cathedral  Church,  and  that  half  an  hour  later 
he  was  reading  the  proof-sheet  of  a  note  to  Bishop  Lightfoot's 
essay  on  The  Christian  Ministry. 

It  is  only  the  late  Bishop's  written  injunction  which  has 
restrained  his  Diocese  from  offering  to  his  memory  some  material 
monument.  Nothing  can  restrain  us  from  cherishing  and  profiting 
by  the  spiritual  monument  of  his  illustrious  work  and  inspiring  life. 


DEAN  AND  CHAPTER  OF  DURHAM 

The  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Durham  cannot  assume  the  charge 
of  the  Spiritualties  of  the  vacant  See  of  Durham  without  recording 
the  deep  sense  which  they  entertain  of  the  most  serious  loss  the 


i  PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  409 

Cathedral,  the  Diocese,  and  the  University  of  Durham  have 
sustained  by  the  death  of  their  revered  Bishop  and  much -loved 
friend  Dr.  Brooke  Foss  Westcott. 


DEAN  AND  CHAPTER  OF  PETERBOROUGH 

Profoundly  deploring  the  great  loss  to  the  Church  of  England 
and  to  Christendom  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham,  we,  the 
members  of  the  Chapter  of  Peterborough  Cathedral,  of  which  he 
was  for  fourteen  years  a  most  distinguished  Canon,  desire  to 
tender  to  the  family  of  the  late  Bishop  our  sincere  and  most 
respectful  sympathy. 

SOCIETY  FOR  PROMOTING  CHRISTIAN  KNOWLEDGE 

The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  desires  to  put 
on  record  the  loss  which  it  has  sustained  through  the  lamented 
death  of  the  Right  Reverend  Dr.  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  Bishop 
of  Durham,  one  of  its  official  Vice -Presidents  and  one  of  its 
Episcopal  Referees. 

In  common  with  the  Church  at  large,  the  Society  remembers 
with  gratitude  his  singular  gifts  as  a  devout  scholar,  an  inspiring 
teacher,  and  a  wise  interpreter  with  matchless  spiritual  insight. 
It  further  recognises  that  it  was  given  to  him  largely  to  influence 
the  cause  of  peace  at  home  and  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom 
abroad. 

His  interest  in  the  Society  was  manifested  by  many  public 
utterances,  notably  in  its  Bicentenary  Year ;  and  his  earnest 
advocacy  of  the  Lay  Workers'  College  at  Stepney  at  a  meeting  in 
the  Society's  House  will  long  be  remembered. 

The  Society  thanks  God  for  the  life  and  work  of  this  great 
Bishop,  and  at  the  same  time  desires  to  offer  its  sincere  sympathy 
to  his  family  in  their  bereavement. 

SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL  IN 
FOREIGN  PARTS 

At  its  first  meeting  after  the  decease  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  late  Lord  Bishop  of 
Durham,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts  desires  to  place  on  record  its  sense  of  the  loss 
which  it  thus  sustains. 


4io          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT          APP. 

While  the  Church  generally  is  honouring  the  memory  of  a 
great  prelate,  and  sacred  scholarship  retains  the  prints  of  his 
toil  among  its  most  valued  treasures,  the  Society  cannot  forget 
that  the  life  of  Bishop  Westcott  has  had  a  missionary  influence 
of  exceptional  range  and  force.  It  was  as  an  expert  that  he 
wrote  or  spoke  on  Missionary  subjects.  When  Regius  Professor 
of  Divinity  at  Cambridge  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  connected 
with  the  brotherhood  of  that  University  at  Delhi ;  as  a  father 
he  gave  no  fewer  than  four  of  his  own  sons  to  the  Society's 
missions  in  India ;  and  as  Bishop  he  encouraged  his  clergy  to 
listen  to  the  call  to  engage  in  work  abroad,  and  laboured  to  foster 
the  missionary  spirit  among  the  people  of  his  diocese. 


CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

The  Committee  have  heard  with  profound  regret  of  the  death 
of  the  Right  Reverend  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
Durham,  and  a  Vice- President  of  the  Society.  Ripe  in  years 
and  honours,  he  has  passed  to  his  rest,  having  enriched  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  every  land  not  less  by  the  sincere  simplicity 
of  a  saintly  life  than  by  the  rare  stores  of  learning,  as  varied  as 
they  were  profound.  Of  his  distinguished  career  as  a  master, 
professor,  and  bishop  it  does  not  become  the  Committee  to 
speak.  But  they  bear  thankful  witness  to  the  noble  example 
which  he  has  left  of  earnest  and  intelligent  interest  in  Foreign 
Missions,  and  how  willingly  he  gave  four  of  his  sons  to  be 
missionaries  in  India.  The  Committee  recall  with  gratitude  the 
frequent  occasions  when  he  publicly  advocated  the  cause  of  the 
Society  in  memorable  addresses  which  were  marked  not  only  by 
their  breadth  of  view  but  by  the  accuracy  of  the  information 
which  they  contained. 

The  committee  respectfully  offer  the  expression  of  their 
deep  sympathy  with  the  family  of  the  late  Bishop,  now  mourning 
a  third  bereavement  within  so  few  months. 


CAMBRIDGE  MISSION  TO  DELHI 

The  Committee,  at  this  their  first  meeting  after  the  death  ot 
Bishop  Westcott,  desire  to  place  on  record,  however  inadequately, 
their  sense  of  the  vast  debt  of  gratitude  which  they  owe  to  that 
great  and  admirable  man.  His  inspiring  counsels  from  the 


i  PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  411 

very  birth  of  the  Mission,  his  constant  and  minute  devotion  to 
its  welfare  and  its  operations  so  long  as  he  remained  at  Cam 
bridge,  and  the  commanding  position  which  he  held  in  the 
Church,  made  us  proud  of  his  leadership  while  he  lived,  and  now 
leave  us  thankful  for  his  holy  and  beautiful  memory.  The 
Delhi  Brotherhood  will  not  forget  the  services  either  of  the 
father  or  of  the  son. 


THE  DELHI  BROTHERHOOD 

The  members  of  the  Cambridge  Mission  desire  to  express 
their  deep  sense  of  the  loss  which  they  have  sustained  in  the 
death  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham.  While  it  would  hardly  become 
them  to  attempt  to  estimate  the  measure  of  the  loss  to  the  whole 
Anglican  communion  of  one  who  by  common  consent  had  come 
to  be  recognised  as  its  greatest  living  theologian,  and  whose 
life  and  character  during  his  long  career  as  a  teacher,  author,  and 
leader  had  won  for  him  so  unique  an  influence  in  the  Church 
and  realm  of  England,  they  feel  they  may  venture  to  record  the 
magnitude  of  the  debt  they  owe  him  both  as  a  mission  and  in 
many  cases  as  individuals  bound  to  him  by  such  intimate  ties 
of  affection  and  regard.  They  cannot  forget  that  it  was  to  his 
inspiring  influence  and  suggestion  that  the  Cambridge  Mission 
owed  its  origin,  and  that  in  all  the  stages  of  its  history  he 
was  ever  foremost  in  aiding  and  shaping  its  development,  its 
counsellor  in  difficulty,  its  sympathiser  in  times  of  trouble  and 
bereavement.  They  believe  that  to  him  more  than  to  any  other 
churchman  of  his  day  was  due  the  marked  revival  of  the  mission 
ary  spirit,  of  the  recognition  that  the  cause  of  Missions  is  "  not 
only "  (to  use  his  own  words)  "  a  duty  of  Christian  obedience, 
but  the  condition,  the  sign,  the  support  of  our  Christian 
growth."  They  desire  to  express  their  thankfulness  to  Almighty 
God  for  His  goodness  in  sparing  so  long  to  the  service  of  the 
Church  a  life  of  such  pre-eminent  gifts  and  graces,  and  they 
offer  their  deepest  sympathy  to  the  surviving  members  of  his 
family,  the  youngest  member  of  which  they  cannot  but  ever 
thankfully  remember  laid  down  his  life  here  in  Delhi  in  the 
service  of  the  Mission  to  which  his  father  so  readily  spared  him. 

The  INDIAN  CHURCH  AID  ASSOCIATION  also,  through  their 
President,  Bishop  Johnson,  expressed  "our  strong  sense  of 


412          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

the  loss  which  India  has  sustained  in  the  death  of  your 
honoured  father.  His  interest  in  India  was  of  an  almost 
romantic  character.  .  ." 


BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN  BIBLE  SOCIETY 

The  death,  on  Saturday  evening,  27th  July,  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Durham,  removes  from 
the  list  of  the  Society's  Vice-Presidents  one  of  its  most  distin 
guished  and  most  honoured  names.  To  the  expressions  of 
profound  regret  which  the  news  of  his  death  has  evoked  not 
only  in  the  Church  and  from  the  people  to  which  he  himself 
belonged,  but  from  all  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church,  at 
home  and  abroad,  the  Committee  of  the  Bible  Society  add  their 
tribute  of  appreciation  and  high  regard.  They  join  in  gratitude 
to  Almighty  God  for  the  memory  of  a  prince  among  men,  whose 
talents  and  personality  were  at  all  times  reverently  and  patiently 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

In  every  part  of  his  career  no  one  could  fail  to  recognise  the 
dedication  of  his  gifts  to  Him  from  Whom  they  were  received. 

The  brilliant  scholarship  which  made  his  name  famous,  and 
added  so  much  to  the  storehouse  of  truth,  received  its  comple 
ment  in  the  strenuous  and  sympathetic  labours  with  which  his 
later  years  were  associated.  Whether  engaged  in  academic 
studies  or  in  the  patient  unravelling  of  social  problems,  he  was 
conspicuous  for  the  clearness  of  his  vision  and  the  perfect 
courage  of  his  convictions.  "  He  leaves  a  name  behind  him 
that  his  praises  should  be  reported." 

To  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  the  late  Bishop  of 
Durham  was  a  warm  and  devoted  friend.  When  in  1883  the 
Committee  appointed  him  a  Vice-President,  they  were,  even  then, 
only  in  part  acknowledging  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  public 
utterances  on  behalf  of  the  Society  and  his  more  personal 
support. 

That  debt  has  been  vastly  increased  since  then,  and  the 
Committee,  in  paying  respect  to  his  memory,  gratefully  put  on 
record  their  feelings  of  thankfulness  for  the  long  association  of 
his  name  and  life-work  with  the  aims  of  the  Bible  Society. 

To  those  nearer  to  him  in  ties  of  kinship  the  Committee  tender 
their  warmest  sympathy. 


PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  413 


WESLEY  AN  METHODIST  CONFERENCE1 

My  Lord — The  Wesleyan  Conference  now  in  Session  at  New- 
castle-on-Tyne  has  heard  with  deep  regret  of  your  Lordship's 
serious  illness,  and  has  instructed  us  by  a  unanimous  vote  to 
assure  you  of  its  heartfelt  and  prayerful  sympathy. 

Your  Lordship's  writings  have  for  many  years  been  an  inspira 
tion  to  our  ministers  and  people,  and  your  latest  volume  has  come 
to  us  as  a  message  from  our  common  Master. 

We  have  always  regarded  your  life  as  a  great  gift  from  the 
Head  of  the  Church  to  our  own  people  as  well  as  to  your  Lord 
ship's  own  communion,  and  we  desire  to  assure  you  of  our  pro 
found  esteem,  and  our  earnest  hope  that  a  life  so  valuable  may 
be  prolonged  to  the  glory  of  God. — Believe  us,  my  Lord,  on 
behalf  of  the  Conference,  yours  faithfully, 

W.  T.  DAVISON,  President. 
MARSHALL  HARTLEY,  Secretary. 


SUNDERLAND    FREE    CHURCH    COUNCIL 

We  recognise,  with  deep  gratitude  to  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church,  the  many  Christian  qualities  and  eminent  graces  which 
were  patent  to  the  most  casual  observer  of  the  life  of  Bishop 
Westcott.  His  love  to  Christ,  his  genuine  piety,  his  reverent 
manner,  his  catholic  spirit,  his  spiritual  instinct,  his  social  interest, 
his  practical  help,  his  ripe  scholarship,  and  his  humble  bearing, 
are  a  few  of  the  traits  which  were  manifest  in  him,  and  which 
call  for  our  praise  to  God. 

The  Episcopal  Church  has  sustained  a  great  loss  in  his  de 
parture,  and  not  only  the  Episcopal  Church,  but,  what  is  larger 
than  any  sect,  the  Church  universal  mourns  his  absence. 

The  Sunderland  Division  of  the  Salvation  Army  also  for 
warded  a  resolution  of  sympathy. 

BOARD  OF  CONCILIATION  FOR  THE  DURHAM  COAL  TRADE 

This  meeting  desires  to  record  its  profound  sorrow  at  the 
death  on  Sunday  last  of  the  Right  Reverend  Dr.  Westcott, 
Bishop  of  Durham. 

1  This  is  the  message  which  was  received  and  welcomed  by  the  Bishop 
on  the  day  on  which  he  died.  See  p.  398. 


414          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

He  had,  by  his  earnest  desire  and  active  efforts  to  promote 
peace  and  harmony  in  the  great  industries  of  the  county,  and 
especially  in  the  coal  trade,  won  the  high  esteem  and  the  con 
fidence  of  both  employers  and  employed. 

His  mediation  contributed  largely  to  the  settlement  of  the 
Coal  Trade  Strike  in  1892,  and  his  influence  aided  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Conciliation  Board  in  1895. 

He  evinced  sympathy  with  all  that  concerned  the  material 
wellbeing  of  the  wage-earning  community  throughout  the  county, 
and  gave  to  efforts  to  promote  such  wellbeing  encouragement 
and  practical  aid. 

It  was  a  remarkable  and  appropriate  conclusion  to  his  life 
that  his  last  public  appearance,  within  a  very  few  days  of  his 
death,  was  to  preach  in  Durham  Cathedral  to  the  miners  of  the 
county  on  their  Annual  Demonstration  day. 

Capital  and  labour,  equally  represented  by  this  Board,  desire 
to  preserve  his  memory  and  to  cherish  his  precepts,  and  they 
now  unite  in  tendering  to  his  family  their  deep  and  respectful 
sympathy. 


DURHAM  MINERS'  ASSOCIATION 

We,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Durham  Miners'  Associ 
ation,  in  the  name  of  our  members,  express  our  universal  sorrow 
at  the  death  of  our  respected  Bishop  and  friend,  the  late  Bishop 
Westcott.  We  recognise  that  we  have  lost  a  sympathiser,  coun 
sellor,  and  helper  in  all  our  efforts  for  better  conditions,  both  in 
our  home  surroundings  and  our  working  life.  From  the  first  day 
of  his  residence  amongst  us,  we  felt  that  it  was  his  desire  to  be 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  in  the  truest  and  best  sense  of  the  term  ; 
and  as  the  years  have  passed,  that  feeling  has  been  strengthened 
by  the  words  of  kindly  counsel  he  has  given  us,  and  by  his 
generous  and  helpful  actions.  While,  therefore,  we  share  in  the 
loss  that  has  fallen  upon  the  whole  community,  we  join  in  the  ex 
pression  of  regret  and  sorrow  which  will  be  felt  in  every  portion 
of  the  sphere  in  which  he  moved  ;  and  we  tender  our  sympathy 
to  the  relatives  of  the  truly  great  and  kindly  Christian  who  has 
been  taken  from  a  life  in  which  he  lived  usefully  and  well  to 
a  reward  which  awaits  all  who  try  to  correct  the  wrongs  and 
brighten  the  darkness  of  this  life. 


i  PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  415 

NORTHUMBERLAND  MINERS'  MUTUAL  CONFIDENT 
ASSOCIATION 

Death  of  Bishop  Westcott 

Resolved,  that  on  behalf  of  our  Association  we  express  our 
deep  sympathy  and  condolence  with  the  family  of  the  late  Bishop 
of  Durham  in  their  sorrowful  bereavement.  We  feel  that  we 
have  ourselves  lost  a  warm  and  sincere  friend,  whose  sympathies 
with  and  helpfulness  to  everything  calculated  to  raise  the  char 
acter  and  improve  the  condition  of  the  workers  were  ever  active 
and  ever  wisely  directed.  By  personal  effort  and  by  the  influence 
of  his  high  position  the  Bishop  at  all  times  strove  to  encourage 
industrial  peace  and  to  promote  those  sentiments  of  goodwill 
and  those  principles  of  equity  between  employers  and  workmen 
which  are  the  only  sure  foundations  of  peaceful  industry. 

Bishop  Westcotfs  Portrait 

Resolved,  that  considering  the  eminent  services  rendered  by 
the  Bishop  to  the  workers  of  the  North  in  general,  and  to  the 
miners  in  particular,  by  his  powerful  advocacy  of  conciliation  for 
the  prevention  of  disputes  between  employers  and  employed,  and 
of  all  other  methods  and  movements  calculated  to  promote  their 
welfare,  our  agents  be  authorised  to  obtain  a  suitable  portrait  of 
him  for  our  hall. 

NORTHUMBERLAND  AND  DURHAM  MINERS'  PERMANENT 
RELIEF  FUND 

The  General  Committee  of  the  Northumberland  and  Durham 
Miners'  Permanent  Relief  Fund  desire  to  express  their  sorrow  at 
the  loss  that  their  Society  has  sustained  by  the  lamented  death  of 
the  Right  Reverend  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham  (Dr.  Westcott), 
who  was  an  honorary  member  and  supporter  of  their  Society. 

And  they  offer  to  the  members  of  the  late  Bishop's  family  an 
expression  of  their  deepest  sympathy  and  condolence  with  them 
in  their  sad  bereavement. 

DURHAM  COUNTY  COUNCIL 

That  the  sincere  condolence  of  this  Council  be  offered  to  the 
family  of  the  Right  Reverend  Brooke  Foss,  late  Lord  Bishop  of 


4i 6          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

Durham,  on  the  occasion  of  his  lamented  decease  ;  and  that  a 
copy  of  this  resolution  be  forwarded  to  his  son,  the  Rev.  F.  B. 
Westcott. 


COUNTY  BOROUGH  OF  SUNDERLAND 

It  was  resolved,  on  the  motion  of  the  Mayor,  that  this  Council 
desires  to  place  on  record  its  sense  of  the  severe  loss  sustained  by 
the  Diocese  owing  to  the  death  of  the  Right  Reverend  Brooke 
Foss  Westcott,  D.D.,  its  Lord  Bishop,  whose  wise,  gentle,  yet 
powerful  administration  has  in  a  marked  degree  advanced  the 
cause  of  Christianity  in  the  diocese  and  county  of  Durham. 

The  Council  bears  witness  to  the  great  love  of  humanity  which 
his  Lordship  so  eminently  evinced,  his  sympathy  with  all  good 
works,  the  great  labour  he  bestowed  for  the  good  and  welfare  of 
every,  and  especially  the  working,  class,  and,  above  all,  to  the 
exemplification  of  true  Christian  character  given  by  his  noble  life. 

Resolutions  of  sympathy  were  also  received  from  the 
governing  bodies  of  Durham,  Darlington,  Gateshead,  Hartle- 
pool,  Jarrow,  and  Stockton. 

Also  the  following : — 

At  a  coroner's  inquest  held  in  the  Borough  Buildings  of  the 
ancient  Royal  Borough  of  Hartlepool  this  day,  the  coroner,  fore 
man,  jurors,  and  witnesses,  all  standing,  in  solemn  silence,  passed 
a  resolution  which  they  desired  should  be  transmitted  to  the 
bereaved  family  of  Dr.  Westcott  now  assembled  at  Auckland 
Castle.  They  desire  to  testify  their  high  appreciation  of  the  lofty 
piety,  the  noble  consistency,  and  the  truly  Christian  liberality  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed  whereby  the  late  Dr.  Westcott  exalted 
all  the  infinitely  great  things  respecting  which  Christian  people 
are  agreed,  while  exhibiting  the  comparatively  infinite  littleness  of 
those  things  which  are  matters  of  difference.  They  also  desire  to 
assure  his  mourning  relatives  that  they  see  in  the  life  and  death  of 
him  they  mourn  a  lesson  and  an  example  whose  influence  for  good 
will  long  survive  the  earthly  career  that  has  shed  no  common 
lustre  on  the  name  of  Westcott  and  the  annals  of  the  Diocese  of 
Durham.  J.  HYSLOP  BELL,  County  Coroner. 


PUBLIC  TRIBUTES  417 


KlNGSTON-UPON-HULL   CO-OPERATIVE    SOCIETY 

This  meeting  desires  to  express  their  deep  sympathy  with  the 
family  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Durham  in  their  sad  and  sudden 
bereavement  in  the  death  of  their  illustrious  father. 

We  trust  that  the  universal  expression  of  the  nation  will  some 
what  alleviate  the  great  blow  that  has  fallen  upon  you. 


BISHOP  AUCKLAND  CO-OPERATIVE  SOCIETY 

That  we,  the  members  of  the  Bishop  Auckland  Industrial 
Co-operative  Flour  and  Provision  Society  (Limited),  in  quarterly 
meeting  assembled,  do  herewith  express  our  sincere  sorrow  and 
deep  sense  of  loss  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  late  Right 
Reverend  Dr.  Westcott,  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham,  by  which  the 
world  has  lost  a  great  scholar  and  divine,  the  diocese  of  Durham 
a  devoted  and  faithful  Bishop,  the  cause  of  co-operation  an 
advanced  and  earnest  advocate,  and  all  great  industrial  and  social 
movements  of  reform  a  true  and  wise  friend. 

We  also  desire  to  express  to  the  family  of  the  late  Bishop  our 
sincere  sympathy  with  them  in  this  hour  of  their  bereavement  and 
sorrow. 

DARLINGTON  INDEPENDENT  LABOUR  PARTY 

That  we,  the  members  of  the  Darlington  branch  of  the  Inde 
pendent  Labour  Party,  in  monthly  meeting  assembled,  desire  to 
record  our  deep  sense  of  the  great  loss  the  cause  of  social  reform 
has  sustained  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Westcott,  Bishop  of  Durham  ; 
to  express  our  highest  appreciation  of  the  earnestness  and  zeal 
with  which  he  sought  to  improve  the  social  conditions  of  the 
masses  ;  and  desire  to  convey  to  his  family  our  sincere  sympathy 
with  them  in  the  loss  they  have  sustained. 


ROYAL  INFIRMARY,  NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE 

The  House  Committee  of  the  Royal  Infirmary,  Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne,  desire  to  place  on  the  record  of  their  minutes  an 
expression  of  their  sense  of  the  loss  the  institution  has  sustained 
by  the  lamented  death  of  the  Right  Reverend  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Durham,  Dr.  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  the  Grand  Visitor  of  the 

VOL.  II  2  E 


418          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT         APP.  i 

Infirmary,  and  to  offer  to  the  members  of  the  late  Bishop's  family 
a  tribute  of  sincere  sympathy  and  condolence  with  them  in  their 
bereavement  and  trying  dispensation. 

A  similar  resolution  was  also  received  from  the  Sunderland 
Infirmary. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  DURHAM  COLLEGE  OF  MEDICINE, 
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE 

The  members  of  the  University  of  Durham  College  of  Medicine, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  at  this  the  annual  meeting  of  the  College, 
desire  to  place  on  the  record  of  their  minutes  an  expression  of 
their  sense  of  the  loss  the  University  of  Durham  has  sustained  by 
the  lamented  death  of  the  Right  Reverend  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Durham,  Dr.  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  the  Visitor  of  the  University, 
and  to  offer  to  the  members  of  the  late  Bishop's  family  a  tribute 
of  sincere  sympathy  and  condolence  with  them  in  their  bereave 
ment  and  trying  dispensation. 

Resolutions  were  also  received  from  the  Church  Historical 
Society,  the  State  Children's  Association,  Durham  Diocesan 
Branch  of  C.E.T.S.,  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary 
Society,  the  Governors  of  the  North-Eastern  County  School 
(Barnard  Castle),  the  Governors  of  King  James  I.  Grammar 
School  (Bishop  Auckland),  Weardale  Naturalists'  Field  Club, 
South  Shields  Burial  Board,  Sunderland  Y.M.C.A.,  Oaken 
shaw  Colliery  Y.M.C.A.,  West  Hartlepool  Coroner's  Jury, 
Bishop  Auckland  Urban  District  Council,  Board  of  Guardians 
of  the  Chester-le-Street  Union,  Hudson  Lodge  of  Freemasons 
(Towlaw),  the  Auckland  Musical  Society,  the  National  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  (Bishop  Auckland 
Branch),  Bishop  Auckland  Petty  Sessions,  Consett  Church 
Council,  Coundon  Church  Council,  Shildon  Church  Council. 


APPENDIX    II 

PRAYERS 
BY  B.  F.  WESTCOTT 

THE  following  Common  Prayers  for  family  use  were  originally 
written  for  Evening  Prayers  in  my  father's  house  at  Harrow, 
but  they  were  in  continuous  use  at  the  household  family 
prayers  until  the  move  to  Bishop  Auckland.  Even  in  the 
Castle  Chapel  my  father  used  a  few  Collects  from  these 
Prayers  in  the  latter  part  of  Evensong  (after  the  Third 
Collect  and  Hymn),  which  he  always  took  himself. 

COMMON  PRAYERS 


tmtfjotu  ceasing. 
Cf)t  effectual  fertoent  Prayer  of  a  rigfjteouj;  man  afeatletl)  mud). 

JBfjatjSoetjer  t^ingjt  pe  Bejiire  tofien  pe  prap, 

fceltebe  tfiat  pe  receifeeD  tljem  anu  pe  si^jaH  Ijabe  tTjem. 

TSretljren  prap  for  ua. 

SUNDAY 
tyallotoeti  be  %>$%  ^ame, 

^f  Psalm,  or  Lesson. 

Reader.  The  secret  of  the  LORD  is  among  them  that  fear  Him 
Answer.  And  He  will  shew  them  His  Covenant. 

R.   Let  us  pray. 
419 


420          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

U  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.  Teach  us  Thy  way,  O  LORD  : 

A.  And  knit  our  hearts  unto  Thee^  that  we  may  fear  Thy 
Name. 

R.   Grant  us  true  understanding  and  knowledge : 

A.  So  shall  iv e  keep  Thy  law. 

R.   Open  our  eyes  that  we  may  see  Thy  wondrous  works  : 

A.  And  let  our  mouth  be  filled  with  Thy  praise  all  the  day 
long. 

R.  O  help  us  to  give  Thee  the  honour  due  unto  Thy  Name  : 
A.  And  to  worship  Thee  with  a  holy  worship. 

51  Collect  for  a  devout  reverence  of  all  the  works  of  GOD. 

O  Almighty  GOD,  Who  has  made  us  in  Thy  image,  and  given 
unto  us  the  enjoyment  of  many  excellent  gifts,  enable  us  by  Thy 
Holy  Spirit  to  use  these  Thy  blessings  to  Thy  glory.  Grant  unto 
us  a  devout  reverence  for  all  Thy  works.  Pour  into  our  hearts  a 
true  love  for  all  who  are  called  by  Thy  Name.  Quicken  our  souls 
that  we  may  at  all  times  be  sensible  of  Thy  presence ;  and  make 
us,  day  by  day,  more  fit  to  see  Thee  hereafter  as  Thou  art  in 
heaven,  through  JESUS  CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  6tk  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany .] 
^  Collect  for  a  devout  reverence  0/"GOD's  Word. 

Blessed  LORD,  by  Whose  Providence  all  Holy  Scriptures  were 
written  and  preserved  for  our  instruction,  give  us  grace  to  study 
them  each  day  with  patience  and  love.  Strengthen  our  souls  with 
the  fulness  of  their  divine  teaching.  Keep  from  us  all  pride  and 
irreverence.  Guide  us  in  the  deep  things  of  Thy  heavenly  wisdom ; 
and,  of  Thy  great  mercy,  lead  us  by  Thy  Word  into  everlasting 
life,  through  JESUS  CHRIST  our  Saviour.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  2nd  Sunday  in  Advent.'] 
IT  Collect  for  a  devout  reverence  of  Divine  Services. 

O  Eternal  GOD,  by  Whom  the  whole  Body  of  CHRIST  is 
sustained  and  governed,  we  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  called  us 


ir  PRAYERS  421 

to  worship  Thee  in  Thy  Holy  Church.  Grant  to  us  each  day 
to  feel  more  deeply  the  privileges  of  Christian  fellowship.  Bless 
to  us  all  the  services  of  Thy  public  worship.  Reveal  Thyself  to 
us,  according  to  Thy  promises,  in  the  appointed  means  of  grace, 
and  especially  in  the  Holy  Sacraments.  Give  a  rich  increase  to 
each  seed  of  good  sown  in  our  hearts  ;  and  by  Thy  almighty 
power  keep  us  steadfast  in  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints, 
through  CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  All  Saints'  Day.} 

[IT  Special  Collect  before  or  after  Holy  Communion;  or  for 
the  Day  or  Season .] 

R.  Set  up  Thyself,  O  GOD,  above  the  heavens  : 

A.  And  Thy  Glory  above  all  the  earth. 

R.   Serve  the  LORD  with  fear  : 

A.  And  rejoice  unto  Him  with  reverence. 

R.   Let  us  pray. 

We  give  Thee  humble  and  hearty  thanks,  O  most  merciful 
Father,  for  all  the  blessings  of  the  past  day.  Teach  us  to  praise 
Thee  not  only  with  our  lips,  but  with  our  works  and  with  our 
lives.  We  are  Thine  :  O  sanctify  us  wholly. 

Bless  our  King  and  all  who  are  put  in  authority  under  him. 
Guide  and  strengthen  those  who  are  here  set  over  us.  Shield  all 
in  this  place  who  are  in  temptation  or  danger.  Guard  with  Thy 
gracious  protection  our  families  and  friends.  Forgive  us  our 
many  offences  and  failures  and  negligences  throughout  this  day ; 
and  defend  us,  of  Thy  great  love,  from  all  the  perils  of  the  night, 
for  the  sake  of  JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 

The  LORD  bless  us  and  keep  us  : 

The  LORD  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  us  and  be  gracious 
unto  us  : 

The  LORD  lift  up  the  light  of  His  countenance  upon  us  and 
give  us  peace.  Amen. 


422          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 


MONDAY 


^  Psalm,  or  Lesson. 
R.  The  kingdom  is  the  LORD'S  : 
A.  And  He  is  the  Governor  among  the  people. 

R.   Let  us  pray.    • 
IT  Collect  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Heathen. 

O  Almighty  and  most  merciful  Father,  Who  didst  send  Thy 
beloved  Son  to  die  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  look  down, 
we  beseech  Thee,  upon  all  the  nations  who  have  not  known  His 
name,  and  in  Thine  own  good  time  lead  them  to  His  Cross. 
Strengthen  with  the  comfort  of  Thy  Spirit  all  who  bear  abroad 
the  message  of  the  Gospel.  Raise  up  among  us  a  lively  sympathy 
with  their  labours.  Take  away  from  those  who  hear  them  all 
hardness  of  heart  and  pride  and  impenitence  ;  and  so  move  them, 
Blessed  LORD,  with  Thine  infinite  love,  that  the  day  may  speedily 
come  when  all  the  ends  of  the  world  shall  be  turned  unto  Thee, 
and  there  shall  be  one  flock  and  one  Shepherd.  We  ask  all  for 
CHRIST'S  sake.  Amen. 

[Or  Third  Collect  for  Good  Friday.} 

1F  Collect  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  in  our  Nation. 

We  humbly  thank  Thee,  O  Almighty  GOD,  for  the  many  bless 
ings  which  Thou  hast  given  to  our  country  :  and  add  this,  O 
LORD,  to  Thy  other  mercies  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  use  them 
better  in  Thy  service.  O,  take  from  among  us  all  contempt  of 
Thy  Word  and  commandments.  Break  down  all  the  barriers  of 
selfishness  and  ignorance  which  keep  men  from  Thee.  Convince 
the  impenitent  of  the  misery  of  sin,  and  comfort  the  broken 
hearted  with  the  assurance  of  Thy  love.  Teach  us  all  to  be 
Evangelists  not  in  word  only  but  in  everything  which  we  do. 
This  we  ask  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake.  Amen. 

[Or  Second  Collect  for  Good  Friday.  ~\ 


ii  PRAYERS  423 

*H  Collect  for  the  power  of  the  Gospel  within  us. 

O  LORD  GOD,  Who  by  Thy  Almighty  power  canst  subdue  all 
things  to  Thyself,  have  mercy  upon  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  and 
pardon  the  imperfection  of  our  service.  We  acknowledge  Thee 
as  our  only  King ;  and  do  Thou,  O  LORD,  subdue  every  power 
within  us  which  is  not  obedient  to  Thy  Law.  Hallow  and  purify 
our  souls  and  bodies  with  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  may  offer  to 
Thee  the  reasonable  sacrifice  of  our  lives,  O  LORD,  hear  us  ; 
O  LORD,  pardon  us  ;  O  LORD,  strengthen  us  ;  for  His  sake  Who 
was  born  and  died  and  rose  again  for  us. 

[Or  Collect  for  Easter  Even.} 

O  CHRIST,  hear  us. 
O  CHRIST,  hear  us. 
LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
CHRIST,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

IT  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.  O  LORD,  gather  unto  Thee  a  people  from  among  the  heathen  : 

A.   That  they  may  give  thanks  unto  Thy  Holy  Name. 

R.  Sanctify  those  that  are  called  by  Thy  Name  : 

A.  And  give  Thy  blessing  unto  Thine  inheritance. 

R.  Thou  art  our  Helper  and  Redeemer  : 

A.  Haste  Thou,  O  GOD,  to  deliver  us. 

R.  O  let  the  wickedness  of  the  ungodly  come  to  an  end : 

A.  But  guide  Thou  the  just. 

R.   Let  us  pray. 

[IF  Special  Collect^ 

We  give  Thee  humble  and  hearty  thanks,  O  most  merciful 
Father,  for  all  the  blessings  of  the  past  day.  Be  with  us  and 
guard  us  during  the  defenceless  hours  of  the  night. 

Bless  our  King  and  all  who  bear  rule  over  us.  Hasten  the 
time  when  peace,  truth,  and  justice  shall  be  established  through 
out  the  world.  [Reveal  Thyself  in  Thy  great  mercy  to  those  who 


424          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

are  afflicted  by  war,  and  cast  down  the  unrighteous  cause.] 
Support  and  relieve  all  who  are  distressed  in  mind  or  body, 

[especially ].        Shield    all    in    this    place    who    are 

in  temptation  or  danger.  Guard  with  Thy  gracious  protection 
our  families  and  friends.  Forgive  us  our  many  offences,  and 
failures,  and  negligences  throughout  this  day.  And  help  us  day 
by  day  to  serve  Thee  better  and  love  Thee  more  sincerely,  for 
JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  and  the  love  of  GOD, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  HOLY  GHOST,  be  with  us  all  evermore. 
Amen. 

TUESDAY 
&£p  23UII  be  Done* 
1F  Psalm,  or  Lesson. 

R.  The  salvation  of  the  righteous  cometh  of  the  LORD  : 
A.    Who  is  also  their  strength  in  the  time  of  trouble. 
R.   Let  us  pray. 

R.  O  LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us  : 

A.  O  LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

R.  O  LORD,  make  Thyself  known  unto  us  : 

A.  O  LORD,  make  Thyself  known  unto  us. 

R.  O  LORD,  teach  us  to  pray  to  Thee  as  we  ought : 

A.  O  LORD,  teach  us  to  pray  to  Thee  as  we  ought. 

1"  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.   Into  Thy  hands  we  commend  our  souls  : 

A.  For  Thou  hast  redeemed  us,  O  LORD,  Thou  God  of  Truth. 

R.   Unto  Thee  do  we  lift  up  our  cry : 

A.  O  let  us  not  be  confounded. 

R.   Let  Thy  merciful  kindness,  O  LORD,  be  upon  us  : 

A.  Like  as  we  do  put  our  trust  in  Thee. 

R.   O  stablish  us  according  to  Thy  word  : 

A.  And  let  us  not  be  disappointed  of  our  hope. 


ii  PRAYERS  425 

f  Collect  for  Faith. 

O  LORD  GOD,  in  Whom  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being,  open  our  eyes  that  we  may  behold  Thy  Fatherly  Presence 
ever  about  us.  Draw  our  hearts  to  Thee  with  the  power  of  Thy 
Love.  Teach  us  to  be  careful  for  nothing  ;  and  when  we  have 
done  what  Thou  hast  given  us  to  do,  help  us,  O  GOD,  our 
Saviour,  to  leave  the  issue  to  Thy  wisdom.  Take  from  us  all 
doubt  and  distrust.  Lift  our  thoughts  up  to  Thee  in  heaven  ; 
and  make  us  to  know  that  all  things  are  possible  to  us  through 
Thy  Son,  our  Redeemer.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  tfh  Sunday  after  Easter.} 
^  Collect  for  Courage. 

Blessed  LORD,  Who  wast  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we  are, 
have  mercy  upon  our  frailty.  Out  of  weakness  give  us  strength. 
Grant  to  us  Thy  fear,  that  we  may  fear  Thee  only.  Support  us 
in  time  of  temptation.  Embolden  us  in  the  time  of  danger. 
Help  us  to  do  Thy  work  with  good  courage,  and  to  continue 
Thy  faithful  soldiers  and  servants  unto  our  life's  end.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  tfh  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany '.] 
^  Collect  for  Truthfulness. 

Almighty  GOD,  Who  hast  sent  the  Spirit  of  Truth  unto  us  to 
guide  us  into  all  truth,  so  rule  our  lives  by  Thy  power,  that  we 
may  be  truthful  in  word,  and  deed,  and  thought.  O  keep  us, 
most  merciful  Saviour,  with  Thy  gracious  protection,  that  no  fear 
or  hope  may  ever  make  us  false  in  act  or  speech.  Cast  out  from 
us  whatsoever  loveth  or  maketh  a  lie,  and  bring  us  all  into  the 
perfect  freedom  of  Thy  truth  :  through  JESUS  CHRIST,  Thy  Son, 
our  Lord.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  ^rd  Sunday  after  Easter .] 

1T  Collect  for  Labour. 

O  LORD,  our  Heavenly  Father,  by  Whose  Providence  the 
duties  of  men  are  variously  ordered,  grant  to  us  all  such  a  spirit 
that  we  may  labour  heartily  to  do  our  work  in  our  several  stations, 
as  serving  one  Master  and  looking  for  one  reward.  Teach  us  to 


426          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

put  to  good  account  whatever  talents  Thou  hast  lent  to  us.  Help 
us  to  overcome  all  sloth  and  indolence ;  and  enable  us  to  redeem 
our  time  by  patience  and  zeal :  through  Thy  Son,  our  Saviour. 
Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  tfh  Sunday  after  Trinity} 
IT  Collect  for  Purity. 

O  Eternal  GOD,  who  hast  taught  us  by  Thy  Holy  Word  that 
our  bodies  are  temples  of  Thy  Spirit,  keep  us,  we  most  humbly 
beseech  Thee,  temperate  and  holy  in  thought,  word,  and  deed, 
that  at  the  last  we,  with  all  the  pure  in  heart,  may  see  Thee,  and 
be  made  like  unto  Thee  in  Thy  heavenly  kingdom  :  through 
CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  6th  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany '.] 
[1T  Special  Collect.} 

We  thank  Thee,  O  LORD,  for  all  the  blessings  of  the  past  day. 
Be  with  us  and  guard  us  throughout  the  night.  Forgive  us  our 
manifold  sins,  ignorances,  and  negligences,  that  so  we  may  rest  at 
peace  with  Thee  :  through  the  merits  of  Thy  Son,  our  Saviour, 
JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  and  the  love  of  GOD, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  HOLY  GHOST,  be  with  us  all  evermore. 

Amen. 

WEDNESDAY 

<$toe  u0  $10  Dap  our  Dailp  33reati» 
IT  Psalm   or  Lesson. 

R.  All  things  wait  upon  Thee,  O  LORD  : 

A.   Thou  openest  Thy  hand,  and  they  are  filled  with  good. 

R.   Let  us  pray. 

R.  O  GOD,  the  Father,  Creator  of  the  world,  have  mercy 
upon  us : 

A.  O  GOD,  the  Father,  etc. 


ii  PRAYERS  427 

R.  O  GOD,  the  Son,  Redeemer  of  mankind,  have  mercy 
upon  us  : 

A.  O  GOD,  the  Son,  etc. 

R.  O  GOD,  the  Holy  Ghost,  Sanctifier  of  Thy  people,  have 
mercy  upon  us : 

A.  O  GOD,  the  Holy  Ghost,  etc. 

R.  Hear  us,  O  LORD  GOD,  and  be  merciful  unto  us  for  Thy 
Name's  sake.  Thou  knowest  our  wants  :  teach  us  to  feel  them. 
Thou  knowest  our  ignorance :  teach  us  how  to  pray.  Thou 
knowest  our  weakness  :  teach  us  to  look  to  Thee  for  strength  : 

A.    We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  to  bless  our  King  and  nation :  to 
prosper  the  cause  of  peace,  truth  and  righteousness  throughout 
the  word  ;  and  to  hasten  the  coming  of  Thy  kingdom  : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  [to  bless  our  school ;]  to  increase 
among  us  self-denial  and  labour ;  and  to  hallow  all  our  work  by 
Thy  Holy  Spirit : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  to  make  us  bold  to  confess  Thee  in 
our  daily  life  ;  to  enable  us  to  check  evil  and  to  support  good, 
and  to  look  to  Thee  in  all  the  dangers  and  temptations  by  which 
we  are  beset : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  [to  preserve  us  from  the  perils  of 
wealth  and  station  ;]  to  make  us  tender-hearted  and  pitiful ;  to 
teach  us  to  help  all  who  are  in  distress,  or  necessity,  or  want : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  to  give  us  a  true  love  for  Thee  and 
for  Thy  service  :  to  enlarge  our  sympathy  for  those  who  are 
farthest  removed  from  us  :  to  pardon  and  enlighten  those  who 
condemn  us  wrongfully,  or  injure  us  : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  to  reveal  Thyself  to  those  who  do  not 
know  Thee  :  to  support  and  prosper  those  who  bear  Thy  gospel 
to  heathen  countries  :  to  bless  the  labours  of  those  who  work  in 


428          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

our  own  land :  to  convert  the  erring,  to  quicken  the  ignorant,  and 
to  draw  to  Thee  the  impenitent : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

That  it  may  please  Thee  to  continue  to  us  the  blessings  of 
health  and  vigour  and  prosperity,  and  of  Thy  Holy  Word  and 
ordinances,  and  to  help  us  to  use  them  all  to  Thy  glory : 

We  beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  LORD. 

O  LORD,  hear  us  : 

O  LORD,  hear  us. 

O  CHRIST,  hear  us  : 

O  CHRIST,  hear  us. 

O  LORD,  hear  us  : 

O  LORD,  hear  us. 

IT  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.  Be  not  Thou  far  from  us,  O  LORD  : 

A.  Thou  art  our  succour  :  haste  Thee  to  help  us. 

R.  Show  Thou  us  the  way  that  we  should  walk  in  : 

A.  For  we  lift  up  our  souls  unto  Thee. 

R.  Help  us,  O  GOD  of  our  salvation,  for  the  glory  of  Thy 
name : 

A.  O  deliver  us,  and  be  merciful  unto  our  sins,  for  Thy 
Name's  sake. 

[IT  Special  Collect.} 

We  thank  Thee,  O  most  merciful  Father,  for  Thy  kindness  to 
us  during  the  past  day.  Teach  us  to  praise  Thee  always  in  deed, 
and  not  in  word  only.  Pardon  our  manifold  sins  and  negligences, 
and  give  us  grace  to  live  more  worthily  of  our  Christian  profession. 
Receive  these  our  imperfect  prayers,  and  grant  us  what  we  need 
for  our  souls  and  bodies,  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake,  Thy  Son  our 
Saviour.  Amen. 

The  LORD  bless  us  and  keep  us  : 

The  LORD  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  us,  and  be  gracious 
unto  us : 

The  LORD  lift  up  the  light  of  His  countenance  upon  us,  arid 
give  us  peace.  Amen. 


ii  PRAYERS  429 

THURSDAY 
JForctoe  u0  our  3Cre0pa00e0* 

% 

U  Psalm^  or  Lesson. 

R.   In  Thee,  O  LORD,  have  I  put  my  trust : 

A.    Thou  shalt  answer  for  me,  O  LORD,  my  GOD. 

Confession  to  be  said  by  all  kneeling. 

Almighty  GOD,  Father  of  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  we  humbly 
acknowledge  our  manifold  sins  and  offences  against  Thee  by 
thought  and  deed.  We  have  neglected  opportunities  of  good 
which  Thou,  in  Thy  love,  gavest  unto  us.  We  have  been  over 
come  by  temptations,  from  which  Thou  wast  ready  to  guard  us. 
We  have  looked  unto  men,  and  not  unto  Thee,  in  doing  our  daily 
work.  We  have  thought  too  little  of  others,  and  too  much  of  our 
own  pleasure,  in  all  our  plans.  We  have  lived  in  forgetfulness 
of  the  life  to  come.  But  Thou  art  ever  merciful  and  gracious  to 
those  who  turn  to  Thee.  So  we  now  come  to  Thee  as  those 
whom  Thou  wilt  not  cast  out.  Hear,  O  LORD,  and  have  mercy 
upon  us.  O  Almighty  GOD,  heavenly  Father,  Who  forgivest 
iniquity  and  transgression ;  O  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  LAMB  OF 
GOD,  Who  takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  O  HOLY  SPIRIT, 
Who  helpest  the  infirmities  of  those  that  pray  :  receive  our  humble 
confession.  Give  us  true  repentance  and  sincere  faith  in  Thee. 
Do  away  our  offences,  and  give  us  grace  to  live  hereafter  more 
worthily  of  our  Christian  calling,  for  the  glory  of  Thy  great  name. 
Amen. 

R.  Hear,  O  LORD,  and  have  mercy  upon  us  : 
A.  LORD,  be  Thou  our  Helper. 
R.  Turn  Thy  face  from  our  sins  : 
A.  And  put  out  all  our  misdeeds. 
R.   Cast  us  not  away  from  Thy  presence  : 
A.  And  take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  us. 
R.   O  give  us  the  comfort  of  Thy  help  again  : 
A.   And  stablish  us  with  Thy  free  Spirit. 


430          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

II  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 
R.  Let  us  pray. 

H  Collect  for  Union. 

O  LORD  GOD,  Who  by  Thy  Providence  hast  ordered  various 
ranks  among  men,  draw  them  ever  closer  together  by  Thy  Holy 
Spirit.  Teach  us  to  know  that  all  differences  of  class  are  done 
away  in  CHRIST.  Take  from  us  and  from  our  countrymen  all  envy, 
jealousy  and  discontent.  Unite  us  one  to  another  by  a  common 
zeal  for  Thy  cause ;  and  enable  us  by  Thy  grace  to  offer  unto 
Thee  the  manifold  fruits  of  our  service,  through  CHRIST  our 
LORD.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  day  of  St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude.~\ 
11  Collect  for  Sympathy. 

Blessed  LORD,  who  for  our  sakes  was  content  to  bear  sorrow 
and  want  and  death,  grant  unto  us  such  a  measure  of  Thy  Spirit 
that  we  may  follow  Thee  in  all  self-denial  and  tenderness  of  soul. 
Help  us,  by  Thy  great  love,  to  succour  the  afflicted,  to  relieve  the 
needy  and  destitute,  to  comfort  the  feeble-minded,  to  share  the 
burdens  of  the  heavy-laden,  and  ever  to  see  Thee  in  all  that  are 
poor  and  desolate.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  the  Sunday  next  before  Easter.~\ 
U  Collect  for  Love. 

Almighty  and  most  merciful  Father,  Who  hast  given  us  a  new 
commandment  that  we  should  love  one  another,  give  us  also  grace 
that  we  may  fulfil  it.  Make  us  gentle,  courteous,  and  forbearing. 
Direct  our  lives,  so  that  we  may  look  each  to  the  good  of  others 
in  word  and  deed.  And  hallow  all  our  friendships  by  the  blessing 
of  Thy  Spirit,  for  His  sake,  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for 
us,  JESUS  CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 

[Or  Collect  for  Qmnquagesi?na.~\ 
[IT  Special  Collect.} 

We  give  Thee  humble  and  hearty  thanks,  O  most  merciful 
Father,  for  all  the  blessings  of  the  past  day.  Be  with  us  and 
guard  us  during  the  defenceless  hours  of  the  night. 


ii  PRAYERS  431 

Bless  our  King  and  all  who  bear  rule  over  us.  Hasten  the 
time  when  peace,  truth  and  justice  shall  be  established  throughout 
the  world.  [Reveal  Thyself  in  Thy  great  mercy  to  those  who  are 
afflicted  by  war,  and  cast  down  the  unrighteous  cause.]  Support 
and  relieve  all  who  are  distressed  in  mind  or  body,  [especially 

].      Shield  all  in  this  place  who  are  in  temptation   or 

danger.  Guard  with  Thy  gracious  protection  our  families  and 
friends.  Forgive  us  our  many  offences  and  failures  and  negligences 
throughout  this  day.  And  help  us  day  by  day  to  serve  Thee 
better  and  love  Thee  more  sincerely,  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake. 
Amen. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  and  the  love  of  GOD, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  HOLY  GHOST,  be  with  us  all  evermore. 
Amen. 

FRIDAY 

HeaH  u0  not  into  temptation,  but  ticliber  u0  from  t£e  (ZEtoil  2Dne* 
U  Psalm,  or  Lesson. 

R.  The  LORD  be  with  you  : 
A    And  with  Thy  Spirit. 

U  Let  us  pray. 

LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us  : 
LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
CHRIST,  have  mercy  upon  us  : 
CHRIST,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us : 
LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Have  mercy  upon  us,  O  GOD,  after  Thy  great  goodness  ;  and 
guide  us  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit :  in  all  the  perils  and  dangers  of  our 
daily  life, 

Guide  us,  good  LORD. 

In  times  of  happiness  and  joy :  in  times  of  sorrow  and  dejec 
tion  :  in  our  pleasures  and  in  our  cares, 

Guide  us,  good  LORD. 


432          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

In  times   of  labour  and   study :    in  times   of  relaxation  and 
repose :  in  our  work  and  in  our  amusements, 

Guide  us,  good  LORD. 

In  the  pursuit  of  noble  aims  :  in  the  flight  from  known  evil : 
in  success  and  disappointments, 

Guide  us,  good  LORD. 

In  the  common  intercourse  of  life  :  in  the  choice  of  companions  : 
in  the  society  of  friends, 

Guide  us,  good  LORD. 

From   all  outward  evils,  from  sickness,  from  suffering  :  from 
loss,  if  it  be  Thy  will, 

Good  LORD,  deliver  us  : 

From  all  hardness  of  heart  and  irreverence :  from  all  uncharit- 
ableness,  envy  and  jealousy  :  from  all  pride  and  selfishness, 

Good  LORD,  deliver  us. 

From  all  indolence  and  sloth  :    from  all  self-indulgence  and 
intemperance :  from  all  impurity  in  thought,  word  and  deed, 

Good  LORD,  deliver  us. 

From  all  deceit  and  untruthfulness  :  from  all  unworthy  ends  : 
from  all  undue  anxiety  and  distrust  in  Thee, 

Good  LORD,  deliver  us. 

From  neglect  of  Thy  Word    and  promises  :    from  neglect  of 
prayer  :  from  forgetfulness  of  Thee, 

Good  LORD,  deliver  us. 

O  GOD  the  Father,  Who  hast  promised  forgiveness  to  all  who 
turn  to  Thee, 

Pardon  our  sins  and  negligences. 

O  GOD  the  Son,  Who  knowest  the  frailty  of  our  nature, 

Strengthen  our  weakness. 

O  GOD  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  canst  hallow  all  things  by  Thy 
power, 

Renew  us  to  Thy  service. 


n  PRAYERS  433 

IF  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.   Hear  us,  O  GOD,  in  the  multitude  of  Thy  mercies  : 

A.  After  Thy  great  goodness  do  away  our  offences. 

R.  O,  remember  not  the  offences  of  our  youth  : 

A.  Nor  cast  Thy  servants  away  in  displeasure. 

R.  Set  a  watch,  O  LORD,  before  our  mouth  : 

A.  And  keep  the  door  of  our  lips. 

R.  O  cleanse  Thou  us  from  our  secret  faults : 

A.  And  preserve  us  from  presumptuous  sins. 

O  Almighty  and  most  merciful  GOD,  receive  these  our  humble 
prayers.  We  are  weak  ;  but  Thou  art  strong  and  gracious.  We 
have  left  undone  this  day  many  things  which  we  ought  to  have 
done,  and  done  that  which  we  ought  not  to  have  done  ;  but  Thou 
art  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  the  sins  of  those  who  confess  them 
unto  Thee  for  CHRIST'S  sake. 

O  show  us  the  light  of  Thy  countenance,  and  we  shall  be 
whole.  Guard  us  through  the  coming  night.  Bless  our  nation 
[our  school,  our  house,  or  our  families],  our  friends  ;  and  grant 
unto  us  those  things  which  we  have  faithfully  asked  according  to 
Thy  will,  and  whatever  else  we  need,  for  the  merits  of  Thy  Son 
our  Saviour  JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  and  the  love  of  GOD, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  HOLY  GHOST,  be  with  us  all  ever 
more.  Amen. 

SATURDAY 

Sfjine  10  t|>e  CUnctJom,  t£e  IPotoer  anH  t£e  <&Iorp* 
IF  Psalm,  or  Lesson. 

R.   Give  thanks  unto  the  LORD,  for  He  is  gracious  : 
A.  And  His  mercy  endurethfor  ever. 

5F   Thanksgiving,  all  kneeling. 

We  give  Thee  humble  and  hearty  thanks,  O  most  merciful 
Father,  for  all  Thy  goodness  and  loving  -  kindness  to  us  and  to 
VOL.  II  2  F 


434          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT          APP. 

all  men,  for  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and  for  the  promise  of 
everlasting  happiness.  And,  as  we  are  bound,  we  specially 
thank  Thee  for  the  mercies  which  we  have  ourselves  received 
from  Thee  during  the  past  week. 

For  health  and  strength,  for  outward  prosperity  and  well- 
being,  for  the  manifold  enjoyments  of  our  daily  life,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  future, 

We  thank  Thee,  O  GOD. 

[For  the  opportunities  of  learning,  for  the  discipline  of  sound 
instruction,  for  the  exercise  of  free  independence, 

We  thank  Thee,  O  GOD.] 

For  the  knowledge  of  Thy  will,  for  the  means  of  serving  Thee 
in  Thy  Holy  Church,  for  the  love  which  Thou  hast  revealed  to  us 
in  thy  Son,  our  Saviour, 

We  thank  Thee,  O  GOD. 

We  thank  Thee,  O  GOD,  for  every  blessing  of  soul  and  body ; 
and  add  this,  O  LORD,  to  Thy  other  mercies,  that  we  may  praise 
Thee  not  with  our  lips  only,  but  with  our  lives,  always  looking 
to  Thee  as  the  Author  and  Giver  of  all  good  things.  We  ask 
all  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake.  Amen. 


11  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER. 

R.   O  LORD,  satisfy  us  with  Thy  mercy  : 

A.   So  shall  we  rejoice  and  be  glad  all  the  days  of  our  life. 

R.   (standing.}     Hear   the  blessings   which  CHRIST   Himself 
hath  pronounced  on  those  who  love  Him  : 

Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit. 

A.   O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts  that  we  may  inherit  this  blessing. 
R.  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn. 
A.   O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts,  etc. 
R.   Blessed  are  the  meek. 
A.   O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts,  etc. 

R.  Blessed    are    they    which    do    hunger    and    thirst    after 
righteousness. 

A.   O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts,  etc. 


ii  PRAYERS  435 

R.  Blessed  are  the  merciful. 

A.  O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts,  etc. 

R.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart. 

A.  O  LORD,  rule  our  hearts,  etc. 

R.  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers. 

A.  O  LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  rule  our  hearts  that  we 
may  inherit  these  blessings. 

R.  (kneeling.}  We  thank  Thee,  O  LORD,  for  this  revelation 
of  Thy  will  which  Thou  hast  given  us.  Send  to  us  Thy  Holy 
Spirit  to  guide  and  teach  us,  that  we  may  be  made  worthy  of 
Thy  heavenly  kingdom,  and  live  now  as  fellow  -  citizens  of  the 
Saints.  O  LORD,  hear  us :  O  LORD,  have  mercy  upon  us :  O 
LORD,  make  us  like  unto  Thee.  Amen. 

[U  Special  Collect.'} 

O  Almighty  GOD,  pardon,  we  beseech  Thee,  our  sins  and 
negligences  during  the  past  week.  Help  us  in  future  to  struggle 
more  successfully  with  the  temptations  by  which  we  have  been 
overcome.  Confirm  and  strengthen  in  us  the  good  habits  which 
Thou  hast  enabled  us  to  begin  or  carry  out.  [Prosper  the 
whole  work  of  this  place  to  the  increase  of  godliness  and  good 
learning  in  our  nation.]  Bless  to  us  the  repose  and  services  of 
Thy  Holy  Day.  Teach  us  to  look  on  each  week  as  a  stage  in 
our  homeward  journey ;  and  ever  draw  us,  O  LORD,  nearer  to 
Thee  in  heart  and  soul,  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake.  Amen. 

T  Doxology  said  by  all. 

Glory  be  to  Thee,  O  GOD,  the  Father,  the  Maker  of  the  World. 
Glory  be  to  Thee,  O  GOD,  the  Son,  the  Redeemer  of  mankind. 

Glory  be  to  Thee,  O  GOD,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Sanctifier  of 
Thy  people.  Amen. 

The  LORD  bless  and  keep  us  : 

The  LORD  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  us,  and  be  gracious 
unto  us : 

The  LORD  lift  up  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  us  and 
give  us  peace.  Amen. 


436          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 


U  Collect  before  Communion. 

Almighty  GOD,  Who  hast  again  called  us  to  the  Communion 
of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  help  us  to  meditate  on  that 
Holy  Mystery  and  examine  ourselves,  that  by  Thy  grace  we  may 
be  received  as  worthy  guests  at  Thy  Holy  Feast,  in  humble 
dependence  on  Thy  Word.  Grant  to  us  such  a  spirit  that  we 
may  not  offend  Thee  by  lightly  regarding  Thy  command  or 
neglecting  Thy  promises.  But  so  teach  us,  Blessed  LORD,  that 
we  may  come  to  Thy  Table  with  faithful  and  penitent  hearts, 
and  there  obtain  remission  of  our  sins,  and  strength  for  a  new 
life :  through  Thy  Son,  our  only  Lord  and  Saviour,  JESUS 
CHRIST.  Amen. 

^T  Collect  after  Communion. 

Almighty  GOD,  Who  hast  given  Thine  only  Son  to  die  for 
us,  grant  that  we  [all]  who  have  this  day  been  united  in  the 
Communion  of  His  most  precious  Body  and  Blood,  may  be  so 
cleansed  from  our  [their]  past  sins,  and  so  strengthened  to  follow 
the  example  of  His  most  Holy  Life,  that  we  [they]  may  hereafter 
enjoy  everlasting  fellowship  with  Thee  in  heaven,  through  Him 
Who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us,  JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 

Keep  innocency,  and  take  heed  unto  the  thing  that  is  right;  for 
that  shall  bring  a  man  peace  at  the  last. 

HARROW,  January  1864. 


A  PRAYER  FOR  SUNDAY  MORNING 

O  LORD,  our  Heavenly  Father,  at  the  beginning  of  another 
week  we  come  to  Thee  for  help  and  light.  Grant,  we  beseech 
Thee,  that  we  may  hallow  this  day  of  rest  to  Thy  service  and  find 
in  Thee  all  peace  and  strength.  Quicken  our  devotion  that  we 
may  serve  Thee  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  lay  a  good  foundation 
for  our  coming  work.  Be  with  us  in  all  the  public  services  of 
Thy  Church,  that  we  may  join  in  them  with  heart  and  soul,  and 
receive  the  blessings  which  Thou  hast  promised  to  all  who  sincerely 
pray  to  Thee  and  faithfully  hear  Thy  word.  This  we  ask,  for 
the  sake  of  JESUS  CHRIST,  our  Lord.  Amen. 


ii  PRAYERS  437 


A  COLLECT  FOR  THE  DELHI  MISSION 

O  Eternal  LORD,  Father  of  mercies  and  GOD  of  hope,  who 
hast  in  Thy  love  joined  us  together  in  one  brotherhood  that  we 
may  labour  to  bring  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  to  the  many 
peoples  of  India,  we  humbly  beseech  Thee  that  Thou  wouldest 
enable  us  to  offer  to  Thee  the  perfect  sacrifice  of  ourselves,  our 
souls  and  bodies,  and  each  to  receive  from  the  fulness  of  our 
common  life  in  Thee  that  which  we  severally  need  for  our  work, 
the  gift  of  patience  and  faith,  the  gift  of  confidence  and  hope, 
the  gift  of  sympathy  and  love ;  and  so  to  enlighten,  O  LORD, 
the  eyes  of  our  hearts  that  we  may  discern  Thy  presence  both  in 
failure  and  in  success  and  evermore  rejoice  in  Thy  peace,  through 
JESUS  CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 


A  COLLECT  FOR  A  TRAINING  COLLEGE 

0  Almighty  GOD,  the  Father  of  Lights,  and  the  Giver  of  all 
good  gifts,  who  hast  put  into  our  hearts  the  desire  to  serve  Thee 

by  leading  Thy  |fittj^  ones}  t0  the  knowledSe  of  a11  things  true 
and  just  and  lovely,  we  beseech  Thee  so  to  guide  us  in  this  time 
of  our  preparation,  that  we  may  use  with  patient  devotion  the 
manifold  helps  which  Thou  hast  provided  for  our  instruction  and 
discipline,  and  find  in  every  increase  of  knowledge  and  power 
fresh  signs  of  Thy  love  and  will  for  us ;  and  so  fill  us,  O  LORD, 
with  the  spirit  of  Thy  grace  that  we  may  find  perfect  peace  in 
Thee,  and  be  enabled  to  bring  to  those  who  shall  hereafter  be 
committed  to  our  charge  what  we  have  ourselves  found,  through 
Thy  Son,  our  only  Lord  and  Saviour,  JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 
RUGBY,  y.st  March  1887. 

1  add  a  few  prayers  which  I  have  found  among  the  manu 
scripts  of  my  father's  later  years.     I  have  not  always  been 
able  to  determine  the   occasion  on  which  the    prayer  was 
used : — 

PRAYER  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  RESTORED  CHAPTER 
HOUSE  IN  DURHAM  CATHEDRAL,  23RD  MARCH  1895 

O  Almighty  GOD,  Who  hast  knit  together  Thine  elect  in  one 
communion   and  fellowship,  in   the   mystical   body  of  Thy   Son 


438          LIFE   OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT          APP. 

CHRIST  our  Lord :  we  bless  Thee  for  all  Thy  servants  departed 
this  life  in  Thy  faith  and  fear,  and  especially  for  him  in  whose 
memory  this  house  hath  again  been  made  meet  for  solemn  uses, 
beseeching  Thee  to  give  us  grace  so  to  follow  their  good  ex 
amples,  that  with  them  we  may  be  partakers  of  Thy  heavenly 
kingdom :  grant  this,  O  Father,  for  JESUS  CHRIST'S  sake,  our 
only  Mediator  and  Advocate.  Amen. 


PRAYER  AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  A  CHURCH  CLOCK  AT 
STAINDROP,  3iST  OCTOBER  1896 

O  Almighty  GOD,  from  Whom  come  all  good  gifts  and  all 
holy  desires,  we  humbly  beseech  Thee  to  accept  the  offering 
which  Thy  servants  have  made  to  Thy  Sanctuary  in  thankful 
acknowledgment  of  faithful  ministrations  among  them  for  fifty 
years  ;  and  grant  that  all  who  shall  hear  the  voice  which  pro 
claims  the  passing  hours  may  lift  up  their  thoughts  to  Thee,  and 
learn  so  to  number  their  days  that  they  may  apply  their  hearts  to 
that  wisdom  which  is  life  everlasting :  through  JESUS  CHRIST  our 
Lord.  Amen. 

PRAYER  AT  THE  LAYING  OF  THE  FOUNDATION  STONE  OF 
THE  SHIRE  HALL,  DURHAM 

Almighty  GOD  and  heavenly  Father,  Who  didst  teach  the 
hearts  of  Thy  faithful  people  by  the  sending  to  them  the  light  of 
Thy  Holy  Spirit,  grant  the  same  Spirit  to  all  those  who  shall 
hereafter  meet  together  in  this  house  for  counsel  and  action,  that 
having  a  right  judgment  in  all  things,  they  may  both  by  word  and 
deed  set  forward  Thy  glory  and  the  good  of  Thy  people  :  through 
Thy  Son,  JESUS  CHRIST,  our  Lord,  Who  liveth  and  reigneth  with 
Thee  in  the  unity  of  the  same  Spirit  world  without  end.  Amen. 

PRAYER  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SHIRE  HALL,  DURHAM, 
26TH  JULY  1898 

O  Almighty  GOD,  by  Whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 
justice,  hallow,  we  beseech  Thee,  this  Hall  by  Thy  presence  to 
those  who  shall  meet  here  in  the  years  to  come.  Pour  down 
upon  them  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding,  the  spirit  of 
counsel  and  ghostly  strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  true 
godliness  ;  and  fill  them,  O  LORD,  with  the  spirit  of  Thy  holy 


ii  PRAYERS  439 

fear,  that  by  their  endeavours  peace  and  goodwill,  truth  and 
righteousness,  prosperity  and  happiness,  may  be  established  and 
increased  among  us,  to  the  glory  of  Thy  name  and  the  good  of 
Thy  people  :  through  JESUS  CHRIST  our  Lord.  Amen. 


A  MISSIONARY  PRAYER 

O  LORD,  our  heavenly  Father,  the  GOD  of  peace,  enable  Thy 
servants,  we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  to  seek  through  faith 
in  the  Incarnation  of  Thy  Son  JESUS  CHRIST  in  thought  and  word 
and  deed  that  every  nation  of  men  may  be  led  to  bring  to  Thee 
the  manifold  gifts  of  their  service,  and  may  hasten  in  the  power 
and  spirit  of  one  brotherhood  the  times  of  the  restoration  of  all 
things,  which  Thou  hast  promised  by  Thy  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began.  We  ask  all  in  His  Name  Who  loved  us  and 
gave  Himself  for  us,  JESUS  CHRIST,  to  Whom  with  Thee  and  the 
HOLY  SPIRIT  be  all  honour  and  glory,  world  without  end.  Amen. 

A  PRAYER  FOR  THE  ROCKHAMPTON  BROTHERHOOD1 

Almighty  and  most  merciful  Father,  Who  hast  knit  us  together 
as  a  brotherhood  in  CHRIST  to  set  forth  of  Thy  glory  and  to  pro 
claim  the  Gospel  to  Thy  children  scattered  abroad :  grant  us,  we 
beseech  Thee,  the  manifold  gifts  of  Thy  Spirit,  that  we  may  be 
gentle  to  the  ignorant  and  to  the  erring,  wise  in  counsel,  patient 
under  disappointment,  and  unwearied  in  love  :  strengthen  in  us 
the  grace  of  mutual  affection  and  of  unceasing  prayer  :  enable  us  to 
do  all  things  in  the  Name  of  Thy  dear  Son,  and  to  commend  our 
message  by  the  fruits  of  the  life  which  He  came  to  give.  Guard 
us,  guide  us,  sustain  us  ;  and,  if  it  be  Thy  will,  hasten  through 
our  ministry  the  coming  of  Thy  Kingdom.  We  ask  all  for  JESUS 
CHRIST'S  sake,  Who  with  Thee  and  the  HOLY  GHOST  liveth  and 
reigneth  one  GOD  world  without  end.  Amen. 

A  MISSIONARY  PRAYER2 

O  LORD,  our  heavenly  Father,  almighty  and  eternal  GOD,  in 
Whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being,  and  Who  hast  so 

1  Written  at  the  request  of  the  Rev.  G.  D.  Halford. 

2  Written  by  request  of  the  Committee  of  the  Cambridge  University 
Church  Society  for  inclusion  in  their  Manual. 


440          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT       APP.  n 

ordered  the  world  that  all  nations  should  seek  Thee,  we  humbly 
pray  that  Thou  wouldest  be  pleased  to  reveal  Thyself  to  those 
who  have  not  yet  acknowledged  Thy  love. 

Upon  Thy  faithful  servants  who  bear  the  Gospel  to  our  fellow- 
subjects  in  India,  and  especially  .  .  .,  pour  out  the  spirit  of 
sympathy  and  wisdom  and  patience,  that  they  may  in  all  things 
discern  the  signs  of  Thy  Counsel  and  follow  the  teaching  of  Thy 
Spirit,  and  be  strengthened  and  sustained  by  Thy  Presence. 
Grant  to  those  who  hear  them  a  true  knowledge  of  their  own 
wants,  and  grace  to  believe  that  Thou  art  waiting  to  bless  all  who 
look  for  Thy  help. 

Unite  us  with  their  work  in  heart  and  soul,  that  we  in  them 
and  they  in  us  may  learn  more  and  more  the  power  of  that 
fellowship  which  is  perfected  in  Thee.  And  hasten,  O  LORD,  by 
their  ministry,  the  time  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  when  Thou 
shalt  receive  from  the  nations  which  Thou  hast  made  the  offerings 
of  their  manifold  service,  and  Thy  sheep  scattered  abroad  shall 
become  one  flock  under  the  one  Shepherd.  We  ask  all  in  the 
name  of  Thy  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  JESUS  CHRIST.  Amen. 


APPENDIX    III 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 

*  Writings  so  marked  were  subsequently  published  or  reprinted  in 
a  later  volume. 

1851.  *THE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  HARMONY:  with  a 
Catena  on  Inspiration,  from  the  writings  of  the  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers.  Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1855.  A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CANON 
OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  DURING  THE  FIRST  FOUR 
CENTURIES.  Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1859.  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  MIRACLES.     Sermons 

preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  with  Notes. 
Macmillan  and  Co.      Cr.  8vo. 

1860.  Smith's    Dictionary    of   the    Bible,    vol.    i.       Articles    on 

"  Canon,"  "  Herod,"  etc. 

1860.  AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  GOSPELS. 
Being  the  second  edition  of  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE 
GOSPEL  HARMONY. 

1863.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  vols.  ii.  and  iii.     Articles 

on  "  New  Testament,"  "  Vulgate,"  etc. 

1864.  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  CHURCH.     A  popular  account  of  the 

collection  and  reception  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the 
Christian  Churches.      Macmillan  and  Co.      Pott  8vo. 

1865.  "La  Salette  in  1865."     Article  written  for  publication  in 

Macmillaris  Magazine.     Not  published. 

1866.  THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  RESURRECTION:  Thoughts  on  its 

Relation  to  Reason  and  History.      Macmillan  and  Co. 
Ext.  fcap.  8vo.      Later  editions  cr.  8vo. 
441 


442          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

1866.  *Crises  in  the  History  of  the  Church.  A  Sermon  preached 
in  Harrow  School  Chapel.  Not  published. 

1866.  *"The  Myths  of  Plato."  An  Article  published  in  The 
Contemporary  Review. 

1866.  *"The  Dramatist  as  Prophet:  Aeschylus."      An  Article 

published  in  The  Contemporary  Review. 

1867.  The  Resurrection  as  a  Fact  and  a  Revelation.     A  Tract 

written  for  the  S.P.C.K.     Not  published. 

1867.  *"  Euripides  as  a  Religious  Teacher."  An  Article  pub 
lished  in  The  Contemporary  Review. 

1867.  *"  Aspects  of  Positivism  in  relation  to  Christianity."     An 

Article  published  in  The  Contemporary  Review. 

1868.  A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH 

BIBLE.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 

1868.  ^Disciplined  Life.     A  Sermon  preached  in  Harrow  School 

Chapel.     Not  published. 

1869.  *The    Spiritual   Office    of  the   Universities.      A    Sermon 

preached  in  the  Chapel  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
at  the  Commemoration  of  Benefactors,  December  1868. 
Macmillan  and  Co. 

1869.  THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE,    MANIFOLD    AND    ONE.      Six 

Sermons  preached  in  Peterborough  Cathedral.  Mac 
millan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1870.  On   Cathedral  Work.      Two  Articles  published   in  Mac- 

millaris  Magazine  (January  and  February). 

1870.  The  Constructive  Work  of  the  Christian   Ministry.      An 

Ordination  Sermon  preached  in  Peterborough  Cathedral. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  8vo. 

1871.  Our  Attitude  towards  the  War.     A  Sermon  preached  in 

Peterborough  Cathedral.  Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr. 
8vo. 

1871.  ^Clerical   Education   in   Connexion  with  the  Universities 

and  Theological  Colleges.  A  Paper  read  at  the  Church 
Congress  at  Nottingham. 

1872.  2YNA0AOYNTE2.       An    Address    to    the    Cambridge 

University  Church  Society.     Not  published. 
1872.   Cathedral  Foundations  in  Relation  to  Religious  Thought. 

Essay  V.   in   Essays  on  Cathedrals.     Edited  by  J.   S. 

Howson,  Dean  of  Chester. 
1872.   *Our  Universities:    their  Future   as   Places  of  Religious 

Education.     A  Paper  read  at  the  Church  Congress  at 

Leeds. 


in  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  443 

1873.  ON  SOME  POINTS  IN  THE  RELIGIOUS  OFFICE  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITIES.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 

1874.  Missions  and  the  Universities.      A  Sermon  preached  in 

St.    Mary's,   Oxford.      Published  in  Mission  Life  (Feb 
ruary). 
1877.  A  Lecture  on  Benjamin  Whichcote,  contributed  to  Masters 

in    English    Theology,    edited    by  Alfred   Barry.     John 

Murray.      Cr.  8vo. 
1877.   Smith   and   Wace's    Dictionary   of  Christian    Biography, 

vol.  i.     Articles  on  the  Alexandrian  Divines,  "  Clement," 

"  Demetrius,"  "  Dionysius." 
1877.  The  Faith  One  and  Progressive.     An  Ordination  Sermon 

preached  in    All   Saints',   Cambridge.      Macmillan   and 

Co. 
1877.  A  Few  Words  on  Supernatural  Religion.     A  Preface   to 

the  fourth  edition  of  A  General  Survey  of  the  History 

of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament.     Macmillan  and 

Co.     Cr.  8vo. 

1877.  Scepticism:  Critical.     A  Speech  at  the  Church  Congress 

at  Brighton. 

1878.  The  Spirit  and  the  Blessing  of  Church  Work.     An  Address 

to   Church  Workers   in  Peterborough   Cathedral.      Not 
published. 

1878.  An  Address  to  the  Members  of  the  Peterborough  Choral 
Society.  Reprinted  from  The  Peterborough  and  Hunt 
ingdonshire  Standard. 

1878.  *"Origen  and  the  Beginnings  of  Christian  Philosophy." 

An  Article  in  The  Contemporary  Review. 

1879.  Our  Debt  to  the  Past.     Two  Sermons  preached  in  Peter 

borough    Cathedral.       Geo.    C.    Caster,    Peterborough. 
Cr.  8vo. 

1879.  *From  Strength  to  Strength.  Sermon  preached  in  West 
minster  Abbey  at  the  Consecration  of  Bishop  Lightfoot. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  8vo. 

1879.  THE    PARAGRAPH    PSALTER.      Arranged    for    the    use 

of    Choirs.      Cambridge    University    Press.      4to    and 
32mo. 

1880.  Steps  in  the  Christian  Life.     S.P.C.K.     Cr.  8vo. 

1 88 1.  The  Lesson  of  Biblical  Revision.      A  Sermon  preached  in 

the  Chapel  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.     Macmillan 
and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 
1 88 1.  May.     (With  Dr.  Hort.)     THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  THE 


444          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

ORIGINAL  GREEK.  TEXT.  Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr. 
8vo. 

1 88 1.  Aug.  (With  Dr.  Hort.)  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  THE 
ORIGINAL  GREEK.  INTRODUCTION  AND  APPENDIX. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1 88 1.  THE  REVELATION  OF  THE  RISEN  LORD.     Macmillan  and 

Co.     Cr.  8vo. 

1882.  THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  JOHN  :  THE  AUTHORISED 

VERSION  WITH  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES.  Reprinted 
from  The  Speaker's  Commentary,  John  Murray. 

1882.  *The    Communion    of    Saints.       A    Paper   read    at    the 

Church  Congress  at  Leicester. 

1883.  THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  JOHN:  THE  GREEK  TEXT  WITH 

NOTES  AND  ESSAYS.     Macmillan  and  Co.     8vo. 
1883.  THE  HISTORIC  FAITH:  Short  Lectures  on  the  Apostles' 

Creed.      Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 
1883.  Waiting  for  Power  from  on  High.     A  Sermon  preached  in 

the  Chapel  of  Peterhouse,  Cambridge.     Deighton,  Bell 

and  Co.     8vo. 

1883.  *"  Dionysius    the  Areopagite."      Published    in    The   Con 

temporary  Review. 

1884.  Faithful  is  He  that  Calleth.     A  Sermon  preached  in  West 

minster  Abbey  at  the  Consecration  of  Bishop  Barry. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  8vo. 

1884.  A  Sermon  preached  in  Westminster  Abbey.  27th  April. 
Church  Missionary  Society. 

1884.  THE  REVELATION  OF  THE  FATHER:  Short  Lectures  on 
the  Titles  of  the  Lord  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  Mac 
millan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1884.  Some  Thoughts  from  the  Ordinal.     Macmillan  and  Co. 

Globe  8vo. 

1885.  The  Mission  of  the  Schoolmaster.     A  Sermon  preached  in 

the  Chapel  of  St.  Mark's  College,  Chelsea.  Macmillan 
and  Co.  Crown  8vo. 

1885.  (With  Dr.  Hort.)  The  New  Testament  in  the  Original 
Greek.  (Small  edition  with  a  new  Appendix).  Mac 
millan  and  Co.  Pott  8vo. 

1885.  The  Teaching  Work  of  the  Church.      A  Speech  at   the 

Church  Congress  at  Portsmouth. 

1886.  (With  Archbishop  Benson.)    Two  Sermons  preached  at  the 

Dedication  Festival  of  All  Hallows,  Barking.  Macmillan 
and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 


in  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  445 

1886.  The  Bible  the  Charter  of  Hope.  A  Sermon  preached  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  The  Bible  House.  8vo. 

1886.  CHRISTUS  CONSUMMATOR:  Some  Aspects  of  the  Work 
and  Person  of  Christ  in  relation  to  Modern  Thought. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1886.  ^Disciplined  Life.     Three  Addresses.     Macmillan  and  Co. 

Cr.  8vo. 

1887.  A   Speech  at    the  Anniversary    Meeting    of   the    C.M.S. 

Church  Mission  House.      Cr.  8vo. 
1887.  The  Bearing  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  upon  the  Study 

and  Use  of  Holy  Scripture.      A  Speech  at  the  Church 

Congress  at  Wolverhampton. 
1887.   Smith    and    Wace's    Dictionary    of  Christian    Biography, 

vol.  iv.     Article  on  "  Origen." 
1887.  SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.     Macmillan  and  Co. 

Cr.  8vo. 

1887.  (Stephen   Phillips.)     THOUGHTS   ON   REVELATION   AND 

LIFE.  Selections  from  the  writings  of  B.  F.  Westcott. 
1887-1889.  Sermons  preached  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Published 
in  The  Christian  World  Pulpit.  The  following  are  the 
titles  of  some  :  "  Revealing  the  Father,"  "  The  Christian 
Idea  of  the  Universe,"  "  The  Christian  Idea  of  Man," 
"  The  Christian  Idea  of  the  Unseen,"  "  Private  Prayer," 
"  Our  Christian  Aim,"  "  Constraining  Love,"  "  Imperfect 
Knowledge,"  "  Individuality,"  "Fellowship,"  "Sympathy," 
"  Tenderness,"  "  Watchfulness." 

1888.  THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  CROSS.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr. 

8vo. 

1888.  Foreign  Missions.     A  Tract.     S.P.C.K. 

1889.  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS:   THE  GREEK  TEXT 

WITH  NOTES  AND  ESSAYS.     Macmillan  and  Co.     8vo. 

1889.  Gifts  for  Ministry.  Addresses  to  Ordination  Candidates. 
Macmillan  and  Co.  Globe  8vo. 

1889.  The  Spirit  and  Blessing  of  Work  for  the  Poorest.  An 
Address  to  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark  Branch  of  the  Metro 
politan  Association  for  Befriending  Young  Servants. 
Women's  Printing  Society. 

1889.  *A  Sermon.      Preached  at  the  Consecration  of  the  Church 

of    St.    Ignatius    the    Martyr,    Sunderland.      Not    pub 
lished. 

1 890.  From  Strength  to  Strength.     Three  Sermons  on  Stages  in 

a  Consecrated  Life.      Macmillan  and  Co.      Cr.  8vo. 


446          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT  APP. 

1890.  A  Prefatory  Note  to  Bishop  Lightfoot's  Apostolic  Fathers. 

Part  I. 

1891.  ESSAYS  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN 

THE  WEST.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 

1891.  The  National  Church  and  the  Nation.  A  Speech  in 
Westminster  Town  Hall.  The  Church  Defence  Institu 
tion.  8vo. 

1891.  *A  Sermon  (Our  own  Poor  in  India).  On  behalf  of 
the  Indian  Church  Aid  Association.  Not  published. 

1891.   Presidential  Address.      Church  Congress,  Hull. 

1891.  "^Socialism.  A  Speech  delivered  at  the  Church  Congress 
at  Hull. 

1891.  Gambling.     A  Tract.     R.T.S. 

1892.  The  Idea  and  Work  of  the  Church  of  England.     A  Speech 

delivered  at  Darlington.  The  Church  Defence  Institu 
tion. 

1892.  0EOY  SYNEPFOI.  Harrow  School  Chapel.  Not 
published. 

1892.  THE  GOSPEL  OF  LIFE:  Thoughts  introductory  to  the 
Study  of  Christian  Doctrine.  Macmillan  and  Co.  Cr. 
8vo. 

1892.  The  Incarnation.     A  Tract.     S.P.C.K. 

1892.  A  Preface  to  Witnesses  of  These  Things.     Griffith,  Farran 

and  Co. 

1893.  *The  Manifold  Revelation  of  Truth.     A  Sermon  preached 

in  Newcastle  Cathedral  before  the  British  Medical 
Association.  Not  published. 

1893.  A  Prefatory  Note  to  Dr.  Hort's  Hulsean  Lectures.  Mac 
millan  and  Co. 

1893.  A  Prefatory  Note  to  a  Memoir  of  Bishop  Lightfoot.  Mac 
millan  and  Co. 

1893.  *Master  and  Scholar:  a  Memory  and  a  Hope.  An 
Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Grammar  School  for 
Girls,  Camp  Hill,  Birmingham. 

1893.  "^Citizenship,  Human  and  Divine.  Sermon  at  the  Church 
Congress  at  Birmingham. 

1893.  THE  INCARNATION  AND  COMMON  LIFE.  Macmillan  and 
Co.  Cr.  8vo. 

1895.  The  Christian  Social  Union.  The  Presidential  Address  at 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  C.S.U.  at  Cambridge  (1894). 
Rivington,  Percival  and  Co. 

1895.   (With  Canon  Body.)      Two  Addresses  delivered   to   the 


in  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  447 

Durham  Diocesan  Lay  Helpers'   Association    at   Auck 
land  Castle. 

1896.   *Some  Conditions  of  Religious  Life.     A  Visitation  Charge, 
1896.      Not  published. 

1896.  (With  Canon  Scott  Holland  and  Canon  C.  Gore.)     Three 

Addresses.    Delivered  at  the  Meeting  of  C.  S.U.  at  Bristol. 
W.  Crofton  Hemmons. 

1897.  SOME  LESSONS  OF  THE  REVISED  VERSION  OF  THE  NEW 

TESTAMENT.     Hodder  and  Stoughton. 

1897.  CHRISTIAN  ASPECTS  OF  LIFE.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr. 
8vo. 

1897.  Lessons    of  the    Reign.      A    Paper    contributed   to    The 

Commonwealth  (June). 

1898.  A  Prefatory  Note  to  Dr.  E.  G.  King's  Psalms,  Part  I. 

1 898.  A  Preface  to  Our  Heritage  in  the  Church.      Sampson  Low, 

Marston  and  Co. 
1898.  The  S.P.C.K.  Bicentenary.     A  Sermon.     S.P.C.K.     Cr. 

8vo. 

1898.  *The    Organisation    of    Industry.      An    Address    to    the 

Macclesfield    Branch    of  S.C.S.U.      Published    in    The 
Economic  Review. 

1899.  An  Appreciation  of  the  late  Christina  Georgina  Rossetti. 

S.P.C.K. 
1899.  *The  Study  of  the  Bible.     An  Address  to  the  Durham 

Junior  Clergy  Society.     Not  published. 
1899.  The   Glory  of  a   Nation.     A   Paper  contributed  to    The 

News. 
1899.  The   Rest   Day  of  the   Heart.     A   Paper  contributed  to 

Guard  your  Sundays. 
1899.   Biblical  Criticism  and  Social  Problems.     Paper  contributed 

to  The  Churchman  (November). 

1899.  "^International     Concord.       A    Sermon    preached    in    St. 

Margaret's,   Westminster.      Published   in    The  Common 
wealth. 

1900.  Introductory  Note  to  a  Book  of  Comfort  by  V.  W.  Duck 

worth  and  Co.      Cr.  8vo. 

1 900.  *The  Position  and  Call  of  the  English  Church.     Visitation 

Charge.      Not  published. 

1901.  The    Copartnership    of   Labour.      An   Address    delivered 

before    the    Co-operative    Congress    at   Middlesbrough. 
Reprinted  from  The  Northern  Weekly  Gazette. 
1901.   LESSONS  FROM  WORK.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr.  8vo. 


448          LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT       APP.  m 

1901.  *Life.  A  Sermon  preached  in  the  Chapel  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  at  the  Commemoration  of  Bene 
factors,  nth  December,  1900.  Cr.  8vo.  Not  published. 


1902.  WORDS  OF  FAITH  AND  HOPE.     Macmillan  and  Co.     Cr. 
8vo. 

It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  that  the  total  circulation 
of  my  father's  more  important  writings,  including  the  Westcott 
and  Hort  Greek  Testament,  amounted,  up  to  3ist  December 
1901,  to  about  280,000  volumes.  This  total  does  not  include 
single  sermons  or  other  brief  writings,  of  which  the  S.P.C.K. 
alone  have  circulated  about  31,000. 


NOTE    ON 
BISHOP    WESTCOTT'S   HANDWRITING 

As  in  the  course  of  this  work  several  references,  flattering  and 
otherwise,  have  been  made  to  my  father's  handwriting,  a  few 
words  concerning  it  may  possibly  be  pardoned.  There  is  no 
disguising  the  fact  that  on  occasion,  particularly  in  his  earlier 
years,  his  writing  was  not  remarkably  legible ;  but  only  once 
during  the  course  of  a  year  mainly  devoted  to  studying  his 
written  words  have  I  consciously  failed  to  decipher  a  word.  In 
extenuation  of  my  incompetence  on  that  occasion,  I  must  plead 
that  the  phrase  which  defied  my  efforts  was  a  Latin  botanical 
term,  and  although  I  looked  up  in  my  botanical  authorities  all 
probable  terms,  I  was  compelled  eventually  to  give  it  up  and 
substitute  a  feeble,  and,  I  fear,  inappropriate,  word  of  my  own 
devising.  His  signature  at  times  was  especially  illegible,  and  I 
have  before  me  now  fifty  bona  fide  conjectural  interpretations  of 
a  signature  which  he  appended  to  a  letter  to  a  friend.  In  for 
warding  the  interpretations,  my  father's  correspondent  says  :  "  I 
began  in  all  innocence,  but,  finding  the  first  few  interpretations 
bewildering  in  their  variety,  a  scientific  impulse  (perhaps  I  should 
rather  say  a  mixture  of  malice  and  curiosity)  got  the  upper  hand, 
and  I  thought  I  would  ascertain  what  was  the  complete  cycle  of 
possible  interpretations.  Clearly,  however,  we  are  far  from 
having  any  such  limit  at  present,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  of  there 
being  only  three  repetitions  out  of  the  fifty.  It  is  amusing  to 
observe  the  contrast  between  the  timid  minds  that  cling  to  known 
and  recognised  names  and  the  hardy  thinkers  who  follow  their 
reason  even  though  it  lead  them  to  Rontish  or  Slontish.  But  I 
will  leave  the  philosophy  to  you." 
VOL.  II  2  G 


450 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 


Here  follow  the  fifty  interpretations 


N.  Bowtell. 

W.  Nontiott. 

W.  Wartell. 

W.  F.  Coutauld. 

W.  F.  Northcote. 

W.  J.  Watcott. 

W.  Frontith. 

W.  Nuntell. 

W.  Watell. 

W.  Frountell. 

W.  Rontish. 

W.  F.  Watell. 

W.  J.  Hewlett. 

W.  Rowstick. 

W.  H.  Watell. 

W.  Honteth. 

W.  Slontish. 

W.  J.  Waterloo. 

W.  Hewlett  (2ce). 

W.  Slowtite. 

J.  H.  Waterton. 

W.  Howtett  (2ce). 

W.  Stontell. 

W.  J.  Watett. 

W.  Howtite. 

W.  Stontide. 

W.  T.  Watiote. 

J.  Menteith. 

W.  Stontcote. 

J.  F.  Watitt. 

W.  Matock. 

W.  Swatiott. 

W.  F.  Watitt. 

J.  Monteith. 

W.  Sweetett. 

W.  F.  Westroll. 

W.  Monteith  (2ce). 

W.  Swintott. 

W.  S.  Whitworth. 

W.  Nontall. 

W.  Swintull. 

W.  F.  Writesth. 

W.  Nontick. 

W.  Trontide. 

W.  J.  Wortell. 

W.  Nontioll. 

W.  S.  Untill. 

Several  of  my  father's  working-men  correspondents  complained 
to  him  of  the  difficulty  they  experienced  in  reading  his  letters. 
One  writer  says  that  he  and  a  friend  spent  hours  over  the  letter, 
and  in  the  end  achieved  only  a  partial  apprehension  of  its 
contents  ;  another,  after  long  study,  took  his  letter  to  the  Vicar 
for  decipherment,  and  suggested  to  the  Bishop  that  when  writing 
to  working-men  he  should  write  as  a  working-man,  i.e.  in  childish 
copperplate.  I  have  further  noticed  that  several  educated 
correspondents  have  referred  to  the  Bishop  for  the  elucidation  of 
single  phrases  in  his  letters  to  them.  The  facsimile  given  at  p.  13 
of  this  volume  represents,  in  my  opinion,  my  father's  best  writing, 
and  is  placed  there  on  that  account.  His  episcopal  signature 
was  far  more  legible  than  that  which  previously  concealed  his 
family  name. 

The  mention  of  working-men  correspondents  induces  the  re 
mark  that  such  writers  seem  more  prone  than  others  to  express 
themselves  in  verse.  My  father  was  the  recipient  of  several 
poetical  letters  from  working-men,  and  as  I  have  quoted  one  of 


NOTE  ON   HANDWRITING  451 

the  uncomplimentary  kind,  it  is  only  fair  that  I  should  furnish  a 
specimen  of  the  other  sort.  I  am  confident  that  the  simple  words 
were  dear  and  welcome  to  the  Bishop,  and  they  form  a  pleasing 
if  inapt  conclusion  to  this  brief  excursus  : 

1.  Our  great  Bishop  of  Durham,1 

2.  You  are  in  great  spirituality  ;  form 

3.  For  lecturing  we  can  see. 

4.  You  are  speacking  out  stright, 

t.  To  give  the  people  Light, 

.  On  pure  Christinity. 


Pronounced  Dor'm  (see  p.  106). 


INDEX 


Alder,  H.  R.,  i.  104,  109,  408 

Letters  to,  i.  148-153 
Allegories,  Adams',  i.  162 
Apocrypha,  Revision  of,   i.  397  ;   ii. 

236  ff. 

Arbitration,  International,  ii.  122,  235 
Argles,  Marsham,  i.  310 
"Armed  Europe"  (letter),  ii.  16 
"  Armenian  Atrocities,"  ii.  205 
Arnold,  Dr.,  i.  52,  94,  248,  332 
Arnold,  Matthew,  ii.  58 
Ashcombe,  Lord.     See  Cubitt 
Atonement,  doctrine  of  the,  i.   231, 

239  ;  ii.  12,  226 
"Attitude   towards  the  War,  Our," 

ii.  289 
Austen,  Canon,  letter  to,  ii.  289 

Balfour,  A.  J.,  ii.  210,  330,  335 
Baptist  ministers  (visit  Auckland),  ii. 

233 

Barnard  Castle,  visit  to,  ii.  326 
Barnard,  Lord,  ii.  326,  408 
Barrington,  Bishop,  ii.  275 
Barry,   Bishop,  i.   37,  45,  117,  202  ; 

ii.  i,  100,  102 
Beatson,  H.  W.,  i.  122 
Bedford  school,  i.  406 
Bell,  J.  H.,  ii.  416 
Bell,  Mackenzie,  ii.  262 

Letters  to,  ii.  262,  263 
Benson,    Archbishop,    i.    107,    117, 

120,  125,  127,  176,  199,  202, 
210,  238,  248,  254,  258,  293, 
295.  307.  3l6,  325,  348,  386, 

415,    418  ;    ii.    5,    26,    92,   98, 
in,   113,   135,   208,   209,  215, 
271,  353.  366 
Letters^to,  Chaps.  III. -XI. 


Benson,  Mrs.,  ii.  59,  158,  161,  272 

Benson,  A.  C. ,  ii.  40,  272 

Bible  Commentaries  :  Macmillan's,  i. 

204-208  ;    Sir  Wm.    Smith's,   i. 

204 ;     The    Speaker 's,     i.     205, 

282  f.,  319 

Bible  in  the  Church,   The,  i.  244  f. 
Bible  Society,  Brit,  and  For.,  ii.  412 
"  Biblical  Criticism,"  ii.  284 
Bickersteth,  Bishop  E.  H. ,  i.  38 
Birmingham,   later  visits  to,   ii.    34, 

139,  174,  261 
Body,  Canon,  ii.  339 
Boer  War,  ii.  287  ;  letter  on,  ii.  311  , 
Booth,  "General,"  i.  348 
Bottle- workers  (visit  to  Auckland),  ii. 

263 
Boutflower,  C.  H.,  ii.  159,  342,  360, 

397,  400,  403 
Boutflower,  D.  S.,  ii.  344 
Bradlaugh,  C.,  ii.  108 
Bradley,   Dean,   ii.   2,  6,  10,  26,  36, 

100 
Letters  to,  ii.  44,  46,   50,   56,  57 

260,  322,  340 

Bradshaw,  H.,  i.  117,  341  ;  ii.  46 
Brooke,  Martha,  i.  4 
Brown,  Bishop  Harold,  ii.  104 
Browne,  Sir  Benjamin,  ii.  196 
Browning,  Robert,  i.  362  ;  ii.  4, 35,  67 
Bunyan,  John,  i.  406 
Bunyon,  Miss,  ii.  225 
Burgon,  Dean,  i.  399,  404 
Burns,  John,  ii.  294 
Burt,  T.,  ii.  196,  360,  373 
Bute,  Marquess  of,  i.  199,  295  ;  ii.  43 
Butler,    Dr.    (Master   of  Trinity),   i. 

209,   237,  272,   320,  419,  429  ; 

ii.  99,  100,  182,  329,  404 


453 


454 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 


Cambridge,     Browning     Society,    i. 

362  ;  ii.  5 

Church  Society,  i.  383,  424 
Clergy  Training  School,  i.  382  f.  ; 

11.  51,  147,  269 
Companion  to  the  Bible,  ii.  47 
Delhi  Mission,  i.  383,  435  ;  ii.  53, 

155,  204,  319,  410 

Divinity  School,  i.  371,  373,  387 

House,  ii.  210 

Memorial   on  Church    Reform,   i. 
414 

Motto,  ii.  328 

Theological  Board,  i.  376 

University  Commission,  i.  201 

University  Extension,  i.  411 
Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  His 
tory   of  the,    i.    180,   244,  290, 

335 

Cathedral  Work,  i.  307 ;  ii.  135 
Chaplaincies,     Examining,     i.     266, 

277.  322,  325  ;  »•  5-  49 
Characteristics  of  the  Gospel  Miracles, 

1.  202,  235 

"Cherry  Ripe,"  i.  357  ;  ii.  152 

Cheyne,  Dr.,  ii.  45 

Christian  Art,  ii.  143 

Christian  Aspects  of  Life,  ii.  174,  181, 
214 

"Christian  Doctrine,  Study  of,"  i. 
373.  382 

Christian  Knowledge,  Society  for  Pro 
moting,  ii.  181,  252,  409 

Christian  Life,  Manifold  and  One,  i. 

304 

"Christian  Policy  of  Peace,  A,"  ii.  21 

Christian  Social  Union,  The,  ii.  16, 
182,  197,  210,  227,  250,  258, 
260,  281,  309,  326,  367 

Christus  Consummator,  ii.  ii,  29 

Church  Army,  The,  ii.  193 

Church  Congress,    i.    312,   376 ;    ii. 

12,  no,    113,    151,    174,   289, 

325.  366 

Church  Defence,  ii.  171 
Church  History,  Lectures  on,  i.  373 
Church  Missionary  Society,  The,  ii. 

2,  103,  155,  181,  189,  266,  410 
Church  Pastoral  Aid  Society,  The,  ii. 

103,  139 

Church  Reform,  i.  414  ;  ii.  249 
Church  Reform  League,  ii.  214 
Clarabut,  W.,  i.  327 


Clark,  Sir  A. ,  ii.  4 
Ccenobium,  i.  263  ff.,  267,  305 
Communion  of  Saints,  The,  i.  312 
Compton,   Bishop  Alwyn,   i.   22  ;  ii. 

269 

Compulsory  Greek,  i.  413 
Conciliation  Board,  ii.  295,  376,  381, 

413 

Conditions  of  Religious  Life,   Some, 

ii.  210 
Conferences,   Aged  Miners'   Homes, 

ii.  275 

Armaments  of  Europe,  ii.  16 
Commercial  Morality,  ii.  175 
Conciliation,  ii.  382 
Co-operation,  ii.  in,  272 
Industrial,  ii.  273 
Merchant  Seamen,  ii.  278 
Missionary    (London,     1894),    ii. 

1 80 

National  Insurance,  ii.  in 
Peace,  ii.  23 
Private,    at   Auckland    Castle,    ii. 

377  ff. 

Profit-sharing,  ii.  135 
Unemployed,  ii.  195 
Wages  (Durham  Strike),  ii.  123 
Confession,  private,  ii.  304 
Confessions,  Coleridge's,  i.  54 
Consett,  ii.  289,  296 
Continental   trips,    i.    112,    176-180, 
182-189,   244,   253,  305  ff.  ;  ii. 
178 

Convocation,  Church,  i.  389  ff.,  417; 
ii.    152,    170,    290,    295,     313, 

332,  355 

Co-operation,  ii.  109,  111,  289,  375 
Cordeux,  Miss,  ii.  239,  353 

Letters  to,  239  ff. 
Cremer,   Canon,   letters  to,  ii.    308, 

313.  3l8 

Crimean  War,  i.  229 
Cross,  Viscount,  i.  339,  408  ;  ii.  108, 

158 

Crucifix,  The,  ii.  81 
Cubitt,  G.  (Lord  Ashcombe),  i.  127, 

238,  308,  408  ;  ii.  156 
Letters  to,  i.  339,  435  ;  ii.  51,  53, 

95 
Cyril,  ii.  162 

Dale,  Sir  David,  ii.    123,   129,  196, 
382 


INDEX 


455 


Dale,  Dr.  R.  W.,  ii.  140,  305 
Dalrymple,  Sir  Charles,  i.  197,  199, 

396-  43i 
Letters  to,  i.  209,  254,  294,  368  ; 

ii.  43,  224,  283,  310 
Darlington,  visits   to,    ii.    104,   157, 

190,  213,  325 
Davidson,    Archbishop,  ii.   93,    100, 

102,  271,  300,  309,  335,  352,  403 
Davies,  Dr.  J.  LI.,  i.  37,  43,  46,  55, 

232  ;  ii.  41,  164,  401 
Letters  to,  Chaps.  V.-XIII. 
Deceased  Wife's  Sister  Bill,  i.  332  ; 

ii.  304 
Degrees,    Honorary  (of   B.  F.  W.), 

D.C.L.   (Oxford),  i.  407;  D.D. 

(Durham),  ii.  107  ;  (Edinburgh), 

ii.  2  ;  (Dublin),  ii.  254 
De  Varreux,  Celestine,  i.  2 
Dicky  Bird  Society,  ii.  183 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible  (Sir  Wm. 

Smith),   i.   203,   207,  236,  241, 

244 
Dictionary    of  Christian    Biography 

(Smith  and  Wace),  i.  298,  319, 

329 

Didache",  The,  ii.  37 
Diocesan  Conferences,  ii.    192,  249, 

278,  33i 

"  Disciplined  Life,"  i.  194,  277  ;  ii.  12 
"Disestablishment,"  i.  294 
Dublin,  visit  to,  ii.  254 
Durham,  visits  to,  ii.  106,  188,  201, 

208,  256,  258,  262,  287,   331, 

344 
Durham  Artillery  Militia,  letter  to,  ii. 

287 

Durham,  Earl  of,  ii.  344 
Durham,  University,  ii.  52,65, 106, 136 

Rcce  Homo,  i.  289 

Ecclesiastical  Courts  Commission,  i. 

315  f.,  340,  440;  ii.  75 
Ede,   Canon    Moore,    ii.    196,    294, 

303.  378 

Eden,  Bishop,  ii.  102,  159 
Edinburgh,  visits  to,  i.  320  ;  ii.  2 
Education  of  Women,  i.  413  ;  ii.  140, 

295 
' '  Elementary  Truths  of  the  Christian 

Faith,  Some,"  i.  314 
Ellicott,  Bishop,  i.  380,  392  f.,  431 
Ely  Cathedral,  i.  72,  83,  149 


Emerson's  Essays,  ii.  49 

English.  Bible,  History  of  The,  i.  262  f. 

Epistles  of  St.  John,  i.  373  ;  ii.  43 

"Eranus"  Club,  i.  385  f. 

Essays  and  Reviews,  i.  212-215,  280 

Eucharist,  the  Holy,  ii.  48,  274,  348- 

355  . 

"  Expenditure,    Christian    Rule   of," 
ii.  281,  309 

Farmer,  H.,  i.  191 

Farrar,  Canon  A.  S. ,  i.  261  ;  ii.  265, 

393 
Farrar,  Dean,  i.  174,  260,  275,  381  ; 

ii.  148 
Letters  to,  i.  335,  337,   370,  441  ; 

ii.  37,  56,  145,  146,  152,  156 
Fenwick,  R. ,  ii.  192 
ffolkes,  Sir  William,  i.  195 
Flint,  Prof.,  ii.  2 
"  Flower  Service,"  ii.  203 
Foreign  Service,  letter  on,  ii.  198 
Framley  Parsonage,  i.  241 
Franco-German  War,  i.  306,  330 
From  Strength  to  Strength,  ii.  29 

Garfit,  A.,  i.  260 

Gateshead,  visits  to,  ii.  170,  213 

"Ghostlie"  Guild,  i.  117-120 

Gifts  for  Ministry,  ii.  6 

Girls'  Friendly  Society,  ii.  148,  256 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  i.  297,  315,  365, 

408  ;  ii.  i,  7,  59,  155,  222,  256, 

300 

"  Glory  of  a  Nation,  The,"  ii.  283 
Goethe,  i.  224 
Goodwin,    Bishop    Harvey,    i.    in, 

199,  380  ;  ii.  100 
Gordon,   Hon.  A.  (Lord  Stanmore), 

i.  117,  120,  174 
Gore,  Bishop,  i.   194,   270  ;  ii.  147, 

198,  211 

Gorham,  G.  M.,  i.  202 
Gospel  Harmony,  Elements  of  the,  i. 

114 
Gospel  of  Life,  The,   i.   373,  385;  ii. 

in  f. 
Gospel  of  St.  John,  i.  237,  289,  319, 

373  I  "•  69 
Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,    The,    i. 

249  ff.,  256,  262,  371  ;  ii.  63 
Gospels,  An  Introduction  to  the  Study 

of,  i.  114,  231,  235  f. 


456 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 


Grant,  Sir  A. ,  ii.  4 
Greek  Testament,  i.  42,  43,  237,  285, 
296,  319,   398  ff.,  430;  ii.  43, 

153 
Grey,  Hon.  J.,  ii.  103,  227 

Halifax,  Viscount,  ii.  151,  302 
Hampden,    Bishop,    i.    52,    94,   98, 

169  f. 

Harmer,  Bishop,  ii.  40 
Hartlepool,  visit  to,  ii.  278 
Hatch,  Dr. ,  ii.  3  f. ,  38 
Heaton,  Miss,  ii.  181 
Heberden,  C.  B.,  i.  191 
Hebrews,  Epistle  to  the,    i.   374  ;  ii. 

29.  55 
Hensley,  Sir  Robert,  i.  182,  185  ;  ii. 

234-  309 

Hicks,  Bishop,  ii.  181 
Historic  Faith,  The,  i.  314  ;  ii.  308, 

352 
Holland,   Canon   Scott,   i.    310 ;    ii. 

15,  198,  211,  269 
Holyoake,  G.  J.,  ii.  375 
Hort,   Professor,   i.    108,    117,    127, 

202,    208,     212,     329,    385,    398, 

421  ;    ii.    100,    102,    137,    175, 
176,  215 

Letters  to,  Chaps.  III.-X. 
Hort,  Mrs.,  ii.  401 

Letters  to,  ii.  169,  176,  340 
Hort,  Sir  Arthur,  ii.  340,  401 
Howson,  Dean,  i.  37,  308  f. 
Hughes,  M.  J. ,  letter  to,  ii.  63 
Hulsean  Professorship,  i.  218,  366 
Hume,  Dr.,  ii.  265,  338 
Humphrey,  Prof.,  i.  418 
Hyacinthe,  Le  Pere,  ii.  375 

"  Immortality,"  ii.  337 
"Incarnation,  The,  a  Revelation  of 

Human  Duties,"  ii.  135 
Incarnation,  and  Common  Life,  The, 

ii.  106,  in,  141,  174 
Inge,  W.  R.,  i.  409 
In  His  Steps,  ii.  308 
"  International  Concord,"  ii.  267 
"  lo  Triumphe,"  i.  191,  275 

Jackson,  H.,  i.  385 

Jacob,  Bishop,  ii.  151,  291,  403 

Jane  Eyre,  i.  144,  314 

Jebb,  Prof.,  ii.  269 


Jersey  College,  i.  127  ff. 
John  Inglesant,  i.  314 
Johnson,  Bishop,  ii.  156,  411 
Jowett,  Dr.,  i.  215,  233 

Keble  (Christian    Year),    i.   44,    51, 

60,  65,  73,  77,  79,  86 
Keeton,  Dr.  Hadyn,  i.  313 
Kempthorne,  J.  A.,  ii.  403 
Kennaway,  Sir  John,  ii.  189 
Kibblesworth  Brass  Band,  ii.  337 
King,  Dr.  E.  G.,  i.  381  ;  ii.  87 

Letters  to,  ii.  299,  305,  310,  358 
King,  Bishop  G.  L. ,  ii.  221,  271 
King's  College,   Fellowship,   i.   409 

423  ;  Hon.  Fellowship,  i.  409 
Kingsley,  Charles,  ii.  109 
Kitchin,    Dean,    ii,    314,    343,    393, 

404 
Knight,  A.  M. ,  ii.  403 

Lady  Margaret  Professorship,  i. 
290 

Lake,  Dean,  ii.  54 

La  Salette,  i.  254  ff. 

Lee,  Bishop  Prince,  i.  5,  14,  17-28, 
44,  56,  86,  91,  116,  121,  143, 
166,  180,  212,  232,  248  f. , 
287  ;  ii.  140 

Lefroy,  Bishop,  ii.  53 

Lessons  from  Work,  ii.  294,  345 

Lessons  of  the  R.  V.  of  the  N.  T. ,  ii. 
12 

Lightfoot,  Bishop,  i.  107,  116,  125, 
127,  173,  202,  205-208,  212, 
218,  254,  295,  304,  316,  361, 
366,  371,  377,  383,  385,  386, 
388  ;  ii.  5,  26,  138,  176,  188, 
215,  225,  362,  368 
Letters  to,  Chaps.  III. -IX. 

Long,  Archdeacon,  ii.  96,  397 

Lords,  House  of,  ii.  107,  156 

Lux  Mundi,  ii.  68,  226 

Lyra  Innocentium,  i.  69 

M 'Clemens,  J. ,  ii.  403 
M'Cullagh,  Dr.,  ii.  338,  396,  400 
Macdonald,  F.  C.,  ii.  348 
MacDonnell,  Dean,  i.  326 
Mackenzie,  Bishop,  i.  37 
Maclagan,  Archbishop,   ii.  331,  346, 

403,  404,  407 
Letters  to,  ii.  331,  340,  354  ff. 


INDEX 


457 


Maclagan,  Hon.  Mrs.,  ii.  304 
Letter  to,  ii.  341 

Macmillan,  A.,  letters  to,  i.  180, 
205,  206,  228,  242,  250,  253, 
278,  288,  304,  335,  375 

Magee,  Archbishop,  i.  266,  277,  304, 
322,  325  f.,  341,  380,  394;  ii. 

7L  iS9 

Maine,  Sir  Henry,  ii.  2 
Mann,  Tom,  ii.  162,  294 
Marriage  (of  B.  F.  W.),  i.  175 
Marshall,  Prof. ,  i.  385  ;  ii.  165 
Maurice,    Prof.   F.   D.,  i.   229,   367, 

369  ;  ii.  ii,  37,  109,  160 
Maxwell,  Prof.  J.  Clerk,  i.  385 
Mayor,  Prof.  J.  E.  B.,  i.  37,  47, 

221 

Medd,  J.  C.,  ii.  259,  311 
"Mep,"  i.  317  ;  ii.  147,  160 
Methodist     preachers    (visit     Auck 
land),  ii.  191 

Middlesbrough,  visit  to,  ii.  343 
Milligan,  Prof.,  i.  396 
Miners'  Gala,  ii.  185,  383 
Miners'  Services,   ii.  246,  256,  293, 

348,  389,  392 
"Monastic  Life,"  i.  318 
Monteagle,  Lord,  ii.  269 
Montgomery,  Bishop,  ii.  341,  359 
Moule,  Bishop,  i.  421  ;  ii.  315 
Moulton,  Dr.,  i.   397;  ii.  137,  236, 

300 
Letters  to,    220,    227,    230,    234, 

236  f. ,  297 
Moulton,  J.  H.,  ii.  398 

Letter  to,  ii.  357 
Murray,  Graham,  i.  199,  320 
Music,  i.  51,  84,  93,   144,  153,  191, 
337  I  "•  32.  37 

National  Portrait  Gallery,  ii.  231 
Natural  Science,  teaching  of,  i.  259 
Newcastle,    visits   to,    ii.    136,    151, 

174,   183,   189,  213,  289,  292, 

325 
Newman,  Cardinal,  i.   57,   71,   163, 

248,  285  ;  ii.  293 
Nixon,  John,  ii.  384 
Norrisian  Professorship,  i.  245  ff. 
Northbourne,  Lord,  ii.  384 

Obligations  of  Empire,  ii.  287 
Old  Testament  Criticism,  ii.  60,  68 


Ordination  (of  B.    F.   W.),   i.    116, 

167 

Organisation  of  Industry,  ii.  258 
Origen,  i.  320  f. 
Owen,  Humphreys,  ii.  301 
Oxford,    visits   to,    i.   216,   407  ;   ii. 


Paget,  Sir  James,  ii.  4 

Paragraph  Psalter,  Thet  i.  314,  357  f. ; 

ii.  9 

Paschal,  i.  103 
Peace  Congress,  International  Parli- 

mentary,  ii.  107 
Pelham,  Prof.,  i.  270 
Pelham,  F.  G.,  ii.  96 
Perowne,  Bishop,  i.  338,  386 
Perrott,  F.  D.,  letter  to,  i.  439 
Peterborough  Cathedral,  i.   83,  in, 

353  ;  ii-  133.  165 
Phillips,   Dr.   S.,   i.  313,   314,    322, 

Chap.  VII.  ;  ii.  9 
"  Philological  Society,  The,"  i.  47 
Pictures,   i.   41,   no,    182,   231  ;  ii. 

289,  365 
Poetry   (of  B.    F.  W.),   i.   90,    no, 

129-134,    148-150,    152,    162, 

230,  257 
Portrait  (of  B.   F.  W.),  i.   418;  ii. 

3° 
' '  Position  and    Call  of  the  English 

Church,"  ii.  325 

Positivism,  i.  262,  268  ;  ii.  n,  284 
Prayer,  ii.  285 
Prayers  for  the  Dead,  ii.  349 
Preliminary   Examination    for   Holy 

Orders,  i.  376,  378  ff. ;  ii.  298 
Price,  E.,  ii.  116,  400,  403 

Letters   to,    ii.   60,   116  ff.  ;  151, 

153,  286,  315 
Princess,  The,  i.  52,  99 
Prior,  C.  H.,  i.  349;  ii.  182,  210 
Letters  to,  ii.  39,  167,  233,  279 
Prior,  Miss  A. ,  ii.  400 
"Progress,"  ii.  327  (cf.  370) 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,   Society 

for,  ii.  103,  157,  290,  325,  359, 

409 
Pusey,  Dr.,  i.  63,  217 

Queen's  Jubilee  (1887),  ii.  13,  (1897), 
245 


458 


LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WESTCOTT 


Ravensworth,  Earl  of,  ii.  336 
Religious  Office  of  the  Universities,  i. 

375-  430 
Religious    Thought    in    the    West,  i. 

262,  321  ;  ii.  5,  143 
Rendall,  F.,  i.  23,  174,  268 
Rendall,  G.  H.,  i.  196,  270,  314 
"Rest    Day    of    the    Heart,    The," 

ii.  282 

Revelation  of  the  Father,  The,  i.  326 
Revelation  of  the   Risen  Lord,  The, 

i-  314 

Revision  of  the  New  Testament,  i. 

333.  389,  391  ff.,  401  ;  ii.  12,  83 

Richmond,   Sir  William,  i.  420  ;  ii. 

30,  161 

Ritual  Controversy,  ii.  273,  303 
Robinson,  Dean  Armitage,  ii.  35 
Romola,  i.  314,  335 
Rooper,  F.  G.,  i.  192 
Ropner,  R. ,  ii.  174,  196 
Rossetti,  Christina,  ii.  224,  262 
Ruskin,    John,    ii.    248,    306,     312, 

317.  381 
Ryle,   Bishop  H.  E.,  i.   421  ;  ii.  50, 

314,  401,  403 

Sabin,  Mrs.,  ii.  140 

Sacred  Books  of  other  Faiths,  ii.  48 

Salisbury,    Marquess  of,    i.    409  ;  ii. 

8,  92 

Salmon,  Provost,  ii.  256 
Saunders,  Dean,  i.  304;  ii.  7,  181 
Saunders,  Miss  A. ,  ii.  181 
Saunders,  Miss  F.,  ii.  7 
Savage,  Canon,  ii.  330,  403 
Scarlet  Letter,  The,  i.  314 
Schiller,  i.  155 

Schoolmasters'  Quiet  Day,  ii.  113 
Scott,    C.    B.,    i.    37,    42,   47,    117, 

202,  232  ;  ii.  331 
Scrivener,  Dr.,  i.  399,  403;  ii.  84 
Seaham  Harbour,  ii.  190,  263 
Seeley,  Prof.  Sir  J.  R. ,  i.  385  ;  ii.  3 
Selwyn,  Prof.,  i.  368,  377,  387 
Sidgwick,  Prof.  Henry,  i.  384 
Social  Aspects  of  Christianity,  ii.  10 
44  Socialism,"  ii.  in 
"Social  Responsibilities,"  ii.  329 
Somersham  Rectory,  i.  408,  431,  439 
South  Shields,  visits  to,  ii.  165,  206, 

249.  277,  330 
Spencer,  Earl,  ii.  108 


"  Spiritual  Organ  of  the  Nation,  The 

Idea  of  a,"  ii.  172 
Stanley,  Dean,  i.   53,  60,  212,  233, 

237,  266,  332,  391,  394,  407  ; 
ii.  9,  176 

Stanley,  Hon.   E.   H.  (Lord  Derby), 

i-  37  ;  "•  387 

Stanmore,  Lord.     See  Gordon 
Stanton,    Prof.,    i.    370,    375,    383, 

385,  410,  421 

Steps  in  the  Christian  Life,  i.  384 
Stockton,  visits  to,  ii.  148,  174,  192, 

254.  325 
Stokes,   Prof.   Sir  G.   G. ,  i.   385  ;  ii. 

270,  281 

Strike,  Durham  Coal,  ii.  115  ff. 
Strong,  Dean,  ii.  265,  403 
Stuart,  Prof.,  i.  411,  419 
Stubbs,  Bishop,  ii.  161,  234,  314,  352 
"Study  of  the  Bible,  The,"  ii.  266 
Sunday  School,  Jesus   Lane,    i.    49, 

73.  383 
Sunderland,  visits   to,    ii.    171,   213, 

277.  325.  329.  348 
Supernatural  Religion,  ii.  60 
Swainson,  Prof.,  i.  377,  418 
Swete,  Prof.,  ii.  269,  347 

Tait,  W.,  i.  6 
Talbot,  Bishop,  ii.  403 
Talbot,  R.  T. ,  letter  to,  ii.  205 
Tate,  Archbishop,  i.  266,  440 
Taylor,  Prof.  Sedley,  ii. 

Letter  to,  ii.  328 
Temperance,  ii.   177,  189,  202,  218, 

238,  258,  325 

Temple,  Archbishop,  i.  212;  ii.  189, 

202,  300,  311,  335 
Textual  Criticism,  letter  on,  ii.  83 
"  Theotokos,"  ii.  54 
Thompson,      W.     H.     (Master     of 

Trinity),  i.  121 
Thomson,  Archbishop,  i.   380,  416  ; 

ii.  99,  102,  no 
Thomson,  Sir  W. ,  ii.  4 
Thoughts  from   the    Ordinal,    Some, 

"•  5 

Tischendorf,  Const.,  i.  180 
Todhunter,  I.,  i.  37 
Tracts  for  the  Times,  i.  223 
Tricycle,  i.  321,  348 
Trinity  College,  Commemoration,  i. 

45,  269,  278  ;  ii.  327 


INDEX 


459 


Trinity  College,  Fellowship,  i.  113 

Fellows'  Protest,  i.  201 

Fire  at,  i.  85 

Hon.  Fellowship,  i.  409  ;  ii.  147 

Scholarship,  i.  43 
Tripos,  Classical,  i.  53,  54 

Mathematical,  i.  53,  101 

Theological,  i.  376 
Tristram,  Canon,  ii.  304 
Trotter,  Coutts,  i.  385 
' '  True  Aims  and  Methods  of  Educa 
tion,  The,"  ii.  211 
Tupper,  C.  L.,  ii.  156 
Tyndall,  Prof.,  ii.  89. 
Tyrrell,  Prof.,  ii.  255 

Unemployed,  The,  ii.  194 
Usury,  letter  on,  ii.  317 

Vaughan,  Dean,  i.  129,  172,  174, 
204,  209,  268,  282,  331,  396, 
408,  430 ;  ii.  9,  95,  148,  208, 
233.  248 

Vaughan,  D.  J.,  i.  37,  41,  47,  232  ; 
ii.  37,  224,  321,  331 

Victory  of  the  Cross,  The,  ii.  12, 
226,  243 

Villette,  i.  314 

Vinet,  i.  95 

Voluntary  Choir,  Peterborough,  i. 
358  ff. 

Watkins,  Archdeacon,  ii.  100,  393  f. , 

397.  403.  407 
Letters  to,  ii.  95, 131, 146, 153, 168, 

221,  294,  332,  334,  344,  354 
Watkins,  Mrs.,  ii.  354,  395,  403 

Letter  to,  ii.  160 

Watson,  Dr.  H.  W.,  i,  174;  ii. 
140,  224 


Watson,  Miss,  ii.  224 
Welby,  Hon.  V.  Lady,  ii.  69 

Letters  to,  ii.  69-90 
Welldon,   Bishop,    i.    405,    423 ;    ii. 

42,  162 

Westcott,  B.  F.  (sen.),  i.  i,  17 
Westcott,  Foss  (sen.),  i.  2-5 
Westcott,  F.  B.  (sen.),  i.  i,  114 

Letters  to,  i.  38-39 
Westcott,  G.  F.  (sen.),  i.  4,  106,  115 
Westcott,  Mrs.,  i.  i,  ii 

Letters  to,  i.  58,  234 
Westcott,  Philip,  i.  211 
Weston,  Miss,  ii.  202 
Whewell,    Dr.   (Master   of  Trinity), 

i.  45,  68,  108 
Whipple,  Bishop,  ii.  229,  246 

Letters  to,  ii.  150,  296 
Whithard,  T.  Middlemore-,  i.  7,  10, 
127 

Letters  to,  Chap.  I. 
Whithard,  Mrs.,  letter  to,  i.  28 
Whithard,  Miss,  i.  7 

Letters  to,  i.  Chaps.  I. -III. 
Whitley,  Bishop,  i.  7 
Whitwell,  W. ,  ii.  382 
Wickenden,     F.    W.,    i.    104,    112, 
127,  407 

Letters  to,  i.    161,  168,  215,   229, 

233.  237,  242,  279 
Willson,  Walter,  ii.  196 
Wilson,  John,  ii.  122,  129,  196, 

276,  382 

Wood,  Sir  Lindsay,  ii.  120 
Wordsworth,  Bishop  J.,  i.  265,  295; 
ii.  161,  300,  309,  316,  352,  403 
Wright,  Dr.  Aldis,  i.  263 
Wright,  J.  W.  T.,  ii.  156,  323 

Young,  Ralph,  ii.  384 


THE    END 


Printed  by  R.  &  R.  CLARK,  LIMITBD,  Edinburgh. 


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LETTERS 

OF  BROOKE  Foss 
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