. i . Some Thin s fénAMERI A‘ To "Hunk bout What the Distinguished Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London Observed of Us Durihg a Visit to the United Statesand What He Has to Say Regarding Modern Society and World Problems in General ‘, By Charles G. Reinhart OVER in England dwell three. men whose utterances never fail to catch and hold the attention of the American people. Whenever David Lloyd George speaks of government, statesmen and politicians in the United States lend an attentive ear. . Whenever George Bernard Shaw speaks of literature, miters and actors, . artists and students, from Greenwich Village to Hollywood, deeply ponder his words. And whenever Dean William Ralpli Inge speaks of government or of litera- ture, or human problems or of the eternal verities, statesmen and citizens, playwrights and piaygoers, churchmen and laymen, the country over, stop to listen. For the Very Reverend Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, speaks with a message universal in its scope. 'America has had to depend on the cable and the printed page for the recent statements of the former Prime Minister and of Shaw. But. the Dean, within the last few weeks has visited us in person and has spoken his in— cisive, epigrammatic messages to audi- ences of professors, undergraduates, clergyman, students of foreign affairs, church-goers and interviewers. Like his writings, which long before his visit were familiar literature in America, those addresses ’were brilliant and stimulating in their style, widespread in their range. Religion and philosophy they discussed, democracy and mon- archy. problems of government and of the Church. Largely, they dealt with the United—States. u ND what," now asks the coun- try, “does the Dean who is given to outspoken opinions on so many things really think of America?" Like the churchman he is Dean Inge answered that question with a state- ment reminiscent of the parable of the “Faithful Steward.” ' “God has given America," he replied, “a unique position—unbounded power, limitless energy, great prosperity—with the purpose and under the condition that America some day give a strict ac~ counting of how these gifts were used." With the gifts so generously be. stowed, the Dean believes, America must accept the responsibility of leading the nations of the world out of the material and spiritual morass into which they have fallen. In three fields of human efi'ort, thinks Dean lingo, is this country called upon to lead: First. In international affairs, by a movement to replace the League of Na- tions which America has rejected with something better. Second. In religion, by restoring to the Church its old position as moral guide for the world. Third. In general culture, by reintro- ducing purity and the beauty of truth' into all forms of literature and art. It was toward the end of his three weeks' visit to America that Dean Inge expressed most forcefully his hopes that the Nation would assume the obliga- tions of leadership he saw thrust upon her. He had come here to deliver the Ly- man Beecher lectures at Yale; he had spoken in New York and Baltimore, and now he was resting in one of the most delightful of the suburbs of Philadel- phia, where he 'had traveled to address the Diocesan Convention of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church and the mem- bers of the Trans-Alantic Society. As he sat, writing-pad on knee, on the broad veranda of the home of his boat, Dr. Rufus M. Jones, of Haverford Col- lege, preparing an address, a familiar scene spread before his eyes. In front of him lay the smooth, green expanse of the cricket field, with white-clad un- dergraduates at practice. Throughout the afternoon he remained there. He was writing of Anglo~Amerlcan rela- tions, but, for a while, at least, his mind dwelt on the students. “It has been my happy experience to spend much of my American visit in company with university men,” he said to his host. and visitor or two. “What I have seen among them has made me far more hopeful than I have been of a return to the higher standards of cul- ture that marked the Victorian period. Both faculty and undergraduates have impressed me with their earnest outlook and their sincere desire to accomplish worthy things. It is to them that we may look for a leadership that will overcome the low standards which the war has left us." England’s most famous ecclesiastic might have considered America's in- ternational relations from his study in i the grim old dennery near Ludgate Hill; he might have meditated on her religious destinies at St. Paul’s; but his con- ~ clusions as to her cultural. resporisibili- ties were expressed after watchinig her college youth at study and play. It was during that Philadelphiii visit that Dean Inge spoke of the heayy re- sponsibilities laid on America by her possession of wealth and power. “In these days of rapid transpoitation and instantaneous conununicntioi,” he said, “all the .world is one. If oiie na- tion suffers, all must suffer. it is not i O my purpose to advocate here a,League of Nations, but if America cannot see her way to support that plan, on she should attempt to give the worl a bet- ter one. America, I am sure, realizes what a narrow escape Western hiviliza- tion had in 1918. Twelve more months of fighting would have infilcted‘wounds that could probably never have been healed. Another great war in it? life- time might mean the end. We ‘ ust be saved from so hideous a thing. lJKWe ask for the prayers and the intelli ent co- operation of the Nation endowied with privileges and responsibilities to spur it on for the salvation not onl‘y of its own people but. of all civilization.” Then he spoke of the Churchi “We are passing," pronouni:ed the Dean, “through a time of tranitition in the religious world. The center of grav- ity is shifting from authority to ex- perience. The progress of the new sources of knowledge brought to‘ light by natural science must be recognized. "In the last century partic‘larly it was thought that religion'anciJ science must always be enemies. I sh1ultl like to point out that that is not be case. In the days of the Founders; of the Church there was no such War, for science knew so little then. It ipeems to me that the great rift occurred in the time of the Renaissance and t e Refor- mation. The great discoveries of science came just at the time when the, civilized world was to be distracted by the wars of religion. At that time Eu ope was in internecine war. You always find that in time of war private jidgement is stressed and both sides are bi-utalized. So the Church was in no co dition to adapt itself to the new facts hose im- portance it did not recognize. “I should like to see a greatbr degree of intellectual honesty in re ognizing the importance of discoveries hat can- not be denied. I think if tin Church had greater faith in the mess go which Christ tried to teach us, we should be less timid in accepting the results of secular knowledge. "It has been my privilege ‘to spend many hours in the American Lluseum of Natural History in New York. No one could spend much time there without see- ing in it a new revelation. Science there shows us truth and beauty in the in- finitely great and the infinitely small. There are evidences of our development there which no one can study without feeling a sense of the purpose behind it. “There are important things which the Church has neglected in the past. Among them I should include prevention of cruelty to animals, the study of health in the light of science, and the duty of the race to posterity. When Dean Inge returned ' to his native England not long ago he left behind pungent com- ment on our national life that is certain to awaken discussion "These are new duties, as civilization goes, but they were not stamped out in the mint of the Church. “We must realize that if the Church is to take its proper place as a moral guide for the world it must come to terms with modern science. This, of course, does not mean accepting the ma- terialistic view of everything. In my country there are noted scientists feel- ing their way earnestly toward the aplri itual explanations, yet keeping true to their science. They are trying to find the spiritual interpretation of reality. “I hope the Church will look at these movements with a sympathetic eye, even though those scientific men are not be- coming orthodox traditionalists. “IN MY opinion the most necessary thing for the Church to do is to heal the wounds between theology and the best secular knowledge. The world is one and knowledge is one, and the spirit of truth animates all who attempt earnestly to find the expression of God’s will, whether in the books of religion or in nature. “I hope the Church in America will lead the way in that great work. There is courage here. There is power here. There is willingness for experiments- tion in legislative and other fields. Surely no field could offer greater op- portunity than this for assuring the Church her rightful importance in the minds of men.” Thus has the famous dean of St. Paul's spoken face to face to America. Men who knew him well believe that in urging the United States to take the lead in both sepular and religious ad- vancement he has complimented as highly. But, they say, when Dean Inge expressed the hope that our university men might guide the art and literature of the: twentieth century back toward the high standards of Victorian days. the ultimate in praise had been won from a student and thinker who never fiatters and seldom commends. reason.” not be denied.” spoon-feeding.” L v For Dean Inge regards that greatly patronized period as one of the twin peaks in which English civilization cul- minated. The other is the Elizabethan e. ag‘i'l‘he twentieth century," he declared in his “Victorian Age" lecture at Cam-t bridge, England, “will doubtless be full of interest, and may even develop some elements of greatness. But, as regards the fortunes of this country, the signs are that our work on a grand scale, with the whole world as our stage, is probably near its end. Europe has sac- rificed its last fifty years of primacy by an insane and suicidal struggle. America has emerged as the tertius gaudens." Today, he believes,_no figures exist comparable to the great leaders of thought of the last century. “Let those," he suggested, "who are disposed to follow the present evil fash- ion of disparaging the great Victorians make a collection of, their heads in pho- tographs or engravings and compare them with their own favorites. Let them set up in a row good portraits of Tennyson: Charles Darwin, Gladstone, Manning, Newman, Martineau, Lord Lawrence, Burns Jones, and, if they like, a,dozen lesser luminaries, and ask themaeiv whether men of this stature are any Yonger among us. I will not speculate on the causes which from time to time throw up a large number of great men in a single generation. I will only ask you to agree with me that since the Golden Age of Greece (assuming that we can trust the portrait busts of the famous Greeks) no age can boast so many magnificent types of the human countenance as the reign of Queen Vic- toria. We, perhaps, being epigoni our- selves, are more at home among our fel- low pigmies, but let us have the decency to uncover before ,the great men of the last century." So believes this tall, rigid, lean, austere prelate of the Anglican Church. from whose tight-lipped mouth, set in a dark face lined with thought, issue statements that have won him bit- ter enemies and enthusiastic champions. Bernard Shaw has called him “ ne of the most mentally gifted En ishmen now living." Others have compared him to a prophet continually prepared to‘ “cry aloud and spare not." He is a difficult man to talk to, ham- pered by a decided deafness, and what seems to be dilfidence, until a chance remark brings forth a flow of pungent epigrams and terse ,, judgments. In America his apt phrases were caught up eagerly to be sped over telegraph wires throughout the country, and cabled back to Europe. In England they occasioned no surprise. for the Briton has learned to expect them, and either to delight in or wilt under them, according to their application. ‘ OPPORTUNITY—“God has given ‘America a unique position — unbounded wealth, limitless energy, great prosperity—with the purpose and under the condition that America some day give a strict accounting of how these gifts were used." g WORLD LEADERSHIP-“If America can- not sce her way clear to support the League of Nations, then she should attempt to give the world something better." . , WAR—“Another great war in our lifetime might mean the end. We must be saved from so hideous a thing.” DEMOCRACY—“The corruption of democ- racies proceeds directly from the fact that one class imposes the taxes and another class pays them. Democracy is likely to perish through national bankruptcy. Dc- mocracy means a victory of sentiment over SCIENCE—“I should like to see a greater ‘ degree of intellectual honesty in recogniz- ing the importance of discoveries that can- RELIGION—“The most necessary thing for the Church to. do is to heal the wounds be- tween theology and the best secular knowl- buy a novel unless it contains some scabrous story of adultery and muck-rake naturally, has no use for the ‘Idylls of the King’ . ,, but years will bring a relative sanity to our young bolshcviks.” EDUCATION —— “Education today, except where the pupils are encouraged to make things with their. own hands, is mainly l Brief, pointed and succinc th . traumatic utterances of that, deals capsi- press whole philosophies in few words. Seldom do they flatter us of the pres- ent age. For example: "A generation that will not buy a novel unless it contains some scabrous story of adultery and muckrake nat- uraliy has no use for the ‘Idyllsof the King,’ and calls Arthur the blameless pflg.» “Years will bring a relative sanity to our young Bolsheviks; they will then, I hope (for I wish them well), begin to read Tennyson.” “We are threatened with an outbreak of licentiousness like that which fol- lowed the Civil War in the seventeenth century and the Napoleonic Wars a bun- dred years ago. A pure and elevated tone in popular literature would do much to diminish the evil and bring it to an early end.~ I think it was Ruskin who said that every Englishman had reason to thank God for the purity of Scott.” “It is not certain that there has been much change in our intellectual and moral attainments since pithecanthropus dropped the first half of his name.” “The Church burned Bruno and im- prisoned Galileo. The Church has lived by its monopolies and conquered by its intolerance." “Education today, except where the pupils are encouraged to make things with their own hands, is mainly spoon- feeding." “The modern mountaineer leaves it to others to ‘climb the steep ascent of heaven in peril, toil and pain'; be pre- fcrs a more comfortable way of getting to the top—he ‘follows by the train."’ "We now demand to be personally conducted through life, all risks to be taken by some one else." “ HE worst enemies of Christianity are Christians. A religions will never be destroyed by worldliness. sen- suality and malicious wickedness. The world, the flesh and the devil are the natural enemies of the Church, which thrives on the struggle against them. But when traditional orthodoxy pro- . vokes the moral indignation of the en- lightened conscience, and when it en- rages our sense of truth and honesty by demanding our assent-to scientific errors which were exploded centuries ago, then indeed the Church is in danger. and its well-disciplined battalions will not save it from disaster.” “The corruption of democracies pro- ceeds directly from the fact that one class' imposes the taxes and another class pays them. Democracy is likely to perish through national bankruptcy.‘ Democracy means a victory of sentiment over reason.” “Like other ideals, patriotism varies from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy." "A movement has more to fear from its disciples than from its critics. The great man is linked to his age by his weakest side, and his epigoni, who are not great men, caricature his message and make it ridiculous." "Human nature is at once sublime and horrible, holy and satanic.” “If there is one safe generalization in human affairs, it is that revolutions al- ways deatroy themselves. How often have fanatics proclaimed ‘The Year 1’! But no revolutionary era has yet reached ‘year 25.’ " “The soul of the race is no demon. but a child with great possibilities." During his visit in America Dean Inge was afforded ample opportunity of studying our institutions and customs and he afforded us a chance for the observation of a notable churchman of the ago. More than a little academic in his air and, at first glance, seemingly what a Scotsman would describe as dour, he is neither. A warm friendliness and an eager desire to peer behind the scenes are the impressions he. leaves with one. He is possessed of a quaint, pawkish humor wholly delightful and it manifests itself in the most unexpected ways, but it never advertises itself. His humor is of the variety which presupposes imag- ination on the part of the bearer. Like most persons whose sense of hearing is dulled, the Dean can never be certain of the trend of a conversation. but in spite of this very considerable handicap his contributions are very apropos. While the Dean visited Philadelphia he was the, guest of Rufus M. Jones, professor of philosophy at Haverford College, and, like the famous English prelate, a writer on Christian mysticism. After a dinner at a hotel both men sought their hats and coats, which they had left together in a nearby room. Feverishly they hunted, for a motor was waiting outside. The search was un- successful. “I fear,” finally said the Dean re. signedly, after an unproductive clutch behind a hatstand, "that what we need is the" collaboration of a nonmystical person.” Thereupon a materialistic bellhop wag summoned. He found the coats on the floor above. WHEN Dean Inge gave his parting in- terview on the deck of the vessel which was to carry him back to England he made a final request of the news- paper-men. “Can't you,” he asked “go the London Mail one better and think of some name less silly than ‘Gloomy Dean'l" And a shy, fugitive smile lightened those dark, tense features as the dean laid yet another task on America. Copyright by Public Ledger Com . ~ Warm“ . V r ‘ .. . $7 " a V" .. “.v- ' ‘filllimEQIIrl‘H?’ uni-tzgfltsu .srvvva; anti £5 .33» 1
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