Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03
ANECDOTESO OF TEMPLE
The Late English Primate's
Strength and Weakness.
ALWAYS AGGRESSIVE
BRUsQUE IN MANNER, BUT KIND
HEARTED.
His Last Effort in Defense Of the Edu-
cation Bill-London News
and Gossip.
ALWAYS AGGRESSIVE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
LONDON, December "a, 1902.
The strongest man in the English Church
died yesterday when the archbishop of
Canterbury passed away, at the age of
eighty-one. His last public act was to de-
fend with all his vigor in the house of lords
the education bill, which hundreds of thou
sands of English people condemn, but it
was of benefit to the English establishment,
and DR.. Temple spared neither himself nor
any one he controlled in helping to pass the
obnoxious act He passed out Of the sight
of the public on that occasion, and it will
be remembered that he could not finish his
speech and had to be helped from his seat
to the lobby and taken home. From the
bed he went to that night three weeks ago
he never rose.
The life of Archbishop Temple will stand
out among the lives Of modern archbishops
as one Of exceptional interest. His extra
ordinary personality, his brilliant attain
ments, the directness of his manner, and
the continuous struggle of his life, make
the story itself worth careful study, and
have given birth to unusual number of
anecdotes, true and mythical.
From the very beginning his life was out
Of the common. He first saw the light in
the Ionian Islands in the second year of
King George Tvs reign. His father, Major
Octavius Temple the governor of Sierra
Leone, died when Richard Temple was quite
young, and the boy was brought up in
comparative poverty. From an out-of-the-
way country home he was sent to Blum
dells school, Tiverton, being then boy of
twelve OF his life there he gave some
account in speech few years ago at an
Old Blundellian dinner.
Incidents Of School Days.
Within a few hours of his arrival he
came to blows with sixth-form boy, and
his school memories seem to have been
largely of fights. II had an exceedingly
passionate temper he said, but it is
good thing to have ones temper knocked
| out of one in life, and I owe that advan-
tage to Blundells." When he went up to
Oxford with a Balliol scholarship he had
the reputation of being the best foot baller
| in the school.
His career at the university was of ex-
traordlnary brllllance and after taking a
double first lin classics and mathematics,
he obtained fellowship. 1t is related that
being unable to afford candles in his rooms
at oxford, he was frequently compelled to
read by the light Of the gas on the stair
case.
He was the favorite of both liberal and
conservative parties, and he has been on
| both sides of the political fence. In fact,
| he as much politician probably as
! churchman. Gladstone made him bishop
and Salisbury archbishop. He was a fierce,
| rude old man, with kind heart.
| What seemed to some the most striking
| feature of the archbishop was that brusk-
| ness which provoked the comment "Our
| Temple has no polished corners" Stories
! of DR.. Temples crushing retOrts are in
| Vulnerable, but it is only fair to say that
| if he was sometimes unduly curt or en-
| phatic-and especially in dealing with
| ladies-there was almost always shrewd
| common sense underlying his roughness.
| But, my lord said a clergyman, when
/ applying for permission to live outside his
| parish, "the house is only mile from the
| church as the crow flies
you're not a crow" was the form of the
archbishop'S refusal.
A garrulous lady, who thought it neces-
sary to talk of the more serious side of
| life to an archbishop at dinner, told him at
great length how her aunt had just missed
a train which met with a fearful railway
accident
WAS it not a merciful dispensation of
Providence" she finished
Don't know, grunted the worried pre-
late; II never knew your aunt"
clergyman, in an lnordinately long let
ter, described picture which he proposed
to put up in his chancel and asked permis-
sion to do SO. DR.. Temples answer arrived
on a postcard
Had Harsh, Strident Voice.
The roughness Of his' manner was height
ened by an extraordinary harsh and
slrident voice In a South London church,
| lulO WulCH WueH UlSuOp uS CdIue casually
one day to a service, he was next to a
| bricklayer who was much distressed by
| the bishops vocal efforts. The bishop,
however, continued to make what he has
| since described in telling the story "a joy
| full noise" His neighbor stood it as long
as he could, and then, in disgust, turned
| to him, saying, II say, guv'nor chuck it.
You're spelling the whole bloomin show"
But this lust beast" as the schooboy
| called him, was always willing to acknowl-
| edge himself in the wrong If he was con-
WINGED. At meeting of his clergy in his
| Exeter days he begged them to state any
| difficulties they might have. One old par
son bluntly said that his difficulty was his
bishop! He had recently come to the
palace, he said, on business; he was poor,
| and had walked from his vicarage some
| miles Off His interview with the bishop
! had only lasted a few minutes when the
lunch bell rang and the bishop walked off,
| saying, Il must go to lunch. Good morn
| ing. The poor clergyman was left to plod
hungrily back to his parish. That was the
| story he told before the meeting. The
| bishop left it unanswered to the end Of his
| closing speech. Then he referred to it.
| saying, THE facts were correctly stated
"a pause-"and the implied accusation is
just
| Stern and unbending as he seemed, this
| great and very strong man had the kindest
| Of hearts. He was generous to a degree,
| and though living the simplest of lives. he
| saved practically nothing out of the rich
| incomes of his bishoprcs. Though he had
| saved some money at Rugby, he was obliged
| to borrow $1,000 to come to London, and
| took himself so little Of the 10000 he re-
| ceived then that only legacy to his wife
| enabled him to pay the $1,000 back.
| He was never fond of Acknowledgement
| and the nature of his home life has chiefly
been conjectural. Some foolish person once
| asked one of the archbishop's two sons
| whether they were not afraid of so stern a
| father as he must be. "Whatv was the
I .r1,,I.r sF~<
| daddy?'
Crowded Streets Christmas Eve.
The shopping streets in all parts of Lon
| don presented remarkable appearance
| last night. In tour of several miles
| through the outer circle of London found
| everywhere dense crowds, obviously of the
| respectable laboring and artisan class,
| eagerly buying the turkey and other main
| items of the dinner for Christmas day.