Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-26
Rev. W. R. Inge Dies
A93, Gloomy Dean
OF London Cathedral

WALLINGFORD, England.
Feb. 26.-The Very Rev. Sir
William r. Inge, SO, Church of
England leader who earned
world renown as the gloomy
dean" Of st. Paul's Cathedral,
died at his home here today.
In retirement for two decades,
he had been suffering from.
bronchitis for several weeks.
Dean Inge has said he believed
neither in heaven. hell, nor the
British Socialists who came to
power for six years after World
Wal II
One thing he was particular
about was the pronunciation Of
his name. He would correct Of
tenders with the remark: "Inge
it rhymes with king, not
binge.'
Scholar and Philosopher.
He was the embodiment Of
pessimism in the popular view.
But to academic circles of the
English speaking world he was
a distinguished classical scholar
and profound philosopher. His
several dozen publications
ranged from Society in Rome
Under the Caesars" issued in
1886, to DIARY of a Dean."
1949
He was dean of st. Paul's. the
great London cathedral which is
the architectural masterpiece of
Sir Christopher Wren. from 1911
to 1884. King George v knight
ed him in 1880. naming him a
knight commander Of the Royal
Victorian Order.
Though Dean Inge retired
from St. Paul's two decades ago,
he kept on reading and studying
the human beings about him.
His mind was alert to the end.
When he reached 80 he issued
yet another of the dour predic-
tons which gave him his nick
name, declaring: 1--WE are ap-
preaching another dark age" 4
He warned, too. "this cverpop-
ulated island is no longer an i'm
peria1 power and has come to the
end of a chapter. just ss Rome
did"
Lectured at 81.
When he was 81. he gave a
lecture in Westminster Abbey
which observers termed fine and
| fluent"
Dean Inge attributed his nick
name to the fact Il tried to tell
the truth as I saw it,"
AS an example of how he saw
things. there was his declaration
in 1914, during World War II:
"As a great industrial nation, we
shall not and cannot recover
from this war"
In his old age he never gave
up his bleak outlook on life.
II find extreme old age a
strange experience" he said. II
do not feel things very deeply.
Weeks and months glide by al
most as in a dream. I do not
find much to pray about since
the world, the flesh and the devil
are only memories, and in this
life there is nothing to hope and
not much to fear"
His wife. the former Mary
Catharine Spooner, died in 1949
at the age of SO after A years
of marriage. They had two sons
and daughter.
Perfect Marriage.
Il am in my Goth year and
hope soon to be at rest" Dean
1nge wrote after her funeral.
Let my last effort be to pay
tribute to a very beautiful life
and perfect marriage, never once
clouded during A years by any
shadow of disagreement or mis-
understanding"
Shortly after his 82d birth
day. he preached a sermon at
the parish church near his home
in Berkshire, west of London.
Son of the Rev. DR.. William
1nge. provost of Worcester Col
lege. Oxford, Dean Inge was born
at Crayke, Yorkshire, June 6,
1860. He was educated at Elton
and Cambridge. At Cambridge
he won seven scholastic prizes as
an undergraduate. He taught at
Elton from 1884 to 1888 and at
oxford from 1889 to 1904.
He then went to his one
church incumbency, at All
Saints in London. But after two
years he became a professor of
divinity and fellow of Jesus Col
lege, Cambridge. He resigned
that post in 1911 to become
Dean of st. Paul'S.
Stossen in Honolulu