The resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury has, of course,
been expected for some years, though there were those who believed that in view of the maintenance of his physical vigour Dr. Lang might remain at Lambeth (I am not sure whether he is still geographically at Lambeth) till he was 80. As it turns out, he is to go at 77, after twenty years at York and thirteen at Canterbury. Much will be said and written about his long and notable career, but for the moment chief interest centres in the question of his successor. A surprise is, no doubt, possible, but the choice has generally been assumed in Anglican circles to lie between the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Winchester. To the appointment of Dr. Temple there are two objections—neither, of course, at all insuperable. One is that Dr. Lang himself went from York to Canterbury, and it is not desirable to establish the principle that that is the normal way of promotion—which would mean subordinating York too defi- nitely. The other is that Dr. Temple's vigorous independence of utterance on many subjects might be checked, to the general loss, if he moved south. There is more freedom at York and more responsibility at Canterbury. On the whole, therefore, the omens seem to point to Dr. Garbett, who will be 66 next month. Like Dr. Lang, he has been Vicar of Portsea, that well-known nursery of bishops, and in proceeding from Winchester to Canter- bury he would be following the road—the Pilgrim's Way—that the late Archbishop, Dr. Randall Davidson, took.
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