ST. PAUL'S IN ITS GLORY. By G. L Prestige. (S.P.C.K.,
21s.) ST. PAUL'S IN ITS GLORY. By G. L Prestige. (S.P.C.K., 21s.)
THE period covered is from 1831, when Sidney Smith became a Canon, to 1911, when Scott Holland left to become Regius Professor of Theology at Oxford.
In the early chapters there is a wealth of administrative detail that is interesting to the social historian but obscures, much as the dust blowing in through unglazed windows en- veloped the building.
Some of the details of neglect and of the 'gross irreverence' of the public, with nepotism and indifference among the clergy, make under- standable Dr. Arnold's remark in 1832 that the church 'as it now stands no human power can save' But St. Paul's in its 'unreformed con- dition of endowment and constitution' is seen to change to the 'glory' of the period from the Seventies onwards when 'most of the problems' had been settled, and an enormous expansion of• activities and influence followed.
There is a good index and list of authorities, but a list of Deans and Canons with their dates would have been valuable.
Canon Scott Holland with 'his prophetic passion for applying religious convictions to the actual problems of contemporary life' is a happy augury with which to end.
HELEN FITZRANDOLEH
Previous page
