Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

==Early life==

===Childhood and family===

[[File:Barony Church.jpg|thumb|right|alt= Drawing of a large stone building with prominent towers and pinnacles and long narrow windows. A separate building to the right has a tall pointed steeple.|The [[Barony Church]], Glasgow, to which Lang's father was appointed minister in 1873]]
Cosmo Gordon Lang was born in 1864 at the [[manse]] in [[Fyvie]], [[Aberdeenshire]], the third son of the local [[Church of Scotland]] minister, [[John Marshall Lang]], and his wife Hannah Agnes Lang.<ref name= Wilk1>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945)|id=34398}} ("Early Life" section)</ref> Cosmo was baptised at Fyvie church by a neighbouring minister, the name "William" being added inadvertently to his given names, perhaps because the local [[laird]] was called William Cosmo Gordon. The additional name was rarely used subsequently.<ref name= Lock6>Lockhart, pp. 6–8</ref> In January 1865 the family moved to [[Glasgow]] on John Lang's appointment as a minister in the [[Anderston]] district. Subsequent moves followed: in 1868 to [[Morningside, Edinburgh|Morningside]], Edinburgh and, in 1873, back to Glasgow when John Lang was appointed minister to the historic [[Barony Church]].<ref name= Lock6/>

Among Cosmo's brothers were [[Marshall Buchanan Lang]], who followed his father into the Church of Scotland, eventually serving as its [[Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|Moderator]] in 1935;<ref name="McCraw">{{cite book |last1=McCraw |first1=Ian |title=The Kirks of Dundee Presbytery |date=2000 |publisher=Friends of Dundee City Archives |location=Dundee |isbn=0-9536553-2-6 |page=46}}</ref> and [[Norman Macleod Lang]], who served the [[Church of England]] as [[Bishop suffragan of Leicester]].

In Glasgow, Lang attended the Park School, a day establishment where he won a prize for an essay on English literature and played the occasional game of football; otherwise, he recorded, "I was never greatly interested in [the school's] proceedings."<ref name= Lock6/> Holidays were spent in different parts of Scotland, most notably in [[Argyll]] to which, later in life, Lang would frequently return. In 1878, at the age of 14, Lang sat and passed his [[matriculation]] examinations. Despite his youth, he began his studies at the [[University of Glasgow]] later that year.<ref name= Lock6/>

===University of Glasgow===

At the university Lang's tutors included some of Scotland's leading academics: the Greek scholar [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb]], the physicist [[Sir William Thomson|William Thomson]] (who was later created Lord Kelvin) and the philosopher [[Edward Caird]]. Long afterwards Lang commented on the inability of some of these eminent figures to handle "the Scottish boors who formed a large part of their classes". Lang was most strongly influenced by Caird, who gave the boy's mind "its first real awakening". Lang recalled how, in a revelation as he was passing through [[Kelvingrove Park]], he expressed aloud his sudden conviction that: "The Universe is one and its Unity and Ultimate Reality is God!"<ref name= Lockhart10/> He acknowledged that his greatest failure at the university was his inability to make any progress in his understanding of mathematics, "to me, then and always, unintelligible".<ref name= Lockhart10>Lockhart, pp. 10–13</ref>

In 1881 Lang made his first trip outside Scotland, to London where he heard the theologian and orator [[Henry Parry Liddon]] preach in [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name= Lockhart19>Lockhart, pp. 19–23</ref> He also heard [[William Ewart Gladstone]] and [[Joseph Chamberlain]] debating in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name= Lockhart19/> Later that year he travelled to Cambridge to stay with a friend who was studying there. A visit to [[King's College Chapel]] persuaded Lang that he should study at the college; the following January he sat and passed the entrance examination. When he discovered that as part of his degree studies he would be examined in mathematics, his enthusiasm disappeared. Instead, he applied to [[Balliol College]], Oxford, and was accepted.<ref name= Lockhart19/> In mid-1882 he ended his studies at Glasgow with a [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|Master of Arts]] degree, and was awarded prizes for essays on politics and church history.<ref>Lockhart, p. 14</ref>

===Oxford===

[[File:Front Quad, Balliol College 2004-01-21.jpg|thumb|left|alt= Stone buildings showing multiple windows, chimneys, towers and decorative features. Sunlight strikes the uppermost reaches, the rest is in shadow| [[Balliol College]], Oxford, where Lang was an undergraduate between 1882 and 1886]]
Lang started at Balliol in October 1882. In his first term he successfully sat for the [[Brackenbury Scholarship]], described by his biographer John Gilbert Lockhart as "the Blue Ribbon of history scholarship at any University of the British Isles".<ref name= L28>Lockhart, pp. 28–29</ref> In February 1883 his first speech at the [[Oxford Union]], against the [[disestablishmentarianism|disestablishment]] of the Church of Scotland, was warmly received; the chairman likened his oratory to that of the Ancient Greek statesman, [[Demosthenes]].<ref name= L33>Lockhart, pp. 33–35</ref> He became [[President of the Oxford Union|the Union's president]] in the [[Trinity term]] of 1883,<ref name= Wilk1/> and the following year was a co-founder of the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society]] (OUDS).<ref name= L33/>

Although Lang considered himself forward-thinking, he joined and became secretary of the Canning Club, the university's principal [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] society. His contemporary [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Robert Cecil]] recorded that Lang's "progressive" opinions were somewhat frowned upon by traditional [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tories]], who nevertheless respected his ability.<ref name= L33/> Lang later assisted in the founding of the University settlement of [[Toynbee Hall]], a mission to help the poor in the [[East End of London]].<ref name= L39>Lockhart, pp. 39–41</ref> He had been first drawn to this work in 1883, after listening to a sermon in St Mary's Church, Oxford, by [[Samuel Augustus Barnett]], Vicar of St Jude's, Whitechapel.<ref name= L39/> Barnett became the settlement's first leader,<ref>{{cite web|title=Our History|url= http://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/our-history|publisher= Toynbee Hall|access-date= 6 December 2015}}</ref> while Lang became one of its first undergraduate secretaries. He spent so much time on these duties that he was chided by the Master of Balliol, [[Benjamin Jowett]], for neglecting his studies.<ref name= L39/> In 1886 Lang graduated with [[British undergraduate degree classification|first-class honours]] in History;<ref name= Wilk1/> in October he failed to secure a Fellowship of [[All Souls College]], blaming his poor early scholastic training in Glasgow.<ref name= L39/>

===Towards ordination===

[[File:All Saints' Church, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire.jpg|thumb|alt= Stone building with gravestones in foreground and to the left; the church tower is surmounted by an ornamental weathercock, and has a clock showing 10.35. The roofs and surrounding areas are covered in snow.|The [[Church of All Saints, Cuddesdon]], scene of Lang's call to ordination in 1889]]
Lang's career ambition from early in life was to practise law, enter politics and then take office in some future Conservative administration.<ref name= L39/> In 1887 he began his studies for the English Bar, working in the London chambers of [[William Robson, Baron Robson|W.S. Robson]], a future [[Attorney-General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]], whose "vehement radicalism was an admirable stimulus and corrective to [Lang's] liberal Conservatism".<ref name= Lnote>Lang, quoted in Lockhart, pp. 52–53</ref> During these years Lang was largely aloof from religion, but continued churchgoing out of what he termed "hereditary respect". He attended services at the [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] [[City Temple (London)|City Temple]] church and sometimes went to St Paul's Cathedral. Of his life at that time he said: "I must confess that I played sometimes with those external temptations that our Christian London flaunts in the face of its young men."<ref name= Lnote/>

In October 1888 Lang was elected to an All Souls Fellowship, and began to divide his time between London and Oxford.<ref>Lockhart, pp. 55–61</ref> Some of his Oxford friends were training for ordination and Lang was often drawn into their discussions. Eventually the question entered Lang's mind: "Why shouldn't ''you'' be ordained?"<ref name= L62>Lockhart, pp. 62–66</ref> The thought persisted, and one Sunday evening in early 1889, after a visit to the [[Cuddesdon College|theological college at Cuddesdon]] in Oxfordshire, Lang attended evening service at [[Cuddesdon]] parish church. By his own account, during the sermon he was gripped by "a masterful inward voice" which told him  "You are wanted. You are called. You must obey."<ref name= L62/> He immediately severed his connection with the Bar, renounced his political ambitions and applied for a place at Cuddesdon College. With the help of an All Souls contact, the essential step of his [[confirmation]] into the Church of England was supervised by the [[Edward King (English bishop)|Bishop of Lincoln]].<ref name= L62/> Lang's decision to become an Anglican and seek ordination disappointed his Presbyterian father, who nevertheless wrote to his son: "What you think, prayerfully and solemnly, you ought to do – you must do – we will accept."<ref>Lockhart, pp. 70–71</ref>