Church Congress.
The opportunity was afforded me to take part in several meetings of the Church Congress. At some I read papers and at others I was a special speaker. The most interesting congress was the one held in Exeter in 1894, when I was the guest of Bishop Bickersteth, at the Palace. The other guests at the Palace were Dr. Temple, then Bishop of London; Dr. Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury; Dr. Gott, Bishop of Truro; and Lord Cross.
We were all much interested with the rugged intellectual power of the Bishop of London. His epigrammatic utterances interjected into our after-dinner talk were full of wisdom, and often bubbled over with quiet, quaint humour. Many stories were told of the Bishop when he was the Bishop of Exeter; of the kindness which was concealed under his brusque, outspoken manner, and his remarkable influence for good. He delivered at Exeter a striking and very forcible address upon temperance. His eyesight was already very defective and Mrs. Temple had to lead him about. To the surprise of everybody he not only became Archbishop of Canterbury, but will also be remembered as one of our great archbishops.