fore the Episcopal Fellowship. This
is what they heard.
For thirteen years Mr. Eliot was
a Vicar's Warden in an unspecified
church in Kensington. There is
much to be learned from perform–
ing such a church function in a
residential urban community over
such a long time. For instance, it
appears that the Church of Eng–
land (like so many other worthy
organizations in the post-war
world) suffers from a lack of funds.
The urgent task of repairing or
totally rebuilding bomb-damaged
houses of worship is not an easy
undertaking, partly because of the
declining Church revenues, partly
because of the unavailability of
building materials and the ever–
present maze of bureaucratic red
tape. A lady in the audience, big–
bosomed, gray-haired, and volatile,
took this opportunity to denounce
the Labour Government's en–
croachment on Church property.
Mr. Eliot explained patiently that,
according to his knowledge, Church
property had not suffered from the
nationalization of coal mines, but
he recalled a letter to
The Times
according to which Church reve–
nues had been affected by the na–
tionalization of the railroads which,
it seems, caused a considerable de–
cline in railroad stocks. At any
rate, Church finances were not in
too good a shape, and the stipends
were too low even for the celibate
curates-not to speak of the mar–
ried men. This did not entirely sat–
isfy the lady questioner who seemed
to have special sources of informa–
tion according to which the Church
did own coal mining property
which the Labour Government had
expropriated. Mr. Eliot, pleading
ignorance, did not indulge in a
criticism of the Labour Govern–
ment. Ev.en when pressed for an
affidavit on Mr. Attlee's religious
convictions (the lady asked: "Isn't
Mr. Attlee some kind of a Qua–
ker?"), Mr. Eliot hesitated long
before replying cautiously: "I real–
ly don't know." This confession of
ignorance and non-concern, after
searching deliberation, was one of
the rare occasions for an outburst
of general hilarity among the audi–
ence. Mr. Eliot was even inclined
to take a rather favorable view of
Mr. Attlee's influence on Church
affairs. Mr. Attlee, while perhaps
not particularly interested in the
welfare of the Church of England,
at least was conscientious enough
to seek advice concerning matters
affecting Church interests. This Mr.
Eliot considered, on the whole, a
much better arrangement than that
which had prevailed with many a
former Prime Minister who took
so lively and personal an interest
in Church affairs that he refused
to listen to any advice whatsoever.
Under these circumstances of a re–
spectfully tolerant attitude by the
Government, Mr. Eliot was also in–
clined to discount any proposals
concerning the disestablishment of
the Church of England. Discus–
sions on this point were definitely
premature, i.e., would have to
await the outcome of events which
