 Although Lang considered himself forward @-@ thinking , he joined and became secretary of the Canning Club , the university 's principal Conservative society . His contemporary Robert Cecil recorded that Lang 's " progressive " opinions were somewhat frowned upon by traditional Tories , who nevertheless respected his ability . 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 . 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 . Barnett became the settlement 's first leader , 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 . In 1886 Lang graduated with first @-@ class honours in History ; in October of that year he failed to secure a Fellowship of All Souls College , blaming his poor early scholastic training in Glasgow . 
