The Henson Journals

[406]

6th Sunday after Epiphany, February 12th, 1905.

A cold and brilliant day. I celebrated at 8 a.m. there were 20 commts. At Mattins there was a large congregation. I noticed Victor Cavendish & Captn Butler among the rest. The sermon was a dull & lengthy disquisition on Wace's Appeal to the first Six Centuries.

At Evensong I preached an old sermon on the Rich Fool. There was a fair congregation, & it was very attentive. The Offertories throughout the day amounted to nearly £22.0.0.

[407]

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Convocation met on Wednesday. Feb: 15th 1905; I attended the Holy Communion in Henry VIIth's Chapel. We spent the day in discussing a lengthy motion about the Constitution of the Representative Church Council, moved by the Ritualists (Canon Sanderson moved; Preb: Villiers seconded)[.] I was about to speak, when the adjournment cut me short, & I was 'in possession' of the House for the following day. Accordingly, on Thursday, I opened the debate with a short speech which was ill-delivered & coldly received. The subject was not disposed of until lunch-time, when the Ritualists carried much-mutilated motions by the miserable majority of 4 votes in a thin house – 36 to 32.

After lunch the main battle was joined on the Dean of Canterbury's motion with respect to the first six centuries. He spoke well, & was seconded by the Dean of Salisbury in a speech of the most incoherent and rambling description. Then Strong made an effective speech, & finally, I spoke for more than half an hour. The House listened well, & was, I think, impressed. Our Dean made a brief mediating speech, & then we adjourned leaving Preb. Villiers in possession of the House. On Friday it was immediately apparent that the Dean of Canterbury had accepted a drastic remodelling of his motion, which now emerged as a [408] quite harmless platitude. Everybody wanted to save the Dean's face, &, accordingly, it was suffered to pass without a division, but, in truth, the "the appeal to the first six centuries" had perished in the debate. The motion as adopted by the House ran as follows:-

That the appeal to Antiquity may rightly be interpreted as an appeal to the general practice of the Catholic Church in the first six centuries, and that amidst present controversies a fuller recognition of this principle is much to be desired.

Thus all the objectionable features had disappeared – the reference to ‘the principle of the English Reformation', the inclusion of doctrine, the definition of ‘Catholicity'

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Issues and controversies: maiden speech in convocation; representative church council