The Henson Journals
Sun 12 August 1906 to Sat 18 August 1906
Volume 16, Pages 100 to 102
[100]
9th Sunday after Trinity, August 12th, 1906.
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We walked to the parish church unaccompanied by our host. There was no sense of any obligation whether of propriety, or of courtesy to check the unabashed 'secularism' of the household. Probably there are thousands of country houses where The Lords' Day has brought no more religious discipline than this. There was but a small gathering of the faithful though the parish is a large one. A young clergyman took the whole duty. He monotoned the prayers, & read the lessons fairly & with reverence: & I conceived some regard for him: but the sermon – extempore of course – put an end to my approval. His manner was a poor imitation of the Bp. of London, & his matter was drawn from the conventional sacredotalist manuals. He told us that the Church of England was the 'elect race' and 'holy nation', described by S. Peter, & that the Nonconformists were 'schismatics'. I observed that significant glances of disapproval were exchanged by sundry of the audience at these pronouncements, & indeed they must have seemed grotesque in view of the circumstance that the Incumbent happens to be an unpopular & incompetent [101] man, & that consequently most part of his parishioners are nonconformists.
In the afternoon we went for a motor drive with our host. Is this wrong, or inexpedient, or unwise on my part in such a household? The first query can be quickly answered. A drive cannot be wrong in itself. Was it inexpedient? This would depend on such considerations as these, whether any would be scandalized, or confirmed in reprehensible laxity; whether one's own religious life would be injured, or one's moral influence diminished. The last query – Was it unwise? – would depend on the probability of my being recognized, and disapproved.
[102]
On Monday, Aug 13th, 1906, we left Higham House, Robertsbridge, and returned to town, where we stayed until Wednesday in order that I might complete the second Contemporary Article. Then we traveled northwards, stopping for Wednesday night at the Railway Hotel, Carlisle; and arriving at Broadmeadows, Selkirk, in time for luncheon on Thursday. The rain fell with pitiless persistence when we arrived.
On Friday, Aug 17th, we motored all the morning in spite of the weather, which worsened as the day wore on, and finally settled down to a steady rain. We saw a trinity of abbeys in the order of their interest, from the least to the greatest. Jedburgh, Dryburgh, and Melrose. The latter seen in a lurid thunder–light was more impressive.
On Saturday, Aug 18th, I spent the forenoon in walking over the hills. Three of the party carried guns, and we bagged 6 rabbits & 1 grouse. There were a good many birds & some misses. In the afternoon we motored through Peebles. On the way we visited a little churchyard, where the graves of the Tennants were, & against the churchwall a monument to the Earls of Traquair with the inscription, unusual in a Presbyterian land, "Requiescant in pace".