The Henson Journals

[164]

Tuesday, August 3rd, 1909.

Empress of Ireland:–

The weather is still dull & inclining to rain, but the temperature has risen, and the sea is not intolerably rough. The sea–gulls are still with us. The Captain assures me that they take rest on the water. I asked how they could in that case keep up with the ship; he replied that there were relays of birds; those now with us are from Greenland which is about 300 miles to the north. I inquired whether during the last 3 years of seismic disturbance he had observed anything unusual in the ocean. He answered that he was persuaded there was a connection between the earthquakes & the unusually disturbed state of the sea during that period. We are making good progress: our run yesterday was 425 miles; & the day before 423.

I gave Dr Denny the proof of my article, "The Lambeth Ideal of Reunion", to read. He returned it with warm expressions of agreement. I read with much interest Mr Shepard's argument in the Crapsey case. In the course of it he makes an admirable quotation from S.T. Coleridge on the Virgin Birth, "Notes on English Divines, ed. Rev. Derwent Coleridge 1853. p. 73."

In the evening there was a concert in the 2nd class saloon. The Chairman was one Dr. Matthews, a typical American divine, whose introductory speeches were models of vulgarity & bad taste. Herein, however, they fitly introduced the items of the programme.

[165]

Why is the American divine so offensive to British conceptions? The answer carries into the difficult subject of typical American Christianity. There is no reverence anywhere: none in the vestry, none in the choir: none in the pulpit. The note of personal advertisement is ever audible: not rarely it is emphasized to the exclusion of every other note. In the midst of the services the minister makes lengthy announcements, which are incongruous to the point of indecency. Rivalry between denominations is 'naked & not ashamed', and it kills every worthy ideal of religious work. 'Religious workers' are held together in a covenant of mutual admiration. Criticism is resented mortally. Mine ears ache with the superlatives of self–paid compliment to which they have listened. Every Divine element in public worship is dwarfed & all but banished: every human element is cherished & exaggerated. 'Services' become ever 'shorter' & 'brighter'. Sermons ever more sensational. Indeed it is a degraded race in sensationalism. It would seem that the spirit of commercialism has established itself in the sanctuary. Religion appears to bring no discipline to the national character: & to carry no consecration to the national life.

I confessed my impressions to Dr Denny, & discovered that they correspond closely with his own. He had mainly seen the inside of American Presbyterianism, & I mainly that of American Episcopalianism. Both are stricken with the same malady. The Churches have no Religion in them: they have everything else.

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