The Henson Journals

[91]

18th Sunday after Trinity, October 6th, 1912. Williamstown.

This is the 7th Sunday since we left England. It is well that the Church of England teaches the grace of spiritual communion, where the Sacrament is not accessible, for in this country the churches of my own communion are by no means always easy to find: & other churches celebrate the Holy Communion only at rare intervals. I suppose this is the longest period since my confirmation 32 years ago that I have gone without receiving the Sacrament. It would be a great thing if there could be agreement to celebrate the Communion in all the churches on the 1st Sunday of the month.

The sun shining through the foliage that is golden and crimson makes a brave show. The house is pleasantly placed above the little town, & the freshness of the hills is in the air. This is by no means the highest part of the plateau. We are only about 700 feet above sea level but even that elevation gives a sense of strength & liberty.

The College Chapel is a fine modern Gothic building, with a fine but rather heavy timber roof, and an unusually well–proportioned tower, which admitted comparison with that of Magdalen College, Oxford. It is a really acceptable element in a scene of unusual beauty. I preached on the words, "The earth is the Lord's, & the fullness thereof".

[92]

The sermon was a failure. I did not succeed in arresting the attention of the young men who filled the chapel; they expressed the fact by incessant coughing & fidgeting. On the whole it was rather an ignoble experience.

After service we walked for more than an hour in the country. Nothing could adequately describe the glorious beauty of the scenery. In the afternoon our host drove us for an hour & a half in the hills. The whole way was an apocalypse of colour. The deep crimson shumack & the brilliant maples seemed to kindle flames on the hillsides as the westering sun shone through them. I have often read glowing descriptions of the Fall, but certainly the facts exceed the most enthusiastic accounts.

We attended the short 'vespers' which the President conducted in the chapel at 5.30 p.m. After dinner at 6.30 p.m. I addressed a meeting of about 70 students with a few of the older people on the Putumayo Atrocities. They listened with very close attention, & were, I think, impressed.

There was at dinner an Englishman whose name I failed to catch, who said that he was a member of the London County Council, & spoke with considerable knowledge of the recent dock strike. He came with the President to the Putumayo address, & was evidently not a little astonished by what he heard.

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Issues and controversies: Putumayo