The Henson Journals

[251]

Monday, December 30th, 1912.

The morning post brought a letter from Willie Temple saying that he had accepted the offer of this canonry & rectory. Later, however, Pearce brought the disconcerting news that it had been discovered that he (Temple) was legally disqualified as being less than six years in orders! So everything is again hung up. I fell in with Bonham Carter as I returned from the city during the afternoon, & had some talk with him. I rather pressed that Gow should be appointed. It is certainly very extraordinary that the Abp. of C. and the late Bp. of W., now Dean of Wr – men who must have had much experience of appointments, should have been so ignorant or so forgetful of the law as to press the P.M. to appoint a man not legally qualified.

Mr Adeney, the tailor, came to instruct me as to these garments: & I had scarcely got rid of him before I had to go to S. Margaret's, & conduct the funeral service for Mrs Fedarb. This melancholy function was my last official act in that church.

I was photographed in my room by an agent of the London Illustrated News. He was a manly–looking fellow, who said he had just returned from photographing Bulgars in the neighbourhood of Adrianople.

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