The Henson Journals

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Easter Day, April 12th, 1914.

Gore's "Open Letter" is much on my mind, & darkens the Festival. His accusation of the 'liberal' clergy as 'insincere' is equally cruel and pointless. Most of them are led by an almost quixotic sincerity to their impolitic declarations. And Gore's policy could not serve sincerity but, at best, the sorry interest of institutional consistency. And surely on the main question he is altogether wrong. What is for faith the value of the quasi–historical details? The original Easter message, "Jesus lives" is evidently vital to faith, the necessary presupposition of Christian worship: but why should I concern myself religiously with an alleged resuscitation, even though supported by a seemingly inexplicable "empty tomb"? The modern world reeks with prodigies, supported by circumstantial evidence in plenty, & (what is lacking in this case) by the evidence of eye–witnesses. If I sink & stretch my mind to all measures of credulity, I have not opened it to Faith, the Faith which works by love, & overcomes the world. Then Gore's frank assessment of the Bishop of Zanzibar's attitude, & his singular handling of the Thirty–nine Articles, must surely 'give pause' to many minds, & move some serious misgivings as to the conception of Anglicanism which these procedures imply.

[155]

The sun shone brilliantly from a cloudless blue sky when I went to the Cathedral for the Celebration. There was a fair number of communicants.

At the Choral Eucharist the congregation was larger than I expected. It included a party of School Attendance Officers. I preached an old sermon on 'St Paul & Socrates' which had originally been preached in the Abbey in 1906.

I attended Evensong in the Cathedral. The singing was very good.

Finally, I motored to Belmont parish church, & preached to a very attentive congregation, adapting a sermon on 'The Worship of Christ', which I preached some years ago in S. Margaret's.

Ella & Mary Scott accompanied me.

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Shakespeare is the exponent of patriotism at its keenest, & he is also the poet of humanity. The enormous range of his popularity is proof of his cosmopolitanism. He illustrates the method by which genuine cosmopolitanism is developed, cf. Burke & the French Revolutionaries.

A parallel between Shakespeare & Ecclesiastes might be worked out e.g. both personally unknown, and their writings the main source of knowledge as to their characters. Both large in sympathy, & doubtful in faith. Both living in an epoch of intellectual dislocation. Both fundamentally loyal to goodness.

The contrast not less impressive. Ecclesiastes is 'a man without a country'. Shakespeare is intensely patriotic. Shakespeare's creed might have been expressed in the words of Ecclesiastes. (iii. 10–13)

'What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail wh. God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, & to do good so long as they live. And also that every man shd eat & drink, & enjoy good in all his labour, is the gift of God.'

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Cf. the description of Solomon. 1. Kings IV. 29.34

"God gave Solomon wisdom & understanding exceeding much, & largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea–shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, & all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men: …. & his fame was in all the nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs: & his songs were a thousand & five. And he spake of trees, from the cedars that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, & of fowl, & of creeping things, & of fishes".

Brandes suggests that Shakespeare was describing himself when he places in the mouth of the Abp. of Canterbury the description of Henry V.

Gardiner (Cambridge Mod: Hist. III. 553) speaks of Shakespeare as sowing seed in the world wh. 'wd find its counterpart in the Church in the work of a learned clergy prepared to sift the current theology of the day, & to find it wanting'. In this respect he couples Shakespeare with Bacon.

cf the influence of Montaigne (Ibid. p. 67f.)

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On Tuesday, April 14th, Mr Gaymor, the contractor, came to Durham in order to make a preliminary inspection of the Cathedral. He lunched with us, & impressed us both as a sincere man, genuinely enthusiastic over his work. He said that his love of ancient buildings dated from his boyhood, when he had been devotedly attached to an ancient parish church. He has evidently thought much on labour–questions: & thinks that we are drawing near to a disastrous conflict between Capital & Labour.

Kenneth Campbell came to see the Cathedral, and spend the night.

I showed about 100 School Attendance Officers over the Cathedral: & afterwards we gave them tea at the Deanery. They seemed a decent set of men, mostly Methodists as I judge for they sang a Methodist hymn "God be with you till we meet again" with great fervour. They were evidently pleased to come into personal contact with me, because they had heard & read of me as friendly to them. It is rather pathetic in its way.

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