The Henson Journals
Mon 13 July 1914 to Sat 18 July 1914
Volume 19, Pages 232 to 233
[232]
Monday, July 13th, 1914.
Monday, July 13th 1914 – Saturday, July 18th 1914
[I went across to Lambeth on Saturday morning in order to make some preparation in the library there for my evidence before the select committee. I had an interview with his Grace, & then settled to read such books as were relevant. Armitage Robinson arrived, & we discussed the subject. I stayed to luncheon, & sate at table between the 2 Abps. The Primate pleasantly compared himself & his northern brother to two tame elephants, bringing in a capture! We discussed the desperate political situation, & the strange frivolity which marked the course of society. The Archbishop mentioned as a case in point the behaviour of the Prime Minister, who continued to play bridge with young women until the small hours of the morning, at a juncture which at any moment might emerge in civil war, a situation which would overwhelm the country with disaster, and himself with infamy. I returned to Little Cloisters, & picked up Ella. We travelled to Winchester by the 4.50 p.m. from Waterloo, and there we spent the week end, as stated on p. 230f]
[233]
We left Winchester for Southampton by a morning rain, arriving in good time for lunch. We stayed with the Bishop–Suffragan until Saturday, and enjoyed some delightful motor drives through the forest.
On Thursday we visited Salisbury. Here we called at the Palace, and had some conversation with the Bishop. He spoke rather contemptuously of his Brother of Chelmsford, who seems to be shaping for the usual transformation which overtakes the Evangelical on the Episcopal Bench. We visited Breamore, where is a most interesting church, largely prae–Norman. There is a round arch with a clear–cut Anglo–Saxon inscription: and some medieval frescoes in the priest's chamber within the porch.
On Friday, the 17th July, I went to Westminster in order to give evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Lords. Their Lordships kept me for 2 hours: & all asked questions except Lord Halsbury, who contented himself with interjecting remarks.
On Saturday, we left Southampton, and made our way to Vann, in order to spend the week–end with the Caröes. In the afternoon our hosts took us on an expedition to Bignor, to see the remains of the Roman Villa. The mosaic pavements are astonishingly brilliant.
Issues and controversies: female suffrage