The Henson Journals

[253]

4th Sunday after Trinity, June 27th, 1915.

328th day

"The opinion of the Church does not matters. There is no longer a Church of Christ. There is a Church of England, a church of Germany, a church of Russia, of Italy and of France, colouring their humanity with their political convictions, & their patriotic desires" – such is the language of an article on "Reprisals" sent to me last week. It appears in a paper called "Town Talk", and is vigourously [sic] written. This brings us to a practical victory of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury! Gamble writes to me suggesting that some effort should be made by the Church to bring about peace, but I cannot think that the time has come yet. Until the German armies have evacuated Belgium, & the German government consented to compensate the Belgians, so far as is possible, for the infamies committed against them, I cannot see that Peace would be morally tolerable.

I preached to the troops from the words "A man's foes shall be they of his own household". There were about 600 men in the Cathedral, as I judge. Lillingstson preached at Mattins. It was hardly in any sense a regular discourse but a discursive exhortation to prayer framed in much purple invective against 'drinking'. He seems to consider prayer as a more effective kind [255] of shell, manufactured more easily and at vastly smaller cost! This cheap ranting would have better matched a street–corner than a cathedral pulpit, yet I suspect that the congregation for the most part approved it, & applauded the preacher. So long as there is a public welcome for such stuff, there will not lack purveyors: but I could wish that they were not found among the holders of our capitular stalls. I attended Evensong in the Cathedral, & afterwards shewed some officers over the building. Finally I wrote letters.

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