The Henson Journals

[421]

18th Sunday after Trinity, October 3rd, 1915.

426th day

I went to S. Margaret's at 8 a.m., and there received the Sacrament. Westlake celebrated, & Gordon assisted. The congregation consisted of a score of women & four young men. I did not recognize so much as one. The Church continues unaltered in its grave beauty. At Mattins there was a large congregation, among which I observed many familiar faces. The service was well rendered. In the choir there is improvement. Goss–Custard's departure has justified itself here. Craik read the first lesson, & Carnegie the second. The Authorized Version has thrust out the Revised. This change is regrettable on many grounds. Also, the reference to the Church of Scotland has been cut out of the Bidding prayer. I preached for half an hour, & was listened to with close attention, though the sermon was rather heavy. The subject – 'National Christianity' – hardly leant itself to emotion or rhetoric. Outside the Church was a collection of old choirboys, & others including Sir Charles Renshaw, & Lady Limerick. Reggie Still in khaki, and Nimbus took me for a little walk on the Embankment.

[423]

We lunched with the Craiks. Sir Henry was very severe on the decrepitude & incompetence of the present chapter of Westminster. He is excessive & unjust, but there is a modicum of justification for his indictment. Carnegie was insistent on the same subject. After lunch we walked to the British Museum, & had tea with Arthur Smith & his wife. They took us into the Museum, & shewed us the Elgin Marbles swathed in or rather built in by sand bags. We returned to Dean's Yard, picked up my robes, & drove to the Deanery of S. Paul's. Finding Inge & his wife absent, we walked to the Rectory in King Edward Street, and called on the newly–married Hine–Haycock, who has not yet realized the extent of the bondage into which he has brought himself. Then we walked to Gerald's lodgings, & so went to St Nicholas Cole Abbey, where I preached to a congregation which (in spite of the darkness into which the Zeppelins have plunged London) filled the little church. Gerald was vested in a brilliant cope, & was preceded by some tall youths (who ought to have been in khaki) as he processioned round the church. Otherwise the service was hearty & reverent. We got back to Dean's Yard for supper. R. J. Campbell of the City Temple had been invited to meet me. I asked him whether it was indeed the case that he intended to take Orders in the Church of England, & he replied in the affirmative. "I hope you will not join the sacerdotalists" was my comment, & he looked significantly sheepish. Subsequently, he explained to me that 'he was to be received by the Bishop of Oxford as an old friend'! The true [425] direction of his mind was perhaps disclosed by his observation that he thought Prayer book Revision would have a better chance of success if the Bishops conceded exposition of the Sacrament!! His experiences at the Front have made him wondrously tender to the Roman system. I can have no doubt as to his ecclesiastical destination. After his departure, Carnegie started to talk again, & held on in spite of my fatigue with amazing vigour. His egotism, confusion, & pertinacity are equally wonderful!

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