The Henson Journals

[525]

Saturday, December 11th, 1915.

495th day

I spent the most part of the morning in attending a meeting of the Sherburn Trustees. The Master presided, & Mr Kay, the Assistant Commissioner, attended on behalf of the Charity Commission. I had to leave before 1 p.m., though the business was not half concluded, but I was pledged to give away prizes at the secondary school in Ryhope. Percy Elliot motored me successfully to Ryhope, where I performed my function & made a speech. The master, Williams, a youngish man, impressed me favourably. A considerable number of the parents came together, & were very attentive. I returned to Durham through a storm of rain, and arrived about 5.30 p.m. Pearce was there, and I carried him off to my room for a talk. Mrs Lowe, and Bailey came in to dinner. The publishers send me two notices of "War–time Sermons", both kindly. One, from the "Westminster Gazette" of December 4th was very warmly expressed. "By the side of such discourses as these, one feels how paltry a thing is mere rhetorical declamation. The sermons deserve a place among the most memorable declarations of Christian principles which the nation has received in this time of crisis". This is generous, but it is also anonymous: & how can one appreciate any verdict until one knows the quality of the judge who pronounces it? On the whole I give my vote for the signed reviews.

The most interesting item in the "Times" is the report of an interview with Venezelos. This had been submitted to King Constantine, and commended by him to the "Times" with an indication of his personal dissent. The importance ascribed to the "Times" among foreigners could hardly be more strikingly illustrated. Military intelligence continues to be gloomy both from Macedonia and from Mesopotamia.

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