The Henson Journals
Thu 23 December 1915
Volume 20, Page 549
[549]
Thursday, December 23rd, 1915.
507th day
Frere went off to Edinburgh after lunch. I shewed him the treasures which we have put away for fear of the enemy. He had never seen them before, and was delighted with them. It was pretty to see the dainty reserve with which he handled the venerable objects: the scholar's sympathy blending with the ascetic's veneration! There is nothing which so reveals the mind & habit of a man as his manner of handling a book. I walked with Logic, and again I lost him somewhere in the neighbourhood of Rogerson's kennels, where, I suspect, he has formed attachments. However, Ella picked him up in the town later. Cummings made his appearance. He is home for a few days. This may be his last leave, for he has volunteered for service in the Balkans. The War will have widened his universe, & (if he has the potency of moral and mental growth) increased his stature. The post brought me a cheery letter from Harold, who will not get home for Christmas. He too is becoming a man, 'finding himself' in the great catastrophe. The process of re–making men proceeds in so many instances that it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the nation itself is 'born again'.