The Henson Journals

[694]

Thursday, April 6th, 1916.

612th day

Brilliant sun, but with it a white frost. I received the Holy Communion at 8 a.m. The Precentor celebrated. Bishop Quirk was held up for 7 hours last night in the train as he returned from Hartlepool to Durham. I finished the sermon for Sunday, & then started to work at removing the ivy–bed. The Precentor, coming in opportunely, was impressed into the labour. The commandant of the cadets sent me a note to say that he had just received orders to break up the school, & that consequently there would be nobody in Durham on Sunday. In these circumstances I ordered that the military service should be suspended. It has been kept up without break since Advent Sunday November 29th 1914. After lunch I walked with Logic, & talked with Bishop Quirk. I have a letter from Sir James Crichton–Browne asking me to lecture to the Royal Institution on the 9th June on "any literary or historical subject". It is difficult to decline invitations of this kind, but extremely inconvenient to accept. The diversion of interest, & waste of time involved in the preparation of lectures of this sort are distressingly great. Sir Lewis Dibdin replied to my letter, sending me a privately printed account of some proceedings at Chester, where he was called upon to give an opinion on 'the claim of the Bishop of Chester to officiate and preach in the Cathedral, at his pleasure and without the consent of the Dean & Chapter'. To this claim Sir Lewis Dibdin himself is opposed, but the Bishop (Jayne) obtained favourable opinions from Cripps & Talbot. The latter, however, are written in a very non–legal tone, & suggest rather an essay on the powers of the Episcopate written in the interest of their revival & extension than an honest attempt to state the law. On the question of Canons' preaching Dibdin holds that the matter is determined by the local statutes, & that there is no general law.

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