The Henson Journals

[66]

Tuesday, January 23rd, 1917.

904th day

Jim and Clara terminated their visit which began on December 2nd & was broken by a visit to Scotland from Dec 21st to Jan 9th. They started to motor to London. I went to Newcastle, and spent a melancholy hour with the dentist. On my return I wrote a large number of letters.

"The Bishop of London (Blomfield) is a man of very great ability, humane, placable, generous, munificent, very agreeable, but not to be trusted with great interests where calmness and judgement are required".

Substitute 'Oxford' for 'London' and the description will serve for 1917.

Sydney Smith was brutally frank about the motives of clergymen:

"the truth is, the greater number of clergymen go into the Church in order that they may derive a comfortable income from the church. Such men intend to do their duty, and they do it, but the duty is, however, not the motive but the adjunct. If I was writing in gala and parade, I would not hold this language; but as we are in earnest & on business, and as very rash & hasty changes founded upon contrary suppositions of the pure disinterestedness & perfect inattention to temporals in the clergy, we must get down at once to the solid rock without heeding how we disturb the turf & the flowers above."

Has he really been as good as his word, and reached the 'solid rock'? At least he has laid his finger on some stern and governing factors in the practical problem of an endowed professional ministry, which may not wisely or rightly be ignored.

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