The Henson Journals

[54]

Thursday, May 24th, 1917.

1025th day

A beautiful day, bright and warm. I attended Mattins & Evensong, wrote a sermon for Whitsunday, & cut down the tree in the front garden doomed some while back as damaging its neighbours. The morning post brought me an anonymous letter expressed in terms of gross insult scarcely compatible with the writer's sanity, yet beautifully typed. It was apparently provoked by the appearance of my name with others at the foot of the letter protesting against "reprisals". The postmark is Newcastle. Such compositions depress me because they disclose the existence of an absolutely inaccessible element in the population, & suggest the reign of prejudices which cannot be removed. Maurice Peel has been killed when trying to bring in a wounded soldier. He had been twice decorated for gallantry. I wish now that I had preached for him in March as had been arranged.

Sir Henry Graham sent me a letter which he had received from Lord Lansdowne in comment on my letter about the Warden. His Lordship writes:

"I think Henson is wrong in believing that Anson did not take himself very seriously. There was something dilettante about him on the surface, but I always considered him exceptionally thoughtful & interested in the graver aspects of life. There may be something in Henson's theory that the death of our friend's father was a turning point in his career, but I am afraid I cannot myself say anything in corroboration."

This is not very helpful but it is worth having. The truth is that the Warden was born & bred in a little "pocket" of 18th century habitudes, which had survived into the 19th century & the Oxford to which he came had fallen back to 18th century latitudinarianism, by way of re–action from the unhealthy fervours of Tractarianism. Jowett, in spite of his portentous vigour, was essentially an 18th century divine.

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