The Henson Journals

[72]

1st Sunday after Trinity, June 10th, 1917.

1042nd day

I contracted a slight chill yesterday, which made me feel dilapidated & added difficulty to my task of preaching. The weather was bright and warm. Hexham was certainly looking its best. The priory–church, since my last visit two years ago has been enriched by the recovery & setting up of the elaborate carved wooden font–covers of the XVth century. There was a large congregation at Mattins. The singing was vigorous & hearty. As the collection was for the Choir Fund, it is possible that some special musical effort had been made. I preached from S. Mark XI.17, repeating the substance of the sermon preached in Sunderland on May 20th. After lunch I went to my bedroom & lay down for two hours. At Evensong there was again a considerable congregation, and I preached the sermon "Jeremiah's Golden Sword", but with much difficulty as my chill was heavy on me. Then we went back to the house, & as soon as I conveniently could, to bed.

Mine host has been acting as Commissioner for the Y.M.C.A. with the troops abroad. In that capacity he has visited all the Fronts, and gained a "bird's eye" view of the entire War. He certainly is not well–impressed by the morals of the British troops, (which, he says, scandalise the French), or by the behaviour of the Anglican Chaplains, or by the work of the Church Army. He represents the Y.M.C.A. as the most effective moral & religious agent at the front. On this point he may be discounted as a partial witness, but there is much evidence from other sources which confirms his view. He holds Yapp, the Secretary at the Y.M.C.A., to be one of the few great men whom the War has 'discovered'. The climate conditions of Salonika he describes as terrible, and the sickness of the troops alarming. The Italian navy is quite incompetent, and the French not much better. He describes an air–raid of the Germans & Bulgarians in which no less than 800 casualties were caused, & which was never published in the British press. Of the War generally he could see no prospect of a speedy end. His son, now fighting at Ypres, took the view that victory, in the true sense of the word, was not attainable. Canon Savage denounces Lord Grey with much vehemence for having "betrayed" the Serbians in a vain attempt to placate the Bulgarians.

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