The Henson Journals

[105]

6th Sunday after Trinity, July 15th, 1917.

1077th day

Eton was at its best & loveliest when we went to the Holy Communion at 8 a.m. The service in the great chapel was most moving. All those young spirits drawing to the Hearth of all Spiritual Life, with undashed hopes and undisclosed destinies, must appeal to any observant & sympathetic student of human life. There came to breakfast two boys, whose parents are among our Northern acquaintance, & both very promising youngsters – Lord Castlereagh & Runciman. I preached at Mattins on "Friendship" taking for my text the words of David's lament for Jonathan, which formed part of the 1st lesson. The boys were very attentive, & I was assured by several persons afterwards that I was well heard. After service we walked and talked in the garden very pleasantly until lunch time. Bailey & Ker held with me that Tennyson was a great poet, and "In Memoriam" a great poem: but Alington denied both. He mentioned an English rendering of S. Francis's Hymn of Creation which sounded admirable. It is the work of Draper, the vicar of Adel. Alington took me to lunch in the hall – a very agreeable episode in an agreeable visit. After lunch I was taken by the vice–provost (Rawlins) to his house, & shown the astonishingly beautiful ^view^ of the Castle which is gained from his drawing–room window. Michael Babington Smith and his younger brother, both collegers, came with Ella & took me for a walk, & afterwards had tea with Mrs Alington. Before this, however, I had some pleasant conversation with Monty James, the Provost of King's. We went to the Chapel for Evensong, which was inspiriting, so hearty was the singing of the boys. Eddie Hamilton sate beside me, & sang right lustily. Then I had a brief interview with Warre, the Provost, who is in his 81st year, & a lamentable wreck. He has completely lost his voice, & seems quite broken up. Rain fell at intervals during the afternoon, a circumstance to be noted on St Swithin's day. It induced me to take my umbrella to chapel, & leave it with my hat in the ante–chapel. It had disappeared when I left the chapel! Yet there are people who think the public [106] reading of the Decalogue superfluous in Christian congregations!

I got a little talk with Ker about the Anson 'Memoir': and he seemed to agree with me that it should not exceed in size the life of Ingram Bywater by W. W. Jackson. Tacitus' Life of Agricola was about the right size for a biography in his view: and I certainly do not dissent. If, as he thinks possible, Ker can visit us in September, I might possibly have something ready for his criticism!

Lord Cobham came to dinner, & two of his children, George, a hefty young man (of whom the mere spectacle suggested the question, Is he a "Cuthbert"?) and a bright–looking daughter, who has been nursing in France. Fletcher came also, very grey & disconsolate. The death of his two sons in France has told on him badly. He talks folly about living for revenge, & indeed, seems to me in a condition which must move the anxiety of his friends. I sate by Mrs Bailey, who talked much about Temple's "Life & Liberty Movement". She & Mrs Alington are attending the meeting tomorrow. All the clan of the Lyttletons & Talbots are clearly in sympathy. It grates on my ear most painfully to hear their confident chatter about the Church of England, as if, indeed, disestablishment were a pleasant jest, & Disendowment and interesting experiment. The ladies announce their intention of going with Mrs Creighton to this meeting. They all hang together in these follies! Eddie Hamilton is a pleasant young man, but vastly too talkative. He is said to inherit extraordinary loquacity. I was amused to hear Lord Cobham discuss the singular phenomenon of headmasterships remaining in families. He spoke of the case of his brother's appointment to Eton, & of his brother–in–law's appointment as his brother's successor, as if he himself had not been on both occasions the chairman of the Governing Body. This powerful family has the appropriation of preferment so firmly rooted in its tradition that what the rest of the world admires as a continuity of nepotism hardly matched elsewhere, possesses in the opinion of its members the character of natural law operating inevitably! The high average of success attained in office gives respectability to this extraordinary phenomena.

[107]

Mr Bailey and I had some talk after the rest of the party had gone to bed. He says that Gore is curiously untactful in his diocese, & by consequence generally unpopular. Rawlins told me that about 800 Etonians had been killed out of a total of about 5000. This suggests a death–roll of about one–sixth of the total serving. Carry that proportion through the nation, and we may conclude that the killed already number more than 300,000, perhaps as many as half a million. The sight of this great school, with its multitude of healthy happy boys glowing with the joy & promise of life, operates as a consolation. Even this monstrous war will not long arrest the march of mankind.

The following bishopricks must on all reasonable estimate of probability fall vacant within a short time viz: Hereford, St Alban's, Gloucester, Chichester, Carlisle, Durham, Chester, and the Archbishoprick of Canterbury. Of possible successors to the present Archbishop, the following are most often mentioned viz. Lang, Burge, Kempthorne, Pollock, & Burrows. Pearce affirms that, if the Bishops were to elect the Primate, they would probably choose Burrows. At this moment, perhaps, the likeliest "candidate" is Burge. Lloyd–George shows a tendency to accept the suggestions of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is so hustled that he has neither mind nor time to concern himself much in the matter of ecclesiastical appointments. A Welsh Baptist must needs be handicapped by a very inadequate knowledge of clergymen & clerical interests. Of desirable men to be appointed to bishopricks there are not many. Pearce, Glazebrook, David, Beeching are possible. Some people would add my name to the list, but I doubt whether any Prime Minister would offer me a bishoprick & bring an ecclesiastical storm about his ears. Nor am I at all convinced that, if per impossible I reached the Bench, I could command the indispensable minimum of clerical acceptance. After all, a Bishop must be able to count upon civil treatment: & I gravely doubt whether in many dioceses even as much as that would be given me.

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