The Henson Journals

[149]

Friday, August 17th, 1917.

1110th day

A wet morning but the day was better than its early promise. I worked all the morning, & again in the afternoon at the memoirs. The Dowager Lady Londonderry appeared at Evensong, where her singing of the hymn nearly overcame my gravity, & afterwards invaded the Deanery. She has been visiting the Grand Fleet: & Colonel Repington was in her party. One must needs wonder how all doors still fly open, & all restrictions are still powerless against the titled Dame! Her Ladyship is, of course, full of political gossip, most of it unquestionably worthless. She says Lloyd George sees nobody, & takes no counsel, thus cutting himself off from the obvious remedies for his ignorance & lack of experience. Just as I was going to dress for dinner, two papist priests with four ladies appeared & requested to see the Cathedral. As they had come from London, & were leaving tonight, I was complaisant, & took them quickly round the church. The ecclesiastics impressed me as ill–bred and rather aggressive persons, but the females appeared to be genuinely interested in what they saw. There was a remarkably fine sun–setting: the glow of the sky arrested our notice, and induced us to run from the table where we sate at meal and to mount on to the roof, there to gaze at the sky.

Last night the Prime Minister made a cheerful statement on the War. He assured the House of Commons that our food supplies were now reasonably well–assured: that the submarine losses were diminishing: and that the offensive on the Western Front was proceeding prosperously. If but we could hold steady to our purpose, he was confident that we could win the war. The comments of the press in America, France and Italy on the Pope's peace–proposals are polite, but cold, & even contemptuous. It is taken for granted everywhere that the inspiration of the Pontifical action came from Berlin by way of Vienna. The great scandal of the Gerlach trial had aroused suspicion in advance of the Pope's action, and the Vatican normally commands no general confidence.

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