The Henson Journals
Sun 26 August 1917
Volume 21, Page 160
[160]
12th Sunday after Trinity, August 26th, 1917.
1119th day
I wrote to Ernest before breakfast. The post brought me from Charles an invitation to preach in Westminster Abbey on October 21st. This I accepted straight away in spite of the fact that I am "in residence" in October. Knowling preached an admirable sermon at Mattins. I celebrated the Holy Communion. There were but 6 communicants beside myself, & these included my wife and the Craiks. Meade Faulkner & his wife came to lunch. He was very full of a certain Hospital at Kirk Leatham near Redcar which contains the books of the founder an ex–Lord Mayor of London, tempore Charles II: among these are many interesting M.S.S. He said that he had heard from Paris that no literary loot had so far arrived from Belgium & the parts of France wasted by the enemy. This is surely surprising. & suggests that German thoroughness extended to organising the transference of all valuable loot to Berlin. I attended Evensong. Major & Miss White and Mrs Duff came to tea. When they had departed I started to walk with Craik, but we had not gone far when the rain came on again. So we returned to the Deanery, and I spent an hour & a half in showing my guests to the library.
After dinner we sate in my study, and talked about many things. Craik told me, on the authority of Lord Rosebery, that Lord North was the natural brother of George III, to whom he unquestionably bore a remarkable facial resemblance. This circumstance "caused Frederick, prince of Wales to suggest to the first Earl of Guildford that one of "their wives must have played them false". The Dict: of N.B. makes this statement on the authority of Wraxall. But, if there had been truth in the suggestion, even a gross fool like Frederick could hardly have made it. However Craik says that Lord R. is evidently convinced of the fact, and has the pictures of George III and Lord North arranged side by side. The unacknowledged facts of history are sometimes far more illuminating than those which adorn the pages of history's record. This may be case in point.