The Henson Journals

[189]

Saturday, March 9th, 1918.

1314th day

I wrote letters, & saw divers people. Then I walked round the cathedral with a verger, & lunched early. Bannister came in to see me about letting his house. The main obstacle is Mrs B.'s reluctance to allow her treasures to be handled by new & heartless maids! I left Hereford at 12.55 p.m., and arrived in Paddington about 6 p.m. There I was lucky in getting a taxi, and so got to Dean's Yard without delay. Here I found Foxley Norris, the Dean of York, who is due to preach in the Abbey tomorrow morning. I dined with the Barrans. The company was mostly American. Herbert Samuel was there. He took a gloomy view of the war–prospects. I asked Prof: Bunstead (?) [sic] of Yale, (an eminent "physicist", who is attached in that capacity to the American Embassy in London,) whether in his judgment, America would have supported President Wilson if he had come in to the War (as he ought on principle to have done) after the sinking of the "Lusitania". He was not very positive, but inclined to think that President Wilson came in on the first opportunity. I returned to Dean's Yard about 11 p.m., & then we sate up talking until 12.30 midnight on the chance of there being another air–raid. In that event, we shd have been required to betake ourselves to the Norman undercroft, until such time as the attack had ended. However there was nothing of the sort, & we did at last go to bed. There are evident signs of nerve–weakening in these Londoners, though, on the whole, it were but just to allow that they bear their experiences very creditably.

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