The Henson Journals

[20]

Friday, June 11th, 1920.

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I confirmed 24 candidates in Cound Church. This is possibly the last confirmation I shall take in this diocese. It is a saddening thought. Mine hostess, after service, offered her congratulations, having just read of the report of my "appointment" in the "Daily Mail"!! That abominable print, adding insult to injury, printed an article on me, garnished with an execrable portrait, & headed offensively, "A fighting bishop"! It is all extraordinarily annoying. After lunch I motored back to Hereford, where I arrived about 5 p.m., & found another sheaf of illegitimate congratulations.

Of course the 'Hereford Times' has a column on 'The Bishop' which, considering that it represents the Opposition, is almost flatterous. It states that 'he has extended to all parties in the Church a wider tolerance than was anticipated by many people'; that his 'moral courage on all occasions has deeply impressed the diocese'; that "his appointments to vacant benefices have on the whole been excellent, & he is on good terms with both clergy & laity, who recognize his intellectual distinction and his extraordinary power of bringing people together. If he goes to Durham there will be widespread regret in the diocese, for all here recognize that the Church will lose the services of a devoted bishop, a great preacher, and a powerful advocate of good causes." Well, Well! There is a complimentary reference to Ella, which is certainly well deserved. "If the reported translation becomes a fact, she will be greatly missed by a host of friends in city and county." I think this is probably true.

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