The Henson Journals

[95] [sic] [96]

Thursday, August 26th, 1920.

I worked at the Swedish lectures. There came to lunch from Malvern George Dennistoun and his wife. Afterwards I walked to Belmont with Alan Radford, & then resumed work at the lectures. I wrote to the Revd John F. Clayton (Wyelands, nr. Ross) formally accepting him as domestic chaplain, stipulating that he shd enter on his duties at the beginning of January 1921:

"There is a certain solemnity as of a religious covenant when men become colleagues in the work of the Christian Ministry, & when their union is intimate & confidential as must be ours, that solemnity is deepened. We must be true to salt."

I thought that might properly be said.

[96] [sic] [97][symbol]

August 27th, 1920.

Dear Mr [Rust,]

I should have been better pleased if you had asked my permission before inviting Mr Holmes to preach in Hamsteels Parish Church, instead of taking that permission for granted, & informing me after the invitation had been sent, & accepted. If you study the Report of the Lambeth Conference, you will find that there is great regard paid to the principle of ecclesiastical order. Mere individualism, however well–intentioned, is discouraged.

I desire to assist to the best of my power in clearing away the prejudices & misunderstandings which now separate Anglicans & Nonconformists, but I am not disposed to have my hand forced by hasty action in the parishes.

And in any case, I think the request for my permission should be sent from the churchwardens as well as from the Incumbent. The congregation must not be ignored in matters of this kind.

Believe me, Yours sincerely,

Herbert Dunelm.

The above was written to the Vicar of [Hamsteels], & sufficiently explains itself. I suspect there will be more cases of incumbents professing an ardent zeal to fraternize with the sectaries, and claiming my approbation for their disorderly proceedings. They mistake their Bishop rather wonderfully!

[97] [sic] [98]

August 28th, 1920.

My dear Lord Archbishop,

We have taken passages in the steamer which leaves Newcastle for Gothenburg on Saturday the 11th of September: & shall proceed to Upsala leisurely so as to arrive either on Thursday 16th, or on Friday the 17th.

The Lectures, I fear, will reflect the haste & pressure under which they have been composed: but, such as they are, they may, perhaps, help to give a truer understanding of the phenomenon, Anglicanism.

You will have read the Report of the Lambeth Conference, and noted the Resolutions which affect the relations of the two Churches, yours & mine. I understood before I left London that the Archbishop of Canterbury would correspond with you on the subject of sending the Bishop of Peterborough to attend the Consecration in Upsala on September 19th, so that a formal character might be given to the presence of English Bishops as desired by the Conference.

I told his Grace that this arrangement must depend, so far as I was concerned, on your wishes. Your courteous invitation to me had nothing formal in it: & my acceptance of it was purely personal. In this matter I shall conform entirely to your wishes. My own sentiments as to the Church of Sweden are sufficiently well known.

The threatened strike of miners, if it takes place, may compel my return to England as speedily as possible. It will not be fitting that the Bishop of Durham should be absent if his diocese, which is one of the greatest mining centres, is in confusion. I trust, however, that, even at the eleventh hour, the strike may be averted.

Looking forward to meeting you in a few weeks,

I am, my dear Archbishop,

Yours v. sincerely,

Herbert Dunelm:

The Most Revd the Lord Abp. of Upsala.

[98] [sic] [99]

Saturday, August 28th, 1920.

[I finished the 6th lecture. It dealt with the Establishment. Elizabeth arrived in the forenoon. The Bishop of Worcester and Miss Pearce came to lunch, and at tea time Mrs Burkitt & Miles appeared. Per contra, Ernest left. We are certainly "dying game"! Miles Burkitt talked very interestingly of pre–historic wall–paintings in Spain, on which he appears to be an authority. He talked well, & so relieved the taciturnity of Alan Radford.

Pearce is confronted with the Super–tax for the first time, and he exhibits evident signs of a not unnatural perturbation. Add the menacing & indefinite burden of dilapidations, and the situation of a bishop without private resources, and living in a noble medieval castle, is not enviable.]

---