The Henson Journals

[70]

Tuesday, December 14th, 1920.

I motored to Durham, &, at 11 a.m. administered confirmation to 55 boys, of whom 4 were cathedral choirboys & 51 were from Durham School. The Dean, & 3 canons were present. Budworth carried the staff, and forgot to give it into my hand for the benediction. I confirmed every boy separately, & the boys were rather slow in coming up, so that the service took an hour & a quarter, rather longer than I should have expected. After the confirmation, I licensed 3 clergymen of whom one (Guillanne) was the Professor of Hebrew, & one the lecturer in Hellenistic Greek. Then I lunched in the Common Room at the Castle with 3 dons: & after that I visited the Head Deaconess. These excellent women are full of goodness but they asphyxiate me! She expressed an ardent desire to have the Sacrament reserved in the chapel! Then I went back to the Castle, and wrote a number of letters. At 7 p.m. I dined in college. It was an odd gathering, rather like a gaudy at a Sunday School, for while the general plan was that of a gaudy, the spirit was that of a Sunday School. Nothing could well have been graver, more decorous, more demurely Pharasaic! My speech was rather hollow & even grotesque as addressed to so petty an audience, & in so incongruous a setting. But it had been sent in advance to the newspapers, and was really rather an unusual affair altogether. William & the car were waiting for me: I changed, packed my bag, & returned home, where I found that Maish had returned, & Clayton had arrived. I went to bed at 11.15 p.m. very tired.

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