The Henson Journals

[192]

Tuesday, March 1st, 1921.

The sun shines in his full brightness but the very moment before he passes under a cloud. Who knows what a day, what an hour, nay, what a minute may bring forth! He who builds upon the present, builds upon the narrow compass of a point; and where the foundation is so narrow, the superstructure cannot be high, and strong too.

South. 1685

This sermon "All contingencies under the direction of God's providence" contains the famous description of Cromwell introduced as one of a series of historical examples of amazing revolutions of personal fortune:–

"And who, that had beheld such a bankrupt, beggarly fellow as Cromwell, first entering the parliament house with a threadbare torn cloak, and a greasy hat, (and perhaps neither of them paid for,) could have suspected that in the space of so few years, he should, by the murder of one king, and the banishment of another, ascend the throne, be invested in the royal robes, and want nothing of the state of a king but the changing of his hat into a crown?"

Before the year 1685 had run its course, the sudden death of Charles II added another illustration to the list by which South's argument was illumined. Had the king lived, as it seemed probable he would, another ten years, he would have established an absolute authority, & the liberty of England would have shared the fate of the liberty of France.

[193]

Clayton and I motored to South Shields. We went by way of Sunderland, and were just 1 3/4 hours in getting from the Castle to St Mark's Vicarage. Here I viewed the piece of the Vicarage garden which the Vicar desires to sell to the Corporation, and sanctioned the sale. After tea at the Vicarage, we motored to Gateshead where I was the Rector's guest. After dinner I confirmed about 100 candidates in St James's Church. The incumbents of the 3 parishes from which candidates were presented talked to me about their work. It is evidently the case that the mass of the population lies outside the parochial system, & (save for their baptism) is outside the membership of the National Church. The electoral rolls contain but few names, & "self–government" of the Church means, & can mean, nothing but the self–centred congregationalism of a petty sect. There are many Papists, mostly Irish, and of these there are many Sinn Feiners. The population, while generally indifferent to religion, is not hostile to the Church; and the clergy, though not very influential, are certainly not unpopular. The squalor of the streets, and the mean appearance of the women and children, arrested our attention. Gateshead has the forlorn undone aspect which marks the older parts of the East End of London.

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