The Henson Journals

[114]

Tuesday, January 10th, 1922.

What shall I preach about on Jany 27th when I go into Durham for the annual Commemoration of Founders & Benefactors in the Cathedral? There are the fabrick, the foundation, the cathedral system, the Church of England, the Christian Church, Religion – a large choice but all subjects upon which it is impossible to speak freshly and very difficult to speak wisely.

Lord Durham writes to consult me about the appointment to Burnmoor. I wrote back to him at once, suggesting that he might choose a senior:

"Burnmoor is relatively a small parish: and, in the present shortage of clergymen might be fairly thought to be too small for a young man. In the general interest of the diocese, & on broad grounds of policy, it might perhaps be right to appoint a senior man, who had "borne the burden & heat of the day" in a great parish, & who would now be best placed in a smaller one."

I recommended the following: – Seniors – Gadd and Major.

Juniors: – Shaddick, Appleton, and Wreford Brown.

cf. p. 121. The Revd A. S. Silva White, Vicar of S. Peter, Bp. Wearmouth, came to see me with relation to the complaint of one his Churchwardens as to his neglect of parochial duty by his employment as a Teacher in a local school. I sifted the matter thoroughly, [115] [symbol] and decided that there was no substance in the complaint. However, I decided that I must have an assurance from the parochial church council to the effect that there was no just objection from the parishioners.

Frank Pember & his wife left after lunch. William drove them to Darlington, where they would take train to York.

Ella and I visited the Infirmary Hospital, and were shown over the place by the matron, Miss Demster, an iron–faced Scotch woman. On returning to the Castle, I had an interview with the Revd Bruce George Beale, who desires to leave my diocese on completing two years from his Ordination as deacon. He can't get on with his Rector, and his wife can't hit it off with the Rector's!! The parish, Chester–le–Street, is spiritually a "Dead Sea".

That excellent man, Wilson, sends a note as follows: –

"The engraving of Worcester College, Oxford, which hangs in the doorway of the small dining room of Auckland Castle which was published by J. R. Parker, Oxford, on 21 st November, 1855, was, as I thought, drawn and engraved by John Henry le Keux, the son of John le Keux, and the nephew of Henry le Keux, the two engravers whose names were found in the Biographical Dictionary."

I read the first three Essays of the collection edited by R. W. Livingstone under the title "The Legacy of Greece". The very brief preface by the Editor is pregnant:

"In spite of many differences, no age has had closer affinities with Ancient Greece than our own: none has based its deeper life so largely on ideals which the Greeks brought into the world. History does not repeat itself. Yet, if the twentieth century searched through the past for its nearest spiritual time, it is in the fifth & following centuries before Christ that they would be found. Again & again, as we study Greek thought and literature, behind the veil woven by time & distance, the face that meets us is our own, younger with fewer lines & wrinkles on its features and with more definite and deliberate purpose in its eyes."

---