The Henson Journals

[101]

4th Sunday after Easter, May 14th, 1922.

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry & manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"The sundry and manifold changes of the world." With Bishop Butler I say also of Auckland that "everything I see puts me in mind of the shortness & uncertainty of life". But, indeed, his was a calm and settled age compared with this. He could, with obvious and admitted reasonableness, spend largely on the Castles of his See, for no man doubted the stability of the social fabrick in which the Bishop of Durham with his princely revenues was an impressive & integral figure. But now, the question, shamelessly discussed in my presence, is "the future of Auckland". The French Revolution shook the Bishop out of Durham, & stripped him of his Palatine dignity: the Russian Revolution will perhaps shake him out of Auckland, and rob him of such petty relics of his revenues as have been hitherto suffered to remain. And these material changes are petty by comparison with the moral and intellectual changes which have befallen the world.

[102]

Clayton and I left the Castle in a hired motor shortly after 9a.m. and proceeded to Burnmoor. There I instituted Gadd to the Rectory. Knight was present, & read the lessons. I celebrated the Holy Communion. There were no less than 120 communicants. On the whole, this seemed a satisfactory & promising service. We went on to Gateshead, & lunched at the Rectory. Then we attended the function of unveiling the War memorial, which at a cost of £5,500, has been erected by the city folks. I dedicated the monument, & read some prayers. After the function was ended, three chaplains – an Anglican, a Wesleyan, & a Papist – made short speeches. This arrangement was designed to propitiate the Papist's prejudices! We had tea with the Mayor, who had himself lost a son in the War, & was much affected by the proceedings. The long procession of women & children bearing wreaths certainly was very moving. We returned to the Rectory, &, after an interval, Clayton went to S. Cuthbert's, and I went to S Columba's. The service in S. Columba's had a valedictory character, for the curate, Aird, will next Sunday be instituted as Vicar of S Giles's Durham. His successor, Appleton, acted as my chaplain. The church was full: the congregation was attentive: I came away with the belief that good work was being carried on without ostentation or insincerity. We motored back to Auckland, and arrived about 9.30 p.m.

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