The Henson Journals

[129]

Monday, May 29th, 1922.

The wonderful weather continues, & the garden is a very paradise of blooming beauty. Bishop Moule's practice of saying his prayers as he walked round the garden becomes a form of self–indulgence, & transforms a discipline into a delight, as much sensuous as spiritual. Or perhaps more?

The "Church Times" has an impudent paragraph on its front page dealing with the age of Confirmation:–

"If candidates cannot be confirmed until they have reached a certain age, children may be prepared for their First Communion and admitted to it under the excepting terms of the rubric. They are ready and desirous to be confirmed: they must not be deprived of the two sacraments if one is withheld on a ground at which the Prayer Book does not even hint. It is very desirable that Confirmation shd precede Communion but it is not necessary. And if a general custom of admitting children to Communion grew up, we think that the bishops would very soon modify their age–rule for Confirmation"

It assumes that the Rubrick at the end of the Confirmation Service is the only rubrick dealing with Confirmation; thus it ignores the Rubricks appended to the Catechism, of which the last makes the Bishop's approval of the Confirmation necessary to their Confirmation. The clergy are all bound to the Bishop in the article of obedience "in all things godly and honest."

[130]

Clayton and I motored to Coxhoe, where I confirmed about 180 candidates in an asphyxiating atmosphere. They came from very unattractive parishes manned by very unattractive parsons, but I was struck by their evident purpose & gravity. Most of the male candidates were hefty young fellows between 16 and 20, and a substantial proportion were adults. Their singing of the hymns was remarkably vigorous. Everybody seemed very earnest and thankful for my coming. Then I returned to the Castle and arrived about 9.30 p.m. Alexander was full of the great tidings that the rogue Bottomley had been sentenced to 7 years penal servitude. The news is certainly very gratifying to all honest citizens. Bottomley is a thoroughly bad man, and his influence has been widely mischievous. During the War he "exploited" patriotism with such success that the Government had to yield to pressure from the Front and send him to France to visit the Army. His paper "John Bull", flourished by blackening every public man's character, and creating an universal mistrust. A sordid but clever scoundrel has at last been unmasked.

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