The Henson Journals

[36]

Monday, August 14th, 1922.

A brilliant morning. The laymen went off to kill grouse and, at the General's suggestion, William went with them. I hung about out of doors, until the post brought the papers Ralph has a brief letter in Saturday's "Times" replying to his critics with scorn & ferocity. I think he had been wiser if he had seized the opportunity of setting out his real argument about the War with the dignity & power which are always at his command when he sets pen to paper. As it is, I fear that he forfeits influence with the Nation in order to gain popularity with a virulent faction. Not, indeed, that this is his intention, nor even that he suspects that it is the consequence of his action: but none the less I must needs think that it is the most probable result of his showing only an ill–tempered resentment when his words are interpreted as meaning what they seemed to express viz: his belief that in drawing the sword against the German Aggression, Great Britain was as "mad" as Germany had been in making that aggression. For, indeed, if he were not too far removed from contact with the world, &, perhaps, too little sympathetic with average humanity, he could not but know that the suggestion of such equality of moral turpitude between all the belligerents must be exquisitely painful to all (and they are very many) who lost sons, brothers, husbands, fathers in the War, & who is many cases knew that these volunteered for military service in the fervour of selfless enthusiasm, the most entirely praise–worthy thing it is possible to imagine.

[37]

We all motored to the moor, & joined the sportsmen at lunch. Then we accompanied them for more than two hours over the moor. The weather was fine, the air fresh, and the prospects magnificent. Our hostess, Ella and I returned to the House, where we ordered our garments & proceeded to call at the manse. The minister, Mr Langdale, seemed shy or reserved as well as somewhat deaf. My attempts at conversation were very unsuccessful. I came away thinking him a duller dog than his sermon had suggested! He told me that he had been Minister of Streiton for no less than 22 years, and hinted that only his own refusal to offer himself for election had prevented his transference to some other parish! He evidently knew nothing, and cared nothing about the matter of Reunion: & seemed to think that the Lambeth Appeal was a proposal for exchanging pulpits! I found him a very dull dog.

The General talked very entertainly of his experiences during the War. He spoke of the wonderful kindliness with which the British Tommies treated their German prisoners. On one occasion, they surrendered their own quarters to their prisoners, & themselves lay in the open. He agreed that the Scottish troops were extraordinarily ferocious. In Ireland they kept a list of Sinn Feiners, & whenever of their own number were murdered, the promptly killed two of those on the list. The result of this summary method was that the Scottish troops in Ireland enjoyed almost complete immunity from assassination He said that, so far as he could perceive, the British troops shewed no interest in the religious monuments of Palestine.

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