The Henson Journals

[78]

January 5th, 1923.

My dear Lord Long.

I shd like to thank you for your excellent & timely letter in today's 'Times'. The considerations wh. you advance in criticism of the policy, now so fashionable in clerical & clericalist circles, of multiplying 'Little Bishopricks' appear to me quite unanswerable. You might, perhaps, strengthen your strong case by adding the difficulty in administering episcopal & capitular patronage when the diocesan area is unduly limited. In the case of episcopal patronage its exercise is practically limited to the diocese, & in that of the capitular patronage it is legally so. Experience makes I highly undesirable that appointments to benefices shd be kept within a small area. The larger diocese in many cases provides also a considerable variety of parochial charges, whereas the small diocese must almost necessarily be of a single type.

My friend, Canon Watson, the Regius Prof. of Eccl History in Oxford, has pointed out that the fashionable cult of the "Little Bpk" arose out of the Tractarian supposition that the 'undivided Church' had nothing else; whereas the sounder knowledge of the past wh. is now attainable shows that the 'little bpk.', was limited to the Groeco Roman sphere, & that everywhere outside that sphere the larger bpk. had obtained from the 2nd century.

Herbert Dunelm:

[79]

Friday, January 5th, 1923.

I dictated to Fearne a short sermon after breakfast, & then fell to examining a parcel of Anglo–Catholick publications sent to me by the S. of SS. Peter & Paul.

The rain fell with such persistence that I remained indoors. I wrote to Lord Long thanking him for an excellent letter headed "Little Bishopricks", and I typed the bulk of the sermon I propose to preach in Durham Cathedral on Sunday, & sent it to the Editor of the Yorkshire Post. At least it may serve to keep up the protest against the Anglo–Catholics.

Harvey Dawson–Walker arrived to go with Ella and Fearne to the Raby Castle Ball. He has just finished his first term at Corpus, Oxford.

In turning over my papers, I unearthed a news–paper cutting, which recorded "Canon Green's Prophecy" during the agitation for the Enabling Act. "It prophesied that the next General Election would return the Labour Party to power, & that the Labour Government would introduce a drastic Disestablishment & Disendowment Bill. There would be a parallel to what happened in France. The Church would be summoned by the Bishops to fight the Bill in very parish, & the ecclesiastics would be beaten in every parish". Then a new still more drastic Bill would be introduced and passed". In view of all this he held that "the only possible line of safety was in the complete democratisation of the Church". "If the Nonconformists knew the day of their visitation, they could support this Enabling Bill in every way". All this sounds very absurd now.

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