The Henson Journals

[217]

Wednesday, September 19th, 1923.

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The Bishop of Zanzibar's reprint of his letter to the Morning Post under the title "In defence of the English Catholic" reached me this morning. He has added a Preface and his 'Final Address at the Anglo–Catholic Congress'. I was sufficiently moved by perusing this pamphlet to write an Article for the "Spectator" entitled "A Go–as–you–please Church".

Mr Stoddart, who aspires to be the curate of St Matthew's Darlington, came to see me, & stayed to lunch. There lunched also a party of Ella's friends, to whom I showed the Castle.

The Ordination Candidates, six in number, arrived about 6 p.m. Knight also arrived, & gave the address in chapel at 7 p.m.

Knight had some talk with me about his parish. He describes the people, almost all miners, as well–paid, self–indulgent, & intellectually undeveloped. "It is a parish without a book in it", he said, but one of the newsagents told him that on Saturday afternoons he usually sold 3000 copies of the "Football Edition" of the evening paper. The people are extremely well–fed, indeed, their interest in the butcher shops divides their minds with that in their sports. Whippet racing, rabbit coursing, betting on horse races & on everything else, & above all football absorb them. Over–crowding is terrible. He spoke of 13 persons being in a 4 roomed house: of two married couples with a child, and another about to be born occupying a single room. And the morality matches the housing.

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