The Henson Journals

[206]

20th Sunday after Trinity, October 17th, 1926

A cold morning, gleams of sunshine followed by down–pourings of rain. I celebrated the Holy communion in the Chapel at 8 a.m. There were 10 communicants including Ernest & James.

Lionel and I left the Castle at 9.20 a.m., and motored to Bishopwearmouth where we arrived about 10.15 a.m. Rain was falling heavily, and reduced the congregation at the service. However the Mayor & a good number of his municipal colleagues were present. I preached from the petition in the Lord's Prayer, "My Kingdom come on earth", & took occasion to examine & reject the "Christian Socialist" understanding of it. The local congregational minister read the 2nd lesson. I had some talk with him in the vestry before service. He expressed disapproval of the Pacifist "covenant", into which a number of congregational ministers have recently entered. He says that its leader is the notorious Dr Orchard. We lunched [with] the Wynne–Willsons, & then returned to Auckland, that is, I did, for Lionel got off at Durham.

I finished reading through a posthumous work by Sir Samuel Dill, "Roman society in Gaul in the Merovingian Age". It was the more interesting to me as it recalled the reading of Gregory of Tours in Prof. Freeman's rooms in Trinity College in 1886. The picture of semi–barbarous Christianity is very amazing. It is evident that the barbarian conquest was far less complete than has commonly been assumed. The last division of the book "The Ecclesiastical Aspect" is really little more than a summary of the evidence of Gregory. The credulity & barbarism of the age expressed themselves in almost incredible moral paradoxes. On the whole, Dill is kinder to the church, & especially to the bishops than I had expected.

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