The Henson Journals

[274]

Tuesday, December 7th, 1926.

A beautiful, still, mild winter's day. The post brought me a pleasant letter from William enclosing a number of newspaper cuttings on the native question, which he had collected from the Johannesburg papers.

The Morning Post sent me a cutting of a letter from Lord Astor on the "Oxford" Liquor Bill, and requested a commentary. I sent forthwith a letter, which will do no good, & may do me much harm.

James Parker–Smith sent me a cutting from the Sunday Times containing an article by Charnwood on "The Church's Excursion into Politics". It was a severe censure on the Ten Bishops who intervened in the Coal Stoppage.

The Editor of "The Nineteenth Century & After" writes to ask me to write the first of a series of Articles on "The Necessity for Religion": but I do not think that I will. I have too many irons in the fire. It is not easy to determine how wisely to treat such a theme. The old arguments are not so much disproved, as deprived of importance. Christianity is rather crowded out than rejected. For all the questions which Religion professes to answer are as insistent as ever, & in the answering of them lies the raison d'être of Religion.

Lionel reported that 8 herons flew over the Park this afternoon. I suggested that more probably they were wild geese, but he said that old Dr McCullagh, whose [sic] has some knowledge of birds, decided that they were herons. Ernest and I walked round the Park, Laws was busy with the cutting up of a large ash tree, which was dead. The trunk was hollow, & contained copious & fantastic growths of fungoids.

I spent most of the day in reading the Life of Bishop Gibson. His relations with the Wesleys and Whitfield were very interesting. He began by thinking the best, and ended by saying the worst of them: but he had left the scene before this movement had outgrown its early extravagances.

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