The Henson Journals

[111]

Friday, June 1st, 1927.

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Escomb Thanksgiving

The weather was unpromising, & when we i.e. Caröe, Lionel, & I, left the Castle shortly after 10 a.m., rain was falling. We robed here, and were met at the churchyard gate by the Rural Dean. The little "Saxon" church was well–filled, and had an air of profound and immemorial reverence, which gave a distinctive solemnity to the service. I celebrated the Holy Communion, adding after the Collect for the Day two prayers, one which I myself wrote for the occasion, and one which I borrowed from the Sarum Book of Occasional Offices. The Vicar of Escomb assisted, & Lionel carried the pastoral staff. We returned to the Castle, where I entertained at luncheon six of the Rural Deans. We returned to Escomb in time to join the procession from the new church to the old. Everything was admirably arranged by Parry Evans, & went "according to plan". I said Thanksgiving prayers both within & without the Church: & preached from a desk placed in front of the church Porch. Some rain fell while I was preaching, but not enough to justify my breaking off my discourse. After the service we returned to Auckland, & Caröe went off to York. The people gathered in considerable number, and must have taken an impression of the importance of the little old church in their midst. But I fear that the present incumbent is quite incapable of utilizing whatever good impressions may have been made.

[112]

Prayer written for use at the Escomb Service

O Almighty God, from whom cometh every good gift, we praise and bless thy glorious name, for that thou didst send to our forefathers the life–giving message of the Gospel, and didst move them by thy holy Spirit to build this Church to the praise of thy name and the service of thy people. We thank thee that thou hast enabled the witness of thy truth to be continued here throughout so many ages, and hast preserved thy church in this place from so many dangers. Forgive, we beseech Thee, our sins and failures, & grant us courage to attempt, and patience to continue the work to which we are called. Pour down ^upon^ us thy people in this diocese a large measure of thy grace, that in faith and love we may go forward in thy service, and advance the kingdom of thy Blessed Son, to whom with thee & the Holy Ghost be all glory & dominion throughout all ages.

Amen.

[113]

"The most abiding impression which the casual visitor to Leningrad will carry away with him is the omni–presence and persistence of propaganda. "Soìs mon frère, on je te tue!" All the energies of the Bolshevik Government seem to be concentrated upon this particular form of activity. Propaganda seems to surge round & envelope the individual like a flood.....Russia contains over 130 million inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are quite uneducated, and the country now resembles a vast internment camp, where all are fed on the same intellectual food. To these masses the doctrine of war against Capital and Religion is preached day by day with relentless assiduity, and so efficient is the working of the Bolshevist machine that no one in Soviet Russia ever gets the opportunity of hearing the other side of the case. Let us bear in mind, too, that this intensive action has now been in operation for eight years. It needs little imagination to realise the effect which this tremendous pressure must exercise upon the rising generation, & perhaps it may not inaptly be compared with the effect upon the human frame of a constant tropical sun."

Lord Newton recording his impressions on visiting Leningrad in the autumn of 1925

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