The Henson Journals

[15]

9th Sunday after Trinity, August 14th, 1927. Stephenstown, Dundalk.

The breaking up of so many great houses in this country would appear to provide the surviving residents with many opportunities for purchasing books & furniture, sometimes of interest & value, at great advantage. Sales are frequent, and "good bargains" are many & tempting. Mine host described to me with much satisfaction how he had purchased many standard works, admirably bound, for a mere pittance: & mine hostess tells of the recent acquisition of many interesting pieces of furniture, which attract the notice of her guests. There is something melancholy and pathetic in this dispersing of objects gathered with thought & sacrifice, and doubtless treasured in their day, which have been thus cast piteously into the market! The accounts of Bolshevist Russia describe the same phenomenon on a vastly greater scale. In the squalid cottages of the peasantry the observant visitor may often recognize the distinctive symbols of wealth & culture, torn from their natural environment by the violence of revolution, and carried into alien situations. It has ever been so in the crises of violent chance which put a term to one epoch and inaugurate another: but it remains always a piteous spectacle.

[16]

The problem of providing an adequate sphere of work for the Irish clergy is plainly a serious one, of which the authorities of the Church of Ireland have failed hitherto to find a solution. Many parochial changes have been altogether obliterated by recent political changes, which have occasioned a considerable departure of Protestants, and many have been greatly reduced. The uniting of parishes involves more duty for the clergy, & thus provides work for Sundays: but what they find to do during the six days of the week is by no means easy to say. They "amuse themselves" was the answer returned to my inquiry. This can hardly make for a favourable impression on the Roman Catholick population. The Irish Protestant Clergy, whom one meets, do not impress one as hard–working, studious, or specially spiritual men. They give a black account of the Papist priesthood, which seems to hold a dominating position in their outlook: and they are nowise well disposed towards their Presbyterian rivals, whom they describe as bigoted, unscrupulous, & morally lax. This atmosphere of resentment, rivalry, and recreation cannot be spiritually wholesome. One is disposed to wonder whether indeed the maintenance of the Church of Ireland is really worth while in this ardently Popish country.

[17]

Rain was falling heavily in the morning, & seemed to have fallen steadily through the night. It nearly ceased at noon when we went to church, but had resumed when we came away. There were scarcely a score of persons in the congregation. The service was Mattins, sermon & Holy Communion. I noticed that a psalm was omitted, the "Dominical Summary" substituted for the Decalogue, the Collect for the Day and the Nicene Creed left out of the Communion Service, and the prayers for the Church Militant abbreviated. The "cutting–about–at–the–parson's–will" of the appointed services appears to obtain on this side of S. George's Channel also! The clergyman was a hefty–looking middle–aged man, with a good voice which, however, he managed badly. He preached with Irish fluency. & was very rhetorical. I gathered that he was no Modernist, and disposed to envy the "Ritualism" of England. It must be a severe test of any man's sense of duty to minister year in and year out to so small a congregation in so mean a church.

There came to lunch Lord Louth, Lady Louth (his 3rd wife), a young lady, & 3 pleasant boys. We had much and mingled conversation. Lord L. said that he was a friend of Tim Healy, the Governor General, who was very particular about having "God Save the King" played on all proper occasions. The Union Jack was becoming quite popular with the people!