The Henson Journals

[27]

Saturday, August 20th, 1927. Brockham End.

The memorandum of the Greek Orthodox delegates may indicate the triumph of the conservative element which will make no terms with modern tendencies, or it may mean no more than a natural hesitation at the pace of the Conference in assimilating modernism. For albeit the assertions of the Conference have a harmless and even platitudinous appearance in English eyes, they may well seem almost revolutionary in the eyes of the Orthodox Easterus. I should not be surprised to learn that Athelstan Riley had been actively engaged in organising the conservative revolt, nor even that he had had a large hand in drafting the memorandum. "In matters of faith and conscience there was no room for compromise. The mind of the Orthodox Church was that reunion could only take place on the basis of the common faith and confession of the ancient, undivided Church of the Seven Oecumenical Councils and of the first eight centuries." – that might have been drafted by Riley. Of the Report on the Sacraments "yet to be read", the memorandum states "that agreement could only be reached by vague and ambiguous phrases or by a compromise of antithetical opinion". Accordingly the delegates conclude that "the most they could do would be to enter into co–operation with the Christian Churches in the social & moral sphere on a basis of Christian life". This amounts to little enough as agreement on the nature & requirements of the Christian life itself is precisely what is lacking between Protestants and "Catholicks".

[28]

Alexander sends me an Auckland paper filled with accounts of a great "summer flood" which has visited the district & caused immense discomfort, and not a little damage. Everything points to a disastrously bad harvest. This following upon the still continuing trade depression will send us into the winter under the worst possible conditions. What a time for issuing a great appeal for Durham Castle!

The Bishop of Jarrow writes: –

"The report on the Castle is staggering, and unless some rich man offers very substantial help, I do not see how the work can be done. The university authorities seem to have little influence, and no real desire to tackle any job demanding vigorous action. The financial position & prospects are so bad, that it is useless to contemplate any arrangement of loans over a period of years. I am afraid that not a few of the Council of the Durham Colleges are 'defeatists' in this business."

I wrote to Dillon asking him to send me the name, address, and relevant information about the wealthy man, who, he suggested when I met him at the garden party in Durham, might, if directly appealed to, become a benefactor to the Castle. There is no man on earth more naturally incompetent for the rôle of a mendicant than I, and none more ill–circumstanced for the independence which I have achieved has as its unavoidable corollary, the absence of any party or interest which could be asked to accept responsibility for any venture which I undertake. "With a great sum obtained I this freedom'!

[29]

In spite of the persistent rain, Aleck drove us to see again the "Saxon" Church at Bradford–on–Avon. I looked at it with the more keenly discriminating attention since my mind is still filled with Escomb, and I felt more than ever convinced that it was a comparatively late building. On any showing it has suffered much more violence than Escomb, and is largely an amalgam of new and old. A passage in the "Gesta pontificum" of Wm of Malmesbury written about 1125: – "Et est ad hune diem eo loco Ecclesiola guam ad nomen Gratissimi Laurentii fecisse predicater Aldhelmus – gave the clue to the building. The dedication of Escomb has been lost. Freeman maintained that the existing building was the actual 'ecclesiola' named by William of Malmesbury and describes it as "an all but untouched example of a Church of the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 8th". S. Aldhelm was Bishop of Sherborne A.D. 705–709. "But the opinion of expert archaeologists now inclines to placing the date of the Building not earlier than the 10th century".

There was a young man looking at the little church, who seemed intelligently interested, though evidently ignorant. He told me that he was named Max Hoather, and had guessed who I was. I told him, if he came north, to see Escomb, and incidentally to renew acquaintance with the Bishop of Durham. "You will forget me", he said, to which, more confidently than my memory really warrants, I replied, "I never forget". I took the impression that the youth was an Anglo–Catholick!