The Henson Journals

[124]

Saturday, October 8th, 1927.

The Yorkshire Post publishes various resentful rejoinders to Barnes's unfortunate sermon. I fear it will do much harm, not only in sharpening the divisions within the Church of England, but also in making Christianity contemptible in the public mind. It was a true instinct, reverent and charitable, which had the primitive Church conceal the 'mysteries' from pagan sight and hearing. By treating the sacred sacramental language & practice of the Church so roughly at a dinner–hour service attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham & a crowd of City men. Barnes has incurred a very grave responsibility, and brought Religion into considerable disrepute. I cannot understand how he can imagine that he could do any good that way. He cannot be so remote from the actual course of religious opinion as not to know that he was wounding a vast number of devout people, nor so lacking in charity as to do what he did without some prevision of the inevitable consequences. I think there may be some very disconcerting developments in Birmingham.

[125]

I worked most of the day at the "Open Letter" for the "Bishoprick". In the afternoon, I walked for an hour in the Park. Colonel Headlam brought some friends, including a Mr Barrington who belonged to the family of Bishop Shute Barrington, to see the Castle. I asked Headlam whether he thought that there was any real danger of the Revised Prayer Book being rejected in the House of Commons, and he replied 'No: if Lord Hugh Cecil doesn't put the House's back up!'

Some more newspaper notices of my Congress Sermon have been sent to me. The Daily Telegraph has a leading article headed "An Episcopal Pessimist', and the Evening Chronicle an article headed "Are we really so wicked?". The Westminster Gazette dilates on "The Pessimism of the Bishop". And, of course, following the famous example of "The Gloomy Dean", I am dubbed "the Gloomy Bishop". So, as ever before, Cassandra's prophesies are laughed at, & set at naught. Yet – I read thro' the sermon again – what I said was true, grave, & worthy of consideration.