The Henson Journals

[92]

Saturday, January 28th, 1928.

At the Restoration the Prayer Book was revised by the Convocations, and passed without detailed discussion by Parliament, at that time a Christian assembly. The House of Commons did indeed record an assertion of its right to alter, but did not exercise that right. In fact Parliament played the rôle of a House of Unity, which in the circumstances of the time it was qualified to play.

I spent the morning on the Committee, where we sate in camerǎ, & heard the evidence of the Governor & Chaplains of Wormwood Scrubs. They have only male prisoners there: & they seem to be a very distinct type.

After lunching at the Club, & writing to Ella, I went to Liverpool Street, & took train for Cambridge. My companion was a talkative old gentleman, who combines a peerage with the Mastership of Peterhouse, Lord Chalmers. He talked incessantly all the way, &, as his utterance is not very distinct, & the noise of the train was considerable, the strain of listening was great. I felt completely exhausted by the time we arrived in Cambridge.

[93] [symbol]

There was a pleasant dinner party, which included the Burkitts and the Creads. It was only when everyone had departed that I realised that Mrs Cread was a daughter of Canon Lilley. What a calamity it is to have a memory so capricious and untrustworthy!

Clapham the economist, was also present, and with him I had some conversation. He is a large, beardless man, with a professional air and manner. After the guests had gone their several ways, I had some talk with mine host on ecclesiastical matters. He expressed himself very reasonably, but this circumstance is a poor guarantee that he is reasonable. He exhibited repugnance, when I related Lady Ullswater's account of the performance in All Saints, Margaret Street, and immediately identified it as a copy of the function in the Ara Coeli in Rome, where the Bambino is similarly presented for the adoration of the faithful. Mrs Weeks, who seems to be considerably older than her husband, is also an Anglo–Catholick.