The Henson Journals

[122]

Wednesday, February 15th, 1928.

'Mr Wilkes was told by his adversaries that they would 'take the sense of the ward.' 'Do,' replied Wilkes, 'and I will take the nonsense of the ward, & beat you ten to one!' This subject leads me naturally enough to my twelfth head, the times.'

A letter dated Nov: 27th 1795, & printed in 'A Country Clergyman of the XVIIIth century', p. 190.

I spent most of the morning in writing letters to divers important Ecclesiastical Commissioners invoking their support of the Durham Castle Appeal.

I read through the very interesting account of Priestley in the Dictionary of Nat: Biog. He was a far more considerable person than in my ignorance I had supposed. It is evident that he must have been loveable as well as distinguished, for his friends stuck by him remarkably through all the phases of his career.

The Evening paper reports the death of Lord Oxford. I wrote a letter of condolence to the Countess. It was to Lord O. that I owed my coming to the North, for he chose me for the Deanery of Durham in 1912. I last had speech with him at Grillions on March 30th last.