The Henson Journals

[10]

Wednesday, April 25th, 1928.

In the United States of America and throughout the British dominions the relations of Church and State are friendly but informal. In French Canada the Roman Catholic Church enjoys a privileged position secured by the Treaty of [gap in text] but elsewhere in the British Empire the Colonial Churches have been disestablished, or have never been established at all. They are associations recognized & protected by the law, no more & no less. Their property, which is considerable, is held on Trusts which the law enforces: the contracts of service, under which their ministers hold office, are legally valid. In some sense it might fairly be said that Christianity, though not the Churches, is established throughout the English–speaking communities, for the Lord's Day is still protected against profanation, and blasphemy is a punishable offence. It is assumed that society is Christian. Religious acts inaugurate the sessions of the representative assemblies, & no public ceremonial would be considered complete without them. Undoubtedly this informal establishment by public opinion is menaced by the increasing secularisation of society, but it is still strongly entrenched in the public sentiment. Establishment in the true sense is limited to England and Scotland, and only in England does it possess any importance or present any legal & constitutional problems.

[11]

It occurred to me that it might worth while to call at N. 10 Downing Street, & 'sound' the Prime Minister's Secretaries on the subject of his speaking for the Castle Fund at the Mansion House. I saw both Fry and Duff: neither was exactly optimistic, but both were friendly, and concurred in advising me to write directly to the Prime Minister. As I was entering the House I ran into Amery, &, as I was leaving it, I encountered Bridgeman, & stopped to talk to both. Then I lunched with Vernon Storr and his ladies: & afterwards talked for an hour with him. The young lady asked me to marry her in the Abbey on the 21 st July, & I foolishly consented. It means another costly & fatiguing journey to London. I went across to the House of Lords, & had some talk with Ld Carson.

I dined with the Royal Literary Fund, the Prime Minister was in the Choir: the Archbishop of York proposed the toast of 'Literature', & G.M. Trevelyan responded. Lang made an extremely amusing & brilliant speech, perhaps a little too long, but never dull.

Sir Anthony Hope Howkins proposed the chairman's toast very happily. I was placed between Lady Struthers, & a dull Scott, named Paterson, whose stupidity was assisted (assisted) by deafness! I succeeded in getting a taxi without difficulty, & got back to Park Lane by 10.30 p. m.