The Henson Journals

[108]

Thursday, June 28th, 1928.

My mind fastens on a Declaration by the Bishops, which should assert quite clearly the independence of the Church within the spiritual sphere: emphasize the obligation of the Bishops to maintain both the Catholic witness and the tolerant tradition of the Church of England: affirm the practical advantages of the Establishment, & the duty not lightly to cast aside so valuable an auxiliary: and end by stating the necessity of such a revision of the present relations of Church & State as would secure the spiritual franchise of the Church.

In the course of the morning a telegram was brought to me. It ran thus:–

Harry Carless Davis died this morning wife would like you conduct funeral at Oxford Saturday or Monday.

I wired that I would do this, though it will be difficult to manage as I am week–ending at Winchester. It is indeed distressing that Harry Davis should thus be taken away in the prime of his powers. I shall soon not have a friend left: and he was rather an intimate friend.

[109] [symbol]

The Bishop of Wakefield and I had speech with Mrs Davidson on the difficult subject of the Archbishop's resignation. We urged that his Grace should make a definite announcement that he would retire at the end of this year. This would provide a reasonable excuse for letting the issue between Church & State remain undiscussed until the new Archbishop had time to get into his stride.

We talked a vast deal but not to much effect. Both the Bishop of Norwich & the Bishop of Birmingham took part in the discussion, but very ineffectively.

There has been a terrible railway accident at Darlington in which no less than 22 persons were killed mostly women. They were holiday–makers returning from Scarborough, & seem to have come from Gateshead, Sunderland, and Hetton–le–Hole.

The Archbishop was at the pains of going through the notes of his address yesterday, which I missed. He is astonishingly alert & vigourous. His interventions in debate are almost always acute & relevant: and his conduct in the chair leaves nothing to be desired. Yet on reviewing the course of events during the last two years, can it be reasonably denied that they show many evidences of Senectitude at the helm?