The Henson Journals

[73]

15th Sunday after Trinity, September 16th, 1928.

There was a thick mist, which gave way rapidly to an insistent & rising sun, so that when we gathered in the Chapel for the Holy Communion the victory of the light had been definitely achieved, and we rejoiced in its warmth and brilliance. I celebrated at 8 a.m.; there were nine communicants, including Lionel and John, but excluding Ella who was slightly indisposed, and kept to her room.

At breakfast we were interested by the spectacle of a sea–gull flying confusedly about the garden & occasionally perching on the lawn as if fatigued. Soon two rooks appeared, & proceeded to hustle the poor bird persistently, finally driving it out of our sight.

After breakfast I prepared an address on Liberty for the members of the Sunderland Y.M.C.A..

I motored to Sunderland & there delivered the said address to an audience of 80 young men, & 20 seniors presided over by the mayor. They listened demurely, and, when I finished, applauded discreetly, but I don't think they were either interested or edified. I got the impression that the influences were 'fundamentalist' and sectarian. After the meeting I had tea with Wynne–Wilson, and discussed the question of his health. Then I returned to Auckland.

[74]

Leslie Wilson came to see me. The family with whom he lives as footman is entirely secular, and, of course, church–going is extremely difficult for the household. I said prayers with him, and gave him the notes of my Y.M.C.A. address!

There is no doubt about the difficulty of ordering satisfactorily the episcopal Sunday. I would gladly preach twice every Sunday in the diocese, if I could have time for preparing the sermons: but the amount of talking required during the week, & the extra–diocesan affairs make this impossible. The pursuit of the reporters makes it desirable that I should not talk nonsense, and inadvisable that I should repeat my sermons too often. If only I possessed that extemporaneous facility which is the common possession of most clergymen & all sectaries matters would be easier: but I do not possess it, & there's no advantage in blinking the fact, Extemporaneous speaking is hateful to me. The literary habit induces a self–criticism which protests at the inevitable looseness of construction & general lack of precision which mark unprepared speeches. But the process of preparation needs time.

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