The Henson Journals

[31]

Saturday, May 24th, 1930.

Caröe went off after prayers.

I read through a little book which had been sent me – "The Kirk in Scotland. 1560–1929" by John Buchan and George Adam Smith – and I failed to find in it any coherent or adequate account of the "establishment" which now remains to the Church of Scotland. There is much emphasis on 'the national profession of religion', but how this can be effectively secured by the attendance of the High Commissioner at the meeting of the General Assembly, (which is the sole link between Church & State, & that, since the High Commissioner has none but a complimentary function, is practically futile) does not appear. The power of opposing & protesting against national action which is irreligious or immoral belongs to every church whether established or not. Buchan writes:

"If on the part of the civil government there is the duty to recognize religion, there is not less binding duty upon a national church to advise & support the government in providing the civil sanctions for Christian morality".

But the Scottish Establishment secures to the

[32] Edinburgh

"national church" no method of "advising and supporting the government" which does not belong to churches which are non–established. Moreover, the alleged "duty" of the civil government to "recognise religion" has to be understood in terms of modern democracy. The "civil government" must needs give effective expressions to the will of the majority of the electors, and these are not required to be, and in many cases notoriously are not religious. If it should happen the majority be opposed to Christianity, or to that version of it which the 'established' national church affirms, does it still remain the 'duty' of the civil government to 'recognize religion'? And what is the precise value or meaning of 'establishment' in a State which perforce determines its action, not by the rules of Christ's Religion, but by the will of the citizens? On the assumption that the nation itself is Christian, the 'establishment' of a 'national church' would seem natural, perhaps inevitable, but on any other assumption?

[33]

Buchan dwells on the importance of the church's missionary work, and then, perhaps mindful of the fact that missions have been most energetically carried on by non–established churches, and that "every overseas missionary but one" joined the Disruption, he connects missionary work with the fact of national establishment by a sufficiently curious method:–

"He (sc. the missionary) is a vital part of the new civil service of peace, & the tasks at which he labours are the same as those which from another angle are undertaken by chanceries and diplomatists. The missionary side of the Church is 'established' in fact if not in law, because it works in the same province and to the same end as the civil power."

But surely it is not without significance that this identity of missionary and civil policy is precisely one of the outstanding blots on the Missions of Western Christendom. The identity is only legitimate in a sense so remote from the habit & tendency of missionary effort that it is really hardly worth affirming.

[34]

The four G.F.S. evangelists departed after lunch. We were photographed by Alexander beside their mammoth van before they set out.

Pattinson accompanied me to Newcastle in the open car. There I took train for Edinburgh, and travelled comfortably with a compartment to myself. While I was having tea in the dining car, some thief entered my carriage, & stole the leather strap which bound my small valise, which carries my papers. I was met at the station, & carried to 6 Grosvenor Gardens by a very circuitous route. Princes Street was filled with a vast crowd brought together by the annual carnival in aid of the local hospitals which is organized by the students.

Dr Maclean with his wife and 3 daughters formed the dinner party. Two of the young ladies are training as doctors. Mrs Maclean & her eldest step–daughter who acted as chauffeur, accompanied me to the Moderator's reception. This was held in the Assembly rooms in George Street, a fine large rooms of the Adams period. There was a dense perspiring crowd, from which I was glad to escape into the Moderator's room.

[35]

Dr Bugle, the Moderator, is a pleasant middle–aged man of a spare figure and alert manner. He was very friendly, & talked freely. He belonged to the U.F. section of the united church, and was disposed to agree with me that the church was now virtually disestablished. Dr Martin, an ex–moderator, was more inclined to magnify such vestiges of Establishment as have survived, but even he had far less to say on the point than I had expected. Both agreed that the Union was very well accepted in the parishes. I promised to attend the Assembly on Monday, and to address it. We got away a few minutes before 10 p.m. Before going to bed, I had some talk with mine host. Dr Maclean is, he told me, 61 years old. He is a stoutish man of medium height, and has a considerable reputation for eloquence. He has written books, and recently married (for the second time). His wife is a peer's daughter, pleasant and pleasant to look at. He expressed himself with surprising freedom on the subject of Presbyterianism: said that he would have no objection to receiving ordination from a bishop if he were not thereby thought to be confusing the invalidity of his present orders.

[36]

There has come about a notable change in the Scottish estimate of John Knox. Buchan speaks of him with scarcely–veiled repugnance, and declares Chalmers to have ben a far greater man. Dr Maclean expressed an actual abhorrence, and even called him "putrid"! The re–action against Reformation has proceeded far in Scotland.

What shall I say to the assembly on Monday? I must, of course, congratulate the church on its achievement in accomplishing Reunion. Then, I think I might thank them for their notable affirmation of spiritual freedom as inferring in every living branch of the Catholick Church. Can I safely tell them that I don't think their method of preserving a nominal Establishment is possible in England? Probably it would be fairly resented if I indicated that in my view the said nominal Establishment was worth very little in Scotland. The occasion will, of course, only admit of a very short speech: but I think the opportunity is too poor to be let slip.

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