The Henson Journals

[127]

Wednesday, July 9th, 1930.

Bishop Long, Newcastle, N.S.W. was taken suddenly ill this morning, & was commended to the prayers of the Conference. When we resumed after lunch the Archbishop announced his death.

Today the subject of discussion was Reunion, which has taken concrete shape in the South Indian Scheme. Both Temple and Bell are curiously, indeed disappointingly, cautious. They gave me the impression of being ready to go with the majority either to approve or to condemn.

Headlam spoke well, & was well received. It is plain that his books have been read, & have impressed the bishops: & certainly he counts as one of the weightiest factors in the Conference. Yet the speech lent itself to much hostile criticism, & could have been 'torn to ribbons' by a competent opponent. The combination of an ardent desire to secure effective union with the Greek Orthodox Church and an equally ardent desire to get into fellowship with the non–episcopalians immerses its advocate in a waste of paradoxes. [I walked to 19 Great College Street & joined Ella at lunch [128] with the Fieldens. He was nowise optimistic about the future of the cotton industry.]

During the afternoon there were two speeches which impressed me well, the one by the Indian Bishop of Dornakal ^(Azariah)^, the other by the Bishop of Persia (Linton). Both spoke in support of the South Indian Scheme from the point of view of the native Christians who are revolting against the dead weight of our Western divisions. Neville Talbot, the Bishop of Pretoria, again implicated himself on the Conference, which begins to weary of his pompous probiscity and hopeless mental muddlement. During his speech I left the Conference.

[struck through] I dined in the Mercers' Hall at the Apposition Dinner of S. Paul's School, and proposed (in a very poor speech which fell, as it deserved, very flat) the Toast of the School. I am a fish out of water in these gatherings, & really ought not to go to them.[end]

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