The Henson Journals

[25]

Friday, September 12th, 1930.

I could not sleep last night, and read through again a considerable part of Trollope's "Dr Thorne".

The social position of the "general practitioner" in the earlier part of the XIXth century was evidently very inferior to that of that clergy, and far inferior to what it is now. It would seem to be the case that as the clergy have declined, the doctors have advanced in social importance. Democracy has tended to diminish the influence of birth and rank, while probably increasing that of money.

Secularism has destroyed the value of the clergy and magnified that of the doctors. Science has similarly reduced the prestige of theology and increased that of medicine. In the one there is waxing embarrassment, in the other growing self–confidence. The political power of the Church has shrivelled to "the shadow of a shade": that of 'the Faculty' has grown to be one of the greater factors of public life. It would hardly be excessive to say that the patronage of the State has been transferred from "the Establishment" to the doctors and the schoolmasters. And whereto are we moving?

[26]

I read through Derek's 'journal' of his fortnight in Italy. It is very painstaking and conscientious, the few interjections of personal opinion being for that reason the more exclusive. St Peter's in Rome seems to have impressed him greatly, but "Personally I think the Chair of St Peter's is just a little overdone" has a wholesome Anglican suggestion! He is, as perhaps might be expected, rather overwhelmed by the mass & multitude of the Antiquities, and, perhaps, too much enchained to his guide book. But evidently his interest was eager, and his enjoyment keen. At his age (18) the effect of even so brief a vision of Italy may be both fleet and permanent. I wish he could have talked it all over with me while the memory was still recent, and the glamour not yet altogether dissipated. But the beginning of the school term coincided with my return to Auckland, so that his projected visit to the Castle had perforce to be deferred. The fascination of watching an intelligence open & expand is to me extreme.

[27]

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I walked into Biggar, 1 1/2 miles distant, and on my way fell in with the parish minister who was coming to call on me. So we went both together and talked as we went. He told me that his parish contained about 2000 people, of whom there were not less than 1200 registered as communicants in the three Presbyterian churches, now united under the Church of Scotland Act. On my expressing surprise that so large a proportion of the parishioners were communicants, he explained that hardly any of them were dissenters, that Biggar was inhabited by an unusual proportion of elderly people, & that children were comparatively few. Hardly anyone was admitted to Communion under the age of 18. He fetched the key to the Church from the manse, and proceeded to show me the building. This is a rather imposing structure, cruciform with heavy squat tower at the cross. It contained no communion table, & no place for one. I asked what was done when the Communion took place, & he said that a table was brought in for the occasion. The inconvenience was, however, slight as Communion was administered but twice in the year.

[28]

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I asked whether he intended to make the occasions more frequent, and he replied in the negative. He thought that a good case could be made out for such infrequency; but I told him that however he was separating himself from the main stream of Christian habit from the first, & from many of the more prominent divines of his own church. He seemed to be impressed, & I said to him, "You must forgive an old Bishop for being didactic. But I should strongly counsel you to get your devouter people to consider the matter, & to raise the question of, first, a quarterly, & then a monthly communion. The Kirk–session might connect this innovation with the introduction of a Holy Table into the Church. In the vestry was the 'Cutty Sark' dated 1964, and a pewter flagon said to be coeval with the Church which was built in 1545. "I have much to repent of", I said, "let me sit in the stool of repentance". So thereon I sate. I inquired about the morals of so exemplary a parish, & he replied that there was a good deal of fornication among the [29] [symbol] farm servants. But they went to the Sacrament notwithstanding. I inquired about the working of the much–vaunted Union of the Churches, and I was told that for the present nothing was changed in Biggar save that the ministers now acknowledged the same ecclesiastical description. "They were all Ministers of the Church of Scotland, but they all limited their visitations to their several congregations. Even in the event of a vacancy in any of the three charges, the surviving ministers would not necessarily succeed to the vacancy, but the congregations would decide. He said that the union had caused considerable restlessness among the Ministers of the Established Church, who felt a certain loss of social consequence since they were no longer monopolists of the properly parochial or national character, but had to share it with the ministers of the U. J. Church. Hence there was a general desire to get removed from their present cures. This led me to inquire into the method of patronage in the Church of Scotland. He explained the 'vox populi' i.e. the vote of the entire body of the communicants prevailed. Ministers applied for appointment, & if there were [30] [symbol] many candidates, a selection was made, & the selected candidate was invited to preach a trial sermon. He had himself applied for Biggar, which was a desirable charge, being of the annual value of £560, and there were no fewer than 30 applicants. I observed that the effect on the parishioners who knew that their minister was seeking to get away from them, would hardly be good. He agreed, & said that he thought the system worked very badly indeed. Incidentally I learned that there were about 200 parishes in the North of Scotland without ministers, being served only by laymen.

I asked whether it was within the power of a parish minister at his own discretion to allow a women to conduct the regular "diet of worship" on the Sabbath, & he replied in the affirmative, adding that such discretion would not extend to celebrating the Holy Communion.

It is in these contrariant religious habits, & different standards of expediency that the real obstacles to Reunion must be perceived.

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