The Henson Journals

[144]

Saturday, April 11th, 1931.

I received yet another letter from Mrs Hodgson entreating me to restore my "friendship and affection" to Kenneth, and giving a woeful account of his state. I wrote back at once to suggest that she should seek medical advice about him, and repeating my offer to defray the cost. For the rest, I said that Kenneth must act self–respectingly before I or anyone else could respect him: & that nobody would rejoice more in his success than I.

It is strange that one's worst embarrassments should grow out of one's most disinterested actions. In the case of Kenneth, my patronage of him had no connexion with any foolish favouritism on my part, for I did not know of his existence until I had received his mother's letter, begging for my help: nor did I yield to her appeal until I had consulted both the lad's schoolmaster and the Vicar of the Parish. Kenneth himself was an attractive & promising youth to look at. The late Warden of Wadham was most favourably impressed by him, & told me that he expected that he would gain exhibitions &c, which could go some way towards paying for his Oxford course.

[145]

We were taken to have lunch at Haxey, a large village in the Isle of Axholme. The Rev Vicar, Mr Shepherd, with whom we lunched is an iron–grey up–standing man of literary tastes & some strong prejudices. He hails from Tipperary, & comes of Cromwellian stock. He appears to be something of a collector, & showed me some interesting etchings. A pleasant–looking young man his son, a soldier, was in a wheeled chair and, I was informed, was probably incapacitated permanently. Mrs Shepherd, an Irish–woman from Meath, impressed (imprefsed) me as a capable and charming. The Vicar showed me the parish church, a large building of the 12th century, dedicated to S. Nicholas. It was destitute of any arresting features, but was imposing by reason of its scale. He told me that there had been 150 communicants out of a population of about 2000, and he seemed well–pleased. I gathered that he was a strong Evangelical, an opponent of the Revised Prayer Book, and by no means an admirer of the Enabling Act. "Archbishop Temple will be the ruin of the Church of England", he said shortly and sourly. I endeavoured to persuade him to take a more favourable view of the Northern Primate.

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