Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/74

 Mr Wanamaker's keen sense of humour, combined as it is with the truest love for humanity, has made him friends from one end of the hemisphere to the other. At luncheon subsequently with the Archbishop a seal was set upon a day full of happy associations.

There is an interesting letter from Archbishop Benson, dated 15th February 1892, in reply to a note from H. H. asking his opinion as to the propriety of speaking in Newcastle on a Sunday in connection with postal matters:

Thank you much for your kind confidence.

I think it would create much adverse feeling if you lectured on Sunday on a subject so purely secular, although so serviceable. Many of those who would otherwise be your best and most amenable auditors would be scandalized. You could on a weekday evening command not only as large, but larger masses of thoughtful men, because you would add to them a highly respectable and thinking set who would certainly not come on Sunday. They would in fact be set against the plan itself, as hasty generalizations are wont to be made in such matters. Of other classes a very large number would be scandalized no doubt also.

"The Penny Post is one of the ordinances of man that we have to submit to for the Lord's sake," Archbishop Benson is reported to have said at another time.

If H. H. was free for many years from the anxiety of fighting elections, he certainly did his part nobly