[41 Brimmer St., Boston]
The last few days have been very busy again. YesterdayRoberts, Richard Ellis;a1 I had to go to lunch with Ellis Roberts, the literary editor of the New Statesman,1 in Lincolns’ [sic] Inn, tode Montalk, Geoffrey Wladisla Potocki;a1 discuss whether anything could be done about an unfortunate foolish young New Zealander named Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk (yes, thats his name) who was given six months imprisonment in the third division for trying to get some obscene poems privately printed, and to discuss whether anything could be done to alter the law on the subject of obscene libel.2 ThereRoberts, Harriet Ide Keen;a1 was also Mrs. Roberts – I hadn’t known that there was any – aBeerbohm, Florence, Lady (née Kahn)'overpowering' Southerner;a1 rather gushing but very amiable and intelligent American woman, evidently a southerner by her manner – I only realised what she was after I had said that I found Mrs. Max Beerbohm rather ‘overpowering’ – which astonished her – then I realised that (except for Mrs. B. being a Jewess) they were exactly the same type of American southerner. Nothing very definite accomplished; hurried back to Russell Square, thenEnglish Church Union;a4 presently round the corner to a committee meeting at the English Church Union to discuss some books to be published by them; a largeish meeting, PrebendaryHarris, Revd Charles;a2 Harris enjoying the chairmanship with his accustomed suavity, CanonSimpson, Revd Canon Sparrow;a1 Sparrow-Simpson3 dozing peacefully, several stalwart young priests and monks smoking pipes and full of animation, and so forth. ThenEliots, the T. S.to OM's tea-party for Yeats;c7 homeMorrell, Lady Ottolinegives tea-party for Yeats;c1 at 4.30 to fetch V. to go to Ottoline’s, whereYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')at OM's tea-party;a2 there was a good assembly, for Yeats4 had turned up and he is now a very rare visitant in London.5 Yeats talked rather brilliantly and persuasively about the Irish situation (atGardiner, Rolf;a1 this moment a young man named Rolf Gardiner6 was [sc. has] asked to see me, so I must stop for fifteen minutes) …
which turned out to be twentyfive minutes, of course, but he is an enthusiastic youth with many – perhaps too many ideas for the regeneration of England, including folkdancing and the employment of out of work miners at market gardening …
and Yeats put forward a good case for dropping the Oath of Allegiance, which he says is the only way to get control over the wild gunmen of the country. WhileMoore, Thomas ('T.') Sturgeinterrupts Yeats telling story at his expense;a2 he was telling a comic story about a quarrel between Sturge Moore and a Hindoo saint, Sturge himself came in, but it passed off amicably. ThenBelgion, Montgomeryand Alida Monro dine chez Eliot;a2 AlidaMonro, Alida (née Klementaski)and the Poetry Bookshop's future;a5 Monro and Montgomery Belgion came to dinner, and I had to draft a letter for her to send to the press about the future of the Poetry Bookshop. HodgsonHodgson, Ralphhis Bull Terrier in disgrace;a8 coming to dinner tonight; weEliots, the T. S.host Ralph Hodgson despite his dog's behaviour;c8 are concealing from him thedogsBull Terrier;b8Ralph Hodgson's 'Picky' bites cat;a1 fact thatcatsthe Eliots' Persian;a1 his bullterrier bit the ear of the Persian cat, which is consequently in hospital for a week. The weekend I hope will see some arrears worked off; andMattuck, Rabbi Israel Isidor;a1 on Monday I must call upon a Jewish Rabbi in Hampstead, about a book,7 andOldham, Joseph;a2 in the afternoon from 4 to 10 attend a meeting of J. H. Oldham’s group to discuss the future of Christian theology and so on.
When I am in a rush the only kind of letter I can write is a mere description of the rush. The'Modern Dilemma, The'receives unlikely praise;a4 broadcast talks seem to have given satisfaction on the whole, andReith, Sir John Charles Walshamcompliments and thereby disconcerts TSE;a1 I had a letter from the chief, Sir John Reith, this morning – a man I dislike – to say that he liked them.8 They have also procured me an invitation to address a dining club of vicars in June!
IChristianityAnglo-Catholicism;a8Anglican Missal sought for EH;a3 want, if I may, to send you an Anglican missal, which might interest you: a missal, because it is at least an anthology of Bible literature which is the best anthology that was ever made, and an Anglican missal because the Roman one uses a poor modern translation instead of the King James version.
1.RichardRoberts, Richard Ellis Ellis Roberts (1879–1953), author and critic; literary editor of the New Statesman & Nation, 1932–4; Life and Letters Today, 1934; biographer of Stella Benson (1939).
2.Onde Montalk, Geoffrey Wladisla Potocki 8 Feb. 1932, Geoffrey Wladisla Potocki de Montalk, a British subject born in 1904 in New Zealand (his grandfather was a Polish Count, and it seems that he was entitled to be called Count), was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of ‘uttering and publishing an obscene libel’. (As it happens, Montalk had written to TSE on 24 July 1929, claiming to be ‘anglo-catholic’ and seeking an audience; and TSE had talked with him in Aug. 1929.) Montalk had sought to publish through a firm of printers called Comps a collection of his poems – some of which, as he explained in the witness box, were translated from Rabelais.
The Times reported his evidence on 9 Feb.: ‘The manuscript in question was intended as a literary experiment for publication among his friends, who were literary people. He had not the slightest intention of publishing it to the general public.’
His defence counsel submitted that this was a case of ‘a poet writing for a small circle of poets and literary experimenters to test words. Serious-minded writers like D. H. Lawrence and James Joyce used words regarded as objectionable in order to make them respectable.
‘The Recorder [Sir Ernest Wild, KC], summing up, said that a man must not say he was a poet and be filthy. He had to obey the law just the same as ordinary citizens, and the sooner the highbrow school learnt that the better for the morality of the country.
‘The jury, without leaving the box, found de Montalk Guilty, and the Recorder … said that no decent-minded jury could have come to any other decision than that the defendant had attempted to deprave our literature.’
He was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
Montalk’s friend Douglas Glass had first approached Leonard Woolf to organise the appeal.
See further Stephanie de Montalk, Unquiet World: The Life of Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk (Wellington, New Zealand, 2001); Ian MacNiven, Lawrence Durrell: A Biography (1998), 83.
3.RevdSimpson, Revd Canon Sparrow Canon Sparrow Simpson, DD (1859–1952), chaplain of St Mary’s Hospital, Ilford.
4.W. B. YeatsYeats, William Butler ('W. B.') (1865–1939), Irish poet and playwright: see Biographical Register.
5.See too OM's journal – BL Add. MS 88886/4/30:
AprilMorrell, Lady Ottolineat which the Eliots are described;c2n 10 or 11. Sunday
[Yeats] The first time I had the Eliots to meet him. L.A. Strong – Cattaui – R. Speight [sic] – Sturge M. […] He talked very well just about the speaking of Shakespeare poetry. & how Granville Barker made all his actors stress the same lines.
Then at tea he talked about the Joyce man. That he has written a book like S. Moore’s […]
He talked a great deal to Tom Eliot about the Joyce experiences,,,
I didn’t find it very interesting.
However Yeats seemed very happy & enjoyed it I think.
6.RolfGardiner, Rolf Gardiner (1902–71), a graduate of St John’s College, Cambridge, was in the 1920s a youth leader, influenced by D. H. Lawrence (whom he visited in Switzerland in 1928), with concomitant interests in fields including folk dance, guild socialism, rural revivalism and Social Credit; but by the early 1930s he evinced approval of the Jugendbewegung (German Youth Movement), a leaning which led him towards pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic sentiments and writings. His works include World Without End: British Politics and the Younger Generation (1932), England Herself: Ventures in Rural Restoration (F&F, 1943) and Water Springing from the Ground: An Anthology of the Writings of Rolf Gardiner, ed. Andrew Best (1972).
7.RabbiMattuck, Rabbi Israel Isidor Israel I. Mattuck (1884–1954) was born in Lithuania and taken as a child to the USA, where he studied at Harvard and was ordained at the Hebrew Union College. On moving to London, he became Rabbi of the Liberal Synagogue, 28 St John’s Wood Road, 1911–47. He was the first chairman of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, 1926–54, and edited the Liberal prayer book (3 vols, 1923–6). Other works include The Essentials of Liberal Judaism (1947), What Are the Jews? (1949), Jewish Ethics (1953) and The Thought of the Prophets (1953). TSE hoped he might write a History of the Jews since the Dispersion.
8.SirReith, Sir John Charles Walsham John Reith (1889–1971) – Director-General of the BBC, 1927–38 – wrote on 31 Mar.: ‘I have listened to your four talks with great interest, and satisfaction – for want of a better word. I should like particularly to mention the last one, which I thought most impressive. I hope it will have some real effect among those who listened to it.’
He went on: ‘Some time I should rather like to have a talk with you about our religious policy; I am not satisfied with it.’
4.MontgomeryBelgion, Montgomery (‘Monty’) Belgion (1892–1973), author and journalist: see Biographical Register.
2.Onde Montalk, Geoffrey Wladisla Potocki 8 Feb. 1932, Geoffrey Wladisla Potocki de Montalk, a British subject born in 1904 in New Zealand (his grandfather was a Polish Count, and it seems that he was entitled to be called Count), was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of ‘uttering and publishing an obscene libel’. (As it happens, Montalk had written to TSE on 24 July 1929, claiming to be ‘anglo-catholic’ and seeking an audience; and TSE had talked with him in Aug. 1929.) Montalk had sought to publish through a firm of printers called Comps a collection of his poems – some of which, as he explained in the witness box, were translated from Rabelais.
6.RolfGardiner, Rolf Gardiner (1902–71), a graduate of St John’s College, Cambridge, was in the 1920s a youth leader, influenced by D. H. Lawrence (whom he visited in Switzerland in 1928), with concomitant interests in fields including folk dance, guild socialism, rural revivalism and Social Credit; but by the early 1930s he evinced approval of the Jugendbewegung (German Youth Movement), a leaning which led him towards pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic sentiments and writings. His works include World Without End: British Politics and the Younger Generation (1932), England Herself: Ventures in Rural Restoration (F&F, 1943) and Water Springing from the Ground: An Anthology of the Writings of Rolf Gardiner, ed. Andrew Best (1972).
12.RevdHarris, Revd Charles Charles Harris, DD (1865–1936), Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral from 1925; Vicar of South Leigh, Witney, Oxfordshire, 1929–34; Chairman of the Book Committee of the (English) Church Union since 1923; Assistant Editor of Literature and Worship, 1932. Works include Creeds or No Creeds? (1922); First Steps in the Philosophy of Religion (1927). TSE to Group Captain Paul J. Harris (son), 12 July 1961: ‘I was very happy to work with him many years ago on the Literature Committee of the Anglo-Catholic Congress. Your father was, incidentally, an extremely able and dynamic Secretary of the Committee and the publications reached a high level of importance and authority during his term of office.’
4.RalphHodgson, Ralph Hodgson (1871–1962), Yorkshire-born poet; fond friend of TSE: see Biographical Register.
7.RabbiMattuck, Rabbi Israel Isidor Israel I. Mattuck (1884–1954) was born in Lithuania and taken as a child to the USA, where he studied at Harvard and was ordained at the Hebrew Union College. On moving to London, he became Rabbi of the Liberal Synagogue, 28 St John’s Wood Road, 1911–47. He was the first chairman of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, 1926–54, and edited the Liberal prayer book (3 vols, 1923–6). Other works include The Essentials of Liberal Judaism (1947), What Are the Jews? (1949), Jewish Ethics (1953) and The Thought of the Prophets (1953). TSE hoped he might write a History of the Jews since the Dispersion.
3.AlidaMonro, Alida (née Klementaski) Klementaski (1892–1969) married Harold Monro on 27 Mar. 1920: see Alida Monro in Biographical Register.
5.T. SturgeMoore, Thomas ('T.') Sturge Moore (1870–1944), poet, playwright, critic, and artist – brother of the philosopher G. E. Moore – was christened Thomas but adopted his mother’s maiden name ‘Sturge’ to avoid confusion with the Irish poet Thomas Moore. A prolific poet, author of 31 plays, and a loyal contributor to the Criterion, he was also a close friend of W. B. Yeats, for whom he designed bookplates and bookbindings. He published his first collection of poetry, The Vinedresser and Other Poems, in 1899.
4.LadyMorrell, Lady Ottoline Ottoline Morrell (1873–1938), hostess and patron: see Biographical Register.
8.JosephOldham, Joseph (‘Joe’) Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), missionary, adviser, organiser: see Biographical Register.
8.SirReith, Sir John Charles Walsham John Reith (1889–1971) – Director-General of the BBC, 1927–38 – wrote on 31 Mar.: ‘I have listened to your four talks with great interest, and satisfaction – for want of a better word. I should like particularly to mention the last one, which I thought most impressive. I hope it will have some real effect among those who listened to it.’
1.RichardRoberts, Richard Ellis Ellis Roberts (1879–1953), author and critic; literary editor of the New Statesman & Nation, 1932–4; Life and Letters Today, 1934; biographer of Stella Benson (1939).
3.RevdSimpson, Revd Canon Sparrow Canon Sparrow Simpson, DD (1859–1952), chaplain of St Mary’s Hospital, Ilford.
4.W. B. YeatsYeats, William Butler ('W. B.') (1865–1939), Irish poet and playwright: see Biographical Register.