[41 Brimmer St., Boston]
Your letter of June 9th gladdened me yesterday. I hope that by this time my subsequent letters will have partially atoned for the brevity of the 23d and 27th; but I must admit that I feel a certain pleasure in having failed so badly for a whole week; the pleasure, that is, of being scolded by You (however mildly) for not writing more. (Not that I should ever dare to tempt your wrath deliberately). AboutKing's Chapel, Bostontwo possible talks suggested for;a6 the talk at King’s Chapel: it is I who should be proud, my lady, at having any opportunity of being of service to you. Subject'Bible as Scripture and as Literature, The'originally suggested by EH;a1: what about ‘The Influence of the Bible upon English Literature’ (as you yourself suggested); I'Bible as Scripture and as Literature, The'outlined;a2 should not attempt an historical review of all the authors in the last three hundred years, but just talk briefly about the reasons why the Bible is of permanent value for prose and verse writing. Or, I could talk about the Religious Poetry of the Seventeenth Century, a subject I have dealt with before in various ways. If you like, just put down the title of the talk yourself, and I will write to order. I forget whether I asked you how many minutes these talks should be?
IUniversity of Southern California;a1 have no news yet from the gentleman from the University of Southern California. Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps;a8TSE's itinerary;a4 think it more or less settled itself, did it not, thatScripps College, ClaremontTSE hopes to visit EH at;b1 it seemed more practicable for me to aim at seeing you at Scripps or thereabouts, either just before or just after the beginning of the January term, than in Seattle – as I could hardly get to Seattle much before you had to scurry back to California? I doAmericaCalifornia;d3EH suggests trip to Yosemite;a3 not know just where or what the Yosemite is;1 but I am sure that I should like to see it if in Emily’s company, even if it is full of Bears and Cougars and Rattlesnakes. But I don’t suppose that we can get much farther [sc. further] with plans until October, though I should like to have them cut and dried now, and have a definite date to look forward to.
WeNoyeses, the;a3 dinedEliots, the T. S.;d8 with the Noyeses the other night, with their relative Mrs. Lawrie, who is quite a pleasant woman (I am afraid I spoke rather flippantly about Virginians, but how was I to know she was a Virginian, and if she took it seriously she is very silly. PenelopeNoyes, Penelope Barkermentions EH to TSE;b3 spoke to me of you at the end – the first time she has mentioned you to me – merely to say that she was anxious to get you to pay her a visit at the seaside before you left in September – she seemed to assume that I knew your plans – IHinkleys, the;b7 might have heard of them from the Hinkleys, I suppose, if they ever wrote (and when they do it is mostly news of themselves and Barbara’s family); so I expressed no surprise. IKnowles, Sylvia HathawayTSE tries to place;a1 wonder if SylviaAmericaNew Bedford, Massachusetts;f8EH's holidays in;a1 Knowles2 is a cousin of Bobby Knowles who was several forms below me at school. IAmericaNew Bedford, Massachusetts;f8TSE's family ties to;a2 have a good many relatives in New Bedford, Rotches3 and Giffords and what not; IEliot, Ida M. (TSE's cousin);a1 believe my father’s cousins, Edith and Ida Eliot, are still living, though they must be very old.4 WeEliot family, theties to New Bedford;a1 lived there for a generation or so, up to 1812, you know; when the British privateers ruined the whaling industry5 – thenEliot, William Greenleaf, Sr. (TSE's great-grandfather)cousin of John Quincy Adams;a1 my greatgrandfather got a job in Washington, being a cousin of the President J.Q.6 I have never seen the town; it is one of the places I should like to visit. I don’t think you have spoken of her before. Where do you go in Maine, I wonder. You used to have some cousins in Portland.
You seem to be extremely busy. I wonder why you have to learn typing (not shorthand too I hope?) Don’t type too much, or you will lose the power to use a pen, like me; and I much prefer your dear familiar scrawl. IHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7EH congratulated on 'perm';b5 am glad about the ‘perm’; but you will have to have another wave put in, you know, as soon as your hair grows to a certain length (IHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7TSE begs a slip of hair from;b2 once asked if I might see a bit of it, but was ignored. ByPhilippe, Charles-LouisBubu de Montparnasse;a1 the way, you snubbed me over Bubu too: I can understand your not liking the book – it suffers very badly in translation – but to ask why I sent it! and ignore the little preface I wrote!) But why do you have some of your hair cut out? (and wasted, I suppose) – it sounds barbarous. I hope you have a new Hat or two to go with it.
I'Modern Dilemma, The';a8 had rather a tiring evening, asSt. Paul's Cathedral, London;a1 I had to dine with a small club of London Vicars of the Anglo-Catholic persuasion, in St. Paul’s Chapter House last night – a beautiful old house opposite the side of the cathedral. Then I talked to them, informally for about twenty minutes, on the Christian attitude towards politics, and started a discussion. They were mostly oldish men, pleasant, simple people; no one of very brilliant gifts, but earnest and just as much in a fog about the world to-day as I am. I read them parts of some of my B.B.C. letters from listeners, and that I think I [sc. they] found interesting. ThenCulpin, Mary ('Mollie') Johanna;a3 on to Mollie Culpin’s to pick up V. and Miss Katie Spencer after a musical evening. TonightEliots, the T. S.host OM and D'Arcy;d9 OttolineMorrell, Lady Ottolinedines chez Eliot;c5 andD'Arcy, Fr Martin;a2 Father D’Arcy to dinner. TheFabers, theFaber children to tea chez Eliot;a5 children’s teaparty was a success, I think. They tucked into the strawberries, and had presents – the only strained moment was when Tom wanted a bit of the plastocene [sc. Plasticine] we had given to Dick – and enjoyed themselves hugely writing letters, under my direction, on the typewriter, to their father. Tom’sFaber, Thomas Erle ('Tom', TSE's godson)sends one-word letter;a3 letter consisted of the one word, ‘strawberries’ (correctly spelt).
I must stop now, until Thursday.
1.Yosemite: national park in the western Sierra Nevada, California.
2.SylviaKnowles, Sylvia Hathaway Hathaway Knowles (1891–1979), of New Bedford, Mass. – a descendant of a long-established merchant and business family based there – was a friend and room-mate of EH from their schooldays at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Vermont.
3.EdithRotch, Edith Eliot (TSE's cousin) Eliot Rotch (1874–1969), a graduate of Radcliffe College, became a champion ice skater and tennis player, winner of the national women’s doubles in 1909 and 1910; she later became an expert on radio operation, working for two decades for the Postal Telegraph Company.
4.IdaEliot, Ida M. (TSE's cousin) M. Eliot (1839–1923) – daughter of Congressman Thomas D. Eliot, niece of William Greenleaf Eliot – was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where after the Civil War she founded a school for freed African-American students. She was subsequently Assistant Principal of the St. Louis Normal School in St. Louis (her good friend Anna Brackett was Principal). In 1873 she and Brackett moved to New York City, where they co-founded the Brackett School for Girls, at 9 West 39th Street. After 1900 she moved back to New Bedford to live with her sister Edith (1854–1933). She was in addition a writer and entomologist, and published the pioneering study Caterpillars and Their Moths (1902).
5.WilliamEliot, William Greenleaf, Sr. (TSE's great-grandfather) Greenleaf Eliot, Sr. (1781–1853), merchant and ship-owner of New Bedford, Mass. (where TSE’s grandfather was born in 1811), was ruined by the British embargo on trade imposed during the war of 1812–15; he subsequently relocated to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an inspector in the Postal Service auditing office.
6.John Adams, 2nd President of the USA and father of John Quincy Adams, was an ancestor of TSE; and TSE’s paternal grandmother was Abigail Adams Cranch (1817–1908). Richard Cranch, who emigrated from the village of Kingsbridge, S. Devon, at the age of 20 in 1746, became brother-in-law of the second President and uncle of the fourth.
3.MartinD'Arcy, Fr Martin D’Arcy (1888–1976), Jesuit priest and theologian: see Biographical Register.
4.IdaEliot, Ida M. (TSE's cousin) M. Eliot (1839–1923) – daughter of Congressman Thomas D. Eliot, niece of William Greenleaf Eliot – was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where after the Civil War she founded a school for freed African-American students. She was subsequently Assistant Principal of the St. Louis Normal School in St. Louis (her good friend Anna Brackett was Principal). In 1873 she and Brackett moved to New York City, where they co-founded the Brackett School for Girls, at 9 West 39th Street. After 1900 she moved back to New Bedford to live with her sister Edith (1854–1933). She was in addition a writer and entomologist, and published the pioneering study Caterpillars and Their Moths (1902).
5.WilliamEliot, William Greenleaf, Sr. (TSE's great-grandfather) Greenleaf Eliot, Sr. (1781–1853), merchant and ship-owner of New Bedford, Mass. (where TSE’s grandfather was born in 1811), was ruined by the British embargo on trade imposed during the war of 1812–15; he subsequently relocated to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an inspector in the Postal Service auditing office.
4.ThomasFaber, Thomas Erle ('Tom', TSE's godson) Erle Faber (1927–2004), TSE’s godson and principal dedicatee of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, was to become a physicist, teaching at Cambridge, first at Trinity, then for fifty years at Corpus Christi. He served too as chairman of the Geoffrey Faber holding company.
2.SylviaKnowles, Sylvia Hathaway Hathaway Knowles (1891–1979), of New Bedford, Mass. – a descendant of a long-established merchant and business family based there – was a friend and room-mate of EH from their schooldays at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Vermont.
4.LadyMorrell, Lady Ottoline Ottoline Morrell (1873–1938), hostess and patron: see Biographical Register.
12.PenelopeNoyes, Penelope Barker Barker Noyes (1891–1977), who was descended from settlers of the Plymouth Colony, lived in a historic colonial house (built in 1894 for her father James Atkins Noyes) at 1 Highland Street, Cambridge, MA. Unitarian. She was a close friend of EH.
3.EdithRotch, Edith Eliot (TSE's cousin) Eliot Rotch (1874–1969), a graduate of Radcliffe College, became a champion ice skater and tennis player, winner of the national women’s doubles in 1909 and 1910; she later became an expert on radio operation, working for two decades for the Postal Telegraph Company.