[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
Your letter of the 8th by the Queen Mary arrived yesterday, and this is to go by the Queen Mary tomorrow. It is difficult to think of personal affairs with all that is going on – which was not unexpected, but, I think, not expected so soon. I do not think that we shall have war this summer. SoAnschluss, theresponse to;a1 far as we are concerned, I think that this marks a new phase of the tendency to authoritarianism. TheHitler, Adolfpost-Anschluss;a3 government may alter in personnel – atChurchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencercommendable speeches;a2 a pinch, it will mean the inclusion of Churchill (who has been speaking rather well) and probably Lloyd George into a government of national emergency – it might even mean the return of Eden to some cabinet position – butLabour Party, the'futile as ever';a3 I do not see a general election – unless the government should force it in order to strengthen their position further: as the Labour party is being as futile as ever. But we shall gradually get more regulations and restrictions. I think Hitler will want a period of some duration to consolidate his conquest of Austria – probably not so simple as his announcements would give one to believe:1 before he proceeds to try to swallow Czechoslovakia. At theWood, Edward, 3rd Viscount Halifax (later 1st Earl of Halifax)his position post-Anschluss;a4 moment, it would seem that the policy of German conciliation of The Times and Lord Halifax has been thoroughly rebuffed: it will be interesting to see how long Halifax remains in office. I do not see how Hitler’s programme can accept indefinitely the existence of the hostile and highly armed spot of Czechoslovakia in the middle of his empire.
IDukes, Ashley;e5 haveMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6Dukes reports on;e9 a letter from Dukes, at last, saying that he and a part of the company will be back on Monday, and Martin and the rest a little later. I am only anxious to know how badly crippled financially Dukes will have been by this gamble. HeFamily Reunion, TheDukes keen to produce;d7 speaks hopefully of producing the Family Reunion ‘as soon as possible’. (No, what he says is, that it ‘must go on stage soon’[)].
Yes, I have thought, when reading of the California floods,2 how glad I was you were not there. IScripps College, Claremontpreferred to Smith;f6 canSmith Collegecompared to Scripps;b8 understand your preference for Scripps. It seems to me the difference between a small college which happened to have several congenial people in it, and a large college. In a large one, I suppose it is always very difficult to get to know the most interesting people of other departments – though meeting people in other lines than one’s own is one of the most important stimuli.
I applaud your design of going to Charleston for your Easter holiday – I don’t think you could do better. Aftertravels, trips and plansTSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon;c9outlined to EH;a1 Easter, ICamoens Prizeoutlined;a1 expect to go to Lisbon for about a week to take part in a jury to decide the award of the ‘Camoens prize’.3 This sounds rather silly, I am sure. MyFerro, Antónioand the Camoens Prize;a1 invitation to spend a week in Portugal at the expense of the government doubtless comes at the instance of Antonio Ferro, the head of the Portuguese Propaganda Department, whom I know.4 WeSalazar, António de Oliveira;a2 happen to be, more or less, Salazar’s publishers in this country5 – which happened through my knowing somebody who knew somebody who knew Ferro. But I consulted, through a friend, the Chief Adviser on Foreign Relations (Vansittart) <private & confidential> and he urged me to accept. I will give you details when I know them: I should be away after Easter until early in May.
OhHale, Emilycorrespondence with TSE;w3inhibited by public events;g4 dear, it is hard to be personal, even when one is alone with oneself, and to oneself, at a time like this: and a searchlight playing about outside, from somewhere in North Kensington, is an addition of restlessness. There is the danger, too, of letting one’s mind prepare itself exclusively for the possible external dangers and horrors, and neglecting the inner discipline which must be just the same whether the outside world is peaceful and easy, or disturbed. And (for one thing) I feel that it is only in so far as we put our minds and hearts on the perpetual things and problems, that we can continue to grow nearer together in absence: because space and local circumstance and current events do not matter to those – they are always the same wherever we are or whatever goes on: and I struggle to put my mind on them at this season.
1.Hitler triumphantly drove into Vienna on 14 Mar. giving the Nazi salute from an open car.
2.A series of fierce storms hit the Los Angeles basin between 27 Feb. and 3 Mar., causing flooding and damage (more than 5,500 homes were laid waste) and disruption to the vicinity.
3.AntónioCamoens PrizeTSE invited to judge;a2n Eça de Queiroz, Sub-Director, Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional, Portugal, to TSE, 4 Mar. 1938:
[T]he Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional will distribute this year for the first time the Camoens Prize which is to be awarded for the best literary or scientific work on Portugal published abroad by a foreign author during the last two years.
Since the respective regulations state that the language of each book produced for the competition should be represented and also because some of the competitors are English, we have the honour … to invite you to kindly participate of the jury which will classify the works.
The jury will be constituted by the most eminent names in the European intellect \…
All travelling expenses will be paid by the Portuguese Government which will have the honour to consider you as a guest during your stay in Portugal which will be of 6 to 10 days.
TSE, ‘Class of 1910: Fiftieth Anniversary Report’: ‘In 1938 I was the guest of the Portuguese Government for three weeks as a membro do jury for the Camoens Prize.’
4.AntónioFerro, António Ferro (1895–1956), Portuguese writer, journalist, politician – author of Viagem à Volta das Ditaduras (‘Journey round the Dictatorships’, 1927) and Salazar: o Homem e a Obra (‘Salazar: The Man and his Work’, 1927; eventually published in revised translation as Salazar: Portugal and Her Leader [F&F, 1939]) – was a firm supporter of the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), Prime Minister of Portugal, 1932–68. Ferro served as Director of the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional.
5.TSE was to arrange the publication of Dr Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Prime Minister of Portugal, Doctrine and Action: Internal and Foreign Policy of the New Portugal 1928–1939, trans. Robert Edgar Broughton (F&F, Nov. 1939).
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
4.AntónioFerro, António Ferro (1895–1956), Portuguese writer, journalist, politician – author of Viagem à Volta das Ditaduras (‘Journey round the Dictatorships’, 1927) and Salazar: o Homem e a Obra (‘Salazar: The Man and his Work’, 1927; eventually published in revised translation as Salazar: Portugal and Her Leader [F&F, 1939]) – was a firm supporter of the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), Prime Minister of Portugal, 1932–68. Ferro served as Director of the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional.
4.AntónioSalazar, António de Oliveira de Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), leader of the authoritarian government of Portugal. F&F was to publish books by and about him.
5.EdwardWood, Edward, 3rd Viscount Halifax (later 1st Earl of Halifax) Wood, 3rd Viscount and later 1st Earl of Halifax (1881–1959), distinguished Conservative politician; Viceroy of India, 1926–31; Foreign Secretary, 1938–40; British Ambassador in Washington, 1941–6. See Andrew Roberts, The Holy Fox: The Life of Lord Halifax (1991, 2019).