[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
IHale, Emilycorrespondence with TSE;w3disturbed by prospect of war;g5 am writing briefly this morning to catch the Normandie, the first boat for several days and perhaps the only swift one in the immediate future; as the services had been disorganised by the prospect of war. (FrankMorley, Frank Vigorvisiting dying mother;h8 Morley is taking the same boat in order to visit his mother, who is dying slowly). TonightFaber, Geoffreydiscusses F&F's wartime plans;g5 I have to dine with Faber to discuss some business matters of which I will tell you more when I next write. IFaber and Faber (F&F)and the prospect of war;d8 am anxious that the firm should be put permanently on something more like a war footing: we should have been caught out rather badly if war had come just now; and as you know, I do not regard this settlement as more than a postponement. ICooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwichhis resignation;a4 was very much interested in Duff Cooper’s resignation, and he has risen in my opinion; he is indeed ending his career unless there comes a revolution inside the Conservative Party. INicholson, Haroldaddresses appeasement on BBC;a5 enclose the report of his speech and also a summary of what appears to have been a very frank speech by Harold Nicholson.1 There are also rumours that the B.B.C. have terminated his engagement with them.
I was relieved to hear that you did not suffer any direct hardships from the hurricane; but amAmericaNorthampton, Massachusetts;g3its elms;a9 distressed to think that the beautiful elms of Northampton, and perhaps Williamsburgh and other lovely New England towns, have been laid low. Idogs'Boerre' (Norwegian Elkhound);b7and right-hand traffic;a4 hope that Boerre has proved himself fairly well-behaved, that he does not want too much to eat, and that he does not pull you off your legs when you have him on a lead: also that he is coming to understand the right-hand traffic.
IPerkinses, the;h7 have not yet seen the Perkins’s. I called at Aban Court, the morning after they arrived, and they were out. I ordered some flowers, and called again at the end of the afternoon, to be told that they had left suddenly for the country with no address. Two days later I had letters from the Cotswold House. EvidentlyEnglandLondon;h1preparing for war;d2 they thought it best to be out of London at that moment, and quite rightly. The place was somewhat disorganised, with some of the tube stations closed for work converting them into bomb shelters, and men working day and night digging up trenches in the parks and public squares; and I don’t know whether any provision had been made for issuing gas masks to non-residents: all the citizens of Kensington had them served out, and I do not know whether we shall be required to return them now or preserve them for the next emergency. Better that they should all be collected, because by the time they are wanted again many people will have mislaid or damaged theirs.
TheHale, Emilybirthdays, presents and love-tokens;w2EH buys TSE towel rails;d8 twoCheetham, Revd Eric;d3 towel rails are now up on the wall, and look very handsome: you will have received a letter from the Vicar to thank you for your munificence to the household.
IFlat 3, 11 Emperor's Gateredecorated with EH's presents;b2 have not yet got the Bulls up, but I am enjoying them, and also the beauty of the rosary which I keep on the table beside my bed. I almost wish that you were not so generous, however.
OneGielgud, Johndeclares interest in Family Reunion;a2 pieceBrowne, Elliott Martin1939 production of The Family Reunion;c1reports John Gielgud interest;b4 ofFamily Reunion, Thepossible John Gielgud production;e5 news is that I am going to see Gielgud2 with Martin, tomorrow night after the theatre. He has read the first version (being made to understand that it was being dramatically altered) and Martin says that he is very keenly interested indeed, and would like to put it on first for a series of charity matinees, with a run directly afterwards. If I do agree to let him do it, the production may be delayed until spring, so that with any luck it might still be running in June. I have not made any contract yet, and do not mean to until the last moment, and wish to keep American control in my own hands. I would consult you before agreeing to anything for New York.
Well, my dear, I have missed you very much these last days. The autumn is now here, the [sc. and] the clocks back, and two days of most violent rain and wind raging; and when Christmas is over and the year turned I shall begin to be able to look forward to another summer. You have not told me how you have felt in physical strength in beginning your term: I feared that the summer, for several reasons, had not restored you as it should, though you actually looked better at the end than you did a year ago.
1.‘MrCooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwichhis resignation;a4n Duff Cooper: “Perhaps I Have Ruined My Career, But My Head Is Erect”’, Evening Standard, Mon. 3 Oct. 1938, 12. Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty since 1937, resigned from the government on 3 Oct. in consequence of the Munich Agreement (30 Sept.), which permitted Hitler to annex the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia in return for the false prospectus of ‘Peace in our time’, signed by Germany, the UK, France and Italy. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain blazoned it as ‘peace with honour’ – a claim derided by Winston Churchill. Given that Germany had been allowed to annex Austria in Mar. 1938, Duff Cooper declared it the gravest error to pursue a policy of appeasement against an expansionist dictator: ‘sweet reasonableness’ was not the right way to deal with the Führer. See TSE’s letter to Duff Cooper, 5 Oct. 1938, Letters 8, 966.
2.JohnGielgud, John Gielgud (1904–2000), distinguished actor and theatre director. Knighted in 1953; awarded Legion of Honour, 1960; created Companion of Honour, 1977; Order of Merit, 1996.
4.E. MartinBrowne, Elliott Martin Browne (1900–80), English director and producer, was to direct the first production of Murder in the Cathedral: see Biographical Register.
4.RevdCheetham, Revd Eric Eric Cheetham (1892–1957): vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, London, 1929–56 – ‘a fine ecclesiastical showman’, as E. W. F. Tomlin dubbed him. TSE’s landlord and friend at presbytery-houses in S. Kensington, 1934–9. See Letters 7, 34–8.
6.AlfredCooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich of Aldwick (1890–1954), since 1937, First Lord of the Admiralty.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
2.JohnGielgud, John Gielgud (1904–2000), distinguished actor and theatre director. Knighted in 1953; awarded Legion of Honour, 1960; created Companion of Honour, 1977; Order of Merit, 1996.
4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.
3.HaroldNicholson, Harold Nicolson (1886–1968) relinquished in 1930 a thriving career in the Diplomatic Service to work as a journalist for the Evening Standard. In Mar. 1931 he left the Standard to join Sir Oswald Mosley’s New Party, and became editor of the New Party’s journal Action.