[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
Letter 114.
This has been a busy week, withSelwyn, Revd Edward Gordon, Dean of Winchesterhosts TSE in Winchester;a6 going to Winchester on Monday, which was pleasant, thoughSelwyn, Phyllis Eleanordies tragically;a2 I had not seen Selwyn since his wife died last year – she was asphyxiated by fumes in her garage, and though his remarks on Classical Education, which I read, did not have a close bearing on the subject of my address. IClassics and the Man of Letters, Therevised with suggestions from GCF;a6 returned to Shamley (from London) on Thursday afternoon, in order to re-write the same address; andFaber, Geoffreyhelps revise TSE's Classical Association address;i5 have now, with much toil, completed it, I think, but for possible minor revisions after I have shown it to Geoffrey.1 Until to-day I have not taken the time to write even business letters: in my spare time I have always manuscripts to read. Another busy week ahead of me: tomorrowWatt, Bill;a2, after lunching with Watt, the agent who thought of the Kipling idea, ITheological Literature Association;a1 have a meeting of the Theological Literature Association in the afternoon, followedChristian News-Letter (CNL)first number;a4 closely by one of the Christian News Letter Board which will last into the evening; Wednesday, after the usual Book committee, IChristian Frontier Councilestablished by Oldham;a1 go straight to a meeting of aOldham, Josephpropagates yet another religious body;d9 new body initiated by Oldham which he calls the Christian Frontier; 2 andSword of the Spirit, Thecommittee meetings of;a1 I am not sure that there is not a meeting of the Sword of the Spirit on Thursday. OnMoot, The;c8 the other hand, I shall play truant to the weekend meeting of the Moot over Palm Sunday. IFaber, Geoffreybut eventually elected;i4 must stay in town until Friday afternoon, asLiterary Society, Thefinally admits GCF;b4 Faber has been elected to the Literary Society, and this will be his first appearance. I am very glad of this, as it is an honour that pleases him very much. AlsoDemant, Revd Vigo Augustegiven canonry in St. Paul's;b7, VictorSt. Paul's Cathedral, LondonDemant made canon at;a5 Demant has been given a canonry at St. Paul’s, which is very good news, and will give him a decent income and a certain amount of leisure for writing, which he could hardly make time for in his parish in Richmond. IClub, TheTSE elected to;a1 have been elected to anotherJohnson, Dr SamuelTSE joins club founded by;a4 diningReynolds, JoshuaTSE joins club founded by;a1 club, called simply ‘The Club’, having had a continuous existence since Joshua Reynolds and Dr. Johnson founded it. But it is not now especially literary, which is why I suppose they wanted me.3
ThisShamley Wood, Surreyits melodramas;b2 has been a quiet weekend, withMirrlees, Hopeat Shamley;c1 Hope away (she has just returned) withBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson);a4 Margaret Behrens. She is a neurotic person, both lethargic and nervous: she seems to spend a good deal of time sleeping, but when she is not sleeping one is aware of it, talking to her dog, or calling for a servant instead of ringing a bell; andMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)going deaf;c7 the fact that Mrs. Mirrlees has recently become very deaf makes the house noisier still. But they could not be kinder or more hospitable. It was pleasant being alone with the two old ladies, and it is good for Mrs. M. I think to have occasional peace and quiet.
IAmericaits horrors;c2'Easter holidays' not including Easter;b5 never know when your vacation comes, except that I know it never coincides with Easter: perhaps it has been taking place already: I have had no letter from you last week. ItHarvard University;b6 seemed to me very strange at Harvard that lectures went on even on Good Friday. I have thought of taking the whole week off for work, exceptSt. Stephen's Church, Gloucester Roadwartime Easter at;b2 that I should like to attend some office or other at St. Stephen’s during the week. Last year I was in bed at Easter: so far I have got through this winter with only three days (after Christmas) in bed.
TheSecond World Warthe Pacific War;d2 present state of affairs, especially in the Pacific,4 producesHale, Emilycorrespondence with TSE;w3constrained by war;g8 a state of mental tension which makes my brain work very slowly and painfully in my writing; and has had, I think an odd effect on my letters. When I sit down to write a letter, I can remember most of the events of the week to record – though even these I sometimes forget until after they have ceased to be worth mention; but the thoughts that come into my mind to transmit, at odd moments, disappear; and even personal expression (as you, and even my family, may notice) is frozen. It comes to the surface at moments when I am alone, but not with the typewriter in front of me. Such a heavy sadness weighs on one all the time, which colours even the most optimistic moment; and it is all the harder to cope with because one cannot afford to be often wholly conscious of it. May Easter bring us a little peace of a better kind!
MrsMirrlees, Maj.-Gen. William Henry Buchanan ('Reay')promoted to major-general;a4. M. has been very happy this week, as her son has just been made a major-general. But I fear that she feels it very unlikely that she herself will live until he comes home.
I read that you are been [sc. being] severely rationed in clothing in the States. I hope that this did not catch you badly provided, but I am afraid it did.
1.TSE’s address The Classics and the Man of Letters was to be delivered on 15 Apr. 1942: see CProse 6, 295–309.
2.The Christian Frontier Council, formed in 1942, consisted of a fellowship of about thirty individuals of various denominations who held responsible positions in secular life; with the blessing of the Church of England, they explored the ‘practical implications of faith’.
3.See TSE to Hayward, 30 Mar. 1942: ‘I have recently attended my first meeting of The Club: an institution in comparison with which the Literary seems like a rowdy gathering of schoolboys – there was one other young neophyte besides myself, a stripling of 58 named Lord Swinton, but the standard of senility seems pretty high, and nobody shouts across the table or anything like that. But of course Kenneth Clark and Stephen Gaselee belong to this, as to everything else, and of course Desmond too – the faces for which I shall look on the Day of Judgement. I should say, however, that the conversational standard was not as high as it was in 1764.’
4.Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, almost all the Philippines and much of Burma were now held by the Japanese.
4.MargaretBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson) Elizabeth Behrens, née Davidson (1885–1968), author of novels including In Masquerade (1930); Puck in Petticoats (1931); Miss Mackay (1932); Half a Loaf (1933).
4.RevdDemant, Revd Vigo Auguste Vigo Auguste Demant (1893–1983), Anglican clergyman; leading exponent of ‘Christian Sociology’; vicar of St John-the-Divine, Richmond, Surrey, 1933–42: see Biographical Register.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
3.HopeMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff) Mirrlees’s mother was Emily Lina Mirrlees, née Moncrieff (1862–1948) – known as ‘Mappie’ or ‘Mappy’ – see Biographical Register.
2.HopeMirrlees, Hope Mirrlees (1887–1978), British poet, novelist, translator and biographer, was to become a close friend of TSE: see Biographical Register.
1.MajMirrlees, Maj.-Gen. William Henry Buchanan ('Reay').-Gen. William Henry Buchanan ‘Reay’ Mirrlees, DSO, CB, MC (1892–1964), served in the Royal Artillery. He was the only son of William Julius and Emily Lina Mirrlees, brother of Hope Mirrlees.
8.JosephOldham, Joseph (‘Joe’) Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), missionary, adviser, organiser: see Biographical Register.
1.PhyllisSelwyn, Phyllis Eleanor Eleanor Selwyn was daughter of the Rt Revd Sir Edwyn Hoskyns.
9.RevdSelwyn, Revd Edward Gordon, Dean of Winchester Edward Gordon Selwyn (1885–1959), editor of Theology: A Monthly Journal of Historic Christianity, 1920–33. Educated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge (Newcastle Scholar; Porson Scholar and Prizeman; Waddington Scholar; Browne’s Medallist; 2nd Chancellor’s Medallist), he was Rector of Redhill, Havant, 1919–30; Provost in Convocation, 1921–31; Dean of Winchester, 1931–58. Works include The Approach to Christianity (1925); Essays Catholic & Critical by Members of the Anglican Communion (ed., 1926). In 1910, he married Phyllis Eleanor Hoskyns, daughter of E. C. Hoskyns (then Bishop of Southwell).