[No surviving envelope]
Letter 16.
I have been constantly expecting a letter from Grand Manan, but have had nothing since your letter of September 15 from Petersham. IPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle);f1 have however been supported by a letter from Dr. Perkins telling of your departure for the North. I fear that after the move to an isolated place of repose, and being able to relax from your own apprehensions and the effort of trying to keep others cheerful, you have experienced a state of great fatigue. I will try to be patient, but will say what you have often said to me, that when a letter is too much, a postcard’s worth of writing in an air mail envelope will be sufficient. I am anxious, of course, to know your routine and occupations; whether you have, or want, anyone to talk to, whether you have any books or feel up to any mental activity. As for the next step after Grand Manan, it is much better at present not to think about it.
LastShamley Wood, Surreyits melodramas;b2 weekend was a period of turmoil at Shamley, and I found it difficult to settle down to anything. BesidesShamley Wood, Surreydramatis personae;a4 a few minor disturbances, such as the Austrian cook who prophesies from the Book of Daniel giving notice, and an elderly refugee from London who lodges in the bungalow with her grandchild having a stroke, MrsMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)receives offer for Shamley;c9. M. had received a very good offer for her house, from the disciples of some kind of seer or holy man who found that the house had a better aura than any they had seen, and were willing to pay for it: and indeed, apart from the situation and the view, there is little to induce a high price for the house except the aura, for it is very badly built – and as for the situation, the top of an extremely steep hill which cars cannot always get up, in icy weather, is not in these times tempting to possible possessors or servants. A decline of dividends, and a lack of forethought in expenses, made her feel that she ought to accept. On the other hand, to turn out at six weeks notice, at this time of year, and to find another house and move in to it under all the restrictions of wartime, is no slight thing for a lady of 81, to say nothing of her feeling of responsibility towards the population she has assembled here. So she was worrying herself ill, the house rang with perpetual discussion, andBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson);a5 Mrs. Behrens (the other lodger) and myself found ourselves unwillingly drawn into it – we had, of course, been thinking that we should have to remove at short notice to hotels and then look for small service flats in London. However, on my return I find that the cook has settled down again for the present, the stroke was not a stroke, and Mrs. M. has decided that it would be both unwise and uneconomical to move (as it certainly would mean greater and not less expense for the first year or so), and the household has returned to its usual state of small turmoil. MrsMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)theatrical by nature;d1. M. a grand and lovable old lady, has a very dramatic temperament – in fact, when she was a girl she wanted to go on the stage, for which I believe she had gifts, but the idea was unacceptable to a strait-minded Edinburgh family: and her behaviour is a strange mixture of domestic drama and imperfectly assimilated but very devout Christian Science. Every time she has a discussion with the housekeeper it sounds as if they were at each other’s throats, though it is really amicable and affectionate, and the outrage being discussed may only be the fact of the gardener’s having by mistake slain for the pot an expensive pullet (a good laying pullet may cost up to two pounds ten now!) which had just been bought for laying. These details may bore you, but they help to give a notion of the atmosphere. Still, on returning from London on Friday, this life of passionate preoccupation with local affairs has proved a rather soothing relief from the anxieties and interests one shares with people more involved in the life of the world. ThisRoosevelt, Eleanorher feminism approved at Shamley;a1 household does not quite exemplify the life of which Mrs. Roosevelt talked in her excellent speech last night (which everyone liked, and which you may have heard, as it was intended for America); but I assure you that what she sketched is much more typical!1 (AndMirrlees, Maj.-Gen. William Henry Buchanan ('Reay')awarded DSO;a5 after all, as Mrs. M.’s son was all through the first Lybian and Eritrean campaign, and got the D.S.O. these household crises kept her from more serious worries sometimes). Mrs. Roosevelt has, like her husband, a good voice and a dignified manner.
IPhillips, William;a1 was interested to meet Billy Phillips, the American ex-Ambassador to Italy,2 at the house of some Chilean diplomats I know last week, andPeters, Haroldtoo old for American Navy;a9 get from him some news both of the Bassianos and of Harold Peters, who I gather is heart-broken by not being taken back into the Navy, on account of superannuation: he could still do most useful work, and would no doubt like to be in the Mediterranean now. The23 Russell Square, LondonTSE and Fabers move into;a3 flat at 23, Russell Square is beginning to move smoothly: for the last two weeks the Fabers have been there from Monday to Thursday, and I from Tuesday to Friday, but henceforth they expect to be there the same nights as myself, which will be more comfortable, as Enid gets the supper, and when I am there alone I have to dine out. ItFaber and Faber (F&F)fire-watching duties at;e6 will involve a certain amount of fire-watching, in conjunction with the fire-watching at no. 24 (the two houses now communicate on several floors). That will be a bore, but as the whole staff have to take turns at it, it is only right that resident directors should. StewartStewart, Charles;a4 being a Warden in Hampstead, andde la Mare, Richard;a7 De la Mare Chief Warden of his village, andKennerley, Morleyenlisted in American Home Guard;a1 Kennerley a sergeant in the American Home Guard, do not participate.
TheSecond World WarNorth African campaign;d4 news within the last few days has been quite bewilderingly hopeful.3 I imagine that America is apt to be more sanguine over victory, and more pessimistic when things look dark, than we are here: be-[cause] the worst dangers have been so miraculously dissipated and extravagant hopes so often disappointed, that people now are more cautious of jubilation as well as more impassive in misfortune. But at this rate one really cannot help thinking of peace – which will bring fresh and different anxieties – and of the future. But what I want most at the moment, my dear, is some news of how you are and how you are faring in your remote retreat.
I am under the impression that people in the Maritime Provinces do not like to be classed as ‘Canadians’. Is that so? Constitutionally, of course, they are not Canadians.
1.EleanorRoosevelt, Eleanorgives speech, approved by TSE;a2n Roosevelt toured the UK from late Oct., with the purpose of observing the wartime work of British women and meeting U.S. military personnel; she had meetings too with the British government and the Royal Family, and with leaders of foreign governments in exile.
At 9.15 p.m. on 8 Nov., she made a BBC broadcast from Liverpool, including the following remarks:
First of all I should like to thank the people of Great Britain, who everywhere have given me such a warm and sympathetic welcome, and to rejoice with them on this momentous day. I also want to thank the many kind people who have written to me …
I realise I am here as a symbol, a symbol representing an ally whom the people of Great Britain are glad to have fighting with them, not only because we bring them material strength, but because the peoples of the two countries feel they are fighting for the same objectives – a world which shall be free of cruelty and greed and oppression – a world where men shall be free to worship God as they see fit and to seek the development of their own personalities and their own happiness within the limits that safeguard the rights of other human beings to do the same.
I have seen that the women are working side by side with men in the military forces, in industrial jobs and in addition they are doing countless numbers of jobs in civilian defence as volunteers with the Women’s Voluntary Services. They work as well in many of the long established organisations like the Red Cross, the Y’s, the Women’s Institutes, which in the rural areas make the wheels go round …
The women of Britain are helping to win the war, in fact they are a very vital factor in the man power of the nation and they know also that they will be a very vital factor in making the peace and in carrying on the crusade which will certainly have to be carried on in the future. Women may have had a feeling in the past that they did not have an equal responsibility with men in world affairs. The women of the future can not have that feeling because the writing on the wall is clear that if there is to be peace in the world, women as well as men will have to decide to work and sacrifice to achieve it …
Our hope for the future, I believe lies in the acceptance by women and young people of their responsibility. I think we failed before because we could not think on international lines. We did not have a broad enough vision and the peoples of the world left their business in the hands of self-seekers who thought of themselves and their temporary gains, but now and in the future you, the women and the youth of all the United Nations, will have to awaken and accept full responsibility. It is no easy burden to assume, but if we win the battle over ourselves, the vision of God’s world ruled by justice and love, may become a reality.
2.WilliamPhillips, William Phillips (1878–1968), career diplomat, served as American Ambassador to Italy, 1936–Oct. 1941. In 1942 he was chief of the United States Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA), London; and from Oct. 1942 he was to be personal representative of F. D. Roosevelt in India.
3.The British Eighth Army had won a decisive victory in the Battle of El Alamein, 23 Oct.–4 Nov., sending Rommel’s German and Italian forces retreating far into Libya. Then, on 8 Nov., Anglo-American landings in Morocco and Algeria had begun successfully.
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).
12.Richardde la Mare, Richard de la Mare (1901–86) – elder son of the poet Walter de la Mare – director of F&F, in charge of design and production: see Biographical Register.
2.MorleyKennerley, Morley Kennerley (1902–85), an American director of F&F.
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.
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.
3.DrPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle) John Carroll Perkins (1862–1950), Minister of King’s Chapel, Boston: see Biographical Register.
6.HaroldPeters, Harold Peters (1888–1943), close friend of TSE at Harvard, 1906–9. After graduation, he worked in real estate, and saw active service in the Massachusetts Naval Militia during WW1, and on leaving the navy he spent most of the rest of his life at sea. Leon M. Little, ‘Eliot: A Reminiscence’, Harvard Advocate, 100: 3.4 (Fall 1966), 33: ‘[TSE’sPeters, Haroldas TSE's quondam sailing companion;a2n] really closest friend was Harold Peters, and they were an odd but a very interesting pair. Peters and Eliot spent happy hours sailing together, sometimes in thick fog, off the Dry Salvages. In 1932 Peters sailed round the world for two years as skipper of an 85-foot auxiliary schooner, Pilgrim, having previously participated in the transatlantic race from Newport to Plymouth, and in the Fastnet Race. In 1943 he died after falling from a motor-boat that was in process of being hoisted into a dry dock at Marblehead.
2.WilliamPhillips, William Phillips (1878–1968), career diplomat, served as American Ambassador to Italy, 1936–Oct. 1941. In 1942 he was chief of the United States Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA), London; and from Oct. 1942 he was to be personal representative of F. D. Roosevelt in India.