[No surviving envelope]
Letter 58.
[28 December]
This is probably the last letter I shall write this year; and I shall begin again at the end of the week with no. 1. FirstHale, Emilyas teacher;w1appointed to post at Bennett Junior College, Millbrook;d4, I was very glad to get your Christmas cable, which arrived on time (as I hope mine did to Commonwealth Avenue) and its very interesting news about ‘Millbrook Junior College’.1 I await details impatiently. It sounds rural: I hope that it really is in the country, and not in New York or the suburbs; because I cannot imagine that you would like living in New York, anddogs'Boerre' (Norwegian Elkhound);b7;d9 in the country I could hope that you might be installed where you could again have Boerre with you (but he sounds rather ferocious and needing taming). And what is a ‘junior college’? I do hope and pray that this will be an agreeable place. I am sorry that you should have to start so soon; because your letter of November 23 which has just arrived, suggests that you must be very tired at the end of this term, with one play following so hard on another, and, I should think, a play for little girls would present particular problems of drilling and coaching. I wish that you could get a few days at least quietly with friends away from Boston beforehand; and next Saturday seems awfully early in the year to start.
YourSeaverns, Helen;e2 mention of Mrs. Seaverns reminds me that I should have written to her before Christmas, and I will do so. I'Approach to James Joyce, The'admired by EH;a2 am glad that you liked my Joyce talk; I did not think of sending it, because it was just a piece I composed supposedly for the students in India, and I thought no more about it once it was delivered. IReunion by Destruction: Reflections on a Scheme for Church Union in South Indiasent to EH;a7 have had a copy of my South India sent to you <to Concord>, and'Civilisation: the Nature of Cultural Relations';a4 shall'Social Function of Poetry, The';a7 alsoBritish–Norwegian Institute;a4 send – having written for copies – theAnglo-Swedish Societyprints TSE London speech;a3 printed texts of my speeches to the Norwegian Institute and the Anglo-Swedish Club some time ago.
I am regaining strength, and going to town tomorrow for two nights. All I can hope to do this week is to put in order the stuff that will be waiting for me and get it ready for next week, when I shall go up on the Tuesday as usual. AsFabers, thespend Christmas in Sussex;g4 the Fabers will be Christmas-holidaying at their house in Sussex, and as Aunty Pye can’t come to get my breakfast because she is caring for her sick mother, and as I have been away for three weeks, IFaber and Faber (F&F)fire-watching duties at;e6 am giving myself the luxury of stopping these two nights at the club instead of at Russell Square. I shall see that the flat is aired (no one was there last week either) and put hot water bottles into my bed from time to time, so that it will be more healthy to go to next week! As they did not expect me to return until after the New Year, other arrangements have still been made about fire-watching for this week, which makes this change of lodging possible.
NoMorleys, theThanksgiving without;k3Morley, Christina (née Innes)
Now'Johnson as Critic and Poet';a1 I return to literature for my spare time occupation, and have drafted an outline of my Johnson lectures.
ThisChrist Church, Shamley GreenChristmas Eve midnight-mass at;b2 year, for the first time since the war, our churches were allowed to relax the blackout slightly (very slightly) to the extent of having midnight mass on Christmas Eve – the village church was lighted just by the two candles and by a number of night-lights disposed on the floor. It is the first midnight eucharist since 1938, and gave one a particular feeling of thankfulness and hope for 1944.
1.EH was appointed to teach for a while at Bennett Junior College, in Millbrook, New York.
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).
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.
3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.