[No surviving envelope]
Letter 16.
I now have two letters from you since I last wrote: Apr. 20 and May 1st. I also have a little more time, this weekend: forMirrlees, Maj.-Gen. William Henry Buchanan ('Reay')returns to regiment;a9 the General’s visit is at an end – the crowded house and the incidental festivities, made private activities a little more difficult, but it all passed very pleasantly, the weather was good, and he left his mother with some hope of seeing him again in a not too distant future. Whattravels, trips and plansTSE's abortive 1944 North Africa mission;f3;a3 makes still more difference, is that the more strict prohibition of travel, recently put into force,1 prevents my projected visit to North Africa. I had spent my weekends for five weeks in writing two lectures, and was about to start on a third; but on the other hand I was glad the matter was settled at that moment, and not at the last minute, as I was making arrangement for some tropical clothing and inoculations. It is a little difficult getting back into routine, and taking up things I had put aside for this; but I am lying low concerning the engagements which I had been able to decline on the ground that I was to be away.
IConcord Academy, Massachusettssubsequently to permanent position;a2 am glad to think thatHale, Emilyas teacher;w1appointment to permanent Concord position;d5 Concord is now certain, because you have permitted yourself for the first time to speak more strongly about your present place: though I had observed, of course, that it was not an institution you wished to associate yourself with any longer than necessary. I hope, however, that you will continue to do speech training as well as dramatic training: because it is so important, and there are so few people qualified to give it. Incidentally, it seems that there are very few heads of colleges qualified to appreciate it. IEast Coker;c5 will try to remember to send you theMcPherrin, Jeanettepromised and receives East Coker;f2 East Coker for Jeanie this week, and will carry your letter in my pocket as a reminder. DearMcPherrin, Jeanettea Christian Scientist;f3 me, it is odd to find her a Christian Scientist: MrsMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)theatrical by nature;d1. M. was the first I had ever met, and you wouldn’t know that she was – her two ‘healer’ friends whom I have since met, both seem to me to have trained themselves to a kind of depressing cheerfulness, and to be lacking in a sense of humour. Neither of these strictures is true of Mrs. M., who is naturally very humorous, and of a dramatic temperament: when her voice sounds, in the distance, as if she had suddenly discovered that her fortunes were ruined, it may often be that she has discovered that the gardener has not been picking the cauliflower young enough. TheyMoncrieff, Constance ('Cocky')in London for bridge and Mass;a9 are a vigorous family (at least, in her generation): her sister Cockie, who is 81, is now stopping at her club in London, dividing her time between bridge, the theatre, and devotions at the Jesuit church in Mayfair. So the house is comparatively peaceful this weekend, after the excitement of a week ago; andBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson);b4 the Field Marshal is off in Kent stopping with Nina Cohen.
DidcatsCat Morgan;a4 IOld Possum’s Book of Practical Catsthe original Cat Morgan;d6 tell you that we23 Russell Square, Londonhome to Cat Morgan;a7 now have a cat in Russell Square, who has adopted the place as his home, catching mice, and is getting very fat. His name is Cat Morgan.
TheSecond World WarNorth African campaign;d4 perpetual attente of this season is a great strain – on everyone: I was temporarily distracted by having to concentrate on Africa. One is just sealed up in England, waiting. (You, by the way, seem to be able to get petrol: a journey by car of three hours seems almost incredible to me). IMount Holyoke Collegerecalled;a5 am very glad you had that visit to Smith and Mt Holyoke. The atmosphere of the latter is more religious, in a way, than that of most girls’ colleges: though I don’t suppose they are turning out many missionaries at the moment. It is beautifully situated, as I remember, and there were some nice girls.
IWelch, E. Sohier, Jr;a1 hearHinkley, Susan Heywood (TSE's aunt, née Stearns);c9 from Susie that young Sohier Welch is in London, so I shall have to do something about it. IVirgil Society, TheTSE's Presidental Address for;a3 am trying to settle down to writing my Address on Virgil, beforeMurder in the CathedralHoellering film;g1TSE adapting for screen;a3 having another go at the film Murder. But'Responsibility of the Man of Letters in the Cultural Restoration of Europe, The'and The Norseman;a1 I may have to do a contribution to ‘The Norseman’ (magazine of the Norwegians in London) at the same time: I'What France Means to You';a1 have done a couple of pages for ‘La France Libre’ on ‘What France means to Me’ by various English authors,2 and'To the Reader' (preface to Inoubliable France);a1 a preface to a book of photographs of France which I have not seen;3 andFour Quartetsappearing in French in Africa;a8 various strange versions of one Quartet or another continue to appear in French papers in Africa. TheMacLeish, Archibaldrequests TSE write to The Times;a5 enclosed'Books for the Freed World';a1 letter was written at the personal request of Archie MacLeish.4 I do wish that, when you are settled in Concord, you may have a dog again – though perhaps a less athletic one. But I can’t do anything about it this time.
1.A security measure to prevent leakage of information about the upcoming invasion of Normandy.
2.‘What France means to you’, La France Libre 8: 44 (15 June 1944), 94–9. In French.
3.‘To the Reader’, with translation ‘Au Lecteur’, in Alice Jahier, Inoubliable France (1944), 5. See ‘What France Means to You’ (with translation by Iman Javadi), CProse 6, 512–15.
4.‘Books for the Freed World’, The Times, 8 May 1944, 5.
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.ArchibaldMacLeish, Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982), poet and playwright, studied at Yale and at Harvard Law School (he abandoned the practice of law and took up poetry in 1923), then lived in France for a while in the 1920s. Conquistador (1933) won a Pulitzer Prize; and for his Collected Poems, 1917–1952 (1953) he won three awards: a second Pulitzer, the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award. His verse play J.B. (1957) won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award. During WW2, at President Roosevelt’s bidding, he was Librarian of Congress, and he served with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Harvard, 1949–62.
2.JeanetteMcPherrin, Jeanette McPherrin (1911–92), postgraduate student at Scripps College; friend of EH: 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.
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.