The Letters of T. S. Eliot, Volume 1: 1898-1922
Page 20
TO His Father
MS Houghton
10 September [1915]
c/o British Linen Bank,
Threadneedle St, London E.C.
My dear father,
I have written to mother by this mail, and you will see her letter.1 I said that I felt that my great mistake was in hurrying home before I had got your letters, and so failing to get a balanced view of the situation; and secondly in blundering into a change of plan which was unjustified and unnecessary.
I cannot say very much now, as I have been delayed in writing this and must get it off in a few minutes. I am thankful to have found High Wycombe2 still open. Without Wellesley3 too, we should have been almost entirely dependent upon you. I have put our position as clearly as I could. You will see that until January we shall be in urgent need of funds, and that we shall need some money very soon. We have planned a very economical mode of life, and Vivien’s resourcefulness and forethought are inexhaustible. We are not planning how to make living easier: the question is how to live at all.
I know that I have made matters hard for you by the blunders of which I spoke. Had I avoided them, I am sure that you would have felt at ease. Nevertheless, I feel that I shall make matters right by returning to my original course.
Always your affectionate son
Tom
I shall write again in a few days.
Will you ask mother to send my clothes on as soon as she can?
1–Not preserved.
2–For a salary of £140 a year with free dinners, TSE spent the winter term teaching French, mathematics, history, drawing and swimming at Wycombe Grammar School, High Wycombe.
3–Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930), Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at Wellesley College, had written to J. H. Woods on 17 June saying she wished to recommend TSE to her department for the purpose of directing ‘small divisions of students in introduction courses in philosophy and psychology’. He was offered the post but declined it.
TO Bertrand Russell1
MS McMaster
11 September [1915]
8 Hartington Mansions,
Eastbourne, Sussex
Dear Mr Russell,
Your letter2 coming on top of all your other kindnesses, has quite overwhelmed me. Such generosity and encouragement means a great deal to me at present, above all coming from you. I have been intending to write to you ever since I got here, but have had so many and such worrying American letters to write, that I have been quite exhausted each day when I have done them.
When you first spoke to me about the flat, I was too overpowered by such a generous offer to discuss the practical details. Vivien and I both feel very strongly that, although you speak of our staying until Christmas, we wish it to be part of the arrangement that we should vacate the flat at any moment should you need it exclusively to yourself. Circumstances might alter your plans, and then we cannot endure the thought that you should hesitate to let us know. We shall keep this possibility always in view, so that you may feel assured that your flat is your own at any moment you want to have it.
As to your coming to stay the night at the flat when I am not there, it would never have occurred to me to accept it under any other conditions. Such a concession to conventions never entered my head; it seems to me not only totally unnecessary, but also would destroy for me all the pleasure we take in the informality of the arrangement.3
I had been counting upon seeing you and having a talk with you in London before leaving for High Wycombe. Vivien understood from your letter that you would be staying Wednesday night in town, and it stupidly did not occur to me that you would be leaving so early Thursday as to prevent us seeing you. Otherwise we should not have consented to the arrangement to which we are now bound. I am so anxious to see you that I cannot help trying to persuade you to spend Wednesday night in Eastbourne. Is this possible? It would give us both great delight. Vivien is still so unwell, that we are having a doctor come to set our minds at rest; but by that time she ought to be much better, and in any case it would be a great satisfaction to us if I could see you.
Failing this, I might possibly be able to come up to town on Wednesday alone, in the hope of having the evening or afternoon with you, leaving Vivien to follow me on Thursday. If you cannot come to Eastbourne, and if you could see me in London, I shall try to do this.
Hoping to hear from you, and hoping very much that you can spend Wednesday here,
Sincerely yours
Thomas Stearns Eliot
1–Bertrand Russell: see Glossary of Names.
2–Apparently not preserved. ‘As they were desperately poor, I lent them one of the two bedrooms in my flat [in London], with the result that I saw a great deal of them. I was fond of them both, and endeavoured to help them in their troubles until I discovered that their troubles were what they enjoyed’ (Russell, Autobiography, II, 19). TSE spent the weekdays at High Wycombe.
3–Fearing that Russell and VHE were or might become lovers, Russell’s ex-mistress OM wrote to him on 9 Sept., ‘I don’t think it would help her and help towards making the Eliot life happier to let her fall in love with you.’ She feared he was ‘separating her from Eliot’ and ‘running a great risk’. BR replied on 10 Sept. that he ‘would not for the world have any scandal & as for the Eliots it is the purest philanthropy’. He averred he was ‘fond of [TSE], & really anxious to be of use to him’.
TO J. H. Woods
MS Professor David G. Williams
[11 September? 1915]
c/o British Linen Bank,
Threadneedle St, London E.C.
Dear Professor Woods,
I have returned to England, and have finally decided to remain here for the winter. I found Mrs Eliot in very poor health; the strain upon her this summer has been very great, and I should not wish to expose her to the hardships of a winter in a foreign country under such conditions. And, after looking at the matter from both sides of the ocean, I think that it is better to stick to my original plan. Of course it would be an advantage to work directly under the eye of the department. But as I was so near to coming up for my degree over a year ago, I feel that it would be a proof of incapacity were I to take such an advantage to be a necessary condition of satisfactory work. The headmaster of my school understands my situation, and will make it possible for me to have as much time to myself as I should have had if I had taken on work at Wellesley and at Harvard too.
I shall return to take examinations either in the spring or in the fall. May I send on parts of my thesis, from time to time, for inspection and criticism? I propose to offer Ancient Philosophy (through Aristotle), Modern Philosophy (both parts), Psychology, and out of the second division Logic and either Theory of Knowledge or Ethics. I should very much appreciate the kindness if I might have hints from the examiners in regard to the extent and detail of knowledge expected in these fields.
I hope that you will forgive me if I delay sending you the de Anima notes for a time; as I shall be too busy to copy them for a month or two. Of course, if Hardie can send you the Zabarella, you will not want my notes.
I hope that you will sometimes find time to write me a line of news or advice – I want to keep as closely in touch with the department as I can. I am very grateful to you – more than I can tell you – for your advice in the past, and for the interest you have taken in my affairs and the kindness you have shown.
Sincerely yours
Thomas Stearns Eliot
TO His Father
MS Houghton
27 September 1915
c/o Mrs Toone, Sydney Cottage,
Conegra Road, High Wycombe,
Bucks
My dear Father,
I had been hoping to have letters from you this week, but [as] I infer from your telegraphing to the Haigh-Woods and to Pound that you had not yet received any letter from me, I cannot feel certain of getting one for another week. I supposed that my first cable would let you know that I had found it advisable to stay here.
You were prepared, I know, for the possibility, and I felt certain that you would be sure that if I were ill I should send you word. Mr Haigh-Wood telegraphed the cable to me, and I cabled at once to reassure you; but I suppose from your cabling to Pound that you never received my cable. I am sorry that you cabled to him, because he is not the sort of person whom I wish to be intimate with my affairs. He has shown a keen interest in my career; and has been and will be useful; but my acquaintance with him is primarily professional.
You will know by this time what the situation is, and that my course of action is well considered – as I could not have shown in a cable – and the one which promises the most happiness, if present embarrassment is got over. I have had a week of the school work, and am beginning to get into the routine. Tuesday and Thursday I am free for the whole afternoon; Monday, Wednesday and Friday after half-past-four. At the beginning the work demands some thought and planning: and every school has its own system, which has to be learned by being used. I arrive at half past nine; have classes till quarter to one; return here for lunch, and (on the three days) go again to the school for two classes of forty minutes each. The boys are of various ages and abilities; I have found the two upper classes quite good at French, the middle boys indifferent at history; and the small boys capable of being interested. The chief difficulty is the presence in the same class of new boys, some knowing much and some little. Wycombe is a place which will do very well for a time.
I shall have time enough to do my work for the degree, but am at present harassed by the question of money. My deposit is reduced to almost nothing, as it is all that I have at present to live upon. If no money comes from you at the end of a fortnight I shall be forced to cable, as I shall be reduced to the last pound by the time you get this. I hate to cable for money; though it could come through the British Linen Bank, to be delivered to me in person. I cannot settle down to work upon the degree without the certainty of at least the necessary minimum. You know that I should but for the degree have devoted my spare time to writing, which would have pieced out my income. So I must make it clear to you exactly how I am placed now, without waiting for your letter.
I am getting this off at once because I wish you to know, when I do cable, that it is because I am absolutely forced to do so.
Always Your Affectionate son
Tom.
Bertrand Russell TO Charlotte C. Eliot
MS Houghton
3 October 1915
Trinity College, Cambridge
Dear Madam,
I am venturing to write to you, because your son has been consulting me on the subject of his prospects, and I thought you might wish to know what I had said to him. He was one of my best pupils when I was at Harvard a year ago, and already then I felt him a friend as well as a pupil. Since he came to England, I have come to know him better, and have been struck by the seriousness of his moral purpose and his strong wish to live up to every duty. He has asked me what I think of the financial outlook for him if he stays in England. I do not, of course, know what reasons there may be against his staying in England, but on this one point I felt bound to say that I thought the outlook for him in England just as good as in America. His Oxford tutor [Harold Joachim] is, I know, prepared to recommend him warmly, and owing to the war the openings are much more numerous than usual at present, and are likely to remain so for many years. Practically all educated men of military age, except the physically unfit, have felt it their duty to join the army, so that the supply of teachers is at present extraordinarily short. Of those who have gone to fight, a very large proportion, I fear, are sure to be killed or disabled, so that the deficiency will by no means cease with the cessation of the war. Under these circumstances, I think he may rely with considerable confidence upon obtaining suitable work when he has taken his Ph.D.
I inquired carefully into the work he still has to do for his Ph.D., which was all the easier as I had taught him. So far as I can judge, his work at High Wycombe will not prevent him from getting through the necessary preparation, and I understand that the school is willing to let him be absent during the summer term.
I have taken some pains to get to know his wife, who seems to me thoroughly nice, really anxious for his welfare, and very desirous of not hampering his liberty or interfering with whatever he feels to be best. The chief sign of her influence that I have seen is that he is no longer attracted by the people who call themselves ‘vorticists’, and in that I think her influence is wholly to be applauded.
He seems to me to have considerable literary gifts, and I have hopes of his doing work which will bring him reputation as soon as he is free from worry as to ways and means.
I remain
yours very truly
Bertrand Russell
TO Bertrand Russell
MS McMaster
11 October [1915]
[High Wycombe, Bucks]
Dear Mr Russell
I wrote to Waterlow1 as you suggested, and he asked me to dine with him last Sunday evening. The consequences were so gratifying to me that I wanted to write and tell you. He has given me Balfour’s book2 to review, and will let me have two thousand words on it. I was quite unprepared for such an important review, but of course snapped at it, and took on another book too. He gives me a month for the Balfour and another month for Wolf’s Nietzsche.3 I think that it is worth my while to put in all my time on this reviewing until I have got these two books, at the expense of the thesis. Do you agree with me? It is not worth doing at all unless I do my best: if I do a good review I can afford to do no more for some time; and if I don’t put all my strength on it, it’s a plain waste of time. Besides, it will (if good) impress the people at Harvard much more than the same amount of work added to put in upon the thesis. And my family will merely know that I have passed the examination; whereas this they will see.
So I wanted to thank you again for introducing me to Waterlow. I find the school work taking less time: this is due chiefly to an adaptation of my ideals of scholarship. I find that it’s useless to try really to learn anything just now, that I must make the best of what I do know: if I make the boys work I don’t have to work so hard myself; and where work really shows (in the eyes of a headmaster) is in working the boys hard, keeping discipline, and making the red tape run smoothly – as well as being ready to do any odd jobs for him like superintending games or taking a scripture class at five minutes notice.
At the same time, it makes this sort of work much easier to have at the same time some work to do which I can feel justified in putting my best abilities upon, such as they are. The reviewing has cheered me up very much.
I am planning to see you at Garsington,4 when I come to Oxford, or better on a separate expedition; as I shall probably not try to stay the night at Oxford.
Always yours gratefully
Thomas Stearns Eliot
1–Sydney Waterlow (1878–1944), scholar and diplomat, was on the editorial committee of The International Journal of Ethics, 1914–16.
2–Arthur Balfour (1848–1930), Conservative politician, Prime Minister 1902–5, was made First Lord of the Admiralty in May 1915; Foreign Secretary in 1916. See TSE’s review of his Gifford Lectures, Theism and Humanism, in International Journal of Ethics 26: 2 (Jan. 1916), 284–9. TSE described the volume as ‘a protest against the aesthetics, the ethics, and the epistemology of “Naturalism”’; a ‘brilliant book’ that would be ‘a noteworthy philosophical event at any time’.
3–See TSE on A. Wolf, The Philosophy of Nietzsche (1915), in IJE 26: 3 (Apr. 1916), 426–7. TSE praised the work as ‘an admirable piece of simplification’, while regretting the ‘omission of Nietzsche’s views on art, with the interesting pessimism with respect to the future of art …’
4–The Elizabethan manor house bought in 1913 by the Liberal MP Philip Morrell and his wife, Lady Ottoline.
TO Harriet Monroe
MS Houghton
17 October 1915
3 Compayne Gdns [London N.W.]
/>
Dear Miss Monroe
I have received the cheque for £3, as well as the two copies of Poetry, and wish to thank you.1
I am much pleased that you should have liked my ‘Portrait of a Lady’.2
Sincerely yours,
T. Stearns Eliot
1–Payment for ‘The Boston Evening Transcript’, ‘Aunt Helen’ and ‘Cousin Nancy’, Poetry 7: 1 (Oct. 1915).
2–Others I: 3 (Sept. 1915).
TO His Mother
MS Houghton
18 November 1915
Sydney Cottage, Conegra Road,
High Wycombe, Bucks
Darling Mother,
I have had a busy week or so. I finished the review of Balfour’s book and got it off to Waterlow. He found it a bit too long, but seems pleased with it, and hopes to get it into the January issue. Russell was in town just before I sent the review away, so I showed it to him, and he liked it very much. As for the book on Nietzsche, I have finished it, and now am reading some of Nietzsche’s works which I had not read before, and which I ought to read anyhow before my examinations. The book I am to review is rather slight and unsatisfactory – it is neither a guide to Nietzsche’s works for beginners, nor a commentary for advanced students.