[Leamington?]—Has been in Warwickshire. Is going to London on Monday [3rd], but will probably be able to come up to Cambridge on Wednesday.

[Cambridge.]—Has been told at the Friary that confirmation is not today but Sunday [9th]. He cannot come up then, but may be able to make arrangements at Westminster Cathedral. Has been visiting Wilfrid [Mellers], who says that Rubbra wants Smith and Bewley to visit him. ‘My rooms in Knightsbridge are very good. Thank Rojas for me.’ Is leaving some photos.

[13 Beaufort Gardens, Knightsbridge?]—Has now been confirmed. Is thinking of coming to see him next week. Has located the Wallace Collection and the Constables in the Victoria and Albert, but could not find Magnus Martyr. Will get another copy of the missing photo. Hopes that Smith will enjoy his meeting with Father Gilbey.

Hotel Ivanhoe, 8 Harcourt Street, Dublin.—The formalities of customs at Liverpool were tiresome, but things are going better now. Is leaving for Galway this afternoon [to board a ship to New York, with other evacuees from Europe]. Has been impressed by the people of Dublin and thinks that Smith would be happy living there; Trinity College Library is beautiful. He saw Father Reeves before leaving, but was unable to say goodbye to Parker. Has been to mass at the Franciscan church.

[Excelsior Springs, Missouri.]—Has felt unsettled since he came to America, but has done some painting, including a portrait of Leavis. Criticises various priests he has met. Has tried reading 'The Grapes of Wrath', but found it boring. Is considering teaching for a year, and wants to go to Boston this winter. Is going to Kansas City to consult Father McCabe. Praises American Jesuits, wryly. The early stages of the presidential election have pushed the war into the background. The latest 'Scrutiny' has not come yet, nor his books. Has asked Leavis for a letter of introduction to the American universities, and has been told that he (Bewley) got a first. McLuhan arrived about a week ago and is now in St Louis.

Excelsior Springs, Missouri.—Is sorry that Smith’s ‘old distress’ has returned, and criticises Father Reeves’s response. Has felt lethargic since returning to America, but Mac [McLuhan] is ‘even worse off’ and Corinne [McLuhan] has suffered a nervous collapse after a series of parties. Deplores the current patriotic mood in America and the attitude of the Church, as exemplified by Jim Farley and Father Coughlin. Is anxious for the arrival of his books. Would appreciate some guidance from Leavis about his career. Sends greetings to the Singletons, Father Gilbey, and the Leavises. Has received «Scrutiny» and is reading «Gil Blas». Dennis [Enright] is ‘going to Evesham to pick plums with students from Birmingham’ and Remi Preston is thinking of moving to Leamington. Asks how Godfrey [Lienhardt] and ‘the young man who was psychoanalyzed’ fared in their exams; Birch Moody did well, but Illingworth is in a panicky state. Looks forward to the publication of Smith’s book on Shakespeare. Will return to England when he can. ‘Christopher Dawson’s last piece in Scrutiny was really quite true, & Leavis’s constant talk about standards & intelligent living seems more important to me the more hopeless it becomes.’

[Excelsior Springs, Missouri?]—Is depressed by the moral tone of America and more than ever convinced of the necessity of political activity. Expresses his low opinion of Roosevelt and Willkie, and encloses a photograph and a cutting to illustrate his feelings. Leavis and Cuttle sent him letters of recommendation, but most of the vacancies had been filled by the time he applied. Has ‘half a promise’ of a job at Vassar next year. Louisiana University, one of the places he applied to, is said to have become ‘nothing but a foot ball factory’. Has resumed his plan to study for the priesthood and has been encouraged by some good elements in the American Church, such as the «Catholic Worker» group in New York. Is considering three alternatives: the Paulists, the Benedictines at St Anselm’s Priory in Washington DC, and the secular priesthood in Minnesota. Intends to prepare himself for a period in ten or fifteen years’ time when he expects that intelligent literary activity will have ceased to perform any function in America and the only useful function will be of a political nature. In an American college he would only ‘succumb’, but he might be of some use as a priest. Is grieved at Smith’s ‘emotional and spiritual crisis’ and is glad he is no longer seeking Father John [Reeves]’s advice. Asks him to tell the Franciscans of his plans. Expects his books to arrive next week. Advises him not to be upset by Christopher Dawson [see 1/85]. Will have the «Catholic Worker» sent to him.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Has come, at short notice, to study at the St Paul Seminary. The first week was miserable, but he has been persuaded to stay. The rector [Lawrence O. Wolf] has been sympathetic, while the archbishop [John Gregory Murray], who has plans for him to teach English at St Thomas College, intends to send him back to Cambridge to take a doctor’s degree when he finishes at St Paul’s and has arranged for him to read English alongside his other studies. Has found some of the other seminarians agreeable, or at least pleasant. Describes with approval the grounds and the chapel, but deplores the prevailing crudeness among the seminarians. Is glad to be isolated from news of the war. Is fairly certain he will remain where he is for five years and that his studies will prepare him for an important function, though he wants to preserve the possibility of literary studies. Acknowledges that without Smith’s support he would probably have lost his vocation, and asks him to inform Leavis of his present step. His books have only recently arrived. Gordon [Cox] has sent him accounts of ‘marches and drilling and meeting with the son of the Bishop of Birmingham [William P. W. Barnes]’. Asks to be remembered to various Cambridge Catholics.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Is writing briefly, in order to reach him before he leaves New York for South America. Is glad Smith has left England, as there is little to look forward to there, and in South America there will be more freedom from distractions. His own difficulties are ‘only those that a Cambridge undergraduate who read English under Leavis would tend to feel in a Middle Western seminary’, and some of the other seminarians exhibit ‘intelligence and perspicacity, even in a "Scrutiny" sense’. Encourages him to look up the 'Catholic Worker' in New York, as it is the most vital movement in the Church in America.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Is sorry he was unable to see Smith in New York, and apologises for appearing pessimistic about England. Today was the first registration for conscription, but he will not be able to declare himself as a conscientious objector till later, if at all. Is reading Stratmann’s 'The Church and War' and is trying to get hold of Gerald Vann’s book ['Morality and War']. Will send him the 'Catholic Worker'. Is expecting things to go well at the seminary, but a homecoming of old priests and a visit by the editor of the 'Irish Literary Review', ‘the worst sort of Bloomsbury man’, provoked personal crises. Recommends Berdyaev’s 'The Bourgeois Mind'. Is cheered by the contempt with which the other seminarians treat the compulsory course in education. Leavis’s article in September’s 'Scrutiny' shows that he is becoming increasingly discontent with his position of ‘standardless “strenuous centrality”’. Is praying for Leavis and for [F. W.] Bradbrook. Admits the justice of Queenie [Leavis]’s remarks on the ‘Catholic covert apologist’, as treated by Orwell, and refers to the cliquishness of the ‘Martindale–Ronald Knox group’. Asks for prayers in support of his desire to become a priest, and encourages Smith to consider the same step. Wilfrid is married and Dennis is consoling himself with gardening. Bewley now finds 'Scrutiny' even more justified than he did at Downing, but he would not want the ‘longingness’ with which he looks back to be fulfilled. Smith’s advice has helped him in his struggles with his attitude towards the Church. Is considering going into a third order with the Dominicans. Reiterates the archbishop’s plans for him [see 1/8]. Asks how long Smith will be in Venezuela, and suggests he consider joining the priesthood in America.

St Paul Seminary, 2200 Grand Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota.—Smith’s disgust at the failings of the Church and his own wretchedness since leaving England might both, he suggests, be relieved ‘by drawing apart from the surface of things’ in the manner described by St John of the Cross. Recommends he avoid talking to priests, especially while he is among Catholics whose faith is mainly animism. Refers to the bombing of London, and quotes in consolation St Jerome’s reflections on the sack of Rome. His coming to the seminary has saved him from ‘gibbering imbecility’. Encourages Smith to distract himself with literature.

[Excelsior Springs, Missouri.]—Is at home on vacation. Matters at the seminary have deteriorated since he last wrote, and he has been struggling to distinguish the ‘Church as it is’ from the ‘vulgarity of its action at the practical level’. Is determined to remain there till the end of the year (May), but hopes to find an alternative in the mean time. However, America seems an even more impossible place to live than England, not only illiterate but arrogant, and despite its failings the seminary is a refuge. The alternative may be to teach English in China, Japan, Egypt, or India, as others from Cambridge have. Has heard that Leavis insulted Wilson Knight at a meeting of the Doughty Society. Edward Morley sends greetings.

[Excelsior Springs, Missouri.]—Qualifies the criticisms of the Church expressed in his last letter. Is returning to the seminary tomorrow in a state of distress arising from apparent trivialities, such as the ‘stupidity’ of the studies and the objectionable characters of the priests. Is praying that during the last half of the [academic] year an alternative will present itself that will take him out of America. Has read some of Hugh MacDiarmid’s poetry, but found it sickening. Birch Moody has moved to the medical corps, Wilfrid and Dennis are living quietly, and Bayliss, who was sent down for a drunken episode, is doing forestry work. The few of Leavis’s undergraduates who remain in Cambridge are miserable.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Has learnt that Smith was given a civic reception on his arrival in Venezuela. Birch [Moody] has been transferred to Africa, Wilfrid and Dennis have become firefighters, and Illingworth is training as a mental nurse for soldiers. Remi Preston reviewed 'The Pool of Vishnu' [by L. H. Myers] unfavourably in the 'Dublin Review'. Wilfrid is happy about his marriage and is thinking of buying a pony and trap to transport fertiliser to his farm near the Malvern Hills. Harding is to publish an answer to Bewley’s note on Coleridge. Three of Queenie’s relatives have died [in an air-raid]. Daniel Rowe is a physical training teacher in the army. Dennis is ‘cultivating (perhaps even romantically) the acquaintance of a young Irish painter named Maureen’. Wilfrid’s new protegé is a sculptor named Walter Ritchie, a former student of Eric Gill who is going to prison shortly for conscientious objection. Leavis and Eliot have been reconciled after the former’s defence of 'East Coker' in the 'Times Literary Supplement'. The foundations of his spirituality have been shaken rather than built up at the seminary, but he cannot conceive any alternative except the horror of being ‘turned out’ in America again. Is eager to hear of any possibility of ‘anything in the East’. Is having the 'Catholic Worker' sent to Smith, though his interest in it has declined. Finds it difficult to speak to the other seminarians, except Henri Dulac, who is exceptionally intelligent. Is encouraged by recalling how he survived a previous emotional crisis at Cambridge and by the positive change in Illingworth’s fortunes.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Thanks him for his advice. Promises to do nothing rash, but finds it hard to be away from literature so much. Agrees with Smith’s criticisms of 'Scrutiny' and Leavis. ‘Leavis has addressed the world so long on the question “Brother, are you saved (literarily)?” that he’s crippled his own achievement, and filled all his undergraduates with an illusory sense of pre-election.’ Criticises Miss [M. C.] Bradbrook’s analysis of Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’, and discusses Eliot’s last poem ['East Coker'], a Picasso exhibition, and Maritain’s 'Degrees of Knowledge'. Has learnt from 'Scrutiny' that Smith is working on 'Macbeth', and encourages him to continue with his writing. Is thinking of trying to get a fellowship at Harvard, seeing that John Berryman, who writes ‘impossibly bad poetry’, has got one. [Mortimer] Adler lectured at the seminary yesterday on ‘the intellectual and moral virtues in their relation to a liberal education’. ‘He’s unmistakably the “Bleistien [sic] with a cigar” type of Jew who takes St Thomas apart and puts him together again like a mechanic.’ Defends his interest in St John of the Cross.

St Paul Seminary, 2200 Grand Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota.—Has come to believe that his difficulties at the seminary are due to his own ignorance rather than any major defects in the place. Discusses the work of D. H. Lawrence, with reference to St John of the Cross. Recommends Van Wyck Brooks’s observations on Henry James. Has written to Matthiessen at Harvard in hopes of getting a fellowship. Matthiessen’s remarks on Leavis in 'The Achievement of T. S. Eliot' seem ‘painfully deserved’. Discusses Lady Mary Wortley’s letters and the work of George Eliot and Browning. Apologises for writing at length, but the Church and Cambridge are fighting day and night in his mind and Smith is the only person who can bring even a temporary reconciliation. Leavis is finding it difficult to get material for Scrutiny. Sympathises with Smith’s difficulties in Venezuela.

[St Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota.]—Responds to Smith’s comments on D. H. Lawrence. Has heard from Wilfrid, Dennis, Morley, and Preston about the latest number of 'Scrutiny', which seems to be characterised by bickering. Preston wishes Smith were at Cambridge ‘to keep Leavis’s – and "Scrutiny"’s – aberrations under control’. Leavis’s undergraduates, including [Eric] Baker and [Godfrey] Lienhardt, are turning away from him. The cause seems to be Leavis’s sudden turn against Eliot, whose critical writing he declared, during an address by Willey to the Doughty Society, to be ‘largely specious’. Traversi is back from Italy and Harding’s prestige is growing. Queenie is much better, but Leavis is depressed by the change at Cambridge caused by the call-up of the nineteen-year-olds. Dennis, who has almost given up English in favour of gardening, says that Stephen Spender is now ‘our top poet’ and that ‘no one loves Auden anymore’, while everyone is disclaiming their communism and Churchill is popular with nearly every plane of opinion. Reflects on his reading of Jonson, Plautus, and Terence. Is becoming reconciled to the seminary. Compares favourably the readings appointed for Holy Saturday with modernist poems.

Excelsior Springs, Missouri.—Discusses D. H. Lawrence’s views on G. F. Watts and Cézanne. Has heard that Smith has renewed his subscription to 'Scrutiny', has lost weight, and is being sent funds to establish a library. Traversi has been chosen for a post in Madrid, which Bewley supposes is the one Smith was considering. Encourages him to write to Preston, who is in the early stages of consumption. Responds to his comments on Van Wyck Brooks and refers to Matthiessen’s 'American Renaissance'. Eliot’s latest poem, 'The Dry Salvages', is inferior to 'East Coker'. Is unsure what to read and finds his scholastic studies arid, but painting is helping to sustain him. The Catholic church in Cambridge has suffered bomb damage.

Excelsior Springs, Missouri.—Is concerned by the infrequency of Smith’s letters. Has heard that Leavis has been praising Smith’s 'As You Like It' article. ‘"Scrutiny" threatens to die after the June issue. Leavis can’t get articles for it; but I think he’s publishing a book on practical criticism this summer.’ Is now home for the summer.

Excelsior Springs, Missouri.—Is relieved to hear from him. He intends to return to the seminary, but with reluctance. Now that Russia has entered the war it is difficult to anticipate the Church’s actions. ‘The Pope is quite capable, I think, of blessing a banner for Hitler to carry in front of his army in the new Holy War.’ Is sorry Smith was upset by the news of Leavis and his undergraduates. [Godfrey] Lienhardt is making a name for himself by his views on 'Lear'. In helping Henri [Dulac] with a essay on Leavis he was struck by how useful the narrow critical range of the early reviews in 'Scrutiny' is in giving young men [sic] ‘control over a critical equipment, not too difficult to master, without which they would probably be left inextricably tangled in bibliographies like Henn used to present his students’. Discusses the June number. Apologises for his manner of presenting his views on Lawrence and dissents from Leavis’s estimation of him as a literary critic. Asks Smith to recommend criticism of Shakespeare’s comedies and discusses Bradley’s 'Shakespearean Tragedy' and [Wilson Knight’s] 'The Wheel of Fire'. Asks his opinion of George Eliot, referring to Mrs Craik’s 'John Halifax, Gentleman'. Is finding it difficult to read and is depressed by a sense of deteriorating value in literature and the Church. Sends a photo of himself and Dulac.

[Excelsior Springs, Missouri?]—Has received his letter, which was forwarded to him while he was at St Louis. Discusses their discomfort in their respective situations and their attachment to Cambridge. Is determined not to return to the seminary if possible, and is considering teaching in a preparatory school. Has finally met an American family that reassures him. He became acquainted with them through the eldest son, John Farrelly, who is at St Louis University. Gives an account of the family and their home in rural Missouri, referring to their odd combination of poverty and elegance, the curious personalities of the family members and their black servant, the song ‘Strange Fruit’ sung by the children, and to the number of ‘maniacs’ in the district. John Farrelly, who is, he thinks, the first American with whom he has felt in complete sympathy, may go to Cambridge in a few years. Refers to John Pick of Boston College as an example of an affected New England type. Thanks Smith for his comments on George Eliot. Is considering, in an extreme case, returning to England and joining the Quaker ambulance unit. A Jesuit friend [McCabe] has recommended that he stay away from the seminary. The latest Scrutiny seems ‘rather stock stuff’. Points out that those undergraduates who were most desirous to have Smith back were not setting him up in opposition to Leavis, but rather as the only person who could supply Leavis’s acknowledged deficiencies. Encourages him not to worry about his faith.

Monticello College, Alton, Illinois.—Has left the seminary and is now teaching ‘Criticism of the Novel’ at a girls’ college. Describes the setting of the college and the character of the girls and staff. Is reading to fill the time, but has read nothing for over a year which has made a substantial contribution to his life. Does not plan to stay at Monticello for more than a year. Discusses his mixed feelings towards the Church and the seminary. His friend at St Louis [McCabe] has suggested he might do better at St Anselm’s Priory in Washington, DC. McLuhan’s ‘performance’ seems increasingly inadequate, but on the other hand the Church seems ‘horrible’. Something of his feelings towards it are expressed by Orozco’s mural ‘Christ Destroys His Cross’. Is going to ask Leavis whether John Farrelly might get a scholarship at Downing. Has had news from Gordon and is delighted to hear about Father Hilary [see 1/91].

Excelsior Springs, Missouri.—Refers to the interruption in their correspondence and explains why he has not written. Expresses his discontent with the Church, which he supposes is connected to his hatred of the war, and discusses his objection to his friend ‘Sergius’ [John] Farrelly’s decision to join the merchant marines in the hope of achieving a ‘personal catharsis’. Has just returned from Santa Fe, where he spent a year painting, while living in an adobe house in the orchard of the painter Olive Rush. Has had an exhibition, but will probably not paint much more, as his main object was to familiarise himself with the medium in order to become a better critic. Explains why he thinks that, with the possible exception of Eliot, the greatest artistic achievements today must be in painting rather than literature, contrasting Rouault with Mauriac and Picasso with Hemingway, and discusses his view of literature as ‘the most human of the arts’, with reference to Timon of Athens and Koestler’s Darkness at Noon. Reflects that this unplanned digression on literature was perhaps prompted by the memory of their conversations together, which nothing has replaced, except perhaps his friendship with Farrelly, whose qualities he reiterates. He himself will probably have to go into a conscientious objectors’ project soon, a prospect he does not look forward to. Dennis, who is no longer living with Wilfrid and Vera [Mellers], is engaged to a girl ‘with the incredible name of Daisy Chainy [sic]’. Gordon is in Egypt, Edward Morley and Remi Preston are teaching, and Birch Moody is in Africa. Urges him to write.

415 West 115th Street, Apartment 21, New York City.—Is anxious at not hearing from him. Having failed the physical examination for the conscientious objectors’ camp he has come to New York, mainly for the galleries. There he has made the acquaintance of an actor named Kostya Hubbard, and Father Gardiner, now literary editor of America, lives nearby. Gives an account of John Farrelly’s visit to the Leavises at Cambridge. Wilfrid and Dennis have quarrelled slightly, and Birch Moody is still in Africa. Is thinking of getting a job with a fashionable magazine. Is just about to meet the wife of the poet George Barker [Jessica Barker] and is meeting Djuna Barnes next week.

551 Hudson Street, New York City.—Is pleased that Smith has returned to Cambridge. It was perhaps fortunate that they did not meet in New York [see 1/10] as he was ‘all gibberish and nerves’ at the time, but he looks forward to meeting him again under the right circumstances. Has lost touch with St Bonaventure’s Friary [in Cambridge], but would be glad of news of his acquaintances there. Has heard that Smith is contemplating, or writing, a book on Shakespearian comedy. Praises his Scrutiny article on Much Ado about Nothing, and recommends The Love-Game Comedy by David Lloyd Stephenson. Sends greetings to Parker, Smith’s aunt [Hannah Smith], and the Leavises. Urges him to write.

551 Hudson Street, New York City.—Was delighted to hear from him. He often thinks of what he gained from him at Cambridge. Is sorry Smith is not continuing with his book on Shakespearian comedy, and urges him not to be hampered by a sense of incapacity. Is thinking of producing an edition of the best revenge tragedies, and of getting a PhD next year. Would like to return to Cambridge, but supposes it would be impossible, so is reluctantly considering Columbia and Yale. Is increasingly afflicted by the unhappiness and ugliness of life in America. The intellectual circles, typified by Partisan Review, are worst of all, and beyond this atmosphere is only ‘a horde of barking barbarians’. This deepening blackness, prefigured in Henry James’s American Scene, is likely to be accelerated in New York. [Henry] Luce is planning to launch a new literary quarterly with the intention of putting the little magazines out of print, while, according to one of the editors of the Dial Press, the publishing houses are planning to combine to push out the less successful books. William Empson, however, is having his collected poems published by Dial next season, having apparently ‘just got in under the ropes’. On top of all this the activities of the stage hands union have made decent theatre impossible. Still, he is in a better mood than usual, having just seen John Gielgud’s revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, in which Margaret Rutherford was wonderful. Asks for Aloysius’s address and thanks Smith for news of the other friars. At present all his time is leisure, but he will probably eventually be compelled to teach, in which case a PhD will be essential. Has not yet read Parker’s book on Calderón.

3 Salisbury Villas, Station Road, Cambridge.—Has heard that Smith’s Browne lecture went well. Though little changed outwardly, Cambridge seems to have lost much of its elegance and intellectual excitement. Is seeing a lot of the Leavises and has overcome his initial irritation at ‘Queenie’s hard distinctions between the “respectable poor” and the factory workers’, but is shocked by their high opinion of Mason [the new Assistant Director of Studies in English at Downing College]. Has received a letter from Cox, critical of Scrutiny. Downing ‘lacks a dimension’ without Smith there. His room is not as bad as it first seemed.

3 Salisbury Villas, Station Road, Cambridge.—Is applying for a Fulbright grant to enable him to stay in Cambridge. Asks for a reference.

Downing College, [Cambridge].—Hopes that Smith had an agreeable journey back to Switzerland. Is frustrated that, renewing their acquaintance after a long interval, they had only begun to talk with ease again during their last walk together, particularly as he felt unable to accept Smith’s invitation to work with him in Fribourg. Has told Ian Doyle that Smith is looking for an assistant. Doyle himself is looking for a place and he also knows some Downing graduates (‘Catholics, I believe’) who might be interested. Doyle recently returned to Cambridge, but is leaving next year, as he has not got on with Leavis. Leavis will probably be blamed for Doyle’s departure, but Bewley thinks it only fair to point out that Doyle has been the centre of a ‘whispering campaign’ against Leavis and has made a secret alliance with Cuttle against Leavis’s plans to strengthen the links between Downing and America. Has had his first long conversation with Queenie, and found her charming. Refers to her complimentary remarks about Smith. Encourages Smith to send some of his essays to American quarterlies, particularly as there is a general absence of good Catholic writers. Has not yet been able to generate much enthusiasm for his thesis and is unsettled about where to live.

17 Barton Road, Cambridge.—Has recently returned from Paris and Chartres, and hopes to go to Italy in the spring. Father Gilbey has been ‘elevated to the purple’ [created a domestic prelate] and has taken to wearing a top hat. Doyle’s thesis has been rejected, though with permission to rewrite it. Leavis sees this as evidence that the Faculty Board is seeking to kill graduate study, at least in English, by subversive means, and Bewley thinks he is probably right. Peter Lienhardt has a good position in the ‘decoding department of the army’, Cuttle has retired as senior tutor, and construction of the Downing chapel has actually begun. He will probably have to return to America in the summer, but Marjorie Nicolson thinks that, despite the Korean crisis, he has a good chance of getting a junior fellowship at Harvard. Leavis has written to propose his candidacy and Crane Brinton has sent an encouraging reply. Requests a reference from Smith. Asks whether Smith will be going to Italy or to England at Easter. Is going to Salisbury Cathedral this weekend. As the time to leave England approaches, his affection for it increases. ‘I imagine the first six months in America will be a grim business, especially as most of the people I rather liked have more or less permanently moved to Europe in the interval.’ Mason will not be returning to Cambridge the year after next, as his Rockefeller grant has not been renewed. ‘I believ[e] Leavis is overjoyed. He blames Mason for having been indiscreet with Queenie!’ Has seen a lot of Ralph [Leavis], who comes to the Downing Music Society, and is disturbed by his behaviour. ‘The poor boy moves, to an extent no one had suspected as long as he was only momentarily in view on trips up from Dartington, in a paralysis of terror.’ Leavis’s new book, «The Common Pursuit», now in proof, will, he thinks, be good, though marred by ‘Queenie’s insistence that Leavis include all the reviews in which he has anciently insulted Tillyard’. Asks whether Smith is going to print his Graham Greene lecture. ‘Leavis doesn’t really know anything about that kind of novel, and is constitutionally in-capable of learning.’

Stratton-on-the-Fosse.—Commends James Smith’s paper on Shakespearian criticism, but recommends a simpler style. Refers approvingly to Coventry Patmore’s contrast between the ‘open sea’ of Catholicism and the ‘duck pond’ of Anglicanism and other ‘separated’ branches of the Church. Hopes that Smith, having come into possession of the Catholic faith, will now use his life and learning to the glory of God. Will use his influence with the «Dublin Review» on Smith’s behalf. Sends some excerpts from T. S. Eliot.

Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Invites him to stay for a week, after his visit to Downside Abbey.

St Edmund’s House, Cambridge.—He said Mass on Sunday for Smith and Bewley. Objects to Smith’s remark that ‘the Church seems rotten … from top to bottom’, and refers him to Vonier’s The Spirit and the Bride. Cautions him against leaning too much towards the ‘natural’ [material?] side of things, and encourages him to trust in God. Asks whether he has seen Canon Marshall.

119 Page Moss Lane, Liverpool.—Bids him bon voyage. Like Smith, he has been disturbed by anti-aircraft guns, but it will be quieter at Upholland College, where he is now going. Encloses a portrait photo. Encourages him to call on Father Petit, who will give him the address of some friends in New York, and refers to Petit’s revision of the breviary. Hopes Smith will be happy in Venezuela. Has received a kind letter from Cuttle, incidentally revealing Smith’s ‘Romanism’.

Convent of Our Lady of Lourdes, Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Has been ordered to rest for two or three months, on account of ill health. His J[esuit] brother [Paul] has escaped from France. Sympathises with Smith’s difficulties in Venezuela, and thanks him for ‘hints, mainly philosophical, … on 18th century questions’, some of which he has used in teaching. Has seen the Leavises this summer, and the Franciscans, but not Smith’s aunt or Father Stewart [Hilary Steuert?]. Refers to the experience of a missionary nun in Africa, and to books by Archbishop Goodier and Cecily Hallack. Gives some details of a ‘simple tale’ about Switzerland he is about to write.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands, Lancs.—Has learned from Father Petit of Smith’s return to Cambridge. Encloses news from Father Hanrahan of a vacant chair at Fribourg and refers to his own experience of the place. Hanrahan has also written to Fathers Gilbey, Corbishley, and Martindale. Has now been chaplain at Boarbank Hall, a convalescent home for insurance patients, for four years. Encourages Smith to come and stay if he ever needs a few days’ peace.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands, Lancs.—Is glad that Smith plans to apply for the post at Fribourg, and gives advice. Sympathises with his troubles and those of his aunt, who he is sorry to hear is unwell. Is disappointed in Leavis, whom he had thought above anti-Catholic bias, but it seems that everywhere useful people—like Father Britt-Compton, who did much of the work in the Geography faculty during the war—are being dropped when ‘those of the more favoured colours’ come along. ‘Leavis … has spoken to me in the most glowing terms of you—that you were too good for the English faculty and that they wouldn’t let you in, in case you showed them up, etc. Of course, I know he thought you should have swallowed the British Minister(?) in Venezuela, or played up to him. Personally, I’m heartily glad that you are out of that hell-hole.’ Recommends a dentist in London. Asks about Smith’s writing, and hopes he will soon be free from examination papers.

‘As from’ Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Is glad that Leavis is supporting Smith’s candidature [for the chair at Fribourg]. ‘If you get a backing from T. S. Eliot, I should think you will be home.’ Thinks he has enough ecclesiastical backing. ‘It was news to me that Fr. J. B. Reeves received you [into the Church].’ Encloses information from Hanrahan about the Newman Society’s involvement with the appointment, and urges him to apply immediately. Has heard via D[ouglas] Woodruff that the salary is £500 a year.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands, Lancs.—Asks him to return Hanrahan’s papers, when convenient. Has just had a ‘quiet little rest at home’.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Thanks him for various letters and enclosures, one of which was providentially delivered without a stamp. Will return the Newman Society letters to Hanrahan and show him the copies of Smith’s testimonials [for the chair at Fribourg]. ‘They are really first-rate. I’m very glad of T. S. Eliot’s.’ Discusses the testimonials, the salary offered, and the conditions of life and culture in Switzerland. Suggests that Smith’s aunt would benefit from a stay at Boarbank. His own ‘little change’ did him good.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Has mislaid Smith’s last letter. Sends a belated testimonial [2/5] from Father Petit, who is preoccupied with the founding of a seminary in Nottinghamshire. Hanrahan is sure that Fribourg will give Smith an adequate salary, which might be supplemented by work at local finishing-schools. Would like to do more writing (he started writing verse again seriously two or three years ago), but lacks the necessary strength and solitude at present. Is busy with Christmas activities. ‘You will be examining, not so amusing, I’m afraid, but I hope you are keeping up your spirits.’ Sends news of [H. S.] Vaughan, a contemporary at Downing, who has asked after Smith.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Is disappointed that Smith has had no news from Fribourg yet, but glad that he has more pupils. Hopes he will soon be released from marking examination papers. Dickinson’s brother Paul, who visited recently on leave from Germany, has been working among displaced persons and running a review which introduces Catholics to European writers they could not know in Nazi days, including [G. M.] Hopkins, whom his brother admires. Is concerned that Eliot’s Four Quartets may have been taken as a substitute for religion, and objects to the stance taken in Scrutiny towards their theological elements. Queries Smith’s use of the term ‘new concepts’. In preparing to explain the Psalms to his nuns, he has been struck by the generosity of Catholic critics, towards non-Catholic scholars, particularly [A. F.] Kirkpatrick. Thanks him for his kind remarks about his Christmas carol. Has been working on something more ambitious, but has been hampered by other work and lack of inspiration.

Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Apologises for not replying earlier. Urges him not to worry about the way in which he (Smith) wrote, or about his spiritual state. ‘Fribourg has greatly disappointed me. I think we can thank the British Council for jamming up the works.’ Discusses Harding’s idea of Eliot’s ‘new concepts’, and responds to Smith’s remarks on the Chester miracle plays. Will try again to ‘produce something’. They have had a flood of visitors since Easter, and he has been helping two French girls (nieces of the Mother General, who has been staying there) with their English. Reflects on the qualities of Newman’s Apologia. Urges Smith to produce ‘something really first-rate on the paths on English though[t] from its philosophers thro’ its more purely “literary” writers’.

Convent of Our Lady of Lourdes, Boarbank Hall, Grange-over-Sands.—Congratulates him on his nomination to the chair at Fribourg; he had been wondering whether to make inquiries through the Holy Ghost Fathers there—where de Winton is—and only yesterday had been sharing recollections of the place with the Bishop of Lancaster [T. E. Flynn]. Thinks Aunt Hannah will be at home there. Will start saving for a visit next year. Is glad that they [Smith and his aunt] are going to the South Coast for a holiday. Smith will be relieved that his examination work is coming to an end. Is thinking of going to St Edmund’s House in August, at the invitation of the present rector [Corboy], and asks whether Smith will be in Cambridge then. Encourages him to write to Hanrahan directly.

Wadham College, Oxford.—Apologises for not writing sooner. Has been busy preparing for the prelims in March, which include a paper on Latin, two on Anglo-Saxon, and three on tragedy—Greek, Shakespearean, and neo-classical. Is unsure whether he likes Anglo-Saxon, and suspects they only learn it to ‘keep the dons at work’. His present tutors are [George] Forrest, [Alan] Ward, and [John] Bamborough; later this term they will have Humphry House for the Poetics. Five people are taking prelims in English at Wadham this year. Refers to the college’s connections with twentieth-century literature through C. Day Lewis, Rex Warner, and Humbert Wolfe, and discusses lectures he has been attending by Miss [Pamela] Gradon, Dorothy Whitelock, House, Helen Gardner, and Lord David Cecil. Describes his rooms and gives his impressions of the college. Has joined three clubs: the English Club, the Poetry Society, and University Critical Club. The English Club engages people like James Laver (on Huysmans), Angus Wilson, Richard Church, and Louis Macneice to talk or read poems. The last talk, by J. I. M. Stewart on ‘Literature and the New Psychology’, was very bad. The Poetry Society is an ‘Art-y affair, favouring the modern romantic verse’. Their first meeting, featuring readings by Clifford Dyment and his wife, was ‘frightful’. ‘We also have Patrick [sic] Dickinson, Day Lewis and a production of Macneice’s Eclogues (with music) besides other things to come.’ The Critical Society is ‘a somewhat elusive organization’ sponsored by F. W. Bateson. Has only attended one of their meetings so far, a talk by Leavis on Yeats’s Byzantium poems, which was excellent. ‘The other two talks this term are D. W. Harding on Shelley, and Wilson Knight re-interpreting the Scholar Gipsy, which should be interesting. There are also two discussion groups on William Faulkner’s “Sanctuary” and Langland.’ Refers to some recent book bargains. Is reading Coningsby, which is disappointing. Asks how Smith’s lectures on the Nineties are proceeding and whether his promised assistance has come. There is a revival of interest in Ezra Pound. Will try to describe some of the ‘fancy-waistcoated gentlemen themselves’ in his next letter. Asks whether Smith did any travelling this summer, as planned.

Studio House, 1 Hampstead Hill Gardens, Rosslyn Hill, NW3.—Is glad that Smith is willing to accept the introduction to the second edition of [Seven Types of] Ambiguity, but sorry that he is not interested in carrying the controversy further. Is hoping to leave the BBC and return to his university job in China by the autumn. Invites him to dine with them [Empson and his family] if he comes to London; they could also offer him a bed, though the bath is not yet fitted up and the children wander about in the morning.

66 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa.—Was prompted to write by hearing that Preston had sent Smith a copy of his ‘Four Quartets’ Rehearsed. Leavis says that Smith is ‘very fit’. Asks what his plans are. Enright himself has got married and is waiting to be released from conscripted labour. Nominally this ought to happen in July, but he doubts whether the National Service Office will release him so soon. Is hoping to get a minor post in a minor university. Commends Preston’s commentary. His own commentary on Goethe’s Faust has been rejected by fourteen publishers. Morley has had a daughter, to add to his two stepsons. Bewley ‘appears to have fallen among charlatans—the artistic set in New York’, though he seems happier of late. Wilfrid [Mellers]—who is, he thinks, now free of farm work, though still in the country—has a book on ‘Music & Society’ in the press. Morley recently became senior English master at Warwick. Enright and his friends often used to reflect on what they owe to Smith’s supervisions. Hopes to meet him soon and introduce him to his wife, who is teaching at various local schools.

66 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa.—Requests a testimonial, to accompany one from Leavis, as several teaching posts are now being advertised. ‘I doubt whether a note from my present employers praising my efficient handling of P.O.W. [prisoners of war] would really be helpful—even though the two jobs may have certain similarities.’ Commends Smith’s article on Much Ado about Nothing in Scrutiny, and asks about his projected book.

66 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa.—Tells him not to bother about a testimonial, as even the most ‘influential’ of them seem to count for little against the preconceptions of the appointment boards. His friend Closs is writing to various people on his behalf, though his efforts to get him an English job at Bristol were prevented by the strong anti-Leavis feeling there. Thanks him for suggesting Cox. Dares not apply to Cuttle, who was surprisingly unfriendly towards him at their last meeting. Discusses the difficulties of his present situation.

66 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa.—Marius [Bewley] is living in New York with a man who illustrates children’s books [Garry MacKenzie]. Is sorry that he and his wife saw so little of Smith in Cambridge. Hopes his sinus trouble has gone. Is suffering from a fever.

Downing College, Cambridge.—Urges him to publish a collection of his essays. There is a large public for literary criticism, owing to the increase in the number of English schools. Would use his influence with the CUP, though he thinks Chatto’s would be better. If Smith wanted later to do a Shakespeare book, there would be nothing against including previously collected essays. ‘I rage when I think of the Kermodes[,] Darbys, Knightses & Holloways bringing out their stuff, when, for the most part, your essays can’t be got at. Willey replies that he agrees with me about Amis (so I’ve something to use), but he says nothing about Williams.’

Downing College, Cambridge.—Apologises for keeping his essay for so long without writing. It arrived as he was preparing for the Tripos. He did read the essay through and re-read the play (which made him ‘ashamed for Shakespeare’), but then ‘the avalanche of the Tripos descended’ and he had to mark a large quantity of papers and other work. ‘I got through on sun & the port King, the Fellows’ Butler, finds me.’ His view, and that of Q[ueenie, his wife], is that Shakespeare’s play ‘can’t be treated as decent & responsible & serious’, and so does not deserve the detailed treatment Smith gives it. Kingsford of the CUP is looking for a set of Scrutiny to reproduce, and Leavis has suggested he buy Smith’s.

16 Newton Road, Cambridge.—When she wrote to Arthur Mizener to thank him for trying to help Kate [her daughter] get a post-graduate year at Cornell, she suggested that he might make an offer for Smith’s set of Scrutiny for the university. Cornell have now obtained one, at a high price, but Mizener suggests that other American universities will want a set. Suggests various means of advertising the set, without going through D[eighton] Bell, who would probably charge commission. Kingsford advises that the Syndics of the CUP have agreed to reprint Scrutiny complete. ‘I never thought we should live to see ourselves respectable, did you? but now it looks as though we shall all die in the odour of sanctity (from the Eng. Lit. Establishment point of view). Of course H. S. Bennett is retired from being a Syndic now; I daresay when the news percolates through the university there will be several deaths from violent emotion. Tillyard is said to be v. tottery & gaga anyway.’ Mizener found one other complete set of Scrutiny in the possession of the Treasurer of Lloyds Bank, but discovered that even an offer to buy it would be taken as an insult. Reminds Smith to send the essay he was going to let Frank [her husband] forward to Sewanee Review. Is busy house-hunting, as Frank retires in a year. ‘How handy the Nobel Prize money would come—I often think that the Nobel Prize for Literature has many times been awarded for far less services to literature than Frank’s.’ Refers to Frank’s letter [1/51], and urges Smith to collect and publish his essays.

16 Newton Road, Cambridge.—King’s College, Cambridge, have paid £200 for an incomplete set of Scrutiny. Expresses indignation at the manner in which they approached Frank for permission to photograph what was missing. Smith’s best chance of selling his set is to an American university. Frank has not done anything about Smith’s manuscript, because he has been marking Tripos papers all day, as well as attending to college duties, writing reports and testimonials, and reading the ‘original contributions’ of Tripos candidates; and there are ‘endless’ examiners’ meetings to come. There are twice as many candidates to be marked in the same time as the old days, by the same number of examiners. Discusses the difficulties of finding a new house. They hope to see Smith this summer, but have not yet thought about going away for a holiday, as she is anxious to move before the autumn.

37A Gordon Square, London, W.C.1.—‘I hope you are feeling better by now—and have not developed Gwenda David’s uterine haemorrhage.’ Asks for Smith’s Sheffield address. Cites some propositions in set theory and contrasts Fraenkel’s approach to the subject with those of Russell and Ramsey.

(Place of writing not indicated.)—Sybil [his wife] will be home on Wednesday, as her father has just died, but Smith will no less welcome on that account. ‘Aubrey [Clark, Sybil’s brother] and I went down on Saturday, and he will be coming back with Sybil.’

59 Redcliffe Road, London, S.W.10.—They [he and Sybil] have Smith’s new address. Has recovered now [from mumps; see 1/71–2] and Sybil has not developed anything. Hopes that Smith’s venture will quickly be successful. Sends greetings to Aunt Hannah and Professor Moore.

59 Redcliffe Road, S.W.10.—Was in Ireland at the weekend, as his father [A. F. C. Meredith] has just died. His father has left a large collection of classical books. Asks whether there are any particular authors that Smith needs.

59 Redcliffe Road, London, S.W.10.—Did not find about half the authors Smith mentioned among his father’s books, but has included some oddities to make up for them. Has arranged for them to be sent direct. Sybil was sorry she could not see more of him at the weekend, as he was so busy.

59 Redcliffe Road, London, S.W.10.—They [he and Sybil] have been thinking of moving to Cambridge and ‘scraping a living’ there by coaching. J. E. Littlewood says there is little coaching work available, but his idea of ‘a living’ may be different from theirs. Asks whether they might stay with Smith for a weekend to investigate ‘the mathematical economic situation’.

59 Redcliffe Road, London, SW10.—Is hoping to get coaching work at Cambridge, with help from Littlewood and other mathematical dons. Coaching would have to be very bad to compare unfavourably with the situation in London since the September Crisis. He did not know that Wittgenstein had succeeded Moore [as Professor of Mental Philosophy and Logic at Cambridge]. ‘One feels that, but for [F. P.] Ramsey’s death, W. would have been confined to his proper sphere.’

The Old Barn, Tresowas Hill, Ashton, Helston, Cornwall.—Plans to arrive in Cambridge on the 24th and stay with Smith for a few days while he sees [H. A.] Webb and tries to get Trinity to give him a room for a month, ‘that being obviously a good coaching start’. Then after about a fortnight Sybil will come up and they will look for a house or a flat.

4 Belmont Villas, Donnybrook, Dublin.—He and Sybil had a safe journey from Penzance. Thanks Smith and his aunt for their kindness during his eight days in Cambridge, as his prospects were ‘gradually being diminished to nil’. Will make inquiries at the Dublin Customs before asking for his trunk to be sent over.

4 Belmont Villas, Donnybrook, Dublin.—Sends two forms for sending his trunk over. Hopes that Smith’s work has not been too much upset [by the war]. Cambridge, he sees, is to continue ‘in skeleton’, and Smith still has his school certificate work.

4 Belmont Villas, Donnybrook, Dublin.—Thanks him for his letter and for seeing to the trunk, which they [he and Sybil] do not expect to arrive yet. Has seen Professor Ditchburn and some other mathematical staff, and written to the tutors, in the hope of getting coaching work at Trinity College, Dublin. His sister Ruth, who is in the Library, knows some of them, and his relationship to Creed Meredith may also prove useful. They will be more comfortable when their trunks arrive. Is glad to hear that Smith has been moderately fortunate in the person billeted on him. He and Sybil have found some useful methods of blackout. Smith’s ‘Dominican suggestion’ sounds good. The atmosphere in Dublin is ‘untotalitarian’ and though there are many strong opinions there is no uniformity. Smith’s learning of Czech may stimulate Meredith to start on Irish. Aubrey [Clark] is prospering but busy. They have not heard from Bullard, but his way of life will probably not have altered much, ‘apart from having fewer god children to call on, and fewer female friends to advise on dress’.

4 Belmont Villas, Donnybrook, Dublin.—The LMS [railway company] expect the traffic stoppage to be temporary, and suggest that if Smith called [with the trunk] again things would probably be alright. Sends another customs slip and asks him to take a sports-coat out of the trunk and send it by post. Has had replies to most of his letters [soliciting coaching work].

8 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin.—‘It must be a great relief to have evacuated your evacuee – not to mention throwing pepper at the ministry of health.’ Is glad Cambridge is ‘still working’, though he does not regret having moved to a place ‘where the state is at most 3,000,000 to 2 against us’. Bullard has moved, ‘for greater convenience in the war, when the war comes’. His sister Una visited at Christmas. Trinity has no work for him for next term yet, so he relies on casual coaching. Sybil has recovered her interest in short-story writing since the War Office re-turned some of the papers removed from her trunk. Thanks him for arranging to sell a book for them, and refers to Smith’s way of calculating profit ‘in school text book fashion’.

8 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin.—Explains different ways of calculating profit.

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—Refers to the interruption in their correspondence. Asks how long he will be in England and whether he intends to return to Venezuela. Asks whether he still finds comfort from the Christian religion, his own opposition to which has increased. Is still working at Trinity College and will earn a little more this year by setting examination papers. Offers to put him up if he comes to Dublin.

59 Redcliffe Road, S.W.10.—Praises him for persisting with his work on Wordsworth, etc., in difficult circumstances. Last Sunday she went to the cinema with Bullard, expecting him to ask a number of difficult questions, but the only things he said about Smith were that they would not hear from him until he was settled and that he once slept with him at Appletreewick. ‘I told Bullard he was very enterprising and he seemed quite gratified. I think he is very worried about you and is wondering if he ought to write to you.’ Has been to the theatre and other places of amusement with John [her nephew] and Aubrey [her brother]. William [her father] is ‘stationary’, which is all that can be hoped.

59 Redcliffe Road, S.W.10.—Thanks Aunt Hannah for a cake. Carew is almost well now, though he was very ill. Trevena Cottage is to be lived in by her mother, though she and Carew will use it sometimes. ‘However you have gone one better. A palace.’ They have not heard from Bullard, but Aubrey may have told him that they have mumps in the house. Asks him for his new address.

[59 Redcliffe Road, S.W.10.]—Thanks him for his offer of help. Carew has now recovered. Sympathises with Smith’s unsettled state. Carew congratulates him on his Wordsworth papers.

59 Redcliffe Road, S.W.10.—Thanks him for his offer to accommodate them [Carew and herself] if London was evacuated. They have always said they would go to Ireland but as they could not leave ‘GandP.’ till war was declared they would probably not be able to get there. ‘It has been unpleasant in London. Panic, Gas Masks, trenches, stretchers and food hoarding.’ Political affiliations seem more confused than ever and Ina [Una?] is ‘absolutely on the war path’.

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—His sweet letter almost made up for the fact that he is not coming. Offers herself as his ‘Irish Pen Pal’, as Carew is too busy to write. Discusses the work they have done in the house and garden. Łukasiewicz she thinks ‘a very nice man’. His much-younger wife [Regina] was in the bombing of Poland and Germany and lost most of her friends and relations in the war, while her favourite nephew recently died from the effects of being in a concentration camp. She is therefore in a bad mental state and her only relief seems to be to drink whisky at the Shelburne Hotel, where Sybil has occasionally accom-panied her. If Smith decides to settle in Switzerland, the climate will be good for his asthma. Carew says mathematical logic ‘shows the same fishiness’ as mathematics, and says that he has heard of Bochensky [Joseph Bocheński], who was a pupil of Łukasiewicz. Aubrey is coming, but without his ‘young woman’ [Josephine Tweedy], as a room could not be found for her. Aubrey wants Sybil to take her to Cornwall this year, and they [Aubrey and Josephine] are going to Italy in the autumn. The young woman is very young, beautiful, and amusing. She has been acting for some time, but has recently been left some money and is thinking of becoming a doctor. She (Sybil Meredith) will be coming over alone in September, as Carew has neither the money nor the time. Hopes to see him then.

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—Carew is still immersed in logic. He should to be preparing something for publication, but has apparently moved on to something new. He is going to publish something with the professor [Łukasiewicz], which is gratifying. Asks what Smith is working on. She herself has a cupboard of unfinished plays, but is going to try and finish her latest one. Aubrey enjoyed his visit, and, as he was without Josephine [Tweedy] this time, she saw more of him. ‘Apparently he shared a flat for some time with Angus and a woman called Marjorie Baron Russell who is an excellent cook and dedicated a cookery book to Aubrey.’ Discusses her crop of peas and her visit to the Sadlers Wells Ballet. Wishes to have his private address. The garden has been neglected, but she has been making clothes. Has been feeding the birds, and she shocked some visitors by referring to her ‘two dear little tits’.

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—She supposes that Smith is still in Cambridge, but expects that he will have gone [back to Switzerland] by the time she comes to England in October. Her mother has not been well. Is planning to visit Sophie, Oli Doveton, Michael Fordham, and Bullard. The professor [Łukasiewicz] told her yesterday that she was ‘always right’. She and Carew dined together at Jemmets, where Carew recalled a time when he and Smith drank a bottle of Benedictine together after working twenty-five hours on end. Discusses her work in the garden. Hopes Smith is finding lecturing easier, though she expects he wishes he had a small private income. ‘Aubrey says that Bullard must be the richest man in London now.’ For the first time in their lives she and Carew have enough to pay their bills. Asks for his address in Switzerland.

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—It was kind of Aunt Hannah to invite her to stay, but she had to come home as she and Carew were missing each other. She met Bullard, and liked him as much as always, but was more terrified of him, as he ‘is always so right’. Refers to her awkward attempts to talk to him about logic and her own plays. The professor [Łukasiewicz] is recovering from a heart attack (‘The pity of it is that I believe that Ox-ford has been trying to get in touch with him’), and, as ‘Madame’ [his wife] is also ill, Sybil is going to do some cleaning for them. ‘Aubrey had a party for me on my way back from Cornwall. A chorus boy, Josephine Tweedy and her mother.’ Term starts today. ‘I ought to be weeding the garden, patching the sheets and getting on with my latest play.’

Richmond Lodge, Richmond Avenue, Milltown, Dublin.—Aunt Hannah has written to tell her how much she and her companions enjoyed their holiday with Smith in Switzerland. Bullard sent her ‘a sweet and daring card’, saying that William Empson is publishing a book on logic which has alarmed the publisher by its length. Has worked hard in the garden, but suspects that Aubrey, when he comes in the spring, will not notice. They drink beer in the garden every night, and she listens to witty conversations there, but can never think of anything to say herself. ‘Carew informed me a few days ago that there is only Right and Wrong in Mathematics.’ Sends Christmas greetings.

Benet House, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge.—Is sorry Smith could not come to tea, but hopes he is recovering. The arrangement must be postponed till next term, as they go down [to Downside] on Friday. Asks him to let him know the result of his talk with Leavis if they do not meet tomorrow.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Thanks him for his kind comments about his stay at Downside and hopes that his visit to the Davenports ended pleasantly. His oculist says there is nothing wrong with his eyes. Urges him to ‘go easy on’ the enclosed letter from Campbell [1/31] and emphasises the necessity for simplicity of style and explicitness in writing for the «Dublin Review». Recommends a chapter in Dawson’s Medieval Religion for Smith’s ‘Ixion’s wheel article’. Confirms that the angel in Holcombe church is modern. Thanks him for the two days he spent in Wells and Bath at Smith’s expense.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Campbell says the «Dublin Review» will be glad to receive Smith’s paper on Shakespearian criticism when he has revised it. Thanks him for putting his case before Leavis, and agrees to see Downs first. They return [to Cambridge] on Friday. Urges him not to worry.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Commends him on the difficult decision he has made, and urges him not to let ‘painful “accidentals”’ like his aunt [Hannah Smith]’s welfare unsettle his peace of mind.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Advises him to send Hamson’s letter [probably recommending Smith for work in the War Office] to Captain Walker quickly, if he is likely to be travelling for a month or two. Is sorry that he has been experiencing air-raids, and urges him not to worry. Encloses a rosary. ‘Ireland I fear is out of the question now. I’m not convinced that you ought to establish yourself there, but here I admit I speak without deliberation.’

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Hopes he is doing well despite the air-raids, which they too have experienced. Is pleased that Christopher Dawson has become editor of the Dublin Review, and hopes that Smith will complete his article on Shakespeare in time for the October number, for the instruction of Doms Illtyd [Trethowan] and Bernard [Orchard]. The former is waiting for a letter from Smith on Aristotle. Is delighted that Bewley got a first and hopes he will find his vocation soon. Asks whether the ‘Mays’ [the Easter term examinations] were held; Downs has not been sending him the papers. Would like to discuss Nostromo with him. Is studying Eliot’s Elizabethan Essays and asks for a list of Smith’s articles on the subject. Is glad that his last letter was helpful.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Acknowledges that his last letter may have been inopportune, but hopes that Smith will consider his requests when he is rested. Argues against his opposition to the war, referring to Dawson’s articles in the Dublin Review, and suggests that the ‘irascible’ side of Smith’s nature is obstructing his reason. Is disappointed that Smith feels unable to use Hamson’s letter, as he thinks that employment in the War Office would be little different from employment as a state teacher, though he acknowledges that, given Smith’s opinions, he might find the atmosphere there intolerable. Has not been able to sound D. Christopher [Butler] on Mirfield. Air-raids are frequent. Recommends a place to buy breviaries and commends him for saying part of the Office daily. ‘If you can spare my type-script of your paper to the boys here I’d be glad to have it back.’ Bernard [Orchard] found Smith’s As You Like It article difficult to follow but ‘pregnant’.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Is relieved that he has not offended him, but is sorry to hear that Smith has fallen out with Father Reeves, and recommends the counsel of Father Bonnar. Thanks him for answering his questions, but the typescript was not enclosed. Is glad that he has written to Captain Walker, though the British withdrawal from the Continent may reduce his chances of getting government employment. ‘The boys have just gone away – that means reams of exam papers for you I suppose.’ Hopes that Smith will come to Downside soon, and that he will continue his work on Shakespeare.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Is well, and the frequent air-raids have not damaged their property. Is sorry on his own account that Smith is leaving [for Venezuela], but thinks there will be good work for him to do there. Gives details of Benedictine congregations in South America and encloses a letter of introduction. Is glad he now has a breviary. Offers to call on his aunt. Encourages him to read Dawson. Refers to the significant effect of the Eucharistic Congress at Buenos Aires in 1935 on other South American republics.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Is surprised to learn that Smith is still in England, and hopes that his difficulties will soon disappear. Quotes from his own compilation of prayers ‘for use when oppressed in mind & body’. Discusses types of breviary. Will be happy to help [E. M.] Wilson, as will Father Mark [Pontifex], and would like to meet Moreno [Báez]. He finds Smith’s style easier now and was convinced by his Webster article, but Dom Illtyd feels that elsewhere his arguments, though consistent, are not sufficiently founded in the texts. Has sent Leavis an article by Dom Illtyd expressing the reactions of a scholastic to the philosophical implications of Leavis’s literary position.

Benet House, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge.—Sends Christmas greetings and encloses a prayer. Asks whether it is justifiable to refer to Blake as a ‘Christian’ poet. Describes a visit with Wilson to the Carmelites at Waterbeach. No overt approaches have been made to Wilson’s religious position, but he seemed impressed by Father Bonnar. Smith’s aunt seems happy. Is enjoying this term’s work, particularly Leavis’s supervisions. Is often surprised by Leavis’s sympathy for Catholicism; once he even appeared to accept that the coarsening of Wordsworth’s sensibility would have been avoided if he had appreciated the Catholic doctrine of the mysti-cal body. Cambridge and Downside have both escaped serious air-raid damage. Hopes that Smith will have time to write articles. He now has no difficulty with his style, but is puzzled by his remarks on St Thomas’s method in his article on metaphysical poetry. Sends greetings to Bewley, and regrets that he was unable to profit from literary discussions with him when he knew him.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Has heard news of him from his (Smith’s) aunt, whom he saw in Cambridge. Sympathises with Smith’s difficulties at Caracas and reflects on the role of suffering in the Catholic life. Hopes that his aunt will become interested in the Catholic faith. Discusses his relations with Edward Wilson (who has left Cambridge to begin war work), the Morenos, and the Leavises. Agrees that the dissatisfaction sometimes felt by Smith’s readers is largely due to defective critical training. Will draw Dom Illtyd’s attention to Smith’s Marlowe paper. Commends Smith’s point about Blake’s ‘equivocal’ Christianity. Hopes his asthma is yielding to treatment. Discusses his own prospects in the Tripos.

Benet House, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge.—Sympathises with his difficulties. Has passed Part I of the English Tripos in the first class and has obtained a scholarship at Christ’s College. Smith’s family are in good health. Encloses an ordination card. Discusses Father Ryan, who has replaced Father Watkis at the parish church. Moreno’s lectureship has now expired but he is being paid for broadcasts to Spanish America. Praises Moreno’s family and refers wryly to the exploits attributed to ‘the Leavis progidy [sic]’ [Ralph]. Moreno has been visited by Wilson. Asks after Bewley and McLuhan.

Benet House, Mount Pleasant, Cambridge.—Asks him to suggest books for Part II of the English Tripos, and contrasts the approaches of Downs and Leavis. Asks whether he has heard any of the broadcasts to South America from Downside. Suggests that Bewley might be interested in St Anselm’s Priory, [Washington] DC. Gives accounts of visits to the Carmelites and to the Observatory.

Downside Abbey, near Bath.—Is glad things have improved at Caracas and is impressed by the news that Smith has founded an institute. Despite getting a first in Part II [of the English Tripos] and the Stoll studentship [at Christ’s College] he is dissatisfied with his work, though he has appreciated Leavis’s supervision. Will miss his visits to Smith’s family. Father Grant has promised to call on Smith’s aunt. Has decided not to return to Cambridge but to research his chosen subject, the devotional prose of the Catholic recusants, at Downside; the subject of his Stoll paper, the medieval tradition in Shakespeare, deserves to be pursued by Smith himself. The boy he coached for a scholarship is not doing well at Cambridge but Dom Gerard [Hayes] has got a first; Brother Sebastian [Moore?] is also going to read English at Cambridge. Kenelm Foster, a Dante scholar, has come [to the Dominican friary] to take the place of Father Elrington, who has died. Relates an anecdote about Father Reeves, relating to a bust of Edward Bullough. Now that Edward Wilson is engaged elsewhere Moreno must find someone else to translate his thesis. Gives an account of the Corpus Christi procession.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Is glad Smith is safely back in Cambridge. Hopes he will enjoy a long holiday and that the British Council will at last treat him generously. Asks to stay with him when he comes [to Cambridge] to take his MA degree. Father Mark hopes to see Smith during his stay with Father Bonnar. The Colosseum and Arena are defunct, but the «Dublin [Review] is still appearing. Dawson is to lecture on Religion and Culture'. Refers to Dawson’s Judgment of the Nations, the work of Maritain, and Gerald Vann’s St Thomas. Blackfriars still appears; he believes Leavis exchanges it for Scrutiny. Father Reeves has been succeeded [as superior of the Cambridge Dominicans] by Father Delany.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Thanks him for agreeing to let him stay, and informs him when he expects to arrive and leave.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Responds to his inquiries about the academic dress he (Steuert) needs for graduation. Hopes that Smith’s interview with the [British] Council goes well and that he will be able to get congenial work in England. Moreno is now a lecturer at King’s College, London. Has much to discuss with him. ‘I’m afraid in many ways I’m no longer a thorough-going Leavisite.’

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Thanks him and his family for a pleasant weekend and describes his return journey. Sends postcards of the choir [at Downside]. Hopes he will find Victor White interesting. Suggests that Blackwell’s may have the numbers of Scrutiny he needs. Will pray that he gets a post which will keep him in Cambridge.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Sympathises with his hesitation to go to Budapest or Warsaw, and hopes that the British Council will find something more congenial. Thanks him for information about a 1670 recusant book. Responds to his remarks on Dom Illtyd’s writing and ‘heretic Scripture versions’. Intends to read Maritain on St Paul shortly. Has school-work to do.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Would like to see his articles, and asks him to send them as they appear. Encloses a prospectus for the [Downside] Review and asks him to pass it to possible contributors. Discusses Cressy’s Sancta Sophia. Refers to Warwick Bond [editor of Lyly, etc.] and to certain articles by Croll [see 1/101]. ‘I wonder if [Thomas] Nash derives from some derivative vestige of the “homely-idiomatic-pulpit-medieval style”?’ Recommends a review of Baskerville’s Suppression of the Monasteries.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Thanks him for his article on The Merchant of Venice. Is sorry that the British Council have disappointed him. Suggests that he might get supervision work in Cambridge. Is excited that [Godfrey] Lienhardt is interested in the Church. Term is nearly over. Urges Smith to finish his article on Twelfth Night. Was interested by C. S. Lewis’s British Academy lecture on Hamlet and enjoyed the revised preface to his Pilgrim’s Regress. Recommends Does God Exist? by A. L. Taylor.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Asks him to borrow two articles by [Morris W.] Croll from the [Cambridge] University Library. Encloses particulars of a vacancy. Has just met Passarin d’Entrèves, the new Professor of Italian Studies at Oxford. There seem to be a number of Catholic dons there concerned with that subject now. Asks who got the chair at Cambridge.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Hopes he is well, and that he will not have to return to Caracas. Invites him to visit. Asks whether he has seen Hamson yet.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Expresses sympathy at the way he has been treated. Is glad he is in touch with Father Bonnar. Invites him to visit when he is free from examining. Defends aspects of [C. S.] Lewis’s Hamlet paper. Dom Sebastian [Moore?], who is reviewing Preston’s book [on the Four Quartets] for the [Downside] Review, remains convinced of Eliot’s greatness and would like to discuss him with Smith. Hay, he finds, is an amateur historian, ‘but generally considered sound by responsible Catholics’. Recommends, for the other side of the secular priests’ case, Leo Hicks’ review of Hughes’s book in The Month. Cannot find the ‘Persons-Raleigh’ reference, but can ask Hicks if it is urgent.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Asks him to regard the invitation to Downside as a standing one, except for their two annual closed seasons. Sends two offprints of his own for comments. The Allegory of Love does not bring out C. S. Lewis’s best work, but he admires That Hideous Strength and Lewis’s popular theology lectures. Invites him to address the Literary Society again, perhaps on the 1300–1640 period which Smith is presently supervising. Asks if his friend Anthony Birrell might call on him. ‘He was at school here, got an exhibition in English at Downing & is now returning for a third year after the war.’

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Is touched by Smith’s frankness and by his sufferings. Suggests he would be strengthened by a visit to Downside. Dom Christopher Butler has been elected abbot. Hopes that Smith will put a paper together on Chaucer for the Literary Society. Is attracted by C. S. Lewis’s popular theology, but mistrusts him when he goes outside natural theology. Many of the writers he used to reject as worthless when he was a ‘rigid Leavisian’ he has since found helpful. Discusses the appeal of remarks by Lewis on The Merchant of Venice. Is disgusted by the ‘Eliot review’ [a review of Preston’s 'Four Quartets’ Rehearsed] in Scrutiny. Thanks him for his comments on the offprints. Sheed and Ward have agreed to publish an anthology of recusant prose, if he produces one. Asks for advice on the scheme of the book. Is sorry to hear that Parker is ill. Has not yet read Parker’s book. Thanks him for offering to call on Birrell.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Sends Christmas greetings. Asks whether the pupils came, and invites him to come and stay. Has sent Leavis a copy of the French Catholic journal La Vie intellectuelle, containing a discussion of Scrutiny. Hopes to return to his work on the recusants when term ends. Encourages Smith to write something on Chaucer, and praises J. C. Maxwell’s survey of the criticism of Measure for Measure in the Downside Review.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Hopes that Smith gets the Fribourg chair. Has had a bad cold, which has affected his sinuses and jaw. Is delighted that [Godfrey] Lienhardt is under instruction. Asks whether the other young man, who has written some impressive letters to Dom Sebastian, is called Ernst. ‘Downing must fairly swarm with Papists now. I wish that meant that Leavis was nearer the Church.’ Refers to Leavis’s reception of the article in La Vie intellectuelle and to Smith’s own evaluation of it. Has arranged for Smith to receive the [Downing] Review. Discusses J. C. Maxwell’s career and character. Dom Illtyd is thinking of sending Maxwell’s article to Leavis. ‘I hope the result won’t be a violent outburst from Queenie on the ineptitude of “Christian Discriminators”!’. Suggests Smith should contribute something on the ‘misdirection of research in medieval things’ he mentioned in his letter. Has found a number of Latin tags used by Skelton in Dom Aelred [Watkin]’s 1537 Sarum Prymer. Appreciates his remarks on the recusants. Invites him to stay.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Has recovered from his sinus trouble. Asks Smith’s opinion of the [Downing] Review and discusses some of the contents. Reiterates his approval of Maxwell’s article, with its ‘daring strictures’ on Leavis’s style. Urges Smith to contribute something. Leavis has written thanking him for La Vie intellectuelle and criticising the eclecticism of the Criterion. Agrees that Leavis is no nearer the Church. Is sorry Smith was disappointed by the ‘Gilbey lectures’ [probably lectures by Thomas Gilby], but maintains that there are some genuinely learned English Dominicans, including his friend Kenelm Foster. As the personnel of St Michael’s have changed, except for Gerard Meath, he supposes the lectures will not continue. Agrees that the ‘aridly polemical tone’ of English sixteenth-century controversial literature compares poorly with the breadth of devotional and theological life of the Cloud of Unknowing. Asks whether he should start compiling a prose anthology of the recusants or continue working towards a book by writing occasional articles.

Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath.—Hopes he is enjoying a rest after last term. Eliot’s British Academy lecture apparently contained ‘some startling recantations … which will flutter the Scrutiny dove-cotes’. Recommends O. J. Campbell’s Comicall Satyre and Shakespeare’s ‘Troilus and Cressida’. Moreno is going to lecture in Spain this summer. He was in great form when he visited Downside in January. Has started to collect material for his recusant anthology. Asks for news of ‘the Fribourg affair’.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Hopes that Smith will be able to come to Oxford, though he himself finds it incongenial; there is little opportunity for walks and he and Joan find North Oxford society ‘sham’. Describes disparagingly a visit by Mrs Moore and [J. K.] Bostock’s conversation at a party given by Mrs Foligno. Has been reading Manzoni and Croce and intends to write something on the autobiographical element in Boccaccio’s Teseide.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sympathises with his comments on the 'inhumanity' of the [English Faculty] Board [at Cambridge]. He (Whitfield) is not yet a person of much weight at Oxford, and even Foligno was unable to persuade the Press to reprint Fanshawe’s translation of the Pastor Fido. Asks for help with a translation of Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili he is making for a timber-merchant of Tipton [Mr Round; see 1/115]. Will post the material for him to look at. Offers him and his aunt the use of their flat at Easter.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Discusses the section of his translation of the «Hypnerotomachia» which he sent to Smith. Wishes he had told him of the job at the British Institute in Florence which Bottrall got. Is glad that Leavis is being helpful; ‘there is much to be said for the Cambridge throw’. Asks whether Smith has thought of writing for the Daily Worker or Reynold’s News. He now has to turn his mind to religious poetry [in preparation for next term’s lectures], in order to have time to go to Parma and Florence to research Enea Vico.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends further sheets [of his translation] and a section on vocabulary. Has occasionally cited Popelin’s French translation but it is unreliable. He wishes that Colonna’s style were as simple as the engravings in the original edition. Asks to have the translation-sheets back this week. Refers to the point he made about Boccaccio in the Modern Language Review and wonders whether his article on Fanshawe will take just as long to be published.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Asks whether the vocabulary-sheets arrived safely and responds to his comments on the translation. ‘As for the Ciceronians, I feel like translating Jovius’ whole folio for a change from Colonna.’ Gives the address of the editor of English, because when Smith is ready to publish on Wordsworth, say, it may be useful to have access to a journal that pays in cash rather than in offprints like the Modern Language Review.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends a cheque for Smith's work on the translation and transcription [of the Hypnerotomachia], which he hopes to post to Round on Monday. Discusses two points of detail in the text.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is concerned that the cheque [for Smith’s work on the Hypnerotomachia] may have been inadequate. Discusses some points of vocabulary. Is glad Smith has found a house in Cambridge. Must work hard at his lectures on religious poetry in order to be able to go to Italy at the end of the week. Does not expect that any of his work [on the Hypnerotomachia] will be printed except perhaps an essay on the vocabulary; OUP have refused and the initial response from Methuens was not encouraging. Is sickened by the international situation; his real motive for suggesting the Daily Worker and Reynold’s [see 1/112] was that he hoped that Smith might be able to use his pen ‘in the interests of truth’. ‘I find the dishonesty of the Times appalling.’

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Has been settling down to the new term since returning from Italy. At Florence he met Bottrall, whose appointment to the British Institute is apparently part of a plot to get rid of Goad. ‘They are building the façade of grandeur in Italy (see the press accounts of Hitler’s visit), but there’s not much but aeroplanes behind it.’ Parma shows signs of poverty, while Florence relies on the sale of bric-à-brac. Many in the Basilicata are said to have returned from Abyssinia with admiration for the valour of the blacks, and many others from the same parts are [fighting] in Spain. Sends a snap of Rodo [his son]. Plans to come to Cambridge when terms ends to look for Enea Vico prints in the Fitzwilliam.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is glad that things are going well, if slowly, at Cambridge. Will come over after the end of term. When he was there last year Vincent [not identified] showed him the new [university] library and he briefly met Leavis. Discusses paintings he saw in Italy, by Correggio and others. Criticises The Times’s interpretation of recent by-election results.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—He enjoyed his stay [in Cambridge]. Has asked Deighton Bell to renew his subscription [to Scrutiny].

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—The enclosed letter from Deighton Bell may explain why Smith has not received a copy of Scrutiny. Thanks him for his notes on [Enea] Vico, and refers to Vico’s Vetustissima Tabula. Is thinking of coming over towards the end of the vacation. Is sick of reading books he hasn’t read before, like De Nolhac’s Pétrarque et l'Humanisme. Cites a quotation to encourage Smith in his gardening.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—His reading of Cicero’s Tusculanarum Quaestiones prompted him to write the enclosed parallel. Asks Smith to help him publish it in a newspaper anonymously. If he submitted it himself he thinks it would be probably be lost or rejected, like his recent letter to The Times about the demolition of buildings in Beaumont Street [Oxford].

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for the steps he has taken in connection his article [on Fanshawe?] and acknowledges his criticisms. It may be as well that it was rejected by Scrutiny, since Foligno might have disapproved of its ferocity. Refers to Fanshawe’s sonnets [his translations of sonnets by Camões] and some references he needs to look up. Discusses a point in the Inferno. Has discovered a Dürer drawing while researching Le Pautre in the Bodleian, and his article on it is to be printed in Old Master Drawings.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—If he thought The Guardian would print his (anonymous) article [see 1/121] he would fear detection, but he is glad that it has at least had an underground circulation, though in view of the European situation it is merely an academic comment. The Times neglected to report Litvinof’s criticisms of Chamberlain but has nevertheless attacked ‘the indecency of German haste’, and ‘official Britain’ seems at last to have realised that Chamberlain is not to be trusted. His reading of Petrarch for this term’s set of lectures has led him to think of writing ‘a vindication of the Renascence’ in the form of articles for Scrutiny. Draws attention to Petrarch’s great merit as a humanist and the general lack of understanding of his position. Will send Smith the first lecture as soon as he has delivered it. Suggests that Smith should reprint his contributions to Scrutiny as a book. Cites evidence that Petrarch never read Homer and gives some advice about [Tasso’s] Aminta.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends the text of his first two lectures. Has come to the view that Petrarch’s Latin works are his most important, and that he should prepare a short study of the subject. Is glad that Leavis is being helpful and hopes that Smith has been able to get some students from Wilson. Refers to his own tutorials. Thanks him for the confidential news of Bottrall. ‘I imagined that Goad was strongly entrenched in a policy of dolce far niente, but they did hope that Bottrall would push him out, instead of vice versa.’ His discovery of the Dürer has improved his position at the university. Agrees with the point about ‘opportunity’: ‘there was no enthusiasm in Italy to fight for Hitler, and the fear of the Brenner frontier and the Balkan drive may well send Italy into the Allied camp again’.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for the return of his scripts. Acknowledges the force of his criticisms regarding Thomas [Aquinas], but is puzzled why Aquinas had so little influence on Petrarch and humanism. Will continue his lectures on humanism next term. This term’s lectures, now completed, have brought the subject down to Valla, whom he has enjoyed reading. Credits Smith with improving his conception of civilisation while they were at Sheffield, and commends his style. He admired Smith’s handling of Baudelaire [in Scrutiny], despite a personal detachment from the subject, but felt that the parts relating to Butler were more interesting.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Commends his review [in Scrutiny] of Chase’s [The Tyranny of] Words and thanks him for his suggestions on humanism. Criticises Brémond’s views on the Renaissance and refers to the work of Zabughin, Toffanin, Olgiati, Tonelli, Gentile, Voigt, and Burdach. Is pleased to see how close Voltaire’s views in La Poésie épique are to Gibbon’s. The baby has a cold.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for advising him of Parker’s views [on humanism]. Olgiati’s observations on the relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance seem ingenuous, while, contrary to what Smith says, it is necessary to juxtapose St Thomas and Jacopone if one is to talk intelligibly about medieval Christianity. Is glad he liked the Correggio [print]; has continued to be impressed by his works. The vice-chancellor [G. S. Gordon] praised his note on the Dürer drawing in Old Master Drawings. They visited Blenheim yesterday.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is unconvinced by [C. H.] Haskins’s notion of a twelfth-century Renaissance. Disparages medieval philosophy, and observes that Petrarch seems to mark an innovation in his concern with conduct rather than speculation. But he does not think that he has yet ‘exhausted the sources of information or covered the field’. Invites Smith and his aunt to use their flat if they go to Vézelay in April. Has been to Manchester to address the Philosophical Society, and saw Knights there. Suggests that Smith should also lecture to the Society. Discusses the latest number of Scrutiny. Alludes to Smith’s article on Mallarmé, and recounts an anecdote about Mallarmé and Degas related by Paul Valéry.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Their finances are tight, and as he has to go to Birmingham at Easter their short trip to Vézelay will probably be his only other excursion. Is sorry Smith can’t come, but they may possibly take a cottage in the summer. Is glad to hear that Smith may ‘insert’ himself in Oxford, though he doesn’t think that the men he names are of sufficient authority to get him work. ‘On the banks of the Cam you likened me to Mr. [H. G.] Wells, because neither of us placed a God in the heavens. On consideration I repudiate the likeness as a merely negative one; it is the filling of the void that is more important.’ Likewise he rejects Smith’s likening of Petrarch to Lawrence or Mussolini, and insists that there must be something wrong in an argument which allows him to couple such disparate names. Agrees with his dispraise of Erasmus.

23 Leckford Road, Oxford.—Refers to the interruption in their correspondence. He and his wife spent August working on their new house and garden, and at the same time he was trying to finish his work on Petrarch before war broke out. When war came, however, he had to prepare to take on most of Foligno’s work, as it was uncertain that Foligno would be able to return from Italy. In the event Foligno was a fortnight late and Whitfield had to spend the rest of the term catching up on his own work. Is increasingly hopeful that the war will end, but hopes that it has not upset Smith’s foothold at Cambridge. His wife has been teaching splint-making and painting W’s on wardens’ helmets, while he has translated the place-names of the British Empire into Italian and found the text of the leaflet D’Annunzio dropped on Vienna. Is trying to prevent Woolworths from destroying the Clarendon Hotel.

23 Leckford Road, Oxford.—Apologises for the interval in their correspondence. Smith’s entry into the [Catholic] Church made him feel awkward about writing, owing to the divergence in their views. Hopes Smith will not be in Venezuela for too long. Remains optimistic about the course of the war. Foligno’s departure has increased his duties, and they are working hard in the garden and digging trenches. They are expecting a daughter next month, so he cannot go away, and it will be too late for Smith to be able to visit them. Asks for his new address and assures him that, ‘incomprehension notwithstanding, my silence was not forgetfulness’.

Low Fell, Crosthwaite, near Kendal.—Is sad to hear of Smith’s departure for Venezuela, though the job will probably be interesting. Hopes that the people will not be difficult to deal with. Gives some instructions in connection with a suitcase [at Cambridge]. Is sorry to hear of his difficulties with Father Reeves, whose opinion seems untenable. Has been reading Augustine’s Confessions, but is still unable to decide between the Catholic and Anglican points of view. Intends to talk with the Franciscans and Father Reeves. A few German planes have flown over and Barrow has been bombed, but otherwise they are undisturbed. His brother Gilbert is organising the Home Guard and they are both helping a young farmer with the harvest. Is presently unemployed, but will come up as usual in October, as Bullock says he may be needed. Will call on Smith’s aunt. Gives Ronald [Bottrall]’s new address.

Pembroke College, Cambridge.—Supports Smith’s candidature for the chair of English at Fribourg. Though he does not know him personally, his published work testifies to his wide knowledge of literature, his keen critical intelligence, and his linguistic powers. Refers to his own links with another Swiss university and his interest in promoting intellectual discourse between the two countries.

University of London, King’s College, Department of Spanish, Strand, W.C.2.—Has known Smith for over twenty years and has the highest opinion of his literary competence and his character. Refers to the wide range of his literary interests, the quality of his judgement, and his linguistic skills. His work on Shakespeare’s comedies will be authoritative when complete. Refers to his aptitude for teaching and administrative duties.

St Bonaventure’s, Cambridge.—Has known Smith for seven years and has every confidence in his judgement, academic and otherwise. His Catholic conviction and outlook are unimpeachable.

6 Chesterton Hall Crescent, Cambridge.—Has known Smith for many years, having previously been aware of him as a brilliant student. The distinguished body of work Smith has published in «Scrutiny» has made him known in all the universities of the English-speaking world and he is especially fitted by his linguistic skills to interpret English literature and culture abroad. Testifies to his teaching abilities and pays tribute to his establishment of a British Institute at Caracas. Recommends him for the chair of English at Fribourg and commends his personality.

The Presbytery, 505 Main Street, Carlton, Nottingham.—Supports Smith’s application for the professorship of English at Fribourg. He is an excellent English scholar and an excellent Catholic.

(Place of writing not indicated.)—Thanks him for a copy of the Thirty-Third Report of the [Public] Record Office [1872]. Praises the catalogue of the Shaftesbury papers and the skill and diligence of [W. N.] Sainsbury [the compiler].

23 West Road, Cambridge.—Returns a copy of [Harriet Charlotte Beaujolais Campbell’s] Journey to Florence in 1817 [published in 1951]. ‘She was a remarkable little person and I admire her greatly.’ He was struck by the poor travelling conditions of the time, but these improved greatly in the next decade as more English tourists visited the Continent.

24 Belgrave Square, London.—Was pleased to meet Wilson and his colleagues yesterday. Thanks him for his welcoming speech and praises his contribution to Anglo-Spanish relations.(With envelope.)