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.
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.
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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.]—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.