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20 Somerset Terrace, Duke’s Road, W.C.—Reflects on yesterday’s fine weather, and her activities with Pearse and others. Encloses a letter from Newnham, and refers to her proposed purchase of the Dutch House and land for building.

Seeks official permission, on behalf of Lord Casey, to publish extracts from a letter written by Casey to Pethick-Lawrence in 1946.

Brixton Prison.—Encourages her with reflections on the ability of the human spirit to transcend material circumstances. Refers to his study of French and Italian, and his other reading, and describes a method of counting on the fingers.

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Brixton Prison
19th June 1912

Dearest

How delightful it is to think that this actual paper will be carried to you & that I shall get a reply written by yourself! I have sent you in my thoughts many messages of love which I feel confident have reached you, just as yours have reached me bringing their rich benison with them; But the actual written word gives tangible shape & contact & certainty.

I have not been in any way anxious about you, & equally you have I am sure not been anxious about me. You know that the one thing, which alone always seems worth while to me, is that the human spirit should transcend the whole of the material world; & therefore you do not need to be told that not in the very smallest degree have I been dismayed or discouraged by my environment. Dearest, here in the stillness—that is, to me, essentially the stillness of earth life—I am conscious only of the great spiritual tie which binds us together & binds us to the great Power which guides us. These are days when one drinks of the deep wells of life & because the draft is pure & crystal it refreshes & invigorates far beyond any draft of ordinary daily life. Or again it is as though the noisy overtones which make the chords & discords of the work-a-day world were hushed, & the fundamental notes were heard alone in all their simple grandeur. Or again it seems to me as though of the beauty, which is in the outer world & which our senses detect, the spirit itself had become perceptible to our souls direct.

One of my great joys is to watch the sunlight in the evening on the walls of my cell; some-times the nights are dull & then I miss it, but more often the last hours are bright. It sinks below a house close by about a quarter past seven and is then shut off from sight; each evening the last rays go a little further on the wall than the evening before, but we are coming soon (next Friday) to the longest day & after that it will begin to go back again.

Now you will want to know all I have been reading; First let me say it is surprising how little time I seem to have though I scarcely miss a minute of the day. Nevertheless I have read a larger number of books since I came in. I haven’t made so very much progress in Italian so I daresay you will nearly have caught up to where I am reckoning in what I did before. In the Berlitz Book, which I think you have got also, I have got to page 50. For the last few days I have laid it aside for a study of French which has caught my fancy, but I shall come back to it again in a little while & then I shall probably go on until I finish the book. I have been fascinated with Trevelyans† story of the siege of Rome {1}. It is really the volume preceding the one on Garabaldi’s† Thousand, & it is in my judgment a good deal the finer of the two. Have you read it? I cannot remember. Then I have read over again the story of the Thousand & hope shortly to read the third volume which I understand is now out. I have also got Crispi’s account of the same events {2} but have not read it yet. I have also read a book on radium, & one on Faraday which have inter-ested me very much. During the last week I have been wrestling with Green’s history of England {3} & with a very ponderous life of Henry Newman {4} which though good is very heavy to di-gest. A great soul was Newman, but somehow I can’t help feeling that he lost his way; perhaps a wider understanding might make one see it differently. In addition to other things I have also read a good deal of lighter literature including Pecheur d Island† {5} which I think delightful & two books by Mark Twain—Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn—which Annie gave me. You should get May to send them to you[;] they are full of delicious humour.

May has been very good to me, so thoughtful & kind, sending me everything I could possibly want.

I think you will be amused to know that once when I was taking exercise by walking up & down my cell, I started counting my walks on my fingers & arrived at the following:—it is of course said that on the fingers of the two hands one can count from one up to ten, but that is only by reckoning each finger of each hand to count one only; if the fingers of the left hand are allowed to have a different value from the fingers of the right, one can count all the way from one up to 35 (that is six times six less one), & if the thumbs of each hand are also allowed to count differently from the fingers, then one can count all the way from 1 up to 99. One may even go further but if I do so you will say I am becoming like I was on the top of the omnibus on that famous occasion! Anyhow I don’t think you will mind this little digression. Perhaps you will be able to work it out yourself!

Dearest how close we have been together all this month for all the physical barriers that have been between us. I have treasured your beautiful words about Whit Sunday in my heart & they have been a great joy to me. I have thought very much about you and shall be thinking of you so in the next few days, but they will not be thoughts of anxiety but of confidence & assurance. You well know that my spirit is behind yours sustaining you in all that you do, & I know & have the certainty that your spirit is behind mine; & so together we are very strong.

Dearest the sun is shining brilliantly, it is a gorgeous & magnificent day! I am full of radiant life.

My very great love to you

Your husband.

P.S Your dear delightful letter has just come; you seem to have been able to write a day earlier than me. I have read it through with such pleasure & shall read it and reread it many times; but I am so anxious to get this off without any delay so that you may have it soon. Blessings on you for all your dear words. Ever thine

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One folded sheet. At the head is printed, ‘In replying to this letter, please write on the envelope:— Number 7294 Name Lawrence F W. P.’, the name and number being filled in by hand. The word ‘Prison’ of the address and the first two digits of the year are also printed, and the letter is marked with the reference ‘C1/12’ and some initials. Strokes of letters omitted either deliberately or in haste have been supplied silently.

{1} Garibaldi’s Defence of the Roman Republic, by George Macaulay Trevelyan (1907), the first book of a trilogy which also comprised Garibaldi and the Thousand (1909), and Garibaldi and the Making of Italy (1911).

{2} Probably The Memoirs of Francesco Crispi (2 vols., 1912).

{3} A Short History of the English People, by J. R. Green, first published in 1874, or perhaps his expanded History of the English People (4 vols., 1878–80).

{4} The Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, by Wilfrid Ward (2 vols., 1912).

{5} Pêcheur d’Islande (An Iceland Fisherman), by Pierre Loti (1886).

‘The Attic’, 43 Bernard Street, Russell Square, W.C.—His plays have been seized by the Government. He hopes some protest can be made if they are destroyed.

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‘The Attic’, 43 Bernard Street, Russell Square, W.C.
Oct: 27/16.

Dear Mrs Pethwick Lawrence

Thank you so very much indeed for your letter about the plays. It is good to know that people like you think that they might be of some use.

But alas—yesterday the War Office or Home Office (I do not know yet by whose authority) descended upon Hendersons the publishers and seized every copy. They have forbidden its distribution or sale. And there for the present the matter stands! Needless to day I am not particularly concerned for myself whether they prosecute for the sin of having written them—but I do hope, if they destroy them, that some protest can be made. Here we are at a most critical period in history—at the very cross-roads—& we have to face all the extraordinary difficulties & dangers of the years of crisis without freedom of speech or expression one to another. Some friends in the Commons are making enquiries for me—& the Council for Civil Liberties have been told.

I shall look forward to meeting you soon. I will write if I may in a few days to fix an afternoon when I know what the next move in this suppression is to be. Again—thanks for your letter

Yours sincerely,
Miles Malleson

(Carbon copy of a typed original.)

(Mechanical copy of a typed original.)

87 Clement’s Inn, W.C.—Is glad she is being taken care of. Will look after everything for her. Refers to a forthcoming dinner with the Mansell Moullins.

20 Somerset Terrace (Duke’s Road, W.C.).—Sends ‘a little camp-hymn’, and asks for photographs of him to send to friends. Describes her morning in the park.

Agrees in deploring the suppression of artistic works. The seizure of Malleson’s plays is evidence of their power to kindle the imagination.

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31st. October, 1916.

Dear Mr. Malleson,

Yes alas—when I sent round next morning after writing my letter to you to purchase copies of your Plays to send away to my friends, my messenger was told that it was too late[,] that the Authorities had descended upon the publisher and seized every copy. I agree with you that there is something very menacing indeed in the fact that even {1} the work of an artist is subject to suppression. I think it is one of the most serious dangers with which any Community could be confronted. I see that a question is to be asked in Parliament to-day. I am of course extremely sorry that I did not read the Play at once and secure additional copies. I congratulate you again on having written them. The very fact that they have been suppressed is in itself an evidence of the power that is in them to kindle the imagination.

You won’t forget your promise to write to me in a day or two to fix an afternoon when you could look in and see me, or ring me up over the telephone.

Yours with all good wishes,
[blank]

Miles Malleson Esq.,
“The Attic”,
43, Bernard Street,
Russell Sqre. W.C.

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{1} Mistyped ‘thateven’.

Wenlyn, 2837 Bagan Jermal, Butterworth, P.W., Penang.—She and her husband send their sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence. Pays tribute to her memory.

[Calcutta.]—‘How stupid I am! I ought to go to school and learn how to address a letter to the wife of a baronet! Has it struck you that the roll of the titled families of Ascot is now complete!’

Newark.—Encloses a list of tools in his possession, and asks for help in valuing them. Will not be able to come to London on the suggested date. Has been invited to a fête at Grantham to commemorate the opening of the railway.

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Newark
22d May

My dear Lawrence,

The accompanying is a list of a portion of the Tools I have here & I have to send in my Stock papers immediately with the price attached as I am very far from being up in such Matters & knowing you to have them at your finger ends. I should feel greatly obliged if you would attach a price to any you can.—Of course you will scarce be able to do all without seeing the things themselves, & I do not expect you to be aware of the state they are in but to suppose everything new, & if doing so you can tell me the value of any of the Articles in the list I shall feel greatly indebted as it will show me how far my own views are correct.—

I regret to say I do not see any chance of my having urgent business in Town to bring me up on the 27th.—The Railway here is to open on the 15th June, & I shall have regular pushing {1} work to get ready. There is to be a grand fete given at Grantham to the Directors &c.—& look Myself & Sister are asked.

Return me the list before Saturday at latest. | & Believe me with kind regards to yr brother.

Ever yrs Faithfully | great haste.
J. Phillips

A. Lawrence Esqr.

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{1} Reading uncertain.

7 Kingston House North, Princes Gate, S.W.7.—Thanks him for his kind letter and for a copy of Dame Christabel Pankhurst’s book (Unshackled).

Thanks him for the book (see 1/9). Is helping to raise money for a memorial to Christabel Pankhurst and editing a book by her (Unshackled).

2 Gower Street (W.C.1).—Is concerned by suggestions that the Government intend to encourage the holding of a referendum on women’s suffrage.

National Campaign for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.2.—The Campaign’s projected activities include a meeting at the Albert Hall and the preparation of a memorial to the Home Secretary. Invites him to join the Committee of Honour.

(Pethick-Lawrence’s reply (3/16) is dated 2 Dec. 1960.)

87 Clement’s Inn, W.C.—Is looking forward to seeing her on Thursday. Expresses his love for her.

20 Somerset Terrace, W.C.—Refers to his journey to the west on holiday, and expresses her love for him.