Item 191 - Letter from Lord Pethick-Lawrence to Lady Pethick-Lawrence

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PETH/6/191

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Letter from Lord Pethick-Lawrence to Lady Pethick-Lawrence

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  • 27 June 1946 (Creation)

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Office of Cabinet Delegation, The Viceroy’s House, New Delhi.—They are now leaving on Saturday. It may be that the failure of the mission will pave the way to future success.

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Office of Cabinet Delegation, The Viceroy’s House, New Delhi
June 25. 46

My own very dearly Beloved.

You will have learnt tht we are starting on Saturday {1} & are due home on Tuesday evening. So I am chancing this one more letter. Your little boy is longing to be with you. He has nearly reached the limit of human endurance.

I cannot assess how far we have succeeded & how far we have failed. I am afraid that humanly speaking the failure (in spite of first appearances) greatly exceeds the success. But that may prove too pessimistic a forecast.
The great trouble in this unhappy country is suspicion & if anybody does not get all he wants he or his press rush into torrents of abuse & vilification which exceed all limits. And this in turn produces counterblasts of fury. And the still small voice of reason & moderation is unheard in the babble of conflicting clamour.

It may be that in the mercy of God what looks like failure may pave the road to success & tht a nation like an invitual† can rise on “stepping stones of their dead selves to higher things”—I dont think I have got the quotation right.

I have made some charming friends—in particular Ragagopalacharier†, who has written me a most affectionate letter to say good bye.

God bless my beloved.
Your own Boy.

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The abbreviation ‘tht’ for ‘that’ occurs a few times.

{1} 29th.

† Sic.

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      This description was created by A. C. Green in 2020.

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