Item 21 - Letter from Marius Bewley to James Smith

[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.