Item 48 - Letter from Walter Leaf to Nora Sidgwick

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Writes to express his sympathy with Nora on the death of Henry Sidgwick. Refers to the depth of their grief 'at the loss of so dear a friend and so true a leader.' Relates that he saw Henry only six weeks previously at the Athenaeum 'and rejoiced to think that he was given back to his friends for a while at least...' Remarks on the suddenness of Henry Sidgwick's demise, which, he claims, 'has brought back the first shock of the end of May.' Predicts that the time will come when they will feel that it was better that way. Explains that he has been watching for nearly two years the advance of the disease in his own mother, and can understand 'how the terrible mental suffering which goes with it outweighs the physical.' Claims that the last of many lessons he learned from Henry, 'the most beautiful and the most unforgettable, was at the lunch at Leckhampton on May 27', when he taught him 'how calmly and manfully death and suffering could be faced, as he recited without a break in his voice the lines... from [Swinburne's] Super [Flumina] Babylonis; ending "Where the light of the life of him is on all past things, Death only dies"'. Hopes that when the time comes, the sound of Henry's' voice and the light on his face will be before him.