thought) and what can not be expressed by props, but only shown (gezeigt);which, I believe, is the cardinal problem of philosophy. –I also sent my MS to Frege. He wrote to me a week ago and I gather thathe doesn’t understand a word of it all. So my only hope is to see yousoon and explain all to you, for it is very hard not to be understood by asingle sole!Now the day after tomorrow we shall probably leave the campo concen-tramento and go home. Thank God! – But how can we meet as soon aspossible. I should like to come to England, but you can imagine that it’srather awkward for a German to travel to England now. (By far more so,than for an Englishman to travel to Germany.) But in fact I didn’t think ofthe autobiography of bertrand russell 332asking you to come to Vienna now, but it would seem to me the best thingto meet in Holland or Svitserland. Of cors, if you cann’t come abroad I willdo my best to get to England. Please write to me as soon as possible aboutthis point, letting me know when you are likely to get the permission ofcoming abroad. Please write to Vienna IV Alleegasse 16. As to my MS,please send it to the same address; but only if there is an absolutely safe wayof sending it. Otherwise please keep it. I should be very glad though, to getit soon, as it’s the only corrected coppy I’ve got. – My mother wrote to me,she was very sorry not to have got your letter, but glad that you tried towrite to her at all.Now write soon. Best wishes.Ever yoursLudwig WittgensteinP.S. After having ?nished my letter I feel tempted after all to answer some ofyour simpler points...120.9.20Lieber Russell!Dank’ Dir fuer Deinen lieben Brief! Ich habe jetzt eine Anstellung bekommen; und zwar alsVolksschullehrer in einem der kleinsten Doerfer; es heisst Trattenbach und liegt 4 Stunden suedlichvon Wien im Gebirge. Es duerfte wohl das erste mal sein, dass der Volksschullehrer von Trattenbachmit einem Universitaetsprofessor in Peking korrespondiert. Wie geht es Dir und was traegst Duvor? Philosophie? Dann wollte ich, ich koennte zuhoeren und dann mit Dir streiten. Ich war bis vorkurzem schrecklich bedrueckt und lebensmuede, jetzt aber bin ich etwas ho?nungsvoller undjetzt ho?e ich auch, dass wir uns wiedersehen werden.Gott mit Dir! Und sei herzlichst gegruesstvon Deinem treuenLudwig Wittgenstein20.9.20Dear RussellThank you for your kind letter. I have now obtained a position: I am to be anelementary-school teacher in a tiny village called Trattenbach. It’s in the moun-tains, about four hours’ journey south of Vienna. It must be the ?rst time that theschoolmaster at Trattenbach has ever corresponded with a professor in Peking. Howare you? And what are you lecturing on? Philosophy? If so, I wish I could be thereand could argue with you afterwards. A short while ago I was terribly depressed andtired of living, but now I am slightly more hopeful, and one of the things I hope isthat we’ll meet again.God be with you! Kindest regards.Yours everLudwig Wittgensteinrussia 333[Trattenbach]23.10.21Lieber Russell!Verzeih, dass ich Dir erst jetzt auf Deinen Brief aus China antworte. Ich habe ihn sehrverspaetet erhalten. Er traf mich nicht in Trattenbach und wurde mir an verschiedene Ortenachgeschickt, ohne mich zu erreichen. – Es tut mir sehr leid, dass Du krank warst; und garschwer! Wie geht es denn jetzt?! Bei mir hat sich nichts veraendert. Ich bin noch immer inTrattenbach und bin nach wie vor von Gehaessigkeit und Gemeinheit umgeben. Es ist wahr, dassdie Menschen im Durchschnitt nirgends sehr viel wert sind; aber hier sind sie viel mehr alsanderswo nichtsnutzig und unverantwortlich. Ich werde vielleicht noch dieses Jahr in Trattenbachbleiben, aber laenger wohl nicht, da ich mich hier auch mit den uebrigen Lehrern nicht gutvertrage. (Vielleicht wird das wo anders auch nicht besser sein.) Ja, das waere schoen, wennDu mich einmal besuchen wolltest! Ich bin froh zu hoeren, dass mein Manuskript in Sicherheit ist.Wenn es gedruckt wird, wird’s mir auch recht sein. –Schreib mir bald ein paar Zeilen, wie es Dir geht, etc. etc.Sei herzlich gegruesstvon Deinem treuenLudwig WittgensteinEmp?ehl mich der Miss Black.[Trattenbach]23.10.21Dear RussellForgive me for only now answering your letter from China. I got it after a verylong delay. I wasn’t in Trattenbach when it arrived and it was forwarded to severalplaces before it reached me. – I am very sorry that you have been ill – and seriouslyill! How are you now, then? As regards me, nothing has changed. I am still at Trattenbach,surrounded, as ever, by odiousness and baseness. I know that human beings on theaverage are not worth much anywhere, but here they are much more good-for-nothing and irresponsible than elsewhere. I will perhaps stay on in Trattenbach forthe present year but probably not any longer, because I don’t get on well here evenwith the other teachers (perhaps that won’t be any better in another place). Yes, itwould be nice indeed, if you would visit me sometime. I am glad to hear that mymanuscript is in safety. And if it’s printed, that will suit me too. –Write me a few lines soon, to say how you are, etc. etc.Kindest regardsYours everLudwig WittgensteinRemember me to Miss Black.[Trattenbach]28.11.21Lieber Russell!Dank Dir vielmals fuer Deinen lieben Brief. Ehrlich gestanden: es freut mich, dass mein Zeugthe autobiography of bertrand russell 334gedruckt wird. Wenn auch der Ostwald ein Erzscharlatan ist! Wenn er es nur nicht verstuem-melt! Liest Du die Korrekturen? Dann bitte sei so lieb und gib acht, dass er es genau so druckt,wie es bei mir steht. Ich traue dem Ostwald zu, dass er die Arbeit nach seinem Geschmack,etwa nach seiner bloedsinnigen Orthographie, varaendert. Am liebsten ist es mir, dass dieSache in England erscheint. Moege sie der vielen Muehe die Du und andere mit ihr hatten wuerdigsein! –Du hast recht: nicht die Trattenbacher allein sind schlechter, als alle uebrigen Menschen; wohlaber ist Trattenbach ein besonders minderwertiger Ort in Oesterreich und die Oesterreichersind – seit dem Kreig – bodenlos tief gesunken, dass es zu traurig ist, davon zu reden! So ist es. –Wenn Du diese Zeilen kriegst, ist vielleicht schon Dein Kind auf dieser merkwuerdigen Welt. Also:ich gratuliere Dir und Deiner Frau herzlichst. Verzeih, dass ich so lange nicht geschrieben habe;auch ich bin etwas kraenklich und riesig beschaeftift. Bitte schreibe wieder einmal wenn Du Zeithast. Von Ostwald habe ich keinen Brief erhalten. Wenn alles gut geht werde ich Dich mit tausendFreuden besuchen!Herzlichste GruesseDeinLudwig Wittgenstein[Trattenbach]28.11.21Dear RussellMany thanks for your kind letter! I must admit I am pleased that my stu? isgoing to be printed. Even though Ostwald2is an utter charlatan. As long as hedoesn’t tamper with it! Are you going to read the proofs? If so, please take care thathe prints it exactly as I have it. He is quite capable of altering the work to suit hisown tastes – putting it into his idiotic spelling, for example. What pleases me mostis that the whole thing is going to appear in England. I hope it may be worth allthe trouble that you and others have taken with it.You are right: the Trattenbachers are not uniquely worse than the rest ofthe human race. But Trattenbach is a particularly insigni?cant place in Austria andthe Austrians have sunk so miserably low since the war that it’s too dismal to talkabout. That’s what it is.By the time you get this letter your child will perhaps already have come intothis remarkable world. So: warmest congratulations to you and your wife! Forgiveme for not having written to you for so long. I too haven’t been very well and I’vebeen tremendously busy. Please write again when you have time. I have not had aletter from Ostwald. If all goes well, I will come and visit you with the greatest ofpleasure.Kindest regardsYoursLudwig Wittgensteinrussia 335From C. K. OgdenThe International Library ofPsychologyNov. 5, 1921Dear RussellKegan Paul ask me to give them some formal note for their ?les withregard to the Wittgenstein rights.I enclose, with envelope for your convenience, the sort of thing I shouldlike. As they can’t drop less than ￡50 on doing it I think it very satisfactory tohave got it accepted – though of course if they did a second edition soon andthe price of printing went suddenly down they might get their costs back. Iam still a little uneasy about the title and don’t want to feel that we decided ina hurry on Philosophical Logic. If on second thoughts you are satis?ed with it, wecan go ahead with that. But you might be able to excogitate alternatives that Icould submit.Moore’s Spinoza title which he thought obvious and ideal is no use if youfeel Wittgenstein wouldn’t like it. I suppose his sub specie aeterni in the lastsentences of the book made Moore think the contrary, and several Latinquotes. But as a selling title Philosophical Logic is better, if it conveys the rightimpression.Looking rapidly over the o? print in the train last night, I was amazed thatNicod and Miss Wrinch had both seemed to make so very little of it. Themain lines seem so reasonable and intelligible – apart from the Typespuzzles. I know you are frightfully busy just at present, but I should verymuch like to know why all this account of signs and symbols cannot best beunderstood in relation to a thoroughgoing causal theory. I mean the sort ofthing in the enclosed: – on ‘Sign Situations’ (= Chapter II of the earlySynopsis attached). The whole book which the publishers want to call TheMeaning of Meaning is now passing through the press; and before it is too latewe should like to have discussed it with someone who has seriously con-sidered Watson. Folk here still don’t think there is a problem of Meaning at all,and though your Analysis of Mind has disturbed them, everything still remainsrather astrological.With best wishes for, and love to the family,Yours sincerelyC. K. OgdenP.S. On second thoughts, I think that as you would prefer Wittgenstein’sGerman to appear as well as the English, it might help if you added the P.S. Ihave stuck in, and I will press them further if I can.3the autobiography of bertrand russell 336To Ottoline MorrellHotel ContinentalStockholm25th June 1920Dearest OI have got thus far on my return, but boats are very full and it may be aweek before I reach England. I left Allen in a nursing home in Reval, nolonger in danger, tho’ twice he had been given up by the Doctors. Partlyowing to his illness, but more because I loathed the Bolsheviks, the timein Russia was in?nitely painful to me, in spite of being one of the mostinteresting things I have ever done. Bolshevism is a close tyrannical bureau-cracy, with a spy system more elaborate and terrible than the Tsar’s, and anaristocracy as insolent and unfeeling, composed of Americanised Jews. Novestige of liberty remains, in thought or speech or action. I was sti?ed andoppressed by the weight of the machine as by a cope of lead. Yet I think itthe right government for Russia at this moment. If you ask yourself howDostoevsky’s characters should be governed, you will understand. Yet it isterrible. They are a nation of artists, down to the simplest peasant; the aim ofthe Bolsheviks is to make them industrial and as Yankee as possible. Imagineyourself governed in every detail by a mixture of Sidney Webb and RufusIsaacs, and you will have a picture of modern Russia. I went hoping to ?ndthe promised land.All love – I hope I shall see you soon.Your B.From Emma GoldmanMrs E. G. KerschnerBei Von FuttkamerRudesheimerstr. 3Wilmersdorf, BerlinJuly 8th [1922]My dear Mr RussellMy niece forwarded your kind letter to her of June 17th. I should havereplied earlier, but I was waiting for her arrival, as I wanted to talk the matterover with her.Thank you very much for your willingness to assist me. I daresay you willmeet with very great di?culties. I understand that the British Foreign O?cerefused visés to such people as Max Eastman of the Liberator, and LincolnSte?ens, the journalist. It is not likely that the Government will be moregracious to me.I was rather amused at your phrase ‘that she will not engage in themore violent forms of Anarchism?’ I know, of course, that it has been myrussia 337reputation that I indulged in such forms, but it has never been borne out bythe facts. However, I should not want to gain my right of asylum in Englandor any country by pledging to abstain from the expression of my ideas, or theright to protest against injustice. The Austrian Government o?ered measylum if I would sign such a pledge. Naturally, I refused. Life as we live ittoday is not worth much. I would not feel it was worth anything if I had toforswear what I believe and stand for.Under these conditions, if it is not too great a burden, I would appreciateany e?orts made in my behalf which would give me the right to come toEngland. For the present I will probably get an extension of my visé inGermany because I have had an o?er to write a book on Russia from HarperBros. of New York.No, the Bolsheviki did not compel me to leave Russia. Much to my surprisethey gave me passports. They have however made it di?cult for me to obtainvisés from other countries. Naturally they can not endure the criticismcontained in the ten articles I wrote for the New York World, in April last, afterleaving Russia.Very sincerely yoursEmma GoldmanEmma Goldman did at last acquire permission to come to England. A dinner was given in herhonour at which I was present. When she rose to speak, she was welcomed enthusiastically; butwhen she sat down, there was dead silence. This was because almost the whole of her speech wasagainst the Bolsheviks.the autobiography of bertrand russell 33810CHINAWe travelled to China from Marseilles in a French boat called Portos. Just beforewe left London, we learned that, owing to a case of plague on board, thesailing would be delayed for three weeks. We did not feel, however, that wecould go through all the business of saying goodbye a second time, so wewent to Paris and spent the three weeks there. During this time I ?nishedmy book on Russia, and decided, after much hesitation, that I would publishit. To say anything against Bolshevism was, of course, to play into the handsof reaction, and most of my friends took the view that one ought not to saywhat one thought about Russia unless what one thought was favourable. Ihad, however, been impervious to similar arguments from patriots duringthe War, and it seemed to me that in the long run no good purpose wouldbe served by holding one’s tongue. The matter was, of course, much compli-cated for me by the question of my personal relations with Dora. One hotsummer night, after she had gone to sleep, I got up and sat on the balconyof our room and contemplated the stars. I tried to see the question withoutthe heat of party passion and imagined myself holding a conversation withCassiopeia. It seemed to me that I should be more in harmony with thestars if I published what I thought about Bolshevism than if I did not. So Iwent on with the work and ?nished the book on the night before we startedfor Marseilles.The bulk of our time in Paris, however, was spent in a more frivolousmanner, buying frocks suitable for the Red Sea, and the rest of the trousseaurequired for uno?cial marriage. After a few days in Paris, all the appearanceof estrangement which had existed between us ceased, and we became gayand light-hearted. There were, however, moments on the boat when thingswere di?cult. I was sensitive because of the contempt that Dora had pouredon my head for not liking Russia. I suggested to her that we had made amistake in coming away together, and that the best way out would be tojump into the sea. This mood, however, which was largely induced by theheat, soon passed.The voyage lasted ?ve or six weeks, so that one got to know one’s fellow-passengers pretty well. The French people mostly belonged to the o?cialclasses. They were much superior to the English, who were rubber plantersand business men. There were rows between the English and the French, inwhich we had to act as mediators. On one occasion the English asked meto give an address about Soviet Russia. In view of the sort of people that theywere, I said only favourable things about the Soviet Government, so there wasnearly a riot, and when we reached Shanghai our English fellow-passengerssent a telegram to the Consulate General in Peking, urging that we shouldnot be allowed to land. We consoled ourselves with the thought of what hadbefallen the ring-leader among our enemies at Saigon. There was at Saigon anelephant whose keeper sold bananas which the visitors gave to the elephant.We each gave him a banana, and he made us a very elegant bow, but ourenemy refused, whereupon the elephant squirted dirty water all over hisimmaculate clothes, which also the keeper had taught him to do. Perhaps ouramusement at this incident did not increase his love of us.When we arrived at Shanghai there was at ?rst no one to meet us. I had hadfrom the ?rst a dark suspicion that the invitation might be a practical joke,and in order to test its genuineness I had got the Chinese to pay my passagemoney before I started. I thought that few people would spend ￡125 on ajoke, but when nobody appeared at Shanghai our fears revived, and we beganto think we might have to creep home with our tails between our legs. Itturned out, however, that our friends had only made a little mistake as to thetime of the boat’s arrival. They soon appeared on board and took us to aChinese hotel, where we passed three of the most bewildering days that Ihave ever experienced. There was at ?rst some di?culty in explaining aboutDora. They got the impression that she was my wife, and when we said thatthis was not the case, they were afraid that I should be annoyed about theirprevious misconception. I told them that I wished her treated as my wife, andthey published a statement to that e?ect in the Chinese papers. From the ?rstmoment to the last of our stay in China, every Chinese with whom we camein contact treated her with the most complete and perfect courtesy, and withexactly the same deference as would have been paid to her if she had been infact my wife. They did this in spite of the fact that we insisted upon her alwaysbeing called ‘Miss Black’.Our time in Shanghai was spent in seeing endless people, Europeans,Americans, Japanese, and Koreans, as well as Chinese. In general the variouspeople who came to see us were not on speaking terms with each other; forthe autobiography of bertrand russell 340instance, there could be no social relations between the Japanese and theKorean Christians who had been exiled for bomb-throwing. (In Korea at thata time a Christian was practically synonymous with a bomb-thrower.) So wehad to put our guests at separate tables in the public room, and move roundfrom table to table throughout the day. We had also to attend an enormousbanquet, at which various Chinese made after-dinner speeches in the bestEnglish style, with exactly the type of joke which is demanded of such anoccasion. It was our ?rst experience of the Chinese, and we were somewhatsurprised by their wit and ?uency. I had not realised until then that a civilisedChinese is the most civilised person in the world. Sun Yat-sen invited meto dinner, but to my lasting regret the evening he suggested was after mydeparture, and I had to refuse. Shortly after this he went to Canton toinaugurate the nationalist movement which afterwards conquered the wholecountry, and as I was unable to go to Canton, I never met him.Our Chinese friends took us for two days to Hangchow to see the WesternLane. The ?rst day we went round it by boat, and the second day in chairs. Itwas marvellously beautiful, with the beauty of ancient civilisation, surpassingeven that of Italy. From there we went to Nanking, and from Nanking by boatto Hankow. The days on the Yangtse were as delightful as the days on theVolga had been horrible. From Hankow we went to Changsha, where aneducational conference was in progress. They wished us to stay there for aweek, and give addresses every day, but we were both exhausted and anxiousfor a chance to rest, which made us eager to reach Peking. So we refused tostay more than twenty-four hours, in spite of the fact that the Governor ofHunan in person held out every imaginable inducement, including a specialtrain all the way to Wuchang.However, in order to do my best to conciliate the people of Changsha, Igave four lectures, two after-dinner speeches, and an after-lunch speech,during the twenty-four hours. Changsha was a place without modern hotels,and the missionaries very kindly o?ered to put us up, but they made it clearthat Dora was to stay with one set of missionaries, and I with another. Wetherefore thought it best to decline their invitation, and stayed at a Chinesehotel. The experience was not altogether pleasant. Armies of bugs walkedacross the bed all through the night.The Tuchun1gave a magni?cent banquet, at which we ?rst met theDeweys, who behaved with great kindness, and later, when I became ill, JohnDewey treated us both with singular helpfulness. I was told that when hecame to see me in the hospital, he was much touched by my saying, ‘We mustmake a plan for peace’ at a time when everything else that I said was delirium.There were about a hundred guests at the Tuchun’s banquet. We assembled inone vast hall and then moved into another for the feast, which was sumptu-ous beyond belief. In the middle of it the Tuchun apologised for the extremechina 341simplicity of the fare, saying that he thought we should like to see howthey lived in everyday life rather than to be treated with any pomp. To myintense chagrin, I was unable to think of a retort in kind, but I hope theinterpreter made up for my lack of wit. We left Changsha in the middle of alunar eclipse, and saw bon?res being lit and heard gongs beaten to frighteno? the Heavenly Dog, according to the traditional ritual of China on suchoccasions. From Changsha, we travelled straight through to Peking, wherewe enjoyed our ?rst wash for ten days.Our ?rst months in Peking were a time of absolute and complete happi-ness. All the di?culties and disagreements that we had had were completelyforgotten. Our Chinese friends were delightful. The work was interesting,and Peking itself inconceivably beautiful.We had a house boy, a male cook and a rickshaw boy. The house boy spokesome English and it was through him that we made ourselves intelligible tothe others. This process succeeded better than it would have done in England.We engaged the cook sometime before we came to live in our house andtold him that the ?rst meal we should want would be dinner some dayshence. Sure enough, when the time came, dinner was ready. The house boyknew everything. One day we were in need of change and we had hiddenwhat we believed to be a dollar in an old table. We described its whereaboutsto the house boy and asked him to fetch it. He replied imperturbably, ‘No,Madam. He bad.’ We also had the occasional services of a sewing woman.We engaged her in the winter and dispensed with her services in the summer.We were amused to observe that while, in winter, she had been very fat, as theweather grew warm, she became gradually very thin, having replaced thethick garments of winter gradually by the elegant garments of summer. Wehad to furnish our house which we did from the very excellent second-handfurniture shops which abounded in Peking. Our Chinese friends could notunderstand our preferring old Chinese things to modern furniture fromBirmingham. We had an o?cial interpreter assigned to look after us. HisEnglish was very good and he was especially proud of his ability to makepuns in English. His name was Mr Chao and, when I showed him an articlethat I had written called ‘Causes of the Present Chaos’, he remarked, ‘Well, Isuppose, the causes of the present Chaos are the previous Chaos.’ I became aclose friend of his in the course of our journeys. He was engaged to a Chinesegirl and I was able to remove some di?culties that had impeded his marriage.I still hear from him occasionally and once or twice he and his wife havecome to see me in England.I was very busy lecturing, and I also had a seminar of the more advancedstudents. All of them were Bolsheviks except one, who was the nephew of theEmperor. They used to slip o? to Moscow one by one. They were charmingyouths, ingenuous and intelligent at the same time, eager to know the worldthe autobiography of bertrand russell 342and to escape from the trammels of Chinese tradition. Most of them had beenbetrothed in infancy to old-fashioned girls, and were troubled by the ethicalquestion whether they would be justi?ed in breaking the betrothal to marrysome girl of modern education. The gulf between the old China and the newwas vast, and family bonds were extraordinarily irksome for the modern-minded young man. Dora used to go to the Girls’ Normal School, wherethose who were to be teachers were being trained. They would put to her