of rice, and innumerable dishes which we ate with chopsticks. When wehad ?nished eating they remarked that one of their number was fond of oldChinese music, and would like to play to us. So he produced an instrumentwith seven strings, made by himself on the ancient model, out of black woodtwo thousand years old, which he had taken from a temple. The instrument isplayed with the ?nger, like a guitar, but is laid ?at on a table, not held in thehand. They assured us that the music he played was four thousand years old,but that I imagine must be an overstatement. In any case, it was exquisitelybeautiful, very delicate, easier for a European ear than more recent music(of which I have heard a good deal). When the music was over they becameagain a sta? of bustling journalists.From Shanghai our Chinese friends took us for three nights to Hangchowthe autobiography of bertrand russell 352on the Western Lake, said to be the most beautiful scenery in China. This wasmerely holiday. The Western Lake is not large – about the size of Grasmere –it is surrounded by wooded hills, on which there are innumerable pagodasand temples. It has been beauti?ed by poets and emperors for thousandsof years. (Apparently poets in ancient China were as rich as ?nanciers inmodern Europe.) We spent one day in the hills – a twelve hour expeditionin Sedan chairs – and the next in seeing country houses, monasteries, etc. onislands in the lake.Chinese religion is curiously cheerful. When one arrives at a temple, theygive one a cigarette and a cup of delicately fragrant tea. Then they show oneround. Buddhism, which one thinks of as ascetic, is here quite gay. The saintshave fat stomachs, and are depicted as people who thoroughly enjoy life.No one seems to believe the religion, not even the priests. Nevertheless, onesees many rich new temples.The country houses are equally hospitable – one is shewn round and giventea. They are just like Chinese pictures, with many arbours where one cansit, with everything made for beauty and nothing for comfort – except inthe grandest rooms, where there will be a little hideous European furniture.The most delicious place we saw on the Western Lake was a retreat forscholars, built about eight hundred years ago on the lake. Scholars certainlyhad a pleasant life in the old China.Apart from the in?uence of Europeans, China makes the impression ofwhat Europe would have become if the eighteenth century had gone ontill now without industralism or the French Revolution. People seem to berational hedonists, knowing very well how to obtain happiness, exquisitethrough intense cultivation of their artistic sensibilities, di?ering fromEuropeans through the fact that they prefer enjoyment to power. Peoplelaugh a great deal in all classes, even the lowest.The Chinese cannot pronounce my name, or write it in their characters.They call me ‘Luo-Su’ which is the nearest they can manage. This, they canboth pronounce and print.From Hangchow we went back to Shanghai, thence by rail to Nanking, analmost deserted city. The wall is twenty-three miles in circumference, butmost of what it encloses is country. The city was destroyed at the end ofthe Taiping rebellion, and again injured in the Revolution of 1911, but it isan active educational centre, eager for news of Einstein and Bolshevism.From Nanking we went up the Yiangtse to Hangkow, about three days’journey, through very lovely scenery – thence by train to Cheng-Sha, thecapital of Hu-Nan, where a great educational conference was taking place.There are about three hundred Europeans in Cheng-Sha, but Europeanisationhas not gone at all far. The town is just like a mediaeval town – narrow streets,every house a shop with a gay sign hung out, no tra?c possible except Sedanchina 353chairs and a few rickshaws. The Europeans have a few factories, a few banks, afew missions and a hospital – the whole gamut of damaging and repairingbody and soul by western methods. The Governor of Hu-Nan is the mostvirtuous of all the Governors of Chinese provinces, and entertained us lastnight at a magni?cent banquet. Professor and Mrs Dewey were present; itwas the ?rst time I had met them. The Governor cannot talk any Europeanlanguage, so, though I sat next to him, I could only exchange complimentsthrough an interpreter. But I got a good impression of him; he is certainlyvery anxious to promote education, which seems the most crying need ofChina. Without it, it is hard to see how better government can be introduced.It must be said that bad government seems somewhat less disastrous in Chinathan it would be in a European nation, but this is perhaps a super?cialimpression which time may correct.We are now on our way to Pekin, which we hope to reach on October 31st.Bertrand RussellFrom S. YamamotoTokyo, JapanDecember 25, 1920Dear SirWe heartily thank you for your esteemed favour of the latest date andalso for the manuscript on ‘The Prospects of Bolshevik Russia’, which hasjust arrived.When a translation of your article on ‘Patriotism’ appeared in our NewYear issue of the Kaizo now already on sale, the blood of the young Japanesewas boiled with enthusiasm to read it. All the conversations everywhereamong gentlemen classes, students and laborers centered upon your article,so great was the attraction of your thoughts to them.The only regret was that the government has requested us to omit refer-ences you made to Japan in your article as much as possible, and we wereobliged to cut out some of your valuable sentences. We trust that you willgenerously sympathise with us in the position in which we are placed andthat you will excuse us for complying with the government’s request.Hereafter, however, we shall publish your articles in the original as wellas in a translation according the dictate of our principle.The admiration for you of the millions of our young men here is some-thing extraordinary.Your principle is identical with that of ourselves, so that as long as welive we wish to be with you. But that our country is still caught in theobstinate conventional mesh of 3,000 years standing, so that reforms cannotbe carried out, is a cause of great regret. We have to advance step by step. Yourthe autobiography of bertrand russell 354publications have served as one of the most important factors to move ourpromising young men of Japan in their steadfast advancement.In the past thirty odd years, physical and medical sciences have especiallyadvanced in Japan. But it is a question how much progress we have made inthe way of original inventions. Yet we are con?dent that in pure science weare by no means behind America in advancement. Only the majority of ourcountry men are still enslaved by the ideas of class distinctions and otherbackward thoughts, of which we are greatly ashamed. The Japanese militaryclique and the gentlemen clique have been anxious to lead Japan in the pathof aggression, thereby only inviting the antipathy of the nation. The presentJapanese world of thought has been subject to an undercurrent of struggle.We will be very much grieved if our country were regarded as an aggressivenation because of that.One half of our government o?cials and almost eighty per cent of thearmy men have been caught in dreams of aggression, it is true. But recentlythere has been much awakening from that.We have con?dence in our young men who have begun to awaken, so thatthey may advance in the path of civilisation not to disappoint the world. Wetrust that you will write your articles with the object in view to encourageour young men in their e?orts for advancement.Please give our regards to Miss Black.Yours respectfullyS. Yamamoto[Humbug is international]To Ottoline Morrell[1921]The other day Dora and I went to a Chinese feast given by the ChineseStudents here. They made speeches full of delicate wit, in the style of 18thcentury France, with a mastery of English that quite amazed me. The ChineseChargé d’A?aires said he had been asked to speak on Chinese Politics – hesaid the urgent questions were the General Election, economy and limitationof armaments – he spoke quite a long time, saying only things that mighthave been said in a political speech about England, and which yet were quiteall right for China – when he sat down he had not committed himself toanything at all, but had suggested (without ever saying) that China’s prob-lems were worse than ours. The Chinese constantly remind me of OscarWilde in his ?rst trial when he thought wit would pull one through anything,and found himself in the grip of a great machine that cared nothing forhuman values. I read of a Chinese General the other day, whose troops hadventured to resist a Japanese attack, so the Japanese insisted that he shouldapologise to their Consul. He replied that he had no uniform grand enoughchina 355for such an august occasion, and therefore to his profound sorrow he mustforego the pleasure of visiting a man for whom he had so high an esteem.When they nevertheless insisted, he called the same day on all the otherConsuls, so that it appeared as if he were paying a mere visit of ceremony.Then all Japan raised a howl that he had insulted the Japanese nation.I would do anything in the world to help the Chinese, but it is di?cult.They are like a nation of artists, with all their good and bad points. ImagineGertler and [Augustus] John and Lytton set to govern the British Empire,and you will have some idea how China has been governed for 2,000 years.Lytton is very like an old fashioned Chinaman, not at all like the modernwesternised type.I must stop. All my love.Your B.From my brother FrankTelegraph HouseChichester27 January 1921Dear BertieThe Bank to which I have rashly given a Guarantee is threatening to sellme up, so that by the time you return I shall probably be a pauper walkingthe streets. It is not an alluring prospect for my old age but I dare say it willa?ord great joy to Elizabeth.I have not seen the elusive little Wrinch again although she seems tospend as much time in London as at Girton. I did not know a don had somuch freedom of movement in term time.Did you know that our disagreeable Aunt Gertrude was running the PunchBowl Inn at Hindhead? I feel tempted to go and stay there for a week endbut perhaps she would not take me in. The Aunt Agatha was very bitter aboutit when I last saw her and said the horrible woman was running all overHindhead poisoning people’s minds against her by saying the most shockingthings – we can guess what about. I think when one re?ects on the P.L.[Pembroke Lodge] atmosphere it is amusing to think of the Aunt Agathabecoming an object of scandal in her old age.4Naturally she feels that some-thing must be seriously wrong with the world for such a thing to be possible.She was quite amusingly and refreshingly bitter about Gertrude and nexttime I see her I will draw her out a bit.I am afraid I have no more news to tell you: my mind is entirely occupiedwith thoughts of what it is like to be a bankrupt – and how – and where – tolive on nothing a year. The problem is a novel one and I dislike all its solutions.Yours a?ectionatelyRussellthe autobiography of bertrand russell 356From Robert Young The Japan ChronicleP.O. Box No. 91 SannomiyaKobe, JapanJanuary 18, 1921Dear Mr RussellYour books have always been so helpful to me that when I heard you werecoming out here I ventured to send you a copy of the Chronicle in the hopethat you might ?nd something of interest in it from time to time. Please donot trouble about the subscription; I am very glad if the paper has been ofservice.When I was in England a year ago I hoped to have the opportunity of atalk with you, and Francis Hirst tried to arrange it but found you were awayfrom London at the time. Do you intend to visit Japan before you returnto England? If so I shall hope to have a chance of meeting you, and if I cando anything here in connection with such a visit please let me know.I shall be glad to read your new book on Bolshevism. Since you wroteyou will perhaps have noticed a review of Bolshevism in Theory and Practice. Itmay perhaps be interesting to you to know that I can remember your father’swill being upset in the Courts, and that as a result I have followed your careerwith interest.Sincerely YoursRobert YoungThe Japan ChronicleP.O. Box No. 91 SannomiyaKobe, JapanKobe, January 2, 1922Dear Mr RussellIt is a long time since August, when you wrote to me from the Empressof Asia, and I ought to have acknowledged your letter earlier, but with mysmall sta? I am always kept very busy, and my correspondence tends toaccumulate.I have just heard from Mrs Russell of the birth of an heir, and I congratulateyou in no formal sense, for it has given us great pleasure and much reliefto learn that Mrs Russell did not su?er from her experiences in Japan. Ipublished the letter you sent me, and I think some good has been done bythe protest. So few people have courage to protest against an evil of thischaracter, lest worse things may befall them in the way of criticism.What a farce the Washington Conference is. From the ?rst I doubted thesincerity of this enthusiasm for peace on the part of those who made the war.Perhaps it is the head rather than the heart that is at fault. The statesmen donot seem to realise that so long as the old policies are pursued, we shall havechina 357the same results, and that a limitation of armaments to the point they havereached during the war puts us in a worse position regarding the burdencarried and the danger of explosion than in 1914. Japan has sulkily acceptedthe ratio proposed by America, but is supporting the French demand formore submarines. France is showing herself a greater danger to Europe thanGermany ever was. China has been betrayed at the Washington Conference, aswe expected. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance has been scrapped, to be replacedby a Four-Power agreement which is still more dangerous to China. Hersalvation, unhappily, lies in the jealousies of the Powers. United, the pressureon her will be increased. But I doubt whether the Senate will endorse thetreaty, once its full implications are understood.You are very busy, I note, and I hope that you will be able to make peoplethink. But it is a wicked and perverse generation, I am afraid. Sometimes Idespair. It looks as if all the ideals with which I started life had been over-thrown. But I suppose when one is well into the sixties, the resilience ofyouth has disappeared.By the way, I have suggested to the Conway Memorial Committee that yoube asked to deliver the annual lecture. If you are asked, I hope you will seeyour way to consent. Moncure Conway was a ?ne character, always preparedto champion the oppressed and defend free speech. He stood by Bradlaughand Mrs Besant when they were prosecuted for the publication of the Fruits ofPhilosophy, as he stood by Foote when prosecuted on account of the Freethinker,though personally objecting to that style of propaganda.I have given Mrs Russell some Japan news in a letter I have just written toher, so I will not repeat here. I hope you are receiving the Japan Weekly Chronicleregularly, so that you can keep in touch with news in this part of the world. Ithas been sent to you care of George Allen & Unwin. Now I have your Chelseaaddress I will have it sent there. For some years our Weekly has been steadilyincreasing in circulation, going all over the world. But from the 1st of thisyear the Japanese Post O?ce has doubled the foreign postage rates, whichmakes 6 yen for postage alone per annum on a copy of the Weekly, and Iam afraid our circulation will su?er accordingly.It is very good to hear that you are completely restored to health. Mrs Russellsays you would scarcely be recognised by those who only saw you in Japan.Your visit was a great pleasure to me. For years I had admired your writingsand been encouraged by the stand you had taken in public a?airs when eventhe stoutest seemed to waver. It therefore meant much to me to make youracquaintance and I hope your friendship.With our united good wishes,Sincerely yoursRobert Youngthe autobiography of bertrand russell 358From C. P. Sanger 5 New SquareLincolns Inn, W.C.22 June 1921My dear BertieHow kind of you to write; and to say such kind things. Until there wasa false rumour of your death I never really knew how very fond I am of you. Ididn’t believe the rumour, but the mere idea that I might never see you againhad never come into my mind; and it was an intense relief when the ChineseEmbassy ascertained that the rumour was false. You will take care of yourhealth now, won’t you?The Political situation is, as always, damnable – millions of unemployed –soldiers camping in the parks – but an excellent day yesterday for the Derbywhich is all that anyone apparently cares about.Einstein lectures at King’s College in 10 days time, but I can’t get a ticket.I’ve been reading some of Einstein’s actual papers and they give me a mosttremendous impression of the clearness of his thoughts.We spent a delightful Whitsuntide at the Shi?olds: Tovey5was there andtalked endlessly and played Beethoven Sonatas and Bach, so I was very happy.I enclose a letter for Miss Black – I’m afraid it’s a little inadequate but it’sso di?cult to write to a person one has never seen. I hope this experiencewith her and her devoted nursing of you will form an eternal basis foryou both.Dora sends her love.Yours fraternally anda?ectionatelyC. P. SangerFrom Joseph Conrad OswaldsBishopsbourne, Kent2. Nov. 1921My Dear RussellWe were glad to hear that your wife feels none the worse for the exertionsand agitations of the move.6Please give her our love and assure her that sheis frequently in our thoughts.As to yourself I have been dwelling with you mentally for several daysbetween the covers of your book7– an habitation of great charm and mostfascinatingly furnished; not to speak of the wonderful quality of light thatreigns in there. Also all the windows (I am trying to write in images) are,one feels, standing wide open. Nothing less stu?y – of the Mansions of themind – could be conceived! I am sorry for the philosophers (p. 212 – end)who (like the rest of us) cannot have their cake and eat it. There’s no exacti-tude in the vision or in the words. I have a notion that we are condemnedchina 359in all things to the à-peu-près, which no scienti?c passion for weighing andmeasuring will ever do away with.It is very possible that I haven’t understood your pages – but the goodtry I have had was a delightful experience. I suppose you are enough of aphilosopher not to have expected more from a common mortal.I don’t believe that Charles I was executed (pp. 245–246 et seq.) but there isnot enough paper left here to explain why. Next time perhaps. For I certainlyintend to meet you amongst your Chinoiseries at the very earliest ?tting time.Always a?ectly yoursJ. ConradOswaldsBishopsbourne, Kent18th Nov. 1921My Dear RussellJessie must have sent yesterday our congratulations and words of welcometo the ‘comparative stranger’ who has come to stay with you (and takecharge of the household as you will soon discover). Yes! Paternity is a greatexperience of which the least that can be said is that it is eminently worthhaving – if only for the deepened sense of fellowship with all men it givesone. It is the only experience perhaps whose universality does not make itcommon but invests it with a sort of grandeur on that very account. Mya?ection goes out to you both, to him who is without speech and thought asyet and to you who have spoken to men profoundly with e?ect and author-ity about the nature of the mind. For your relation to each other will have itspoignant moments arising out of the very love and loyalty binding you toeach other.Of all the incredible things that come to pass this – that there should beone day a Russell bearing mine for one of his names is surely the mostmarvellous. Not even my horoscope could have disclosed that for I verilybelieve that all the sensible stars would have refused to combine in thatextravagant manner over my cradle. However it has come to pass (to thesurprise of the Universe) and all I can say is that I am profoundly touched –more than I can express – that I should have been present to your mind inthat way and at such a time.Please kiss your wife’s hand for me and tell her that in the obscure bewil-dered masculine way (which is not quite unintelligent however) I take part inher gladness. Since your delightful visit here she was much in our thoughts –and I will confess we felt very optimistic. She has justi?ed it fully and it is agreat joy to think of her with two men in the house. She will have her handsfull presently. I can only hope that John Conrad has been born with a dis-position towards indulgence which he will consistently exercise towards histhe autobiography of bertrand russell 360parents. I don’t think that I can wish you anything better and so with mydear love to all three of you, I amalways yoursJoseph ConradP.S. I am dreadfully o?ended at your associating me with some undesirableacquaintance of yours8who obviously should not have been allowed insidethe B. Museum reading-room. I wish you to understand that my attitudetowards [the] King Charles question is not phantastic but philosophical andI shall try to make it clear to you later when you will be more in a state tofollow my reasoning closely. Knowing from my own experience I imaginethat it’s no use talking to you seriously just now.From Eileen Power184 Ebury StreetS.W.1Saturday, [December, 1921]Dear BertieThe book is The Invention of a New Religion by Professor Chamberlain. If youwant to consult it, here it is and perhaps you would let me have it back anon.I am so glad that you and Dora can come to luncheon to meet Dr Wise onWednesday and tell Dora that 1.30 will do beautifully. I am also asking B. K.Martin, a very intelligent young man who is now teaching history atMagdalene, having got his ?? last year. He wrote to me three days ago andsaid ‘if you would introduce me to Bertrand Russell I should be forever inyour debt. I’d rather meet him than any other living (or dead) creature.’ I feltthat in view of this preeminence over the shades of Plato, Julius Caesar,Cleopatra, Descartes, Ninon de l’Enclos and Napoleon the Great, you wouldconsent to shine upon him! Also he is extremely clever and a nice boy.Yours everEileen PowerI was asked to dine with the Webbs the other day, but I don’t think I evershall be again for we nearly came to blows over the relative merits of Chinaand Japan!From Claud RussellSept. 22. 1923British LegationAdis AbabaDear BertieI have just read with great pleasure your Problem of China, where I spent somechina 361years. It is a fact that the Treaty of Versailles (article 131) provided for therestoration of the astronomical instruments to China, but I am under theimpression that the obligation has not been carried out. If so, I fear youcannot count it among the ‘important bene?ts’ secured to the world by thattreaty. Perhaps you might suggest to your friends in China the occupation ofSwabia or Oldenburg to secure its enforcement. I must say, however, infairness to the Treaty of Versailles, that you do it less than justice. You haveoverlooked article 246, under which ‘Germany will hand over to H.B.M.’sGovernment the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa...’I think, if I may say so, that on page 24 (top) ‘animal’ should be ‘annual’.I feel sure the Temple of Heaven was never the scene of the sort of sacri?cethat pleased the God of Abel.Your a?ec cousinClaud Russell