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the autobiography of bertrand russell 462much worse. I ?nd that this time I am not a paci?st, and consider the futureof civilisation bound up with our victory. I don’t think anything so importanthas happened since the ?fth century, the previous occasion on which theGermans reduced the world to barbarism.You may have seen that I am to be hounded out of teaching in Americabecause the Catholics don’t like my views. I was quite interested in this(which involves a grave danger of destitution) until the present battlebegan – now I ?nd di?culty in remembering it.Yes, I have read Grapes of Wrath, and I think it a very good book. The issue ofthe migrant workers is a burning one here, on which there is much bitterfeeling.John and Kate are settling in to the university here, and Conrad (just 3) is?ourishing and intelligent. We are all desperately homesick, and hope toreturn as soon as it is ?nancially feasible.Give my love to Bessie and tell her it will be very nice to hear from her.John was most grateful for Lucretius.Yours a?ectionatelyBertrand RussellThe Shi?olds3 May 1941My dear BertieWe were so glad to hear from you about you and yours. I put in this linejust before the post goes. Yes Plato was a comic poet. He did also apparentlywrite some none too serious pseudo-philosophical dialogues, which gottaken too seriously. Some scholars say there were two Platos; but scholars willsay anything.I am sending you a small book of Leopardi translations. I should never havestarted them but for you asking me to do that passage from the Ginestra, soyou may look upon yourself as their ‘onlie begetter’.Bessie keeps fairly well, though she is getting rather blinder. I go on tryingto work, and have lately been translating more Montaigne, not being able towrite poetry. Much love to you and all yours.Yours everBobLittle Datchet FarmMalvern R.D.1.Pennsylvania20 August 1941My dear BobI was delighted to have your Leopardi translations, which I thought verygood. I am glad to think I had a share in bringing them about.america. 1938–1944 463A very short time after writing to you, I came across an allusion to Platothe comic poet. He had been till then completely unknown to me.How does George enjoy his new dignity?6I have only seen him once sinceAugust 4, 1914. In old Butler’s days I once stayed at the Lodge and slept inQueen Anne’s bed. Is it still there?What led you to Montaigne? Do you disapprove of Florio? I was pleased to?nd that ‘Lead Kindly Light’, vulgarly attributed to Newman, was reallywritten by Cleanthes in the 3rd century ??. There are whole chunks of theNew Testament in the Stoics.I enclose a letter to Bessie. I hope her eyesight won’t go on getting worse.Yours everBertrand RussellThe Shi?oldsHolmbury St Mary, Dorking2 October 1941My dear BertieIt was a great pleasure to hear from you again. Bessie no doubt will bewriting or has written. She is very well, except for her eyes. I am now readingto her Nevinson’s memoirs in the evening, which are not at all bad. We read aWilla Cather novel, which we both liked. I have not written much poetrylately, but what I have written I shall soon be sending you in a volume withsome old ones, as all my collected poems were burnt in Longman’s ?re. Thereare two or three quasi-philosophical poems among them, perhaps rathertoo Santayanaish to meet with your approval. I have lately been reading hisbook on the Realm of Spirit, which, though sometimes a bit wordy, pleases memore than most philosophy – but then I’m not a philosopher. I wish I couldunderstand your last book, but it is rather too di?cult for me. I liked,though, your little book of essays (most of which I knew before), and felt inagreement with most of what you say.As to Montaigne, I wonder whether you have ever compared Florio withthe French; if so I think you would see why I think it worthwhile translatinghim again – though I am only doing the Essays, or parts of Essays, I like best. Iam also writing some prose myself, short essays and reminiscences; also Iwant to write about a few of my friends, who are dead such as Tovey, C. A.,Goldie and Roger.7So you see I can’t do you yet; but I may come to livingfriends if they don’t disappear soon enough. George8did not want to beMaster, but his nolo episcopari was brushed aside by Churchill, and now heenjoys being Master a lot. The Lodge has been done up, as it was in fearfuldisrepair, and now is quite pleasant and well-furnished. I slept in the JuniorJudge’s room. Queen Anne’s bed is still there, though I think the bed-tester isgone. We enjoyed our three days visit there. George is cheerful when inthe autobiography of bertrand russell 464company, but often sinks into gloom when alone. He feels the world he caredfor is at an end. I don’t quite feel like that myself, at least not often. He haswritten a book on Social England, leaving out wars and politics etc. What Isaw was quite good. It will be out soon I suppose. His son Humphrey haswritten a book on Goethe, which will be very good when it comes out (bywhich I don’t mean that ‘coming out’ will make it good, though perhapsthat’s true too). Flora Russell and her sister called last week, and they talkeda?ectionately of you, and Flora said you had written to her, which hadevidently pleased her a lot. She is getting older and is rather crippled. I haven’tseen Desmond9since July, but hope he will come to see us soon. He is gettingolder, and had a bad illness this spring, but he is as charming as ever. We likedVirginia Woolf’s Life of Roger very much.Well, you must write to us again before long, and then we will write toyou. I do hope you are both well, and that you both like America fairly well.G. E. Moore, it seems, likes America and Americans very much. I am very gladhe is staying there this winter. I hope the children are both* well. I supposethey are hardly children now. Much love to you both fromYours a?ectionatelyR. C. Trevelyan* Conrad is an infant, not a child; but I hope he is well too.Little Datchet FarmMalvern, R.D.1Pennsylvania9 July 1942My dear BobFor the last 6 months I have been meaning to write to you and Bessie, buthave kept on putting it o? for a moment of leisure. How very sad that yourCollected Poems were burnt in Longman’s ?re. I am all the more glad that mycopy is intact. I love getting your poems – if you don’t get thanks, pleaseattribute it to enemy action.I haven’t read Santayana on the Realm of Spirit, as I had just ?nished writingon him when it appeared. I was glad to ?nd he liked what I wrote on him.Philosophers in this country lack something I like, and I have come to theconclusion that what they lack is Plato. (Not your friend the comic poet.) Ican’t free myself of the love of contemplation versus action.Did you realise that at a certain time Thales and Jeremiah were both inEgypt, probably in the same town? I suggest your composing a dialoguebetween them.I wrote to George about the possibility of my son John going to Trinityamerica. 1938–1944 465after the war, and what would be his standing if he did; he wrote a very kindanswer, showing he had taken a good deal of trouble. John is at Harvard, andhe is to be allowed to complete his course there (which ends in February)before returning to England to join the British forces. For a long time this wasin doubt; we were very glad when it was settled. He will presumably be inEngland in March. He knows a great deal of history, and reads both Latin andGreek for pleasure. I am ploughing through my history of philosophy fromThales to the present day. When Scotus Erigena dined tête-à-tête with the Kingof France, the King asked ‘what separates a Scot from a sot?’ ‘Only the dinner-table’ said the philosopher. I have dined with 8 Prime Ministers, but never gotsuch a chance. Goodbye, with all good wishes.Yours a?ectionatelyBertrand RussellThe Shi?oldsHolmbury St Mary, Dorking3 January 1942 [1943]My dear BertieI have long owed you a letter. Your last letters to us were written to us inJuly. For nearly two months I have been in hospital, as a consequence of mybravery in crossing Hyde Park Corner diagonally during the blackout and sogetting knocked over. It might have been much worse; for now, after a monthat home, I can walk about much as usual, though I easily get tired. You wereonly knocked over by a bicycle; I by an army-taxi. An army-lorry would havebeen more honourable, though perhaps less pleasant.Ted Lloyd was to have come to tea today, but has in?uenza, so onlyMargaret and John came.10I expect you know Ted is going East. It seems he issorry not to come back to America. We hope to see him next Sunday and thenwe shall hear from him about you both. I am very glad you are writing somesort of history of philosophy and philosophers. No one could do it betterthan you. You will no doubt trace the in?uence of Jeremiah upon the cos-mology of Thales. Yes, a dialogue between them might be well worth doing;but at present I know almost nothing of Jeremiah and his little book. By theway, if you want a really ?rst-rate book on the Greek Atomists, you shouldhave a look at Cyril Bailey’s Greek Atomists (Clarendon Press) 1928. But I daresay you know it. It seems to me he really does understand Epicurus, whichour friend Benn never11did. Bailey is, I think very good too about Leucippus,Democritus etc.I have not written any poetry for nearly two years; and not much prose;though I am bringing out a book of Essays and Dialogues some time this year,which I will send you, if I can manage to get it to you. All the mental e?ortI have been able to make lately is a little easy ‘mountaineering’, by whichthe autobiography of bertrand russell 466I mean translating Montaigne – not all of him, but the less dull parts.Sometimes he can be really good. For instance, I have just translated afamous sentence of his: ‘When all is said, it is putting an excessively highvalue on one’s conjectures, to cause a man to be roasted alive on accountof them.’If you can get hold of a copy, you should read Waley’s translation of Monkeya 15th century Chinese fairy story about Buddhism, Taoism, and humannature generally, a superbly Rabelaisian, Aristophanic, Biblical Voltairianbook. It came out last summer (Allen & Unwin).When John comes over here, I hope we may have some opportunity ofseeing him. We still take in the Manch. Guardian, so have seen your and P’sletters, with which we are quite in agreement.We wish you could have spent Christmas here with us. Perhaps nextChristmas? – but hardly so soon I fear.There’s an amusing Life of B. Shaw by Hesketh Pearson, but mostly writtenby G.B.S. himself. Yet I got a little tired of Shaw before I came to the end.Raymond Mortimer’s Essays are not at all bad (Channel Packet). There’s a goodreview of the Amberley Papers; but I expect you have seen that. It’s just ondinner-time, so I must stop. Much love to you both from Bessie and me,Yours a?ectlyBobDesmond was quite ill this autumn; but he seems fairly well again now.To and from Gilbert Murray The West LodgeDowning College, Cambridge3.3.37Dear GilbertThank you for your letter. C.A. lies in his throat. The speech wasagainst armaments, & it is nonsense to suggest that Tory Peers are againstarmaments.Spain has turned many away from paci?sm. I myself have found it verydi?cult, the more so as I know Spain, most of the places where the ?ghtinghas been, & the Spanish people, & I have the strongest possible feelings on theSpanish issue. I should certainly not ?nd Czecho-Slovakia more di?cult. Andhaving remained a paci?st while the Germans were invading France &Belgium in 1914, I do not see why I should cease to be one if they do it again.The result of our having adopted the policy of war at that time is not sodelectable as to make me wish to see it adopted again.You feel ‘They ought to be stopped’. I feel that, if we set to work to stopthem, we shall, in the process, become exactly like them & the world willhave gained nothing. Also, if we beat them, we shall produce in time someamerica. 1938–1944 467one as much worse than Hitler as he is worse than the Kaiser. In all this I seeno hope for mankind.Yours everB.R.YatscombeBoar’s Hill, OxfordJan. 5th. 1939My dear BertieA man has written to the Home University Library to say that thereought to be a book on the Art of Clear Thinking. There is plenty writtenabout theoretic logic, but nothing except perhaps Graham Wallas’s bookabout the actual practice of clear thought. It seems to me that the value ofsuch a book would depend entirely on the writer; I found Wallas’s book,for instance, extremely suggestive and helpful, and I think that if you feltinclined to write something, it might make a great hit and would in anycase be of real value. It might be a little like Aristotle’s Sophistici Elenchi, witha discussion of the ways in which human thought goes wrong, but I thinkit might be something more constructive. I wonder if the idea appeals at allto you.I read Power the other day with great enjoyment, and a wish to argue withyou about several points.Give my respects to your University. Once when I was in New York, therewas a fancy dress dinner, to which people went as celebrated criminals. Oneman was dressed as a trapper, but could not be identi?ed till at the end of theevening he confessed he was the man who discovered Chicago.Yours everG.M.University of ChicagoJanuary 15th 1939My dear GilbertThank you for your letter of January 5th. I think a book about how to thinkclearly might be very useful, but I do not think I could write it. First, forexternal reasons, that I have several books contracted for, which I am anxiousto write and which will take me some years. Secondly – and this is moreimportant – because I haven’t the vaguest idea either how I think or how oneought to think. The process, so far as I know it, is as instinctive andunconscious as digestion. I ?ll my mind with whatever relevant knowledge Ican ?nd, and just wait. With luck, there comes a moment when the work isdone, but in the meantime my conscious mind has been occupied with otherthings. This sort of thing won’t do for a book.the autobiography of bertrand russell 468I wonder what were the points in Power that you wanted to argue about. Ihope the allusions to the Greeks were not wholly wrong.This University, so far as philosophy is concerned, is about the best I haveever come across. There are two sharply opposed schools in the Faculty, oneAristotelian, historical, and traditional, the other ultra-modern. The e?ect onthe students seems to me just right. The historical professors are incrediblylearned, especially as regards medieval philosophy.I am only here till the end of March, but intellectually I enjoy the place verymuch.Yours everB.R.212, Loring AvenueLos Angeles21.4.40My dear GilbertIt is di?cult to do much at this date in America for German academicrefugees.12American universities have been very generous, but are bynow pretty well saturated. I spoke about the matter of Jacobsthal toReichenbach, a German refugee who is a professor here, and whom I admireboth morally and intellectually. He knew all about Jacobsthal’s work,which I didn’t. The enclosed is the o?cial reply of the authorities ofthis university. I must leave further steps to others, as I am at the mo-ment unable to save my own skin. In view of the German invasion of Norway,I suppose it is only too likely that Jacobsthal is by now in a concentrationcamp.Yes, I wish we could meet and have the sort of talk we used to have. I?nd that I cannot maintain the paci?st position in this way. I do notfeel su?ciently sure of the opposite to say anything publicly by way ofrecantation, though it may come to that. In any case, here in America anEnglishman can only hold his tongue, as anything he may say is labelledpropaganda. However, what I wanted to convey is that you would not ?nd medisagreeing with you as much as in 1914, though I still think I was rightthen, in that this war is an outcome of Versailles, which was an outcome ofmoral indignation.It is painful to be at such a distance in war-time, and only the mostimperative ?nancial necessity keeps me here. It is a comfort that my threechildren are here, but the oldest is 18, and I do not know how soon he maybe needed for military service. We all su?er from almost unbearable home-sickness, and I ?nd myself longing for old friends. I am glad that you are stillone of them.Please give my love to Mary even if she doesn’t want it. And do writeamerica. 1938–1944 469again, telling me something of what you feel about the whole ghastlybusiness.Yours everBertrand RussellJuly 29th, 1940My dear BertieI was very glad to get your letter, though I feel greatly distressed by it. Ishould have thought that the obviously unjust attack on you as a teacherwould have produced a strong and helpful reaction in your favour; there wasquite a good article about it in the Nation (American). I still hope that it mayhave the result of making your friends more active.I do not suppose you are thinking of coming back here. It would be easyenough if you were alone, but children make all the di?erence. I suppose thiscountry is really a dangerous place, though it is hard for the average civilianto realise the fact; life goes on so much as usual, with no particular warhardship except taxes, only news every day about battles in the air and ageneral impression that we are all playing at soldiers. I am inclined to thinkthat one of the solid advantages of the English temperament is that we do notget frightened or excited beforehand as Latins and Semites do, we wait till thedanger comes before getting upset by it. I suppose this is what people calllack of imagination.One development that interests me is this: assuming that the war is in asense a civil war throughout the world, or a war of religions or what theynow call ideologies, for a long time it was not quite clear what the two sideswere: e.g. some people said it was Communism or Socialism against Fascism,others that it was Christianity against ungodliness. But now, as far as ideas areconcerned, it is clearly Britain and America with some few supporters againstthe various autocracies, which means Liberalism v Tyranny. I found Benessaying much the same the other day; he had been afraid that the war wouldcome on what he called a false issue, of Communism v Fascism. Now hethinks it is on the right one.If ever I can be of any use to you, please let me know.Yours everGilbert Murray(As from) Harvard UniversityCambridge, Mass. U.S.A.September 6th 1940Dear GilbertThank you very much for your letter of July 29. My personal problemshave been solved by a rich patron (in the eighteenth-century style) who hasthe autobiography of bertrand russell 470given me a teaching post with little work and su?cient salary. I cannot returnto England, not only on account of my children, but also because I could notearn a living there. Exile at such a time, however, is in?nitely painful. Mean-while, we have spent the summer in a place of exquisite beauty, like the bestof the Tyrol, and I have ?nished a big book, An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth –Hume plus modern logic. Sometimes I think the best thing one can do is tosalvage as much as possible of civilisation before the onset of the dark ages. Ifeel as if we were living in the ?fth century.I quite agree with what you say about the war of ideologies. The issuebecame clear when Russia turned against us. Last time the alliance with theCzar confused the issue.Sympathy in this country is growing more and more emphatic on our side.My belief, is that if we pull through this month, we shall win. But I am notoptimistic as to the sort of world that the war will leave.Yours everBertrand Russell(Permanent address)Little Datchet FarmMalvern, R.D.?. Pa; U.S.A.January 18th 1941My dear GilbertI was very glad to get your good letter of October 23. I am now establishedin a small country house 200 years old – very ancient for this part of theworld – in lovely country, with pleasant work. If the world were at peace Icould be very happy.As to the future: It seems to me that if we win, we shall win completely: Icannot think the Nazis will survive. America will dominate, and will probablynot withdraw as in 1919; America will not be war-weary, and will believeresolutely in the degree of democracy that exists here. I am accordingly fairlyoptimistic. There is good hope that the militaristic régime in Japan will col-lapse, and I do not believe China will ever be really militaristic. Russia, I think,will be the greatest di?culty, especially if ?nally on our side. I have no doubtthat the Soviet Government is even worse than Hitler’s, and it will be amisfortune if it survives. There can be no permanent peace unless there is onlyone Air Force in the world, with the degree of international government thatthat implies. Disarmament alone, though good, will not make peace secure.Opinion here varies with the longitude. In the East, people are passionatelypro-English; we are treated with extra kindness in shops as soon as peoplenotice our accent. In California they are anti-Japanese but not pro-English; inthe Middle West they were rather anti-English. But everywhere opinion isvery rapidly coming over to the conviction that we must not be defeated.america. 1938–1944 471It is rather dreadful to be out of it all. I envy Rosalind [his daughter] asmuch as I admire her.I am giving a 4-year course of lectures on history of philosophy in relationto culture and social circumstances, from Thales to Dewey. As I can’t readGreek, this is rather cheek; but anyway I enjoy it. I divide it into 3 cycles, Greek,Catholic, Protestant. In each case the gradual decay of an irrational dogmaleads to anarchy, and thence to dictatorship. I like the growth of Catholicismout of Greek decadence, and of Luther out of Machiavelli’s outlook.I remember your description of Sophocles (which you afterwards denied)as ‘a combination of matricide and high spirits’. I remember, also, when Ibesought you to admit merit in ‘hark, hark the lark’ you said it ought to goon ‘begins to bark’. I disagree with you about Shakespeare; I don’t knowenough about Sophocles to have an opinion. At the moment, I am full ofadmiration for Anaximander, and amazement at Pythagoras, who combinedEinstein and Mrs Eddy. I disapprove of Plato because he wanted to prohibit allmusic except Rule Britannia and The British Grenadiers. Moreover, heinvented the Pecksni?an style of the Times leading articles.Do write again. Goodbye.Yours everBertrand RussellLittle Datchet FarmMalvern, R.D. ?PennsylvaniaJune 18th 1941