BRACERS Notes

Record no. Notes, topics or text
110829

"With regard to your early letters, my mother has now had them photostated and I enclose 18 of them (1 to follow) with this letter. Unless you want specially to keep these, could you kindly return them to her at your leisure? We intend to do as you suggest—sell them to the McMaster Library in Canada."

110830
110831

"I was very interested to receive the copies of my early letters and I should very much like to keep these copies if possible."

110832

"Of course—my mother will be delighted if you keep the copies of your own letters. I enclose one more (typed) which was inadvertently left out of the ones we had photostated."

"I have written to the McMaster Library about the original ones."

110833
110834

"How worried you must have been when Bertie had pneumonia! We saw him on T.V. in Trafalgar Square—he's wonderful."

110835

"We are very much looking forward to Saturday at the Festival Hall! I'm sure you must be anxious to save Bertie's strength and I do hope he will be able to enjoy the occasion!"

110836

"What a lovely surprise for Ted and me, to have a copy of your Autobiography sent by you; it is most welcome, and we have both read it with the greatest interest."

"Your stand on Vietnam is heartening; the whole cruel war haunts one and makes one so deeply ashamed that our country condones it."

110837
110838

"My best thanks to you and Ted for your letter about my Autobiography. We shall be glad to see your grandsons...."

110839

"Ted and I were thrilled by your invitation and are delighted to accept, for May 18th."

"It will be very good to see Bertie again—and I hope a little time with you may also be possible. P.S. Ted is 77 and I'm 73—both fit, except that I can't do much walking."

110840

"We are absolutely delighted that you can both come. I meant to keep it a secret from Bertie, but couldn't resist telling him, and he is greatly looking forward to seeing you both—as I am."

110841

"Drinks and cake! How nice—and we shall really be able to see Bertie—and perhaps more of you on Friday?"

110842

"Ted and I did SO much enjoy our brief visit to your beautiful home; it is now possible for us to picture your life in this peaceful and friendly setting."

"Our only regret is that Bertie was so much in demand by charming but more 'pushful'-than-I guests—that inevitably we saw little of him; I do hope that you were not both too exhausted at the end of a day that must have meant a great deal of work and preparation."

"Of course the highlight was Miles' very warm speech and Bertie's reply—which meant a lot to those, especially, who are politically behind what Bertie is doing."

110843

"We are much distressed by the totally unexpected news of Ted's death. ... I much admired Ted's perspicacity in political questions, which will be much missed."

110844

"I think John, (who is being most helpful—as are the other 2) has told you that Ted died 8 days after having a stroke in hospital. It was a terrible shock to us all, as he had been so well and lively."

110845

"In the course of sorting and clearing Ted's papers I have come across the documents concerning the trusteeship, together with Francis Meynell, of funds for John and Kate."

There is a TL(CAR) of this letter attached.

110846

"I should be grateful if you would send me the documents concerning the trusteeship which you mentioned."

110847

A programme for the tribute to Ted Lloyd that was held at St. John's Church in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead on Saturday 10 February 1968.

There are notes added to the inside of the programme in an unidentified hand: "M'Hugh Gaman—reading from Marcus Aurelius" and "Lord Salter".

110848

"With you I much wish that Ted had felt able to tackle the huge task of sorting and recording his memoirs. They would have been interesting and delightful."

110849

"Thank you so much for your delightful birthday card. Edith joins me in sending you our love, and we both hope that you are keeping well."

110850

"We have just learned from John that you were ill in the summer, but are now recovering well. We knew nothing of this and are most distressed to have heard of your misfortune."

110851

"I like so much to look back on our visit to you for your 95th, on that happy occasion, and to think of you both in that lovely house and country. And still so wonderfully contributing to discussion on the increasingly distressing international scene."

110852

"Enclosed is the final letter from John Lloyd, son of cousin Margaret" (letter is not enclosed).

"John Lloyd says he has written to 'the McMasters Library' about the originals, so perhaps he will be contacting you."

110853

Letter is marked "Private—Burn."

"For a long long time I have been burdened with the pain of hearing of your misconduct with women—and married women—At first I refused to believe and longed for your denial—but so hate the subject, or asking you, that I refrained. Names mentioned were Lady Otteline Morrel [sic], and Lady Constance ---- ? for the moment I forget" (Agatha is referring to BR's "misconduct" with Lady Ottoline Morrell and Lady Constance Malleson).

There is also a TL(CAR) of the letter. For the original letter, see record 100277.

110854

"Of course you may use Claud's letter of the 22nd September 1923 in any way you like."

"I have read your Autobiography with great interest. ... In so many ways you remind me of Claud. He had—like you—a gift for clear thought and clear writing. Heredity is so strange that although you aren't a very near relation you are more like him in face and disposition than his own brothers and sisters."

110855

"It is kind of you to grant me permission to use Claud's letter in the second volume of my Autobiography."

110856

An invoice for a gold mounted shell box.

110857

"First of all I must thank you, all too belatedly, for being so kind as to inscribe the first volume of your Memoirs for us. It was most kind of you to do this and the book is now one of our chiefest family treasures."

110858

"Warmest wishes and affection from your Greek cousin."

110859

"I shall never forget our afternoon with you—It was the fulfilling of a dream, a longing I had since childhood to meet Lord Russell".

110860

Wishing BR and Edith a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

110861

"I shall be delighted to meet Bertie anywhere and anywhen...."

"I suppose you remember what Sydney Smith said about Euclid and Bertie Russell."

110862

"I wonder if you are in London or in Wales? I should very much like to bring Anne and the children to see you."

110863
On family health matters.
110864
110865

"I was so disappointed that we were not able to come to see you."

"Aunt Diana enjoyed your first volume very much, 'Bertie has told us everything,' she said. I am going to see her next weekend and shall talk about volume two, I hope."

110866

"I regret that it will not be possible to see you next weekend as you suggest, as I am fully occupied. Indeed I am very busy at present, and am unable to say when I could see you."

110867

Regarding a letter from Woodrow Wyatt which appeared in the Times on 11 July 1963 (enclosed with Maud's letter, see record 110868).

Maud wonders why BR did not reply to Woodrow Wyatt's second question in particular. "I noticed you avoided giving an answer to this question—if I may talk frankly to a very distinguished cousin—but wrote instead about the testing of nuclear weapons by the Soviet Union and that, as an answer to Mr. Wyatt's question two didn't satisfy me and can't have satisfied any other serious reader."

There is a dictated reply by BR on the top of the page (see record 110870 for the carbon copy).

110868

Edith writes underneath a typed copy of Woodrow Wyatt's letter which appeared in the Times on 11 July 1963.

Mr. Wyatt's second question asks: "Two, when was the last time that demonstrations involving similar numbers and similar behaviour took place in protest against political imprisonment in the Soviet Union and in the Russian colonies in eastern Europe?"

"We have no copy of the answer sent to the Times which Maud says in her first letter appeared the next day. I suppose question 2 was not answered for the obvious reasons that it was irrelevant and idiotic—cannot oppose all injustices the world round but needn't therefore cease to oppose some if they can be effectively opposed."

110869
110870

"You can not be aware that I have been involved in protests not only against the nuclear policies of East and West but against the retention of political prisoners in East and West as well. I should have thought you would have read of my public controversy with Khrushchev about the Soviet death penalty and persecution of Jews."

110871

"I am glad to hear about your protests against the retention of political prisoners on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain as well as on the western side and also about your protests against the Soviet death penalty and the persecution of the Jews—which I missed through being abroad. But you still haven't given an answer to Mr. Woodrow Wyatt's second question! However I won't pursue the unwelcome subject."

110872

"I find it strange that it should be necessary to justify opposition to barbarism and torture in one country by professions of willingness to oppose such actions in other countries."

"The 'second point' of Mr. Wyatt is not relevant to the issue. As I mentioned in my first letter, I oppose political persecution in the East as well as in the West."

110873

Letter is marked unsent.

"I should point out that I consider Woodrow Wyatt one who is notably indifferent to suffering, but speaks and writes solely to advance those who may advantage him. I am not in the business of promoting the Cold War. To the contrary, I am concerned to prevent brutal governments from annihilating whole populations. I oppose political imprisonment as effectively as I can, no matter who is the author of it. That is sufficient answer to any such enquiry. As for Mr. Wyatt, he received more than he deserved."

"P.S. One of the important reasons why Mr. Woodrow Wyatt was unable to oppose Soviet nuclear tests which result in the poisoning of present and future generations is because he has been so shameless an apologist of Western nuclear tests. It is this sort of hypocrisy that I deplore."

110874

Maud invites BR, Edith and the grandchildren for a visit in the coming week. "There are two Toynbee girls here and a young philosopher, Richard Wollheim, and his wife Anne and their mother."

110875

"What does Bertie think of the events of these last weeks—first Poland then Hungary—and what appears to be the recession of tyranny in its most horrible forms. If it really meant more liberty one's spirits would soar."

110876
110877

"Are you and Bertie in London? If you are it would be nice to see you both again and perhaps you would come to lunch or dinner one day?"

110878

"It is delightful to have your letter and we shall rejoice if your 'next three or four weeks' carries over into April. Bertie and I are to be at 29, Millbank from April 2nd–10th. He has to be in town then for some BBC and other affairs, the dates of which are not yet settled."

110879

"18 photostats from John Lloyd. He says one more to come." 

The photostats include BR's correspondence with his Uncle Rollo and are present in this file.

110880

"You began to tell me something of Nehru's taking on Bertie's plan for Scientists and Atom Bombs as you know that interests me greatly."

110881

"One thing astonishes me: I think my mother could have known nothing whatever of the episode in her sister's life, or I would have been told. My mother's horror of anything to do with sex did not stop her from talking of it with deeply drawn breath and palpitating words. She could not, I think have resisted hints and dark allusions! I'm interested in the authorship coming from Cobden-Sanderson. The probably prejudiced view I used to be given by my mother who was his enemy, was that he was a raconteur rather than a historian."

110882

"Thank you very much for your kind invitation to tea on Saturday. Mrs. Davies is sorry that she is unable to come, but my brother, Morton, and I are looked forward to it."

110883
110884
110885
110886
110887
110888
110889

Farley mentions the Festival Hall event and the sale of History of the World in Epitome for BR's 90th birthday.

110890
110891
110892
110893
110894
110895
110896
110897
110898
110899
110900
110901
110902
110903
110904
110905
110906
110907
110908
110909
110910
110911
110912
110913
110914
110915
110916
110917
110918
110919
110920
110921
110922
110923
110924
110925
110926
110927
110928