you think of it?
We must certainly get together to talk (& perhaps conspire) & that soon.
What are your times & seasons? My daughter in law Marjorie ?xes most
of my engagements and you & Madame must come to tea one day & see what
we can do.
I have been ill & I keep ill. I am President of the Diabetic Soc’y & diabetes
keeps one in & out, in & out of bed every two hours or so. This exhausts, and
this vast return to chaos which is called the peace, the in?nite meanness of
great masses of my fellow creatures, the wickedness of organised religion
give me a longing for a sleep that will have no awakening. There is a long
history of heart failure on my paternal side but modern palliatives are very
e?ective holding back that moment of release. Sodium bicarbonate keeps me
in a grunting state of protesting endurance. But while I live I have to live and I
owe a lot to a decaying civilisation which has anyhow kept alive enough of
the spirit of scienti?c devotion to stimulate my curiosity [and] make me its
debtor.
Forgive this desolation. I hope to see you both before very long & am yours
most gratefully.
H. G. Wells
From Clement Attlee
10, Downing Street
Whitehall
11 October, 1945
My dear Russell
Many thanks for your letter of October 9 and for sending me your article –
‘What America could do with the Atomic Bomb’. I have read this with
interest and I am grateful to you for bringing it to my notice. I need hardly
tell you that this is one of the most di?cult and perplexing problems with
which statesmen have ever been faced and I can assure you that all the points
you have made are present in my mind.
Yours sincerely
C. R. Attlee
The following is the account that I wrote to my wife Peter immediately after the plane accident
in which I was involved. It is dated October 1948.
You will no doubt have learnt that I was in an accident to-day – luckily one
in which I su?ered no damage beyond loss of suit-case etc. I was sure the
newspapers would exaggerate so I telegraphed to you at once. I came from
the autobiography of bertrand russell 516Oslo in a sea-plane, and just as it touched the water on arrival here a sudden
wind blew it onto its side and let the water in. Boats were sent out instantly,
and we had to jump from a window and swim till they reached us, which
was only about a minute. I did not know till later that some who could not
swim were drowned. It did me no harm whatever. My writing is queer
because my pen is lost. I went to bed because I had no dry clothes. The Consul
has now brought me some and the Vice-Consul has lent me a suit till mine
is dry. Everybody has made far more fuss of me than the occasion warranted.
I was struck by the good behaviour of the passengers – all did exactly as they
were told without any fuss.
I will try to relate everything.
The weather was stormy, heavy rain and a gale of wind. The sea-plane had
just touched the water of the fjord when there was a violent jerk and I found
myself on the ?oor with some inches of water in which hats, coats, etc. were
?oating. I exclaimed ‘well, well!’ and started looking for my hat, which I failed
to ?nd. At ?rst I thought a wave had broken in at a window; it didn’t occur to
me it was serious.
I was in the very back of the plane, the only part where one could smoke;
this turned out to be the best place to be. After a few minutes the crew opened
a door and got the passengers from the back through to an open window, and
shoved us one by one into the sea. By this time their haste had made me
realise that things were serious. I jumped, clutching my attache case, but had
to let go of it to swim. When I got into the water I saw there was a boat close
by. We swam to it and were pulled on board. When I looked round, nothing
was visible of the plane except the tip of a wing. The swim was about
20 yards. I saw nothing of what happened at the other end of the plane;
I imagine they jumped through another window. I gather the people killed
were stunned when the accident happened. One of them was a Professor
concerned in arrangements about my lecture. I pointed out my ?oating attache
case to the people on the boat, and last night a policeman brought it. The
things in it were all right, except that the silly books were somewhat damaged.
No other piece of luggage was rescued.
The people who had come to the airport to meet me were very solicitous,
and drove me at breakneck speed to the hotel, where I got my wet clothes o?,
went to bed, and consumed large quantities of brandy and co?ee, after which
I went to sleep. The Consul brought me socks, shirt, etc., and the Vice-Consul
lent me a suit. My own will be wearable to-morrow. Then came an avalanche
of journalists. One from Copenhagen asked what I thought while in the
water. I said I thought the water was cold. ‘You didn’t think about mysticism
and logic?’ ‘No’ I said, and rang o?.
I was not brave, only stupid. I had always thought a sea-plane would ?oat.
I did not realise there was danger, and was mainly concerned to save my
return to england 517attache case. My watch goes as well as ever, and even my matches strike. But
the suitcase, with a suit, shirts, etc. is gone for ever. I am writing with a beastly
pen, because mine is lost.
To Willard V. Quine
18 Dorset House
Gloucester Place, N.W.1
Feb. 4, 1949
Dear Dr Quine
Thank you for your kind letter, and for your paper on ‘What There is’ – a
somewhat important subject. When I ?rst sent my theory of description to
Mind in 1905, Stout thought it such rubbish that he almost refused to print it.
I am glad you noticed the allusion to yourself on p. 140.
I was lucky in the aeroplane accident, as nearly half those on the plane
ceased to be among ‘what there is’.
Your sincerely
Bertrand Russell
After my return to England I paid several visits to my ?rst wife at her invitation, and received the
following letters from her. The friendly correspondence lasted till her death very early in 1951.
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
June 9. 1949
Dearest Bertie
I feel I must break the silence of all these years by sending thee a line of
congratulation on thy ??. No one can rejoice in it more heartily than I do,
just as no one was more sorry for the prison sentence and thy di?culties in
America. Now I hope thee will have a peaceful old age, just as I am doing at
81, after a stormy time with Logan. I miss dear Lucy Donnelly’s letters very
much, but am glad they have raised over $50,000.00 to endow a Scholarship
in English in her memory.
As ever, a?ectionately thine
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
Sept. 30 1949
Dearest Bertie
I found these letters and this article of thine among my papers, and think
thee may like to have them. I think I must have destroyed all thy other letters.
Our scrapbook about the Sozial-Demokrats in Berlin in 1895 I presented to
the autobiography of bertrand russell 518the London School of Economics, but have borrowed it back now as the ???
may want a Talk on it. I have told them thee could give it much better than I.
I have been told thee is writing thy Autobiography, which ought to be
deeply interesting. (I don’t care for B. B. [Bernard Berenson]’s but like George
Trevelyan’s.) I am also writing some Memoirs, and enclose a copy of
what I think of saying about our marriage. But if thee thinks it incorrect, or
wounding to thee, I could make it much shorter.
Thine ever
Alys
I hope thee will be interested in these recently published Letters of
Mother’s.
What Alys wrote of our marriage:
Bertie was an ideal companion, & he taught me more than I can ever repay.
But I was never clever enough for him, & perhaps he was too sophisticated
for me. I was ideally happy for several years, almost deliriously happy, until a
change of feeling made our mutual life very di?cult. A ?nal separation led to
a divorce, when he married again. But that was accomplished without bitter-
ness, or quarrels, or recriminations, & later with great rejoicing on my part
when he was awarded the ??. But my life was completely changed, & I was
never able to meet him again for fear of the renewal of my awful misery,
& heartsick longing for the past. I only caught glimpses of him at lectures or
concerts occasionally, & thro’ the uncurtained windows of his Chelsea house,
where I used to watch him sometimes reading to his children. Unfortunately,
I was neither wise enough nor courageous enough to prevent this one disaster
from shattering my capacity for happiness & my zest for life.
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
Jan. 13. 1950
Dearest Bertie
In September I sent thee a book of Mother’s Letters, A Religious Rebel, with a
1909 packet of thy own letters to me, and a note from myself. I could not
understand why I had no reply, but now the packet has been returned to me –
my name was on the outside and it was addressed to the Hon. Bertrand
Russell, ??, Penralltgoch, Llan Ffestiniog, Merioneth but marked ‘not known’.
I should like it to reach thee if I knew thy address.
Thine ever
Alys
return to england 51925 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
Feb. 14. ’50
Dearest Bertie
I enjoyed thy visit immensely, & hope we can be friends & see each other
soon again. I wrote to B. B. about thy coming here, & he sends thee a warm
invitation to go & stay with him at any time. He says there is no man alive
whom he would rather be seeing and talking with than thee, & that he
practically always agrees with everything thee writes. He has asked me to lend
thee his book on Aesthetics, which I will do, tho’ I do not think thee will care
for it. The Autobiography is better, tho’ not well written.
I should like to know thy opinion of Bob Gathorne-Hardy’s Recollections of
Logan, & will send thee my extra copy, if thee has not already seen it. It has
been very well reviewed, & B. B. calls it ‘a masterpiece’.
Ever thine
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
Mar. 9. 1950
Dearest Bertie
Thanks for thy letter. I was not surprised at thy not answering mine of
Sept. 30th. as I thought thee probably preferred not to have any intimate talk
of the past, but I am thankful that thee did not feel unduly censured, nor that
my radiant memories of our life together should be marred. Please do come
& have lunch with me again as soon as thee can possibly spare time. I shall
count the days till then, as I have so many questions I want to discuss with
thee, & I hope it will be soon. Ring up before 9.30 or after 12.
I don’t think I want thy letters from Paris, nor the German volumes, as the
??? decline a talk on Germany in 1895.
Thine ever
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
April 14. 1950
Dearest Bertie
I have so enjoyed our two meetings & thee has been so friendly, that I feel
I must be honest & just say once (but once only) that I am utterly devoted
to thee, & have been for over 50 years. My friends have always known that
I loved thee more than anyone else in the world, & they now rejoice with me
that I am now able to see thee again.
the autobiography of bertrand russell 520But my devotion makes no claim, and involves no burden on thy part, nor
any obligation, not even to answer this letter.
But I shall still hope thee can spare time to come to lunch or dinner before
very long, & that thee will not forget May 18th.
Thine ever
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
June 8. 1950
Dearest Bertie
Thanks for my book returned, with the address I wanted on a very small
slip of paper, & now for thy two volumes. I am immensely pleased to have
them from thee (tho’ I hope thee doesn’t think I was hinting!) & shall enjoy
them very much, & send my warmest thanks. Florence Halévy is delighted
thee should have my copy of Elie’s posthumous book, & sends thee her
kindest remembrances & regards.
If thee can spare a minute before the 18th., do telephone about breakfast
time any day to give me thy address in Australia. I should like to write to thee
on my b. day in July.
Ever thine
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
July 21. 1950
Dearest Bertie
I have had a nice 83rd birthday with many callers with ?owers & books &
fruits & telegrams, & it would have been perfect if there had been a letter
from thee. But I know thee must be desperately busy, & worse still desper-
ately worried over Korea & this awful drift to War. We can hardly think or talk
of anything else, but I try to keep serene & to distract my visitors from too
much worry, when there seems nothing we can any of us do, & I think I have
been successful today. This little poem was a help, by Helen Arbuthnot & the
friend she lives with: ‘Alys Russell, hail to thee! Angel of the Square, where
would Wellontonia be If thou were not there.’ (The rest too fulsome to quote.
I tried to write a poem to thee on May 18th. but got no further than ‘Bertrand
Russell, hail to thee! Darling of the ???’. – but cld. get no further.) I have only
just read thy Conquest of Happiness & some of the chapters would have helped me
very much in my talk on ‘Being over 80’. But nothing thee says cld. equal my
concluding paragraph, wh. I think thee missed, literally taken from The Times,
my wished-for epitaph ‘In loving memory of John & Mary Williams who
lived such beautiful lives on Bromley Common.’
return to england 521This letter will be full of happy events, as my last was full of woes, & I hope
it will distract thee for a few minutes.
1. My kind Irish housekeeper, of 30 years service, is better from a bad heart
attack, & will be back soon.
2. My Tennyson Talk was a great success, with much approval from
the 3rd Prog. Producers, & Bob G. H. [Gathorne-Hardy] wrote to me:
‘Your Broadcast was absolutely delicious, like an enchanting, exquisite,
complete little short story, with a perfect twist at the end “How we must
have bored him!”.’
3. Karin seems quite well again, & is writing a book on ‘Despair’. Desmond
is speaking, I hear, on the despair of old age, which is a pity and not
good news, & Hugh Trevor-Roper writes that the Berlin Congress (on
Cultural Freedom?) would not have been sponsored by thee if thee had
known how it would turn out, being a political demonstration, which
the Eng. representatives (following the now classical tradition of Oxford
Dons) did their best to disrupt. I am surprised at his criticism, as he is
himself a narrow Oxford Don.
I could write on forever, but must walk up to the King’s Rd. & post this
letter. I have said nothing about thy cruel private grief in not seeing Conrad, &
perhaps thy fear that John may have to go back to the Navy. I do feel for thee,
but hope thee is somehow managing to conquer happiness.
Thine ever
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
July 24. 1950
Dearest Bertie
Thy letter of the 16th arrived too late for my b. day, but is most welcome. I
am glad the Australians are friendly & appreciative, but wish I cld. hear the
details of the Cath. B. Control invigorating ?ght. I remember Cath. trouble at
the Wimbledon Election, but think it was over Education. Thee may not
remember my little Cardi? friend, Maud Rees Jones, who helped us at
Wimbledon. She only remembers wanting to pick up the windblown stamps
in thy room, & thy begging her not to, saying ‘If you scrounge for them I
shall have to scrounge too, but if we leave them, Alys will pick them up’, wh.
I did presently, – I can’t ?nd Chas. Wood’s name in Edith Finch’s book, only
on p. 35 ‘He (Blunt) saw much of the 2 younger Stanley sisters, Kate &
Rosalind. Beautiful & vivid they whirled him away in an orgy of lively talk
with all the piquancy of enthusiastic prejudice. Nothing in heaven & earth
the autobiography of bertrand russell 522passed unquestioned or undiscussed. They stimulated in him an intellectual
activity that had much to do with the later individuality of his views, & that,
more immediately proved disconcerting during his life in Germany’, where
in 1861 he became very intimate with Lady Malet who troubled him by her
constant speculation on religious troubles.
Here is an amusing extract from one of my honeymoon letters from The
Hague: ‘I have sewed 2 buttons on Bertie’s shirts & he doesn’t mind my
sewing as much as he thought he would.’
I envy thee seeing a Coral Island. Did we read together Curzon’s Monasteries
of the East? Robt. Byron, that clever yng. writer killed in the War, has had
republished his excellent book on Mt Athos, beautifully written & deeply
interesting. – Another b. day poem ends with:
‘So here’s a toast & drink it up
In lemonade or cyder cup
(For Auntie’s Temperance)
That decades on we still shall be
Blessed by her merry company
Her lovely countenance.’
But not ‘merry’ now with the attack on Formosa, & defeats in Korea, alas!
Thine ever
Alys
25 Wellington Square
Chelsea, S.W.3
Nov. 19. 1950
Dearest Nobel Lord
I am enchanted with thy new Honour, & am only sorry I was not sure
enough of thy address to cable my congratulations. I knew of it on the 7th.,
when a Swedish journalist friend came here for information about thee. (I lent
him Leggatt’s book, tho’ it has been trans
d
into Swedish I believe.) He told
me incidentally that Churchill & Croce were thy runners-up, but thee won.
The papers here have been very enthusiastic, including a ??? Talk to children,
calling thee ‘an apostle of humanity & of free speech’. The American papers
must have gone wild over thee. I hope thee will not share the Prize with the
Amer. dentist’s wife, tho’ she must be feeling rather ?at.
Thanks for thy letter from Swarthmore. I am shocked at thy account of poor
Evelyn [Whitehead]! & feel most sorry for her without her angelic Alfred to
care for her. I hope her children are some comfort. I look forward to seeing
thee before or after Stockholm, but agree that Scandinavia is unhealthy for
philosophers. But anyhow the present King will not get thee up at 5 a.m., nor
return to england 523force thee to sit on or in a stove for warmth. (He is a ‘connustur’ friend of B.B.’s
bye the way, & has paid a fairly recent visit to I Tatti. B. B. telegraphed his
congratulations to thee thro’ me, & I hope thee remembered to send him thy
Essays.) I send on some cuttings thee may have missed, & also a letter from
Florence Halévy. Also Desmond on Shaw. Has thy article on Shaw appeared yet?
I am glad thee doesn’t mean to travel again, as I feel thee shd. not have the
strain of it, & that thee can better serve the cause of Internationalism, for which
I have worked passionately for 30 years, by broadcasting at home, & writing.
Also it will save me from buying thee a new sponge bag for Xmas, which
I felt sure thee must need!
Thine devotedly
Alys
From and to T. S. Eliot
24 Russell Square, W.C.1
10 June 1949
Dear Bertie
Permit me to add my sincere felicitations to your others; on the occasion of
your joining this small and odd miscellaneous order. It is a ?tting though
belated tribute to the author of The Philosophy of Leibnitz, the Principia and the other
works on which I fed thirty-?ve years ago. And also to the author of the Reith
Lectures – who is one of the few living authors who can write English prose.
Yours ever
T. S. Eliot
The Master of Trinity recommends safety pins in the ribbon; but a neat
tuck on each side is much better.
Ffestiniog, N. Wales
13.6.49
Dear Tom
Thank you very much for your nice letter. In old days when we were
huddled together in Russell Chambers, we could hardly have expected that
lapse of time would make us so respectable.
I will test your opinion against George Trevy’s as soon as I get the chance.
Yours ever
B.R.
the autobiography of bertrand russell 524Faber and Faber Ltd.
24 Russell Square
London W.C.1
20th May, 1964
The Rt. Hon. The Earl Russell, ??
Plas Penrhyn
Penrhyndeudraeth
Merionethshire
Dear Bertie
My wife and I listened the other night to your broadcast interview and
thought it went over extremely well.
As you may know, I disagree with your views on most subjects, but I
thought that you put your beliefs over in a most digni?ed and even persuasive
way. I wanted you to know this as you are getting on so far, and as I myself
am, I hope, somewhat mellowed by age.
With grateful and a?ectionate memories,
Yours ever
Tom
Plas Penrhyn
23 May, 1964
Dear Tom
Many thanks for your letter of May 20. I am glad that you found my
broadcast remarks ‘digni?ed and even persuasive’. It was nice to hear from
you again.
Yours ever
Bertie
From N. B. Foot
General Secretary of the New Commonwealth Society
(President British Section:
The Rt. Hon. Winston S.
Churchill, ??, ??, ??)
25 Victoria Street
London S.W.1
September 25th, 1947
Dear Lord Russell
I am sending you this letter on the eve of your departure for the Continent
in the hope that it may provide you with a little information about the New
Commonwealth which you may ?nd useful. In the ?rst place, however, I
should like to reiterate our thanks to you for having taken on this journey. We
return to england 525are deeply appreciative of the honour you are doing us in acting as our
representative, and we feel con?dent that your visit will be quite invaluable in
arousing interest in the Society’s proposals. I hope the arrangements which
Miss Sibthorp has made for you will prove satisfactory in every way.
It was very kind of you to provide us with a precis of your address. I have
read it with the greatest admiration and, if I may venture to say so without
presumption, it seems to me to provide a masterly analysis of the problems
that confront us and of the solution which it is our purpose to o?er. As you
know, we have always laid stress on the urgent need for the internationalisa-
tion of the major weapons of war and the creation of machinery for the
peaceful settlement of all disputes, political as well as judicial. We believe, as
you do, that the establishment of a full-?edged World Parliament is likely to
