Robin's Tree
Roehampton Vale
S.W.15

17 November 1953

Dear Mr Pound,

Many thanks for your letter written towards the end of last month. Victor Sassoon is still with us; his horse Pinza won the Derby this year; then there is Siegfried, poet and sportsman. I am sure it must have been Philip who decoyed the diplomatic ladies with silk stockings. Buchanan was our ambassador in St Petersburg, up to the time of Lenin's arrival. I knew him; incidentally I took out the F.O. bag in 1912 to Russia at Christmas time; found the Buchanans very hospitable. It was there I met a man called Prince Lieven, who told me that war was a certainty. I had never thought about it till then. He was at head of Admiralty; he had been in chevaliers-gardes, but had to leave the army, after driving his colonel down the quays in a state of intoxication, to win a bet. He was quite a lad. Meriel Buchanan, the daughter of H.E., married a man whose name I forget. She went in for journalism; I think I met her last in Munich at a Reichsparteitag about 1937. What a pity it is that the American Govt. do not take advantage of your accumulated store of knowledge of European affairs; I suppose it is the old story; you have discovered too much about the foundations of democracy, which are getting rather shaky. Ike is thoroughly unhappy, I expect; out of his element. What a lot of fun you seem to be having with Commie-hunting. The Hunting of the Snark is nothing to it. I have just been reading Truman's apologia. I think he has been a bit too clever this time, using Harry Dexter White as a bit of live bait to catch Commies.

There is a book published in N.Y. by Devin-Adair Co., written by a friend of mine called Captain Russell Grenfell R.N.-name "Unconditional Hatred." I was sent a review copy, but nobody would publish anything I wrote ever here. Such is freedom in practice; Grenfell had to go to U.S.A., because nobody would publish his book here. Having read it, I am not surprised; a severe and accurate indictment of our foreign policy since the turn of the century. He is particularly down on Gray (whom I liked), Churchill, and the worm Vansittart. You should certainly read this book.

The world is moving so fast, that it is difficult for an elderly bit of old junk like myself, to keep pace with it. I never go near the sources of information; they are all tainted. I read the Press, and try and get between the lines; not so difficult as one might expect, if you have got the code-index. Then I read Shakespeare and Dickens; and, in my lighter moments, I study Agatha Christie and similar crime writers. 'Who Dun It?' I have no use for modern novels; so few writers can be read without a feel-ing of annoyance, that they are just word-spinning. I read a great deal, and am never dull. My only hobby is t-he regrettable one of horse-racing. I like the fresh air and excitement, and do not bet heavily. A mug's game. I used to ride races myself, and that is what keeps me interested. I went down to Lingfield on Saturday. On the way home, I had tea with a man called Ellson, who has written the most scathing diatribes on our public men. He is the most timid and retiring person of my acquaintance, and it is a wonder to me where his pen finds its courage. He sends copies of these insulting indictments to all the people he attacks, but he is still at large. I must try and meet your young publishing friend Russell some time. He writes such nice letters.

5 December 1953

Robin's Tree
Roehampton Vale
London, S.W.15

Dear Mr Pound,

Many thanks for your letter, undated, and for all the Press cuttings. These are most interesting to me, as we never see true accounts of what is going on in U.S.A. in our deplorable Press. Truman appears to have made a mess of the White case; I think I told you the crack that reached me from Washington:- "George Washington never told a lie; Roosevelt never told the truth; Truman would not know the difference." And from what you say about Truman's broadcast, that looks accurate.

McCarthy and Co are doing good work, and appear to be much appreciated in America, though our Press would leave one to believe the contrary. We were told all wrong about Gouzenko too; I hope they catch Pearson. I had no idea that Morgenthau was a nitwit; somebody else must have written-'Germany Is Our Problem.' Victor Gollancz sent it to me; there is a Jew who always puzzles me. He barks up so many different trees, I get quite muddled. I have circulated the Press cuttings to others interested in the great Plot. You must let me know if you would like me to send you any literature.

I have not heard from Swabey for ages, and he has sent me no Mullins dope. He told me he was coming home last summer, and would come and see me, but I heard no more. A nice honest little man. I cannot place M.C. Greene; we had a Ben Greene in our monastery on Brixton Hill. I thought Chesterton was bringing out CANDOUR. I have had one or two copies, but sent them all on. Chesterton is a clever man, but unable to call a spade a spade.

You say send spare copy of Mullins to Fuller. Which Fuller? Do you mean General Fuller who writes history? We have a lot of that name.

I have just heard from Hilary Cotter, who wrote 'World Dictatorship by 1955?' Such a nice lad, but, alas, afflicted with that deadly consumption. He has been in a sanatorium at Midhurst in Sussex for a long time. And his mother in Ireland is bedridden, and cannot come to see him. He keeps himself busy with writing on political subjects, and never talks of his own health. He was in the Navy during the war to end war; I do not think he will live to be in the war to end the war, that did not end the war.

I should like to have a front seat at Bermuda; then I should not want to go to the pantomime this Christmas. I see your Mr Eisenhower took his Jewish mascot Strauss with him; our W.C. took his Atom expert; Lord Cherwell, alias Lindemann. I expect the voice that breathes o'er Eden is being relayed from the Sanhedrin headquarters. How Malenkov and Co. must be laughing. I think Ellson hopes to get his book published soon; he has never been a distributor of diatribes, except to his chosen victims. He is a quiet old sheep, whom you would not think capable of saying Boo to a goose, let alone all the rude things he has said to the greatest in the land, in the popular conception.

We are having an extraordinarily mild spell of weather; I never remember its like before. We shall pay for it soon, I daresay.

I have no idea of the pedigree of my Prince Lieven, First Lord of Russian Navy in 1912, and have no Almanac de Gotha. I fancy it is a big clan.

I did not realise there was a lady nuï-sance of that ilk in Talleyrand's

21 December 1953

Dear Mr Pound,

Many thanks for your letter of 8th December; so that is how you lost your umbrella-chez Gollancz. More respectable than the remark of the gent in church, when the Commandments were being read. When the 7th was reached, he uttered a loud; "HA! THAT'S where I left my umbrella!"

Many thanks for Mullins, which arrived safely. A most valuable bit of history. You must let me know if I can send you any work from London. As you know, our publishers are more shy of unorthodox literature than N.Y. - witness Grenfell's book. I spent the weekend in Royal surroundings, and was padgered into sending them a Cabin Boy. I daresay it will help. I am one of those who believe that no opportunity, however small or humble, should be lost, of witnessing to the truth. Every little helps, as the monkey said-NO, that's vulgar, I have just remembered.

J.F.C. Fuller I know well; he is a brilliant, but disappointed, man. I agree with you that he was foxy, in keeping out of the jug. He tried hard to get me out, which was kind of him. I find his history interesting, but heavy-going. I cannot follow your Northumbrian Quaker, who was a post-war C.O.? Where is he to be found today?

Your Mr Ike seems to be finding politics rather dirty work; he feels like I did, on the first occasion when I was a submarine diver. At the bottom of a dark and muddy harbour, feeling very lonely, with only the telephone to connect me with civilisation, a voice came through- "What a horrible death is the diver's!" I closed my air valve and shot up to the surface, and above, like a porpoise. Ike wants to come up for air, too! The French are getting very excitable about your Mr Dulles' speech; he certainly was blunt but they wanted a spur. We cannot run the world indefinitely on a policy of French fear of Germany. The French are responsible for their own decadence: ever since 1789, they have been on the national down-and-down. Only fine national spirit keeps a country going. They cannot even elect a President; but for JUDMAS, the French and Germans would have got together before the last war. The moment was lost, and is difficult to recapture. Your vignette de moeurs reminds me of the story current in Paris during the 1919 Peace Conference. Lloyd George and Winston entered a crowded restaurant for dinner, and the maître d'hôtel asked two Americans to give up their table. L.G. thanked them and said that they might like to know for whom they were being so kind; then he told them that he was the British P.M., and Mr C was adistinguished colleague. The American replied: -"Perhaps you'd like to know who we are; I'm Gawd Almighty, and this is my son. Come on, Jesus; lets hit the hay."

I do like to see cuttings when they are otherwise not known here, but I do not want to give you a lot of trouble. I always give them a good circulation. It is too early yet awhile for things to happen, but the more who can be taught what is going on, the better.

Our mails are all upside down; worse than ever before. The consequence is that I suddenly get a whole sheaf of Christmas greetings, which take me all my time to answer. We have just bought off a railway strike, by giving way to the strikers all along the line, and encouraging them to return for more.

Robin's Tree
Roehampton Vale

S.W.15

II January 1954

Dear Mr £,

Thank you for your Christmas letter; very good of you about the cuttings, which I circulate from Robin's Tree into the nests of other birds of prey. I hope that McCarthy is keeping up the pressure; I thought that he was getting near Morgenthau at one time. We are not allowed to see or hear much about his activities in our Press, but they are afraid of them and put in a good smear when they can.

Alas! My days of running errands are over; I am now approaching the lean and slippered stage referred to by our only William Shakespeare. I was arrested by a speed cop a few days ago, on the way back from Kempton races. I did not want any blot on the escutcheon of my driving purity, but was anxious to get home. The cop finished up by saying:- "And now, that in the good-ness of my heart, I am going to let you off, you do not appear at all grateful!" What funny things they teach them at the police colleges now-a-days. Who ever heard of a good-hearted copper? However I made up for lost time when we parted, without an embrace, which I had begun to fear might be part of the ritual!

If I come across Fuller, I will ask about your naval captain. Do you think his name was Dawson, by any chance? Trevor Dawson was a big noise in Vickers' book of Creagh-Scott's is not out yet; the Britons are getting behind with their publications. Young Gittens does well, but only has one dame to help him. I will write and shake him up, when I finish this epistle. I had a letter from Swabey a few days ago; he talks of coming home this summer. Another parson of the Church of England is tilting a lance against Free-masonry. After a strong broadside, he says that no Mason, be he Archbishop or curate, will ever preach to his congregation. All this in his parish magazine (St Mary Magdalene's, Paddington.) I wrote and congratulated him on his courage, and he is coming down to luncheon with me. If I cannot instil some virulent poison into his veins, my name is not B.D.!

Apathy and ignorance are the two besetting sins of our people today. A lot of them know that there is something very wrong with the conduct of their affairs, but they have not got the guts to try and get to the bottom of it. You will be glad to hear that the Cabin-Boy has just been read an Royal circles. I hope they enjoyed it.

Does Mullins ever come over here? He must be a great lad, and would get a warm welcome at Robin's Tree. Tell him to ship his wings, and fly over. I get a good many visitors at this time of year; presumably they have nothing better to do. But I do not suffer fools gladly. I wish I had met your friend Alexander the Great; I suppose you have read Harold Lamb's 'Alexander of Macedon?' He must have been a great lad, but could he have survived democracy? I doubt it.

I do not read much hi-story nowadays; just the Press, and a few novels and Who Dun Its. I am more interested in the present and future, than the past. I wonder what the verdict of history will be on your friend Mr Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Unless there is a great change in the quality and nature of the historians, he will be held up as one of the marvels of the age; on a par with our National Water-Closet, and a head above Joe Stalin. Has

26 January 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thankyou for your letter of 14th Jan. I think I had better send your remarks to Grenfell, and ask him to give his opinions on them. It is a very readable book, although sad reading to anyone who has lived as long as I have, only to see the politicos play ducks and drakes with the Empire. Now there is a strong campaign going on here in Daily Mirror, a left wing paper reputed to be owned by Israel Sieff, to get Churchill out of it. As far as I can make out our national water-closet is getting too peaceful for the policy of International Jewry. He is holding an olive branch out to Molotov, when they want him to be pointing a gun. At any rate I have never seen such an attack in our Press on an individual Minister. Today they have started on Eden, who is regarded as a W.C. chain puller. I did notice in the press that, when Aneurin Bevan (our Red leader) was in Israel the other day, he was fondly embraced by Mrs Rebecca Sieff, spouse of Israel. I did not think much about it at the time, except to hope the poor lady, in her own interests, was wearing a gas-mask. But I should not wonder now if Bevan was being conditioned for Red Führer. At any rate there is something pretty hot behind this campaign, just when our gallant leaders have sat down to a nice game of tickle-toes at Berlin, with other political toughs from Europe and Washington. The Frogs are undoubtedly feeling all goosey-goosey over the U.S. attitude to European Defence. Poor Marianne wants the impossible; to be safe without those nasty Germans helping. I like the Frogs, but they are no good today. They want a strong national come-back; ever since their Revn. they have been going downhill. That Masonic slogan-Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, is no good as a warlike encouragement.

To go back to 1914; my recollection is that, although we had not got any actual engagement to join the French, we had sent our soldiers to have a talk with theirs about war plans, and that the French had construed this as being a certain sign that we meant to march with them. When we hesitated to do so, Cambon, the French ambassador, told Grey-"Is there such a word as honour in the English language?" I remember that in a Foreign Office despatch. When I was sent over from Defence Committee to see McKenna (First Lord) about something, just after we had declared war, and I told him in my boyish innocence that we, the soldiers and sailors, were much relieved. And he gave me as excuse for delay in declaring war, that we had to be sure we had the North of England behind us, which was nonsense to me. The Press was not so completely under control as it is today, and I daresay some of the papers were rather unhappy about the whole business. I remember one very funny thing. We had a meeting of Defence Committee the day war was declared; all the Cabinet there, and the heads of army and navy. It was a dull close summer morning, with thunder about. Suddenly there was a terrific 'clap' just overhead; believe me, those politicos jumped nearly out of their skins; they thought the Germans were there already; it was early days for bombing, you will remember.

My next recollection is a sad one; I went off to sea straight away, taking a new destroyer from the Clyde to my war station at Harwich, at end of August. As I entered Harwich harbour, I saw that there were a lot of people crowding the shores, and cheering themselves silly. I was delighted; I thought that

3 February 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thankyou so much for that big bunch of cuttings which your wife was kind enough to forward to me; they were most interesting, and are now on circuit. The American news we get in our Press is so carefully edited, that you can hardly recognise it. The fairy tales about Bricker and McCarthy are marvellous, and give entirely the wrong impression. A gent called Don Iddon in Daily Mail today writes a satirical article on Colonel McCormick, whose crime appears to be that he is American. Patriotism will shortly be a capital offence, if our starry-eyed idealists have their way. I wrote to Fuller about your naval officer and Japan, and he replies that he has no recollection of the incident. I sent Grenfell your remarks on this book, and he says he read them with much pleasure, and gathers that, on the whole, you are in agreement with him. He explains that a good many of the omissions upon which you remarked were intentional, as his primary object was to get the book printed. He was much struck by the way you referred to the bombing, and the disgust and contempt it inspired. But there is one thing he is very anxious to ask you: - where you found the quotation about W.C's dam Jenny, when she says - "My son is determined to be Prime Minister, and God help England if he gets it." I told him I would ask you; I have seen it in print myself, but my aged brain-piece refuses to deliver the name of the book, which, for all I know, is in my library. Grenfell says he has not read Hesse's 'Das Spiel um Deutschland', and that he has not got a drop of Irish blood in his veins; his family is Cornish. Possibly the same thing. I am very grateful for my Irish blood; you get much more fun out of life, if you have that Celtic touch. For example, you probably know the tale of the poor Tommy Atkins who was in hospital, after being hit in a very delicate portion of his anatomy, causing him to lose his chance/s of pro-creation. He was visited by one of those well-meaning, but tiresome, ladies who make the life of the war-wounded harder. This dame asked - "My poor man, where did the bullet strike you?" Poor Tommy sweated from every pore, and replied - "Ma'am, if it had sthruck you, where it Sthruck me, it would have missed you." Irish at its best. G's book is to be published in Germany, unless old Adenoids, the chancellor, can stop it. He is afraid of hurting Winston's feelings.

Well; these politicos are playing their little game of catch-as-catch-can in Berlin, and our Press has been full of the usual drivel, put in to confuse the real issue. Molotov is pretty hot as a diplomatic trickster, and can make rings round our Mr Eden, who is only trying to sing his version of "The voice that breathed o'er Eden." Now our papers have taken up the weather as a godsend, and put in all the most absurd details about this cold spell, to take people's thoughts away from more important topics.
I have had my long and chilly walk with my hound, and am now settling down to my correspondence in a nice warm room. That is the trouble here; even today, the houses are not properly warmed. Not so bad as when W.C's father Randolph replied to a question as to why he was going to Russia at Christmas time - "To get warm."

My recollection of Washington at Christmas is that my room was too warm,

25 February 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

I have so many things to thank you for, that I do not know where to start. Letters; cuttings; and now the Hudson Review with 'Women of Trachis'. So I will say an omnibus 'Thankyou,' which is none the less sincere, because it is brief. I loved the verse about me-'The noise in their noses, That dates back to Moses.' I wish I could write poetry myself, but I get so vulgar directly I start, that it is unsuitable for an aged relic. I could write some good stuff too, about our b.....politicians. That punk Eden getting up in the House like a prima donna after a first night, instead of a windy demagogue, who has made a bigger b.f. of himself than usual-and that is saying something. I suppose that the whole truth is that they do not know where they are, and are just waiting for something to turn up, like Mr Micawber. It is a dangerous attitude to life at the present day; if another war is to be avoided, we want some long-term policy which we can all understand. I always remember an excited little Italian just before the last war, explaining to me the difference between Eden and Mussolini. He said-"Your Mr Eden-and then he made little digs with his finger to shew his pin-prick actions-but Mussolini-BOOM." That is what we want today a little more BOOM. What we get instead is an increasing tendency to pinpricks all over the world, with regard to matters which are not our business at all, and which we cannot mend. It looks as if the French will have to face the German problem at last; they have been shilly-shallying too long already. They still go on trying Germans for War Crimes.

Adrien Arcand, leader of the Canadian IBB's sends me a copy of a good little monthly he has just started, published in Montreal-L'Unité Nationale. In it he states quite definitely that he was told, before being interned, that the Jews had forced this policy, and that their pressure was too strong to be resisted. We all knew it, but this statement is quite authoritative.

It is tragic to an old man like me, to see all our Moslem friends turning against us, because we have betrayed them by putting the Jews into Palestine, contrary to our promise. I have so many friends in that part of the world, whom I should find it difficult to meet today; people who had always trusted, and thought that our word could be relied upon. But, of course, all that was before we took our orders from the Jews. Today it looks as if we might expect a more forward policy in Egypt; and what shall we do about that?

All our Press has done up-to-date is to laugh at this man who has just seized, the power from Neguib's hands.

I have been on the rocks myself; all my own fault; on the way to Sandown Races slipt on the pavement, and crashed heavily. Torn ligaments and muscles have given me a lot of pain; perhaps that is why I am taking rather a jaundiced view of things. I get plenty of visitors in my suburban home, which is a very comfortable one.

I spent a very pleasant winter in Washington once, when we were deciding all about navies. Balfour was our chief, and I liked him immensely-to work with. Very quick in the uptake. I remember him being quite funny over trying to describe the Italian attitude at the Conference. He put his hands together, as if in prayer, and said-"Oh, Lord, give us a navy as big as France, but let it be a very little one." He made me roar with laughter, because it was exactly

the truth, but made it all seem so comic. Harding was the President; more impressive in appearance than in action, I gather.

A Jew in N.Y. told me a good story. He said that one of his brethren had got made a member of a good club, by mistake. When the members found this out, they instructed the secretary to write to the new member, and say that his entrance fee, subscription, and any money he had spent in the club would be returned, if he would resign. He rang up a friend to consult him, and 'back came the advice,' Vait a bit. Dis is only the First offer."

Kind regards to your wife.

Yours very sincerely,

First fold here

PAR AVION
AIR LETTER

AEROGRAMME

EZRA POUND ESQ.

ST ELIZABETH'S HOSPITAL

WASHINGTON, D.C.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Second fold here

Sir Barry Domvile

Sender's name and address:
Robin's Tree
Roehampton Vale

London, S.W.15

IF ANYTHING IS ENCLOSED THIS LETTER
MAY BE SENT BY ORDINARY MAIL

To open cut here

22 March 1954

Robin's Tree
Roehampton Vale

S.W.I5

Dear Mr Pound,

Thank you for our letter dated 2 March, and also for the cuttings, and the annual report of McCarthy's Committee. Two books also came from Milan, from someone I had never heard from. I am not clear about Picture Post; it is a weekly, not a monthly, but you talk of the February number. McCarthy's committee must be doing good work, because our Press is awfully angry with him. The trouble is that the American Press is heavily censored before it reaches the British public, so that we do not hear both sides of any question, except by accident. I was sorry to read that one of the best New York papers had been bought out by the enemy. Just as our Morning Post was bought out in the early twenties, after publishing the Protocols. In my youth, the Morning Post was the aristocratic paper, in which you recorded your births and marriages. I knew the editor, Gwynne, and I am not quite sure that he knew what he was doing, when he incurred the wrath of Jewry. I also knew a naval officer, a brother of the Duke of Montrose, Lord Alastair Graham, who married the Morning Post heiress. He and she found themselves very badly off, after the paper collapsed for lack of advertisements. No other paper since then on the right side has managed to exist. Several have been started, and reached a small circulation, before dying from lack of money. The Anglo-German Review was an excellent paper before the war; one of the best got-up papers I ever saw. The editor, Carroll who is a friend of mine, found his way to Brixton prison for his good work. He know breeds pigs in Suffolk, and does it very well, but he is a great loss to literature. Since the last war I used to write for a capital little monthly called TOMORROW. That also collapsed for lack of funds. On my table today, just received, is a new venture, THE SUN, a Social Credit affair, but it will not last. It really is a tragedy that the only stuff to reach the plebs is all the muck put out by our National papers. One or two provincial papers, especially in Scotland, show a little courage occasionally.

I do not know if you see FREE BRITAIN, which is just a monthly news-sheet. I write for that sometimes; I must send you a copy.

I have been disappointed in a book which has just come out, called HIDDEN GOVERNMENT. I was hoping for great things from it, but it is too muddled up. Adrien Arcand's new paper L'UNITE NATIONALE is very good. I wish he could come to the fore in Canadian politics. I think our people want to get rid of Winston; he has done his job, and is getting past work. But like many another old fossil, he is reluctant to give up. Many papers have been flying kites about the date of his retirement, but with no result so far. I dare say he will join Hore-Belisha, his latest creation, in the Upper House-as a duke. The only thing against that is his disgusting son, Randolph. As nasty a piece of work as ever stepped the face of the earth.

The political situation is not very clear; those impossible French, and our Labour party, are still against letting the Germans play their proper part in Europe. I thought that your country might put its foot down, but that hope seems to have vanished. One of our papers yesterday hinted that W.C. had done some dirty deal with the French, to get them to accept the Germans.

I am afraid there must be a lot of dirty work going on behind the scenes. That generally happens, when there is a lull in public.

I wonder if you ever met any of the big French politicians after War I,

15 June 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thankyou for your letter of 29 May. I have been a bad correspondent lately, what with racing and the summer all rain so far), and visits out in the country. I keep on getting things from different quarters, and I never know who is the original sender, but you mention Prometheus Bound, and the new edition of Mullins' book, both of which have just come, so I expect I have you to thank for being Father Christmas. What a shocking lot of mugs facing page 32 in M's book; would look better gazing through prison bars, or possibly a rope necklace. I must say Jose de Pina Martins made an eloquent address about you, but such treatment makes one wonder in what age we are living. Are you ever going to leave Bessie's hotel ? They must be very tightened of you, to keep you cribb'd, cabined and confined. Yet I am sure that your soul soars above such petty matters, like Richard Lovelace in his song to Althea, which has always given me comfort, although I know nothing of rhyming, except dirty cracks like limericks.

I hope to go to the country tomorrow to luncheon with a nice old man, Lord Barrington. After luncheon, I want to take the opportunity of seeing Fuller, who lives close to me. I have not set eyes upon him for many a long day. I will ask him about one or two things you mention. Take Grenfell's book, UNCONDITIONED -NAL HATRED, published in New York, because he could not get an English publisher to touch it. I do not blame Grenfell, as I approve. But I blame the London publishers who are so short-sighted. He does not even mention the Yids or the Masons, which are the usual taboos. He only knocks down some of the idols which the plebs have been taught to worship, but whom it is about time were given a biff on the boko. The book is already being published in Germany, where it will have a wide reading public, and the Irish-my bluddy country-have serialised it in their Press, accompanied by flaming posters, saying **THE BOOK THEY WOULD NOT PUBLISH.** So when it does come here eventually people will be most inquisitive to find out why nobody would take it in the first place. I know Grenfell well, and a better or more honest son of a gun was never hatched out. He writes because he feels very strongly, and gets relief from his fountain pen, like I do from Appleton's rum, bottled in the West Indies. Many of our leading men who have been boosted by the Yids, want shewing up, the same as they do in your land. In that way, I think America is freer than we are. Your publishers do not appear to be so nervous as ours. I doubt if any of our leading firms would publish a row of dials like the ones to which I have already referred in Mullins book. Whether your books get held up after publication by deliberate suppression, I do not know. Here the organisation for that is very good. I think that in some cases whole editions are bought up to get them off the market. I have written a short review of G's book, as I think it deserves to be boosted. I will discuss this matter with Fuller, if I find him at home. Of course he has not had the personal experience which I have had, as his writings are erudite and pure, whilst mine are distinctly low-brow and impure. The Britons Publishing Society, which caters for those things the other publishers will not take, was unanimously elected member of the Publishers Union, or whatever they call it last November. This was somewhat of a surprise to me; I think some of the leading members must have been on holiday in Tel-a-Viv or Brighton.

I had a German Princess lunching with me last Sunday-Hildegard von Hanau-a

II August 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Very glad to get your letter of 27th; I hope, d.v., to depart for a holiday in the hills of Derbyshire on Saturday, to see if I can clear my ancient headpiece of some of the fungi which have collected there in recent months, and which prevent me from diagnosing the political situation with my accustomed skill. In fact, I am really getting rather lost in China, Guatemala and Germany. Possibly the high altitudes of the midland moors will act as a mental Hoover, and send me home with the cobwebs swept clear. It is curious that you should mention Olivia Rossetti Agresti, because I had ever heard of her until a few days ago, when Prince Boris de Rachewiltz mentioned her name, in connection with a short review of a book I had written for his paper A B C. I was fussy about its translation, as I did not want any misinterpretation, and he replied that I need have no fears as it would be done by your girl friend Olivia. Is that not curious ?

I see a note on your letter, initialled D.P. Does that mean 'depressed person or can it be your wife, who asked how many B's I liked after my name ? Anyway it concerns a dear friend of mine, Russell Grenfell, whose death came as a shock to me. He was the author of UNCONDITIONAL HATRED, which you have read, I believe. I had not heard of his death, and was on tour in the West Country, and only read of the funeral, which I must have passed close to on my way home. I received letters at once from New York and Canada, asking whether he had had an 'assisted' passage into a better world. His widow, whom I do not know, writes - "Russell was always very well, and he died quite suddenly and unexpectedly." I cannot harrow the poor lady's feelings by asking whether he had had a post mortem etc. But it is curious, I must admit, One N.Y. man suggested that he was regarded as more dangerous than people who openly ment -ioned the sources of world trouble, like your humble servant, Grenfell only mentioned the results-not the causes. He knew all about them, but thought he would get more practical results from the policy he followed. It seems hard that one should have to get bumped off, in order to be sure that one's effort were worthwhile! I have written a short obituary notice for INDEPENDENCE of New York. Grenfell was a dear good fellow; sincere and modest and, in fact, most of the things a good man should be. Many friends will miss him.
I think his wife runs a girls school near Salisbury.

As my old friend Cecil Manners used to say - "De mortuis nil nisi bunkum."
The weather here has been the sole topic for months; thoroughly lousy; rain and wind; no summer. I went down to the West for some racing at Chepstow, but otherwise have done little. Hence the need for a brainwash.

Please excuse more today. I hope to be able to be more interesting on my return. My Irish cousins with whom I go and stay are touring in Italy. The lady wrote that 'she got a good allowance for her legs and eyes.' I presume she meant travelling allowance, but I reproved her and told her that her remarks were better suited to a successful lady in the neighbourhood of Piccadilly Circus!

Kind regards to your wife

Yours very sincerely,

13 September 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thankyou for your letter of the 15th August. Would you also
be good enough to thank that DISTINGUISHED PERSON-(short title D.P.), for some
very interesting literature she sent me from Brothers Place, which sounds a
friendly spot! Facts Forum and Westbrook Pegler etc.- they are now in circu-
lation in Suffolk. I have received a lot of literature from your land lately
including Th Twenty-year Revolution by Chesly Manly, and a book sent me by
an aged British author of nearly 90 summers about a comparative boy called
Churchill, who is approaching his 80th happy birthday. The book is called The
Churchill Legend, and the author is Francis Neilson, once in our Talking Shop
at Westminster, where politicians play at being real people, and seldom suc-
ceed. Both books look good, as well as some others, but I am restraining my
ardour, until winter gets nearer. Also a gent from Kennebunk, Maine has sent
some queer sayings by our national W.C., but I find a certain weariness in
studying the words of a man who has boxed the compass so completely and so
often in his thoughts and deeds. Provided one realises that what he says or
thinks does not matter a tinker's cuss, why waste time reading them ?

I have not made the acquaintance of Peter Russell, but must try and do so. I
hope to run down to luncheon in Kent on Wednesday, d.p., I mean d.v.I I enjoyed my visit to Derbyshire, every pretty neighbourhood, and the houses are a
restful colour, and not an insult to the landscape. You would be surprised to
see the enormous numbers of brick boxes, called houses, which have sprung up
all over the country side: hideous and illogical. This little island already
contains about three times as many people as it can carry comfortably, and our
Dominions-Canada, Australia, New Zealand, are shouting for new blood. Do we help
them ?- we do not. We appear to have a curious objection to sending them migrants of a good type, who ought to be going by the million, instead of building
houses for them here. In addition, thousands of black people and Jews are swarming into the country every year, to add to the housing congestion, and the
difficulties of sea transport. You will find the truth of what I say if you
see the reports of the Migration Board, who may be worthy people, but who do
not appear to be successful in encouraging others to try their great open
spaces, and savour the joys of living in plenty of elbow-room. Every now and
then, a gent who calls himself Minister of Housing announces triumphantly his
score for the season, hoping it will help his side, just like a county cricket-
er. I saw buck niggers everywhere on my journey up and down the country. The
whole thing is crazy, like most of world policy today. Madder and madder; faster and faster; until something breaks- and then what ? That old bishop knew his
stuff when he wrote- "Though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."
Give me nature- then my dogs- and then a small portion of humanity, carefully
sifted! Now our Eden is running round the world again, in the most infra.dig.
manner, trying to get others to agree with him, even if only until his plane
takes off for the next place. Possibly the funniest feature of our press is
their endeavour to explain to the Plebs why we are arming a country, which less
than ten years ago, we were hard at working destroying as much as we could.
If the public can swallow all this, then they deserve their fate-they are not
worth saving."

I have just received Red Treason On Broadway, by Myron Fagan, which also looks

B.D.

16 Sep/ 54

The dastardly freudians, having buggard the earth for 40 years are now themselves verBitChd. Vide " Look " for 21st inst ( printed, nacherly some days before the date). The FattYcan and other besotted Kristers have NOT during the 40 years imbecilit fought the corrupters by Dantescan and Catholic medicine/ i.e. contemplation of the Divine splendour and intelligence /

40 years the Ox-ident, or Mulident, all attention focused on filth. Endocrine studies gone into semi-oblivion BUT schizophrenia has nowt to do with incest etc/ can NOW be produced at will with a drop of lysergic acid / NOT mental but physical / prob/y disturbed adrenal metabolism/

AND this shd/ be blazed on ever civilized front

page

( especially as the immediate connection with usurocracy is not apparent ) THOUGH recent riots in Sweeden are interesting /
as Zoot- suiters , on "Mexican border some years ago".
The reds have to my personal and cert/ knowledge been using drugs as POLitical weapon since 1927.

Ever meet an old buffer named Cockburn ( Claude, with a nephew of the same name , who chuched Times correspondence in Berlin , about that date ?

I told the elder, he ought to be proud of having someone in fambly who had gust to leave the SEMIT TIMES on ANY account. /

Idiocy of Calif/ es衛ites as per enc. D.P. on vaction
has Swabey's new address, and I haven't so will yu kindly forward
him second copy of protest against Ges衛ite perversion.

European civilization rose when sewage was shut in at 9.p.m. in reserved area. Mainia of England for letting in Whore Bullishys will amake the Bolivian scholars of 2485.

You will take delight in that batch of Adams letters
( John the origin) if yu can find a copy in Eng/

Tony NEVER had any dignity / there was a roar heard by the
wop/tache who took him to an audience back in "38. and said to
the emergin Tony: S-so sorry ,sir, I f I don't see you again ,
so long. " Note from Munich thanking gawd Eng/ saint even the
damned nuissance it was.( young lady , not absolutely sound in all
her opinions, and in disagreement with her papa , BUT...

15 October 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thank you for your last letter, written whilst the Delightful Person (D.P.), was on vacation. I sent the paper on to Swabey, so it crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice, and became quite an experienced bit of pulp. Will you be good enough to thank D.P. for sending me a most interesting paper called U.S. News and World Report, from which I obtained quite a lot of literary fodder. I have been reading a number of American books lately. Amongst them Chesly Manly's The Twenty-Year Revolution, and Perpetual War. For Perpetual Peace, edited by Dr Barnes. Most interesting, both of them; I only wish we had historians with the courage of Dr Barnes and his co-pen -pushers. I expect you have read this book. I liked his expressions 'Court Historian' and the 'Black-out Boys.' How curious it is that some skill and ingenuity should be spent on trying to suppress the TRUTH at all costs. Barnes quotes a lot from George Orwell's '1984.' I adopted George Orwell's philosophy from Animal Farm long ago: "All men are equal, but some men are more equal than others." He had a very witty and sarcastic pen, well suited to describe all the humbug of the present age.

We have now got as a visitor one of the last Emperors left over; Haile Selassie; from his photographs, I am glad that I have not got to entertain him personally; I feel that time would have gone slowly. The Lion OF Judah seems a funny title for him; sounds as if he ought to be on vacation at Tel-Aviv. I believe that upon the last occasion when he was on a visit here, I was a guest of His Majesty also, but in less exalted surroundings. In other words I was in quod. Really the guest of the Black-Out Boys, but nominally cherished by His Gracious Majesty, George VI.

I remember the days when we had another distinguished Monarch over here from the Middle East-King Amanullah and his Consort. I was lunching out in Cleveland Square, close to St James's Palace, when an agitated lady arrived late for luncheon. She was in attendance on the dusky Queen, and had just left her. She described to us how she was talking to the Queen, when His Majesty entered clothed in a tall hat, a cigar-and nothing else! How we laughed. I expect he had found the full kit a bit irksome, and was having a well-earned rest nearer Nature. And this all goes to show that East is East, etc., and that some men are not so equal as other men.

The world revolves at the same speed since I last wrote, but its inhabitants are going faster and faster, like Alice in Wonderland, until one wonders whether the vanishing point will be reached. I expect your countrymen are getting very cross with my countrymen for being so anxious to shake the Red Paw. Our political parties have just been having their annual Mutual Admiration Society Meetings, when they extol one another's virtues, and decry the merits of the other Party. Eden said that Churchill was the Greatest Man in the World; quite possibly, only it all depends what you mean by 'great.' I have yet to meet a really honest politician; even the most virtuous always have one eye on the hustings, and a voice trained to sing the right tune. I was once asked to stand for Parliament, but thank goodness, nothing came of it. I should have been the worst politician in history; despised alike by friend and foe. I should never have caught the Speaker's eye, but the official chuckers-out would have had a busy day.

8 November 1954

Dear Mr Pound,

Thankyou for your letter dated Trafalgar Day; I wonder what
Lord Nelson would think if he could have a look round the Government boys
today. I wonder the lions in Trafalgar Square do not roar, as His Lordship
steps down from his high altitude, and storms along Whitehall to have a loo
not loo, look) at the goings-on in Westminster. He may have asked Hardy to
kiss him on his deathbed-I do not know-but I am jolly certain he would not
have wanted to be kissed by any of the Knights of the Placket, as you dub
them.

With regard to Alfalfa Bill, I have taken the precaution of asking somebody
in New York to let me know whether he is still with us, because I should not
like to send him a letter, if he had left this troubled world for a
better place. Even our admirable postal service cannot deliver there, and I
should not like St Peter to censor it. That reminds me of the tale of the
English bishop who died, and on reaching the Gates of Heaven, was told by St
Peter that he would have to wait as he was busy. This incensed His Lordship
especially when he saw a nice looking girl being made a great fuss of by
all the gate staff. He therefore addressed St Peter rather crossly, and said
that he was afraid that he had not realised who he was. "Oh yes I have,
replied the Saint, but this young lady is a very special case. Two months
ago her father gave her a lovely Rolls-Royce, and since that date she has
put the fear of God into more people than you did in the whole course of
your ministry." An old Jesuit told me that tale.

I am sorry to read in the Press that the result of your elections means
that Senator McCarthy will lose that job which he was doing so well. What
a farce this party business is. My remarks apply equally to the same thing
in this country. Both want a good strong national party, and I hope your
land will form one soon. Here there are one or two small efforts in that
direction, but I am afraid they will not come to much. One of G.K. Chesterton
descendants is doing a good job in that direction, and publishes a paper
called CANDOUR, which acts up to its name. But it is only a small drop in
the ocean. Your people are not so dug-in as they are here. It would take
some great personal discomfort to make them sit up and take notice here.

I am reading several books from your country written by the so-called
Revisionists-dreadful word. Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace, edited by Dr
Barnes is good. So is The Twenty-Year Revolution by Chesly Manly. We have
nothing of that sort here; only a few amateur pen-pushers trying to wake up
the plebs, who have no desire to be woken up.

The Queen-Mum seems to have been popular with your countrymen. I see she
went and saw old Eleanor, who had Morgenthau to meet her. I suppose he is
a back-number politically, what with the still-born Morgenthau plan for
Germany, and the generous loan of your currency plates to Russia.

My mother-in-law came to see me yesterday, fresh from the christening of
the latest addition to the Churchill grandchildren at Westerham. She enjoyed
herself thoroughly, and was very amusing about it. All the grandparents
attended, though on the Soames side, there had been several changes of
partnership since the son-in-law to C. was born, which must have made it a
bit awkward. I do not know what the Protocol demands when you meet your