Olive Schreiner Letters Online

Letter Reference	HRC/CAT/OS/5a-iv
Archive	Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	Sunday 24 October 1915
Address From	Llandrindod Wells, Wales
Address To
Who To	Havelock Ellis
Other Versions	Draznin 1992: 495

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Havelock Ellis, 24 October 1915, Harry Ransom Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscript Collections. In the absence of other information, dating this letter has followed Draznin (1992), who has done so by reference to a version in the Lafitte Letters typescript in the British Library. Schreiner first stayed in Llandrindod Wells from late July to late October 1915, and then again from mid June to mid September 1916.

1:  Sunday
2: 
3:  Dear Havelock
4: 
5:  I shall get to London on Tuesday afternoon. If I am Don’t forget my
6:  address 2 Campden Hill Sq. if you & Edith are in Town. I believe here
7:  are plenty of “peace” meetings going on I believe I won’t go to
8:  any. I’m too old to be converted by any peace meetings from my
9:  condemnation of of war which I’ve carried in my heart for nearly
10:  half a century.
11: 
12:  Of course they condemn all people who fight against is, & all future
13:  wars, & some even condemn past wars – but the main end of most peace
14:  speakers & writers seem always to wind up by showing what a good
15:  people we are & what a noble & good thing it is we are fighting to-day
16:  & to prove how right & necessary it is we should maintain our
17:  superiority over the sea & the earth. “The earth is mine & the
18:  fullness thereof” sayeth the Englishman. “Any other nation which
19:  tries to build up such an Empire as we have in India & Burma (where we
20:  depopulated whole districts) & Africa & Egypt, & to rule the sea is a
21:  vile & wicked nation on which Gods curse will surely fall. Let us pray!”
22:  Oh the cant & humbug. I take the Globe & the Daily Mail, then you
23:  know where you are!
24: 
25:  Give my love to Edith. I hope I’ll see her some time & you.
26: 
27:  I feel quite sad to leave Llandrindod by my chests getting too bad.
28: 
29:  Olive
30: 

Notation
Draznin's (1992) version of this letter is in some respects different from our transcription.