"Post-war typhoid, misery, common bond gone" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box4/Fold1/1908/43 |
| Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 12 June 1908 |
| Address From | De Aar, Northern Cape |
| Address To | Lyndall, Newlands, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Who To | Frances ('Fan') Schreiner nee Reitz |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections. The date of this letter is provided by the postmark on an attached envelope, which also provides the address it was sent to. Schreiner was resident in De Aar from November 1907 until she left South Africa for Britain and Europe in December 1913, with some fairly lengthy visits elsewhere over this time. The last insertion is on the back of the envelope.
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1
Dear Fan,
2
3 I send you Mrs Purcell’s latest letter which I think will interest
4you about her return & also the suffragettes. A little time ago Miss
5Molteno was much opposed to them, but since she has been to see & hear
6them speak she feels so strongly on their side she can hardly express
7herself. You didn’t say if you’d read "The Convert". That tries to
8show that the reform we intend to bring about is a moral reform , in
9the relation of the sexes. What we really suffer from is the fact that
10man believes there is quite one moral law in sexual matters for
11himself & another for woman. If he respected woman more, if he felt
12she was his equal in the eye of the law, with the same powers & right;
13he would cases to think what would be absolutely wicked degradedness
14in a woman, is quite noble, & right in himself!
15
16 Did I tell you I am going to my old quarters in Tamboer’s Kloof,
17Eastbergholt, Tamboer’s Kloof Rd. If one takes the Buitenchracht
18(how’s that spelt?) train it puts you almost down at the door; but I
19fear I’ll not be able to stay long. My chest is much worse than it
20used to be. It seems to me that say three years ago I was quite well
21compared to what I am now.
22
23 Cron returned yesterday from Cape Town. His dear old mother stood the
24operation wonderfully. We are now only anxious to hear how it is going
25
26 Good bye, dear. It will be splendid for Dot & Jewel to go to Belgium,
27but I wish they were going to Germany. I’m so sorry Dot couldn’t
28go to Isabella Ford’s. She would be such a mother to her & help &
29advise her in any little matter that came up.
30
31 Good bye again
32 Olive
33
34^I’m worked pretty dead trying to get the house right, & it is not
35right yet. There are only I & the little girl, & we are so bad at
36moving things, & all that You must come & stay here with me one day.
37I’ve a dear little tiny bedroom waiting for you. ^
38
39 Olive
40
41 ^I am afraid there will be a good deal of fighting in our party when
42the ?cession meets. Many are not going to be dominated over by old
43Merriman.^
44
45 ^We shall arrive on Sunday evening. We shall not be down for the
46opening on the 19th.^
47
48
49
2
3 I send you Mrs Purcell’s latest letter which I think will interest
4you about her return & also the suffragettes. A little time ago Miss
5Molteno was much opposed to them, but since she has been to see & hear
6them speak she feels so strongly on their side she can hardly express
7herself. You didn’t say if you’d read "The Convert". That tries to
8show that the reform we intend to bring about is a moral reform , in
9the relation of the sexes. What we really suffer from is the fact that
10man believes there is quite one moral law in sexual matters for
11himself & another for woman. If he respected woman more, if he felt
12she was his equal in the eye of the law, with the same powers & right;
13he would cases to think what would be absolutely wicked degradedness
14in a woman, is quite noble, & right in himself!
15
16 Did I tell you I am going to my old quarters in Tamboer’s Kloof,
17Eastbergholt, Tamboer’s Kloof Rd. If one takes the Buitenchracht
18(how’s that spelt?) train it puts you almost down at the door; but I
19fear I’ll not be able to stay long. My chest is much worse than it
20used to be. It seems to me that say three years ago I was quite well
21compared to what I am now.
22
23 Cron returned yesterday from Cape Town. His dear old mother stood the
24operation wonderfully. We are now only anxious to hear how it is going
25
26 Good bye, dear. It will be splendid for Dot & Jewel to go to Belgium,
27but I wish they were going to Germany. I’m so sorry Dot couldn’t
28go to Isabella Ford’s. She would be such a mother to her & help &
29advise her in any little matter that came up.
30
31 Good bye again
32 Olive
33
34^I’m worked pretty dead trying to get the house right, & it is not
35right yet. There are only I & the little girl, & we are so bad at
36moving things, & all that You must come & stay here with me one day.
37I’ve a dear little tiny bedroom waiting for you. ^
38
39 Olive
40
41 ^I am afraid there will be a good deal of fighting in our party when
42the ?cession meets. Many are not going to be dominated over by old
43Merriman.^
44
45 ^We shall arrive on Sunday evening. We shall not be down for the
46opening on the 19th.^
47
48
49
Notation
The book referred to is: Elizabeth Robins (1907) The Convert London: Methuen & Co.
The book referred to is: Elizabeth Robins (1907) The Convert London: Methuen & Co.