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Letter ReferenceOlive Schreiner BC16/Box4/Fold4/1911/1
ArchiveUniversity of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town
Epistolary TypeLetter
Letter Date11 January 1911
Address FromPortlock, Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape
Address To
Who ToWilliam Philip ('Will') Schreiner
Other Versions
PermissionsPlease 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.
1 Portlock
2 nr. Graaff Reinet
3 Jan 11 / 11
4
5 My dear old Chum
6
7 I don’t know why you’ve been so in my mind of late, the last week
8or so. The other night when I was lying in bed I got foolishly anxious
9about you fishing off those rocks. Do take care of yourself. I don’t
10see much of you, but you don’t know what an awful gap there would be
11in my life if anything happened to you. I’m unreadable I saw in a
12newspaper yesterday how a barrister in Cape Town had to save his
13nephew at Kalk Bay. I was wondering if it could be you; but you’ve
14no nephews but Elbert Hemming at Cape Town so it couldn’t be you.
15
16 I’m getting on a bit with my writing & so happy. The air here is
17splendid; I’m a bit lonesome; but thats a condition must always
18remains while I’m in South Africa. The Murrays are dear good people:
19but of course I live my life, & they theirs. I wonder often how things
20go in the big world, I see no paper but the Johannesburg Leader & at
21best much is not learnt from papers.
22
23 I had a nice long letter from John Xm ^X^ Merriman the other day, quite
24his best sweetest self. There’s always this great advantage about
25Merriman, that you know where you are with him. Everything else fade
26in importance in Human-life beside absolute sincerity. That million
27spent unauthorized in Pretoria seems to me the most astonishing thing.
28If such things can be done in South Africa, & the ministers who have
29done it remain in power then all our public life seems rotten at the
30core. But I cant shake the feeling off (you will perhaps think a
31wholly mistaken & foolish one) that Jameson & Botha & Co are in league
32as a business firm, & that therefore we cannot even hope from ^for^
33whole hearted action even from the so-called opposition. The
34progressives of this country are worthy one would think of a Leader.
35
36 I see in todays paper that my dear old friend Dr Donkin has been made
37Sir Horatio Donkin. All my old friends & acquaintance are getting up
38in the world, I’ve just found out that Robert Parker whom I used to
39know as a young man is Sir Robert Parker Head Judge of the High Court
40in England. All of them are "getting on" only poor little Ollie stays
41at the bottom of the tree.
42
43 Good bye, dear Laddie.
44 Olive
45
46 ^I shall be here likely till the 11th of March.^
47
Notation
The particular writing Schreiner was 'getting on with' cannot be established.