"Best blood of youth, beginning of half century of war" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box2/Fold1/Jan-June1899/33 |
| Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | Thursday 3 June 1899 |
| Address From | Johannesburg, Transvaal |
| Address To | Girls Collegiate School, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape |
| Who To | Betty Molteno |
| Other Versions | Rive 1987: 357 |
| 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 has been derived from the postmark on an attached envelope, while the name of the addressee and the address it was sent to are on its front.
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1
Thursday afternoon
2
3 Dear Friend
4
5 Thank-you for your letter. I have just got it.
6
7 I send you a little note I got from Mrs Smuts the wife of the state
8secretary state attorney ^at Pretoria. He is^ at Bloemfontein now with
9Kruger at the conference. She is such a sweet simple true woman. I
10will take you & Miss Greene over to Pretoria to see her if ever you
11come up. She reminds me of you, but in a way even more of Miss Greene;
12in figure & face she is so like Miss Greene she might be her sister.
13
14 I had a nice letter from Sir Alfred Milner this morning not mentioning
15politics, but very cordial personally, & thanking me for my article,
16which I sent him. I believe he means to do right, if he only knows the
17true state of South African feeling.
18
19 Good bye dear friends.
20 Olive
21
22 The letter ^article^ is going to be translated at once into all the
23different European languages & distributed on the continent ^& in
24America.^ I sent a copy of it to John Morley with a letter.
25
2
3 Dear Friend
4
5 Thank-you for your letter. I have just got it.
6
7 I send you a little note I got from Mrs Smuts the wife of the state
8secretary state attorney ^at Pretoria. He is^ at Bloemfontein now with
9Kruger at the conference. She is such a sweet simple true woman. I
10will take you & Miss Greene over to Pretoria to see her if ever you
11come up. She reminds me of you, but in a way even more of Miss Greene;
12in figure & face she is so like Miss Greene she might be her sister.
13
14 I had a nice letter from Sir Alfred Milner this morning not mentioning
15politics, but very cordial personally, & thanking me for my article,
16which I sent him. I believe he means to do right, if he only knows the
17true state of South African feeling.
18
19 Good bye dear friends.
20 Olive
21
22 The letter ^article^ is going to be translated at once into all the
23different European languages & distributed on the continent ^& in
24America.^ I sent a copy of it to John Morley with a letter.
25
Notation
The article referred to is An English South African's View of the Situation, originally published in the South African News over three successive days; see 'Words in Season. An English South African's View of the Situation' South African News 1 June 1899 (p.8), 2 June 1899 (p.8) and 3 June 1899 (also p.8). It was also reprinted in a number of other newspapers. It then was published as a pamphlet, then as a book. A second edition of the book was ready but withdrawn from publication by Schreiner when the South African War started in October 1899, so as not to profit from this. Schreiner was resident in Berea, Johannesburg, from December 1898 until late August 1899. Rive's (1987) version omits part of this letter and is also in a number of respects incorrect.
The article referred to is An English South African's View of the Situation, originally published in the South African News over three successive days; see 'Words in Season. An English South African's View of the Situation' South African News 1 June 1899 (p.8), 2 June 1899 (p.8) and 3 June 1899 (also p.8). It was also reprinted in a number of other newspapers. It then was published as a pamphlet, then as a book. A second edition of the book was ready but withdrawn from publication by Schreiner when the South African War started in October 1899, so as not to profit from this. Schreiner was resident in Berea, Johannesburg, from December 1898 until late August 1899. Rive's (1987) version omits part of this letter and is also in a number of respects incorrect.