ENPages
page_0001
Vincent's Club, Oxford.
Nov: 7: 99
My dear Father
Very many thanks for your kind letter & Mother's. I hope you have got over the disappointment. I have got over mine – almost. Willie is here, well and cheerful. I hope he will have a good time.
The thing that has most consoled me is the feeling in the University. I have had dozens of letters from dons & undergraduates & from several fellows of All Souls, all declaring that my refusal
page_0002
is a disgrace. The examiners seem to have returned my name & Malcolm's reporting that Malcolm showed a higher average knowledge of history but that my essay & general paper were very brilliant. No one of my friends there seems to have had a doubt about the election till the result was declared, and many of the dons are very cross. I enclose a letter from old Butler, the ex-headmaster of Rugby, and from Wylie. The President of Magdalen also wrote very kindly. All Souls of course have a perfect right to elect whom they
page_0003
please, but if their aim is to get the best men, I hope to make them in time very sorry for their action.
There will be a good many fellowships in Greats open next autumn – notably at Merton & Magdalen which I shall stand for. I will not go in for All Souls again for worlds. I shall keep up my Greats work till then. I hope to get work on the Spectator meanwhile, & I shall write for the Chancellor's Prize in March. I have flatly refused to let Brasenose move a step in the matter of creating a fellowship. I am much too proud.
My heartiest congratulations to the Bird. I am so glad he has
page_0004
got a bursary. I had a letter from old Nan this morning & from Uncle Willie. I shall have to lie very low in town for a little and live cheaply, & work hard but that will be very good for me, as I hope to have about £250 a year. I am busy at my article on Lord Buchan. I go to town on Friday till Monday. The Gathorne-Hardys want me to dine & go to a play, on Monday night, but that will mean expense & I shan't go. Sandy Gillon has taken All Souls much more to heart than I have. He is inconsolable.
With love to all
Your affectionate son
John
