2110-4-6-18

COPY

Bowood.

31st December 1924 .

My dear Mary,

I must tell you how pleased I am with the Memoir. It is full of interest for me. My friendship with Rolly dates back to Eton days, and later in life we travelled the same road in our political careers.

Every line of the book carried me back to things with which I was familiar and to people with whom I had been in one way or another associated, whether in public or in private life. I became more and more absorbed in it as I read on. Buchan seems to me to have done his work quite admirably. The facts are marshalled with transparent clearness, and the writer, without being fulsome in his praise, does justice to Rolly's ability, his fine qualities, and to the personal charm which won for him the affection of all with whom he had to deal. I am perhaps not badly qualified to criticize, but I can say quite

sincerely that there does not seem to me to be a fault of style or taste, or even a momentary lack of appreciation in the whole 360 pages.

Accept my congratulations with all good wishes for 1025.

. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LANSDOWNE.