The Upton Letters

The Upton Letters
by Arthur
Christopher Benson

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by Arthur Christopher Benson (#6 in our series by Arthur Christopher
Benson)
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Title: The Upton Letters
Author: Arthur Christopher Benson
Release Date: November, 2003 [Etext #4615] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on February 19,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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THE UPTON LETTERS

By ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON
aedae muri' eseidon oneirata, koudepo aos.
1905

PREFACE

These letters were returned to me, shortly after the death of the friend
to whom they were written, by his widow. It seems that he had been
sorting and destroying letters and papers a few days before his wholly
unexpected end. "We won't destroy these," he had said to her, holding
the bulky packet of my letters in his hand; "we will keep them together.
T---- ought to publish them, and, some day, I hope he will." This was
not, of course, a deliberate judgement; but his sudden death, a few days
later, gives the unconsidered wish a certain sanctity, and I have
determined to obey it. Moreover, she who has the best right to decide,
desires it. A few merely personal matters and casual details have been
omitted; but the main substance is there, and the letters are just as they
were written. Such hurried compositions, of course, abound in literary
shortcomings, but perhaps they have a certain spontaneity which more
deliberate writings do not always possess. I wrote my best, frankest,
and liveliest in the letters, because I knew that Herbert would value
both the thought and the expression of the thought. And, further, if it is
necessary to excuse so speedy a publication, I feel that they are not
letters which would gain by being kept. Their interest arises from the
time, the circumstance, the occasion that gave them birth, from the
books read and criticised, the educational problems discussed; and thus
they may form a species of comment on a certain aspect of modern life,
and from a definite point of view. But, after all, it is enough for me that
he appreciated them, and, if he wished that they should go out to the
world, well, let them go! In publishing them I am but obeying a last
message of love.

T. B. MONK'S ORCHARD, UPTON, Feb. 20, 1905.

THE UPTON LETTERS

MONK'S ORCHARD, UPTON, Jan. 23, 1904.
MY DEAR HERBERT,--I have just heard the disheartening news, and
I write to say that I am sorry toto corde. I don't yet know the full extent
of the calamity, the length of your exile, the place, or the conditions
under which you will have to live. Perhaps you or Nelly can find time
to let me have a few lines about it all? But I suppose there is a good
side to it. I