There is a double mail to answer this week and only two days to do it
in, so this may be rather hurried.
I do get the _Round Table_. I don't think it suggests a World State as
practical politics, but merely as the only ideal with which the mind
can be satisfied as an ultimate end. If you believe in a duty to all
humanity, logic won't stop short of a political brotherhood of the
world, since national loyalty implies in the last resort a denial of
your duty to everyone outside your nation. But in fact, of course, men
are influenced by sentiment and not logic: and I agree that, for ages
to come at least, a World State wouldn't inspire loyalty. I don't even
think the British Empire would for long, if it relied only on the
sentiment of the Mother Country as home. The loyalty of each Dominion
to the Empire in future generations will be largely rooted in its own
distinctive nationalism, paradoxical as that sounds: at least so I
believe.
Please don't refrain from comments on passing events for fear they
will be stale. They aren't, because my _Times's_ are contemporary with
your letters: and the amount of news we get by Reuter's is negligible.
Indeed Reuter's chiefly enlighten us as to events in Mesopotamia. Last
night we heard that Chamberlain had announced in the House that the
Turks lost 2,000 and the Arabs 1,000 in the attack on Kut on December
12th: that was absolutely the first we'd heard of it, though Kut is
only ninety miles as the crow flies, and my Company is there! All we
hear is their casualties, thrice a week. They now total 2 killed and
11 wounded out of 180: nearly all my Company and 3 of my draft
wounded.
I want to be there very much, to look after them, poor dears: but I
must say that T.A's view that a place like Kut is desirable to be in
_per se_ never fails to amaze me, familiar though it now is. I had
another instance of it last night. About twelve of my draft were left
behind on various duties when the Coy. went up-river in such a hurry.
Hearing that my knee was so much better they sent me a deputy to ask
me to make every effort to take them with me if I went up-river. I
agreed, of course, but what, as usual, struck me was that the motives
I can understand--that one's duty is with the Coy. when there's
trouble around, or even that it's nicer to be with one's pals at Kut
than lonely at Amarah--didn't appear at all. The two things he kept
harping on were (1) it's so dull to miss a "scrap" and (2) there may
be a special clasp given for Kut, and we don't want to miss it. They
evidently regard the Coy. at Kut as lucky dogs having a treat: the
"treat" when analysed (which they don't) consisting of 20lb. kits in
December, half-rations, more or less regular bombardment, no proper
billets, no shops, no letters, and very hard work!
My leg is very decidedly better now. I can walk half-a-mile without
feeling any aches, and soon hope to do a mile. There is an obstinate
little puffy patch which won't disappear just beside the knee-cap: but
the M.O. says I may increase my walk each day up to the point where it
begins to ache.
We have had no rain here for nearly a month; but there are light
clouds about which make the most gorgeous sunsets I ever saw.
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