Dear Peter,
Is there, do you think, a point which RK is trying to make? Is it not
the sort of piece which a modern journalist might write when papers are
released under the 30-year rule?
If there is a point, it is to praise John Lawrence as the man who saved
India for the British, I would suggest.
Incidentally, the RM (page 1, 5th para., line 2) is (Sir) Robert Montgomery.
I suspect it was also a sort of "Lest We Forget" piece - not quite in
the sense of the later "Recessional", but a reminder to those newcomers
(like himself) of what a close-run thing the whole affair was. One gets the
sense of urgency, of improvisation, from Lawrence's papers, especially as
Kipling sets them out. It is all the present (1857) - no thought for
"post-war reconstuction".
As a result of reading "In the Year 57", I have just been reading
Lawrence's and Montgomery's DNB entries, Lawrence's by Sir David Steel
Yours,
Alastair
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Havholm" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Alastair Wilson" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 1:31 PM
Subject: RK on 1857
>I sent the attached Word document to Michael Aidin in response to his
> question about whether Kipling had written about 1857. Alistair
> Wilson's latest note made me think I should copy it to the list.
> Kipling's authorship of the two-part piece, published in the CMG on
> 14 and 23 May 1887, is attested by the inclusion of clippings of the
> article in his scrapbook, now in the Kipling Papers at the U. of Sussex.
>
> If any reader can shed light on the point RK might have been trying
> to make with this piece in May 1887, I'd very much appreciate
> suggestions.
>
> Best,
>
> Peter Havholm
>
>
>
>
> __________ NOD32 2243 (20070505) Information __________
>
> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
> http://www.eset.com
>
|