ning
joy of my life, but I cannot help thinking that circumstances
will render it impossible. Still, we will hope for the best. One
thing I mean to do after the War is to learn Russian thoroughly
and to visit Russia. I am not at all sure that travelling is not
the best of all Universities. The great disadvantage of a
'Varsity is the insularity of mind which it is apt to breed. Its
rigid observance of ancient customs, its cult of "form," the fact
that it is the almost exclusive monopoly of the rich, the
aristocracy and the upper middle-class; above all, its contempt
for the learning of modern times and studied disregard of modern
languages--all these features help to make the 'Varsity as
insular as the most insular of all English national institutions.
On the other hand, by its genuine intellectuality, by its cult of
the beautiful and the abstract, by its scorn of the sordid
business side of modern civilisation, by its enthusiasm for
athletics and by its traditions of duty and of patriotism, the
'Varsity remains, to my mind, one of the most healthful
influences in modern British life.

Talking of English insularity, it is curious to note how the
Englishman makes his progress abroad. He is so insular that
instead of learning the language and adopting the customs of the
country he is in, he makes the indigenous population adopt his!
He does not, for example, know much French, but he has evolved a
sort of patois--much nearer English than French--that enables the
inhabitants to understand him and comprehend what he wants.

I have recently been reading another of John Buchan's, called
"Greenmantle." If you haven't read it, get it. It is just as good
as Buchan's other books, rich in mystery and scintillating with
adventure. It deals with this War and the experiences of Richard
Hannay (whom you will recollect as the hero of the "Thirty-nine
Steps," and who has since become a Major and got wounded at Loos)
in his efforts, eventually crowned with success, to crush a
German plot--this plot being the working up of a "Jehad," or Holy
War among the Mohammedans, and so provoking a rising of Islam
against the British. A thoroughly live story, told with great
spirit.

I have also read H. G. Wells's war novel, "Mr. Britling Sees It
Through." It is