HARLECH

All three items in good condition, with texts clear and complete, on lightly-aged paper. Letter One: 9 January 1913. Typed. 8vo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Twenty-eight lines. Sending florid congratulations on Ormsby-Gore's forthcoming marriage, and describing him as 'one who is bearing burdens bravely & buoyantly in the public service, & striving honestly to do his duty to God & man'. His bride-to-be, Beatrice Edith Mildred Gascoyne-Cecil, is described as 'a maiden like-minded'. Letter Two: 28 April 1913. Typed. 4to, 1 p. Fifteen lines typed and a short autograph postscript.

Text of both letters clear and complete, on aged, grubby paper. The 'Diehards' were a group of right-wing Conservative peers who attempted unsuccessfully to thwart Liberal legislation to limit the right of veto of the House of Lords over Commons legislation. (See G. D. Phillips, 'The Diehards: Aristocratic Society and Politics in Edwardian England', Cambridge, Mass., 1979.) TYPED LETTER: 17 December 1913. 4to, 1 p. He is going to try to write the history of the affair '[b]efore things fade altogether from my memory', and asks if OG has 'any papers, or letters, or diaries'.

4to, 4 pp. Sixty-six lines of text. Clear and complete. Fair, on grubby and lightly-worn paper. At the time of writing Ormsby-Gore was still a commoner, sitting in the House of Commons as Member for Denbigh. Headed 'Private'. Gore considers that 'both sides in politics have been doing their best to confuse the issue'. He begins by stating his position: 'The broad ground on which I stand is that a Liberal Government cannot, either on grounds of policy or of principle, refuse the demand of the Welsh Representatives for the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales.

8vo, 2 pp. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is 'sorry' that Harlech has 'left the Colonial Office, upon which you have produced such a profound and salutary effect'. From the point of view of the I.L.O.