Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXVI. Miss Hall
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
My friend the Swedish Minister in Rome
showed me only the other day the copy of a
letter of mine written nearly twenty years ago.
The original he said he had forwarded to the
Swedish Foreign Office for perusal and
meditation. It was a belated answer to a repeated
official request from the Swedish Legation that
I should at least have the decency to
acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the Messina
medal bestowed on me by the Italian
Government for something I was supposed to have done
during the earthquake. The letter ran as
follows:
“Your Excellency,
“My guiding principle in the matter of
decorations has so far been only to accept a
decoration if I had done nothing whatsoever to
deserve it. A glance at the Red Book will make
you realize the remarkable results of my strict
adherence to this principle during a number of
years. The new method suggested by your
Excellency’s letter, i.e. to seek public recognition
for what little useful work I may have tried to
do, seems to me a risky undertaking of doubtful
practical value. It would only bring confusion
into my philosophy, and it might irritate the
immortal gods. I slipped unnoticed out of the
cholera slums of Naples, I mean to do the same
from the ruins of Messina. I need no
commemorative medal to remember what I saw.”
* * *
As it happens, I must admit that this letter
is all humbug. The Swedish Minister never
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
