A STRONG ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 123, 27 May 1933, Page 15

A STRONG ATTACK

LAWRENCE OF/ABASIA

SWAFFER'S LETTER

Debunking was thought to be an' outworn literary fad. All of the great dead of- the past had served their turn. But thci'e are still some living heroes; and it appears that their turn is coming. Lawrence of Arabia, alias Aircraftsman Shaw, is said to be resigning form tho Royal Air Force, so Mr. Haunan Swaft'er, of "John Bull" (London), seizes on him and writes an "open letter" telling Mr. Lawrence that his turn has come (says the "Literary Digest")- It is likp this:— "My Dear Lawrence: So they say that you are leaving the .Royal 'Air Force. . ' •'lt would'bo iii.cc to know, that disarmament had come true, if oji!j\ to that extent.' For, like many other people, I am utterly sick of reading in the newspapers about your latest 'secrecy.'. " . . . . "Never was the' mysterious so public as in your case. Although it is not your fault, I aui sure, your modesty has become'a form of blataney. "You were ' Colonel Lawrence.' You were 'the Uncrowned King of Arabia.' And now you are 'Aircraftsman Shaw.' How silly! , ' "After being the hero of scores of thrilling exploits in. the desert, after brilliant work in tlie war, after being praised,'or blamed, for a score of plots and Schemes for this, or against that, you changed your name and hid/yourself in a humble uniform in the Eoyal Air Force, because you wanted peace and quiet, they said, for the great task of translating tho Odyssey! ."Then it was not for that reason. It was because your doctor had warned you that you had only eighteen months to live. Well, it is a new one on me that dying men are allowed to enlist in the Fighting Services. . Of course, I do not believe a word of-it, and I do not believe anybody believes a word of it. But;they keep on printing it. ■•'■'■■ ■ "Well, anyway ? 'Aircraftsman • Shaw' was cheaper, I am certain, than 'Colbnel Lawrence.' We all know you are a hero, a chivalrous gentleman, a scholar, a Paladin. Wo ■ know that millions of Arabs -trusted you when they would trust no one e15e.....•■.■• ' • "But I*- have -just returned from that part o£ the world where you made such a great. reputation. And, frankly, my own idea is that adventures such, as yours merely cost the country a great 'deal of money, and, in the end, lead to nothing. THE TROUBLE. "You see, the trouble about you was that you were so utterly unselfish, so far beyond suspicion. When . other Englishmen have gone abroad, they have sometimes grabbed large tracts of territory, or been the nominees of some plundering commercial enterprise. "When you advised some new diplomatic move, governments listened to you because you were so utterly unselfish about it all. And, quite frankly, between you and me, jliplpmacy, today, has been proved to be just the bunk. "I was in Syria a few weeks ago. Now it was with your aid that the Emir Faisal became King of Syria. Thia was hailed as 'the culminating step in the working out of the British policy ill tho" Near East.' 'Where'is, it?:' ' "■•••■■.■.'-:..:•■■ ■ ■■■■■.:■■•.■■•.-. "When I was in Damascus, thera wasn't any Emir Faisal there. He had sloped .off somewhere else' to found another kingdom, or to start some new trouble by his own aggrandisement. Somebody had told him to get out;of, Syria,'or else he had merely run away on his own. .'..".' ." '. "And there were tho -unfortunate, Syrians being tyrannised/ over. by. the French." ' . Mr, Swaffer has some more bile to work off. He sneers at the great price, £400,: for a copy of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," which was the title of the unabridged "Revolt in; the Desert." He sniffs at the man who said to him: "I have held 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' in my hands," and thinks "this sort of hero-worship is a public menace." And goes on:—. ~.,.' "Frankly, we have lost faith in all this sort of stuff. It A has all failed, you see. The great diplomats are all exposed. The world's great 'mysteries' are air'revealed.' -' "We realise that' wo have been] kidded for years. All the wise people j like you have failed; whether, in the desert, they have .dressed like Arabs,! or whether, on their way to the Foreign Oifice, • they wore tall hats in Bond Street, we do not believe it any more. The whole world is seeking freedom. And yet the whole world is clubbed by tyrants; The tumult and the shouting has died . . . or was it only just starting! It isn't your fault. You are just tho goat, like .everybody else."- ''-'■ '■'■ .^