[Sir Herbert James Read, Governor of Mauritius, and his wife Lady Violet.] Six items including autograph speech by him for members of Second Colonial Office Conference to British Empire League, and other speech, and commonplace book by Lady Read.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Six items. Items Two and Five in fair condition, somewhat creases; the other four items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Autograph fair copy of speech by Read on behalf of his ?fellow-members on the [Second] Colonial Office Conference? [1930] to the British Empire League and the British Empire Club. Apparently unpublished. Unsigned. 5pp, 12mo. On bifolium and single leaf, both with letterhead of Government House, Mauritius. Undated, but since Read was transferred to the Colonial Office in 1889, a reference in the speech to his having ?entered the Colonial Office more than 40 years ago? indicates that the it was made at the 1930 conference rather than the 1927 one. The Colonial Office List of 1946 gives a useful account of the conference, which was held in June and July 1930, with twenty-seven ?Overseas Governments? represented. Read begins his speech: ?Lord Stradbroke, my Lords & Gentlemen / on behalf of my fellow members on the Colonial Office Conference I desire to thank the Br[itish]: Emp[ire]: League & the Br[itish]: Emp[ire]: Club very warmly for having invited us here to-night & also for having made us Honorary Members of the Club during the session of the Conf[eren]ce.? After noting that ?the Club had been established as a memorial to my old chief, the late Sir Robert Herbert - that great public servant who was beloved & revered by all who had the good fortune to know him?, he continues: ?I believe that it was Lord Durham who said that our Colonial Empire had been founded in a fit of absent-mindedness & fostered by a salutary neglect. If that be so the Empire appears to have lost all trace of that origin to-day, for never before has its development been pressed forward with fuller purpose & the existence of Societies like your own sufficiently testifies to the deep interest which is being taken by the people of this country in its progress. And what a marvellous progress that has been.? He describes the changes which have taken place since he joined the Colonial Office, including the observation that ?in W. Afr[ica]: our possessions consisted for the most part of narrow strips of a fever-stricken coast, there was no Rhodesia, & that richest of all countries, the Malay Peninsula, was an undeveloped estate.? ?But, my Lords & Gentlemen, the Empire is a living thing &, like all things that live, it must grow or it must decay. [...] which path the Empire is to take depends, as it has never depended in any other Empire before, on the unfettered choice of the masses of its citizens. Their will is supreme and there is not graver responsibility than that of instructing & finding it aright.? He ends by describing the ?important and honourable part? the British Empire League can play in the ?great task? of ?maintaining that great League of Free Nations, known as the Br[itish]: Empire, which is to-day the most potent instrument of good both for ourselves & for mankind.? The ends, in his own name and that of his fellow guests, by wishing ?all success & prosperity to the Br: Empire League.? TWO: Autograph copy of speech by Read ?On Lord Linlithgow?s app[ointmen]t. to be Chairman of the Imp[erial]: Coll[ege]: of Sc[ience]: & Tech[nolog]y. 16 Nov/34? [i.e. 1934]. Unsigned. 1p, 4to. On thin creased paper. Twenty-three lines of text with one correction. Begins: ?My Lord Marquis, / I have been allotted the agreeable duty of welcoming you here to-day on behalf of the Governing Body of the Imp: Coll: of Sc: & Techgy.? After the usual courtesies he states that ?The Governing Body includes not only representatives of important interests in this country but also representatives of the Empire overseas, and in any efforts which may be made to perfect the organization or to extend the activities of this great Institution, your Lordship can rely upon their whole-hearted support. You may count also on the support of a scientific staff which is probably unequalled and certainly unsurpassed by that of any similar institution whether in this country or elsewhere?. He continues in much the same vein. THREE: Lady Read?s commonplace book. Ownership inscription on front free endpaper: ?Violet K. Read / March 1924.? Ruled 4to volume, bound in patterned red cloth. Autograph quotations on eleven pages, from individuals including Charles Dickens, Sir Francis Bacon, Napoleon, Lord Rosebery. Headings: Valour; Empire; Imagination; Peace; Children; Religion. FOUR: Autograph memorandum by Lady Read beginning: ?Lady Read is writing this in case Miss Baker is not in when she calls this morning?. Unsigned. 2pp, 8vo. Continues: ?Lady Read has been much disturbed at the health of Gladys Ingram (Miss Baker?s niece) who for the last few weeks has shewn [sic] that her nerves are much upset.? FIVE: Autograph copy of speech by Lady Read addressed to ?Lady Manning[,] Ladies?. Unsigned. With two deletions. 2pp, 4to. Twenty-one lines. Begins: ?Voicing the feeling of all members of the Forum Club in saying how pleased we are to welcome Lady Tilley to this lunch today. / She is welcome not only because of the prestige which will be conferred & club [sic] by one who has been the gracious hostess in the British Embassy in Brazil & Japan?. SIX: Autograph notes by Lady Read. 1p, 12mo. On letterhead of Government House, Mauritius. Includes seven-line quotation from Masterman.