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15 January 1931
81 Harley Street, London
Dear Professor,
The news of your invitation to give the Huxley Memorial Lecture was in yesterday's papers and was followed to-day in the ‘Times’ by the usual rumour about your ill-health which I have contradicted. I can well understand your regret at deciding to refuse the invitation. It happens to be one of my few remaining ambitions to receive a similar invitation myself some day, Huxley having been the chief hero of my youth. As you doubtless know, he was nicknamed “Darwin's bulldog”, and you would perhaps agree that my identification with him has not been entirely fruitless.
I am happy to be able to tell you that your wish is being gratified which you expressed in your last letter about the spirit of unity subsisting among the three most active leaders. Ferenczi had been behaving very neurotically in the past few years towards both Eitingon and myself,1 and all our endeavours to deal with his resistances were in vain. You know it is not my custom to speak to you about such difficulties among colleagues, but rather to attempt to deal with them myself. I mention them now only because there is good hope that they are at an end. They appear to have been mainly due to my action in proposing that Eitingon be confirmed in the Presidentship, which he had been holding in the interim following Abraham's death. I still think it would have been offensive to him to do otherwise and do not at all regret my action, but Ferenczi appears to have felt otherwise. Now, however, I hope that is a matter of the past. I wrote him a letter at Christmas notifying him of our intention to propose him at the next Congress and he has, to my great pleasure, replied with a most friendly letter. Incidentally, he now forgives me for the “Groll” [resentment] which he, not I, had been feeling!