Ap. 1. Baghdad Dearest Father. Both your letters of March 19 arrived yesterday and I am beginning to write now because there are so many things this week that I shal be dreadfully rushed. You haven't sent me your piece about the coal crisis. I hope you won't forget it - oh I see you say it's not ready.
Well, the Assembly; I was interrupted in the middle. Had I got to where the King came in, looking very wonderful in full Arab dress? The Ministers followed him and sat down on either side, he sitting on the dais. He was tremendously clapped. Then he read his speech from the throne, a very fine bit of oratory and most moving. I think I have never seen him so much agitated; his voice shook. After it his procession reformed and he left - so did Sir Henry and the Air Marshal. They then elected their President - a moment of breathless excitement. They all wrote their choice on bits of paper and dropped them into a box. A comic incident was that some of the shaikhs in front of us held their papers face towards us as they filed out to put them in the box, so that we might clearly see that Muhsin Beg's name was written on them. The chief teller (in robes and a green turban) held the box upside down - he looked like a conjuror and we almost felt that a rabbit might drop out at the next shake. But it didn't; the box was locked up and the voting papers consigned to it. Then the reading out of the names began and the first four papers were for Yasin. My heart stood still, for Yasin is the villain of the piece - he wants to be the local Sa'ad Zaghlal. But next came Muhsin Beg and Muhsin Beg and Muhsin Beg and the end of it was that he got 51 votes and Yasin 23. Oh, it was such a relief! Haji Naji turned round, caught my eye and smiled.

They ought by rights to have elected the Vice Presidents next, but instead they went wandering off into a futile debate as to whether they would accept the Standing Orders which had been passed by the Cabinet and the King, or whether they should make their own. One luminous gentleman observed that the moment that the Assembly met all former laws were null and void! There was a good deal of venom behind it, because Yasin and his group want to rule that the Assembly isn't competent to ratify the treaty which must be left to the subsequent Parliament. After 20 minutes or so Muhsin Beg put an end to it by adjourning till Saturday 29th. And we all went back to our offices - no, the Arab offices had a holiday.

I went to see Capt. Clayton in the afternoon of Friday - he is still in hospital - and told him all about it. Before dinner Ken came to see me and told me that the King was putting his back into it and he felt sure it would be all right. A tremendous amount of lobbying was done on Friday, I understand. Ja'far telephoned to me asking me to see some of the Christians and give them his instructions, which I did - he himself came into the office, fortunately, while I was doing it. In the afternoon I felt too full of it all to bear myself so I rode up to the palace to write my name with respectful congratulations on H.M. And there in the garden I found all the Deputies having tea. They all begged me to come too, but I knew better, so I wrote my name and rode away - feeling so happy. For there he was being King, and there they were being Deputies, just as if it were quite real. Just as I got back Ken appeared, so I told him all about it and we rejoiced together.

Then I had a curious little dinner party, Professor Langdon (Kish), Mr Cooke, the Hedgcocks (you don't know them; nice, intelligent people) and a Miss Davids, an American journalist whom I had been asked to be kind to. She is quite innocuous. Now Professor Langdon is like some curious insect, if you can imagine an insect with two thin curls standing upright on its head; and being like that he seldom enjoys the admiration of my sex except when he dines with Mrs Hedgcock and Miss Davids. They sat on either side of him and hung on his words - he loved it. So did I, for it made my dinner party so successful.

He was very interesting, I must say. He has been out to look for a new, or rather a very old town, Isin, hitherto unlocated. And he has found it.

We are in anxiety about Prof. Sayce. He went to Kish and fell ill there and he is now in hospital here with fever. He looks dreadfully frail and they say his heart isn't all it should be. If he died here it would be dreadful. Also I should be so sorry.

On Saturday Bernard and I went to the Assembly. They passed the standing orders without a murmur and then elected the two Vice Presidents, one Daud Haidari, a great friend of mine, and the other - Yasin! The King had wanted a Shi'ah for the second and the Shi'ahs were much disgusted. The Cabinet muddled it; they haven't yet learnt how to run their block, and Yasin slipped in on a split vote.

Violet Bourdillon and I went after lunch to see the R.A.F. sports - sports reduce us both to tears but we thought we ought to go. It wasn't after all so bad. We sat with the Dobbses and Air Vice Marshal Higgins, the new man - Sir John was away in Mosul [Mawsil, Al].

A.V.M. Higgins is pleasant and commonplace. He is also quite remarkably plain. Nevertheless he is said to be a great success with my sex, in fact Lady Dobbs confided to me that he had just run away with one of them and married her. It seems that they didn't really mean to run far, but they ran just far enough to be observed and in consequence she was divorced.

Oh I must tell you a heavenly story of the Dobbs pair. It is said that Sir Henry gave some seeds to his gardener who sowed them in pots, but when they came up, he let the birds eat them and Sir Henry was so angry that he threw the pots down the steps and broke them on the gravel Bellow. Then Lady Dobbs, coming up behind, said: "That's right, Henry. If the High Commissioner mayn't do what he likes, who may?" It was so true to life that, remembering your adage, I asked her if it had indeed happened. "No" she replied gravely. "Henry broke the pots before I came. But what I always do say is that Henry is perfectly in his rights to beat the gardener every Sunday morning. It's the only sport he has."

Well, then I had a dinner party for A.V.M. Higgins - Bernard and Violet, Nigel and Ken and Col. Prescott (police). I thought myself that it was rather heavy in hand. After dinner 4 of them played Bridge while Violet, Ken and I read Belloc's new book of poems very happily. When the rubber was finished, we three played a rubber with the A.V.M. and I don't know what the other 3 did.

On Sunday morning I went to my museum where I had a tremendous field day with Prof. Langdon who read all the Assyrian inscriptions that were there, tablets and bricks and slabs, while I wrote it down on the laBells. By the way I've got the idol. Prof. L. was much impressed by her and said she undoubtedly was Semiramis. She looks very imposing.

I stepped up to see the Prime Minister and found him rather agitated. He commissioned me to see some of the Mosul deputies. Then I went to my Minister, Sabih Beg, and found him rather agitated so I asked him to lunch. He came a little early and we had our talk. The rest of the party was the German Secretary of Legation in Tehran [Teheran], namens Zorkhe (that's his name, I assure you) a nice young man, and Col. Slater. Dr Zorkhe had been with the German army in Syria when Sabih was with the Turkish, so they eagerly enquired after mutual friends. What had become of Count Kaiserling? Well, it was so sad, he was killed in the retreat. And we all shook our heads over this misfortune, forgetting that for our part what we were busy with at that time was killing Germans. Oh dear, oh dear!

Dr Zorkhe told us an interesting tale about the failure to proclaim a republic in Persia. Riza Khan stalked into the majlis intending to announce that a republican govt had been established with himself as President, but before he could say a word, the President of the majlis addressed him sharply, and he suddenly lost courage and went meekly away! And now I should think the chance is gone forever.

I rode up to the hospital afterwards to see Iltyd Clayton and tell him all the news. And I looked in on Prof. Sayce who seemed so terribly feeble and tired that I did not stay. Oh, I hope he won't die. And you'll scarcely Bellieve it, but as soon as I came in I was flooded with deputies, including the Mosul people for whom I had sent. I did a useful bit of work with them by sending them straight off to see Ja'far and all was explained. Wilson, A.T.