BRITISH PSYCHO‑ANALYTICAL SOCIETY

                             19 September 1925  London W1

Dear Professor,

We all greatly missed you at Homburg, but you could not have given us better consolation for your absence than the one you did in the form of that charming paper which Anna read beautifully. «FN1.××Freud (1925j).

»  Had I not expected to see you at Homburg I would not have arranged my elaborate holiday in the way I did, but afterwards the arrangements were so complicated that I could not break off in the middle.  So I shall have to postpone the pleasure of seeing you until Christmas or Easter.  We had a pleasant holiday, full of rich experiences.

You will want to know my impressions of the Congress.  Socially it was a great success and proved once more the enormous advantage of personal contact among workers in different countries.  Scientifically perhaps it was not up to standard, largely owing to a considerable number of feeble contributions from the Anglo‑Saxoncountries, a feature which I will do my best to remedy by the next Congress.  I thought the best papers were by Alexander and Reik. «FN1.××See Alexander (1926) and Reik's abstract of his "Der Ursprung der Psychologie," ("The Origin of Psychology") in Zeitschrift, 11(1925):513 and Journal, 7(1926):127.

»  Ferenczi was in a slightly ambiguous position, trying against his will to modify his former extreme attitude as regards active therapy. «FN1.××Ferenczi (1926a).    

»  (By the way, I wish someone would invent a more descriptive word for this procedure.)  He looked very well and young and we were all delighted to see him and enjoyed his company.  Poor Abraham was evidently suffering still, but in spite of his difficulties he performed his duties with excellent judgement and skill.

Sachs also made a good impression and it is evident that continued co‑operation with the Berlin group has greatly improved him.  The main credit for the Congress should, I think, fall to Eitingon who was in every way a great success. «FN1.××See Max Eitingon's important report and proposals regarding psychoanalytic training in Zeitschrift, 11(1925):515‑520 and Journal, 7(1926):130‑135.

»  He is developing his personality more freely and is in every way exceedingly valuable.  Rank, I am sorry to say, did not make a very good impression.  His paper was very confused «FN1.××Rank (1925).

» and he is evidently again in a state of chronic hypo‑mania, evolving with his old energy vast plans for future works that shall embrace gigantic spheres.  He spoke to his old friends about scientific questions but evidently had no personal feelings of friendliness to express.  Our attitude, therefore, must necessarily be one of reserve.

You will have heard that in the business meetings, the main question was the differences arising between the American and Vienna groups.  Although I disagree with some of the American attitude I was bound to side with them in the main question, for it is certain that in Vienna and to some extent in Budapest there has been a lack of consideration for the efforts made by our American colleagues to keep up the standard among psycho‑analysts there.  Eitingon enthusiastically supported my proposal, which was also adopted by the Congress, to the effect that an International Commission be constituted to deal with the problems of analytic education.  It seems to me urgently desirable that, even if it is difficult to secure proper control in these matters, there should at least be contact between the various groups in regard to questions affecting more than one group and I hope that the Commission will prove the first step in this direction.

Roheim is in London at present giving us a course of lectures on some anthropological matters. «FN1.××The lectures were not reported in the Zeitschrift or Journal.

»  He has apparently quite recovered from his temporary attack of Geburtstrauma and is proving a welcome source of incitement to our members.  He is also to read a paper before the Royal Anthropological Institute in a couple of weeks' time. «FN1.××Possibly G. Roheim, "Hungarian Calendar Customs," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 56(1926):361‑384. »

Tansley, who is the last man to welcome polemics, has nevertheless been drawn into a controversy in a weekly magazine where he had been extensively attacked. «FN1.××The polemics occurred in The Nation and the episode is discussed in more detail in Jones (1957a, p. 113; 1957b, p. 119).

»

We shall be beginning our Session next week and the spirit of our colleagues appears to be good and active.

It was delightful to hear on all sides how much you were enjoying your holiday and how much fresher you felt.  I hope you will be in the mood to welcome the work awaiting you in Vienna, but will add my entreaty to those of other friends not to undertake more than you are absolutely compelled to.

With my kindest regards,  Yours always affectionately,  Ernest Jones