Conrad First The Joseph Conrad Periodical Archive
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A Letter from Joseph Conrad in the Morning Post

in The Morning Post (London, UK) (Oct 12, 1904): (Page imagery not yet available)

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This review of E. D. Morel, King Leopold's Congo (1904) begins: "At present there are many persons who share the sentiments of Mr. Joseph Conrad, the distinguished novelist, whose views on King Leopold's rule in Africa Mr. Morel is enabled to quote. Mr. Conrad has served on the Upper Congo, and his opinions have, therefore, the value which must attach to impressions based on the personal observations of a singularly acute student of human nature." There follows a long extract from Conrad's letter to Roger Casement of 21 Dec 1903 (CL 3: 96-97), one of two quoted in Morel's book, beginning: "It is an extraordinary thing that the conscience of Europe which seventy years ago has put down the slave trade on humanitarian grounds tolerates the Congo State today." The reviewer closes by describing the passage as a "heavy indictment".

See Hunt Hawkins, "Joseph Conrad, Roger Casement, and the Congo Reform Movement," Journal of Modern Literature, 9/1 (1981-82): 65-80. Available to subscribing institutions via JSTOR.