Hullo Child of the 7th Age:
Thank you for presenting us with so fascinating a topic. * smiles in appreciation * [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
I would say that Tolkien chose not to send the letter for the following reasons:
1) Humility
2) When elucidation of the truth is successful in a profound way, the truth speaks for itself far more eloquently than any who would seek to be the truth's advocate. For Tolkien to chime in with comments to the effect of "BTW, I'm trying to elucidate the truth here, and teach morals of antiquity comparable to Aesop's fables, solve what ails the world and show people how to lead happier, improved lives" would diminish and ponderously undercut his own work in an anticlimactic way suggestive of those trivial and cheap "Solve All Your Problems in Just Ten Minutes a Day" self-help books.
Personally, I see nothing that leads me to conclude that Tolkien may have had split feelings regarding the validity of what he wrote ... just that he chose discretion as the better part of valor. To my mind, he preferred not to trumpet all of his ideals from the towers with white banners unfurling in the wind, but rather quietly live them out in his Shire, from which haven to reach out and affect the rest of Middle Earth with the gentleness of Hobbit-sense.
Gandalf the Grey
[ June 22, 2002: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]
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