Percy Cox - Relationship With Gertrude Bell

Relationship With Gertrude Bell

Throughout his career in Iraq, Cox was in close connection with his aforementioned colleague Gertrude Bell. Their relationship seems unambiguously to be one of mutual admiration and respect. In her writing, Bell describes Cox as possessing an “air of fine and simple dignity,” praising his “kindness and consideration,” and claiming that his disposition towards her amounted to “an absurd indulgence.” Bell also describes Cox’s political and diplomatic prowess, calling him “a master hand at the game of politics.” She notes the respect that he enjoyed with the peoples of Iraq and when writing about Cox’s dealings with Ibn Saud even declares, “It's really amazing that anyone should exercise influence such as his...I don't think that any European in history has made a deeper impression on the Oriental mind.” Cox, for his part, returns this respect, referring to Bell’s “indefatigable assistance” and the “great degree to which Gertrude Bell enjoyed my confidence and I her devoted co- operation . . .”