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Postmarked Cambridge; sent to Bessie at the Shiffolds, and forwarded on to 36 Brunswick Gardens, London, W.8.- Has just paid a 'very pleasant call' on Bob, who 'seemed comfortable and cheerful, and said that no harm had been done him by the Dinner [given in his honour by the Apostles]'. Bob says Bessie is coming up to Cambridge shortly; Forster is going to Aldeburgh, but will be back here on Tuesday, when he hopes to see her.

The Stella Maris Nursing Home, Trumpington Road, Cambridge. - Bessie will have heard from Catherine [Abercrombie] that Dr Noble thinks he should go for a few weeks into a nursing home to 'rest and be overhauled'. Is no worse, and in fact thinks he is 'definitely better', and he 'quite enjoyed the [Apostles'] dinner', but the doctor examined him 'very carefully' and thinks he needs the rest. Dr Noble is a 'nice quiet sensible man'; Bob thinks Dr Holloway and Dr Bluth would approve of him. Is very sorry to miss the St Matthew Passion and all the Busch [Quartet] concerts. It will not be long before they are 'both at home again together'. Janet seems 'remarkably well and cheerful'. Has to stop as he has several letters to write; hopes Bessie's cure is going well.

Has not written for a few days, but has not had much news; all 'pretty well in spite of the cold'; hopes Bessie has been able to continue her 'short walks'. Went to Leith Hill Place yesterday and had a 'delightful talk' with [Leslie] Hotson, the 'scholar who has so many documents about Shakespeare and Marlow and their contemporaries'; used to know him in the Quakers Mission in France during the First World War, and he was also an old friend of Lascelles and Catherine [Abercrombie]. The Times Lit[erary] Supplement is sending him a book of translations from Greek poetry by F. L. Lucas for review ["Greek Poetry for Everyman"]; 'sure to be interesting', and much of it probably good; will keep him occupied for 'some time'. Thinks he has told Bessie about the dinner the [Apostles'] Society are giving in honour of him, George and Desmond [MacCarthy]; they have promised not to make Bob give a speech, so he can enjoy his dinner. May be his last visit to [George and Janet] at the Lodge [since George's time as Master of Trinity is nearly over]. Will see Humphry and G.E. M[oore]. Hopes to visit Bessie again soon when it is 'not quite so cold'. Wrote to Bertie [Russell] recently. Asks to be remembered to K.T. B[luth] and Theo.

Marchmont, Greenlaw, Berwickshire. - Thanks Trevelyan for sending his new booklet of poems for Christmas [this year's "From the Shiffolds"]: this is 'an honour' which he much appreciates, and he has read them with great enjoyment. Might like the 'tiny fragment of Sophocles best... for its simplicity & truth'. Hopes if Trevelyan comes to Cambridge he might see him; perhaps he could 'manage a Saturday' [meeting of the Apostles' Society?].

W[est] H[ackhurst]. - Thanks Bessie for her letter and interesting enclosures, which he returns: a 'nice letter of Mrs Clausen's: it is a shame we cannot get up more interest in Adamic [?] and in his actually seeing President Roosevelt - Rhea is much more real' to him, as he 'has stroked her'.

Visited Florence yesterday in her new house; she has had a cable 'about - though not from - [her son] Evert'. Is glad that Bessie has Julian in this country, and that Gordon Luce is also here. Sends love to Bob; hopes he will manage to get to the [Apostles'] Dinner on the 20th. He himself will be there, as will Sebastian Sprott, and he hears 'from an authoritative source that there will actually be WINE (a little)'.

Hopes to come and see her soon. 'Is not the cold appalling? But are not the flowers in the garden beautiful, and are not the gooseberries welcome?'. Adds Florence's address and telephone number as a postscript: 102 Hampstead Way, N.W.11; Speedwell 7833.

Garden Corner, West Road, Cambridge. - The Sykes-Davieses are coming to lunch on Sunday; has also asked Hugh to let Bob know where the [Apostles] Society will meet on Saturday night; might be a good idea for Bob to attend after dinner here with Janet, since George has to be in London that night at the [British] Academy dinner, though he is free all of Sunday. Sorry that Bessie cannot come.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Robert's report of the Hunt was very interesting: Basil Williams and [Robin?] Mayor 'must have been notable members of the Old Guard". Told [Austin?] Smyth in his reply that he had been Chairman of the [Apostles'] dinner 'exactly half a century ago', when the Vice-Chairman was 'a lively undergraduate... Welldon by name'. Is looking forward 'with an old man's uneasiness' to the journey North [to Wallington]. Remembers a year when the 'Etonian Trinity men' could not go to the 4th of June [holiday] as it was on the 5th, when the 'Trinity May began'.

Kings Coll. Camb. - Probably best if he comes to the Trevelyans after the [Apostles' ?] dinner. May visit Ashbee on the way. Is in town seeing the "Walkure" and "Gotterdammerung": is an incurable Wagnerian, and does not feel this conflicts with liking Bach or Mozart.

Few pages draft of Trevelyan's "Sulla", here entitled "Sulla & Satyr". Notebook used from other end in for translation of Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound" a draft speech to the Cambridge Apostles [presumably the annual dinner]; in praise of air and fire in response to a speech by E. M. Forster praising the other two elements, and spinning a tale of a philosophical society among the Greek gods in defiance of Sanger's hope that Trevelyan would avoid 'poetical quotations and classical myths'. Also translation of Lucretius, "De Rerum Natura", book 2 line 398ff [marked with scrap of paper].

The Shiffolds. - Went to London on Thursday for the [Apostles'] Dinner, which was a 'great success. George made a good Presidential speech, with an amusing apostolic myth... about why Tomlinson and not Macaulay was founder of the Society'. Sat between Forster and McTaggart. Dickinson 'spoke well and wittily about the O. B. [Oscar Browning]'; Walter Leaf and [Alfred North?] Whitehead were also good. The Vice-President, Thompson [perhaps George Derwent Thomson], 'took the precaution of writing out his speech, which though elaborate was above the average for Vice-Presidential speeches'. There were about twenty-eight or twenty-nine people present, 'rather more than usual'.

Left Bessie at home with a 'strained shoulder', she is recovering, though still has her arm in a sling. Will try to get to one of the performances of the Oresteia by the Balliol undergraduates; from what he hears it is unlikely to be very good. They acted it in various places in the south of England last year, though he did not see any performances himself. Expects they have improved; may go to see them at Winchester on 7 July. They are using his 'complete translation... published in January 1923, not the theatre version which was printed opposite the Greek for the Cambridge performance of 1921'. They do not of course act out the whole trilogy; should think they leave out a third or more. Sends love to his mother.

The Shiffolds. - Came back from the Lake Hunt on Wednesday; it 'rained a great deal, and there was a lot of mist', but they still 'went out each day; and had some very good hunting'. Was 'very pleasant' to have George back, and 'young George for the first time', who 'distinguished himself by being faster than anyone else, and caught most of the hares'. This included Robert, though he had his revenge in catching him in turn 'by running him among some rocks'. The last day, he 'fell when just catching a hare (a civil servant from the Education Office)' and cut his hand rather badly; he is now writing with a bandage on, 'which makes calligraphy impossible'; it is now however healing well.

Spent a pleasant half-day at the Park on his way north, finding 'Aunt Annie very well and in good spirits'. Hopes his parents have both recovered from their journey; the weather here is still 'very bad'. Is going to the [Apostles] dinner next Thursday; George will preside and 'is sure to make a very good President'. Forster's new book Passage to India has come out; is just beginning it. Bessie has read it and found it 'very interesting'. Forster spent a year 'as political secretary to Rajput Maharajah of Dewas' three years ago' so 'he has lived a great deal among Indians'. Bessie sends love. They hope his parents 'found Booa [Mary Prestwich] fairly well'.

c/o Thos. Cook & Son, Athens, Greece. - Has now been at Athens for a week; will stay another week, then go on, probably to Nauplia [Nafplio]. Tomorrow morning will catch the 6.30 train at the Peloponnesus station (gives the Greek for railway station) and go with two friends to Megara to begin a walking tour taking in Pagae, Aigosthena (where they will sleep), and Eleusis, from where they will take a train back to Athens. His friends are Heurtley, librarian and sub-director of the 'British School of Archaelogy [British School at Athens], where Robert takes his meal every day, and Cox, a 'Balliol man who is a student for a year or so'; they will be 'very good companions'. Went up Pentelikon with them last week. Also went by train to Eleusis with 'Greenwood an 'Emmanuel Classical don (an apostle) and his friend the Bursar of Emmanuel'; they walked back the thirteen or so miles to Athens along the 'ιερος όδος' [rightly ιερά όδος: Sacred Way], the 'dustiest road' Robert had 'ever seen'. The scenery however is 'very lovely', and they 'bathed in the bay of Salamis just where the road leaves the sea', turning through the pass of Daphni; this is 'a 12th century monastery, with fine mosaics somewhat like those at Monreale'. Eleusis itself is a 'wonderful site', though there is little left of the House of the Mysteries.

Has been twice on the Acropolis and will go again, and once up as far as the theatre [of Dionysus, or the Odeon of Herodes Atticus?]: 'one gets tired in this hot dusty town if one tries to do too much in the day'. Thinks he likes the countryside best really; the Peloponnesus from the sea, both the shapes of the hills and the colours, is 'very beautiful'. The view from Pentelikon is a fine one: you 'see the whole of Attica... and feel that Theseus, or whoever it was united (συνωκισεν) Attica, must have been a great man, and his job a very difficult one'. Notes the lack of trees near Acharnae, whose people used to be 'great charcoal-burners, even on that side of Parnes [Mount Parnitha].

Hopes his father got his postcard: the head is an old bronze. If the card was crumpled, it was because Robert took it in his pocket up Pentelikon. Likes some of the 'pre-Persian statues almost as much as the Periclean. A great deal was found buried in the Acropolis, as foundations for the later temples... Several of them have still their old paint on them'.

Must now go and call on some Greek friends, the Kalapathakes, to whom he has an introduction; they 'live just opposite the beautiful arch of Hadrian' near Hadrian's Temple of Zeus; may go to the theatre after tea but it shuts at sunset.

Bessie wrote to him more than a week ago from Welcombe, the time post usually takes to travel from Greece to England. Is sorry to hear his father has not been well; hopes his parents are now both in good health. Expects Julian will be home by now, and that he and Bessie will soon go to the Netherlands. Robert hopes to be back in early May.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Enjoyed reading Robert's letter about the dinner [the Apostles' dinner: see 46/303]; the society now is 'certainly a very distinguished body'. Their journey was long here but successful; Caroline is very tired but not really any worse. Comments on the 'horrors about Etna' [a destructive eruption of the volcano]. Thanks in a postscript for 'Pollard's discourse [Alfred Pollard's pamphlet The Foundations of Shakespeare's Text, sent by Robert],'; he talks great sense on a subject 'on which many people write ineffable nonsense'.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Is writing today to instruct Drummonds to pay twenty pounds into Elizabeth's account, as a supplement to Caroline's payment for Julian's schooling. They had a long but 'punctual and much helped and tended' journey here last Thursday, and have been very tired and careful since. They enjoyed Robert's account of the 'Apostolic dinner', which was confirmed by George.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Encloses the 'Pollard Shakespeare pamphlet [The Foundations of Shakespeare's Text]', which he has 'read with much interest'. Hopes his parents have had a good journey to Wallington, and are 'not too tired after it'; was a 'great pleasure' seeing them both, and he was very glad to find his mother 'so much better'.

The [Apostles'] Dinner 'went off very pleasantly. Forster's speech was excellent, not showy, but amusing and humorous, and serious too at times. [Lytton] Strachey was good', and Robert's own speech 'though less good, seemed to please people'. Sat next to George, whom Forster announced as his successor as President at the end; George then made an 'amusing two or three minutes speech, according to custom' and they adjourned. Most went to Keynes' room, where they 'drank tea and [ate] cherries and cake till past one o clock'. The oldest there were Babington Smith, MacTaggart and Dickinson. Forster said he had had a letter from Sir George which 'gave him great pleasure'.

Bessie will write soon. Robert is sending this to Wallington, as it would not arrive in time if his parents start on Tuesday. He and Bessie hope to hear soon that the 'journey went off satisfactorily'.

Hotel du Kélenn, Carantec (Finistère). - Thanks Bob for his letter. Necessary to print [Bob's translation of Aeschylus' "Oresteia"] at once: the proofs must be ready for rehearsals next term, and he also wishes to send advance copies to schoolmasters before Christmas to try and get them to read this 'shortened "Oresteia"' with Bob's version to sixth-formers. Thinks the best plan is for Bob to send his "Choephoroe" to Bowes, keeping lines which had previously been cut if necessary. Recommends that Bob be as 'frank & simple as possible' in his translation of λιψουρία [desire to make water]; thinks they 'ought to make the nurse quite broad', and she will have a 'little folk tune in the orchestra' [music composed by Armstrong Gibbs]. Encourages Bob to get on with the "Eumenides"; will not object to use of Verrall if Bob does not; Verrall's version will 'not clash badly' with Bob's, and 'it's rather nice' to include his work. [D. W.?] Lucas is helping him with the Greek proofs; Sheppard thinks that Aeschylus would understand the point of the 'apostolic combination'. So they should certainly use Verrall if that would 'relieve the strain'. Is sorry to be so pressing. Is coming back at the end of September: they must meet 'immediately' if possible; suggests the weekend of 10 October. Wants Gibbs to be there as well. Tells Bob in a postscript to write to him at King's after 18 September, as he is 'going to wander in Brittany' for a while'.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Will think of Robert 'dining with the brotherhood [of the Society of Apostles]' this evening. Thinks he has told Robert about the Charles Merivale biography, which is an 'excellent book for a Harrow and Cambridge man'; thinks Merivale was one of the first twelve Apostles. Sees in the catalogue of the London Library that they have a German [translation of Sergev?] Aksakoff, so 'he must be famous'; would like to read it at some point if Robert finds it as good as he expects.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Glad to hear that the [Apostles] Society is likely to revive: it is a 'most important element in the future of the University'. Very touching about Geoffrey Young; wishes he had been there when the three of them met at the Lakes before the other members of the Hunt arrived. Sir William Church is staying for a day; they started Harrow on the same day; Sir William, though six months older, is 'a great deal younger than [Sir George] in years and in walking prowess'. Asks Robert to send him his Theocritus. Most interested to hear about his 'literary doings'.

17 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington. - Thought the [Apostles'] dinner a great success, including Trevelyan's speech. The new age limit [for conscription] will cause Trevelyan difficulties: does not know whether the Tribunals recognise objections to service which are not connected to religion. Does not share Trevelyan's pacifist principles, but knows they are genuine: a phonograph recording of their argument over the Boer war would be convincing evidence that it is not just this war Trevelyan objects to. Hopes that the Tribunal will meet him 'half way'. Sends regards to Donald [Tovey?] if he is still there, and to Bessie.

8, Grosvenor Crescent, S.W. [old notepaper, since the house was sold in 1916]. - Thought about Robert often last night; he is right to prepare his speech [for the Apostles' dinner?] beforehand as it needs to be 'a literary composition, setting the note to the rest'. Forty two years since he himself presided, the year that his "Life" of Macaulay and [Henry] Sidgwick's "Methods of Ethics" came out; Welldon, who was vice-chairman then, has become Dean of Durham [Cathedral], which Sir George thinks will suit him. Welldon must be pleased at the 'general regret' expressed at his leaving Manchester; the "Guardian"'s account of his 'jolly popular ways' was very funny. Glad to hear that Bessie is properly recovered, and to hear from them both about the plans for Julian [to go to school at Dunhurst, prep for Bedales]. Aunt Annie [Philips] is coming for a fortnight tomorrow, having been very ill; hopes she will take more care of herself in future. Calls themselves 'a crazy company', quoting [Oliver] Cromwell before the battle of Dunbar, but they 'are better at Wallington than anywhere else'. Note written on postscript on a separate sheet: has just finished re-reading [Plato's] Euthryphro; wonders why it is not 'more talked of'.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Thanks Robert for his account of the [Apostles'] dinner. Glad he likes the 'paper on Wallington' ["Country Life, 43" (22 June 1918), pp 572-8]; the photographs are beautiful. Very good that they were taken 'before the house was dismantled'. Returns Robert's letters; was glad to see them; if the [Apostles] Society dies out, it will be 'in a world convulsion: but will revive'. Loved to read [William?] Lee-Warner.

Is sorry that Trevelyan has 'this bother' [of going before a tribunal as a conscientious objector] and is very happy to provide a statement attesting to his honesty. Suggested version originally enclosed for approval; this is now not present but the letter is on a sheet of paper used by Fry for a draft of the statement which is cancelled but still legible. Fry is sorry he missed the [Apostles'?] dinner; now is back at Bo Peep [Alciston, Sussex] and working hard. If Julian [Fry] is still at Bedales next term, which depends on his tribunal, will tell him to look after Julian [Trevelyan] at Dunhurst. Hears Dunhurst is now greatly improved. Will write to Roper, whom he thinks is doing much good at Bedales. Trevelyan will know Fontanelle, as he knows 'all the books' (quotes Mallarme in French); but he himself did not and finds him witty and wise.

Lennox House, 43 Ovington Square. - Thanks Trevelyan for the 'two volumes ' [one the "Pterodamozels", see 19/63] and the particulars of Trevelyan's other books. Will be arranging his 'collection of Apostolica' [books by Cambridge Apostles] when he goes to Herefordshire next week, and then 'fill some more of its gaps'; meanwhile would like a copy of Trevelyan's "Polyphemus' and encloses payment.

Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue, London. - Asks for a copy of Trevelyan's "Pterodamozels" to add to his 'apostolic' collection [books published by members of the Cambridge Apostles]; gives the address as 43 Ovington Square; would be 'indebted' to him if he also wrote his name on the title page. Asks in a postscript whether Trevelyan has a printed list of his other publications.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - They are 'in the interval between two governesses, so Bessie is rather busy looking after Julian'. They are glad Miss Barthorpe will probably return next winter, as she suited them very well; the new governess, Miss Colley, comes on Monday.

The [Apostles] Dinner last week went 'very well'; thinks twenty-two people attended. MacCarthy was 'very successful as President'. Had to speak at the end as President for next year; will be 'somewhat of a responsibility, especially in these days' Sophocles' Ichneutae [see 12/272] is on the subject of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes; the Chorus are the Satyrs 'tracking' the thief of Apollo's lost oxen. Has never read the Bellum Alexandrinum, 'nor indeed any of Caesar since... Cambridge'. Note on [Aulus] Hirtius. Is reading some Greek history with Julian, 'chiefly about Croesus and Cyrus at present, but it will come to the real Greeks soon'.

Their strawberries have finished, but their raspberries 'are coming on'; they will be able to make some jam, though they have not got all the sugar they wanted. The bilberries on Leith Hill are also 'at their best'.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Has completely re-arranged the library, which was very interesting but 'rather hard physical work' at his age, incorporating the two bookcases, one the 'pretty Morris' one, from London. Is sending Robert a box of the books belonging to him. Has been corresponding with Professor [Herbert Hall?] Turner, who has a 'fine fraternal idea of the [Apostles] Society'. As it is Sunday morning, he is writing to George as usual; would like to have more letters from Robert and suggests he fixes a day to write. Charles and his family are now re-united at Cambo; Aunt Anna [Philips] has been here a fortnight.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Is very sorry for the difficulties with 'poor Miss Boucher [Julian's governess]; glad that Caroline will see Elizabeth to hear about it; also glad that Julian is well, and 'quite contented that he should get his intellectual nourishment largely through pictures'. A 'strange metaphysical friend' of Henry Sidgwick's, who was 'too odd and unkempt to be an Apostle' used to tell Sir George he had the 'Shoshonee [Shoshone] mind' since he said their 'alphabet was all in pictures'. Has seen a portrait of 'the late Mr Willett, the father of daylight saving'. Does not know whether the Cambo household will return; afraid Pauline is not well. Has been busy; the Shakespeare tercentenary was held in Stratford tastefully and 'rather successfully', and he felt he should 'repay the neighbourliness and friendliness' of the people by attending some of the celebrations, and making some speeches. Stratford has 'ceased to be an American town'; instead of twelve or fifteen thousand last year, there were only two hundred and fifty four [visitors]. Thanks Robert for [Charlotte Lennox's] "The Female Quixote"; has been reading "Humphry Clinker", which he has always thought Smollett's 'most readable' work, though there is 'nothing like the naval scenes in Roderick Random'.

Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Recommends that Robert read Elizabeth Gaskell's "Sylvia's Lovers". Robert has had some interesting guests; glad to hear what he says about 'Eurasians in Java'. Was glad to subscribe to the 'Apostles' portrait', though does not know where it is to be kept; 'a Richmond is always worth having'; imagine what the value of 'an authentic portrait by St Luke of St Peter or St Paul' would be'. The haymaking is going well, but after that they 'sorely want all the rain [they] can get'.

Very kind of Edward to send the cheque, but he is returning it as he would rather the money were redistributed amongst the others [contributors to "Georgian Poetry"]; if it is difficult to redivide now perhaps it could be kept until more profits come in. Delighted to hear the book is 'still doing so well'. When Bob returned to Cartmel from the [Apostles] Dinner, he found [Gordon] Bottomley had had a haemorrhage, 'the first for nearly two years'; when he left a fortnight later, Bottomley was much better, but Bob thinks this 'has convinced him that he ought not to live there any more, even in the summer'. He and Bessie hope that Bottomley will stay with them again this winter.

Also contains notes for Trevelyan's toast to 'Absent Brothers' [at the annual dinner of the Cambridge Apostles], in which he explains that [his brother] George is 'in the Balkans, visiting battlefields' [during the Second Balkan War]; Brooke is in America, and Dickinson in China. Trevelyan suggests that Brooke should instead go to India as '9th reincarnation of Vishnu', play the flute and be followed by 'troops of adoring Gopi maidens. He would make a wonderful God'. If this new religion should prove a nuisance to the government, McTaggart, Russell and Moore should be 'at hand to check and expose him'; they would also find helpful roles in India, as would Fry, Lytton Strachey, George Trevelyan, and Mayor.