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Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Thanks for Robert's 'jolly' letter; agrees that these are 'great times'. George has just returned from Richmond, the 'beautiful hill-town which Turner so often painted'; the victory [for the Liberals] there and at Stratford are 'almost the most satisfactory of the lot'; gives a detailed description of the Stratford candidate [Thomas Kincaid-Smith], who was a 'perfect godsend'. Caroline was 'of great service' and their 'hold on the neighbourhood came very strongly out'; a 'great blessing' they were there and not in Rome or Northumberland. Much interested to hear about [William] Everett's letters; has been reading Catullus and realising his aristocratic status for the first time, and that the people he satirises are not 'the middle class rag tag and bobtail' of Martial and Juvenal but men who would have 'histories, many of them tragical ones'. Caroline is in London today at a Women's Liberal Committee. Notes in a postscript that they were very interested to hear about Bessy's cousins [the Hubrechts?].

Explains the delay in answering Cowell's letter, claiming that he had mislaid it, and had forgotten where Cowell would be; says that he could only remember that he would be at F[lorence] 'about the beginning of May.' Apologises for his carelessness, and claims that he was further delayed in writing by his having to research some lectures that he had to give on the Acts of the Apostles. Regrets that they could not have met up at Florence. Reports that [Henry Yates?] Thompson's failure in the Tripos took them all by surprise, and that the latter seems to have taken the result 'a good deal too coolly; and to have imitated [George Otto] Trevelyan's dangerous example of reading by himself and doing no composition, without having any of Trevelyan's classical intuition...' Reports that Thompson is now in Auvergne, having perfected his French at Paris, and that Trevelyan has returned from Paris. Expresses some doubts in relation to the latter's account of his and Thompson's sojourn in Paris.

Reports that he himself has been spending his vacation in England, trying to cure his stammering. States that he is an M.A. now, and is getting to see more of the authorities of the College, whom he describes as 'a kind of big children.' Remarks that W.H. Thompson 'improves on acquaintance', and is 'so much more genial than one would have thought.' States that he [Henry] is getting over his old objections against fellow-commoners. Admits that his is a very nice life, and that he actually gets through 'so very little work.' Wishes that he could shake off his laziness and begin to write. Claims that his views on religious and philosophical subjects are 'in a state of change', and wishes that he could talk to Cowell on these matters. Claims to have given up a good deal of his materialism and scepticism, 'and come round to Maurice and Broad Church again...' Claims to be 'deeply impressed by the impotence of modern unbelief in explaining the phenomena which Christians point to as evidences of the Holy Spirit's influence.' Discusses his interpretation of the words 'religious' and 'irreligious' as applied to men.

Hopes that Cowell is 'getting happily and delightfully convalescent' in 'the famous city of Dante' [Florence]. Wonders when he is to return to England, and if his 'distaste for the law and...devotion to philosophy' will continue when his health has improved. Remarks that he always thought that Cowell was made for the practical rather than the speculative life. Reports that the ' [Apostles] Society' flourishes, and that the only new member is [William] Everett, who has considerable interests in Metaphysics. Refers to his 'declamation in chapel', with which the old Dons, especially [William] Whewell, were 'enraptured. Asks for the name of Cowell's guide for [E.E?] Bowen, who plans, with [E.M?] Young, a Swiss tour.

8, Grosvenor Crescent, S.W. - There is 'fire and spirit' in [William] Everett's poetry, and he is not put off them by the 'lascivior' [lewder] lines; Robert can keep Everett's other letter. A good letter by [Roger] Fry in the November "Burlington"; comments on how well it [the magazine] keeps up. Caroline has given him a detailed account of the Shiffolds; Sir George hopes to see the house in spring or early summer. Glad Elizabeth is interested in his "Interludes [in Verse and Prose]"; it is good to have published his 'old man's book', and to have written it when he was twenty two or twenty three. Hopes his family will stop him writing reminiscences. They are very sad about Herbert Philips [his death]; he was a 'dear good fellow' who had made 'as great a position by mere, unadulterated, goodness' as Sir George ever knew of. Is looking forward to the holiday, as he has been busy for sixteen months; they start on Sunday and go via Paris, Lucerne, and Milan; they have not yet seen inside the Castello [at Milan?]

Admits that it was his own fault that the letters were lost, and only regrets that his mother has had to write again. Reports that his spiritual discoveries 'are rather languishing at present', and that Uncle Robert has sent him a newspaper containing a story about a woman's dream which predicted the death of her son. Admits that he is getting very lazy about his German. Asks her how long she intends to stay at Rugby at Christmas. Refers to the degeneracy of his handwriting. Reports that he has a young American [William Everett] reading with him; 'a very nice fellow though somewhat odd', who has been telling him about America. Refers to the [British] press, which was full of 'those foolishly irritating articles', which he thought would bring on a French war. Mentions that he began to think of emigrating to America when they appeared. Reports that the Rifle-corps [in Cambridge] 'are in high glee because Prince Albert has taken them under this protection', and explains that they 'had been almost wet-blanketed by Lord Hardwicke (our Lord Lieutenant) who refused to grant commissions to under-graduates...' Remarks that they show their patriotism for the drill, 'for the most part at 8 o clock in the morning...' Supposes that [Charles?] Kingsley 'is strong on Riflecorps', and claims that they are all very well except at Cambridge. Sends his love to Edward.

Explains that he put off writing to Young until it had been decided whether or not Everett should be elected to 'the [Apostles] Society'. Announces that he had been accepted, and refers to him as 'a very clever man.' Refers to his declaration as 'very extravagant and Americans' and reports that 'old Martin was astonished.' States that now Trevelyan, Thompson and Jebb are gone down, a new and rather striking element is needed. Reports on recent discussions, including Trevelyan's speech criticising young men who give up their early ambitions and become schoolmasters. The latter being 'all for the edification of Fisher'. Remarks that Heathcote is 'still rather below the average of an Apostle but still he is improving.' Reports that there has been nothing heretical so far. Declares that he wishes to relieve himself of the charge of having recommended Goldwin Smith as a heretical work. States that it always gives him indigestion to read the Quarterly Review. Refers to the controversy between G. Smith and Mansel, which 'is rather metaphysical than theological'. Agrees with Young that illness has the effect of clearing away doubts. Declares that '[t]he Union is falling again rather'. [Incomplete]

Does not yet know when he shall come down to her, but states that it will probably be more than a week and less than a fortnight. Asks if she will have the house ready by the 10th [of October]. Would like to ask his friend Cowell to come for a few days between the 10th and 18th . Reminds her that he was prevented from coming at Easter. Asks her to let him know as soon as possible. Reports that they are assembling again 'in considerable numbers', as the fellowship examination is so close. Refers to the 'bathing accident' [the death of H.J. Purkiss], which was 'a great shock to the college'. In relation to [H.W.?] Eve's resignation of his fellowship, reports that it was supposed in Cambridge to be due to incompatibility of religious opinions. Reports that [William] Everett is there; he did not come by the steamer he intended, and, as a consequence, could not stay with Arthur. Refers to Everett's lectures [On the Cam: Lectures on the University of Cambridge in England], which are to appear soon. Asks if Arthur got *[The Life and Writings of] Major D[owning]'. Hopes he is alright.

Letter of 7 May 1896 encloses a letter from William Everett dated 21 April 1896. Also accompanied by a letter from Charles R. [Larman?] dated Dec. 7 1906, and an offprint from The Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society "William Watson Goodwin" by Charles William Eliot, printed in Boston in 1913.

Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Thanks Robert and 'dear Bessie' for their letters. Has put back [Trollope's?] "Warden". Bessie's 'account of Paul's "reading" is delightful'. Is reading "Sisyphus" slowly in the evening, as is his habit; has read through the first act, twice, as on first sight he did not realise how much was rhymed. Praises the 'rhyming' and plot highly; parts are very Aristophanic. Looks forward to reading the rest of the poem. Thanks Robert for 'the passage about "requisition"' [from a dictionary?]; strange that Sir George was 'at a loss for a word which... does not exist'. Hopes that they are eating the hare. Adds in a postscript that he agrees with Robert about [William? see also 12/149] Everett's 'capacity for scholarship: there was 'no scholarship in America when he was educated there', he came to Cambridge late, and was 'occupied in other interests'.

Refers to household arrangements, which she hopes will be completed soon. Reports that William came to Rugby the previous Friday, and think that he will be there until he returns to Oxford on 14 October. Expects Henry and his friend Cowell on Tuesday 10 October, and tells him to let her know for certain when he is coming, and if he wants to have a small party for him. Announces that Arthur expects Mr [William?] Everett to come for a night or two also. Explains the accommodation situation with regards number of beds and bedrooms. Refers to a drowning in Cambridge [that of Henry John Purkiss, see 99/51], and claims that Mrs Rhoades told her that James [her son] knew the victim.

Reports that Arthur has had more information about Dr [Henry Weston?] Eve's resignation, 'and appears to think that the Fellowship is given up on religious grounds....' Adds that she has heard nothing from Wellington College. States that Arthur got [The Life and Writings of] Major Downing, but 'does not think much of it', and she claims to find it vulgar and dull. Asks Henry to send her send her the numbers of Macmillan's Magazine when he is finished with them. Reports on the health of both Arthur and William, and on the good weather that they are having in Rugby.

c/o A[ubrey] Waterfield Esq., La Fortezza, Aulla, Lunigiana, Italy. - Was very interested in Everett's two essays; what he says about Shakespeare [in "Six Cleopatras", "The Atlantic Monthly" (February 1905) 252-263] seems 'very just', and if he knew the other Cleopatras would probably agree with Everett's thoughts on them too. Ashamed to say he has never read the Dryden ["All for Love or, the World Well Lost"] though he has long meant to; the version by Delphine Gay [de Girardin] also sounds interesting. Finds it harder to agree totally with Everett's paper on Catullus and Horace ["Catullus vs Horace", "Harvard Studies in Classical Philology" 12 (1901): 7-17]; glad to hear Horace praised, as he is 'often now unjustly deprecated', but obviously thinks more of Catullus than Everett does. Though he admits the faults Everett finds, nothing in Horace appeals to him 'personally in the way that the Attys and the first Epithalium [sic: of Catullus] do'. Responds to a few of Everett's criticisms in detail, and says he would 'be prepared to defend Catullus as one of the very greatest poets in the world'. Everett's 'comparison of [Sophocles'] "Ajax" with "Othello" is 'a very just one'; agrees in some respects with what Everett says about the play, though feels the 'repulsive and sordid elements' may be needed to relieve Othello's characters, which is 'essentially noble and beautiful'. Thanks Everett for sending him Mr [William?] Bradford's poems; was much interested in them but disappointed; did not care for the lyrics and, though the sonnets read well, he found htem 'lacking in real poetical quality'; seems to him a difficult genre of poetry to succeed in, though Wordsworth's "Extinction of the Venetian Republic" and sonnet about Toussaint L'Ouverture show what may be done. Is writing a 'lyrical drama on Ariadne and Theseus ["The Bride of Dionysus"]... intended as a libretto for a musical friend [Donald Tovey]". The last act 'will be the most difficult, and should be the best'.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Apologises for not replying sooner to Everett's letter; is very pleased that Everett is generally pleased with "Cecilia [Gonzaga]", and tends to agree with most of his criticisms: he too thinks Antonio's character could have been more effective and that Everett's suggested treatment would have made this possible, also that 'the transitions from verse to prose are not really successful'. Will not admit that what he has tried to do is 'artistically wrong', and could cite the scene between Iago and Cassio in Othello Act II - but that would prove only that 'a very great artist can solve... an apparently impossible problem', not that Trevelyan was right to try. 'A little more of [Count Vittorio] Alfieri's "fierceness" would indeed have done' the play good, but it was Trevelyan's first, rather timid, experiment in drama. May have weakened his verse too much by using tribrachs; they are 'quite legitimate' according to his theory of verse, but tend to 'reduce the dignity and solidity of blank verse' as in Ternnyson and in Euripides' iambics. Uses them less in his 'Parsival play' ["The Birth of Parsival"]; when his verse becomes irregular it is 'usually to produce some lyrical or quasi-lyrical effect' and even there is increasingly inclined 'to leave out unaccented syllables'. 'Doubtless' Polyphemus, in Trevelyan's poem, 'is very much sophisticated and sentimentalized' as is 'his friend the fawn', but he feels 'sophistication and modernization is legitimate, if it is done frankly'; 'the lost lines of Horace' which Everett 'quoted no doubt from a recently discovered papyrus' were however to the point and 'excellent for their own sakes'. His father has sent him Everett's translation of "Phaselus" [Catullus 4]; liked it very much, though still prefers his own as his 'unrhymed iambics' allowed him to 'preserve the movement of the original' more closely than Everett's couplets. Will try "Sabinus ille" ["Appendix Vergiliana", "Catalepton" 10] but does not think he will make much of it; will be very interested to see how Everett tackles. Encloses 'another very doubtful experiment made long ago from Catullus'; found the rhymes 'very hampering' [now not present].

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Thanks Everett for the 'kind and affectionate letter' about his book ["The Birth of Parsival"]; is very pleased with his praise, and interested in his criticisms; feels 'the prehistoric taste in poetry' is the best kind. Glad that Frimutel's character interested Everett; was worried he had made him 'too abstract'. Now sees 'many other faults in the play'. The story is 'not really in the Parsival myth at all', though Herzeloide as Parsival's mother is taken from Wolfram von Eschenbach, and there is 'a Frimutel who was a king of the Grail, and great-uncle of Parsival', so Trevelyan had to invent the story. Took the idea of 'the mother arguing that her child was not a prodigy' from the fragmentary "Melanippe" of Euripides; will have to stay closer to the myth if he ever continues the story and deals with Parsival himself. Has always disliked Tennyson's blank verse, but may possibly 'sometimes commit the same faults', though he argues that his 'irregularities come chiefly in parts that are lyrical, or semi-lyrical'. Defence of a line objected to by Everett. Admits the 'lyrical parts are certainly experimental'; though they please his own ear, cannot be sure they will please others, though he has 'tried to get the rhythm clear'. Expects the music which accompanied Greek irregular lyrical verse did this. Very kind of Everett to say he will buy "Cecilia Gonzaga", though fears he will be disappointed. Will send another early book of his ["Polyphemus and Other Poems"], illustrated by their 'brother' [Cambridge Apostle], Roger Fry; the illustrations 'were very badly reproduced', due to the publisher and printer, not Fry. Has just returned from 'a pleasant fortnight at Wallington'; his parents were both very well; his father 'hard at work at his "[History of the American] Revolution" and has just finished off Burgoyne'.

Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Sends a letter from [William] Everett who is 'always readable... abnormal in his intense old-fashioned conventionalism'; his 'unwillingness to express satisfaction in anything, and anybody, has a flavour of its own'. Elizabeth has sent them a good account of Paul. Politics 'extraordinarily interesting', with the 'moral and practical element' predominating, and a 'certain obscuration of the party element'. Has got Whistler's "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" from the London Library; the title is 'revolting' but accurate, since Whistler continually had quarrels when 'a man of sense would have taken things quietly'; his way of writing to and about people is 'singularly offensive'.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Thanks his father for his letter [12/149] and for [William] Everett's, which he returns and which is 'very interesting and characteristic': Everett seems to have 'the sort of mind that might have made a very fine scholar'; supposes as it is he is 'quite a good one, but has not made that his chief business in life'.

Whistler's Gentle Art [of Making Enemies] is 'an odious book. Even in those cases where he is more or less in the right, he alienates one's sympathy'; expects that 'if one indulges in that kind of quarrelsomeness, it grows upon one like a vice'. Calls it 'a curious case' that Whistler should 'so often have behaved like a vulgar cad, and yet have had such great qualities as an artist, and sometimes, I think, as a man too'.

Gives an 1860 quotation in Murray's dictionary for 'requisition', but expects his father has by now decided on the right word. Supposes he will have received a copy of Robert's Sisyphus: An Operatic Fable by now: Aeschylus wrote a 'Satyric Drama' on the subject, but Robert does not expect it was 'much like' his own.

Bessie and Paul are both very well. The weather has been 'very foggy and unpleasant here lately'. The 'prospects of the Education Bill look bad', which is 'a great pity'; is also sorry for [Walter] Runciman and Charles's sake. Fears they [the Liberals] 'will be in a false position with regard to everything till we have fought and beaten the Lords': wishes the Lords 'would reject a Budget', but supposes 'that is hardly possible, even for them'. Sends love to his mother.

Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Will be glad of the Menander and Robert's observations; sends a short amusing letter by [William] Everett, who is very clever about the quotation from Herodotus. Also sends some papers about 'a French Who's Who?'. He and Caroline are getting very fond of Paul; sure a long change of air will be good for him; when he fends off attention it is like 'a pretty squirrel scolding'.

Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. - Robert's account of the [recently discovered passages from?] Menander is very interesting; would like to see the book and will return it to the [London?] Library; this is an exception to his usual preference for not reading the classics when he is working. Paul 'winds himself round one's heart'; can see 'steady progress' and hopes this will be a turning point. Very glad Bessy has had her cousin with her. Sends a 'really amusing letter' from Everett. Asks the meanings of the titles of Menander's plays. Caroline will not write today.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St Mary. - Thanks his father for sending [William] Everett's letter and translation [see 12/87]: Bowen 'used to make the sixth form learn Phaselus [Catullus 4] when they were late for lunch'; they had usually forgotten it and had to learn it anew each time. At one time Robert was 'rather often late', and Bowen found he 'really knew Phaselus by heart' and said he must learn something new; he used to learn a new passage of Lucan each time 'and so soon found it not worth being late'. Had intended to send Bowen his own translation [published as The Schooner from Catullus in Polyphemus and Other Poems, 1901], but he died just before he could. Thinks his translation better than Everett's, as it keeps closer to the 'words and movement of the original', but has seen some 'very good translations of Italian poetry' by Everett.

He and Bessie are much looking forward to his mother's visit; the 'trees are very fine now' and he hopes they still will be when she comes. They 'like Pauline very much for a name [Charles and Molly's daughter, born recently]. It is unusual, but not excentric [sic]'; glad the birth went well.

Liked the article in the TImes [Literary Supplement, on Sir George's Interludes in Verse and Prose, see 12/86] very much; sees Punch objected to the title but cannot understand why.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Grateful for the detailed information about Bessy and Paul. Has been reading about 'little Paul in Dombey' [Dickens's "Dombey and Son"]; thinks it the 'best account of a child' in literature which he knows, even better than "David Copperfield"; contrasts it with 'a clever, self-conscious woman or man writing about a child' like George Elliot on the Tullivers [in "Mill on the Floss"]. Thanks God that Paul Trevelyan will have a 'better constitution' than Paul Dombey. Sends an 'amusing letter' from [William?] Everett, which Robert need not return; Everett lacks 'front' and is 'at once the youngest and the oldest of human beings'. Is reading [Plautus's] "Trinummus" slowly, as he is getting tired over the end of his book ["The American Revolution"].