Thanks his mother for her letter and her cake; this was very good, and he and Hicks (who is as old as Robert), had tea with Mr and Mrs Arnold. A boy who was at Wixenford who has just left Harrow, Walford (Hugh Selwyn or Arthur George Walford?), was also here; he was in Watson's house and says he knows Charlie. Robert hopes Charlie is getting on well. Archie has asked Robert to go to see him next holiday in Ireland, but this 'would hardly be possible'; asks his mother if he could go, as he would like to but knows it would 'be rather a business' going to Ireland and back. The weather is very fine today. There was no match last Saturday, as the 'Farnborough fellows' were unwell. It is the Eton match tomorrow, but there are 'only three or four Eton chaps'.
Thanks his parents for their letters. The [cricket] match began yesterday and will go on until Tuesday. Thinks the picnic will be on Friday. Will send his mother four roses he has got in his garden. Mrs Bartlett [the matron] says the medicine has 'put some colour' into his face and he should go on taking it. Has caught three caterpillars; 'Levson' [Granville Leveson-Gower ?] says he thinks they are peacocks, so Robert has given them away since they are common and small. His other caterpillars seems to be doing well; people think it will turn into a moth. Mr Arnold says the back board has made Robert's back straighter already, that he is fourth out of five in arithmetic and was bottom in French last week but is now second. Is working alone in Latin to 'get up' his grammar. Goes to bed late now, and gets up late.
The 'elections must be getting exciting now, for they are so near'. Sorry to hear 'Uncle Harry' [Holland] is ill, and hopes he recovers soon. The Eton match is tomorrow. Robert is doing the same Greek and Latin work as before. [Sackville?] West beat Robert in Greek, but Robert beat him in Latin and thinks he can do so in Greek next half term if he tries hard. Thinks he gets on worst with his Greek Prose [composition], and does not always find Latin Prose easy though he 'like[s] it on the whole'. Sends thanks to his mother for her letter. Hopes it will be a 'hard winter', as he wants to learn how to skate properly. Finds the translation of the Odyssey which Mr A[rnold] lent him 'very interesting'; has read four books, and would have read more but does not have much time. G[eorgie] is 'getting on very well', and seems to have done well last half term.
Thanks his father for his letter. Thinks G[eorge] is happy and 'quite at home' [at Wixenford]. Mr Arnold has told Robert to ask Charlie how much he will have to know when he goes to Harrow; wrote to him a few days ago. Likes the Virgil and Euripides' "Iphigenia" very much. Hears that Welldon has been chosen for Harrow [as headmaster]; hopes he is a 'nice man'. He and George are getting on well in their work. Asks his father to thank his mother for her letter and the umbrella. Tomlin 'took Up[p]er Shell'. [Nugent] Hicks is going to Harrow next term. Has written to Grandpapa T[revelyan]. Sends love to all, 'Spider included'.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Is glad the elections are now going better. Asks whether 'Uncle Harry' [Holland] and Mr Cussins [John James Cousins?] ' have got in. The candidates here [in Wixenford's Basingstoke constituency] were Mr Sclater-Booth and Mr Eve: Sclater-Booth 'the tory got in, by a huge majority'. He and the rest of the eleven went for a 'long walk' this afternoon; the match with Farnborough is next Thursday. Supposes they [he and Georgie] are going home to London first. The school beat Mortimer one-nil last Wednesday. Mr Arnold has lent Robert the translation of the Iliad, since he has finished the Odyssey. The minute hand of Robert's watch 'has disappeared'.
Had a match with Cameron [Lovett-Cameron's school at Mortimer?] yesterday, which was a goal-less draw but a good game. Would rather come home on the 2nd as Mr A[rnold] does not like people to leave early, and Robert likes staying for the last day. Has found he has another pair of shoes in his locker. Notes in a postscript that 'the holls [sic: holidays] are very near.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Is sorry C[harlie] 'is ill again and cannot go back [to Harrow] tomorrow'; hopes he will be able to soon. The Farnborough match is tomorrow, and a home game. There is no more ice left; it was 'beautifully hot today, nearly as hot as summer'. Mr A[rnold] is better and teaching his divinity class again. Georgie's chilblains are 'almost well now', and probably his cold since he went out today; he and Robert are 'getting on very well'. Thompson, Mr Arnold, and Mr Wilkins went into 'the lavatory yesterday evening' during tea 'and what followed [a whipping?] I leave to you to imagine'; Robert thinks Thompson may have 'told a lie, but there are various accounts'.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Thanks his parents for their letters. Mr Arnold is 'getting much better'; Robert has been working with him for the last week on his Greek and Latin Prose. Robert's mother asked in her last letter when she could next visit; asks his father to tell her that Mr Arnold will not be well enough for about a fortnight, and Robert will let her know when he has recovered sufficiently. G[eorge] is 'getting on very well'. Has just finished reading a book called The Carved Cartoon [by Austin Clare] about the plague and fire of London. Is glad Charlie has returned to school and is all right.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Has been taking his 'tonic', but has already finished one bottle so will need another by the end of the week. Mr A[rnold] 'will probably come down tomorrow [after being ill]', but will not resume 'all his usual work for some time'. Thinks his mother might be able to visit next week, 'certainly not this week'; will let her know next Sunday if Mr Arnold is well enough. It was half-term last Friday. Yesterday there was a 'fall of snow', but it 'hardly lay at all'. Wrote to 'Grandpapa P[hilips] today. They [Robert and George] are 'both getting on very well'. Is reading a book lent to him by Mr Arnold, Froude's Oceana which is 'about the colonies, and is very interesting'. Is glad Charlie is getting well at Harrow.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Mr Arnold is 'much better'; he asked Robert to let his parents know this when Robert saw him again yesterday. Is glad to hear Charlie is well enough to go back [to school]. He and G[eorge] are 'getting on very well'. Sorry she is having such bad weather; it was 'very fine' here this morning, but this afternoon there was rain and a little snow. Does not expect there will be any matches this term because of Mr Arnold's illness. Hopes his father is 'quite well'.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Is 'so very sorry to hear about Uncle Willie [Price}'s death. It is very sad for Aunt Meggie and Morgan'. Asks if she still has the papers for the [Harrow?] scholarship which C[harles] did; they would be 'very useful' as practice. Mr Arnold has been iller than expected; he is now 'getting steadily better' but 'still very ill, and will not work for some time', mainly as he has 'overstretched himself'. Robert hopes Charlie will be all right soon. Is working with Mr Jones for Latin, Mr Gowering for Greek, and doing Homer in his 'half-holidays' with Mr Cole. Is sorry to hear about the 'riots in London'.
[On headed notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, SW]. Thanks his father for the compasses; it is 'very kind' of him to send 'such a good set'; Robert 'wanted them very much' for his Euclid. Mr Arnold 'has been sentenced to 3 days' imprisonment in bed by the doctor' due to having a bad cough and cold. Is 'so sorry to hear about C[harles]', and hopes he will be better soon; sends love to Mama. About five boys have been ill today. Asks if his mother can sent him enough 'wash leather to do for about 3 pieces for [his] spectacles.
He and George are both well. Mr Arnold says Robert had 'better do English History in the ordinary history hour till the exam'; the others will do it instead of English; Robert will only do it in history so it 'does not interfere with anything else'. Georgie seems to have left his purse at home, and Robert his gymnastics belt. Adds a postscript to say he has just finished Locornon, and thinks it 'about the best book of its kind [he] has ever read, except perhaps Treasure Island. The new master is called Mr Grover.
Hopes they will begin football in a few days. Miss Bartlett says Georgie's boots fit him; both Georgie and Robert are 'getting on very well'. Mr A[rnold] lent Robert a book called The Myths of Hellas which is 'very interesting'. Georgie is still going to bed late and 'seems very well'. They have finished Iphigenia [by Euripides?]; does not know what they will study next but perhaps Homer. The weather has been 'very fine and pretty hot' today. Does not much matter about his shoes now as football will start soon, but they ought to be found for next year. The [general] 'election will be exciting'; hopes 'we [the Liberals] will get in'. Work with Mr Arnold is 'rather harder', but not as bad as Robert thought it would be; Arnold is 'not always so baity as he used to be'.
Thanks his mother for the book, stencil plates and cake. News of caterpillars and chrysalises. Guest came second in his exam to go into the Navy. Mr [Ernest] Arnold says Robert may go into the third form in about a week. Played another school [at cricket?] on Friday, who beat them; they are going to play the Farmborough school this week.
The new masters are Mr Rice Jones, replacing Mr Viner, and Mr Champney, replacing Mr Evans. There are five new boys: Henry, Crocker, Wilder, Smith, and Percival. It is 'awfully hot today'. He got Lorna Doone just in time to pack it into his portmanteau. He and S[ackville?] West do all their classics with Mr Arnold; Robert also studies French and Old Testament Divinity with Arnold, History and Geography with Mr Rice Jones, and English and Euclid with Mr Champney. Mr Rice Jones says that he once stayed at Cambo, and knows Mr Gow [the Trevelyan's land agent at Cambo?] and several others. Sends love to his father and to Charlie, 'if he has not gone to the Park [home of their grandfather Robert Needham Philips] yet'. Adds a footnote with an asterisk saying that he is not sure how to spell Rice and Gow, marking these names in the text above also with an asterisk. Finishes by saying they are playing cricket, and Georgie is 'quite well'.
Thanks his mother and father for their letters. The school played Hartley-Row on Wednesday, but 'were licked'. The picnic was on Thursday, and they went to Longmoor (where they went last time). They had 'great fun'; he got leave from Mr Arnold to go butterflying with Smith. Smith is a 'walker alone', so can walk about by himself rather than with a master. Van de Weyer and Hicks did the same thing, and the four of them had 'awfull [sic] fun'. The school was due to play the Camerons yesterday, but it rained.
They have not yet begun bathing: Mr Arnold is 'waiting for a fine day'. Tomorrow 'a prince is coming as a new boy', 'called Prince de la Ville or name something like it. Asks his mother to send some paper and envelopes. The 'Camerons have got the chick-pox' so [the match] has been put off till the 28th. The 'catapult is a great success'. He got caught in a thunderstorm whilst walking, and had to change.
Thanks his mother for her letter. They have not yet had the paper chase; does not know when it will happen; 'the ground has always been too wet'. Is studying German with Mr Champneys for an hour a week, G[eorge] is 'getting on all right'; Robert thinks he likes football. Hopes they are going to Welcombe next holidays. Is glad Meta's wedding went well [Meta Holland, Robert's cousin, married Reginald Abel Smith on 15 Oct 1885]. Broke the glass of his watch, and Mr Arnold got it mended for him.
Thanks his mother for her letter. S. West came yesterday from Winchester for a 'master's match' in which Robert played and 'we licked them 4 to 3'. Sends love to all his family. Will send the next number of the [school] magazine. Mr A[rnold] has a weighing machine, but Robert does 'not see the good of it'. Says the 'phrenological update was extremely amusing'.
[on notepaper for 40 Ennismore Gardens, S.W.] Thanks his mother for her letter and the paper; got her postcard this morning. Has given Mr Arnold her address so he can write to her. His bedroom is 'behaving very well'; though they were 'rather rowdy' at first. They are going to 'have a paper', for which he is writing a ghost story [see 45/52]. Hopes she and his father are well.
Thanks his mother for her letter and the book [Henty's True to the Old Flag, see 45/48?] which he has given to Archie; in return he got one called Jack Archer [also by Henry], about the Crimean War; has 'read a good deal of it and it is very interesting'. Sends love to all, and hopes everyone is 'very well'. The next match, with Mortimer, is on the 6th. Hopes Aunt Margaret [Holland] is 'quite well'. Is sending the [school] paper; it contains poetry by 'a lady called Miss Sterling who came to visit Mr Arnold a few days ago'.
Wixenford, Eversley, Winchfield:- Is very glad that Mrs Trevelyan 'approves of the chemical food for Bobbie'. As his cough is 'very nearly well now' she hopes he will soon 'get strong', though he did give them 'rather a fright by fainting away quite at prayers' [cf 45/38]; he 'very soon recovered' and has seemed quite all right this afternoon and evening, so she therefore hopes it was mainly due to the 'close thundery feeling weather' which has also troubled several of the other boys today. He was quiet all morning, but 'seemed quite well' by the time they returned from church; this afternoon he went on a flower collecting walk with Mr and Mrs Arnold and some other boys and 'seemed as bright and well as any of them'. Trusts there is nothing to worry about, but thought Mrs Trevelyan would like to know that he had fainted; they will 'watch him carefully', and she will write again soon.
Had a letter from Mary Bright recently; her 'account of poor Hughie was a very sad one'; can 'hardly think how he can bear the long journey back to England'. But she says Mrs Arnold's brother, who is attending Hughie, says he recommends that they should; thinks they plan to leave Cannes on the 3rd [June]' and will 'be very anxious to hear of their safe arrival'. Mr Arnold sends his best regards.
Thanks his mother for her letter. Bramwell 'fell down the stairs this morning, and he looked so pale' that Robert 'fainted in prayers... and fell down', and Mr Arnold carried him to Miss Bartlett [the matron]'s room; a lot of other boys almost fainted too; Robert recovered in five minutes. Thinks he can manage without his 'buterflie thing [sic] and bat till then', though cricket has started. The new boys are Clive, Mete mi[nor], Holt mi[nor], Davenport and Jameson. Asks his mother if she can send his 'breeding cage', as he has a small Tiger [moth] caterpillar. His cold has almost gone, and he is going out.
The train gets to London at 10.27 AM. Mr Arnold 'will always ask what train' Robert goes by. Sac[k]ville West ma[jor] 'has got the up[p]er swimming competition, and Melly mi[nor]: the lower shying [?], and Holt ma[jor]: the lower gymnastics'. Three boys were 'flogged in one day last week for using bad language': Shawe, Rumbold and Alexander.
Is 'very well and happy'; and hopes that his family are too. Is 'glad to hear that nobody has been killed'. The school team 'licked Farnbourgh last Monday' but another match against them last Saturday was a draw. Thinks the train gets to London at 10.27 AM, but Mr Arnold 'is sure to tell' her where to meet Robert. Sends love to all. Adds a postscript to say he bought 'two pocket-books yesterday, from the hair-cutter': his only expenses this term except for 'the school Subscription'. Sketches of buildings at the bottom of the second and third pages, and on the fourth page.
Is 'very happy', and hopes his family are all happy too. 'They' [the school authorities' say he is 'not very well', and he is going to 'have breakfast for a week'. Thinks that if she asks, Mr Arnold will let him have 'an exiat [sic]', as Arnold says he has been 'working well'. They have started football, and he 'likes it very much'. Sends love to all. There is going to be a magic lantern show at the school.
Forgot to say in his last letter that 'Mr Arnold's leg is quite well now'; he only needed to stay in his room for a few days. Asks, as per Arnold's instructions, if he can have 'one of the white jerseys', since 'all the eleven have them'. Sends love to all, and asks her to thank Georgie for his letter.
On headed notepaper for Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland:- Is 'still getting on very well in every way'. They [he and Mr Belfield?] are going to tea with Mr Gow this evening, and dinner with Mr Sidley next Wednesday. Has 'arranged with Howey [gamekeeper?] about his dog, which he was trying to sell', and which Robert thinks 'will just suit [them]'. Spider was unwell a few days ago, but is all right now, though 'he is very dirty, and is thought a great nuisance'. Robert caught a fish a few days ago, but only one.
They went to Fallowlees lake last Friday; most of the gulls were there, but not as many as last time. Mr B[elfield]'s foot is all right now. They finished the Greek play yesterday, and are beginning Antigone. Liked the last part better than the first. Hopes his father is well. Is glad Georgie 'likes Mr [E. P.?] Arnold so well, and that he wishes to stay for the holidays'; is 'sure that for many reasons it would be best'. Wrote to Charlie last week, who 'seems to be getting on very well'. Booa [Mary Prestwich] is quite well.
Asks his mother if 'the duplicate stamp book' is at home, and for her to send it if so. Mr Arnold's leg is 'rather bad, but is better now'. Sellar has given Robert his photograph; Robert asks his mother to put it in his 'photograph book in Ireland'. Has answered 'Uncle Harry'[Henry Holland]s note' . Bright 'is not coming back'. Sends love to all.