Item 83 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Elizabeth des Amorie van der Hoeven

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3 Hare Court, Inner Temple, London E.C. - Will leave on the 12th, arriving some time in the morning of the 13th; will go on to Italy afterwards; his friend [Desmond] MacCarthy may join him at the Hague around the end of November and travel with him. Bessie seems to have been 'successful and tactful' and he will try to be as well. Intends to make their Vondel 'pretext a real one'; wants her to translate some of the plays besides "Lucifer", so that he is reading good plays (useful since he is trying to write them himself) and 'laying the foundations' for an attempt to learn Dutch; will get a grammar and dictionary, and asks her to get him a cheap edition of Vondel. Asks if there is anything she would like to learn in recompense, such as Latin grammar. Asks what the 'examination [he] may have to sustain' from her uncle is likely to cover: he can give reasons for wanting to study Vondel,. Discussion of hotels. Appreciates her aunt's 'rapier thrust of irony'; will certainly accompany them on walks whenever Bessie wishes. Asks if she would like him to bring her any books. Discussion of the war: still thinks it is a 'great mistake' on the part of the British, though doubts whether it would be good 'for themselves or for any one else' if the Boers were to win, which he does not think at all likely. Is angry with the Government and the country, but does not think it right to accuse the 'nation as a whole of wickedness and hypocrisy' as is being done on the continent; thinks the Boers were not giving British subjects a 'proper government or the proper securities for justice'; negotiations were not carried out properly, but does not think most of the country, or the Government (except for Chamberlain) actually want or wanted war. Thinks Bessie is probably right about the translation of 'du vulgaire' [in Ronsard's poem]. Bessie must not think that she is keeping him from work; expects to do little until he goes to Italy 'refreshed and invigorated' after seeing her. Thinks the Frys have changed their plans, but hopes to see them in Italy for a few days wherever they are.