Item 228 - Letter from Sir George Trevelyan to R. C. Trevelyan

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Fears that Robert and Bessy must have the 'awfully depressing weather' filling the London newspapers; theirs is a little better. A battalion of regular infantry have been quartered in town; they are 'fresh from India' and are acclimatising. They are using [Welcombe] park to drill, so they see a good deal of the officers; the army has 'greatly changed' from that of his youth, as the men are 'most respectable and good fellows', the officers 'hardworking and homely' with no 'side or pretension', while the wives who 'show the tone unconsciously are very nice, quiet, cheerful and contented women'. Has sent for copies of the next volumes of Livy, whom he praises highly. Caroline is finishing [Virgil's] fourth "Georgic": 'What an exquisite piece of poetry that is!'.