Pièce 299 - Letter from Sir George Trevelyan to R. C. Trevelyan

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Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Hope Robert has better, drier weather than they do; glad that all their armies are 'living in billets this winter' and pities the candidates electioneering in such weather, 'under such novel and unmanageable circumstances'; each one now has about forty thousand constituents, of whom about two fifths will be women and very few will have voted before. However, this is 'tranquillity itself' compared with the state of affairs in 'the three great autocratic empires', Austria, Germany and Russia; George used to say that 'political freedom and national aspirations' there since all able-bodied citizens were under arms, but it seems that revolution can come 'like Noah's flood'; now three hundred million people are in 'such a wild state of confusion' it is impossible to understand what is happening or predict the future. Caroline is very well; he is quite well but 'very old'.