Item 105 - Letter from William Rothenstein to R. C. Trevelyan

Iles Farm, Far Oakridge. - Liked Trevelyan's satire very much; 'Only a magnanimous spirit could have conceived the end', and it is a 'splendid retort to the hang-the-Kaiser school'. Glad to hear they may be seeing Trevelyan and his wife, who should not hesitate to invite themselves if they are at Stratford. Trevelyan should not think Rothenstein 'underestimate[s] the difficulty' of 'improving artistic conditions'; can only 'plead as convincingly as [he] can for some intelligent use of the younger people. The more decent artists & poets, the more decent men there are likely to be in the world'. Wishes to counter the misplaced emphasis on '"appreciation"'; does not think it matters 'whether a man cares for Byzantine reliquaries or Greek pots', but that he 'should be moved to try to make something himself. Then he is unlikely to be bloodthirsty' and likely to be 'neighbourly'. [John] Drinkwater, who has a cottage nearby, likes Trevelyan's play as much as he does.