| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her relatives, regarding delay in starting letter because of Miss Jazdowska's chatter; Mrs. Brock expects Amelia to visit her but she will not: if Miss Jazdowska and Mrs. Brock visit them it will be enough; Muriel Brock is to come to Italy for her holidays; the Rodd girls are to remain in Rome but the Rodd boys are to return to England, accompanied by Muriel and Mrs. Brock; the sinking of the 'Sussex' and conditions in the Channel make them nervous but they will go ahead; the Foreign Office says it is safe, but what do they know? Mr. Benton's chartered accountant who comes out every year from England had a brother-in-law on board the 'Sussex', along with the director of the Roman branch of Mappin & Webb, but both were saved though those around them died; Sir George Trevelyan asked Mrs. Brock to let her husband stay at Udine till the end of the war; the nurse who came out to join the Ericksons last year has been killed in Serbia; the Ericksons are still in Naples waiting to go to Albania: he is on full pay, but has done nothing for two years; Mrs. Brock asked for Amelia's cake recipe for Udine but she is having the maid bake it downstairs, though the maid has never heard of baking powder; Maria is annoyed that they are using the recipe for their own purposes; Fulvio is being sent out on messages without permission; Mr. Laing of Genoa has died of pneumonia; Dr. Miller, his predecessor, came for his funeral and is to stand in for him; Mrs. Laing is stunned; he had been at Madras but had heart weakness; the Leghorn solution will now be delayed; Genoa is overstaffed with a minister and a missionary, and will probably be scaled down now; the Continental Committee should see this as an opportunity to relieve the funds slightly; Mr. Gibson still wants Uncle replaced and is unconcerned about Genoa; visit of Asquith, with large crowds; Maria saw him at the Embassy; his speech, translated by Sir Rennell Rodd, the Ambassador, was simple but effective and emphasised justice and right, rather than nationalities; Amelia asks that this not be used in publication; Asquith's visit to the Pope and his severe expression afterwards; Lady Rodd and the secretaries' wives insisted on attending a reception given by the Municipality to Asquith; Mr. Serpell, a friend of Mr. Gibson, has been pushy as regards free entry to museums and also wanted Uncle to get him into the reception; Asquith has now gone to Tivoli for the day; he is to meet the King in the north before leaving for France; tea for soldiers at the Continental; they were part of the Adriatic Mission based at Corfu; the tea was organised by the Roman Catholic section of the community and Miss Jazdowska and Mrs. Brock were not invited to assist, though they made their presence felt [There were Jazdowskis associated with teaching and art in Aberdeen: James Bronislas Jazdowski, son of John, teacher in Aberdeen, graduated from Marischal College in 1856 and according to an annotation of the Search Room student list died in Rome in 1902]; visiting British sailors appreciated the Y.M.C.A.; many of them have lost their nerve through repeated torpedo attacks; rumours of 600,000 wounded French after Verdun, though Aunt thinks Hale Benton has the wrong number; some of them have even been sent to Aberdeen; the English have also been fighting at Verdun though this has not been publicised; the scirocco has started and it is hot; Maria's exaggeration of Amelia's cake-baking. |