| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, 7 Via Venti Settembre, Rome, to her parents, thanking for letters and Belgian Congo paper article relating to Brother Johannes' prophecy; and regarding Sarolea's book on the Anglo-German problem and other books sent to them; Sarolea's other work on Belgium's contribution to Europe; thanking for cheque; exchange rates high but will go higher if war is declared; uncertainties about the summer; Austria refuses to give up Trent and Trieste; Trieste was never Italian although many Italians live there; Trentino was given to Austria with the daughter of the Duke of Piedmont as dowry; Dr. Spiro said that Prince von Bülow was being used as a go-between because a real diplomat would have to stand by his word; Austria will take the territories back by force, however far into the future; Italy is not honourably neutral but out for what she can get; Prince von Bülow's tactics are now to create trouble with France and England; Italy is being encouraged to want Malta, Corsica, Bizerta, Tunis, and part of Syria; Germany has persuaded Italy that if Italy attacks Austria, Germany will not see it as a reason to attack Italy; this is doubtful; Italy is convinced that her contribution on whatever side will lead to a quick victory; a soldier has said that all Italy will have to do is wait, then take Austria, Germany and England; her victory in Libya has increased her confidence; Destrée, the Belgian deputy, is reported to have dismissed Italian sympathy as worthless; services at the church are likely to close at the end of May but they will remain in Rome throughout June; Uncle would like to go to the Lower Engadin for the summer but does not want to meet the Germans; Chamonix is far away; he procrastinates as usual; if she had allowed him to procrastinate as much at St. Ulrich he would have spent the winter in an Austrian concentration camp; the Cotterills had a narrow escape, too; all their friends have been interned; Aunt does not want to go to Aosta; the food is bad in the Swiss hotels; taking a house would be too great a commitment; Uncle could go on his own but all the hotel accommodation is unsatisfactory now that the servants are mostly in the army; Aunt wants to go to England: if so, Amelia will go and work in a hospital; Uncle has had no new clothes for three years; though he would like a trip to Scotland, any clothes bought there might never be delivered as there is great thieving from the mails; Uncle has no taste for the voyage, protected from mines and torpedoes; Aunt would prefer to stay in Rome; collections are short and Uncle will probably return part of his salary, so economies will be necessary; some travellers have been arrested and imprisoned for trying to take money out of the country; new regulations now in force; only hand luggage can be taken so they would not be able to take luggage for a summer in Switzerland anyway; remarks on Mr. Gibson's imperiousness in their absence; thanking for letters; glad to hear that Etta Elmslie is to be sent to India; W.P. Young may learn much at the Front; his brother is lazy; continental ministers are never granted furloughs and have expensive positions. |