Stuk 401 - Letter from Sir George Trevelyan to R. C. Trevelyan

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Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - The passage about Gladstone in inverted commas [see 46/339 for Robert's question about this] is from Sir George's Life of Macaulay, and 'too closely expressed exactly what happened' to necessitate a re-writing. Encloses a paragraph on biography writing which 'covers the whole field': a life should either be written by a relative 'who has absolute command of the materials, and need not pander to, or consult, anyone's commands or wishes' or by 'a man of genius who is admired by friendship or admiration'; cites Carlyle's life of [John] Sterling and Macaulay's of Chatham [William Pitt] as the 'cardinal instances' of the latter.