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Monday, February 11th., Chiltern Court, London.

I would like to say how good it is to be back in England, but I hate to tell untruths, especially to myself. It is in fact warmer than it was when we left, but feels much colder. Tenerife was warm, indeed hot at times, and shirt sleeves were in order. The bliss of walking about of an evening in light clothing, enjoying the warm air, and stopping now and then to savour the life al fresco. All went well. Traveling arrangements by Thomas Cook and Co. were efficient and required minimum effort on our part. We may repeat the experience next year, which is something I have not generally inclined towards.

I haven't read much whilst away. In fact I had more or less decided not to read at all, but had a few books with me as insurance. Good job! The most interesting thing I read was an essay on the so-called Kett's Rebellion. This occured during the short reign of Edward VI in Norfolk, almost spontaneously it seems. Robert Kett, the eponymous leader, was a yeoman farmer in Norfolk who harnessed the justified anger of rural people oppressed by wealthy landowners. The 'rebellion' gained a momentum of its own and culminated in the seizure of the city of Norwich, then the second city in England. Inevitably it was put down by the state, with great cruelty, and Kett himself was hung from the walls of Norwich. The 'rebels' it seems wanted no more than to be treated decently, in fact as human beings, but that was too much for the powerful to contemplate. It was ever thus.

My neuralgia has improved considerably whilst away. In fact it has more or less disappeared, and I feel as well as I have done for several years. The warmth seemed also to have a stimulating libidinous effect and hence my time for reading has been much reduced. A very fair trade-off I thought. No doubt the effects will not be long-lasting. They may already be a memory, but a pleasant one.