15 JULY 1943, Page 14

LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG

Sm,—Major Sheppard is, of course, right in his statement about the text chosen by Mr. Sandburg. It is doubtless nearer than any other to the speech as delivered by the President on the field ;' but is that the essential point? There is one version only in the books and in the later official documents, and that is the Lincoln's revised text. In the case of an historic utterance, surely, the world should have the expression as the speaker himself wished it. The story of the composition, with all the known MSS. variants, is given in detail by Wm. E. Barton in his

Life of Lincoln.—Faithfully yours, S. K. RATCLIFFE. Glasgow, C. r.

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