30 JULY 1937, Page 6

There are some anecdotes that are worn so threadbare that

the only interest left in them is their origin. Who was the author of the saying ? To whom did the incident really happen ? Take the well-known story of the candidate who, when a constituent whom he was canvassing told him " he would rather vote for the devil," rejoined : " If your friend should not be standing perhaps you will give your vote to me." I have just come on that once more in the Life of Laurence Oliphant. Oliphant, writing in 1852, tells it of one Campbell of Monzie, who was then standing for a Scottish constituency. Is there, I wonder, any reliable version of the story earlier than that ? It can hardly be prior to 1832.

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