JOHN STERLING
SIR,—Janus's note about John Sterling reminded me of a controversy which occupied the literary public some 35 years ago. Somebody had come across a volume of verse by "A. C. S." and hazarded the opinion that it represented some juvenilia of the immortal Algernon Charles Swinburne. Presently a member of the Swinburne family wrote to The Times saying that he could not conceivably have perpetrated such stuff. When all the fireworks had been exploded and all the dust had died down, I wrote a paragraph or two in the now-defunct Globe saying that I had before me a copy of the book inscribed to a member of his family by " the author, Anthony Coningham Sterling." This was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Anthony, a Mutiny and Simla staff officer and John Sterling's elder brother. Incidentally, John Sterling is buried near Swinburne in the churchyard at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. Anthony and John were sons of The Thunderer, but not perhaps, like Zebedee's, Sons of Thunder.—
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