[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—Many years ago my
father had an old lodge-keeper, named Speed. One of my brothers, when the prayer was read in church, "Make speed to save us," wondered why this feeble old man was to be the instrument of our salvation, but was comforted by the thought that the destined preserver would be easily within call. As I have always suffered from an extreme defect of eyesight, the Bible, in my childhood, was nearly always read aloud to me. Hence it arose that I mistook the name "Judas Iscariot" for "Judas's chariot," and I have a vague impression that the chariot speaking seemed to me a miracle not unlike that of Balsam's ass speaking, but even more wonderful. It never occurred to me that the phrase "to fall out" in the sense of "to quarrel" could have been in James Vs time such good King's English as to find a place in the Authorised Version. I thence con- chided that the injunction, "See that ye fall not out by the way," must mean, " See that ye tumble not out of the wagon." I made a yet stranger blunder. As my parents sometimes addressed one another by the endearing appellation "my life," I concluded that the phrase, "Our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom" (most probably recalled the Biblical "0 King, live for ever !") was an expression of devoted loyalty to Queen Victoria 1-1 am, Sir, &c., LIONEL A. TOLLEBIACHE.
Atheneum Club, Pall Mall, Tune 4th.
Previous page
