"6 The Second Lesson " SIR,-Much of the difficulty about St. John's Gospel disappears if v e adopt the theory that it was based, not on " Q " material, but on another, lost...

Animal Lover SIR.-Mlr. Atkins letter recalling the incredible stories of animal kindness which the Spectator published some forty-five years ago is very interesting to one who...

"6 Spectator" Religious Articles SIR,-Will you allow me, as a very old reader of the, Spectator, to thanlk you for its consistently Christian tone ? When our spiritual pastor...

Sparta SIR,-It was pleasant to learn from Mr. Anthony Kerr's charming article that Sparta is much less Spartan than when I knew it years ago. But there were no lemons there,...

The Bevan Lunch SIR.-I am astonished at the credulity of Janus in regard to the Be.an luncheon party. It is almost as irresponsible as Mr. Bevan's acceptance of the invitation...

Employment and the Old SIR,-YOur correspondent, Mr. Barrett, asks how I would relish a b.,tman's job. I think that I (like many retired officers since the last wvir) would find...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT By CUSTOS IN face of the news from the international political front, stock markets are fighting a stern rearguard action. It is a striking testimony to...

Victorian Fiction Queens of the Circulating Library. By Alan Walbank. (Evans. 1 2S. 6d.) MR. WALBANK mixes Three Ideas, to the disadvantage of them all. He presents, as the...

Reviews of the Week The Revelations of Boswell Boswell's London Journal, 1762-1763. Nonv first published from the original manuscript with introduction and notes by Frederick...

SIR.-Your correspondent, Mr. H. T. Lane, in challenging Christians t) I show to overseas students in this country a reception at least as kind1h as that accorded to them by...

SIR,-,\r. Christie expresses a view with which 1. as another layman. find .~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . I .- myself in complete agreement. In only one sentence-his last one-do I differ. and...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Church Unity SIR,-As a parson. I found Mr. Christie's article most refreshing. As long as the problem of unity is approached solely by theologians and...

Foreign Students in Britain SIR,-As Mr. H. T. Lane was good enough to point out in his Iler | in your issue of December Ist on "West Africans in Britain," the Br "Th Council...

America and the Festival SIR,-While I agree completely with the sentiments expressed by J. Dupont of this village, in his letter in the Spectator of November 24th, I think he...

The Younger Audience REVIEWERS of " juveniles " have been tending to exult of late over the increasing number of writers, normally addressing themselves to grown-up readers,...

Freedom and Society SER,-it is a pity the grave and judicious attitude of mind brought to bear upon the practical limits of opposition to euthanasia was not available fcr your...

" Seeds of Treason " SIR,-AMr. Fredric J. Warburg can hardly be a very regular readc; your columns if he believes that anything I write is likely to "p.;n1e the Kremlin," or...

Pensioners of the Colonial Service | SIR,-On July 26th the Legislative Council of the Federation of Mlah. Sa was informed that the Colonial Office had been asked to recruit...

Referring to the Bines 1l My recent description of the burning of the hop-bines every Octlrhcr has brought a letter of protest. I quote from it. " Somewhere near 75 a great man...

COUNTRY LIFE I A BOOK just published by Staples, Ltd., has enabled me this WcCN to make a vicarious journey to the islands ott the coast ot Fembrokesire that little-knqwn...

Wasted Fruit l Nor can one walk a hundred yards from home without being conmpelled to contemplate the economic side of country life. I live in a small hamlet which is served,...

In the Garden I Il As a counterblast to the practical nature of my notes this week. I am happy to record that in the garden I have taken up a flourishing and fertile wall-peach...

The Adult Stocking The Saturday Book. Edited by Leonard Russell. (Hutchinson. 2 is.) Ihe Bedside Lilliput. (HUlton Press. ios. 6d.) Diversion. Edited I)v John Sutro. (Miax...

The Dorset Poet Selected Poems of William Barnes. (The Muses' Library. Routledge and Kegan Paul. i os. 6d.) IT is over forty years since Thomas Hardy published his small...

PRIZEWINNERS (MRS. M. STANIER) Time to pack up, old tram: you've been cashiered, "Rude donatus." Not ingloriously You've sailed to harbour from the world's rude sea. Now the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK T- HE French Government's decision to accept a provisional solution of the problem of German rearmament, suggested by Mr. Spofford, the American representative...

Coal Expedients The Coal Board's efforts to bring about a quick increase in coal production go on with energetic ineffectiveness. The revival of the idea of bringing in Italian...

Raw Materials Co-ordination The decision of Mr. Attlee and President Truman to tackle the question of raw material requirements without delay was a very necessary step towards...

Seen From A Hilltop Now from this island, high Suspended in the sky, I see the village below, Far away, long ago, A clear pictorial map Lying in the downs' lap. The...

Puppets The Puppet Book. Edited by L. V. Wall. (Faber. 2 IS.) THIS book, written by members of the Educational Puppetry Association, will be welcomed both by those already...

A Governess's Story The Little Princesses. By Marion Cra%%ford. (Cassell. I 2S. 6d.) THIS is an unusually readable, amusing and intimate book about the household o f the...

The Varsity Match B By 1. P. W. MALLALIEU, M.P. B EFORE any big garne of football there are two especially exciting moments. One is when the plavers come on to the ground....

Peking and Moscow By C. P. FITZGERALD Hong Kong, November 28th C HINESE intervention in Korea has given a new urgency, and a new twist, to the much-debated problem of the I...

The paradoxical claim that the side which lost the Test Match at Brisbane this week was the better team seems to be justified. There can never have been a more fantastic game....

I made some reference last week to the impending vacancy in the Mastership of Trinity as result of the retirement of Dr. G. M. Trevelyan. Since then I have come on an...

I have no idea who is responsible for arranging the advertise. ments in the Festival of Britain guide, and comments on the costly mess that has been made of them have therefore...

The last two by-elections tell the same story as their predecessors. Abertillery, it is true, may be largely discounted. When a constituency is so overwhelmingly of one colour...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK PERSONS with ten shillings and a certain amount of time to spare might do much worse than invest in one of the Stationery Office's latest publications,...

No public man does worse for his own reputation than Mr. Shinwell. His virtues are many. He is able, he is immensely hard-working, he is shrewd and he is a very agreeable...

Harmony or Counterpoint ? Counterpoint. By Kntidd Jeppeson. (Williams and Norgate. Ns.) DR. JEPPESON'S Counterpoint is a kind of sequel to his earlier volume, published in...

Frontier Friction Although there is little danger of the present dispute between Jordan and Israel flaring up into general fighting, it is evidence of the worsening in...

A Defence of Apartheid The explanation of the South African Government's apartheid policy given by the Minister of Native Affairs at Pretoria on Tuesday was no doubt...

Next on the List ? Nowhere in the world is the fighting in Korea watched with more apprehension than in Indo-China. The Chinese Com. munists are known to have the power to send...

Civil Service Recruitment The success or failure of the new techniques which have been introduced since the end of the war for recruiting to the higher grades of the Civil...

Of Course State Education is the Ideal But.. . By MARGHANITA LASKI one's got to deal with things as they are not as one would like them to be they're hopelessly overcrowded...

The War in Korea By PETER FLEMING IN the west of the peninsula the retreat of the 8th Army continues, and although minor actions have been.fought with guerrillas a long way...

Return Ticket to Space By PETER KING WifE seem to be getting on very free-and-easy terms with the planets these days. There is an air of cheerful optimism about spatial...

A Countrywoman's Creed A Country Scrap-Book. By Lilias Rider Haggard. (Faber. 1 2S. 6d.) THIS is a collection of writings about the country, many of which have appeared...

Too Little and Too Dear The British Electricity Authority cannot be accused of any failure in self-justification. It presents the public with a bulky annual report full of...

Food from the Farm It seems a sin to introduce any note of doubt or qualification into the beatific vision, conjured up this week by.the president of the National Farmers'...

AT WESTMINSTER A SKITTISH committee-stage on the Festival of Britain Bill; some hours' expenditure of Celtic ardour in debating Welsh affairs and a day denoted to the dreadful...

MARGINAL COMMENT By HAROLD NICOLSON I CHERISH feelings of respect and gratitude for those who publish the Penguin Books. I am assured that these pocketable volumes diffuse the...

A WORLD AT STAKE SO rapidly is the situation developing diplomatically in Washington and militarily in Korea that comments are apt to be overtaken by events within twenty-four...

Children's Book Supplement Writing for a Child CHILDREN may be divided into those " born bookish" and those to whom books are simply the final resort, the last ditch, as it...

CINEMA "All About Eve." (Gauronto.)-" King Solomon's Mines." (Empire.) MISS BETTE DAVIS, whom no one, in my opinion, has vet surpassed as a film actress, now brings her...

MUSIC THE Oxford University Opera Club have attempted nothing rnrve ambitious in their history than Berlioz's Les Troyens; and their boldness proved in the event wholly...

CONTEMPORARY ARTS THEATRE " Rcturn to To assi." Bv Beim LcNv. (Duke of York's.) ANY' play with a modern setting, in which one gentleman says to another: "Ah! I thought Vou...

Washington Atmosphere B) ROBERT WAITHMAN Washington M R. ATTLEE, by merely stepping out of his plane in this nation's capital, was making a not inconsiderable contribution of...

New Novels The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. By Tennessee Williams. (Lehmann. 7s. 6d.) A Rage to Live. By John O'Hara. (Cresset Press. 15.) Grasping the Viper. By Herv6...

Facts for Children THE gap between " lesson " and " pleasure " books has narrowed in the last twenty years Lesson books have become lively and attractively produced: pleasure...

BOOKS AND WRITERS N OT long ago a distinguished scientist remarked that he did not very often see his colleagues reading poetry in the Athenaeum after lunch. It may be, of...