13 AUGUST 1921, Page 14

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—In your issue

of July 9th you most graciously comment upon the statue of Washington, recently placed in Trafalgar Square, and you raise a question as to the correctness of the phrase on the base of the statue to the effect that it is the gift of " The Commonwealth of Virginia." It may interest you to know that Rapalje and Lawrence's Dictionary of American and English Law states that Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsyl- vania, and Virginia are styled Commonwealths, and that Bouvier's Law Dictionary notes that Commonwealth is the " legal title" of the same States.—I am, Sir, &o., llaverford, Pennsylvania, July 28th. RICHARD T. CADBURY.