14 AUGUST 1959, Page 22

Sta,—It is not Mr. Wigglesworth but Pharos who looks ridiculous.

There is nothing asinine in a deci- sion, doubtless reached after much careful thought, to permit the 'bumpkins' and 'yokels' of the congre- gation of Selby Abbey to decline a gift which the majority of these peasant worshippers clearly and emphatically do not want. The merits of Sir Jacob Epstein as a sculptor are irrelevant, as the Chancellor, unlike Pharos, does not constitute himself an arbiter elegantiarum.—Yours faithfully,

A. C. TOWNSEND

United University Club, I Suffolk Street, SW I [Pharos writes: 'The majority of the worshippers have never expressed any opinion on the matter.'— Edi tor, Spectator.]