16 JANUARY 1909, Page 17

ST. PATRICK.

[To THE ED. STOR OF THE 0 SPECTAT010.1 Sin,—In your kindly notice in the Spectator of November 21st, 1908, of my little book, "Stories of the Irish Saints," you ask : "Was Patrick the son of a ' Christian clergyman' P He was a decurio or Town Councillor." The answer is that he was both. Patrick himself tells us that his father's name was Calpornius, a deacon, and his grandfather was a priest. The family belonged to the Roman "garrison," and there is an interesting parallel in modern conditions to-day, where missionaries not unfrequently serve in similar capacities. I have myself, as it happens, though a presbyter, served for . some years as decurio on the municipality of an Indian country town.—