17 AUGUST 1962, Page 16

SIR, — In my review of Mr. Southgate's The Passing of the

Whigs, 1832-1886, thanks no doubt to my bac! handwriting, there has been an error which I fee', I ought to correct. I did not say, nor did Mr' Southgate, that when the Whigs talked about 'the People,' they meant the masses or the mob. The sentences in question should have read as follows:

The Whigs at moments of crisis allied thein"

selves with 'the People,' by which theyMeant

the prosperous intelligent middle class as opposed to 'the Populace' by which they rrie.lnpt

the masses or the mob. Disraeli's leap in "–

dark was an appeal successful in the long run to 'the Populace. . .

I must apologise for appearing to attribute to Mr' Southgate a statement precisely the reverse of the truth and of what he said. Christ Church, Oxford BLAB

ROBERT