21 AUGUST 1953, Page 16

Eric, or Little by Little

SIR,—Your correspondent, Mr. N. H. Fitzherbert, says, " I haven't got a copy of the immortal work at hand, but I feel sure Mr. Horace Wyndham has misrepresented it." If he were to get a copy and read page eighty-eight, chapter eight, he would discover (1) that I did not " misrepresent it "; (2) that Eric's description of the usher as a "surly devil " was spoken by him, and not " written by the school blackguard." This accounts for the tearful reproaches of his pure- minded playmate, Russell, " Oh, Eric, that is the first time I have heard you swear."—Yours faithfully, HORACE W YNDHA M. The Athenaeum, S.W.1.