22 JUNE 1912, Page 17

{ To vas EDITOR or THE "Srxmrop.."1 SIR, —The following quotation is

from Symonds's translation of the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (p. 348) :— " Pushing the door open, I drew my sword and set the point at his throat. At the same instant I cried out: ' Vile coward ! recommend your soul to God, for you are a dead man.' Without budging from his Best, he called three times : Mother, mother, help me !' Though I had come there fully determined to take his life, half my fury ebbed away when I heard this idiotic exclamation."

22 Mount Street, W.