22 MARCH 1913, Page 20

"THE PROBLEM OF THE GODLESS GOOD."

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Your correspondent " F. G. C." writing from Constanti- nople quotes Wordsworth's " Ode to Duty " as an illustration

of your• very interesting article, but the two last lines of the stanza seem to be a curious misquotation of the edition of 1827, which ran

" Long may the kindly impulse last !

But Thou, if they should totter, teach them to stand fast !"

Your correspondent has it

" May joy be theirs while life shall last,

And Thou, if they should falter, teach them to stand fast."

The authorized version runs

• " Oh ! if through confidence misplaced They fail, Thy saving arms, dread Power, around them cast."

And it seems to me that the amended form is interesting.—I • Ivy Bank, Beckenham.