24 MAY 1924, Page 14

A CORRECTION.

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I am perhaps old-fashioned in considering that William Cowper is a poet whose works are still worth reading. Yet it was with some surprise that in the article by Mrs. Williams- Ellis in your issue of May 17th I found his well-known line :—

"God made the country and man made the town," described by her as "a Victorian proverb." As the article in question states that one function of a newspaper is to state facts, sometimes forgotten or neglected, perhaps you may find room for this correction.—I am, Sir, &c., H. M. W.