25 FEBRUARY 1888, Page 14

THE "BOOK OF THE VYNE."

lTo THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

Stn,—Permit me to point out that Mr. Chaloner W. Chute does not, in his charming "Book of the Vyne," claim descent from Mr. Speaker Chute in the female line, or otherwise. His patronymic, he explains, is " Wiggett,"—his ancestor having been a cousin of the mother of the last Chute of the Speaker's family. The Northumberland family, whose patronymic is "Smithson," represent the ancient Percies in the female line because they descend in blood from a daughter of that house, whereas in the present case we are informed in the book that the last real Chute, by disinheriting his niece, Lady Cronin, deliberately left the estate away from the female line of his family.—I am, Sir, &c.,