27 NOVEMBER 1915, Page 16

SORTES.

rTo TUE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' Sill,—After reading a letter in the Spectator on the subject of "Sortes," I tried to see what Virgil had to say that might seem apposite to the present war. I opened at random on the following lines :—

" Tu ne cede malls sed contra audontior ito, Qua tug to fortune, einet. .Via prima ealutis, Quod minitno reris, Graia pandetur ab urbo."

—Aen., VI,, 95-7.

(Is Athens to change her policy, will Salonika prove an effective base, or will Italian help be pushed forward from those parts near which the Grail used to live?)

One would almost wish to be superstitious enough to attach a serious value to the sore Virgiciana when confronted with

so encouraging a prophecy.-1 am, Sir, &c., A. S. OWEN. Noble College, Oxford.