30 JULY 1898, Page 16

THE DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. [To TEE EDITOR 07 THE

" SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Mr. John E. Page, in the Spectator of July 23rd, whilst transferring the authorship of the phrase, "Probability is the guide of life," from Jeremy Taylor to Butler, ascribes the story of the man who threw a stone at a dog, and killed instead his mother-in-law, to Jeremy Taylor. May I point out that the story is quoted by Montaigne in his essay, "That Fortune is oftentimes observed to act by the rule of