Letter to Britannia Sir: Strix's excellent letter to Britannia (2 February) surprises me for one assertion. 'Nobody seems to be quite sure,' he writes, 'whether you are-or were...

On the dole Sir: Moving as I found Arthur Barton's article 'On the dole' (2 February) and heartily as I agree with him, there is another side of this question of unemployment...

Fish 'n' chips Sir: Sir Thomas Scrivenor (Letters, 2 February) says that Sir Denis Brogan has not 'the faintest idea of the difference between "shall" and "will,"' and gives...

This blessed plot Sir: In the course of his excellent article on the attitude of the press to the Prime Minister (2 February) George Hutchinson asks: 'Was Mr Bernard Levin ever...

Bonjour, Peanuts Sir: May I join the distinguished company of those who have presumed to offer correction to the reports in your magazine by Sir Denis Brogan? In the 2 February...

Sir: I wonder if Mr Alan Smith (Letters, 2 February) remembers that in a letter to The Times last April Lord Soper pointed out that 'among the many complex and controversial...

Right-minded Sir: Alan Smith (Letters, 2 February) writes: 'If abortion were a blood-sp6rt of the British landed gentry I wonder how many left-wingers would wish to ban it?' I...

Sir: I was most heartened to read Mr Szamuely's fine article, exposing the Sunday Times's behaviour over Gerald Brooke (2 February). However, may I suggest that it would be...

Stress signals MEDICINE JOHN ROWAN WILSON One of the things we all seem to be agreed about is that life is a pretty stressful business these days. Yet why should this be so?...

FLEET ST INTELLIGENCE 'Mr Howie has to give up his post as Comptroller of the Royal Household, a job which . . . does not entail-as is widely believed-the task of writing daily...

H certificate BALLET CLEMENT CRISP Post-atomic horrors and an enchanted toyshop: you can make your own choice as to which of these two recent manifestations you find the more...

Out of court LETTERS Fron Frank Giles, Mrs E. Pottersmnan, Gwendolen Barter, Mrs M. C. C. Chapman, L. E. Weidberg, Lady de Ziilueta, Henry Luce 111, the Ven R. V. H. Burne,...

Defensive front SAVINGS LOTHBURY If you bought units-almost anv trust's units -at this time last year, you should now be quietly pleased with yourself. You will have had the...

Market report CUSTOS The Chancellor has shown that le can dent the market: but he has yet to show that he can make the dent last. On Monday night he was forecasting two years...

3. Time to drop the pilot PATRICK COSGRAVE The communist offensive in Vietnam, and the unanswerable demonstration that the us, for all its power, is still unable to guarantee...

CITY DIARY CHRISTOPHER FILDES As I watch Courtaulds roaring about the land seeking whom it may devour, I am filled with nostalgia for the Courtaulds of days gone by -the...

Silver lining CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS Sin is within us. I wanted to buy a Rolls-Royce but my conscience wouldn't let me spend all that money, so I bought an E-type. I had it...

On matches and the box POLITICAL COMMENTARY AUBERON WAUGH The second reading of the Casanova's Charter, as Lady Summerskill has dubbed the latest divorce bill. should be a...

Never on Sunday? CONSUMING INTEREST LESLIE ADRIAN I recently came across a political pamphlet published during the reign of Sailor William. It was written by a young...

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Bargain buy PORTFOLIO JOHN BULL I have taken advantage this week of a technical situation in the capital shares of Throgmorton Secured Growth Trust. This fund, based on an...

The revenge of failure PERSONAL COLUMN SIMON RAVEN In any contest worth conducting, there must be rules and there will certainly be hazards. It is the business of the...

A hundred years ago From the 'Spectator', 8 February 1868-The event of the week has been the suppression of an c meute in the French Legislative Body. The Emperor, in pursuance...

GMT... RIP SCIENCE PETER J. SMITH The introduction of permanent daylight saving this month, and the consequent abolition of Greenwich Mean Time for daily use, will, if...

Sympathy, yes: support, no Mr Heath's pledge of full Conservative support for the American government's present policy in Vietnam was no doubt prompted by a desire to embarrass...

Prince Albert and Victorian Taste Winslow Ames Exhibition Road: FRANCIS WATSON (Chapman and Hall 84s) A line drawn through the centre of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and...

Short strong stalks ART PAUL GRINKE When artists are neglected by their public they often seem to neglect themselves in revenge. Gwen John, unusually gifted and unusually...

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner CINEMA Blackdated PENELOPE HOUSTON (Leicester Square Theatre, 'U') Rebellion (Essoldo, Chelsea, 'A') Sidney Poitier has for years been...

Stylish Nile Sir: May I please apologise to Mr Peter Potter, producer of the Covent Garden Opera's Aida, for mv carcls.ncss in having inadvertently referred to him as Mr John...

Dolce Francesca Adami AFTERTHOUGHT LORD EGREMONT I love Rome and always like returning there. I am bad at understanding or making myself understood in foreign languages. As a...

1. The view from the White House Vietnam A three-part analysis JOHN GRAHAM Washitgior-'You know, I think what has happened will help the President. People aren't going to go...

2. The fact of defeat? MURRAY KEMPTON New York-We have lost all save our material comfort. In every other sense the last two weeks have left us a defeated people. What we will...

Division Street: America Studs Terkel Folk on tape || STEPHEN VIZINCZEY 11 (Allen 1 Lane/the Penguin Press 45s) 'I've spent thousands of wonderful hours learn. ing facts,'...

The Unfought Baflie Jon Kimche Ten days' wonder ALAN CLARK (Weidenfeld and Nicolson 36s) The Second World War, as is well known, changed the face of Europe; created the two...

Whatever Happened to Ruby? NEW NOVELS Ladies' week MARTIN SEYMOUR-SMITH Wendy Owen (Peter Owen 30s) Scars Edith de Born (Eyre and Spottiswoode 25s) You're So Lucky; Darling...

Seaside hotel HAGIWARA Translated frontz the Japanese by Graenze J ilson As though afloat upon The coast-woods of red pine, Far off, as far away As shimmering can shine,...

SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK J. W. M. THOMPSON As the Vietnam war grows more horrible the problem of finding some sort of adequate private response nags away. We stare daily at the...

The Gringo in Latin A merica Richard West Down Mexico way PETER VANSITTART (Cape 32s 6d) . One Man's Mexico John Lincoln (Bodley Head 30s) Many may over-simplify the us role...

No lifeline for LBJ RUSSIA & THE 'PUEBLO' DEV MURARKA Moscow-'Let him stew in his own juice.' This has been the succinct message for President Johnson from Moscow ever since...