[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—A first reading of the letter signed "A. H. T. Clarke" in your issue of July 4th evokes a feeling of exasperation, but a second reading suggests that the writer does not desire to be taken seriously ; that he is, in fact, by conscious perversion and the use of mutually stultifying arguments, satirizing the mental processes of the bellicist (forgive the ugly word !).
• Yes, I think the writer of the letter is to be congratulated on, and thanked for, an amusing and salutary piece of satire. If one were to take him seriously (which God forbid !) one could only respond by a modification of his concluding sentence and exclaim, "Is muddle-headed romanticism to tak.:: the place of common sense ? "—I am, Sir, &c., JOHN E. HODGSON. Abbotts Lynne, Manor Park, Aylesbury.