STEELE OR CONGREVE?
170 THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—It is no feminine pertinacity of desire to have the last word which induces me to reply to your note of April 5th, but simply the wish to see a literary question of some interest as fully, as fairly, and as clearly stated as possible. The gist of the editorial note subjoined to my last letter is this :—That the "general evidence" in favour of Congreve is imperfect. Very possibly it may be. The question is whether there is any gleam of proof, any ghost of evidence, in favour of Steele. I never heard till now of the book called "Memorials and Characters," to which it appears Messrs. Ferguson and Lyman make blunder- ing and random reference. The authority of such blind guides is, of course, worth less than little. The authority of common fame, which has always assigned the eulogy of Lady Elizabeth Hastings to the hand of Congreve, may be insufficient. The- authority which should assign it to the hand of Steele is—as far as has yet been shown—simply null.—I am, Sir, &e , A. C. SWINBURNE.
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