12 OCTOBER 1901, Page 14

PINCHBECK SILENCE.

[TO THE EDITOR OF Till "SPECTATOR."] $nt,—As an illustration of your remark in the Spectator of October 5th that emptiness often accompanies solemnity, take the following from Coleridge's " Table-Talk " :—" Silence does not always mark wisdom. I was at dinner some time ago in company with a man who listened to me and said nothing for a long time; but he nodded his head, and I thought him intelligent. At length, towards the end of the dinner, some apple dumplings were placed on the table, and my man had no sooner seen them than he burst forth with : Them's the jockies for me ! ' "—I am, Sir, &c.,