17 NOVEMBER 2007, Page 20

Second Adam

Sir: I agree with Charles Moore that the sense of Newman's 'Praise to the Holiest in the Height' is not 'impenetrable'. Yet it does seem to be open to more than one interpretation. I have always assumed that 'Man' with the capital M referred to the second Adam, for He is our substitute and representative who was smitten in our stead. For me the double agony is a reference to the horror of being separated from the Father (my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me') and being punished for crimes He had not committed.

R.A. Massie-Blornfield Nairobi, Kenya