Letters to the Editor
The Monarchy and the Commonwealth Lord A loincham, Edward Bond, J. P. Bardsley English in South-East Asia Quentin Pope Purging Intellectuals ; Professor William Ent pson
Egging Them On Jack Merricks, J. L. Brighton
VTOL and Noise Oliver Stewart Mrs. Gage A raminta and Antony Hi p pisley Coxe Granting Visas Anthony Windrum
Discontents in Devon Robert Herrick.
F. A. V. Madden, Rev. J. H. B. Andrews Josiah Wedgwood T. Lyth THE MONARCHY AND THE COMMONWEALTH
SIR, Surely Mr. Christopher Hollis is wrong to assert that the Oriental nations of the Common- wealth have repudiated the Monarchy? It is true that India and Pakistan have become republics inter- nally, Ceylon is likely to follow suit and Malaya has adopted a monarchy of its own for internal pur- poses. But the Queen's office as Head of the Common- wealth, which is both hereditary and monarchical, is not merely accepted—it was invented—by the Indians.
This office, to anyone whose mind is not incurably insular, must seem vastly more important than that of national sovereign. Indeed, I should say that the Head of the Commonwealth may one day feel obliged to dispense with all purely national com- mitments. The exaggerated claims of the United Kingdom are already a visible menace to the wider function of monarchy in the new setting provided by India's initiative.—Yours faithfully,
ALTRiNtliAM
The National and English Review, 2 Breams Buildings, EC4
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