Who gets the chair?
Sir: We were interested to read of the pictur- esque methods described by Oxford's Regius Professor of Modern History of succeeding in University elections; and of his views concern- ing that other chair, the Professorship of Poetry (25 October). Such methods have, of course. destroyed the chances of many distinguished candidates in the past, one example springing to mind is the candidacy of the late Sir Harold Nicolson for this honourable post.
Reading his call for a Professor . 'who has Thought about poetry and its relation to life and can express those thoughts with clarity, eleva- tion and distinction of language,' we welcome him into the ranks of the supporters of Yevgeni Yevtushenko.
It is pleasant to see the Regius Professor agreeing with the opinions of the majority of undergraduates, who have, through the Oxford Union and the Student RepreSentative Council, expressed overwhelmingly their support for the distinguished Russian poet and critic of inter- national stature. We hope that all MAS will join Professor Trevor-Roper in voting for Yevtu- shenko on 21 November, in Oxford.
In fairness to Professor Trevor-Roper, it must be pointed out that nowhere in his article did he either state or imply that he would be voting for Mr Yevtushenko.—Editor, SPECTATOR.
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