GARRICK AND BAGEHOT.
[To THE EDITOR 07 THE "Erreraros..,"]
SIR,—It is perhaps an ungenerous task to correct the corrector. But Mr. Searle will probably be glad to be reminded that what Garrick wrote in his well-known patriotic song was :— "Heart of oak are our ships,
Heart of oak are our men."
The superior force and point of the singular and adjectival use of " Heart of oak " over the banal plural are obvious.
With reference to your article on Walter Bagel3ot, may I give a curious instance of his widely spread influence? The captain of the liner on which I once crossed from Sydney to Wellington happened to be a keen reader, and when he invited me into his cabin to see his books I found they included a well-thumbed and nearly complete set of Bagehot's writings. My friend the captain was very eager to know if I could tell him the right pronunciation of Bagehot's name; he said that he had asked many English travellers, but had never found anyone who knew. Luckily I was able to help him. He confided to me that his ambition in life was to get a big cargo-boat, with no passengers, so that ho could have unlimited time for reading Bagehot, Gibbon, and his other favourites. This offers an exception to Mr. Conrad's statement that merchant captains generally confine their reading to Bnlwer Lytton. It would be very interesting to obtain a list of the books which are habitually taken to sea.—I am, Sir, &c.,
W. E. G. Franey..
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