31 JULY 1920, Page 15

[To THE _EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—Surely your reviewer's

ear and memory have failed him in his quotation of the wine-bibber's apology. I have never, to my knowledge, seen the lines in print, but as they reached me by rote ran like this:

"Pure water is the beet of gifts that man to man can bring; But who am I that I should have the best .of anything? Let Princes revel at the pump, and Peers with ponds make free;

Whisky, or wine, or even beer, is good enough for me."

11 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,. London, W.C. 2.

[Several versions of these lines have reached us. We should be glad if any reader could tell us who the author was.—Ea Spectator.]