LINKS WITH THE PAST.
[To THE .EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I have read with interest the letter from "j. 6.-15." in your issue of December 31st, which may stimulate correspond- ence on the subject, either in your periodical or ethers, as on previous occasions. I do not contend that my own eau,* will establish a " record," but think I can "go one better " than your correspondent, as I " have the advantage of him " by five years. I was born in 1851, my father in 1798, my grandfather in 1729, and my great-grandfather in 1676 (Charles reign). The four generations, therefore, cover thirteen reigns. I am sorry not to be able to lay my hand on any particularly interesting family records, but I might mention that my father (in the Navy) sailed for India in 1815 in a man-of-war con- veying three despatches, announcing (i) Napoleon's escape from Elba, (ii) the Battle of Waterloo, and (iii) the Great Peace. In these days, when the result of a boxing eampetition is flashed across the world in a. minute or two, such dilatory treatment of vitally important news, seems extraordinary. I may add that my father died in 1886.
if I may trespass on your space a little more, I night mention that my maternal grandmother, who lived from 1774 to 1872, and whom I remember distinctly, used to tell us about the difficulties she and her parents had in getting, bask from France in 1789, when the French Revolution broke eats.—I am,
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