_"I put a spoke in his wheel"_ (Vol. viii., p. 351.).--Does not this phrase mean simply interference, either for good or evil? I fancy the metaphor is really derived from putting the bars, or spokes, into a capstan or some such machine. A number {523} of persons being employed, another puts his spoke in, and assists or hinders them as he pleases. Can a _stick_ be considered a _spoke_ before it is put into its place, in the nave of the wheel at least? We often hear the observation, "Then I put in my spoke," &c. in the relation of an animated discussion. May I venture to suggest a pun on the preterite of the verb _to speak_? G. WILLIAM SKYRING. _Pagoda_ (Vol. viii., p. 401.).--May not the word _pagoda_ be a corruption of the Sanscrit word "Bhagovata," sacred? BISHOP OF BRECHIN. Dundee. _Passage in Virgil_ (Vol. viii., p. 270.).--On this part of Johnson's letter, Mr. Croker observes: "I confess I do not see the object, nor indeed the meaning, of this allusion." The allusion is to Eclogue viii. 43.: "Nunc scio, quid sit Amor: duris in cotibus illum Aut Tmarus, aut Rhodope, aut extremi Garamantes, Nec generis nostri puerum nec sanguinis, edunt." As the shepherd in Virgil had found Love to be not the gentle being he expected, but of a savage race--"a native of the rocks"--so had Johnson found a patron to be "one who looked with unconcern on a man struggling for life," instead of a friend to render assistance. Supposing Johnson's estimate of Lord Chesterfield's conduct to be correct, I cannot help thinking the allusion to be eminently happy. J. KELWAY. _To speak in Lutestring_ (Vol. viii., p. 202.).--_Lutestring_, or _lustring_, is a particular kind of silk, and so is _taffeta_; and thus the phrase may be explained by Shakspeare's _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act V. Sc. 8.: "Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise." Junius intended to ridicule such kind of affectation by persons who were, or ought to have been, grave senators. J. KELWAY. _Dog Latin_ (Vol. viii., p. 218.).--A facetious friend, alluding particularly to law Latin with its curious abbreviations, says that it is so called because it is _cur-tailed_! J. KELWAY. _Longevity_ (Vol. viii., p. 113.).--I recollect seeing an old sailor in the town of Larne, county Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1826-27, of the name of Philip Lake, aged 110, who was said to have been a cabin boy in Lord Anson's vessel, in one of his voyages. If any of your correspondents can furnish the registry of his death it would be interesting. FRAS. CROSSLEY. Mary Simondson, familiarly known as "Aunt Polly," died recently at her cottage near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, at the advanced age of 126 years. M. E. Philadelphia. _Definition of a Proverb_ (Vol. viii., p. 243.)--C. M. INGLEBY inquires the source of the following definition of proverb, viz. "The wisdom of many, and the wit of one."