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As time goes by, I value increasingly the worth of subtle, reflective argument and applaud those rare occasions on which bombast disappears from the everyday round. I deem it an act of kindness in those who demonstrate a like mind.

I therefore respectfully observe that David Roberts, John Henry Newman chair at Newman University College, has had a good innings in these Letters pages and that it is time to induce play-stopping rain. A consistent feature of his correspondence is the way in which - shrill in tone, mistaking assertion for debate - it veers so wildly away from the discursive principles favoured by the Cardinal in whose chair he now finds himself.

If his contributions continue ... well, I can't say that I know where he lives but, as a former lecturer at his institution, I know where he mounts his bank.

Michael W. Thomas, Associate lecturer, The Open University.