THE ATTACKS ON MRS. SAVILE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THB SPECTATOR."l ISIR,—The attacks which have recently been made against Mrs. Savile, giving the general impression that she is a German woman employed in a position which would render her a danger to this country, have caused so serious an injury to that lady and her family that we trust you will make public the following facts with a view to showing these attacks were founded on a false and misleading basis. Mrs. Savile's father became a naturalized Englishman in 1857, and obtained a commission in the Army at the time of the Crimean War. He afterwards married an Englishwoman, and Mrs. Savile was the daughter of that marriage. Her parents separated almost immediately after her birth, when Mrs. Savile was brought up in England by her mother, where she has lived ever since. She can only recollect seeing her father on two occasions, both many years ago. Her brother became naturalized in Germany years ago, in order to complete his title to some property in that country. He married an Englishwoman, but has lived a life entirely apart from his sister, the two never having met during the last fifteen years, and only corresponding very infrequently, generally by postcards. Except for her brother and his wife, Mrs. Savile has never written to, or known in any way, her other German connexions, or indeed any other person in Germany. For upwards of twenty-six years she has been the wife of an English clergyman. Mrs. Savile is therefore English by birth, education, and marriage, and we venture to think that to all fair-minded people her sympathies in the present crisis would naturally be presumed, as indeed is the case, to be upon the side of this, her own country.—We are, Sir, &c., [We are delighted to publish Messrs. Farrer's letter. It shows how cruel and unjust was the attack on Mrs. Savile. We cannot, of course, be too vigilant in regard to German espionage. But this is not vigilance. It is unreasoning panic. —ED. Spectator.]
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