SIR HENRY ELLIOT'S MEMOIRS.
(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—In your issue of April 15th it is stated in a review of this book that our Consul-General at Constantinople, Sir Philip Francis, did not forward a certain despatch originating from Vice-Consul Dupuis, of Adrianople, describing alleged Bulgarian atrocities, and was therefore "guilty of a serious dereliction of duty." This latter statement I totally deny. It was the custom of Mr. Dupuis, to write all (so-called) " diplomatic despatches " practically in duplicate, one copy to the Consul-General and the other to the Ambassador. Naturally Sir Philip Francis, who was then desperately ill of that agonizing complaint angina pectogis, besides diabetes, of which he very shortly afterwards died, took it for granted that tho duplicate had gone to the Embassy. There was nothing exceptional in the report—such events occur now and then in the East, some quite lately—of which our pious Government took no _notice. I protest against this belated and utterly unfair' attack on Sir Philip, and still more so at delaying the publication of this attack until all the people who could and would have supported the ease for my father. Sir Philip, are dead, the last being Sir Edwin Pears, within the last three years. Lady Francis, Sir Philip's widow, died in January, 1912, so her being alive cannot be the reason for withholding the issue for so many years. There was a Foreign Office inquiry as to this affair in 181'9.-1 am, Sir, &c., [The lato Sir Henry Elliot and his daughter, the editor of the memoirs, are our authorities for the statement of which Mr. Francis complains. It must ho remembered that Sir Henry Elliot was publicly and most unfairly blamed for suppressing the report, which he had not received from Sir Philip Francis.--En. Spectator.]
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