LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
SIGNOR CRISPI IN THE "NINETEENTH CENTURY."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, In the Spectator's notice of Signor Crispi's contribution to the Nineteenth Century (November 6th) you say : " He has contributed nothing to his readers' knowledge, and very little to their power of forming a judgment" If it is expected that, in treating a question like that which is the subject of
Signor Crispi's article, he should disclose the facts or the information on which he founds his forecasts, which facts and information he has received in his official capacity, it is clear to any one who knows him that no desire to add weight to his opinions by what would be dangerous indiscretion would influence him. Knowing better than any man except Bismarck (with whom he has always been in confidential relations) the history of all the secret negotiations and agreements of the past twenty years, his opinion, as such, has a significance all its own, and this opinion, now that he is out of politics, he is free to express, but not to disclose official secrets which are the basis of his conclusions and which he acquired in his official position. Beyond expression of his conclusions, therefore, there is little which he could say to contribute to the "power of forming a judgment" of his readers, but as a man exceptionally informed, his con- clusions ought to have an exceptional weight and interest, as those of the man who, after Bismarck, has of all men living had most to do with the affairs which relate to the Triple Alliance and its sequences.—I am, Sir, &c., X. X. X.
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