FRANCE AND THE RUHR.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sea,—I have been a very regular reader of the Spectator for more than thirty years, and have almost always found it most fair as regards " Letters to the Editor." Now, being " a man of no importance " I am quite resigned, if I write to your paper, to find my letter not considered worth printing, but occasionally there may be an exception. About a month ago there appeared in your columns a letter signed " 13ritan- nicus." I replied to that letter. " Britannicus " answered my letter ; his main contentions were that I was careless, irrelevant, foolish, inaccurate, etc.
As a crushing proof of all this he took the fact that I ascribed the words, " I stand astounded at my own moderation," to Clive ; " Clive never said any such words," he declared. Now here was a fair test and challenge on a matter, not of opinion but of fact ; and under the circumstances I think I had some small claim to show I was not quite so foolish and inaccurate as I was stated to be.
Well, Sir, in spite of that I should not have written this, but that last Saturday " 13ritannieus " appears for the third time in the Spectator, with a fairly long letter, and it seemed to me that, as he was writing, he might have at least admitted his mistake and perhaps expressed some little regret for it. Of course, I saw a letter that queried the assertion of " Britan- nicus " ; but that is not quite the same thing to me, though, indeed, it gave " Britannicus " an opportunity of making the amende.—I am, Sir, &c., GERMAN ICUS. [We thought that the correction by another hand of " Britan- nicus's " mistake would be enough.—En. Spectator.]
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