(To . TRE EDITOR ,OF TRE "SPECTATOR.1 .
Snt,—My letters may possibly give- the impression that I am an apologist for Mouravieff. Will you therefore allow me to saythat he was far from being a favourite of mine P I thoughi him an unscrupulous politician. I regarded his conduct to. Greece on the Cretan question as equally brutal and short-, sighted, and I have written against him on 'more than one occasion, but he was ambitious, and was not likely to commit his master to a policy which, once accepted by the Powers con- sulted, would .involve a war with England, or his instant dia.- miscial from office. I may say that I know that the Czar knew nothing of Mouravieff's alleged scheme. What is probable is- that the Count sounded some of the Powers as to the possibility of arbitration before the South African War broke out. This"
might easily have been perverted, by chance or by design, into the current version of the story. Your readers will remember how the Minister of a Great Power assured Lord Odo Russell that Russia's denunciation of the Black Sea clause of the Treaty of Paris took him completely by surprise; the fact being that Russia acted very reluctantly on that Minister's urgent and repeated advice. Lord Odo Russell never again accepted any important statement of that Minister without independent confirmation. " Emeritus " implies, by his signature, that he is no longer in active service. If I may venture a guess as to his identity, I will say that my opinion of his ability is such that if he had been in office at the time of the Mouravieff incident he would not, I believe, have accepted the story from any one, however exalted, without verification.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Flower Lilies, Windley, Derby. MALcoLm MAcCoLt.
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