A TYPICAL BRITISH AMBASSADOR.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 288, 14 May 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TYPICAL BRITISH AMBASSADOR.

If Great Britain hnd ransacked the kingdom for a physical reprcsentaiion of John Bull to send to Brother Jonathan, she could not have found a better than S'r Julian Paunceforte, the British Ambassador in Washington. Sir Julian might sit for a portrait of John Bull and all the world would recognise the likeness. He is a typical Englishman. He is British through and through. He is big of|frame, with a massive bead and a ruddy face, suggestive of a beefeater. He looks the Briton and acts it. There is not a suggestion of democracy about him that is not British. He is affab!c and gracious, but with him rank is rank, and he is the personal representative of the Queen cf Great Britain and Ireland. He might travel round the worid and keep his mouth closed and no one would be deceived as to his nationality. He has Great Britain stamped on his every feature, his dress, his manners, and his speech. Wherever ho should go he would be set down as an Englishman. When Sir Julian appears at the State department on official business, or at the Capitol or White House on ceremonial occasions, he is John Bull himself. It is not necessary to explain that as ambassador he represents the person of the Queen. His manner and bearing suggest that he is the guardian of the throue. He represents it all, the Queen, the lords and gentlemen—-Gnat Britain. He is an ambassador and an Englishman, whether in the Embassy on Connecticut Avenue or on his lumbering tricycle on the streets of the uatioual capital. Is'o one would accuse Sir Julian of accentuating his importance or trying to impress this democratic capital with the nobility of his office. He can't help being just what he is. He and his office fit into each other. The rank of ambassador was created for him, and it rests gracefully on his shoulders. He is just the opposite to the American Ambassador at the Court of St. James. John Hay has not an impressive- figure. He would count for little at any affair where his intellect did not take up the burden of his office. He would be a plain every-day sort of American, a business man, or an editor, or a lawyer. But Sir Julian would never be mistaken for any of these. He has no need of any intellectual effort to show what he is. The everyday title of "Mr", would never be applied to the British" Ambassador. Th? Ambassador from Germany prefers this title, and in the diplomatic list he is set down as "Mr vou Holleben, Ambassador E. and P." He is a German baron aDd doctor of laws, but he comes to America as "Mr"' von Hollebeu, and eo writes his name in the diplomatic directory. The Minister from Russia also uses the title of "Mr," and so do all the Ambassadors and Ministers from Europe, China, and Japan except those from Italy, Spain, and Great Britain. The Ambassador from Great Britain is officially known as " Right Hon. Sir Julian Pauncefote, G.8.C., G.C.M.G., Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary." One might as readily address The Queen of England as " Mrs " as to address her Ambassador in Washington as Mr Pauncefote. There might bo international complications growing out of such carlessness of speech. It is not because Sir Julian belongs to the peerage, for he does not. He is not a peer, like his predecessor, Lorl Sack* ville-West. He did not inherit his greatness. He won it, like an American, by bard work, big brain power, and bard, common fon»e. —Washington letter in Chicago Leader.