Ever since the appointment of Mr. Bryce in 1907, British
Ambassadors at Washington have been not of the professional but of the non-professional variety. Lord Halifax was of the latter type, Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, who succeeds him, is of the former. America has perhaps some preference for the non- professional, but she can be satisfied to know that in Sir Archi- bald she is getting our outstanding " career-diplomat " and a man who is freer from the inhibitions of professional convention than any man who ever represented his sovereign abroad. His total lack of any sense of self-importance was impressed on me the first time I came in contact with him. A common friend had put us in touch, and he rang me up. When I lifted the receiver and answered, a voice said, "This is a man called Kerr." It
seemed a good beginning.
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