We greatly regret to record that Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the
British Ambassador to the United States, died suddenly at Ottawa on February 14th while returning to England on leave. Ho was fifty-eight When he went to Washington as Ambassador in 1913 he carried thither a wide and varied experience of men and affairs, and throughout the earlier years of the world-war there was need of all his native tact and acquired resourcefulness. Against the German menace he was forearmed. As clearly as Lord Roberts, he had descried it from afar, realizing to the full that the momentous issues at stake must imply a grim and prolonged struggle. During two and a half years of American neutrality his task was not loss anxious than it was arduous and incessant. That America "came in," without even the threat of any breach of Anglo-American friendship during these many months of strain and occasional controversy, is the highest compliment to Sir Cecil's experience, tact, and patience. His work was done when America entered the War of Liberation. Many friends in many parts of the world must deeply regret that he was not spared to enjoy the leisure which he had so thoroughly earned. As a diplomatist and as a friend he had the essential qualities of sincerity and wide human sym- pathies, and his wit enlivened his wisdom and his patriotism.
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