28 JANUARY 1922, Page 3

Possibly Lord Bryce's intimacy with America did not, at first,

encourage a good understanding between Americans and English- men so much as it might have done, because he was regarded as an extreme Radical who despised many 'British institutions. But if for that reason his services were deprived of some of their value they had their full worth when he was appointed Ambassador at Washington by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. He liked Americans and they liked him. He was always acces- sible. On the wall at the British Embassy at Washington there is now fixed a tablet with the words "In this house lived from 1907 to 1913 James Bryce, the author of The American Common. wealth." A less simple statement would have been far less significant. It is a great tribute.