Mr. F. E. Smith's reiterated attacks on Mr. Bryce have
pro- voked a vigorous yet dignified letter of protest from Professor Dicey in Monday's Times. Mr. Bryce, as he points out, is not only a most distinguished man of letters, but he has filled a difficult position with extraordinary skill, and has done more than could be expected of any one man to increase and cement friendship between England and the United States. Ambas- sadors enjoy immunity from personal attack or censure for two excellent reasons : they-are agents of the Cabinet, and -whatever they do must be treated as the act of the Govern- ment; and, further, loyalty on the part of a Civil servant, and especially of an Ambassador, commands a silence which makes his own public defence of his conduct an impossibility. We desire to associate ourselves whole-heartedly with Professor Dicey's censure of the unfounded and ungenerous attacks made upon one of the ablest and most devoted of public servants.
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