We suppose we must congratulate Mr. Benjamin Moran, the First
Secretary to the American Legation, on his appointment as American Minister at Lisbon, but the congratulation will not be sincere. Mr. Moran's withdrawal from London, where for eighteen years he has been the depositary of the traditions of the Embassy, will be a heavy loss to both countries. No man so distinctively and essentially an American has been more influential in London, or has earned more genuine esteem and regard from all sections of English society. The wildest American patriot has never accused Mr. Moran of not pushing his country's claims far enough, and yet he has always been accepted here as a true and worthy friend of England. Part of this popularity may have been due to suavity of manner, but it was mainly owing to a well-founded conviction that Mr. Moran, though devoted to his own country, and capable of passion if he thought her interests attacked, thoroughly comprehended the country to which he was accredited, and could inform his successive chiefs what English ideas and wishes in American affairs really were. That comprehension is the first necessity of an American Lega- tion, which naturally thinks it knows more than foreigners can, yet is apt to make precisely the mistakes of foreigners.
