New-York tribune., 1918-07-15
An Ambassador
By Ralph Block

movers ABOUT them; they are nystsriop,
men who see everywhere and know everr
thing To the mind that sees bis.oro =.
sumo in its accomplishment the cohs,.-.
pattern Of work of art-becomine n krs
OF serial story of the spectacle ~ 49,
istence - diplomacy will ALWAYS rer.;.
secret and romantic. There will r. g..
such an observer in all perspectiveu
faint whispering behind the arras, scarce
ly perceived motion OF fan in cav.
slender hand, to keep it endowed ,r;.,
enchan tmcnt
Who will say that ambassadors have -.
themselves nurtured the tradition ard =.
joyed it? And what can be said nou =.
an imperial ambassador who disclaims :.
not by violent disavowal, but by placid
forgetfulness of it. This is Lord Read,o
an ambassador of the future, creating -
himself new type. He has the kind -.
imagination which the modern time will
tend to make more common It dixc.rs,
flctions automatically; it is too much nra-
occupied with reality to be concerned with
them.
The embassy press audiences are fort
nightly--on Thursday at 4. They are held
in the rambling red brick building on Con-
necticut Avenue, with gilded coronets atom
the iron gates around it. 1t has Rr;t;.b
air, the embassy, substantial and resoec..
able, an impalpable air of establishments
You enter through one of the iron pates
and a side door that says "Chancerv,
above it, in moulded letters that must bavs
hpeO ,.,Lo
erected. You wait for time in an snts-
room that might be adjunct TO anv
office anywhere, greeting secretaries or
attaches, or friendly general who be-
longs TO the military commission Some
times you may wait fairly long time he
fore you conducted across the hall
past the Victorian grand stairway with
the Queens portrait at the top. and into
the spacious, airy room at the corner o,
the embassy, where Lord Reading is wait
ing He rises to meet you, shakes the
hands of all of you, makes apology for
keeping you waiting, and sits at his desk
to await your disposal in the deep chairs
about him before he begins talking.
Accomplishment and the certainty Of
purpose and direction that accompanies it
IN men of middle age, past the flushed
and naive discoveries of youth, exercise a
kind of spell upon face. Experience
always leaves its imprint, according to
popular mythologies, but this is more than
experience. 1t is rather the increment that
goes with a successful experience. when
experience has been gathered, shaped put
under synthesis 1t is the final reward for
merit that composes the face, arranges its
unique signs, creates a pattern and puts
into the facial structure all the meaning
of the mans career
There are only few men who could ex-
empllfy this so we'll as the British AM
bassador. If his career is too we'll known
to need retelling, it is because it was lust
such career TO run cleanly and clearly
from the vague beginnings where most men
remain to great goal, gathering force and
momentum it went. AS Lord Reading
sits at the embassy desk, talking easilv
but definitely on momentous things, the re-
served force and compact form of face
built originally for thought rather than
action, and grooved with lines and hollows.
become significant. 1t is easy enough to
accept round-faced men at their faces
value. SO many weaknesses can lurk hid
den behind n fat cheek ard well modelled
jaw. If there IS power in concaye feat
ures, it is because character and events
have put it there
He is dressed in a dark blue, wears boots,
although it is summer. family stripei
sock, and is entirely English in his com
fortab'c low linen collar. His hair, by no
means sparse even If it is gray is brushed
back and gives pleasant curve TO the
back Of the head by its thickened growth
there.
What is striking in the Reading face to
Washington eyes is the ambassadors re-
semblance to Mr.. McAdoo There is the
same eagle look, not merely in the angle
of the nose, but in the depressions under
the eyes. It is possible they are natural;
often they argue concentration over long
hours. But Lord Reading differs in that
has eyebrows have a higher arch. over
eyes that are not as clear blue those
Of the Secretary of the Treasury, but with
much the clarity of expression, If
possibly less intense
Altogether, ne sits talking to the
correspondents he gives the impression Of
Misunderstanding to the point where per
sonally he has disappeared. 1t is poise
command. balance and grasp that he dis
Closes but all of these qualities objecti-
fed, impaired TO definite parts of the out
side world. He has done away with all
the shadows that so often blurr the Off
clal mind, has cut away all hesitations, re-
iectcd every pose. and does honor most to
his country by forgetting honors as he
talks. He is candid, forceful, speaks with
out reserve where he feels he may speak,
deals in no innuendo and stops when he
has reached the limitat atinn that wisdom and