Evening star., 1923-04-22

suited him. The Dutch minister OF
foreign affairs apologized to Sir
Horace for the rudeness of the man
who would have been dismissed from
the service but for the envoy's inter
vention in his behalf.
x X
Sir Horace relates in his "Reminis-
cences of Diplomatist'" that the dis
torting of this story and the trans
formation OF the ticket collector into
one of the chamberlains of the cour,
was a piece OF petty vengeance on
the part Of Queen Wilhelmina's Eng
lish governess, Miss Winter, who re-
sented having been kept by acciden,
out OF her usual seat in the Englisl,
Church at the Hague at the memorial
brother, the Duke of Clarence, organ.
lied by the British legation at his
death.
Sir Horace thereupon brought the
matter to the notice of the Queen
Mother Emma. at that time regent
of Holland, who was very indignant
at what she described as a gross fab.
Dutch envoy In London to explain
matters at the foreign office. but like
wise wrote personally to Queen VIC
toria, to set Sir Horace right In the
eyes of his sovereign.
Almost Immediately afterward he
was promoted TO be ambassador al
Vienna. and was thus able to wind
up his career of half a century in the
diplomatic service at the head of his
profession instead Of being compelled
to retire on the score of age as a
mere minister plenipotentiary with a
~ in, re h. O
which he enjoyed until his death.
x X x X
The present baronet and British
plenipotentiary to Lausanne has in
herited much of his fathers courtli.
ness, charm of manner and broad un-
derstanding of international politics
He has served at Athens, at Teheran
and Cairo. also at Vienna, Berlin
Rome and Warsaw, and has received
special allowances for his remark BILE
proficiency in Persian, Arabic, Turk
ish and Japanese. His wife Is a
daughter of the late Sir Edmund
Fame, who spent his entire adult life
in representing Great Britain in for
eign capitals: so that Lady Rumbold
may be said to have been reared from
nel INFANCY III tne- environment OF
diplomacy and is peculiarly well
equipped for the role of ambassadress
The advantage to Great Britain OF
having Sir Horace Rumbold as her
principal plenipotentiary at Lausanne
this coming week Is to be found in
the fact that he possesses a far
greater degree of experience Of mon
and conditions In Turkey and of com
prehension of the entire intricate
Near Eastern question than any one
Of the non-Ottoman delegates present
He knows all the ins and outs Of the
situation, and. above all. being able
to speak to the Turks in their own
language. of which he possesses a
complete mastery, has been able to
win their sympathetic understanding
and confidence in an altogether ex-
cepttonal degree. Moreover, he blends
with decision of character the utmost
tact and suavity. in which two latter
qualities his colleague. the French
plenipotentiary, M. Bompard, is sinYu-
larly lacking.
Bompard spent some time in Con-
stantinople as French ambassador
prior to the war. But he was not a
success, and his irascibility and
brusquerie and impatience in his in
tercourse with the native dignitaries
were such that it needed all the
charm of his clever wife to modify,
even IL it could not entirely oblit-
crate, the resentment which he
aroused by his manner. He is not
a diplomat in any sense Of the word.
although he has filled a number OF
diplomatic posts. Thus, his embassy
in Russia, before the great war, was
cut short by a blunder of which as
surediy no one but Bompard would
have ever rendered himself guilty.
For he dispatched from Petrograd to