Evening star., 1933-04-12
ENVOY TO BRITAIN
E|GHThFROM SOUTH
Judge r.. w. Bingham Takes
Up AmbassadoriaI Duties
at St. James. ~
BY GEORGE MADDEN MARTIN.

When Judge Robert w. Bingham as.
sumes his, new duties as Ambassador te
Great Britain, eight Southern -borr
men, all serving in times of crisis, will
have represented the United States a.
ENJOYS to the Court of st. James.
Critical periods in which Southern
) men held the post were the post -Revo-
I luton era, the decade leading to the
I War of 1912, the jackson era Of bank
Ing crisis, the reconstruction era after
the Civil War, and the World War.
In time comparably critical the call
returns to the South to Judge Bingham,
q native of Orange County, N. O., now
Q citizen of Louisville, KY.
The list of Southern-born ENJOYS to
Great Britain, their States. the Presi-
dent appointing and the year OF ap-
Thomas PincEney. South Carolina,
Washington, 1792: James Monroe, vir-
Einia, Jefferson, 1908; William Pinkney.
Mafy2and, Jefferson, 1906: James Bar
hourS virginia, John Quincy Adams,
1879, Andrew Stevenson, Virginia, Jack
son, 1919; Reverdy johnson, Maryland,
johnson, 1883; Walter Hines Page,
North Carolina, Wilson, 1918; Robert
Worth Bingham, Kentucky, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, 1888,
All II English Descent.
All have been Of English descef1t, and
from families identified with the orig
inal Colonies. Seven have been mem-
bers of the bar. The non-jurist, Walter
Hines Page, was man Of letters.
The new ambassadorial appointee II
forty eighth in the entire list Of those
who have held this post.
The United States long has regarded
the London post as 3 key position. The
men sent to Ill It have been fitted ~
circumstances for the need Of their
hour.
Thomas pinckney Of Charleston. Q.
C., George Washinstons appointee, the
first oficial envoy after the Federal
Government was established, went ct .
grave time. The British government
ties or to give up the forts In this
country's Western territory. There had
been seizures Of neutral American ships
and cargoes and Of American seamen
In Britain's war with France, 1893.
Pinckney went TO q country nominAlly
Friendly but actually hostile. But In
four years he % succeeded In thawing
the ice which at first surrounded him
that he left London with the good Will
of court and people.
Listed under his ministry b Eng
land Cat the same time he was envoy
extraordinary to Spain) are the neu.
trality act, jays treaty With England
and the treaty with Spain securing
free navigation o6 the Miasissippi.
Educated In England
A social aristocrat and man q
wealth, this first SouthefnR wGnt 70
England particularly qualified. BE-
cause he had been educated IN Eng
land. He had been studeot ct west
minister, Oxford and the Temple, where
he studied law. He was the ArSt Greek
scholar Of his year ae Wegtm1nCter--
the only American ever 20 attain thAt
distinction there. ~ . major gsneral
in the American Army h the Hevolu-
tionary War h NAs second In rank
only to George Washingtoo and Ar
temus Ward.
The next London snvuy frum tls
South was james Monroe, jsffer3ony
appointee, later nth President Of the
United States. He had fought In the
Revolutionary War, had studied law
under Thomas Jefferson. had been
Governor N virginia. twice elected
member Of Congress and envoy ex-
traordinary 10 France, where with Liv-
inDton he negotiated the Louisiana
purchase, doubling the AREA of the
United States.
i with another southefner of Jeffer-
sons appointing, william Pinkney Of
Maryland, he negotiated with England
the so-cAlled treaty Of 1905. While
they were on duty IN London the I'M
pressing Of American seaunen had
reached the point which was to end
In the War Of 1912. These events
played their part In Monroe's later
enunciation Of the Monroe doctrine,
which has Influenced the foreign policy
Of the United States to this day.
( Twenty-Five years passed. The tariff
became the question Of the day, and
another Southerner, James Barbour Of
Virginia, went to London as John
Quincy Adams appointee to the Court
of st. James, He had been q member
of the Virginia House Of Delegates,
Governor of Virginia, United States
Senator, repeatedly chairman Of For
edgn Relations and Secretary Of War.
Again to the fore was the tariff ques-
ton when another Virginian, Andrew
Stevenson, was appointed to the Court
Of st. James by President jackson. He
had been q member of the Virginia
Legislature and Of Congress, Speaker
OF the House In the stormy sessions
{ over the re-charter Of the United
States Bank.
Returning to the United States after