A.J.B.

[Footnote 1: [Address of the Earl of Balfour as Chairman on the occasion
of the delivery on June 13, 1922, in Gray's Inn of the first of the
lectures herein reprinted.]]




_Introduction by Sir John Simon, K.C._[2]


I have the privilege and the honour of adding a few words to express our
thanks to the Solicitor-General of the United States for this memorable
course of lectures. They are memorable alike for their subject and their
form; alike for the place in which we are met and for the man who has so
generously given of his time and learning for our instruction. Mr. Beck
is always a welcome visitor to our shores, and nowhere is he more
welcome than in these ancient Inns of Court which are the home and
source of law for Americans and Englishmen alike. In contemplating the
edifice reared by the Fathers of the American Constitution we take pride
in remembering that it was built upon British foundations by men, many
of whom were trained in the English Courts; and when Mr. Beck lectures
on this subject to us, our interest and our sympathy are redoubled by
the thought that whatever differences there may be between the Old World
and the New, citizens of the United States and ourselves are the Sons of
a Common Mother and jointly inherit the treasure of the Common Law. And
we cannot part with Mr. Beck on this occasion without a personal word.
Plato records a saying of Socrates that the dog is a true philosopher
because philosophy is love of knowledge, and a dog, while growling at