strangers, always welcomes the friends that he knows. And the British
public often greets its visitors with a touch of this canine philosophy.
We regard Mr. Beck, not as a casual visitor, but as a firm friend to
whom we owe much; he has been here again and again and we hope will
often repeat his visits, and Englishmen will never forget how, at a
crisis in our fate, Mr. James Beck profoundly influenced the judgment of
the neutral world and vindicated, by his masterly and sympathetic
argument, the justice of our cause.

[Footnote 2: Address of Sir John Simon on the conclusion, on June
19,1922, of the three lectures herein printed.]




_Author's Introduction_


This book is a result of three lectures, which were delivered in the
Hall of Gray's Inn, London, on June 13, 15, and 19, 1922, respectively,
under the auspices and on the invitation of the University of London.
The invitation originated with the University of Manchester, which,
through its then Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Ramsay Muir, two years ago
graciously invited me to visit Manchester and explain American political
institutions to the undergraduates. Subsequently I was greatly honoured
when the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and London joined in the
invitation.

Unfortunately for me--for I greatly valued the privilege of explaining
the institutions of my country to the undergraduates of these great