AN AMBASSADOR'S life is not an easy one. But sometimes he
finds among the papers demanding his attention on his desk an
invitation that is not only an honor to receive but a pleasure to
accept.

This was certainly the case when, early in 1882, James Russell
Lowell, United States Minister to the Court of St. James's in Lon-
don, was asked to stand in "quasi-sponsorial relation" to a child.
In less jocose but also less accurate words, would he be a god-
father? He gladly agreed, for the request came from one of his
closest friends, a very distinguished Englishman and one, more-
over, who deserved well of the United States for his part in pro-
moting friendly understanding between Englishmen and Ameri-
cans.

Lowell at once ordered the usual precious trinket to be sent to
the baby for her naming ceremony; and, never at a loss to turn
a compliment, always able to show that New England under-
stood the amenities of gracious living as well as old England, he
followed the gift with "Verses Intended to Go with a Posset Dish
to my Dear Little God-Daughter." In these lines, full of good
wishes, he hoped the child would inherit her father's wit and her
mother's beauty; but immediately realizing this was a tall order
for a quite exceptionally brilliant future, he decided not to de-
mand too much of fate. So he settled for the simple wish that

the child would be
A sample of heredity.

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