An ambassador fills the place of the king by whom he is sent, and is to be honoured as he is whose place he fills.

Explanation

An ambassador or delegate acts in the name and with the authority of the one who sent him — an affront to the delegate is an affront to the principal.

Where this applies

• A foreign diplomat's car is towed by local police, and the State Department intervenes because an insult to an ambassador is an insult to the nation he represents.
• A federal marshal serves a subpoena on a state governor acting as the President's representative at a conference, and the court quashes it because the governor was functioning as the President's delegate and is entitled to the same respect.
• A corporation's authorized agent is publicly accused of fraud while acting within his delegated authority, and the court treats the accusation as directed at the corporation itself because the agent stands in the place of his principal.