YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE WOOLSEY LIBRARY FUND
IN PUBLIC LAW
AND DIPLOMATIC HISTORY

ON THE MANNER OF
NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES

ON THE MANNER OF
NEGOTIATING WITH
PRINCES;
on the Uses of Diplomacy ; the
Choice of Ministers and Envoys ;
and the Personal Qualities necessary
for Success in Missions abroad ; by
MONSIEUR DE CALLlfeRES
Councillor-in-Ordinary to the King in Council, Private
Secretary to His Majesty, formerly Ambassador Extra
ordinary and Plenipotentiary of His late Majesty
entrusted with the Treaties of Peace concluded at
Ryswick, one of the Forty of the French Academy.
Published at Paris by Michel BRUNETat the Mercure
Galant, 1716; under Royal Privilege and Approval.
Translated from the French by
A. F. WHYTE

Boston and New York
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO.
1919

Kdinburgh: T. and A. Cokstahle, Printers to His Majesty

INTRODUCTION
DIPLOMACY is one of the highest of
the political arts. In a well-ordered
commonwealth it would be held in the
esteem due to a great public service in whose hands
the safety of the people largely lies ; and it would
thus attract to its ranks its full share of national
ability and energy which for the most part to-day
passes into other professions. But the diplomatic
service, at all times, and in almost all countries,
has suffered from lack of public appreciation :
though perhaps at no time has it had so many de
tractors as to-day. Its almost unparalleled un
popularity is due to a variety of causes, some of
which are temporary and removable, while others
must be permanent in human affairs, for they were
found to operate in the days when the author of this
little book shone in French diplomacy. The major
cause is public neglect ; but it is also due, in no
small measure, to the prevalent confusion between

ON NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
policy, which is the substance, and diplomacy
proper, which is the process by which it is carried
out. This confusion exists not only in the popular
mind, but even in the writings of historians who
might be expected to practise a better discernment.
Policy is the concern of governments. Responsi
bility therefore belongs to the Secretary of State
who directs policy and appoints the agents of it.
But the constitutional doctrine of ministerial re
sponsibility is not an unvarying reality. No one
will maintain that Lord Cromer's success in Egypt
was due to the wisdom of Whitehall, or to anything
but his own sterling qualities. Nor can a just
judgment of our recent Balkan diplomacy fail to
assign a heavy share of the blame to the incom
petence of more than one ' man on the spot.'
The truth is, that the whole system, of which, in
their different measure, Downing Street and the
embassies abroad are both responsible parts, is not
abreast of the needs of the time, and will not be
until Callieres's excellent maxims become the
common practice of the service.
These maxims are to be found in the little book
of which a free translation is here presented.
Francois de Callieres treats diplomacy as the art
vi

INTRODUCTION
practised by the negotiateur — a most apt name for
the diplomatist — in carrying out the instructions
of statesmen and princes. The very choice of the
word maniere in his title shows that he conceives of
diplomacy as the servant, not the author, of policy ;
and indeed his argument is not many pages old
before he is heard insisting that it is ' the agent of
high policy.' Observance of this distinction is the
first condition of fruitful criticism. It is therefore
worth while, at the outset, to clear away the
obscurity and confusion which surround the subject,
and thus, in some measure, to relieve both diplomacy
in general and the individual diplomatist in par
ticular from the burden of irrelevant and unjust
criticism. ' Secret diplomacy ' has played so large a part in
recent public discussion that the confusion between
foreign policy and diplomacy proper has only been
worse confounded. And even where the critics of
diplomacy have restricted the range of their attack
to the question of the efficiency of our represen
tation abroad, the nature of their criticism leaves
it to be supposed that diplomacy is the dazzling
and perilous craft which figures in the pages of
Mr. Le Queux. The picture of brilliant youths and
. vii

ON NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
cunning greybeards sedulously lying abroad for the
good of their country continues to fill the popular
imagination, though a reading of any one of the
excellent memoirs of the great diplomatists of the
past would suffice to prove that Sir Henry Wotton's
famous witticism far outran the truth. For every
occasion on which deceit has been practised, there
are a dozen on which the negotiation has followed
the obvious course of a practical discussion in which
' the application of intelligence and tact ' led to an
agreement. In substance, therefore, diplomacy
demands the same qualities as any other form of
negotiation. Its true method bears a close resem
blance to a business transaction. The one essential
difference between a high commercial negotiation
and a diplomatic transaction is that in the former
the contracting parties are constrained to observe
certain rules, and are bound not only by certain
strict conventions but by enforceable laws ; in the
latter case the parties recognise no bounds to their
claims and ambitions except those laid down by a
concern for their own convenience, or by the limits
of their own military forces. Hence the diplo
matist gains an altogether fictitious eminence
among his fellow-men and assumes an excessive
viii

INTRODUCTION
pride of office because he represents a sovereign
state which recognises no master.
Now a discussion of the problems raised by the
unrestricted sovereignty claimed by each nation
in foreign affairs would carry this argument far
beyond the limits of diplomacy proper and must
be left to those who are now trying to find a firm
basis for a League of Nations. But since this claim
is the parent cause of all armed conflict, it cannot
be entirely ignored ; for as long as it persists it
will exercise a profound influence on the character
of diplomacy itself, and has a direct bearing on the
question of the efficiency of the diplomatist. The
action of our representatives abroad carries with
it the constant alternative of peace and war. ' The
art of negotiating with princes,' says Callieres, ' is
so important that the fate of the greatest states
often depends upon the good or bad conduct of
negotiations, and upon the degree of capacity in the
negotiators employed.' The consciousness that
the negotiator is performing one of the functions
of sovereignty must give him a deep sense of re
sponsibility and a constant concern for his own
efficiency. And the Home Government has the
prior obligation, in Callieres's words once more, to
ix

ON NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
' examine with the greatest care the natural or
acquired qualities of those citizens whom they
despatch on missions to Foreign States.'
The epigram which tells us that nations have
the governments they deserve has a close bearing
on this aspect of diplomacy. The main question
is the efficiency of the service, which has received
but little public attention owing to the popularity
of the campaign against the secrecy of diplomatic
action. The secrecy of diplomacy is commonly
held to be the accomplice of European militarism ;
and many of those who yearn for a better world
after the war hope that by letting in light upon
the manoeuvres of the Great Powers their evil
designs may be checked before they create those
recurring crises of animosity with which we were
so familiar before the war. There is so much
obvious truth in this view that even The Times
acknowledged it thus : ' Who, then, makes war ?
The answer is to be found in the Chancelleries of
Europe, among the men who have too long played
with human lives as pawns in a game of chess, who
have become so enmeshed in formulas and the
jargon of diplomacy that they have ceased to be
conscious of the poignant realities with which they

INTRODUCTION
trifle. And thus war will continue to be made
until the great masses who are the sport of pro
fessional schemers say the word which shall bring,
not eternal peace, for that is impossible, but a
determination that wars shall be fought only in a
just and righteous and vital cause ' {The Times,
23rd November 191 2). The justification of the
growing demand for popular control of foreign
policy could not be more succinctly put.
In the customary argument against diplomatic
secrecy, however, there is some confusion of thought.
It is against secret policies, in which the national
liability may be unlimited, that the only genuine
protest can be raised ; for such policies are the very
negation of democracy, and the denial of the most
fundamental of all popular rights, namely, that the
citizen shall know on what terms his country may
ask him to lay down his life. But this justification
of popular control does not presuppose the publi
cation of diplomatic negotiations. On the con
trary, it rests on the assumption that the People
and Parliament will know where to draw the line
between necessary control in matters of principle
and the equally necessary discretionary freedom of
the expert in negotiation. It follows, therefore, xi

ON NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
that the case for reform is only weakened by those
who make indiscriminate attacks against the whole
Diplomatic Service — how richly deserved in some
cases, how flagrantly unjust in others — and espe
cially by those who profess to believe that the
machinery of diplomacy could be made to run more
smoothly by publicity. The modern Press is not
so happy a commentator as all that ; and we may
here recall Napoleon's apposite reflection : ' Le
canon a tue la feodalite : Vencre tuera la societe
moderne.1 If it is necessary for the public welfare
that foreign policy should be known and intelli
gently discussed by the people whom it so closely
concerns, it is just as necessary that the people
should not meddle with the actual process of
diplomacy, but, having made sure of getting the
best of their public servants in their Foreign
Service, should confidently leave such transactions
undisturbed in the hands of the expert. In all
the activities of government that is clearly the proper
division of labour between the common people and
the expert adviser ; and in no department should
it be more scrupulously observed than in foreign
affairs. Readers of this little book — which Sir Ernest
xii

INTRODUCTION
Satow recently called ' a mine of political wisdom '
— will quickly realise how much this introductory
review of modern diplomacy owes to the sugges
tive maxims of Francois de Callieres. And if they
receive as much stimulus and pleasure from the
following pages as the translator has enjoyed in
preparing them, Louis Fourteenth's plenipotentiary
should gain a host of new friends. A. F. WHYTE.

XII J

ON THE MANNER OF
NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES

To His Royal Highness, Monseigneur ley
Due a" Orleans, Regent of the Kingdom.
Monseigneur, — This work, which I have the
honour to present to your Royal Highness, has for
its aim : to give an idea of the personal qualities
and general knowledge necessary in all good ne
gotiators ; to indicate to them the paths which
they should follow and the rocks which they should
avoid ; and to exhort those who destine themselves
to the foreign service of their country, to render
themselves capable of discharging worthily that
high, important, and difficult office before entering
upon it.
The honour which the late King did me in charg
ing me with his commands and his full powers for
foreign negotiation, and particularly for those which
led to the Treaty of Ryswick, has redoubled the
attention which I have ever paid since my youngest
years to my own instruction in the power, the
rights, and the ambitions of each of the principal
monarchies and states of Europe, in their divergent
interests and the forms of their government, in
the causes of their understandings and misunder- 3

ON THE MANNER OF
standings, and finally in the treaties which they
have made one with another ; in order to employ
this knowledge to the best advantage whenever
occasion offered in the service of my King and
Country. After the loss which France has just
suffered of that great King, whose reign was so full
of glory and triumph, she did indeed need that
the Hand of God, which has always upheld her in
her necessities, should continue to guide her. We
had indeed to look for Divine Help to support us
during the minority of his present Majesty, so that
we might hope that the All-Powerful Hand should
mould a prince of like blood and spirit to him who
has gone. The Regency needed an intelligence of
the highest order, a capacity without limit, a clear
insight into the character of persons and events, and
an indefatigable activity which would increase at
every new demand made by the interests of state
— all these united in the person of a prince at once
just, lovable, beneficent, whose character might
earn for him the title of a veritable father of his
country. These are the traits so strongly and so
profoundly marked in you, Monseigneur, which
have brought all France on its knees in homage
before you, with full confidence and happiness,
and a glorious prestige which shall pass undimmed
to our remotest descendants as a worthy symbol of
your great rule.
4

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
I am, with profound respect, and with a zealous
and affectionate attachment to your Person, Mon
seigneur, Your Royal Highness's most humble, obedient,
and faithful servant, De CALLIERES.

THE art of negotiation with princes is soxrheArtof
important that the fate of the greatest *te8>tiation-
states often depends upon the good or •
bad conduct of negotiations and upon the degree^
of capacity in the negotiators employed. Thus
monarchs and their ministers of state cannot
examine with too great care the natural or acquired
quahties of those citizens whom they despatch on
missions to foreign states to entertain there good
relations with their masters, to make treaties of
peace, of alliance, of commerce or of other kinds,
or to hinder other Powers from concluding such
treaties to the prejudice of their own master ; and
generally, to take charge of those interests which
may be affected by the diverse conjunctures of
events. Every Christian prince must take as his
chief maxim not to employ arms to support or vin
dicate his rights until he has employed and ex
hausted the way of reason and of persuasion. It is
to his interest also, to add to reason and persuasion
the influence of benefits conferred, which indeed is
one of the surest ways to make his own power secure,
and to increase it. But above all he must employ 7

ON THE MANNER OF
good labourers in his service, such indeed as know
how to employ all these methods for the best, and
how to gain the hearts and wills of men, for it is
in this that the science of negotiation principally
consists.
French Neglect Our nation is so warlike that we can hardly
of tpomacy. conceive 0f anv other kind of glory or of honour
than those won in the profession of arms. Hence
it is that the greater number of Frenchmen of good
birth apply themselves with zeal to the profession
of arms in order that they may gain advancement
therein, but they neglect the study of the various
interests which divide Europe and which are a
source of frequent wars. This inclination and
natural application in our people result in a rich
supply of good general officers, and we need have
no surprise that it is considered that no gentleman
of quality can receive a high command in the armies
of the King who has not already passed through all
these stages by which a soldier may equip himself
for war.
But, alas, it is not the same with our negotiators.
They are jadeed_rare among us because there has
beenJin jjeneral no dTiaplme!!or"filE^^
foreign.. ^rvIcT~^f~~h1s_^MaJesty- J>y_ whiHT .7g2°^'
citizens destined to become negotiators might in
struct themselves in the knowledge, necessary"for"
this kind of employment. And indeecTwe "find

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
that instead of gradual promotion by degrees and
by the evidence of proved capacity and experience,
as is the case in the usages of war, one may see often
men who have never left their own country, who
have never applied themselves to the study of
public affairs, being of meagre intelligence, ap
pointed so to speak over-night to important em
bassies in countries of which they know neither the
interests, the laws, the customs, the language, nor
even the geographical situation. And yet I may
hazard a guess that there is perhaps no employment
in all his Majesty's service more difficult to dis
charge than that of negotiation. It demands all
the penetration, all the dexterity, all the suppleness
which a man can well possess. It requires a wide
spread understanding and knowledge, and above all
a correct and piercing discernment.
It causes me no surprise that men who have em- Diplomacy an
barked on this career for the sake of titles and Expert CrafL
emoluments, having not the least idea of the real
duties of their post, have occasioned grave harm
to the public interest during their apprenticeship to
this service. These novices in negotiation become
easily intoxicated with honours done in their
person to the dignity of their royal master. They
are like the ass in the fable who received for himself
all the incense burned before the statue of the
goddess which he bore on his back. This happens 9

ON THE MANNER OF
above all to those who are employed by a great
monarch on missions to princes of a lower order,
for they are apt to place in their addresses the most
odious comparisons, as well as veiled threats, which
are really onlv a mark of weakness. Such am
bassadors do not fail to bring upon themselves the
aversion of the court to which they are accredited,
and they resemble heralds of arms rather than am
bassadors whose principal aim is ever to maintain
a good correspondence between their master and
the princes to whom they are accredited. In all
cases they should represent the power of their
own sovereign as a means of maintaining and in
creasing that of the foreign court, instead of using
it as an odious comparison designed to humiliate
and contemn. These misfortunes and many others,
which are the result of the lack of capacity and
of the foolish conduct of many citizens employed
by princes to deal with pubhc affairs abroad, oc
casioned in me the belief that it is bv no means
impertinent to set down some observations on the
manner of negotiating with sovereigns and with
their ministers, on the qualities necessary for those
who mean to adopt the_ profession._of__diplfirriacy,
and on the means which wise princes will take to
secure a good choice of men well adapted at pnce
tq_tKe^pT©fossi©n^f-^tegcrEia"tion andjtq the^different
countries where they may be sent. But before I
10

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES

take my subject in detail it is perhaps well that I
should explain the use and the necessity for princes
to maintain continual negotiation in the form of
permanent embassies to all great states, both in
neighbouring countries and in those more distant,
in war as well as in peace.
To understand the permanent useof_diplomacy The Useful-
and the necessity for c^tinuaTnegotjatiaa&
must^thTnk~~Mthe states of whic'hjvurope is com-
posed as being joined together bxjU-kindsj^Lneces-

ness of Negc-
^5-Jiation.

sa£Z_£2.IH5iS*E?S3 J£^?uc*h* ¦

may be

regarded as members of one jRej-jujalie-a-nd*- that^no
consTHeTicTech^n^e^can take place in any one^ of
them withoutaffecting the condition, orjhsturbing
thg_j3eace, .of all the others.^ The blunder of the
smallest of sovereigns may indeed cast an apple of
discord among all the greatest Powers, because there
is no state so great which does not find it useful
to have relations with the lesser states and to seek
friends among the different parties of which even the
smallest state is composed. History teems with the
results of these conflicts which often have their- be
ginnings in small events, easy to control or suppress
at their birth, but which when grown in magnitude
became the causes of long and bloody wars which
have ravaged the principal states of Christendom.
Now these actions and reactions between one
state and another oblige the sagacious monarch

ii

ON THE MANNER OF
and his ministers to maintain a continual process
of diplomacy nT_all^sjxch -states^ for thejpufpose of
recording events as_thgy_jx£cur-and of reading their
true meajnng-wrth-diligeRcj^^ One
may say that knowledge of this kind ls"~otjje-*-of the
most important and necessary features of good
government, because indeed the domestic peace of
the state depends largely upon appropriate measures
taken in its foreign service to make friends among
well-disposed states, and by timely action to resist
those who cherish hostile designs. There is indeed
no prince so powerful that he can afford to neglect
the assistance offered by a good alliance, in resisting
the forces of hostile powers which are prompted
by jealousy of his property to unite in a hostile
coalition.
The Diplomat-. Now, the enlightened and assiduous negotiator
frh^p"!^ serves ntrT'onlyto dij£Qver all projects and cabals
by wh^ch coalitions may arise against'his prince in
the counTfy"where he is_ sent to jiej-oliajte^buLakso
to dissipate~trTeir yeryjaeginnings by giving timely
gdvice. It is easy to destroy even the greatest
enterprises at their birth ; and as they often require
several springs to give them motion, it can hardly
be possible for a hostile intrigue to ripen without
knowledge of it coming to the ears of an attentive
negotiator living in the place where it is being
hatched. The able negotiator will know how to
12

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
profit by the various dispositions and changes
which arise in the country where he lives, not merely
in order to frustrate designs hostile to the interests
of his master, but also for the positive and fruitful
purpose of bringing to an apt result those other
designs which may work to his advantage. By his
industry and application he may himself produce
changes of opinion favourable to the office which
he has to discharge ; indeed, if he do but once in an
apt moment catch the tide at the flood he may con
fer a benefit on his prince a hundredfold greater
than any expense in treasure or personal effort
which he may have put forth. Now if a monarch
should wait, before sending his envoys to countries
neaT~ancTTar7 until important events occur — as for
instance, until it is a question of hindering the con
clusion of some treaty which confers advantage
on an enemy Power, or a declaration of war against
an ally which would deprive the monarch himself
of the assistance of that very ally for other purposes
— it will be found that the negojiators, sent_thus
at_the eleventh hour on urgent occasions, have no
time to explore the terrain orjto__stud-y--theJiabits
of mind of_jthe*.. fnrrign cojiri_j^r__txiL_axate the
necessary liaisojag__or to change — the — course^ erf
events already in full flood, unless- indeed they
bring with them enormous sums whose disburse
ment must weigh heavily on the treasury of their
13

ON THE MANNER OF
master, and which run the risk, in truth, of being
paid too late.
Cardinal Cardinal Richelieu, whom I set before me as the
Richelieu. , . r ., 1 -n
model for all statesmen, to whom r ranee owes a very
great debt, maintained a system of unbroken diplo
macy in all manner of countries, and beyond ques
tion he thus drew enormous advantage for his
master. He bears witness to this truth in his own
political testament, speaking thus : —
' The states of Europe enjoy all the advantages
of continual negotiation in the measure in which
they are conducted with prudence. No one could
beheve how great these advantages are who has not
had experience of them. I confess that it was not
till I had had five or six years' experience of the
management of high affairs that I realised this
truth, but I am now so firmly persuaded of it that
I will boldly say that the service which a regular
and unbroken system of diplomacy, conducted both
in public and in secret in all countries, even where
no immediate fruit can be gathered, is one of the
first necessities for the health and welfare of the
state. I can say with truth that in my time I
have seen the face of affairs in France and in
Christendom completely changed because under the
authority of his Majesty I have been enabled to
practise this principle which till my time had been
absolutely neglected by the ministers of this king-
14

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
dom.' The Cardinal says further : ' The light of
nature teaches each of us in his private life to main
tain relations with his neighbours because as their
near presence enables them to injure so it also
enables them to do us service, just as the surround
ings of a city either hinder or facilitate the approach
to it.' And he adds : ' The meaner sort of men
confine their outlook within the cities where they
were born. But those to whom God has given a
greater Ught will neglect no means of improvement
whether it come from near or from far.' The
evidence of this great genius demands all the greater
consideration because the high services which he
rendered to his King by means of negotiation con
vincingly prove that he speaks the truth. No
considerable event occurred in Europe during his
ministry in which he did not play a great part, and
he was often the principal agent in the great move
ments of his time. He it was who designed the
revolution in Portugal in 1640, by which the legi
timate heir to the Crown resumed the throne. He
profited by the discontent of the Catalans who
rose in revolt in that same year. He did not hesi
tate to encourage negotiations even with the
African Moors. Previously he brought his labours
to success in the north by persuading Gustavus
Adolphus, King of Sweden, to invade Germany, and
thus to deliver her from slavery to the House of
15

ON THE MANNER OF
Austria which then reigned despotically, dethroning
her princes and disposing of their states and their
titles to its own court minions. Rumour even
attributes the revolution in Bohemia to the action
of Cardinal Richeheu. He formed and maintained
several leagues ; he won for France many great
allies who contributed to the success of his high
designs, in which the abasement of the prodigious
power of the House of Austria was always the chief ;
and throughout all these designs we can trace the
unbroken thread of a well-maintained system of
diplomacy, acting as the obedient and capable agent
of the great minister himself, whose profound
capacity and vast genius thus found a favourable
field of action.
Value of It is not necessary to turn far back into the past
Diplomacy. jn or(Jer to understand what can be achieved by
negotiation. We see daily around us its definite
effects in sudden revolutions favourable to this
great design of state or that, in the use of sedition
in fermenting the hatreds between nations, in
causing jealous rivals to arm against one another so
that the tertius gaudens may profit, in the formation
of leagues and other treaties of various kinds
between monarchs whose interests might otherwise
clash, in the dissolution by crafty means of the
closest unions between states : in a word, one may
say that the art of negotiation, according as its con-
16

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
duct is good or evil, gives form to great affairs
and may turn a host of lesser events into a useful
influence upon the course of the greater. Indeed,
we can see in diplomacy thus conducted a greatet
influence in many ways upon the conduct and for
tunes of mankind than even in the laws which they
themselves have designed, for the reason that,
however scrupulous private man may be in obedi
ence to the law, misunderstandings and conflict;
of ambition easily arise between nations, and cannot\t
be settled by a process of law but only by a con
vention between the contending parties. It is
on the occasion of such conventions that diplomacy
plays a decisive part.
It is thus easy to conclude that a small number
of well-chosen negotiators posted in the different
states in Europe may render to their sovereign and
their state the greatest services ; that a single word
or act may do more than the invasion of whole
armies because the crafty negotiator will know
how to set in motion various forces native to the
country in which he is negotiating, and thus may
spare his master the vast expense of a campaign.
Nothing can be more useful than a timely diversion
thus set on foot.
It is also of high interest to all great princes that
their negotiators should be of such character and
standing as to act appropriately as mediators in the
B 17

ON THE MANNER OF

Personal
Qualities of
the Good
Negotiator.

disputes between other sovereigns and to produce
peace by the authority of their intervention.
Nothing can contribute more to the reputation,
the power, and the universal respect of a monarch,
than to be served by those who themselves inspire
respect and confidence. A powerful prince who
maintains a constant system of diplomacy served
by wise and instructed negotiators in the different
states of Europe, and who thus cultivates well-
chosen friendships and maintains useful sources of
information, is in a position to influence the destiny
of neighbouring foreign states, to maintain peace
between all states, or to pursue war where it is
favourable to his design. In all these concerns the
prosperity of his plans and the greatness of his
name depend first and last on the conduct and
qualities of the negotiators to whom he entrusts
his services. So now we examine in detail the
qualities necessary for a good negotiator.
God having endowed men with diverse talents,
the best advice that one can give is to take counsel
with themselves before choosing their profession.
Thus he who would enter the profession of diplo
macy must examine himself to see whether he was
born with the qualities necessary for success.
These qualities are an observant mind, a spirit of
application which refuses to be distracted by
pleasures or frivolous amusements, a sound judg-
18

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
ment which takes the measure of things as they
are, and which goes straight to its goal by the
shortest and most natural paths without wandering
into useless refinements and subtleties which as a
rule only succeed in repelling those with whom one
is dealing. The negotiator must further possess
that penetration which enables him to discover the
thoughts of men and to know by the least move
ment of their countenances what passions are
stirring within, for such movements are often
betrayed even by the most practised negotiator.
He must also have a mind so fertile in expedients
as easily to smooth away the difficulties which he
meets in the course of his duty ; he must have
presence of mind to find a quick and pregnant reply
even to unforeseen surprises, and by such judicious
replies he must be able to recover himself when his
foot has slipped. An equable humour, a tranquil
and patient nature, always ready to listen with
attention to those whom he meets ; an address
always open, genial, civil, agreeable, with easy and
ingratiating manners which assist largely in making
a favourable impression upon those around him —
these things are the indispensable adjuncts to the
negotiator's profession. Their opposite, the grave
and cold air, a melancholy or rough exterior, may
create a first impression which is not easily removed.
Above all the good negotiator must have sufficient 19

ON THE MANNER OF
control over himself to resist the longing to speak
before he has really thought what he shall say. He
should not endeavour to gain the reputation of being
able to reply immediately and without premedi
tation to every proposition which is made, and he
should take a Special care not to fall into the error
of one famous foreign ambassador of our time who
so loved an argument that each time he warmed
up in controversy he revealed important secrets in
order to support his opinion.
The Air of But indeed there is another fault of which the
Mystery. negotiator must beware : he must not fall into the
error of supposing that an air of mystery, in which
secrets are made out of nothing and in which the
merest bagatelle is exalted into a great matter
of state, is anything but a mark of smallness of
mind and betokens an incapacity to take the true
measure either of men or of things. Indeed, the
more the' negotiator clothes himself in mystery, the
less he will have means of discovering what is
happening and of acquiring the confidence of those
with whom he deals. A continual reserve is like
the lock on a door which is never turned and
becomes so rusty that in the end no man can open
it. The able negotiator will of course not permit
his secret to be drawn from him except at his own
time, and he should be able to disguise from his
competitor the fact that he has any secret to reveal ;
20

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
but in all other matters he must remember that
open dealing is the foundation of confidence and
that everything which he is not compelled by duty
to withhold ought to be freely shared with those
around him. He will thus gradually establish
terms of confidence with his neighbours, from
which he may draw immense profit, for it may not
infrequently happen that in exchange for some
trivial information given by himself, the negotiator
may, as it were by accident, receive important news
from his colleague in another embassy. The
practised negotiator will know how to employ the
circumstances of his hfe and of the lives of those
around him in such a manner as to lead them natur
ally and without restraint to talk of the conditions
and affairs of their own country, and the more ex
tended his view and the wider his knowledge the
more surely will he thus gather important news
every day of his life.
Let it not be supposed, however, that the good Dignity.
negotiator requires only the light of a high intellect,
dexterity, and other fine qualities of the mind.
He must show that the ordinary sentiments of the
human heart move in him, for there is no kind of
employment in which at the same time elevation
and nobility of spirit and a kindly courtesy in little
things are more necessary. An ambassador indeed
resembles in a certain sense the actor placed before
21

ON THE MANNER OF
the eyes of the public in order that he may play a
great part, for his profession raises him above the
ordinary condition of mankind and makes him in
some sort the equal of the masters of the earth by
that right of representation which attaches to his
service, and by the special relations which his office
gives him with the mighty ones of the earth. He
must therefore be able to simulate a dignity even
if he possess it not ; but this obligation is the rock
upon which many an astute negotiator has perished
because he did not know in what dignity consisted.
No negotiation was ever assisted by open or veiled
menaces merely for their own sake, and negotiators
too often confuse a proud and arrogant bearing
with that careful dignity which ought to clothe
their office. To advance pretensions or to demand
excessive privileges is merely the sign of pride and
of a desire to extract from the privileged position
of an ambassador a personal and unworthy advan
tage, in the doing of which an ambitious negotiator
may easily and utterly compromise the whole
authority of his master. No man who enters diplo
macy in a spirit of avarice or with a desire to seek
interests other than those of his service, or merely
with the desire to earn the applause of the crowd,
or to attract esteem and recompense from Lis
master, will ever make success in negotiation.
And even if some important duty may be well dis-
22

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
charged in his hands, it is only to be attributed
to some happy conjuncture of events which in itself
smoothed away all difficulties.
To maintain the dignity of diplomacy the ne- influenced
gotiator must clothe himself in liberality and Women-
generosity of heart, even in magnificence, but all
with care and a frugality of design so that the trap
pings of his office do not by their display outshine
the sterling merits of his own character and person.
Let clean linen and appointments and dehcacy
reign at his table. Let him frequently give ban
quets and diversions in honour of the principal
persons of the court in which he lives, and even
in the honour of the prince himself, if he so cares
to take part. Let him also enter into the spirit
of the same diversions offered by others, but always
in a light, unconstrained, and agreeable manner,
and always with an open, good-natured, straight
forward air, and with a continual desire to give
pleasure to others. If the custom of the country
in which he serves permits freedom of conversation
with the ladies of the court, he must on ho account
neglect any opportunity of placing himself and his
master in a favourable light in the eyes of these
ladies, for it is well known that the power of feminine
charm often extends to cover the weightiest reso
lutions of state. The greatest events have some
times followed the toss of a fan or the nod of a head.
23

ON THE MANNER OF
But let him beware ! Let him do all things in his
power, by the magnificence of his display, by the
polish, attraction, and gallantry of his person, to
engage their pleasure, but let him beware lest he
engage his own heart. He must never forget that
Love's companions are Indiscretion and Impru
dence, and that the moment he becomes pledged
to the whim of a favoured woman, no matter how
wise he may be, he runs a grave risk of being no
longer master of his own secrets. We have often
seen terrible results follow from this kind of weakness
into which even the greatest ministers are liable to
fall, and we need go no further than our own time
for remarkable examples and warnings.
Power of the Now, as the surest way of gaining the good- will
of a prince is to gain the good graces of those who
have most influence upon his mind, a good nego
tiator must reinforce his own good manners, his
insight of character, and attraction of person by
icertain expenses which will largely assist in opening
ihis road before him. But these expenses must be
: laid out in the proper measure. They must be
made by a careful design ; and wherever large gifts
! are offered, the giver must take care beforehand to
|know that they will be received in the right spirit
and above all that they will not be refused. I do
not mean that there are not countries where no
great art is needed in the matter of giving gifts.
24

Purse.

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
In such a country they are no longer gifts but
bribes; but it is always to be remembered that
there is a certain delicacy to be observed in all
commerce of this kind, and that a gift presented in
the right spirit, at the right moment, by the right
person, may act with tenfold power upon him who
receives it. There are various estabhshed customs
in different countries by which occasion arises for
making small presents. This kind of expense,
though it occasions but a small outlay of money,
may contribute largely to the esteem in which an
ambassador is held and acquire for him friends at
the court to which he is accredited. And, indeed,
the manner in which this little custom is carried
out may have an important bearing upon high
policy. And, of course, in such a matter the
practised negotiator will soon be aware that at every
court there are certain persons of greater wit than
fortune who will not refuse a small gratification
or secret subsidy which may bring in large results,
for the wit of these persons enables them to main
tain a confidential position at court without that
personal splendour which the rich nobleman can
display. Such persons I say may be of great use
to the clever negotiator. Among amusements,
for instance, the dancers, who by the fact of
their profession have an entree less formal and
in some degree more intimate with the prince than
25

ON THE MANNER OF
any ambassador can perhaps possess, are often to
be found valuable agents in negotiation. Or
again, it happens that a monarch has around him
certain officers of low rank entrusted with duties
which bring them in close contact both with
their master and with his minister's mind, and
a timely present aptly given may reveal important
secrets. And finally, even great ministers of state
themselves may not be inaccessible by the same
means.
Secret Service. It frequently happens in negotiation as in war
that well-chosen spies contribute more than any
other agency to the success of great plans, and in
deed it is clear that there is nothing so well adapted
to upset the best design as the sudden and pre
mature revelation of an important secret upon
which it depends. And as there is no expense
better designed nor more necessary than that which
is laid out upon a secret service, it would be inexcus
able for a minister of state to neglect it. The
general will say with truth that he would sooner
have one regiment the less than a poorly equipped
system of espionage, and that he would perhaps
even forgo reinforcements if he could be accurately
informed of the disposition and numbers of the
enemy armies. Similarly let an ambassador
retrench all superfluous expense in order that he
may have the funds at his disposal to maintain a
26

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
secret service which will inform him of all that
happens in the foreign country of his service. Yet
despite the universal acknowledged truth of what
I say, most negotiators will more readily spend vast
sums on a great show of horses and carriages, on
rows of useless flunkeys, than on the payment of a
few well-chosen agents who could keep them sup
plied with news. In this matter we should learn
a lesson from the Spaniards, who never neglect
their secret agents — a fact which I am sure has
contributed largely to the success of their ministers
in many important negotiations. It is doubtless
the success of Spanish agents which has led to the
establishment of the wise custom of the Spanish
Court to give Spanish ambassadors an extra
ordinary fund called Gastos Secretos.
The ambassador has sometimes been called an The Honour-
honourable spy because one of his principal occu- ?ble s^-
pations is to discover great secrets ; and he fails in ¦
the discharge of his duty if he does not know how
to lay out the necessary sums for this purpose.
Therefore an ambassador should be a man born
with a hberal hand ready to undertake willingly
large expenses of this kind ; and fie must be even
prepared to do it at his own charges when the
emoluments of his master are insufficient. For as
his ^principal aim masLbe to succeed, that interest
should eclipse all others in any man truly devoted to
27

ON THE MANNER OF
his profession and capable of succeeding in it.
But, on the other hand, the sagacious prince will
not neglect the equipment of his negotiators with
every possible means for acquiring friends and
secret agents in all countries where his interests are
at stake, for these expenses well laid out bring back
a large return with usury to the prince who makes
them, and do much to smooth away the difficulties
which lie in the path of his designs. And he will
soon be aware that if he does not employ this ex
pedient his ministers can indeed make but little
progress in their negotiations. He will win no
new allies but risk losing old ones.
Courage. Courage is a most necessary quality in a nego
tiator ; for, though the law of nations should give
him ample security, there are many occasions in
which he will find himself in danger, where he will
have to rely upon his own courage and resource to
escape from a perilous position without compro
mising the negotiation on which he is engaged.
Thus no timid man can hope to conduct secret
designs to success : unforeseen accidents will shake
his faith, and in a moment of fear he may too easily
give away his secrets even by the passing expression
of his countenance and by the manner of his speech.
And indeed a too great concern for his personal
safety may lead him to take measures highly pre
judicial to the duties he has to discharge. And at
28

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
times when the honour of his master is attacked
his timidity may prevent him from maintaining
with the necessary vigour the dignity of his office
and the prestige of his King. A prelate who was
an ambassador at Rome from King Francis i.
brought disgrace on his master because he failed
to defend him in the Consistory, where the Emperor,
Charles v., attempted to cast upon the French
King the whole responsibility for the continuation
of the war, boasting falsely that he had offered to
end it by a single combat with Francois himself,
and that the French King had refused. The King
was so furious that he gave the Emperor the lie in
public, and made known to the world his displeasure
with his own ambassador for failing to uphold the
dignity of France. Francois there and then took
the resolution never to employ any man as French
ambassador who was not a practised swordsman,
and thus he hoped to uphold the honour of his
house. A good negotiator must not only be courageous Firmness in
in danger but firm in debate. There are many/?"""
men who are naturaUy brave, but cannot maintain
an opinion in dispute. The kind of firmness that
is needed is that which, having carefully and fuUy
examined the matter, consents to no compromise
but pursues with constancy a resolution once
adopted tiU it is carried into effect. Compromise 29

ON THE MANNER OF
is the easy refuge of the irresolute spirit. The lack
of firmness of which I speak here is a common fault
of those who have a lively imagination for every
kind of accident which may befall, and hinders them
from determining with vigour and despatch the
means by which action should be taken. They
will look at a matter on so many sides that they
forget in which direction they are traveUing. This
irresolution is most prejudicial to the conduct of
great affairs which demand a decisive spirit, acting
upon a careful balance of advantage and disadvan
tage, and pursuing the main purpose without
abatement. It is said that Cardinal Richelieu, who
perhaps took wider views than any man of his time,
was somewhat irresolute when he came to action,
and that Father Joseph, the Capuchin, a much
narrower inteUigence than the Cardinal, was of
the greatest value to him because, once a decision
was taken, he pursued it tenaciously, and often
assisted the Cardinal in dismissing designs of
compromise by which crafty persons hoped to
destroy the original plan.
Genius no There are some geniuses born with such an
Substitute for eievation 0f character and superiority of mind that
Manners. they have a natural ascendancy over aU whom
they meet. But a negotiator of this kind must
take good care not to rely too much on his own
judgment in order to voice that superiority which
30

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
he has over other men, for it may earn for him a
reputation for arrogance and hardness ; and just
on account of his very elevation above the level of
common humanity, events may escape him, and he
may be the dupe of his own self-confidence. He
must sometimes consent to meet smaller men on
their own ground.
The good negotiator, moreover, wiU never found Value of Good
the success of his mission on promises which he j"* '
cannot redeem or on bad faith. It is a capital error, *
which prevails widely, that a clever negotiator must
be a master of the art of deceit. Deceit indeed is '
but a measure of the smaUness of mind of him who
employs it, and simply shows that his inteUigence
is too meagrely equipped to enable him to arrive
at his ends by just and reasonable methods. No
doubt the art of lying has been practised with
success in diplomacy ; but unhke that honesty
which here as elsewhere is the best policy, a lie
always leaves a drop of poison behind, and even
the most dazzling diplomatic success gained by
dishonesty stands on an insecure foundation, for it
awakes in the defeated party a sense of aggravation,
a desire for vengeance, and a hatred which must
always be a menace to his foe. Even if deceit were
not as despicable to every right-minded man as it is,
the negotiator wiU perhaps bear in mind that he
wiU be engaged throughout life upon the affairs of
3i

ON THE MANNER OF
diplomacy, and that it is therefore his interest to
establish a reputation for plain and fair deaUng so
that men may know that they can rely upon him ;
for one negotiation successfully carried through by
the honesty and high inteUigence of a diplomatist
wiU give him a great advantage in other enterprises
on which he embarks in the future. In every
country where he goes he will be received with
esteem and pleasure, and men will say of him and
of his master that their cause is too good to be
served by evil means. For if the negotiator is
obliged to observe with faithfulness aU the promises
which he has made, it wiU be at once seen that both
he himself and the prince whom he serves are
to be relied on.
Perils of This is surely a well-known truth and so indis
pensable a duty that it would appear superfluous
to recommend it. At the same time many ne
gotiators have been so corrupted by converse
usages that they have forgotten the uses of truth —
upon which I shall make but one observation, which
is, that the prince or minister who has been deceived
by his own negotiator probably began by teaching
that negotiator the lesson of deception ; or, if he
did not, he suffers because he has made the choice
of a bad servant. It is not enough to choose a
clever and well-instructed man for the discharge of
high political duties. The agent in such affairs
32

Deceit.

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
must be a man of probity and one who loves truth,
for otherwise there can be no confidence in him.
It is true that this probity is not often found joined
to that capacity for taking wide views which is so
necessary to a diplomatist, nor is it always found
in a man weU stored with all the necessary know
ledge which we. have already described as the equip
ment of a good negotiator. I may be reminded
that a prince is often obhged to use diverse instru
ments in order to accomplish his ends, and that
there have been men of little virtue who proved
themselves great negotiators and in whose hands
high affairs of state have prospered, and that men
of this type being restrained by no scruples have
more often succeeded in delicate negotiations than
have the right men who have employed none but
honest means.
But let it be remarked that the prince who en- Monsieur </.¦
trusts his negotiations to this type of diplomatist Faber rebukes
cannot count upon their good services except as Mazarm.
long as he himself is prosperous. In difficult times,
or at moments when disgrace seems to have faUen
upon him, these master-rogues wiU be the first to
betray him and to take service on the side of the *-
strong. Here then we find the final recommen
dation of the necessity of employing honest men.
I am reminded of the fine reply of Monsieur de
Faber, who was Marshal of France, to Cardinal
c 33

ON THE MANNER OF

Loose Livers
make Bad
Negotiators.

The Cool
Head.

Mazarin when this great minister wished to bring
over a man of substance, who shall be nameless, to
his own party. He entrusted the delicate duty
to Monsieur de Faber, charging him to offer great
promises which he admitted he was not in a position
to redeem. Monsieur de Faber refused the com
mission in these words : ' Monseigneur, you will
find many men ready to carry false messages ; but
you have some need of honest men to speak the
truth. I beg of you to retain me for the latter
service.' FinaUy, it is in a high degree dangerous to entrust
an important negotiation to a man of irregular life
whose domestic and personal habits are disorderly.
How can one expect of such a man a greater degree
of order and of decency in public affairs than that
which he shows in his own private concerns, which
ought indeed to be the constant gauge of his
capacity. If he is too fond of the gaming-table, of
the wine-glass, and of frivolous amusements, he is
not to be entrusted with the discharge of high
diplomatic duty, for he wiU be so unreliable that
at moments when he seeks the satisfaction of his
iU-regulated desires he wiU be prepared to seU the
highest secrets of his master.
A man who is naturaUy violent and easily carried
away is iU fitted for the conduct of negotiations ;
it is almost impossible for him to be master of him-
34

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
self at those critical moments and unforeseen
occasions when the command of one's temper is
of importance, especially at the acute moments of
diplomatic controversy when a choleric word may
poison the minds of those with whom negotiations
are in progress. It is also difficult for any man who
is easily irritated to remain master of his own
secret ; for, when his anger is aroused, he will
aUow words to escape him from which an adroit
hearer wiU easily divine the essence of his thought,
and thus lead to the ruin of his plans.
Before his elevation to the cardinalate, Cardinal
Mazarin was sent on an important mission to the
Duke of Feria, Governor of Milan. He was charged
to discover the true feelings of the Duke on a certain
matter, and he had the cunning to inflame the
Duke's anger and thus to discover what he would
never have known if the Duke himself had main
tained a wise hold over his feelings. The Cardinal
indeed had made himself absolute master of aU the
outward effects which passion usuaUy produces,
so much so that neither in his speech nor by the
least change in his countenance could one discover
his real thought ; and this quality which he pos
sessed in so high a degree contributed largely to
make him one of the greatest negotiators of his time.-
A man who is master of himself and always acts s*a™ anii
with sang-froid has a great advantage over him who characters.
35

ON THE MANNER OF
is of a lively and easily inflamed nature. One may
say indeed that they do not fight with equal arms ;
for in order to succeed in this kind of work, one
must rather listen than speak ; and the phlegmatic
temper, self-restraint, a faultless discretion and
a patience which no trial can break down — these
are the servants of success. Indeed the last of
these qualities, namely patience, is one of the ad
vantages which the Spanish nation has over our
own ; for we are naturaUy lively, and have hardly
embarked on one affair before we desire the end
in order to embark on another, thus betraying a
restlessness which continually seeks new aims.
Whereas it has been remarked that a Spanish
diplomatist never acts with haste, that he never
thinks of bringing a negotiation to an end simply
from ennui, but to finish it with advantage and to
profit from aU the favourable conjunctures which
present themselves, amongst which our impatience
is his advantage. Italy has also produced a large
number of excellent negotiators who have contri
buted much to the high prestige and temporal
power of the Court of Rome, even to the point at
which we now see it. And we ourselves have the
same superiority in the art of negotiation over
other northern nations which the Spaniards and
Italians have over us, from which it might appear
that the degree of inteUigence varies in Europe
36

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
with the degree of warmth of its different climates.
Now from aU this it foUows that a man who by
nature is strange, inconstant, and ruled by his own
humours and passions, should not enter the pro
fession of diplomacy, but should go to the wars.
For as war destroys a great number of those who
engage in it, she is not so delicate in the choice of
her subjects ; she resembles those good stomachs
which can digest and assimilate with equal ease
every kind of nourishment that is given them — not
indeed that a man must not have high and exceUent
qualities before he can become a good general, but
because there are so many degrees of capacity in the
army that he who has not sufficient inteUigence to
arrive at the highest remains half-way and may
become a good subaltern or other officer whose
service is useful in his own sphere. But it is not
the same with a negotiator — if he is not adapted
to his function he wiU often ruin everything that
is put under his charge and stain the good name of
his master with irreparable prejudice.
Not only must the negotiator be free from way- Adaptability
ward humours and fantasies, but he must know how
to suffer fools gladly, how to accommodate himself
to the changing humours of others. He^_must
indeed be Uke Proteus of the fable, always ready
tCijUke-^-d-i-fferen^Sg^^ accor ding Jo
occasion ancLneed. Let him be gay and agreeable 37

ON THE MANNER OF
with young princes still in the fuU enjoyment of
daily pleasures ; let him be sage and fuU of counsel
with those of more serious years, and in everything
let aU his attention and care, all his zeal and even
his enjoyments and diversions, tend to the one sole
aim, which is to bring to success the great business
in his charge. Thus it wiU not always be enough
that he should execute the exact letter of his in
struction ; his zeal and inteUigence should combine
how he may profit from all favoured conjunctures
that present themselves, and even should be able
to create such favourable moments by which the
advantage of his prince may be served. There
are even pressing and important occasions where
he is compeUed to make a decision on the spot, to
undertake certain demarches without waiting for
the orders of his master which could not arrive in
time. But then he must have sufficient pene
tration to foresee all the results of his own action,
and it were well also if he had acquired beforehand
that degree of confidence from his own prince
which is commonly founded on a proved capacity
of good services. He may thus assure himself in
moments of sudden decision that he retains the
confidence of his prince and that his past success
wiU plead in favour of his present actions. In the
absence of such conditions he would be a bold
negotiator indeed who entered into engagements
38

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
in his master's name without express order on his
master's part. But on a pressing occasion he can
hold such a thing as eventuaUy to be concluded
with advantage to his prince, or at least he may
be able to prevent the matter in question from
turning to his disadvantage until he shaU have
received orders from him.
It is weU that with aU these qualities a negotiator, wealth, Birth
and especially one who bears the title of ambas- and Breedi"S-
sador, should be rich in order to be able to maintain
the necessary expenses of his office ; but a wise
prince will not faU into the fault common to many
princes, namely that of regarding wealth as the
first and most necessary quality in an ambassador.
Indeed he wiU serve his own interests much better
by choosing an able negotiator of mediocre fortune
than one endowed with all the wealth of the Indies
but possessing a smaU intelUgence, for it is obvious
that the rich man may not know the true use of
riches, whereas the able man wiU assuredly know
how to employ his own abihty. And the prince
should further remember that it is within his
power to equip the able man with aU the necessary
means, but that it is not in his power to endow
with inteUigence one who does not possess it.
It is also desirable that an ambassador should be
a man of birth and breeding, especiaUy if he is em
ployed in any of the principal courts of Europe, 39

ON THE MANNER OF

The Know
ledge Neces
sary to a
Negotiator.

and it is by no means a negligible factor that he
should have a noble presence and a handsome face,
which undoubtedly are among the means which
easily please mankind. An evil-looking person, as
General Philopoemen said, wiU receive many in
sults and suffer much trouble, like the man who
was made to hew wood and draw water because he
looked like a slave. There are of course missions
sent on special occasions where nothing is needed
but a great name and the prestige of high birth —
as, for instance, in the ceremonial occasions of a mar
riage, or baptism, or the offer of good wishes on the
accession of a sovereign to the throne ; but when
the negotiation concerns important affairs it must
be entrusted to a man, not to a gaudy image, unless
indeed the image be a puppet in the hands of some
crafty colleague who, while possessing the whole
secret of negotiation and keeping in his hands all
the threads of its designs, leaves the actual public
appearance to the ignorant but high-born gentleman
whose sole trouble is to maintain a fine table and
a magnificent equipage.
A man born to diplomacy and feeling himself
called to the practice of negotiation must commence
his studies by a careful examination of the position
of various European states, of the principal interests
which govern their action, which divide them from
one another, of the diverse forms of government
40

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
which prevail in different parts, and of the char
acter of those princes, soldiers, and ministers who
stand in positions of authority. In order to master
the detail of such knowledge he must have an
understanding of the material power, the revenues,
and the whole dominion of each prince or each
repubhc. He must understand the limits of terri
torial sovereignty ; he must inform himself of the
manner in which the government was originaUy
estabhshed ; of the claims which each sovereign
makes upon parts which he does not possess ; for
these ambitions are the very material of negotiation
on those occasions when a favourable turn of events
prompts the ambitious sovereign to hope that a
long-cherished desire may be realised ; and, finaUy,
the negotiator must be able to make a clear dis
tinction between the rights and claims which are
founded on treaty obligation and those which rest
upon pure force alone. For his own instruction
he must read with the most attentive care aU public
treaties, both general and particular, which have
been made between the princes and states of
Europe and in our time ; he should consider the
treaties concluded between France and the House
of Austria as those which offer the principal form
and model for the conduct of aU the public affairs
of Christendom on account of the network of liaisons
with other sovereigns which surrounds these two
4i

ON THE MANNER OF
great Powers. And since their disputes took their
origin in the relations and treaties existing between
.the King Louis xi. and Charles, the last Duke of
Burgundy, from whom the House of Austria
descends, it is vital that the negotiator of our time
should be weU acquainted with all the treaties
made at that period and since ; but especially all
those which have been concluded between the
principal Powers of Europe beginning with the
Treaty of Westphalia right up to the present time.
Europe is his Let him also study with understanding and open
' ""' ' eye the modern history of Europe. Let him read
the memoirs of great men, the instructions and
despatches of aU our ablest negotiators, both those
which are printed in public books and those which
are stored in manuscripts in our Office of Public
Records, for these documents treat of great affairs,
and the reading of them wiU convey not only facts
which are important for the making of history, but
also a sense of the true atmosphere of negotiation,
and will thus help to form the mind of him who
reads them and give him some clue to guide him in
similar occasions on his own career. One of the
most profitable readings that I know for this purpose
is the despatch of Cardinal d'Ossat, of whose letters
I make bold to say, for a man entering upon negotia
tion, what Horace said to the poets of his time
regarding the works of Homer : That he should
42

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
have them in his hands night and day if he desires
perfection in his own art. In a simple and modest
manner the despatches of this Cardinal reveal the
force and the address which were his great merit,
and which, in spite of the antiquity of his style,
stiU give keen pleasure to those who have a taste
for good diplomatic writing. One may see thus
how by his ability alone, without the assistance of
noble birth, title, or other character than that of
agent of his queen, Louise de Vaudemont, widow
of King Henry in., he was able gradually to conduct
the high enterprise of reconciling King Henry the
Great with the Holy See after the most famous
ambassadors of the time had failed in it ; with
what dexterity he escaped aU the pitfaUs laid for
him by the Roman Court, and aU the traps which the
House of Austria, then at the height of its power,
devised for his undoing. The reader wiU marvel,
as he turns each page, how nothing escaped his
penetrating eye. He wiU find even the least move
ments of Pope Clement vni. and his nephew the
Cardinal recorded with care. He wiU see how
Monseigneur d'Ossat profited by everything, how
he is firm as a rock when necessity demands, supple
as a wiUow at another moment, and how he pos
sessed the supreme art of making every man offer
him as a gift that which it was his chief design to
secure. 43

ON THE MANNER OF
ihe study of Then again in the coUection of manuscript
D^sTuhes despatches regarding the negotiations of Miinster,
as weU as in the memoirs of Cardinal Mazarin, we
may read the instructions to the French pleni
potentiary, which are indeed masterpieces of their
kind, for in them the Cardinal examines the interests
of each European Power. He suggests overtures
and expedients for adjusting their differences with
a capacity and a clearness of view which is altogether
surprising, and that in a language which was not
his own. His despatches on the Peace of the
Pyrenees, by means of which he conveyed to the
King the results of his conferences with Don Louis
Dharo, Prime Minister of Spain, have also a beauty
of their own. We recognise in them also the
superiority of his genius and the easy ascendancy
which he had gained over the spirit of the Spanish
minister with whom he was dealing. There are
also other manuscript despatches which deserve re
cognition. They are to be found in great numbers
in the Royal Library and in other coUections of
books, as, for instance, those of De NoaiUes, Bishop
of Acs, and of Montluc, Bishop of Valence,
in which one may also read the authentic account
of two noble and able men. We have, too, the
letters of President Jeannin, a man of great common
sense and solid judgment, who contributed largely
to the consolidation of the young Republic of the
44

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
United Provinces by the twelve years' truce which
he prepared, and by the wise counsels which he
gave touching all matters of government in that
Republic. The reading of such letters as his is
weU designed to form the judgment of him who
will consent to read with inteUigent care.
In order to understand the principal interest of Drastic
European princes, the negotiator must add to the Lmuons-
knowledge which we have just been describing
that of dynastic genealogies, so that he may know
aU the connections and alliances, by marriage and
otherwise, between different princes, for these
liaisons are often found to be the principal causes
of conflict and even of war. He must also knowj
the laws and established customs of the different
countries, especiaUy in all matters relating to thei '
succession to the throne and the prevailing habits)
of the court. The study of the form of govern-!
ment existing in each country is very necessary to|
the diplomatist, and he should not wait until his';
arrival in a foreign country to study these questions i
he should prepare himself beforehand, for, unless hi
is equipped with a certain measure of this know-]
ledge, he wiU be like a man at sea without a compass.1
Our own negotiators, who have never travelled
before taking up some foreign post and who there
fore know nothing of these questions, are usuaUy
so saturated in our own national customs and habits
45

ON THE MANNER OF
as to think that those of all other nations must re
semble them ; the truth being that the authority
which one king has within his kingdom in no way
resembles that of the neighbouring monarch,
although the superficial likeness between royalty in
every country is obvious to every eye.
EnyUnd and There are, for instance, countries where it is
not enough to be in agreement with the prince and
his ministers, because there are other parties who
share the national sovereignty with him and who
have the power to resist his decisions or to make
him change them. Of this state of affairs we have
an exceUent example in England, where the authority
of ParUament frequently obliges the King to make
peace or war against his own wish ; or again in
Poland, where the general Diets have an even more
extended power, in which one single vote in the
Diet may bring to nought the all but unanimous
resolution of the assembly itself, and thus not only
defeat the dehberations of that assembly but bring
to nought the policy of the King and of the Senate.
Therefore the_-^fQQd_qegotiator in such a country
.wiU_know where to find the balance of domestic^.
j p^Q3ffi£XJJLarder to profitby^it when occasion offers.
Besides the general public interests of the state
there are private and personal interests and ruling
passions in princes and in their ministers or
favourites, which often play a determining part in
46

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
the direction of public policy. It is therefore neces
sary for the negotiator to inform himself of the
nature of these private interests and passions in
fluencing the spirits of those with whom he has to
negotiate, in order that he may guide his action by
this knowledge either in flattering their passions,
which is the easiest way, or by somehow finding
means to deflect such personages from their original
intentions and engagements and cause them to
adopt a new line of policy. Such an enterprise
carried to success would indeed be a masterpiece of
negotiation. That great man, the Due de Rohan, tells us in Testimony of
the treatise which he wrote upon the interests of **e, Duc de
**- Rohan.
European sovereigns, that the sovereigns rule the
people and that interest rules the sovereign ; but
we may add that the passions of princes and of
their ministers often overrule their interests. We
have seen many cases in which monarchs have
entered engagements most prejudicial to them
selves and their state under the influence of passion.
There need be no surprise on this account, for the
nations themselves are not free from this error,
and are prepared to ruin themselves in order to
satisfy hatred, vengeance, and jealousy, the satis
faction of which is often antagonistic to their veri
table interests. Without recourse to ancient his
tory it would be easy to prove by modern examples 47

ON THE MANNER OF
that men do not act upon firm and stable maxims
of conduct ; that as a rule they are governed by
passion and temperament more than by reason.
The bearing of this knowledge upon diplomacy is
that since the passion and caprice of men in authority
so largely influence the destiny of their subjects, it
is the duty of the able negotiator to inform himself
as accurately as possible regarding the inclination,
state of mind, and the plans of men in authority in
order that this information may be placed at the
service of his master's interests. And we may be
sure that a negotiator who has not laboured to
acquire a fund of this general and particular infor
mation will reason falsely regarding events, affairs
of state, and men, and is liable to make false esti
mates and give dangerous advice to the prince who
employs him. Such knowledge is not to be found
in books alone ; it is more easily to be gathered
by personal communication with those engaged in
public service and by foreign travel, for, however
profoundly one may have studied the customs, the
policy, or the passions of those who govern in
foreign states, everything wiU appear differently
when examined close at hand, and it is impossible
to form a just notion of the true character of things
except by first-hand acquaintance.
importance of It is therefore desirable that before entering the
Foreign _ °
Travel. profession of diplomacy the young man should
48

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
have traveUed to the principal courts of Europe, not
merely like those young persons who on leaving the
academy or coUege go to Rome to see the beautiful
palaces and the ancient ruins, or to Venice to enjoy
the opera and the courtesans ; he should indeed
embark on his travels at a somewhat riper age
when he is more capable of reflection and of
appreciating the form and spirit of government in
each country, and of studying the merits and
faults of princes and ministers — doing aU this with
the dehberate design of returning to these countries
at a future day with profit to himself and his master.
Travel conducted on these lines obliges the traveUer
to keep a vigUant eye upon everything that comes
under his notice. It would be weU that in certain
cases they should accompany the King's ambas
sadors or envoys as traveUing companions after
the manner of the Spaniards and the Italians, who
regard it as an honour to accompany the ministers
of the Crown on their diplomatic journeys. There
is nothing better calculated for instruction upon
the manner of events in foreign countries or for the
training of a young man to represent his own
country abroad.
It is highly desirable that such novices in diplo- Foreign
macy should learn foreign languages, for thus they ^f^mlbie.
wiU be protected from the bad faith or the ignor
ance of interpreters, and from the grave embarrass-
d 49

ON THE MANNER OF
ment of having to use them for the purpose of
audiences with the sovereign. It is obvious, too,
that an interpreter may be a betrayer of secrets.
Every one who enters the profession of diplomacy
should know the German, Italian, and Spanish
languages as weU as the Latin, ignorance of which
would be a disgrace and a shame to any public man,
for it is the common language of aU Christian nations.
It is also very useful and fitting for the diplomat,
on whom grave national responsibility rests, to have
such a general knowledge of science as may tend
to the development of his understanding, but he
must be master of his scientific knowledge and
must not be consumed by it. He must give
science the place which it deserves, and must not
merely consider it as a reason for pride or for con
tempt of those who do not possess it. While devot
ing himself to this study with care and attention he
must not become engrossed in it, for he who enters
the pubhc service of his King must consider that
he is destined for action and not for academic study
in his closet ; and his principal care must be to
instruct himself regarding aU that may affect the
lives of living men rather than the study of the dead.
His professional aim is to penetrate the secrets and
hearts of men ; to learn the art of handling them
in such a manner as to make them serve the great
ends of his royal master.
50

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
If one could establish a rule in France that no ,A Rule for the
one should be employed in negotiation untU \i&W'Plomattc
had passed some such apprenticeship as this, and
had shown his capacity to profit by study and travel
in rendering a good account of the countries which/
he had seen ; and, further, if one could also estab
lish the rule in the same manner that no high
command in the army can be entrusted to an officer
who has not made many campaigns, we should be
more confident that the King would be weU served
in his negotiations, and that by these means he
would be able to raise up around him a large
number of reliable negotiators. This is a most
desirable end, for as we have seen there are many
actions in which the perfect practice of the art of
negotiation is not less useful than that of war, and
that in France at the present time the art of war
stands far above that of diplomacy in public esteem.
But as men are not yet perfect enough to serve Rewards for
without hope of reward, it is desirable that there Sermce-
should be in France a higher degree of honour and
fortune for those who have deserved weU of their
country in diplomacy, as indeed there are in many
other courts in Europe where the King's subjects
have gained high distinction in that branch of the
pubhc service. There are indeed countries in
which the distinguished diplomatist may hope to
reach the highest place and most exalted dignities 5i

ON THE MANNER OF
in the realm, by which means we in France may
learn to raise the profession of diplomacy to that
degree of public recognition which it deserves,
and from which the service of the King and the
greatness of the kingdom must certainly profit.
On the choke The right choice of negotiators depends upon
of Diploma- their personal quahty, their training, and to some
extent their fortune, and as the endowments of man
kind vary in a wide degree, so it is found that one
kind wiU fit better into the office of diplomacy
than another. At the same time there are men
of such wide capacity that they can be safely
employed in very different enterprises, and even
in very different countries. Such men by their
adaptability, by the receptiveness of their nature,
and the pliancy of their character are weU fitted for
the province of diplomacy, and quickly accommo
date themselves to new surroundings. It should be
the aim of aU governments to develop a whole race
of such men from whose ranks they may draw their
diplomatic agents. It is true that in any one
generation there wiU only be a few geniuses of the
first order, and that the rank and file of the diplo
matic service wiU be composed of persons of a more
limited type, in which case it is aU the more in
cumbent upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs to
exercise the greatest care in assigning ambassadors
to foreign posts. He must therefore be well
52

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
acquainted with the whole service in order to know
where to lay his hand upon the appropriate person
for any given enterprise.
There are, broadly speaking, three principal human The Three
professions. The first is the Ecclesiastical ; the Pr°fesst0'!1-
second is that of the Gentlemen of the Sword,
which besides those actuaUy serving in the army
includes courtiers and squires and other ranks of
gentlemen in his Majesty's service ; and the third
is the profession of the Law, whose devotees in
France are called ' Gentlemen of the Cloth.'
There are not many countries where ecclesiastics
can be employed in diplomacy, for one cannot pro
perly send them to heretical or infidel countries.
At Rome, which appears to be their home, their
attachment to the Pope, and their desire to receive
honours from him as weU as other benefits which
depend upon service at his Court, undoubtedly
places them under the suspicion of foUowing too
closely the Jesuitical maxims which rule papal
policy, and often operate to the prejudice of the
temporal power of other kings.
The Republic of Venice has shown much wisdom The Example
in this matter, for she is so convinced of the ^ Vemce-
partiality of Venetian prelates towards the Holy
See that not only does she exclude them from aU
diplomatic offices in connection with the Court of
Rome, but she actuaUy excludes them from all
53

ON THE MANNER OF
discussion of the political relation between Venice
and Rome. It is obvious indeed to aU that a digni
tary of the Church owes a divided allegiance, and
it seems probable that where his loyalty to the
Church conflicts with his loyalty to his sovereign,
the former is likely to prevail. Indeed, the more
closely one examines the proper duties of a bishop,
for instance, the more firmly convinced does one
become that these duties are not compatible with
those of an ambassador ; for on the one hand it is
not fitting that a minister of religion should run
about the world and thus neglect those duties
which should have first claim upon him, and on the
other, as we have seen, political and ecclesiastical
aUegiance may come into collision with disastrous
results. And surely a state must be poorly en
dowed with men if it can find nowhere but in the
Church a sufficiency of adept diplomatists. I am
the last to dispute the great services which certain
prelates have rendered to the French state in the
past, but I consider it useful to be guided as a
general rule by the foregoing considerations.
The Ambas- The best diplomatist wiU usuaUy be found to be
a man of good birth, sometimes a knight trained
to the profession of arms, and it has occasionaUy
been found that a good general officer has served
with success as an ambassador, especially at a time
when the military affairs of either state were pro-
54

sador a Man
of Peace

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
minent subjects of negotiation. But diplomacy is
not to be regarded as linked with war, for, although
war arises out of policy, it is to be regarded as
nothing more than a means to an end in itself.
Therefore the ambassador should be a man of
peace ; for in most cases, and certainly wherever
the foreign court is inchned towards peace, it is
best to send a diplomatist who works by persuasion
and is an adept in winning the good graces of those
around him. In either case it wUl be observed that
the pubhc interests will be best served by appoint-
ingjr^rofessionaT^ip^ perience has acquired a high aptitude for the peculiar
office of diplomacy. Neither the soldier nor the
courtier can hope to discharge the duties of diplo
macy with success unless they have taken pains to
instruct themselves in public policy, and in aU that
region of knowledge which I have already described
as necessary for the negotiator.
It is true that sometimes a lawyer diplomat has Lawyer
made a great success of negotiation, especiaUy in 'Pamats-
countries where the final responsibility for pubhc
policy lay with pubhc assemblies which could be
moved by adroit speech, but in general the training
of a lawyer breeds habits and dispositions of mind
which are not favourable to the practice of diplo
macy. And though it be true that success in the
law-courts depends largely upon a knowledge of
55

ON THE MANNER OF
human nature and an ability to exploit it — both of
which are factors in diplomacy — it is none the less
true that the occupation of the lawyer, which is
to split hairs about nothing, is not a good pre
paration for the treatment of grave pubhc affairs
in the region of diplomacy. If this be true of the
advocate or barrister, it is stUl more true of the
magistrate and judge. The habit of mind engen
dered by presiding over a court of law, in which
the judge himself is supreme, tends to exclude
those faculties of suppleness and adaptability which
are necessary in diplomacy, and the almost ludicrous
assumption of dignity by a judge would certainly
appear as arrogance in diplomatic circles. I do
not say that there have not been great lawyers and
great judges who were endowed with high diplo
matic qualities, but again I place these considera
tions before my readers in the belief that the
more closely they are observed the more surely
will they lead to efficiency in the diplomatic
profession.
Diplomacy , Let me further emphasise my conviction, which,
demands ( ajag^ -g not yet share(j even Dv ministers of state in
Training. France, that diplomacy is a profession by itself
j which deserves the same preparation and assiduity of
I attention that men give to other recognised pro-
( fessions. The qualities of a diplomatist and the
), knowledge necessary to him cannot, indeed, aU be
56

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
i,i acquired. The diplomatic genius is born, not
| made. But there are many qualities which may
I be developed with practice, and the greater part
I of the necessary knowledge can only be acquired
by constant application to the subject. In this
sense diplomacy is certainly a profession itself
capable of occupying a man's whole career, and those
who think to embark upon a diplomatic mission as
a pleasant diversion from their common task only
prepare disappointment for themselves and disaster
for the cause which they serve. The veriest fool
would not entrust the command of an army to a
man whose sole badge of merit was his successful
eloquence in a court of law or his adroit practice
of the courtier's art in the palace. All are agreed
that mihtary command must be earned by long
service in the army. In the same manner it should
be regarded as folly to entrust the conduct of
negotiations to an untrained amateur unless he
has conspicuously shown in some other walk of life
the quahties and knowledge necessary for the
practice of diplomacy.
It often happens that there are men in public life Fatality of
who have won a reputation for themselves without " ^ ^01" '
earning it. That is possible in the political world,
which has many camp foUowers and hangers-on of
aU kinds, and there is always a risk that a minister
in search of an ambassador for a foreign post wiU
57

ON THE MANNER OF
use the occasion to pay an old debt to some powerful
patrician family or to some blackmailer behind the
scenes. Those who take the responsibility of
appointing to high diplomatic offices persons of this
character are responsible before God and man for
all the injuries which may thereby accrue to the
public interest. It cannot be too plainly stated
that, while in many cases where trouble has arisen
the negotiator himself is to blame, the true re
sponsibility must rest with the minister at home,
who not only devises the policy itself but chooses
the instruments of it. It is therefore one of the
highest maxims of good government that the public
interest must be supreme, and that therefore both
the prince himself and his ministers must steel
themselves to resist the pressure of friends and
relations who seek employment for unworthy
persons. In diplomacy, above all things, since
peace and war and the welfare of nations depend
upon it, the best minds, the most sagacious and
instructed of public servants should be appointed
to the principal foreign posts regardless of the per
sonal affairs of the prince himself or the party
attachments of the chosen ambassadors.
< We have Nothing should stand in the way of the creation
fools in Fkr- 0f a vigilantj sagacious, and high-minded diplomatic
ence, but woe , '¦
do not export service. Men of smaU minds should content them
selves with employment at home, where their errors
58

them!

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
may easily be repaired, for errors committed abroad
are too often irreparable. The late Duke of
Tuscany, who was a remarkably wise and enlight
ened prince, once complained to the Venetian
ambassador, who stayed over-night with him on
his journey to Rome, that the Republic of Venice
had sent as resident at his court a person of no
value, possessing neither judgment nor knowledge,
nor even any attractive personal quality. ' I am
not surprised,' said the ambassador in reply ; ' we
have many fools in Venice.' Whereupon the
Grand Duke retorted : ' We also have fools in
Florence, but we take care not to export them.'
The Duke's remarks show how important it is in
every respect to choose the right man for the
diplomatic service, and, in order to give the Foreign
Minister an adequate freedom of choice, his diplo
matic service should contain men of different char
acters and a wide variety of accomplishments.
Thus he wiU not be compelled to send an unsuitable
man merely because he was the only one available.
He should have most careful regard in this choice
to the type of government and the religion which
prevails in the foreign country in question. There
used to be a jest current in Paris on this very sub
ject. The French King had sent a bishop to
Constantinople and an heretic to Rome, and it
was said that the one had gone to convert the
59

Ingrata.

ON THE MANNER OF
Grand Turk and the other to be converted by
the Pope !
The Persona Apart from any higher consideration, it is a mere
jmeasure of prudence to avoid sending an envoy
who may be presumed to be a persona ingrata at
the foreign court, for he wiU certainly, whether he
will or not, create a prejudice against his own
country and will be quite unable to meet his com
petitors in diplomacy on equal terms, for he will
start with the handicap of unpopularity. The
Foreign Minister, therefore, should not wait until
matters go wrong at a foreign capital, but should
be in a position, when each appointment is made,
to know the character of the new ambassador, and
thus to veto a bad appointment. This, alas, is not
by any means always the case. I do not need to
enter upon a minute examination of the faults to
avoid and the virtues to encourage in the complete
diplomat. I have already said enough to show
where my opinion lies in a general way. I will only
add one or two further considerations. I said a
few moments ago that loose living is a great handi
cap in diplomacy ; but, since there is no rule which
has not some exception, let me point out that a too
abstemious negotiator will miss many opportunities
of finding out what is going on. EspeciaUy in the
northern countries the diplomat who loves a glass
wiU quickly make friends among ministers, though,
60

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
to be sure, he should drink in such a manner as not
to lose control of his own faculties while endeavour
ing to loosen the self-control of others.
In_jhr^maey*-a-natkmjs,indg-^ ministers, The Nation
ana its whole reputation may rest upon the popu- Jud£ed h lU
—  .  , —  ; — — — ' *¦**  £ -L " Servants.
larity or unpopularity of an ambassador. In this
res*pgct_thTjpersonal_ conductof the ambassador
and his staffjs almost as important as the policy
wjth -gdiich he is charged, for the success of the
policy wiU depend largely upon the actual relations
which exist ^etween' the two_nations. The am
bassador is, as it were, the very embodiment of
these relations, and if a proper adept in his pro
fession wiU know how to turn every occasion to
advantage. I need not repeat my tale of the
qualities and practices by which such advantage
may be drawn from the current of events, but I
may perhaps point out that obviously men of birth
and breeding are better able to discharge the kind of
function which I have described. Their rank will
command a certain respect, and the qualities usuaUy
inherited by those of good birth should stand them
in good stead at a foreign court. At the same time
such qualities must not be regarded as more than
a foundation. They cannot in themselves equip
a diplomatist for his office. He must by assiduous
application acquire the other necessary qualities,
for there is no man more liable to suspicion than
61

ON THE MANNER OF
he who plumes himself on an experience which he
does not possess. Further, it is usually unwise to
entrust important negotiations to young men, who
are commonly presumptuous and vain as weU as
indiscreet. Old age is equaUy inappropriate. The
best time of life is its prime, in which you find
experience, discretion, and moderation, combined
with vigour.
Men of Other things being equal, I prefer a man of letters
Letters. before one who has not made a habit of study, for
his reading wiU give him a certain equipment which
he might otherwise lack. It wiU adorn his conver
sation and supply him with the necessary historic
setting in which to place his own negotiations ;
whereas an ignorant man wiU be able to quote
nothing but the wiU of his master, and wiU thus
present his argument in a naked and unattractive
form. It must be obvious that the knowledge
gained in a lifetime of reading is an important
adjunct in diplomacy, and above aU, the reading of
history is to be preferred, for without it the ne
gotiator wiU be unable to understand the meaning
of historical aUusions made by other diplomatists,
and may thus miss the whole point at some im
portant turn in negotiations. And since it is not
enough to think aright, the diplomatist must be
able to translate his thoughts into the right language,
and conversely he must be able to pierce behind
62

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
the language of others to their true thoughts. It
may often happen that an historical allusion wiU
reveal the purpose of a minister's mind far better
than any direct argument. Herein Ues the import
ance of culture in diplomacy. The name of orator
has sometimes been given to ambassadors because
in certain past times they have been in the habit of
delivering their instructions in the form of an
eloquent address ; but diplomatic eloquence is a
very different thing from that of Parliament or the
Bar. An ambassador's speeches should contain
more sense than words, and he should studiously
avoid every affectation. His aim should be to
arouse the minds of his hearers by a sympathetic
touch,, after which it wiU be easy to dehver his
message in an appropriate way. He should there
fore at the outset think rather of what is in their
minds than of immediately expressing what is iri
his own. It is in this that true eloquence consists,
and indeed the words I have just used are the begin
ning and end of aU diplomacy.
In general his mode of address, whether he speak The Fitting
to the sovereign or to his ministers, should be .".."
° ' Address.
moderate and reserved. He should not raise his
voice but should maintain the ordinary conver
sational tone, at once simple and dignified, reveal
ing an innate respect both for his own high office
and for the person whom he is addressing. He
63

ON THE MANNER OF
should, above all things, avoid the prolix, pompous
approach which is natural to princes who attach
more importance to ceremonial than to the essence
of any matter. But if the ambassador be caUed
upon to deliver his message to a Senate or a Parlia
ment, he wiU bear in mind that the means for gain
ing the good graces of an individual and of an
assembly are by no means the same. In such
public speech he may permit himself a certain
freedom of rhetoric, but even here he must beware
of prolonging his speech beyond a tolerable Umit.
The reply of the Spartans to ambassadors from
the Isle of Samos stands as a warning for aU times
against prolixity : ' We have forgotten the begin
ning of your harangue ; we paid no heed to the
middle of it, and nothing has given us pleasure in it
except the end.' God forbid that any French
negotiator should receive so damning a rebuff !
The Well- Even at the best of times a man of good sense
stored Mmd. wjjj nQt ^ entjreiy on his native wit. He will
find that knowledge of historical precedents will
often act as a lever with which to remove obstacles
from his path. Such knowledge of history, and
particularly the true aptitude in applying it to cur
rent events, cannot be learned except by long ex
perience. Even in those cases where success has
attended the efforts of an amateur diplomatist, the
example must be regarded as an exception, for it is
64

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
a commonplace of human experience that skilled
work requires a skiUed workman. The more im
portant the business on hand, the more vital it is
that ministers of state should ensure for themselves
the services of trained men. I am weU aware that
even the greatest courts sometimes neglect this
vital precaution, and fiU their embassies with im
proper persons, mainly because the minister or the
prince had not sufficient strength of mind to resist
appeals made on iUegitimate grounds such as that
of family influence. It will usuaUy be found that
the real expert does not push himself or his claims,
and that the superior minds in diplomacy, as in other
walks of life, are not found crying their wares at every
street corner, but must be sought out with care in
their own closets. It is also to be observed that in
previous times the profession of diplomacy stood
too low in public esteem to attract the services of
first-class men — partly because higher emoluments
were to be earned elsewhere, and partly on account
of the prolonged absence from home which diplo
matic service entails.
If diplomacy be a labour in exile, the state should Diplomacy an.
see to it that it is at least an honourable exile. To Honourable
Exile.
counteract this drawback, the home government
should so reform the system of diplomacy that it
may offer attractions to the most ambitious as weU
as to the most refined spirits. There is no reason
E 65

ON THE MANNER OF
why not merely honour but adequate daily recom
pense for his services should not be offered to the
diplomatists from the very beginning of their career.
Having regard to the expenses which faU upon the
diplomatists of all ranks in their service abroad, and
in maintaining the honour of their own profession
and their country, the prince will be weU advised
to pay good salaries and in other ways to mark his
esteem of the diplomatic profession. Thus and
thus alone can a prince gather round him a diplo
matic bodyguard worthy of the name. If he
foUows this advice, his diplomatic service will
quickly outstrip all others and a deeper mutual
confidence wiU arise between himself and his
diplomatic agents upon which the success of all his
negotiations wiU rest secure. No diplomatist is less
to be envied than he who finds himself at a foreign
court bereft of the confidence of his own.
Value of a Now the equipment ojthe state in dhofomacywill
Well-Equipped he incomplete unless the diplomatic service con-
Servtce. \  .  ***  *"^  __
fains wirhraTTS-f ahks so large a nurnJbeiLof practised
and seasoned diplomatisTs that the King mayhe able
to retain" several of therrTat his side as special ad
visers in foreigrTifi^irj. In every- campaign the
true commander will take as much trouble for his
reserves as for his first line of attack, and sirmlarly
the position of reserves in diplomacy has a great
importance, for it means not only that the Minister
66

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
for Foreign Affairs wiU have at his elbow a number
of skiUed diplomatists to assist him in a moment of
crisis, but also that when one of the embassies
abroad suddenly faUs vacant his choice of a suc
cessor wiU not be too narrowly restricted. He thus
wiU be able to avoid the fatal practice, which has
prevailed too often in recent French history, of
having to choose an ambassador haphazard at the
last moment from among the courtiers and hangers-
on at the palace.
Thjtnature of the business on hand mujjja^gely-z&r Right
govern the choice of tbe amhassaHnr who is ap- Man, mJ,he
¦pjohrte^-tOjcarry it out, and if the diplomatic service
be large enough ancTyaried enough it wiU certainly
containwithin its ranks many different characters
showing a wide variety of aptitude. Thus in aU
those secret negotiations which are so necessary in
order to prepare the ground for treaties it is often
found that the ambassador himself is not the best
person to employ. It may be highly embarrassing
for him to attempt to combine such secret nego
tiations with the ordinary duties of his office, and
therefore a clever man who is not yet clothed with
the prestige of high office is a more proper agent
for this kind of secret traffic. The very fact that
the high public position of an ambassador is apt
to make the court and the general public famUiar
with his person and his face is certainly a draw-
67

ON THE MANNER OF
back to his employment on more secret affairs, and
though it is true, as we have said, that part of the
business of an ambassador is that of an honourable
spy, he should beware of doing any of the spying
himself. Most of the great events in recent diplo
matic history have been prepared by ministers sent
in secret. The Peace of Miinster, one of the most
intricate negotiations I have ever known, was not
reaUy the work of that vast concourse of ambassadors
and envoys which met there and appended their
signatures to the document. The essential clauses
of that treaty were discussed and drawn up by a
secret agent of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria sitting
at a table in Paris with Cardinal Mazarin. In a
similar fashion the Peace of the Pyrenees was con
cluded as the result of secret negotiations at Lyons
between Cardinal Mazarin and Pimentel, the
secret envoy of the Spanish King ; and finaUy, the
Peace of Ryswick, to which I was a party through
out the negotiation, was devised by the same secret
diplomacy before its public ratification in HoUand
the year 1697.
Each Embassy Now the bearing of these considerations upon
cftfaWMe t^e orgainsation °f diplomacy is fairly clear. If it is
Service. only a question of maintaining good relations
between one state and another and of rendering a
more or less correct account of aU that happens at
a foreign court, a diplomatist with a couple of secre-
68

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
taries wiU suffice, and indeed in ordinary times it is
undoubtedly better not to have more than one
diplomatist of the same rank at any foreign court.
But it is equaUy obvious that there are occasions
when it is of the highest advantage to maintain a
more elaborately equipped mission at a foreign court,
and even to send two or three diplomatists of higher
rank to assist in the conduct of negotiations and in
the other activities of diplomacy. This is of course
true whenever a peace conference is about to meet,
for negotiations of that character require great
preparation beforehand, and it would be impossible
for a single diplomatist to overtake aU the work
which is necessary in such circumstances together \
with the manifold duties of his own office. In a I
certain sense the embassy itself should be a repro- !
duction in miniature of the whole diplomatic /
service. There is undoubtedly room in all the larger em- Variety of
bassies for a great variety of talent, which wiU find a nt'
an appropriate field of action if the head of the
mission is wise enough to give the younger men their
chance. For instance, it sometimes happens that
an embassy wiU find it is in a country distracted by
civil war, and then the best practice of the am
bassador wiU be severely tested. If he has en
couraged his juniors to form relationships of various
kinds with different parties in the country for the
69

ON THE MANNER OF
purpose of acquiring information, he will find that
on the outbreak even of so distracting a commotion
as civil war he has the means within his own em-
, bassy of keeping touch with both sides in the dispute.
NaturaUy he wUl find it a difficult and delicate task
not to be embroiled with either side ; but he will
certainly find all his previous trouble amply repaid
1 by the fulness of the information which he receives
from both sides. On no account should he aUow
prejudice regarding social rank or political opinion
to stand in the way of the formation of useful
relations between members of his staff and different
parties in the country. He himself is debarred
from such action, and indeed if he were alone with
nothing but one or two secretaries to assist him,
it would be quite impossible for him to know what
was passing in either camp, and he would have to
rely on second-hand information which he was not
in a position to test. Still worse would be his case
if, haying become the personal friend of the chief of
one of the parties, he should find the other party
coming into power, and thereafter treating him as
an enemy.
Merit the only Such considerations must ever be borne in mind
standard. fy the Minister for Foreign Affairs. But least of
aU men should he be influenced by regard for rank,
social station, or political opinion in his choice of
attaches and other persons in any rank in diplo-
70

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
macy. EspeciaUy where he is about to despatch
an embassy to a state under popular government,
he wiU remember that the ambassador wiU require
many agents to keep him in touch with aU the
different parties. It is therefore to be observed
that those embassies which are sent to popularly
governed states must be chosen with greater care
and equipped with a more varied staff than those
despatched to a foreign court where the government
rests entirely in the hands of the King.
Before discussing in detail the duties of ne- The Diplo-
gotiators, I shaU describe the different titles which ma,ic Hier'
... archy.
they receive, and the functions and privileges at- Ambassadors.
tached to their office. Negotiators are of two
kinds : of the first and second order. Those of the
first order are Ambassadors Extraordinary and
Ambassadors Ordinary. Those of the second are
Envoys Extraordinary and Residents. Ambas
sadors extraordinary receive certain honours and
distinctions not accorded to ambassadors- ordin
ary. The ambassadors extraordinary of crowned
heads are lodged and entertained in France for
three days, by order of the King, in residences set
aside for them, whUe ambassadors ordinary are
not so entertained by the King, though in other
respects they enjoy the same honour and privileges
as the former. These privileges consist in the
enjoyment under international law of immunity 7i

ON THE MANNER OF
and security, in the right to remain covered before
the King in public audiences because they represent
their masters, in the privilege of being borne in the
King's coach, and of driving their own coaches into
the inner court of the Louvre. They have still
their own dais in the audience-chamber, while their
wives have a seat by the Queen ; and they are per
mitted to drape the driving seat of their coaches
with a special saddle cloth. In France the am
bassadors of the Dukes of Savoy enjoyed the same
honours as those of the crowned heads of Europe.
Abroad the King's ambassadors enjoy different
ceremonial rights according to the customs estab
lished in different courts. The French ambas
sador in Rome, for instance, gives his hand to the
ambassadors of certain crowned heads and of
Venice, but there are certain ambassadors of other
sovereigns who do not receive this courtesy,
though at other courts it is accorded to them by
the French ambassador. The French ambassador
takes first rank in all ceremonies in Rome after the
ambassador of the Emperor. These two am
bassadors receive the same salary, and are treated
otherwise on a footing of equality. There are
several courts at which the French ambassadors
give their hand to certain princes of equality in the
country': in Spain, for instance, we find the
Grandees ; in London, the Peers of the Realm ;
72

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
in Sweden and in Poland the Senators and Grand
Officers ; but to the negotiators of the rank of
envoy this courtesy is not accorded. The King
does not send an ambassador to the Electorates of
Germany, but conducts his negotiation with them
merely by means of envoys.
Envoys extraordinary are public ministers who Envoys Ex-
- .... .... traordinary.
do not possess the right oi presentation which
attaches alone to the title of ambassador, but they
enjoy the same security and immunity under the
law of nations. They do not make a state entry
into a foreign capital in the manner of ambassadors,
but are presented in audiences to the King by the
diplomatic usher, who fetches them from their
private residence in one of the King's coaches ;
they speak to his Majesty standing and uncovered,
the King himself being seated and covered. The
Emperor on the other hand receives the envoys
of the King standing and covered, and remains in
this condition throughout the entire audience,
the envoy alone of aU those present standing
uncovered. . . . The title of plenipotentiary is
sometimes given to envoys as weU as to ambas
sadors according to the occasion. For instance,
the ministers whom the King maintains at the
Diet of Ratisbon receive the title of plenipoten
tiary although they are not ambassadors. Resi
dents are also public ministers, but this title has been
73

ON THE MANNER OF
somewhat degraded since the distinction was
drawn both at the French Court and at the Court
of the Emperor between them and envoys, with
the result that nearly aU foreign negotiators in
France who bore the title of resident have relin
quished it by order of their masters, and have
assumed that of envoy extraordinary. None the
less the title is stiU found in Rome and in other
courts and republics where the residents are
treated as envoys.
Secret Envoys. There are certain secret envoys who are only
received in private audiences but enjoy the same
immunity as public envoys, and from the moment
in which they present their credentials are recog
nised as pubhc ministers. There are also secre
taries and agents attached to the court for various
forms of public business, but they are not received
in audience by the King in France ; they do aU
their business with the Secretary of State or the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and though them
selves not recorded as ministers have also enjoyed
the protection and immunity under international
law which is accorded to foreign ambassadors.
No subject of the King can be received as minister
or representative of a foreign prince, nor can they
conduct his affairs in France except as agents of
the Secretary of State, the only exception being
the ambassador from Malta, who is usually a French
74

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
Member of the Order, and to whom the King
accords the right to remain covered in public
audience as representative of the Grand Master
of the Order, who himself is recognised as possess
ing sovereign rights.
Only princes and sovereign states have the right Agents of
to clothe their messengers with the character of
ambassador, envoy, or resident. The agents of
smaU states or of the free states are caUed deputies ;
they are not pubhc ministers, and they are subject
to the jurisdiction of the country like any private
citizen ; they do not enjoy immunity under
the law of nations, though by custom deputies
from provinces and from free cities are accorded
immunity and security in practice during their de
putation as a proof of the good faith of the prince
in negotiation. In the same manner private
citizens provided with passports may travel free
from molestation. There are certain states in
Italy which, though neither sovereign Powers nor
subject to another sovereign, have yet conserved
the right to send deputies with the title of am
bassador to the sovereign under whose sway they
hve. These are the cities of Bologna and Ferrara,
which send diplomatic deputations to the Pope in
this manner, and the city of Messina, which retained
the right of sending ambassadors to the King of
Spain before the last rising. There are similarly 75

ON THE MANNER OF
several Spanish cities which do not now retain this
right. These ambassadors of states or subject
provinces resemble in some manner those whom
the Roman people used to receive from their own
free provinces, from the cities and colonies subject
to Roman rule, to whom the name of Legati was
given, a name which stiU occurs in aU Latin diplo
matic documents. There are certain free cities,
such as Hamburg and Liibeck, which send com
missaries to certain princes ; but as a rule they are
merely commercial agents engaged upon such
matters of business as the purchase and sale of mer
chandise and the conditions of letters of exchange.
Precedence. Now although the position of an ambassador
extraordinary is something more honourable than
that of the ambassador ordinary they are practi-
caUy treated alike if there is an equality between
the princes whom they represent. The title of
extraordinary gives no other superiority over the
ambassador ordinary except in pure matters of
precedence. Envoys extraordinary and residents
stand in somewhat of the same relation, that is to
say, that the resident of a prince of higher rank
takes precedence over an envoy extraordinary of a
prince of lesser rank. It is not, however, the same
between ambassadors and envoys. The envoy of a
crowned head must yield the place of honour to the
ambassador of a lesser sovereign as in the foUowing
76

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
example. An envoy of the Emperor at the French
Court some years ago took his seat at a public
entertainment in the place which was reserved for
the ambassador ordinary of the Duke of Savoy, and
asserted his right to it on the ground of the differ
ence in rank between their respective masters ; but
the dispute was decided in favour of the ambas
sador as holding superior rank without regard
to the difference in the rank of their respective
princes ; and the envoy of the Emperor was obliged
to leave the position which he had taken and yield
it to the ambassador of Savoy.
The title of exceUency has been given to am- The Title of
bassadors extraordinary and ordinary, but it is not Excellency-
accorded to envoys unless they claim it on some
other ground, as, for instance, that they are ministers
of state or senators, or other high officers at a royal
court. This title of exceUency is not in common
use at the French Court, as it is in Spain, Italy,
and Germany, and the kingdoms of the north, and
you wiU only find foreigners in France addressing
the King's ministers or other officers of the court
with that title. But foreign negotiators of aU kinds
are addressed by that title as a mark of courtesy
to the rank which they hold.
The Court of Rome has three different degrees of Legates,
titles by which to mark the rank of her ministers in r uncws' an
J Internuncios.
foreign courts. The first is that of Legato a latere,
77

ON THE MANNER OF
the second is that of Ordinary or Extraordinary
Nuncio, and the third is the Internuncio. The
first of these is always a cardinal, to whom as a rule
the Pope gives very wide powers both for the affairs
of papal diplomacy and for the administration of
dispensations and other privileges of the Holy See.
They are received at aU Catholic Courts with extra
ordinary honours : in France at their presentation
they are attended by the princes of the blood ; they
remain seated and covered in audience with the
King, whereas both ambassadors and even papal
nuncios speak to him standing. These legates
have a further honour accorded neither to nuncios
nor ambassadors in France, namely the right to
eat at the King's table at the banquet of reception
given by his Majesty in their honour. The Cross
is carried before them to mark their ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, which, however, is strictly limited in
France, and is recognised in certain specified cases
for the verification of Papal BuUs at the Parliament
of Paris, to which they must present them before
attempting to put them into force. Nuncios both
ordinary and extraordinary are usuaUy prelates of
the rank of archbishop or bishop. They are received
and presented by a prince of the royal blood at their
first and final audiences with the King, no difference
being made between the nuncio extraordinary and
the nuncio ordinary except that the former takes
78

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
precedence of the latter if there are two present
in the same Chamber. None the less the prelates
of the Court of Rome prefer the title of nuncio
ordinary at the Courts of France, Spain, and of the
Emperor, because it is a shorter and a surer road
to the cardinal's hat, which is the goal of their
aspirations. As regards their appointment, when
the Pope desires to send a nuncio ordinary to the
French Court, he presents the French ambassador
in Rome with a list of several dignitaries of the
Church, from which the King may exclude those
who are not agreeable to him. The papal nuncios
in France give their hand to the Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, but not to bishops or arch
bishops received on ceremonial vists. They have
no ecclesiastical jurisdiction in France in the sense
in which they possess it in Vienna, in Spain, in
Portugal, in Poland, and in many other Catholic
states, where they are recognised as valid judges in
various cases, and have the power of dispensation
in the same way as the archbishops or the diocesan
bishop. In France they are only entitled to receive
the confession of faith of those whom the King has
nominated to bishoprics and to inquire regarding
their hfe and habits.
Ambassadors, envoys, and residents aU possess Diplomatic
the right to exercise freely the religion of their "'ineses-
King, and to admit to such ordinances their own
79

ON THE MANNER OF
nationals living in the foreign country. In matters
of law diplomatists of rank are not subject to the
jurisdiction of the judges of that foreign country
where they reside, and both they and their household
enjoy what is caUed extra-territoriality, their em
bassy being regarded as it were the house of the
King himself, and as being an asylum for his
nationals. But this privilege carries its corre
sponding duty. No blame can be too severe for
those ministers abroad who abuse this right of
asylum in sheltering under their roof evilly disposed
persons, either those condemned to death for crime,
or those who are engaged upon any business which
renders them unworthy of the protection of the
King. The sagacious diplomat wiU not compro
mise the authority of his master for any such odious
reason as the attempt to confer immunity upon a
criminal. It must suffice for him that his own
right of asylum is kept inviolate, and he must never
employ it except on extraordinary occasions in his
master's service, and never indeed for his own
private profit. On the other hand, the King must
expressly forbid his judges, bailiffs, or private
citizens to violate the law of nations in the person
of a foreign envoy, who is always recognised as under
the protection of international law. And where-
ever insult is offered to a foreign envoy, the prince
himself must repair it without fail in the same
80

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
manner in which he would expect return for a like
insult to his own minister abroad.
It sometimes occurs that ministers abuse the right Abuse of
of free passage, which they possess for their own mmunlty-
provisions and the equipment necessary for their
establishment, to carry on a clandestine trade from
which they draw large profits by lending their
name to fraud. This kind of profit is utterly
unworthy of the public minister, and makes his
name stink in the nostrUs of the King to whom he
is sent as weU as to his own prince. A wise minister
may be weU content to enjoy the large privileges
to which he is entitled in every foreign country
without attempting to abuse them for his own
private profit, or by countenancing any fraud which
is committed under the protection of his name.
The Spanish Government was obliged a few years
ago severely to regulate these privileges for all
foreign envoys residing in Madrid, and the Repubhc
of Genoa found it necessary to adopt the same
somewhat humiliating precautions in order to
prevent diplomatistc from engaging in illicit traffic
The privileges conferred by the law of nations
upon envoys abroad permit fuU freedom in their
proper duty of labouring to discover aU that passes
in the council-chamber of his Majesty, and to take
steps to form close relations with those best able to
supply this information, but they are not to be
F 81

ON THE MANNER OF
interpreted as covering any attempt to form a
conspiracy against the public peace ; for the same
international right which covers the person of a
diplomatist must also be held to cover the peace
and security of the kingdom to which he is accredited.
Therefore the diplomatist will be on his guard
against any action which may seem to lend the
authority of his name or office to revolutionary
plots or to other hostile acts against the peace of
the realm. Should he neglect this precaution, he
may find himself treated as an enemy.
Henry if. and Charles Emanuel the first Duke of Savoy main-
tie u e of tained certain connections in France with some of
Savor.
the principal peers at the Court of Henry iv., and
engaged with them in plots and cabals. He at
tended the French Court under the pretext of
paying his respects to the King, but in reahty with
the intention of spreading his own influence and
fortifying his own designs, which were to prevent
Henry iv. from forcing him to restore the Mar-
quisate of Saluse which he had usurped. The
King discovered the Duke's intrigue, and held a
cabinet meeting on the matter. The Council was
of opinion that the Duke had come under a false
show of friendship in order to disturb the peace of
the realm, that the King was therefore fuUy within
his rights in laying hands upon him as upon an
enemy, that in consequence of his own acts the
82

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
Duke could claim no immunity, and that therefore
the King would be justified in preventing him from
leaving France until he had restored the marquisate
in question. But the King did not agree with his
ministers, but said : ' The Duke came to visit me
on my parole. If he has failed in his duty I do not
wish to imitate so evil an example, and I have so
fine a precedent in my own house that I am com-
peUed to follow it rather than to foUow the Duke.'
In this he spoke of Francis i., who in a similar case
gave the Emperor Charles v. a free passage through
France without insisting that he should relinquish
the Duchy of Milan ; and although several of the
King's counseUors at that time were of opinion
that he should profit by the opportunity to compel
the Emperor to restore the duchy, which indeed
he had several times promised to do, Francis i.
preferred to maintain his own honour above every
other interest. Henry iv. acted on the same
principle ; he permitted the Duke of Savoy to
depart unmolested after heaping honours and enter
tainments upon him, but the moment the Duke
had returned to his own Court the King demanded
the restitution of the Marquisate of Saluse accord
ing to his promise. The Duke refused, whereupon
the King invaded Savoy, occupied the whole duchy,
and compeUed him to keep his word, not only to the
extent of the marquisate but of several other parts
83

ON THE MANNER OF

which he was compeUed to cede to the King by a
treaty concluded at Lyons, on the 17th January
1601.
Reparation Those who think that one may lay forcible hands
for Abuse of Up0n a sovereign who has broken his word wiU easily
Immunity. j. o /
persuade themselves that in a similar case no inter
national law can protect the person of a mere
minister ; but those who are really weU instructed
in the law of nations and in the question of sove
reign rights are of opinion that a foreign envoy
being subject to the laws of the country where he
lives it is not possible to put into motion against
him the machinery of domestic justice, that the only
redress for wrongs done by him is an appeal to his
master, and that if his master refuses reparation
the responsibility must he with him and not on his
minister abroad who merely executes his order.
This privilege, be it remembered, extends not
merely to the ambassadors themselves but often to
their servants, as is iUustrated in the foUowing
example.
TheMerargue King Henry iv., whom one may take as a model for
Conspiracy. prulceSj was warned by the Duke de Guise of
the Merargue Conspiracy in which a Provencal
squire named Merargue had entered into an arrange
ment with Dom Balthazar de Zuniga, the Spanish
ambassador, to hand over the city of MarseiUes to
the Spaniards at a moment of profound peace. The
84

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
King arrested not only Merargue, but also the
private secretary to the Spanish ambassador, a
man named Bruneau. Both were convicted of
conspiracy. Merargue was executed, and the King
handed over the private secretary to his own am
bassador, saying that he would be glad to see
Bruneau sent across the frontier, though he himself
reserved the right to demand satisfaction from the
Spanish King for Bruneau's misdemeanour.
Now if princes had the right to proceed against immunity a y
foreign envoys at their courts, the latter would Functi0n "J
Sovereignty,
never feel themselves secure, because then it would
be easy to get rid of any of them on flimsy pretexts,
and the precedent once set up in a good case would
surely be foUowed in many cases where nothing but
idle suspicion could be brought against the envoy
in question. This indeed would be the end of aU
diplomacy. Of course it is true that a minister
who breaks faith cannot expect others to keep faith
with him, especiaUy if he is engaged upon con
spiracies or any of those practices against the prince
and safety of the realm of which I have spoken.
But even in such a case the wise prince wiU not
break the law of nations, which should always be
respected. He wiU rather use his good offices at
the court whence the erring envoy came in order
to have him withdrawn. At the same time it is
always permissible to place a watch upon a faithless 85

ON THE MANNER OF

Its Abuse
undermines TrueDiplomacy.

ambassador, in order to hinder him in practices
which would otherwise do harm to the state, and
of course on the other part a wise ambassador
will certainly avoid faUing into such intrigues, for
the very protection which he enjoys under the
law of nations is a guarantee of his person and
of his good behaviour. Benefits under it are reci
procal, and the reciprocal duties which it imposes
should be scrupulously observed. If they are not,
no law of nations can guarantee an intriguing
ambassador for ever against the fury of the populace
once they are aroused by suspicion.
On aU these grounds the minister is to be pitied
who receives commands from his master to form
cabals in a foreign state, and he will need aU his skill
and courage to carry out such commands without
being trapped in the process. It has been truly
said that there is no service which a prince may not
expect from good subjects and faithful ministers,
but such obedience cannot be held to cover any
action against the laws of God or of justice, which
do not countenance for one moment attempts on
the life of a prince, or against the security of the
state, or any other unfriendly act committed under
cover of the protecting title of ambassador. A
good ambassador will always discourage plans of
this kind, and if his master persists in them he may
and should demand his recaU, and retire into ob-
86

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
scurity, jealously guarding his sovereign's evil secret.
In justice to most reigning sovereigns it must be
said that few of them engage in designs of this kind.
The vast majority of intrigues and cabals are
made in their name in foreign states, or are sug
gested to them by their ministers or by astute
diplomatists, who undertake to carry them out,
and through them to confer great benefits upon the
prince himself. But these diplomatists are often
the first to faU into traps set by their own hand, and
are then objects of pity to no man. Numerous
examples of this kind can be quoted, and I think
no one wiU chaUenge the truth of my observation
when I say that in nine cases out of ten diplo
matists who give such advice are actuated more by
personal ambition or petty spite than by the true
interests of the nation they serve.
But let me not be misunderstood, there is aU the Secret Service
difference between the attempt to debauch the ^° AbuuoS
\ Immunity.
subjects of a sovereign prince in order to ensnare
them in conspiracy against him, and the legitimate^
endeavour to use every opportunity for acquiring/
information. The latter practice has always been
permissible, and indeed is a necessary part o|
diplomacy. No criticism can faU upon a foreign
envoy who successfuUy adopts the practice ; the only
culprit in such a case is the citizen of a foreign
state who from corrupt motives seUs information 87

ON THE MANNER OF

The Creden
tials of an
Ambassador.

abroad. Apart from considerations of inter
national law the interest of the pubhc peace
demands the preservation of the privileges of
foreign envoys, for otherwise wars would be even
more frequent than they are, because no prince
would permit insults to his ministers to go un
avenged. They are rightly resented, and the prince
may pay heavily in his own peace of mind and the
repose of his subjects for a moment of passion.
He need do no more, however, than demand satis
faction for the bad conduct of any foreign envoy,
and if he has just cause of complaint he wiU pro
bably receive it. In any case the dismissal or recaU
of an ambassador wiU be read as a pointed lesson to
aU his coUeagues in diplomacy, who will then under
stand that the price of evil conduct is the humiliation
^of dismissal.
When an ambassador is sent to a foreign court, his
master gives him a letter addressed to the foreign
prince requesting him to give the same credence
to the bearer of the letter as to its writer. This
despatch is caUed a letter of credence, which thus
establishes the identity of its bearer and stands as
the haU-mark of his office. In France there are
two sorts of letters of credence : one caUed Lettre
de Cachet, which is despatched and countersigned
by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and
sometimes also caUed Lettre de la Chancellerie. The
88

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
other is written by the hand of one of the royal
private secretaries, and signed by the King himself ;
it is countersigned by any minister, and is usuaUy
handed direct in private audience to the foreign
prince to whom it is addressed. The former type
of letter is presented in ceremonial public audience.
When a negotiator is appointed by his prince to a
free state or an assembly, which for this purpose is
treated as though it were a court, he does not receive
letters of credence, but his character and identity
are fuUy established in his fuU powers, which he
must exchange with ministers on arriving. The
document known as fuU powers is an authorisation
by the prince to his representative abroad to under
take aU kinds of public business, the results of which
the sovereign himself agrees to accept by the proxy
of his minister ; but as a rule in such full powers
the particular matter under discussion is care
fuUy specified, and the authority to act is confined
to it.
There are two kinds of full powers : one deriving Full Powers.
directly from the sovereign and the other from his
deputies, that is to say, his ministers of state who
have sufficient authority to nominate plenipoten
tiaries in his absence. Such powers are particularly
desirable where the states he far apart from one
another. In such negotiations as those between
the Court of Madrid and the Low Countries, or the
89

ON THE MANNER OF
different Italian states, the advantage of this pro
cedure is obvious. . . . Passports are of course
merely letters which establish the identity and
good faith of the person as distinct from the repre
sentative of state, and they are given even in time
of war in order to secure a safe passage between
countries at war for ministers engaged upon ne
gotiation which may lead to peace. . . .
instructions. The instruction is a written document contain
ing a statement of the principal intentions of the
prince or the state ; it is to be regarded as a general
aid to memory and a general guide to conduct.
It is secret and must be retained under the control
of him who receives it, though of course there are
occasions on which he wiU receive the command to
communicate specific portions of it to a foreign
minister or a foreign prince. Such communication
is regarded as a rule as a mark of special confidence,
but on the other hand it often happens that two
instructions are given, one the ostensible, that is
to say it is drawn up in such terms that it can be
shown to other princes, and the other secret, which
contains the true and final intentions of the prince
himself. But even the latter type of instruction is
subject to alteration by the daily despatches which
the negotiator receives from home, and which ought
to be read as so many new instructions drawn up
in accordance with the reports which he has trans-
90

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
mitted to his own court. It foUows therefore that
the manner of reports which a negotiator despatches
to his home government wiU have a large influence
upon the type of instruction which he receives from
time to time.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs may prefer not Oral
, . . . . . r i • i Instructions.
to put the instructions and intentions of his royal
master into writing but to deliver them oraUy,
because then he has a greater freedom of inter
pretation according to circumstances as they arise,
than he would have if he were bound by the written
word. There is further a danger that such in
structions when committed to paper may be wit
tingly or unwittingly left in the hands of some
foreign diplomatist belonging to the opposite party.
The risks thus incurred are too obvious to need
any emphasis of mine. Whereas if the instructions
be left in oral form, they can at least be repudiated
if a dangerous situation were to arise from their
being made known to an enemy prince. There are
of course occasions where it is impossible not to
commit to writing instructions given to a pleni
potentiary, but it is a good rule in aU negotiation
to delay the issue of formal and binding instructions
to as late a date in the negotiations as possible, so
that the general hnes upon which it is likely to pro
ceed may be present to the mind of the minister who
draws them up for the guidance of the ambassador. 9i

ON THE MANNER OF
It is not permissible without a serious violation
of the law of nations to compel a minister to show
his instructions in order to prove his good faith,
nor is it permissible for a minister to communicate
it in any form without an express command from
his master, for he can fuUy rely on his letter of
credence to establish both his identity and his good
faith ; besides which he is equipped with full
powers in which the business of his negotiation is
always fully described.
Discretionary .-Now such instructions may be as judicious and
astute as can be imagined, but their use wiU Ue in
the wise interpretation by the diplomatist himself ;
and, as I have pointed out, the really able ne
gotiator wiU always know how best to execute
his master's commands so that the instructions
received from him may be drawn up on infor
mation which is both up-to-date and adequate.
Thus it is that while the final responsibility for all
success or failure in diplomacy would seem to rest
upon the King and his ministers at home, it is none
the less true that since these ministers can only act
upon information from abroad, the influence which
an enlightened diplomatist can exercise upon the
actions and designs of the home government is very
large. Incapable men acting abroad wiU make
nothing even of the most briUiant instructions ;
capable men by the accuracy and sagacity of their
92

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
reports and suggestions can do much to improve
even the most mediocre instructions, and therefore
the responsibility for diplomatic action is in reality
shared in about equal degree between the home
government and its servants abroad. The home
government cannot know when the opportunity for
appropriate action wiU arise, and therefore the
reports on foreign situations which are transmitted
in despatches from diplomats abroad ought to be
so designed as to present as far as possible an
inteUigent description of events.
What an astonishing diversity and inequality Value of the
there is in the conduct of men. No one, not even
a minister of state, would think of building a house
without the assistance of the best architect and the
best workmen whom he could find; but it is the
commonest occurrence to find that those who are
charged with the transaction of very important
state business, upon which the weal or woe of the
whole realm depends, never think of entrusting it
to trained minds, but give it to the first comer,
whether he be a cunning architect or a mere hewer
of stone. Therefore ministers and other persons in
authority are culpable in a high degree if they do
not secure for the foreign service of the state the
most capable and sagacious men. For the errors
in diplomacy sometimes bring more calamitous
results than mistakes in other walks of life, and
93

ON THE MANNER OF
unless the negotiator can inteUigently discern the
coming event, he may plunge himself, his master,
and his native land in irretrievable disaster.
incompetence It is a crime against the public safety not to up-
e arent of root }ncapacjty wherever it is discovered, or to
aUow an incompetent diplomatist to remain one
moment longer than necessary in a place where
competency is sorely needed. Faults in domestic
policy are often more easily remedied than mistakes
in foreign policy. There are many factors in
foreign affairs which lie beyond the control of the
ministers of any given state, and aU foreign action
requires greater circumspection, greater know
ledge, and far greater sagacity than is demanded in
home affairs. Therefore the government cannot
exercise too great a care in its choice of men
to serve abroad. In making such a choice the
Foreign Minister must set his face like a flint against
all family influence and private pressure, for nepo
tism is the damnation of diplomacy. He is in some
sense the guarantor to his Majesty of those whom
he presents as diplomatists. Their good success
wiU do him honour, their failure will fall with
redoubled force upon his head, and may require
herculean efforts by him in order to repair the
damage it has caused. Hence it is of the first
interest, both for the Foreign Minister himself and
for the weU-being of the state, to see that the high
94

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
public offices of diplomacy are not fiUed by the
intrigues and personal cabals which reign at every
court, and which often place in the King's hands
unworthy instruments of his policy.
Now when a diplomatist has been appointed to The Diploma-
a foreign post his first care should be to ask for the *"'. ^ef/f0"
despatches of his predecessor in order that he may a Foreign
inform himself exactly of the state of affairs with Mlsmn-
which he wiU have to deal. He will thus be able
to pick up the thread and to make use both of the
knowledge and of the different personal relation
ships which have gathered round the embassy
during his predecessor's term of office. And as all
public affairs are like a great network, one linked
with another, it is of the first importance that a
diplomatist proceeding to a foreign post should be a
complete master of recent history both in regard to
his own state and in regard to the relations which
exist between the country of his new service and
aU neighbouring countries. Therefore, when the
newly appointed diplomatist has read with care the
despatches of his predecessor, he should make
notes upon them, endeavouring to foresee the
difficulties which he wiU meet both in such trivial
matters as a novel ceremonial, or in the more
weighty business of state, so that he may be able
to discuss them wifh his own Foreign Minister, and
thus receive what enlightenment he can. 95

ON THE MANNER OF
He must study Now, no matter how far-seeing a minister may
irTn OMc ^e> *** *s impossible for him to foresee everything or
to give such ample and at the same time precise
instructions to his negotiators as to guide them in
all circumstances which may arise. It is therefore
of the first importance that the newly appointed
diplomatist travelling to a far country should devote
aU his time before his departure to the discovery
/ of the real intentions and designs of his own Foreign
Office. In a word, he should saturate his mind with
the thoughts of his master. He should not only
consult those who have discharged diplomatic duties
at the foreign court to which he is about to proceed,
but should make it his especial care to keep touch
with those who have lived in the country in any
quality whatsoever, and to acquire from them all
the knowledge which they may possess. Even the
humblest of such persons may be able to give him
information which will help him to regulate his
conduct abroad. And before his departure he
should certainly strike up an acquaintance with
the ambassador representing the country to which
he is about to proceed, in order that he may get from
him private letters of recommendation, and further,
in order that he may persuade him of his own
earnest desire to do all in his power to establish
good relations between the two states. He should
let it be known to the foreign ambassador in ques-
96

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
tion that he will lose no opportunity of bearing
witness to the success of his mission and to the
esteem which he has won at home. In so doing
he will be able rapidly to acquire new and powerful
friends in his new sphere of labour. For it is a
commonplace of human experience that men will
do as they are done by : reciprocity is the surest
foundation of friendship.
The careful diplomatist wiU pay the same atten- Choke of a
tion to the choice of his domestics as to more im- Sta^
portant subjects. Those about him must do him
credit. A weU-ordered household served by reliable
and weU-mannered persons is a good advertisement,
both of the ambassador and of the country whence
he comes, and in order that they may have no
excuse for ill-regulated conduct, he should set a
high example before them in his own person. His
choice of a private secretary is perhaps the most
important of aU, for if he be light-headed, frivolous
or indiscreet, he may do his master irreparable
harm ; and if he be a person hable to get into debt,
his embarrassment may be the cause of very serious
trouble. Some years ago the private secretary
of a French ambassador sold the private cipher of
the embassy for a large sum in order to wipe- out
his debts. Thus the ambassador's despatches were
intercepted and read, with very grave results upon
the relations between the two countries, in spite of
o 97

ON THE MANNER OF
the fact that the obvious interest of both lay in the
same direction. The necessity for having faithful
and able men as secretaries has given rise to the be
lief that it would be very useful to establish them
in rank as a part of the public service of the King,
and thus to restore a custom which was abolished
some time ago in France. It would be a desirable
practice, for thereby a large body of men might
be trained in the diplomatic service of the Crown
from whom ambassadors and envoys could be
drawn. This is the practice in several foreign
countries, and there is no doubt that it leads to
the improvement of the whole diplomatic service.
For if the secretaries and attaches are selected and
paid by the King's government they wiU tend to
acquire a careful efficiency and esprit de corps which
wiU be the best protection for his secrets. And it
is obvious that as long as the choice of such persons
is left to the personal decision of the ambassador
alone there is always a risk that he will not be able
to offer a sufficient sum to command the services of
good men. Thus the adequate payment and proper
official recognition of such junior diplomatists is
a necessary part of any true reform of the foreign
service, and it would certainly be a great reUef to
most ambassadors to take the responsibility of choice
off their shoulders as well as the burden of paying
secretaries for their services. The state wiU cer-
98

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
tainly be weU repaid if such a policy as I suggest
be adopted, for diplomacy wiU then become the
school in which good workmen will rapidly learn
the use of their tools.
On arrival at a foreign court a negotiator should First steps at
make himself and his mission known to the proper ^l^"5"
authorities at the earliest possible moment, and
request a private audience with the prince in order
that he may establish contact immediately, and
thus prepare the way for good relations between
his master and the foreign sovereign. When he
has taken the necessary steps for this purpose
he should be in no hurry to embark upon any
important steps but should rather study the
terrain. For this purpose he should remain a
watchful, silent observer of the habits of the court
and of the government, and if he be in a
country where the prince is really the ruler, he
should study with the greatest assiduity the whole
life and habits of the latter ; for policy is not merely
a matter of high impersonal design, it is a vast com
plexity in which the inclinations, the judgments,
the virtues and the vices of the prince himself wiU
play a large part. Occasions will constantly arise
in which the adroit negotiator who has equipped
himself with this- knowledge will be able to use it
with the highest possible effect. And he should
test his own conclusions by comparing notes dis-
99

ON THE MANNER OF
creetly with other foreign negotiators of the same
court, especially if they have had a long residence
there. Up to a certain point co-operation between
foreign ambassadors is not only permissible but
desirable and necessary. And since no prince, not
even the most autocratic, discharges the duties of
government entirely by himself without confiding
in one or more favoured ministers, the negotiator
should make it his business to know much of the
ministers and confidants surrounding the King who
have his fuUest confidence, for in the same manner
as described above personal qualities, opinions,
passions, likes, and dislikes are aU relevant subjects
of study, and should be carefully observed by every
negotiator who means business.
Reiationswith When a foreign envoy arrives at a court and has
Colleagues. Deen received by the prince, he should inform all
the other members of the Corps Diplomatique
either by a squire of his suite or by a secretary.
They wiU then pay him their first visit, but he will
receive no visits until he has gone through the for
mality of announcing to each in turn his own arrival ;
and at a court where there are ambassadors of
several kings, each on arrival should pay his respects
first of aU to the French ambassador, who every
where takes first rank. The Spaniards, who adopted
every form of chicane for a whole century in order
to avoid the recognition of French precedence,
100

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
which for that matter is an immemorial right of
the French King, 'finaUy recognised it by the public
declaration, made by Philip iv. to his Majesty in
1662 by the Marquis de la Fuente, the Spanish
ambassador in Paris, which arose out of the violent
dispute in London between the Count d'Estrade
and the Baron de Vatville, after which no Spanish
ambassador would consent to be present at any
ceremony attended by the French ambassador.
Various other attempts have been made to dispute
French supremacy, but with no result. . . .
After he has fully informed himself of aU such Report of First
matters and placed himself in such a position as to mtresstons-
know immediately whether the prince has changed
his mind or tranferred his confidence from one
servant to another, he should set aU these things
down faithfuUy in a despatch to his home govern
ment, presenting a fuU picture of the court as he
sees it, and at the same time setting down the con
clusions which he has drawn from his observations.
He should not fail to indicate the methods by which
he proposes to act, or the means he proposes to use,
in order to carry out the commands which he has
received. At the same time he will not fail to keep
his own knowledge up to date, and to use it for
finding and keeping open every possible avenue of
approach to the prince to whom he is accredited,
or to his ministers and favourites. There is no
101

ON THE MANNER OF
doubt that the surest and best way in which the
negotiator can establish good relations is to prove
to both courts that their union is of great mutual
advantage. It is the essential design of diplomacy
to confer such a mutual advantage, and to carry
policy to success by securing the co-operation in it
of those who might otherwise be its opponents.
Success won by force or by fraud stands upon a weak
foundation. Diplomatic success, on the other
hand, won by methods which confer reciprocal
benefits on both parties, must be regarded not only
as firmly founded, but as the sure promise of other
successes to come. I am not so foolish as to sup
pose, however, that this method can be applied
in every situation. There are times when it is
necessary for the negotiator to exploit the hatreds,
passions, and jealousies of those with whom he deals,
and therefore occasion wiU arise when it is "easier
and more fruitful to appeal to prejudice rather than
to any estimate of the true and permanent interests
of those concerned. As we have observed above,
both kings and nations often plunge into reckless
courses of policy under the impulse of passion, and
as a rule throw overboard all consideration of their
veritable interests.
Characterand The high elevation of crowned heads does not
ims of t e prevent them from being human ; and indeed in
foreign -r ° '
Prince. some ways it lays them open to certain weaknesses
102

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
of which lesser men by reason of their position are
largely free. There is a certain pride of position,
a certain arrogant self-esteem, which is only to be
found in highly placed persons, and which is most
marked in kings and ministers. On this account,
and on account of the actual power their exalted
position puts into their hands, kings are open to
persuasion and flattery in a way in which men of
lower degree cannot be approached. This con
sideration must ever be in the mind of the good
negotiator, who should therefore strive to divest
himself of his own feelings and prejudices, and place
himself in the position of the King so that he
may understand completely the desires and whims
which guide his actions. And when he has done ,
so he should say to himself : ' Now, if I were in
the place of this prince, wielding his power, subject
to his passions and prejudices, what effect would
my mission and my arguments have upon me ? '
The more often he thus puts himself in the position
of others, the more subtle and effective wiU his
arguments be. And it is of course not only in
matters of opinion that this use of the imagination
is valuable, it is more particularly in aU those
personal aspects where the power to give pleasure
by flattery or any other means is effective.
No one wiU forget that crowned heads, and even The Use of
.... t i j j. Compliments.
their ministers themselves, are accustomed from r
103

ON THE MANNER OF
birth to the submission of those around them, to
receive their respect and praise. This unbroken
experience of the obedience of others is apt to make
them very sensitive to criticism, and unwiUing to
listen to contradiction. There are few princes to
whom it is easy to speak the truth, and since it is
not part of the business of the negotiator except on
rare occasions to speak home truths at a foreign
court, he will avoid as far as possible everything
which may wound the royal pride which is the
natural result of the manner in which princes are
reared. On the other hand, he wiU never give
empty praise nor applaud a reprehensible act, and
where praise is given as it is deserved, the negotiator
must know how to clothe it in chaste and dignified
language. And since princes are accustomed to
hear their praise sung constantly, they become
connoisseurs in praise and good judges of a timely
compliment. It is the higher art of the subtle
courtier to know how to deliver a weU-turned
compliment to his King, and above aU, if the King
is endowed with real inteUigence, never to praise
him for qualities which he does not possess. Any
fool can earn the esteem of a prince who is also a
fool by indiscriminate praise. Wise men wiU rely
on their own merits and on the good sense of the
King wherever they have the good fortune to serve
a monarch so endowed. To praise a King for
104

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
those things which are inherent in his position,
such as riches, spacious mansions, and fine clothes,
is merely stupidity. A King who is worth praising
wiU only value your praise if it is given to qualities
which he knows to be praiseworthy. In this
matter the negotiator must be sufficiently worldly-
wise always to remember that the good favour of
the ladies of the court is to be won by different
means than that of his Majesty or the ministers.
And since, as I have pointed out elsewhere, the
approach to the King and his ministers may perhaps
be most easUy made through feminine influence,
the negotiator will study carefuUy the character
and weaknesses of aU the ladies at the court so as
to keep these useful and attractive avenues open
for his use.
The methods of giving pleasure, as I say, must Craft at the
vary. One of the most illustrious and sagacious Card ™e'
ambassadors of our time, a friend of my own,
neglected nothing, but he used to say that there
was no surer road to the good-wiU of a sovereign
than to aUow him to win at the card-table, and that
many a great enterprise had been conducted to
success by the little pile of gold coins which passed
from him to his royal opponent at the gaming-table.
My friend used to say in jest that he had played
the fool at foreign card-tables in order to prove
that he was a wise man at home ! His jest bore a
105

Pleas.

ON THE MANNER OF
truth within it which I hope every negotiator
wiU lay to heart. . . .
Common-sense The pleas which I have set out above are, I
believe, applicable in most situations, but of course
there are variations to be observed. It is not
always easy for a negotiator on leaving home to
remember how great a difference there is between
his own court and that to which he proceeds. For
whether the foreign country which is his new home
stands on equal terms with his own or whether it
be a Power of lower station in the world, the vast
differences in national outlook between them must
be fuUy understood before the negotiator can
make any progress. It is therefore his first business,
whatever be the magnitude and splendour of the
court to which he is accredited, to win the general
favour by showing a genuine and sincere interest
in the welfare of his new associates, and in aU the
customs of the court and the habits of the people ;
and on his arrival he should show himself ready to
share information both with his new colleagues in
the Corps Diplomatique, and with the ministers of
the King to whom he is sent. Let me lay some in
sistence on this. It will be observed that if a
negotiator has the reputation of speaking freely on
many subjects, it is not improbable that those who
have secrets to reveal may speak the more freely
to him. A negotiator of my acquaintance to
106

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES

whom I look with high regard once said : ' Diplo
macy is like a chain of ten links in which perhaps
only one is missing to make it complete : it is the
business of the diplomat to supply the tenth link.'
This is true, and I believe that the diplomatist who
is least enwrapped in secrecy wiU most quickly and
surely discover it. It is therefore important that
the negotiator, being weU equipped with aU kinds
of information, should be guided by a sound judg
ment in the use of it. He should realise that in all
information there are only one or two items which
are of the first importance, and that therefore the
freedom with which he uses the rest need not in
any way imperil his master's plans. The more
freely he can share such information, and the more
carefuUy he bestows his praise upon individuals,
the more surely wiU men say of him that he is a
reliable person, and wiU turn to him in moments
of crisis.
Every right-minded man desires to stand weU in The ciock-
the eyes of those with whom he transacts business, pMeJ^s
and therefore he wiU give some trouble to aU those
devices for securing the good-will of men to which
I have referred. If he finds in the course of his
work that the prince himself or any one of his
ministers is iU-disposed towards him or intractable
in discussion, he must not on that account aUow
himself to imitate the fault, but must redouble his
107

ON THE MANNER OF
efforts in the contrary direction. Indeed he must
behave as a good watchmaker would when his clock
has gone out of order : he must labour to remove
the difficulty, or at aU events to circumvent its
results. He must not be led aside by his own
feelings. Prejudice is a great misinterpreter's
house in aU public affairs.
A High ideal. It might seem that the ideal which I now set up
for the negotiator is one too high for any man to
reach. It is true that no man can ever carry out
his instructions without a fault, but unless he has
before him an ideal as a guide he wiU find himself
plunged in the midst of distracting affairs without
any rule for his own conduct. Therefore I place
before him these considerations : that despite aU
disappointments and exasperations he must act
with sang-froid ; he must work with patience to
remove aU obstacles that lie in his path, whether
they are placed there by accident or act of God or
by the evil design of men ; he must preserve
a calm and resolute mind when the conjunctures
of events seem to conspire against him ; and finaUy,
he must remember that if once he permit his own
personal or outrageous feehngs to guide his conduct
in negotiation he is on the sure and straight road
to disaster. In a word, when events and men are
unkind he must never despair of being able to
change them, nor again when they smile upon his
108

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
efforts must he cherish the iUusion that their good
favour wiU endure for ever.
The functions of a minister despatched on a The Negoti-
mission to a foreign country faU into two principal ators Tn"a~
, r - fold Function.
categories : the first to conduct the business of
his master, and the second to discover the business
of others. The first of these concerns the prince
or his ministers of state, or at all events those
deputies to whom are entrusted the examination of
his proposals. In all these different kinds of ne
gotiation he must seek success principally by his
straightforward and honest procedure, for if he
attempts to succeed by subtlety or by a sense of
superiority over those with whom he is engaged
he may very likely deceive himself. There is no
prince or state which does not possess some shrewd
envoy to discern its real interests. And indeed,
even among people who seem to be the least refined,
there are often those who know their own interests
best, and foUow them with the most constancy.
Therefore the negotiator, no matter how able he
may be, must not attempt to teach such persons
their own business, but he should exhaust aU the
resources of his mind and wit to prove to them the
great advantage of the proposals which he has to
make. An ancient philosopher once said that friendship
between men is nothing but a commerce in which
109

ON THE MANNER OF
Diplomacy a v each seeks his own interest. The same is true or even
Commerce in ;t £ the KaiSOns and treaties which bind one
Benefits. j sovereign to another, for there is no durable treaty
i which is not founded on reciprocal advantage, and
indeed a treaty which does not satisfy this condition
is no treaty at aU, and is apt to contain the seeds
of its own dissolution. Thus the great secret of
negotiation is to bring out prominently the common
advantage to both parties of any proposal, and so
to link these advantages that they may appear
equally balanced to both parties. For this purpose
when negotiations are on foot between two sove
reigns, one the greater and the other the less, the
more powerful of these two should make the first
advance, and even undertake a large outlay of money
to bring about the union of interests with his lesser
neighbour, for his own self-interest will show him
that he has really the greater object and the larger
advantages in view, and that any benefits he may
confer or subsidies which he may grant to his
weaker aUy wiU be readily repaid by the success
of his designs. Now, as_we_have said, -the se_cret^of
negotiation is to Srmonise the interests of the
parties concerned. It is clear that if a negotiator
excludes the honest and straightforward method of
reason and persuasion, and adopts on the contrary
a haughty and menacing manner, then obviously he
must be foUowed by an army ready to invade the
no

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
country in which he has put forth such provocative
claims. Without such a display of force his claims
wiU fall to the ground, even though by advantageous
arguments they might have prevailed with the prince
whom he addressed, and who might have accepted
them had they been proposed in a different
manner. When a prince or a state is powerful
enough to dictate to his neighbours the art of
negotiation loses its value, for then there is need for
nothing but a mere statement of the prince's will ;
but when there is a balance of force an independent
prince wiU only decide to favour one of the two
parties of a dispute if he discerns advantages to
himself and good results to the prosperity of his
realm. A prince who has no powerful enemies can easily Harmony the
impose tribute on all neighbouring Powers, but a Ideal State'
prince whose aim is self-aggrandisement and who
has powerful enemies must seek aUies among the
lesser states in order to increase those friendly to
him ; and if possible he should be able to prove
his power by the benefits which an alliance with
him can confer upon them. Therefore the principal
fun^tion^of the negotiator is to bring about a har
monised unionTbetweenhis master andjhe sovereign
to whonThlTis sent, or jdsejto ijnjiintain andincreasg
existing aUiances by__e-yery means_ in his power.
He must labour to remove misunderstandings, to
¦w.  _  — - iii

s/

ON THE MANNER OF
prevent subjects of dispute from arising, and gener
ally to maintain in that foreignxauntry jhe hjanour
and intereitTof his prince. This includes the pro
tection and patronage of his subjects, assistance to
their business enterprises, and the promotion of good
relations between them and the subjects of the
foreign prince to whose court he is accredited.
He must always assume that there is no prince nor
state in the world which does not desire to avoid a
condition of crisis, and that those princes who love
to fish in troubled waters will never lack the means to
stir them up, but that the storms which such men
conjure up are apt to overwhelm them, so that the
wise negotiator will do aU he can to avoid giving
provocation, and will conduct himself in such a
manner that no one will be able to impute reckless
motives to him.
The Search His second function being the discovery of aU
that is happening at court and in the cabinet, he
should first of all take steps to learn from his pre
decessor all that he knows regarding the state of
affairs in the country to which he is about to pro
ceed and to acquire from him those hints and sug
gestions which may be of use. He should take up
the friends and acquaintances left behind by his
predecessor, and should add to them by making new
ones. It would be no bad practice in this matter
to imitate the established rule of the Venetian
112

for Informa
tion.

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
Republic, which obliges an ambassador returning
from a foreign court to render a detailed account in
writing of the country, both for the information of
the public and for the instruction of his successor
at the embassy. The diplomatists of Venice have
drawn great advantage from this practice, and it
has been often remarked that there are no better
instructed negotiators in Europe than those of
Venice. The discovery of the course of events and the Freemasonry
trend of policy in a foreign country is most natural ^ DiPlomacy-
when one knows both the personnel and the political
habits of the country, and a negotiator for the first
time in such a country must neglect no source of
information. In addition to those mentioned above,
he may very probably find that his coUeagues in
the Corps Diplomatique wiU be of use to him, for
since the whole diplomatic body works for the same
end, namely to discover what is happening, there
may arise — there often indeed does arise — a free
masonry of diplomacy by which one coUeague in
forms another of coming events which a lucky
chance has enabled him to discern. Such colla
boration is possible in all cases except those in which
their sovereigns are at variance. As regards the
information which can be drawn from the people
of the country itself, the surest and shortest method
is to make a confidant of some one aheady in the
H 113

ON THE MANNER OF
counsels of the foreign prince, but this must be
done only by such means as will enable the ne
gotiator to keep a check upon his correspondent, and
thus prevent any damage to his master's plans.
This action is very necessary, for in diplomacy as in
war there are such things as double spies paid by
both parties. The cleverest of these will begin by
giving true information and good advice in order
the more thoroughly to deceive the negotiator at a
later date. There have even been princes subtle
enough to see the advantage of permitting their
confidants to behave thus, and I know of cases
where the confidant of a sovereign, under the
appearance of a secret liaison with a foreign envoy,
gave the latter true and false information at the
same time, and thus effectively masked the designs
of his master. An ambassador must always be on
his guard against such deception.
The Foolish There was in England in 1671 a Dutch ambassador
Dutchman. . .. i l i • •
who was so easily persuaded by certain privy coun
sellors of King Charles n. that their master had no
intention to go to war with the States General that
in his despatches home he gave the most explicit
assurance that there was nothing to fear from
England, treating with ridicule the opinion that
London had resolved to attack them ; and we have
since learned that these English counseUors had been
deliberately detailed by the King to play upon the
114

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
credulity of the Dutch ambassador. There have
been in our time ambassadors of other countries
who have done the same.
Now the astute negotiator wiU not likely believe All News must
everything he hears, nor accept advice which he be tested'
cannot test ; he must examine the origin of infor
mation, as weU as the interest and the motives
of those who offer it him. He must attempt to
discover the means by which they themselves
have acquired it, and he must compare it with
other information to see whether it tallies with that
part which he knows to be true. There are many
signs by which a discerning and penetrating mind
wiU be able to read the truth by placing each link
of information in contact with another. For this
purpose no rules can be drawn up for the guidance
of a diplomat in such a matter, for unless a man
be born with such qualities he cannot acquire
them, and to those who do not possess them I
might as well speak to the deaf as write these
observations. A negotiator can discover national secrets by The Flair for
frequenting the company of those in authority, and ecreU'
there is not a court in the world where ministers or
others are not open to various kinds of approach,
either because they are indiscreet and often say
more than they should, or because they are discon
tented and ready to reveal secrets in order to satisfy
H5

ON THE MANNER OF
their jealousy. And even the most practised and
reliable ministers are not always on their guard. I
have seen highly trained and weU-proven states
men who none the less in the course of conver
sation, and by other signs, aUowed expressions to
escape them which gave important clues to their
policy. And there are courtiers at every court
who, though not members of the King's Council,
know by long practice how to discover a secret, and
who are always prepared to reveal it in order to show
their own importance and their penetration. It
is almost impossible to conceal from an active, ob
servant, and enlightened negotiator any important
design of public policy, for no departure of state
can ever be made without great preparation which
entails the sharing of many secrets by many persons,
and this is a danger against which it is almost im
possible to guard even by those who take the
greatest precautions.
On the Trans- Now in the transmission of information of this
'information k"1^ ^ negotiator must give an exact account of
aU the circumstances surrounding it, that is to say,
how and by whom he acquired it ; and he should
accompany it with his own comments and con
jectures in order that the prince may be fuUy
informed, and may be able to judge whether the
conclusions drawn from aU the circumstances are
weU or iU founded. There are certain things which
116

Information.

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
a clever minister wiU discover for himself, and of
which he must give an exact account to his master,
for such knowledge is often a sure clue even to the
most secret designs. Thus he can by his own
observation discover the passions and ruling in
terests of the prince to whose court he is sent :
whether he is ambitious, painstaking, or observant ;
whether he is warlike or prefers peace; whether
he is the real ruler of the country, and if not
by whom he is ruled; and in general what are
the principal inclinations and the interests of those
who have most influence over him. He must also
inform himself exactly of the state of the military
forces both on land and sea, of the number and
strength of fortified places, whether they are always
kept in a high state of efficiency and well supplied
with ammunition, of the condition of the sea-ports,
of his vessels of war, and of his arsenals, of the
number of troops which he can put into the field
at once, both of cavalry and of infantry, without
stripping his fortresses bare of their garrisons. He
must know the state of public opinion, whether it is
weU disposed or discontented ; he must keep in his
hands the threads of every great intrigue, know
ing aU the factions and parties into which opinion
is divided ; he must know the leanings of ministers
and other persons in authority in such matters as
rehgion. He should not even neglect the obser-
117

ON THE MANNER OF
vation of the King's personal household, of the
manner in which his domestic affairs are conducted,
of his outlay, both on his household and on his
mUitary establishments, of the time spent in them,
etc. He must know the aUiances, both offensive
and defensive, concluded with other Powers, espe
ciaUy those which appear hostile in design ; he
must be able to describe at any moment the attitude
of aU the principal states towards the court to
which he is accredited, and to give an account of
the diplomatic relations which exist between
them.
Action Appro- He must pay the prince assiduous attention, and
Democratic t^lus accluire a sufficient familiarity with him to be
states. able to see and speak to him frequently without
ceremony, so that he may be always in a position
to kpow what is going on, and to insinuate into the
prince's mind what is favourable to his master's
design. If he lives in a democratic state he must
attend the Diet and other popular assembUes. He
must keep open house and a weU-garnished table to
attract the deputies, and thus both by his honesty
and by his presence gain the ear of the ablest and
most authoritative politicians, who may be able to
defeat a hostile design or support a favourable one.
If people of this kind have a freedom of entree to
the ambassador, a good table wiU greatly assist in
the discovery of all that is going on, and the expense
118

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
laid out upon it is not merely honourable but
extraordinarily useful if only the negotiator him
self knows how to profit from it.
Indeed it is in the nature of things that good The Value of
cheer is a great conciUator, that it fosters familiarity, °° C eer'
and promotes a freedom of exchange between the
guests, while the warmth of wine wiU often lead
to the discovery of important secrets. There are
several other functions for the employment of
public ministers, as for instance that of informing
a prince of good or evil tidings regarding his own
master, or that of conveying compliments or con
dolences in a similar case to the prince himself.
A negotiator who knows his business wiU not neglect
even the least of such opportunities, and he will
perform his function in such a manner as to show
that his master is truly interested in aU that passes
at the foreign court. Indeed the best negotiator
is he who forestalls even the orders of his own
master, and shows himself so apt a negotiator of his
intentions that he is able to act in advance of each
event of the kind, and thus present his master's
sentiments in appropriate language before any
other foreign diplomatist has even begun to consider
the matter. And when he actuaUy receives his
master's' orders on the subject, should they turn
out to be of a somewhat different character than
the expressions he has already used, his own adroit-
119

ON THE MANNER OF
ness wiU enable him to bridge the apparent differ
ence. The diplomatist's functions cease auto-
maticaUy on the death of his master or on the death
of the prince to whom he is accredited, and are not
revived until new letters of credence are received.
They also come to an end on his withdrawal or
upon a declaration of war, but it should be noted
that the privileges attached to the office of am
bassador under the law of nations continue' un
broken, notwithstanding any declaration of war or
other interpretation of his functions, and these
privileges remain in force until he reaches his own
national territory.
The Conduct of- Diplomacy is a matter for oraUy conducted and
Negotiation,! ioT written communications. The first is the
common method where one is dealing with a royal
court, the second is usual in republics and those
states in which assemblies, such as the Diet of the
Empire of Switzerland, are the repositories of
power. It is always the custom where states are
assembled in France to exchange statements of
policy in writing. But it is always more advan
tageous for the practised diplomatist to negotiate
face to face, because by that means he can discover
the true intentions of those with whom he is dealing.
His own skiU will then enable him both to act and
to speak in an appropriate and apt fashion. Most
men in handling public affairs pay more attention
120

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
to what they themselves say than to what is said to
them. Their minds are so fuU of their own notions
that they can think of nothing but of obtaining
the ears of others for them, and wiU hardly be pre
vailed on to listen to the statements of other people.
This fault is peculiar to those hvely and impatient
nations like ours, who find' it difficult to bridle
impetuous temperaments. It has often been
noticed that in ordinary conversation Frenchmen
speak aU at one time, and interrupt one another
incessantly, without attempting to hear what each
has to say. 1, I, '
One of the most necessary qualities in a good The Apt
negotiator is to be an apt listener ; to find a skilful " ener'
yet trivial reply to all questions put to him, and to
be in no hurry to declare either his own policy, stiU
less his own feelings ; and on opening negotiations
he should be careful not to reveal the fuU extent of
his design except in so far as it is necessary to
explore the ground ; and he should govern his
own conduct as much by what he observes in
the faces of others as by what he hears from their
lips. One of the great secrets of diplomacy is to
sift the real from the trivial, and so to speak, to
distU drop by drop into the minds of your com
petitors those causes and arguments which you
wish them to adopt. By this means your influence
will spread graduaUy through their minds almost
121

ON THE MANNER OF

Diplomacy a
BowlingGreen.

unawares. In acting thus the negotiator will bear
in mind that the majority of men wiU never enter
upon a vast undertaking, even though advan
tageous to themselves, without they can see before
hand the whole length of the journey upon which
they are asked to embark. Its magnitude wiU
deter them. But if they can be brought to take
successfuUy one step after another they wiU find
themselves at the end of the journey almost un
awares. Herein is to be found the importance of
not revealing vast designs except to a few chosen
spirits whose minds are properly attuned to them.
A truth of this kind applies to friend and foe
alike. Thus in the approach to difficult negotiations
the true dexterity of diplomacy, like a good bowler
using the run of the green, consists in finding the
existing bias of the matter. As Epictetus, the
ancient philosopher, said in his manual : £ There
are in every matter two handles, the one by which
it is easy to carry, the other difficult. Do not take
it by the difficult end, for if you do so you will
neither be able to lift it nor carry it. But if you take
it by the right side you wiU carry it without trouble.'
Now the easiest way to find the right bias is to make
each proposition which you put forward appear
as a statement of the interests of those with whom
you are negotiating, for since diplomacy is the at
tempt to find a basis of common action or agree-
122

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
ment, it is obvious that the more the opposing,
party can be brought to see your designs in their
own Ught and to accept them thus, the more surely,
wiU their co-operation for any action be fruitful
alike to themselves and to you. *
Now, of course there are few men who will en- The Bias of
tirely divest themselves of their own sentiments in Natu
favour of those of others, or who will confess that
they were wrong, especially if the matter be con
ducted in an acrimonious discussion in which the
negotiator meets all arguments freely by contra- 1
diction. But none the less the astute diplomatist
wiU know how to exploit human nature in such a
manner as to cause even the most stiff-necked op
ponents graduaUy to relax their hold upon certain
opinions ; and this may be most easily attained by
abandoning the approach which caused the original
dispute, and taking up the matter from another
aspect. Thus by flattery of his amour-propre, or
by some other device which may put him in a good
humour, the competitor in a negotiation may be
brought to consider the matter in a new light, and .'
to accept at the end of the negotiation that which ,
he repudiated with violence at its commencement.
And, however unreasonable the majority of man
kind is, it wiU always be observed that men retain
so much respect for reason that they wiU always
hope to be judged by the other man as acting
123

ON THE MANNER OF
upon reasonable grounds. The negotiator wiU
know how to exploit this subtle form of inteUectual
pride. And especiaUy where there is more than
one party to the negotiation the astute diplomatist
wiU be able to exploit the foibles of each of the
other two parties, and yet to flatter each in turn
for his reasonable and statesmanlike attitude.
Ce n 'est que le Above aU, at the commencement of a negotiation,
premier pas ag j have said, it is necessary in any long and
qui coute. J jo
complicated business to present the matter in hand
in its easiest and most advantageous light, and so to
speak to insinuate aU parties into it so that they
may be weU launched upon the whole enterprise
before they are aware of its magnitude. For this
purpose the negotiator must appear as an agreeable,
enlightened, and far-seeing person ; he must beware
of trying to pass himself off too conspicuously as
a crafty or adroit manipulator. The essence of
skiU lies in conceahng it, and the negotiator must
ever strive to leave an impression upon his fellow
diplomatists of his sincerity and good faith. And
he should beware of attempting to force a decision,
or to ride roughshod over difficulties that are raised,
for if he behaves thus he wiU not fail to draw upon
himself the aversion of those with whom he is deal
ing, and thus to bring prejudice upon his master's
designs. It would be better for him to pass for
less enhghtened than he reaUy is, and he should
124

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
attempt to carry his own policy to success by good
and solid reasons rather than by pouring contempt
upon the policy of others. The opposite fault is
equaUy to be avoided. The negotiator must not
let himself pass under the influence of other men,
especially of those powerful personalities whose
wont it is to sway the minds of aU whom they meet.
The more powerful the prince, the more suave .Diplomacy
should his diplomatist be, for since power of th&tdoesmtt/'ncve
........ . upon Menaces,
kind is likely to awaken jealousy in his neighbours,
the diplomat should let it speak for itself, and .
rather use his own powers of persuasion by means
of moderation to support the just rights of his
prince than to vaunt his power or the extent of his
dominions. Menaces always do harm to ne
gotiation, and they frequently push one party to
extremities to which they would not have resorted
without provocation. It is_well_known that injured
vanity frequently drives men into courses which
a sober estimate of theiF^own interests would lead

them to avoid. Of course when a prince has real
subjects of complaint against another, especiaUy
against an inferior, in circumstances where it is
necessary to make an example of the dehnquent,
the blow must faU immediately after the threat is
given, so that the delinquent cannot be in a posi
tion, either by the delays of diplomacy or by any
other means, to shield himself from just punish -
125

ON THE MANNER OF

The Good
Christian.

At Home in
the Foreign
Country.

ment. The longer the delay is between the threat
and its fulfilment, the more likely it is that the
culprit will be able to form aUiances with other
Powers, and thus avoid the just chastisement of
the prince whom he has wronged.
The wise and enlightened negotiator must of
course be a good Christian, and he must let his
character appear in aU his speeches, in his way of
living, and must forbid evil and loose-living persons
to cross his threshold. Justice and modesty should
, govern all his actions ; he should be respectful to
princes ; affable and approachable with his equals ;
considerate to his inferiors, and civil and honest with
everybody. He must fall into the ways and customs of the
country where he lives without showing repug
nance or expressing contempt for them, as is fre
quently done by diplomatists who lose no oppor
tunity of praising their own country and decrying
aU others. The diplomatist must bear in mind
once for all that he is not authorised to demand
that a whole nation shall conform to his way of
living, and that it is more reasonable, and in the
long run greatly to his own comfort, to accom
modate himself to foreign ways of living. He
should beware of criticising the form of govern
ment or the personal conduct of the prince to whom
he is accredited. On the contrary he should always
126

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
praise that which is praiseworthy without affec
tation and without flattery, and if he properly
understands his own function he will quickly dis^
I cover that there is no nation or state which has
not many good points, excellent laws, charming
\ customs as weU as bad ones ; and he wiU quickly
discover that it is easy to single out the good points,
and that there is no profit to be had in denouncing
the bad ones, for the very good reason that nothing
the diplomatist can say or do will alter the domestic
habits or laws of the country in which he lives.
He should take a pride in knowing the history of
the country, so that he may be able to give the
prince pleasure by praising the great feats of his
ancestors, as weU as for his own benefit to interpret
current events in the light of the historical move
ments of the past. When it becomes known that
the negotiator possesses such knowledge and uses
it aptly, his credit wiU certainly rise, and if he is
adroit enough to turn his conversations at court to
those subjects of which he is a master, he will find
that his diplomatic task is greatly assisted, and that
the pleasure he gives to those around him is amply
repaid to him in the smoothness of negotiation.
The diplomatist must, however, bear constantly The Secret of
in mind both at work and at play the aims which
he is supposed to be serving in the foreign country,
and should subordinate his personal pleasure and
127

ON THE MANNER OF
aU his occupations to their pursuit. In this matter
the two chief aims which the able negotiator places
before himself are, as I have said, to conduct the
affairs of his master to a prosperous issue, and to
spare no pains to discover the designs of others.
And since the means to be employed in both cases
are the same, namely by acquiring the esteem,
friendship, and confidence of the prince himself and
of those in authority around him, there is no surer
way of employing them than by becoming person-
aUy agreeable. It is marveUous how a persona grata
may contrive to uproot even the deepest suspicions
and wipe out the memory of the gravest insults.
If the diplomatist be looked upon with disfavour
at the court he is not a true servant of his master's
interests ; for one who is out of favour will not be
in a position to know what is going on, and will
therefore be but a poor guide to his home govern
ment in assisting them to frame their policy. The
responsibility for placing the wrong kind of diplo
matist in a good position rests of course with the
minister who appoints him, but there are many
cases in which an iU-fitting appointment has been
redeemed by the dauntless assiduity and unfailing
courtesy of the diplomatist himself ; but since this
imposes an unnecessary strain upon the ambassador,
the Foreign Minister should ever have a care to
appoint suitable men to aU foreign posts.
128

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
I have already described those characteristics Support from
which compose suitabihtv ; I wiU but add here that Home-
no diplomatist can succeed in his foreign task unless
he is weU supported by his own government and
given every opportunity to understand its policy.
By this means he wiU be in a position to exploit
every situation as far as may be to advantage, and
he wiU also be able to deny false rumours set afloat
by the enemy. This support from his home
government implies a complimentary application
on his part, for it is of the highest importance that
he should keep himself apprised of aU contem
porary movements in his own country ; that he
should know intimately the personal character both
of the sovereign and of his Foreign Minister, so that
in moments of doubt he may be able to guess
shrewdly what is in the mind of those who employ
him. Without such knowledge he wiU certainly
go astray, and without a constant contact with
his home government the conduct of diplomacy
cannot possibly prosper in his hands.
As regards the relations which the diplomatist Good Faith the
maintains in a foreign country, we must observe "* <"*p°n-
that whUe his success wiU partly depend upon his
affabUity to aU men, he must use the utmost dis
cretion in all his more intimate relationships, and,
above aU, he should try to form professional friend
ships on the basis of mutual advantage and respect.
i 129

ON THE MANNER OF
There is no permanence in a relationship begun by
promises which cannot be redeemed, and therefore,
as I have said before, the use of deceit in diplomacy
is of necessity restricted, for there is no curse which
comes quicker to roost than a lie which has been
found out. Beyond the fact that a lie is unworthy
of a great minister, it actually does more harm than
good to policy because, though it may confer
success to-day, it will create an atmosphere of sus
picion which will make success impossible to
morrow. No doubt an ambassador wiU receive
a great deal of information which it is his duty to
transmit ; but if he is not in a position to test it
he wiU merely pass it on without comment or
guarantee of its truth. In general it should be
the highest aim of the diplomatist to gain such
a reputation for good faith with his own govern
ment and also abroad that they wiU place reliance
both upon his information and upon the advice
which he gives.
The Value of In this respect he should take good care in report
ing the course of negotiations to his master from
time to time not to hold out prospects of success
before success itself is in his grasp. It is much
better that he should depict the difficulties of the
case and the improbability of success even when
he is virtuaUy sure in his own mind that he will
succeed. He will acquire vastly greater credit by
130

Candid
Report

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
success in an undertaking of which he himself
promises little than he wiU in one upon which he
has reported favourably throughout. It is always
good for the credit of a negotiator if good reports
of him arrive from different sources, for such inde
pendent proof of the value of a diplomatist's ser
vices must be highly prized by every prince, and
wiU redound to the benefit of the diplomatist him
self. It is obvious that the more successful he is in
the relationships which he forms at a foreign court,
the more surely wiU the diplomatist receive such
independent testimony to his merit. But let him
not seek such testimony by unworthy means. For
this purpose he should neither bribe the servants
of others, nor take natives of a foreign court into his , .
own service. It is too obvious that they wiU pro- /
bably be spies. //'
He himself ought never to consent to accept gifts On Accepting
from a foreign court except with the express know- '-^
ledge and permission of his master, or in such cases
as are commonly permitted by the usage of the
court, such as those given on the arrival or departure
of an ambassador. He who receives gifts on any
other condition may be accused of seUing himself,
and therefore of betraying the prince whom he
serves. Unless he preserves his independence he
cannot possibly represent his own master or main
tain the high dignity of his office. This dignity
131

Don Estevan
de Gamarre

ON THE MANNER OF
must be kept beyond suspicion. It is indispensable
to every ambassador, though it need not be carried
out at aU times and at aU places, for the diplomatist
will readily understand that at certain times he
can win the good grace of those around him by
living in an easy, affable, and famihar manner among
his friends. To wrap oneself in official dignity at
aU times is mere preposterous arrogance, and the
diplomatist who behaves thus wiU repel rather than
attract.
The Tale of There are many important occasions when the
diplomatist wiU require all his wit and aU his
prudence. It wiU often happen that he has to tell
bad news or give unpalatable advice to a prince
accustomed to be flattered by his ministers, who
for various private reasons usually conceal bad
news from him. Let me give an example of what
I mean : Don Estevan de Gamarre had served the
King of Spain for many years with zeal and fidelity
both in war and in diplomacy, particularly in the
Low Countries where he had been ambassador for
a long time. He had a relative in the King's
Council fuUy disposed to put the ambassador's ser
vices in the best Ught, and yet he received no reward,
while late-comers of aU kinds received advancement
to high offices both at home and abroad. He
resolved to go to Madrid to discover the cause of his
evU fortune. He complained to his relative the
132

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
minister, giving a number of instances in which
important services which he had rendered had been
passed over and forgotten. The minister having
heard him, quietly replied that he had no one to
blame but himself, and that if he had been as good
a courtier as he was a brilliant diplomatist and faith
ful subject, he would have received the same ad
vancement as those whose deserts were less, but
that his sincerity was an obstacle to his good
fortune, for his despatches were always fuU of
distasteful truths which set the King's teeth on The Kmg\
edge. For instance, when the French gained a Teeth on
victory he told the story faithfuUy and without
regard for Spanish feelings in his despatches. Or
if they set siege to a town, he would predict its
certain fall unless help were sent. Or in another
case, where an aUy had expressed displeasure be
cause the Spanish Court seemed likely not to keep
faith with it, he insisted that the King should keep
hisword in languagewhichwas neither diplomatic nor
persuasive, and all the while other Spanish negotiators
in other parts of France, with better eye to their
own interests, were informing the King that the
French were decadent, that their armies were un
disciplined and quite incapable of effective cam
paigning, and so on : to which the minister himself
added that the King in Council could not too
highly reward those who sent such good news, nor
133

ON THE MANNER OF

Deceit in
Favour in
Madrid.

On Treaties
and their
Ratifications.

too readUy forget a man Uke himself who never
wrote anything but the unpalatable truth.
Thereupon Don Estevan de Gamarre, in his sur
prise at this picture of the Court of Spain drawn
for him by his relative, repUed : ' Apparently
fortune in Madrid favours the deceiver and the
favour of the Court may be won by mendacity. I
have no longer any qualms about my future.' He
then returned to the Low Countries, where he pro
fited so easily by the advice of his relative, that, to
employ a Spanish term, he won several mercedes,
and he saw his own affairs prosper in the measure
in which he succeeded in inventing reasons why
the affairs of the enemy must come to nought.
From this one may conclude that the Court of
Spain wished to be deceived, and gave its ambas
sadors a free rein to make their own fortunes at the
expense of the true interests of the monarchy.
There is a moral here both for ministers at home
and for ambassadors abroad, on which I need not
insist. The truth requires two agents, one to tell
and another to hear.
Between sovereign states there are many kinds of
treaty, the principal of which are treaties of peace,
armistices, commercial treaties, and those which
regulate alliances or guarantee neutrality. There
are both public and secret treaties. There are even
contingent treaties, so caUed because their success
134

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
depends upon future events. When the ministers
of two equal Powers sign a treaty they make two
copies of it which are caUed a double instrument.
In each copy the ambassador who draws it up
places the name of his own prince at the head and
signs his in order at the foot, thereby indicating
that neither he nor his master reUnquishes his
claim to the first place in Europe. And since aU
new treaties are based upon the precedent of old
ones, and probably refer to measures taken under
previous treaties, they are always drawn up in the
same form, and often in the same number of articles.
Now in drawing up a treaty it is the duty of the
enlightened diplomat to see that the statement
of policy contained in the document in hand does
not conflict with or injure some other enterprise of
his government. He must also see that the con
ditions are laid down so clearly that they cannot be
subject to diverse interpretations. It is obvious
from this that the negotiator must be master of the
language in which the negotiation is conducted, and
especiaUy that in which the treaty itself is written,
otherwise he wiU find himself in endless difficulties
and complications. The meaning of a treaty may
easily turn on a single word, and unless the diplo
matist is thoroughly at home in the language in
question he wiU not be in a position to judge
whether the words proposed to be used are suitable. 135

ON THE MANNER OF
Ignorance of foreign languages indeed is perhaps
the most serious drawback with which diplomacy
can be afflicted. Now though princes and sovereign
states entrust negotiations to diplomatists armed
with fuU powers, none the less they never conclude
or sign treaties except upon their own exphcit rati
fication given with their own hand and sealed with
their own seal, and the treaties are never published
until they have been ratified, and cannot take effect
until they are published except in cases speciaUy
provided for, where certain articles and sometimes
the whole treaty is deliberately kept secret.
On writing While the art of handling a foreign court is the
Despatches, principal part of diplomacy, it is no less important
that the diplomatist himself should be able to give
an exact and faithful account in writing of his own
court, both in respect of the negotiations in his
charge and in respect of aU other business which
arises. The letters which a diplomatist writes
to his prince are caUed despatches, and should be
stripped of verbiage, preambles, and other vain and
useless ornaments. They should give a complete
account of his actions, beginning with his first
demarche on arrival at the foreign court, describing
in detaU the manner in which he was received, and
thereafter proceeding to report step by step the
ways in which he proposes to arrive at an under
standing of aU that goes on around him. Thus
136

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
the despatches of a reaUy adept diplomatist wiU
present a picture of the foreign country, in which
he wUl describe not only the course of the ne
gotiations which he himself conducts, but a great
variety of other matters which form the essentia]
background and setting of his pohtical action.
It wUl contain the portraits not only of the King A Portrait
himself but of aU his ministers, and indeed of aU Ga ery'
those persons who have influence upon the course
of pubhc affairs. Thus the able diplomatist can
place his master in command of all the material
necessary for a true judgment of the foreign country,
and the more successfuUy he carries out this part
of his duties, the more surely wiU he make his
master feel as though he himself had lived abroad
and watched the scenes which are described. In
present circumstances aU French diplomatists, both
ambassadors and envoys, are permitted the honour
of communicating direct with the King in order to
give account of their stewardship abroad, whereas
in previous times they were only allowed to transmit
their reports through a Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs. The latter procedure undoubtedly caused
them to be more circumspect both in the matter
and in the style of their despatches. This is to be
regretted, for there is nothing more important than
that the diplomatist living abroad should feel him
self able to write with candour, freedom, and force,
137

ON THE MANNER OF
in aU his efforts to describe the land in which he
lives.
qualities of a The best despatches are those written in a clear
Good and concise manner, unadorned by useless epithets,
or by anything which may becloud the clarity of
the argument. Simplicity is the first essential, and
diplomatists should take the greatest care to avoid
aU affectations such as a pretence of wit or the
learned overweight of scientific disquisitions. Facts
and events should be set down in their true order,
and in such a manner as to enable the proper de
ductions to be made from them. They should be
placed in their right setting to indicate both the
circumstances and the motives which guide the
action of foreign courts. Indeed, a despatch which
merely recites facts, without discussing them in
the light of the motives and policy of persons in
authority, is nothing more than an empty court
chronicle. The right kind of despatch need not
be long, for even the fuUest discussion of motive
and circumstance can be presented in a compact
form ; and the more compact and clear it is, the
more certainly will it carry conviction to the reader.
On Keeping a This leads me to suggest that the diplomatist
Diary- wiU find it useful to make a daily note of the prin
cipal points of which he must render an account,
and he should make a special practice of sitting
down at his desk immediately he comes from a
138

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
royal audience, and writing out to the best of his
recoUection exactly what was said, how it was said,
and how it was received. This diary, which is a
valuable part of diplomatic equipment, wiU greatly
assist him in composing his despatches, and wiU
give him a means of correcting his own memory
at any later date. He should draw up his des
patches in the form of separate short articles, each
to a single special point, for if he were to present
his despatch in one unwieldy, unbroken paragraph
it might never be read. A shrewd old negotiator
of my acquaintance said with truth that a despatch
written in an orderly fashion and in several short
clear paragraphs was like a palace lighted by many
windows so that there was not a dark corner in it.
Besides his diary, the negotiator should keep an Orderly
exact minute of aU the despatches which he writes,
and should preserve them in chronological order
for easy reference. He should do the same with
those which he receives. A properly organised
registry is a good thing for the negotiator. There
are certain negotiators who on sitting at their desks
at night write down everything which they have
learnt or guessed during the day, so that they may
always be ready to supply from this journal the raw
material, so to speak, of their judgments of events.
It is sometimes wise to foUow the practice of the
Roman Court, and to devote separate letters,
139

ON THE MANNER OF
separately sealed, to each of the principal subjects
on which despatches are being sent. This is
especiaUy the case where it is necessary to supply
an ambassador with instructions upon several differ
ent points, for he may be required to produce his
instructions to the Foreign Minister, and it would
be weU that he should be able to do so regarding
points at issue without revealing the instructions
he has received on other subjects.
When important negotiations are on hand no
expense should be spared in keeping an efficient
service of couriers, though on the other hand the
young diplomatist should beware of sending any
thing by special courier which is not of the very
^jirst importance. . . .
Discretijiu.iit~J"Lt is for the negotiator himself to make up his
*Sytc mind how freely he may write regarding the persons
and events of a foreign country. It would be wise
for him to make up his mind to the extent to which
he can rely on the good faith either of his own King
or of his Foreign Minister, for it is conceivable that
the despatches which he writes may be shown to
the prince or the ministers described in them. In
this, as in many other matters, the diplomatist
must know the characters both of the personage
whom he describes and of the personages to whom
his despatches are addressed. As he sits at his
desk composing his despatch he should remember
140

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
how important a link he is between two great
nations ; how much may turn upon the manner in
which he presents his reading of events to his own
government, and therefore how vital and far-
reaching are the interests confided to his hands.
Remembering this he wiU instruct his secretary
and the attaches of his embassy to act as the eyes
and ears of his diplomacy, and to imitate his example
by keeping a careful daily record of impressions,
events, and persons. By comparing notes with his
•subordinates he wiU be able aU the better to carry
out one of his principal duties, which is to dis
tinguish with care between doubtful and true
information. It often happens that news is most uncertain at New, in its
the moment when it is most important. He should roper ettt"9'
therefore take care to transmit it in the proper
setting of aU its attendant circumstances, so that
the prince may have some material by which to
judge whether the advice of his ambassador is well
founded. There is no doubt that in crises of this
kind the habit of private correspondence between
the Foreign Minister and the King and his ministers
abroad is of the utmost use, for it enables them to
discuss aU questions with a freedom which is denied
to despatches of a more formal kind ; and it will
often place the home government in possession of
knowledge which wiU be of the utmost value to
141

ON THE MANNER OF
them. And since a true judgment of events in one
country will often depend upon what is happening
in others, a diplomatist in foreign parts will ever
keep in touch with his coUeagues in other foreign
countries, so that he may be informed of the course
of events elsewhere. This co-operation between
ambassadors abroad is one of the most useful
features in diplomacy.
Ciphers. As secrecy is the very soul of diplomacy, the art
of writing letters in cipher has been invented in
order to disguise the written message, but unless
the cipher is unusually clever the industry of men,
whose wits are sharpened by necessity and by self-
interest, wiU not fail to discover the key to it.
Indeed, to such a pitch has this been brought that
there are now men who are known as professional
decipherers, though in aU probabUity, as I believe,
their reputation rests largely upon the ineptitude
of poor ciphers rather than upon their discovery of
a good cipher. For as a matter of fact experience
shows that a weU-made and weU-guarded cipher is
practically undiscoverable except by some betrayal,
that is to say, that the wits even of the cleverest
student of ciphers will fail to pierce its secret un
less aided by corruption. It is therefore the duty
of the ambassador, having satisfied himself that the
ciphers of his government are adroitly made, to take
aU means for their due protection, and especiaUy
142

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
to satisfy himself that the staff of his embassy under
stand not only the use of the cipher itself, but the
extreme importance of guarding it from unauthor
ised eyes. And certainly the ambassador ought not
to adopt the indolent practice, of which I have
known one or two cases, where the less important
part of a despatch was written en clair, and the
ambassador himself added the vital part in cipher.
Action of that kind is a masterpiece of futility, for
it leads directly to the compromise of the cipher
itself. For if the letter faU into enemy hands it
wiU not be difficult for a clever spy to divine the
manner of the sentence in cipher from the context
written en clair.
In a word, the ambassador and his staff should
guard a cipher as they would the inmost secrets of
their own hearts. A reaUy effective cipher is literally
worth far more than its weight in gold.
It is the duty of ministers residing at foreign General
courts tp take steps to see that nothing is there at!"'
pubhshed contrary to the honour or reputation of
their sovereign, and to take aU measures necessary
to prevent the circulation of stories and rumours
prejudicial to his interests. The ambassador must
take care to protect the interests of aU his master's
subjects, both in such matters as the free exercise
of their religion, in which he should even offer his
embassy as an asylum for those who are persecuted, 143

ON THE MANNER OF
and in other matters, acting as a mediator
between his feUow-countrymen on occasions of dis
pute. At need he should be ready to assist them
and in all ways to live among them on terms of easy
yet dignified friendship. And, on the other hand,
persons of position on visiting a foreign country
should never neglect to pay their respects to their
own ambassador, and it is also the ambassador's
duty to remind them of their duty towards the
foreign court itself. If they are persons of court
standing, they wiU be guilty 6f a gross breach of
etiquette unless they take the proper steps to make
themselves known to the sovereign. And on aU
kinds of public festivity he should make it his
especial care to see that the members of his own
national colony take their proper share in them
and are accorded their due rights. The better his
relations are with his countrymen hving abroad,
the more surely wiU he discover how large are the
reciprocal benefits to be gained thus, for it wiU
often happen that unofficial persons receive infor
mation as it were by accident which may be of
the utmost importance to the ambassador in his
negotiations. Unless good relations exist between
him and them he may remain in ignorance of im
portant facts.
In the foregoing observations I have done no
144

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
more than give a sketch of the quahties and duties These Precepts
of the diplomatist. Of necessity there is much that fte Frmt oJ
•¦• ' Experience.
is lacking in these fugitive notes ; but I think I
may claim that ah diplomatists of experience wiU
approve of the advice I have given, and wiU declare
that the more my precepts are observed in the
practice of diplomacy, the more surely wUl success
attend the policy of our nation. If I have laid
stress upon the essentials rather than upon the form
and circumstance of diplomatic work, if I have also
spoken with candour, both regarding the duties of
the minister at home and of his agents in foreign
parts, it is because I beheve that a knowledge of
the truth is the necessary forerunner of fruitful
reform. My final word to diplomatists, young and old, Diplomacy
is that in normal times they may reasonably expect 0Lor"tu„it
that where they have given proof of sterling merit
in negotiation, their services will be recognised and
honours conferred upon them, and in such matters
the higher honour is undoubtedly to find oneself
entrusted with ever more important affairs of
state. But if the diplomatist should lack such
recognition, he may find his own recompense in the
satisfaction of having faithfuUy and efficiently dis
charged the duties laid upon him. It has often
been said that the public service is an ungrateful
task in which a man must find his chief recompense
K I45

NEGOTIATING WITH PRINCES
within himself. If I am held to agree to this, I
cannot aUow it to be used as a discouragement to
young men of good birth and abihty from entering
my own profession. Disappointment awaits us in
all walks of hfe, but in no profession are disappoint
ments so amply outweighed by rich opportunities
as in the practice of diplomacy.

Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press