DIPLOMACY AND THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Oxford University Press London Edinburgh Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Cap* Town Bombay Humphrey Milford Publisher to the University DIPLOMACY AND THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BY D. P. HEATLEY LECTURER IN HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH AUTHOR OF 'STUDIES IN BRITISH HISTORY AND POLITICS 1 OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1919 PREFACE IN this work an attempt is made to portray diplomacy and the conduct of foreign policy from the standpoint of history, to show how they have been analysed and appraised by repre- sentative writers, and to indicate sources from which the knowledge thus acquired may be supplemented. The sources could have been very much expanded. Those that I have indicated are such as have been of use to myself most of them for many years ; and I believe that some, at least, of them will be useful to the citizen as well as to the student. The conduct of foreign policy affects no people more vitally than the British. The nature of their constitutional system and the magnitude and complexity of the interests ultimately entrusted to their determination invest the electorate with special privileges and a special responsibility. The actual conduct of foreign policy must be committed to the hands of a few. But it is now clear to many who had given little thought to the matter before 1914 that there are grave dangers in keeping the bulk of the electorate uninstructed regarding the general character and the imperious demands of our foreign connexions. Sir John Seeley drew attention * to the comparative neglect with which British historians of Britain had treated her foreign policy, and in a section of the present work 2 it is pointed out that writers on our constitution and on our political problems have treated very slightly of the manner of conducting the foreign policy of this country, 1 See p. 1 68. 2 See pp. 172-5. vi Preface and of the nature of the responsibility incurred. Our political classics may, no doubt, be made to yield in knowledge of general principles and in a general habit of mind in politics what will compensate for the lack of special knowledge regarding the activities and character of any one sphere of government, however important that sphere be. But political classics and the training they provide touch only a small number. To the British citizen of to-day our own political classics cannot seem to bear directly on the political problems that confront him and those who act for him. The citizen of the United States of America is more happily placed. In the wealth of her writings on politics since the sixteenth century in their number and in their high worth Britain is not surpassed even by France ; and yet there is no work which the British citizen of to-day can read with so much benefit for the under- standing of the political system of his country as that which the American citizen derives from the reading of The Federalist as a commentary on the written constitution of the United States at the time of its making, and as an exposition of rights and duties of an active citizenship. More may be said : there is no British work on politics that will better repay perusal and thought by the British citizen of to-day than this American political classic. The Federalist contains lessons which recent discussions at Westminster that have not yet spent themselves make highly pertinent. The power of making treaties, it said, is plainly neither a legislative nor an executive function. Its objects are contracts with a foreign nation, which have the force of law, but derive that force from the obligation of good faith. We find Jay protesting against the democrat extremists of his time and country who claimed that treaties should be made by the same authority as acts of assembly, and should be subject to repeal at pleasure ; and Alexander Hamilton saw Preface vii in the composition and character of the House of Representa- tives sufficient grounds for rejecting the claim that it should be admitted to a share with the President and the Senate in the making of treaties. Hamilton did not forecast a smooth path of peace and amity for his country. ' It ought never to be forgotten ', he wrote in The Federalist of February 22, 1788, * that a firm union of this country under an efficient government, will probably be an increasing object of jealousy to more than one nation of Europe ; and that enterprises to subvert it will sometimes originate in the intrigues of foreign Powers, and will seldom fail to be patronized and abetted by some of them.' Even in ' The Farewell Address ' of Washing- ton, which came, from the pen of Hamilton, all is not idealism and hopefulness in the sphere of foreign relations. But Hamilton's impressive warning in The Federalist against endowing the House of Representatives with a share in the treaty-making power rests on reasoning and carries significance that are not confined either to his own day or to his own country. ' Accurate and comprehensive knowledge of foreign politics ; a steady and systematic adherence to the same views ; a nice and uniform sensibility to national character ; decision, secrecy, and dispatch, are incompatible with the genius of a body so variable and so numerous.' No apology should be needed for the attention given in this book to works on International Law and on the History of International Law. Political Science without History, it has been said, has no root ; and History without Political Science has no fruit. The history of international relations has fruit for each age in treaties, which the international lawyer interprets as expressions of movement of thought, and in the developing of conventions and standards that are recognized in the Society of Nations. In the history of International Law is shown a large part of the fruit of the viii Preface intercourse of nations. The two studies have, of late, been too much severed in this country. A concluding section of the book, apart from the Appendix, treats of ' International Morality : Projects of Perpetual Peace : The Society of Nations '. The standpoint throughout this work is historical ; and History does not give much en- couragement to the promulgators of schemes of Perpetual Peace. But historians and historical students of politics and policy should not too readily submit to the charge that they can provide no principles for guidance ; that they are slaves to ' the event ', and can furnish nothing better than maxims finely qualified to the point of timidity ; that, like the Cyclops, they have but one eye, and that it looks behind only, and, according to the poet-moralist's censure of the historian, takes delight in the blazoning of ' power and energy detached from moral purpose '. Everything, it was said by a recent Continental statesman, may be left in part to the hazards of the unforeseen everything except the fortunes of nations. The historian of international policy will add all the weight of his knowledge and authority to the school of caution and pre-cautions in statesmanship. But the lessons he draws, or merely permits to disclose themselves, from the past are not sunk in gloom so deep that he may not say with Tocqueville, ' I will not believe in the darkness merely because I do not clearly see the new day that is to arise '. The main Appendix consists of two parts. The first gives, within its space and scope, a selection of passages from writers to illustrate phases and features of diplomacy. These extracts were given, according to my first plan, in illustration of the thought and standpoint of each of the authors cited, and were included in the seventh section of * The Study of International Relations '. My thanks are due to the publishers' advisers, and especially to Mr. H. W. C. Davis, of Balliol College, for Preface ix the suggestion that they should be arranged according to subject and printed as an Appendix. In this form they are likely to be of more use. The second part of the Appendix treats, almost wholly in the words of primary authorities, of a number of practical questions bearing on the modern and quite recent and prospective conduct of foreign policy, in illustration of the text and as a supplement to the notes. At the beginning of 1916 I wrote a very few pages intended to help towards the study of international relations. They were written for The Historical Association of Scotland, and were reprinted for The Historical Association (of England). In the course of this work I have made use of what I then wrote. D. P. H. CONTENTS DIPLOMACY AND THE CONDUCT OF FOREIGN POLICY PAGE Right and Wrong in Politics ....... i Experiences and testimonies of two historians .... 2 Policy 4 Standpoint in estimate of policy ....... 6 Views on the diplomatic service ....... 7 Educational equipment for the service . . . . . .11 The diplomatist's qualities ........ 14 The rise and development of the function of the ambassador . . 16 Machiavellism ; diplomacy and Machiavellianism .... 22 The opportunity for subterfuge and finesse : national interest and the absence of the international sense ..... 27 The effect of the telegraph on initiative and responsibility . . 30 Opinions regarding diplomatic morality ; and illustrations . . 31 Kinds of diplomacy . . . . . . . -39 The diplomacy of courtesy . . . . . . . -39 The weapon of irony . . . . . . . . 41 Personal illustrations of diplomacy ... . . 43 Oliver Cromwell .......... 44 Thomas Cromwell ......... 45 Difficulty in the conduct, and in the study, of international policy . 48 Dispatches and ' extracts ' . . . . . . . .49 The chief danger in the conduct of foreign policy . . . 5 1 The relation of the constitutional system to the conduct of policy : illustrations 52 Parliament, party and control in Britain : criticism from a Con- tinental historian and publicist ...... 57 A survey of the conduct of foreign policy in Britain under a par- liamentary system ; and criticisms . . . . .61 Democratic control necessarily indirect : a Duke of Albany in diplo- macy : diplomacy still a means to ends 68 Contents xi PAGE Supplementary Notes : A : Anti-Machiavel Literature . ... . .76 B : Machiavelli on the Office of an Ambassador . . -77 C : The Balance of Power ....... 79 D : Secret Diplomacy of Louis XV ..... 80 E: Frederick the Great on Parliaments . . . . .81 THE LITERATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. INTRODUCTORY. THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF DIPLOMACY Le Guide Diplomatique ........ 85 2. GENERAL GUIDE Les Archives de VHistoire de France ...... 89 3. JURISTIC LITERATURE : Development of International Understandings as ' Law ' 1. (a) Wheaton, History of the Law of Nations . . . .91 His general conclusions ....... 93 (b) Nys, Les Origines du Droit International .... 95 (c) Walker, A History of the Law of Nations (to the Peace of Westphalia) . . . . . . . ... 96 2. Treatises of International Law ...... 96 Those influential for each age ...... 96 Vattel : his standpoint ....... 96 Fox on Vattel ......... 97 Vattel appealed to on contraband ..... 98 Sir James Mackintosh on Vattel and his predecessors . . 100 Martens (G. F. von) : his positivism . . . . .100 Importance assigned by him to treaties .... 103 His interpretation of the balance of power .... 104 Effect of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon . 105 Wheaton : an estimate of his Elements of International Law . 106 More recent writers ........ 107 Sir Robert Phillimore : the value of his Commentaries to the student of History . -; 7 .... 107 His interpretation of the balance of power .... 108 Sir Travers Twiss : his ' Juridical Review ' of the results of recent wars, and his presentation of treaties . . . 108 xii Contents PAGE His tribute to Grotius ....... 109 His estimate of the effects of the French Revolution . .no The parts of his work of value to the student of History . 1 1 1 W. . Hall : his attachment to facts, and historical treat- ment of subjects . . . . . . .112 Causes celebres du droit des gens . . . . . 113 Sir Frederick Pollock on international law and the government of the Society of Nations 114 4. ILLUSTRATIONS OF CONTROVERSIAL LITERATURE ' The Sovereignty oj the Sea' .116 Samuel Pepys and ' our making of strangers strike to us at sea ' 116 Mr. S. R. Gardiner on the assertion of the sovereignty of the sea : a ' monstrous ' claim ....... Its considerable importance . . . . . . . Gentili and Spanish claims ....... Three British writers ........ 1. William Welwod The Sea-Law oj Scotland : a book extremely rare An Abridgement of all Sea-Lawes : its scope Its chapter ' Of the Community and Propriety of the Seas '. An allusion to Grotius's Mare Liberum .... Continuity and identity ....... Welwod's distinction : Welwod and Grotius ... Wclwod's De Dominio Marts . ' . . . . . Scldcn and Welwod ....... 2. Selden . * The controversy a ' battle of books ' ; and more Grotius's Mare Liberum and Selden's Mare Clausum . . 3. Boroughs: The Sovereignty of the British Seas . . The occasion of writing it . . . . The occasion of publishing it ..... An analysis of the work . . . . . The riches of the British seas . ., * . The need for asserting rights, and for learning lessons from the Hollanders . . . . . . 139 ' The most precious Jewell of his Maicsties Crowne ' . . 141 Contents xiii PAGE 5. TREATIES ' Les archives des nations ' . * . . . . . 142 The relation of a treaty to ' the law ' . . . . . . 142 Collections of Treaties . . . . . . . . . 143 (a) General 143 (b) British . . . . 144 Originals of British Treaties 145 6. MAPS ; and their historical background The Map of Europe by Treaty : its high value .... 146 7. SUPPLEMENTARY READING 1. (a) Machiavelli ......... 149 (b) Guicciardini ......... 149 (c) Aphorismes Civill and Militarie . . . . . 149 Thucydides and Tacitus . . . . . . .150 2. ' Anti-Machiavel ' writings . . . . . . 151 3. (a) Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell . . . . 151 (b) Clarendon, History of the Rebellion . . . . -IS* (c) Oliver Cromwell's foreign policy . . . . 151 4. Gentilis, (a) De Legationibus, and (b) De Abusu Mendacii . . 151 5. (a) Vera, Le Parfait Ambassadeur (traduit de 1'Espagnol par le Sieur Lancelot) . . . . . . . .152 (b) Wicquefort, U Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions . . . 153 Translation by John Digby 154 (c) Callieres, De la Maniere de negocier avec les Souverains . 155 (d) Martens (Charles de), Le Guide Diplomatique , -,- . 156 Scope of the work . . . .".'. . . .156 (e) Satow, A Guide to Diplomatic Practice . . . 157 6. (a) Frederick the Great, L'Histoire de mon Temps . . .160 When alliances may be broken . . . . . .160 The interest of the State and of rulers : seizing the occasion. 161 (b) Clausewitz, On War ....... 161 Allies and the means of defence . . . . .161 Influence of the political object on the military . . .162 War an instrument of policy . . . . . .163 7. Sorel, V Europe et la Revolution francaise . . . .164 8. Malmesbury, Diaries and Correspondence . . . .164 9. Bernard, Four Lectures' on Subjects connected with Diplomacy . 164 xiv Contents PAGE 10. Holland, Studies in International Law . . . . .165 11. Parliamentary Reports and Papers on diplomatic practice and procedure , , . . . . . . . 166 8. LITERATURE OF RECENT BRITISH DIPLOMACY Historical Works 168 The Crown, Ministers, Parliament, and the conduct of Foreign Policy 172 The Letters of Queen Victoria ....... 173 Memoirs and Biographies . . . . . . . .176 Parliamentary and State Papers . . . . . .176 9. LITERATURE OF INTERNATIONAL ETHICS 1. Citizenship of the world . . . . . . . 177 2. The mediaeval ideal . . . . . . . .177 3. Projects of Perpetual Peace . . . . . . . 1 79 L' Abbe de Saint-Pierre, Projet de la Paix perpetuclle . 1 79 The link in the Projects of Saint-Pierre, Rousseau, Bentham, and Kant ........ 181 Rousseau . . . . . . . . .182 The problem expressed in terms of the Social Contract . 182 Rousseau and the study of international relations . -183 His contribution to the promulgation of Projects of Perpetual Peace . . . . . . .187 Bentham . 195 Two * fundamental propositions ' of his ' Plan ' . .196 The establishment of a common tribunal . . . .197 Colonies and trade and war . . . . . .197 The international sanction . . . . . .198 The place of Bentham's Plan in his scheme of thought . 199 Kant ......... . 200 His insistence on conditions to be satisfied . . . 200 The essay * Perpetual Peace ', and Kant's political thought 201 The agreement of Rousseau and Kant : the supra-national disposition . , . . . . . . 207 Politics and Ethics , . . . . . . . 208 Conclusions of two recent English thinkers . . . 208 The Family of Nations . . . . . . 210 Hooker on the Law of Nations . 212 Contents xv APPENDIX I EXTRACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE FUNCTION OF THE AMBAS- SADOR, THE QUALITIES OF THE DIPLOMATIST, AND THE CONDUCT OF NEGOTIATIONS PAGE 1. The Function of the Ambassador . . . . . .216 (1) Vera : Definition de la Charge d'Ambassadeur . . . 216 Qui fut 1'auteur de la premiere Ambassade . . .217 (2) Wicquefort : Of the Function of the Embassador in general . 217 (3) Callieres : Des Fonctions du Negociateur . . . .219 (4) Martens (Charles de) : Des Fonctions de 1'agent diplomatique . 220 2. Qualities of the Diplomatist . . 220 (1) Bon Ambassadeur : Bon Orateur ...... 220 (2) (a) Of the birth and learning of an Embassador . . . 221 (b) Des Connoissances necessaires et utiles a un Negociateur . 223 (3) General Qualities of the Diplomatist ..... 224 Du Choix des Negociateurs ...... 224 Des Qualitez et de la Conduite du Negociateur . . . 226 (4) The Need for Courage and Firmness : Un homme de sang froid 228 (a) En quel cas un Ambassadeur peut temoigner sa hardiesse & son courage 228 (b) Of Moderation 229 (c) La fermete : un homme naturellement violent & emporte . 229 (5) Machiavellianism and Anti-Machiavellianism : Ruse and Counter-ruse ......... 230 (a) Comment un Ambassadeur doit proceder entre 1'utile & 1'honneste ......... 230 De la menterie officieuse ....... 230 (b) Of Prudence and Cunning . . . . . -233 (c) Advice for one ' destined for the foreign line ' . . . 234 (6) Miscellaneous Considerations ...... 237 (a) Qu'un Ambassadeur doit estre sobre . . . . 237 (b) Whether Clergymen are proper for Embassies . . . 237 (c) Si 1' Ambassadeur se 'peut servir 1'entremise des femmes pour le progrez de ses affaires . . . . . .238 3. The Conduct of Negotiations ....... 239 De 1'utilite des Negociations ....... 239 Observations sur les manieres de negocier . . . . . 239 xvi Contents PAGE S'il est utile d'envoyer plusieurs Negociateurs en un meme Pays . 240 DCS negotiations diplomatiques . . . . . . . 240 Diplomatic Correspondence : Instructions ; Letters and Dis- patches : Cipher ........ 242 Of Treaties 249 APPENDIX II 1. The effect of telegraphic communications upon the responsibility of diplomatic missions : Evidence of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, Sir A. Buchanan, Lord John Russell 251 2. Publication of Dispatches : ' Secret Diplomacy ' : Evidence of Lord Wodehouse, the Earl of Clarendon, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord Cowley, Lord John Russell . . ' . . 253 3. The Marquess Wellesley on the Spanish Supreme Central Junta . 259 4. Mr. Gladstone on the Treaty-making Power : the Cession of Heli- goland .......... 260 5. Opinions of British Foreign Secretaries on publicity and responsi- bility in the conduct of foreign policy : Lord Palmerston ; the Earl of Clarendon ; the Marquess of Salisbury ; Mr. A. J. Balfour 263 6. The Treatment of International Questions by Parliaments in France, Germany, and the United States of America . . 270 Democracy and the conduct of Foreign Policy .... 279 7. The Dominions and the Control of Foreign Policy . , . 282 INDEX 285 DIPLOMACY AND THE CONDUCT OF FOREIGN POLICY 2224 DIPLOMACY AND THE CONDUCT OF FOREIGN POLICY MR. FREEMAN, who had the keen interest of a politician and partisan in questions of foreign policy in his own day, as well as the profound knowledge of the historian, once described an experience he had as a magistrate in petty sessions. 1 He had to examine two witnesses, each of whom was required to give an account of a certain conversation. One of them pre- sented his view of what passed in the words, * They all began to talk politics, putting questions to me that I could not answer '. The other witness, describing the same conversation, said, * They began to talk about the rise of the world, and Adam and Eve'. Mr. Freeman remarked that the definition of politics implied in the second of these statements had often come before his mind since the words were spoken. He thought that the man who looked upon a discussion about * the rise of the world, and Adam and Eve ' as coming under the head ' politics ' showed an acute sense of what politics really are. ' A conversation about the rise of the world would be very apt to pass into theological discussion, and theological discussion is very apt to pass into more strictly political discussion. . . . Every political question is a question of our duty as a nation ; it is, therefore, a moral question.' Mr. Free- man thought he took this view of politics himself during the two years of storm and stress in the history of the Eastern 1 Thompson, Public Opinion and Lord Beaconsfield (1886), ii. 39-40, quoting from Mr. Freeman's letter, ' No Politics ', in the Daily News, September 28, 1876. 2224 B 2 2 Diplomacy and the Question from 1876 to 1878, when, like many others, he was charged with making * political capital ' (as it was termed) out of the evil deeds of the Turks and the sufferings of Christians. In a speech he made in 1876 he blamed both Palmerston and Russell ; and no Liberal, he said, objected to his censure. But, the moment he began to blame Lord Derby, a Tory shouted, ' No politics '. Worst of all, Mr. Freeman had to submit to being called by the enemy ' philanthropist ', whereas he was only * talking politics ' and putting questions they could not answer. 1 1 ' By those who were opposed to Freeman's views on this question, he was denounced as " an itinerant demagogue ", " an agitator ", " an hysterical screamer ", " a philanthropic enthusiast ", " a sentimental, unpractical politician ", and the like. . . . He replied to the charge of being a aentimental and unpractical politician by retorting it upon his adver- saries ' (see ' Sentimental and Practical Politics ', Princeton Review, March 1879). ' The really unpractical men were those who took no account of national sentiment, which was one of the strongest factors in national life. In the wise words of Guizot, " the instinct of nations sees further than the negotiations of diplomatists ". . . . It will be noticed that in this, as in all other political controversies, Freeman brought every question to the touchstone of morals. He did not ask in the first instance whether any proposed course of action was likely to promote British interests and power, but whether it was honourable, straightforward, and just.' Stephens, Life and Letters of Edward A. Freeman (i 895), ii. 1 1 91 20, 121. On Decem- ber 9, 1876, Freeman spoke with Gladstone and others at St. James's Hall, London, in protest against Turkish oppression and against Britain inter- fering with the work of emancipation, whether that of Russia or of any other Power. Dealing with the argument that the interests of this country, and in paiticular her dominion in India, would be imperilled, if a Russian ship of war should enter the Mediterranean, he said, ' Well, if it be so, let duty come first and interest second, and perish the interests of England, perish our dominion in India, rather than that we should strike one blow or speak one word on behalf of the wrong against the right.' Freeman was at pains to refute the assertion that he had said ' Perish India '. See Stephens, op. cit., ii. 113, and Thompson, op. cit., i. 361, note, ii. 129-36, especially 133, 135. Conduct of Foreign Policy 3 It was about the same time that another historian Professor Seeley who held, like Mr. Freeman, that history is the training-ground for both citizenship and statesmanship, was addressing a working-men's club in London ; and in the discussion that followed his lecture a remark was made which he often recalled, especially when he tried to measure the competence of the great mass of men for judging of large national issues. ' I don't know how you feel,' said a working- man, turning to the gathering of working-men, * and I don't know how it is, but whenever I hear the Russians mentioned, I feel the blood tingling all over me.' The lecturer was alarmed at this way of handling the question before the meeting. Many, however, in the audience seemed to be surprised at the impression which was made upon him by the assumption of this speaker, that a mere instinctive feeling might quite fairly be taken as a guide to the proper steps for determining policy towards an important issue in international affairs. 1 Seeley's lecture was given about ten years after Robert Lowe had uttered his deduction from the passing of the Second Reform Bill that now we ' must educate our masters '. Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff 2 very dutifully and trustingly 1 Seeley, Macmillan's Magazine, September 1880. 2 As Member of Parliament for the Elgin Burghs, 1857-81. In 1860 he gave the first in a long succession of annual speeches to his constituents, intended to survey the field of current politics, and especially that of international affairs. See his Elgin Speeches (1871). Everything may be left in part to the hazards of the unforeseen everything except the fate of nations. That, in the language of Emilio Castelar (Grant Duff, Miscel- lanies, Political and Literary (1878), 214-87), may be taken as the foundation and motive of the effort of the Member for the Elgin Burghs. ' I think there is no man in Scotland who has tried more carefully to keep his constituents acquainted with what he thought upon all great matters, by submitting his thoughts to them at these annual gatherings.' Miscellanies, 314. He deplored the evil, that 'few English politicians find it worth their while to make a specialty of the study of foreign questions.' B 3 4 Diplomacy and the experimented with that task. And certainly it is wiser to prevent somnambulism in politics by salutary ministration than to try to cure it by sudden shock. But we shall cure where we have not been able to prevent, only if we resolutely face the facts. The most sternly effective encounter for the somnambulist of the day-time in politics and he is ever with us would, we may be sure, be a meeting with Machiavelli. But we are anticipating. The chief and never-ending task of the political historian is the study and estimate of policy and of the instruments for the conduct of policy the study and estimate of statesman- ship. By * policy ' we mean a reasoned line of action taken in relation to conditions as present, and as seen and understood, with a view to improving them. It is the application of mind and means to conditions for an object, immediate or distant, or both. Both the immediate means and the imme- diate object may at times seem to conflict with a larger and ultimate object, and yet be sound and necessary : we do not appraise by the same standard the Tudor body politic and modern parliamentarianism. We must never separate the study of policy whether it be the statesman's study of policy in prospect, or the historian's in retrospect from the appre- ciation of the instruments on the understanding and the use 'Foreign Policy* in Practical Politics (1881), 81. 'Much of the good, however, that might result from the increased knowledge of statesmen about foreign affairs will be lost, if they do not take more pains to spread their own knowledge and ideas amongst their countrymen. If they do not do so, their hands may be forced at any moment, and they may be driven into courses which will be equally disagreeable to sane Liberals and sane Conservatives, by some sudden enthusiasm, which would never have taken hold on the popular mind if men in the front rank of politics had been wise in time, and had kept their countrymen a little more au courant of their thoughts.' Ibid. 87. Further, ' in dealing with a democracy you must not only be right, but seem right.' Ibid. 79. Conduct of Foreign Policy 5 of which success depends ; and we must test the character of the instruments by the work they have to do. A constitution, and the whole equipment, personal and impersonal, of govern- ment, must be judged not in themselves alone for in them- selves they have no meaning but according to the people whose constitution and equipment they are, and according to the problems in politics that have to be grappled with at the time, and by the measure of suitability of the constitution and its organs for dealing with these problems successfully. We can never evade circumstance that unspiritual god in politics. Intellectually possible, no doubt, it is, and an exercise of high intellect it can become, to study politics, if politics it then be, apart from conditions in fact and circumstance : possible it is to construct a scheme of politics, or a system of thought on polity, that shall not be shaped and determined by realities and by what is practicable to write at large of 4 the ' State without ever having clearly observed a State, and compared one State at work with others, both in their methods and in their achievements. There is a philosophy of politics that starts from an inspiration or an assu nption, builds on principles, and leads up, it hopes, to Truth. Students of history and observers of politics, in their mundane view, do not aspire to that freedom of movement, nor, it may be, to the glory of the non-terrestrial vision, even while they do not interpret the real in history as the merely material, even while they allow for psychological and ethical factors in the life and politics of a people, and are not unmindful of the City of God of St. Augustine and of the De Monarchia of Dante, nor are scornful of the Utopias of politics. The politics with which they have to do start from conditions in time and place, with the tyranny, it may be, of circumstance, build on policy, and lead, it is hoped, to success. That success may approximate to intellectual certitude and philosophic truth where a wise 6 Diplomacy and the policy has touched with tolerance and skill problems of the mind and conscience the sphere of liberty for mind and conscience. But more often the success of policy is seen merely in an improvement of the material conditions of life, in greater and better-distributed wealth, in a higher social well-being, and in the welding of the parts of a society into something like a harmonious community the integrity of the body politic. Twice happy the statesman who not only has a high conception of end in his politics, but can point to great practical achievement in striving to attain the goal ; and thrice happy that statesman who, in thus achieving, has not made any unworthy sacrifice of right in the means he has taken for the ends he has had before him. The relation of means to end is a consideration paramount in the study of history and politics. In the study of history we must always be dispassionate, and in estimate severely just. The Muse is false to her calling if she becomes generous. To be just in estimate is what we are all concerned with in study and writing and teaching : not otherwise can lessons be drawn from the past for the present. But we should be unjust generous or too severe if we did not know the con- ditions the situation, we do well to call it with which policy, or the men of action, had to deal ; and if, knowing the situation, we did not allow for it equitably in the estimate that we form. We must not equate principles or ideal and conditions or fact. 1 Therefore, we cannot accept the stand- 1 ' It is not by attending to the dry, strict, abstract principles of a point, that a just conclusion is to be arrived at in political subjects. They are not to be determined by mathematical accuracy. Wisdom is to be gained in politics, not by any one rigid principle, but by examining a number of incidents ; by looking attentively at causes, and reflecting on the effects they have produced ; by comparing a number of events together, and by taking, as it were, an average of human affairs.' Pitt, April 7, 1794, Speeches (1806), ii. 190. Conduct of Foreign Policy 7 point of that school of history, or of moral philosophers busying themselves with the records and deeds and men of the past a school of which Lord Acton was a conspicuous example in our own generation that would lay down an absolute and binding canon in the sphere of right and wrong, and require that no plea of over-mastering and tyrannous conditions can condone deviation from the moral law in the use of means by the politician for the gaining of an end desirable in the interest of the State the living and developing body politic. Such a rule would, assuredly, be a very simple and very clear rule to apply. We need not go, in its stead, to the opposite extreme. We need not say that everything is relative : that that is the only doctrine and rule that is absolute. But the simple, clear, rigid rule of moral estimate is one which even those who almost make of politics a 'religion may righteously refuse to accept. Its enforcement would result in the doing of gross injustice to the men whose part it has been sternly to achieve by grasping that * stumbling guidance along the path of reliance and action which is the path of life ', and not merely to think and hope and have visions. But, inasmuch as we repudiate the absolute canon of the moralist in historical estimate, for judgement that shall be just, we have the more need to be scrupulous in our search for historical conditions, in the measure of allowance we make for them, in our scrutiny both of the end that is sought and of the means that are used. These considerations bear with especial force upon questions of foreign and international policy, owing to the complexity of the conditions that are essentially involved. An ambassador we have all heard from Sir Henry Wotton and his inter- preter, Izaak Walton is ' an honest man who is sent to lie abroad for the good of his country '.* Well : much depends 1 The ' hinge upon which the conceit was to turn ' is found in the use of the word ' lieger ' or ' lieger ambassador ', one who was appointed to 8 Diplomacy and the upon conditions, and upon one's country upon the 'salutary prejudice ' called one's country (it is of good omen, with remain or ' lie ' at a foreign court, a resident ambassador, as distinct from the temporary ambassador who was sent on a special and limited mission, the latter only being at first and for a long time permitted. Wotton's ' pleasant definition ' a ' merriment ' he termed it to James I in self-defence was given in Latin, and in Latin that does not furnish the hinge of the conceit. Walton ('The Life of Sir Henry Wotton ', in his Lives, ed. 1825, 122-4) gives the following account : ' At his first going Ambassador into Italy, as he passed through Germany, he stayed some days at Augusta [Augs- burg] ; where, having been in his former travels well known by many of the best note for learning and ingeniousness, those that are esteemed the virtuosi of that nation, with whom he passing an evening in merriments, was requested by Christopher Flecamore to write some sentence in his Albo ; a book of white paper, which for that purpose many of the German gentry usually carry about them : and Sir Henry Wotton consenting to the motion, took an occasion, from some accidental discourse of the present company, to write a pleasant definition of an Ambassador in these very words : " Legatus est vir bonus, peregre missus ad mentiendum Reipublicae causa " which Sir Henry Wotton could have been content should have been thus Englished : " An ambassador is an honest man, sent to lie abroad for the good of his country ". But the word for lie being the hinge upon which the conceit was to turn was not so expressed in Latin, as would admit in the hands of an enemy especially so fair a construction as Sir Henry thought in English.' Later in the 'Life' (ibid. 138-9), Walton writes that 'a friend of Sir Henry Wotton's being designed for the employment of an Ambassador, came to Eton ' (of which Wotton was Provost) ' and requested from him some experimental rules for his prudent and safe carriage in his negociations : to whom he smilingly gave this for an infallible aphorism : That to be in safety himself, and serviceable to his country, he should always, and upon all occasions, speak the truth, it seems a State paradox for, says Sir Henry Wotton, you shall never be believed ; and by this means your truth will secure yourself, if you shall ever be called to any account ; and Conduct of Foreign Policy 9 Priam, to fight for her), upon what she has been, and is, and stands for, and has to stand against. * Remember in all that you do that you are in an enemy country ', a recent German Ambassador is said to have remarked in words of advice to a junior who was proceeding to London : it would not be necessary to add, ' But so conduct yourself as though you are a friend '. Assuredly we may all agree that no representative of his country abroad should drink of the potion described in poetic fiction that made men forget their country ; and, so, it is a wise recommendation that members of the diplomatic service should fortify themselves against such insinuating influence by periodic visits to the land they represent. 1 it will also put your adversaries who will still hunt counter to a loss in all their disquisitions and undertakings.' 1 See the very instructive and valuable Report from the Select Committee on Diplomatic Service (with Proceedings, Minutes of Evidence), 1861 : 197 (Sir G. H. Seymour : ' A man should not be left in a foreign country long enough to become a German or a Spaniard, but . . . should fortify himself every now and then by coming to England ') ; 458 (Sir T. Wyse, writing from Athens to Lord John Russell : ' British ministers abroad should be encouraged from time to time to return to their own country with the view of keeping up to the level of political knowledge of which England is the centre, and bracing themselves anew, in the atmosphere of our free institutions and existence, to that English spirit and bearing which is the best guarantee for legitimate success with other nations, and which I trust will always be the distinction of English diplo- macy in every part of the world.' Similarly, Grant Duff, who was a member of the Committee which reported in 1861, writing on ' Foreign Policy ' in Practical Politics (1881), 85-6 : ' Diplomatists should not be quite so much "up in a balloon" as they often are ... it is a real misfortune that they are not oftener enabled ... to come into contact with our home political life. They greatly need se retremper from time to time in its boisterous but health-bestowing currents ; there should be, if possible, more frequent exchanges from parliamentary to diplomatic, and from diplomatic to par- liamentary activity. That a man should be at once a member of the House of Commons and a representative of his Sovereign abroad, as was the case, io Diplomacy and the There is much in the point of view in estimates of the diplomatic service. Some there have been, and there may still be some, who think of the head of a legation as the giver of very good dinners ; and in the evidence forthcoming before the Select Committee, appointed by the House of Commons, in 1861, to inquire into the constitution and efficiency of the diplomatic service of this country, it was declared that the giving of good dinners is a quite necessary and very valuable part of the function of a diplomatist : * a good dinner goes a great way in diplomacy ' * was the celebrated opinion twice 2 sworn to by Sir Hamilton Seymour, who had over forty years' experience of diplomacy. The Head of the Foreign Office, again, may sometimes think of a diplomatist as one who is specially solicitous for his health. ' You will be struck ', said Palmerston to a successor at the Foreign Office, in 1852, * with a very curious circumstance, that no climate agrees with an English diplomatist excepting that of Paris, Florence, or Naples '. 3 The schoolmaster, yet again, looking to the interest of his pupil as a hopeful attache would emphasize the impor- tance of handwriting * a good bold hand with distinctly formed letters ', 4 and of having a command of excellent French : in recent years German was added as a second obligatory language for candidates in this country. The for example, with Philip Stanhope, was no doubt an anomaly, but it was an anomaly which had its advantages.' (See Chesterfield's Letters.} 1 Report, supra, 207. Cf., on fetes and entertainments, 123, 128, 166 (They ' promote the efficiency of his political relations ' Stratford de Redcliffe), 232 (' There can be no doubt that the more a man entertains the better his position becomes ' Lord Cotoley). * In 1850 as well as in 1861. 3 Malmcsbury, Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, under date March n, 1852. 4 ' Regulations for the Examination of Unpaid Attaches, before the Civil Service Commissioners, as approved by Lord J. Russell, August 1859.' Report, supra, 477. Conduct of Foreign Policy n schoolmaster would have the support of Sovereigns and Ambassadors. The ' Foreign Office hand ' in England was a legacy of Canning and Palmerston. Canning laid down the rule that not more than ten lines should be put into one page of foolscap. Palmerston advised Lord Malmesbury, when he assumed the charge of the Foreign Office, to insist on all official correspon- dence being written in a plain hand and with proper intervals between the lines ; and he named some Ministers ' whose writing was quite illegible '.* Neither French nor any other language now holds the place of privilege from which French had supplanted Latin before the middle of the eighteenth century as the usual, though not universal, language of treaties and of diplomatic instru- ments for European States. 2 But a ready command of French, to be spoken with that 'easy elegance ' which a polite ambassador ascribed to the speech of our Queen -Elizabeth in Latin, 3 has 1 Memoirs, as above : ' On a very badly written despatch he [Palmerston] wrote : " Tell Mr. W., in a ' Separate ', that the person who copies out his despatches should form his letters by connecting his slanting down strokes by visible lines at top or bottom according to the letters which he intends his parallel lines to represent. P. 18/4/51." On another badly written despatch from one of H. M.'s consuls he wrote : "A Despatch must contain much valuable matter to reward one for deciphering such handwriting as this which can only be compared to Iron Railings leaning out of the per- pendicular. P. 23/12/57." Of another despatch he wrote: " Reading Mr. R.'s handwriting is like running Penknives into one's Eyes. P. 21/4/64.'" Sir Edward Hertslet, Recollections of the Old Foreign Office (1901), 78-9. 2 See Satow, Diplomatic Practice (2 vols. 1917), i. 58-61, and Martens, Guide diplomatique, i. 251-4, ed. 1838 ; ii. 6-9, ed. 1851. 3 Of Elizabeth's speech to an Ambassador from Sigismund III, King of Poland, in 1597, Robert Cecil wrote to the Earl of Essex : 'I sweare by the living God, that her Ma tie made one of the best aunswers ex tempore, in Latin, that ever I heard, being much mooved to be so challenged in publick. The wordes of her beginning were these : " Expectavi Legationem, mihi 12 Diplomacy and the long been and still is a desirable part of the equipment of both the junior and the senior members of the diplomatic service. Hamilton Seymour declared in 1861 that * by far the most important point for those who enter the profession, is that of learning French ' : he agreed that the society of ladies was the society in which it could be most quickly learnt for con- versational purposes. 1 He had seen men even in the higher spheres of diplomacy placed in ridiculous situations, and openly laughed at, as a consequence of their want of familiarity with the French language. ' Would you ', the Earl of Claren- don was asked in 1861, ' attach supreme importance to a complete familiarity with the French language ? ' ' The greatest importance ; I consider that a sine qua non.' ' Does not the dignity, and almost the respectability, of a foreign minister a great deal depend upon his being able to com- municate with his colleagues, and society, in the French language, and in a manner that should not excite either remark or ridicule ? ' ' Clearly so ; but I also think that he should speak the language of the Court to which he is accredited.' 2 vero Querelam adduxisti" ' Ellis, Original Letters (1824), iii. 44. ' It was upon this occasion, to use the words of Speed, that the Queen, lion-like rising, daunted the malapert Orator ' rather a Herald than an Ambassa- dor, she described him in her speech ' no less with her stately port and majestical departure, than with the tartness of her princely checks : and turning to the Traine of her Attendants, thus said : " God's death, my Lords" (for that was her oath ever in anger) "I have been enforced this day to secure up my old Latin that hath lain long in rusting." ' // 7'~ 2 ' Conduct of Foreign Policy 21 course, the art of diplomacy, and, in the narrower, more precise and most exacting sphere of that art, the art of negotiating, must not be denied recognition for pertinacity and adroitness and a large measure of good intention. The mere fact that permanent legations were accepted and approved was at once a consequence and a proof of the impor- tance of the interests that were represented by them. Those interests grew as the several nations grew, and as their contact became more immediate and more vital to each. Throughout all this development, the gift of persuasive speech has con- tinued to be a primary quality for the diplomatist. His func- tion is to carry on political business, never against the interest of his own country, by personal intercourse and persuasive speech with foreign statesmen and other diplomatists. Accord- ing to the testimony of Lord Lyons an accomplished ambas- sador, and, at a critical juncture for this country and the United States of America, a highly successful one ' the faculty of influencing others by conversation is the qualification pecu- liarly necessary to a diplomatist ' ; 1 and to this end, he added, ' besides higher qualities ', quickness in observing, readiness in reply, tact and even good manners are of far greater use than much learning. Broadening our view, we may think that Lord Augustus Loftus, in passing a eulogy on Lord Clarendon as Minister for Foreign Affairs, was almost ascribing to him the qualities of a perfectly equipped representative of the service of which he was himself an experienced and distinguished member. ' Courteous and dignified, with charming manners, he won the regard and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. Firm and courageous, with consummate judgement, he was neither open to flattery nor to the influence of fear. He had a remarkable perspicacity and knowledge of human character, 1 Report (1861), 442. 22 Diplomacy and the which, blended with that chivalry and disinterestedness which marked his character, rendered him one of the most popular, as he was one of the most able statesmen of the age.' * Is there anything in all this to suggest that diplomacy must be Machiavellian ? Machiavelli himself does not require that it be so, except in so far as human nature, in general, and the nature, more especially, of particular men and particular circumstances, 2 impel it to assume devices that have vulgarly taken name, rather than derived qualities, from one of the most powerful of all writers and thinkers. What Machiavelli did was to insist on prudence and efficiency. He would say, if to interpret him in brief not from The Prince alone be not impossible : Be not deceived by mere appearance. Discover men, things, and conditions as they are. It may be that in deriding sentimentalism and emotionalism, in warring against uncal- culating benevolence, in the conduct of public and inter- national affairs, I shall seem to many to despise sentiment itself and all idealism even I who love books, and cherish Dante, and rank him imperishably with the immortals of Greece and Rome. But the times are rough and full of strange mutations. Fidelity to bonds, and gratitude for services, let no man count on who would face the facts and seek security. Be not timid of counsel, nor slothful in execution. Thucydides and the ancient Romans (especially should I value Tacitus, although I comment on Titus Livius) have uttered their warnings and their rebuke : nor are men, nor the heavens, the sun, the elements altered from what of old they were, in their motion, their ordering and power. The maxim, ' Leave it to time ', did not commend itself to the ancients. Be not too late. Uncontrolled forces there are ; forces uncontrollable there may be. With these we must do our best to reckon. 1 I. oft us. Diplomatic Reminiscences, ii. ch. i. 2 Machiavelli would have commended Montesquieu for his standard : ' Jc n'ai point tire mcs principcs dc mes prcjuges, mais dc la nature dcs choscs.' (De f Esprit des Lois : Preface.) Conduct of Foreign Policy 23 Men have been impelled by Necessity to achieve, with their hands and tongue, that excellence whereunto we see them by their labours to have been brought ; and it behoves men to consider well the quality of the times always, for often the good or the evil that befalls is in no other wise to be explained than by the manner of the encounter of their proceedings with the times, and by their proceeding conformably to them, or not conformably. Fortuna is fickle and mysterious. But, where she cannot be humoured, by weaving her webs, and by not breaking them, 1 then, like a jade, she may by strength and decisiveness be mastered. Be not over-scrupulous, with fine sensibility of conscience, when conditions are adverse, and when to lose time is to miss success. Do not resolve on the end until you are assured it is that which reason and interest cool judgement enjoin. But, when you have so resolved, command the means. Not without cause the voice of the people, in the things of their knowledge, is likened to the voice of God - ; yet the ills of a people may have to be cured by the Prince by remedies sharp and strong and seem- ingly cruel. In my work, The Prince, intended for a special set of circumstances, and confirmed, amplified, and propor- tioned by my Discourses and other of my writings in many places in that, my little gift to The Magnificent Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, with what motive fashioned men after me may inquire and not agree I have said what will, I do not doubt, be charged against me as preaching sin, when I was merely warning my fellow-men ' fellow-Christians ' I will not say against committing mistakes. And yet all that I have meant to enjoin on men, and on my own countrymen first, for their good, is hidden away in these words I wrote to my friend, Francesco Vettori, 3 Ambassador at Rome : ' When 1 Discorsi, ii. 29 ; // Principe, 25. 2 Discorsi, i. 58. 3 For Machiavelli's correspondence with Vettori, see Villari, Macbiavelli, iii. 191-216. ' In the correspondence of Guicciardini and his other con- temporaries, we only descry the writer's real mind as though through the folds of a thick veil ; for all these men merely described and analysed that which they did, never that which they felt. Machiavelli showed a fuller self- consciousness, a livelier need of opening his soul ; therefore rarely as he spoke of himself his letters afford us the first really clear manifestation 24 Diplomacy and the I see a man commit one capital error, I have a right to assume he may commit a thousand ; for names do not impose on me, and in such cases I never yield except to the authority of reason.' We may recall Bacon's protest against those who object too much, consult too long, adventure too high, and seldom drive business home. 1 Add to that the following from The Jew of Malta : * of the modern spirit.' 192. ' Machiavelli's real life was all in his intel- lect ; there lay the true source of his greatness. His predominating mental gift and that in which he outstripped his contemporaries, was a singular power of piercing to the innermost kernel of historical and social facts.' Ibid. iv. 434. 1 It should not be necessary to say that Bacon's worldly wisdom for example, in the Essays (in part, even as Montaigne, ' ic suis moy mesme la matiere de mon livre '), in the second book of The Advancement oj Learn- ing, and in his Commentarius Solutus is saturated with the influence of Machiavclli. ' Concerning government, it is a part of knowledge secret and retired in both these respects in which things are deemed secret ; for some things are secret because they are hard to know, and some because they are not fit to utter.'- Adv. of L., u. xxiii. 47. ' And experience showeth, there are few men so true to themselves and so settled, but that, sometimes upon heat, sometimes upon bravery, sometimes upon kindness, sometimes upon trouble of mind and weakness, they open themselves ; specially if they be put to it with a counter-dissimulation, according to the proverb of Spain, " Di tnentira, y sacaras verdad : Tell a lie and find a truth".' n. xxiii. 18. 2 Written between 1588 and 1592. In the Prologue Machiavelli speaks : I count religion but a childish toy And hold there is no sin but ignorance.' Shakespeare, in Henry the Sixth, twice, by anachronism, makes use of the conception of Machiavelli current in his age : in Part i, Act v, sc. 4, York : ' Alcnc.on, that notorious Machiavel ' ; in Part in, Act iii, sc. 2, Gloucester (soliloquising) : ' Why, I can smile, and murder while I smile, And cry, " Content ", to that which grieves my heart, Conduct of Foreign Policy 25 ' Be ruled by me, for in extremity We ought to make bar of no policy.' * To these add this aphorism from Machiavelli's equally sagacious, and almost equally learned and able, countryman and contem- porary, Guicciardini an aphorism supported by words from Thucydides, Polybius, Lucan, and others, and by citation of a lesson from History : ' The vicissitude of things and change of times, begets new counsailes and deliberations in States, and enforceth necessarily the knitting or dissolving of Alliance between them. What is usefull to day, may be hurtfull to morrow, as showers that are seasonable in the Spring, and unwelcome in the Harvest. Wherefore, to temporise by levelling and adapting our actions to the occasion present and presented, is requisite policy.' 2 Gather these sententiae ; or And wet my cheeks with artificial tears, And frame my face to all occasions. I'll play the orator as well as Nestor, I can add colours to the chameleon, Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, And set the murd'rous Machiavel to school.' ' Noe times have bene without badd men ', wrote Spenser, in A View oj the Present State of Ireland (Globe ed. (1890), 675); and its author, as became a representative Elizabethan, was not without knowledge and appreciation of the ' rugged brow of carefull Policy ' of a Christopher Hatton, a Francis Walsingham, the Lord Burleigh, and others. In places unexpected and expected one comes upon evidence of the use made of Machiavelli's name within the century following the publication of The Prince. In a record of the Star Chamber for 1595 a scoundrel and turncoat is described as ' a most palpable Machiavellian ' (cited by Cheyney, A His- tory of England from the Defeat of the Armada to the Death of Elizabeth, (1914), i. 141). l Barabas, Act i. sc. 2. 2 Aphorismes Civill and Militarie . . . out of the first Quarlerne of Fr. Guic- ciardine (R. Dallington), 2nd ed., 1629, 316-17. See also Counsels and Reflections of Francesco Guicciardini, translated from the Italian by Ninian Hill Thomson, 1890, e.g. Nos. 6, 30 (Fortuna : ' Whoso well considers 26 Diplomacy and the even transmute and dilute them so that they become little more than commonplaces in thought in relation to action : and there is no need to make special and pre-eminent appeal to Machiavelli. Rather should we venture to say this, that much of the undoubted ' Machiavellianism ' in diplomacy before as well as after Machiavelli would never have been called for, had Machiavelli's own injunction been complied with : Examine well and master betimes the elements in the situation, know your mind, and be decisive : it is only on occasion that you need temporize. Had there been more of Machiavellism, there would have been less that is Machiavellian. it will scarce deny that in human affairs Fortune rules supreme. . . . And though discernment and vigilance may temper many things, they cannot do so unhelped, but stand always in need of favourable Fortune ') ; 41, 48 (' States cannot be established or maintained by conforming to the moral law ') ; 76 (cf. 336), 78, 109 (freedom, security and ' self-government ') ; 140 (' the people ' ' a beast, mad, mistaken, perplexed, without taste, discernment, or stability ' : cf. 345) ; and 147 (' He mistakes who thinks the success of an enterprise to depend on whether it be just or not. For every day we have proof to the contrary, and that it is not the justice of a cause, but prudence, strength, and good fortune that give the victory. It is doubtless true that in him who has right on his side there is often bred a firm confidence, founded on the belief that God will favour the righteous cause, which makes him bold and stubborn, and that from this boldness and stubbornness victories do sometimes follow. In this way it may now and then indirectly help you that your cause is just. But it is a mistake to suppose that directly any such effect is produced.' Cf. 92 : ' Never say God has prospered this man because he is good, or that another has been unprosperous because he is wicked. For we often sec the contrary happen. Yet are we not therefore to pronounce that the justice of God falls short, since His counsels are so deep as rightly to be spoken of as unfathomable.') For an estimate of Guicciardini, and a comparison of him with Machiavelli, see Villari's Macbiavelli and bis T/, iii. 236-63. Regarding Guicciardini's Ricordi politici e civili Villari says, ' It would be hard anywhere in modern literature to find another series of maxims and sentences revealing, as this docs, the whole political and moral struc- ture, not of one individual only, but of an entire century ', 257. Conduct of Foreign Policy 27 The need and opportunity for subterfuge and chicanery, fencing and finessing, are greater in international policy than in the conduct of domestic. The very function of a nation's laws is to mediate between interests, and even to establish a concord of interests, within one body politic. But in the case of the international system we assume the existence and force of the interests of the units the several States ; and there has not been established an international constitution, with an authority that shall superintend, mediate, and be sovereign. The formula of a ' balance of power ' was often and for a long time spaciously applied, and can still be, even while it might be interpreted, in the official language of French diplomacy, according to one's own views and special interests. 1 But it is a formula that testifies, in itself, both to the deep- rooted rivalry of interests among the Powers, and to the absence of a duly-constituted authority for regulating those interests. In the words of Bolingbroke, 2 the scales of the balance could never be exactly poised. The Primacy of the 1 ' L'equilibre de pouvoir en Europe est le mot de ralliement qui reunit dans un meme concert de mesures, quoique par des motifs fort differents, les cours de Vienne et de Londres, les Etats generaux des Provinces-Unies et la plupart des princes d'Allemagne. Quoique cet equilibre soit, a dire vrai, une chose de pure opinion que chacun interpretc suivant ses vues et ses interets particuliers, il a cependant toujours servi de pretexte et de mobile aux ligues qui, depuis pres de quatre-vingts ans, se sont formees et renouvelees centre la France. L'Angleterre et la Hollande, qui se croient specialement interessees au maintien de cet equilibre de pouvoir, regardent la cour de Vienne comme la seule puissance qui, aidee de leurs secours, soit en etat de contre-balancer les forces de la maison de Bourbon.' Recueil des Instructions . . .: Autricbe, 310-11 (September 14, 1750). Cf. 330; and the Instructions from 1757 on the effects of ' the change of system ' ' the diplomatic revolution ' of 1756. ' En s'unissant etroitement a la cour de Vienne, on peut dire que le Roi a change le systeme politique de 1'Europe ', 356. 2 Letters on History, No. 8. 28 Diplomacy and the Powers and the European Concert of the nineteenth century were, in like manner, only secondary and conditional expedients the second best, and not a bashful one, in the accepted absence, at a distance, of the best desirable. 1 The * Concert of Europe ' has often been made use of as a fiction to cloak the mutual jealousy and enmity of the Powers. If there was something of despair, there was also much that was robustly British and healthy in Canning's exclamation in 1823 : ' Things are getting back to a wholesome state again. Every nation for itself, and God for us all ! ' It is possible, as has been said, 2 to agree with both sentiments at the same time. There ceased to be any European law, such as was projected in the Treaties of Vienna in 1815, to which the weaker States could appeal in defence of right as against the might of the stronger. It was aptly observed by Prince Gortschakoff on the occasion of the Schleswig-Holstein dispute, ' qu'il n'y a plus d'Europe '. 8 In the vigorous era of diplomacy, during the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, diplomatists, accredited to 1 ' The system of preserving some equilibrium of power, of preserving any state from becoming too great for her neighbours, is a system purely defensive, and directed towards the object of universal preservation. It is a system which provides for the security of all states by balancing the force and opposing the interests of great ones. The independence of nations is the end, the balance of power is only the means. To destroy independent nations, in order to strengthen the balance of power, is a most extravagant sacrifice of the end to the means. ... In truth, the Balancing system is itself only a secondary guard of national independence. The paramount principle ... is national spirit. . . . The Congress of Vienna seems, indeed, to have adopted every part of the French system, except that they have transferred the dictatorship of Europe from an individual to a triumvirate.' Sir James Mackintosh, Speech on the Annexation of Genoa to the King- dom of Sardinia, April 27, 1815, Miscellaneous Works (1851), 708-9. 2 Bernard, Four Lectures on Diplomacy (1868), 96. 3 Loftus, Diplomatic Reminiscences, I. ch. xxi. Conduct of Foreign Policy 29 foreign Courts and capitals, were by conditions constrained to be more politic, procrastinating, prevaricating than in our own day. There was an ample supply of ' instructions ' general and specific, initial and supplementary, royal and ministerial ; and these two last were at times, and in a notable instance, irreconcilable. But time and space were then so far from having been overcome that ambassadors had, in many emergencies, to act at their own discretion, to temporize, and make false or merely conditional promises : they had to wait until explicit orders came to them from their Government or their royal master, or from both, thus making explanations necessary, and, it might be, a fresh line of action, a new plan of campaign. 1 We have an impressive illustration in the history 1 The obstacles imposed by distance upon the rapid transmission of reports and communication of instructions must never be omitted in an estimate of diplomacy before the nineteenth century, and of its ' manoeuvres machiaveliques ' (Note du Comte de Segur pour le Prince de Nassau, Petersbourg, January 31, 1789 : Instructions: Russie, ii. 453). ' L'eloigne- ment de Petersbourg a Versailles etant trop grand pour qu'on puisse toujours recevoir des instructions precises au moment ou il seroit con- venable dans certaines circonstances, il faut en profiter avec sagesse,' Instructions: Russie, ii. 335 (November 21, 1777). Cf. i. 485: 'Si des incidents imprevus et qu'il faut ensevelir dans le silence, si une conduite quelquefois peu reguliere de la part de nos ministres que I'eloignement ne nous permettoit pas de guider, ont paru apporter quelque refroidissement entre les deux cours . . . ' (December 1747). Cf. i. 320, ii. 184. The third Lord Malmesbury, editor of the Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, the first Earl, has said (iv. 417) : 'The difference of character between old and modern diplomacy fostered his disposition to assume responsibility, and seek the most laborious and hopeless missions ; for when the European Capitals were, in point of communication with England, at treble the distance at which they now [1844] stand, the resident Minister had necessarily far greater latitude and scope for action, and was con- stantly obliged and expected to trust to his own judgment, when instruc- tions were beyond his reach.' Harris, writing in July 1779 from Petersburg to Morton Eden at Copenhagen, said : ' . . . You will see the difficult and 30 Diplomacy and the of the diplomacy of our own country in the early part of the nineteenth century. Stratford Canning, Minister Plenipoten- tiary at Constantinople, received from the Foreign Minister and the Under-Secretary between 1810 and 1812 sixteen dispatches, and not one of them had any direct and immediate bearing on the troublesome and momentous negotiations which he was conducting at the Porte at the time. 1 The telegraph z has very greatly increased the importance of the Foreign Office of the several States alike in the initiation, in the development and in the control of diplomacy. It has lessened both the difficulties and the independent value of the delicate task I have to perform, particularly (speaking still most confi- dentially) as I am without a single instruction from home', i. (2nd ed., 1845) 20 9- Cf. dispatch from Harris at Petersburg to Viscount Weymouth, Secretary of State (northern department), September 9-20, 1779 : ' If on reading the following lines it should appear that I have not entirely met the ideas of His Majesty and of his confidential servants ; that I have given too great a latitude to my full powers, and not entirely fulfilled the principal object of my mission ; I must entreat your Lordship to believe that I should not have ventured to have taken, on so important a subject, so much on myself, if it had not seemed to me that the exigencies of the times required unusual efforts,' i. (2nd ed.) 211. 1 The Earl of Malmesbury, in his Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, writing, February 23, 1852, of Sir Stratford Canning later, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe with reference to Lord Derby sounding him in 1851 about taking the Foreign Office, said : ' His talents are beyond dispute, but his temper is so despotic and irritable, that he can only display them in a peculiar kind of diplomacy. He managed the Turks in their own way, and it was Sultan versus Sultan.' He was Ambassador at Constantinople from 1825 to 1828 and again from 1841 to 1858, including one period of absence of two years, and one of seven months. ' This age of rapid communication, of what I would call the telegraphic demoralisation of those who formerly had to act for themselves and are now content to be at the end of the wire.' Sir Horace Rumbold (sometime H.M. Ambassador at Vienna), Recollections of a Diplomatist, 2 vols. (1902), i. MI ii.'. See also ii. 242. Conduct of Foreign Policy 31 intermediaries, and by doing so it has led to an increase of steadiness, of continuity and of general reliability in the conduct of foreign affairs. All that is to the good. But telegraphic advice may also at times be obscure and misleading. We should, moreover, be going against the recorded testimony of ambassadors of the nineteenth century themselves, if we were to conclude that the need for judgement and discretion for acting on the spot in the right way at the right time has been lessened thereby, that there has been much lessening of the sense of responsibility, or that the Foreign Office and the telegraph can ever take the place of personal intercourse with the Sovereign abroad and his representatives. 1 With regard to diplomatic morality and the factors making for success in diplomacy, opinions differ. The first Earl Grey professed himself a great lover of morality, but ' the intercourse of nations cannot ', he said, ' be strictly regulated by that rule '. 2 ' If they lie to you ', said Louis XI to two of his envoys, ' you lie still more to them '. 3 Metternich, regarding whose capacity for lying Napoleon was in no doubt, has recorded in his Autobiographical Memoir that he had never been afraid of succumbing morally. In an attempt to propound in a few principles the meaning of politics and diplomacy, he 1 See Appendix, pp. 251-3. See also First Report from the Select Com- mittee on Diplomatic and Consular Services: Commons Papers, 1871, vii. 197, p. xiv. 2 Acton, Introduction to Burd, // Principe, xxvii. ' By plausible and blameless paths men are drawn to the doctrine of the justice of History, of judgment by results, the nursling of the nineteenth century, from which a sharp incline leads to The Prince, xxvi-xxvii. 3 Cf. the following from a letter describing a stage in the tortuous nego- tiations that led to the Treaty of Troyes : ' Cirtes alle the ambassadors, that we dele wyth, ben yncongrue, that is to say, yn olde maner of speche in England, " they ben double and fals : " whyth whiche maner of men I prey God lete neuer no trew mon be coupled with '. Ellis, Original Letters (and series, 1827), i. 77. 32 Diplomacy and the characterized the modern world, in distinction from the ancient, by the tendency of nations to draw near to each other, and to enter into some form of league resting on the same basis as the great Christian society of men ; and that basis is ' the precept of the Book of books, " Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you." Accordingly, the main task of politics in his age seemed to him to be to establish international relations upon a basis of genuine reciprocity under the guarantee of respect for established rights and the conscientious observance of contracts. Such was the science of politics, according to one who was Jin, faux, and fanfaron ; and diplomacy was the art and daily application of the science. 1 When Count Buol Schauenstein retired from the office of Foreign Minister in Austria, Metternich's strongest recom- mendation of Count Rechberg as successor consisted in the formula that he was ' a pupil of his school '. Lord Augustus Loftus doubted whether the recommendation would have the weight with Lord Palmerston which was attached to it by the venerable Prince. In a chapter 2 which it is difficult to reconcile in tone and purpose with the Preface of his great work, Grotius admits a wide latitude to ' amphibologies ', and, although he disallows them where the ' honour of God ', or charity toward our neighbour, or reverence toward superiors, or the making of contracts, or ' the nature of the thing itself ' of which we treat, requires a clear unmasking of ourselves, he is manifestly troubled by the discord between word and deed in the affairs of men, and by the fact that mendacity has been a frequent instrument and support of success. 3 In a less awkward and 1 Memoirs oj Prince Metternicb, translated by Mrs. Alexander Napier, i. 36-8. 2 De lure Belli ac Pads, iii. c. i. 3 Spinoza, in his Tractatus Tbeologico-Politicus,pub]\s\\ed in 1670 forty- Conduct of Foreign Policy 33 less equivocal treatment of this subject, Vattel * starts impec- cably from the position that good faith consists not only in the observance of promises, but also in not deceiving on any occasions that put us under any obligation to speak the truth ; he throws over those writers, ' especially divines ', who have made of truth a kind of deity, to which for its own sake, and without regard to consequences, we owe an inviolable respect ; and he commends and takes his stand with those philosophers of ' more accurate ideas and more profound penetration ' who acknowledge that truth, as the soul of human society, is in general to be respected, being the very basis of confidence in the mutual intercourse of men, but who ground the respect due to it on its effects. The word ' lies ', accordingly, is to be given only to the words of him who speaks contrary to his five years after the De lure Belli ac Pads reasons from experience to the conditional nature of the sanctity of international compacts. Such con- tracts are valid as long as their basis of danger or of advantage holds, inasmuch as no one enters into an engagement, or is bound to stand by his compacts, unless there be a hope of some good to result, or the fear of some evil : remove this basis, and the compact becomes void ; and this has been abundantly shown by experience (' . . . quippe nemo contrahit, nee pactis stare tenetur, nisi spe alicuius boni, vel sollicitudine alicuius mali : quod fundamentum si tollatur pactum ex sese tollitur ; quod etiam experientia satis superque docet '). For, although different States agree among themselves not to do injury to each other, they take all possible precautions to prevent such agreements from being broken by the stronger party, and they do not rely upon the words of the compact (' nee fidem dictis haberit '), unless it is clearly to the interest of both parties to observe it (' nisi utriusque ad contrahendum finem et utilitatem satis perspectam habuerint '). Otherwise they would fear a breach of faith ; nor would there be wrong done. For what man of sense, who takes account of the right of sovereign powers, would puj his trust in the promises of him who has both the will and the power to do what he likes, and who recognizes no higher law than the safety and interest of his dominion ? (' cui sui imperil salus et utilitas summa lex debet esse ') c> xvi. 1 Bk. ni, ch. x. 2224 34 Diplomacy and the thoughts, on occasions when there rests on him an obligation to speak the truth. The word ' falsiloquy ' (falsiloquium) is to be used of a false discourse to persons who have no right to insist on our telling them the truth in a particular case. ' Mon grand art, s'il m'est permis de me citer, est de paroitre simple et vrai. Je me pique de posseder cette derniere qualite" ; cependant vous connoissez ma maniere de manoeuvrer, vous m'avez suivi pas a pas, imitez-moi done.' Thus did a French ambassador to Vienna in 1717 instruct the secretary to the embassy who was temporarily left in charge. 1 Sir Robert Walpole, a master-worker of large visible results by means of little positive action, asked Lord Stanhope to remember that * in England the manner of doing things is often more to be regarded than the thing is itself '. 2 Lord Stanhope, the imme- diate and distinguished precursor of. the still more brilliant Carteret in the conduct of foreign affairs and international diplomacy, used to say, according to Lady Mary Montagu, 3 1 Le comte du Luc to M. du Bourg : Recueil des Instructions : Autricbe, 192-3. Du Luc in his Memoir e concernant VAmbassade de Vienne writes incisively of ministers near the Emperor : ' Le prince de Trautson . . . me paroit un bonhomme, mais d'un genie assez born6. Sa femme le gouverne.' Le comte de Starhemberg : ' Je le tiens le plus capable de tous les ministres de cette cour ; mais il veut s'cnrichir, quoiqu'il ait deja des biens immenses. C'est la son but principal.' ' Le comte de Zinzendorf est chancelier d'Autriche. ... II est bonhomme ; il voudroit faire plaisir, mais il ne finit rien. J'ai lieu de croire qu'il n'est pas parfaitement instruit. II suit 1'ancicn esprit de sa cour. Son temperament le porte a eluder toute con- clusion pour s'epargner de la fatigue et jouir uniquement de la vie qu'il aime et dont il fait usage. Sa table est sans contredit la meilleure et la plus delicate de Vienne.' Ibid., 164, foot-note. Robert Walpole to Secretary Stanhope, January 1/12, 1717, on the occasion of Townshend's removal from office. Coxe, Memoirs of . . . Walpole (i7 9 8),U. 163. 8 Quoted by Lecky, History of England in tbt Eighteenth Century, Cabinet ed., i. 369-70, foot-note. Conduct of Foreign Policy 35 that during his ministry he ' always imposed on the foreign ministers by telling them the naked truth '. Thinking it impossible that the truth should come from the mouth of a statesman, ' they never failed to write information to their respective Courts directly contrary to the assurances he gave them '. Lord Palmerston, at the beginning of the session of 1848, found the formula for the guidance of British Ministers in the expression of Canning, that with each of them the ' interests ' of his own country ought to be ' the shibboleth of his policy '.* In his intercourse with the Ministers of other States he had desired a certain measure of personal freedom, as he claimed in the notable letter in which he gave an account of the circumstances of his dismissal from the charge of the Foreign Office in 1851 : in such intercourse the Foreign Minister could not always act merely as the organ of a pre- viously consulted Cabinet. 2 That the measure of freedom he claimed and exercised had results of the kind that he approved is clear from his declaration to his biographer, that he occasion- ally found that foreign ministers ' had been deceived by the open manner in which he told them the truth '. ' They went away convinced that so skilful and experienced a diplomatist could not possibly be so frank as he appeared, and, imagining some deep design in his words, acted on their own idea of what he really meant, and so misled their own selves.' 9 ' In politics, in stormy times ', said Segur, writing of Louis XV's secret correspondence, ' true dexterity consists in courageous good faith ' ; it is by character, frankness and sincerity that durable 1 Ashley, Life of Palmerston, i. 63. 2 Ibid., i. 314. In a speech of self-defence, he asked : ' Is Her Majesty's Minister to sit like a dolt, when a Foreign Ambassador converses on some great event, without giving him any answer or making any observation ? ' Malmesbury, Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, under date February 3, 1852. 3 Ashley, ii. 301. D 2 36 Diplomacy and the success is won. 1 According to the first Lord Malmesbury the guardian of Palmerston, who in turn became the guardian 1 ' En politique, dans les temps d'orage, la bonne foi courageuse est la veritable habilete ; le caractere touche le but que 1' esprit manque ; la franchise sauve des ecueils ou la finesse echoue, et la sincerite ferme peut seule donner, ou la solidite dans les succes, ou la gloire dans le malheur.' Politique de tous les Cabinets (3rd ed., 1802), i. 87, Segur's note. Segur's contributions to this work are rich in lessons for the understanding of motives and ends in policy. ' Un Politique, a Paris, ne doit se faire ni Espagnol, ni Anglais, ni Autrichien, ni Prussien, ni Russe, ni Turc ; il doit etre Franc.ais, et calculer les interets de son pays et les Alliances qui lui conviennent, selon les temps, la force respective des Puissances etrangeres, et, surtout, selon le genie de ceux qui les conduisent.' Ibid. i. 19 (cf. iii. 368). ' II est parfaitement inutile de chercher quelles peuvent etre les causes de la haine qui divise les peuples. A la honte de 1'humanite, toutes les nations du globe se haissent entr'elles, d'autant plus qu'elles sont plus voisines Tune de 1'autre. Les Suedois detestent les Danois et les Russes ; ceux-ci haissent les Turcs et les Allemands ; les Allemands, les Franc.ais, les Anglais se jalousent et se blament reciproquement ; on 1'eprouve dans toutes les coalitions : aussi ce sont des manages que suit promptement le divorce. Un interet momentane les unit, une jalousie constante les separe. Le patriotisme meme, si necessaire, n'est qu'un egoisme politique, d'autant plus indestructible, que 1'interet de chaque nation I'erige en vertu.' ii. 281. ' On dedaigne la politique ; on la croit inutile ; on la critique sans examen ; on la confonde avec 1'intrigue ; on oublie que tous les etats de 1'Europe sont encore loin d'embrasser nos principes ; on oublie que, tant que les princes auront des passions, la politique existera, comme la medecine et la jurisprudence existeront, tant qu'il y aura des maladies et des crimes. II existe done une politique necessaire. Je conviens que celle d'une nation libre et eclairee ne doit point ressembler a la politique insidieuse, intrigante, corruptrice des princes conquerans et des peuples esclaves. La politique des Franc.ais doit se borner a conserver la paix tant qu'ils le pourront avec surete, et a pacifier leurs voisins, pour ne pas etre entraines dans leurs querelles. Cette noble et simple politique, digne de notre constitution, rendra les fonctions de nos ambassadeurs plus augustes, plus sacrees ; mais elles seront encore difficiles ; elles exigeront encore beaucoup de prudence, d'habilete, d'adresse.' ii. 332. ' . . . un code tres-imparfait, nomine droit des gens, code perpetuellement elude par 1'adresse ou viole Conduct of Foreign Policy 37 of the third Lord Malmesbury, 1 to whom reference has already been made * no occasion, no provocation, no anxiety to rebut an unjust accusation, no idea, however tempting, of promoting the object you have in view, can need, much less justify, a falsehood. Success obtained by one, is a precarious and baseless success. Detection would ruin, not only your own reputation for ever, but deeply wound the honour of your Court. If, as frequently happens, an indiscreet question, which seems to require a distinct answer, is put to you abruptly by an artful Minister, parry it either by treating it as an indis- creet question, or get rid of it by a grave and serious look ; but on no account contradict the assertion flatly if it be true, or admit it as true, if false and of a dangerous tendency.' 2 par la force, et qui n'est au fond qu'une collection de traites souvent con- tradictoires que les vainqueurs dictent aux vaincus, qui sont respectes tant que dure la lassitude de la guerre, et que rompt 1'ambition, des que les circonstances offrent une chance favorable a son avidite.' iii. 373. ' Les affaires sont conduites par les hommes ; les hommes sont plus souvent egares par les passions qu'eclaires par la justice. La politique ne peut etre fixe, puisque sa direction varie suivant les caracteres des hommes places par le sort a la tete des gouvernements. II faut done etablir le systeme federatif sur des bases morales, et non sur des bases geographiques.' iii. 377-8. 1 Editor of the Diaries and Correspondence of the first Earl. In his own Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, under date March 1 1, 1 852, he alludes to the staff of the Foreign Office being surprised at his knowing the routine work when he was appointed Foreign Secretary. This equipment he attributes to his preparation of his grandfather's Diaries and Correspondence for publication. During two years he had gone through more than two thousand dispatches to ministers at home, and to brother-diplomatists abroad, just as if he had been an Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office for the forty years 1768- 1809 which they covered, 'arranging and collating them, and investi- gating their contemporary history '. 2 Letter, April n, 1813, to Lord Camden, who had sought advice in the interest of his nephew ' destined for the foreign line ', Diaries and Corre- spondence, iv. 414. This letter is given in full in the Appendix below, pp. 234-6. 38 Diplomacy and the We are perhaps reduced to the half-cynical maxim and device of Torcy, that the best way of deceiving foreign Courts is always to speak the truth. Or, are we led to some via media, in the words of advice of a senior in diplomacy to a junior : ' Take snuff often and slowly, sit with your back to the light, 1 and speak the truth ; the rest you will learn by observing your older colleagues ' ? 2 Does that really mean to seniors priority in niceties of conduct that shall not be Machiavellian, as well as in resolute avoidance of the mixture of a lie which, Bacon tells us, doth ever add pleasure ? Halifax's ' Trimmer ' 3 adored the goddess Truth and all who worshipped her, but 1 The Emperor Charles V, according to the picture of him drawn by Sir Richard Moryson, October 7, 1552, had little need to adopt this device : ' And yet hath he a face, that is as unwont to disclose any hid affection of his heart, as any face that ever I met withal in my life ; for there all white colours which, in changing themselves, are wont in others to bring a man certain word, how his errand is liked or misliked, have no place in his countenance ; his eyes only do bewray as much as can be picked out of him. He maketh me oft think of Solomon's saying : Heaven is high, the earth is deep, a king's heart is unsearchable ; there is in him almost nothing that speaketh, besides his tongue.' Sir Richard Moryson to the Lords of Council, Hardwicke, Miscellaneous State Papers (1778), i. 51. William I, King of Piussia, who became German Emperor, did not satisfy this canon of kingcraft. ' The King told me an untruth to-day ', said Bismarck on November 29, 1870: ' I asked him if the bombardment' of Paris ' was not to commence, and he replied that he had ordered it. But I knew immediately that that was not true. I know him. He cannot lie, or at least not in such a way that it cannot be detected. He at once changes colour, and it was particularly noticeable when he replied to my question to-day. When I looked at him straight into his eyes he could not stand it.' Busch, Bismarck (1898), i. 337. * Kolle, Betracbtungen uber Diplomatic, 278, quoted by Bernard, 149. 8 For a short statement of the use of the word by Halifax sec his Preface to The Character oj a Trimmer : "... there is a third Opinion of those, who conceive it would do as well, if the Boat went even, without endangering the Passengers.' Conduct of Foreign Policy 39 he lamented that in all ages she had been scurvily used, and that of late she had become such a ruining virtue that mankind seemed to be agreed to commend it and to avoid it. 1 If we were asked to point to an illustration of the normal advice uttered for the general conduct of the weighty matters of international policy, we might instance the words of Palmer- ston to Malmesbury when the latter became Foreign Secretary. After warning him very impressively of the power which this country owes to her prestige, he continued : ' All the Foreign Ministers will try at first to get objects which they have been refused by successive Governments ; so take care you yield nothing until you have well looked into every side of the question. When the diplomates call, do not be too reserved but preface your observations by stating that what you say is officious.'' 2 Is it normal advice f In the sense that it enjoins a looking to right and to left and all round, the advice is normal. In a less scant treatment of our subject, we should have attempted a more precise differentiation of diplomacy and analysis of its kinds, not after the manner of the international lawyer, but for historical study and political appreciation such as the diplomacy of courtesy and of rudeness, the diplo- macy of frankness, of cynicism and deceit, the diplomacy of forcefulness and of irresolution, of a weak benevolence and a slothful overtrust and inertia. The diplomacy of courtesy we may illustrate from the letter written by President Tyler of the United States of America 1 Ibid. (ed. 1699), 95. 2 Memoirs of an Ex-Minister, under date March 1 1, 1852. An ' officious ' conversation is ' the free interchange of opinions between the two Ministers, and compromises neither ' ; an ' official ' correspondence would do so, and would bind their Governments. Lord Malmesbury tells us that when he was at the Foreign Office he always prefaced a conversation by saying on which footing it was to be understood. Memoirs, under date February 13, 1852, foot-note. 40 Diplomacy 'and the in 1843, when he approached the Chinese for the making of a treaty and for the same privileges as had just been accorded to the British in the Treaty of Nanking. The letter was the first communication addressed by Washington to Peking : * I, John Tyler, President of the United States of America which States are : Maine, . . . Michigan send you this letter of peace and friendship, signed by my own hand. * I hope your health is good. China is a great Empire, extending over a great part of the world. The Chinese are numerous. You have millions and millions of subjects. The twenty-six United States are as large as China, though our people are not as numerous. The rising sun looks upon the great mountains and rivers of China, when he sets upon rivers and mountains equally large in the United States. Our territories extend from one great ocean to the other ; and on the west we are divided from your dominions only by the sea. Leaving the mouth of one of our great rivers and going constantly towards the setting sun, we sail to Japan and the Yellow Sea. ' Now, my words are that the Governments of two such great countries should be at peace. It is proper and according to the rule of Heaven that they should respect one another and act wisely. I, therefore, send to your Court Caleb Gushing, one of the wise and learned men of this country. On his first arrival in China he will inquire for your health. He 'has strict orders to go to your great city of Peking, and there deliver this letter. He will have with him secretaries and interpreters. * The Chinese love to trade with our people and to sell them tea and silk, for which our people pay silver, and some- times other articles. 1 But if the Chinese and the Americans 1 Tocqueville had written two or three years before : ' The American starts from Boston to go to purchase tea in China : he arrives at Canton, stays there a few days, and then returns. In less than two years he has sailed as far as the entire circumference of the globe, and he has seen land but once. It is true that during a voyage of eight or ten months he has drunk brackish water, and lived upon salt meat ; that he has been in a continual contest with the sea, with disease, and with a tedious existence ; Conduct of Foreign Policy 41 will trade, there shall be rules, so that they shall not break your laws or our laws. Our Minister Caleb Gushing is authorized to make a treaty to regulate trade. Let it be just. Let there be no unfair advantage on either side. Let the people trade not only at Canton, but also at Amoy, Ningpo, Shanghai, Foochow, and all other such places as may offer profitable exchanges both to China and the United States, provided they do not break your laws or our laws. We shall not take the part of evil-doers. We shall not uphold them that break your laws. Therefore, we doubt not that you will be pleased that our messenger of peace with this letter in his hand shall come to Peking and there deliver it ; and that your great officers will by your order make a treaty with him not to disturb the peace between China and America. Let the treaty be signed by your own imperial hand. It shall be signed by mine, and by the authorities of our great council, the Senate. ' And so may your health be good, and may peace reign. Written at Washington, this twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. Your good friend, [Seal].' Among subordinate traits and qualities we may especially mention irony a dangerous weapon in politics, whether we think of it as the ironical rudeness of a Bismarck 1 in his Circular but, upon his return, he can sell a pound of his tea for a halfpenny less than the English merchant, and his purpose is accomplished.' De la Democratic en Amerique, translated by Reeve, with Preface and Notes by Spence, 1838 (New York), 404. Tocqueville concluded the chapter with a forecast of the maritime supremacy of the Anglo-Americans. ' When I contemplate the ardour with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute commercial enterprise, the advantages which befriend them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot refrain from believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the globe.' Ibid., 408. 1 Bismarck would, however, advise for a general rule : ' Be polite but without irony. Write diplomatically. Even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.' -Busch, Bismarck, i. 246. ' Be civil to the very last step of the gallows, but hang all the same.' Ibid., i. 321. Such expressions of opinion arc, at least, of interest as coming from the 42 Diplomacy and the touching the Emperor Napoleon's visit to Salzburg in 1867, or the more highly polished Voltairean irony of Frederick II, of which one may instance, in particular, his letters to Louis XV just before the Christmas treaties of 1745, and the letter of Christmas Day of that year. To Frederick, who had himself been a doubtful ally, Louis, another doubtful ally, had written, in effect, according to Frederick : if misfortune should befall you, you have my promise that the Academy will deliver a funeral oration over your kingdom. In his letter of Christmas Day, Frederick said : * ' I had expected some real help from your Majesty in consequence of my application in November last. I will not discuss the reasons you may have for leaving your allies to their own resources, but I feel happy that the valour of my troops has saved me from a critical situation. If I had been unfortunate, you would only have pitied me, and I should have been helpless. How can an alliance subsist, unless the two parties co-operate heartily towards the common end ? You wish me to take counsel of my own wits : I obey. And they enjoin me to put an end at once to a war, which, as it has no object since the death of the Emperor, is merely causing a useless sacrifice of blood. I am told that it is time to think of my own safety ; that a large force of Muscovites threatens my country ; that fortune is fickle, and that I have no help of any kind to expect from my allies ; . . . that after the letter I have just received from your Majesty, nothing is left but to sign peace,' and to remain the most affectionate brother of his Most Christian Majesty. On the same day, in a communication ' editor ' of the Ems telegram and the appraiser of his own handiwork at that crisis probably beyond its due weight. 1 Histoire de mon Temps, ch. xiv, towards the end ; see also Tuttle, History of Prussia under Frederick the Great, 2 vols. (1888), ii. 50, for the slight variation between the version as given by Frederick and the letter as preserved in the French archives. Conduct of Foreign Policy 43 to Valori, the French Minister at Berlin, Frederick expressed his pleasure his ' consolation ' that he had ' never received the alms of France '. Illustrations of diplomacy personal illustrations and illustra- tions of type history furnishes in large number and impressive variety, and from many lands and nearly all times, whether we think of the intrigues and discussions preserved and improvised for us by the ancient classical historians, or of the rise of modern diplomacy in the city-states of Italy, or of the successes due to the prudence of Richelieu and the subtlety of Mazarin, or the cool and calculating policy of William III Ranke's man of true international nature the brilliance and fragmentary triumph of a Carteret, the cynicism and wit of a Talleyrand. Successful diplomacy in modern times diplomacy sustained by political supports in well-considered relation to military equipment, and successful in, at least, its immediate practical purpose has had no more cogent example than Bismarck ; and Bismarck, as he once declared, was no . doctrinaire in politics. In 1861 he outlined his programme to Disraeli at a dinner in London. He expected, he said, to be called upon, in a short time, to undertake the direction of the Prussian Government. His first duty would be to reorganize the army. He would then seize the first really good pretext to declare war against Austria, to dissolve the German Diet, to overpower the middle and smaller states, and to give to Germany a national unity under the leadership of Prussia. Disraeli remarked, ' Take care of that man ; he means what he says '. x The pro- gramme was carried out to the letter. Do not let your diplomacy outrun your preparations. That was the burden of the charge brought by the elder Pitt against the incompetents at the outset of the Seven Years' War. It is a maxim for all time in the conduct of foreign policy ; and for Bismarck, with the plans 1 Loftus, Diplomatic Reminiscences, i. ch. xvi. 44 Diplomacy and 'the he had formed, it was necessary to see that the preparation was continuous that Prussia was always and increasingly prepared. In the history of our own country for we must not, in smug complacency and with a show of unctuous rectitude, merely look abroad for the marks of diplomacy we might go for illustration of its sinister attributes to quarters where, perhaps, they are least expected. It has been claimed for Oliver Cromwell that he was ' no Frederick the Great, who spoke of mankind as diese verdammte Race that accursed tribe ' : he belongs to ' the rarer and nobler type of governing men who see the golden side, who count faith, pity, hope among the counsels of practical wisdom, and who for political power must ever seek a moral base '.* We should not be content with that character for the Protector even in his home policy ; still less in his foreign policy. A knowledge of the diplomacy of 1654 is of itself sufficient to destroy the picture and discredit the artist. It used to be thought that Cromwell then stood forth as arbiter among the rulers of Europe, and, in particular, that the monarchs of France and Spain were suitors for his support. 2 Instead of this the facts show him courting France 1 Morley, Oliver Cromwell (1900), 469. See, however, for qualification, p. 434 in the chapter on Foreign Policy : ' Like every other great ruler in critical times and in a situation without a precedent, he was compelled to change alliances, weave fresh combinations, abandon to-day the ardent conception of yesterday.' Lord Morley in his Recollections (1917) has made additional reservations in deference to the tyranny of circumstance. * e.g. Frederic Harrison, Oliver Cromwell (1895), 221: 'The history of England offers no such picture to national pride as when the kings and rulers of Europe courted, belauded, fawned on the farmer of Huntingdon.' For a judicious estimate sec Firth, Oliver Cromwell (1905) the chapter on ' Cromwell's Foreign Policy ', and ' The Epilogue '. ' Looked at from one point of view, he seemed as practical as a commercial traveller ; from another, a Puritan Don Quixote,' 389. ' Political inconsistency is generally attributed to dishonesty, and Cromwell's dishonesty was open and palpable.' Conduct of Foreign Policy 45 and Spain alternately, ' constant only in his inconstancy '. x In April 1654 the Baron de Baas, a special agent of Mazarin, astonished Cromwell, at an audience, with the abundance and accuracy of his information regarding the Protector's designs and intrigues, and concluded with the ironical request that Cromwell would extricate him with honour from the labyrinth. Oliver's countenance, we are told, fell ; the words came from his mouth more slowly than was his wont ; and the interpreter, 2 after conveying a halting explanation of the words of the Protector, ' conveniently remembered that his Highness had an engagement which made it impossible to prolong the conversation, though he would be glad to resume it on a more fitting occasion '. 3 At no other time in the history of England have the profession and the pursuit of an ideal in the conduct of foreign policy been so deeply and confusedly involved with material motive ; and it was entanglement with the ideal that brought Cromwell to his gravest perils both in morality and in achievement. Be it added, in this connexion, that, although many of the facts and circumstances were unknown to the great royalist historian and statesman, Clarendon, in The History of the Rebellion we find the true discreet type of mind that is required for estimate of the interests that underlie the conduct of policy among nations ; and Clarendon is apprecia- tive of Cromwell's regard for such interests. 4 But farther back still we might with advantage go back as far, perhaps, as Henry VII for the lessons to be gathered from one who is unsurpassed among English kings and states- men for combined sagacity and subtlety ; 5 back, certainly, to 1 Gardiner, History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, ii. (i 897), 477. 2 Baas spoke in French. 3 Gardiner, op. cit., 437-8. 4 See, e.g. vii. (ed. 1736), 20-1, 24-6, 37. 6 Contemporary English writers, it has been said, were not adequately equipped for an appreciation of Henry VII, even in his home policy : they could not ' penetrate the veil of subtle statesmanship by which 46 Diplomacy and the Wolsey, master of diplomatic divagations ; back, more especially, to that other Cromwell, whose manual of statecraft, according to his enemy, Cardinal Pole, was The Prince of Machiavelli. In Thomas Cromwell's letters diplomacy is revealed in its tortuousness, hardness, and relentlessness. Let us take a moder- ate example and an extreme personal case. In October 1537 Cromwell wrote to Sir Thomas Wyatt directing him to sound the Emperor concerning the mediation which Henry VIII had proffered between Charles V and Francis I : * . . . Your parte shal be nowe like a good oratour, both to set furthe the princely nature and inclynacion of his highnes with all dexterite, and soo to observe Themperours answers to the said overture and to the rest of the pointes in the same letteres expressed, as you may thereby fishe the botom of his stomake, and advertise his Majeste howe he standeth disposed towardes him, and to the contynuance of thamytie betwene them. . . . You must in your conference with themperour take occasion to speake of all those matiers, and soo frankely to speake of them as you may feale the depenes of his harte wherein you shall doo good service. . . . Gentle Maister Wiat nowe use all your wisedome rather to trye out howe themperour is disposed towardes the kinges highnes, thenne to presse him anything to agre to the overture of mediacion if he woll not as gentilly embrace it as it is made freendly unto him. For to be plain with you thother parte declare him in wordes towardes his Majeste to make only faire wether, and in his a politic and peaceful, but watchful and suspicious king, was putting an end to the long reign of violence. It required the brain of an Italian ' a Polydore Vergil. Gairdner, Early Chroniclers, 306. For diplomacy during the reign, see Calendar of State Papers : Venice, i, and Spain, i. Useful extracts from original authorities are given in Pollard, The Reign of Henry V 11 from Contemporary Sources (1913, 1914), i. and iii. 'No English statesman', it is claimed for Henry in his foreign policy, ' achieved so much at so small a cost '. Ibid., i. li. See also Wilhelm Busch, England under the Tudors, i. (transl. 1895), chh. i and iv. Conduct of Foreign Policy 47 harte dede and workes, to doo all that he canne to his graces dishonour, insomoche as they host themselfes to have refused some honest offres for themselfes bicause they were knytt with vile and filthie conditions towardes his Majeste. And if it be true it is pitye there shuld be such dissimulacion in suche a prince, and specially towardes him, whom he ought of congruence all thinges considered to observe love and honour to his uttermost, if you thinke that the speaking of thise thinges unto him may be any meane to disciphre his very meanyng bolte them out of yourself as signified unto you by some of the Agentes of the Kinges highnes in Fraunce. And whenne you shal be in communication of thise matiers handle them with suche a plain franknes as youe may drawe sumwhat out, that percace resteth yet hidden undre a colored cloke of freendeship or at the least manifest and make open that like a prince of honour he meanith as he pretendeth.' * For the personal case, the following, from a letter, in September 1537, to Michael Throgmorton, when Thomas ; Cromwell wished to secure him as his agent at Rome against ! the intrigues of Cardinal Pole in Italy : * . . . I myght better have judged, that so dishonest a maister, cowlde have but evyn suche servantes as youe ar. No, no, loyaltie and treason dwell seldome togethers. There can be no feithfull subject so long abide the sight of so haynous a traytour to his prince. Yow cowld not all this season have byn a spie for the king, but at some tyme your cowntenance shuld have declared your harte to be loyall towardes your prince. . . . Yow thinke youe doo goode servyce there to the kinges hieghnes ; for asmuche as yow now se thinges, that being absent, youe shulde not have seen, such verelye as might have done greate damage ; if youe hadde not seen them. ; Yow have bleared myn yee ones : your credite shall nevermore i serve youe so farr, to deceyve me the second tyme. I take ! youe as youe ar.' 2 1 Merriman, Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell (1902), ii. 92-3. See also the letter of Cromwell to Wyatt, March i, 1538, ibid. 122-5. 2 Ibid., ii. 87. 48 Diplomacy and the ' You have bleared my eye once ... I take you as you are.' The words are worthy of Machiavelli. 1 There is no smooth and easy path for the conduct of inter- national policy ; nor for its study. The fortunes of nations should not be left to the hazards of the unforeseen. Those who are responsible for guiding relations between States need a vast equipment in knowledge and in aptitude. They must know the resources, the constitution and manner of government, the treaty obligations, the character of the dominant personalities, the national temperament and national objects, both of their own State and of its connexions sometimes unruly and suspicious connexions in the Family of Nations. They must well consider the relation of means to ends. Here, without any doubt, there is need of eyes for the past, the present, and the future need of the three eyes of prudence : memory, intelligence, providence. By these Fortuna is won. Of all the regions of politics there is no other of which it is so strictly true as of the international, that only the most complete knowledge and command available of all the factors should be allowed to count, whether for those who direct or for those in a succeeding age who try to judge them. There is often in History and Politics some * one thing unknown ' that is required as the key to all. Especially has that been true of policy between State and State. It is not otherwise, in its own degree, with the study of foreign policy. As the work, so the study. Here, too, there is need of alertness, circumspection, sagacity. It is necessary to search 1 See a letter to Thomas Cromwell from Stephen Vaughan an agent of Cromwell at Antwerp, in London at the time of writing : an abject appeal for forgiveness for ' one onely fawte, the first and laste that ever I comytted against youe . . . not the unassurest or untrustiest of your frends. Yowe have sore abasshed and astonyed me.' Ellis, Original Letters, third series, ii. 215-16. Conduct of Foreign Policy 49 out and to estimate all the factors. But at 'the several crises of international relations, and in the decisive leading-up to them, it is the more particular factors, or general factors in particular forms, that are at work, and that are to be discovered, scrutinized, and estimated ; and here most of all in history it is necessary to get to the sources, and necessary at times to admit that the sources are not wholly adequate, because they have not been, and may never be, fully revealed. It is necessary also to remember that the sources are not in one land only, and that the tinctures are from mixed and varied soils. It is more than useless it is culpably misleading for a writer to take only one set of dispatches, or those of one State only, when he is expounding some development, or even a mere phase, in foreign policy. He must collate the dispatches of a State to several capitals, and set these against those of foreign Powers, on the question that is being considered. The inquirer, for example, into the immediate antecedents of ' the Diplo- matic Revolution ' of the eighteenth century will find, at the crisis of things towards the close of 1755, more to engage his attention at Petersburg than at . London or Berlin, Paris or Vienna. The volumes of the French Recueil des Instructions donnees aux Anibassadeurs et Ministres de France depuis les Traites de Westphalie jusqu'd la Revolution francaise 1 afford an excellent opportunity for partial collation in the study of diplomacy, and for the exercise of historical caution. Not least must the inquirer observe and faithfully report whether the dispatches and other official papers which he presents and builds upon are complete or merely fragmentary Does he find, or can he himself divine, the ominous word ' extract ' in the dispatches he reads ? Are the dispatches, as published, such as the late Lord Salisbury once described : 1 ' Public sous les auspices de la Commission des Archives diplomatiques au Ministere des Affaires fitrangeres ', 1884 and subsequent years. 2224 E 50 Diplomacy and the ' mere headless trunks of despatches, without heads or legs, and with a large hole run through the body ' ? * He must try to find out whether the ' most secret letters ' that precede, accompany or follow even confidential dispatches are still available, and how far they explain what the dispatch has intentionally left partly hidden. Much remains ; and for that he will have to go, not to speeches and writings of the day, whether officially inspired, independent or irresponsible however helpful and necessary these may be for a knowledge of the general situation and an understanding of the psychology of a people but to the most intimate revelations of the prime movers, and to private letters and journals of those who had the privilege of knowing, or to whom came the chance of hearing, with perhaps a fatal facility and imagination in describing. For material of this kind we have usually had to wait at least a generation after the time of the events themselves. Even then there may be the ' one thing unknown '. The admission should be less rare and why churlish ? on the part of historical writers. 2 Bismarck is reported to have said that diplomatic reports are little better than paper smeared with ink, if the object in view be the truth of things and possession of material for history. Even the dispatches that do contain information cannot be understood except by those who know the writers and the men and the things written about. One must know, he said, what a Gortschakoff, a Gladstone, or a Granville had in his mind when he made the statements that are reported in the dispatch. 1 Essays by the late Marquess of Salisbury : Foreign Politics (1905), 210. The essay entitled ' Foreign Policy ' appeared first in 1864. 2 In this and the two preceding paragraphs I have made use of part of a pamphlet entitled International Relations, which I wrote in February 1916 for The Historical Association of Scotland, and which was reprinted for The Historical Association (of England). Conduct of Foreign Policy 51 It is to private letters and confidential communications and to verbal ones that we must look for information of the real influences at work. ' The Emperor of Russia, for instance, is on the whole very friendly to us from tradition, for family reasons, and so on and also the Grand Duchesse Helene, who influences him and watches him on our behalf. The Empress, on the other hand, is not our friend. But that is only to be ascertained through confidential channels and not officially.' l The chief danger to be averted in the conduct of foreign policy is, as has already been said, that of allowing diplomacy to outrun preparations and the strength on which success in diplomacy must ultimately depend. If we turn our view inward upon the nation itself, we shall translate that formula without violence into the expression, that a nation must not acquire a reputation for inconstancy and caprice. In this part of our subject we might have been not unhappily spacious where we shall now be severely concise. We might cite well- known examples of the inconsistencies, arbitrariness, and excesses of the Athenian democracy in the realm of foreign affairs, and one might point in contrast to the impressive eulogy passed by Mommsen on the Roman Senate 2 in the 1 Busch, i. 559-60, under February 22, 1871. Bismarck, speaking of his Frankfort experiences, said of Count Rechberg Austrian Minister and President of the Diet at Frankfort that he was at least honourable from a personal standpoint, although, ^as an Austrian diplomat of that time, he was not able to pay too strict a regard to truth. Rechberg once received a dispatch in which he was instructed to maintain cordial relations with Prussia, and a second dispatch, sent to him at the same time, in which an exactly opposite course was enjoined. Bismarck, calling on him, was inadvertently handed the second dispatch to read ; begging Rechberg's pardon for having been given the wrong one, he consoled him with an assurance that he would take no advantage of the mistake, but would use it merely for his personal information. Ibid. i. 373. 2 ' Called to power, not by the empty accident of birth, but substantially E 2 52 Diplomacy and the days of its greatness amid grave problems for the State abroad, and, in turn, we might contrast that eulogy with the strictures pronounced by the Marquess Wellesley on the Spanish Junta as a political instrument. 1 But we do well to remember that politics as a study is apt to be made a playground of analogies, and we should come to no absolute judgement as to whether an autocracy, open or veiled, a bureaucracy, howsoever founded and inspired, or the moderated democracy is the best fitted for the conduct of foreign affairs. We should go back to our primary tests, and inquire who the people are we are consider- ing, what is the work to be done, what the conditions. We cannot by mere examples prove or disprove in such a matter as this. One will point to the cases of instability and untrustworthiness where parliamentary conditions have held sway. Another, with equal force, will warn us that a Frederick II required for Prussia a Frederick II as his successor, whereas there came not a Solomon but a Rehoboam. 2 A third will by the free choice of the nation ; confirmed every fifth year by the stern moral judgement of the worthiest men ; holding office for life, and so not dependent on the expiration of its commission or on the varying opinion of the people ; having its ranks closed and united even after the equalization of its orders ; embracing in it all the political intelligence and practical statesmanship that the people possessed ; absolute in dealing with all financial questions and in the control of foreign policy ; having complete power over the executive by virtue of its brief duration and of the tribunitian veto which was at the service of the Senate after the termination of the quarrels between the orders the Roman Senate was the noblest organ of the nation, and in consistency and political sagacity, in unanimity and patriotism, in grasp of power and unwavering courage, the foremost political corporation of all times . . . which knew well how to combine despotic energy with republican self-devotion.' History of Rome. 1 See Appendix, pp. 259-60. * See Seeley, Life and Times oj Stein, Part it, ch. ii on the character of the Prussian State, and Part i, ch. v for judicious observations on the relation of the internal economy of a State to its foreign policy. Conduct of Foreign Policy 53 draw attention to the vicissitudes of the foreign policy of Russia. Forgetting, perhaps, that autocracy was at times far from prevailing there, he may be tempted from one case to deduce and learn all, since in 1762, within seven months months most momentous to Prussia the policy of Russia, or policy from Russia, toward Frederick was at first strongly hostile, under Elizabeth, then cordially and melodramatically favourable under Peter III, and finally, on his deposition, discreetly neutral and watchful under Catherine II. 1 Well may one point to the warnings of the French Government to its representatives at Petersburg, a few years later, to watch over the ' convulsive movements ' and warring counsels at the Russian court ; 2 and a few years later still we have the vivid 1 For an excellent list of authorities on this revolutionary year, see Recueil des Instructions . . . : Russie, ii. 195, foot-note. 2 ' Des mouvemcnts convulsifs, une politique changeante rendent ses forces presque toujours inutiles a ses allies. II faut, par consequent, se borner a etudier les facilites que le pays a toujours fournies pour le maintenir dans un etat d'inquietude, de crise et de faction. Cette cour a elle-meme pour principe d'entretenir les divisions entre ses differents conseils et ses ministres, precaution -a la verite necessaire dans un pays despotique.' Instructions secretes pour le sieur Rossignol, Consul de France a Peters- bourg, 20 juin ijf>$,ibid. ii. 249. Cf. : 'La cour de Russie est remplie d'intrigues, de brigues, de cabales. Le baron de Breteuil, sans entrer dans aucune, s'etudiera a les demeler et a connoitre ceux qui ont le plus credit pres de la souveraine ou dans la nation.' Instruction secrete et particuliere pour le baron de Breteuil ... a Petersbourg, i avril 1760, ibid. ii. 152. See Rulhiere (Secretary to the Embassy under Breteuil), Histoire et anecdotes sur la revolution de Russie en 776.2. On February 8, 1757, Mitchell, at Brunswick, had written to Holdernesse, Secretary of State for the Northern Department : ' . . . I must . . . put your Lordship in Mind how fickle the Court of Russia has been, and how changeable their resolutions are. Your Lordship will remember that within these few months, Sir Charles Williams [British representative at Petersburg] has been upon the Point of succeeding in His Negotiations, which was defeated by a remittance of Money from Vienna, and that the late fiery Declarations of the Czarina 54 Diplomacy and the and despairing pictures of Sir James Harris, the British repre- sentative, when he had to manoeuvre with Catherine, with Panin and Potemkin. In a dispatch of July 1780 a critical year for Britain Harris states that Prince Potemkin, the favourite of the Empress, assured him that at certain moments she seemed to be determined to join Britain ; but she was restrained by the prospect of bringing on herself the sarcasms of the French and of Frederick of Prussia, and especially by the dread of losing by ill-success the reputation she had won. 1 In these circumstances the ' enervating language ' of Count Panin, her Minister for Foreign Affairs, was more agreeable to her than the advice of Potemkin. Still, in this matter of fostering the League of Neutrality against the interests of Britain, she began to feel, according to the declaration of her favourite, that she had been influenced too far by the Minister : she really regretted her action as ill-considered, and yet her pride would not allow her to recant. * When things go smoothly ', said Potemkin, ' my influence is small ; but when she meets with rubs she always wants me, and then my influence are the Effect of Passion, and Resentment, and grounded upon false Facts and suggestions made by Count Bruhl and His Associates, to mislead that weak and corrupted Court, which is not even now in a condition to fulfill what it has promised, without being supplied with larger Sums of Money than the Court of Vienna can afford ; nor can I persuade myself that France will pay for the march and subsistance of a Russian Army to serve Purposes purely Austrian.' P.R.O., Prussia, 68. On October 15 of the same year Mitchell wrote to Holdernesse : ' ... If the Empress of Russia should die, I hope not a moment will be lost to improve an event that may still save the whole. How melancholy it is to think, that the Fate of Europe should depend upon such accidents.' P.R.O., Prussia, 70. 1 ' L' amour de la gloire et le desir de reparer aux yeux de 1'univers le vice de son elevation ont fait de Catherine II une princesse dont le regne fera cpoque dans 1'histoire du monde.' Instruction, May 6, 1780, to the Marquis de Verac, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Empress : Instructions . . . : Russie, ii. 353. Conduct of Foreign Policy 55 becomes as great as ever.' * Two months before these words were written, Harris had described the French as indefatigable in their efforts to get round the Empress : their agents were many at Petersburg, and they spared no expense and no pains to overset everything that he undertook. 2 In this very month May 1780 the British representative had his character drawn not unfairly in an instruction, signed by Louis XVI and by Vergennes, to one regarding whom Catherine had given the assurance that he would be very well received at her Court as Minister Plenipotentiary from France : ' II paroit que le ministre anglais a Petersbourgest 1'homme le plus capable de mettre a profit ce que la ruse et les petits moyens peuvent faire pour suppleer aux avantages qu'il sent bien avoir perdus.' 3 Monarchy rests, in principle, on unity, and it emphasizes the need for stability in the conduct of affairs of State. Effective monarchy affords, during its continuance, a better guarantee for persistence in policy and consistency in action than a democracy or a parliamentary government, based on diversities, on discussion, on considerable publicity, and on provisions duly made within the constitution for changes in policy in response to changes in opinion. But facts and conditions relative to each constitution the extent, for example, to which monarchy can proceed without carrying the nation with it are the determining forces. They overrule forms, and mould the instruments of rule. A monarchy may pursue methods that are essentially democratic -methods that not only have the 1 Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, first Earl of Malmesbury, i. (and ed.), 281-2. The dispatch, July 2i/August i, 1780, dealt with conversations with Potemkin during a visit of five days to his country house in Finland. Of Potemkin Harris wrote : ' His- way of life is as singular as his character ; his hours for eating and sleeping are uncertain, and we were frequently airing in the rain in an open carriage at midnight.' 2 Ibid. 266, May 15/26, 1780. 3 Instructions . . . : Russie, ii. 367, May 6, 1780. 56 Diplomacy and the approval, but require the active co-operation, of the com- munity. In methods adopted for a definite end, democracy may be secretive, repressive, arbitrary. A * free government ' (to continue the language of an earlier day) is still government. It cannot evade the tests of success to which all government is subject. A ' government by consent ' (the now approved definition of democracy) may accept a one-man power and ascendancy a Pericles or an Abraham Lincoln, a military dictator, or a soldier-statesman, and not merely a War Cabinet. Still, a constitution that is predominantly monarchic differs from a constitution that is predominantly democratic and parliamentary in requiring less regular, less continuous, and less immediate dependence on the expressed or ascertainable will of the nation or of the majority or the stronger part of those who are invested with political rights and power. A democratic constitution may be held to be necessary in domestic govern- ment in a modern State, but may, without inconsistency, be condemned, or in essentials curtailed, in its application to international policy. The spheres of application are different. In seeking to shape and control foreign policy the politically enfranchised majority of a people are passing beyond the concerns of one nation their own to those of others. In these others the methods adopted may not be in consonance with freedom of discussion and unrestrained publicity. They may be methods that recognize, tacitly or frankly, that rule has its mysteries, its rites, and even its hierarchy. In them special capacity may be assigned its sphere and may inspire confidence ; or particular ways and means may be on their trial. Against monarchy and despotism, however, charges of vacillation due to whims and jealousies, as well as to limits of knowledge and capacity, have been many. The materials for such charges were abundant in Russia before she had fixed her purpose in an Eastern policy, and before she had a tradition Conduct of Foreign Policy 57 to maintain in policy and in the zeal and tenacity of State officers, themselves genuinely Russian. The path of inquiry in comparative politics is very alluring, but it is dangerously devious. It is better to concentrate on one political system, and to get the lessons as sharp and decisive as possible. If we look to our own government since the time when a parliamentary system began to prevail in England, we find an almost unbroken line of appeal to close the ranks and maintain unity of mind and purpose for unity in action, where the interests of the country have had to be adjusted to the interests and the contentions of others. We need not press very far the charges made at the time, both at home and abroad, and later by historians, more especially Continental, that on several notable occasions Britain, through the force of party influences, was false of faith to her allies during the Spanish Succession War, and again in the War of the Austrian Succession, without taking account of the more exceptional case of the ' desertion ' or * betrayal ', as it has been termed, of the cause of Frederick II of Prussia before his day of danger was over. The historical and political writer, 1 to whom probably more than to any other these charges have owed wide currency, stated them dispassionately, without acrimony. They were urged as charges due to the faults of a constitutional system ; they were not brought forward as unqualified charges of a violation of public faith. The minister who was chiefly responsible for terminating the war in each case was not the minister, and did not represent the party or the political connexion, that had been in power when the war was entered 1 Heeren (A. H. L.), who was Knight of the Guelphic Order, Councillor, and Professor of History in the University of Gottingen, born 1760, died 1 842. See especially his ' Historical Development of the Rise and Growth of the Continental Interests of Great Britain '. Historical Treatises, translated (1836) from the German (1821), 351-2; cf. 314-15. 58 Diplomacy and the upon, or when it was prosecuted with vigour and success. Hence, it was concluded, without reserve, if also without bitterness and the injustice of extremes, that the Government in Britain cannot guarantee with the same assurance as others the performance of its obligations ; and, it was rightly con- tended, the consequence in respect of foreign Powers was most pernicious. It was, however, admitted that on the part of Continental Powers physical impossibilities a total subjuga- tion or some extreme trial and distress might prevent the fulfilment of their obligations : ' a case which can scarcely be supposed to occur with respect to England '.* The capacity of Britain to endure physical strain was acknowledged to a degree that Montesquieu would have commended that high degree which the experience of two great wars, in spite of a bitter lesson in an intervening one, seemed to have established for the people of Britain since the eulogy of her by the author of the work De I'Esprit des Lois had been published. 2 Britain's non-fulfilment of obligations to foreign Powers was to be ascribed, if not to a clear breach of political morality, at least to the character and consequences of conventions, and to conventions that had acquired the force of principles, in the ordering of her political life. The non-fulfilment of obligations by Continental Powers was to be ascribed to physical duress, to the imperious calls of nature, to which the State for its own safety, the community for the sake of bare existence, must submit. It is instructive to observe how such a critic and apologist finds no need to condone, as though it were reprehensible, the action of Frederick II as an ally of France in the course of his Silesian Wars and the designation of the wars is at once almost Frederick's condemnation and his defence between 1740 and 1745. He sees in Frederick's action ground for 1 Historical Treatises, 352. * In 1748. Conduct of Foreign Policy 59 praise for consummate skill ; he claims for him political judge- ment almost unique. Frederick began the war on his own account against Austria, and without the help of France. Soon he was in active alliance with the French, but as early as 1742 he came to terms with Austria, and left France fighting. Two years later he resumed the struggle, was again allied to France, and again, after only sixteen months, abandoned her ; and his Christmas letter of 1745 to Louis we have already produced. The interests of Frederick did not coincide with those of France ; he was not a champion, accredited and self- sacrificing, of the interests of France, of the Westphalian role and historic mission of France. He had no desire to witness the aggrandizement of France at the cost of the annihilation of the monarchy of Austria. Therefore, it is contended, to understand him is to admire him. ' The art, till then unknown in Europe, of concluding alliances without committing one's self, of remaining unfettered while apparently bound, of seceding when the proper moment is arrived, can be learnt from him and only from him.' Intrepidity in conduct, freedom characterizing every movement, a straightforwardness which was not, however, unaccompanied by cunning in a word, superiority over his contemporaries : these are claimed for Frederick, and deduced from his conduct as an ally. ' The immutable truth, that independence of character is of more value in negotiation than brilliant talents, and rises in importance proportionately to the eminence of the station in which the possessor is placed, no one has more strikingly attested by his own example than Frederic at that period.' x The apologist of Frederick well knew the fortitude displayed, in the course of the Seven Years' War, by Prussians and pre- eminently by the Prussian King a ' truly great King ', his 1 Heeren, op. cit., 316-17. 60 Diplomacy and the fellow-worker, the elder Pitt, called him. 1 He had, moreover, lived through the years of Prussia's humiliation and agony under the iron heel of Napoleon, and had witnessed her political recovery and her national triumph. He was a student of Frederick's historical writings, 2 and from laudation of his achievements and success he went back, and was almost forced, to approval of his means to an apologia of his political morality. The same thinker declared that history would never forget the almost incredible exertions made by Britain in the final struggle against Napoleon for the liberation of Europe. In appraising her achievement he thought not only of the advan- tages conferred upon her by her insular position, but also of the fertilizing effects of her constitutional system in propagating on the Continent those political opinions which inspired the last fight against the despot and called for sustenance and constant encouragement if they were to prevail. He was no advocate for imposing her constitutional system as a general model, and yet he was so gravely impressed with the results of its working and with the force of its example, and so favour- ably disposed to the mediating function which Britain exercised among Continental Powers, as to express, not less for her than for his own country, the wish Esto Perpetual The recording of such judgements has at least the value that we may guard 1 ' . . . the heroic constancy of spirit and unexampled activity of mind of that truly great King.' Pitt to Andrew Mitchell, September 9, 1760, Correspondence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. (1838), ii. 58. Cf. his letter to Mitchell, March 31, 1757: 'The most grateful sentiments of veneration and zeal for a Prince, who stands the unshaken bulwark of Europe, against the most powerful and malignant confederacy that ever yet has threatened the independence of mankind.' Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd series, iv. 404. * Contained in (Euvres postbumes de Frederic 77, Rot de Prusse, 12 tomes, Berlin (1788), published when Hecren was twenty-eight years of age. 3 Historical Treatises, 420-2. Conduct of Foreign Policy 61 ourselves against losing all sense of perspective when we are concentrating attention on the bearing of one political system on the conduct of foreign policy. William III was his own Foreign and War Minister. That was the condition of his action. 1 It is also, in large part, the explanation of his success. He would not be a mere Doge of Venice. No more bitter anxiety of mind fell on Marlborough in the conduct of war than that which came to him from uncertainty of the course of party politics at home ; and it was the most continuously depressing of all his anxieties. With the accession of George I the constitution became still more parliamentary and still more dependent upon party and a party ministry. But, with the bearings of a parliamentary constitu- tion better understood through an accumulating and diversified experience, criticism of its working and effects becomes more direct ; misgivings assert themselves. Yet, the ministerial changes and uncertainties of the reigns of George I and George II were changes and uncertainties within one party, and were not primarily due to the criticisms and the policy of the Tories. Within a year of the accession of the new House we find the French Government instructing its repre- sentatives abroad to observe that one of the grounds for the failure of Stanhope's mission to the Emperor was the Emperor's recognition that little reliance could be placed on a Govern- ment subject to changes so frequent 2 as there had lately been in Britain. An additional element of uncertainty was 1 See Miss H. C. Foxcroft, Life and Letters of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1898), ii. 137, for William's plea of urgency of supplies and for unity, in the King's Speech, October 1690, and Halifax's inquiry, in his Notes for a Speech, ' Of what use are Parliaments if, when there is war, everything that is asked is to be given f ' 2 ' Connoissant le peu de solidite des mesures qu'il prendroit avec un gouvernement sujet a des changements si frequents.' Instruction, 17 mars 1715, a M. Mandat, allant a Vienne : Instructions . . . : Autricbe, pp. 186-7. 62 Diplomacy and the presented by the character of the personal union between Great Britain and Hanover. The Elector of Hanover per- sisted in the exercise of his right to treat with foreign Powers regarding Hanover as Elector merely, without having to submit to the galling restraints imposed upon the British sovereign in the conduct of the foreign policy of Britain. 1 The confusion of issues that followed was hardly avoidable. But it was the manner of conducting the policy of Hanover that almost equally with the substance of that policy led to opposition and to outspoken resentment in Parliament. 2 It was the means adopted as well as the ends pursued that inspired the critics of the Hanover policy. The true inwardness of that policy, and the way in which it could be related to the further- ance of the interests of Britain, were grasped, in varying degrees and in changing situations, by Stanhope, by Carteret and, after his years of waywardness and irresponsibility, by the elder Pitt ; and they did not vastly differ in the view they took of the use that was to be made of the rights of the executive in carrying out the policy. It was necessary to reckon with Parliament, and with a Parliament that was moved by home politics more than by foreign, except at a national crisis, and that was influenced by great family connexions and by the barter of patronage for power. For this Carteret, unlike Walpole and the Pelhams, was too proud, too brilliantly independent, to make the due allowance that discretion demanded ; and he fell before those who were his inferiors in knowledge and capacity. It was necessary for ministers to win over Parliament, to manage it and even coerce it. It was expedient, under the imperious conditions of the parliamentary 1 See Ward (A. W.), Great Britain and Hanover : some Aspects of the Personal Union (1899). 8 For a concise statement see the Lords' Protests, February 17, 1725; cf. Protest of April 17, 1730. Conduct of Foreign Policy 63 system of the eighteenth century, to attend to the making of bishops and of revenue officers not less than to the fulfilling of the boast of Carteret the making of kings and emperors and maintaining the balance of power in Europe. But it was equally necessary for ministers of the Crown to assert a right to initiative and to a considerable measure of discretionary authority in the conduct of foreign affairs. Addison, writing in The Freeholder' 1 of the mutability in politics charged by foreigners against the English, 2 tells how the famous Prince of Conde would ask the English Ambassador, on the arrival of a mail, ' Who was Secretary of State in England by that post ? ' One of the chief arguments advanced for the passing of the Septennial Bill was the greater trust that foreign States would repose in this country if general elections and changes of ministers were less frequent. Just a little later, at the time of the Whig Schism, we find Lord Stair, Ambassador to France, invoking a plague on both parties, and especially on Whig factions. In his own words, in a letter to Craggs, 3 who within a few months was made Secretary of War, ' I look upon what has happened, as the most dangerous thing could befall us, both as to the matter, and as to the manner. What the devil did Lord Sunderland and Stanhope mean, to make such a step 4 without concerting it ? ... I am afraid these 1 No. 25. Cf. Nos. 37 and 54. 2 Cf. Milton : ' I know not, therefore, what should be peculiar in England, to make successive parliaments thought safest, or convenient here more than in other nations, unless it be the fickleness which is attributed to us as we are islanders.' The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth: English Prose Writings of John Milton, ed. by Henry Morley (1889), 434. 3 Hardwicke, State Papers (1778), ii. 556, January 4, 1717. 4 The removal of Townshend from the Secretaryship of State for the Northern Department. Walpole also retired from office. Both were opposed to the Hanoverian junta. 64 Diplomacy and the convulsions at home may hurt our affairs abroad.' ' Head, and hearts, and hands ' there must be. Surely there was a sound common platform on which leading men of the party could stand together : ' half a dozen of good men would go far ; but they must be men indeed '. Only essentials of conformity should be exacted as a test. 1 And so we might by illustration proceed. We might show, on the one side, how Carteret in the conduct of his diplomacy, whatever in substance and objects be its merits, was obstructed by the intrigues and jealousies of the Pelhams in the ministry, 2 and, on the other side, the great and brilliant results achieved 1 The standard for co-operation and solidarity among ministers is very prudently conceived by Stanhope and in a way that furnishes an instructive comment on the means some of them drastic soon to be employed by Walpole for establishing his ascendancy as First Minister. ' And I agree with you, likewise, that in public affairs, when a measure is taken that a man does not approve of in his judgment, if it be only a matter of policy and not against the direct interest of one's country, I think one should support the measure when once it is resolved, as if it was their own, and as if they had advised it . . . : in taking public measures, I think the wisest and most moderate men's opinions should be asked and followed. For if rash councils are followed, you will not find hands to support them. By attempting things, even right things, which you are not able to carry, you expose yourself, in our popular government, to the having the adminis- tration wrested out of your hands, and put into other hands ; may be, into the hands of the enemies of our constitution. . . . But if heat and impatience will make you go out of the entrenchments, and attack a formid- able enemy with feeble forces, and troops that follow you unwillingly, you will run a risk to be beat, and you wont get people to go along with you to purpose, by reproaching them that they are of this cabal, or of the other cabal, or by reproaching them that they are afraid.' Letter, October 5, 1717, to Craggs. Hardwicke, op. cit., ii. 559-60. * In the Newcastle Papers, Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., see especially the letters of Richmond (with George II on the Continent) to Newcastle, June 3/14, I743> and of Newcastle to Carteret (on the Continent), June 24, '743' and J ul X 5. '743- Conduct of Foreign Policy 65 under the elder Pitt when party was forgotten, and the Council, in the words of the aged Carteret, Lord Granville, was a happy conciliabulum. Or, again, we might show why precisely it came that Frederick II of Prussia * conceived his deep distrust of the English constitution for its influence on the conduct of foreign affairs, and ' abused Parliaments ' sentiments which were entertained also, in different degrees of bitterness and contempt, by Catherine II, by Kaunitz, and others. 2 The composition and the cohesion of parties in Britain, the cohesion and security of ministries, seemed to depend upon temporary and changing circumstances of a domestic character. Could anything be taken for certain in dealings with a State whose politics were thus founded, and thus displayed to foreign observers ? Such assertions and charges, even when they were not justified, or were but little sustainable, from facts, had a diplomatic use : they could be made to serve a diplomatic end, immediate or ulterior. While foreign princes and foreign ministers, as well as some ministers and critics at home, were thus passing adverse judge- ment on the British constitution for its imperfections and excesses caused by the parliamentary system, leaders of the Opposition were demanding the production of dispatches, papers, and reports which the Government was withholding on the plea of State necessity. Of many complaints the two following are typical. They are taken from the Lords' Pro- tests : they are drawn from the armoury of the Opposition to Sir Robert Walpole. In the first 3 it was contended, with reference to the trading interests of the British colonies and 1 ' The King of Prussia, who never loses time.' Andrew Mitchell (from Leipzig), October 30, 1757, to Holdernesse. P.R.O., Prussia, 70. . 2 Sorel, La Question f Orient au XV IIP siicle (1880), pp. 83, 84, 85 of the English translation. 3 March 26, 1734. 2224 v 66 Diplomacy and the plantations in America, that treaties alone would not bind those Powers which might seem to have advantages in prospect from opportune aggression, and that ' the interposition of a British Parliament would be more respected and more effectual than the occasional expedients of fluctuating and variable negotiations, which in former times have been often more adapted to the present necessities of the ministers than to the real honour and lasting security of the nation '. The second Protest x was framed on the rejection of a motion that a secret committee, consisting of those Peers who were Privy Councillors, be appointed to inquire into the conduct of the war against Spain towards the close of Walpole's ministry. * The so-often urged argument of secrecy ', which in another Protest of the same times 2 was termed ' the stale objection ', is an argument, it was said, that ' proves too much, and may as often without as with reason be used in bar of all inquiries, that any Administration, conscious either of their guilt or their ignorance, may desire to defeat '. Secrecy of this * timorous ' and ' scrupulous ' kind was * much oftener the refuge of guilt than the resort of innocence '. The case for inquiry and for openness in the conduct of foreign policy was ably presented in the House of Commons by Wyndham in the session 1733-4, when the Polish Succession or Election War was in progress. A motion that the letters and instruc- tions to British ministers in France and Spain be produced was rejected by 195 votes to 104. Wyndham argued that Parliament, if denied such knowledge, could not sustain its part in upholding the interests of the nation abroad, and could not comprehend the extent of the interests of Britain in the war which was at that time being fought on the Con- tinent without her. Even if we were to take no part in the war, it was necessary to provide for the safety of the nation ; 1 January 28, 1740/1, * December 8, 1740. Conduct of Foreign Policy 67 and the grounds for making adequate provision were not disclosed. How (he asked) could members of the House of Commons judge of the estimates to be laid before them as a provision for national safety, if they did not know by what danger the nation was confronted ? How, further, could we know our danger without knowing how we then stood with regard to foreign alliances and engagements ? The case for the Government in these and like transactions was moderately and clearly put by Henry Pelham in the House of Commons. His ministry was criticized for not having laid the preliminaries of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle before Parliament, so that its opinion might be taken beforehand, as had been done on the occasion of the Treaty of Utrecht. Pelham, in his defence, disclaimed any intention to limit in any degree the right of Parliament to examine and criticize any treaty after it was concluded, and to censure and punish those who advised and negotiated the treaty if it should seem to have wantonly or unnecessarily sacrificed the interests or the honour of the nation. Such a right on the part of Par- liament was to be upheld as a salutary check on the conduct of ministers. But, * if Parliament should encroach upon the prerogative of the Crown, by assuming a right to make peace or war, and to inquire into foreign transactions under negotia- tion, our affairs will be reduced to a dangerous predicament ; for no foreign State will negotiate with our ministers, or con- clude any treaty with them, either political or commercial.' 1 These considerations of national advantage similarly required that Parliament should not assume a constitutional right to prescribe rules to the Crown for its conduct in any future negotiation or treaty. Advice either House is competent to offer ; but, if the advice be coupled with the condition that 1 Coxe, Memoirs of the Administration of the Right Honourable Henry Pelbam (1829), ii. 87. F 2 68 Diplomacy and the in no case can it be departed from without the consent of the House, it ceases to be advice : it becomes a rule or law, which Parliament has no right to prescribe to the Sovereign, and which no minister, faithful to his position and its obligations, could advise him to accept as a rule or law. 1 For ministers to seek the approval of Parliament it might be a tame and controlled and submissive Parliament in the course of nego- tiations and in the acceptance of the preliminaries of a treaty, might reveal that they were conscious of failure to secure the interests of the nation, rather than that they were moving towards an indubitable success such as could never fear the light of criticism in days to come. But it was more especially with the establishment of a more democratically based constitution in the nineteenth century that criticisms of the parliamentary system of Britain, in relation to the conduct of foreign policy, became sharp and severe. Under a parliamentary party system, resting on the ultimate power which is vested in a wide and inconstant electorate, it has been only with the utmost care and difficulty that the principle of continuity in foreign policy has been, in general, successfully asserted in Britain ; and, with continuity, has come the gain of a large measure of trustworthiness in the eyes of foreign States. The presumption in a system that rests on parties and majorities is in favour of change and towards in- stability. 2 Bismarck, pre-eminently on this account, distrusted the foreign policy of Britain and the making of compacts 1 Coxe, loc. cit. 2 We are not here engaged upon a comparative study of political delin- quency. Cf. the words of Napoleon III when he was expressing to Malmes- bury his desire to be inseparable from England : ' The great difficulty is your form of Government, which changes the Queen's Ministers so often and so suddenly. It is such a risk to adopt a line of policy with you, as one may be left in the lurch by a new Administration.' Memoirs, under date March 20, 1853. Conduct of Foreign Policy 69 with her. He spoke with contempt of newspapers having more force than was commanded by settled principles of policy, and of ruling by the mere opinions of the day. Since the Reform Bill of 1832, he said in 1859, it had been impossible for the old hereditary wisdom to discipline the uncurbed passions of party, and he could not place confidence in a country in which an article in a newspaper was of more value than a principle. ' Good Heavens ! ' he continued, * if that lot should befal the Prussian monarchy if she also should have her Reform Bill if the power were to be taken from the sacred hands of the King only to fall into those of the lawyers and the professors and the babblers who style themselves Liberals ! ' The Danes do not forget the expectations, with a semblance of promises, by which they were deluded on the Schleswig-Holstein question through British newspapers and British party politicians ; and Bismarck expressed the view that the Schleswig-Holstein diplomatic campaign was the success in diplomacy of which he felt most proud, so that when he was made Prince he would rather have had Schleswig- Holstein than Alsace and Lorraine put into his armorial bearings. 1 If, again, we turn to Lord Lyons at the anxious time of excitement over the ' Trent ' affair, we shall commend him for ignoring popular clamour whether in the United States of America or in Britain, and for deliberately and resolutely abstaining for six weeks from uttering any opinion of his own , and by such prudent reticence going far to save the situation. 2 A wise diplomacy must know how to delay decisions as well as how to anticipate ; there have been critical times when it showed its wisdom by knowing how to put off till to-morrow what could not be safely done to-day, and when it not the less truly interpreted the public interest by opposing a barrier 1 Busch, Bismarck, ii. 337. 2 See Newton, Lord Lyons, 2 vols. (1913). 70 Diplomacy and the to the demands of a clamorous public opinion of a ' will of all ' that may not have known the true * general will '. * If I could from this place address the English people ', said Lord Derby in 1878, ' I would venture to ask them how they can expect to have a foreign policy, I do not say far-sighted, but even consistent and intelligent, if within eighteen months the great majority of them are found asking for things directly contradictory '. 1 The measuring of public opinion is for the statesman as hard a task as its instruction. Even to public opinion, when voiced by representatives, and in its action not immediate and not impulsive, there are limits of competence, bounds imposed by discretion. We should not forget that in 1890, in the course of discussions on the proposed cession of Heligoland to Germany, Mr. Gladstone questioned both the constitutionality and the high expediency of asking the Houses of Parliament to share the treaty-making power a power exer- cised by ministers who are well aware of their responsibility to Parliament and to the nation. 2 And who shall yet say how far diplomacy in the decisive week at the end of July 1914 had to reckon with a consideration that should have been out of the reckoning altogether the limits to party cohesion and party allegiance where the interest and the honour of the whole British Commonwealth were at stake ? The lessons of example and the force of historical evidence are not wholly cast in one mould. But the very nature of the problems should preclude, in the modern State, anything like direct participation of a vast number of minds and tongues in the initiation, the conduct, and the control of foreign policy ; not least in Great Britain. A plainer foreign policy than there has usually been may be possible. 3 But that any 1 Speech in the House of Lords, April 8, 1878. 2 See Appendix, pp. 2100-3. 8 General Smuts on May 15, 1917 about a month before he became Conduct of Foreign Policy 71 large number of men should ever be qualified, or that they should even seek, with good results, to qualify themselves, for the exercise of an initiative that shall be wise, and for a control that shall be well informed, in the conduct of foreign affairs, where the conditions are of necessity complex and the issues involved are momentous, no student of history and no honest mind will ever admit. Even were it possible, it would not be desirable. In the modern State democracy is and must be indirect, not direct : it loses impulsiveness, and it gains in knowledge, in impressiveness, and in power, through being a member of the War Cabinet (see p. 283) spoke of the need for ' a common policy in common matters for the Empire. . . .' Further, ' they could not settle a common foreign policy for the whole of the British Empire without changing that policy very much from what it had been in the past, because the policy would have to be, for one thing, far simpler. In the other parts of the Empire they did not understand diplomatic finesse. If our foreign policy was going to rest not only on the basis of our Cabinet here, but, finally, on the whole of the British Empire, it would have to be a simpler policy, a more intelligible policy, and a policy which would in the end lead to less friction and greater security. No one would dispute the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. They would always look upon the British Government as the senior partner in the concern. But the Imperial policy would always be subject to the principles laid down from time to time at the meetings of the Imperial Conference. Such a policy would, he thought, in the long run be saner and safer for the Empire as a whole. He also thought it would lead to greater publicity. After the great catastrophe which had overtaken Europe, nations in future would want to know more about that foreign policy. He was sure that the after effects of a change like this, although it looked a simple change, were going to be very important, not only for the Commonwealth of nations, but for the world as a whole. People were inclined to forget that the world was growing more democratic, and that public opinion and the forces finding expression in public opinion, were going to be far more powerful than they had been in the past. Where they built up a common patriotism and a common ideal, the instrument of government would not be a thing that mattered so much as the spirit which actuated the whole of government.' The Times, May 16, 1917. 72 Diplomacy and the representative and mediate. Democracy needs checks for its own security, just as monarchy has needed and submitted to checks against its own abuse. The power of a democracy when once it is set in motion along any line may be irresistible, but it stands in need of guarantees of stability and endurance. In Britain, even more than in the American Common- wealth, 1 adequate provisions exist for an ultimate and true national control over the determination of foreign policy. They are found in the nation's capacities being represented, and in their being raised, in the process of representation, to a higher level of efficiency. They are found formally and practically, to the knowledge of every citizen, in the command of the purse held by the House of Commons, and in the daily and continuous responsibility of ministers to that House the House of the nation's chosen representatives. No foreign policy can be maintained, and none, in prudence, can even be embarked upon, that does not look to the interests of the nation interests of commerce and material well-being, and not less for Britain the interests of honour and prestige ; and any foreign policy once embarked upon must reckon with the necessity of making the general and substantial title to such support clear and convincing. 2 That condition may prove to be a defect in the execution of policy an opinion which has already been sufficiently implied and enforced. But acceptance of the condition is required for the ultimate sustenance of policy and for the assurance of its strength. Among political virtues prudence stands the first and the last. Much will depend more in the near future than in the recent past upon the prudence of party leaders and party men and 1 See Appendix, pp. 278-9, 281. 8 For views expressed on this part of the subject by Palmcrston, Claren- don (1866), Salisbury (1885), and Mr. Balfour, see Appendix, pp. 263-9. Conduct of Foreign Policy 73 the press, and upon the restraints which they may freely and wisely accept. But diplomacy will still remain. It will still be a means to ends. Those who have to conduct business between nations cannot, without detriment and disaster, violate the rules and methods that are essential to the conduct of business and to success. 1 Instruments and agents may vary with conditions. They may come to be quite unexceptionable in work and character. But the need for circumspection is not likely to become less. For the conduct of international business, in whatsoever atmosphere of mind and morals, men who under- stand men and affairs will still be required. A Duke of Albany as drawn by the Earl of Surrey, son of the victor of Flodden, may still have a place and successors, but his is not the place of a discreet diplomatist. * And by many wayes I am advertised that the Duke of Albany is a mervelous wilfull man, and woll beleve noo mannys counsaill, but woll have his owne opinion folowed. And bicause the Frenche King hath be at soo greate chardges by his provoking, having his wiffs inherytance lying within his domynyons, dare not for no Scottish counsell forbere t' envade this realme. I am also advertised that he is so passionate that and he bee aperte amongis his familiers, and doth here any thing contrarius to his myende and pleasure, his accustumed manner is too take his bonet sodenly of his hed and to throwe it in the fire ; and no man dare take it oute, but let it be brent. My Lord Dacre doth affirme that at his last being in Scotland he did borne above a dosyn bonetts after that maner. And if he be suche a man, with Gods grace we shall spede the bettir with hym.' 2 Is it the picture of an open diplomatist ? Travesty let it be : by no accession of the merit of plainness can the conduct of 1 See Appendix, p. 266: Mr. Balfour, House of Commons, March 19, 1918. 8 Surrey, at Newcastle, to Wolsey, October 8, 1523. Ellis, Original Letters (first series), i. 226-7. 74 Diplomacy and the the business of States be attuned to openness so markedly naked and so frankly unabashed. A Duke of Albany thus active and thus open may have his successors yet, whether we are thinking of individual politicians or of masses of men. But his place is not that of Managing Director of the Board of Control for Foreign Affairs. Still, even to open diplomacy must be conceded its several types, its several grades. Those in Britain who have lately criticized the very founda- tions of the British plan of conducting foreign policy, on the ground of its disregard of democratic methods and national rights, are neither genuinely democratic nor genuinely national. They do not recognize the nature of democracy in the large and extended communities of to-day, and they convey the impression that the foreign policy of Britain can be, and has been, conducted, under the prevailing forms and facts of her politics, not only with the secrecy but even with the inde- pendence which characterized the methods and the powers of the Council of Ten in the Republic of Venice. 1 They protest on the ground of ' freedom '. They have probably false notions of freedom. They do not inquire, as we should always be asking ourselves, and should inquire of others, when that word is used, ' Freedom ? From what ? ' ' Freedom ? For what ? ' * Freedom ? To whom ? ' May it be free- dom to those who repudiate a State obligation at a time of national danger ? If we were to carry farther our analysis of this species of democratic fervour and of the movement which it inspires and is designed to help, we should find that many of those who speak and labour under its influence cannot take a dispassionate view of the manner and the instruments of the conduct of foreign policy. Many of them there are who have been influenced by considerations of an extraneous kind by an economic bias, for example, with the consequences it seems 1 See Horatio F. Brown, Venice : An Historical Sketch (1893), e.g. p. 182. Conduct of Foreign Policy 75 to entail in spheres not primarily or not exclusively economic, or by a diffused and bounteous humanitarianism of not less insecure foundations. We must never forget that any movement of this character and there are more than one in our midst, and there are likely to be more still must proceed with some approximation to equal step and equal weight in the several leading States, if it is not to carry with it grave misfortune for that State which outruns the rest in its trust and confidence in men and humanity. Neither for means nor for ends is it specially called for in Britain. For the means it advocates it may contain elements of good for a State a State, let us say, strongly organized and mechanically efficient which does not yet know the parliamentary system, knows not responsi- bility of ministers to Parliament, knows not democracy. Nor for its declared end a better and more stable international understanding is any appeal, justifying such movement, specially required in Britain. The highest interest of Britain for herself and for the Empire has been known to be was too well known to be peace ; and in future her interest will still be peace, but without a slothful overtrust. She can enter in spirit into a true League of Nations, even without requiring to be attached to it by compliance with prescribed and rigid forms ; and no League of Nations, for unity and concord, can have being by mechanism chiefly and without the dis- position that is requisite to give it life. But if we in Britain do modify, as we shall and already have begun x to modify, the kind of indirect national control which has prevailed with us, this we shall do wisely by imparting to it greater breadth, a larger representative character, a character truer to the facts, a stronger vitality. We shall make it represen- tative not of the British at home only, but of the whole British 1 See Appendix, pp f 282-4. 76 Diplomacy and Foreign Policy Commonwealth, in accordance with a community of interest and a partnership in achieving. We should have the assurance that this more representative direction and control of foreign policy by a Council of the Empire would express the mind of a Commonwealth of peoples, and would be the informed check of mind upon mind. It would help to promote the collective responsibility of all civilized nations in upholding International Law and developing and safeguarding international morality. This it would do without relaxing its grip on the solid truth that there is only one effective way of resisting wrong done by force, or of warding off wrong threatened by force : there must be the means, and there must be readiness, to exert force on the side of right and justice. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES A. ANTI-MACHIAVEL LITERATURE There is an abundant anti-Machiavel literature from an early date : sec, in Burd's edition (1891) of // Principe, the Introduction by Acton and by the editor. In Campanella's De Monarcbia Hispanica (c. 5) sharp antitheses are drawn between prudentia and astutia. E. g. ' Prudentia clemens est, et verax : Astutia crudelis, et adulatrix. . . . Prudentia dum pcrdit, acquirit (id quod Pctrus, et Papa adhuc hodic facit), et quanto penitius cognoscitur tanto ardentius a suis amatur. Astutia dum acquirit, perdit ; ct quanto magis nota est, tanto magis odio habctur. Sicut vidcrc est in scclesti illius Machiavelli discipulo Caesarc Borgia, qui per astutias suas principatum Flaminiac (hodie Romaniae) perdidit.' De Mon. Hisp., ed. 1641, 24-5. More significant arc the favourable, or not adverse, in- terpreters of Machiavelli. To Alberico Gentili, De legationibus libri tres (1585), iii. 9, quoted by Burd, op. cit. 63, Machiavelli is ' Democratiac laudator et assertor acerrimus ; natus, educatus, honoratus, in eo reipublicac statu ; tyrannidis summc inimicus. Itaque tyranno non favct : sui propositi non est, tyrannum instruerc, sed arcanis cius palam factis ipsum miseris Anti-Machiavel Literature 77 populis nudum et conspicuum exhibere.' Similarly, Spinoza, Traclatus Politicus, c. v, 7 : ' Quibus autem mediis Princeps, qui sola dominandi libidine fertur, uti debet, ut imperium stabilire et conservare possit, acutissi- mus Machiavellus prolixe ostendit ; quern autem in finem, non satis constare videtur. Si quern tamen bonum habuit, ut de viro sapiente credendum est, fuisse videtur, ut ostenderet, quam imprudenter multi Tyrannum e medio tollere conantur. . . . Praeterea ostendere forsan voluit, quantum Hbera multitudo cavere debet, ne salutem suam uni absolute credat, qui nisi vanus sit, et omnibus se posse placere existimet, quotidie insidias timere debet ; atque adeo sibi potius cavere, et multitudini contra insidiari magis quam consulere cogitur ; et ad hoc de prudentissimo isto viro credendum magis adducor, quia pro libertate fuisse constat, ad quam etiam tuendam saluberrima consilia dedit.' Amelot de la Houssaie in his translation and commentary, Le Prince (1683), wrote : 'II ne faut pas s'etonner, si Machiavel est censure de tant de gens, puisqu'il y en a si peu, qui sachent ce que c'est que Raison-d" tat, et par consequent si peu, qui puissent etre juges com- petens de la qualite des preceptes qu'il donne, et des maximes qu'il enseigne,' p. 5 ; see further his Preface, partly quoted by Burd, 65-6. Amelot's notes are largely made up of passages from Tacitus, ' le Maitre et POracle ordinaire des Princes'. ' En feignant de donner des lemons aux rois ', says Rousseau of Machiavelli, ' il en a donne de grandes aux peuples. " Le Prince " de Machiavel est le livre des republicains.' Contrat Social, iii, c. 6. For Rousseau's views on the sway of ' interest ' and of ' Reason of State ' in international affairs, see Considerations sur le Gouvernement de Pologne, 0.15. According to Hegel, it was Machiavelli's high sense of the necessity of constituting a State that caused him to lay down the principles on which alone States could be formed in the circumstances of his time. B. MACHIAVELLI ON THE OFFICE OF AN AMBASSADOR Machiavelli, himself an experienced ambassador and negotiator of treaties, shows his conception of the qualities requisite for a successful embassy in the instructions given by him to Raphael Girolami, Ambassador to the Emperor. It is necessary, he held, for an ambassador so to regulate his actions and conversation that he shall be thought a man of honour. A reputation for sincerity is ' highly essential, though too much neglected, as 1 have seen more than one so lose themselves in the opinion of princes by their duplicity, that they have been unable to conduct a negotiation of the most trifling importance. It is undoubtedly necessary for the ambassador occasionally 78 Diplomacy and Foreign Policy to mask his game ; but it should so be done that suspicion shall not be awakened, and he ought always to be prepared with an answer in case of discovery.' The correspondence of an ambassador with his own Govern- ment has regard to three objects what is done, what is being done, and what may be done. The first alone is easy, although it may be difficult to obtain the requisite intelligence concerning a league between two Powers against a third, where it is to the interest of one of them to preserve secrecy, so that great prudence and circumspection are in such cases called for. The difficulty of knowing what is passing is of a different category, because in place of facts as data there are merely conjectures. ' Besides, the courts of princes are full of men whose sole occupation is to listen to everything, and to repeat what they have heard, as well to make friends of those to whom they communicate the intelligence, as to learn something from them which they may turn to their profit. The friendship of this class of men may be gained by talking of such things as dinners and gaming ; and 1 have seen very grave personages permit gaming at their houses, to afford the opportu- nity of seeing many persons whom it would otherwise have been difficult to meet in any place so as to converse with them. But, to extract any informa- tion from a man, you must occasionally encourage him by reposing a confi- dence in him, which he may think important. In a word, nothing is more likely to make others disclose what they know than to appear to set the example. But, in order to do this, an ambassador ought to be informed of all that passes at his own Court and elsewhere. . . . Amongst the matters of which you will hear, there will undoubtedly be many entirely false, as well as some that are true, or probable. It is your duty to weigh them with judgement, and inform your Court of those which you think have some foundation, and merit its attention ; and, as it would not be eligible to place your judgement in your own lips, I would recommend you to adopt the form of dispatches that several ministers have used with effect. It consists in an expose of the facts that have come to your knowledge, sketching the characters of the parties, and the interests which direct them, and concluding in this manner : " taking into consideration all I have said, the most judicious persons here think that such and such will be the result." . . . I know also some who, every month or two, were at the pains to give their Courts a picture of the general situation of the State or city where the prince resided to whom they were sent . . . ; for nothing is so well calculated to enlighten a Government as a knowledge of the resources of other States.' The Balance of Power 79 C. THE BALANCE OF POWER ' Europe forms a political system, an integral body, closely connected by the relations and different interests of the nations inhabiting this part of the world. It is not, as formerly, a confused heap of detached pieces. . . . The continual attention of sovereigns to every occurrence, the constant residence of ministers, and the perpetual negotiations, make of modern Europe a kind of republic, of which the members each independent, but all linked together by the ties of common interest unite for the maintenance of order and liberty. Hence arose that famous scheme of the political balance, or the equilibrium of power ; by which is understood such a disposition of things, as that no one potentate be able absolutely to predominate, and prescribe laws to the others. The surest means of preserving that equilibrium would be, that no power should be much superior to the others, that all, or at least the greater part, should be nearly equal in force. Such a project has been attributed to Henry IV ; but it would have been impossible to carry it into execution without injustice and violence. Besides . . . commerce, industry, military pre-eminence, would soon put an end to it. The right of inheritance . . . would completely overturn the whole system. It is a more simple, an easier, and a more equitable plan, to have recourse to the method ... of forming confederacies in order to oppose the more powerful potentate, and prevent him from giving law to his neighbours. Such is the mode at present pursued by the sovereigns of Europe. They consider the two principal powers, which on that very account, are naturally rivals, as destined to be checks on each other ; and they unite with the weaker, like so many weights thrown into the lighter scale, in order to keep it in equilibrium with the other. The house of Austria has long been the preponderating power : at present France is so in her turn. England, whose opulence and formidable fleets have a powerful influence, without alarming any state on the score of its liberty, because that nation seems cured of the rage of conquest England, I say, has the glory of holding the political balance. She is attentive to preserve it in equilibrium : a system of policy, which is in itself highly just and wise, and will ever entitle her to praise, as long as she continues to pursue it only by means of alliances, confederacies, and other methods equally lawful.' Vattel, Law of Nations (1758), Eng. tr. ed. by Chitty (1834), 311-13. 'Would the Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer [Pitt] himself declare, that we were no longer in a situation to hold the balance of power in Europe, and to be looked up to as the protector of its liberties ? ... As to the assertion that a poor cottager was not to be talked to in that manner, he must maintain that he was 5 and 8o Diplomacy and Foreign Policy notwithstanding the pressure of taxes under which the lower order of people in this country laboured, yet it was a comfort to hear that she was the balance of power, and the protector of the liberties of Europe.' Fox, February 15, 1787, Speeches (1815), iii. 285 ; cf. his speech, November 27, 1787, ibid. iii. 331. 'If Europe does not conceive the independence and the equilibrium of the Empire to be in the very essence of the system of balanced power in Europe, and if the scheme of public law in Europe, a mass of laws upon which that independence and equilibrium are founded, be of no leading consequence as they are preserved or destroyed, all the politics of Europe for more than two centuries have been miserably erroneous.' Burke, Thoughts on French Affairs (1791), Works (1823), vii. 28. Even the enormity of the crime of the partitioning of Poland ' the testament of the old Europe ' seemed to be mitigated, inasmuch as deference seemed to be paid to the principle of balance in the deed of partition. With true apprecia- tion and foresight, Burke wrote in 1772 to ' a Prussian gentleman ' : ' Pray, dear sir, what is next ? These powers will continue armed. Their arms must have employment. Poland was but a breakfast, and there are not many Polands to be found. Where will they dine ? After all our love of tranquillity, and all expedients to preserve it, alas, poor Peace ! ' Corre- spondence (1844), i. 403. The necessity of upholding a balance in Europe with a view to security is the central argument in Gentz' State of Europe before and after the French Revolution (an answer to Hauterive's De F Etat de la France a la Fin de VAn VllT) : see, more especially, in translation by Herries, 2nd ed., 1803, 17, 55, 92, 97-8, 122, 153, 223-4, 258, 261 ; and, on the partitioning of Poland, 112, 131-44. See also Bernard, Four Lectures on Diplomacy (1868), 97-100, and works mentioned in foot-note, p. loo. D. SECRET DIPLOMACY OF LOUIS XV The ' secret diplomacy ' or ' secret correspondence ' of Louis XV has its first beginnings in 1745, at the time of the pourparlers with the Polish nobles at Paris in the interest of the candidature of the Prince de Conti for the Polish throne. Conti was at first the chief agent of the King in la diplomatie secrete. It received impetus from the fall of d'Argenson in January 1 747, and in 1750 is found in vigorous and widely-diffused activity. The Count de Broglie became attached to it on March 12, 1752, and two days later was nominated Ambassador to Poland. See Boutaric, Correspondance secrete inedite de Louis XV (i 886) ; Le Due de Broglie, Le Secret du Roi (i 878), and Politique de tous les Cabinets de t Europe . . . contenant des Pieces autben- tiques sur la Correspondance secrite du Cte de Broglie . . . ; first published Secret Diplomacy of Louis XV 81 in 1793 in 2 vols. ; later, with notes and commentaries and additions by Segur, in 3 vols., 2nd ed. 1801, 3rd ed. 1802. Segur' s Preface of twenty pages and his notes are of great value, especially for their insight and suggestiveness. ' Le Comte de Broglie avoit trop d'esprit, et Favier trop de connoissances pour croire sincerement qu'on put, au milieu de la fluctua- tion des Cabinets de 1'Europe, et des variations de leurs forces et de leurs projets, etablir un systeme federatif permanent ; ils devoient savoir qu'il n'existe pour aucune puissance, ni ami, ni ennemi naturel, que pour un temps plus ou moins long, et que les amities et les rivalites des Peuples doivent changer comme leur fortune et les caracteres de ceux qui les gouver- nent. Ce qu'on doit naturellement penser, c'est que le Ministere secret, imagine par la mefiance du Monarque franc.ais, vouloit, pour se rendre utile, combattre le systeme du Ministere public . . . Les Memoires du Comte de Broglie, le Tableau Politique de Favier, et les Doutes de ce meme Auteur sur le Traite de 1756 [contained in Politique de tous les Cabinets], sont devenus des Ouvrages presque classiques aux yeux des nouveaux diplomates : le succes prodigieux qu'ils ont obtenu dans un temps ou ils flattoient les preventions et les haines nationales, les a revetus d'une autorite que je crois utile de combattre et d'affoiblir.' i. (3rd ed.) 17, 1 8. ' Ce qui prouve sans replique le vice de ce systeme, c'est que chacun des ambassadeurs qui ont eu part a cette correspondance, ignoree de leur chef, auroient, lorsqu'ils ont etc ministres, blame et poursuivi avec animosite tout homme qui en auroit entretenu quelqu'une a leur insu.' Ibid. 86-7 (from a note by Segur). E. FREDERICK THE GREAT ON PARLIAMENTS The correspondence for 1757 and 1758 preserved in the Public Record Office, Prussia, 70-71, furnishes ample evidence of Frederick's growing distrust of the British Parliament in the early years of the war, and before his disposition of mind became one of fixed ' abuse '. See Holdernesse's letter to Mitchell, November 29, 1757 ; Mitchell to Holdernesse, November 28, 1757 ('During the whole Campaign England has done nothing, the Strength of the Nation was melted away in Faction ') ; Holdernesse to Mitchell, December 12, 1757 ('You will have learnt, with Pleasure, the Unanimity with which the present Session of Parliament has been opened ; the Zeal with which the Protestant cause is supported ; and the chearfulness with which People, in general, will bear the heavy Load. . . . An Attempt to send British troops abroad wou'd put the continuance of this happy Situation of Things at Home to the greatest Hazard ; and it is past doubt, that a unanimity in Parliament is, in this critical session, of much more 2224 82 Diplomacy and Foreign Policy consequence to the Interests of Germany, than a few British troops joined to the Armies there could possibly be ') ; Mitchell to Holdernesse, December 25, 1757 (' I have no doubt His Prussian Majesty will be highly pleased with the affectionate Manner in which His Majesty has mentioned him to His Parliament, and with the Addresses of both Houses, but He will naturally say Words will no longer do, what succour will your Nation give to carry on the War next year ? . . . What assurances can you give that your Nation will act with Vigour and Spirit, against the Common Enemy ? or will this Winter be spent (as the last was) in fruitless Enquiries who is to be blamed for the late Miscarriages ? ') ; Holdernesse to Mitchell (a strong letter), February 25, 1758; Mitchell to Holdernesse, December n, 1758 ('His Prussian Majesty . . . congratulated me on the Harmony and Unanimity, which now prevail in the Councils of Great Britain, which he said was a most fortunate event for the Common Cause, and could not fail of being productive of the best effects, whether the Allies were obliged to carry on the War, or enabled to make an honourable and secure Peace '). THE LITERATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS G 2 THE LITERATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS i Introductory ' La diplomatic, traitee theoriquement, peut etre ramenee a des principes fixes, parce qu'elle est fondee sur des preceptes plus ou moins positifs, et qu'elle a un objet precis et distinct, celui de regler les rapports qui existent ou doivent exister entre les divers fitats : dans son acception la plus etendue, c'est la science des relations exterieures ou affaires etrangeres des Etats, et, dans un sens plus determine, la science ou fart des negociations. La diversite et la mobilite de ces rapports dependent de la formation et de 1'origine des fitats, des principes constitutifs des gouvernements, de 1'appreciation de leur puissance, reelle ou presumee, des variations de leur position relative, de leurs affinites, de leurs discordances, de la vicissitude des evenements, etc., etc. Or, toutes ces donnees reposent sur autant de faits, dont la recherche, la comparaison et 1'enchainement peuvent tres-bien devenir un objet d' etude ; et les nombreux ouvrages historiques, les collections de memoires, de traites et de correspondances diplomatiques, sont autant de moyens d'instruction qui ne laissent que 1'embarras du choix a celui qui se voit appele a prendre part aux negociations et aux affaires. ... 4 L'etude de la diplomatic proprement dite exige la con- naissance speciale : i Du droit des gens naturel et du droit public universal, qui renferment les maximes fondamentales de toute juris- prudence positive en matiere politique ; 2 Du droit des gens positif europeen, fonde sur les traites et les usages, lesquels, en modifiant les maximes fondamentales, ont regie les rapports des nations, soit en paix, soit en guerre ; 3 Du droit public des principaux Stats de V Europe, fonde sur les lois de chaque Etat ; 86 The Literature of International Relations 4 De Vhistoire et de ses branches subsidiaires, particuliere- ment de 1'histoire des guerres, des negotiations et des traites des derniers siecles, qui servant a connaitre la marche et la tendance des cabinets ; 5 Des divers system.es politiques qui peuvent etre mis en oeuvre, tels que ceux de domination, d'equilibre, de confederation, etc. ; 6 De V economic politique, qui enseigne comment les richesses sociales, independamment de 1'organisation politique, se forment, se distribuent et se consomment ; 7 De la geographic et de la statistique des tats ; 8 De la conduite des negotiations, ou, pour mieux dire, de la marche a suivre dans la discussion des interets entre les fitats ; 9 De Part cFecrire en affaires politiques, c'est-a-dire de composer et de rediger les actes et offices auxquels les rapports entre les fitats donnent lieu.' CHARLES DE MARTENS Le Guide diplomatique, 4th ed. (1851), i. 1-2, 6-7. ' De tous les ministeres de 1'fitat celui des affaires etrangeres est peut-etre celui ou il importe le plus d'assurer la stabilite des emplois, 1'avancement par le merite et le maintien des traditions ; car sa besogne se resume dans la defense de 1'in- teret national centre I'int6ret Stranger, et les erreurs en pareille matiere sont d'autant plus graves qu'elles restent la plupart du temps inseparables. Une fausse combinaison dans 1'adminis- tration interieure se rectifie par une combinaison plus juste. Une bonne loi en abroge une mauvaise. Mais une demarche imprudente, une concession maladroite en diplomatic, une convention desavantageuse surtout, comment la retirer, lorsque la partie adverse la retient et s'en prevaut avec tout droit de la retenir et de s'en prevaloir ? ' DEFFAUDIS : Questions diplomatiques (1849) ; see Extract in Le Guide diplomatique, i. 335-67. For such mastery as is attainable of problems of international policy at any point of time and contact in the relations of State to State particularity of knowledge is indispensable, and Introductory 87 that must be sought in special works and in the sources that bear upon each problem. The aim in what follows is to help towards forming the habit of mind that is required for appre- ciating questions of foreign policy. Rousseau, in a letter to the Marquis de Mirabeau, said of Politics that it is ' une science des calculs, des combinaisons, et des exceptions, selon les lieux, les temps et les circonstances '. In no region of politics have these words more pertinence and force than in that of international relations. In none is it more imperative to understand, and in none more difficult to allow for, the measure of prudence and the measure of justice contained in the means that are adopted for ends that have been sought or for such as have been attained, in varying degrees of achieve- ment. * Le grand art du diplomate ' has been very aptly expressed as ' bien dire dans Vordre convenable tout ce qui doit etre dit, et rien au deld } . 1 It is a condensation of the art almost violent in its terseness ; and its assumption of the possibility of a nice adjustment, by a stroke of genius, of means to end must not be allowed to obscure the fact that, while the schooling in le style diplomatique may be precise and correct while it may be possible to unite to * la precision des idees la pro- priete des termes et la concision du style ' yet the fields of action and conduct are spacious and of mixed soils, and the cultivators are many and of many minds. The definition of the art of diplomacy which has been cited is one which is suggested more especially by the requirements of what is termed le style diplomatique ', le style de cour, or le style de cbancellerie. The art of writing letters and notes and of producing other compositions, whether they be merely polite or be sternly pertinent to the business on hand, is not the whole of the art of diplomacy. Even, however, within the exercise of that 1 Charles dc Martens, Le Guide diplomatique (4th ed.), ii. 5. 88 The Literature of International Relations more particular art there are lessons of guidance that may serve as lessons of caution and warning to the student of history in his survey of international relations. There are, said the elder Charles Francis Adams, 1 three sorts of diplomatic com- position which are habitually resorted to, in accordance with the traditional diplomacy, in meeting particular necessities. One is used when hostility is intended. 'The language is then courteous, but short, every word covering intelligible offence.' The second is used when dissatisfaction is to be expressed but no action is to follow. ' Then the notes are apt to be long and full of argument, with abundant citation of authorities, yet terminating with nothing but assurances of the highest consideration, et cetera? The third is used when there prevails a sincere desire for harmony. ' Then the phrases are less studied and the intent more directly signified the whole sense conveyed in brief notes.' 2 The effect of the dif- ference between a letter in the first person and a note in the third is greater, it has been observed, than would be surmised by any one who has not been habituated to both modes in diplomatic intercourse. ' The third person, " The Under- signed," is stiff, cold, formal, and dignified ; it is negotiation in court dress, bag wig, sword by side, chapeau de bras, white silk stockings, and patent shoe-buckles. Letters in the first person are negotiations in frock coat, pantaloons, half-boots, and a round hat.' 3 The student of international relations needs precise as well as vast equipment in knowledge, but, not less, he needs equip- ment in a habit of mind. 1 Son of John Quincy Adams, and grandson of John Adams ; United States Minister to the Court of St. James, 1861-8. 2 Quoted by W. V. Kellen in Henry Wbeaton : An Appreciation (Boston, 1902), p. 31 a high and finely sympathetic tribute. 3 J. Q. Adams' Memoirs, iv. 327, quoted by J. W. Forster, Practice of Diplomacy, 76, and thence by Satow, A Guide to Diplomatic Practice, i. 69. 2 . / - General Guide The Cambridge Modern History, and Histoire Generate, edited by Lavisse et Rambaud, are written on a considerable scale, and should be used after a knowledge of European and general Modern History has been acquired on a smaller scale, e. g. from the eight volumes in the series entitled ' Periods of European History '.* In the volumes of this series will be found references, though too few, to secondary authorities bearing on each period. For more detailed study of a special period or a special subject in primary authorities as well as secondary, guidance adequate for most is provided in several recently published bibliographical lists, as in those appended to each volume of The Cambridge Modern History. No ' Manuel de Bibliographic historique ' exists for the student of English history equal in scope and quality to Les Archives de VHistoire de France, by MM. Langlois and Stein (Paris, 1891, pp. xvii + 1,000) : ' un inventaire sommaire des archives de 1'histoire de France. C'est un guide a travers les etablissements ou ces archives sont conservees. Nous entendons par " archives de 1'histoire de France " la collection de tous les documents d* ar- chives relatifs a 1'histoire de France, c'est-a-dire les pieces officielles de toute espece : chartes, comptes, enquetes, etc., et les correspondances publiques ou privees ' (Introduction, p. i). 1 Oman, The Dark Ages, 476-918 ; Tout, The Empire and the Papacy, 918-1273; Lodge, The Close of the Middle Ages, 1273-1494; Johnson, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 1494-1598; Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715 ; Hassall, The Balance of Power, 1715-89 ; Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 1789-1815 ; Phillips, Modern Europe, 1815-99. go The Literature of International Relations For the purposes of the student of international relations the following sections of this work are especially of use : Part I, ch. ii, Archives des Ministeres : Ministere des Affaires fitran- geres, pp. 45-50 ; in Part II Les Archives de 1'Histoire de France a 1'fitranger Archives d'fitat (Staatsarchive) at Berlin, pp. 632-3 ; at Dresden, p. 634 ; at Munich, p. 637 ; at Vienna, pp. 646-9 ; at Budapest, pp. 649-50 ; in Belgium, pp. 665-6; at Simancas, pp. 700-2, with foot-notes; in England, pp. 731-34 and 737-40 (for an account of the Public Record Office, see pp. 711 et seq., with valuable foot-notes); in Italy (see an account of the Vatican Archives, pp. 743 seq.), pp. 751-2 (rapports des nonces, Archivio segreto Vaticano : Secr6tairerie d'fitat), pp. 758-76 (Arckivi di Stato) l ; at the Hague, pp. 792-3; in Denmark, pp. 810-11 ; in Sweden, pp. 813-15 ; in Russia, pp. 820-1 ; in Switzerland, pp. 825-36. 1 With reference to the Despacci degli ambasciatori e residents veneti alfestero, the authors write, p. 774 : ' Les ambassadeurs des petits litats italiens ont etc de tout temps de fins observateurs ; ils tenaient de veri- tablcs journaux de 1'histoire des cours auprcs desquelles ils etaient accredited, et, de nos jours, 1'histoire de France, d'Angleterre, d'Allemagne s'est trouvee tout eclairee par les temoignages enfin mis au jour des rapports envoyes a leurs gouvernements par les envoyes pontificaux, toscans, piemontais, venitiens. Les depfiches venitiennes sont les plus cetebres. Celles de France sont au nombre de plus de 21,000, reliees en 268 liasses, de 1'annee 1554 a 1'annee 1797. Les depeches anterieures a 1554 (la serie commenc,ait certainement au plus tard sous le regne de Louis XII, qui vit pour la premiere fois des ambassades regulieres de la Seigneurie a la cour de France) semblent avoir etc detruites par 1'incendie des la fin du xvi e siecle . . . Les archives specialcs du Conseil des Dix renferment sous la rubrique Lettres des ambassadeurs en dtfferents pays adressees at4x cbejs du Conseil des Dix des depeches qu'en certaines circonstances les envoyes adrcssaicnt, non au Senat, mais aux Dix. La plus ancicnne, conccrnant la France, cst du 19 juin 1500; la plus reccntc du 29 octobre 1700. La majeure partie (pres de 300) appartient a la premiere moitie du xvi siecle.' 3 Juristic Literature : Development of International Understandings as ' Law ' This is a subject of great importance for the student of history. It shows a growth of principles and an accumulation of precedents that have resulted from the clash of interests, the sway of reason, and grinding necessity. Historically viewed, it resolves itself very largely into a study of compacts and of conventional morality. i (a). Wheaton (Henry), History of the Law of Nations in Europe and America ; from the earliest times to the Treaty of Washington, 1842 (New York, 1845), pp. xiv + 79/. This work was originally written and published in French as a Memoirs in answer to a prize question, submitted for the year 1839, by t ^ ie Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Institute of France : ' Quels sont les progres qu'a fait le droit des gens en Europe depuis la Paix de Westphalie ? ' In rendering the work into English, the author made consider- able extensions and additions, especially in the introductory part which treats of the history of the European law of nations before the Peace of Westphalia. 1 1 Only one edition of the work in English was published, and the volume is now rare. Several editions were published in French the date of the fourth being 1865 (Leipzig, 1865, 2 vols., pp. x+4O3, and pp. vi + 4io). A useful article on Wheaton's History was written by Nassau Senior for the Edinburgh Review, April 1843, reprinted in his Historical and Philo- sophical Essays (1865), i. 138-275. It contains some notes of dissent from Wheaton. 92 The Literature of International Relations In his Preface Wheaton quoted one of the two or three passages from Austin's Jurisprudence which have been often plunged deep into the controversy whether International Law is really * law ' at all. It has been * very justly observed ', he says, that (quoting Austin) * international law is founded only on the opinions generally received among civilized nations, and its duties are enforced only by moral sanctions : by fear on the part of nations, or by fear on the part of sovereigns, of provoking general hostility and incurring its probable evils, in case they should violate maxims generally received and re- spected '. But Wheaton adds that these motives do really afford, even in the worst of times, ' a considerable security for the observance of those rules of justice between states which are dictated by international morality, although they are deficient in that more perfec.t sanction annexed by the law- giver to the observance of a positive code proceeding from the command of a superiour '. His task was to show how the history of the progress of the science of international juris- prudence has been influenced by special compacts that have modified the general rules founded on reason and usage, and adapted them to the various exigencies of human society. Accordingly, he traced the progress of the sense of international right as it is marked not only in the writings of public jurists and in judicial decisions but also in ' the history of wars and negotiations, in the debates of legislative assemblies, and in the texts of treaties, from the earliest times of classic antiquity'. He believed that the general result of the survey was to show ' a considerable advance, both in the theory of international morality, and in the practical observance of the rules of justice among states, although this advance may not entirely correspond with the rapid progress of civilization in other respects '. This field of knowledge, he urged, deserves cultivation, for it is important to ' the jurist, the statesman, and the philanthropist '. Juristic Literature 93 In a ' Conclusion ' (pp. 759-60) the author summed up the general results of his retrospect from the Treaty of Westphalia. The chief of these are the following : * That the pacific relations among nations have been main- tained by the general establishment of permanent missions, and the general recognition of the immunities of public ministers. ' Although the right of intervention to preserve the " balance of power "j 1 or to prevent the danger to which one country may be exposed by the domestic transactions of another, has been frequently assumed ; yet no general rules have been discovered by which the occasions which may justify the exercise of this right, or the extent to which it may be carried, can be laid down ; and that it remains, therefore, an undefined and undefinable exception to the mutual independence of nations. ' The exclusive dominion, claimed by certain powers over particular seas, has been abandoned as an obsolete pretension of barbarous times ; the general use of the high seas, without the limits of any particular state, for the purposes of naviga- tion, commerce, and fishing, has been conceded. . . ' The colonial monopoly, that fruitful source of wars, has nearly ceased ; and with it, the question as to the right of neutrals to enjoy in war a commerce prohibited in time of peace. ' The African slave trade has been condemned by the opinion of all Christian nations, and prohibited by their separate laws, or by mutual treaty stipulations between them. ' The practices of war between civilized nations have been sensibly mitigated, and a comparison of the present modes of warfare with the system of Grotius will show the immense improvement which has taken place in the laws of war. ' Although there is still some uncertainty as to the rights of neutral navigation in time of war, a conventional law has been created by treaty, which shows a manifest advance 1 The author's conclusion regarding the application of the right of intervention to preserve the balance of power is expressed less concisely in the fourth French edition of his work (Leipzig, 1865), ii. 405-8. 94 The Literature of International Relations towards securing the commerce of nations which remain at peace, from interruption by those which are engaged in war. ' The sphere, within which the European law of nations operates, has been widely extended by the unqualified accession of the American states ; by the tendency of the Mahommedan powers to adopt the public law of Christendom ; and by the general feeling, even among less civilized nations, that there are rights which they may exact from others, and, conse- quently, duties which they may be required to fulfil. ' The law of nations, as a science, has advanced with the improvements in the principles and language of philosophy ; with our extended knowledge of the past and present condition of mankind resulting from deeper researches into the obscurer periods of history and the discovery of new regions of the globe ; and with the greater variety and importance of the questions to which the practical application of the system has given rise. * And lastly, that the law of nations, as a system of positive rules regulating the mutual intercourse of sovereigns, has improved with the general improvement of civilization, of which it is one of the most valuable products.' These conclusions are noteworthy as considered lessons drawn from a spacious and careful survey over a long stretch of time ; and they are noteworthy for the time at which they were drawn as well as by reason of the learning and diplomatic experience of their author. 1 The book contains a brief retrospect, in pp. 1-67, on ancient and mediaeval customs and law in international intercourse ; pp. 60-7 treat of the Consolato del Mare. 2 Although much 1 Wheaton wrote his Preface to the English edition of his work at Berlin in November 1843. He was Minister of the United States at the Court of Berlin. 2 See Pardessus, Collection des lots maritime! anterieures au dix-buitieme siecle (6 vols., Paris, 1828-45) a work cited by Wheaton, but not com- pleted at the time he wrote ; also Pardessus, Lois et coutumes de la mer, ou Collection des usages maritimes des peuples de fantiquite et du moyen age (2 vols., Paris, 1847) a reproduction of chapters 1-4 of the larger Juristic Literature 95 of the historical exposition has to be checked by the results of more recent investigation, there are parts of Wheaton's work that are still of use to the student of history the following especially : on conventional maritime law to 1713 (pp. 1 15-25) ; on contraband of war in the seventeenth century (pp. 126-45) ; on the right of visitation and search in the seventeenth century (pp. 145-52) ; on the dominion of the seas in the same century (pp. 152-61) ; on the Armed Neutrality of 1780 (pp. 295-306), and on maritime law from 1793 to 1807 (pp. 372-420 the Armed Neutrality of 1800, pp. 397-420) ; on intervention (pp. 80-2, with Fenelon's statement of the principle with a view to the maintenance of the balance of power, pp. 82-3 ; pp. 284-9,^1788-92; pp. 345-66, for 1 792-3; and pp. 518-63, for 1820-7! Naples, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece) ; and on the balance of power (pp. 19-20, 80-1, 266-8, 345-6, 421-2). (b) Nys, Les Origines du Droit international (1894), pp. v-J- 414 : an illuminating companion to text-books of European history : ch. i, La Notion de la Science du Droit international au moyen age ; ch. ii, La Papaute" et 1'Empire, including sections on Gregory VII, Innocent III, The Holy Roman work together with the additions made to these chapters in the concluding volume of the first Collection. Wheaton's interest in maritime law had been shown as far back as 1815, when, at the age of thirty, he published a Digest of the Law of Maritime Captures or Prizes. The subject was of engrossing interest to his fellow-citizens as well as to European States, and had called forth a number of works, useful to the student of history, since 1800, the year of the second Armed Neutrality works of which a good representative is Ward's Treatise of the relative Rights and Duties of Belligerent and Neutral Powers in Maritime Affairs, in which the Principles of Armed Neutralities . . . are fully discussed (1801). For the Armed Neutrality of 1780, see Martens, Recueil de Traites, vol. iii, and for that of 1800, vol. vii. 1 See also Stapleton, Intervention and Non-intervention of Great Britain, 1790-1865 (1866), and Reddaway, The Monroe Doctrine (1898) ; Wheaton's Elements, fifth ed., 90-125 (Monroe Doctrine, 97-101). 96 The Literature of International Relations Empire, Dante and the De Monarchia, and Bartolus, and on the theory of the Empire and independent kingdoms ; ch. iii, Le Christianisme et la Guerre ; ch. vii, La Guerre contre les Infideles et contre les Heretiques ; ch. viii, L'Equilibre Europeen ; ch. xiv, La Diplomatic et les Ambassades per- manentes ; ch. xvi, La Liberte des Mers ; ch. xvii, Les Irenistes, including sections on L'figlise et la Treve de Difu, Le grand dessein de Henri IV, and L'Abbe de Saint-Pierre et la Paix perpetuelle. (c) Walker, A History of the Law of Nations, vol. i (1899) From the earliest times to the Peace of 'Westphalia, pp. xxx + 361 : the only volume published. The work supplements Wheaton's History on ancient times and the Middle Ages, and on the times and the teaching of Gentilis and Grotius. Pages 31-137 treat of ' The Evolution of International Law ' to the close of the Middle Ages pp. 31-6 on the Israelites, pp. 37-43 on the Greeks, pp. 43-57 on the Romans, 1 pp. 57-79 on the Roman Empire, and pp. 79-137 on the Middle Ages. 2. Treatises of International Law. It is well for the student of modern history, from at least about the middle of the eighteenth century, to come to know something of works on International Law that were actually used, and were influ- ential, in each age those, for example, of Vattel (Le Droit des Gens (1758)), of G. F. von Martens (Precis du Droit des Gens moderne de V Europe fonde sur les Traites et VUsage (1788)), and of Wheaton (Elements of International Law (1836)). The Law of Nations Vattel defined as ' the science which teaches the rights subsisting between nations or states, and the obligations correspondent to those rights '.* Vattel's general 1 See Phillipson, International Law and Custom of Ancient Greece and Rome. * The Law of Nations . . . from the French of Monsieur de Panel, by Joseph Chitty (1834), liii. Heeren (The Political System of Europe, traiwl., Juristic Literature 97 standpoint is seen in the sub-title to his work : ' Principles of the Law of Nature, applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns '. He is not, however, a pure ' Naturalist ' : he is one of ' the Grotians ' of the eighteenth century by reason of his intermediate position, neither absolutely Naturalist nor pronouncedly Positivist. This intermediate position made the appeal to him the readier, if also somewhat flexible, in the second half of the eighteenth century, and it combined with the clearness of his enunciations to give to his work a high place and long-continued influence in the conduct of diplomacy. For an Appendix to his Remarks on the Policy of the Allies with respect to France (1793), Burke made consider- able extracts from Vattel's work, dealing principally with intervention and with the idea underlying * the political system ' of Europe. 1 ' Vattel,' said Fox, in the House of Commons, in January 1794, ' than whom I know of no man more eminent in the science on which he has written, has laid it down as a principle, that every independent nation has an undoubted right to regulate its form of government.' a ' My honourable friend,' 3 he had remarked, in words immediately preceding, ' in attempting to prove that the origin of the war 4 was not imputable to this country, treated the established principles of the law of nations with as little respect as M. Genet, the French minister to the United States of America. My honour- able friend said that no dependence could be placed upon the authority of Vattel, with respect to the question of an interference in the internal affairs of other nations, and that arguments might be drawn from his work favourable to either side. He contended that there might exist circumstances of Oxford, 1834, I. ii, foot-note) said of Vattel's Le Droit des Gens that it ' has obtained the highest authority among practical statesmen '. 1 Works (1823), vii. 201-15. 2 Speeches (1815), v. 156. 3 William Windham. 4 War with France, February 1793. 2224 II 98 The Literature of International Relations such a peculiar nature, as to supersede authority, and preclude the application of established principles. Exactly in the same manner reasoned M. Genet : " I would throw Vattel and Grotius into the sea," said that minister, " whenever their principles interfere with my notions of the rights of nations ". Just so my honourable friend seems disposed to treat them whenever they controvert his ideas of those principles which ought to regulate our conduct in the present moment. Thus both, in order to suit their own convenience in departing from the established standard, give their sanction to a new code. I, however, more inclined as I am to adhere to the ancient standard, and to follow established rules of judging, hold the opinions of eminent men, dispassionately given on subjects which they have accurately studied, to be of considerable importance. I consider those opinions formed under cir- cumstances most favourable to the discovery of truth, to be the result of unbiased inquiry, and minute investigation, and therefore entitled to great weight in regulating the conduct of nations. Those writers, in laying down their maxims, were not distracted by local prejudices or by partial interests ; they reasoned upon great principles, and from a wide survey of the state of nations, and comparing the result of their own reflections with the lessons taught them by the experience of former ages, constructed that system, which they conceived to be of most extensive utility and universal application. From the system of such men I should be cautious to deviate.' * Appeal to the natural justice on which Vattel founded was more appropriate to the generous mind in politics, and especially to the exercise of that mind in Opposition in the person of Charles James Fox, than to the prudent temper and sagacious outlook of Pitt, the administrator, the pilot of the State amid the storms of war. An example of the use of Vattel in the official conduct of international relations may be taken from the course of the controversy regarding contraband after the outbreak of the wars of the French Revolution. In April 1795 an Order in 1 Speeches, v. 155-6. Juristic Literature 99 Council instructed British cruisers to stop and detain all vessels that were laden, wholly or in part, with corn, flour, meal, and other articles of provisions, and that were bound to any port in France, and to send them into a British port in order that such corn and other provisions might be purchased on behalf of the British Government. The question" of the legality of this Order was discussed before a mixed commission appointed, under the treaty of commerce and navigation between Great Britain and the United States in 1794, to decide on the claims of American citizens owing to irregular or illegal captures and condemnations of their property under the authority of the British Government. The Order in Council was supported on two grounds, although it was subsequently revoked. Firstly, it was urged that the Order was issued when there was a prospect of reducing the enemy to terms by famine, and in such circumstances provisions bound to the enemy's ports became so far contraband as to justify seizure of them by Britain, upon condition of the invoice price being paid, with a reasonable mercantile profit added, together with freight and demurrage. Secondly, it was urged that the Order was justifiable on the plea of necessity, since the British people at the time were threatened with a scarcity of the articles directed to be seized. The general law of nations was invoked in favour of the first of these positions, and the chief evidence cited was a passage from Vattel, as follows : 'Commodities that are particularly useful in war and the importation of which to an enemy is prohibited, are called contraband, goods. Such are arms, ammunition, timber for shipping and whatever is of service for the construction and armament of vessels of war, horses, and even provisions, in certain junctures, when there is a hope of reducing the enemy by famine.' 1 1 Book in, ch. vii, 12. Wheaton (History, 380-1) describes the passage as a 'loose' one, a 'vague text'. Wheaton shows the use to which Vattel H 2 ioo The Literature of International Relations * It is not my disposition ', said Sir James Mackintosh, in reference to Vattcl and his predecessors, ' to over-rate the authority of this class of writers, or to con- sider authority in any case as a substitute for reason. But these eminent writers were at least necessarily impartial. Their weight, as bearing testimony to general sentiment and civilised usage, receives a new accession from every statesman who appeals to their writings, and from every year in which no contrary practice is established or hostile principles avowed. Their works are thus attested by successive generations to be records of the customs of the best times, and depositories of the deliberate and permanent judgments of the more en- lightened part of mankind. Add to this, that their authority is usually invoked by the feeble, and despised by those who are strong enough to need no aid from moral sentiment, and to bid defiance to justice. I have never heard their principles questioned, but by those whose flagitious policy they had by anticipation condemned.' x It is a relief to the student of history and the appraiser of actual policy to pass from the qualified naturalism of Vattel to the clear-voiced positivism of G. F. von Martens. The change is as bracing as a course of The Federalist after a con- siderable dose of The Social Contract. It is highly appropriate that the author of the Precis du Droit des Gens moderne should be also the originator of the best Collection of Treaties ; and the attitude of mind he brought to bear on his analysis and exposition of the law of nations is almost sufficiently revealed in the full title of his work. The work, which was first pub- lished in the year before the outbreak of the French Revolution, was put on the question of Saxony at the Congress of Vienna, and on the question of the annexation of Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia in Sir James Mackintosh's speech in the House of Commons, April 27, 1815: History, 426-7,490-1 ; Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works (1851), 703-4, and foot- note. 1 Speech, April 27, 1815. Juristic Literature 101 was entitled Precis du Droit des Gens moderne, fonde sur les Traites et I' Usage. 1 It might well appear, as he admitted in 1 80 1, in the Preface to the second French edition of his work, that the European convulsions resulting from the Revolution in France, and that the triumph of might which these convulsions seemed to make manifest and even to be justifying by events, had cut away the ground in standpoint and reasoning that had been appropriate enough before the bursting of the storm in 1789. Even in the Preface, written in 1820, to the third edition, the author could still, however, record his tribute to the immutable principles of natural law which serves as the basis of international rights. But his work was not rendered obsolete, just because even from its first inception it was designed to be of use in the practice of affairs, and for the author that claim may be made which was put forward for himself by the hard student of fact and observer of forces and power : writing for such as can see his meaning, he deemed it the more feasible course to be taken in tow by the truth showing itself in accomplished facts, than to follow vain imaginings. 2 ' You are a teacher of public law ; that will have to be modernized. Does not public law consist to-day simply in the right of the stronger ? ' Thus was Martens 1 The full title is not given by Verge in his edition (Paris, 2 vols., 1858). The work was developed from a work written in Latin by the author, and published in 1785. An edition in German, translated by the author, appeared in 1796; a second edition in French in 1801, a third in 1820, a fourth in 1831, with notes by Pinhciro-Ferreira. The edition of M. Ch. Verge is the fifth in French. An English translation made by William Cobbett in parts a paraphrase was published at Philadelphia in 1794, and, according to Cobbett himself, was subscribed to by the President, the Vice-President, and every member of the Congress (' Advertisement to the first London edition '). Cobbett's translation was published in England in 1802 for the first time ; a fourth edition appeared in 1829. 2 The Prince, ch. 1 5. 102 The Literature of International Relations addressed by Napoleon when he made his hurried visit to the Congress of Rastatt, the phantom Congress with tragic sequel ; and Martens is one of the earliest of the publicists who could disentangle truth from exaggerations and phantasies in the claims of might and conquerors, as far as truth is seen in the working of its way through the accomplished fact, if it give not the lie to reason in a manner too point-blank for rational beings. The character and scope of Martens' book are very well shown in the general plan of the work as it was stated by him in the Preface to the first edition. It was necessary to take a view of the different nations of which Europe is composed. He examines the question how far and in what light they may be regarded as parts of a whole, and this question could not be determined without considering the effect of a diversity of dignity, power, constitution, and religion. This inquiry he looked upon as the natural starting-point for an under- standing of the laws (droits) which custom and treaties have established in Europe, and it forms the subject-matter of the first book of his treatise. Any student of constitutions and politics could to-day append his notes of acquired knowledge and his mental reservations to these preliminary, yet essential, disquisitions. But they are usually practical, terse, and pointed, like these few words on democracies : * Dans les fitats purement democratiques, le peuple, en reunissant en ses mains les trois pouvoirs, 1 est despote ; il peut plus que le monarque le plus absolu : il peut annuler sa constitution ; et le pouvoir le plus arbitraire exerce sur ses membres se couvre du voile de la volonte de tous.' 2 His special subject is the positive law of nations the whole of the rights and obligations actually established between nations. What has become a law in the intercourse of two or three or even the majority of the Powers of Europe, whether 1 Legislative, executive, judicative. * Book i, ch. iii, 28. Juristic Literature 103 by treaty or from custom, need not establish rights and obliga- tions for the other Powers. Still, by comparing the treaties that the Powers of Europe have made among themselves, one with another, we are led to certain principles that have been adopted almost universally by Powers that have made treaties on the same subject. Similarly with regard to custom : when a custom has been respected by the majority of the Powers of Europe, especially of the great Powers, its adoption by other Powers becomes easy, if it is at all applicable to them. As much cannot be said of express conventions. Still, it is often the case that a treaty made by two or more Powers serves as a model for treaties of the same kind to be made by other Powers. What is done by one Power in virtue of treaty is observed in others as custom. It may be that in certain matters the rule is founded on treaty for some States, and on custom for others. 1 The importance assigned by Martens to treaties as an assured, though in itself imperfect, foundation of rights and obligations is the feature of his work that most emphatically commends it to the student of history. He alludes with special approval to those of his precursors, like Leibnitz, 2 who have based their knowledge and reasoning upon treaties and other public acts. His habit of mind and point of view are shown very clearly and strikingly in the classes of books that he holds to be necessary for those who study the positive Law of Nations ; and his citation of works 3 still has considerable independent value. The following classes of books are, he thought, necessary : collections of treaties ; collections of other public acts ; 4 1 Especially Introduction, 7, vol. i, pp. 47-8, of the ed. of 1858. 2 Codex luris Gentium Diplomaticus (1693). 3 i, pp. 68-76, ed. 1858. See, further, the useful Bibliographic raisonnee, ii, pp. 385-436. 4 e.g. Lamberty, Memoires pour servir a Vbisloire du dix-buitieme siecle, 104 The Literature of International Relations political journals 1 ; histories and biographies ; memoires of ambassadors ; systematic treatises, dissertations and miscel- laneous writings on the Law of Nations. On the Balance of Power Martens writes tersely and with pertinence. In all ages nations have looked with jealous eyes on the disproportionate aggrandizement of any one of their number. But it was in the sixteenth century, in the rivalry of the House of Austria and the Kings of France, that the principle had its origin as a considered basis of action, assuming, no doubt, various guises, but without ever entirely losing sight of the end in view. 2 From the close of the seventeenth century Great Britain had been a leader in guarding this principle as though it were one of the accepted principles of the Law of Nations. The principle may be applied also in its particular bearings on parts of Europe or of the world. There may be a balance of power among Powers for the east of Europe, or the west, or the north, or the south. There may be a balance among the States of Italy, or those of Germany. Questions may be raised of a colonial balance in America, and of a maritime balance. It is not merely the acquisition of territory that needs to be watched. There are other ways in which the equilibrium may be disturbed. Alliances between powerful States may compromise the existing security, or a State which contenant les negotiations, traites, etc., concernant les affaires Etat, for the first half of the century, 14 vols. (1724 sqq.). 1 e.g. Die europiiiscbe Fama : Le Mercure bistorique et politique ; Staatsarchiv. 2 The following works had influence in shaping thought on the principle of a balance down to the outbreak of the French Revolution : Lc baron dell' Isola, Le bouclier de T Etat et de justice, 1667; Lehmann, Trutina Europae, 1710; Kahle, De Trutina Europae, quae vulgo appellatur 'die Balance ', praecipua belli et pads norma, 1744 ; Justi, Cbimaire des Gleicb- gewicbts von Europa, 1758; Hertzberg, Dissertation sur la veritable ricbesse dcs Etais, la Balance du commerce ct cellc du pouvoir, 1786. Juristic Literature 105 has served as a useful counterpoise may be so enfeebled as to affect the situation not less than the aggrandizement of one of the Powers. 1 The effect of the Wars of the French Revolution and of Napoleon on the authority to be accorded to a law of nations was such as to suspend the growth of international understand- ing without destroying the idea of balance. Two opinions expressed about the middle of the nineteenth century may be taken as typical of the judgements of men of learning and of thought and of wise and hopeful outlook after the effects of the convulsions of twenty-five years had spent themselves. * La revolution franchise et Pempire,' says M. Ch. Verge, the editor of Martens's Precis du Droit des Gens moderne? ' et les guerres d'opinion et de rivalite politique qui signalerent cette periode d'histoire moderne suspendirent les progres de la conciliation europeenne, sans ruiner Pidee de Pequilibre. Plus d'une fois, Paveuglement des passions entraina des viola- tions du droit des gens : Passassinat des plenipotentiaires francais a Rastadt, le blocus continental, la predominance menacante de la France et son abaissement exagere par les rancunes et les coleres survivant a la chute de Pempire etaient de manifestes derogations aux regies memes de la guerre legitime ; mais, des 1814, malgre les ressentiments issus de vingt-cinq ans de lutte, on s'appliqua a raffermir par des traites les principes du droit et a assurer le maintien de la paix par une sorte de contrat europeen. Le temps devait completer cette ceuvre, il la rectifiera progressivement.' ' The danger of universal monarchy,' wrote Wheaton in his History of the Law of Nations* l once, perhaps, vainly appre- 1 Martens, Bk. iv, ch. i. 2 Edition of 1858, i. xvii, in a dissertation, pp. i-lvii, on ' Le Droit des Gens avant et depuis 1789'. 3 p. 412. 106 The Literature of International Relations hended from the ambitious designs of the houses of Austria and Bourbon, was at last realized from the genius of one man, who wielded with unexampled energy the vast natural resources of France, whose power of aggression had been fearfully augmented by revolution and conquest. This long protracted and violent struggle was too often marked in its course by the most flagrant violations of the positive law of nations, almost always accompanied, however, by a formal recognition of its general maxims, and excused or palliated on the ground of overruling necessity, or the example of others justifying a resort to retaliation. The mighty convulsion, in which all the moral elements of European society seemed to be mingled in confusion, at last subsided, leaving behind it fewer traces of its destructive progress than might have been expected, so far as regards a general respect for the rules of justice acknowledged by civilized communities in their mutual intercourse.' Of Henry Wheaton's Elements of International Law little need be said. It is a standard work, on which the author's History may be taken as the best commentary. The work was pub- lished first in 1836 at Philadelphia and at London. It was published again at Philadelphia in 1844. Later it was issued in French, at Leipzig in 1848, and at Paris in 1852 and 1853. The first English edition proper was published at London in 1878 ; the fifth 1 was published in 1916. In the words of a German appreciation of Wheaton as the historian of Inter- national Law, the author united the accomplishments of a public jurist and of a practical diplomat of the school of Franklin and Jefferson to those of a scholar with an established reputa- 1 Edited by C. Phillipson. The historical portions have been retained and expanded. Examples of conduct from recent wars have been added, and the references to cases have been increased. It is necessary for the unwary reader to distinguish between the original text and the editor's additions. Juristic Literature 107 tion. 1 Similar in its content and spirit is the appreciation of a highly qualified English authority of to-day. In Wheaton's Elements, says Sir Frederick Pollock in an Introduction to the fifth English edition of the work, those principles that make up the Law of Nations and that, 'down to the present war,' have been * fairly well observed by most nations and ostensibly respected by all, in spite of lacking any defined sanction ', have been expounded ' on a more spacious historical scene and with more detailed illustration than can be found in most modern text-books. Wheaton stands for the opinions received or allowed among the best instructed publicists during the period following the Congress of Vienna, sometimes called the Forty Years' Peace.' He had the qualifications of ' a good scholarly lawyer of the first generation of American indepen- dence ' ; and these, added to his combination of forensic, judicial, and diplomatic experience, ' gave him almost unique advantage in handling this subject '. 2 Of more recent works on International Law only three need here be mentioned that of Sir Robert Phillimore, that of Sir Travers Twiss, and that of Mr. W. E. Hall. Phillimore's Commentaries upon International Law a work in four volumes appeared first in the years 1854-61. A third edition was pub- lished from 1879 to J 889. In a Preface, repeated from the first edition, the author gives a sketch (pp. xv-xxvi) of the history of International Law, and proceeds to a history (pp. xxvi-1) of International Jurisprudence in England. For the work of Grotius he claims that * no uninspired work has more largely contributed to the welfare of the Commonwealth of States. It is a monument which can only perish with the civilized intercourse of nations, of which it has laid down the master principles with a master's hand. Grotius first awakened the 1 See Kellen, Henry Wbeaton (Boston, 1 902), p. 45. a See pp. xxxix-xliv of the fifth English edition (1916) of the Elements. io8 The Literature of International Relations conscience of Governments to the Christian sense of inter- national duty ' (p. xxiv). For the student of history, and of International Law in its historical development and historical aspects, the following parts of the Commentaries are especially useful : (i) vol. i, pt. i, ch. vi, pp. 45-61 on Treaties ; vol. i, pt. iii, ch. vi, pp. 257-62 on the Narrow Seas, as distinguished from the Ocean (with references to the contentions of Grotius and Selden) ; vol. i, pt. iv, ch. i, pp. 553-638 on the Principle of Intervention, and more especially, in pp. 574-614, on the Balance of Power as a Corollary of the Right of Self-Defence, with historical allusions ; vol. ii, pt. viii, on the International Status of Foreign Spiritual Powers, especially on the Pope, pp. 343-540, and more especially ch. v, pp. 401-14, the Inter- national Status of the Papacy between the period of the promulgation of the canon law and the Council of Trent, and ch. vi, pp. 415-26, from 1563 to 1870. The author interprets in prudent terms the doctrine of the Balance of Power. 1 He lays stress on the Treaty of Utrecht as marking the time from which ' the recognition of the system of balance ' may be dated ; and the language of the treaty can be cited as evidence of the importance ascribed to the restoration of the balance. The treaty was made ad conservan- dum in Europa equilibrium* The doctrine ' certainly is liable to abuse, but, fairly explained, means no more than the right of timely provision of a probable danger '.* The Law of Nations of Sir Travers Twiss was published in 1861-3, in two volumes, of which the first treats of the rights and duties of nations in time of peace, and the second of their rights and duties in time of war. A second edition of the second volume appeared in 1875, and of the first volume in 1 See especially Commentaries, vol. i ford ed.), pp. 580, 581, 614. 1 Koch, ii. 92. a Commentaries, i. p. 580. Juristic Literature 109 1884. The second edition of the volume on War contained (pp. xix-xliv) ' An Introductory Juridical Review of the Results of Recent Wars' and an Appendix (pp. 511-608) of Treaties and other documents the Congress of Paris, 1856 (pp. 511-18), the Declaration of Paris, 1856 (pp. 518-23) 1 ; the Convention of Geneva, 1864 (pp. 524-36) ; the Con- vention of Geneva, 1868 (pp. 536-57) ; 2 the Declaration of St. Petersburg, 1868, ' relative a 1'interdiction des balles explosibles en temps de guerre ' (pp. 557-61) ; 3 Protocols of the Conferences of London, 1871 (pp. 561-78) ; Treaty of London, 1871 (pp. 578-89) ; Convention of London between Russia and Turkey, 1871 (pp. 589-93) ; the Foreign Enlistment Act, 1870 (pp. 594-608). A very fine tribute is rendered to Grotius in the Introduction to the first volume. ' It was an apt remark on the part of his Excellency Kuo-Taj-in, the first Envoy-Extraordinary and Minister-Plenipotentiary accredited from China to the Court of St. James, that he found the European Law of Nations to be a " very young Law " ; but he also observed that since the age of Grotius wars had been less frequent in Europe, and less sanguinary.' The concluding words must now be summarily dismissed. But the appreciation by Sir Travers Twiss himself is still valid. The treatise of Grotius, he tells us, was subjected to much opposition during its author's life-time, and both in England and on the Continent there have been critics who have objected to both the method and the doctrine of Grotius. They have maintained that the maxims which he inculcates as founded on the equality of nations ' went to destroy the three cardinal principles of the Civil Law, often quoted as " the Ulpianic precepts ", to wit, " Honeste vivere, Alterum non 1 For the proceedings of the Congress and the treaties resulting, see Martens, Nouveau Recueil general des Traites, xv, pp. 700-94. 2 Martens, xviii, p. 607. 3 Martens, xviii, p. 450. no The Literature of International Relations laedere, Suum cuique tribuere" '. Further, it has been contended that the doctrine of a Law of Nations, as resting upon the common agreement of mankind, was merely an empty fiction, to which nothing corresponds in fact. But, says Sir Travers Twiss, Grotius did not intend to set up a rule like that which theologians have termed the Golden Rule of Vincentius Lirinen- sis, * Quod semper et ubique et ab omnibus ' ; and he quotes the words of Grotius himself : l ' There are two ways of investigating the Law of Nations. We ascertain this Law, either by arguing from the nature and circumstances of man- kind, or by observing what is generally approved by all Nations, or at least by all civilized Nations. The former is the more certain of the two, but the latter will lead us, if not with certainty, yet with a high degree of probability, to the know- ledge of this Law ; for such an universal approbation must arise from some universal principle, and this principle can be nothing else than the common sense or reason of mankind.' Two opinions have already been cited regarding the effects of the upheavals of the era of the French Revolution and Napoleon. Even more emphatic in its favourable view is the estimate of Sir Travers Twiss. It is not too much to say, he remarks, that ' in accordance with the maxim " La guerre enfante le Droit ", the twenty years of almost uninterrupted warfare, during which the First Napoleon endeavoured to erect an Empire, only second to that of Charlemagne, on the foundations of the French Republic of 1793, evoked a spirit of combined action among the Nations of Europe, cemented by a carefully considered system of General Treaties, the outcome of which has been an European Concert of Public Law '. The result has been that each State, without surrender- ing or ignoring its special interests, has also interests that belong to it in common with the general body of States. ' The Bk. i, ch. i, 3. Juristic Literature in natural independence of the individual States has been, in certain matters, subordinated to the general welfare of the European community.' This result has not been brought about without involving from time to time departures from established usage. The method of achieving the result has been that of consultations among the leading European Powers assembled in Congress, and recording in the Protocols of their Conferences the principles upon which their conclusions have been based, to which, moreover, it has been usual to invite the adherence of the Powers not themselves represented at the Congress. 1 When Sir Travers Twiss, writing in 1863, fixed his mind on War and the Rights of War, a like spirit of optimism prevailed with him. History, he said, in its relation to the History of War, may truly be regarded as Philosophy teaching by example ; and the wider and more complete the historical survey the more irresistible will be the conclusion, that ' the employment of Force on the part of Nations in the prosecution of Right against other Nations has become subject to Rules, which are in accordance with Reason, and have the Common Weal for their object '. 2 The work of Sir Travers Twiss has lately been described as ' a necessary book for the student ' ; 3 and the fact that the judgement comes from one who has himself been busied with diplomacy, taken together with the publication of a French translation of the book twenty years ago, gives force to the estimate. We are concerned here more especially with such parts of the author's subject and his treatment of them as are 1 Introduction to second edition of the volume on Peace, pp. xxx-xxxi. For an appreciation of the ' high vocation ' of the diplomatist, and of the purpose and ideal in the foundation of the Chichele Professorship of ' Inter- national Law and Diplomacy ', see pp. xxxvi-vii. 2 Preface to the first edition of the volume on War. 3 Satow, Diplomatic Practice (1917), ii. 371. ii2 The Literature of International Relations of value to the student of history. Attention may be directed particularly, in the volume on Peace, to ch. iii on National State-Systems of Christendom, ch. iv on the Ottoman Empire, ch. v on the Kingdoms of the Lower Danube, and ch. xiii on the Right of Treaty ; and in the volume on War to ch. v on Rights of a Belligerent on the High Seas (with an interesting historical retrospect), 1 and ch. vii on Contraband of War. Of Mr. W. E. Hall's Treatise of International Law> published in 1880, it has been said by the author of a recent work of distinction on the subject that it ' at once won the attention of the whole world ; it is one of the best books on the subject that have ever been written '. 2 The author's attachment to facts, the distance by which he is separated from the deductive and transcendental school of writers on the subject, and the soundness of his judgement 3 make his work a natural and serviceable ally of the historian and of the student of policy. An Appendix on ' The Formation of the Conception of International Law ' may well be taken as a starting-point by the reader of Wheaton's History or of substitutes for that work. For the historical student the following parts of the book are of 1 For example, 74 on the office of Admiral, 75 on Admiralty juris- diction of Nations, 76 on Customs of the Sea, and 83, 84, 85 on ' system- atic departures from the Rule of the Consolato del Mar '. 2 L. Oppenheim, International Law (1907), vol. i, p. 93. Mr. Oppen- heim's work is, on the whole, a little more easily read than Hall's. The following parts have value for the historical student : vol. i (2nd ed., 1912), pp. 45-59 on development of international law before Grotius, and pp. 59-83 on development after Grotius ; pp. 1 88-99 on intervention (the Monroe Doctrine, pp. 196-9) ; pp. 315-20 on freedom of the open sea ; vol. ii, pp. 347-60 on neutrality, from the Middle Ages. An Appendix gives the texts of the Declaration of Paris, 1 856 ; the Geneva Convention, 1 906 ; the Final Act of the Second Hague Peace Conference, 1 907 ; the Declaration of London, 1907, including the Report of the Drafting Committee. 8 Satow, Diplomatic Practice, ii, p. 371. Juristic Literature 113 value, the pages being those of the sixth edition, 1 published in 1909 : pp. I -i 6, on the views held as to the origin and nature of International Law (with foot-notes, pp. 2-3), and on the value of treaties (how far are they expressive of a movement of thought ?) ; pp. 140-51, on the extent to which the sea can be appropriated (a consideration of facts and conditions from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century) ; pp. 337-52, on the interpretation of treaties, their effects, execution, and extinction, with historical illustrations ; pp. 373-4, on wars of the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries ' begun ' without ' declara- tions ' ; pp. 571-87, on the growth of the law affecting belli- gerent and neutral States to the close of the eighteenth century ; pp. 631-4, on ' the rule of the war of 1756 ', and its extension in 1793 ; pp. 638-48, on contraband from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century ; pp. 705-6, with foot-notes, on blockade ; and pp. 715-22, on neutral ships and enemy goods. A valuable feature of Mr. Hall's work is the considerable number of references it gives to State Papers. The standard work on cases in International Law is that of Martens, 2 Causes celebres du droit des gens, 3 first published in 1827. Mr. Pitt Cobbett's Leading Cases and Opinions on International Law 4 is well arranged, but at only a few points is of value to the historical student : pp. 144-8, on the Silesian Loan 5 a lucid exposition ; pp. 292-5, on neutral trade from 1 Edited by Atlay, pp. xxiv+ 768. 2 Charles de Martens, nephew of G. F. von Martens, and author of Le Guide diplomatique. 3 2 vols. (Leipzig), 1827, and Nouvelles causes celebres, 2 vols., 1844. A second edition of the work was published in five volumes in 1858-61. 4 1885; 2nd ed. 1892, pp. xxiv + 385. 5 Martens, Causes celebres, ii. 97. See also Sir Ernest Satow, The Silesian Loan and Frederick the Great, 1915, pp. 448. There is a chapter of twenty pages on ' Prize Law in the first half of the Eighteenth Century '. 2224 ii4 The Literature of International Relations about 1800 to 1856 ; pp. 330-3, on the rule of 1756 (Sir William Scott's judgement in the ' Immanuel ' case, with a very clear note on the rule) ; and pp. 3 30-40, on the doctrine of continuous voyages (cases of 1806 and 1863). The connexion between international law, diplomacy, and the government of the society of nations has been thus ex- pounded in the course of a concise and highly useful essay on 'The Modern Law of Nations and the Prevention of War ' r 1 * Official, judicial, and other learned persons who cannot conceive authority divested of official sanction have gravely pointed out that Grotius and his successors, not being legislators, could not make law. More than twenty years ago, Sir Henry Maine gave the right answer : " What we have to notice," he said, " is that the founders of International Law, though they did not create a sanction, created a law-abiding sentiment. They diffused, among sovereigns, and the literate classes in communities, a strong repugnance to the neglect or breach There is a section on the Prussian diplomatic service at the opening of the fifteenth chapter (' Reconciliation of George II and Frederick the Great. Negotiations through the Duke of Brunswick, and then through Michell '). 1 By Sir Frederick Pollock in The Cambridge Modern History, vol. xii (1910), ch. xxii, pp. 711-12. The chapter treats of the Law of Nature and the Law of Nations, of the influence of chivalry and the Church, of Gentili, of Hooker, of the achievement of Grotius, of (i) the authority of writers, (2) treaties and conventions, and (3) the embodiment of general opinion in the usage of nations, of arbitration, the Hague Conferences, the Concert of Europe, and ' the ideal European system '. ' It would seem that the formation of any such system can be looked for only when the political institutions and ideas prevailing in the chief nations of the world have become much more nearly uniform than they are ; and it is far from clear that the present tendency is to approximate, for the fashion a passing one, let us hope is rather to exaggerate national and racial differences ' (p. 720). Juristic Literature 115 of certain rules regulating the relations and actions of States. They did this not by threatening punishments, but by the alternative and older method, long known in Europe and Asia, of creating a strong approval of a certain body of rules." To put it in a slightly different way, they were able to mould the custom of princes and their advisers while it was still plastic ; and it took form as a real though imperfect customary law, not a mere assemblage of moral precepts. Ever since the time of Grotius these questions have been treated as belonging to jurisprudence, not to theology or casuistry, and have been handled in the manner of legal argument and not of merely moral persuasion. It may be and often is disputed what is the true rule, or how it is to be applied in particular cases ; but the rule, ascertained or not ascertained, is conceived as an ordinance of justice, and not a counsel of perfection. Beyond the domain of positive duty there is a region for governments in the society of nations, as for individual citizens within a State, where rights may be exercised in a more or less friendly spirit, with greater or less consideration for the convenience of others, equitably or with insistence on the letter of the bond, stiffly or with readiness to give and take ; and no formal ground of complaint is afforded by conduct which, though it may be displeasing or barely civil, is still within the scope of lawful discretion ; as in municipal jurisdiction an action will not lie against a man for many things which do not become the character of an amiable neighbour. In this region the skill and tact of diplomatists finds much of its every-day work, and by no means the least important.' I 2 Illustrations of Controversial Literature : ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' Two of the best subjects of this class for study are the origins of ' the rule of the war of 1756 ', and its effects, and the origins of the Continental System of Napoleon. But we shall take an example of a still more special kind that of the sovereignty of the British or ' Narrow ' Seas. 1 Readers of Samuel Pepys will remember that there were issues involved in the claim which seemed to him to require patient and diligent research. * I am now full of study about writing something about our making of strangers strike to us at sea ; and so am altogether reading Selden and Grotius, and such other authors to that purpose.' 2 * I spoke to Mr. Falcon- berge to look whether he could, out of Domesday Book, give me any thing concerning the sea, and the dominion thereof ; which he says he will look after.' 3 ' I am upon writing a little treatise to present to the Duke, about our privilege in the seas, as to other nations striking their flag to us.' 4 ' The assertion of the sovereignty of the seas ', writes Mr. Gardiner, 5 ' meant nothing less than an assertion that the whole of the English Channel to the shores of France, and of 1 For an account of the subject see Walker, History of the Law of Nations, pp. 278-83; Hall, International Law (6th ed.), pp. 140-51 ; and Oppenheim, International Law (1905), i, pp. 300-8. 2 December 15, 1661. * December 21, 1661. 4 December 31, 1661. 8 History of England, 1603-42, vol. vii (Cabinet ed.), 358. 1 The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 117 the North Sea to the shores of Flanders and Holland, was as completely under the dominion of the King of England as Kent or Yorkshire. To fish in those waters, or even to navigate them without his permission, was an encroachment on his rights.' ' Monstrous ' as the claim was, says Mr. Gardiner, its appeal to the English contempt of foreigners was too strong to be without an echo in the hearts of Englishmen. The prepos- terousness of the claim, when it is viewed in all the length and breadth of its extremest pretensions, may be admitted as freely and denounced as severely as it has been by the most accurate and dispassionate of the historians of the England of the seventeenth century. But a claim which has attached to it a considerable history and a vast body of thought and writing, antecedent, contemporary and subsequent, and which engaged the minds of two 1 of the most erudite authors of that time, by whatsoever motive they were impelled to write, cannot be dismissed as unworthy of serious and even exacting study. The purport of the leading works in the history of 1 Grotius, ' the wondrous child ' and scholar, and Selden, ' the glory of England '. Grotius's Mare Liberum, seu de iure^ quod Batavis competit ad Indicana commercia, Dissertatio was published anonymously in November 1608. It formed the twelfth chapter of his work, De lure Praedae, which was written in 1604-5. The manuscript of this work, written when the author was only twenty-one years of age, was not discovered till 1864. It was published in 1868. Grotius studied under Scaliger at the University of Leyden, which he entered at the age of eleven. At the age of fifteen he took the degree of Doctor of Laws at Orleans, and at the same age accom- panied an embassy to the French Court. He thereupon practised law. As a lawyer he had to argue in favour of the lawfulness of the capture of a Portuguese galleon by the Dutch East India Company. In his written work he contended that the sea cannot be taken into possession through ' occupation ' and cannot be made State property : the sea is free to all : in spite of Portuguese interdictions from eastern waters the Dutch have a right to navigation and commerce with the Indies. Cf. De lure Belli .ac Pacts, ii, c. 3. n8 The Literature of International Relations the subject, whether general or national and special, is lucidly, though in brief, presented by M. Ernest Nys in the chapter on ' La Liberte des Mers ' in his work Les Origines du Droit international. * Le droit romain range la mer parmi les choses qui, en vertu du droit naturel, sont communes a tous. Au moyen age, des que le commerce maritime prend de 1'impor- tance, des qu'il devient 1'un des grands facteurs de la richesse publique, apparaissent les preventions des gouvernements sur certaines mers.' x Material for a study of the subject from the standpoint of the interests and claims of England in the seventeenth century will be found in a recently published work on The Sovereignty of the Sea, 2 and in Gardiner's History. 3 The volume of the Navy Records Society on Law and Custom of the Sea 4 contains supplementary material of historical value. 1 Nys (1894), p. 379. See Walker, History, i, p. 246, for Vasquez, a Spanish official (1509-66) and author (1564) a precursor of Grotius for Mare Liberum ; and pp. 278-83 for a summary of Grotius's book thus entitled. Grotius, c. vii, alludes to Vasquez (Vasquius) as ' decus illud Hispaniae, cuius nee in explorando iure subtilitatem, nee in docendo libertatem umquam desideres '. Vasquez was anticipated by the Spanish theologian and Franciscan monk, Alphonso de Castro (d. in 1558), in opposing the claims of the Genoese and Venetians to prohibit other nations from navigating the gulfs or bays of their respective seas. See Grotius, c. vii ; and Nys, p. 352. 2 Fulton (1911), pp. xxvi +799. 3 Especially vol. iii (Cabinet ed.), pp. 164-5 ( on Grotius); vii, pp. 357-8, viii, p. 79, and 154-5 (on Selden) ; and The History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, vol. ii (Cabinet ed.), p. 172. 4 Vol. i, 1205-1648, published in 1915 : see pp. 484-90, ' Reglement of the Narrow Seas ', 1634, setting forth the King of England's Sovereignty in the four seas ' the seas commonly called the four English seas ' (see State Papers, Domestic, cclxxix, No. 18), and p. 509 on the salute to the flag the ' Vail '. Article 19 in the Treaty of Breda, 1667, and Article 4 in the Treaty of Westminster, 1674, deal with the Vail. See also, for Tromp's Memorandum, Fulton, Appendix 1, p. 770. ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 119 The subject had much attention from Alberico Gentili, both in professional practice, when he was an advocate of Spanish claims in English prize courts, and in his posthumous work, Advocationis Hispanicae Libri Duo, 1 in which there is a defence of the claims of sovereignty asserted by English kings over the British seas ; and the arguments are noteworthy as coming from a learned Italian, Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, and the supplanter of Grotius as the reputed Founder of International Law. But there are three writers, British by birth, whose works make a special appeal to students of con- temporary British thought on this subject. One of them is a Scotsman, and two are Englishmen. As early as 1590 William Welwod published The Sea-Law of Scotland a book now extremely rare. 2 To this work there 1 Published in 1615, two years after his death. Gentili's book De lure Belli was published in 1588. 2 There is a copy of the book in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and in the University Library, Cambridge. There is no copy in the British Museum, none in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, and none I have ascertained in the library of any of the Scottish Universities, although Welwod was Professor of Civil Law at St. Andrews. Mr. Fulton (The Sovereignty of the Sea, 352 n.) has come upon a MS. copy in the State Papers, Dom., Jas. I, ccviii, No. xvi, entitled ' The Sea Law of Scotland, shortly gathered and plainly dressed for the ready use of all seafaring men. Dedi- cated to James VI. of Scotland by William Welvod. At Edinborough, A 1590, by Robert Walgrave.' For the particulars that follow I am indebted to Mr. F. Madan, Bodleian Library, Oxford. The title of the work as published is : THE SEA-LAW | of Scotland | Shortly gathered | and plainly dressit for | the reddy use of all sea- | fairing men. | PSAL. 107. ve. 23. 24. 31. | They that go down to the Sea in schips, | and occupie by the great waters. | They see the workes of the Lorde, and | his wonders in the deepe, &c. | Let them therefore confesse before the | Lord his loving kindnes, and his wonder- | ful workes before the sonnes of men. | AT EDINBURGH | IMPRINTED BY | ROBERT Waldegrave | An. Dom. 1590. [In an ornamental border 4^ x 2^.] The size is small 8vo. The author's name is given at the end of the dedicatory epistle, which ends : Be your i2o The Literature of International Relations is an allusion, at once modest and critical, in his better-known book, An Abridgement of all Sea-Lawes, which was first pub- lished in I6I3, 1 and again, with slight variations in spelling, in 1636 : z 'I thought good, after the insight and deepe consideration of all the lawes and ordinances aforesaid ' (touching ' every sort of sea-faring persons in every order '), * to mend a weake piece of labour, which I intended many yeares since, intituled the Sea law of Scotland ; and to frame the same in a very harmonicall collection of all sea-lawes.' 3 The Abridgement, as a work, befitting its title, both compre- hensive and concise, treats of many matters that have no direct bearing on the Sovereignty of the Sea. It treats, for example, of the Clerk of the Admiral Court, who ' should have divers Registers, as for congees, saveconducts, pasports, sea-briefes ; as without which no shippe should passe to the sea in time of warre, nor yet to farre voyages in time of peace . . . To conclude, no other Clerk or Writer, may meddle or pen things concerning the sea-faring, without licence of the Admirall.' 4 The book treats of the manner of proceeding in sea-faring causes. 6 It treats of the Master of the ship, to whom * the whole power M. maist humble subject | M. William Welvod. The number of pages is 40, but there is no printed pagination. Sig. A. 4 leaves, the first blank ; B. 8 leaves ; C. 8 leaves (the last two probably blank : they are wanting in the Bodleian copy). 1 8vo, pp. viii + 77. z izmo, pp. xiv+253- 3 Abridgement (ed. 1636), pp. 18-19. The f"N title i s 'An Abridgement of all Sea-Lawes. Gathered forth of all Writings and Monuments, which are to be found among any people or Nation, upon the coasts of the great Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. And specially ordered and disposed for the use and benefit of all benevolent Sea-farers, within his Majesties Dominions of Great Brittain, Ireland, and the adjacent Isles thereof.' The Abridgement was printed at London. 4 Abridgement, Tit. iii, ' Of the Admirall Clerk ', pp. 45-6, 48. For the Admiralty Court see Law and Custom of the Sea, i, pp. xiv sqq. 6 Tit. v, pp. 52-63- ' The Sovereignty of the Sea' 121 and charge of the ship is committed : which power is prescribed, partly by the owner or outreader, and partly by the common law of the sea \ l It treats of ' the Outreaders, or Outriggers, Furnishers, Hyrers, and of the Owners of Ships, and of actions for and against them ', 2 and of ' sundry Partners of Ships, and their discords '. 3 It treats of shipwreck, 4 and of ' things found upon the Sea, or within the floud-marke '. 5 In its concluding chapter 6 it treats of shipwrights ' the forgers and framers of the instrumentall causes of all Sea-faring ', 7 who not only must furnish the materials good and sufficient, but also, ' if the furniture pertain not to them, they must refuse to take from their furnishers bad and unmeet geare and stuffe for the worke. As for example, Aller, Beech trees, and such like brickie and naughty timber for salt-water, or for the seas ; ' 8 and ' last of all, as Shippewrights were of old, so are they also of late, forbidden, under paine of treason, to communi- cate their skill and Art to enemies and barbarous people. Likewise, they are forbidden (as are also other societies of handy- crafts-men and trades-men) to conspire among themselves to enhance their wages, or hire, or receive excessive wages '. 9 They are the author's closing words. Of the thirty chapters of this book of Welwod only one bears directly on the Sovereignty of the Sea. But the chapter 10 is by much the most substantial and the most distinguished of the book. It gives clear evidence that the author was deeply absorbed in 1613 or earlier in considering a question which, two years later, was to call forth from his pen a work exclusively devoted to the subject. The title of the chapter is ' Of the Community and Propriety of the Seas '. The opening words 1 p. 83. 2 Tit. xv, pp. 124-9. 3 Tit. xvi, pp. 130-5. 4 Tit. xxiii, pp. 161-7. 5 Tit. xxiv, pp. 168-74. 8 Tit. xxx, pp. 248-53. 7 p. 248. 8 p. 250. 9 PP- 2 5 2 ~3- 10 Tit. xxvii, pp. 199-236. 122 The Literature of International Relations testify to the influence of the book published by Grotius anonymously in 1609. The author had 'of late scene and perused a very learned, but a subtle Treatise (incerto authore J ) intituled Mare liberum, containing in effect a plaine Proclama- tion of a liberty common for all of all Nations, to fish indiffer- ently on all kinde of Seas, and consequently, a turning of undoubted proprieties to a community '. The discourse of the unknown author was ' covered with the maintenance of a liberty to saile to the Indians '. At the very outset, says Welwod, ' I cannot passe the Authour his ridiculous pretence ... as for a liberty onely to saile on Seas : a thing farre off from all controversie, at least upon the Ocean ; specially, since passage upon land through all Regions Christian, is this day so indifferently permitted to all of all Nations, even to Turkes, lewes, Pagans, not being professed enemies ; and therefore much lesse to be restrained on Sea in all respects. So that I cannot but perswade both my selfe, and other loyall subjects, that the said pretence is but a very pretence, and so much the more to be suspected as a drift against our undoubted right and propriety of fishing on this side the Seas.' 2 Appeal is made, as by Grotius it had been made in liberal array of learning, to the testimony of the Scriptures and of the Roman jurisconsults, and to that of others. There was considerable stretching of the texts. The central argument of Grotius was that there could be no ' occupation ' of the sea. 8 How does Welwod deal with that argument ? ' For 1 Grotius's name was given in the edition of 1616. Both the edition of 1608 and that of 1616 were published at Leyden. 2 Abridgement, pp. 199-2005 201-3. 8 See, e.g. c. v. of Mare Liberum. ' Things that cannot be occupied, or that never have been occupied, cannot be the property of any one, because all property has its origin in occupation. Further, all things that have been so constituted by nature that, although of use to some one person, they suffice, notwithstanding, for the common use of all other persons, are 'The Sovereignty of the Sea' 123 answer, first ', he says, ' concerning the nature of the sea, as supposed impossibly occupable or acquirable ; Is this so thought because the sea is not so solid, as is the land, that men may trade thereon, as upon land ? or that it is continually flowing to and fro ? Surely, that lacke of solidity for man his trading thereon by foot, shall not hinder the solid possession of it, farre lesse the occupation and acquiring, if we will give to the sea, that which the Jurisconsults indulgently grant to the land, which also cannot be denied.' l He quotes Paulus to the effect that it is not necessary for him who would ' possesse him- self in any part of the land, to goe about and tread over the same ; but it is sufficient to enter-in upon any thereof, with a mind to possesse all the rest thereof, even to the due marches '. * And what ', he asks, ' can stay this to be done on sea, as well as on land ? And thus farre concerning the solidity.' z ' As for the flowing condition of the sea,' admit that it be liquid, fluid, unstable in the particles thereof, yet in the whole body it is not so, for does it not keep the prescribed bounds strictly enough concerning its chief place and limits ? And here it is fitting to answer * a scoffe cast in by the Author of Mare liberum, concerning the possibility also of marches and limits for the division of the seas : Mundum dividunt (saith the foresaid Authour of Mare liberum) non ullis limitibus, aut natura, aut manu positis, sed imaginaria quadam linea : quod si recipitur, et Geometrae terras, et Astronomi caelum nobis eripient 3 : that is, they divide the world, not by any marches, to-day and ought for all time to remain in the same condition as when they were first brought forth by nature.' ' Flumen populus occupare potuit, ut inclusum finibus suis, mare non potuit.' 1 pp. 218-19. 2 pp. 219-20. 3 Grotius's words, ch. v, in the concluding clause, according to the text of 1633, are : ' quod si recipitur et dimensio talis ad possidendum valet, iamdudum nobis Geometrae terras, Astronomi etiam caelum eriperent '. See The Freedom of the Seas by Grotius, translated by Magoffin (New York, p- 39- 124 The Literature of International Relations put either by nature, or by the hand of man, but by an imaginary or fantastick line : which kinde of doing being embraced, the Geometers may steale away the earth, and the Astronomers the heavens from us.' True it is that there are not in every part of the sea isles * sen- sible (as Gernsey is to England in the narrow seas) or sands (as the Washes at the West seas of England) nor rockes, or other eminent and visible markes above water, for the designation of the bounds (or laying-out the limits) of the divisible parts thereof ', but has not God, who is both the distributer and first author of the division and distinction of both land and sea, * diversly informed men by the helpes of the Compasse, counting of courses, sounding, and other waies, to finde forth, and to designe finitum in infinito ; so farre as is expedient for the certaine reach and bounds of seas, properly pertaining to any Prince or people ? ' ' Which bounds Bartolus hardily extends and allowes for Princes and people at the sea side, an hundreth miles of sea forth from their coasts, at least ; and justly, if they exercise a protection and conservacy so far : and this reach is called by the Doctors, Districtus maris, W territorium. It is true, Baldus esteemeth potestatem, iurisdictionem & districtum, to be all one. 'To conclude then, since Papinian writes in Jinalibus quaestionibus vetera monumenta sequenda esse ; what more evident monuments for our King his right in the narrow seas, then these Isles of Gernsie ? &c. And for the Eastern seas, direct from Scotland, what is more antiently notorious than that covenant twixt Scottish men and Hollanders, concerning the length of their approaching toward Scotland by way of fishing ? ' i 1 Pp. 220-5. See, further, on fishing rights, pp. 233-5, anc ^ Welwod's De Dominio Maris (1615), cap. iii ; also Justice, A General Treatise of the Dominion and Laws of ib Sea (1705), p. 167, quoting ' Mr. Welwood, an ingenious Lawyer of that Nation '. ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 1 25 A passage follows that the student of persona, and of ' semi- personality and demi-semi-personality ', 1 will detach and appropriate on its own account : ' It rests to touch the other cause naturall, for that other impossibility, which may be the continuall fluxe and instability of the Sea ; in such sort, that it would appear not aye to be one and the selfe same body, but daily changeable. For answer, I must remember that which the Jurisconsult sets down so prettily : Suppose (sayes he) a certain Colledge of Judges, or a Legion of Souldiers, or the particular parts of a Ship, or of a mans body, should so continually and often be changed and altred, that none of that first Colledge or Legion could be found alive, nor yet any part of the Shippe or body could be so certainly demonstrate, that it might be affirmed for the very same that it was at the first ; yet if that Colledge or Legion be in number full, and the ship or man whole and able in all the frame, they shall be accounted and esteemed not to be new, but to be the very same which they were at the beginning : even so, however the sea many waies and hourly changes, in the small parts thereof, by the ordinary rush on land, mixture with other waters, swelling in it selfe, exhalation and backe receipts thereof by raine ; yet since the great body of the Sea most constantly keepes the set place prescribed by the Creator, I see not in this respect neither, wherefore the nature of the Sea should not yeeld to occupation and conquest. And thus farre concerning Mare liberum his last and great conclusion, against all appropriation thereof by people or princes.' 2 To Welwod belongs the twofold distinction of having written the first book printed in Britain on Sea Law, 3 and of 1 Maitland, on ' Moral and Legal Personality ', in the Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation, vi. (1906), p. 200. 2 Abridgement, pp. 226-8. See Selden, Mare Clausum, lib. i, cap. xxi ' Respondetur Obiectioni de Natura Maris fluxili et perpetuo mutante '. 3 The work of 1 590. The claim is exclusive of mere translations of works into English. There is extant a very early English translation of an old version of the Rolls of Oleron, entitled ' The Rutter of the Sea ', printed 126 The Literature of International Relations being the author of the first attack in book-form on the Mare Liberum of Grotius. His place in the history of the controversy has been unduly dwarfed by the much more elaborate, learned and solid, and unquestionably eminent, work of Selden. The rank of his contribution in 1613 to the literature of the subject has been still further depressed by its appearing merely as a chapter, even although it was the most substantial and most distinguished chapter, in a highly composite book on Sea Laws. 1 But Grotius himself was so far impressed with the in London in 1536. The book is very rare. See Travers Twiss, The Black Book of the Admiralty, i. (1871), p. Ixxii. There was an earlier transla- tion by Robert Copland (London, 1528). Ibid. ; see also i,p. Ixivand p. 89. 1 Alexander Justice, a very industrious compiler, notes, as a defect in Welwod's book in relation to its title, that it ' contains only a few general Maxims and Customs of'different Nations, with so little Method, that it is a very hard matter to distinguish when he speaks of one Nation and when of another ', p. 1 96 of A General Treatise of the Dominion and Laws of the Sea containing, What is most Valuable upon that Subject, in Ancient and Modern Authors, &c. London, 1705 : a work of 660 pages (exclusive of ' An Additional Discourse of the Law of Insurances, and Bottomry ', 40 pp.)> each page containing about six times as many words as a page of Welwod's Abridgement (253 pp.)- Justice, in alluding, p. 196, to the Abridgement, says ' there has lately appear'd an Abridgment of that in a small Octavo, in four sheets and a half, which the Publisher is pleased to intitle, An Abstract of the Sea-Laws, as established in most Kingdoms of Europe : but more particularly in England and Scotland'. In spite of his not too complimentary allusion to Welwod's ' little Book ', Justice was of opinion that the author in chapter xxvii ' very plainly and very judiciously confutes the Arguments which the ingenious Hugo Grotius proposes in his Book . . . ; and to him an excellent Author Mr. Selden freely insinuates himself to have been oblig'd for some of the Arguments which he has made use of in his Answer to the aforesaid Book '. Much in Justice's book is merely a reproduction of parts of Selden's Mare Clausum. On the literary origins of his work see Twiss, Black Book of the Admiralty, iv. pp. Iv-viii, and Ixiv-xv. Sir Travers Twiss says the book is ' very rare '. For an allusion to Welwod, see Black Book, iv. lix. ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 1 27 force of Welwod's attack as to prepare a defence, 1 in which he deals more particularly with the question of fishery rights, which was also Welwod's particular concern, and denies, in a more absolute sense than in his earlier work or in his later, a title to sovereignty or property in any part whatsoever of the sea. The Defensio was not published, probably because it was thought to be unwise to add to the resentment felt by James I at any questioning of his rights. 2 A sympathetic appraiser of Grotius has recently described it as ' a rather disappointing and unconvincing answer ' 3 to Welwod. In 1615, two years after the publication of the Abridgement, Welwod published a Latin work on the Sovereignty of the Sea. 4 This work, De Dominio Maris, consisting of about seven thousand words, is described by him as being brief 5 and methodical. It is certainly well planned, and not too narrowly, for its immediate object that of opposing the freedom wrongfully usurped by foreigners of fishing in the British 1 Dejensio Capitis Quinti Marts Liberi Oppugnati a Gulielmo Welwodo luris Civilis Projessore, Capite XXVII eius Libri Scripti Anglica Sermone cui Titulum Fecit Compendium Legum Maritimarum. The manuscript was discovered at the same time as the De lure Praedae, and published in 1 872. See Magoffin, The Freedom of the Seas (1916), p. ix (Introductory Note by James Brown Scott); Vreeland, Hugo Grotius (1917), pp. 56-7; and Fulton (1911), pp. 356-7. 2 Fulton, pp. 152-3 and 346-7, and references in foot-notes. 3 Vreeland, p. 57. 4 De Dominio Marts, luribusque ad Dominium praecipue spectantibus Assertio brevis et methodica. Cosmopoli, 16. Calend. lanuar. 1615. 8vo, pp. vi+28. 5 ' Lectori Aequiori. Mirabere forte tantulum de re tanta compendium : sed hunc agendi modum, ut mihi ingenitum, sic tibi veritatiq ; consultiorem putavi : Tibi quidem brevitate, sed perspicua : veritati vero simplicitate genuina, qua quum amicitur, turn & armatur & ornatur. Earn itaque ad eum modum tibi exhibeo, boni consule ac bene vale.' 128 The Literature of International Relations Seas. 1 It expands and makes more systematic the treatment of ' propriety of the seas ' in the twenty-seventh chapter of the Abridgement. The theses which Welwod sets out to sustain are expressed by him thus in the titles to the four chapters of his book : (i) Dominia esse in Mari, eaque distincta ; (2) lus navigandi in Mari non esse omnimodo liberum ; (3) lus piscandi in Mari esse maxima parte appropriatum ; (4) Mare esse vectigale. Selden quoted from the third chapter the more pertinent 2 of the words of Welwod, as ' lurisconsultus Scotus ', about the quarrels between the Scots and the Dutch : strangers, Welwod had written in the Epistle Dedicatory of his Abridgement to the Lords Admirals, required to be * stayed from scarring, scattring, and breaking the shoals of our fishes ; namely, upon our coasts of Scotland '. ' The two English writers of distinction in the controversies of the seventeenth century regarding * the Sovereignty of the Sea ' are Selden and, in less degree, Sir John Boroughs. The controversy touching the Sovereignty, Superiority or Dominion of the English or British Seas was much more than a writers' controversy. It raised substantial and highly practical interests, such as fishing rights and rights of taking tolls ; in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and later 3 the claim was intimately 1 See the words of the dedication of the book to Anne, wife of James I : ' contra extraneos piscandi immunitatem in Mari Britannico iniuria usur- pantes '. The Queen had in 1613 unsuccessfully tried to get a royal patent empowering her ' to graunt lycense and to compound with these strangers for an yearly revenue to be paid unto her Majestic for theis fishings '. State Papers, Dom., Ixxvii. 79, quoted by Fulton, p. 161. 2 ' Non possum practcrire . . . partimque batavorum (Batavorum in Selden) audacia sic (sic omitted by Selden) evanuerunt.' De Dominio Marts, p. 16; Mare Clausum, lib. ii, c. xxxi. (' De Regis Magnae Britanniae dominio in mari Scotico, Orientali maxime & Septentrionali '), pp. 546-7 of ed. of 1636 (12 mo). 3 Complaints regarding piracy made part of the ground for the levy of ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 1 29 connected with the important duty of repressing piracy ; and the ceremony of striking the flag and lowering the topsail, 1 which was intended as a symbol of acknowledgement of a sovereign power and jurisdiction, and is the mark by which the claim to dominion is best known to the general reader of English history, gave rise to critical passages in writings, in diplomacy and in the conduct of war. The controversy was also, however, a * Battle of Books ', 2 and, in spite of the fact that the future was in fact and result to be with Grotius in respect of the leading issues at stake, there can be no doubt that the honours of learning lay with Selden. But Selden's book Mare Clausum seu de Dominio Marts Libri Duo must not be viewed merely as an answer to Grotius. Mare Liberum is a short work when compared with Mare Clausum. The work of Grotius was written to sustain a definite case, although it must be conceded that its sweep was wide in principles, in citation of authorities, and in illustrations, for its purpose. The text of Mare Liberum contains about 14,000 words. The text of Mare Clausum contains about 90,000 words. The whole of the first book, 3 consisting of twenty-six chapters, is given Ship-money by Charles I. Examples are found for 1633 in Strafford's Letters and Dispatches (1740), e.g. i. 106-7 (with Wentworth's statement of the King's rights in St. George's Channel). For the first writ of ship-money and the plea of piracy, see Rushworth's Collections, ii. 257, and for a general call to the dominion of the sea, ii. 297-8 Coventry, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, in delivering his charge, June 17, 1635. The dominion of the sea is at the very heart of Ship-money Case, from the King's standpoint. See Rushworth, ii. 322 ; 545, 552 (the Attorney- General's citation of ' that Learned Book of Mr. Selden '), and extracts from the speeches in Ship-money Case given by Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution. 1 ' Vaile Bonnet in acknowlegement of this Superioritie.' Boroughs, p. 62. 2 The term is that of M. Nys. 3 ' Libro Primo, Mare, ex lure Naturae seu Gentium, omnium hominum 2224 K 130 The Literature of International Relations up to an exposition of principles, the citation and examination of authorities, 1 and an exposition of the maritime practice of other peoples than the British, peoples Eastern and Western, and at all ages in the world's history down to the author's own day. The second book, 2 consisting of thirty-two chapters, states and enforces the case for Britain by an examination of facts, claims, and records from Roman times down to the time when Selden was called upon by Charles I to proceed with the completion of a work which he had already presented to James I in i6i8. 3 He is generous in his appreciation of the learning and distinction of Grotius, 4 an author of vast erudition and wide non esse Commune, sed Dominii privati seu Proprietatis capax, pariter ac Tellurem, esse demonstrator.' 1 e.g. cap. xxiv : Ad Obiectionem ex lurisconsultis Veteribus depromptam Responsio : and cap. xxvi : Recentiorum lurisconsultorum sententiis, qua adversantur, maxime Fernandi Vasquii & Hugonis Grotii, respondetur. 2 Secundo, Serenissimum Magnae Britanniae Regent Marts circumflui, ut individuae atque perpetuae Imperil Britannici appendicis, Dominum esse, asseritur. 3 Selden, Vindiciae Marts Clausi, in Selden's Works (1776), ii, p. 1425 ; Twiss, Black Book of the Admiralty, i. xiii. One of the reasons assigned for the withholding of publication at that time is the apprehension of James, that there were passages in the work which might offend the King of Denmark from whom he was endeavouring to obtain a loan of money. This was the explanation given by Selden in 1652 when a Dutch lawyer, Graswinckel, a cousin of Grotius, taunted him with having written it to get release from prison. Graswinckel was selected by the States-General to prepare a reply to Selden's Mare Clausttm which made a considerable impression on the Dutch. The reply was not published, the States apparently accepting the advice tendered, that the freedom of the sea must be protected with the sword, and not merely with the pen. Vreeland, Grotius, p. 48, citing Fruin's VerspreideGescbrijten, iii,p. 408. Graswinckel published in 1653 a work against Welwod. 4 In lib. I, c. ii, in alluding to the more recent writers who have opposed the dominion of the sea, Selden writes of Vasquius and Grotius as ' claris- simi quidem utrique, sed cruditionc et nitorc ingcnii impares '. Of Grotius : ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 131 range of mind, whose great work, De lure Belli ac Pads, was published eight years after the first draft of Mare Clausum had been ready, and ten years before the publication of the completed work in 1635, with a dedication to Charles I. Selden's tribute is an honourable one, coming, as it does, from the author of one of the most learned works written by Englishmen, and coming from him at a critical point in a battle of books, of principles, and of the claims of rival peoples. No exposition of Mare Clausum is necessary here. The book is not rare. It has been translated into English. 1 Its substance has been presented in convenient compass by more than one writer. 2 The work of the other English writer of distinction on this subject in the reign of Charles I was finished in 1633 two years before Selden's book appeared ; but it was not published till eighteen years later in 1651, eight years after the author's death. The original version was in Latin ; 3 the book published ' Batavus, Fiscalis olim advocatus Hollandiae, Zelandiae, & Westfrisiae, aliisque honoribus patriis meretissimo auctus, vir acuminis & omnigenae doctrinae praestantia incomparabilis.' Again, in c. xxvi ' Virum ingentis eruditionis, & rerum humanarum divinarumque scientissimum, Hugonem Grotium 5 cuius nomen passim in ore hominum arripitur ut natural! & pcrpetuae Maris communione mire patrocinantis.' Mare Clausum has a number of quotations from Grotius's De lure Belli ac Pads as well as from Mare Liberurn. Before 1635 the reputation of Grotius was high and far- reaching. 1 By Marchamont Needham, 1652. On April 15, 1636, the King in Council required that ' no person whatsoever, do, or shall import, publish, set to sale ' any copies of a ' foreign edition, either in Latin or English ', that had been issued, ' except only such as have, or shall be licensed by the Laws and Customs of this Realm". Rushworth, ii, pp. 320, 321. This action was called for inasmuch as ' some have caused the said book to be printed in some place beyond the seas ' in Holland, where three editions were published within a year of its first publication in England. 2 See, especially, Fulton, pp. 369-74. 3 The title is Dominium Maris Britannici assertum ex Archiuis Historiis K 2 132 The Literature of International Relations is in English ' The Soveraignty of the British Seas. Proved by Records, History, and the Municipall Lawes of this King- dome. Written in the yeare 1633. By that Learned Knight, Sr John Boroughs, Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London.' 1 The work, we are told in the words addressed ' To the Reader ', was written * at the request of a great Person ' Charles I, to whom the original work in Latin was dedicated, ' who desir'd to understand the true State of the Question, concerning the Dominion of the British Seas, as well what Histories as our own Records would afford. And here 'tis done in a little roome ; for the Author was able to speake fully, and briefly both at once. Some others have written of the same Subject ; and if wee thought any spake more, or so much, in so short compasse, wee should forbeare the publication of this. Wee are borne in an Island, and cannot goe out of it, without asking leave of the Sea and Winde ; and not to know what Right we have to that Water which divides us from all the World, is something ill becoming such as can read, and may know for reading.' Boroughs's Latin work was written when the question of the dominion of the British Sea raised a critical problem of a constitutional character touching the royal prerogative in England, as well as a claim of an international character touching the rights of the Crown abroad. For the latter purpose, at least, its place was deservedly taken by the much et Municipalibus Regni Legibus per D. lohanncm de Burgo, 1633. The original Latin copy is in the Harleian MSS., 4314, Brit. Mus. See Fulton, p. 365, f.n., where reference is made to a ' fine copy in English ', dated 1637, in the State Papers, Dom., ccclxxvi. 68. 1 London, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his Shop at the Princes Armes in St. Pauls Church yard. 1651. The book is izmo, pp. (x+) 165 about seventy words to the page. It was reprinted in Gerard de Malynes' Consuctudo vel Lex Mercatoria, or the Antient Law Merchant (1686 : a work first published in 1622). 'The Sovereignty of the Sea' 133 more substantial, more learned and more thorough work of Selden. The book, in its English version, contains only about eleven thousand words, being thus shorter than the Mare Liberum of Grotius, and only about one-eighth of the length of Selden's book. 1 It presents, however, a considerable amount of information in its small space. It gives evidence of consider- able and careful research among records, as becomes the Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London. It is written in a clear and pleasing style. It has zeal for the well-being and greatness of England, and is jealous of her honour. When the book was published in 1651 the political setting in England had been profoundly disturbed, but the question of rights and of power at sea against the Dutch, in particular, was urgent and of the highest importance, transcending both in content and in reasoning the technical constructions and the legal and lawyerly lore to which the claim to the dominion of the narrow seas had to make appeal. The claim was not one to be pressed in all circumstances as though it were a right paramount. The instructions issued to Blake in January 1650 had contained the following words : * And whereas the dominion of these seas hath anciently and time out of mind undoubtedly belonged to this nation, and that the ships of all other nations in acknowledgment of that domi- nion have used to take down their flags upon sight of the admiral of England, and not to bear it in his presence ; you are, as much as in you lyeth, and as you find yourself and the fleet of strength and ability, to do your endeavours to preserve the dominion of the sea, and to cause the ships of all other nations to strike their flags, and not to bear them up in your presence, and to compel such as are refractory therein, by seizing their ships, and sending them in, to be punished according to the laws 1 ' Be not startled to see so great a subject handled in so small a Volume. When you have read but a little of this little, you'll thinke the Authour was tender of your trouble but not of his own.' ' To the Reader.' 134 The Literature of International Relations of the sea, unless they submit, and yield such obedience, and make such repair, as you shall approve of. But yet notwith- standing, albeit the said dominion of the sea be so ancient and indubitable, and concerneth the honour and reputation of this nation to uphold the same, we should not for all that, that you should in this expedition engage the fleet in any peril or hazard for that particular ; so that if it should in this expedition happen, you should be opposed therein by such a considerable force, as the same might prove dangerous, then to forbear the pressing thereof, and take notice, who they were that did it not, that at some better opportunity they may be brought hereafter thereunto.' * But the claim to the dominion of the sea was very far from being a spent one, 2 and Boroughs's little book deservedly ranks 1 Thurloe, State Papers, i. 135. 2 Two interesting pamphlets bearing on the foundations of the claim and on its vicissitudes in the reign of Charles II are reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. vii (1810) The Dutch Usurpation . . . and A Justification of the Present War against the United Netherlands, Wherein . . . the Dominion of the Sea [is] explained, and bis Majesty's Rights thereunto asserted. Both were printed first in 1672. For a valuable enunciation of modern principles touching the general question of the freedom of the sea and maritime rights, the historical student should read the judgement of Sir William Scott, Lord Stowell, in the case of Le Louis, December 15, 1817: Dodson, Reports of Cases argued and determined in the High Court oj Admiralty, ii. (1828), pp. 210-64 (Judgment, pp. 236-64). Dodson, for the appellant in the case, said of ' the empire of the seas, in the modern acceptation of the term ', that it does not imply any exclusive legal privi- leges, and that the only meaning that can justly be assigned to it is, that in time of war the nation possessing it has a perfect mastery over the fleets of the enemy, and can secure to itself all the important advantages arising from such superiority, but that in time of peace it confers no peculiar privilege. In the course of his argument he cited Vasquius, Welwod, and Vattel as authorities. On the subject of the dominion of the sea in the limited and technical sense which Selden, Boroughs, and others contended for in the seventeenth century, Lord Stowell touched to the extent of the following words : ' It is true, that wild claims . . . have been occasionally set up by nations, particularly those of Spain and Portugal, in the East 'The Sovereignty of the Sea' 135 high in the history of the literature of the subject in England. We must not urge too strongly the canons of historical evidence against the assiduous attempt to buttress the claim by contin- uous illustration and estimate of rights of sovereignty over the British seas from the days of the Britons before the coming of the Romans, 1 down through the Roman occupation 2 to the solicitude of Edgar 3 and Canute 4 and other kings for the defence of the seas, ' untill the conquest made by William Duke of Normandie, in whose raign, and for many discents after him, the Soveraigntie of the said Seas was so far from being evicted that it was never so much as questioned by any Nation until the time of Edward the first, about the year 1299 and the six and twentieth of his raigne '. 5 We must not look for and West Indian Seas : but these are claims of a nature quite foreign to the present question, being claims not of a general right of visitation and search upon the high seas unappropriated, but extravagant claims to the appropriation of particular seas, founded upon some grants of a pretended authority, or upon some ancient exclusive usurpation. Upon a prin- ciple much more just in itself and more temperately applied, maritime States have claimed a right of visitation and inquiry within those parts of the ocean adjoining to their shores, which the common courtesy of nations has for their common convenience allowed to be considered as parts of their dominions for various domestic purposes, and particularly for fiscal or defensive regulations, more immediately affecting their rights and welfare. Such are our hovering laws, which within certain limited distances more or less moderately assigned, subject foreign vessels to such examination. This has nothing in common with a right of visitation and search upon the unappropriated parts of the ocean.' Op. cit., pp. 245-6. See, further, pp. 253-4 for the principle, that a nation has a right to enforce its system of navigation only so far as it does not interfere with the rights of others. See also W. E. Hall and L. Oppenheim, cited above, p. 116. 1 The Soveraignty oj the British Seas, pp. 8-18. 2 pp. 18-19: the Romans had 'made themselves possessorie Lords of the Island '. 3 pp. 20-2. * p. 23. 5 pp. 24-5. 136 The Literature of International Relations exactitude on the tangled subject of the Laws of Oleron l and the sea-law of the Middle Ages. But, at least, the author is clear in his own mind regarding the content of the claim to the lordship of the ' seas environing England '. 2 The kings of England have successively had the ' Soveraigne guarcj of the Seas ', and definite and substantial rights and powers have been attached to that sovereignty. They * have imposed taxes and tributes upon all ships passing 3 and fishing therein '. They ' have stopped, and opened the passage thereof, to strangers as they saw cause '. ' All wrecks and Royall fishes therein found are originally due and doe belong unto them.' 4 The author treats concisely of the rights and incidents involved in 1 The Soveraignty of the British Seas, pp. 48-50 : ' the famous Lawes of Olleron (which after the Rhodian Lawes were antinquated and absolete) have now well near 500 yeares been received by all the Christian world for regulating Sea affaires, and deciding Maritime controversies.' For mediaeval sea laws, their origins, descent, and connexions, the English work of authority is Travers Twiss, The Black Book of the Admiralty (Rolls Series), 4 vols. (1871-6). In the Introduction to the second volume there is a sketch of the ' Growth of Modern Maritime Law '. A reading of this may with advantage be preceded by the reading of tiie Introduction to the third volume, treating especially of the Laws of Oleron and of the Consulate of the Sea. The author's object in the fourth volume was to bring together the oldest texts of all the more important collections of mediaeval sea laws, that ' have come into use since the Rhodian Laws have ceased to be the governing Sea Laws of the civilised world '. He draws attention to ' two simple circumstances ' that have proved hard obstacles to inquirers into the authenticity of any body of mediaeval sea laws : ' (i) that the text of the laws has been modernised from time to time to make them more intelligible to successive generations ; (2) that additions have been made to the collective body of laws from time to time to increase the usefulness of the collection.' ' The Judgments of Oleron supply a striking instance of the process of enlargement, to which an ancient collection of laws may be subject in the course of time.' Op. cit., iv, p. cxi. 2 p. 54. 3 The word is printed ' passign ', p. 56. There are many misprints in the book, especially in the extracts in French. * pp. 56-7. ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 1 37 this sovereignty^ of the vail ; l of tribute ; 2 of licences to foreigners to fish ; 3 and of rules to the like effect enjoined by other States ; 4 of the King's opening and stopping the passage of his seas ; 5 and of wrecks and of ' royall fishes taken in our seas ' as due by prerogative and sovereignty to the kings of England only or * unto such unto whom by special charters they have granted the same '. 6 He is contending, not for a technical claim merely, but for the practical interests of Englishmen against the pretensions and interests of the foreigner, and especially of the Dutch. * Inestimable ' are the ' riches and commodities of the British Seas.' 7 Why not protect and conserve them for those to whom they should bring wealth and prosperity ? In September not many years since ' upon the Coast of Devonshire neare Minigall ' were not 500 ton of fish taken in one day ? ' And about the same time three thousand pound worth of fish in one day were taken at St. Ives in Cornewall by small boates, and other poore provisions. Our five-men-boats, and cobles adventuring in a calme to launch out amongst the Holland Busses not far from Robin-hoods Bay returned to Wkitby full fraught with herrings, and reported that they saw some of those Busses take 10. 20. 24. lasts at a draught of herrings and returned into their owne Country with 40. 50. and 100. lasts of herrings in one Busse.' 8 * Our Fleete of 1 pp. 62-4 : ' all strangers even at this day Vaile Bonnet in acknowlege- ment of this Superioritie ' in ' the Narrow Seas ', p. 62. 2 PP- 64-73- 3 PP' 73 -82. See ' Report of the Admiralty to Charles I as to the employ- ment of the Ship-money Fleet in wafting and securing Foreign Merchants passing through His Majesty's Seas, and in protecting Foreign Fishermen who accept the King's License'. State Papers, Dom., Charles I, vol. cccxiii, No. 24, February 5, 1635-1636. Fulton, Appendix i. 4 pp. 82-4. 6 pp. 84-9. 6 pp. 91-106. 7 p. 1 08 : the heading of a section of the book. 8 pp. 112-14. 138 The Literature of International Relations colliers not many yeares since returning from Newcastle laden with coales about the well, neare Flanborough head, and Scarborough met with such multitudes of Cod, Ling, and herring, that one amongst the rest with certaine ship- hookes, and other like Instruments drew up as much cod, and Ling in a little space of time, as were sold well neare for as much as her whole lading of coale. And many hundred of ships might have bin there laden in two daies and two nights.' * This ' wonderful affluence, and abundance of fish swarming in our seas ' 2 the Hollanders by their fishing have known how to turn to good account. Thereby they made increase. They have increased in shipping ; 3 in mariners ; 4 in trade ; 5 in 1 The Soveraignty of the British Seas, pp. 114-15. 2 p. 115. 3 pp. 117-23. For the herring season alone, ' they have 1600. Busses at the least, all of them fishing onely upon our coasts, from Bougbonnesse in Scotland to the mouth of Thames. And every one of these maketh work for three other shippes that attend her ; the one to bring in salt from forraigne parts, another to carry the sayd salt, and cask to the busses, and to bring back their herrings, and the third to transport the sayd fish into forraigne countries. So that the totall number of ships and busses plying the herring Faire is 6400. whereby every busse, one with another, imployeth 40. men, Mariners and Fishers within her own hold, and the rest tenne men a peece, which amounteth to 112000. Fishers and Marriners. All which maintaine double, if not treble so many Tradesmen, women and children a land. Moreover they have 400. other vessels at least, that take Herring at Yarmouth, and there sell them for ready mony.' They have a total of ' at least 10000. saile, being more then are in England, France, Spaine, Portugall, Italy, Denmarke, Poland, Sweden, and Russia. And to this number they adde every day ; although their country it selfe affords them neither materialls, or victual!, nor merchandize to bee accounted of towards their setting forth.' pp. 1 1 9-22. 4 PP- *4-5- 6 pp. 125-9: e.g. 'From the Southern parts, as France, Spaine, and Portugall for our herrings they returne Oyles, Wines, Pruynes, Honey, Woolles &c. with store of coine in specie' p. 126. ' The Sovereignty of the Sea' 139 towns and forts ; 1 in power abroad ; 2 in public revenue ; 3 in private wealth 4 diffused throughout the whole community ; and in all manner of provisions 5 ' as well for life, as in corne, Beefe, Muttons, Hides, and Cloathes, as for luxurie in wines silkes, and spices, and for defence as in pitch, tarr, Cordage, timber. All which they have not only in competent proportion for their use, but are likewise able from their severall Magazines to supply their neighbour countries.' Why not, then, assert our rights and draw profit from our own resources ? And why not take lessons from the industrious, 1 pp. 129-31 : 'Amsterdam, Leyden, and Midleburgb having bin lately twice enlarged ' and their streets and buildings improved and ' so faire, and orderly set forth that for beauty, & strength they may compare with any other in the world, upon which they bestow infinite summes of money, all originally flowing from the bountie of the sea, from whence by their labour and industry they derive the beginning of all that wealth and greatnesse '. pp. 130-1. 2 pp. 132-3: Not only can they repel foreign invasions, 'as lately in the warre betweene them, and Spaine', but they 'have likewise stretched their power into the East, and West Indies in many places whereof they are Lords of the sea coasts, and have likewise fortified upon the maine, where the Kings, and people are at their devotion. And more then this all neigh- bour Princes in their differences by reason of this their power at Sea, are glad to have them of their partie. So that next to the English they are now become the most redoubted Nation at Sea of any other whatsoever.' 3 pp. 134-6: 'Above thirtie yeares since, over and above the customes of other Merchandise excises, Licences, Wastage, and Lastage, there was payed to the State for custome of herring and other salt fish above 300000 pound in one yeare besides the tenth fish, and Caske payed for wastage, which cometh at the least to as much more among the Hollanders onely, whereunto the tenth of other Nations being added it amounteth to a far greater summe. Wee are likewise to know that great part of their fish is sold in other Countries for ready money for which they commonly export of the finest gold, and silver, and coming home recoyne it of a baser allay under their owne stampe, which is not a small meanes to augment their publique treasure.' 4 pp. 136-42. 5 pp. 142-3- 140 The Literature of International Relations skilful, and well-organized Hollanders ? 1 Reflect that by erecting two hundred and fifty busses of ' reasonable strength and bignesse' employment would be made for 1,000 ships, and for at least 10,000 fishermen and mariners, ' and consequently for as many tradesmen, and labourers at land '. The herrings taken by the busses would afford his Majesty ' 200,000 1. yearely custome outward, and for commodities returned inward 30000 1. and above '. 2 * For conclusion seeing by that which hath formerly bin declared it evidently appeareth that the Kings of England by immemorable prescription, continuall usage, and posses- sion, the acknowledgment of all our neighbour States and the municipall lawes of the Kingdome have ever held the Soveraigne Lordship of the Seas of England, and that unto his Majestic, by reason of his Soveraigntie the supreame command and Jurisdiction over the passage, and fishing in the same rightfully appertaineth, considering also the naturall scite of those our Seas that interpose themselves between the great Northerns commerce of that of the whole world, and that of the East, West, and Southerns Clymates, and withall the infinite commodities that by fishing in the same is daily made. It cannot be doubted but his Majesty by meanes of his owne excellent wisdome, and vertue, and by the Industry of his faithfull Subjects and people may easily without Injustice to any Prince or person whatsoever be made the greatest Monarch for Command and Wealth, and his people the most opulent and flourishing Nation of any other in the world. And this the rather, for that his Majesty is now absolute Commander of the Brittish Isle, and hath also enlarged his Dominions over a great part of the Westerne Indies ; by meanes of which extent of Empire (crossing in a manner the whole Ocean) the trade, and persons of all Nations (moving from one part of the World to the other) must, of necessitie, first, or last, come within compasse of his power, and jurisdiction. 3 1 The Soveraignty of the British Seas, pp. 147-56. * pp. 146-7. 3 Compare Bacon, in his Essay ' Of the true greatness of Kingdoms and Estates ' : ' Surely, at this day, with us of Europe, the vantage of strength ' The Sovereignty of the Sea ' 141 ' And therefore the Soveraignty of our Seas being the most precious Jewell of his Maiesties Crowne, and (next under God) the principall meanes of our Wealth and Safetie, all true English hearts and hands are bound by all possible meanes and diligence to preserve and maintaine the same, even with the uttermost hazzard of their lives, their goods, and fortunes.' l (which is one of the principal dowries of this kingdom of Great Britain) is great ; both because most of the kingdoms of Europe are not merely inland, but girt with the sea most part of their compass, and because the wealth of both Indies seems, in great part, but an accessory to the command of the seas.' 1 pp. 160-5. 5 Treaties ' Tout le monde sc.ait ', wrote 1'Abbe de Mably, ' que les Traites sont les archives des Nations, qu'ils renferment les titres de tous les peuples, les engagements reciproques qui les lient, les loix qu'ils se sont imposees, les droits qu'ils ont acquis ou perdus. II est, si je ne me trompe, peu de connois- sances aussi importantes que celle-la pour des hommes d'Etat, & meme pour de simples citoyens s'ils sc.avent penser ; il en est peu cependant qui soient plus negligees.' l It was well said by the editor of a Collection of Treaties published in 17/2 that to a statesman a Collection of Treaties is a code or body of Law, and to him is of the same use as is a Collection of the Statutes to the lawyer. 2 But their historical place and value must never be lost to sight. They are to be viewed as marking points in the movement of thought. 8 The relation of a Treaty to ' the Law ' may well give rise to doubt. On this thorny subject the conclusions of Madison, 4 the American statesman and one of the three contributors to The Federalist, had the approval of Sir Travers Twiss. 5 Treaties, said Madison, may be considered in several relations 1 Le Droit Public de F Europe, fonde sur les Traites, par M. 1'Abbe de Mably, 1717 (2 vols.), 3rd ed. (3 vols.), 1764. Preface to vol. i. 2 A Collection of all the Treaties of Peace, Alliance, and Commerce, between Great Britain and other Powers, from the Revolution in 1688, to the Present Time. 2 vols. (1772). * W. E. Hall, cited above, p. 113. 4 Examination of the British Doctrine, 1806, p. 39. * The Law of Nations ... I'M Time of Peace, 2nd ed. (1884), pp. 164-5. Treaties 143 to the Law of Nations according to the several questions that are to be decided. ' They may be considered as simply repeating or affirming the General Law : they may be considered as making exceptions to the General Law, which are to be a particular Law to the parties themselves : they may be considered as explanatory of the Law of Nations on points where its meaning is other- wise obscure or unsettled, in which case they are first a Law between the parties themselves, and next a sanction to the General Law, according to the reasonableness of the explana- tion, and the number and character of the parties to it : lastly, treaties may be regarded as forming a voluntary or positive Law of Nations. Whether the stipulations of a treaty are to be considered as an affirmance, or an exception or an explanation, may sometimes appear upon the face of the treaty ; sometimes, being naked stipulations, their character must be determined by resorting to other evidences of the Law of Nations. In other words, the question concerning the Treaty must be decided by the Law, not the question concerning the Law by the Treaty.' Collection of Treaties There are many collections 1 of treaties, and of treaty- documents, both general and national. Only a few need be mentioned here. (a) General : Dumont, Corps Universel Diplomatique ; 2 Koch et Scholl, Histoire abregee des Traites from 1648 to i8i5, 3 with full text of some and a connecting narrative, and the revival and continuation of the workbyleComte de Garden; 1 A considerable impetus to the study of treaties was given by Leibnitz towards the beginning of the eighteenth century. On the unfavouring eyes with which the Cabinets of Europe viewed the publication of their treaties in a collection, see Travers Twiss, op. cit., pp. xxix-xxx. 2 8 vols.j 1726-31. 3 15 vols., 1815-17. 144 The Literature of International Relations Martens (G. F. de), Recueil des principaux traites de paix, d' alliance . . . depuis 1761 jusqu'd nos jours 1 (1808), with con- tinuations 2 by G. F. de Martens himself, his nephew C. de Martens, and others, down to our own day a standard work ; Das Staatsarchiv Sammlung der officiellen Actenstucke zur Geschichte der Gegenwart ; 3 Archives diplomatique s Recueil mensuel de droit international, de diplomatie et d'histoire ; * Albin, Les Grands Traites politiques since i8l5. 5 (V) British: Rymer, Foedera* and Syllabus to the work by Sir T. D. Hardy, issued for the Record Commission ; 7 C. Jenkinson (later, Earl of Liverpool), A Collection of all the Treaties of Peace . . . between Great Britain and other Powers from 1648 to I783; 8 1 8 vols., 1791-1808. 2 Nouveau Recueil, 16 vols., Nouveau Recueil General, &c. 8 A periodical publication since 1861. It is the chief collection for European States as a whole, and is especially designed as a collection of diplomatic documents. 4 First and second series, 1861-1900 ; continued thereafter, four volumes being published yearly. * 1910. See also The Great European Treaties oj the Ninetetntb Century, 1 91 8 (Clarendon Press). 6 Arcbiva regia reserata, sive foedera . . . inter reges Angliae et alias quosvis ab ineunte saeculo Xll mo . The work began with the reign of Henry I and came down to 1654. There were subsequent editions which need to be distinguished. Rymcr's work was a Government publication, suggested by that of Leibnitz. He was Historiographer Royal from 1692 to 1714. 7 2 vols., 1869-72 (vol. i, to 1377; vol. ii, 1377-1654). * 3 vols., 1785. This is the second edition of the work published in 2 vols. in 1772. In the Advertisement (pp. v-vi) to this earlier work it was said : ' A Collection of Treaties was published in the Year 1732 ; and is now very scarce. The Treaties contained in that Work are not only very irregularly arranged, but upon comparing them with the detached copies published by Authority, were found to be very inaccurately printed ; and some Treaties were wholly omitted.' The work'of 1732 was in 4 vols. Treaties 145 Chalmers, A Collection of Maritime Treaties of Great Britain and other Powers ; * Hertslet, A Complete Collection of the Treaties and Conventions at present subsisting between Great Britain & Foreign Powers ; so far as they relate to Commerce ff Navigation ; to the Repression and Abolition of the Slave Trade ; and to the Privileges C5? Interests of the Subjects of the High Contracting Parties. The Whole in English, W the Modern Treaties y most important Documents, also in the Foreign Languages in which they were signed? Treaty Series? Originals of British Treaties are in the Public Record Office ; also Treaty Papers and State Papers, Foreign. The British Museum Catalogues (MSS.) should also be consulted. 1 2 Vols., 1/90. 2 By Lewis Hertslet, Esq., Librarian and Keeper of the Papers, Foreign Office. The work was published in 2 vols., 1820. It has been continued to date. The Treaties with Austria go back to the Treaty of Alliance signed at Toplitz, October 3, 1813 ; with Denmark, to the Treaty signed at White- hall, February 13, 1660-1661 ; with France, to the Treaty of Utrecht, March 31 -April 11, 1713 ; with Portugal, to the Treaty signed at London, January 29, 1642 ; with Spain, to the Treaty signed at Madrid, May 13-23, 1667; with Sweden, to the Treaty signed at Upsal, April u, 1654 ; with Turkey, to the Capitulation and Articles of Peace of 1675; with the United States of America, to the Treaty of Peace signed at Ghent, Decem- ber 24, 1814. For Treaties, Acts, and Declarations on the Slave Trade, and on trade with the Colonies, see especially vol. iii (1827). 3 First volume 1 892, and a volume yearly thereafter. 2224 Maps ; and their Historical Background Maps are rarely on an adequate scale. The following are good Hand Atlases : (1) An Atlas volume to the Cambridge Modern History, with a historical introduction of about one hundred pages ; (2) Poole, Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, with concise articles ; (3) Droysen, Allgemeiner historiscber Handatlas, with text. Of very high value is The Map of Europe by Treaty* since 1814, by Edward Hertslet a work to which many writers have been indebted. The work consists of four volumes. Of these the first extends from the first Treaty of Peace of Paris, May 1814, to 1827; the second from 1828 to 1863; the third from 1863 to 1875 ; an< * the fourth from 1875 to 1891. There is a helpful Index, pp. 2,101-399. The author's object was to bring together in a collected form the various documents that have given treaty sanction to the territorial changes made in Europe since 1814, and which, in thus defining the landmarks of Europe, ' constitute the Title-Deeds of the European Family '. The arrangement of the documents is chronological. Each treaty is preceded by a Table of Contents, and for each article there is a descriptive heading. Where the details are not of European interest, 1 The Map of Europe by Treaty, showing the various Political and Terri- torial Changes which have taken place since 1 814. With numerous Maps and Notes. By Edward Hertslet, C.B., Librarian and Keeper of the Papers, Foreign Office ; first volume, 1 875. The Treaty of Ghent of 1 814 is included. Maps ; and their Historical Background 147 only the purport of the clauses of treaties is given. English is the language used throughout. ' That these Engagements ', says the author, ' have been contracted, in many instances, with the avowed object of maintaining the Balance of Power, may be readily tested by referring to the Index under that heading.' l Many of these engagements have been preceded or followed by European Conferences, and descriptions are given in some detail of the deliberations of the most important of these. References are given to the volumes of the State Papers in which the Protocols are to be found. The work contains, further, Declarations of War ; Treaties for the European Guarantee of Independence and Neutrality of certain States ; Decrees annexing Territories, and Protests of the Possessors against Annexations. Owing to the frequent references to the Vienna Congress Treaty of 1815 in such Protests, the Index gives a key to all such references in subsequent European Documents. In an Appendix are given copies of Treaties, or extracts from Treaties, which were concluded before i8i4, 2 but are alluded to in the body of the work as being still valid, and there is a reference to the volumes of the State Papers, in which will be found extracts from and references to other docu- ments not themselves inserted in the body of the work in order of date. 3 The Index gives exact reference to every name and to every subject mentioned in the several Treaties or other interna- tional documents contained in the work. 1 Introduction, p. ix. There are twenty-six entries under this heading in the Index for 1814-75 ; see, further, ' Peace of Europe ' entries. 2 Since 1641. 3 See vol. iii, pp. 1 977-2074. The pagination is continuous for the four volumes. L 2 148 The Literature of International Relations The maps are sufficient in themselves, owing to their number, their scope, and their clearness, to make the work one of great value. The three general maps of Europe, showing the boundaries as fixed by the Vienna Congress Treaty of 1815, as in 1875, and as in 1891, are found on p. 274 (the first volume), p. 1976 (the third volume), and p. 3204 (the fourth volume). In the fourth volume there is a valuable series of maps illustra- ting the effects of the treaty arrangements of 1878. For the author it may be claimed that he has fulfilled his object. Owing to the completeness and the connected form in which he has presented the necessary documents both primary and supplementary, the inquirer is no longer called upon to consult several Collections of Treaties, some of them not easily accessible in any one country, or to refer to Blue Books laid before Parliament on the subjects in question, or to State Papers, or even to accounts, apart from estimates, of the events contained in Treatises on International Law or inter- national questions. Supplementary Reading i. (a) Machiavelli, 1 II Principe : the best edition is that by Burd, with an Introduction by Lord Acton and copious and scholarly notes by the editor ; 2 the best English translation is that by N. H. Thomson. 3 (b) N. H. Thomson, Counsels and Reflections of Guicciardini.* (f) Dallington, Aphorismes Civill and Militarie : Amplified with Authorities, and exemplified with Historie, out of the first Quarterns of Fr. Guicciardine : 5 * The Argument is generall, wherein the publicke Minister may meet with his experience, the Souldier with his practise, the Scholler with his reading : and every of these in his owne Element, parallel both the Aphorisme, Example, and Authorities. The Method is not vulgar, for though bookes of Civill discourse be full of axiomes, Philosophers of proofes, and Historians of instances ; yet shall ye hardly meete them all combined in one couplement. Out of their legions of Authorities I have drawne out these Maniples, because our Masters in the art of warre doe teach us, that these are more readie for use, upon all sodaine occasion of service. I have enter-laced them with variety of Language, to procure his better appetite for whom they were written. I was the more plentifull in Authorities, because, to read many and great volumes, few young men have the will, no Prince hath the leisure. It is true, many of them may serve to severall Aphorismes, so doth the workmans Last for severall men's wearing, and yet neither the shooe is cut, or foote pinched : Nor are they so loose but that with Lipsius 6 Soder you may 1 See above, ' Diplomacy and the Conduct of Foreign Policy ', pp. 22 5. 2 1891. 3 2nd ed., 1897. 4 1890: e.g. Nos. 6, 30, 41, 48, 76, 78, 109, 140, 147, 336, 345. See above, pp. 25-6. 5 1613. 8 Justus Lipsius, 1547-1606, Professor at Leyden and Louvain, a 150 The Literature of International Relations cyment them together, and make them con-center in the main proposition. ... In the Examples I have bound my selfe to the truth of the history, but used my liberty for the phrase and manner of relation.' x Aphorisme XVI. of Lib. 3 : * He that weareib his heart in his fore-head, and is of an ouvert and transparent nature, through whose words, as through cristall ye may see into every corner of his thoughts : That man is Jitter for a table of good fellowship, then a Councell table : For upon the Theater of public ke imploy- ment either in peace or war, the actors must of necessity weare vizards, and change them in every Scene. Because, the generall good and safety of a State, is the Center in which all their actions and counsailes, must meet : To which men cannot alwaies arrive by plaine pathes and beaten waies. Wherefore a Prince may pretend a desire of friendship with the weaker, when hee meanes, and must, contract it with the stronger. Hee may sometimes leave the common highway, and take downe an un used by path in the lesser of dangers, so hee be sure to recompence it in the greater of safetie." 1 2 Aphorisme XXII. of Lib. 5 : * As in things we have, so in those we doe, each hath his proper tryall, to prove the excellencie thereof in his kinde : Gold by the test, the Diamant by his hardnesse, Pearle by his water : So, the best discouverers of mens minds are their actions : the best directer of actions is counsaile : and the best triall of counsailes, is Experience. 11 3 A reading of Thucydides and of Tacitus may be substituted for Machiavelli and Guicciardini. For an understanding of policy, of democracy (howsoever defined) and of empire, the pages of Thucydides are still unsurpassed. 4 writer on Politics, author of Political Monitions and Models concerning the Virtues and Vices of Princes. The father of Grotius studied under Lipsius, who called him his ' intimate friend and pupil '. Lipsius was also one of the admirers of the early genius of Hugo Grotius. * ' To the Reader." * p. 176 of 2nd ed. Quotations from Tacitus, Cicero, and others follow ; and thereafter an example from History. 8 p. 318. 4 See, for example, i. 33, 40,41 (the expedient and the just), 70 (contrast of the Athenian and the Spartan character), 75 (Athenian envoys at Supplementary Reading 151 2. An extensive anti-Machiavel x literature, due mainly to uncritical interpretation of The Prince and to ignorance regarding Machiavelli's other works, as well as to ' Machia- vellian ' practice. 3. (a) Merriman, Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell? e. g. Letters 218 and 222. (b) Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, Book XIV ; and Gardiner, History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, vol. ii, 3 on Oliver Cromwell's foreign policy in 1654. 4. (a) Gentilis, De Legationibus : 4 ' Legalem itaque, ethicum et politicum at e Peripato philosophum, Legatum volo ; at etiam sobrie. Volo non ex umbra eum scholarum deduci, sed educatum in consiliis Sparta : ' The development of our power was at first forced upon us by circumstances : our first motive was fear ; later, ambition was added, and then interest '), 76-7, 93 (sea-power) ; ii. 8, 36 (Funeral Oration of Pericles), 64 (' Your empire is at stake : it is too late to relinquish it, for you ate already hated ') ; iii. 37 (Cleon's speech on the Mitylenaean rebels : I have said more than onee that a democracy cannot conduct an empire), 38 (' You are always hankering after an ideal state : you do not give your minds to what is straight before you '), 40 (' Do not be misled by the charm of words or by a too forgiving disposition '), 44, 46 (administration and its salutary effects), 47 (the higher expediency in the conduct of great affairs), 82 (the sway of imperious necessities), 83 (the revolutionary character of the year 427 B.C.); v. 89 (justice and necessity), 92-112 (the Athenians and the Melians : dominion and dependence ; interests and security : ' To uphold our rights in relation to our equals, to be politic with superiors, and to be moderate towards inferiors that is the path of safety ') ; vi. 11-13 (Nicias and the proposed Sicilian expedition : Conserve and develop your own resources : contain your ambition : the Sicilians have their own country : let them manage their own affairs), 1 8 (Alcibiades : Inactivity spells our ruin : ' You cannot afford to regard inaction in the same light as others, unless you put a corresponding limit to your policy '), 39 (Athena- goras on a true democracy), 84, 85 (expediency and empire), 87. 1 See above, pp. 76-7, foot-note. a 2 vols., 1902. 3 1897; especially chapters xxxiii and xxxiv. 4 1585. 152 The Literature of International Relations rerum, atque in imperiorum administratione versatum. . . . Fori aliud ius est, aliud regni.' 1 (b) De Abusu Mendacii, dedicated to a Bishop. We may compare with it De lure Belli ac Pads, ii. 5, * de mendaciis ' : * Respondeo autem contingere varie posse, ut quis mendacio utatur adversus hostes.' 5. (a) Le Parfait Ambassadeur, traduit de 1'Espagnol en Francois, par Le Sieur Lancelot. 2 The work is in the form of a dialogue where ' Jule ' is of the Mazarin type : * Definition de la charge d'Ambassadeur ; 3 Qui fut 1'auteur de la premiere Ambassade ; 4 On ne peut estre bon Ambassa- deur, sans estre bon Orateur ; 6 Pourquoi Aaron fut Collegue de Moyse vers Pharaon ; 6 Comment un Ambassadeur doit proceder entre 1'utile & 1'honneste ; ' Si 1'Ambassadeur se peut servir de 1'entremise des femmes pour le progrez de ses affaires ; Les femmes sont ordinairemens les premieres adverties des secrets ; Exemples de plusieurs grands secrets revelez par les femmes ; Doute, si les femmes peuvent estre Ambassa- drices ; Dames employees en Ambassades ; 8 De la menterie officieuse ; Si 1'Ambassadeur peut uzer de menterie au Prince Estranger ; Instructions sur ce point ; 9 Exemple d'une subtile dexterite de certains Ambassadeurs de Florence ; Ruse & contre-ruse ; 10 Pourquoi il faut qu'un Ambassadeur soit riche ; Inconvenients de la pauvrete & de 1' excessive richesse ; n Les Ambassadeurs Venissiens ne peuvent recevoir aucuns presens ; 12 Comme les Ambassadeurs se doivent gou- 1 in. x. 2 I2mo,pp. (vi + ) 602 (+12 pages of a summary of contents), published at Paris, 1642. The original work, El Ambaxador, by Antonio de Vera (Spanish Minister at Venice), was published in 1621. For extracts sec Appendix, pp. 216 sqq. ; also p. 17, above. 3 pp. 32-3, 36. 4 PP- 53-4- * PP- '77-8; see p. 17, above. 6 p. 183 ; see p. 17, above. 7 pp. 218-29. pp. 282-7. pp. 297-315. " pp. 3 15-17. pp. 353, 355. 12 P- 359 : ' Entre plusieurs merveilleuses ordonnances dc la Republiquc de Venisc, 51 y en a unc qui dcffend expressemcnt a leurs Ambassadeurs de recevoir aucun present du Prince ou ils resident.' Supplementary Reading 153 verner pour acquerir des intelligences par presens ; 1 Qu'un Ambassadeur doit estre sobre, & sabstenir des mets exquis ; Qu'il se devoit abstenir de boire du vin aux banquets ; 2 En quels cas un Ambassadeur peut temoigner sa hardiesse & son courage ; 3 Que 1'usage du chiffre est fort necessaire a 1' Am- bassadeur ; Accidents advenus faute de se servir des chiffres ; Les instructions des Ambassadeurs doivent estre ecrites en chiffres ; Raisons au contraire ; 4 Le secret est fort recommen- dable a PAmbassadeur entre toutes autres qualitez. 5 * Indice des plus belles Harangues, dispersees en tous les Historiens, tans anciens que modernes, apropriees aux plus importantes matieres de 1'Ambassade.' 6 () Wicquefort, 7 L* Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions, 8 which was 1 P- 363- 2 pp. 388, 389 : ' Secrets decouvers a cause du vin ' ; p. 391. a PP- 393-4- 4 PP- 467-73- 6 pp. 572-3, 574. ' Raisons au contraire de la precedante centre la loiiange des Venissiens a garder le secret ', pp. 576-8. 8 PP- 585-602 ; e.g. ' Pour faciliter une entreprise difficile, soit militaire ou civile, & contestcr 1'opinion contraire ', pp. 596-7. 7 1598-1682. Wicquefort was born at Amsterdam. He became minister resident of the Elector of Brandenburg at Paris, 1628. He continued in this office until 1658, when Cardinal Mazarin, having intercepted his corre- spondence of a character offensive to the Cardinal's government, ordered him to leave the kingdom, and, on his refusing, imprisoned him in the Bastile, whence he was sent under escort to Calais, and embarked for England. ' On his return to his native country, Wicquefort was appointed, on the recommendation of the Pensionary John de Witt, historiographer of the republic and secretary interpreter of despatches. Whilst in these employments, Wicquefort received a secret pension from Louis XIV, was named by the Duke of Luneburg his resident at the Hague, and being accused in 1675 of revealing the secrets of the state to foreigners, was tried and sentenced by the supreme court of Holland to imprisonment for life. He remained in prison until 1679, when he escaped through the address and filial devotion of his daughter, and retired to Zell in Hanover, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-five, in 1682.' Wheaton, History of the Law of Nations, pp. 234-5. 8 1679. ' One of the most remarkable works published during the seven- 154 The Literature of International Relations translated into English by John Digby, under the title, The Embassador and bis Functions, to which is added An Historical Discourse, concerning the Election of the Emperor, and the Electors' 1 On the birth and learning of an Embassador ; 2 Whether Clergymen are proper for Embassies ; 3 Of Instructions ; 4 Of the Function of the Embassador in general ; 5 Of Prudence teenth century on the subject of the rights and duties of ambassadors. . . . The curiously chequered life of this intriguing adventurer might almost have furnished materials for his once celebrated treatise, which is rather of an historical than didactic character, and was written during his long imprisonment in Holland.' Wheaton, op. cit., p. 235. 1 Small folio [1716], pp. (viii + ) 570, of which pp. 431-570 treat of ' The Election of the Emperor ' ; there are, in addition, twenty-eight pages of Index. An ' analyse raisonnee ' of the work is given in Bibliotbeque de VHomme public, by Condorcet (1790), tome douzieme, pp. 6-104. ' De tous les auteurs qui ont traite des ambassadeurs, aucun n'a rapporte tant de fails que Wicquefort. . . . Ces faits y sont mal distribues, et sc sentent de la situation violente ou etoit 1'auteur ; mais on les y trouve. II ne cite point ses garans ; mais la plupart des faits qu'il rapporte sont vrais. Pour les principes, il ne fait que les entrevoir.' p. 6. See Appendix, below, pp. 217^7. 2 Bk. i, ch. vii. 3 Bk. i, ch. ix. 4 Bk. i, ch. xiv. 5 Bk. ii, ch. i. See also Bk. i, ch. xvi, pp. 116-21, ' Of the Embassador's Powers ' (' The Powers, with reference to an Embassador, are nothing else, than what a Letter of Attorney is in reference to a private Person ', p. 1 16) ; ch. xviii, ' Of the Reception and Entry of the Embassador ', pp. 127-48; ch. xix, ' Of Audiences ', pp. 148-64 ; ch. xx-xxii, ' Of Honours and Civilities', pp. 164-202; 'Of the Apparel and Expences ', pp. 202-8 (' The Embassador Extraordinary cannot well avoid keeping an open Table, if he will do honour to his Master. ... In the Courts of the North, where great Entertainments make part of the Negotiation, this Expence is very necessary, as well as in Holland, where they take great delight in reasoning between two Trestles. The Fenns of the Country produce a multitude of Frogs. The major Part of Embassadors do not succeed therein, as well because every Body is not fit for it, as because it is contrary to the Dignity of the Character ') ; ch. xxiv, ' Of the Competition between France and Spain ', pp. 208-20 ; ch. xxv, ' Of Several Other Competitions ', Supplementary Reading 155 and Cunning; 1 Of Moderation; 2 Of Letters and Dispatches; 3 Of Treaties. 4 (c) Callieres 5 , De la Maniere de negocier avec les Souverains. De Vutilite des Negotiations, du choix des Ambassadeurs W des Envoy ez, i3des qualitez necessaires pour reiissir dans ces emplois : 6 De 1'Utilite des Negociations ; 7 Des Qualitez et de la Conduite du Negociateur ; 8 Des connoissances necessaires et utiles a un Negociateur; 9 Des Fonctions du Negociateur; 10 Observations pp. 220-355 ch. xxx, 'When the Embassador's Function ceases', pp. 282-93. i Bk. n, ch. vi. 2 Bk. n, ch. viii. 3 Bk. n, ch. x. * Bk. n, ch. xii. The chapter is one of the best of the whole work. It is followed by chapters entitled, ' Of the Treaties of Munster and Osnaburg ' [Osnabruck], ch. xiii ; ' The most considerable Treaties relating to the Affairs of this Age ', ch. xiv ; ' Of Ratifications ', ch. xv ; 'Of the Report the Embassador makes of his Negotiation ', ch. xvi ; ' Of some illustrious Embassadors of our Time ', ch. xvii. 6 Conseiller Ordinaire du Roi en ses Conseils, Secretaire du Cabinet de Sa Majeste, ci-devant Ambassadeur Extraordinaire & Plenipotentiaire du feu Roi, pour les Traitez de Paix conclus a Ryswyck. Et 1'un des Quarante de PAcademie Franchise. 6 I2mo, Amsterdam, 1716, pp. (xii+) 252; dedicated to the Duke of Orleans. See Appendix, below, pp. 219 sqq. A considerable part of the work has been quoted by Satow, Diplomatic Practice (i 91 7), i. 1 1 9-27, 129-30, I 3 2 ~3- There is an English transl., Lond., 1716, I2mo, pp. xvi + 239. 7 ch. ii. 8 ch. iii, and ch. iv, ' De quelques autres qualitez du Negociateur '. 9 ch. v. 10 ch. viii. Ch. vi is entitled ' Des Ambassadeurs, des Envoyez, et des Residents ', and ch. vii, ' Des Legats, des Nonces, et des Internonces '. The succeeding chapters are : ch. ix, ' Des Privileges des Ministres Etran- gers ' ; ch. x, ' Des Ceremonies et des Civilitez qui se pratiquent entre les Ministres Etrangers ' ; ch. xi, ' Des Lettres de Creance, des Pleins Pouvoirs et des Passeports'; ch. xii, 'Des Instructions'; ch. xiii, 'Ce que doit faire un Ambassadeur ou un Envoye, avant que de partir ' ; ch. xiv, ' Ce que doit faire un Negociateur a son Arrivee dans une Cour Etrangere ' ; ch. xv, ' Moyens de s'insinuer dans les bonnes graces d'un Prince et dc ses Ministres '. 156 The Literature of International Relations sur les manieres de negocier ; x Des Traitez et des Ratifications ; 2 Des Depeches et de ce qu'il y faut observer ; 3 Des Lettres en Chiffre ; 4 Du Choix des Negociateurs ; 5 Observations touchant le choix des Negociateurs ; 8 S'il est utile d'envoyer plusieurs Negociateurs en un meme Pays. 7 (d) Martens (Charles de), Le Guide Diplomatique* The scope of this standard work is shown by the sub-title : 9 ' Precis des Droits et des Fonctions des Agents Diplomatiques et Consulates ; suivi d'un Traite des Actes et Offices divers qui sont du ressort de la Diplomatie, accompagne de Pieces et Docu- ments -proposes comme exemples, et d'une Sibliotheque diplomatique cboisie.' Certain sections of the work are more especially of value for the study of international relations, and more particularly the following : Considerations generates sur 1'etude de la Diplomatie ; 10 Du Ministere des Affaires fitrangeres et de son Chef ; u Des Ministres publics et des Missions diplomatiques en general ; 12 De 1'Envoi des Agents diplomatiques et de 1'etablissement de leur caractere public ; 13 Des devoirs et des f onctions de 1' Agent I ch. xvi. 2 ch. xviii. 3 ch. xix. 4 ch. xx. 5 ch. xxi. 6 ch. xxii. ' ch. xxiii. 8 1 832 ; also, Le Manuel diplomatique, 1 822. A fourth edition of Le Guide Diplomatique was published in 1 85 1 ; a fifth, with notes by Geff cken, in 1856. See Appendix, below, pp. 220 sqq., for extracts. * See fourth edition by Wegmann, 2 vols., pp. xxvi + 512, and xii+ 607. The third edition (3 vols., 1837) was unauthorized by Martens, and in a note to the Preface of the fourth edition he wrote : ' L' edition actucllc cst dcsormais la seule que nous entendions reconnaitre '. 10 i, pp. 1-28. II i, pp. 29-37, with foot-notes which hcte, as throughout the work, are of value. . " i, pp. 38-53. 13 i, pp. 66-82, with sections ' des Icttres de creance, des pleins-pouvoiis, des instructions, du chiffrc ' (see foot-notes, pp. 77-9), and ' des passe-ports et des saufs-conduits '. Supplementary Reading 157 diplomatique ; x Observations generates sur le style diploma- tique ; 2 De la langue employee dans les relations diploma- tiques ; 3 Actes Publics emanes d'un Gouvernement ; 4 Pieces et Documents concernant 1'etablissement du caractere public de 1'Agent diplomatique, ainsi que 1'exercice et la cessation de ses fonctions ; 5 Correspondance diplomatique ; 6 Congres et Conferences. 7 (e) Satow (Sir Ernest), A Guide to Diplomatic Practice* The intention of the author ' was to produce a work which would be of service alike to the international lawyer, the diplo- matist, and the student of history.' 9 Accordingly, both the 1 i, pp. 167-201. 2 ii, pp. 1-5. 3 ii, pp. 6-9. 4 ii, pp. 31-195 : manifestes et proclamations; declarations (' en quelque sorte des memoires dont le but est de refuter des bruits mal fondes, de justifier des mesures deja prises ou a prendre, ou bien d'instruire le public des demarches faites ou a faire', ii, p. 56); exposes de motifs de conduite ; traites publics et conventions ; de la signature des traites ; des cartels ; actes d'acceptation, d'accession ou d'adhesion ; actes de ratification, de garantie, de cession et de renonciation, de prise de possession, d'abdication ; reversales (ou lettres reversales : ' la piece officielle par laquelle une cour reconnait qu'une concession speciale qui lui est faite par une autre cour ne devra prejudicier en rien aux droits et prerogatives anterieures de chacune d'elles. . . . Lorsque la reversale est signee par le chef de I'fitat elle rec.oit la forme de lettre patente : lorsqu'elle est souscrite par des plenipotentiaires, elle est redigee sous forme de declaration ', p. 1 93). See historical examples cited, e.g. Declaration du roi de Prusse sur sa rupture avec I'Angleterre (1807), pp. 57-8. 8 ii, pp. 196-265. See especially on 'instructions', with historical examples (e.g. of Choiseul to Breteuil, 1766), pp. 245-65. 6 ii, pp. 266-524 ; especially, Memoires et Memorandum ; Notes diplo- matiques ; Lettres diplomatiques ; Depeches ou Rapports ; with historical examples. 7 ii, pp. 525-43, especially Protocoles, pp. 525-35, with historical examples. 8 2 vols., 1917, xii + 4O7, and ix + 4o5: one of a projected series of ' Contributions to International Law and Diplomacy ', ed. by L. Oppen- heim. 9 Editorial Introduction, i. v. 158 The Literature of International Relations practical and the legal side of diplomacy have been kept in view; an outline of the important Congresses and Conferences is included, and the different kinds of international compacts have been treated in some detail. The manner of conducting Congresses and Conferences, and of framing treaties and like instruments, is in the majority of cases, analysed. With regard to Good Offices and Mediation the historical supports and illustrations given by the author are considerable and ample. The language of the originals is retained, in the larger part of the work, in quotations from treaties and other State Papers. An Appendix contains a list of treatises on International Law likely to be of use to diplomatists, and a supplementary list of works, historical, biographical, and other, that ' may be useful to junior members of the diplomatic service ', and not to these only. There are parts of this work that more especially deserve atten- tion within our own purpose : the first few pages l on definitions and uses of the words ' diplomacy ' and ' diplomat ', ' diplomate ', ' diplomatist ' ; a chapter 2 on ' The Minister for Foreign Affairs ' ; a chapter, 3 historical in character, entitled ' Precedence among States and Similar Matters ' ; a chapter 4 on ' The Language of Diplomatic Intercourse, and Forms of Documents ', especially the sections on the former use of Latin, French, and Spanish, on the language used in treaties, and on the Note, the note verbale, and the memorandum ; a chapter 5 on * Counsels to Diplomatists ', including the Minister for Foreign Affairs ; 6 1 i, pp. 1-4. 2 i, ch. iii, pp. 8-12. n i, ch. iv, pp. 13-25. * i, ch. vii, pp. 58-99. 6 i, ch. ix, pp. 119-45. * ' We venture to suggest that a Minister for Foreign Affairs ought always to have a clear idea of the policy to be pursued in regard to each separate foreign state, and to seize every convenient opportunity of dis- cussing it with the heads of the respective diplomatic missions. It is to be regretted that the earlier practice of providing an envoy proceeding to Supplementary Reading 159 a chapter 1 on 'Latin and French Phrases' ultimatum, uti possidetis and status quo ; 2 ad referendum 3 and sub spe rati ; casus belli and casus foedcris ; demarche ; prendre acte ; a short chapter 4 ' Of Diplomatic Agents in General ' ; a chapter 5 entitled ' Classification of Diplomatic Agents ' ; 6 one 7 on 'The Diplomatic Body'; two chapters, 8 historical in character, on ' Congresses ' and ' Conferences ' ; parts of five chapters * on ' Treaties and other International Compacts ' e. g. Treaty, Convention, Additional Articles, Acte Finale, Declaration, Protocol, Proces-verbal, Exchange of Notes, his post for the first time with detailed instructions has in some countries fallen into disuse.' i, p. 142. ' The moral qualities prudence, foresight, intelligence, penetration, wisdom of statesmen and nations have not kept pace with the development of the means of action at their disposal : armies, ships, guns, explosives, land transport, but, more than all, that of rapidity of communication by telegraph and telephone. These latter leave no time for reflection or consultation, and demand an immediate and often a hasty decision on matters of vital importance.' i, p. 145. 1 i, ch. x, pp. 146-67. 2 These two phrases are often used to denote the same thing, but, ' while uti possidetis relates to the possession of territory, the status quo may be the previously existing situation in regard to other matters ', i, p. 1 56. ' In stipulating for uti possidetis or for statu quo, it is ... of the utmost importance to fix the date to which either expression is to relate ', p. 157. 3 ' In these days, when telegraphic communication is possible between capitals even the most distant from each other, a prudent diplomatist will take care not to commit his Government by a provisional acceptance of what is not warranted by his previous instructions. The utmost he will do will be to receive the proposal ad referendum.' 1 i, pp. 158-9. 4 r, ch. xi, pp. 168-74. 5 i, ch. xvi, pp. 229-39. 6 ' Le mot ambaxador etait apparu au milieu du xnr* siecle ', Nys, Origines du droit international, p. 317, quoted i. 230. 7 i, ch. xxiii, pp. 339-64. 8 n, ch. xxv, pp. 1-93, and ch. xxvi, pp. 94-171. 9 11, ch. xxvii-xxxi, pp. 172-288. 160 The Literature of International Relations Modus vivendi, Ratification, Adhesion, and Accession ; a chapter l on * Mediation '. 2 6. (a) Frederick the Great, UHistoire de mon Temps. The interest of the State, said Frederick, ought to serve as the rule to sovereigns in their regard for treaties and alliances. Alliances may be broken : (l) when the ally fails to fulfil his engagements ; (2) when the ally is thinking of deceiving you, and there remains to you no resource except to anticipate him ; (3) when une force majeure overwhelms you, and constrains you to break your treaties ; and (4) when there is a lack of adequate means to continue war. ' Par je ne sais quelle fatalite ces malheureuses richesses influent sur tout. Les Princes sont des esclaves de leurs moyens ; 1'interet de 1'fitat leur sert de loi, & cette loi est inviolable. Si le Prince est dans 1'obligation de sacrifier sa personne meme au salut de ses sujets, a plus forte raison doit-il leur sacrifier des liaisons dont la continuation leur devien- droit pr6judiciable. Les exemples de pareils traites rompus se rencontrent communement. Notre intention n'est pas de les justifier tous. J'ose pourtant avancer qu'il en est de tels, que la necessite, ou la sagesse, la prudence, ou le bien des peuples obligeoit de transgresser, ne restant aux Souverains que ce moyen-la d'eviter leur ruine.' The word of a private person (un particular), Frederick says, may involve only one man in misfortune, whereas that of Sovereigns may bring calamities to whole nations. ' The question, therefore, is reduced to this, whether it is better 1 ii, ch. xxxiii, pp. 307-57. 2 ' Good offices ' (see n, pp. 289-306) are ' often confused with " media- tion ", and sometimes assume that form, while a mediation may now and then involve an arbitration. In fact, arbitration may be regarded essentially as an agreement to confer on a mediator, in place of a commis- sion to negotiate terms of settlement, the more extended power of pronoun- cing a judgment on the matters at issue between the parties,' ii. 358. Supplementary Reading 161 that the people should perish, or that the Prince should break the treaty he has made. And what man would be so stupid as to hesitate in deciding the question ?'...' If war could fix securely the frontiers of States, and maintain that balance of power which is so necessary for the Sovereigns of Europe, we might regard those who have fallen in war as sacrifices to the public tranquillity and safety.' Reason prescribes a rule from which no statesman should depart : he should seize occasion, and when it is favourable embark on his enterprise. ' La Politique demande de la patience, et le chef-d'ceuvre d'un homme habile est de faire chaque chose en son temps et a propos.' x (b) Clausewitz (1780-1834), On War? Allies in relation to ' the extent of the means of defence ' : * We may further reckon allies as the last support of the defensive. Naturally we do not mean ordinary allies, which the assailant may likewise have ; we speak of those essentially interested in maintaining the integrity of the country. If for instance we look at the various states composing Europe at the present time, we find (without speaking of a systematic- ally regulated balance of power and interests, as that does not exist, and is often with justice disputed, still, unquestionably) that the great and small states and interests of nations are interwoven with each other in a most diversified and change- able manner ; each of these points of intersection forms a binding knot, for in it the direction of the one gives equilibrium to the direction of the other ; by all these knots, therefore, evidently a more or less compact connection of the whole will 1 UHistoire de man Temps : Avant-Propos. Applications of Frederick's precepts abound in his writings : see, e.g., the beginning of ch. iv of the History. 2 Translated from the third German edition, by Colonel J. J. Graham, 3 vols. in one, 1873. For the connexion of Clausewitz with Scharnhorst and Stein, see Seeley's Stein. 2224 M 1 62 The Literature of International Relations be formed, and this general connection must be partially overturned by every change. In this manner the whole relations of all states to each other serve rather to preserve the stability of the whole than to produce changes ; that is to say, this tendency to stability exists in general. This we conceive to be the true notion of a balance of power, and in this sense it will always of itself come into existence, whenever there are extensive connections between civilised states. How far this tendency of the general interests to the maintenance of the existing state of things is efficient is another question ; at all events we can conceive some changes in the relations of single states to each other, which promote this efficiency of the whole, and others which obstruct it. ... The defensive, in general, may count more on foreign aid than the offensive ; he may reckon the more certainly on it in proportion as his existence is of importance to others, that is to say, the sounder and more vigorous his political and military condition.' 1 Influence of the political object on the military : * Even in wars carried on without allies, the political cause of a war has a great influence upon the method in which it is conducted. . . . The reciprocal action, the rivalry, the violence and impetuosity of war lose themselves in the stagnation of weak motives, and . . . both parties move with a certain kind of security in very circumscribed spheres. If this influence of the political object is once permitted, as it then must be, there is no longer any limit, and we must be prepared to come down to such warfare as consists in a mere threatening of the enemy and in negotiating. That the theory of war, if it is to be and continue a philosophical study, finds itself here in 1 Clausewitz, On War, ii, pp. 81-3. Cf . : 'When a great state which has smaller allies is conquered, these usually secede very soon from their alliance, so that the victor, in this respect, with every blow becomes stronger ; but if the conquered state is small, protectors must sooner present themselves when his very existence is threatened, and others, who have helped to place him in his present embarrassment, will turn round to prevent his complete downfall.' Ibid., iii, p. 37. Supplementary Reading 163 a difficulty is clear. All that is essentially inherent in the conception of war seems to fly from it, and it is in danger of being left without any point of support. . . . All military art then turns itself into mere prudence.' x War as an instrument of policy : ' War is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means. We say, mixed with other means, in order thereby to maintain at the same time that this political intercourse does not cease by the war itself, is not changed into something quite different, but that, in its essence, it continues to exist, whatever may be the form of the means which it uses, and that the chief lines on which the events of the war progress, and to which they are attached, are only the general features of policy which run all through the war until peace is made. ... Is not war merely another kind of writing and language for political thoughts ? It has certainly a grammar of its own, but its logic is not peculiar to itself. . . . That the political point of view should end com- pletely when war begins, is only conceivable in contests which are wars of life and death, from pure hatred. . . . The sub- ordination of the political point of view to the military would be contrary to common sense, for policy has declared the war ; it is the intelligent faculty, war only the instrument, not the reverse. . . . The art of war in its highest point of view is policy, but, no doubt, a policy which fights battles, instead of writing notes. ... It is only when policy promises itself a wrong effect from certain military means and measures, an effect opposed to their nature, that it can exercise a preju- dicial effect on war by the course it prescribes. . . . This has happened times without end, and it shows that a certain knowledge of the nature of war is essential to the management of political commerce. ... If war is to harmonise entirely with the political views and policy, to accommodate itself to the means available for war, there is only^one alternative to be recommended when the statesman and soldier are not combined in one person, which is to make the chief commander a member of the cabinet, that he may take part in its councils 1 Ibid., Hi, pp. 64-5. M 2 164 The Literature of International Relations and decisions on important occasions. But then, again, this is only possible when the cabinet, that is the government itself, is near the theatre of war, so that things can be settled without a serious waste of time.' * 7. Sorel, L 'Europe et la Revolution franc,aise? In the first volume 3 there are passages treating of La Raison d'tat ; Les Regies de Conduite ; La Foi des Traites ; Le Systeme de Pfiquilibre ; La Diplomatic ; Ruine de 1'Europe. 8. James Harris, first Earl of Malmesbury (1746-1820), Diaries and Correspondence.* The work is an established and indispensable authority for an understanding of the diplomacy of the times of which it treats. It contains much that is of value bearing on internal politics both in Britain and in Continental States, and on the influence of the constitutional system and of domestic politics upon the conduct of foreign policy. 6 Malmesbury gave advice to a young man 'destined for the foreign line'. 6 His grandson had doubts whether the maxims then enunciated were wholly applicable a generation later. 7 9. Bernard 8 (Mountague), Four Lectures on Subjects connected with Diplomacy. 9 1 Clausewitz, iii, pp. 65-8. a 6 vols., 1885-1903. 3 2nd ed., 1907, ch. i, pp. 9-91. 4 Containing an account of his missions at the Court of Madrid, to Frederick the Great, Catherine the Second, and at the Hague ; and of his special missions to Berlin, Brunswick, and the French Republic. Edited by his grandson, the third earl. 4 vols., 1844. 6 e.g. i. (2nd ed.), pp. 169 (Russia in 1778), 171 (Britain in 1778), and 208-9 (the absence of instructions in July 1779) ; cf. iii. 517. 6 iv, pp. 412-15. See Appendix, pp. 234-6. 7 iv, p. 417. 8 Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. 1868, viii + 205. Supplementary Reading 165 The subjects of these four very interesting lectures are : (i) The Congress of Westphalia ; (2) Systems of Policy ; x (3) Diplomacy, Past and Present (with much miscellaneous information) ; (4) The Obligation of Treaties. 10. Holland, Studies in International Law. 2 The following are among the subjects discussed : Gentili ; Early Literature of the Law of War (to the second half of the sixteenth century) ; the Progress towards a written Law of War ; Pacific Blockade ; Treaty Relations between Russia and Turkey, 1774-1853, with Appendices, 3 on which subject 1 ' The word " System ", in the language of politicians, sometimes stands for a system of States, and sometimes for a system of policy. In the first case it signifies a group of States having relations more or less permanent with one another. Thus the North of Europe was said before the time of Richelieu, and less positively afterwards, to form one " system ", and the central, western, and southern States to constitute another system. So, again, all the European Powers are often spoken of as composing one great system. In the second case it means, either any course of policy whatever any tolerably uniform mode of acting in political affairs or such a course of policy as involves combinations, more or less permanent, with foreign Powers. A statesman who habitually avoids engaging his country in foreign alliances has a consistent principle of action, but not a "system" in this latter sense of the word. His principle is to have no system. It is in this latter sense that the word is commonly used by older publicists,' pp. 61-2. It is the sense in which it is used by the author. Cf. : ' Whoever undertakes to write the history of any particular states- system (by which we mean the union of several contiguous states, resembling each other in their manners, religion, and degree of social improvement, and cemented together by a reciprocity of interests), ought, above all things, to possess a right conception of its general character.' Heeren, A Manual of the Political System of Europe, transl. 1834, i, pp. viii-ix : so, ' the rise of the European political system ' ; ' the Southern European States-system ' ; ' the Northern European States-system '. 2 1898. 3 (i) Treaties between Russia and Turkey, 1774-1853, and (2) showing the relation of the Treaty of Kainardji to the subsequent great treaties. 1 66 The Literature of International Relations reference should be made to the same author's The European Concert in the Eastern Question 1 (Treaties and other Public Acts, with introductions and notes). ii. (a) Report from the Select Committee on the Diplomatic Service (with Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, &c.), 2 1861. This very valuable Report contains the evidence of Claren- don, Stratford de Redcliffe, Malmesbury, Cowley, Lord John Russell, Edmund Hammond (Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), and others. It is of high value on questions of training, procedure, the effect of telegraphic communication on the requirements and conditions of the service, the publication of dispatches. There is a helpful Index of fifty-four pages. (b) Hammond, Adventures of a Paper in the Foreign Office, 1864, reprinted in Report of the Commission on the Diplomatic and Consular Services, i8yi. 3 Hertslet (Sir Edward), Recollections of the Old Foreign Office.* (c) Parliamentary Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 5 (1912) : Treatment of International Questions by Parliaments in European Countries, the United States, and Japan. 5 (d) Fifth Report of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service : Diplomatic Corps and the Foreign Office. 6 1 1885. 2 P p.xx + 555. 3 Com. Papers, 1871, vi. 197. 4 1901, pp. x-f 275: ch. iv-v, 'Secretaries of State'; vi, 'Under Secretaries ' ; vii, ' Foreign Office Officials ' (including Edmund Hammond and Lewis Hertslet. ' There have been four generations of the Hertslet family in the Foreign Office since 1795', p. 144, f.n.) ; viii, 'King's (Queen's) Messengers ' ; ch. xi, ' Diplomatists and Consuls ' ; Appendix, ' Secretaries of State * (historical and chronological). Cd. 6102. Cd. 7748(1914). Supplementary Reading 167 The Statesman's Year-Book^ recent and current, and The Foreign Office List, 1 begun in 1852, should be consulted. 1 For a chronological list of Ambassadors, Envoys, Ministers, Charges d'Affaires, &c., from Great Britain to Foreign States, from 1851 to 1918, see the edition for 1918; for lists from 1740 to 1813, see editions previous to 1862 ; from 1814 to 1836, editions previous to 1873 ; from 1837 to 1850, editions previous to 1902. For Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs from 1782 to 1918, see edition for 1918; for Secretaries of State for the Northern and Southern Departments, from 1761 to 1782, see edition for 1901. For Under-Secretaries of State from 1854 to 1918, see edition for 1918 ; for before 1854, see edition for 1901. 8 Literature of Recent British Diplomacy i. (a) Seeley, The Growth of British Policy. 1 The work is of great value for its way of appreciating ques- tions of international 'policy' in general, for an interpretation of the international policy of Britain from the accession of Elizabeth to the early years of the eighteenth century, and for the skill with which the author shows the historical background of modern Britain in its relation to foreign States. The work was needed. * In France, where for a long time constitutional develop- ment, if it existed, escaped notice, still more in Germany, where it was petty and uninteresting, history leaned towards foreign affairs. But in England, the home of constitutionalism, history leaned just as decidedly in the opposite direction. English eyes are always bent upon Parliament, English history always tends to shrink into mere parliamentary history, and as Parliament itself never shines less than in the discussion of foreign affairs, so there is scarcely a great English historian who does not sink somewhat below himself in the treatment of English foreign relations.' 2 1 ^ vols., 1895. a Op. cit. i, pp. 1-2. Sir John Seeley commends the work of Gardiner and of Kinglake in remedying this defect of English historians ' since Ranke tried in his English History to supply those links between English and continental affairs ' (especially, one may add, for the reign of Charles II) ' which English historians had not troubled themselves to give ' (p. 2). He pays a striking tribute to Kinglake in this connexion : ' In his book England always appears as a Power. He sees her always in the company of other great states, walking by the side of France or Austria, supporting Turkey, withstanding Russia. Her Parliament is in the background ; in Literature of Recent British Diplomacy 169 The work may seem, at points, to treat in too large outline international changes, such as, for example, were initiated by Richelieu, 1 and to ascribe too boldly to the English Revolution important changes effected ; 2 and in particular it may seem to pursue too assiduously, though with more reserve than in The Expansion of England, the quest for tendency, for some large conclusion, the formula. But it is a work unsurpassed in Britain for its suggestiveness in the realm of international policy ; for its gift of relating causes to effects, motives and principles to policy and action ; of relating the domes-tic to the foreign, the insular to the international ; for its grasp of inter-connexions and inter-dependences in the causes and consequences of great events. These qualities are exhibited in the author's treatment of the dangers to Elizabethan England from the Powers of the Counter-Reformation, 3 and the winning by England of ' a self-confidence which it has never lost since '. 4 ' If the Muse is asked to say what first caused the discord the front of the stage he puts the Ministers who act in the name, or the generals who wield the force, of England, the Great Power.' 1 j> PP- 357-65- 2 ii, pp. 275-308, and the chapter on 'The Work of William III'. In a summary statement, ii, p. 344, the author says of ' The Second Revolution ' that it ' was in the first place a rising against arbitrary power, but a rising undertaken in circumstances so peculiar that it necessarily involved (i) an immediate war with France, (2) a supplementary revolution of the same kind which we call the Hanoverian Succession, (3) another great war with France and Spain, (4) a union with Scotland and at least the intro- duction of a new system in Ireland, (5) and as the result of all these things a great development of trade and the foundation of a Trade Empire, which brings us into a position of permanent rivalry to France and Spain hence- forth united in a family policy.' See also ii, p. 308. 'The second Revo- lution ' is ' not a single occurrence belonging to the year 1688, but a long development beginning many years before and ending considerably later than 1688.' ii, pp. 327-8. 3 i, part I, ch. iii-viii. 4 i, p. 215. 170 The Literature of International Relations which brought the Spanish Armada to our shores, she must answer that it was the conviction which the Spaniards formed that they could not deal with the rebellion in the Low Countries without dealing at the same time with the English question.' x The same qualities of the author are shown not less clearly and fruitfully in his analysis of the place of the English Revolu- tion in relation to international affairs and the liberties of Europe, 2 in his estimate of the work of William III, 'the pius Aeneas, who bears the weight of destiny,' 3 and in his comparison and linking of the policy of Elizabeth, of Cromwell, and of William. 4 'What began about 1567 with the commencement of the Dutch rebellion is in a sense completed at the Treaty of Utrecht. For us the result is that our state begins to assume the character of a great Trade Empire. . . . The second Revolu- tion, which seemed to take its rise in religion, ends in commerce ; it results, if we regard it comprehensively, in establishing a greater commercial state than the world had yet seen.' 5 (b) Egerton, British Foreign Policy in Europe to the End of the iyth century.* There is no work that gives a continuous account of British diplomacy and foreign policy on a scale commensurate with the importance of the subject ; and it is a task that cannot be discharged adequately by the labour, knowledge, and good judgement of one man only. In the absence of such a work, this book will be found of use as a general introduction to the study of the subject. 7 It is more especially concerned with 1 The Growth of British Policy, i, p. 153. 2 ii, pp. 274-348. 3 , P- 3*5- * e.g. ii, pp. 322-5. 6 ii, pp. 338, 339. Cf. pp. 343, 347, on the Second Hundred Years' War, and the concluding chapter on ' The Commercial State '. 6 1917, pp. viii + 440. 7 ch. i, Introductory, ii, Religion, Trade and Foreign Greed ; their Influence upon English Foreign Policy, 1570-1688. iii, The Resistance to French World-Supremacy; Anglo-French Rapprochements, 1689-1789. Literature of Recent British Diplomacy 171 British foreign policy during the nineteenth century, and in the exposition of policy ' from the eve of the French Revolu- tion ' the author has ' called in aid the actual words, written or spoken, of the leading statesmen and diplomatists who were responsible ' for its conduct. 1 2. The Cambridge Modern History, vols. xi and xii, and The Political History of England, vol. xii ; Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire generate, vol. xii. * In earlier volumes the attempt has been made to show the shifting from time to time of the centre of gravity in Europe. From about 1660 to 1870 that centre of gravity was undoubt- edly in Paris. Since 1871 France, though still in the forefront of European culture, has lost something of her pride of place. The centre of European politics proper has been at Berlin ; the centre of world-politics, which are also European politics in the larger sense, has been in London. And it is not by accident that the Hague, midway between London and Berlin and nearly equidistant from Paris, has been chosen as the meeting-ground of European Councils. Whether the coming generation sees the centre of world-politics transferred from London to Washington depends on various contin- gencies ; among others on the policy adopted by Great Britain towards her self-governing Colonies, and on the degree of interest which the United States may come to take in matters outside their own boundaries. Up to the present 2 , the United States have taken no share in European politics, little in world-politics ; but the Spanish War and the annexa- tion of the Philippines have introduced a change.' 3 iv, British Foreign Policy during the French Revolution and the Empire, 1790-1814. v, The Concert of Europe, 1814-30. vi, The Growth of Nationalism. The Peculiar Character of Anglo-French Relations, 1830-53. vii, The Growth of Nationalism (contd.), 1854-70. viii, The New Europe and its Problems, 1871-1900. ix, British Sea-Power in its Relations to other Nations. 1 p. vi. 2 1910. 3 The Cambridge Modern History, vol. xii, p. 12. 172 The Literature of International Relations 3. Debidour, Histoire diplomatique de V Europe contemporaine, 1 8 14-78.! 4. (a) Treaties, as above, 2 and Hertslet, The Map of Europe by Treaty? (b) Phillimore (W. G. F.), Three Centuries of Treaties of Peace and their Teaching* The author has attempted to show how, and how far, the condition of Europe at the outset of the War of 1914 was due to previous diplomatic settlements, and ' how war could be prevented and how it could be humanized and regulated if it did occur '. He makes the broad assertion, that ' treaties of the eighteenth century give us lessons in regulation ; treaties of the nineteenth, in humanization ; while the twentieth century began with attempts at prevention, imperfect un- happily, and too weak to stand severe strain, but not without value as guides to a more perfect scheme in the future '. 5 5. The Crown, Ministers, Parliament, and the Conduct of Foreign Policy. The treatment of this subject in books is inadequate. Anson, Law and Custom of the Constitution : The Crown ; 8 Todd, Parliamentary Government in England ; ' Bagehot, The 1 2 vols., 1891. a pp. 144-5. 3 See above, pp. 146-8. 4 1917, pp. xvi 4 227. Ch. i, Conditions of a Just, Lasting, and Effective Treaty of Peace, ii, Lessons supplied by Treaties of Peace from West- phalia, 1648, to the Congress of Vienna, 1815. iii, The Congress of Vienna and its Legacies, iv, The Making of Italy and the Remaking of Germany, v, The Treaty History of Eastern Europe, vi, Extra-European Treaties of Peace, vii, Treaties concerning the Laws of War. viii, How Treaties are brought to an End. ix, Conclusions. The author gives a useful list of authorities, pp. xiii-xvi, and a chronological list of treaties referred to in the text, pp. 179-84. 6 p. x. e 1908. Part i, pp. 42-4, 128-30; Part n, pp. 102-8. 7 2 vols., 1866. In ed. of 1892 (edit, by Spencer Walpole), i. 125-41 (Part ii, ch. ii). Literature of Recent British Diplomacy 173 English Constitution ; x Spencer Walpole, Foreign Relations ; 2 The Letters of Queen Victoria, 1837-61 ; 3 Hansard, Parlia- 1 2nd ed., 1872. See the introductory pages to the 2nd ed. (and later eds.), pp. xli-lii : the work itself hardly touches the subject. See also a dis- cussion, from opposing standpoints, of constitutional questions raised by the publication of the Life of the Prince Consort (the third volume), and especially with reference to public opinion as a guide in foreign policy, in The Crown and the Cabinet, by ' Verax ', ' The Crown and the Con- stitution ' in the Quarterly Review, April 1878, and the Reply of ' Verax ' to the Quarterly Review, Edinburgh Review, July 1878. 2 1882, especially ch. iv. 3 3 vols., 1907; in edition of 1908, i, pp. 106-7 (Palmerston to Queen Victoria, February 25, 1838); ii, pp. 221-2 (Lord John Russell to Prince Albert, on procedure as to the drafting of dispatches and on Palmerston, June 19, 1849), P- 2 64 an d PP- 363-4 (the Queen's memorandum to Lord John Russell, ' shortly to explain ' ' with reference to the communi- cation about Lord Palmerston ' ' what it is she expects from her Foreign Secretary', August 12, 1850), pp. 351-3 (Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell, December 28, 1851: 'The Queen thinks the moment of the change ' on Palmerston's dismissal ' in the person of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to afford a fit opportunity to have the principles upon which our Foreign Affairs have been conducted since the beginning of 1848 re-considered by Lord John Russell and his Cabinet ') ; iii, pp. 68-9 (the Queen to Lord Aberdeen, January 13, 1855), p. 334 (the Queen to the Earl of Malmesbury : ' The Queen is much afraid of these telegraphic short messages on principles of policy', May 20, 1859), pp. 367-8, 370, 371, 372-3 (the Queen, Russell, and Palmerston on responsibility for the conduct of foreign policy : ' What is the use of the Queen's open, and, she fears, sometimes wearisome correspondence with her Ministers, what the use of long deliberations of the Cabinet, if the very policy can be carried out by indirect means which can be set aside officially, and what protection has the Queen against this practice?' The Queen to Russell, September 5, 1859. ' Lord John Russell feels, on his own part, that he must offer to your Majesty such advice as he thinks best adapted to secure the interests and dignity of your Majesty and the country. He will be held by Parlia- ment responsible for that advice. It will always be in your Majesty's power to reject it altogether.' Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria, October 7, 1859). 174 The Literature of International Relations mentary Debates, e. g. on the Anglo-German Agreement and the Cession of Heligoland, 1 and on the motion in the House of Commons, March 19, 1918, that, ' in the opinion of this House, a Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs should be appointed, representative of all parties and groups in the House, in order that a regular channel of communication may be established between the Foreign Secretary and the House of Commons which will afford him frequent opportunities of giving information on questions of Foreign policy and which, by allowing Members to acquaint themselves more fully with current international problems, will enable this House to exercise closer supervision over the general conduct of Foreign affairs ; ' 2 Keith, Responsible Government in the British Dominions ; 3 The Oxford Survey of the British Empire ; 4 Extracts from Minutes of Proceedings laid before the Imperial War Conference, I9I7; 5 The War Cabinet: Report for the Year 1917.* The subject is almost entirely ignored by A. Lawrence Lowell, The Government of England, 1 and by Sydney Low, 1 jrd series, vol. cccxlvi-cccxlvii. See below, Appendix, pp. 260-3. 2 Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, March 19, 1918, vol. 104, especially the speech of the Foreign Secretary (Mr. A. J. Balfour), 864-76. See below, Appendix, pp. 265-9. 3 3 vols., 1912. See vol. iii, pp. 1102, 1126-30. 4 6 vols., 1914, vol. i, General Survey, especially pp. 32, 54, 59, 84, 89, 114, 117. 'The diplomatic and consular services form the Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office, the eyes and ears of the State. They demand an Odyssean capacity for discovering the riddle of a foreign Government's intentions and for reading rightly the face of events. The diplomatic eye must, where necessary, see through the most authoritative of denials ' ch. ii, pp. 74-5, Barrington-Ward on ' The Foreign Office and its Agents '. 5 Cd. 8566, p. 61. See below, Appendix, p. 282. Cd. 9005, pp. vi-vii. See below, Appendix, pp. 282-4. 7 2 vols., 1908. See vol. i, pp. 45-6 and 86-7. Literature of Recent British Diplomacy 175 The Governance of England, 1 as it had also been by a mid- Victorian work of considerable repute, The Government of England? by W. E. Hearn. Lowell's Governments and Parties in Continental Europe 3 is useful for a comparative study, and the following are authorita- tive works on the constitutions and the constitutional law of the European States : the Marquardsen series, 4 Handbuch des ojfentlichen Rechts der Gegenzvart ; Dareste, Les Constitutions modernes ; 5 Demombynes, Les Constitutions europeennes* More directly bearing on the subject of this section is Dupriez, Les Ministres dans les principaux pays d 1 Europe et d'Amerique. 1 Whereas Mr. Lawrence Lowell is interested primarily in parties, M. Dupriez is interested in the minister. Mr. Lowell views the position of the minister chiefly as it affects the condition of parties ; M. Dupriez touches on parties so far as they affect the authority of the minister. The Parliamentary Paper issued in 1912 on the treatment of international questions by Parlia- ments on the Continent of Europe, and in the United States and Japan, 8 briefly expounds rights and procedure from the standpoint of the Houses, in pursuance of the resolution passed requesting information ; very briefly, and unequally in the several reports, it shows also the position of the minister. 1 1904. z 1867. 3 2 vols., 1896. i, pp. xiv + 377 : France; Italy; Germany, n, pp. viii + 455 : Germany (contd.) ; Austria-Hungary ; Switzerland. With Appendix: The Constitutional Laws of France; Statute of Italy; Constitution of the German Empire ; Fundamental Laws of Austria ; Constitution of Switzerland. 4 1883 and subsequent years. 5 Recueil des Constitutions en vigueur dans les divers Etats d'Europe, d'Amerique, et du monde civilise, 2nd ed., 1891, 2 vols., pp. xxv + 686, and 687. There are historical notes and bibliographies. 6 2 vols., 2nd ed. 1 883, pp. xxxix + 888, and 911. There are introductions. 7 2 vols., 2nd ed., 1893. 8 Cd. 6102. See above, p. 166, and Appendix, pp. 270-8. 176 The Literature of International Relations 6. (a) Lord Augustus Loftus, Diplomatic Reminiscences, I837-7/. 1 They set forth much on the relations between Austria and Prussia, on the Eastern Question, questions affecting Italy, the Schleswig-Holstein Question, and on the character and policy of Bismarck. 2 () Earl of Malmesbury, Memoirs of an ex-Minister: 9 ' a macedoine,' says the author, ' of memoranda, diary, and correspondence.' The work is valuable for the years 1852-69, and especially for questions connected with Lord Derby's ministries and with Louis Napoleon. (c) Maxwell, Life and Letters of the Fourth Earl of Clarendon,* ' the able English Foreign Secretary '. 5 (d) Newton, Lord Lyons : a Record of British Diplomacy* at Washington and Paris. (e) Fitzmaurice, Life of Earl Granville. 1 (/) Redesdale, Memories* There is a chapter on Clarendon and Granville. 7. Parliamentary and State Papers : see Index, 1853, for 1801-52, and 1909, for 1852-99; and Catalogue 9 for 1801- 1901 ; also The Annual Register and The Times Index. 1 4 vols., 1892, 1894. 2 ' The position of an English Ambassador at Berlin ', Bismarck is reported to have said, on November 30, 1871, 'has its own special duties and difficulties, if only on account of the personal relations of the two Royal families. It demands a great deal of tact and care.' Busch, Bis- marck, i. 343. 8 2 vols., 1884. * 2 vols., 1913. 8 Lord Malmesbury in his reflections, in his Memoirs, on Lord Derby's death, October 23, 1869, followed in 1870 by that of Lord Clarendon. 6 2 vols., 1913. 7 2 vols., 1895. 8 2 vols., 1915. Published by P. S. King. Literature of International Ethics 1. ' The true interest of everything is to conform to its own constitution and nature ; and my nature owns reason and social obligation. Socially, as Antoninus, I have for my city and country Rome ; as a man, the world.' x 2. The mediaeval ideal 2 of the sacerdotium, as of Pope Hildebrand ; of the imferium, as of Frederick Barbarossa ; of the studium, in the thought of Aquinas, on one side, as well as in the thought of Dante, 3 on the other side is the unity and concord of the Christian Commonwealth, whether a 1 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, To Himself, Book vi, 44. 2 It has been sympathetically and finely appreciated by Robertson, Regnum Dei (1901), with St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei as the central theme. 3 Especially in his De Monarchia. Writing of the Commedia, Dean Church said : ' Lucretius had drawn forth the poetry of nature and its laws ; Virgil and Livy had unfolded the poetry of the Roman Empire ; St. Augustine, the still grander poetry of the history of the City of God ; but none had yet ventured to weave into one the three wonderful threads.' Dante (1878), with a translation of De Monarchia by F. J. Church. On the scheme of De Monarchia see pp. 88-90 and 93-7. See also Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, and Robertson, Regnum Dei. The following extracts will show Dante's general standpoint. ' There is a certain proper operation of the whole body of human kind, for which this whole body of men in all its multitudes is ordered and constituted, but to which no one man, nor single family, nor single neighbourhood (vicinia), nor single city (civitas), nor particular kingdom (regnum par- ticulare) can attain ' (bk. i. iii). ' It is plain that the whole human race is ordered to gain some end. . . . There must, therefore, be one to guide and govern, and the proper title for this office is Monarch or Emperor. And so it is plain that Monarchy or the Empire is necessary for the welfare of the world ' (bk. i. v.). ' And as the part is to the whole, so is the order of parts to the order of the whole (sic ordo partialis ad totalem). The part is to the whole, as to an end and highest good which is aimed at ; and, there- 2224 N 178 The Literature of International Relations World-Church (and it was the Church, before and more than the secular power, in the Middle Ages that had the attributes and majesty of ' the State '), or a World-State, Christian. 4 Throughout the Middle Age,' it has been said, 1 ' and even for a while longer, the outward framework of all Political Doctrine consisted of the grandiose but narrow system of thoughts that had been reared by the Medieval Spirit. It was a system of thoughts which culminated in the idea of a Community which God Himself had constituted and which comprised All Mankind. This system may be expounded, as it is by Dante, in all its purity and all its fulness, or it may become the shadow of a shade ; but rudely to burst its bars asunder is an exploit which is but now and again attempted by some bold innovator.' ' Political Thought when it is genuinely medieval starts from the Whole, but ascribes an intrinsic value to every Partial Whole, down to and including the Individual.' 2 ' In the Universal Whole, Mankind is one Partial Whole with a final cause of its own, which is distinct from the final causes of fore, the order in the parts is to the order in the whole, as it is to the end and highest good aimed at ' (Pars ad totum se babel, sicut ad finem tt optimum. Ergo et ordo in parte, ad ordinem in toto, sicut ad finem et optimum) (i. vi.). ' Further, the whole human race is a whole with reference to cer- tain parts, and, with reference to another whole, it is a part. For it is a whole with reference to particular kingdoms and nations . . . , and it is a part with reference to the whole universe. ... It is only under the rule of one prince that the parts of humanity are well adapted to their whole . . . ; therefore, it is only by being under one Princedom, or the rule of a single Prince, that humanity as a whole is well adapted to the Universe, or its Prince, who is the One God ' (i. vii.). 1 Gierke (Professor of Law in the University of Berlin), Political Theories of the Middle Age, translated with an Introduction (pp. vii-xlv) by Maitland, 1900, pp. 3-4. Both the text and the introduction show rare scholarship, and there are almost a hundred pages (101-197) f notes Ml of learning on mediaeval thought. See especially the chapters, ' Macrocosm and Microcosm ' ; ' Unity in Church and State ' ; ' The Idea of Organization ' ; ' The Idea of Personality ' ; ' The Relation of the State to the Law '. 2 Ibid., p. 7. The Mediaeval Ideal 179 Individuals and from those of other Communities. 1 Therefore, in all centuries of the Middle Age Christendom, which in destiny is identical with Mankind, is set before us as a single, universal Community, founded and governed by God Himself. Mankind is one " mystical body " ; it is one single and inter- nally connected " people " or " folk " ; it is an all-embracing corporation (universitas), which constitutes that Universal Realm, spiritual and temporal, which may be called the Universal Church (ecclesia universalis), or, with equal pro- priety, the Common wealth of the Human Race (re spublica generis humani). Therefore that it may attain its one purpose, it needs One Law (lex) and One Government (unicus prindpatus).' 2 * Le moyen age fournit un beau chapitre a Pinteressant sujet de 1'ideal de la paix dans 1'histoire.' 3 3. Projects of Perpetual Peace* (Modern). The best-known are those of the Abbe de Saint-Pierre, Rousseau, Bentham, and Kant. The Abbe de Saint-Pierre's Projet de Paix perpetuelle* was 1 'Dante, I, c. 3 and 4, endeavours to define the common purpose of Mankind. He finds it in the continuous activity of the whole potency of Reason, primarily in the speculative, secondarily in the practical. This is the 'operatio propria universitatis humanae'; the individual man, the household, the civitas and the regnum particulare are insufficient for it. For the achievement of it only a World-Realm will serve, and the propinquissimum medium is the establishment of an Universal Peace. Comp. Ill, c. 16.' Ibid., note, p. 103. 2 Gierke, op. cit., p. 10, and note, pp. 103-4, on mediaeval thought in relation to the Universal Church and the Commonwealth of Mankind. See, further, pp. 17-18, 22 (Society as organism), 75-6 (the Law of God, of Nature, and of Nations lus Commune Gentium, such law as all nations agreed in recognizing), 90-1 (the Final Cause of the State), and notes on pp. 188-9. 3 Nys, Les Origines du Droit International (i 894), p. 388. The high mission of the Emperor was to maintain peace. ' Imperator-pacificus, tel etait le plus ancien, le plus beau de ses litres. ' Ibid., p. 390. ' Karolus gratia Dei Rex ... a Deo coronatus magnus Pacificus Imperator.' 4 Nys, ch. xiv, ' Les Irenistes,' gives mediaeval anticipations and analogies. See also the chapter, ' La Paix et les Traites de Paix ', pp. 264-77. 5 ' Projet de Traite pour rendre la paix perpetuelle entre les souverains Chretiens, pour maintenir toujours le commerce entre les nations et pour N 2 i8o The Literature of International Relations published at the time of the Peace of Utrecht, the Conference of which was attended by him ; and his Abrege du Projet de Paix perpetuelle, 1 in which his plan is developed, was published in 1729. Wheaton has drawn attention to the ' almost verbal coinci- dence ' between certain articles in Saint-Pierre's Project and those of the fundamental act of the Germanic Confederation established by the Congress of Vienna. He goes on to say : * Fleury, to whom Saint-Pierre communicated his plan, replied to him : " Vous avez oublie un article essentiel, celui d'envoyer des missionnaires pour toucher les coeurs des princes et leur persuader d'entrer dans vos vues." But Dubois bestowed upon him the highest praise expressed in the most felicitous manner, when he termed his ideas : " les reves d'un homme de bien." And Rousseau published in 1761 a little work to which he modestly gave the title of Extrait du Projet de Paix per- fetuelle de M. VAbbe de Saint-Pierre, but which is stamped with the marks of Rousseau's peculiar genius as a system- builder, and reasoner upon the problem of social science.' 2 * Une lettre d'envoi etait jointe a Pouvrage ', says M. Nys, writing on the Project of Saint-Pierre. * C'est un projet, y lit-on, dont peut-etre ni vous ni moi ne verrons jamais un fruit ; mais par reconnaissance de ce que nous avons recu de bien de nos ancetres, ne devons-nous pas tacher d'en procurer encore plus grands a notre posterite ? Noble affirmation non point seulement de la continuit6 du progres, mais du devoir pour tout homme de travailler a ce developpement des forces de Phumanite, qu'au debut du xiv* siecle, Dante entrevoyait et qu'il appelait de ce beau mot, civilitas y la civilisation.' 8 affermir beaucoup davantage les maisons souvcraines sur le trone, propose autrefois par Henri le Grand Roi de France, agree par la Reine Elisabeth, par Jaques I, et par la plupart des autres potentats de 1'Europe.' 2 vols., 1712 (about 700 pages) ; a third in 1717. 1 3 vols. * History of the Law of Nations, pp. 263-4. 8 Les Origines du Droit International, pp. 398-9. Projects of Perpetual Peace 181 One of the articles of Saint-Pierre's Project stipulated that if any of the allied Powers should refuse to give effect to the judgements of the grand alliance, or should negotiate treaties in contravention of these judgements, the alliance should oppose the force of arms to the offending Power until it was brought to obedience. 1 The succeeding article of confederation declared that the general assembly of plenipotentiaries of this European alliance should have power to enact by a plurality of votes all laws necessary and proper to give effect to the objects of the alliance ; but no alteration in the fundamental articles was to be made without the unanimous consent of the allies. These two articles form the link in the Projects of Perpetual Peace of Saint-Pierre, Rousseau, Kant, and Bentham. How were the rights of the Federation to be extended and secured without impairing those of sovereignty ? How is each State to be left master in its own house, and yet fulfil the duty which it owes to the Federation ? That, as Rousseau clearly saw, was the vital problem, and to no political thinker could it be more real and critical than to the interpreter and champion of the general will in politics and the upholder of the rights of small States and of the saving function of Federation in their behalf. We may express the problem in the terms of the problem of the Social Contract : ' Trouver une forme d'association qui defende et protege de toute la force commune la personne et les biens de chaque associe, et par laquelle chacun, s'unissant a tous, n'obeisse pourtant qu'a lui-meme, et reste aussi Hbre qu'auparavant.' 2 ' En effet, chaque individu peut, comme homme, avoir une volonte particuliere contraire ou dissemblable a la volonte generale qu'il a comme citoyen ; son interet particulier peut 1 Article 4. See Extrait du Projet de Paix perpetuelle in Rousseau's (Euvres (1839), iv. 267 ; Vaughan, The Political Workings of Jean Jacques Rousseau, z vols., 1915, i, p. 375. 2 Du Contrat Social, liv. i, c. vi. 1 82 The Literature of International Relations lui parler tout autrement que 1'interet commun ; son existence absolue, et naturellement independante, peut lui faire envisager ce qu'il doit a la cause commune comme une contribution gratuite, dont la perte sera moins nuisible aux autres que le paiement n'en est onereux pour lui ; et regardant la personne morale qui constitue 1'etat comme un etre de raison, parceque ce n'est pas un homme, il jouiroit des droits du citoyen sans vouloir remplir les devoirs du sujet ; injustice dont le progres causeroit la ruine du corps politique. ' Afin done que le pacte social ne soit pas un vain formulaire, il renferme tacitement cet engagement, qui seul peut donner de la force aux autres, que quiconque refusera d'obeir a la volonte generale y sera contraint par tout le corps ; ce qui ne signifie autre chose sinon qu'on le forcera d'etre libre ; car telle est la condition qui, donnant chaque citoyen a la patrie, le garantit de toute dependance personnelle ; condition qui fait 1'artifice et le jeu de la machine politique, et qui seule rend legi times les engagements civils, lesquels, sans cela, seroient absurdes, tyranniques, et sujets aux plus enormes abus.' 1 * Tout malfaiteur, attaquant le droit social, devient par ses forfaits rebelle et traitre a la patrie ; il cesse d'en etre membre en violant ses lois ; et meme il lui fait la guerre. Alors la conservation de 1'etat est incompatible avec la sienne, il faut qu'un des deux perisse ; et quand on fait mourir le coupable, c'est moins comme citoyen que comme ennemi.' z Rousseau's Central Social ou Principes du Droit politique was only part of the Institutions politiques planned by him. In the concluding chapter he made it clear that it could not fall within his purpose in that work to examine the principles of international right, although it was a task that might very well be undertaken as a supplement to his endeavour in the Social Contract to lay down the true principles of right in politics and to found the State on that secure basis. 3 Already in 1 Du Contrat Social, i. vii. * Ibid., n. v. 3 ' Apres avoir pose les vrais principes du droit politique, et tache de fonder 1'etat sur sa base, il restcroit a 1'appuycr par ses relations externcs : ce qui comprendroit le droit des gens, le commerce, le droit de la guerre Projects of Perpetual Peace 183 his Extrait de la Paix perpetuelle l and in his Jugement sur la. Paix perpetuelle? as well as in Emile, which was published in the same year 3 as the Social Contract, Rousseau shows his attitude of mind on the larger and wider questions of the exter- nal and international relations of States. * Si jamais verite morale fut demontree, il me semble que c'est 1'utilite generale et particuliere de ce projet. Les avan- tages qui resulteroient de son execution, et pour chaque prince, et pour chaque peuple, et pour toute 1'Europe, sont immenses, clairs, incontestables ; on ne peut rien de plus solide et de plus exact que les raisonnements par lesquels 1'auteur les etablit. Realisez sa republique europeenne durant un seul jour, e'en est assez pour la faire durer eternellement, tant chacun trouveroit par 1'experience son profit particulier dans le bien commun. Cependant ces memes princes, qui la defendroient de toutes leurs forces si elle existoit, s'opposeroient maintenant de meme a son execution, et 1'empecheront infailliblement de s'etablir comme ils 1'empecheroient de s'eteindre. Ainsi 1'ouvrage de 1'abbe de Saint-Pierre sur la paix perpetuelle paroit d'abord inutile pour la produire et superflu pour la conserver. C'est done une vaine speculation, dira quelque lecteur impatient. Non, c'est un livre solide et sense, et il est tres important qu'il existe.' 4 * Un prince qui met sa cause au hasard de la guerre n'ignore pas qu'il court des risques ; mais il en est moins frappe que des avantages qu'il se promet, parcequ'il craint bien moins la fortune qu'il n'espere de sa propre sagesse : s'il est puis- sant, il compte sur ses forces ; s'il est foible, il compte sur ses et les conquetes, le droit public, les ligues, les negotiations, les traites, etc. Mais tout cela forme un nouvel objet trop vaste pour ma courte vue ; j'aurois du la fixer toujours plus pres de moi '. iv. ix. 1 Published in 1761 ; written in 1756. 2 Published in 1782; written in 1756. 3 1762. 4 Jugement sur la Paix perpetuelle, (Euvres (1839), t. iv, pp. 280-1 ; Vaughan (with slight variations, e. g. ' Republique ' for ' republique ', ' resulteraient ' for ' resulteroient ', and a colon instead of a comma after ' eternellement '), i, p. 388. 184 The Literature of International Relations alliances ; quelquefois il lui est utile au-dedans de purger de mauvaises humeurs, d'affoiblir des sujets indociles, d'essuyer meme des revers ; et le politique habile sait tirer avantage de ses propres defaites. J'espere qu'on se souviendra que ce n'est pas moi qui raisonne ainsi, mais le sophiste de cour, qui prefere un grand territoire, et peu de sujets pauvres et soumis, a 1' empire inebranlable que donnent au prince la justice et les lois sur un peuple heureux et florissant.' x ' II ne faut pas non plus croire avec 1'abbe de Saint-Pierre que, meme avec la bonne volonte que les princes ni leurs ministres n'auront jamais, il fut aise de trouver un moment favorable a 1' execution de ce systeme ; car il faudroit pour cela que la somme des interets particuliers ne 1'emportat pas sur 1'interet commun, et que chacun crut voir dans le bien de tous le plus grand bien qu'il peut esperer pour lui-meme. Or ceci demande un concours de sagesse dans tant de tetes, et un concours de rapports dans tant d'interets, qu'on ne doit guere esperer du hasard 1'accord fortuit de toutes les circon- stances necessaires : cependant si cet accord n'a pas lieu, il n'y a que la force qui puisse y suppleer ; et alors il n'est plus question de persuader, mais de contraindre ; et il ne faut plus ecrire des livres, mais lever des troupes. ' Ainsi, quoique le projet fut tres sage, les moyens de 1'exe- cuter se sentoient de la simplicite de 1'auteur. II s'imaginoit bonnement qu'il ne falloit qu'assembler un congres, y proposer ses articles, qu'on les alloit signer, et que tout seroit fait. Convenons que, dans tous les projets de cet honnete homme, il voyoit assez bien 1'effet des choses quand elles seroient etablies ; mais il jugeoit comme un enfant des moyens de les etablir.' 2 This very difficulty confronted Rousseau in hisSocialContract. Men and conditions being what they are, how was a true system of legislation to be instituted in any State ? What was the right moment for instituting it ? How was it to be sustained ? By what sanction ? 1 (Euvrts, iv, p. 283 ; Vaughan, i, pp. 390-1. 8 iv, p. 284 ; i, p. 392. Projects of Perpetual Peace 185 ' I.e corps politique a-t-il un organe pour enoncer ses volontes ? Qui lui donnera la prevoyance necessaire pour en former les actes et les publier d'avance ? ou comment les prononcera-t-il au moment du besoin ? Comme une multitude aveugle, qui souvent ne sait ce qu'elle veut, parcequ'elle salt rarement ce qui lui est bon, executeroit - elle d'elle-meme une entreprise aussi grande, aussi difficile, qu'un systeme de legislation ? De lui-meme le peuple veut toujours le bien, mais de lui-meme il ne le voit pas toujours. La volonte generale est toujours droite, mais le jugement qui la guide n'est pas toujours eclaire. II faut lui faire voir les objets tels qu'ils sont, quelquefois tels qu'ils doivent lui paroitre ; lui montrer le bon chemin qu'elle cherche, la garantir de la seduction des volontes particulieres, rapprocher a ses yeux les lieux et les temps, balancer 1'attrait des avantages presents et sensibles par le danger des maux eloignes et caches. Les particuliers voient le bien qu'ils rejettent ; le public veut le bien qu'il ne voit pas. Tous ont egalement besoin de guides. II faut obliger les uns a conformer leurs volontes a leur raison ; il faut apprendre a 1'autre a connoitre ce qu'il veut. Alors des lumieres publiques resulte 1'union de 1'entendement et de la volonte dans le corps social ; de la 1' exact concours des parties, et enfin la plus grande force du tout.' x Rousseau wrote his Jugement sur la Paix perpetuelle in the year of the outbreak of the Seven Years' War. The right moment for instituting a league for perpetual peace might well seem dim and distant. How could one, in the circumstance of that time, look for a common accord, or hope for a sudden inspiration ? 2 How should one criticize, and yet commend, the Abbe de Saint-Pierre ? ' Qu'on ne disc done point que si son systeme n'a pas etc adopte, c'est qu'il n'etoit pas bon ; car le mal et les abus, dont tant de gens profitent, s'introduisent d'eux-memes. Mais ce qui est utile au public ne s'introduit guere que par 1 Du Central Social, 1. n, c. vi ; GEuvres, iv, p. 341 ; Vaughan, ii, pp. 50-1. 2 ' Sera-ce d'un commun accord, par une inspiration subite ? ' Du Contrat Social, 1. n, c. vi. 1 86 The Literature of International Relations la force, attendu que les interets particuliers y sont presque toujours opposes. Sans doute la paix perpetuelle est a present un projet bien absurde ; mais qu'on nous rende un Henri IV et un Sully, la paix perpetuelle redeviendra un projet raison- nable : ou plutot admirons un si beau plan, mais consolons- nous de ne pas le voir executer ; car cela ne peut se faire que par des moyens violents et redoutables a Phumanite. * On ne voit point de ligues federatives s'etablir autrement que par des revolutions : et, sur ce principe, qui de nous oseroit dire si cetteligue europeenne est a desirer ou a craindre ? Elle feroit peut-etre plus de mal tout d'un coup qu'elle n'en previendroit pour des siecles.' x In Emile Rousseau shows how, in fulfilling the plan of his Institutions politiques, he would have connected his study of the Social Contract with the study of Federation and of inter- national relations. ' Apres avoir ainsi considere chaque espece de societe civile en elle-meme, nous les comparerons pour en observer les divers rapports : les unes grandes, les autres petites ; les unes fortes, les autres foibles : s'attaquant, s'offensant, s'entre- detruisant ; et dans cette action et reaction continuelle, faisant plus de miserables, et coutant la vie a plus d'hommes que s'ils avoient tous garde leur premiere liberte. Nous examine- rons si 1'on n'en a pas fait trop ou trop peu dans 1'institution sociale ; si les individus soumis aux lois et aux hommes, tandis que les societes gardent entre elles Pindependance de la nature, ne restent pas exposes aux maux des deux etats, sans en avoir les avantages ; et s'il ne vaudroit pas mieux qu'il n'y cut point de soci6t6 civile au monde que d'y en avoir plusieurs. N'est- ce pas cet etat mixte qui participe a tous les deux et n'assure ni Pun ni 1'autre, per quern neutrum licet, nee tanquam in hello paratum esse, nee tanquam in pace securum ? N'est-ce pas cette association partielle et imparfaite qui produit la tyrannic et la guerre ? et la tyrannic et la guerre ne sont-elles pas les plus grands fl^aux de Phumanite 1 ? 1 Jugement sur la Paix perpetuelle concluding words, CEuvrts, iv, p. 288 ; Vaughan, i, p. 396. Projects of Perpetual Peace 187 ' Nous examinerons enfin 1'espece de remedes qu'on a cherches a ces inconvenients par les ligues et confederations, qui, laissant chaque fitat son maitre au dedans, 1'arment au dehors centre tout agresseur in juste. Nous rechercherons comment on peut etablir une bonne association federative, ce qui peut la rendre durable ; et jusqu'a quel point on peut etendre le droit de la confederation, sans nuire a celui de la souverainete. ' L'abbe de Saint-Pierre avoit propose une association de tous les fitats de 1'Europe pour maintenir entre eux une paix perpetuelle. Cette association etoit-elle praticable ? et, sup- posant qu'elle cut etc etablie, etoit-il a presumer qu'elle cut dure ? J Ces recherches nous menent directement a toutes les questions de droit public qui peuvent achever d'eclaircir celles du droit politique.' 2 The Utopians thought that leagues are useless things, and that, if the common ties of human nature do not knit men together, the faith of promises will not be of great effect on them : the partnership of human nature, that which is of all men and for all men, is instead of a league. 3 But the contribution made by Rousseau, and partly by Saint-Pierre through him, to the promulgation of projects of Perpetual Peace has been so influential, and subsequent contributors have added so little of positive value, that a more explicit account of what he said and how he reasoned, may be allowed and may be of use. The imperfections of governments, Rousseau argued, are due less to their constitution than to their external relations. The greater part of the care which ought to be devoted to internal administration and welfare is withheld owing to the need of mere external security ; not the perfecting of itself, 1 This was written before the publication of the Extrait de la Paix per- petuelle in 1761. 2 (Euvres, iii, pp. 571-2 ; Vaughan, ii, pp. 157-8. 3 More, Utopia, pp. 118, 120, of ed. in English by Burnct, 1762. 1 88 The Literature of International Relations but the mere preservation of the State against others, has the larger claim upon its time and energies. The ordering of social relations is not, as is too often assumed, the work of reason ; rather is it the work of the passions. We have gone either too far or not far enough ; we have done either too much or too little. Society is so organized that each of us is a fellow- citizen with the members of his own State, and yet is in a state of nature toward all the rest of mankind. In other words, men have prevented the lesser wars only to kindle wars that are greater and a thousand-fold more terrible. They have made particular unions among themselves and in so doing have really become enemies of the human race. These are dangerous contradictions in the ordering of the affairs of men and the world. If there be any means of removing them, perhaps it is only through some form of federal govern- ment by which peoples may be united by ties similar to those which unite individuals ; by which peoples not less than individuals are rendered subject to laws. 1 This government, moreover, has this superiority over all others, that it combines the advantages of large and small States : it will be formidable without, owing to its power ; laws will be enforced ; it alone among Governments will contain at once subjects, persons in authority, and foreigners. In certain respects it is a new form of government. But it was not unknown to the ancients. 2 The ancient confederations, however, were inferior in wisdom to the Germanic and the Helvetic and to the States-General. Such confederations are still few and they are far from per- fection. But that only shows that in politics as in ethics the 1 ' . . . une form? de gouvenicment confederative, qui, unissant les peoples par des liens semblables a ccux qui unissent les individus, soumette egale- ment les uns et les autres a 1'autorite des lois.' 1 ' Les dernicrs soupirs dc la Grecc devinrent encore illustrcs dans la igue acheennc.' Projects of Perpetual Peace 189 range of our knowledge does little more than convince us how great are our evils. Besides these leagues of a public and positive character, there may be tacit unions less apparent and yet not less real, resulting from a harmony of interests, an affinity of principles, a conformity of customs, or other factors that induce some common relationship between peoples who are divided. Thus may we say that all the Powers of Europe form a ' system ' 1 among themselves uniting them by community of commerce, letters, manners, religion, and international law, and by regard for the maintenance of a resulting equilibrium, which it may be no one's special concern to maintain but which it would be less easy to destroy than many people think. There is a Society of the Peoples of Europe, with its roots in the past. From Rome have come to some of them codes of law. A stronger bond still, and one affecting more of them, is their religion. We must allow also for the facilities and the vast variety of inter- course among the peoples of Europe. We can speak, therefore, of ' a Europe ' in a real sense in which we cannot conceive Asia or Africa. In Asia or in Africa we have merely a collection of peoples with nothing in common except that they belong to the same continent. But when we speak of ' Europe ' the word at once suggests to the mind a real society founded on a community of manners, customs, religion, and even laws ; and none of the peoples making up this Society can recede from its place and function in it without at once being the cause of troubles. No doubt, it is easy to make sharp the contrasts that facts seem to force upon us -easy to set perpetual dissensions and the savagery of wars against the benevolence of the religion that is professed, the cruelty of the deed against the humanity of the maxim, the harshness of policy against the so great 1 ' Une sorte de systeme.' 190 The Literature of International Relations wisdom of the politics of the books, the excellent intentions of the heads of States, and the misery and degradation of their peoples, a fraternity of the peoples of Europe, against their mutual animosity. ' The Society of the Peoples of Europe ' may well seem to be but a term of derision an irony to express more pointedly the mutual distrust of the nations of Chris- tendom. The relative state of the Powers of Europe is in itself a state of war ; let that be granted. Mutual engagements are entered upon. There is a lack of effective guarantees for their obser- vance. Thus it is that each treaty, which from its very nature is merely partial and between some only of these Powers, is rather a short-lived truce than a true peace is a provocative to war as soon as a change of circumstances shall have given fresh strength to claims of ambition or of right. Nor must it be forgotten that the public law of Europe has not been established or authorized by consent ; it is devoid of general principles ; it is ever changing according to time and place ; its rules are full of contradictions which make it a prey to ' the right of the strongest '. In this condition of things reason is denied its sway. There is no trustworthy guide where things are so doubtful and hazardous. Reason may be excused for bending and conforming itself to selfish interest ; and from the sway of selfish interest wars will continue to be unavoidable. And yet each in his own mind would be just, but for circumstances. There is a general sense of insecurity, for harmony has not been attained in the ordering of the interests and government of the several States themselves, much less between State and State. * Voila les causes generales et particulieres qui nous unissent pour nous detruire, et nous font ecrire une si belle doctrine sociale avec des mains toujours teintes de sang humain.' To know the causes is to know the remedy, if there is one. We all see that there can be no society without a community of Projects of Perpetual Peace 191 interests, and that all division arises from an antagonism of interests. Reason would ask : Why leave so much, and so much that is vital, to mere chance and to the unceasing hazard of things that in themselves are most trivial ? Reason would say : When there is a society there must needs be a compulsory power to order and regulate the movements of its members ; without this power thus applied the community of interests and all reciprocal compacts can have no stability ; and we are thrust back on a state of contradictions, uncertainties, insecurity, unlaw, and war. Let no one make the grave error of a false hope where so much is at stake : let no one imagine that this state of violence will pass away from the sheer force of things and without calling in the aid of art and of political thought which must guide that art. ' The system of Europe has precisely that degree of stability which suffices to maintain it in perpetual agitation without entirely overthrowing it ; and if the evils we have thus to endure cannot be augmented, still less should we look forward to an end being put to them by any great revolution.' Howsoever the existing balance of power in Europe has come about whether from geographical necessity and thus by nature, or by art we have to reckon with it, and to recognize that it is self-existing, self-supporting, for do we not see that when it is disturbed in one part it gives way only to re-establish itself forthwith in another ? Princes who have been charged with aiming at universal monarchy have shown therein, if the charge is well-founded, more ambition than genius. A moment's reflection shows how absurd is the project. No European potentate can hope to vanquish the rest of the Powers of Europe in their existing state of development, military, economic, and political, and with the facilities they possess for co-operation against the ambitions of the aggressor ; nor can we imagine a combination of great Powers sufficiently 1 92 The Literature of International Relations sincere, harmonious and durable, to be able to subjugate and to hold in subjection the rest of Europe. It is not that the sea, the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees are obstacles that no ambition can surmount. These physical obstacles are fortified by others that spring from the nature and contrivances of men. The give-and-take of negotiations is an essential aid to the same end : * preserve the balance ' is the almost unvarying watchword. There is a more solid support. This support is the Germanic body which, placed almost in the centre of Europe, may be thought to contribute even more to the maintenance of its neighbours in their existing states than to that even of its own members. It is a body formidable on account of the extent of its territories and the vast number and valour of its peoples. Its very constitution renders it formidable, for that is of such a nature as to take from it both the desire and the means of conquest, and at the same time to make it a stout obstacle to those who are ambitious to conquer. This constitu- tion of the Empire has undoubted defects, and yet it is certain that while it subsists the equilibrium of Europe will never be entirely destroyed, and that no sovereign of a European State need fear that he will be driven from his throne by another ; the treaty of Westphalia will perhaps remain for ever the basis of our political system. Thus public law, a study which Germans cultivate with so much diligence, is even more im- portant than they suppose. It is not only the public law of the Germanic body ; it is the public law of the whole of Europe. The existing system may be durable, but it is far from being one of rest : it is an uneasy equilibrium. The system is maintained only by an action and reaction which, without suddenly displacing any of the Powers, keeps them in continual agitation. Their efforts are ever in vain and yet ever being renewed, even as waves of the sea which without ceasing agitate its surface but cannot change its level. Suffering falls on the Projects of Perpetual Peace 193 peoples of Europe, and there is no appreciable gain to their sovereigns. As an association of States the system is imperfect. It is necessary to erect in its stead a solid confederation that shall last. That cannot be done unless all its members are brought into a state of mutual dependence, so that no one of them shall be in a position to resist all the rest, and any com- bination formed for particular and selfish ends, inimical to the interests of the confederation, shall have obstacles opposed to it fully adequate to prevent these ends from being attained. There are several clear requisites. The confederation must include all the Powers of Europe ; at least, no Power that is not one of the weakest shall decline to be a member. There must be a common tribunal with power to establish general laws and regulations binding on all the members. It must have a coercive power capable both of compelling and restraining the action of each in conformity with the decisions that have been taken in common. It must have power capable of pre- venting any member from seceding from the confederation at its own whim and impulse, as soon as it imagines that its own particular interest is contrary to the general interest. Without the recognition of this general interest no such confederation can be formed ; without it none that may incautiously be formed can endure. There are two pre- requisites : sufficient reason to see what is useful, and sufficient courage to do what is essential to the welfare and happiness of society. 1 The ' Germanic body ' was far spent in decay and was preparing its self-destruction even while Rousseau was writing. The Peace of Westphalia might well seem to many to have been traitorously treated, and with it the whole of * the system of Europe ' undermined, when Austria and France 1 (Euvres, iv, pp. 256-80, especially 257-66 ; Vaughan, i, pp. 365-87, especially 365-74. 2224 194 The Literature of International Relations were joined in alliance, and were allies against Prussia. The first Partition of Poland was the dying testament of the old Europe, and from Corsica, the cherished island of Rousseau's expectations of right established in a State, there came the great disturber of the peace, the rights, and the equilibrium of the States of Europe, and the destroyer of the Germanic body. Both Rousseau and the Abbe de Saint-Pierre might well seem to have been the dreamers of an empty dream empty but for the heaviness of the consequences of a slothful overtrust for their fellow-men. To expect men and nations to conform their actions to reason may be the utmost irrationality. Everything, however, that can be urged for the establishment of a League of Nations to prevent aggression, the domination of force, and injustice, has been said in principle, and even in much of the particulars, by Rousseau. He was endeavouring to ally reason and interest. He recognizes that life for a society is adjustment and harmony of organism and environment. It is his fault, as it is that of his imitators and inferiors, that he does not adequately analyse, nor adequately allow for, the influence of the environment, and that of the past in the present. His error was much less a deficiency of knowledge than an excess of faith. We cannot perfectly agree to everything that was related by Raphael ; yet there are things in the commonwealth of Utopia that we rather wish than to-day can hope to see followed in our government. But the call for a high courage is more required than the call to a form of prudence and caution that abandons hope and may never drive business home. A high courage that dispenses with exact and intimate knowledge and regard for facts will be futile and dangerous. But high courage inspired by knowledge and sustained by circumspection is required to counteract the influence of the multitude of men who are ' prudent ' because they are timid, who, without Projects of Perpetual Peace 195 either subtlety of intellect or nobility of mind, acquire a vulgar reputation for sagacity, whereas they are neither wise nor efficient. ' A proposal of this sort is one of those things that can never come too early nor too late,' said Bentham when he was introducing his 'Plan for an Universal and Perpetual Peace '.* If a citizen of the world, he asked, had to prepare a universal international code, what would he assign to himself as his object ? It would be the common and equal utility of all nations. 2 ' War is mischief upon the greatest scale.' 3 Among the causes or occasions of war have been ' enterprizes of con- quest ' : means of prevention are confederations of defence, defensive alliances, and general guarantees. Attempts at monopoly in commerce, insolence of the strong toward the weak, and tyranny of one nation toward another, have been the causes or occasions of war : means of prevention are confederations defensive, and conventions limiting the number of troops to be maintained. No one, he asserts, could regard treaties implying positive obligations of this kind as merely chimerical ; still less are those implying negative obligation. ' There may arise difficulty in maintaining an army ; there can arise none in not doing so. It must be allowed that the matter would be a delicate one : there might be some diffi- culty in persuading one lion to cut his claws ; but if the lion, or rather the enormous condor which holds him fast by the head, should agree to cut his talons also, there would be no disgrace in the stipulation : the advantage or inconvenience would be reciprocal. Let the cost of the attempt be what it would, it would be amply repaid by success. What tranquillity 1 Essay iv of his ' Principles of International Law ', written between 1786 and 1789, Works (1843), "> PP- 535~6- 2 Essay i, ' Objects of International Law ', Works, ii, p. 537. 3 Essay in,' Of War, considered in respect of its causes and consequences ', Works, ii, p. 544. O 2 196 The Literature of International Relations for all sovereigns ! what relief for all people ! What a spring would not the commerce, the population, the wealth of all nations take, which are at present confined, when set free from the fetters in which they are now held by the care of their defence.' J In the case of bona fide wars a remedy must be sought in ' The Tribunal of Peace '. Bentham's Plan rested upon two * fundamental propositions '. One is the reduction and fixing of the force of the several nations composing the European system. The other is suggested by the wars of the eighteenth century, especially between Britain and France, and is a com- mentary upon them : it is ' the emancipation of the distant dependencies of each state ' drastic counsel which its author did not confine to his Plan for Perpetual Peace. The objection, and the only objection, to the plan of a peace that shall be universal and lasting is its apparent impracticability that it is not only hopeless, but hopeless to such a degree that any proposal to this effect deserves to be called ' visionary and ridiculous '. It is said that the age is not ripe for such a pro- posal. Then, ' the more it wants of being ripe, the sooner we should begin to do what can be done to ripen it '. Who that bears the name of Christian could refuse to assist with his prayers ? What pulpit could refrain from seconding the author with its eloquence ? ' Catholics and Protestants, Church-of- England-men and Dissenters, may all agree in this, if in nothing else. I call upon them all to aid me with their countenance and their support.' There are parts of Bentham's Plan that are avowedly related to the rivalry of Britain and France in trade, in colonies and in sea-power ; and he believed that a solid and thorough agreement between these two States would remove the principal obstacles to a plan of general and permanent pacification for 1 Essay HI, W orks, ii, pp. 544-5. Projects of Perpetual Peace 197 Europe. 1 For the maintenance of such a pacification general and perpetual treaties might be formed, limiting the number of troops to be maintained. Further, ' the maintenance of such a pacification might be considerably facilitated by the establishment of a common court of judicature, for the decision of differences between the several nations, although such court were not to be armed with any coercive powers '. ' It is an observation of somebody's,' says Bentham, ' that no nation ought to yield any evident point of justice to another. This must mean, evident in the eyes of the nation that is to judge, evident in the eyes of the nation called upon to yield. What does this amount to ? That no nation is to give up anything of what it looks upon as its rights no nation is to make any concessions. Wherever there is any difference of opinion between the negotiators of two nations, war is to be the consequence. While there is no common tribunal, some- thing might be said for this. Concession to notorious injustice invites fresh injustice. Establish a common tribunal, the necessity for war no longer follows from difference of opinion. Just or unjust, the decision of the arbiters will save the credit, the honour of the contending party.' Can the arrangement proposed, he asks, justly be called visionary, when it can be established regarding it, that it is to the interest of the parties concerned ; that they are themselves sensible of that interest ; and that the situation it would place them in is not a new one, but merely that from which they set out ? Give up colonies ; found no new ones : this will be to the interest both of the mother-country and of the colonies, and it will save the danger of war. Do not seek to encourage particular branches of trade by prohibiting rival manufactures, by taxing rival manufactures, or by means of bounties on the trade meant to be favoured. Do not enter into wars for compelling treaties 1 See Propositions IH-V and xi-xn, Works^ ii, p. 550. 198 The Literature of International Relations granting commercial preferences : do not even make alliances for the sake of purchasing such preferences, nor enter into any treaties for ensuring them. Such preferences are useless : * they add nothing to the mass of wealth ; they only influence the direction of it '. ' Mark well the contrast. All trade is in its essence advantageous even to that party to whom it is least so. All war is in its essence ruinous ; and yet the great employments of government are to treasure up occasions of war, and to put fetters upon trade.' Therefore it is necessary to begin by trying to remove the causes of war. It is necessary to narrow the sphere of operation of jealousy the vice of the narrow mind, and to expand that of confidence the virtue of the enlarged mind. ' Clandestinity and secrecy ' in negotiation are unnecessary and mischievous. 1 Establish conditions as favourable as possible in regard to interest and in the conduct of affairs between nations, and thus prepare the ground and the atmosphere appropriate to an international tribunal that is to be The Tribunal of Peace. Even then force may have to be used. ' There might, perhaps, be no harm in regulating, as a last resource, the con- tingent to be furnished by the several states for enforcing the decrees of the court ', for the court will have power to put the refractory State, after a certain time, under the ban of Europe. Bentham made the practical inception of his Plan depend upon the maintenance and permanence of friendly relations between Britain and France ; and already the younger Pitt had repudiated, both in words and by deeds, the rooted 1 'I lay down two propositions: I. That in no negotiation, and at no period of any negociation, ought the negotiations of the cabinet in this country to be kept secret from the public at large ; much less from parlia- ment and after inquiry made in parliament. 2. That whatever may be the case with preliminary ncgociations, such secrecy ought never to be maintained with regard to treaties actually concluded.' Works^ ii, p. 554. Projects of Perpetual Peace 199 conception of Chatham, as well as of the ordinary Englishman, that the two countries were ' natural enemies ' enemies by inheritance and by the inevitable force of events and circum- stance. But by an irony the Plan was projected almost on the eve of the French Revolution. It would be doing wrong to Bentham to say that this world-shaking event disturbed and distorted his sense of values. But it made him most anxious and resolute that his own understanding of values should not be misunderstood and perverted by others. ' Is ', ' has been ', ' ought to be ', ' shall be ', ' can ' : all, he exclaimed, are put for one another ; all are pressed into the same service, made to answer the same purpose. By this ' inebriating compound * the elements of men's understanding had been put in confusion, every fibre of the heart had been inflamed, the lips had been prepared for every folly, the hand for every crime. ' From imaginary laws, from laws of nature, fancied and invented by poets, rhetoricians, and dealers in moral and intellectual poisons, come imaginary rights, a bastard brood of monsters, " gorgons and chimaeras dire ".' The ' anarchist ' may be known by the language which he uses. ' He will be found asserting rights, and acknowledging them at the same time not to be recognized by government', using instead of 'ought and ought not, the words is or is not can or can not. In former times, in the times of Grotius and Puffendorf, these expressions were little more than improprieties in language, prejudicial to the growth of knowledge ; at present, since the French Declaration of Rights has adopted them, and the French Revolution displayed their import by a practical comment, the use of them is already a moral crime, and not undeserving of being constituted a legal crime, as hostile to the public peace '.* Bentham grossly misapprehended the 1 ' Anarchical Fallacies ', towards the end. In this work Bentham examined the Declarations of Rights issued during the French Revolution. 2oo The Literature of International Relations meaning and force of Natural Right in the history of reasoning on politics. It was in keeping with the tenor of his own scheme of political thought that he should base his Plan of Perpetual Peace upon grounds of general utility, and should press its acceptance on the ground that it was in accord with the common sense of men regardful of their common interest. Of Kant it has been said that in the department of Politics he did away with the narrowness that threatened it, and entered with his deep priestlike thought into the great spirit of history and the progress of the liberty of peoples. 1 Kant's contribution to the cause of Perpetual Peace is measured not merely by his essay bearing that title but by essential parts of other works written by him on the Philosophy of Right and Politics. In the essay on Perpetual Peace the conclusions are more conspicuous than the reasoning ; the articles are definite with a degree of sharpness that the prelimi- nary conditions to be fulfilled do not warrant. In the case of Kant as in the case of Rousseau, the emphasis has been unduly kid on conclusions by those who cite him in their advocacy of a League of Nations and Perpetual Peace : too little heed has been given to the conditions that must, he said, first be satisfied. How the project is related as an ideal to facts and to the past in the present is best shown by Kant in his Theory of Right. 2 One of the short sections 3 of that work and the few concluding sentences express more clearly and in truer proportion than the earlier essay, Perpetual Peace, the judgement of Kant on the lasting establishment of Peace. If we take these together and combine them with his teaching in other essays on principles of Politics and the relation of theory to practice in Politics, we shall be able to see the character of Kant's contribution to the study of this subject, the place which he holds in its 1 Rosenkranz, one of the editors of Kant's Works. 8 Recbtslebre, 1796-7. 3 61 of Part 11, treating of Public Right. Projects of Perpetual Peace 201 history, and, in particular, his strikingly close connexion with Rousseau. The essay ' Perpetual Peace ' Zum ewigen Frieden was published in 1795 the year of the Treaty of Basel. By that treaty Prussia finished her first war of the French Revolution. Only a visionary could have seen in the Treaty of Basel the star of hope in the sky. The treaty was a link in a chain that discredited Prussia in the eyes of Europe ; and to the historian of international relations the treaty is noteworthy, inasmuch as it involved a surrender by Frederick William III of the system of the Empire and the system of Europe. The highest of all practical problems for the human race, Kant declared, is the establishment of a Civil Society univers- ally administering right according to law. 1 How can we institute and establish a Society in which liberty, under external laws, is combined in the greatest possible measure with irre- sistible power ? It is the most difficult of problems : its perfect solution is not to be looked for, so crooked is the wood out of which men are carved. It will be the latest to find a practical solution, for the pre-requisites are of an exacting character correct appreciation of the nature of a possible constitution ; vast experience drawn from the practice of the ages, and especially a good will favourably disposed towards the reception of the solution. 2 These are conditions that will not be easily satisfied in combination, and if they are satisfied at all it will be late in the course of time and after many attempts have been made in vain to solve the problem that of estab- lishing a true Civil Society. We have to reckon with the ' unsocial sociability ' of men. Their disposition to enter 1 ' The Natural Principle of the Political Order ', Fifth Proposition. 2 This third pre-requisite the right moment and the right mind is emphasized as strongly by Rousseau as by Kant, who gives clear evidence of being influenced here and at other vital points of his Politics by Rousseau. 202 The Literature of International Relations into society is combined with a tendency to remain individuals, to resist the obligations of civil society, and thus to threaten its dissolution. Society must be made a moral and rational whole. When an action is in agreement with juridical laws, we say that it has legality : when an action is in agreement with ethical laws, we say that it has morality. The coercion of law has its justification in the reason underlying the law. A perfect civil constitution cannot be established, unless the external relations between States are regulated according to law, with reason supporting the law. An advance has to be made from the lawless condition of savages : the Federation of Peoples has to be prepared for and entered upon. * Every State, even the smallest, may thus rely for its safety and its rights not on its own power, nor on its own judgement of right, but only on this Foedus Amphictionum on the combined power of this League of States, and on the decision of the common will according to laws.' This, said Kant, may seem to be very visionary ; and the idea has been ridiculed in the way in which it has been put forward by an Abbe de Saint-Pierre or a Rousseau. But it is the inevitable issue of the necessity in which men are tied to each other. Wars should subserve should, in their results, be made to subserve this end. Wars (when we think of the purpose of Nature) are attempts to bring about new relations between peoples ; through destruction or dismemberment they institute new political corporations. Out of all the actions and reactions of men is nothing rational to result ? Is it to be said, and is it to be incontrovertible, that discord is natural to our species, and that, in spite of the presence of many marks of a civilized society, all is but a preparation for a ' hell of evils ' at the end ? Cultivated we have become, and to a high degree, in the sciences and arts. We are civilized, even to excess, in all that pertains to forms of politeness and social elegance. But much remains to be done before it can Projects of Perpetual Peace 203 be said that we have been moralized. Schemes of external aggrandizement arc evidence of this imperfect condition. It is clear, therefore, that the perfecting of international relation- ship must be preceded in States by a process, and perhaps a long process, of internal improvement, for, without the appropriate disposition the morally good disposition on the part of the several commonwealths and their members, there cannot be a true and lasting League of Nations ; there will be mere illusion and glittering misery. When we are thinking of the end that should be, and is, set before humanity, right must not be conceived in compromises. We must not break right in halves, or place it somewhere between justice and utility. Nor should we permit ourselves to be deflected in our thought, and from our purpose, by the emphasis which the historian puts, almost exclusively, upon results and by the historian's definition not merely his interpretation of facts in the life of men in society. The * result ' usually becomes mixed up with principles of right. The result is uncertain : what the historian takes to be the result may not be the conclusive event. But, whereas the result, in the historian's sense, is uncertain, principles of right are always certain in themselves. Little reflection is needed to see that a lasting universal Peace on the basis of the Balance of Power is a mere chimera. It would be like the house described by Swift, which the architect constructed so perfectly in conformity with the laws of equilibrium that when a sparrow lighted on the house it at once fell. No : the only remedy against so great evils is a system of International Right, founded upon public laws, and secured by power to enforce them, power to which every State must submit just as the several members of a State submit to the order of civil and political right established. ' Every people, for the sake of its own security, 204 The Literature of International Relations may and ought to demand from any other people that it shall join in entering into a constitution, similar to the civil con- stitution, in which the right of each shall be secured. Thus would arise a League of Nations.' J What should be the Articles of a Perpetual Peace between States ? I. Preliminary Articles : (1) No conclusion of Peace shall be valid when it has been made with the secret reservation of the means for a future war. (2) No State shall be merged by inheritance, exchange, gift or sale in another State. (3) Standing armies shall, in the course of time, be entirely abolished. (4) No National Debts shall be contracted in the pursuit of the external interests of the State. (5) No State shall interfere by force with the system of government of another State. (6) No State at war with another State shall use such methods of warfare as would render mutual confidence impos- sible in a future Peace. II. The Definitive Articles : (1) The Civil Constitution in every State shall be republican. 2 (2) International Right shall be founded on a Federation of Free States. (3) There shall be world-citizenship, in the sense that men, 1 ' Perpetual Peace ', second definitive article. " By a ' republican ' constitution Kant means one that observes the three following principles : the liberty of the members of a Society as men ; the dependence of all its members on legislation common to all as subjects ; and the legal equality of its members as citizens. No. xlviii of The Federalist has some acute remarks on ' a representative republic ' and its distinction from ' a democracy '. Projects of Perpetual Peace 205 in the cosmo-political system, shall have free access to any State of the world, and a title to reside therein. The main force of the contribution made by Kant to the study and history of this subject was compressed by him into a few words towards the close of his Recktslekre, which was published about two years after his essay on Perpetual Peace. The natural condition of nations as of individuals, he says, 1 is a condition that it behoves us to pass out of in order to enter into a condition founded on law. Before such transition, all the Right of Nations and all the external property of States that can be acquired or maintained by war are provisory merely; it is only in a Universal Union of States analogous to that by which a nation becomes a State 2 that they become peremp- tory. In no other way can a real condition of Peace be estab- lished. But there may be a too great extension of such a Union of States. The extension may include such vast and dissimilar territories that any real government of the Union, and any genuine protection of its individual members, will become impossible ; we should be brought round again to a condition of war. ' Hence it is that the Perpetual Peace, which is the ultimate end of all the Right of Nations, becomes an impracti- cable idea.' But we must not therefore withdraw our allegiance and support from the political principles which have this end as their aim. These principles call upon us to aid the formation 1 Recbtslehre, ii, 61. z Men and nations, owing to their mutual influence on each other, require a juridical constitution uniting them under one will, so that they may participate in what is right. This relation of the members of a nation to each other constitutes the civil union in the social state ; and when viewed as a whole as affecting its constituent members it forms the State. When we are thinking of ' the supposed hereditary unity ' of the people we speak of 'nation* rather than State; when we are thinking of the common interest pertaining to all to live in a juridical union, we speak of ' State ' or ' Commonwealth '. Ibid., ii, 43. 206 The Literature of International Relations of such unions among States as may promote a continuous approximation to a Perpetual Peace ; and these principles are not to be dismissed as being impracticable, for the problem of approximation is itself a problem that both involves a duty and tests good judgement. Such a Union of States, with a view to the maintenance of Peace, may be called a General Congress of Nations. It is intended to be permanent. But the Congress is a voluntary combination of States. It would be dissoluble ; its duration would depend upon the sovereign wills of the several members of the League. It would not be such a union as is embodied in the constitution of the United States of America ; it would not be an indissoluble union. 1 It is only by means of a Congress of this kind that the idea of a Public Right among Nations can become real ; only by such means can their differences be settled by civil process, instead of by the barbarous means of war. Perpetual Peace may not be realized. But that is no reason why we should not work towards its realization ; and towards that end we should work to establish that constitution which 1 This appreciation by Kant of the nature of the constitution of the United States is noteworthy owing to the time at which it was written. ' If, in a word, the Union be essential to the happiness of the people of America,' said Madison in No. xlv of Tbe Federalist, ' is it not preposterous, to urge as an objection to a government, without which the objects of the Union cannot be attained, that such a government may derogate from the importance of the governments of the individual States ? ' In the course of a well-informed and able estimate of the influence of Chief-Justice Marshall on constitutional development in the United States, it has been said that a single phrase in one of his latest decisions struck the key-note of all, when he spoke of the exercise of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as ' indispensable to the preservation of the Union, and consequently of the independence and liberty of these States '. Constitutional History of the Vnited States as seen in the Development of American 7x/w, by Judge T. M. Cooley and others (1889), p. in. Projects of Perpetual Peace 207 seems most fitted to achieve the end. It may even be said that the universal and lasting establishment of Peace constitutes not a part only, but the whole final purpose and end, of the Science of Right as viewed within the limits of Reason. But there is need of caution as to the time and the means of action. We must take care lest by proceeding precipitately and in a revolutionary manner we destroy the existing defective constitution at the incalculable cost of annihilating, for some indefinite time, the whole foundation of law on which Society rests. But if we proceed by gradual reform, and are guided by certain clear and fixed principles, we may lead by continuous approximation to the highest political good : we may be led to Perpetual Peace. 1 The teaching of Rousseau and the teaching of Kant, partly inspired by Rousseau, on this subject are in agreement in the essentials. One of the subtlest of intellects and one of the strongest agree that there can be no lasting security for right among nations, and no hope of Perpetual Peace, unless a supra- national disposition can be engendered and fostered that shall prevail over national inherited sentiment. This inherited sentiment is in itself good ; without it there cannot be a nation. But this national sense of right and interest must be brought to subserve an international right and to contribute to the interest of all. There must be a League of Nations, and in that Federation the smaller States must be given adequate and, it may be, generous representation. The guardianship of the rights and interests of the smaller States must be a cherished function of such a League ; the touchstone of its success will, to no small extent, be found in how it discharges that function. In its very nature sucha League is supra-national; especially in the motive of its origin it is supra-national. The nations are in the League less as nations than as members of 1 61 and the conclusion of Rechtslehre. 208 The Literature of International Relations the League, and for its ends. Further, there is need of a supra- national force, need of a ' sanction ' that is supra-national. A supra-national disposition, a supra-national League, and a supra-national force : these are all essential. But the most essential of these is the supra-national disposition. Without this there can be no true League. Without it force will be used neither in the right way nor for the right end. With the supra-national disposition fully and freely working there would be no need of force ; the indwelling energy of the spirit of the Federation would make the use of force unnecessary. Yet the necessary means of using force for right would always be in reserve and always available against wrong threatened and a wrong done. The whole question of the relation between Politics and Ethics is involved in this inquiry ; and that has been an interminable theme for writers, and for such especially among them as treat of principles apart from the conditions that must shape policy, and discuss ends without making any due allow- ance for the imperfection of the instruments. The conclusions of two recent English writers may here be cited. ' Just so far as States are thoroughly formed,' said T. H. Green, 1 ' the diversion of patriotism into the military element tends to come to an end.' Will, not Force, is the true basis of the State. This diversion of patriotism into the military element is 'a survival from a condition of things in which, as yet, the State, in the full sense, was not ; in the sense, namely, that in each territory controlled by a single independent government, the rights of all persons, as founded on their capacities for contributing to a common good, are equally 1 Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation (1895), pp. xxiv + 252, reprinted from his Philosophical Works, vol. ii. See the whole of the chapter entitled ' The Right of the State over the Individual in War '. The lectures were delivered during 1 879-80. Projects of Perpetual Peace 209 established by one system of law.' * It is this capacity of contributing to a common good that tests the development of the relations between States. According as the organization of these relations becomes more nearly complete, ' the more the motives and occasions of international conflict tend to dis- appear, while the bonds of unity become stronger '. 2 The place of International Law, said Henry Sidgwick, is intermediate between Positive Law and Positive Morality, and parts of it ' have reached a degree of definiteness that makes it resemble the former more than the latter. But this is not the case with the most important rules of international duty '. 3 International duty is not to be determined on the basis of exclusive regard for * national interest ', and where the two conflict the former must be held paramount. Generally, however, 'though not always', it is the interest of a State ' to observe the recognised rules of international duty, so long as it has a reasonable expectation that they will be observed by other States. It is a more doubtful question whether a State ought to risk war to prevent high-handed aggression by another State against a third.' 4 If we examine the lawfulness of war by right reason, said Grotius, and by the nature of human society, which is the second and most nearly perfect rule to judge by, we shall plainly perceive that it is not all manner of force that is thereby forbidden, but that only which is repugnant to human society that, namely, which invades the right of another. 5 1 Ibid., pp. 175-6. See p. 177 for the influences which combined to turn Europe into an armed camp. 2 pp. 177-8. 3 Sidgwick, The Elements of Politics, 1 891, 2nd ed., 1 897, pp. xxxiii + 665 ; ch. xvii on ' International Law and Morality ', 4. See also ch. xv, ' Prin- ciples of International Duty ' ; ch. xvi, ' The Regulation of War '. 4 Ibid., ch. xviii, ' Principles of External Policy '. 8 De lure Belli ac Pacts, bk. i, ch. ii, i. 2224 p 210 The Literature of International Relations It has been the object of International Lawyers to assist in determining the nature and the obligations of this ' human society '. Since its foundation, International Law has assumed the existence of a great community of peoples ' the Family of Nations ', ' the Society of Nations ', to which rights in common pertain, and on which obligations in common rest. Keep faith, and aim at peace. 1 These are the two lasting injunctions of him whom we may still call ' Father of the Law of Nations '. 2 The end of war is peace. 3 The history of International Law 1 De lure Belli ac Pacts, Preface and bk. in, ch. xxv, i -3, 7. 2 In the introduction to the first volume (p. 12) of the Grotius Society (founded 1915), Professor Goudy says of the De lure Belli ac Pacis, 'That great work must ever be regarded as the matrix of our science, and must be resorted to for the statement of fundamental truths.' ' International Law, if it is to have any enduring authority, must be based on the funda- mental principles of human rights and must give effect to the common welfare of nations. All assertions of right arising from patriotism or " my country before everything " (fiber alles) must be swept aside as noxious hindrances to progress. The ideal of perpetual peace among civilized nations is indeed still a long way off much further than pacificists too hastily suppose but it is none the less the ideal of International Law. It is The vision whereunto Toils the indomitable world.' The following Papers published in the volumes of the Grotius Society have value for the historical student : vol. ii (1917), ' The Principles under- lying the Doctrine of Contraband and Blockade ', by J. E. G. Montmorcncy ; 'International Leagues', by W. R. Bischopp ; vol. iii (1918), 'Treaties of Peace ' (not ' as a means of terminating war ', but ' as instruments of peace '), by Commander Sir Graham Bower ; vol. iv (1919), ' The League of Nations ', by Lord Parmoor ; ' The Treaty-making Power of the Crown ', by Judge Atherley Jones ; ' Some European Leagues of Peace ', by W. Evans Darby ; ' Divergences between British and other Views of International Law ', by Georges Kaechenbeeck ; ' The Freedom of the Scheldt ', by Albert Maeterlinck and by W. R. Bischopp, and discussion. 3 Grotius, op. cit., 2, cites Aristotle, Sallust, St. Augustine. The Society of Nations 211 records the progress of a community of rights, interests, and obligations among nations, and the expansion of the Family of Nations. History, in the proportions in which she is presented when she tells of the relations of States, has had more to say of disappointment and failures than of fulfilment and success, although it may be that the historian has given too little attention to the question propounded by Bishop Berkeley in the Querist, whether nations as well as individuals may not sometimes go mad. All who are in the line of true succession from the founders of International Law have built upon this assumption of a Society of Nations. The assumption has been necessary to them for their definitions and their standards, their whole sense of values. ' The family of nations ', we read in a well- known text-book, 1 ' is an aggregate of States which, as the result of their historical antecedents, have inherited a common civilisation, and are at a similar level of moral and political opinion.' 2 Outside of the Family no State can be regarded as a ' normal international person '. If the assumption of a genuine Society of Nations were wholly valid, there would be little need to supplement it by instituting a formal League, which in time, if not in its origin, might be too mechanically governmental. Yet this assumption, almost complete in its range and character, has given to International Lawyers the ground for their hopes. ' It is a bright feature of modern civilisation ', wrote one of the most distinguished of them in recent years, ' that the Governments of Europe allow in their intercourse with one another considerable weight to a rule of Right as controlling the dictates of ambition or of interest, and that their respect for such Right commends 1 T. E. Holland, The Elements of Jurisprudence, first ed., 1880. 2 Ibid., p. 347 of the yth ed., 1895. The book has a concise and helpful chapter (xviii) on International Law. P 2 212 The Literature of International Relations itself to the conscience of the Nations which they represent. No human society has ever long subsisted, or ever can long subsist, without being bound together by good laws, much less the Society of Nations. It has been the signal merit of the Statesmen of Europe, who have had charge of the inter- national interests of their respective States during the last half century, that they have agreed to modify the customary Law of Nations from time to time so as to adapt it to the enlightened demands of an advancing civilisation. The conse- quence has been, that, however indeterminate in a certain sense are the rules of that Law, it is a Law of the Living, and not of the Dead, and whilst there will always be much question about the details of its application its flexibility as customary law will always preserve it from becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, those who by genius and study are capable of mastering its principles, and of applying them with discernment to the maintenance of a sound public opinion, where questions of Right and Wrong are at issue between Independent States, are in substance although not in form the true law-givers of Nations in this respect. They can however claim no supreme authority for themselves, but must rest satisfied with commend- ing their views of international obligation to the reason of Statesmen, and to the conscience of mankind at large.' x About three hundred years before these words were written, thirty-one years before the great work of Grotius was published, and in a year intermediate between the first and the more important of the books on War written by Gentilis, Grotius's precursor, the essential foundations of a true Law of Nations were made clear by one of the greatest and most representative of Englishmen Richard Hooker. There is a law, he said, which concerns men as individuals. There is, secondly, a law 1 Travers Twiss, The Law of Nations ... in Time oj Peace, new ed., 1884, pp. xlii-xliii. Hooker on the Law of Nations 213 which belongs to them as they are men linked with others in some form of political society ; nor should they forget that ' as any mans deed past is good as long as him selfe continueth : so the act of a publique societie of men done five hundreth yeares sithence standeth as theirs, who presently are of the same societies, because corporations are immortall : we were then alive in our predecessors, and they in their successors do live still '.* There is a third kind of law that which touches all the several bodies politic, ' so far forth as one of them hath publique commerce with another. And this third is the Lawe of nations. Betweene men and beastes there is no possibilitie of sociable communion, because the welspring of that com- munion is a naturall delight which man hath to transfuse from him selfe into others, and to receyve from others into himselfe especially those thinges wherein the excellencie of his kind doth most consist. The chiefest instrument of humaine communion therefore is speech, because thereby we impart mutuallie one to another the conceiptes of our reasonable understanding. 2 And for that cause seing beastes are not hereof capable, for as much as with them we can use no such conference, they being in degree, although above other creatures on earth to whome nature hath denied sense, yet lower then to be sociable companions of man to whome nature hath given 1 Compare Burke : ' Society ... is a partnership. ... As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born. Each contract of each particular state is but a clause in the great primaeval contract of eternal society, linking the lower with the higher natures, connecting the visible and invisible world, according to a fixed compact sanctioned by the inviolable oath which holds all physical and all moral natures, each in their appointed place.' Reflections on the Revolution in France, Works (1823), v, p. 183. 2 Arist. Pol. i, c. 2. 214 The Literature of International Relations reason ; it is of Adam said that amongst the beastes He found not for him selfe any meete companion. 1 Civill society doth more content the nature of man then any private kind of solitarie living, because in societie this good of mutuall participa- tion is so much larger then otherwise. Herewith notwithstand- ing we are not satisfied, but we covet (if it might be) to have a kind of societie & fellowship even with al makind. Which thing Socrates intending to signifie professed him self a Citizen, not of this or that comon-welth, but of the world. 2 And an effect of that very natural desire in us, (a manifest token that we wish after a sort an universall fellowship with all men) appeareth by the wounderful delight men have, some to visit forrein countries, some to discover natios not heard of in former ages, we all to know the affaires & dealings of other people, yea to be in league of amitie with them : & this not onely for trafiques sake, or to the end that when many are cofederated each may make other the more strong, but for such cause also is 3 moved the Queene of Saba to visit Salomon ; 4 & in a word because nature doth presume that how many me there are in the world, so many Gods as it were ther are, or at least wise such they should be towards men. Touching lawes which are to serve men in this behalfe, even as those lawes of reason which (man retayning his original integritie) had bene sufficient to direct each particular person in all his affaires & duties, are not sufficient but require the accesse of other lawes, now that man and his offspring are growne thus corrupt and sinfull ; againe as those lawes of politic & regiment, which would have served men living in publique societie together with that harmlesse disposition which then they should have had, are 1 Gen. ii. 20. * Cic. Tusc. 5 [cap. 37], and i, de legib. [cap. 12]. 3 A misprint, in the first edition, for ' as '. 4 i Kings x. i ; 2 Chron. ix. I ; Matt. xiii. 42 ; Luke xi. 31. Hooker on the Law of Nations 215 not able now to serve when mens iniquitie is so hardly restrained within any tolerable bounds : in like manner the nationall lawes of mutuall commerce betweene societies of that former and better qualitie might have bene other then now, when nations are so prone to offer violence iniurie and wrong. Here- upon hath growne in everie of these three kindes that distinction between Primarie & Secundarie lawes ; the one grouded upon sincere, the other built upon depraved nature. Primarie lawes of nations are such as concerne embassage, such as belong to the courteous entertaynment of forreiners and strangers, such as serve for commodious trafique & the like. Secundarie lawes in the same kinde are such as this present unquiet world is most familiarly acquainted with, I meane lawes of armes, which yet are much better known then kept. But what matter the lawe of nations doth containe I omit to search. The strength and vertue of that law is such that no particular nation can lawfulle preiudice the same by any their several laws & ordi- nances, more then a man by his private resolutions the law of the whole common welth or state wherin he liveth. For as civill law being the act of a whole body politique doth therfore overrule each severall part of the same bodie : so there is no reason that any one common welth of it self should to the preiudice of another annihilate that whereupon the whole world hath agreed.' l 1 Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politic, bk. i. 10, pp. 74 and 76-7 of the first edition, which has been followed in the extract given. APPENDIX I Extracts illustrative of the Function of the Am- bassador, the Qualities of the Diplomatist, and the Conduct of Negotiations The Function of the Ambassador (i) VERA, El Embaxador, translated into French under the title Le Parfait Ambassadeur : 1 Definition de la Charge d* Ambassadeur : * Un Conciliateur des affaires des Princes, un homme envoye de loin, pour traiter des affaires publiques, par election particuliere non avec des ruses ou finesses de guerre, mats avec V eloquence & la force de F esprit. Autres auteurs luy donnent cette definition : C'est, disent-ils, un sujet qui ressemble a un Mediateur d? amour. Et arm que cette comparaison ne vous semble pas indigne de la matiere, ecoutez ce que Platon en dit. // n'y a rien a dire de FOrateur au Cuysinier. Comme le bon Cuysinier avec ses divers assaison- nemens, donne bon goust a plusieurs viandes qui seroient fades toutes seules : ainsi 1'Orateur, avec la douceur de son eloquence & la variet6 des figures de Rhetorique, rend agreables plusieurs matieres qui seroient odieuses aux mesmes oreilles a qui elles plaisent, sans estre pourveues de cet ornement : Ainsi un Ambassadeur, est un Mediateur d'amour, qui par son industrie unit deux volontez contraires.' Le Parfait Ambassadeur, PP- 3 2 -3- * L' Ambassadeur est apele, de quelques uns, 1'organe par laquelle les pensees & les conceptions des absents se communi- quent, & PAmbassade 1'Art de conserver deux Princes en amitie.' Ibid., p. 36. 1 See above, pp. 1 52-3. Functions of the Ambassador 217 Qui fut Vauteur de la premiere Ambassade : ' La necessite en fut 1'inventrice, quand la Deesse Pandore sema par le monde les calamitez & les travaux au lieu des biens que les Dieux luy avoient deposez. Apres ce siecle dore & heureux, que les hommes commencerent a habiter les maisons, & a diviser le propre d'avec celuy d'autruy, ce fut lors que les Ambassades furent introduites, pour essayer en remonstrant 1'equite, a recouvrer ce que 1'ambition & la force des uns, avoit usurpe sur la simplicite & la foiblesse des autres ; ou bien pour d'autres negoces & traitez : On dit que le Roy Bellus fut le premier qui se servit de ce moyen : mais les Poetes 1'attribuent a Palamedes.' Ibid., pp. 53-4. (2) WICQUEFORT, L? Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions, translated into English by John Digby under the title, The Embassador and his Functions : l Of the Function of the Embassador in general : a Messenger of Peace ; an honourable Spy : ' I make use of this Word on purpose to distinguish between the Functions and the Actions of an Embassador ; because the ones have a nearer Relation to the Character, and the others to the Person. The Embassa- dor does not always negotiate ; that is to say ; he ought not always to act the Embassador every where, and on all Occasions. I said elsewhere, that he ought to have a Tincture of the Comedian, 2 and I must here add, That perhaps in the whole Commerce of the World, there is not a more comical Personage than the Embassador. There is not a more illustrious Theatre than a Court ; neither is there any Comedy, where the Actors seem less what they are in effect, than Embassadors do in their Negotiation ; and there is none that represents more important Personages. But as the best Actor is not always upon the Stage, but changes his manner of Behaviour after the Curtain is drawn ; so the Embassador who has play'd his part well in the Functions of his Character, ought to act the Man of Honour and the Gentleman, when he comes to act the Comedian . . . This compound of Formalities, Decencies, and Circumspections may indeed form a politick Pedant, but not a perfect Embassa- dor, who ought to be a consummate gallant Man, that is to 1 See above, pp. 1 53-5. 2 See Callieres, below, p. 227. 2i 8 Illustrative Extracts concerning say, a Man fram'd to the Mode of the Court. Nothing hinders an Embassador from seeing and entertaining the Ladies ; but if on these Occasions, where even Kings themselves show themselves communicative and familiar, he should affect to be grave, and keep up the Character of Embassador ; I would not say that he would thereby render himself ridiculous, but he would not be far from it. ... I have spoken ... of the Instruc- tion Queen Elizabeth gave in the Year 1570 to Francis Walsing- ham^ who went on her Part in the Quality of Embassador into France, It contains almost all the general Duties of an Embassador in Ordinary ... In these few Lines you find the two first Functions of an Embassador, who is represented there as a Messenger of Peace on one side, and as an honourable Spy on the other . . . One of the first Things that the Embassador ought to do, to succeed in the Profession of a Spy, is to study well the Humour and Genius of the Ministers that compose the Council of the Prince with whom he is to negotiate . . . All Ministers are Men, and as such they have their Foible . . . Commines says, there is not any Court but has Malecontents in it : and I think I may add ; there are none without Traytors ; 1 See Foreign Calendar, 1569-71 ; and the first 'instructions' in 'The Compleat Ambassador : or Two Treaties of the Intended Marriage of Qu: Elizabeth of Glorious Memory ; comprised in Letters of Negotiation of Sir Francis Walsingham, her Resident in France. Together with the Answers of the Lord of Burleigh, the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thos: Smith, & others. Wherein, as in a clear Mirror, may be seen the Faces of the two Courts of England and France, as they then stood ; with many remark- able passages of State, not at all mentioned in History. Faithfully collected by the truly Honourable Sir Dudley Digges Knight, late Master of the Rolls." Small folio, 1655, pp. (xiv + ) 441 (and Index of 6 pp.). 'A. H.' in his words 'To the Reader', written in 1654, says regarding Walsingham that the Papers brought together in this volume show ' how vigilant he was to gather true Intelligence ; what means and Persons he used for it ; how punctual he was in keeping to his Instructions, where he was limited; and how wary and judicious where he was left free ; still advancing, upon all occasions, the Reputation and Interest of his Great Mistress, with a most lively and indefatigable Devotion.' ' For the second Treatie,' writes ' A. H.', ' which was set on foot in the year 1581 with Monsieur the Duke of Alanson I do conceive that it was really intended by the French, and by the chief of the English Councel, except Leicester (who had pretensions of his own ;) but for her own Mind, what that really was, I must leave, as a thing doubly inscrutable, both as she was a Woman and a Queen '- ' To the Reader '. Functions of the Ambassador 219 but as the Embassador must distrust these, so he ought not indifferently and without Distinction to put his Confidence in those : ... It requires a great Penetration to see to the Bottom of the Heart of Man, which is impenetrable to all other Understandings but the Divine. It is what no Rules nor Instructions can be given for, except in general, that the Embassador ought to form himself by his own Experience.' l V Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions, translated by Digby, pp. 294, 296, 300. (3) CALLI ERES, De la Maniere de negocier avec les Souverains : 2 Des Fonctions du Negociateur : 3 ' Les fonctions d'un Ministre envoye dans un Pays etranger se peuvent reduire a deux principales ; 1'une est d'y trailer les affaires de son Prince, & 1 'autre est de decouvrir celles d'autrui.' 4 ' II doit encore s'instruire exactement de 1'Etat de ses forces, tant de terre que de mer, du nombre de ses Places, si elles sont bien munies & bien fortifiees, de 1'etat de ses Ports, et ses Vaisseaux & ses Arcenaux, quelles troupes il peut mettre en campagne, tant de Cavalerie que d'Infanterie, sans degarnir ses places et ses frontieres ; quels sont ses revenus ordinaires et extraordinaires, & quel est son credit sur la bourse de ses sujets, s'ils sont affectionnez ou mecontens ; les intrigues qui sont dans sa Cour, s'il y a des factions & des partialitez dans son Etat & entre ses Ministres sur le gouvernement, ou sur la Religion ; sa depense annuelle, tant pour sa maison, que pour 1'entretien de ses troupes, & pour ses plaisirs, quelles sont ses alliances, tant offensives que defensives avec d'autres Puis- sances, & celles qui sont ennemies ou suspectes, qui sont les Princes et les fitats qui recherchent son amitie, quelles de- marches ils font pour cela, & a quelles fins, quel est le principal traffic qui se fait dans ses fitats, leur fertilite ou leur sterilite.' 5 1 See, further, Book ir, ch. ii, ' With whom the Embassador ought to negotiate ', pp. 301-6 ; ch. iii, ' How the Embassadors ought to negotiate ', pp. 306-15; ch. iv, 'The Embassador ought not to meddle with the Domestick Affairs of the State where he negotiates', pp. 315-22; ch. v, ' The Embassador ought to execute his Orders, and how ', pp. 322-8 (' Cardinal Mazartn's Orders were sometimes admirable, but very per- plexing ', p. 328). 2 See above, pp. 155-6. 3 ch. viii, pp. 85-100. 4 p. 85. 6 pp. 96-7. 22o Illustrative Extracts concerning (4) MARTENS (Charles de), Le Guide diplomatique : l Des Fonctions de V agent diplomatique : ' Les fonctions du ministre sont la pratique de ses devoirs ; nous n'en saurions donner une definition a la fois plus courte et plus complete . . . La vigilance du ministre public s'etend a tout ce qui se passe sous ses yeux ... II y a des circonstances dedicates oil la con- duite des affaires exige d'aller au dela de la souplesse, et ou la ruse peut devenir necessaire et meme licite, surtout quand 1'agent qui y recourt se trouve excuse d'en faire usage par 1'emploi qu'on fait centre lui . . . II y a des moments critiques dans la vie des fitats ou il semble que les circonstances dans les- quelles ils se trouvent doivent tout absoudre ; mais il en est de semblables dans celle des individus, et qui oserait affirmer que, egalement menaces, les uns puissent s'affranchir de la loi et non les autres ? Faire de la corruption un moyen appli- cable a tous les cas ou elle peut etre profitable, c'est en faire aussi un dissolvant universel ; c'est ouvrir la porte a tous les scandales, c'est apprendre aux hommes a capituler avec leur conscience : la ou la venalite prevaut 1'honneur abdique.' 2 Qualities of the Diplomatist I . Bon Ambassadeur : Eon Orateur : 3 (a) ' Pyrrhus afferma plusieurs fois qu'il avoit plus conquis de citez avec 1'Eloquence de Cineas, qu'avec les armes de ses guerriers. Pyrrhus avoit raison, car outre que Cineas le servoit avec un grand zele, il se gouvernoit fort prudemment & avoit si bonne memoire, qu'estant alle Ambassadeur a Rome, des le lendemain de son arrivee, a ce que dit Conrard, il sgavoit appeller tous les Senateurs par leur nom . . .' * I'appelle 4 vertu en 1'Ambassadeur, une Industrie absolue approuvee de plusieurs experiences, de sciences civiles, d'une connoissance parfaite des Histoires, d'une naturelle Eloquence & d'une connoissance generale de toutes les affaires qu'on luy peut commettre, & en 1 See above, pp. 1567. 2 Le Guide diplomatique, i, pp. 174, 174-5, 177. 3 Le Parfait Ambassadeur, pp. 177-8; p. 17, foot-note, above. 4 ' Louis ' speaking in Vera's dialogue. Qualities of the Diplomatist 221 fin, d'une prudence & vivacite d'entendement, qui puisse donner une methode pour faire reiissir un affaire, ou pour detourner les obstacles qui s'y oposeront : d'autant qu'en cette prudence que i'entends, il s'y trouvera les especes delibera- tive, indicative, & preceptive ; qui sont requises en un Ambassa- deur ; a la premiere de ces especes appartient la faculte de discourir pour & centre la matiere qui se proposera ; la seconde, d'eclaircir la resolution qui se prendra ; & la preceptive, pour la mettre en execution . . . Et 1'on peut prouver par Athenes, Corinthe & Rome, que 1'antiquite ne concedoit iamais Ambas- sade a personne qu'il ne fust Orateur fort eminent. Georges Lontinus fut plusieurs fois en Ambassade a Athenes, non pas pour estre le plus noble des Latins, mais parce qu'il estoit le plus eloquent.' 1 (b) ' On a donne le nom d'Orateurs aux Ambassadeurs, pour exprimer qu'il faut qu'ils sachent bien parler; mais 1'eloquence d'un Ambassadeur doit etre fort differente de celle de la Chaire & du Barreau, ses discours doivent etre plus pleins de sens que de paroles, sans y affecter des termes trop recher- chez, il faut qu'il accommode son discours a ceux ausquels il 1'adresse & que tout ce qu'il dit concoure a la fin qu'il se propose, qui est de les convaincre des choses qu'il est charge de leur representer & de les determiner a prendre les resolutions qu'il desire, ce qui est la preuve de la vraye eloquence. S'il parle a un Prince, il faut qu'il le fasse sans clever sa voix, mais du ton d'une conversation ordinaire, d'un air modeste & respectueux & d'un stile concis, apres avoir bien pese & examine les expressions dont il se sert, les Princes n'aiment pas les longs discours ni les grands parleurs, un habile Negociateur ne doit pas tomber dans ce deffaut, qui ne convient qu'a des Ecoliers ou a des pedans, la sagesse & les longs discours se trouvent rarement ensemble.' 2 2. (a) Of the birth and learning of an Embassador : 3 'I cannot tell whether the Men of Letters are fitter for Embassy than Tradesmen : but I shall not scruple to say, that an Embassador is not better form'd in the College than in the 1 Le Parfait Ambassadeur, pp. 178-9, 180-1. 2 Callieres, pp. 232-3. 3 Wicquefort, U Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions, translated by Digby. 222 Illustrative Extracts concerning Shop. If the one renders us Cowardly and Self-interested the other makes us Clownish and Opiniated ; and neither in the one nor in the other is learn' d what an Embassador ought to know ; . . . Cardinal Bessarion was a very fit man to fill a Professor's Chair, to teach the Greek Tongue ; as in reality he was one of those, that revived the primitive Knowledge of it in the most Western Parts of Europe, in the fifteenth century ; but when he was put into another Profession, and was vested with the Quality of Legate, to negotiate with the first Princes of Christendom, he discover'd his Ignorance, and made it plain that he did not know the first Rudiments of it, by going to see the Duke of Burgundy, before he had visited the King of France ... I am so far also from excluding all the Learned from this sort of Employment, that I could wish all that enter upon it were learned ; provided that with their Learning, they had also all the other necessary Qualifica- tions. . . . There is a Habit contracted in reading, which is directly opposite to the constant activity of an Embassador . . . the School infects with a certain contracting Humour, which is inconsistent with the Character of a well-bred Man. They who study only as much as is requisite to become such, and to make Learning subservient to their Profession, have thereby a great Advantage ; tho' good sense always relieves those who have not Study'd. The Study of polite Literature ought to be a Foundation to all the Embassador's Knowledge : There true Morality is to be learn'd . . . There is no Philosopher that teaches it more agreeably than Horace . . . Provided we do not strike into Criticism nor Pedantry, we shall find there the Principles of Honesty, which ought to be the first Quality of the Embassador. The Knowledge of the Civil Law, if it be founded upon that of the History of the Roman Laws, is an admirable Ingredient for a Minister. But there are but few that apply themselves to it ; because to speak the Truth, the major Part of the Doctors that teach it, do not understand it ; or if they do understand it, they will not give themselves the trouble to teach it to their Scholars . . . There is nothing but the perfect Knowledge of the State of ancient Rome, and of the Occasions upon which the Laws were enacted, that can give a right judgment of the Intention of the Legislators ; as Qualities of the Diplomatist 223 well as of the Reasons, upon which so many great Men have grounded the Opinions, that compose the Digests or Pandects ; as the Decrees and Edicts of the Emperors make what is call'd the Code, and the Authenticks. . . . But the chief Study of those that design to be employ'd in Embassies, ought to be that of History ; I comprehend under that Name all that depends thereon, and is any way useful to it, as Memoirs, Instructions, and Negotiations ; and particularly Treaties ... It may be said of History, that there is none so bad but something useful shall be found in it ... Tbucidides, Xenopbon and Polybius amongst the Greeks : 'Titus Livius, Julius Caesar, Sallustius, Velleius Paterculus and Tacitus amongst the Romans, ought to be study'd . . . Let our Politicians give the first Place to Tacitus if they please, for my part I shall be bold to say, that upon an equitable and impartial Judgment, Philip de Comines ... is nothing inferior to him in any respect whatever . . . There is not any Book so useful to Princes and Ministers as the Memoirs of Comines. His Disinterestedness appears every where, he does Justice to every Body ; and there is not any remarkable Accident, of which he does not assign the first Cause to His Providence, who holds the Hearts of Kings in his Hand ; that is to say, the God of Battles, who alone disposes of Crowns and Monarchies. Nicholas MatchiavePs History of Florence is a compleat Work, and almost inimitable . . .' x () Des Connoissances necessaires et utiles a un Negociateur : 2 * Un homme qui est ne avec les qualitez propres a traiter les affaires publiques, & qui se sent de 1'inclination a s'y apliquer, doit commencer par s'instruire de 1'etat ou se trouvent les affaires de 1'Europe, des principaux interets qui y regnent & qui la divisent, de la forme des divers gouvernemens qui y sont etablis & du caractere des Princes, des Generaux & des Ministres qui y sont en autorite & en credit.' 3 'L'etude de la forme du gouvernement qui est presentement 1 Wicquefort, op. cit., pp. 50-2. 2 Callieres, De la maniere de negocier avec les Souverains, ch. v. 3 Ibid., pp. 49-50. 224 Illustrative Extracts concerning c'est voyager dans les terres inconnues & s'exposer a s'y egarer .... II y a des differences tres-essentielles entre 1'autorite d'un Roi, & celle d'un autre Roi, quoiqu'il n'y en ait aucune dans le nom de leur dignite, il y a des pays ou il ne suffit pas d'etre d'accord avec le Prince & avec ses Ministres, parce qu'il y a d'autres puissances qui y balancent la sienne, & qui ont le pouvoir d'empecher 1'effet de ses resolutions & de lui en faire prendre de contraires ; c'est ce qu'on a vu en Angleterre, ou 1'autorite du Parlement oblige souvent les Rois a faire la paix ou la guerre, centre leur volonte, & en Pologne ou les Diettes generates ont encore un pouvoir plus etendu, & ou il ne faut que gagner un seul Nonce de la Diette, & le faire protester centre les resolutions prises par le Roi, par le Senat & par tous les autres Nonces ou deputez des Provinces pour empecher 1'effet'. 1 3. General Qualities of the Diplomatist : Du Choix des Negociateurs : 2 ' Pour bien choisir des Negociateurs propres aux emplois qu'on leur destine, il faut avoir egard a leur qualite personnelle, a leur profession, a leur fortune ; au Prince ou a 1'fitat vers lequel on les envoye, & a la nature de 1'affaire dont on veut les charger.' 3 ' La sage Republique de Venise est si persuadee de la par- tialite de ses Prelats et de ses Gens d'Eglise pour le Saint Siege, qu'elle ne se contente pas de ne les point employer a 1'Ambassade de Rome, mais elle les exclud de toutes ses deliberations qui regardent cette Cour-la, & elle les fait sortir de ses Assemblies lorsqu'il s'agit de quelques affaires Ecclesiastiques . . . Un Cardinal, un Abbe Commendataire & tous les Ecclesiastiques qui n'ont point de charge d'ame y peuvent etre employez avec plus de bienseance & avec moins de scrupule pour eux & pour le Prince qui les y employe. Les Religieux sont quelquefois propres a porter des paroles secretes & importantes par la facilite qu'ils ont de s'introduire aupres des Princes ou de leurs Ministres, sous d'autres pretextes, mais il ne seroit pas de la bien- seance de les voir revetus d'un caractere de Ministre Public.' 4 1 Callicres, op. cit., pp. 56, 57. Ibid., ch. xxi, pp. 210-22. 3 Ibid., p. 210. Ibid., pp. 212, 214-15. Qualities of the Diplomatist 225 ' II est important aux Princes & aux Etats Souverains de choisir des sujets agreables aux pays ou ils les envoyent, il faut pour cela avoir egard a la difference des gouvernemens & des inclinations qui regnent dans chaque pays & sur tout a la Religion qui y domine.' * ' Les gens de grand qualite sont propres aux Ambassades, parce que leurs noms imposent & les font respecter ; mais quelque respect qu'on ait pour leur rang & pour leur naissance, ils ont encore besoin d'un bon entendement, de savoir & d'experience pour bien conduire une negociation importante, & ils sont sujets a se tromper, lorsqu'ils croyent comme font plusieurs de cette espece qu'on ne doit rien refuser a leur qualite.' 2 * Un jeune Negociateur est d'ordinaire presomptueux, vain, leger, & indiscret, & il y a du risque a le charger d'une affaire de consequence, a moins que ce ne soit un sujet d'un merite singulier & dont 1'heureux naturel ait prevenu les dons de 1'age et de 1'experience. ' Un vieillard est chagrin, dirficultueux, trouvant a redire a tout, blamant les plaisirs qu'il ne peut plus prendre, peu propre a s'insinuer dans les bonnes graces d'un Prince & de ses Ministres, & hors d'etat d'agir par la lenteur & les incommo- ditez attachees a la vieillesse. * L'age mediocre est le plus propre aux negociations, parce qu'on y trouve experience, la discretion & la moderation qui manquent aux jeunes gens, &la vigueur, l'activite& 1'agrement, qui abandonnent les vieillards.' 3 ' Un homme de lettres est beaucoup plus propre qu'un homme sans etude a faire un bon Negociateur ; il sait parler & repon- dre juste sur tout ce qu'on lui dit ; il parle avec connoissance des droits des Souverains, il explique ceux de son Prince, il les appuye par des faits & par des exemples qu'il sait citer bien a propos, pendant qu'un ignorant ne sait alleguer pour toute raison que la volonte ou la puissance de son Maitre & les ordres qu'il en a re^us, qui ne font pas de loi aupres des Princes & des Etats libres & independans, lesquels cedent souvent aux remonstrances judicieuses d'un homme savant & eloquent. 2224 1 p. 223. 2 pp. 227-8. 3 pp. 229-30. Cf. Le Parfait AmbassaJeur, pp. 331-4. Q 226 Illustrative Extracts concerning 'Les Negociateurs ignorans & remplis de la grandeur de leur Maitre sont encore sujets a prendre son nom en vain, c'est-a-dire a le citer mal-a-propos dans les choses qui ne regardent point ses interets, pour autoriser leurs passions particulieres, au lieu qu'un sage Negociateur evite de compromettre le nom & 1'autorite de son Prince, & ne le cite jamais que bien a propos. . . . ' La science des faits & de 1'histoire est une des principales parties de 1'habilete d'un Negociateur, parce que les raisons etant souvent problematiques, la plupart des hommes se con- duisent par les exemples & se determinent sur ce qui a etc fait en pareil cas. ' Un Negociateur sans etude est sujet a tomber dans plusieurs inconveniens par 1'obscurite & par la mauvaise construction de ses discours & de ses depeches. II ne suffit pas de bien penser sur une affaire, il faut savoir expliquer ses pensees correcte- ment, clairement & intelligiblement, & il faut qu'un Ministre ait de la facilite a bien parler en public & a bien ecrire, ce qui est tres-rare & tres-difficile a un homme sans etude.' x Des Qualitez et de la Conduite du Negociateur : 2 * Ces qualitez sont un esprit attentif & applique, qui ne se laisse point distraire par les plaisirs, & par les amusemens frivoles, un sens droit qui conceive nettement les choses comme elles sont, & qui aille au but par les voyes les plus courtes & les plus naturelles, sans s'egarer a force de rafinement & de vaines subtilitez qui rebuttent d'ordinaire ceux avec qui on traite, de la penetration pour decouvrir ce qui se passe dans le cceur des hommes & pour savoir profiler des moindres mouvemens de leurs visages & des autres effets de leurs passions, qui 6chapent aux plus dissimulez ; un esprit fecond en expediens, pour aplanir les difficultez qui se rencontrent a ajuster les interets dont on est charge ; de la presence d'esprit pour repondre bien a propos sur les choses imprevues, & pour se tirer par des reponses judicieuses d'un pas glissant ; une humeur egale, & un naturel tranquile & patient, toujours dispose a ecouter sans distraction ceux avec qui il traite ; un abord toujours ouvert, doux, civil, agreable, des manieres aisees & insinuantes qui contribuent beaucoup a acquerir les inclinations de ceux 1 Callicrcs, pp. 230-1. z Ibid., ch. iv, pp. 19-39. Qualities of the Diplomatist 227 avec qui on traite, au lieu qu'un air grave & froid, & une mine sombre & rude, rebute & cause d'ordinaire de 1'aversion. II faut sur tout qu'un bon Negociateur ait assez de pouvoir sur lui-meme pour resister a la demangeaison de parler avane que de s'etre bien consulte sur ce qu'il a a dire, qu'il ne se pique pas de repondre sur le champ & sans premeditation aux propositions qu'on lui fait, & qu'il prenne garde de tomb.er dans le defaut d'un fameux Ambassadeur etranger de notre terns, qui etoit si vif dans la dispute, que lorsqu'on 1'echauffoit en le contre-disant, il reveloit souvent des secrets d'importance pour soutenir son opinion. ' II ne faut pas aussi qu'il donne dans le defaut oppose de certains esprits mysterieux, qui font des secrets de rien, & qui erigent en affaires d'importance de pures bagatelles ; c'est une marque de petitesse d' esprit de ne savoir pas discerner les choses de consequence d'avec celles qui ne le sont pas, & c'est s'oter les moyens de decouvrir ce qui se passe, & d'acquerir aucune part a la confiance de ceux avec qui on est en commerce, lorsqu'on a avec eux une continuelle reserve.' x * Un habile Negociateur ne laisse pas penetrer son secret avant le temps propre ; mais il faut qu'il sache cacher cette retenue a ceux avec qui il traite . . . II ne suffit pas pour former un bon Negociateur, qu'il ait toutes les lumieres, toute la dexterite & les autres belles qualitez de 1'esprit : il faut qu'il ait encore celles qui dependent des sentimens du coeur, il n'y a point d'emploi qui demande plus d'elevation & plus de noblesse dans les manieres d'agir. ' Un Ambassadeur ressemble en quelque maniere a un Comedien, expose sur le theatre aux yeux du Public pour y jouer de grands roles.' 2 ' Pour soutenir la dignite attachee a ces emplois, il faut que celui qui en est revetu, soit liberal & magnifique, mais avec choix & avec dessein ; que sa magnificence paroisse dans son train, dans sa livree & dans le reste de son equipage ; que la proprete, 1'abondance, & meme la delicatesse, regne sur sa table : qu'il donne souvent des fetes & des divertissemens aux principales personnes de la Cour ou il se trouve, & au Prince meme, s'il est d'humeur a y prendre part, qu'il tache entrer 1 Ibid., pp. 20-2. z Ibid., pp. 22, 23. Q 2 228 Illustrative Extracts concerning dans ses parties de divertissemens, mais d'une maniere agreable & sans le contraindre, & qu'il y apporte toujours un air ouvert, complaisant, honnete & un desir continual de lui plaire. * oi 1'usage du Pays ou il se trouve lui donne un libre com- merce avec les Dames ; il ne doit pas negliger de se les rendre favorables en s'attachant a leur plaisir & a se rendre digne de leur estime, le pouvoir de leurs charmes s'etend souvent jusqu'a contribuer aux resolutions les plus importantes d'ou dependent les plus grands evenemens ; mais . . . il doit se souvenir que 1'amour est d'ordinaire accompagne de 1'in- discretion & de 1'imprudence.' * * II arrive d'ordinaire dans les negociations ce qui arrive dans la guerre, que les espions bien choisis contribuent plus que toutes choses au bon succes des grandes entreprises, il n'y a rien de plus capable de renverser un dessein important qu'un secret evente bien a propos . . . On appelle un Ambas- sadeur un honorable Espion.' 2 4. The Need for Courage and Firmness : Un homme de sangfroid : (a) En quels cas un Ambassadeur peut temoigner sa hardiesse y son courage : 3 'II est vray qu'il doit estre pacifique, doux, & debonnaire, pour la Cour ou il est envoye Ambassadeur, mais avec telle prudence, que quand il faut contester sur des affaires qu'il ne peut accorder, il fasse voir qu'il n'est enticr & inflexible qu'a cause de sa charge, & non point qu'il soit anime d'aucune sorte de passion . . . S'il se sentoit quelque peu interesse, non en la personne, mais en son office, il doit user de hardiesse, de valeur, & de Constance, pour repousser le tort qu'on luy voudroit faire, tant centre le Roy auquel il fait la Cour, que centre les Ambassadeurs des autres Princes concurrents, en les satisfaisant auparavant de son bon zele, & puis soutenir & defendre genereusement 1'honneur de sa patrie, ou la dignite de son Roy, iusques a perdre la vie, car en tel cas il ne violera point le Droit-des-gens, mais il* sera plutost le defenseur du mesme Droit, d'autant qu'il ne souffre pas seulement qu'on 1'offense, mais il empesche que personne n'y preiudicie.' 4 1 Calibres, pp. 25-6. * Ibid., pp. 28-9, 30. 1 Le Parfait Ambassadeur, p. 394. * Ibid., pp. 393-4. Qualities of the Diplomatist 229 (b) Of Moderation : l ' I do not here mean that Moderation, of which the illustrious Author of the Reflections, Sentences, and moral Maxims, gives so excellent a Character, and of which the wisest have but an Appearance ; but of that Phlegm and Coolness, either study'd or natural, which is so necessary to those who enter upon the Management of publick Affairs. I do not pretend to act the Philosopher, and shall content myself with saying, That Moderation, whether it be an Effect or a part of Prudence, is a Quality, by so much the more requisite to the Embassador, as he that does not possess himself, gives a mighty Advantage to him with whom he negotiates. Julius Mazarin, being but twenty years of age, had the Address to put the Duke of Feria, Governor of Milan, into a Passion ; and to discover by that Mean his true Senti- ments. Those Minds that are compos'd of Salt-peter and Sulphur, which the least Spark sets on fire, are very liable to mar Affairs by their Transports, because it is an easy Matter to excite their Anger, and put them in a Rage, during which they know not what they do.' z (c) ' La fermete est encore une qualite tres-necessaire a un Negociateur, quoique le droit des gens le doive mettre en surete ; il y a cependant diverses occasions ou il se trouve en peril, & ou il a besoin de son courage pour s'en tirer & pour faciliter le succes de ses negociations ; un homme ne timide n'est pas capable de bien conduire de grands desseins ; il se laisse ebranler facilement dans les accidens imprevus, la peur peut faire decouvrir son secret par les impressions qu'elle fait sur son visage, & par le trouble qu'elle cause dans ses discours. . . . L'irresolution est tres-prejudiciable dans la conduite des grandes affaires ; il y faut un esprit decisif, qui apres avoir balance les divers inconveniens, sache prendre son parti & le suivre avec fermete.' 3 * Un homme naturellement violent & emporte, est peu propre a bien conduire une grande negociation. . . . Un homme qui se possede & qui est toujours de sang froid, a un grand avantage a traiter avec un homme vif & plein de feu ; & on 1 Wicquefort, bk. i, ch. viii. z Ibid., pp. 349-50. Moderation is ' the same Virtue under another Name ' as Prudence, p. 350. 3 Callieres, pp. 31-2, 33. 230 Illustrative Extracts concerning peut dire qu'ils ne combattent pas avec armes egales. Pour reiissir en ces sortes d'emplois, il y faut beaucoup moins parler qu'ecouter ; il faut du flegme, de la retenue, beaucoup de discretion & une patience a toute epreuve.' 1 ' Nous avons eu sur d'autres Nations plus Septentrionales que la notre, cette meme superiorite dans 1'art de negocier, que les Espagnols & les Italiens ont eu sur nous, en quoi il semble que le degre d'intelligence ait suivi dans 1'Europe le degre de chaleur des differens climats.' z 5. Machiavellianism* and Anti-Machiavellianism : Prudence and Cunning : Ruse and Counter-ruse : (a) Comment un Ambassadeur doit proceder entre Futile & Vhonneste* : ' L'Ambassadeur qui voudra prevenir ces incon- veniens, doit soigneusement mesnager le temps, soit a remarquer celuy qu'il doit employer, combien il vaut, & combien il luy oste.' 5 De la menterie officteuse : {Louis :] * le vous diray que i'ay appris que beaucoup de Chefs de guerre, en disant ce qui n'estoit pas, ont garanty leurs armees de force grands 1 Callieres, pp. 40, 42. z Ibid., p. 43. 8 ' II faut considerer que Machiavel raisonne en tout comme Politique, c'est-a-dire selon 1'Interest d'Etat, qui commande aussi absolument aux Princes que les Princes a leurs sujets.' Amelot, Le Prince de Nicolas Macbiavel (1683), Preface. 4 Le Parjait Ambassadeur, pp. 218-29. Cf. Montaigne, Essais, liv. HI, c. i, ' De I'Utile et de 1'Honneste ' : ' Personne n'est exempt de dire des fadaises ; le malheur est de les dire curieusement . . . Le prince, quand une urgente circonstance, et quelque impetueux et inopine accident du besoing de son cstat, luy faict gauchir sa parole et sa foy, ou aultrement le iecte hors de son debvoir ordinaire, doibt attribuer cette necessite a un coup de la verge divine : vice n'est ce pas, car il a quitte sa raison a une plus uni- vcrsclle et puissante raison ; mais, certes, c'est malheur : de maniere qu'a quelqu'un qui me demandoit, " Quel remede ? " " Nul remede ", feis ie, s'il feust veritablement gehenni entre ces deux extremes ; sed videat ne quaeratur latebra periurio, il le falloit faire ; mais s'il le feit sans regret, s'il ne luy greva de le faire, c'est signe que sa conscience est en mauvais termes. . . . Ce sont dangercux exemplcs, rares et maladifves exceptions a nos regies naturellcs ; il y fault ceder, mais avecques grande moderation et circonspection : aulcunc utilite privee n'est digne pour laquellc nous facions cet effort a nostre conscience ; la publicque, bien, lorsqu'elle est tresapparente et tresimportante.' 6 Ibid., p. 228. Qualities of the Diplomatist 231 perils. Plusieurs Senateurs ont par ce moyen appaise les troubles de leur Republique. Les Docteurs d'Estat conseillent aux Princes, que s'ils veulent tromper un autre, de tromper premierement 1'Ambassadeur qu'ils luy envoyent. . . . Supposant que les Ambassadeurs sont des instruments animez, il me semble qu'on doit laisser agir en toute liberte, & avec une connoissance certaine de la fin ou 1'on pretend. Or en ce qui louche la menterie qui se donne par le superieur a 1'in- ferieur, encore qu'il en puisse reiissir quelque mal pour 1'affairer il luy sera toutefois plus loisible d'en user, & plus seur pour la conscience ; plus loisible, parce que ce n'est pas proprement mentir, & plus seur, entant que comme il peut disposer absolument de 1'utilite, il peut aussi estre 1'autheur du dommage : mais du moindre au plus grand, il n'est loisible, ny asseure ; & i'estime que c'est une tres- pernicieuse metnode de servir, de laquelle 1'Ambassadeur & toute autre sorte de Ministre, se doit soigneusement garder, parce qu'il perdroit son credit aupres de son Roy des 1'heure que sa menterie seroit decouverte.' \Iule :] * La seconde facon, qui est de taire le vray, n'est pas si odieuse, car outre qu'il y a moins de peril, on se peut tousiours excuser sur un pretexte d'oubly, ou d'ignorance, & particulierement quand le Prince ne s'informe pas instamment, & de propos delibere, de la chose que 1'on cele ; toutefois si 1'Ambassadeur se peut abstenir de 1'un & de 1'autre, il n'en fera que mieux. Mais lors que 1'Ambassadeur rencontrera un heureux succes pour avoir dit ce qui n'estoit pas, ou avoir cele ce qui estoit, on pourra dire qu'il aura fait un bon service au Roy, mais non pas que ce service-la soit bon pour estre allegue dans la pretention d'une recompense : & si 1'affaire va mal, peut-estre qu'on luy en imputera la faute, pour avoir cele le veritable : Enfin, puis que la perte est plus evidente que le gain, & que cette diligence est officieuse, & non de devoir, ce seroit une finesse fort extravagante de se vouloir hazarder au peril, sans aucune esperance de gloire. le soutiens encore, que le plus certain en tout, c'est de rapporter la pure verite au Prince propre, sans laisser son esprit en doute dans le vray-semblable. Dieu, qui est le Prince des Princes, a dit luy mesme, Qu'il aymoit mieux Pobeyssance que le sacrifice. L'Ambassadeur est tenu 232 Illustrative Extracts concerning d'obeyr a Particle de son instruction, qui luy commande de donner advis de tout ce qui se passe, sans rien retenir en son arbitrage, quoy qu'il le iugeast pour le mieux : il suffit a un Ministre de bien accomplir le devoir de sa charge, sans se mesler d'autre chose.' l ' II faut qu'un Ambassadeur tienne tousiours sa creance en suspens, & qu'il examine iudicieusement 1'origine de ses advis pour discerner les bons d'avec les mauvais. Neantmoins il doit en 1'apparence essayer a persuader qu'il les croit, & avec telle dexterite, que celuy qui seroit venu tout expres pour le tromper, s'en retourne trompe soy-mesme : & n'y a rien dequoy 1'Ambassadeur se doive plus garder que de donner a connoistre qu'il se defie, d'autant que plusieurs qui craignoient d'estre trompez, ont eux-mesmes donne occasion de 1'estre. Tybere ne voyoit point de qualite en luy plus estimable que sa naturelle dissimulation qu'il possedoit ; ce fut aussi celle qui luy aida le plus a regner, a ce que dit Tacite. 2 Bref, de la diversite des affections que 1'Ambassadeur reconnoist en divers sujets, & dans la variete des temps, en les examinant avec un meur iugement, & un esprit eveille, il doit composer une regie certaine, & un art pour comprendre le sens des paroles, & penetrer les intentions d'autruy. Les sciences prindrent ainsi leurs commencemens sur la prudente consideration des choses particulieres, parce que les hommes estans curieux d'en re- marquer les ordinaires evenements, & les incertitudes vindrent enfin a distinguer le necessaire d'avec le fortuit, & de cela composerent une science, une opinion, ou une coniecture : & les Medecins usans de mesme consideration aux maladies particulieres formerent les preceptes de leur art, & les doctrines universelles. Cette admirable figure de Venus que fit Zeuxis fut-elle pas composee de plusieurs traits de differents visages ? aussi acheva-t'il un ouvrage qui sembloit surmonter la Nature ; car il mit au iour une beaute parfaite. De mesme 1'Ambassa- deur, en voyant beaucoup, & ecoutant plusieurs personnes, 1 Le Parjait Ambassadeur, pp. 297-8, 299-301. See, also, 5i f Am- bassadeur peut uzer de menterie au Prince Estranger : Instructions sur ce point, pp. 304 sqq. ; Exemple d"une subtile dexterite de certains Ainbassadeurs de Floretice : Ruse & contre-ruse, pp. 315-19 ; also pp. 239 sqq. 8 ' Tacite, auteur recommandable, auquel se trouve tout ce qui est necessaire a rendre un Prince fort experimente.' Ibid., p. 242. Qualities of the Diplomatist 233 considerant tout, & ne croyant rien, mais donnant une impres- sion qu'il croit, il trouve le vray, & n'est iamais surpris : car d'attendre le succes des choses pour en tirer de 1'instruction, c'est tout le mal-heur de PAmbassade ; & a ce que dit Quintus Fabius, Le succes est le maistre des sots, qui ne reconnoissent iamais quails sont trompez que quand Us le voyent auec les yeux, y qu'ils le ioucbent avec les mains? * (b) Of Prudence and Cunning : 2 ' I have said that the Em- bassador in receiving his Prince's Orders, ought to consult his Prudence before he executes them. I shall add in this, that it ought to serve him for a North Pole in the whole course of his Negotiation. It is she alone can make it successful, and it is she alone is capable of forming a perfect Embassador. She holds the first Rank among politick Virtues, and can alone supply all that is wanting in the Embassador ; so that one may say very well with the Poet, Nullum numen abest si sit Pru- dential ... It is a Stroke of the most refin'd Prudence, to make it believ'd that one neglects those Things which one most desires ; that one looks upon them with Indifferency, and that even one has some Aversion for them. If I might be allow'd to make use of the familiar Comparison of the Rowers, who turn their Backs to the Place they design to land at, I think it may be very well apply'd here. Cardinal Mazarin help'd himself wonderfully by this Artifice, and he gave an excellent Proof thereof, at the Congress of the Pyrenees. 4 . . . There is a species of Address, that is rather Roguery than either Cunning or Artifice. 5 ... A publick Minister . . . ought to be above those little Cunnings and Duplicities, which are only the Products of a weak and ill turn'd Mind. . . . The Prudence of an Embassador consists chiefly in knowing how to elude the cunning Strokes of others, and to avoid the Snares that are prepared for him. 6 . . . Prudence has so vast an Object, 1 Ibid., pp. 269-70. 2 Wicquefort, bk. n, ch. vi, pp. 329-39. 3 Ibid., p. 329. 4 p. 331. See the preceding words for the historical illustration. 6 P- 333- 8 P- 335- ' We take cunning for a sinister, or crooked wisdom ; and certainly there is a great difference between a cunning man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be that 234 Illustrative Extracts concerning that one may say it is almost infinite. The Embassador ought not only to consider that the Principles of Reasoning in Policy are as uncertain as those of the Mathematicks are infallible ; but he ought to know also, that the strongest Reasons, and which are in a manner demonstrative, are not always con- cluding. . . . There are numberless Advices to be given to an Embassador on the account of Prudence ; but I dare be bold to say, that there is no need to give any to a Minister to whom this Virtue is natural, or acquir'd by a long Habit. He forms his Conduct on his own Maxims, and behaves himself as Occasions seem to require.' * (c) Advice for one ' destined for the foreign line ' 2 : ' It is not an easy matter, in times like these, to write anything on the subject of a Foreign Minister's conduct, that might not be rendered quite inapplicable to the purpose of daily events. Mr. James's best school will be the advantage he will derive from the abilities of his Principal, and from his own observa- tions. ' The first and best advice I can give a young man on entering this career, is to listen, not to talk at least, not more than is necessary to induce others to talk. I have in the course of my life, by endeavouring to follow this method, drawn from my opponents much information, and concealed from them my own views, much more than by the employment of spies or money. ' To be very cautious in any country, or at any Court, of such as, on your first arrival, appear the most eager to make can pack the cards, and yet cannot play well ; so there are some that are good in canvasses and factions that are otherwise weak men.' Bacon, Essays, ' Of Cunning '. 1 Wicquefort, p. 338. See, further, bk. i, ch. vii, ' Of the Liberty of Speaking ', pp. 339-49. z ' Letter ' of the First Earl of Malmesbury ' to Lord Camden, written at his request on his nephew, Mr. James, being destined for the foreign line', April n, 1813, Diaries ana" Correspondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury, iv, pp. 412-15. Counsel of a kind more directly practical is conveyed in Quelques Conseils a un jeune Voyageur, par Le Comte d'Hauterive, and in Instructions de M, de Colbert, ccrites de sa main : Memoire pour mon fils, sur ce qu'il doit observer pendant Je voyage au'il va faire a Rocbefort, for which see Martens, Guide diplomatique, edition by Hoffman (1838), i, 2nd part, pp. 393-452. Qualities of the Diplomatist 235 your acquaintance and communicate their ideas to you. I have ever found their professions insincere, and their intelli- gence false. They have been the first I have wished to shake off, whenever I have been so imprudent as to give them credit for sincerity. They are either persons who are not considered or respected in their own country, or are put about you to entrap and circumvent you as newly arrived. ' Englishmen should be most particularly on their guard against such men, for we have none such on our side the water, and are ourselves so little coming towards foreigners, that we are astonished and gratified when we find a different treatment from that which strangers experience here ; but our reserve and ill manners are infinitely less dangerous to the stranger than these premature and hollow civilities. 'To avoid what is termed abroad an attachment. If the other party concerned should happen to be sincere, it absorbs too much time, occupies too much your thoughts ; if insincere, it leaves you at the mercy of a profligate, and probably interested character. 'Never to attempt to export English habits and manners, but to conform as far as possible to those of the country where you reside to do this even in the most trivial things to learn to speak their language, and never to sneer at what may strike you as singular and absurd. Nothing goes to conciliate so much, or to amalgamate you more cordially with its in- habitants, as this very easy sacrifice of your national prejudices to theirs. 'To keep your cypher and all your official papers under a very secure lock and key ; but not to boast of your pre- cautions as Mr. Drake did to Mehee de la Touche. ' Not to allow any opponent to carry away any official document, under the pretext that he wishes " to study it more carefully " ; let him read it as often as he wishes, and, if it is necessary, allow him to take minutes of it, but both in your presence. ' Not to be carried away by any real or supposed distinctions from the Sovereign at whose Court you reside, or to imagine, because he may say a few more commonplace sentences to you than to your colleagues, that he entertains a special 236 Illustrative Extracts concerning personal predilection for you, or is more disposed to favour the views and interests of your Court, than if he did not notice you at all. This is a species of royal stage-trick, often practised, and for which it is right to be prepared. * Whenever you receive discretionary instructions (that is, when authority is given you), in order to obtain any very desirable end, to decrease your demands or increase your concessions, according as you find the temper and disposition of the Court where you are employed, and to be extremely careful not to let it be supposed that you have any such authority ; to make a firm, resolute stand on the first offer you are instructed to make, and, if you find " this nail will not drive ", to bring forward your others mosj gradually, and not, either from an apprehension of not succeeding at all, or from an over eagerness to succeed too rapidly, injure essentially the interests of your Court. * It is scarce necessary to say that no occasion, no provoca- tion, no anxiety to rebut an unjust accusation, no idea, however tempting, of promoting the object you have in view, can need, much less justify, a. falsehood. Success obtained by one, is a precarious and baseless success. Detection would ruin, not only your own reputation for ever, but deeply wound the honour of your Court. If, as frequently happens, an indiscreet question, which seems to require a distinct answer, is put to you abruptly by an artful Minister, parry it either by treating it as an indiscreet question, or get rid of it by a grave and serious look ; but on no account contradict the assertion flatly if it be true, or admit it as true, if false and of a dangerous tendency. * In Ministerial conferences, to exert every effort of memory to carry away faithfully and correctly what you hear (what you say in them yourself you will not forget) ; and in drawing your report, to be most careful it should be faithful and correct. I dwell the more on this (seemingly a useless) hint, because it is a most seducing temptation, and one to which we often give way almost unconsciously, in order to give a better turn to a phrase, or to enhance our skill in negotiation ; but we must remember we mislead and deceive our Govern- ment by it.' Qualities of the Diplomatist 237 6. Miscellaneous Considerations : (a) Qu'un Ambassadeur doit estre sobre, i? s'abstenir des mets exquis : Qu'il se devoit abstenir de boire du vin aux ban- quets / ' L'Ambassadeur peut bien banqueter aux occasions convenables, comme aussi se trouver aux banquets des autres, mais sur tout, ie luy conseillerois de s'accoustumer a ne point boire de vin, ou pour le moins qu'il s'en abstint en ces ren- contres la ; mais s'il y a des incommoditez particulieres qui le requierent, on use auiourd'huy fort communement de certains breuvages composez de simples si admirables, que le vin ne peut pas causer un meilleur effet aux parties necessi- teuses de sa vertu. II y a plusieurs exemples qui nous appren- nent que le vin a este le moyen par ou beaucoup d' Ambassadeurs se sont perdus, y par qui les ennemis out beaucoup gagne? 1 (b) Whether Clergymen are proper for Embassies : 2 ' The Author of the Idea of the perfect Embassador, declares for the affirmative, and backs his Opinion with several Examples taken out of the Bible, and from History. ... I shall not enquire into the Justness of the Examples ; but I think I may say, he alledges very few that square with his Intention. . . . I cannot conceive how a Bishop, who is able to make himself respected at the Court of a Christian Potentate, can submit to be employ'd in that of Constantinople, and that to an Infidel, who ought to be his abomination. 3 . . . Formerly, while Superstition and Ignorance reign'd, the Religious were respected ; but the Habit, and demure Mien, have long since lost their Influence, and the World will be no longer deceived thereby : on the contrary, it is not without scruple, they are at present treated with ; and there is a continual Distrust of their equivocal Meanings, as well as of the Intention of those Princes that employ them. They have not the Quality of Embassadors, because the Representation would participate of the Ridicule : But whether they have Letters of Credence, or that they are credited on their bare Word ; if they are negotiated with, tho > they have not the Character of publick Ministers, they nevertheless enjoy the Protection of the Law of Nations : as 1 Le Parjait Ambassadeur, pp. 388-9. 2 Wicquefort, bk. r, ch. ix. Cf. Le Parjait Ambassadeur, pp. 54-5, 167-8. 3 Ibid., pp. 57, 63. 238 Illustrative Extracts concerning on the other side, they cannot be too severely punish'd if they abuse their Habit and Profession, to contrive Treasons and Assassinations ; with which one might fill up several Volumes. Father Joseph, who assisted Leon Brulard to con- clude the Treaty of Ratisbon, had no Character.' 1 (c) Si V Ambassadeur se peut seruir de Fentremise des femmes pour le progrez de ses affaires : 2 lule : * Mais s'il vous plaist, Seigneur Louis, seroit-ce chose licite & digne de la gravite d'un Ministre qui voudroit avoir quelques advis de se servir de 1'entremise & de la curiosite de quelques femmes ? car elles ont la reputation de ne pouvoir garder aucun secret.' Louis : ' Entant que 1'action que vous dites fust d'enqucrir & de penetrer dans les mouvements de 1'esprit du Prince & de ses Ministres, on ne devroit pas blamer un Ambassadeur qui essayeroit d'y parvenir par tous les moyens licites ;. au con- traire, celuy la commetroit une grande faute qui auroit 1'humeur si severe, que de mepriser ces bons effects la, a cause qu'ils procedent de 1'entremise de quelques femmes, puis que par leur moyen comme on void en beaucoup d'exemples, on a decouvert les plus grandes coniurations & les plus secrettes entreprises qui furent iamais faite.' 3 Doute, si les femmes peuvent estre Ambassatrices 4 : Louis : * C'est pourtant a ce poinct la que ie voudrois limiter leur entreprise dans les affaires d'Estat, car ie ne consentirois iamais comme vous qu'on leur donnast la dignite de 1'Ambassade : & m'estonne beaucoup de ce que Paschalius a este d'advis contraire, veu qu'il a si peu de gens de son party. . . . Et sans doute les larmes d'une fille, & la presence des enfans aux pieds du pere ou de 1'ayeul, feront de plus puissants effects que 1'Oraison de Demosthenes envers Philapa : mais ce sera comme fille, & non pas comme Ambassatrice. Car ie vous prie, Seigneur lule, seroit-il bien scant a un Ambassadeur de pleurer ; & ses pleurs pourroient-elles amolir le cceur d'un Prince irrite ? ' 5 1 Wicquefort, p. 67. * Le Parfait Ambassadeur, p. 282. 3 Ibid., pp. 282-3. Exetnples de plusieurs grands secrets revelez par les femmes, pp. 283-4. * Ibid., pp. 286-90. 8 Ibtd., pp. 286, 289-90. There is one instance of a woman being duly the Conduct of Negotiations 239 The Conduct of Negotiations De Vutilite des Negotiations : 1 ' Pour bien connoitre de quelle utilite peuvent etre les negociations, il faut considerer que tous les Etats dont 1'Europe est composee, ont entr'eux des liaisons & des commerces necessaires qui font qu'on peut les regarder comme des membres d'une meme Republique, & qu'il ne peut presque point arriver de changement conside- rable en quelques-uns de ses membres qui ne soit capable de troubler le repos de tous les autres. Les demelez des moindres Souverains jettent d'ordinaire de la division entre les princi- pales Puissances, a cause des divers interets qu'elles y prennent, & de la protection qu'elles donnent aux partis differens & opposez. 2 . . . Le Cardinal de Richelieu qu'on peut proposer pour modele aux plus grands Politiques, & a qui la France est si redevable, faisoit negocier sans cesse en toute sorte de Pays, & il en a tire de tres-grandes utilitez pour 1'Etat, comme il le temoigne lui-meme dans son Testament politique.' 3 Observations sur les manures de negocier 4 : ' On negocie de vive voix ou par ecrit, la premiere maniere est d'un plus grand usage dans les Cours des Princes, la seconde est plus usitee quand on traite avec des Republiques ou dans des assemblies comme sont les Diettes de 1'Empire, celles des Suisses, les conferences pour la paix & autres assemblies de Ministres chargez de pleins pouvoirs. ' II est plus avantageux a un habile Negociateur de negocier de vive voix, parce qu'il a plus d'occasions de decouvrir par invested with the title and the role of Ambassadress, namely, Renee du Bee, who was appointed by the Regent, Anne of Austria, Ambassadress of France on a matrimonial mission to the Court of the King of Poland, Wladislaw IV, in 1645. There are notable instances of women being entrusted with the conduct of negotiations. Thus, Louise of Savoy, in behalf of Francis I of France, and Margaret, of Austria, in behalf of her nephew, the Emperor Charles V, conducted the final negotiations resulting in the Peace of Cambray ' la Paix des Dames ' in 1529 ; and Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, conducted negotiations between her brother Charles II and Louis XIV, and concluded the Treaty of Dover, in 1670. 1 Callieres, cLii, pp. 8-18. 2 Ibid., pp. 8-9. 3 Ibid., p. 12. 4 Ibid., ch. xvi, pp. 160-72. 240 Illustrative Extracts concerning ce moyen les sentimens & les desseins de ceux avec qui il traite, & d'employer sa dexterite a leur en inspirer de conformes a ses vues par ses insinuations & par la force de ses raisons.' l * C'est un des plus grands secrets de 1'art de negocier que de savoir, pour ainsi dire, distiler goute a goute dans 1'esprit de ceux avec qui on negocie les choses qu'on a interet de leur persuader.' 2 * Un esprit agreable, net & eclaire, qui a Part de proposer les plus grandes affaires comme des choses faciles & avantageuses aux parties interessees & qui le sait faire d'une maniere aisee & insinuante, a fait plus de la moitie de son ouvrage, & trouve de grandes facilitez a 1'achever.' 3 S'il est utile cTenv oyer plusieurs Negociateurs en un meme Pays: 4 * Le Cardinal de Richelieu ne se contentoit pas d'employer plusieurs Negociateurs pour une meme affaire, il partageoit souvent entr'eux le secret de ses desseins & il faisoit mouvoir divers ressorts pour les faire reiissir. ' Outre les Ministres publics qu'il envoyoit dans chaque pays, il y entretenoit encore souvent des Agens secrets & des Pensionnaires du pays meme qui 1'avertissoient de tout ce qui s'y passoit independamment & sans la participation des Ambassadeurs du Roi, qui ignoroient souvent les Commissions de ces Emissaires, & ils lui rendoient compte de la conduite de ces Ambassadeurs, aussi-bien que de ce qui se passoit dans la Cour ou ils etoient ; ce qui faisoit que rien n'echappoit a ses lumieres, & qu'il etoit en etat de redresser les Ambassadeurs qui manquoient en quelque chose par leur mauvaise conduite ou par defaut de penetration.' 6 Des negotiations diplomatique s 6 ; * En principe les gouver- nements seuls negocient, et 1'agent diplomatique n'est que 1'organe de celui qui 1'a nomme. Les instructions' 1 qu'il a revues dirigent sa conduite ; il n'a la facult6 ni d'accorder, ni de refuser, ni de transiger sans y etre autorise. . . . Sa tache n'est point circonscrite dans des limites si e"troites qu'il ne 1 Callieres, pp. 160-1. * Ibid.,p. 162. 8 //>/3542, 80-1. Louise of Savoy, 239. Lowe, Robert, 3. Lyons, Lord, 21, 69. Mably, 1'Abbe de, 142. Machiavelli, 4, 19, 22, 46, 48, 76-7, 77-8, 149, 150, 151, 223, 230. Machiavellianism and anti-Machia- vellianism, 76-7, 230 sqq. Machiavellism, 226. Mackintosh, Sir James, 28, loo. Madison, 142-3, 279. Maine, Sir Henry, 11415. Maitland, F. W., 125. Malmesbury, the first Earl of; see Harris. Malmesbury, the third Earl of, 10, n, 13, 29, 30,35, 39,68, 173,176, 234-6. Manzoni, 16. Map oj Europe by Treaty, The, Hertslet's, 146-8. Maps, 146-8. Mare Clausum, Selden's, 128, 129-31. Mare Liberum, Grotius's, 117 sqq., 129, 131, 133. Martens, Charles de, on the study of diplomacy, 85-6, 87; his Causes celebres, 113; continues the Re- cueil des principaux traites, 144 ; his Guide diplomatique, 1 56-7 ; on the function of the diplomatist, 220-1 ; on the conduct of nego- tiations, 240-2 ; on diplomatic correspondence, 247-9. Martens, G. F. von, Precis du Droit des Gens, 96, 100-5 ; Recueil des principaux traites, 143-4. Mazarin, 43, 45, ,153, 233. Means and end in politics, 4-7. ' Mediation ', 160. Memoires, 248, 249. Memorandum, 248. Menterie officieuse, La, 230-1. Metternich, 31-2. Middle age in negotiators, 225. Middle Age, the ideal of the, 177-9. Milton, 63. Mitchell, letters from and to Sir A., 53-4, 60, 65, 8 1 -2. Mommsen, 51. Monarchy and stability, 55-6. Montaigne, 24, 230. Montesquieu, 22, 58. Morley, Oliver Cromwell, and Re- collections, 44. 290 Index Napoleon, 31, 60, 102, 105, 106, no, 194. Napoleon III, 68. Negotiating, the art of, 21, 219, 223-30, 239-42. ' Notes ', 88, 248. Nys, Les Origines du droit inter- national, 95-6,118 ; 129,179,180. ' Occupation ' of the sea, 122-5. ' Officious ' conversation, 39. Old age in negotiators, 225. Oleron, Rolls of, 125, 136. ' Open ' diplomacy, 73-5, 253-9, 263-9. Oppenheim, L., International Law, 19, 112, 116, 157. Orator, \6sqq. ; * bon Ambassadeur, bon Orateur', 17, 220-1. Order in Council of 1795, 98-9. Paix perpetuelle, La, 96, 178 sqq., 206 sqq. Palmerston, ir, 32, 35-6, 39, 173, 263. Panin, 54. Parliament and the conduct of foreign policy in Britain, 55 sqq., 68 sqq., 83-4, 224, 253-9, 260-9. Parliaments in France, Germany, and the United States of America, treatment of international ques- tions by, 270-82. Parties in Britain and foreign policy, 63 sqq., 68 sqq., 83-4. Pelhdm, Thomas and Henry, 62, 64 ; Henry, 67-8. Pepys, 1 1 6. ' Periods of European History ', 89. Perpetual Peace, Projects of, 178 sqq., 206 sqq. Perpetual Peace, Kant's, 200 sqq. Persona, 125. Peter III of Russia, 53. Phillimore, Sir Robert, 107-8. Phillimore, W. G. F., Three Centuries of Treaties oj Peace and their Teaching, 172. Pitt, the elder, 43, 60, 62, 65. Pitt, the younger, 6, 80. Plan for an Universal and Perpetual Peace, Bentham's, 195 sqq. Poland, partitioning of, 81, 194. Pole, Cardinal, 46, 47. Policy, 4 sqq. ; foreign, 48 sqq., 150 ; and the conduct of war, 162, 164, See Foreign, International, Parlia- ment. Polish Succession (or Election) War, the, 66. Political morality, i -2, 5-7, 22-7, 31 sqq. Polttique de tous les Cabinets de F Europe ; see Segur. Pollock, Sir F., 107, 114-15. Poole, Historical Atlas, 146. Potemkin, 54. President, the, of the United States, and the conduct of foreign policy, 277-81. Prince, The, 19, 22-3, 25, 31, 46, 76, 149, 151. Protests of the Lords, 65-6. Prudence, 14, 22, 72-3, 76, 229, 230-4. Public opinion, 70, 73, 264-5, 266-9. Rabshakeh, 16. Raison a"tat, 77, 230. Rastatt, Congress of, 102, 105. Rechberg, 32, 51. Recbtslebre, Kant's, 200, 205-7. Recollections of the Old Foreign Office, 1 66. Recueil des Instructions donnees aux Ambassadeurs de France ; see In- structions. Recueil des principaux trait is ; see Martens. Redcliffe, Stratford de, 10, 30, 251-2, 256-7. Reform Bill, Bismarck on the, 69. Reglement of the Narrow Seas, 118. Reichstag, the, and foreign affairs, *73~5> 2 77- Renee du Bee, 239. | Report from the Select Committee on 29 1 Diplomatic Service (1861), 9, 10, 12, 21, 166, 251-9. Revolution of 1688-9, estimate of the, by Sir John Seeley, 169. Richelieu, 43, 239, 240, 245. Ricordi politici e civili, Guicciar- dinj's, 26. Rousseau, 77, 87, 180 sqq., 202. Rule of 1756, the, 113, 114. Rumbold, Sir Horace, 30 Ruse, La, et contre-ruse, 220, 230-4. Russell, Lord John, 173, 253, 258-9. Russia, the Court of, and foreign policy, 53-4. Rutter of the Sea, The, 125-6. Rymer, Foedera, 144. Sacerdotium, The, in the Middle Age, 177. g Saint-Pierre, L'Abbe de, 179-81, 184, 185, 187, 194,202. Salisbury, the third Marquess of, 49-50,263-5. Sang froid, Un homme de, 228-9. Satow, Sir Ernest, 88, in, 113-14, 155, 157760. Schauenstein, Count Buol, 32. Schleswig-Holstein, 28, 69. Scott, Sir William ; see Stowell. Sea, Dominion, Sovereignty or Supe- riority of the ; see Sovereignty. Sea-Law of Scotland, The, Welwod's, 119-20. Sea-Lawes, An Abridgement of all, Welwod's, 120-27. 'Secret' diplomacy, 73-5, 253-9, 263-9. ' Secret diplomacy ' of Louis XV, 80-1. Seeley, J. R., 3, 52 ; The Growth of British Policy, 168-70. Segur, on diplomatic morality and on the conduct of policy, 35-7, 8r. Selden, 108, 118, 125, 128, 129-31. Senate, the, in the United States of America, and the conduct of foreign policy, 278-81. Senate, the Roman, 51-2. Septennial Bill, the, 63. Seymour, Sir G. H., 9. Shakespeare, 24. Ship-money, 128-9. Sidgwick, Henry, 209. Smuts, General, 70-1, 283. Social Contract, The ; see Contrat. Society of Peoples, the, 183 sqq. Sorel, L'Europe et la Revolution francaise, 164. Soveraignty of the British Seas, The ; see Boroughs. Sovereignty of the sea, the, 116-41. See Welwod, Grotius, Boroughs, Selden. Sovereignty of the Sea, The ; see Fulton. Spenser, 25. Spinoza, 32-3, 76-7. Spy, the ambassador as an honour- able., 218, 228 ; and 17-18. Stair, the second Earl of, 63. Stanhope, the first Earl, 34-5, 62, 63, 64. Stanhope, Philip, 10. Status quo, 1 59. Stowell, Lord, 134-5. Studium, The, in the Middle Age, 177. Style diplomatique, Le, 87. Superiority of the sea 5 see Sove- reignty. Surrey, Thomas Howard, Earl of, third Duke of Norfolk, 73. ' System ' of States, and of policy, A, 165, 189, 191. Tacitus, 22, 77, 150, 223, 232. Telegraph, the, and diplomacy, 30-1, 159,251-3. Ten, the Council of, 74, 90. Throgmorton, Michael, 47. Thucydides, 22, 223 ; on policy, democracy and empire, 150-1. Tocqueville, viii, 40-1, 280-1. Torcy, 38. Tractatus Politicus ; see Spinoza. Tractatus Theologico-Politicus ; see Spinoza. Index Treaties, the force of, 103-4, 108, 1 10, 113, 142-3; Collections of, 142-5; kinds of, 249-50. Treaty-making power in Britain, the, 260-3. ' Trent ', the, 69. * Trimmer ', the, 38. Troyes, the Treaty of, 31. Twiss, Sir Travers, 107, 108-12, 126, 130, 136, 142, 21 1 -12. Tyler, President of the United States of America, 39-41. Tyranny, Machiavelli and Spinoza on, 76-7. United States of America, Treat- ment of international questions in the, 277-82. Uti possidetis, 159. Utopia, More's, 187, 194. Utrecht, the Treaty of, 67, 108. Vail, the, 118, 128, 137. Valori, 43. Vasquez (Vasquius), 118, 131. Vattel, on resident ambassadors, 19 ; on good faith, 33-4; on the balance of power, 79 ; Le Droit des Gens, 96-100. Vaughan, Stephen, 48. Venetian ambassadors, 19, 90, 224, 244. Vera, Antonio de, on persuasive speech, 17; Le Parjait Am- bassadeur, 152-3 ; on the function of the ambassador,2i6-i7; on the qualities of the diplomatist, 220-1, 228 ; on ruse and counter-ruse, 230-3 ; on abstinence from wine, 237 ; on women in diplomacy, 238 ; on instructions, dispatches, cipher, and secrecy, 242-4. Vettori, 23. Victoria, Queen, on the Crown and the conduct of foreign policy, 173. Vienna, Treaties of, 28, 147, 148. Villari, Macbiaoelli and bis Times, 19,23,26. Vincentius (Lirinensis), no. Walker, T. A., History of the Law oj Nations, 96, 116, 118. Walpole, Sir Robert, 34, 62, 63, 65, 66. Walsingham, Instructions to, 218. Walton, Izaak, 7, 8. War as an instrument of policy, Clausewitz on, 163-4. Wellesley, the Marquess, 52, 259-60. Welwod, William, 1 1 9 sqq. ; The Sea- Law of Scotland, 119-20; An Abridgement oj all Sea-Lowes, 120-7; De Dominio Marts, 127-8. Westphalia, Treaty of, 20, 91, 93, 96, 192, 193. Wheaton, Henry, 14, 20 ; his History of the Law of Nations, and conclusions regarding advances made since the Treaty of West- phalia, 91-4, 95, 96, 99-100; his Elements of International Law, 106- 7, 112, 153-4; on Saint-Pierre's Projet de Paix perpetuelle, 1 80. Wicquefort, L 'Ambassadeur et ses Fonctions, 153-5, 2I 75 on tnc function of the ambassador, 217- 19 ; on the qualities of the diplo- matist, 221-3, 229, 233-4 ; on the employment of the clergy in embassies, 237-8 ; on instructions, letters, dispatches, and cipher, 244-6 ; on treaties, 249. William I, King of Prussia, Bis- marck on, 38. William III, 43, 61, 169, 170. Wodehouse, Lord, 253-4. Women and diplomatists, 228 ; as diplomatists, 238-9. Wotton, Sir Henry, 7, 8. Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 46. Wyndham, Sir William, 66-7. Wyse, Sir T., 9. Youth in negotiators, 225. Printed in England at the Oxford University Press HISTORIES OF THE NATIONS Crown 8vo (72X5), blue cloth. 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