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ON THE MANNER OF
NEGOTIATING WITH
PRINCES;

on the Uses of Diplomacy; theChoice of Ministers and Envoys;and the Personal Qualities necessaryfor Success in Missions abroad; by

MONSIEUR DE CALLIÈRES

Councillor-in-Ordinary to the King in Council, PrivateSecretary to His Majesty, formerly Ambassador Extraordinaryand Plenipotentiary of His late Majestyentrusted with the Treaties of Peace concluded atRyswick, one of the Forty of the French Academy.

Published at Paris by Michel Brunet at the MercureGalant, 1716; under Royal Privilege and Approval.

Translated from the French by

A. F. WHYTE

Boston and New York

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO.

1919

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Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable,Printers to His Majesty

Diplomacy is one of the highest ofthe political arts. In a well-orderedcommonwealth it would be held in theesteem due to a great public service in whose handsthe safety of the people largely lies; and it wouldthus attract to its ranks its full share of nationalability and energy which for the most part to-daypasses into other professions. But the diplomaticservice, at all times, and in almost all countries,has suffered from lack of public appreciation:though perhaps at no time has it had so many detractorsas to-day. Its almost unparalleled unpopularityis due to a variety of causes, some ofwhich are temporary and removable, while othersmust be permanent in human affairs, for they werefound to operate in the days when the author of thislittle book shone in French diplomacy. The majorcause is public neglect; but it is also due, in nosmall measure, to the prevalent confusion between[Pg vi]policy, which is the substance, and diplomacyproper, which is the process by which it is carriedout. This confusion exists not only in the popularmind, but even in the writings of historians whomight be expected to practise a better discernment.Policy is the concern of governments. Responsibilitytherefore belongs to the Secretary of Statewho directs policy and appoints the agents of it.But the constitutional doctrine of ministerial responsibilityis not an unvarying reality. No onewill maintain that Lord Cromer’s success in Egyptwas due to the wisdom of Whitehall, or to anythingbut his own sterling qualities. Nor can a justjudgment of our recent Balkan diplomacy fail toassign a heavy share of the blame to the incompetenceof more than one ‘man on the spot.’The truth is, that the whole system, of which, intheir different measure, Downing Street and theembassies abroad are both responsible parts, is notabreast of the needs of the time, and will not beuntil Callières’s excellent maxims become thecommon practice of the service.

These maxims are to be found in the little bookof which a free translation is here presented.François de Callières treats diplomacy as the art...