w to
uphold his dignity, or rather the dignity of his sovereign; for it his
business, in whatever quarter of the world he may be placed, to maintain
the rights and dignities of his sovereign with vigor and effect. It is
the union of these diverse, and yet not repugnant qualities, that gives
to an embassador _prestige_, ascendency, and power over the minds of
others, that acquires for him that reputation of wisdom,
straightforwardness, and sagacity, which is the rarest and most valuable
gift of a statesman. One part of the science of diplomacy may be, by
even a dull man, mastered without any wonderful difficulties. It is that
positive, fundamental, and juridical portion of the study which may be
found in books, in treatises; in the history of treaties and of wars; in
treatises on international law; in memoirs, letters, and negotiations of
embassadors; in historical and statistical works concerning the states
of Europe, the balance of power, and the science of politics generally.

But the abstract, hypothetical, and variable portions of the craft--or,
if you will, of the science--depending on ten thousand varying and
variable circumstances--depending on persons, passions, fancies, whims;
caprices royal, national, parliamentary, and personal, is above theory,
and beyond the reach of books; and can only be learned by experience, by
practice, and by the most perfect and intuitive tact. The traditional
political maxims, the character of the loading sovereigns, statesmen,
and public men in any given court, as well as the conduct of
negotiations, may be acquired by study, by observation, by a residence
as secretary, as _attache_; but who, unless a man of real genius for his
art--who, unless a man of real ability and talent, shall seize on, fix,
and turn to his purpose, the ever-mobile, the ever-varying phases of
courts, of camps, of councils, of senators, of parliaments, and of
public bodies? No doubt there are certain great cardinal and leading
principles with which the mind of every aspirant should be stored. But
the mere knowledge of principles, and of the history of the science can
never alone make a great embassador, any more than the reading of
treatises on the art of war can make a great commander.

An embassador at a first-rate court should, indeed, be the minister of
foreign affairs for his country on a small scale; and we know well
enough that the duties devolving on a minister for foreign affairs are
grave, are deli