e reflection of national opinion. Diplomatists are
no more responsible for the defects of international relationship than
seconds are responsible for the practice of duelling: and we may note
incidentally that duels are if anything more frequent when the place of
the seconds in estimating their necessity is taken by a democratic court
of honour.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: The duties of a jury are, of course, very carefully limited
by law. But even in this reduced sphere they are remarkable chiefly for
their incompetence, prejudice, inattention, and stupidity. See
particularly Andre Gide's _Souvenirs de la Cour d'Assises_, all the
implied criticisms in which apply, _mutatis quibusdam mutandis_, with
equal force to English and indeed to all juries.]

[Footnote 7: It is possible to argue, though of course impossible to
prove, that if every diplomatic document of recent years had been
immediately made public, the relations between the Powers would have
remained very much what they are with "secret diplomacy"; that "public
diplomacy" would if anything have intensified the existing jealousy and
distrust. As a matter of fact anyone who takes the trouble can
approximately discover the diplomatic situation existing at a particular
moment between any two Powers, even if he cannot know the verbal text of
a particular treaty. And if the supporters of "public diplomacy"
reasonably point out that "publicity" is desired only as a means to
ensure the democratic control of Foreign policy, the answer is that the
only way to ensure the democratic control of diplomats or any other
public servants is to educate the people.]

Sec. 10

A Note on Democracy

The outcry for "democratic" control demands, I think, a note, if not a
volume,[8] on the limitations of democracy. We are all, I suppose,
agreed nowadays that the government of the future must be democratic, in
the sense that every adult has a _right_ to full citizenship, and every
citizen can claim a vote. But it is obviously impossible for a modern
State to be governed directly by the voices of say fifty or a hundred
million citizens: there must always be a small legislative and a still
smaller executive body; and these bodies should obviously be composed of
the finest and most capable citizens. If then Aristocracy means, as it
does mean, a government of the whole by the best elements, it follows
that we are all equally agreed that the government of the future must be
aristocrati