Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/695

Rh AMBASSADOR 60 7 AMBASSADOR, a word introduced into the English language from the Fr. ambastadeur, the Ital. amlasciatore, or the Span, embaxador, which Wicquefort derives, perhaps without sufficient authority, from the Span, ernliar, to send. The word denotes a public minister of the highest rank, accredited and sent by the head of a sovereign state to a foreign court or country, with power to represent the person of the sovereign by whom he is sent, to negotiate j with a foreign government, and to watch over the interests of his own nation abroad. The power thus conferred is contained in the credentials or letters of credence of which the ambassador is the bearer, and in the inscructions under the sign-manual delivered to himself. The creden tials consist in a sealed letter addressed by the sovereign in person whose representative he is, to the sovereign to whom he is sent, and they contain a general assurance that the sovereign by whom he is despatched will approve and confirm whatever is done by the ambassador in his name. In England these letters of credence are under the sign- manual of the Queen, and are not countersigned by the Secretary of State. On special occasions, as for the nego tiation of treaties, additional an express powers are given to an ambassador under the great seal, and sometimes (but very rarely) full general powers to treat on all subjects. Lord Clarendon held such powers at the congress of Paris in 1856 Diplomatic envoys are of three ranks, as was finally determined by a common agreement of all the powers which was annexed to the final act of the treaty of Vienna in 1815: 1. Ambassadors; the ambassador of the pope being called a nuncio, and the ambassador of the Emperor of Austria to the Sublime Porte being called his inter-nuncio. These only have representative rank. 2. Envoys extraordi nary or ministers plenipotentiary, accredited to sovereigns (auprks des souveraint). 3. Charge s d affaires, who are only entitled to transact business with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We shall confine ourselves in this article to the diplomatic officers of the first rank. The relative number of ambassadors, as distinguished from ministers, has of late years been considerably increased. The Emperor Nicholas refused for many years to send an ambassador to the court of France, and he therefore suppressed the grade for a time altogether. His example was imitated by other powers. But the old practice has now been reverted to. The Queen of England has embassies at Paris, Constantinople, Vienna, St Petersburg, and Berlin. The number of British ministers plenipotentiary is twenty -three, and three charges d affaires; but these numbers vary. From the 15th century, when the practice of sending resident embassies may be said to have commenced in Europe, down to the close of the 18th century, these missions were surrounded with a prodigious amount of splendour, ceremonial, and contentious dignity. British ambassadors were commonly sent out till within the last | thirty years in ships of war. The ambassador represented ! a monarch, and was to play the part of one. The memoirs [ of those ages are full of the magnificence and profuse display which marked their progress lacqueys, liveries, state coaches, led horses, and all the pageantry of state. Fierce disputes frequently arose between rival ambassadors for precedence ; sometimes these disputes even extended to the courts and ministers to whom these envoys were despatched as messengers of peace, and a vast deal of time was lost (especially at the Congress of Miinster) in adjusting them. On the part of the sovereign to whom they were to present their credentials the same display was made. The new ambassador was fetched by the master of the ceremonies in the king s coaches and feasted at the king s expense. The solemn entry and the public audience, as they were termed, were an essential part of the mission. The ambassador had the right to stand covered in the presence of royalty. At Venice the doge placed Sir Harry Vane, covered and seated, on his right hand in the Council of Ten. A speech was then delivered, in which the ambassador declared the friendly sentiments of his own sovereign, and his own humble desire to give effect to them. Modern simplicity and the facility of intercourse has swept away many of these formalities. Traces of them survive at the courts of Berlin and Vienna, but elsewhere an am bassador is presented with little more than the customary ceremony of a court. It has long been held that every state is at liberty to receive ambassadors with or without ceremony, just as it pleases, provided they are all treated alike. Formalities of this kind are, however, still of moment in dealing with Oriental states, where ceremony is the language of power. Perhaps it is nowhere carried to higher perfection than at the court of Japan. The knotty question of precedence was also settled at the Congress of Vienna by an agreement that precedency should be regu lated by seniority, dating from the notification of the arrival of the envoy. In foreign countries the senior am bassador is known as the dean or doyen of the diplomatic body; but in England the diplomatic body has no general mouthpiece or representative. Every state or sovereign has the right, if it thinks fit, to refuse to receive a particular person as an ambassador, or even to receive any ambassador at all. It is therefore customary to ascertain beforehand whether the person desig nated for an embassy is favourably regarded, and will be well received. There have been instances, not very remote, of unfavourable answers or refusals to receive given individuals. The rank of an ambassador, as regards the society of the nation to which he is accredited, places him immediately after the princes of the blood royal, because he represents a sovereign power, and this rank Is universally conceded to him. The rank of a minister plenipotentiary Is rather more dubious, but by a rule laid down by Her Majesty for the court of St James they follow dukes and precede marquises. An ambassador or minister not actually accredited to this court has of course no official rank at all, and must take his personal rank. No distinction Is made between the ambassadors of monarchies and of republics. The Venetian ambassadors held in their time a very prominent rank in Europe ; so in our day do the ministers of the United States; but the United States have- never sent any ambassador to Europe their representatives therefore rank in the second class of public ministera. We shall now proceed briefly to enumerate that which constitutes the essential dignity and utility of an ambassador on the one hand his rights and privileges, on the other his duties. A. The first right of an ambassador Is that of personal audience of the sovereign. His credentials must invariably be presented to the sovereign in person, and he may ask for an audience on any fitting occasion. In England 1 ,, however, the sovereign does not officially receive an ambassador except in the presence of one or more of the ministers of the crown. Mr Canning complained bitterly of the influence of Prince Lieven and Prince Esterhazv over George IV., who lived on intimate terms with these ambassadors, and used to say &quot; his father would never have done so.&quot; In England the right of audience is now generally limited to the presentation of some concrratulatory letter; but at Continental courts it is not without con siderable utility and importance, as was shown by the memorable conversation of Sir Hamilton Seymour with the Emperor Nicholas, and the personal interviews of Lord Cowley and Lord Clarendon with the Emperor Napoleon II I. In all ages the perfect personal security of persons in vested with hieh diplomatic functions, as the representa* I. - 83