Page:The Practice of Diplomacy - Callières - Whyte - 1919.djvu/168

 in all his efforts to describe the land in which he lives.

The best despatches are those written in a clear and concise manner, unadorned by useless epithets, or by anything which may becloud the clarity of the argument. Simplicity is the first essential, and diplomatists should take the greatest care to avoid all affectations such as a pretence of wit or the learned overweight of scientific disquisitions. Facts and events should be set down in their true order, and in such a manner as to enable the proper deductions to be made from them. They should be placed in their right setting to indicate both the circumstances and the motives which guide the action of foreign courts. Indeed, a despatch which merely recites facts, without discussing them in the light of the motives and policy of persons in authority, is nothing more than an empty court chronicle. The right kind of despatch need not be long, for even the fullest discussion of motive and circumstance can be presented in a compact form; and the more compact and clear it is, the more certainly will it carry conviction to the reader.

This leads me to suggest that the diplomatist will find it useful to make a daily note of the principal points of which he must render an account, and he should make a special practice of sitting down at his desk immediately he comes from a