Page:The Practice of Diplomacy - Callières - Whyte - 1919.djvu/171

 how important a link he is between two great nations; how much may turn upon the manner in which he presents his reading of events to his own government, and therefore how vital and far-reaching are the interests confided to his hands. Remembering this he will instruct his secretary and the attachés of his embassy to act as the eyes and ears of his diplomacy, and to imitate his example by keeping a careful daily record of impressions, events, and persons. By comparing notes with his subordinates he will be able all the better to carry out one of his principal duties, which is to distinguish with care between doubtful and true information.

It often happens that news is most uncertain at the moment when it is most important. He should therefore take care to transmit it in the proper setting of all its attendant circumstances, so that the prince may have some material by which to judge whether the advice of his ambassador is well founded. There is no doubt that in crises of this kind the habit of private correspondence between the Foreign Minister and the King and his ministers abroad is of the utmost use, for it enables them to discuss all questions with a freedom which is denied to despatches of a more formal kind; and it will often place the home government in possession of knowledge which will be of the utmost value to