Page:The Practice of Diplomacy - Callières - Whyte - 1919.djvu/72

 great Powers. And since their disputes took their origin in the relations and treaties existing between the King Louis and Charles, the last Duke of Burgundy, from whom the House of Austria descends, it is vital that the negotiator of our time should be well acquainted with all the treaties made at that period and since; but especially all those which have been concluded between the principal Powers of Europe beginning with the Treaty of Westphalia right up to the present time.

Let him also study with understanding and open eye the modern history of Europe. Let him read the memoirs of great men, the instructions and ,despatches of all our ablest negotiators, both those which are are printed in public books and those which are stored in manuscripts in our Office of Public Records, for these documents treat of great affairs, and the reading of them will convey not only facts which are important for the making of history, but also a sense of the true atmosphere of negotiation, and will thus help to form the mind of him who reads them and give him some clue to guide him in similar occasions on his own career. One of the most profitable readings that I know for this purpose is the despatch of Cardinal d'Ossat, of whose letters I make bold fo say, for a man entering upon negotiation, what Horace said to the poets of his time regarding the works of Homer: That he should