Page:The Practice of Diplomacy - Callières - Whyte - 1919.djvu/75

 United Provinces by the twelve years' truce which he prepared, and by the wise counsels which he gave touching all matters of government in that Republic. The reading of such letters as his is well designed to form the judgment of him who will consent to read with intelligent care

In order to understand the principal interest of European princes, the negotiator must add to the knowledge which we have just been describing that of dynastic genealogies, so that he may know all the connections and alliances, by marriage and otherwise, between different princes, for these liaisons are often found to be the principal causes of conflict and even of war. He must also know the laws and established customs of the different countries, especially in all matters relating to the succession to the throne and the prevailing habits of the court. The study of the form of government existing in each country is very necessary to the diplomatist, and he should not wait until his arrival in a foreign country to study these questions; he should prepare himself beforehand, for, unless he is equipped with a certain measure of this knowledge, he will be like a man at sea without a compass. Our own negotiators, who have never travelled before taking up some foreign post and who therefore know nothing of these questions, are usually so saturated in our own national customs and habits