DIPLOMACY DIPLOMATICS. 



687 



of his country, on the grounds of law and reason ; to 

 give information to the minister, from whom he 

 holds his instructions, and to enable his government 

 to profit by the intelligence he imparts, not only in 

 the management of its foreign concerns, but likewise 

 of its internal resources. For the accomplishment 

 of duties so great and so various, no school can be 

 established, or particular study traced. Humani 

 nihil a me alienum puto, must be the device of the 

 modem diplomatist; and much application, much 

 good fortune, many favourable opportunities, and a 

 long experience, are necessary to enable him to per- 

 form well the duties of his office. 



At the earliest period of the French monarchy, a 

 number of persons were joined together in an em- 

 bassy. Recently, a diplomatic mission has commonly 

 been intrusted to a single personage of high rank or 

 distinguished talents, assisted by one or several secre- 

 taries. In the United States of America diplomatic 

 commissions, or embassies composed of several in- 

 dividuals, will probably remain in use as long as 

 their present political system subsists. The diplo- 

 macy of each state is under the direction of a minister, 

 who generally administers at the same time some 

 other branches of the public service. In Spain, the 

 Secretario de Estado y del Despacho Universal, or 

 minister of foreign relations, has also the direction 

 of post offices, public roads, academies, and some 

 other inferior branches of government. In some 

 states, as, for example, in Portugal and Piedmont, 

 the departments of war and of foreign relations are 

 intrusted to the same hands. In Russia, Austria, and 

 Prussia, the chancellor or vice-chancellor is, ipso 

 facto, minister of the foreigg department. 



Diplomatic agents are of several degrees: I. am- 

 bassadors ; 2. envoys extraordinary and ministers 

 plenipotentiary ; 3. ministers resident ; 4. charges 

 d'affaires ; 5. secretaries of legation and attaches. 

 Their rank has been regulated in Europe in the 

 above order, by the congress assembled at Vienna in 

 1814; and many such quarrels as formerly arose 

 from questions of precedence, are now obviated, by 

 the agreement of the European powers, that, among 

 ministers of the same rank, he who arrives first 

 shall have the precedence over his colleagues. 



The most ancient relics of diplomatic correspond- 

 ence, perhaps, which have been preserved, are those 

 in the Excerpta Legationum, volume 1st of the By- 

 zantine historians, or the 53d book of the great his- 

 torical compilation made by order of the emperor 

 Constantino VI., Porphyrogenitus. Among them 

 will be found the Relation of an Embassy sent by the 

 emperor Theodosius the Younger to Attila, in the 

 year 449. The account here given of court cere- 

 monies, international courtesies, personal pretensions 

 of diplomatists, and the means by which, in barbar- 

 ous ages, and at the court of a half-savage prince, 

 political ends were pursued, remarkably illustrates 

 the truth of the old proverb, " There is nothing new 

 under the sun." The same petty quarrels and rivalry 

 among associate diplomatists ; the same disregard to 

 that moral principle which prohibits the placing of 

 temptations in the way of human virtue ; the same 

 want of confidence, on the part of the sovereign, to- 

 wards the agents intrusted with the care of his great- 

 est interests ; the same keen attention to every word 

 felling from the lips of a foreign agent, affecting, how- 

 ever remotely, the honour of a sovereign (though this 

 sovereign be Attila); the same petty intrigues which 

 have been the disgrace of modern diplomacy, seem 

 to have equally characterized that wluch prevailed 

 fourteen centuries since.* 



* The expenses of the diplomatic departments, in the 

 various states, are, of course, very different ; but, in gener- 

 al, it is correct to say, that in all the European states, 



We recommend the following works as useful ma- 

 nuals for the study of diplomacy : Traite de Droit 

 politique et de Diplomatie, by Battus, Paris, 1821 ; 

 Manuel Diplomatique de Charles Martens, 1822 ; 

 Cours diplomatique, 3vols.,jar le Baron de Martens, 

 1801; Precis du Droit des Gens modernes de I' Eu- 

 rope, par le Baron de Martens, 1821 ; Heeren, Ma- 

 nuel de I'Histoire du Systeme Politique de F Europe, 

 1822, abrege de V Histoire des Traites de Paix entre 

 les Puissances de I'Europe depuis la Paix de fVest- 

 phalie, par Koch, 4 vols. See also Diplomacy of the 

 United States, by Theodore Lyman. jun., second 

 edition, Boston, 1828 ; and Diplomatic Correspond- 

 ence of the American Revolution, &c., edited by Ja- 

 red Sparks, Boston, 1829, 30. German literature has 

 lately been enriched by some works on diplomacy. 



DIPLOMATICS. The ancient acceptation of 

 diploma is the record of a transaction performed 

 through the agency, or under the eyes of the public au- 

 thority. The charters of gifts made by sovereigns to 

 individuals and to incorporated bodies, in the earliest 

 ages of civilization, are thus named diplomas ; and as 

 the materials on which they were inscribed, the man- 

 ner of writing, the characters, the ink, and all the 

 other external forms, as well as their style, differed 

 in different centuries, their interpretation, and the 

 ascertaining of their authenticity, have become a 

 science the more complicated, as the clergy of former 

 ages had abundant inducements and means to coun- 

 terfeit charters, giving them an increase of power and 

 wealth. 



The most ancient diplomas which have, as yet, 

 been saved from oblivion and destruction, do not go 

 back ferther than the fifth century ; and they are on 

 parchment. Those of an earlier date were written 

 on the thin leaves of papyrus, or biblum ^gyptiacum, 

 so called from its Egyptian origin. The ink used 

 consisted, at first, of soot ; but when parchment 

 came into use, tincture of vermilion, red lead, or a 

 purple colouring substance, and sometimes gold and 

 silver, were used instead of the black liquid. 



Till the year 602, Latin seems to have been the 

 general and official language throughout the Roman 

 empire. After that epoch, the Greek became its 

 substitute in the East, and was still in use in the 

 kingdom of Naples and Sicily, during the eleventh 

 and twelfth centuries. 



they are by far too great, and an unnecessary burden to 

 the country ; whilst the ministers of the United States of 

 America receive a salary in most cases entirely inadequate 

 to their expenses. A mistaken idea of dignity, ou the part 

 of the courts represented, induces governments to spend 

 immense sums abroad ; and the ministers often go far be- 

 yond their means. How many ambassadors have ruined 

 themselves! Napoleon, according to Las Cases' journal, 

 once had in consideration the abolition of resident minis- 

 ters. An official statement has been lately published of the 

 expenses incurred for the British diplomatic service 

 abroad, from 1821 to 1829 inclusive, from which it appears 

 they were as follows : 



In 18-21, 

 18^2, 

 1823, 

 1824, 

 1825, 



296,769 

 305,772 

 332,453 

 361,728 

 418,637 



In 1826, 



1828, 

 1829, 



459,538 

 4.12,859 

 407,117 

 366,004 



The expenses of the missions to the new American stated 



In 1823, 

 1824, 

 1825, 

 1826, 



5,177 

 16,368 

 27,009 

 56,108 



In 1827, 

 1828, 

 1829, 



36,450 

 20,732 

 20,593 



ritish ambassador at Paris receives l2,000f 

 Petersburg, 13,000 



Vienna, 13,000 



Madrid, 13,100 



the Hague, 13,000 



The expenditures of the United States of America for the 



diplomatic department in 1827, were 659,211 dollars, or 



148,322. 

 t Besides this, the British government, bought a splendid 



mansion at Paris fur their embassy. 



