Page:The Practice of Diplomacy - Callières - Whyte - 1919.djvu/137

whom I look with high regard once said: 'Diplomacy is like a chain of ten links in which perhaps only one is missing to make it complete: it is the business of the diplomat to supply the tenth link.' This is true, and I believe that the diplomatist who is least enwrapped in secrecy will most quickly and surely discover it. It is therefore important that the negotiator, being well equipped with all kinds of information, should be guided by a sound judgment in the use of it. He should realise that in all information there are only one or two items which are of the first importance, and that therefore the freedom with which he uses the rest need not in any. way imperil his master's plans. The more freely he can share such information, and the more carefully he bestows his praise upon individuals, the more surely will men say of him that he is a reliable person, and will turn to him in moments of crisis.

The Clockmaker's Patience.Every right-minded man desires to stand well in the eyes of those with whom he transacts business, and therefore he will give some trouble to all those devices for securing the good-will of men to which I have referred. If he finds. in the course of his work that the prince himself or any one of his ministers is ill-disposed towards him or intractable in discussion, he must not on that account allow himself to imitate the fault, but must redouble his