INTRODUCTION
And again under the heading of 'Action appropriate to Democratic States,' he says:—
'He must pay the prince assiduous attention, and thus acquire a sufficient familiarity with him to be able to see and speak to him frequently without ceremony, so that he may be always in a position to know what is going on, and to insinuate into the prince's mind what is favourable to his master's design. If he lives in a democratic state he must attend the Diet and other popular assemblies. He must keep open house and a well-garnished table to attract the deputies, and thus, both by his honesty and by his presence, gain the ear of the ablest and most authoritative politicians, who may be able to defeat a hostile design or support a favourable one. If people of this kind have a freedom of entrée to the ambassador, a good table will greatly assist in the discovery of all that is going on, and the expense laid out upon it is not merely honourable but extraordinarily useful if only the negotiator himself knows how to profit from it.'
And a few lines lower down he makes the explicit statement that
'A negotiator who knows his business will not neglect even the ]east of such opportunities, and he will perform his function in such a manner as to show that his master is truly interested in all that passes at the foreign court.'
