26 JANUARY 1940, Page 15

In the third place, the professional diplomatist acquires a habit

of mind which can best be described as " balanced scepticism." This attitude is not, as some suppose, induced by any arrogance of soul. It is merely that he has lived among so many different people, that he has witnessed the failure of such fine enthusiasms, that the area of his credulity has been narrowed. His business, throughout his life, has been, not to initiate brilliant policies, but to foresee, and thereafter to surmount, practical difficulties. This renders him most unpopular with impatient politicians or impulsive reformers. They are apt to snap their fingers at him in disgust.

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