12 JULY 1945, Page 10

Then there is courage. "Above all," writes Paul Cambon, "let

us cease being frightened. Cowardice is but another form of self- indulgence ; it is the ecstasy of the decadent." " An Ambassador," he reminds his own Foreign Minister, "is not a subaltern bound to execute the orders of his superior ; he is a colleague who must always express his views openly, even when they may displease." Truthful- ness, patience, courage: these arc the three qualities which this Ambassador of thirty years' standing recommends to his successors. Paul Cambon practised these three virtues throughout his long and useful life ; he and his brother were perhaps the two most brilliant diplomatists of their difficult epoch: it was because they distrusted brilliance and believed in sense.