Part 17 (1/2)

7. A copy of the Consular Regulations of the United States.

(FORM OF)

LETTER OF CREDENCE

A.............. B..............,

_President of the United States of America._

To ................................

+Great and Good Friend+:

I have made choice of ...............................

one of our distinguished citizens, to reside near the Government of Your ............ in the quality of ...............................

He is well informed of the relative interests of the two countries and of our sincere desire to cultivate to the fullest extent the friends.h.i.+p which has so long subsisted between the two Governments. My knowledge of his high character and ability gives me entire confidence that he will constantly endeavor to advance the interest and prosperity of both Governments, and so render himself acceptable to Your ......

I therefore request Your ............ to receive him favorably and to give full credence to what he shall say on the part of the United States, and to the a.s.surances which I have charged him to convey to you of the best wishes of this Government for the prosperity of ......

May G.o.d have Your ............ in His wise keeping.

Written at Was.h.i.+ngton this ............ day of ............ in the year ................

Your good friend,

A ............ B ............

By the President, ............................

_Secretary of State._

-- 75. Ceremonial

(_a_) =General.= In certain countries diplomatic ceremonial has been very elaborate and complex. The tendency during the nineteenth century has been toward simplification. Each state has the power to determine its own ceremonial for the most part. Of course no state can disregard established rules as to rank, precedence, and similarly generally recognized practices. At the time when these practices originated it was imperative that there should be some fixed mode of procedure which a state could follow without giving offense in its treatment of a foreign representative. Much of the ceremonial became fixed during the latter part of the seventeenth and during the eighteenth century. In the days of absolutism the monarch naturally demanded such recognition of his representative in a foreign country as befitted his own estimate of the dignity of the monarchical office. It may not be unfortunate that the monarch placed a high estimate upon the sovereign office and devised a ceremonial commensurate with this estimate, for what was once done out of respect for and in response to the demand of a personal sovereign, is now done out of respect for the dignity of the state itself. Thus in the days of more democratic sovereignties international representatives are clothed with a dignity which both elevates the att.i.tude of partic.i.p.ants in international negotiations and gives greater weight to their conclusions. The ceremonial also fixes a definite course of procedure which any state may follow without giving offense to another, whether it be weak or powerful.

(_b_) While the minor details of the ceremonial of =reception= of a diplomatic agent are not invariable, certain customs are well established. A diplomat officially notifies the receiving state of his arrival by sending, (1) if he be of the first rank, a secretary of the emba.s.sy to the minister of foreign affairs, with a copy of his letter of credence and a request for a day and hour when he may have an audience with the head of the state in order to present his credentials, (2) if of the second rank, while sometimes the above procedure is allowed, he usually makes the announcement and request in writing, (3) if of the third rank he always observes the last-mentioned procedure, (4) if of the fourth rank, charge d'affaires, he notifies the minister of foreign affairs of his arrival and requests an audience.

The audience may be for any grade more or less formal, public or private. Usually diplomats of the first rank are received in public audience. At the audience the diplomat presents his letter of credence, and usually makes a brief address, of which he has earlier furnished a copy to the minister of foreign affairs in order that a suitable reply may be prepared. Diplomats of the second rank customarily receive a similar solemn audience. This may or may not be granted to ministers of the third rank. Official visits, varying somewhat in ceremonial in different states, follow.

(_c_) From the time when permanent missions began to be common, conflict between the representatives of different states made necessary fixed rules of =precedence=. As Wicquefort said in the latter part of the seventeenth century, ”One of the things that most hinders Emba.s.sadors from paying one another civilities, is the Contest they have concerning Honours and Rank; not only on Account of the Compet.i.tion of their Masters, but sometimes also by Reason of some Pretensions they have amongst themselves.”[216] Wicquefort's citations of cases give ample evidence of the confusion prevailing in his day. Bynkershoek, in ”De Foro Legatorum,” Ch. I. and XII., shows that the confusion was scarcely less in 1721, though the rank by t.i.tle was coming to be more fully recognized. Vattel in 1758 shows that there had arisen a more definite ceremonial[217] and a fairly clear gradation, yet as this had never been agreed to by any considerable number of states, and was not in accordance with any generally recognized principle, there were contests still. By the Congresses of Vienna (1815) and Aix-la-Chapelle (1818) many of the disputed points in regard to precedence were adjusted.

Certain general propositions are now admitted, such as, that no diplomat can pretend to special honors or immunities above other diplomats of the same rank.[218] The rule of the Congress of Vienna is followed, by which diplomats of the same cla.s.s rank according to the precedence in the date of the official notification of their arrival.

Places of honor are now quite definitely fixed. On ceremonial occasions, where the representatives are seated at a table, as in an international congress, it may be somewhat varied as fronting the main window, opposite the main entrance to the room, in the place receiving the light over the left shoulder. When the place is determined by the relation to the head of the table or the presiding officer, the first honor, except in Turkey, is at his right, the second at his left, the third in the second place on the right, the fourth in the second place on the left, and so on. In processions the place of honor is sometimes first, sometimes last. For relatively short processions, certain more definite rules are usually observed. When only two partic.i.p.ate, the first place is the place of honor; when three partic.i.p.ate, the middle place, the place in advance being the second honor and the place in the rear the third; when four partic.i.p.ate, the second place is the place of honor, the place in advance the second, the third and fourth being in honor in order; when five partic.i.p.ate, the middle is the place of honor, the second place being the second in honor, the first the fourth in honor, the fourth the third in honor, and the fifth the fifth in honor.[219]

To avoid friction as to place of honor in signing treaties, etc., the principle of the alternat is usually followed, by which the copy going to a given nation has the name of its own representative first in order.[220] Sometimes the order is determined by lot, and sometimes is alphabetical in the order of the names of the states parties to the treaty.

(_d_) Certain =prerogatives= are held to appertain to the office of amba.s.sador and to diplomats of the first rank. Among these are: (1) the t.i.tle of Excellency, (2) the right to remain covered in the presence of the sovereign, unless the sovereign himself is uncovered, (3) the privilege of a dais in his own home, (4) the right to use a ”coach and six” with outriders, (5) military and naval honors, (6) the use of the coat of arms over the door, (7) invitations to all court ceremonies.