The Hawaiian gazette., 1878-03-06
WEDNESDAY. MARCH 6. 1878.

1t may be doubted whether ambassadors among
the Greeks and Romans commanded the conf
dence of their countrymeu to the same amount as
they enjoyed the respect Of foreigners. Embas-
sizes appear to have been formed of numerous
members. Demosihenes, when he was sent to
treat with Philip of Macedon. had several col
leagues. Mention is made in history Of embas
sizes entertained in Athens at the public expense
as composed Of members more or less numerous.
Livy and Cicero use the plural number in max
ing mention of legates, whether received or sent
out by Rome When the Jews sent an embassy
to Augustus Cesar. it was composed of at least
more than one iega,e.
Virgil describes 4Eneas as sending hundred
ENJOYS (csRiUm OrGt0rdS) in one company to
some neIghboriAg court Of Italy. As each OF them
carried a branch of olive in his hands their APP
pearance in body must haze been that OF
shrubbery, not much inferior to the moving wood
in Shakspeares Mambeth" We must pre-.
sumo that the charge undertaken in common was
explained by only Que Of the orators at time
Had it been otherwise. the roar of Pope's one
hundred oxen might well have been preferred by
the royal listener. According to modern usage
she lowest rank OF diplomatic agency is rs much
protected as the first. Besides their difference
in point of dignity and display an important priv
ege Is still, US for some time back attached to
it exclusively. | mean the personal representa-
tion of his sovereign. An agent so qualified is
understood in monarchlcal states 10 be on equal
terms with the king or emperor to whom he is
accredited, and therefore at liberty to appeal by
word of mouth from the administration OF a coun-
try to their master. An envoy is presented to
the sovereign, but the transaction OF diplomatic
husineSs lies bptNapn him and I no alnne
A charge d'Aiares has no recognized claim to
approach the throne except by favor These dis
tlnclions are at present Kept practically in view
less than formerly, and those who write in the
public journals appear in general TO ignore them
altogether but 1t remains 10 be shown that they
have been AZ any time submitted by competent
authority to new form Of regulation.
There Is tone OF grandeur in its sound which
makes the term Of :" ambassador n natural ob
ject of curiosity to its origin and derivation.
If the Spaniards had claimed it as of their in
vention, the likelihood would have been greatly
on their side. GrnBdiloquence is one of their
national attributes. and their substitution of an
pronounced gutturally. for the double IN the
French and English forms OF the word augments
Its effect on the ear. But this conjecture is not
borne out by the opinion of inqurers. The lau-
guages OF Greece and Rome have been rummaged
in vain for some root from which the title NAV
have sprung. The photographers have been re-
duced TO the necessity of making guesses which
do more honor to their ingenuity than to their
Judgment. But to pursue the inquiry further
would be mere waste of time. II is enough to
know that We have the word and are not igno-
rant OF Its meaning. The time and place of it's
adoption. and whether it preceded or followed
that OF lis correlative, embassy" are questions
which may be left without reproach to the hun
tiers of literary butterhies.-Lord Stratford de
Radcliffe IN Nineteenth Century.