The Old English Court at Moscow, dating back to the sixteenth century.
The Old English Court in what is now the Tverskoy District of the Central Administrative Okrug at Moscow. The Court was established as the headquarters of the English mission there in 1553, following a daring voyage led by Richard Chancellor through Arctic waters to Archangelsk, and a sleigh-ride to the capital. See Merchants of Muscovy. The perils of repeating that voyage, and the obstructive policies of the European states that lay between, made it difficult to capitalise on the new relationship, and by the nineteenth century India had become a source of persistent diplomatic tension between London and the new capital of Imperial Russia, St Petersburg.
Part 1 of 2
THE diplomatist must bear in mind once for all that he is not authorised to demand that a whole nation shall conform to his way of living, and that it is more reasonable, and in the long run greatly to his own comfort, to accommodate himself to foreign ways of living. He should beware of criticising the form of government or the personal conduct of the prince to whom he is accredited. On the contrary he should always praise that which is praiseworthy without affectation and without flattery, and if he properly understands his own function he will quickly discover that there is no nation or state which has not many good points, excellent laws, charming customs as well as bad ones; and he will quickly discover that it is easy to single out the good points, and that there is no profit to be had in denouncing the bad ones, for the very good reason that nothing the diplomatist can say or do will alter the domestic habits or laws of the country in which he lives.
Précis
François de Callières, a French diplomat at the turn of the eighteenth century, warned his colleagues not to look down on the countries they visit. All countries are a blend of good and bad, he reminded them. The well-trained diplomat focuses on the good, knowing that nothing he can do or say will change the bad. (58 / 60 words)
Part Two
Précis
It is particularly important, he went on, for a diplomat to acquaint himself with the history and national heroes of the people among whom he is working. Few things can contribute more to the esteem in which his own country will be held, and he will find his proposals much more warmly received. (53 / 60 words)
