The public man who is sly and secretive rather than frank and bold, whose methods are devious rather than obvious, pursues a dangerous path which leads neither to glory nor to success.
"Secret diplomacy, the bane of the past, is a menace from which man believed himself to be rid.

He who resurrects it invites condemnation.

The whole world will rejoice when the day of the whisperer is over." This note, read at the present time, sounds extravagant in thought and intemperate in expression.

It was written under the influence of emotions which had been deeply stirred by the conditions then existing.
Time usually softens one's judgments and the passage of events makes less vivid one's impressions.

The perspective, however, grows clearer and the proportions more accurate when the observer stands at a distance.