MR. LIANG LONE (梁龙)

Mr. Liang hails from Kwangtung, but in built he looks like a Shantung man. Rather tall for a Chinese, well-made, with a face which shows obstinacy and endurance, he is cut more for a military, than a diplomatic, career. His movements are not, what one would call, graceful: they have the jerkiness and the forcefulness of the German goose-step. For the rest, it would be a waste of time to try to find winsomeness in his person, or eccentricity in his behaviour. In short, Mr. Liang looks every inch a man, without any of those feminine qualities, which a typical diplomat is supposed to be heir to.

Mr. Liang pays very little attention to his outward appearance. He dresses very carelessly—not with that carelessness, which is at once artistic and nonchalant, but with that sort of carelessness, which is the fruit of mere untidiness. So little pains does he take to look smart that he has been seen, not once, but oftentimes, in evening dress with white socks!

But Mr. Liang amply compensates for his lack of the outward comeliness of form by his determination and his grit. One glance at him is enough to convince one that Mr. Liang is a man who is out to succeed in whatever he undertakes to do. And he has suceeded with the naturalness of the expected. Every move of his has been a promotion. He began his official career by first attaching himself to Lin Chang-min, who got him appointed as high advisor in the Tariff Conference, held in Peking in 1925. After the collapse of that conference, he bobbed up as judge in the Shanghai Provisional Court. Next, his real opportunity to be a diplomat came when he went with General Chiang Tso-pin as chargé d'affaires in the Chinese Legation in Berlin. Last year, he got what he wanted, and what he deserved, by being appointed minister to Czecho-Slovakia!

It's at present too early in the day to pass judgement on Mr. Liang as a diplomat. In Geneva during the recent Manchurian crisis, he has been given no leading part to play, to show the sort of stuff he is made of. But one can have no doubt that in the routine of diplomatic business, Mr. Liang is an assiduous worker. One can't conceive of anything brilliant that he can do. For work which requires labour and endurance, one can't imagine anybody more suitable than Mr. Liang. And after all, brilliance is alright for once in a while; what is more necessary is the capacity for taking infinite pains in the humdrum routine of diplomatic practice. That obstinate tuft of hair which sticks out at the crown of Mr. Liang's head is at once a sign and a symbol—a sign of obstinacy in sticking to his guns, and a symbol of endurance and strength which refuses to be beaten by anything—not even by ridicule.

[No. 30; July 26, 1934]

梁龙先生¹

梁龙先生是广东人，但是身板更像山东人。作为中国人，他算得上是高个子，身材匀称，一副倔强坚韧的面孔，更适合于从军而不是做外交工作。他的行动举止完全谈不上人们所说的优雅，倒具有日耳曼鹅式步伐²的痉挛和力度。至于别的，要从他身上找出一点儿招人喜爱之处，或是从他的行为中发现怪异之处，全都是浪费时间。简言之，梁先生看来是个十足的男人，没有一星半点儿的女性品质，而一个典型的外交官却似乎应该有点才是。

梁先生对他的外表毫不讲究。他对穿着漫不经心——不是那种既有艺术家风度又若无其事的漫不经心，而是邋里邋遢的漫不经心。他不愿意费劲把自己打扮得体面些，以至于不是一次两次，而是常常，人们会看见他一身晚礼服配着白袜子。

但是梁先生的果断和勇气充分弥补了他缺乏优雅仪表的不足。只消看一眼梁先生，就能使人相信他是一个无论做什么都打定主意努力做好的人。他一直都很成功，就像不出所料那样自然。他的每一次调动都是一次升迁。他的仕宦生涯始于依附林长民³。1925年，关税会议在北京举行，由于林长民的关照，他被任命为高级顾问。会议以失败告终后，他突然当上了上海临时法院的庭长。后来，得以成为一名外交官的真正的机会，来自于追随蒋作宾将军⁴出任驻柏林中国领事馆代办。去年，他如愿以偿，也得其所应，被任命为驻捷克斯洛伐克公使！

现在要对身为外交官的梁先生作出任何评判全都为时过早。在最近东三省危机⁵期间，身在日内瓦的他并没有得到扮演任何领导角色的机会，还不足以显示他的能力。但是人们大可不必怀疑，在常规的外交事务方面，梁先生是一名刻苦勤奋的实干家。人们想象不出他能做出什么辉煌之举，但对于那些需要苦力与持久力的工作，人们也想象不出比他更合适的人选。毕竟，能够以耀眼的才华出一下风头只是偶一为之，更为必不可少的是不辞辛苦处理好枯燥乏味常规外交工作的能力。支棱在梁先生头顶上的那一簇头发，既是他的标志，也是他的象征——是坚持立场、不屈不挠的标志，也是即使受嘲笑也要坚忍顽强和无所畏惧的象征。

［第30期，1934年7月26日］