§6. Each of the principal civilized nations has some officer at home who acts as agent in negotiating treaties and transacting business with foreign governments, and has also a representative at the seat of each foreign government for this purpose, and for keeping his government, apprised of what is done abroad. Our government has a minister in Great Britain, one in Russia, one in France, one in Spain, and one in each of the other principal commercial nations; and each of these nations has a minister residing at the city of Washington, the seat of government of the United States. The officer of our government who corresponds with foreign ministers here, and with our ministers abroad, is the secretary of state. The negotiation of treaties at home with the ministers of foreign governments residing here, is done by him. §7. Representatives at foreign courts have different names or titles: embassadors, envoys, ministers, and chargès des affaires. An embassador who is intrusted with the ordinary business of a minister at a foreign court, is called an _embassador in ordinary_. An _embassador extraordinary_ is a person sent on a particular occasion, who returns as soon as the business on which he was sent is done. He is sometimes called _envoy_; and when he has power to act as he may deem expedient, he is called _envoy plenipotentiary_; the latter word signifying full power. An ordinary embassador or minister resides abroad, and acts in obedience to instructions sent him from time to time. §8. Agents or representatives sent by our government to reside at foreign courts, are called _ministers_. Formerly those sent to the less important countries, were called _chargès des affaires_, who are ministers of a lower grade. The name, usually written chargès d'affaires, is French, and is pronounced _shar-zha-daf-fair_, accented on the first and last syllables. It means a person having charge of the affairs of his nation. It is not at present applied to any of our representatives abroad, all being called by the common name of minister. §9. _Consuls_ are agents of inferior grade. They reside in foreign seaports. Their business is to aid their respective governments in their commercial transactions with the countries in which they reside, and to protect the rights, commerce, merchants, and seamen of their own nation. Hence much of their business is with masters of vessels, and with merchants. They also dispose of the personal estate of citizens of their own nation who die within their consulates, leaving no representative or partner in trade to take care of their effects.