The Netherlands and the United States: Their Relations in the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century

"It is perhaps the most laborious and difficult part of the duties of the State Department to hold at once the threads of our different relations with all the European powers. " This reflection was made by John Quincy Adams while he was Secretary of State 1), but it applies to the duties of every Minister of Foreign Mfairs. The stress of the sentence is in the centre: "at once", writes Adams; the threads come together in his hand at the same time; in order to preserve the system of his foreign policy he must hold them all in one grasp. That he is occupied with one power is no reason for neglecting the others. To put it more strongly: the threads are twisted; when one is pulled it must needs affect the others as well. Often, beyond his reach, a knot unites several threads in mutual dependence and they cannot be untied or handled separately. Foreign policy is not a single line of action. It means the di- rection of a whole system of connections along many and different trails. The system may have one general trend but each con- nection must follow a separate path. Such being the nature of diplomacy and foreign politics, it is not for the science of history to treat them otherwise.