CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN A DIPLOMACY THE FIRST AMERICANS IN BRUSSELS*

In the modern history of diplomatic relations between nations, it is often suggested that the diplomats themselves ought to be more closely studied in order to comprehend more clearly what transpired and why it did happen (*). To illustrate and examine this personal element in diplomacy and to understand within it the variety of the contributions, one must recognize the fact that the area and era being explored need not necessarily be a decisive one in world politics.

The following analysis of the early Belgian-American relations is more than casual commentary concerning the ideas and actions of American diplomats in Brussels. The study focuses on the North American agents in Europe in terms of their missions and individual perspectives in a period of transition of diplomatic modes and methods. Even if these Americans did not play significant roles in contributing to a revised orientation in American foreign policy, they were nevertheless important as diplomats who accepted, who questioned, perhaps even modified to some extent the traditional direction of diplomatic practices and foreign service behavior in an era of rapidly changing world conditions.

Although the study of personalities and their accomplishments can not be considered. as the sole criterion in exploring and interpreting international relations, it is evident that the historian must perceive clearly the nature and meaning of the fundamental charac-