The Sun.
London, England, 1829-10-01 00:00:00

BRUSSELS, SEPT. 29.

The public attention in England has:been of late
so occupied with affairs of higher moment, that the
political state of the Netherlands has excited less
interest than it really deserves. The flourishing
industry, which strikes even the most careless tra-
veller, and the general appearance of peace and
plenty which is every where perceived, are evidences
of the external well-being of the people, which are
apt to lead one to suppose that great contentment
prevails. This is, however, far from being the
case; and the more intercourse I have had with the
Belgians, the more convinced I have become, that
they are in a high state of political excitement—so
much so, as to be absorbed altogether in the consi-
deration of their own internal affairs. The States-
General will meet at the Hague within three weeks,
when the Budget for the ensuing ten years is to be
presented to thorn for the third time, it having been
twice refused previous to their separation for the
recess. Upon the acceptance, or not, of the Budget
depends, as many think, the continuance of the pre-
sent Ministry in office; but when you consider the
fact that the King himself really governs—that he
has no Prime Minister—and that no Minister is
et,.7stitutionally responsible for the advice he gives
his Ni.;ster—it seems doubtful whether a change of
men wonid of itself give satisfaction—and more so,
whether the King will, in any event, find himself
under a. necessity to take new servants, The pro-
bability, however, is, that considerable modifications
will be made in the Budget, .‘vhich is said to be,
in many respects, objectionable in itself both to the
Hollanders and Belgians.
It is sometimes difficult to assign specific causes
for expressions of discontent c'hich are in the
mouths of every one. But the tmpopularity
of the Government has been extremely g. (T. g r a -
elated by the imprisonment of Messrs. :bites
petiaux and De Potter, some months since, for
atrtides inserted in the Courrier des Pays Bas, of
which they are the principal Redacteurs, against the
rower enjoyed by the Crown (under an old law,
passed tinder the apprehension of a second dynasty
of Napoleon in I 81.5) of arresting and punishing for
libellous and seditious publications without trial.—
Of this power Messrs. Ducpetian:4 and De Potter
are now the victims, and are irrrprison,z4 in the
Prison des Carmel for a term which is not yet e 47
pired. The public indignation was so strong, that
the King was obliged to offer a project immediately
to the Chambers, in lieu of the obourious law; and
the press of the Netherlands is now liable to no in-
Prference, other than that of the Courts of Jus2.
tke, and is as free in all respects (bating the Jury,
;vhich does not exist here) as in England or Ame-
rica. The Journals use their freedom, by attacking
the Coverrunt in all points upon which the liberal
cause can make an assault; and Messrs. De Potter
and Ducpetiaux, the farmer of whom has earned a
wide reputation, by bis 1,4 i of Scipio di Ricci, and
die latter is a distinguished philanthropist, have
disdained the intimation they receiyel, that a peti-
tion for their release would be favoural4y regeived,
and remain in prison, sufferers under circumstances
which cannot but hand down their names to poste-
rity as men honoured in their generation.
The King, you are aware, is a Hollander, and a
Protestant—two accidents which find him little
favour with the Catholic Belgians, who aria loud in
their complaints of the undue preference given to
Dutchmen in all civil and military offices. It is said
that in the Department of Finance there ye fifty-nine
I lollanders, and but one Belgian; in that' of Jnstice'
forty-four Hollanders, one Belgian ; in the Mating'
not one Belgian; in the Foreign Office only two,
and and in the War Office only three. Out of forty'
one Ambassadors and Members of the Corps Diplo_
matione, thii ty are Dutchmen ; and among eight

heads of the Military Departments, such as Inspector
of Cavalry, Governor of the Military School, &c.,
a Belgian is not to be found. These statements,
which the Government Journals do not contradict,
and which I believe to be not far from the truth, cer-
tainly shew that the Belgians have been neglected ;
and the disproportion in appointments is so much the
greater, since the population of the southern Pro-
vinces, compared to that of the northern, is as three
to two.-

The prohibition of the French language in the,
Courts of Justice and on public occasions, and the
compulsion to use Dutch, is another sore subject in
this part of the Netherlands. The higher and middle
classes speak and write constantly in French, and
have made their education in it; the being obliged to
speak Dutch is therefore a real annoyance to persons
in the situation of advocates, &c., particularly when
it is associated with the ideas of the Royal predi-
lection being different from their own. It is indis-
putable that the language of Holland is far from
being the language oft he body of the nation, for both
the Flemish and the Walloon, as spoken by the
peasants, differ from it materially, and therefore it
is urged that if any one national language is neces-
sary to be fixed by the Government it ought to be
the French, which is the most generally spoken.
To these complaints must be added those of the
Catholic Clergy and Laity, as a class who see in the
interference of the Government with their schools,
and in other matters, a leaning to the reformed
church. The Catholics are therefore all Liberals,
and oppose the Government as stoutly as the Re-
formers. I might say much on this subject, but space
does not now permit it.
The King of Prussia is expected here on the Ist
inst. His visit has probably reference to the mar-
riage which has been some time on the tapis between
his son Prince Albert and the Princess Marianne of
the Netherlands, but was for some reason deferred.

A robbery of jewels and shawls to the value of
upwards of 60,000/. has been committed in the
Palace of the Prince of Orange. The jewels were
in a glass case in the Princess's apartments, and were
partly those she received on her marriage from her
brother the late Emperor of Russia.

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