Star.
London, England, 1830-10-12 00:00:00

VIM!' OF

Posr.—Much time cannot elapse before events occur and counsels
transpire to remove some of the obscurity by which at present the guess
don as to the probable institutions and future destiny of Belgium are
enveloped. It appears in the meanwhile, that the Government of the
Hague has ceased to cherish the hope, or perhaps to entertain the de-
sire, of a re-union with its late refractory subjects, and that it has ae.
cordingly, in relation to some affairs of very great importance
both to Belgium and to Holland, already adopted a policy peculiarly and
exclusively Dutch. The reduction of duty upon the importation of
foreign corn into Holland, and a similar measure with respect to coals,
seem clearly to indicate that the Dutch Government does not contem-
plate • speedy re-union of the two kingdoms, end that it fully sy.n-
pathises in the just and natural eagerness of its faithful subjects to cut
off the burdens they have sawined, and to discontinue the mailces they
hare hitherto offered, for the sake of a connection which, for the present
at least, is entirely dissolved. The infamous exaggerations relative to
the conduct of the troops in Brussels have been so exposed,
that we hope the public mind is sullieiendy Ms-abused. Individual
cases of outrage, in a conflict so *lamming, must have occurred; but
that there was any general ferocity of conduct, or even relaxation of dia.
cipline, evinced by the soldiery, is denied by all the evidence possessing
the slightest claim to respect. The calumnies attempted to be OM upon
Prince Frederick were headed by the base forgery of•• proclamation, in
which he was made to bold out the pillage oftie city as the reward of
its capture.

--Noo--
Turn—The rudest deterognotion of the French Government to
remain at peon with all Europe,—tho moderation end good tease of the

Organs of public opinion in France, n wisely pr. r !lie et-limit) eon-
solidation of the national liberties to dunbrul advantage of an ex-
tended territory,--and the general feeling in the Chan:l...Tv an the
upper classes of society . that they have enough to do at Lome,
are strong guarantees ktr the nn::-intervention of F'rae, • lit
Belgic affairs. This state of things C4ll only, however, Is• tonia-
tained so long as other nations likewise abstain from intirferit.g.—
Were Prussia, as the ally of the King of Holland, to amid troops into
Belgium in the present struggle, it 'nigh' on• he possible for the Creech
Government to restrain the ambitious ariour of its army (torn such a
tempting field. King Philip and his advis..ra art only now requite' to
exercise a little self-denial in repelling renders of submission oflired
as the price of protection. They have only to lend a deaf ear to
traitors ; but if Prussia interfered, they would have to rune. lint may
Belgic importunity,but the feeling-sof pride and the passion forennquest
which throb in the breasts of their own prop;:. Keen thougli willing,
they would find it impossible effectuaily to 'restrain 0.. erititi-
slum for war which would be excited in Frenelimen by the sight of
Belgians imploring succour, with offer; ef r: zatilo, and Prus-
sians leagued with Hollanders en subjugate their (nerds and threaten
their frontier. It is, therefore, most desirall'e that no demonstration
of intetference should be made on the pert 0. Prunsizi. aryl the wisdoin,
as well as the fears, of the Prussian Cabinet am a sseurity for its pa-
cific conduct. Strong hopes arc said to be entertained in various ran, of
Belgium, that an arrangement may still be brought about on the mit:hint
terms of an administrative separation of the two (lit isiei.s of the king.
dote, with the appointment of the Prince of ()range as Viceroy
In Brussels. The Ghent journal tleelares the great n•::,., of the citizens
of that great manufacturing town desire nothing mote. But it is evi-
dent that no such aectimmodation can be eft eted, so I.mg as the Provi-
sional Government of' Brussels exists. It has made an appeal to a nit-
tional convention, and before the convention meets it promises to hare
a constitution of the republican stamp ready for ha adoption. It ma),
by the way, be mentioned as a rather singular circumstance, that twa
of the members of this constitutional con mission. nominated by He
Potter, should likewise be members o# the Royal of Antwerp,
nominated by the Prince of Orange. We *1,14 see by tt•e neat arrival
which muter they mean to serve.
CI

:H110:4 ICLE.—Here conies Pruisia, a nt..r tnighbour of tile rips
Bas--a lover of mustachios, women, and Pr.nestantiam. Pittss:a,
arc told, can never allow the establishment of democratic princip'... itt
the neighbourhood of the Rhenish provinces. Prussia, who 1216 -
tive in bringing about the peace of Adrianople, is now ro unite wito
Russia in compelling the Belgistut to be satistio.st with tl:e Mum:
of Otattg:A A week ago, Prussia was to have marched her sot-
diers into the field, to reduce Brussels to aslits, and to occupy all
the atirong places in Belgium. But row, after the States-Gcneral,
notwithstandit,g all the interests and prejudices of Holland se-re
there represented. have decided for the judicial and adminisuative se.
separation of the Belgians fnim their Dutch enemies, Pros tia
is to march her troops to the aid of the Prince of Orange, and at; iinst
the French and Republican parties in the Southern Provinces. %VIII
Prussia do this? I answer, No—decidedly not. But if Prussia can do
nothing as a foe, may she not advance as a friend ? Never. The Belgians
will never submit to either PrtillSiali dictation or Prussi in friendship. To
unite Flanders to Prussia would be more difficult than even to unite it to
Holland. You must exterminate the population, and then take possession
of places dyed with the blood of their former cultivators, and ofunpeonled
villages, and rased and ruined cities. A war with Prussia must be a
war of extermination. " roe greatest happiness of the greatest num-
ber, and that for the greatest length of time is opposed" to a union with
Prussia, or to a conquest by it. And there is France—yes, there is
France. Belgium sighs to be united to her. She sees in a citizen
King the triumph of the sovereignty of the people, and she longs to send
her Deputies to that Assembly which has presented to Lnuis Philippe
an address, praying for the abolition of the penalty of te. ath.
But France refuses to interfere ; France knows that her h .
dories are the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the (thine! i , eon -
scious that, ere long, she must egain possession of her at ciete t. en-
tortes, but she will force nothing—she will hasten nothin,--slic i'•
prove herself to be free by her moderation, and great by her iorb.:at -
&nee. Why, France has only to say, by the mouth of her :Mitsui. 'or
Foreign Affairs, that she will not oppose the union—and in twenty-low.
hours Belgium and France would be one country. But this one word
France will not utter—this simple act of acquiescence France sill
not pronounce. She is unwilling to excite the jealousy of tier
Northern Allies, and she is supremely desirous of proving how the
last act of the French revolution differed from the first scenes at the clo,•
of the last century. Yet, believe me, France will not lose by this tem-
perance ! Such sublime self-governing will not be lost upon mine
Courts and other nations. She will gain eventually by common con-
sent the provinces which belong to her by right and by the true alle-
giance of* free and devoted population. England might act a nobler
part—and give to her now that which, ere long, France must pats( Si.
If England shall so act, the cause of civilisation and human happint 61
will advance, by such a treaty, at least half a century in a single benr.

PRUSSIAN POLICY—FORTIFICATIONS on the RUIXE.
_---.40.----
(From the .Spectator.)
" The treaties by which Prussia acquired the districts on the
Rhine, which formerly belonged to the bishoprics of Munster. Ce-
logne, Troves, Br.o. have not produced any advantage to these cowl.
tries; on the contrary, they feel the iron rod of a Government most
absurdly devoted to a military system. Nor has Prussia gaited
any strength by the acquisition of that extensive territory.- -
The strength of a country depends on the good-will of the inhabit.
ants to the Government; and that never can be obtained where
every young man is obliged to serve three years in the army and nine
years in the militia—where every parish is directed, by military pla-
cards, to what regiment of militia it belongs, placed conspicumssly o.t
every road, as if playing the soldier was the sole object of society. This
is mighty foolish on the part of Prussia, for, if ewer she come to be pressed
by an enemy, all these acquired provinces will be unwilling defetwiers of
the mother country, to which they have no link to bind them. The old
separated territory of Jolters, and Berg and Cleves, is much in the same
state of attachment. If all this useless military machinery of the disunited
(I mean territorially disunited) provinces were set aside—if the money
spent in training these triennial soldiers and nine-years militia men
were applied to making passable roads and good landing quads at the
towns on the Rhine—if the town duties on the cony 01 meat, flour, and
other articles of food, were done away, then might these province%
become rich and faithfully attached to Prussia, anti even produce a re-
venue, not burdensome to the people, which would till the coffers at
Berlin. The hlinistersof the King of Prussia do not seem to under.
stand that a well-filled treasury is a stronger defence than a country of
trained soldiers not having an united interest to defend.
" A new system of fortifying the towns on the Rhine has sprung tip,
whether copied from Wellington's defences at Lisbon, or (tom Ita-
vonst's works at Hamburg, I know not; but it has decidedly ma.),
advantages over the old Vauban plans. I need not say eh:a a laid:
fortified town was formerly defended by a circumvallaittn. td• %VOILA
close to the outward houses, with double or triple tittchts, and one or
two horn works todefend some weak angle. The consequence was, the
utmost misery to the inhabitants at the very COMMCLCCIII4nt of the
siege, as the shells could be thrown into the very heart of the city la foie
any parallels of attack were formed. The attackers had the inhabiunts
and soldiers compressed into the smallest space, and required thus I. war
troops to invest the places against receiving supplies.
" Mama, Coblenta, &c. a chain of forts, each complete in itself,
has been constructed at some distance from the town. on the most C,lll.
standing situation that could be found ; and the town itself is nu iely
;eft with its old common wall, gweway, anti single ditch. If the insure
invests, he must do so against each fort, and the towasmen are mere
spectators of the conflict; for the forts remove the enemies aulvanees
beyond the range et shells, and indeed it is useless to expend them
against a town thus disunited from the defences. The time required to
make advances against three or four forts—the uncertainty of salli, •
from so many points—the extent of country that requires to be invested
in order to cut off the communication—arc all advantages gained by the
defenders of this new style of fortificatinn.
• " The winks of the celebrated Ehrenbreitatein were blown up by the
French ; and the Prussians have rebuilt the fort. strongly, as they think,
than ever it was—nay, they say, stronger even than Gibraltar. I sin rof
a military man, but I have doubts of this. The French battered :he
former tort from a neighbouring height with sonic effect, though they
never could breach it. On this height the Prussians have envoi) an
other fort, to keep off an enemy from this point of attack. Tilts is t-.A
work, I think; for, if the fort be impregnable without any addition-it
defence, why erect a fort not impregnable, which may be gained, and
would be a point cropped against the main fort? Again, the old tint
on the land side was confined to the plateau of the bill. The sew
fort has its land defences extended below the plateau ; and in corning
down upon the fort, from the Nassau toad, I saw into the interior of the
fort. The guns on the land side are worked through port-holes. in two
or three tiers in some of the batteries ; but pert-holes limit the tight and
left range of guns; and guns so placed are more readily &amounted.
and the port-holes are liable to be choked by shot breaking down the
sides. Guns placed on walls en larbette are far more eileacious in tic.
fence than either in embrasutes or in port-holes. A rail, of Martello
towers, commend with a thick upright wall, having a dry ditch. wt. tt
cannon mounted rue barbeige—the towers booth-proof, and tarring .s
casements for the soldiers--would present, in my humble opinion, s
much stronger detence than the present fort ; which I think a patty t t
English sailors might scale on the land side at more than one place. 0:.
the Rhine side, which is a precipitous rock of considerable height, the
fort is impregnable, I have little doubt.
" But along.the Rhine the peat European powers seem So expect and
are preparing against wane sensed Bonaparte that is to rise up in full
disciplined array of tens of thsusands against than. The little Princes
of the Rhine have more wisdom. Tito Prime of Nassau, for example,
has made, and is continuing so stake' the hest Macadamised roads I bars
seen anywhere, equal, If not asperior, to the best of England. He is
planting his wastes and welly sails with oak weeds, and encou-
raging industry tbwagMtlb well-regulated !We territory. The
taxes ate light, and ea nrs devoted to him.' Piet Jess wise ars
Princes the of Hesseand HesseEtarolm lknr
dt, who fo
tint
Hesse
such examples. Is their one is not troalikel with police or
custom-house seurebses, and kw Of AO soldiers are to be amen. They
live without any alloadas estate, and see with their own eyes the two.
dition of things in their dominion."

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