NETHERLANDS.

In the article Holland has been traced the history of the revolt of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands against the Spanish monarchy, and the subjugation of the greater part of ten provinces to that power in the year 1578, whilst the remaining seven provinces, under the Prince of Orange, maintained and ultimately secured their independence in a republican form. Whilst this work has been in progress, a change has been effected in the Netherlands, terminating in a division which renders it necessary to introduce here an account of the new kingdom of Belgium; the name which has been assumed by the southern part of what was formerly the kingdom of the Netherlands.

The decisive battle of Gemblours, on the 31st of January 1578, which terminated in favour of the Spaniards, and in the dispersion of the army of the states, with the loss of all its artillery, baggage, and stores, must be viewed as the event by which the history of the Netherlands is separated from that of the seven united provinces, which were collectively called Holland, after the first of these states. The archduke, better known by the name of Don Juan, having gained this victory, was suddenly arrested by the hand of death whilst following up his success; and his death has generally, but on insufficient evidence, been attributed to the effects of poison. He was immediately succeeded by the Prince Alexander Farnese, the son of the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, in Italy, by Margaret of Austria, a daughter of the Emperor Charles V., who had formerly governed the Low Countries under the authority of Philip king of Spain. On his accession to the command, the provinces were in a most unsettled state. Don Juan had feared to attack the partisans of the Prince of Orange, who held possession of Brussels; but he was successful in seizing upon Tirlemont, Louvain, Bovines, Philippeville, and several other smaller but fortified places. These successes were, however, more than counterbalanced by the loss of Amsterdam, where the inhabitants rose on the Spanish garrison, and, having succeeded in driving out the troops, boldly declared in favour of the Prince of Orange. The great strength of the Spanish party in the ten provinces depended more on their union under one chief, and on the discipline of the few regular troops whom they had been able to collect, than on the number of soldiers or the abundance of pecuniary resources. The people of the Walloon provinces were bigotedly attached to the church of Rome, and were ready to give up their whole civil rights rather than abandon an iota of that faith, or a single religious observance to which they had been accustomed. These constituted the chief reliance of the Spanish monarch; and under obedience to him had remained, or returned, the fortified towns on the frontier towards France, such as Lisle, Valenciennes, Courtray, and several others. In the party opposed to the Spaniards, though there was a greater number of the population, and a far greater power in warlike stores and in pecuniary resources, yet there were such party divisions and contests, and such struggles for power between chiefs, as tended much to weaken the effect of their efforts to drive out the Spaniards, or even to maintain against-them the power which they still held in Brussels, and in the commercial and maritime cities.

Although the Prince of Orange, by his talents and his virtues, was at the head of the general confederacy, and, after the independence of the seven provinces had been secured, clothed with unqualified authority within them; yet in the transactions of the ten provinces, which were to be the chief theatre of future warfare, faction had raised up powerful rivals, who impeded his wisest plans. Amongst those of his party who still adhered to the Catholic faith, and were anxious to preserve it, without yielding up to Spain the civil privileges they had long enjoyed, was the Duke of Arschot, the head of a powerful family, who strove to awaken the jealousy of the aristocracy of Flanders and Brabant against the power which the seven northern provinces had bestowed on William of Orange. In order to counterbalance that power, they resolved upon sending an invitation to the Archduke Mathias, the brother of the Emperor Rudolf II., a youth under twenty years of age, to accept the office of governor of Flanders. A secret messenger was despatched to Vienna, and communicated with the archduke, who, with the precipitation of youth, ardently accepted the offer; withdrew privately from Vienna without imparting his project to his brother; and with great celerity and secrecy arrived at Maestricht without previously having announced his resolution, which was scarcely expected by the party that had invited him, and quite unexpected by the Prince of Orange and his friends.

That prince, with his usual coolness and prudence, expressed neither surprise nor dissatisfaction at this unwarrantable intrigue against his authority; but, on the contrary, he became, or appeared to become, anxious for adopting any measures which could do honour to Mathias, and at the same time increase the security of the country. He framed the outline of the plan upon which his office was to be founded and the power granted to him, but so much under the virtual sovereignty of the states general, as to leave little to the thoughtless youth but the empty title by which he had been tempted to make this wild excursion. The Prince of Orange was appointed his lieutenant in the several civil and military departments of the government, and the Duke of Arschot was left, with little power and less influence, to brood over the disappointment of his ambitious scheme. As his power was but of small extent, he soon resigned it with good humour; and the states, who had only adopted him in the hope of thereby obtaining foreign assistance, when they found he was not supported by his brother or by the empire, accepted his resignation, and dismissed hini with an unanimous vote of thanks for his services. After some difficulty, Mathias was allowed by his brother to return to the Austrian dominions, and was promoted to the government of the hereditary provinces, and intrusted with the command of an army in Hungary against the Turks, by which he acquired much reputation, and ultimately succeeded, after much intrigue and dissension, to the imperial throne, which he filled till his death in 1619. His history belongs rather to that of Austria than to that of the Netherlands.

The Prince of Orange had been regularly installed in the dignity of chief of the seven united provinces, in which he was confirmed by a treaty entered into by the states of Flanders and Brabant, who, in an assembly at Brussels, had agreed to confer on the then Duke of Alençon, afterwards Duke of Anjou, the brother of the king of France, the dignity of Duke of Brabant, Lothier, Limbourg, and Guelders. At this period the Duke of Parma collected an army in order to take the city of Cambray; but the siege, which he carried on in person, was raised by the opportune arrival of the Duke of Anjou at the head of a large army of French troops. After the retreat of the Spaniards from before Cambray, the Duke of Parma marched to Tournay, a large city, though at that time feebly garrisoned. The inhabitants, mostly Protestants, made a powerful defence, ex [7:16:107]cited by the example of the Princess of Epinol, wife of the absent governor. This heroic lady, though wounded in the attack, fought in the breach, sword in hand; and, when it was impossible to continue the resistance, she obtained an honourable capitulation, and marched out at the head of the garrison, with the appearance of a triumph rather than that of a defeat.

The Duke of Anjou, after the delivery of Cambray, leaving his army on the frontiers of Flanders, repaired to England, in the hope of completing a treaty which had before been commenced for his marriage with Queen Elizabeth. That sovereign allowed him for some time to indulge hopes of succeeding in his suit; and, from political motives, when the offer was finally rejected, showed him every mark of feeling and regret, accompanied with such tokens of high respect as she supposed would lessen the mortification which he felt. His plan evidently was to unite on his own head the crowns of England and of Belgium.

The duke, escorted by a powerful English fleet, repaired to Antwerp, where he was received by the Prince of Orange with the greatest splendour, and invested with the insignia of the dignities to which he had been invited, but of which he proved himself utterly unworthy. It is related of him, that when the Prince of Orange placed the ducal mantle on his shoulder, Anjou said to him, “Fasten it so well, prince, that they may not be able to take it off again.”

The king of Spain had about this period issued a paper full of invective, abuse, and falsehoods against the Prince of Orange, who was therein proscribed, and all persons invited “to assail him in his fortune, person, and life, as an enemy to human nature ;” and for the recompense of virtue and the punishment of vice, he promised, to any one who should deliver up William of Nassau, dead or alive, the sum of 25,000 golden ducats, in lands or money, at his choice; to grant a free pardon to such person for all former offences, of whatever kind; and to invest him with letters-patent of nobility. To this infamous paper William replied by that Apology which Voltaire has described as “one of the noblest monuments of history,” in which he delivered a most splendid refutation of every charge against him, and a more terrible recrimination against the guilty tyrant. He thus stood before the whole public of Europe, not as a rebellious subject, butas the accuser of a king, who had disgraced his ancestors and his throne.

The inauguration of the Duke of Anjou at Antwerp gave occasion to continued festivities, and the opportunity was seized in order to put in practice that which the declaration of King Philip had intimated, and promised to reward. After a dinner on the Duke of Anjou’s birth-day, being the 18th of March, and as William was quitting the dining-room on the way to his private apartment, a young man stepped forward to offer what purported to be a petition. Whilst he read the paper, the treacherous suppliant discharged a pistol at his head; the ball struck him under the left ear, and passed out at the right cheek. As he tottered and fell, the assassin drew forth a poniard to complete his crime by suicide, but he was instantly put to death by the attendant guards.

Papers found upon the assassin proved him to be a Spaniard, a native of Bilboa, and clerk to a Spanish merchant of Antwerp. They showed that he had received the sacrament and confessed previous to the attempt, and that he was encouraged to the deed by prayers found amongst his papers in the Spanish language, one of them addressed to the angel Gabriel, imploring his intercession with God and the Virgin to aid him in the completion of his object. This young fanatic was shown afterwards to have been instigated to the crime by his master and a Dominican monk, who were tried, and, before their execution, made a full confession of their criminality. It is asserted by D’Ewes, that the Jesuits, some years afterwards, solemnly gathered the remains of the three pretended martyrs, and exhibited them as holy relics for public veneration.

Severe as was the wound inflicted on the prince, it did not prove fatal; but within three months he had so far recovered as to be able to accompany the Duke of Anjou to Ghent, Bruges, and the other great towns of Flanders, in each of which the same ceremony of inauguration was performed. On each occasion he had taken the prescribed oaths to maintain and preserve to the states-general the several rights and privileges they had inherited from the succession of princes who had for a long period governed the country. The duke soon began to compare the power he possessed with that held by the unlimited monarchs of the rest of Europe. He was found to be intemperate, inconstant, and utterly unprincipled; and the French officers who surrounded him, and alone enjoyed his confidence, had no great difficulty, whilst nourishing his discontent at his limited power, in exciting him to take the most treacherous steps to extend his own authority, and to extinguish the liberties of the people which he had been invited to defend, and had sworn to maintain.

Amongst these privileges, that of refusing to admit foreign troops to garrison the fortified towns was the one which those towns most zealously exercised. Though the smaller towns had overlooked slight infractions of this privilege, yet the larger ones, especially Antwerp, most sedulously preserved it. Whilst a few of Anjou’s troops were admitted into some places, the main body was either encamped or cantoned in quarters in the villages.

He had secretly resolved on seizing on the towns, and sent orders to his officers to take possession in his name of Dunkirk, Bruges, Termonde, and some other places, reserving to himself the attempt to be made upon Antwerp. To prepare for the execution of his project, he had ordered his numerous army, composed chiefly of French and Swiss, to approach the city, and form a camp very near to it. On the 17th of January 1583, having risen earlier than usual, under the pretext of going out afterwards to review his army in the camp, he set out at noon, accompanied by his guard of 200 horse; and when he had reached the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the preconcerted signal for an attack on the Flemish guard, by pretending that he had fallen and,broken his leg. The duke called out to his followers, “Courage, courage; the town is ours.” The guard of Flemings at the gate was soon despatched; and the French troops, which waited without to the number of 3000, rushed in furiously, shouting the war-cry, “Town taken, town taken; kill, kill !” The astonished but intrepid citizens, recovering from their confusion, instantly flew to arms. All differences in religion and politics were forgotten in the common danger to their freedom. Catholics and Protestants, men and women, rushed alike to the conflict. The ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate all. Workmen, armed only with the instruments of their various trades, started from their shops, and flung themselves on the enemy. Those who had fire-arms, after expending their bullets, took from their pockets and pouches pieces of money, which they bent between their teeth, and used for charging their arquebuses. The French were driven successively from the streets and ramparts; and the cannons planted on the latter were immediately turned against the reinforcements which attempted to enter the town. The French were beaten everywhere; the Duke of Anjou saved himself by flight, and reached Termonde after the perilous exploit of passing through a large tract of inundated country. His loss in this atrocious enterprise amounted to 1500, whilst that of the citizens did not exceed eighty men. The attempts of the same kind simultaneously made at Dunkirk and at Termonde succeeded, but they failed in all the other places.

The consternation first, and soon afterwards the indig [7:16:108]nation, of the whole of Belgium, excited by this act of treachery, is indescribable; but the Prince of Orange alone was cool and collected, and on the Duke of Anjou making abundance of professions of his repentance, of his submission, and of future fidelity and obedience to the states, he was disposed to some kind of reconciliation, especially as his brother the king of France despatched a special envoy to intercede for him. A treaty was then commenced, the tendency of which was to restore to Anjou the command of the troops, with some new security against treachery on his part. He had in the mean time withdrawn to France to escape the general burst of indignation, and there his worthless existence was suddenly terminated, as some thought by poison, which in that day was commonly supposed to be the cause of unexpected death. He had then scarcely attained his twenty-ninth year.

The conduct of the Prince of Orange in trying to reconcile the states to the re-assumption of command by Anjou, although it could not arise from any selfish views, since he might himself have easily obtained the supreme power, was misunderstood by many of the Belgians, but more especially by the people of Antwerp. Unable to comprehend the greatness of his mind, they openly accused him of having joined with the French for their subjugation, and concealed a body of that detested nation in the citadel. The populace rushed to the place, and having minutely examined it, were convinced of their own folly and the prince’s innocence. He scorned to demand their punishment for such an outrageous calumny, but he was not the less afflicted at it. He took the resolution of quitting Flanders; and he retired into Zealand, where he was better known, and consequently more trusted.

The cities of Belgium which were free from the domination of Spain were all more or less subject to the most violent political agitations, the bad effects of which were not lightened, but rather increased, by being mixed up with the prevailing religious differences of the times. The evils of this state of public feeling displayed themselves more extensively, and during a longer period, in the city of Ghent, the capital of the province of West Flanders, than in any other part of the Netherlands. The persecutions of the Spaniards had driven the Flemings to a state of frenzy, which destroyed the exercise of reflection. Hatred to Spain begat hatred to that which Spain most cherished, the Catholic religion; and it is not to be wondered that the lower classes in the cities should, from passion rather than from reason, have taken part with those more intelligent persons who had embraced the Protestant religion; and it must be added, that the persons who envied the property of the convents and churches, and who were anxious to seize upon that wealth and convert it to their own use, vastly augmented the adherents of the Protestant party. In Ghent, two men had taken advantage of these circumstances, and thereby gained an unbounded and most noxious ascendency over the public mind. John de Hembise is described by Vandervynkt as a man descended from a junior branch of a good family, educated, fluent and even eloquent, and well informed on every subject relating to his own country; but, on the other hand, a sceptic, destitute of morals, capable of assuming any character either sacred or profane, impatient of all control, and treating with contempt all who were in superior stations. Besides these qualities, his history shows that he was bold, despotic, and imperious in prosperity, but did not exhibit the same courage in adversity. The other, Francis de Kethule, lord of Ryhove, was also of a distinguished family, but of a character similar to Hembisc, only much more violent and imprudent; but those qualities were somewhat checked by his adherence to the Prince of Orange, whose calm wisdom exercised at times some influence on his conduct.

These two men, with all the qualifications necessary for demagogues, were allied with many of the respectable families of the city, amongst whom they gained some partisans; but their chief adherents were furnished in part by the burghers, and by almost all the mere populace. Though afterwards they differed, at first they acted in concert; and as they most vehemently preached nothing but liberty, they were soon regarded by the populace as the heroes and the liberators of their country. The Duke of Arschot had been appointed governor of the city, with the approbation of the Prince of Orange; and, though opposed by both the demagogues, he was seated in the dignity. He had drawn to him as a council the Bishops ofBruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs of Ghent and Courtray, and the governor of Oudenarde, and other eminent magistrates. Whilst they were assembled in council, the popular leaders collected a force of the lower classes, and, without even allowing him to dress himself, led him away to prison. They then seized the arsenal, armed the population, and soon had under their command a body of 20,000 well-armed and resolute men. The constitution of the city was changed, and the public treasury was seized upon, by the new rulers, who assumed the title of consuls; Ryhove being placed in the command of the military, and Hembise at the head of the civil power. The two consuls then nominated eighteen of their own partisans, to whom was intrusted the supreme power of what they denominated the republic. The several guilds were ordered to elect officers, amongst whom the ranks of colonels, captains, and other grades, were distributed; and the more wealthy and respectable inhabitants were excluded from any participation in power. The influence of the other states of Belgium, headed by the Prince of Orange, was ineffectual in checking the violent proceedings of the city, further than in procuring the release of the imprisoned duke. The two heads of the democracy fortified the city, and thus gave employment to the poor, and extracted from the rich the means of paying them. The rich abbeys and other religious houses were plundered, the occupiers turned out destitute, and the buildings converted into barracks for the troops and labourers. Whilst one of the consuls ruled in the city, the other issued forth with detachments of troops, laid waste the surrounding country, and subjected several of the towns in the vicinity to the horrid despotism exercised in the name of liberty. When any persons were known or suspected to be averse to the system of terror, if they were rich they were amerced in very heavy sums, or, if not able to furnish the requisitions, were, without trial, exiled, and in some instances put to death in secret. These calamities were so deeply felt that many of the gentry and burghers became voluntary exiles, and removed to France, to Holland, or to Brabant, so that when thus left only to the demagogues and the democrats, they found they had put in movement a machine which they could neither direct nor stop. When the people became tired of anarchy, and sick of the sufferings they had caused and endured, the Prince of Orange determined to proceed to Ghent. Hembise did all in his power, by his harangues to the populace, to prevent his admission; but with the venality of such assemblages his eloquence now failed. He was seized with a cowardly panic, and attempted to withdraw privately by night. He had entered a boat to descend the river, when one of his partisans recognised him, and exclaimed, “Point de fuite; tu nous as mené dans le bourbier; il faut nous en tirer, ou périr avec nous.” He then made him land from the boat, and followed him to the city, where he remained in private, employed without success in exciting tumults, whilst the prince was in the city.

William of Orange reached Ghent in August 1579, and in a short time extinguished the spirit of democracy; but [7:16:109]though he restored the ancient constitution, and re-established some of the ancient magistracy, he could not restore the wealth and the industry that had been destroyed or dissipated under the reign of democratic terror. Hembise retired from the city for four years; and, though it is anticipating the course of our narrative, it may be stated here, that, having again acquired a degree of influence, he made use of it to betray the city into the hands of the Spaniards, his mortal enmity to whom had been the original cause of his popularity. But he failed in his purpose. His designs were detected and exposed; his partisans abandoned him; and he was carried before the criminal tribunal, where, having defended himself very feebly, he was condemned to death. The sentence of decapitation was executed on the 4th of August 1584. His coadjutor Ryhove had before withdrawn from Flanders, and found an asylum in Holland, where, after a long illness, which terminated in fixed insanity, he died.

The transactions which have been noticed with regard to the Archduke Mathias, the Duke of Anjou, and the demagogues of Ghent, were the principal causes that led to the submission of the ten provinces of the Netherlands to the crown of Spain. Others, however, contributed in a greater or less degree to the same result. The differences between the Catholics and their opponents pervaded every one of the towns; and as the respective parties preponderated in any one place, they had no hesitation in persecuting the others. It was of little avail that the states had issued a law called that of the peace of religion, by which, in places where there were a hundred families and upwards of either faith, they should be allowed the public exercise of their worship; and in the smaller places the majority should have the churches, but the minority might open others. This might have tended to peace, if not to union; but, to the great mortification of the Prince of Orange, the clergy of both parties, by their influence over their followers, rendered the edict inoperative, and seem to have increased rather than abated the animosity. In Holland and in Zealand, however, there was a greater degree of religious tranquillity than in the southern provinces.

These troubles paved the way to the submission or conquest of the greater part of the ten provinces. This was the more easily effected, because the people, wearied out with their sufferings, had learned that security to their persons and their property was of far greater benefit to them than any of those kinds of liberty which the several adverse parties pretended to bestow on them. The assassination of the Prince of Orange in 1584, though not contrived by the Prince of Parma, but at the court of Madrid, was communicated to that commander before its perpetration, and he prepared the measures to be adopted when the iniquitous design should have been consummated. In the consternation produced by that event, those parts of Belgium which were free from the Spanish dominion sent their representatives to· An twerp, where they were joined by others from the Dutch states. In this assembly it was resolved to offer the sovereignty of the whole to the king of France; and ambassadors were immediately despatched to Paris. The king, Henry III., received them with great distinction; but his affairs were so much embarrassed with his internal disorders that he found himself unable to tender any effectual aid to the Netherlands. On the termination of this embassy, another was despatched to England tomake a similar tender of the sovereignty to Queen Elizabeth. She civilly declined to accept the supreme power thus offered, but agreed to treat them as allies, and to send to their aid an army of 6000 men, and large pecuniary supplies. This was instantly performed; and her favourite, the Earl of Leicester, repaired to Holland, where the towns of Flushing, the Brett, and the fortress of Rammekens, were delivered up to him as securities. As that force only entered Holland, the conduct and the operations of it belong rather to the history of Holland than to that of those parts of the Netherlands which were soon afterwards wholly separated from it, and to which we here direct our attention.

Whilst these negotiations were in progress, the Prince of Parma on his side was active and acute, and contrived to enter into treaties with some of the leading inhabitants of those cities in Flanders which had hitherto resisted the Spanish dominion. By various measures, applied in various ways, he obtained possession, first of Ypres, and afterwards of Bruges and some other places, by which he was enabled to cut off the supply of stores and provisions from Ghent. He then formed a camp sufficiently near to complete the blockade. Scarcity soon appeared, and was followed by almost absolute famine. Agitations and factions reigned in the city; yet, by flattering reports of succours expected, the orators of the populace were for a time enabled to delay surrendering. But at length a capitulation was agreed to in September 1584. The terms were, that in future the Catholic worship alone should be performed, and no other be tolerated; that all who chose to do so should be allowed two years to dispose of their property and to leave the city; that the clergy should be established in their property as before the troubles, and the city should pay as a contribution the sum of two hundred thousand florins, and allot quarters to the troops. A few of the most violent of the partisans were excepted from the general indemnity. At first the number of exceptions were limited to six, and then reduced to three; but these persons were, after an imprisonment of a few weeks, liberated, and allowed to depart from the city.

During the operations against Ghent, the Prince of Parma had begun his preparations for the most important of all his military designs, the capture of Antwerp. With this view his army was gradually drawn around it, and a camp formed at Bevern, near the city. As a part of the preparation for this object, it was necessary to menace the large cities of the province of Brabant which still repudiated the Spanish power, such as Brussels and Mechlin, and to seize upon those which were less formidable. Parma took first Vilvorde, and then Willebrocke; and the capture of these places soon caused scarcity to be felt in the cities. Brabant, now so well cultivated and fertile, had suffered most severely during the troubles; and, for some months after the last harvest, whatever could be obtained was conveyed to the city of Antwerp, to provide against the impending siege by the one party, or to furnish the army destined to attack it by the other. Brussels first felt the misery of famine, and the interception of a convoy destined to supply its wants raised the discontent of the inhabitants to such a height, that Temple, an English officer in command of the garrison, and the civil governor, were obliged to send deputies to the camp of the Prince of Parma to treat for the surrender. A capitulation was signed on the 10th of March 1585, the garrison retired, and the inhabitants submitted to Spain. The same causes produced the same effects a few weeks afterwards in the city of Mechlin and the smaller fortified town of Brabant; and thus, Maestricht having been captured five years before, the whole of the ten southern provinces of the Netherlands, except the city of Antwerp, were subjected, after a most vehement struggle of twenty years’ duration, to their former cruel and intolerant sovereign.

As the siege and capture of Antwerp was in its day considered as the most important military occurrence of the age, the history of its progress merits a detailed notice. The city of Antwerp stands upon the right bank of the river Scheldt. The stream is deep and the tides are rapid, so that the largest vessels could approach its banks.
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Below the city the river divides into several large branches or arms, and thus forms the islands which compose the province of Zealand, by which there are safe communications by water with the several towns of that province, which was then in the possession of the Dutch. These towns were filled with seamen, and they were in possession of powerful naval armaments, and of arsenals where other vessels could be equipped with facility. They also contained abundance of storehouses filled with all the implements of war, and others provided with necessary articles for subsistence, such as were indispensable in a large city when in a state of siege. The mouth of this river on both sides was commanded by powerful forts in the bands of the friends of the defenders of the city, but which at the commencement of the siege were taken by the assailants. By the possession of Ghent, which the Spaniards had gained soon after the commencement of the siege, and of the other strong places near the upper part of the river, no means of relieving the besieged could be drawn from that quarter; but supplies, which were conveyed by the Scheldt from Friesland, forbade the expectation that by means of famine the city could ever be compelled to surrender. The extent of the works surrounding the city, the strength of the citadel that commanded it, the number of men under arms within it, and especially the tried courage, skill, and inflexibility of the commander, whom Prince Maurice of Orange, the successor of the assassinated prince, bad recommended, rendered inoperative all the efforts on land to reduce the place.

The commander was Philippe de Marnix, lord of St Aldegonde, and generally known by that name; he was the intimate confidant of William, and one of those who opened the first scene of the opposition to the tyrannical measures of the king of Spain.

The Duke of Parma soon saw that, in spite of the forts which he had erected on the banks of the river, the vessels from Friesland, laden with provisions, could with little risk, when favoured by the rapid tide and a good breeze, pass to the city and return with very little or no injury. He then conceived and planned the execution of a bridge over the stream, at a bend of the river near to Lillo and Liefenschoeck; and thus, by shutting up the passage, hoped to reduce the city by famine. At the spot selected, the breadth of the stream is 2400 feet, or about half a mile. The execution of this work was intrusted to a celebrated Italian engineer named Barroccio, who had been sent by King Philip for the purpose, as soon as the project of the duke had been communicated to him; a man well calculated to carry into effect the great project which Parma had originally formed in his own mind, without intimation from any of the general officers, many of whom opposed his views, as being impracticable. The first steps were the erecting of two strong forts on the opposite sides of the river, and then throwing forward two piers from each side, which were to correspond in the middle when half the waterway was closed. The piers were formed of stakes driven firmly into the bed of the river, and rested on hard sand below the mud; and they were cemented with masses of earth and stones, and, when at a proper height, were covered with planks, and defended by parapets, on which cannon were mounted.

The vacancy between the termination of the two piers was filled up by a bridge of boats fastened together by chains, and secured by anchors. They were thus moored so as to yield to the rising and falling of the tide, and were armed with a great number of cannon. For the construction of this work, almost all the labour of the country was put in requisition. Carpenters, shipwrights, smiths, and even masons, were all compelled to work at this erection; whilst great numbers of other men were employed in cutting down the trees in the neighbouring district of Waaslande to furnish materials. Heavy contributions were extorted from every part under the Spanish authority; and thus, as neither money nor labour was spared, a few months were sufficient to complete the bridge, which was twelve feet in breadth, so that eight men could march abreast, and were under the protection of wooden bulwarks, which were musket-proof.

But the work was not suffered to proceed without some interruptions. The Antwerpers burned some and captured others of the boats on which the bridge was to be erected, and many vessels succeeded in forcing their passage through the unfinished bridge, and conveyed cargoes of provisions to the besieged. Some of these, however, being captured, orders were issued in Zealand that no single ship should attempt to force a passage, but should wait till a fleet had been collected, to proceed in concert. By way of creating a diversion in favour of the besieged, an attempt was made by the Frieslanders under Prince Hohenlohe to seize the city of Bois-le-Duc, then garrisoned by Spaniards; but though at first successful, the ultimate issue was a repulse, with considerable loss of life to the Frieslanders.

The approach of winter caused the Spaniards some apprehension for the fate of their yet unfinished work, and for a time totally suspended it; and when the frost broke up, some fears were entertained that the great masses of ice brought down from the upper part of the river might carry away the works by their weight; but fortunately the larger bodies of ice grounded near the piles, and melting there, caused little or no damage. When the ice had thus been removed, the work was completed, and the entrance closed. Other contrivances were adopted to impede the passage of ships, especially some rafts, composed of thirty vessels loaded with ballast, and armed with sharp iron points to entangle vessels attempting to ascend.

This prodigious work, which required six months to complete, so securely barred the entrance of provisions and stores from Zealand, that the destruction of it required the most sedulous exertions of the besieged; and efforts were immediately commenced to effect that object. An Italian by birth, but who had been long established in Antwerp, named Giambelli, had intrusted to him the construction of the engines to destroy the bridge, and to open a passage for a fleet loaded with provisions which had been prepared in Zealand.

The consternation excited in Antwerp at the prospect of the completion of the bridge was so great, that when known it was considered as the operation of the Evil Spirit; but that view soon gave way to a firm resolution to counteract this work of the demons. Giambelli, being skilful as a fire-worker as well as an engineer, determined, by means of explosion and mining, to destroy the bridge. To effect his purpose, he required three of the largest ships lying at Antwerp to be used as mines, and sixty smaller and flat-bottomed vessels to be converted into fire-ships; but motives of economy had such weight with the inhabitants, that be was compelled to contract the plan of his operations. He could only prevail on the council to give him two ships, and those of small size, and thirty-two flat-bottomed barges. The mining-ships had a magazine built of masonry three feet in height, the same in breadth, and sixty feet in length, to be filled with gunpowder. It was covered with a roof formed of mill and other hard stones, six feet in thickness, that by its weight the explosion should take effect in a sideway direction. These mines were charged with between six and seven thousand pounds of the finest gunpowder, and between it and the roof was laid a vast quantity of stones, iron bars, and all such other pieces of iron as could be most easily got together. Through a hole in the mine, a due quantity of match to ignite it was introduced. The whole was on the outside so finished as to have the appearance of only a [7:16:111]common fire-ship. The interior of the mining-ships were furnished with mechanical clock-work, by which, when the hand reached a certain point, it would move a spring connected with a musket-lock, by which the match would kindle, and the explosion would be produced. The flat-bottomed vessels were filled with combustibles to act as fire-ships, as the destruction of the bridge was to depend on the mines; but thtese were thought necessary to hide the main design of destroying the bridge by the floating volcanoes, and to attract the attention of the enemy’s artillery whilst the volcanoes were getting to their proper station. This formidable fleet, on the 4th of April, at the close of the day, departed from Antwerp, at the moment of the first reflux of the tide. First proceeded a small fireboat, then the thirty-two fire-ships, in four tiers of eight each, fastened together with chains. The two floatingmines closed the squadron. The direction of the vessels was intrusted to a number of boats, well manned with rowers, by which means the whole was brought into and kept in the middle of the stream.

The report of some great intended effort of the besieged had been spread in the Spanish army, and proper measures of watchfulness were adopted, by strengthening the guards on the forts, on the banks of the river, and on the bridge, so that, at the first appearance of the squadrdn, each corps was at its proper post, waiting tranquilly the approach of the enemy. The outposts on the river first observed the fire-boat in flames, and then the others appeared with their burning fires, hiding the mining vessels in their rear. Every man was quickly in motion. The whole bridge, from one end to the other, was crowded with troops, as well as the forts at each end of it, and the batteries on both shores; and each gunner stood with his linstock ready to discharge the cannon. The Duke of Parma was himself present giving his orders, and observing the astonishing spectacle. Not only the combustibles in the vessels, but the vessels themselves, appeared to be in flames. The stream was illuminated, and the bank blazed with the reflection. The squadron had approached to within two thousand feet of the bridge, when the preparation of the mines was completed, and the boats that had towed them cut off and removed to a distance to wait the expected explosion. The squadron, thus too early left to the sole direction of the tide, was drifted in different directions. Some of the fire-ships got on shoals, and there burned out without doing any mischief; the smallest of the two mines got on shore, sprung a leak, and sunk; others of the fire-ships became entangled in the floating vessels, and burnt themselves out. All danger seemed to the Spaniards to be over, and they enjoyed their jests at the expense of those who had expended so much time, labour, and money, so ineffectually. In a few minutes, however, the largest of the mining-ships descended the stream, and fell on the bridge on the Flemish side, near to where the pier terminated in the fort. The duke was standing near it, and, urged by a young officer who had been an engineer, and knew the skilΓ of Giambelli, to retire from the spot on which he stood, he refused to do so, when the young man seized him by the cloak and pulled him away. At that moment the great magazine exploded. The report and the shock were tremendous. Even the bottom of the river was turned up by its force, and rushed with impetuosity over the banks. A concussion of the earth, resembling an earthquake, was felt over a circle of ten miles. The contents of the floating volcano, mingled with the ruins of the bridge, with shot, weapons, and the bodies of soldiers and sailors, were blown to an invisible height in the air, and in their fall were scattered over so vast an extent, that scarcely any particle of what they had been was distinguishable. The Duke of Parma with his staff'·officers were thrown down senseless, and himself severely wounded by one of the beams, which was forced between his head and his shoulders. The Marquis of R∙ichebourg, with two other superior officers, Roubais and Billi, near him, were killed, and more than 800 soldiers perished. The casualties were produced, some by the flood, others by flames; and the fragments of their bodies were scattered far and wide.

When the duke had recovered from his fainting, he immediately gave directions to repair in some degree the damage which his works had sustained. In the night when the explosion took place, and the following day, expectation was alive, in both the opposing forces, for the appearance of the Zealand fleet, to the progress of which the remains of the bridge would have been no obstacle. By some want of combination, that fleet was detained, and the prince inspired those under his command with so much energy, that, directing their united powers to one object, they were enabled, by sinking boats and vessels in the open places, by driving piles, and by fastening chains, to oppose such powerful impediments as prevented the Zealanders from attempting to force the passage up to Antwerp.

The besieged, although thus disappointed, did not give way to despair. Giambelli prepared another floating mine, to which was given the presumptuous name of the End of the War; but this machine grounded in descending the stream, and was destroyed without producing any effect on the enemy. There was one resource left to the besieged, which was recommended by the example of the siege of Leyden, where it had been attended with success. It was that of inundating the whole country between Lillo and Stabroch, including the Spanish camp at Bevern. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary to cut through the dike or bank which defended it against the irruption of the Eastern Scheldt. The whole plain intended to be covered with water was traversed by a high and wide counter-dike, called the Dike of Couvestien; and the Duke of Parma, knowing its importance, had early taken possession of it, and had protected it by several strong forts. The garrison, aided by the Zealanders, made two spirited attacks on this series of works, in the latter of which the blood of both parties was most profusely shed. Each fought with the most desperate valour; but finally the confederates were repulsed, leaving three thousand dead upon the dike, or at its base, and the Spaniards lost more than eight hundred men. The unsuccessful issue of these several efforts had its effect on the population of Antwerp. The scarcity of provisions already felt, and the prospect of the famine which evidently impended, made some clamorous and most anxious for peace. This disposition led to negotiations for surrender, and the commander Aldegonde himself repaired to the camp of Parma to open a treaty; but the duke would not listen to the terms proposed, which required an amnesty for all past transactions, and permission to the Protestants to be allowed to follow their own religious opinions. Other negotiations followed, and, whilst they were depending, the surrender of Mechlin to the Spaniards cut off' the little hope of a supply of provisions which had hitherto existed. The clamours of the inhabitants became so loud, that the council and the commander were compelled to yield: they proceeded in a body to the Spanish camp, and there, after a close siege of fourteen months’ duration, a capitulation was signed on the 17th of August 1585. The terms of it were, that the city should submit itself to the king of Spain in his character of Duke of Brabant; that all past events should be forgotten; that the Catholic religion alone should be exercised, and that those of other persuasions be allowed four years to dispose of their property and withdraw; that the churches should be rebuilt at the expense of the citizens, who were also to present to the Spanish army 400,000 ducats (about L.38,000), and, as longas Holland continued in a state of hostility with Spain i [7:16:112]to maintain a garrison of 2000 men. Aldegonde, the commander, was also, by the terms of the treaty, prohibited from bearing arms against Spain for one year.

The capture of Antwerp was one of those important events the consequences of which became of less weight as time advanced; but these consequences were ultimately more in favour of the vanquished than of the triumphant party. Both parties had been weakened by the long contests which had been carried on; and both had nearly exhausted their powers in the struggle, which left them in such a state that a great degree of inactivity prevailed. Spain had acquired in the ten provinces a full authority, which no exertions on their part could shake off. The united provinces had also secured their independence and self-government, and, from the nature of their country, and the adaptation thereto of their naval power, were enabled to bid defiance to any attempts made to subjugate them to the power of Spain.

At this period the warlike operations between what may be called Hôlland and Belgium had been suspended, because in the latter country no resources were left to the government, and no aid was sent by King Philip, who was hindered from doing so by his treasures being required to secure the acquisition he had lately made of the kingdom of Portugal, and by the expenditure he applied to the equipment of that force destined for the conquest of England which had been pompously styled the invincible armada.

Some contemporary authors have assigned another cause of Philip’s withholding supplies to the Netherlands, namely, a jealousy of the Duke of Parma, which led that suspicious monarch to apprehend that, seeing Belgium to he of far greater value than his dominions in Italy, feeling his own great popularity, and observing the general hatred of the Spaniards, he might be induced to assume for himself the sovereignty.

The capture of Antwerp, though celebrated with most extraordinary demonstrations of joy in all parts of the ten provinces, was to them only the consummation of that misery and depression under which they had so long suffered. That city had been the focal point to which the commerce which enriched the country had been attracted. In the hands of the Spaniards, it was closed from the sea by the Dutch being in possession of the mouth of the river on both sides. The disputes about religion, which had distracted the two opposing parties, were quieted by the absence of the Protestant portion of the merchants and manufacturers, who carried with them what could be obtained for their fixed capital, and directed their fluctuating and scattered funds to be transmitted to the places to which they had removed. Amsterdam rose, with a rapidity hitherto unknown, to be a vast commercial place; the other towns in Holland shared in the advantage; and much of it was imported into London, Hamburg, and other foreign cities.

According to Schiller, the reconciled provinces in the interior exhibited the most deplorable spectacle. The inhabitants of the great towns had in a great measure fallen victims to the united calamities of war, pestilence, and famine. Large villages, which once contained· from two to three thousand inhabitants, were absolutely abandoned to the wolves, who had become so numerous and fierce that they attacked not merely decrepit persons and children, but strong and full-grown men; the dogs, driven about by hunger, had become as ferocious as other beasts of prey, and joined in large packs in hunting down cattle and men; neither fields, nor woods, nor roads were to be distinguished by any visible boundaries; all was an entangled mass of trees, weeds, and grass; so that many who returned to take possession of their property could not find out the places where their dwellings and fields had been. The prices of the necessaries of life were so high, that persons of rank were compelled to dispose of whatever they had to buy bread, and were often so reduced as to have recourse to open beggary in the streets; whilst the poorer classes could only sustain life by food of the worst and most unhealthy description. Few marriages were contracted, few children born, and of these a great proportion were early carried off by death.

Although more properly belonging to an account of Holland, we cannot omit to remark the great contrast between that country and Belgium at this particular conjuncture. There the pecuniary contributions were extorted to a greater extent, and with equal severity. There, by the increase of their shipping, no scarcity nor any great enhancement of the prices of corn had been felt, as their supply was copiously obtained from the shores of the Baltic; and the extension of the fisheries supplied them amply with that kind of food, whilst within the dikes the rich meadows yielded abundance of butter, cheese, and pork, with some other kinds of meal. The heavy contributions for defence, as well as the means of subsistence, were almost exclusively met by the rapid increase of a profitable commerce. Their vessels sailed freely to the British kingdoms, to the Baltic ports, to Italy, and even to the harbours of their enemy, King Philip, both in Spain and in Portugal. The trade between the last-mentioned countries and their settlements in Asia and America was rather in the hands of foreigners than of natives, the Spanish houses of commerce scarcely giving more than their names to the transactions. The Hollanders partook largely of this trade; their manufactures and their cured herrings were much sought after, and gave them an enormous profit; and though the trade was pronounced contraband by the Spanish king, it could not be prevented; for, in spite of his ordonnances, it was so profitable to both parties, that Dutch ships under Hamburg or Lubeck colours were to be seen in all the ports of the Peninsula. By these and by other means the linens of Holland were to be seen in all the shops of Mexico Brazil, and Peru, the payment for which, besides the tropical productions, brought gold and silver, coined or uncoined.

The religious dissensions of the period here referred to gave rise to that formation of national character which has since distinguished the two countries. The Belgians, in their severe sufferings, attributed them all to the part which the Protestants had taken in the first opposition to their Spanish king. This begat hatred to the reformed religion, and as their priests did not fail to impress that feeling, it was naturaI that augmented suffering should give it a more intense bitterness. It is not therefore wonderful that the hatred of the Belgians should have naturally grown, as it manifestly has done, to a degree of bigotry in religious matters, which could not be much lessened by the attempt made two centuries later to form the two parts into one kingdom under a Protestant prince. The Hollanders, on the other hand, gradually became as rigidly attached to the religion which they had embraced. It was naturally associated in their minds with all the privations which they had at first endured, with the victories they had afterwards gained, with the independence they had accomplished, and with the flourishing state of the commerce they had acquired. The emigrants, too, who joined them from Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, and the other places which had capitulated under the condition that the Protestants should have time and permission to remove with their property, felt themselves to be suffering banishment for their religion, and as martyrs became more zealous in their adherence to the cause for which they had suffered. The Dutch did not, like the Belgians, proscribe the adherents of the opposite religion, but granted them permission to indulge in their own faith and ceremonies. This was, however, more owing to the indifference of the [7:16:113]princes of the house of Orange on these subjects, and their views of the political and commercial benefits of toleration, than to the absence of bigotry amongst the Dutch people and their clergy. Very soon after their independence was universally acknowledged, the states showed quite as much bigotry towards the professors of the Protestant religion who differed on incomprehensible subjects with each other, as had ever been exhibited by any Catholics in behalf of the rites, ceremonies, and dogmas of their more magnificent church.

Besides the difference of character between the people of these two portions of the Netherlands, there was a great dissimilarity in their manners and domestic habits, which may be the more properly noticed here, because its operation has been continually active during the attempt made in the present day to consolidate into one body politic the two nations, and because the attempt has altogether failed.

The southern or the ten provinces had grown up to be a great commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural community. Each of these branches, acting upon the other, had created that general prosperity which naturally leads to the indulgence of hospitality, of jovial intercourse, and the enjoyment of luxuries of various kinds, according to the relative state of the parties composing the community. The fat burghers of Ghent and of Bruges, and the farmers of Flanders with their ornamented strong horses, and their bedizened spouses, with their ear-rings of silver or gold, were sometimes objects of ridicule and sometimes of envy to the other people of Europe. Though not very ready to pay taxes to their princes, they were always prepared to spend with cheerfulness on their own gratifications, and in hospitality to their friends. Even the peasantry were merry and cheerful in their village dances and their rural festivals, which some of the best artists have painted, and made visible to subsequent ages by their ιιn-perishing works. In short, if the people of Flanders were not profuse, they were not rigidly economical. Some of the profits of the different branches of industry were undoubtedly saved and added to the capital; but a considerable portion was expended in gratifying the tastes for show, conveniencies, a cheering table, and good strong beer. The Northern Netherlands, at the period when the troubles began, were generally in a state of great poverty. Their trade was inconsiderable, and their rural industry chiefly confined to the dairy. The nature of the country recovered from the water, and protected by strong embankments from being again flooded, required all the labour and all the revenue that could be collected. The only way in which the population could subsist was by the practice of the most severe parsimony in their dwellings, their food, and their clothing. When the war commenced, they began to bestir themselves in the fisheries and the foreign trade. The profits of this were slow in arriving, and thus the habit of frugality was strengthened; and, when the profit did arrive, so large a portion was required for the general defence that none could prudently be devoted to purposes of luxury or splendour. Whilst extravagance was wisely forbidden, it is generally thought that hospitality disappeared. The domestic enjoyments were unsocial, and, except the practice of extreme cleanliness, little engaged the attention of the families but the saving of money. This representation of the national character of the Dutch has been generally dwelt upon with more severity than it deserves; but it was necessary in the circumstances, in which a tone was given to manners and morals, which has been more or less strictly adhered to till the present time. The emigrants who came to them from the southern division were at first compelled, by the losses they had suffered, to practise the same parsimony as the former residents. They too, therefore, at first from necessity, and at length from principle or habit, became, equally with the others, habitually parsimonious and economical. It has been deemed proper to notice in this place the growth and difference of national character between the Dutch and the Belgians, because it will tend to throw some light on the most recent transactions which have taken place relative to those countries.

Although Parma, after the conquest of Antwerp, did all in his power to conciliate the inhabitants, and to relieve the distress to which they were reduced, he could only succeed with the Catholic portion of the population. The Protestants almost all left the country within the period allotted to them. The merchants removed to Amsterdam, and the manufacturers to Haerlem and other towns in Holland; and some of them repaired to England, and to the towns of the Hanseatic League on the Continent. Whatever projects the duke may have formed to relieve the pressure on the people under bis command, they were all soon suspended in order to assist in the grand operation of King Philip to invade and conquer England by his invincible armada. Whilst that aVmament was preparing in Spain, and employing all the treasures of the monarchy, Parma, with no other resources but such as he could draw from the impoverished Flemings, was enabled, by his vigour, to fit out and arm a very powerful flotilla of vessels calculated for the conveyance of troops, and to man them with sailors better adapted for the stormy seas of the north than the Spaniards and Portuguese who manned the ships of the grand armada which had sailed from Lisbon. The Belgian fleet was collected in the Scheldt, and when completed found itself blockaded there by a Dutch naval force under the grand pensioner De Witt, and by the forts constructed at the mouth of the river, which were held by Zealanders. The flotilla was then ordered to ascend the river to Ghent, and from thence to be conveyed, either by old canals deepened for the occasion, or by new canals constructed on purpose, or by land carriage, to the small streams of the Lise, the Moere, and the Yperlee, which run to the ocean near Nieuport. They waited there for the arrival of the armada, whilst the ships of war which were destined to protect them were in the harbour of Dunkirk. The Hollanders, then, by a series of admirable manoeuvres, under Justin de Nassau, so managed, that, with a fleet of ninety sail of temporary armed vessels, they closed up every opening to the sea from the mouth of the Scheldt to Dunkirk. When the Duke of Parma arrived at Dunkirk to embark, he discovered the impediment, and found the exertions he had made all rendered fruitless. The Spanish armada was then in the strait between Dover and Calais; the commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, was in difficulties, as the project was that Parma should land an army from his flotilla, and seize upon London, then without defence. Medina Sidonias fleet had been weakened by the various and spirited attacks made on it in the passage up the British Channel, and he had lost some of his ships. Near Calais one large galleon was taken by Sir Francis Drake, and the ship of Admiral D’Ocquendo was burned; and the Spanish fleet, which could obtain no succour from the Flemings, began to feel a scarcity of provisions. It was at anchor near Calais when six fire-ships were equipped by Giambelli, the engineer who had directed the operations at Antwerp, and who was now in the service of Queen Elizabeth. These were kindled, and at two in the morning, with the wind and tide in their favour, despatched towards the Spanish fleet. The Spaniards, who had seen the infernal machines of Giambelli before Antwerp, thought these vessels were of the same description, and spread consternation around them by the cries and shouting, “The fires of Antwerp.” In the terror, many of the ships cut their cables and fled before the wind, to avoid the flames of the fire-ships.

The result of the Spanish expedition belongs to the history[7:16:114] of that country or of England; but the efforts of preparation made in the Netherlands pressed with more weight on that country than many of their sacrifices during the war, and the consequences were longer complained of.

The wars in France between the Catholics and the Protestants engaged the attention of the Duke of Parma, and some of the Flemish troops aided the cause of the former, especially in raising the siege of Rouen. He was about to send a more considerable expedition into that country’, and had proceeded as far as Arras, in the abbey of which city he died, after a short illness, on the 3d of December 1592, in the forty-fifth year of his age. After the termination of the siege of Antwerp, he had sedulously attended to the interests of the dominions retained by Spain. Agriculture was supported, and domestic manufactures were encouraged; the taxes were lightened; and in the seven years that passed between the surrender of Antwerp and the death of Parma, a visible improvement had taken place in the appearance of the country. It had been freed from civil war, and almost secured from invasion; the power of the law was so far restored as to give security to property, and thus promote industry; and, though warlike expeditions were undertaken, the troops only acted as auxiliaries, and were not maintained from the resources of Belgium, but drew their supplies from the countries in which they served.

The Duke of Parma had been intrusted by King Philip with power to name his successor, and, foreseeing his death, he had appointed the archduke, Pierre-Ernest Count of Mansfeldt, a younger son of the emperor of Germany. The army, which had been before prepared, was led by him into France, and there signalised itself by the assistance which it afforded to the party of the league. He did not return to Belgium till January 1594. During his absence domestic tranquillity prevailed, though in the interval the Dutch, who had chosen Prince Maurice to succeed William of Orange, had captured the towns within the seven united provinces which were held by Spanish garrisons. These were, Deventer, Zutphen, Groll, Breda, Nimwegen, Gertrudenburg, and Steenwyk; and they formed a powerful barrier against any attempts that could be made by the troops of Spain in Belgium.

The archduke, obtaining no remittances from Spain, made application to the states of Holland for entering into a pacific negotiation with them, and addressed his letter to the states, which, by implication, was an acknowledgment of their sovereignty. Commissioners from both parties met; but about that time the Dutch had discovered some attempts at a plot for the assassination of their stadtholder, Prince Maurice, his brother Prince Henry, the pensioner Oldenbarnevelt, the chancellor Leoninus, and the general Aldegonde. A priest of Namur having been taken disguised as a soldier, had confessed the criminal design, and named his accomplices. The suspicion excited by this discovery was strengthened by’ that of another project to be executed in England by a Portuguese physician against the life of Queen Elizabeth. The Dutch would not trust to Spain. The archduke was assured by them, and in most courteous terms, that they could not trust to any terms which Spain could nullify by changing their governor of the Netherlands; but they were willing to treat, and wished to be at peace with the Catholic provinces. The archduke was mortified at the rejection of his offers, and other vexations arose from the withholding pecuniary supplies by Spain, so that when the army returned from France their arrears could not be paid, and they mutinied and ravaged the province of Hainault. At the same period the news arrived that Henry IV., who had been reconciled to the church of Rome, and was peaceably seated on the throne of France, had just declared war against Spain. These troubles, with others created by his aspiring to the French sceptre, so affected the health of the archduke, that after a short sickness he died at Brussels in February 1595.

He was succeeded in authority by Count Fuentes, who, as a military man of approved exertion, raised two armies, one to defend the frontier against the Dutch, and another for the purpose of invading France. On the side of Holland little was done, both parties watching each other without coming to any decisive action. On the side of France, whilst the army of that country entered Hainault, the force under Fuentes attacked the fertile episcopal state of Cambray, and after a spirited siege took the capital city. But the vice-regency of Fuentes was of short duration; for in the beginning of the next year the Archduke Albert was appointed governor, and arrived at Brussels, bringing with him the Prince of Orange, the eldest son of William the Silent, who had been carried away when Count of Beuren in 1568, and kept as a prisoner in Spain during the whole period of the glorious achievements of his father.

This archduke was the fifth son of the Emperor Maximilian II., and nephew of Philip, by whom he had been educated, and whose good opinion he had gained by his prudence and valour whilst acting as viceroy in Portugal. Philip had designed him to be the husband of his daughter Isabella, and intended to create the provinces of the Netherlands into a sovereignty under his command. He was sent, in the character of governor-general, to prepare the inhabitants for this change, by conciliating the Flemings. Albert brought with him large pecuniary supplies, which enabled him to continue the warlike operations against France under the conduct of his predecessor Fuentes. In this he was in some measure successful, as he was enabled to capture Calais, and to avoid a pitched battle with Henry IV. king of France, who commanded his army in person. Whilst engaged in these operations, he attempted to enter into some negotiations with the view to a reconciliation with the Dutch; but the latter would not trust to the sincerity of Spain. Though the Prince of Orange made some efforts, his principles were doubtful; and, from the court and country in which his mind had been formed, they objected to his visiting Holland. Civil communications took place, but no progress towards conciliation was made, and the prince continued to reside in Brussels in a state of inactivity till his death.

The attempt of the archduke to draw the Dutch into a negotiation by the instrumentality of the Prince of Orange having failed, he was induced to prepare an army of 6000 men for the invasion of Holland; but his general, Varas, was out-manoeuvred by Prince Maurice, who met him at Turnhout on the 24th of January 1597, and, with very little loss on his part, obtained a most decisive victory, dispersing the Belgians, and capturing the whole of their artillery, stores, and baggage, with many prisoners. This was the last considerable battle between the armies of the two divisions of the Netherlands. The effect of this discomfiture to Belgium was serious, inasmuch as it disorganized the army and deranged the finances, whilst it increased the strength, and still more the confidence, of their opponents.

Philip of Spain, who now felt his end approaching, became desirous of putting an end to the war with France, and also of establishing a general peace. At first the negotiation comprehended the states of Holland; but, in May 1598, a peace was concluded which did notextend to them. In a few days after, a public communication was made, that the sovereignty of Burgundy and the Netherlands had been transferred from the crown of Spain to the Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella on their being betrothed, a ceremony which was performed by proxy on the part of the Infanta, who was still in Spain; after which he was solemnly inaugurated at Brussels on the 22d of August. He immediately departed for Spain to complete [7:16:115]the marriage, and left the government of his newly-acquired dominions in the hands of his brother, the Cardinal Andrew of Austria, but placed the troops, which amounted to 22,000 men, under the command of Mendoza, a Spaniard. As the archduke travelled slowly, he was nearly six months before he reached Valencia in Spain, where the marriage was consummated, and where soon afterwards he received the intelligence of the death of King Philip, the father of his bride; but it was then nearly six months more before the archduke and archduchess arrived in the city of Brussels.

In this year Mendoza, on the pretence of invading Holland, led his army into the duchy of Cleves, and some of the neutral states in Westphalia, where the most atrocious cruelties were exercised and the most extensive devastations practised. They were, however, in some degree checked by Prince Maurice with a much inferior force, and prevented from passing the Dutch frontiers. The Germans, roused by their country being invaded, hastily mustered an army of 14,000 men, badly disciplined and equipped. Mendoza resolved to abandon his projected invasion of Holland, and encounter the advancing Germans under the Count de Lippe. In an action fought with these Germans, Mendoza was eminently successful; with the loss of a few men, he was enabled to gain a victory, by which his opponents, if not destroyed, were completely dispersed.

These transactions kindled anew the patriotic spirit of the Hollanders, which from inactivity had begun to languish, and which had also been checked by the heavy taxes imposed on them, and by the demand of Queen Elizabeth for payment of the supplies she had afforded them, accompanied with the orders for the recall of her troops.

But Prince Maurice knew how to inspire the Dutch with energy, and he obtained some auxiliary troops from other countries. He had some Germans, some Swiss sent by France, and troops both from England and Scotland, then separate kingdoms; and he collected the whole disposable force of the Dutch confederacy, amounting to about 17,000 men, whom he secretly transferred to the island of Walcheren, and having plenty of craft adapted to the purpose, be suddenly shipped them, and ascended the river Scheldt. He passed with the rapid flood-tide the city of Antwerp, and was in hopes of surprising Ghent, where he had calculated on finding a party disposed to assist him. In this, however, he was disappointed; and taking possession of some forts in the vicinity of that city and of Bruges, he advanced to Nieuport, the siege of which place he immediately commenced.

The archduke was taken by surprise, and the Spanish forces were in a state of mutiny on account of their pay being in arrear. In this crisis he acted with great decision and celerity, and in a few days was able to collect a force of 12,000 men, which assembled at Ghent. Nieuport, which Maurice was besieging, is on the sea-coast, amongst the downs or sand-hills, and in a country affording but scanty supplies. The first movement of the archduke was to cut oft' the retreat of the Hollanders, in which he was favoured by the occupation of Ghent and Bruges. He also determined on raising the siege of Nieuport, and recaptured all the forts which Maurice had taken, except those of Ostend. As he advanced he came in contact with a part of the army of the Dutch, consisting of 3000 men, commanded by Prince Ernest of Nassau, and composed for the most part of Scottish infantry. These were attacked, and, to give time to the main body under Maurice to form, they fought most gallantly; but, after a loss of nearly one third of their number, and being completely separated from the rest of their army, they were defeated, and at length threw themselves into Ostend. The archduke, encouraged by this success, resolved to attack Prince Maurice. Most of his more experienced and cautious officers recommended that the army should remain in their position, where, by famine, they would shortly compel their opponents to surrender. Others, especially the Spanish officers, elated by their recent success, urged an immediate advance. Maurice, who had been surprised by the rapid movements of the enemy, was in a most embarrassing situation. Before him was the garrisoned town of his enemy, and behind him the main army, now more than equal to his own in numbers, as well as in courage and discipline. The sea was open to him, and such was his alarm, that he desired his brother, Prince Frederick Henry, and a young prince of Holstein, with several young English nobles, who were volunteers, to embark on board a vessel; but they all refused, and resolved to face the threatened battle; and, as Maurice could not embark his whole army on an open shore in the face of a superior force, he determined to risk an action in which he had little cause to hope for a victory. It was the resolution of despair rather than of hope. The vessels on the coast were ordered to depart and range themselves before the port of Ostend.

It has been remarked by the historians of the day, Van-dervynk and Grotius (the latter of whom, then a youth of eighteen, was present), that each of the armies was of such a variety of troops as to make them respectively an epitome of the various nations of Europe. The force of Maurice consisted of Dutch, English, Scotch, Germans, French, and Swiss, under Count Louis of Nassau, Sir Francis Vere, Sir Horace Vere, and other English officers of considerable celebrity. The archduke had under his command Spaniards, Italians, Walloons, Belgians, and Irish, who were led by Mendoza, La Berlotta, and other celebrated officers. The rival generals rode along their respective lines, addressed a few words of encouragement to their men, and the contest commenced.

On the 2d of July 1600, at three o’clock, the archduke began the attack. His advanced guard, commanded by Mendoza, and composed of the mutineers, who now resolved to atone for their former misconduct, marched across the sand-hills with desperate resolution. They soon came into contact with the English part of the force under Sir Francis Vere, who was desperately wounded in the first shock. The assault was almost irresistible. The English, borne down by numbers, were forced to give way; but the main body pressed on to their support, and Sir Horace Vere stepped forward to supply the place of his brother. Not an inch of ground was gained or lost; the firing ceased, and pikes and swords crossed each other in the regular conflict of man to man. The action now became general along the whole line. The two commanders-in-chief were to be seen at all points. Nothing could exceed their mutual display of skill and courage. At length the Spanish cavalry, broken by the well-directed fire of the patriot artillery, fell back on their infantry and threw it into confusion. At the same instant the archduke was wounded by a lance in the cheek, unhorsed, and forced to quit the field. The report of his death, and the sight of his war-steed galloping alone across the field, spread alarm throughout the royalist ranks. Prince Maurice saw and seized on the critical moment. He who had so patiently maintained his position for three hours of desperate conflict, now discerned the instant for a prompt and general advance. He gave the word, and having led his troops to the charge, the victory was at length decided.

The defeat of the royalist army was in fact complete. The whole of the artillery, baggage, standards, and ammunition, fell into the hands of the conquerors. Night alone saved those who fled, and the nature of the ground prevented the cavalry from consummating the destruction of the beaten army. Accounts differ as to the actual number of the killed, some stating it at 6000 men, others at [7:16:116] 3000; but perhaps the latter computation does not include the wounded. For the number of men engaged, it was the most bloody battle that had yet been fought. All agree that more than half of the men engaged on both sides were either killed or desperately wounded. The Hollanders alone made prisoners, and amongst them were many officers of the first rank. Mendoza was one of these; he had been wounded, and the prince had difficulty in saving his life from the German auxiliaries, who were desirous of revenging on him the atrocities committed by his army in the duchy of Cleves and in Westphalia. Amongst the other prisoners of eminence were the admiral of Aragon, the seneschal of Montemilard, and the generals Don Louis de Vellar, Don Idiaquez Monroy, D’Avila, and the aide-de-camps of the archduke. The archduke, furnished with a fresh horse, made his escape from the field, and reached Bruges, where he joined his wife, who had confidently expected him to return victorious, and immediately proceeded to Brussels. Although wounded, and at one time a prisoner, but rescued by his own troops, he uniformly preserved his presence of mind, and throughout gave such directions and orders as evinced the soundest judgment.

This bloody victory was of little military consequence, but the moral effect on the courage of the conquerors, and in the depression of the defeated, was of the greatest importance. Prince Maurice had escaped from a destruction that appeared almost inevitable. After the battle he resumed the siege of Nieuport; but some reinforcements had been introduced, which rendered its speedy capture impracticable, and, from want of supplies, the attempt was abandoned; and having prepared Ostend for a vigorous defence, he returned to Holland with the remains of his army. He was there received with the most rapturous congratulations by his countrymen; but amongst the more rigid of the republicans some jealousy arose, lest the successful soldier should aspire to be the sovereign of the country. This jealousy was felt by the pensionary Barnevelt, and, when extended, led to those agitations which long endured in the states, and which at a later period led to the death of that invaluable patriot; but these are transactions belonging exclusively to the history of Holland.

The archduke called together at Brussels the states of the Catholic provinces, who, when assembled, communicated their opinion, that nothing but peace would satisfy the inhabitants, or preserve the country from exhaustion and complete ruin. He could not but sep the reasonableness of the view thus presented to him, and resolved to attempt a treaty. The states of Holland readily embraced the intimations made to them, and at length commissioners from both parties were nominated, and met at Bergen-op-Zoom; but their negotiations were broken off almost as soon as they had commenced. The Spanish deputies demanded that the new republicans should submit themselves to their ancient masters. But this was received by the deputies of Holland as worse than insult, and as a proof of the insincerity of those with whom it had originated, who must have known that such a proposition could never be permitted to become a subject of discussion. The parties soon separated, and during the winter that followed both made preparations for continuing the war.

Early in the spring, Maurice found himself at the head of an army of 16,000 men, composed chiefly of English and French, who, in this instance, cheerfully united and rivalled each other. He attacked the town of Rheinberg, and took it; but from before Bois-le-Duc he was obliged to retire. The whole attention of both the contending armies was drawn toward Ostend, a place of some though but little importance to either party, when put in comparison with the extraordinary loss of lives which the contest for its possession ultimately occasioned. The archduke, however, resolved on making the conquest of this place, and the Dutch seem to have made it a point of honour not to yield it up. The attack and the defence were carried on with equal skill, courage, and perseverance, and the operations, protracted for more than three years, kept alive the anxiety of all the military men of Europe during that period. Sir Francis Vere commanded in the place at the time of the first investment; but governors, garrisons, and besieging forces, were renewed and replaced with a rapidity which gave one of the most frightful instances of the ravages of war.

This siege became a school for the young nobility of all Europe, who repaired to the one party or the other to learn the principles and the practice of attack and defence. Every thing that the military skill of that age could devise was resorted to on either side. The slaughter in the various assaults, sorties, and bombardments, was enormous. Squadrons at sea gave a double interest to the land operations. The celebrated brothers, Frederick and Ambrose Spinola, founded their reputation on both elements. Frederick was, however, killed in one of the naval combats with the Dutch galleys, and Ambrose acquired his fame by the ultimate conquest of Ostend. As the Dutch had the superiority at sea, they could throw in renewed succours, whilst the Spaniards having full possession of the surrounding land, could bring to the besiegers whatever stores or recruits were needed. Redoubled attacks and multiplied mines at length reduced the town to a mere mass of ruins, and scarcely left to its undaunted garrison sufficient footing on which to prolong their desperate defence. Ostend at length surrendered on the 22d of September 1604<, after a siege which had commenced in July 1601. The victors marched in over its crumbled walls and shattered batteries. Scarcely a vestige of the place remained beyond those terrible evidences of destruction. The ditches filled up with the rubbish of ramparts, bastions, and redoubts, left no distinct line of separation between the operations of attack and defence. It resembled a vast sepulchre rather than a ruined town, a mountain of earth and rubbish, without a single house in which the wretched remnant of the inhabitants could hide their heads.

The death of Queen Elizabeth of England happened during this siege, and some time was passed in anxious expectation of what would be the conduct of her successor, who was actuated on the one side by his high opinion of the rights of royalty, and on the other by the policy of his English ministers, and the representations of Henry IV. of France. In this case, though he threatened, he did not withdraw his troops from the Dutch; but he, at the same time, gave liberty to the Spaniards to raise recruits in England for the Belgic states.

In the year 1605, both the Dutch and the Belgians, the former under Prince Maurice, and the latter under Spinola, took the field. The prince projected the surprise of Antwerp; but the vigilance of Spinola anticipated his intention. Spinola then invaded the province of Overyssel, and took some of the smaller towns. Maurice flew to the relief of the province; and by his tactics obliged Spinola to retire to the Rhine, where he awaited at Roeroord the attack of the Dutch. A battle was there fought, in which the fortune of the day more than once varied. At length Maurice desisted, and the Spaniards had the honour of the victory; but the loss on both sides was nearly equal, and few or no prisoners were taken. In the mean time, the Dutch had gained a naval victory of much importance. A squadron of ships commanded by Hautain, admiral of Zealand, attacked a superior force of Spanish vessels close to Dover, and defeated them with considerable loss. The victory was, however, sullied by an act of great barbarity; [7:16:117]all the soldiers found on board the captured ships were tied two and two, and thrown into the sea. Some few extricated themselves, and by swimming reached the shore; and others were picked up by the English boats, the crews of which witnessed the scene, and hastened to the relief of the sufferers.

The military forces of the Catholic states had been abundantly supplied with pecuniary resources from the treasures of Spain. But Philip III. who had succeeded to the throne of that kingdom, found difficulties arise respecting the supplies. He wanted that economical arrangement in his finances which had been one of the peculiar features of the late king; he was embarrassed with troubles in Portugal, which showed strong dispositions to throw off the yoke of the Spanish government; and he had been prevented from drawing resources from his dominions in both the Indies, by the interruptions which the Dutch navy had caused in all parts of the world, and by the capture or destruction of some of his ships returning with the treasures of Mexicoand Peru. Discontents had been created in the Catholic Netherlands, excited by suspicion of the design of Spain to place those states again under her immediate government. In one of his public rescripts, Philip had described the people of the Netherlands as his beloved subjects. This caused great agitation in the states, as they had imagined that the cession of the sovereignty to the archduke had made them an independent kingdom. The debts of the states had also accumulated to a large amount, and there was no prospect of discharging them as long as the war with the Hollanders should continue. Even the general, Spinola, had so encumbered himself with personal obligations to further the public service, that he gave a lead to the feeling generally entertained in favour of peace.

In this state of affairs, proposals were made by the archduke in May 1607, to enter into negotiations for a peace; and two plenipotentiaries having been despatched from Brussels, repaired to the Hague.

But public opinion in the Dutch states was much divided on this important question. An instinctive hatred against the Spaniards, and long habits of warfare, led the great mass of the people to consider any overture of peace as some wily artifice aimed at their religion and liberty. War seemed to have opened to them inexhaustible sources of wealth; whilst peace appeared to threaten the extinction of the trade, which was now as much a habit as war appeared to be a want. This reasoning was particularly convincing to Prince Maurice, whose fame, with a large portion of his authority and revenues, depended on the continuance of hostilities. It was also strongly relied on, and supported in Zealand, and in the chief towns, which dreaded the rivalry of Antwerp. Those who bore the burden of the war saw it, however, under a different aspect. They feared that the present state of things would lead to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of their liberty by the growing power of Prince Maurice; and they hoped that peace would consolidate the republic, and cause the reduction of the debt, which already amounted to twenty-six millions of florins. This party was headed by Barnevelt, whose wisdom has been established by the issue.

The wish of that great man was for a suspension of arms, in order that opposition might subside, and the interests of the contending parties might be calmly discussed; and he managed so as to gain a reluctant acquiescence to his views from the Prince of Orange and his partisans. The united provinces positively refused to admit even the commencement of a negotiation until the archduke made a distinct recognition of their independence, and an ambassador was appointed with instructions to require this important admission. Some delay was occasioned by the demand for this preliminary, and many suspicions were either kindled or kept alive in the united states by the dubious tone of the Belgian authorities. These were, however, at length surmounted, and the independence of the states admitted in explicit terms, upon which a suspension of arms was agreed to for eight months. During this term of suspension the negotiation had nearly been suddenly broken off by the plenipotentiary of the archduke having attempted to bribe Aarsens, the greffier of the states-general. He was a monk, named Neyen, a native of Antwerp, and had several times passed between Brussels and the Hague, and had held private interviews with Maurice and Barnevelt. He took an opportunity to present Aarsens with a diamond of great value, and a bond of the archduke for 50,000 crowns, which was accepted and communicated to Prince Maurice, who, still anxious to prevent peace, hoped the rumour of this attempt would excite distrust, and break off the negotiation. But Barnevelt obtained the diamond and bond, and in the assembly handed them to one Verreiken, who had assisted Neyen, and read him a lecture of true republican severity. Verreiken was overwhelmed with shame, and Neyen was dismissed from the embassy; but, after this delay, the negotiation proceeded, in spite of the opposition of Prince Maurice and his adherents.

The assembly of ambassadors met at the Hague in January 1608, and though the plenipotentiaries of the archduke and of the Dutch states were the principal negotiators, yet the kings of England, France, and Spain had each their ministers, who interfered in the negotiations, and thereby created various obstacles, and many delays. The main points for discussion, on which depended the decision for peace or for war, were those which concerned religion, and the demand on the part of Spain, that the united provinces should renounce all claims to the navigation of the Indian Seas. Philip required for the Catholics of the united states the free exercise of their religion; but it was opposed by the states-general, and the archduke, seeing the impossibility of carrying that point, sent his confessor Briznella to Spain. This dominican was furnished with the written opinions of several theologians, that the king might conscientiously pass over the article of religion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as his minister, the Duke of Lerma, was resolved to bring about peace at any price. The conferences at the Hague were thus little impeded, though they advanced slowly till the month of August, when it was announced that the king of Spain had abandoned the question concerning religion; but it was with the certainty that his moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions in regard to the India trade, on which he was inexorable. This article became the rock upon which the whole negotiation eventually split. The court of Spain on the one hand, and the states-general on the other, inflexibly maintained their opposing claims. The other ambassadors employed every possible expedient to shake the determination of the Dutch; but the influence of the East India Company, of the islands of Zealand, and of the city of Amsterdam, prevailed over all. Reports of the avowal, on the part of the king of Spain, that he would never renounce his title to the sovereignty of the united provinces, unless they abandoned the Indian navigation, and granted the free exercise of religion, threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion; and, on the 25th of August, the states-general announced to the Marquis of Spinola, and the other ambassadors, that the congress was dissolved, and all hopes of peace abandoned.

The ambassadors of England and of France did not, however, altogether despair of succeeding in bringing about tranquillity; and Barnevelt with his great influence joined them in all their efforts. The king of Spain and the archduke wished for a temporary repose, but, being [7:16:118]strongly disliked by Maurice and his powerful party, they were compelled apparently to give way. A new congress having been agreed upon, was assembled at Antwerp; and the states-general removed from the Hague to Bergen-op-Zoom, to be within reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotiation. It did not appear so easy to make a peace as to effect a temporary truce; and, working in that direction, the two representatives of England and France, with the aid of Barnevelt, in opposition to Maurice, who resigned in disgust all his employments, but afterwards resumed them, succeeded in concluding a truce, which was at length signed by all parties on the 9th of April 1609. By this treaty hostilities were to cease for twelve years. The terms were vague and inconclusive in many parts; but as it was desirable to all parties, it became durable. The united states were declared free and independent. Each party was to retain the places they respectively held at the commencement of the armistice. In terms very obscure, the right to navigate the Indian Seas was granted to the Dutch. The article which respected religion was so expressed as to be differently interpreted; but it practically gave toleration to the Catholics in Holland, with some restrictions. The other articles settled points relative to boundaries, custom-houses, and some other internal matters. The treaty was guaranteed by the kings of France and England.

This treaty was received in both the divisions of the Netherlands with rapturous acclamation, and the most sincere demonstrations of joy. The northern division, during all the tempestuous visitations it had endured from hostilities, had risen to opulence, power, and weight, in the rank of European nations. Belgium was now permanently fixed under the sovereignty of the house of Austria, but still left in possession of some of those ancient privileges which had been transmitted to the people from the earlier times, when they composed part of the duchy of Burgundy. No sooner was the truce concluded, than Belgium, like the independent states, began to labour assiduously to repair the dreadful ravages caused by the long and bloody war. The success in Belgium was considerable, for the Archduke Albert, and his wife Isabella, joined to much probity of character considerable talents for government, and exercised the greatest possible degree of humanity and benevolence. The whole of their dominions began quickly to recover from the ravages of war. Agriculture and the minor branches of trade resumed some degree of activity; but the manufactures of Flanders, as far as they were of great value and objects of foreign commerce, were destroyed, as well as the capital necessary for their re-establishment. Some encouragement, however, was given to manufactures of the common kind for internal consumption, and the demand for them was increased in proportion as the soil, naturally fertile, became better cultivated, and the proprietors more enriched. As the port of Antwerp, the chief outlet for foreign trade, had been deprived of its shipping by the emigrations to Holland, and its only access to tìie sea was through the Dutch territory, there were few inducements, and fewer means of opening foreign trade at that place.

The tranquil course of prosperity in Belgium was only once interrupted during the whole twelve years of the peace. It arose from a disputed succession to the sovereignty of the adjoining German duchy of Cleves-Juliers. Two parties claimed the inheritance. The Dutch sided with one, and the Belgians with the other, and both marched armies and seized upon towns; but they never came in contact with each other, and no blood was shed, the prudence of the archduke and the forbearance of the states-general having averted the evil, and removed the alarm created in Belgium, with very little injury to its growing industry.

The Archduke Albert, who had long been a martyr to the gout, died of that disease on the 21st of July 1621, universally lamented in the ten provinces. Though his education in Spain gave him an air of reserve and of pride, and his sole use of the language of that country was not relished by the Belgians, yet he had displayed both courage and judgment during the war, and was uniformly just, diligent, liberal, and humane. The term of the truce with the states of Holland terminated three months before this event; but it was renewed from time to time for a few months, and was at length tacitly considered by all parties as having become a final settlement.

The infanta of Spain, wife of the archduke, succeeded him as sole governor of the Netherlands; but, according to the matrimonial compact, and the clauses of the cession of Philip II., the sovereignty returned to his successor on the throne, Philip IV., her nephew. The ten provinces thus became once more a part of the Spanish monarchy. The infanta or archduchess continued in the government as vice-regent till her death, which occurred in 1633. During her government, the religious war in Germany between the Catholics and the Protestants, generally denominated the Thirty Years’ War, raged with fury. Holland was agitated with theological disputes between the Calvinists and Arminians, whilst the Belgians were in repose on those subjects, having embraced with firmness the Catholic system, which was insured by the restoration of the monasteries and churches, and by the animosity created in their minds by the long war against the Protestants of Holland.

But the death of the infanta gave rise to a conspiracy against the Spanish government in the Netherlands. It is said to have arisen from the arrangement of offices, by which the commander of the army, the Duke of Berg, was mortified. The project of the conspirators was to form these provinces into an independent republic, in alliance with France and the states of Holland. The plot was, however, discovered, and some of the leaders were seized, whilst others fled. As the whole transaction was involved in obscurity, so when ascertained it was soon consigned to oblivion.

The king of Spain appointed his brother Ferdinand, a cardinal, and archbishop of Toledo, to administer the government of the Netherlands in 1634, and he arrived at Brussels with a force of more than 16,000. At that time a rivalry between the courts of France and Spain led to a treaty, offensive and defensive, between the former and the Dutch, in consequence of which hostilities were begun in 1635. As far as relates to Belgium, however, they were but of short duration. A French army advanced to the then German province of Luxembourg, occupied by the Spaniards, and in a bloody battle near Avein the latter were completely defeated. They then formed a junction with the Dutch under the Prince of Orange, entered Belgium, and captured the cities of Tirlemont and St Trond, and exercised some severities. This roused the Belgians throughout all the ten provinces. The prince-cardinal joined them with all the troops he could collect. The invaders were harassed and repulsed, and, being exhausted by forced marches and by sickness, were compelled to retreat into Holland, and, having embarked at Rotterdam, were conveyed by sea to France.

The vice-regency of the prince-cardinal was terminated by his death in the year 1641. During his government he showed considerable talent and much activity. He frequently made incursions into the frontier provinces of France, ravaged Picardy, and even alarmed Paris; and at the same time carried on a defensive war on the side towards the Hollanders. By these hostilities, the progress of industry amongst the Belgians received a severe check, whilst the demands for supplies vastly diminished the [7:16:119]sources of that prosperity to which the interval of peace had given birth. Spain herself was also much weakened by her warlike unsuccessful operations at sea, and more especially by the revolution of Portugal, in consequence of which that kingdom gained its independence, and placed Don Juan IV. on the throne. From the want of resources on the part of Spain and her Belgian provinces, the war which affected the latter was carried on with but little vigour under the vice-regency of Mello, a Spanish general who had gained much fame by his defeat of the French army under De Guiche at Hannecourt, but lost it at the famous battle of Rocroy, where the French, who conquered, were commanded by the great Condé, and nearly annihilated the Spanish and the Walloon infantry.

In the midst of these extensive military struggles, which extended throughout the continent of Europe, and whilst England was contending for its king or its parliament, a treaty of peace was in course of negotiation by a congress of plenipotentiaries assembled at Munster and Osnaburg. Several years had already been occupied at these two places in projects and protocols. At that period all Europe wished for peace, except perhaps Cardinal Mazarin, the prime minister of France under the regency of the queen-mother Anne of Austria, and Oxenstiern, the prime minister of Sweden in the minority of Queen Christina. The emperor of Germany, the king of Spain, and the Dutch republic, were the first to endeavour to bring about a general peace; and the inferior states in a short time concurred with them. The first step was taken in 1641, when some preliminaries were agreed to and signed at Hamburg; but several years passed before other places for assembling the general congresses could be fixed upon besides Hamburg and Cologne, which had been first intended. Some proposed Worms and Spires as the two most proper cities, from being near to each other; but at length the Swedes contended for Munster and Osnaburg in Westphalia, which was then unanimously approved. The Catholic ambassadors met at the first of these cities, and the Protestant at the other. When the two parties had occasion to confer together, deputies from each met at Lengerich, a small town nearly equidistant from both.

As the negotiation had been commenced by the mediation of the pope and the republic of Venice, they both sent ambassadors to the congress. These envoys took up their residence at Munster; but Contarini, the envoy for Venice, a man highly reputed for his patience and his prudence, often repaired to Osnaburg, and by his wisdom succeeded in allaying the greatest discords.

The ambassadors who composed these illustrious assemblies were the representatives of the emperor of Germany, and of the kings of Spain, France, and Sweden, each of the ecclesiastical or secular electors of the empire; the Archduke of Innspruck, the house of Brunswick, that of Mecklenburg, of Holstein, and of Baden; the Duke of Wirtemburg, Amelia Elizabeth of Hanau∙Muntzenburg, the Dowager Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, those of the imperial cities, of the circle of Burgundy, and of the cities of the Hanseatic league. From Italy there appeared an envoy from the reigning Duchess of Savoy, from the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and from “the Marquises of Mantua and Montserrat. To these may be added the plenipotentiaries from the seven united and independent provinces of the Netherlands, who are noticed separately, because they treated onlyand distinctly for a separate peace with Spain.

The king of Portugal, Juan IV., who had just ascended the throne, but had not yet been acknowledged by Philip of Spain, sent to Westphalia his ambassador in company with the ambassador of France; but the minister of Spain declared, as soon as he arrived, that if he were admitted to the congress, he had orders immediately to retire. The emperor had demanded the admission of the plenipotentiaries of the Duke of Lorraine, and the French opposed it; and thus both the envoys of these powers were excluded. The Duke of Lorraine afterwards settled his differences with France, and was admitted at the final settlement of the treaty. The singularity of this meeting, and the important event with which it concluded, may excuse the notice of the component parts of the two bodies.

Various delays, from discussions, some of a trifling'nature, some of importance, prevented even the commencement of the negotiations till 1643 or 1644; but from that time they proceeded regularly, and as rapidly as the nature of the various matters to be discussed would admit. The separate negotiation between the king of Spain and the states-general was of the most simple kind, its perplexities having been in a great degree unravelled by what had passed previous to the truce of 1609. It was, therefore, the first completed, and was signed by the plenipotentiaries of the two powers, at Munster, on the 30th of January 1648, and the ratifications were exchanged on the 15th of May following. As this treaty proceeded on the principle of the uti possidetis, it was favourable to the states-general, as they were in possession of more extensive territories than at the signing of the truce of 1609.

Though not immediately connected with the history of Belgium, we may here state, that the general treaty of Westphalia, by which peace was established in the whole of Europe, was definitively signed on the 24th of October 1648, to the satisfaction of all the powers except France, which complained of the Dutch having neglected to afford the stipulated support, and of the pope, who made a formal protest against the confiscation of the ecclesiastical property, and against the freedom granted to the Protestant princes to appropriate the revenues of the church to other than Catholic ecclesiastical purposes.

The peace of Westphalia, important as it was to the whole of the contending powers, proved peculiarly so to the ease and improvement of Belgium, which being now merely an appendage to Spain, had the least apparent connection with the negotiations. During the former truce the archduke and archduchess had laboured to remedy the abuses in the administration of the law which had grown up in the period of the troubles. They had sworn to maintain that compact long endeared to the Belgians by the name of the Joyeuse Entrée. It was formerly made to secure the states of Brabant and Limburg, including Antwerp, and to confer privileges upon other of the states; and an oath was taken at the inauguration of the duke, that if he should ever be tempted to infringe any of their privileges, none of the subjects should be bound to yield him obedience. The privileges of those states were so much valued, that it was customary for females to repair to them previous to their confinement, that their children being born within them, might have the benefit of these privileges. They granted several new charters to provinces and towns, and the privileges of the people were placed upon a footing adapted to their wants. After the peace of Westphalia, the sufferings from the recurrence of the war under the prince-cardinal were soon ended, and the joy on account of the peace and at the amount of liberty secured to them had a very beneficial effect. Anarchy gave place to regular government, persons and property were secure, the cry to arms was not heard calling the husbandman from the peaceful labours of the field, and the fertile soil was tilled with renewed industry and increased skill.

The re-establishment of the religious houses in their estates proved highly beneficial. They were mild landlords, and the peasantry that worked under them were instructed in the best means of culture. In the nunneries also industry was introduced and flourished; and the females in [7:16:120]them were so improved, and acquired such a delicacy of touch in their fingers, that they could spin flax to a degree of fineness unequalled in any other part of the world. This gave them a great value; the nuns’ thread, a kind of second-rate fineness, was sought after everywhere: and by constant practice the art of making very fine thread was carried so far, that some of that from Mechlin was sold in England as high as thirty-five pounds sterling for a pound weight, or acquired a value of more than ten times its weight in silver. Besides the fine thread which was sent to foreign countries, much of it was made into lace at home, both by nuns and by the females in private families in the towns as well as in the villages. The fame of Brussels lace was rivalled by that of Mechlin, and at a humble distance imitated in Valenciennes, then a fort of Flanders, and other towns. The soil was, and still is, admirably adapted for the growth of the finest flax; and the thread spun from it was woven into those delicate cloths which received the name of cambrics from the city where the merchants collected and bleached them, and where the trade still exists, though Cambray has since become one of the cities of France. The fine lawns of which the bishops of all Europe had their roquelaures and sleeves made, were also a product of Belgium; and, in spite of the laws which prohibited their importation in many countries, the diffusion of them could not be anywhere prevented.

It must be obvious that these branches of industry could not have flourished during the dreadful hostilities which had wasted the country; but the rudiments of the arts were not destroyed, so that they began to spread immediately after the truce of 1609, and with greater celerity after the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia, in 1648. To show the progress which had been made in agriculture, it does not seem unnecessary to notice, that Cromwell, when he obtained the supreme rule in England, sent to Flanders for husbandmen to cultivate his pattern farm at Theobolds, within ten years after the peace of Munster; and having introduced the practice of sowing clover and other grasses in the corn after the Flemish mode, became a great benefactor to the husbandry of his country.

With the revival of industry, both in agriculture and in manufactures, the fine arts also made their appearance. Painting was cherished, and the Flemings established that school which furnished works of their peculiar style, that rival the best productions of Italian art. The decoration of their religious edifices was the chief object of the artists; but in the representations of country scenery, of rural groups, of peasants, of cattle, and of domestic life, their skill has never been exceeded. Neither architecture, statuary, nor music, seem to have made much progress; and learning appears to have been almost kept out of sight, or to have passed the boundary, and taken up its residence amongst the Dutch, who in that age produced the most eminent scholars in antiquities and classics, as well as the most able cultivators of natural history and of medical science. Their theology was in a great measure confined to the dogmas of the infallible church, and their moral science to the discussions of the schoolmen. Belgium, now fixed as a Spanish province, enjoyed a long course of tranquillity. Whilst England and the Dutch, during the existence of the commonwealth and under Charles II. were carrying on hostilities, and fighting tremendous battles at sea, the provinces of the Netherlands were not in the least affected by the contest. In one instance, indeed, in the year 1672, when the united forces of France and of England were assailing the united states, the king of Spain gave orders to his governor of the Belgian provinces, Montercy, to collect an army of 10,000, and march to the relief of the Dutch. But before this force reached the scene of the war, the king of France was compelled, by the movements of a body of troops of Leopold, emperor of Germany, and by some demonstrations of the Elector of Brandenburg, added to some checks he had received from the Prince of Orange, to abandon with great rapidity the conquests he had made; and England, withdrawing from his alliance, concluded a treaty of peace with the Dutch.

Spain, however, in alliance with the Dutch and the emperor, continued the war with France. That power had an army in Brabant, with which William, prince of Orange, who had recently married the Princess Mary of England, and ultimately ascended the throne along with her, attacked the French under Condé, and in the battle of Sener first displayed his military talents. This battle was fierce and bloody, but indecisive, and was chiefly remarkable as the last action of Condé and the first of William.

In the following year the Dutch and Belgians made an attempt to take Maestricht, which, though conducted by William, proved unsuccessful. On the other frontier the French were fortunate, and took from Belgium the cities of Valenciennes, St Omer, and Cambray. William hastened to the relief of those places, and having encountered the French near Cassel, met with a most serious defeat. This led to negotiations for peace, and a treaty was concluded between the French and Dutch, at Nimwegen, in 1678, to which Spain also reluctantly acceded in the latter end of the same year.

The increase of the prosperity of Belgium was little if at all checked by these hostilities. It had been but locally, and for a short period, the seat of war. Besides, that war was carried on with much more humanity than had been displayed in the long civil war; and as the allied troops of Holland and of Germany paid for what they consumed, it is not unlikely that the high prices paid to the Belgians for the produce of their soil proved more beneficial to them than the light additional taxes with which they were charged was detrimental.

Belgium again enjoyed an interval of tranquillity, which was well employed in domestic improvement. It experienced more alarm than evil by an irruption of the French, which the Spanish army was too weak to oppose; but William of Orange agreed, in the name of the Dutch, to a truce with France for twenty years, to which the emperor of Germany and the king of Spain gladly acceded.

The accession of William to the throne of England gave rise to a confederacy of several powers against the ambition of Louis XIV.; and, at the congress of Utrecht, in the year 1690, that prince, at the same time uniting in his person the executive power in England and Holland, was named as the chief of the confederation. The war which followed was generally indecisive, as far as relates to Belgium; Mons and Namur were captured by the French, and the fortress of Huy was taken by William. Marshal Vi∣leroy with his army advanced to Brussels, and during three days kept up a furious bombardment, by which the townhouse, fourteen churches, and 4000 dwellings, were reduced to ashes, but with no farther effect. The other events of this war, extensively as they were spread, have only a remote connection with Belgium. It was terminated in 1697, by the peace of Ryswick, where a treaty was framed very little differing from that concluded at Nimwegen nineteen years before. By the treaty Spain gained the restoration of Luxembourg, Charleroy, Mons, Courtray, and all the towns and fortresses taken by the French in the province of Luxembourg, Namur, Brabant, Flanders, and Hainault, except eighty-two towns and villages claimed by them.

The death of the king of Spain, in 1700, gave rise to a general war, which extended to almost every part of the world. He was a weak prince, without an heir to his dominions, and thought himself empowered to appoint a successor. The leading powers of Europe, and France amongst the rest, had agreed amongst themselves so to settle the [7:16:121]succession as to balance the power, in conformity to the treaties then existing. The dying king, displeased with this distribution of his dominions, by his will bequeathed them to the Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV. king of France, whose ambition had by his previous conduct roused the jealousy of almost all the other states. Louis, who during the peace had kept up his armies to their full war establishment, was prepared to maintain, by force of arms, the disposition of the Spanish monarch. This gave rise to the Grand Alliance, usually considered as the master-stroke of policy of King William. About the same time King James died in France and William in England; upon which Louis acknowledged the son of the former as king of England and Scotland. As William had died without issue, Anne ascended the throne. The declaration of Louis operated to unite the parties in England, and to enable the new queen to extract from her subjects extraordinary supplies for carrying on the war.

The events of this war belong to the history of Europe, and not to that of the Netherlands peculiarly, though the latter country was one of the prominent scenes of its transactions. The parties to this alliance were at first only the emperor of Germany, the sovereign of England, and the states-general of the united provinces; but other princes, both in Italy and in Germany, were subsequently included in it, either as allies or as auxiliaries. The Netherlands was a part of the countries contended for, and to a limited extent, and during limited periods, the theatre of bloody battles and sieges; but as the contending parties wished to occupy and not destroy the provinces, they suffered but little, and the contending armies expended so much money in the country, that the capital left behind was thought to be more beneficial than the injury sustained ιmounted to. The battering down the walls of some of the towns, the blowing up of forts, and even the casual trampling down of the growing crops, inflicted but transient inconvenience; whilst the large sums expended by the numerous troops of English and Dutch, officered by some of the wealthiest and profuse men in Europe, and paying for the productions of the soil rates far beyond the sost to the cultivators, remained in the country, and formed a capital the influence of which was felt long after the operations of war had ceased.

After various successes in some quarters, followed with reverses in other parts, France became exhausted, and was ready to make peace upon any terms; and the allies, too, were weakened and ready to enter into treaty. But the emperor and Holland wished to reduce Louis still more, when an intrigue in the English female 'cabinet led to a feeling in the government in favour of the pretensions of France, in opposition to the views of the allies. England resolved on peace, and entered into secret negotiations with France. Holland could hope for nothing from that power when thus left alone. The Emperor Leopold died about this time, and was succeeded by his brother Charles, who had been during the war a competitor with the Duke of Anjou for the throne of Spain. That kingdom thus became an object of less personal consequence to him than before. In these circumstances, the negotiations were commenced in January 1712, and terminated definitively by the peace of April 1713, usually denominated, from the place where it was signed, the peace of Utrecht. By this treaty, Spain, with her transmarine dominions, were secured to the Duke of Anjou, Gibraltar and Minorca to England, whilst the ten provinces of Belgium were assigned to the emperor of Germany, and now assumed the name which it long bore of the Austrian Netherlands.

These provinces were finally delivered up to the emperor in 1716. From causes which the preceding narrative must render very natural, there was considerable discontent amongst the people; and it was only by extreme severity, and almost overwhelming precautions, that a general revolt was prevented. After the first ebullitions of disgust had expended their force, as peace was restored, and prosperity followed, no difficulty seems to have been found in governing the country; and neither revolts nor punishments were spoken of during the fifteen years which passed before the accession of Maria Theresa to the imperial throne. Whatever may have been the early repugnance of the Belgian people to the Austrian dominion, they became gradually reconciled to it; and the benevolent reign of their new duchess converted the Netherland population into faithful and devoted subjects to the house of Austria. Her government was just, mild, and firm; her religious opinions and acts corresponded to their own, and she made no infringements on the Joyeuse Entree. The continuance of tranquillity afforded time for industry to develop its power; and agriculture, the chief industry of the country, was constantly improving, and enriching proprietors, cultivators, consumers, and, in short, every one of the classes which composed the nation. The foreign trade, however, which had in ancient times crowded to the cities of Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, was not renewed, as the closing of the Scheldt had been one of the conditions of the several treaties with the Hollanders; and Ostend and Nieuport, the other seaports, were of very little use to Belgium.

The tranquillity of Belgium was interrupted by the war which broke out in 1743. The French, under Marshal Saxe, after he had gained the battle of Fontenoy in May 1744, invaded Belgium, took Brussels and several other towns, and thus placed the whole of the Austrian Netherlands in the power of Louis XV. But the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 terminated hostilities, and Maria Theresa was again established in her Belgian possessions, as she had enjoyed them before the war. Though reduced to a state of widowhood by the death of her husband Francis I. who had been raised by her to the imperial dignity, she ruled singly her vast possessions, with so much mildness, united to firmness, that her name even to this day is cherished in Belgium, as amongst the dearest recollections of the people. Her good sense and good feeling preserved her from overstepping the bounds of the ancient laws. She had no temptation to abuse her power, nor had her subjects any cause for want of fidelity in their allegiance. Reforms were necessary in many of the local, provincial, and commercial regulations; but in effecting them she violated no principles, wounded no opinion, shocked no prejudice, so that they were affected with but slight murmurs, and no resistance. The rude burghers of Flanders abandoned their hereditary right to an independence of the more exaggerated kind. Faction itself yielded homage to the ascendency of justice, and social civilization made a rapid progress throughout the whole country. During the Seven Years’ War which terminated in 1763, the Belgian dominions of Austria bore their share of the pecuniary burdens and levies of men in the early part of the transactions; but it suffered none of those inflictions which visit a country that is itself the seat of war. After the peace of Paris, the Austrian Belgian states continued to flourish. The government was indeed an absolute monarchy; but the municipal laws still retained a great portion of their popular character, and the political privileges of the people were considerable. This mixture of sovereign power with popular rights, or rather the prerogative of an aristocracy of nobles, clergy, and lawyers, worked well and gave general satisfaction during the whole reign of Maria Theresa. In November 1780 this princess was succeeded by her son Joseph II., whose own mind was somewhat tinctured with that infectious desire of organic changes which the contest between England and her North American colonies had spread throughout Europe.
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Joseph was inaugurated with the ancient formalities, and both he and the states swore mutually, he to preserve the ancient privileges, and they to yield obedience as long as he maintained them. This compact, already noticed under the name of the Joyeuse Entree, included the varying rights of the several states, those of the ecclesiastical bodies, and of the courts of law, and the privileged influence of the nobility. As Joseph examined more minutely into the interior affairs of his dominions, he saw with concern the extensive despotism exercised by the clergy, and in no part so much as in his Belgic provinces. He saw that religious power had overstepped its boundaries, and infringed upon the power of sovereigns; and he honestly felt it his duty to bring it within more beneficial limits. Had he done this by degrees, he might have gradually restored each branch to its due equilibrium; but he was anxious for a speedy reform, and not sufficiently cautious to avoid conflict with prevailing prejudices. He began by breaking the dependence in which the clerical body was united to the pope, and, by his decrees in 1781, soon after his accession, commanded the clergy to grant dispensations for marriage without any reference to the holy see. In the following year decrees were issued, commanding the celebration of marriages between Catholics and Protestants, in defiance of the canonical laws and customs then in force. Of the convents and other religious houses, which were very numerous, some were abolished, and in others the rules of the institutions were altered, if not reformed, by a simple proclamation. At length the episcopal seminaries which were under the direction and control of the prelates were abolished; and two universities were established, one at Louvain, the other at Luxembourg, which, though better adapted for the diffusion of knowledge than the old colleges, were looked upon by the priests, and also by the laity, who were under the influence of the priests, as a dangerous and even heretical innovation, and the more noxious, because they were under the sole jurisdiction of the emperor himself.

The dispositions of Joseph towards his favourite projects of reform were not restricted to the ecclesiastical bodies, but in a short time assailed the old-established and deeply-cherished administration of law, leaving to it only the ancient principles of the Roman jurisprudence. The electoral colleges of the provincial states were abolished, as well as the courts and councils by which justice was dispensed, and the whole of the signioral and ecclesiastical jurisdictions. By these decrees the lawyers, next to the clergy the most influential body, were either injured or highly offended. Some were apprehensive of losing their professional practice, and others were removed to new situations; for new courts had been erected upon a simple and uniform plan in each of the provinces, with a supreme court at Brussels controlling all the provincial courts. On this account it was deemed necessary to divide the whole territory into nine circles, by which the local powers of the magistracy were disturbed, and in many instances destroyed, without an efficient substitute being established in their stead. The privileges of the several municipal and other corporations were next violated by the appointment of their officers in virtue of the sovereign authority alone. As discontents arose from these proceedings, the states of Flanders and Hainault at length declined to vote the usual subsidies; upon which a decree was issued, stating, that in consequence of this refusal, the emperor held himself absolved from every obligation towards the states, and on that account declaring the abolition of the representation of those states. Without entering into the merits or demerits of the projects of Joseph, it is clear that the chief design of them was to benefit the people, by disseminating amongst them more tolerant feelings in religion, and a better administration of justice, by virtue of the increased power of the executive government, and not by any extension, or even intervention, of popular feeling and co-operation. At the time when these new ordonnances were promulgated, the democratic spirit had arisen in France; and though a similar tendency was not discoverable in Belgium, yet the growing discontent, caused by the introduction of measures of genuine liberality, produced an insensible bias towards republicanism, which had its effect on subsequent events.

It was not till 1787 that the consequences of the rapid measures of the emperor had raised such a spirit of dissatisfaction as to lead to the apprehension of active opposition. But as the whole body was in a state of excitement, a spark was sufficient to cause an explosion. The syndics or chiefs of the corporation of Brussels, supported by those of Antwerp and Bruges, presented memorials to the governor, Prince Albert of Saxe-Teschen, which in strong terms pointed out the danger of insurrection if the obnoxious decrees were persisted in and acted upon. The governor was alarmed, and suspended the execution of the decrees till the pleasure of the emperor could be known, and held out hopes of prevailing upon him to remedy some other complaints. These assurances diffused joy throughout the states, and the day upon which they were given, the 30th of May 1787, was ordered to be hereafter consecrated as an anniversary of rejoicing. All this joy was, however, premature. The resolution of the emperor had to be waited for; and he was with his army carrying on the war with the Turks. On his return, two months afterwards, so far from ratifying the concessions made to his Belgian subjects, he despatched his mandates in an angry tone, declaring that he had never intended to subvert their constitution, but sought only to correct abuses and introduce salutary reforms. He required as a proof of obedience, that the states of each province should send deputies to Vienna, to lay their complaints at the foot of the throne. He professed to retain the sentiments of a father, and knew howto pardon the errors and temerity of his subjects, but threatened them with severe chastisement if they refused the mark of respect that he demanded. He also informed them, that he had called to the capital the governor of the provinces, and the commander of the army, that they might act as mediators between him and his subjects.

This intelligence filled the provinces with consternation; but it was nevertheless resolved that deputations should proceed to Vienna. Whilst on their road, accounts reached them on all sides of the prodigious force which was on its march to the Netherlands, and of the consent of the several princes between that country and Austria having been given to the passage of troops through their dominions. But these rumours, instead of terrifying the Netherlanders, roused them to resistance. The most prominent leader of the party was Vandernoot, a lawyer of some eminence, who had been the most energetic oratoς in the states.

When others had been arrested, he made his escape, and found refuge in England. He now repaired to Breda, and there established a kind of committee, who conferred on him the title of agent plenipotentiary of the people of Brabant. He attempted to draw the Prussian, English, and Dutch governments into some negotiations, with a view to favour the cause of the dissatisfied Belgians; but though unsuccessful in these attempts, he succeeded in inflaming the passions of the people to a high degree of religious frenzy, a work in which he was zealously assisted by the powerful exhortations of the ecclesiastical body. The Netherlanders were in all ages a military people, and, when once roused to activity, capable of displaying great energy. Arms were seized by the populace, and a commander offered himself in the person of Van der Mersch, a soldier of fortune, who had risen from the ranks to the command of a regiment during the Seven Years’ War. A formal act [7:16:123]by an armed body under this commander declared that the Emperor Joseph had forfeited the sovereignty of Brabant; and this was followed by the advance of the forces he had collected in the direction of that province. His conduct was cautious and considerate, and he diligently directed his efforts to introduce order into bodies of men inspired with a degree of fanatical confidence which it was difficult to restrain within the necessary bounds of discipline. The Austrian troops were few in number, and Van der Mersch approached them cautiously. Having by some feints and stratagems induced them to follow him into the narrow streets of the town of Turnhout, situated between Antwerp and Breda, a bloody contest took place, in which the imperialists were finally defeated, with a loss of lives far exceeding that which the army of the insurgents had suffered. He immediately penetrated into the province of West Flanders, where he was received with open arms by the inhabitants, and speedily became master of Ghent, which was taken by assault, and of Bruges, Ypres, and Ostend, which voluntarily surrendered. The imperial government now thought it prudent to withdraw from Brussels; and upon this the states of Brabant and Flanders assembled, on the plan of the ancient constitution in that city. Soon afterwards Vandernoot and his associates arrived from Breda, and having made a triumphal entry with great solemnity and parade, were received with the most joyous acclamations by the enraptured inhabitants. The imperial forces being dispersed, and no fresh succours arriving, the states, in 1790, formed a treaty of union, which comprehended the seven provinces. Hitherto all had been done by the excitement of religious bigotry; but there soon began to appear symptoms of a fanaticism of the very opposite character. Van der Mersch, the successful general, was accused of holding French principles; and Vonck, an advocate of Brussels, was inculpated in the same charge. In the violent squabbles of party it is difficult to ascertain the truth; how far these men had imbibed Jacobinical opinions, or whether they had imbibed themjat all, it is difficult and needless to ascertain. It became, however, the signal of disunion, of which the Catholics availed themselves in order to excite general abhorrence of Van der Mersch, as a monster of impiety and treason. Vandernoot, aided by an ecclesiastic of more talent than himself, named Van Eupen, took the lead in the general assembly of the nation. Religious fury was carried to the greatest excess; and the excited populace, urged on by the clergy, proceeded to the most violent outrages against the opposite party. Vonck and his party fled to save their lives, and their houses were broken into and pillaged by the populace. Scenes of the most revolting nature were exhibited throughout the country. These were encouraged and even participated in by the priests, who, with the sword in one hand and the crucifix in the other, breathed out the most horrid imprecations against those whom they called infidels or heretics.

During these proceedings the army became totally disorganized and inefficient. An open rupture took place between the commander of the forces and those who had the direction of public affairs. The troops abandoned their general, and adhered to the civil rulers, chiefly on account of their attachment to the Catholic religion. He left the army, accompanied with the curses of the populace, by whom Vandernoot and Van Eupen were almost deified. In Brussels, the people bent the knee when they gazed on the picture of the one, and uncovered their heads when they pronounced the name of the other.

Whilst the Netherlands were unassailed by open hostilities on the part of their imperial sovereign, and the bigoted party were indulging their narrow-minded measures of policy, the Emperor Joseph, who, with respectable talents and the best intentions, had failed in every thing he undertook, was removed from this life. He died on the 20th of January 1791, accusing his Belgic subjects of having caused his death, and was succeeded in his extensive dominions by his brother Leopold.

Leopold manifested much sagacity and moderation in the measures which he adopted for the recovery of the revolted provinces; but their internal disunion proved his best ally. The states-general occupied themselves almost exclusively in attempts to re-establish the monkish institutions which Joseph had abolished; and having dismissed their able general on account of heresy, and thereby disorganized the army, they had the temerity to reject with scorn the overtures which the new emperor addressed to them.

The imperial forces had been collected on the frontier, and the command given to General Bender. These troops with their appointments were sufficient to overcome all opposition that could be offered by a country the government of which was compounded of ignorance, bigotry, and rashness. As the imperialists advanced into the provinces, town after town opened its gates; Vandernoot and his associates saved themselves by a rapid flight, and sunk into obscurity. A short campaign gave the emperor quiet possession of the whole of the provinces; and, on the 10th of November 1791, he concluded a convention with England, Holland, and Russia, by which an amnesty was granted for all past offences, and assurances given to the people that their ancient constitution and privileges would be respected. In conformity to this treaty a succession of edicts were issued, revoking all the offensive ordonnances of his predecessor, re-organizing the provincial councils, and reestablishing the form of government on the same popular footing on which it had existed during the reign of Maria Theresa. These arrangements were only completed a little before the death of Leopold, an event that happened suddenly on the 1st of March 1792. His son Francis II. succeeded to the throne, and under his reign the final separation of the Belgian provinces from the imperial family took place.

The new emperor, soon after his accession, found himself involved in a war with revolutionary France. His forces, conjointly with those of Prussia, invaded that country, and, after advancing to Champagne, were repulsed with tremendous loss. France then became the assailant of those powers and their allies, and one of her first great efforts was directed against the Belgian provinces of the house of Austria. The battle which decided their fate was fought at Jemmappes, near Mons, on the 6th of November, and terminated in a decisive victory in favour of the French, commanded by General Dumouriez. The result of this action was to place the whole of Belgium at the mercy of the conquerors. The Austrians were driven out of the country. Dumouriez made his triumphal entry into Brussels on the !3th, and, immediately after the occupation of that city, the whole of Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault,with the other Belgic provinces, were subjected to France. Soon afterwards, several pretended deputies from the Belgian people hastened to Paris, and implored the convention to grant them a share of that liberty and equality which were to confer such inestimable blessings on France. Various decrees were in consequence issued; and, after a variety of procedure, the incorporation of the Austrian.Netherlands with the French republic was in due form decreed, at the commencement of the year 1793, whilst the scaffold was preparing for Louis XVI.

But, even in the first moments of enthusiastic excitement, few of the Belgians wished for a junction with France; the spirit of nationality was still uppermost, except with those who were mercenary or fanatical. A number of individuals had formed themselves into what they called patriotic associations, in the several towns of [7:16:124]Belgium, and, being drilled into obedience by commissaries despatched from the French convention, sent their emissaries to France to misrepresent the national feeling. There were however in Belgium many men of cool judgment, respectable character, and large property, who saw both injury and danger from the proposed annexation; and they sent counter-deputations to explain the difficulties attending the proposal. Each of the deputies who asked for the conjunction was honoured with the accolade by the president of the convention, whilst each petition on the other side was received with indifference, and its reasoning unheeded. The peaceable remonstrances were put down by the clamour of the adherents of the French Jacobins. Dumouriez himself even wrote to the convention, that the wishes expressed in Belgium for the junction with France “were forced from the people by strokes of the sabre.” In spite of the efforts to oppose them, however, the decrees for a union were issued, and preparations made for their practical adoption. But they were for a time frustrated by the events of the war. The strong city of Maestricht still held out against the French. It was besieged without success, owing to the want of military skill on the part of Miranda, a Spanish American, who had been transformed into a general. This, with the circumstances arising from Dumouriez quarrelling with the convention, his unavailing attempt to turn the army against them, and his ultimate flight, had greatly demoralized and disorganized the French army; and it was in this state when the campaign opened in March 1794. The Austrians had collected on the frontier towards G er many a large force under the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg, which entered Belgium, and gained the battle of Neerwinden, with many other less considerable contests, owing to which the French were compelled to abandon all their conquests with a rapidity quite equal to that with which they had accomplished them.

The Belgian provinces were thus once more restored to the house of Austria, and the emperor nominated his brother, the Archduke Charles, as his viceroy. His occupation of that post, however, was but of short duration. The frohtier provinces of Belgium became the seat of bloody contests, in which were opposed to France armies composed of Austrians, Germans, English, and Dutch. Without here entering into details, we may remark, that the question respecting the occupation of Belgium was determined by the battle of Fleurus, fought on the 25th of May 1794. After that important victory, the French' became masters of Belgium; and the representatives of the city of Brussels once more repaired to the national convention of France to solicit the incorporation of the two countries. This, however, was not finally pronounced till the 1st of October 1795, by which time the rapacity of the French commissioners, and the violent measures enforced, had given a tolerable sample of what might be expected from an arbitrary government concealing its despotic tendencies under the cloak of liberty. The discussion in the French convention on the subject of the annexation of Belgium had occupied two days; and there were not wanting a few members who resolutely opposed the union, and spoke boldly against the injustice of the measure, founding on the repugnance of the Belgians, as well as the dissimilarity in point of religion, manners,, and morals between the two countries. Reasoning, however, was of little avail when opposed to the ambitious spirit which actuated the majority of the convention, who already looked to the period when, by the extension of their limits,the Rhine should form the eastern boundary of the republic. A new system for a division of the Austrian Netherlands and of the bishopric of Liège into nine departments was adopted, and they were declared integral parts of the French republic. This new state of affairs was at length consolidated by the preliminaries of peace signed at Leoben, in Styria, between Napoleon and the Archduke Charles of Austria, and confirmed by the treaty of Campo Formio, signed October 1797.

From the occupation of Belgium, its history as a nation becomes a blank for nearly twenty years. It formed a part of France, and shared the triumphs and defeats of that country under the republic, the consulate, and the empire. The ancient institutions, in the defence of which the people had revolted against their former governments, were completely swept away; their religion was also stripped of its power, its decorations, and its ministers reduced to almost apostolical poverty. Their monastic and charitable institutions were either abolished, or, by the confiscation of their valuable property, reduced to the most depressed state. The laws, and the courts of justice, which were endeared to them by usage, were made to give place to a new system, administered by incompetent magistrates. They became subject to a system of taxation, which, though equal in its distribution, was heavier than Austria had ever required either in peace or in war. But the worst of the requisitions was that for personal service in the armies of the conqueror, and which was so extended in its demands by the conscription law, as to be deeply felt in every domestic circle. Such were the evils which, if the Belgians durst not openly complain of them, they never ceased to lament; but it must be observed, that the property of individuals was protected by the government; that agriculture could be pursued, and any improvements the cultivators chose to adopt introduced; and that, both in France and in Holland, they had good markets for their produce. From political circumstances, the manufacturers were protected against the rivalry of English woollen, and especially cotton goods, which, as far as the fabrication of them extended, became a beneficial employment of capital. The mines of iron and of coal, chiefly in the province of Hainault, were beneficially worked; and the hardware of Liège and its vicinity afforded occupation to a hardy race, and such wages as enabled them to subsist in a state of moderate comfort.

At the commencement of Napoleon’s government, he had arranged and established an excellent system of local administration in the whole of his vast dominions; but it was a system, like that of all arbitrary monarchs, which required the vigilant superintendence of the hand that had framed it In the latter part of his reign the whole of his mind was absorbed in the single point of gaining that universal dominion which had become his grand object. Owing to the absence of his vigilant attention, the system had not been so strictly adhered to as it should have been; and throughout the whole of France, but especially in Belgium, the local administration had become confused in its action, and of little benefit to the community. The roads, bridges, canals, and public edifices, except as they were connected with military purposes, had been neglected, and were gone to decay for want of early reparation. The greatest evil that arose from this negligent administration was felt in what relates to the education of the people. In Belgium, as well as in the majority of the departments of France, amongst the inferior classes of society, the youth grew to maturity in a degree of ignorance approaching to brutality. There existed everywhere something that resembled public schools; but they were in a most deplorable state, dirty, dark, and without order; whilst the teaching was limited to tracing a few words or letters, and to reading or reciting a few passages without understanding the sense of them. Useful books were not provided, and the children were frequently observed, from the want of better means, handing from one to the other an old almanac, a torn book of prayers, or the detached pages of some old newspaper. The condition of the instructors was commonly wretched, and the discipline practised was either harsh or indolent, or both.
[7:16:125]

In Holland, a most valuable system of local administration had prevailed, which from ancient times had been found highly beneficial. When that country was added to France, the system had not yet given way to the general plan of the empire, and the roads, canals, and dikes, as well as the schools, had been left to the same direction and superintendence as formerly. Under the reign of Louis Bonaparte, they had been cherished and somewhat improved; and the consolidation of Holland with France had hitherto produced none of the evils which affected Belgium. To this circumstance may in some measure be attributed that difference of character between the two people, which will be found displayed in the subsequent events that come under our notice in the progress of this history.

Except in one important respect, the country now called Belgium, when forming only a few departments of France, may be viewed as rather in a flourishing state. The demand for personal service, however, pressed heavily on it, as well as on all the other portions of that great empire, inasmuch as it robbed the land of the labourers who were required for its cultivation, and left a large portion of the work to be performed by the females, or by the males who had not reached maturity, or had passed the age when the human frame is capable of severe labour.

The evil of the conscription was, however, counterbalanced by the freedom from actual warfare. The scenes of contest had been removed far from its boundaries, and, during the whole period of the union with France, its fields had been untrodden by armies. Two attempts had been made by England to invade Belgium. The first was the landing of a few troops intended to destroy the means of water communication. They disembarked at Ostend, and, after damaging some of the sluices, were under the necessity of yielding to a superior force. A grand attempt was made in the year 1809 to take Antwerp, and to create a diversion in favour of the allied powers, by operating from Belgium on the communications of Bonaparte’s army, then advancing towards the east of Europe. This, however, though the largest naval and military force that had ever been despatched from English ports, proved a total failure; and it never reached Belgium, its advance having-been retarded, and the design at length frustrated, by the siege of Flushing, and a most dreadful mortality amongst the troops on the island of Walcheren.

The internal tranquillity of Belgium, whilst vast armies were collected in other parts of Europe, had considerable influence on the great pecuniary interests of that country. Its chief productions are those of the soil and of the first necessity. The consumption of the vast armies had raised the prices in every part of Europe, and none reaped greater benefit from the advance than those who cultivated the fertile fields of Belgium.

The reverses experienced by the French armies during the invasion of Russia were followed by others of a similar kind in Germany, till the issue of the great battle under the walls of Leipzig, in October 1813, excited a general hope throughout Europe of being delivered from the military tyranny that had long oppressed it. This hope gave animation to the minds of the men of Germany, more especially at first, and was from them rapidly communicated to other countries. Its effect was powerful in Holland; but, if felt, it was scarcely perceptible in Belgium. The difference in feeling between the two divisions of the Netherlands may in part be accounted for from the longer duration of the union of Belgium with France, which had now reached its twentieth year; whereas Holland had been incorporated with that empire but little more than three years when the battle at Leipzig decided the fate of Europe. Belgium, under the character of a portion of France, had enjoyed a degree of prosperity in its agricultural industry; whilst Holland, mainly depending on foreign and colonial commerce, had been brought, not to the verge, but into the very gulf, of ruin. The feeling of nationality had been weakened during twenty years in Belgium, whilst it had been strengthened in Holland by three years of suffering. The mode of action in the two countries at the crisis produced by the victory of Leipzig merits notice here, because upon the contrast between them depended the character of that series of transactions which subsequently occurred.

The intelligence of the defeat of the French had no sooner reached Holland, than a spirit began to show itself which alarmed General Molitor, who commanded the forces of Napoleon in that country. His head-quarters were in Amsterdam; and fearing an insurrection in that populous city, he resolved not to be surprised in the narrow streets, but, contrary to the opinion of Le Brun, duke of Plaisance, and of Count Celles the prefect, withdrew with his troops to the more defensible city of Utrecht. The whole of the French troops in Holland did not exceed 10,000 men, and a part of these were in garrison in the fortified places. The intolerant tyranny of the French government had made the whole population ripe and eager for revolt. This disposition was taken advantage of by a few able, influential, and patriotic men, the most prominent of whom were Count Gysbert Charles von Hogendorp, eminent as a diplomatist and statesman, and Count Van der Duyn de Maasdam, a man of enterprising genius and judgment On the 21st of November 1813, they made the first movement at the Hague, unsupported by any armed force, excepting a few of the old city guard, and a number of gentlemen with fowling-pieces, and solemnly proclaimed that the people of Holland had returned to their ancient state of independence and freedom. Amsterdam, at all former periods the most powerful city, and the focal point of the ancient union, was the first to renounce its preponderating superiority in the government, and, immediately after the movement of the Hague, proclaimed the Prince of Orange as the sovereign of the country. The decision of Amsterdam was communicated from city to city, and received an universal concurrence, plainly showing the spontaneous wish of the whole Dutch nation.

A provisional directory was immediately formed, consisting of six persons, who sent Messrs Fageí and Perponcher as envoys to England, to recall the Prince of Orange to his native country, from which he had been long banished by the foreign domination that had ruled it. The allied armies on the frontiers were made acquainted with the events which had transpired; and when some of their forces arrived, they found the insurrection had been so successful that nothing was needed but a short space of time to consolidate the power gained by the arrival of the prince. During the events of the few days, the force under Molitor at Utrecht was kept inactive by the movements of General Bulow and his division of the Prussian army, which had arrived at Munster, and was advancing towards Arnhem.

The Prince of Orange landed on the 30 th of November, at Schevelling, and his arrival in his native country completed the great work of its enfranchisement, and the establishment of its political and civil freedom. The invitation had been spontaneous, and the government had been offered to him with no restrictions or conditions; but he gave instant proof that he had no desire for arbitrary power, by issuing a proclamation, in which are the following words: “Je me rends à vos voeux; mais je l’accepte uniquement à condition qu’elle soit suivie d’une constitution qui garrantisse vos libertés, et les mette en sûreté contre toute atteinte.”

On the 6th of December the prince assumed the sole executive authority, and brought to that task all the active industry, penetration, and regularity by which his [7:16:126]whole reign has been distinguished. The fortresses were mostly held by the soldiers of Napoleon. Many bodies of the allied armies were on the frontiers, but none felt more acutely than William that no country can be independent in the presence of foreign armies, whether consisting of friends or foes. He wished that the same hands which had conquered the national freedom should defend and maintain the precious blessing; and that thus the allied powers might be enabled to unite their forces, and march on towards France, where the decisive battle of liberty was to be fought. The first object, therefore, was the formation of an organized army; but this was attended with immense difficulties. The country was completely destitute of arms, ammunition, and every thing necessary for the equipment of an army, so that it was impossible to clothe the new levies; and the severity of that remarkable season prevented the removal of stores from one r part to another, and the arrival of the various necessary articles which were provided and despatched from England. Notwithstanding these difficulties, an army of 25,000 was enrolled, armed, and equipped in the space of little more than three months, out of a population of 1,800,000 souls, in a country which had been previously drained of active men by the conscription, and some parts of which were still held by the enemy. In the month of March the prince was enabled to announce to the public that a force to that extent was ready, and would soon be united on the frontier under the command of his eldest son, who had distinguished himself whilst serving in Spain under the Duke of Wellington.

The formation of a constitution proceeded simultaneously with the creation of an army. The first sketch of the constitution had been framed by Count Hogendorp. It was submitted to the consideration of fifteen persons of the most approved integrity and most enlightened judgment; and after their revision it was transmitted to the prince, who accepted it as the fundamental law of the state, as being in harmony with the manners and the habits of the nation, and conformable to the wants and the spirit of the age.

The scheme, thus far approved, was then printed and distributed over the whole country, previous to the assembling of a meeting of Notables, who were to be selected for that purpose from all the provinces and towns, including persons of all religious persuasions, whether Jews or Christians. Twelve hundred names were selected, of the most proper persons, being householders of various descriptions, but not including those in the service of others, those whohad, within the last six months, been relieved by the public charitable institutions, or those who were insolvent, in prisons, or under the surveillance of the police. The lists were ordered to be exposed during eight days, in each small district in which a justice of peace was established, that each householder might affix his approval or disapproval of the individuals named in them. One half the number, as determined by these votings, were to be excluded, and the remaining 600 were appointed to meet on the 24th of March. After a few hours spent in deliberation, the acceptance of the fundamental daw was decided by a majority of 458 votes against twenty-five. There were 117 absent, many of them kept away by unavoidable circumstances, some by a feeling that they were not sufficiently authorized to give a decision on so important a subject, some from judging that the power of making peace and war was held by the prince alone, and a few from religious scruples. The more rigid Calvinists thought the Protestant religion would suffer by admitting persons of all persuasions to public offices, and some Catholics complained that there was not a sufficient provision made for the maintenance of their clergy and their institutions. If the whole of the absent members had voted, as their opinions were well known, it was calculated that the measure submitted to them would have been accepted by five sixths of the number.

Mr Chad, secretary of legation from the court of St James’s, who was then officially in Holland, says, “Persons accustomed to the spectacle of the impetuosity and ardour of political discussions in England, would perhaps have been surprised at the calm moderation with which this transaction was accomplished in Holland.” But he adds, that from all the information he could in any way acquire, he never could learn that the government of the prince made the least attempt to control, or even to influence, the public opinion.

In consequence of thus organizing a form of government, the prince assumed the title of king, and his eldest son that of Prince of Orange. The state which had thus secured its own independence was immediately acknowledged as such by all the governments of Europe; not by the formality of any treaty, which would have weakened rather than strengthened the right, but as an assumed fact, evidenced by the mission of ministers to the court ofking William from the sovereigns of the great powers of the civilised world.

We turn now to the conduct pursued by the Belgians in this crisis, not with the view of inculpating the people of that country by the contrast, but in order to place before the reader a simple narrative of the occurrences. No effort was made, nor the slightest indication displayed, which could give encouragement to the cause of the allied powers against the common enemies of Europe. It is probable that the Belgians saw, with great though silent satisfaction, the progress of the allied armies. But the Belgian provinces were not, like those of Holland, situated at the extremity of Napoleon’s empire, and thus out of the reach of that immediate chastisement which a premature revolt would surely have brought down on them. It would have been difficult to create a central point round which to rally the scattered elements of insurrection; nor had the Belgians a family or chief upon whom to fix the general hopes of the country, or fitted to secure the confidence of foreign powers. But, worse than all, they had no legitimate and acknowledged nationality that could inspire them. Their past recollection could only present to their minds the prospect of a subservient junction with some other country, such as had always been their fate; and as they had no expectation of being left to their own choice in that junction, there was little to inspire them with the ardour of patriotism.

No hostilities took place in Belgium, except an attack by bombardment on Antwerp by a united force of English and Prussians, which was productive of no consequences, as the army of the latter was ordered to advance into the territory of France itself.

The French troops abandoned Belgium as the allies advanced, and in January 1814 the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, one of the allied generals, entered Brussels without any opposition. But his troops had merely a military occupation of the country; and the emperor of Austria, then advancing towards Paris, despatched from Dijon Baron Vincent, who had been commissioned pro tempore to act as governor of Belgium.

From the events in Holland and Belgium our attention must now be turned to Paris, where the allies, after driving away Napoleon and seating Louis XVH1. on the throne, had convened the ministers of the several powers, to restore tranquillity and order in those parts of Europe which had been disorganized by the victories of the French empire.

This august assembly, in the midst of the congratulations which the extraordinary scenes that had thus collected them produced, did not forget the perils they had [7:16:127]escaped, not the danger which might still arise behind the glory of their triumphs. Bonaparte was indeed dethroned, and a Bourbon seated on his throne; but the spirit of foreign conquest and universal dominion was not extinct in France, with its millions of men still animated by the desire of domination, and smarting under the severe mortifications which their vanity had recently suffered. The throne that had been restored was still in a tottering state, all the institutions which formerly supported it having been swept away; and, besides, the remains of the defeated armies would soon be joined by thousands of men who, having been made prisoners, would return filled with angry passions, and fully prepared to aid in any combinations which might have for their object the plunder of foreign countries, the subjugation of foreign potentates, and the superiority of the military over the civil authority throughout France itself, as well as over all Europe.

Aware of the dangers lurking behind their success, the allies directed their attention to such measures of security as seemed most advisable, in case a re-action in France should again throw the power of that kingdom into the hands, first, of the populace, and then, as a necessary step, into that of some military leader.

Belgium had, by the right of conquest, fallen into the power of the allied sovereigns. From its position it had been the battle-field of Europe in former periods; and the possession of that country by France would be of vast importance as an advanced post, from which she might easily proceed to other conquests. The house of Austria, having always found the Belgian provinces a source of trouble and annoyance, was ready to abandon its claims; trusting thereby to secure some advantages nearer the centre of its power. The Netherlands, if united under one power, might be sufficiently strengthened to become a strong barrier against France, and the means of securing the continuance of that general peace which was then so much desired, and indeed wanted. Belgium, and the other territories near it, the bishopric of Liège, and the duchy of Luxembourg, were considered merely as European objects, which were so to be disposed of as would best suit the purposes of the combined powers, particularly that of securing the tranquillity of the great community of nations. It was not, then, from any peculiar favour to Holland, or from any personal regard to King William, though his minister formed one of the assembly, that, in less than two months after the seizure of Paris, it was adopted as a principle by the representatives of all Europe, and promulgated to the world, “that Holland, placed under the sovereignty of the house of Orange, should receive an increase of territory.” This declaration was made on the 30th of May, and at the time received with general approbation, although at a subsequent period it was one of the principal grievances set forth by the Belgians in their declaration of independence. The principle thus announced received its final sanction by a treaty dated the 21st of July, in virtue of which Baron Vincent was to deliver over to King William the provisional power he exercised in Belgium, upon the following conditions, viz. 1. That the two countries should form one state, governed by the constitution already established in Holland, to be modified by common consent: 2. That there should be no alteration in that part which assured to all religious sects an equal admissibility to public offices: 3. That the states should assemble in alternate years in a city of Holland and in one of Belgium: 4 ι . That all the inhabitants of both parts should be alike in all commercial matters, without any restriction being imposed on one for the benefit of the other: 5. That the provinces and cities of Belgium should be admitted to the full enjoyment of commerce with the colonies: 6. That all expenses should be in common, and the debts of the two parts should be assumed by the treasury of the kingdom: 7. That the expense of maintaining and strengthening the fortresses should be defrayed from the common treasury: and, 8. That the cost of supporting the dikes should be furnished by the districts more immediately interested in them; but in case of any great disaster, succours were to be supplied by the general government, in the same manner as had formerly been practised in Holland. The king of England, by a separate treaty, on the 13th of August, agreed to give up to the newly-created king of the Netherlands all the conquests made from the Dutch during the war, with the exception of the Cape of Good Hope, and the settlements of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, on the continent of South America.

By the treaty of the 2lst of July, the government of the Netherlands accepted, on the conditions therein stated, that sovereignty over the Belgian provinces which the allied powers had offered, not from any peculiar feeling of regard to the interests of King William or of Holland, but as a European benefit, “de pourvoir à l’établissement d’un état d’équilibre en Europe, et en vertu de leur droit de conquête sur la Belgique.” The duchy of Luxembourg was not a portion of Belgium, but a part of Germany; and that division was given up to the king of the Low Countries, by the German confederation, of which he was a member, not in his regal capacity, but in consequence of his transferring to Prussia the sovereignties, hereditary in his family, of Nassau-Dittenburg, Siegen, Hademar, and Dietz.

After the union of the two countries had been settled by treaty, and the whole delivered up to the government of William, it was thought necessary to submit, not the union itself, but the. fundamental law or constitution, to the acceptance of the people. That constitution had already been accepted by an almost unanimous vote in the northern division, but it was deemed necessary to submit it also to the southern division. An assembly of Notables was accordingly convened in Belgium, on the same plan as had before been pursued in Holland. The number of the members of this assembly was 1600, but not more than 1325 attended. Upon the vote being taken, there appeared to be 529 in favour of accepting the constitution, and 796 against it; and thus, as far as that assembly was concerned, the acceptance of the proposed constitution was negatived. The government, however, took a different view of the subject, founded upon the assumption, that the union being adopted must be considered as a fact not to be questioned; and that this was a question for the united kingdom, which must be determined by a majority of the whole. For this purpose, the statistical view given of the kingdom was thus represented.

The inhabitants of the northern division, or what was before Holland, were 2,071,181

Those of the south part, or Belgium 3,411,082

In all. 5,482,263

The votes in favour of the acceptance were stated to be the whole of the northern part 2,071,181

Two fifths of the southern part, who voted by their 529 delegates 1,364,432

3,435,613

The majority of the Belgian representatives, who voted for three fifths of that part, amounted to 2,046,650

Thus giving in favour of the constitution, or ) 1 qqq fundamental law, a majority of. f i,á»ö,ybJ

W e have given an account of this proceeding, because it was subsequently made one of the grievances complained of. The assembly had been chosen fairly, and consequently under clerical influence, which was decidedly op [7:16:128]posed to the toleration of any other party than the Catholic religion. This was proved by a kind of protest, issued under the title of “Jugement Doctrinal des Eveques du Royaume des Pays-Bas, sur le serment présent par la Nouvelle Constitution.” In an authoritative style it condemns the liberty given to appoint persons of any religious creed to offices of power and trust; and it reprobates the enactment that the Catholic church was to be submissive to the law of the state, that the other religious sects were to be protected in their worship, that the government was to have the power to regulate all the seminaries of the kingdom, and that the liberty of the press was recognised. It concluded with these words: “Mais dès qu’une loi humaine est intrinsèquement mauvaise, et opposée à la loi divine et aux lois de l’église, on ne peut, sous aucun prétexte, s’engager d’y obéir.” This declaration was signed by all the prelates, viz. the Archbishop of Malines, and the Bishops of Ghent and of Tournay, and the vicar-general of the chapter of Liège. It is natural to suppose that such a declaration must have had great influence with people so ignorant and superstitious as the lower classes of the Belgian population are universally allowed to be, and averse as they had ever been to a connection with the Dutch, who were represented to them as a combination of heretics. The nobles are also said to have been more attached to the ancient Austrian government; but the middle classes were supposed to have more sympathy with the French than with the German nation, and to be peculiarly jealous of the Dutch.

Whatever may have been the common sentiment, of which it is always difficult to judge, not the least appearance of discontent was displayed at the promulgation of the constitution, or the public entry made by the king and his family into Brussels. His first efforts there, as they had been in Holland, were directed to the means of defence; and all due exertions were employed for the purpose of raising an effective and numerous army. In this much progress had been made when the intelligence arrived that Bonaparte had escaped from Elba, advanced in a sort of triumphal procession through France, and again assumed the imperial title, and all the power connected with it.

The alarm and terror created by this event had the effect of, in a great measure, disarming the power of the ecclesiastical fulminations, and uniting all classes with the new government in preparing for the contest which was evidently about to take place on the frontiers of the kingdom. The time spent by Bonaparte in Paris in organizing his recovered army, and in conciliating the several parties in his capital, was most actively employed by the king in strengthening his means of defence; and a great advance had been made in his military affairs, when it became evident that the first inroad of the French would be on the side of Belgium.

An army composed of Dutchmen and Belgians, but chiefly officered by the former, was collected and led towards the frontiers by the Prince of Orange. When the French entered Belgium, these troops formed the advance of the allied army. It encountered the French at Quatre-Bras, and, aided by the British, resisted during the whole day (the 16th of June) the attacks of the left division of the French army, commanded by Marshal Ney. The loss of lives on both sides was great; but that action had a powerful influence on the issue of the battle of the 18th, as it gave time to bring up the whole of the allied forces, and place them on the field of Waterloo, where the decisive conflict took place which decided the fate of the French empire, and gave a long peace to Europe. During the whole of that day the troops of the Netherlands sustained the character for courage which past centuries had established. There were probably a few instances of overpowering terror, and some solitary examples of disaffection, arising from past associations with the French; but the great principle of public duty pervaded the Netherlands army, as was proved by the loss which they sustained in the battle. The victory was cemented by the blood of the Prince of Orange, who stood at the head of his troops throughout the whole of that arduous day, encouraging them by his cool and determined conduct. On one occasion he made a desperate charge on the enemy, and advanced so far that he was actually in the midst of the French, and in the greatest danger, when a Belgian battalion rushed forward, repulsed the enemy, and, after a desperate struggle, disengaged the prince. From the impulse of his gratitude, and his admiration of the bravery displayed, he tore from his breast one of the decorations gained by his conduct in some⅛receding action, and flung it amongst the battalion, calling out, “Take it, my lads; you have all earned it.” This decoration was eagerly grappled for, and tied to the regimental standard amidst loud shouts of “Long live the Prince,” and vows to defend the trophy, in the utterance of which many a brave man received the stroke of death. A short time afterwards, towards the close of the battle, the prince was hit by a musket-ball on the left shoulder. He was carried from the field, and conveyed to Brussels the same evening in a cart, accompanied by two of his aides-de-camp, one of whom, like himself, was badly wounded; displaying to those near him as much indifference to pain as he had previously shown contempt of danger.

The battle of Waterloo appeared at the moment to have consolidated the establishment of the kingdom of the Netherlands. It seemed to have attached the military part of the Belgians to the prince who had been wounded at their head, and who had led them to that victory which they so mainly ascribed to their own exertions, as almost to forget that the troops of any other nation had contributed to it. Advantage was taken of this feeling to commence the working of the new constitution, which had been accepted, as before noticed, by a majority of the whole kingdom, though rejected by a majority of the Belgian portion. The solemn inauguration was held a few weeks after the battle, and much interest was excited by the appearance of the Prince of Orange, on the occasion, still wearing his wounded arm in a scarf, and with the palid countenance of an invalid.

The constitution was then declared to have been accepted by the people, and no allusion was made to the irregularity of the decision, as the objections once urged had arisen from repugnance to religious toleration; those who had urged them being sensible that any allusions to the subject would have been unavailing amidst the prevailing military enthusiasm. None was made, but such were certainly nourished, to be brought forward at some moment more favourable for making the desired impression. No murmurs were heard, and Belgium became, or appeared to have become, reconciled to the arrangement which had been made by the allied powers.

The speedy concentration of the two divisions was a spectacle viewed with astonishment, whilst a thousand channels were opened for the egress of national industry, capital, and enterprise. Every obstacle seemed to have vanished, asperities were softened down or concealed, faction seemed dead or paralysed, and a quiet enjoyment of the present formed the only public manifestation. The people of Belgium appropriated to themselves the glorious victory of which their country had been the theatre. The king, by his love of peace, and by his activity in whatever could improve the institutions and the condition of the country, at first gained a high opinion amongst those Belgians who were able to endure the religious toleration he established; and amongst others his personal virtues, his [7:16:129]domestic habits, and his unwearied industry, as favourable a view was taken of bis character as could be formed of one who had the misfortune to be a heretic. This last party was soothed, if not reconciled, by the exertions which he made to recover and restore to their churches those pictures and other objects of value which had been pillaged by the French and carried to Paris.

The naval transaction of the following year, when a squadron of Netherlands ships joined the fleet under Lord Exmouth in the attack on Algiers, was another circumstance favourable to the consolidation of the new kingdom; for although the battle was gallantly fought by Dutchmen, yet the Belgians took care, in the exercise of their vanity, not to allude to the Hollanders; and as they had forgotten the English at Waterloo, so they now gladly assumed to themselves the glory of the united victory. The prosperity of Belgium made it the chosen residence of many respectable foreigners, as well as the place of refuge of others of the most opposite descriptions. The king busied himself less in projects to secure popularity, than in efforts to benefit the country; and it may here be proper to notice die institutions which were either established or ameliorated, and the beneficial consequences they produced.

Under the rule of France, Belgium, like the other parts of the Continent, had suffered severely from the operation of the conscription laws, which had deprived the country of those active labourers who were necessary to cultivate the fields. Although peace could not restore the great numbers who had perished, yet it stopped the farther progress of the evil in the Netherlands, by the establishment of a voluntary enrolment for a small regular army, and of a militia, whose service was required only for one month in the year. The mines felt the benefit of this regulation. The minerals of Belgium consist of coal, iron, and calamine. As soon as the union had been formed, and labourers became less scarce, a great impetus was communicated to this branch of industry; and companies were formed, who were most liberally repaid by the profit of their investments in this branch of industry, which was augmented from year to year as long as Belgium and Holland constituted one kingdom. By the excitement communicated to mining, the provinces of Liège and Hainault, and a part of Namur, were greatly enriched; and a company formed to explore the mines of Luxembourg were amply rewarded in their labours and their profits, till interrupted by internal commotions. The various branches of manufacturing industry received a similar impulse, though at first they were checked by the peace. The continental system of Bonaparte had given a factitious encouragement to some articles of manufacture, which ceased with the return of peace; and, till the formation of the kingdom of the Netherlands, many branches were depressed by the rivalry of foreign goods in the markets to which they had access. But as soon as the junction was completed, a stimulus was given to the manufacturers, by opening to their goods the markets of the East and West Indies, and those of all countries with which the Hollanders had traded. The iron manufactures of Liège advanced rapidly in prosperity; the woollen manufactures of Verviers felt most powerfully a similar impulsion; and many large establishments were formed at Ghent and other places, where cotton goods were fabricated which rivalled those of England, and so far surpassed those of France, that much of the goods were sold by the contraband trade in that kingdom. The opening of the Scheldt was the necessary effect of the formation of the united kingdom. Merchants from various countries formed establishments with large capitals at Antwerp; its docks became crowded with ships from all countries; its warehouses were loaded with colonial and other produce; and it advanced rapidly to a rivalry with Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Hamburg, in the transit trade to the interior of Germany. The king directed his best efforts to the state of the roads, the greater part of which had suffered dilapidation, whilst the cross roads, so important in a country chiefly agricultural, were in many places scarcely passable. The management of the former was under the general government, whilst that of the latter was superintended by the local authorities; but in the first few years of the union the whole were repaired and placed in the most excellent state. The interests of internal navigation were sedulously watched over by the king. The old canals were repaired, the shallow parts of the rivers were deepened, and new and important water communications were formed. The chief of these, the Canal Guillaume, which extends from Maestricht to Bois-le-Duc, was an expensive but highly beneficial work; whilst that of Antoing in Hainault, that of Charleroy in the province of Namur, and that of Ternuse in Flanders, have been found in a very high degree beneficial. Though no longer of any importance to Belgium, it may not be quite out of place to remark, that the spirit of improvement which spread throughout the whole kingdom was to be seen in Holland in the Grand Canal of North Holland, which opens to Amsterdam a way for ships of the largest size to the ocean by way of the Helder, without incurring the risks arising from the shoals of the Zuyder Zee.

Some other plans of this kind had been decided on, when the disturbances broke out which ended in this disjunction of Belgium from Holland. One of these was to make the river Sambre navigable; the other was to form a canal from the Meuse to the Moselle, by means of which the prosperity of the duchy of Luxembourg would have been greatly advanced.

The state of education, from the schools for primary instruction up to the universities, was in a wretched state when the king ascended the throne. In Holland it had ever been an object of the greatest consideration; and it had received from .Louis Bonaparte, during his short reign, a degree of perfection which fitted it for reception in Belgium. Normal schools for the instruction of teachers were early founded; and as soon as any were found qualified, they were fixed with moderate stipends in the rural districts where they could be most beneficially placed. To such an extent was this plan of organizing primary schools carried during the first ten years of the reign of William, that their number in 1826 was 3329, in which the pupils were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and the system of weights and measures. The numbers of pupils in the several schools of Belgium were 156,075 boys and 116,761 girls; in Luxembourg the numbers were 19,925 boys and 14,819 girls.

The schools for higher instruction were improved, and the number of students in them yearly increased. In ten years they had risen from 3400 to 7048. These were in general the institutions in which the youth were prepared for the universities. The king founded a new university at Liège, in addition to the two previously existing at Lon-vain and at Ghent. Great care was taken to procure the most able men in every branch of science; and as the country was rather deficient in such as possessed eminent qualifications, it was found necessary to repair to foreign lands for help. Several were invited from Germany, and others from France and Italy. No one establishment for education in Europe could boast of more distinguished names than those of the individuals who filled some of the professors’ chairs, both in Liège and Ghent.

Whilst in the united kingdom the surface appeared smooth, and the vessel of the state seemed to be making a rapid progress, an under-current was perceived to be making its way in a direction not favourable to permanent tranquillity. At first William gained the highest applause from his Belgian subjects. The whole kingdom exhibited a show of bustling activity, if not of prosperity. Amongst the re [7:16:130] fugees from other countries, the king and people were spoken of as models of public and domestic happiness; the diplomatists joined in the flattery, and prided themselves on the skill with which they had accomplished the tranquillity of Europe, by founding the kingdom of the Netherlands; and all united in the assertion that the king was much too good for his Belgian subjects.

For several years this favourable or flattering state of affairs continued, though thoughtful people soon discerned, from events unnoticed by superficial observers, the prognostics of future disunion. At the earliest meeting of the representative house, the different languages spoken by the members caused some difficulties; a Belgian in the discussions speaking in French, and a Hollander replying in Dutch. Too many of the questions brought forward might be of a local nature; and in these, as the whole of the Hollanders voted on one side, and the whole of the Belgians on the other, the decision was often dependent on the accidental absence of an individual on the one side or the other. The equality of numbers between the Dutch and Belgians made it difficult to come to a settlement on such subjects as affected the interests of the two countries in a different or opposite way. This was first exhibited on the subject of a free trade in corn. The Dutch provinces had never produced sufficient corn for their consumption, but a free trade in it had always furnished them with a sufficient supply. The Belgian provinces grew more corn than they consumed. As in the other parts of Europe during the last years of the war, the prices of corn had risen to an enormous rate, and the Belgian proprietors of land had increased their rents in due proportion. With the return of tranquillity the prices of grain and the rents of land were much reduced; and the Belgian members of the assembly desired to impose restrictions on the importation of grain. This was naturally opposed by the Dutch members, whose interest was engaged in favour of low prices, both as regarded the subsistence of the inhabitants, and the trade of the distilleries. The question was finally decided in favour of the freedom of the trade; but the contest gave rise to the formation of two parties, so equally balanced as to make the decision of many legislative questions dependent on accident.

As the royal authority had been established in Holland the greater part of a year before the union with Belgium, it had been organized without reference to that event. Holland had been a shorter period under French power; and during the prevalence of that influence when King Louis filled the throne, its government had been carried on upon the principle of nationality; the fittest men filled the offices in the different departments, and many of them remained unchanged when Holland became a French department. It was natural that King William should continue such men in their offices, and that in selecting officers for the new branches which were to be created, a preference should be given to natives, of whom there were numbers whose education, habits, and patriotism had well fitted them for the public service. At the union of Belgium and Holland the whole administration was in the hands of French functionaries, who speedily disappeared. Few men in Belgium had been brought up in such a way as to form them for official duties, and those who had sufficient information and capacity had been nominated to employments in the distant provinces of France. Under these circumstances, the greater number of officers was necessarily appointed from the northern division of the kingdom. Another cause of many offices in Belgium being filled by Dutchmen was, that some of those Belgians to whom offers were made declined to serve, on account of the influence of the priests, which prevented them from taking the oath to a constitution, one of the first stipulations of which was an equal freedom to all religions.

A complaint was brought forward, that in the appointment of officers in the army an undue preference had been shown in favour of the natives of Holland; and as Mr Northomb, an opponent of the house of Orange, in his work entitled Essai Historique et Politique sur la Révolution Belge, has placed the numbers in a statistical point of view, this matter is entitled to examination. According to his statement, in 1830 the officers of the army of the kingdom of the Netherlands is thus shown:
[table]

This great disproportion is in some measure lessened, from the circumstance that many of the officers were Germans, some were Swiss, and some were natives of other countries. With this allowance, the exact number of which is unascertained, the contrast between the whole and the Belgians is very striking. Baron de Keverburg, a partisan of King William, gives a different account, making the whole number of Belgians in the army to be 536 instead of 278. In his work entitled Du Royaume des Pays Bas, he asserts of his catalogue that it is “d’aprês des renseignemens puisés à des sources authentiques ;” but, even on this showing, the more numerous population supplied but one fourth of the officers. This is accounted for, if not justified, by the baron, on various grounds.

When Louis Bonaparte became king of Holland, he sedulously attended to the formation of his army; and when he abandoned the throne the armed force was so well trained, equipped, and officered, that, on the annexation of Holland to France in 1810, it formed a military body equal to any other of the empire in its adaptation to the purposes of war. When that army was transferred to France, the different grades of officers retained their Dutch rank, and their former course of promotion. But when the people of Holland rose against France, and raised William to the throne, the Dutch resigned their posts in the French service, and repaired to their own country, where they were gladly received, and reinstated in the rank which they had attained during their service in France. It will be seen by the list of Mr Northomb that all the generals were Dutchmen; but that rank had been acquired in the French service, where, by their military talents, they had gained high reputation, and had been honoured and trusted by the French emperor. The names of the Dutch officers thus appointed generals by William are well known. Tindal had been raised by Bonaparte to the rank of general, and commanded a regiment of his body guard. Jansens had been distinguished as governor of Batavia, and in the army of the French emperor on the Ardennes frontier. Daendels was one of those Dutchmen who had been always placed in posts of the greatest danger, and had displayed the highest skill and valour. Dumonceau, though a Belgian by birth, had by his long service in the northern provinces become a Dutchman, and was highly esteemed in the French army. Chasse, an old officer of [7:16:131]Holland when he was transferred to the French service, became known by the familiar title of Général Baïonnette, and afterwards distinguished himself by his gallant defence of the citadel of Antwerp.

When men like these returned to their liberated country, and at a moment when their services were wanted, there were no rivals to compete with them in Holland, and they were necessarily placed at the head of their profession. Those of the successive ranks who also returned, as almost the whole did, were retained in those ranks in the army, formed first in Holland, and afterwards strengthened by the addition of Belgians. The Belgian officers serving in the French army had not been kept apart, but mixed up with the Frenchmen. They had formed a part of the general conscription; few had raised themselves to the rank of officers; and of these only three had attained the grade of colonel, no one having risen higher. Being thus insulated, they had nourished little or no national feeling; some few tardily returned to their native country after the occupation of Paris; but many of them remained in the service, and fought against their country at Waterloo.

The king, in the hasty organization of an army, naturally availed himself of the materials within his reach, and adapted them to the emergency. When after the battle of Waterloo peace was established, it would have been highly unjust to the brave men who had assisted there not to have confirmed them in their ranks, or to have placed others over them merely because they were born in Belgium. But for these, and even for such as had fought against their country, and repaired to it after the victory, the provision made was the best that could be effected at the time; and they were subsequently placed in new corps, retaining their former rank and seniority.

The utmost economy was practised respecting the army; and from the number of good officers in the highest classes, and their seniority, there was no prospect of rapid promotion. Thus the gentry of Belgium had but little inducement to enter the military service, so that, without attributing to the king any great partiality, the facts here stated sufficiently account for the greater number of officers belonging to one division of the kingdom.

The other charge of partiality on the part of the king, which ultimately became one of the grievances, was, that, in the legislative body, the number of deputies was as great from the northern as from the southern division of the kingdom, although the number of inhabitants in the latter was so much greater. The foundation of this settlement of the relative numbers was based upon the principle of giving legislative power according to the rate of revenue to be extracted from each division, rather than according to the number of the population. The proportion of revenue raised in Holland was nearly equal to that raised in Belgium; indeed it was shown, at a subsequent period, to be as fifteen to sixteen. The rate of revenue per head in Holland was sixteen florins, and in Belgium ten florins. Whether the rate of revenue or the number of inhabitants be the proper scale for regulating the proportion of legislators, is not a subject to be discussed in this place.

In the distribution of the higher civil offices of the government, complaints were urged and magnified into weighty grievances by the Belgians. On this subject the statements of Baron de Keverburg, when confirmed by the official part of EAlmanack Royal, are as follow:

The cabinet consisted of six members. It was formed before the union of the two countries, and was composed wholly of Hollanders; but after the junction of Belgium, two of the members withdrew, and two Belgians were admitted in their stead. The first chamber of the states-general, similar to our House of Peers, but nominated by the king for life, contained fifty-six members, of whom thirty were Belgians, and twenty-six Hollanders. The Conseil d’Etat, or privy council, was composed of twelve Dutch and eleven Belgian members. The Prince of Orange and his brother Prince Frederick presided over the two divisions into which it was formed; one for the direction of the army, the other for that of the naval force. The Chambre des Comptes, or treasury, consisted of sixteen persons, taken equally from the two divisions of the kingdom. The judicial authority of the provinces and communes was in general intrusted to persons chosen in the division in which they were to execute their duties. There were a few exceptions to this rule, for two Dutchmen exercised these functions in Belgium; but two also, natives of Belgium, filled the same offices in Holland. Thus far there was an equality; but in North Brabant the judicial office was filled by a Belgian, which gave a trifling superiority to the southern division.

It may fairly be presumed, that in the appointment of officers in the several civil departments, the king had been mainly influenced by his view of the capacity of the persons selected to discharge the nebessary duties; for at a subsequent period, when the most scrutinizing activity was exercised to discover grounds of complaint, no accusations were made of any other fault in the appointments than that which related to the portion of the kingdom to which the functionaries belonged. The king himself was active and regular; and being in a great degree his own prime minister, he must have been peculiarly anxious that the persons under him should be adapted to their several stations, and certainly under no government was more industry exercised or more regularity preserved.

Many of the important institutions of the country had, by the constitution, been left to the will of the king as to their local establishment. The seat of the states-general had been fixed by that law to be alternately in Belgium and in Holland, but not the place for the king’s residence or the council of state; yet these also, though with some personal and political inconvenience, were made changeable, business being transacted six months of each year at Brussels and six months at the Hague. But the supreme court of justice, the court of appeal from all the inferior tribunals of the kingdom, was permanently fixed at the Hague, to the great disadvantage of the more numerous suitors in the southern part of the kingdom. This formed a material, and apparently a just cause of complaint; and nothing has been stated by the Dutch which has disproved the inconvenience, though attempts have been made to represent the practical injury arising from it as very trifling and insignificant. Several other establishments were also made permanent in Holland, such as the state archives, the diplomatic offices, the council of the nobles, the coinage of money, the military and naval boards, the academies for the instruction of naval, artillery, and engineering officers, and the principal naval and military arsenals. This arrangement was justified upon public grounds by the partisans of the king. The kingdom, they affirmed, had been established as an European object, and to form a barrier for the defence of all the powers against the ambition of France. In any display of that ambition, Belgium would, as heretofore, become the first theatre of war, and, in spite of the range of fortresses about to be erected, might be occupied by an invading army. If the means of carrying on the war fell into the enemy’s power, the effect might be fatal; but by having the establishments farther from the frontiers, and where they could be guarded by natural defences, the war might be kept up effectively behind the rivers and canals of Holland, so as to render the advance of the enemy a dangerous or a ruinous step.

There are in Belgium a variety of languages spoken, and the attempt of King William to introduce one uniform tongue created much discontent, and was by a great and [7:16:132]influential part of the inhabitants considered as a serious grievance. The far greater portion of both the northern and southern inhabitants are of German origin, and their vernacular language is chiefly composed of Teutonic words. It is divided into several idioms, namely, the Dutch, the Flemish, and the Brabant. These three are so nearly similar, that those who use them understand each other better than the English and Scotch peasantry do. The Dutch language has been more polished than either of the others, having been the tongue of some of the most learned men that Europe has produced. It contains books of art, science, literature, law, theology, and history of the greatest merit, and which have been the means of spreading knowledge of all kinds to a great extent. The care bestowed on education has produced a greater number of readers and writers than are to be found in any other country of the same limited population. The Flemish and Brabant dialects have been little cultivated; few books have been written in it, except those of devotion, the lives of saints of the Catholic church, almanacs, and spelling-books. The numbers who read them are very small in comparison of the whole population, but with the rural inhabitants this dialect is the general medium of intercourse.

During the French dominion great pains were taken to extend the use of their language, and with much success as far as regarded those who had enjoyed the advantage of even the commonest education. This has extended the use of that language amongst those above the lowest classes; and it is said that even in Holland there are more persons acquainted with the French tongue than in those parts of Belgium where the other dialects of Teutonic origin are used. The Walloon language, a corrupted dialect of the French, is commonly used in the provinces of Hainault, Liège, and Namur; and the German language is most prevalent in Luxembourg.

Baron de Keverburg, assuming the population of 1829, gives the statistics of languages as follows.

The divisions in which the German is used, and their population :—

In Holland 2,329,974

In Belgium, the provinces of Antwerp, Lim-

bourg, and the two Flanders 1,971,056

The largest part of Brabant 380,177

One half of Luxembourg 151,317

4,832,524

The divisions in which the French and Walloon are used, with their population :—

The provinces of Hainault, Liège, and Namur... 1,124,595 The arrondissement of Nivelles, in the province of South Brabant 126,733

One half of Luxembourg 151,317

1,402,645

In this view the Dutch language is used by two fifths of the population, the other languages of German origin by two fifths, and the French and Walloon by one fifth. From the most remote periods all public affairs in Belgium were transacted in one or other of the Teutonic idioms. The Joyeuse Entree, the Magna Charta of the country, was originally drawn up in the Teutonic dialect, and was only translated into French at a recent period, when the princes, no longer residing in the provinces, began to give a decided preference to that language; but all the proceedings of the states of Brabant were conducted in it till the conquest of the country by France. From that moment all public deeds were written in French, and the subdued people supported with pain the loss of their native tongue; but they dared not utter a complaint. This attachment of the Belgians to their native language was shown to have been little weakened by their subjugation to France; for when the allies had freed them from that yoke, and Baron Vincent was appointed governor ad interim by the house of Austria, a petition was presented to him by the ancient representatives of the city of Brussels, who resumed their former titles under the name of Syndics des neuf nations, et des cent qua-rante-trois doyens, complaining of the compulsory use of the French tongue. The petitions were favourably received, and an arrêt issued on the 18th of July, authorizing the use of the Flemish language, not, indeed, in all public writings, but in all notarial writings.

When this provisional government ceased by the accession of King William to the throne of the Netherlands, he proposed to redress what was then deemed one of the grievances of the country, by a decree of the 1st October 1814, which stated as a fact, “that, in consequence of the union with France, the national languages of the provinces had been almost suppressed, to give place to the French tongue ;” and then added, “that if it was necessary on one side still to tolerate the use of the latter language in some parts where the Flemish is not used, it is but just, on the other side, that the Flemish, which is the natural language of the country, should be re-established in all the parts in which it is used and understood.” The king was certainly desirous of restoring the national language, and of restraining the use of the French; and for a time, whilst it was gratifying to the great body of the people, it occasioned very little complaint upon the part of those who alone spoke or understood French. Gradual enactments were made to induce practitioners to study the national languages; and three years were allowed to acquire them, at the end of which time those who did not understand them were to be removed to other stations, where they could practise their official duties in the tongue they were most familiar with. At the expiration of the prescribed time, 1st of January 1823, a decree fixed the following arrangement on the subject of languages :—1. The use of the French language shall be preserved in the Walloon provinces of Liège, Hainault, and Namur. 2. The use of the Dutch language shall continue to be maintained in Holland. 3. The use of the Flemish language, in its several idioms, shall be re-established in the Flemish provinces. 4. The German language shall be used in the German part of the grand duchy of Luxembourg. In short, it was provided that the official language in each of the provinces should be that which was used and understood by the mass of the people who inhabited them.

The profession of the law in Belgium forms a body which, next to the clergy, is the most formidable body of any. They had been trained by the study of French eloquence, and the young advocates, when called upon to plead in the language of the country, were often mortified by the ridicule of the audience. They did not wish to incur the displeasure of the Belgians by degrading their language, and therefore directed their attacks on the Dutch language, which, for that purpose, they confounded with the Flemish. In these attacks they were joined by the writers of many pamphlets, and also those of the public journals. The attacks were very violent. From those on the Dutch language they passed on to attacks on their literature, on their manners, and their morals. The Dutch writers, irritated by these attacks, replied and defended themselves; and thus arose, from mere literary disputes, a powerful and enduring animosity between the two countries.

The subject of religion was one which, above all others, served to produce discontent. A set of writers who neither had, nor pretended to have, any religious principles, encouraged the government at first in measures of toleration, according to the fundamental law, and were, or affected to be, vehement against the Jesuits, who opposed it. William was no bigot in religion, but it was his desire to raise the character of the Catholic clergy, by imparting [7:16:133]to them a more extensive and better education than had previously been necessary before entering on their office. With this view he framed regulations which offended the clergy and the ignorant party who submitted to them, and who were at length joined by those who distinguished themselves as liberals, as soon as they saw that some advantages could be drawn from that union to forward their own republican views.

The Catholic clergy in Belgium had submitted to the regulation of their affairs which French subjugation had imposed. The vicar of the diocese of Ghent has indeed been unwilling to allow this; but Baron de Keverburg, himself a Catholic, and under the French regime governor of West Flanders, asserts most positively that the imperial institutions were observed in Belgium as elsewhere; that the catechism of the empire was taught to almost every one; and that the four articles of the clergy of France formed a part of the religious instruction in all the Belgian departments. As soon as the kingdom was established, they brought forward claims to power which they dared not even to whisper under Napoleon, and even carried those claims to an extent beyond what they had been urged for the last three or four centuries, and beyond what are acknowledged in the Catholic kingdoms of Europe.

The vicar-general of Ghent had required, as essential to the establishment of the kingdom of the Netherlands, “le rétablissement de tous les articles des anciens pactes inauguraux, constitutions, chartes, et cetera, en ce que concerne, non sculement le libre exercise de religion Catholique, mais aussi les droits, privilèges, exemptions, et prérogatives des éveques, prélats, des maisons-dieu, et des autres institutions religieuses quelconques.” A single exception was indeed admitted to this exercise of power. The church would indulge the monarch so far as “accorder au prince et à sa cour des chapelles,bien entendu sculement dans l’enceinte des palais royaux.” Thus these old powers, which the French had destroyed twenty years before, were to be restored; and then the prelates would allow, but only to the king and his family, the toleration of his own worship in secret. According to the principle of the prelates, the chief and sole duty of the temporal power was, in its relation to the Catholic church and its'clergy, limited to “protéger la religion et ses ministres, à faire exécuter les lois de l’église, à faire punir les actes extérieurs nuisibles à la société religieuse.”

This extraordinary claim of the church to a power independent of, and in fact governing the state, would not, on its own account, have deserved the notice here taken of it. It was at least quieted by the prudent conduct of the king, who suffered the Count Mean, one of the prelates, upon his nomination to a seat in the council of state, to swear to the tolerating constitution under a protest, that if the pope should declare the oath to be contrary to the rights of the church, it should thereby cease to be binding. The king, whilst he adhered to the constitutional principle of tolerating other sects, extended his liberality to the Catholic clergy, by increasing the stipends of the inferior orders; by making provision for those who, from age or infirmity, were incapable of performing theirduty; and by contributing liberally to the erection or repairs of churches where the communal funds were inadequate to the purpose. The opposition of the clergy was for a time dormant; but it was again roused, when, at a subsequent period, the leaders of the church formed a junction with the leaders of the French party, and thus placed the lower classes, who could not read their effusions, but were under the influence of the priests who spoke to them in Flemish, in a state of hostile excitement towards the government. The hostility of the clergy was much aggravated by the attempts made to improve the education of the priests. The king had determined that no priest should be inducted who had not passed two years in the study of the literae humaniores before his ordination, and appropriated a college at Louvain for that purpose, to which was given the unfortunate name of the philosophical college, a name with good Catholics almost equivalent to infidel or heretic. The prelates, to counteract this, established seminaries connected with the cathedrals, in which the pupils were instructed in their humanities. These contravened the design of the king, and were forcibly shut up. It was an objection to the philosophical college that the professors of history were not priests, but laymen, and some Protestants. This may not seem a solid ground of declining to attend lectures on history; but it was so with the Catholics; for, as their doctrines rest quite as much on tradition as on the Holy Scriptures, it was of vast importance that history should be taught by those alone who were orthodox in their opinions. In truth, the critical spirit of some of the German professors would make sad work with many parts of the traditions held sacred by the Catholic church. The prelates, in the discussions on this subject, indulged in language of a violent kind, and were prosecuted. A law enacted by Napoleon was made the instrument of condemning one or two of them to banishment, and excited no small degree of hatred amongst their adherents, who, if not the most enlightened, were the most numerous, portion of the inhabitants. These mortifications were increased by circumstances of inferior importance. Some of the religious festivals were curtailed, certainly with no views inimical to religion, but to benefit the morals of the people, by lessening the number of days that were devoted to idleness and drunkenness. The architecture of the national schools was similar to that of the reformed places of worship, and the youth of the country were forbidden to be educated out of the kingdom. These trifles were magnified into matters of plain evidence of a regular system to proselytise the whole of the Netherlands. Whilst these controversies respecting religion and education were carried on, the conduct of the king was applauded and encouraged by the active party of the liberals, who represented them as proper steps to secure the people from the insidious attempts made by the Jesuits to blind and cajole them. There was no evidence of any plan of the kind on the part of the Jesuits, and it was only affectation in the liberals to insinuate it. It served their turn for the time, but was soon forgotten, when it appeared advantageous for their party purposes to join with the most bigoted of the Catholics against the government of the house of Orange.

Another subject was at times brought forward, and must be added to the causes of the internal disunion between the two parts of the kingdom. The number of members of the representative body had been fixed at the time of the union, and made equal for Holland and for Belgium. The subject was then investigated with the greatest deliberation, and all parties were content. It had been suggested that Belgium brought, to form the kingdom, a more numerous population than Holland, and therefore ought to have a greater proportion of members in the assembly. But, upon the other hand, it was shown that the colonies which Holland brought to the common stock contained, in Asia, Africa, and America, as many persons as rendered them equal in number, and, in regard to common advantage, much superior to Belgium; and, besides this, it was urged, that the Dutch contributed to the common cause a powerful fleet and an army, with the stores belonging to both services. This point was, however, settled with perfect cordiality, and remained at rest during several years. But at length it was thought necessary to extend to Belgium the Dutch system of taxation on the grinding of com. This was severely felt, and gave rise to renewed agitation as to the inequality of representation in reference to the numbers of inhabitants. It became a more prominent [7:16:134]object, because the tax was imposed only by a majority of two votes, all the Hollanders voting for the measure, and all the Belgians but two against it.

During the whole of the period from 1815 to 1829 the popularity of the monarch was very variable. After the uttering of some loud complaints, as alleged grievances arose, they seemed to die away and be forgotten; and, till some new cause supervened, the king was as much respected as his best friends could wish. At no time, indeed, was his personal character assailed; and the general feeling in Belgium was, that he always meant well, but gave too ready an acquiescence to what they tauntingly called the schemes of their Dutch cousins.

The king, attacked by two parties, by the priests and their bigoted followers on one side, and by the republicans on the other, avowed his intention to act with indifference to all parties in the pursuit of what he deemed for the general advantage. In conformity with this disposition a concordat was in 1827 entered into with the pope, by which the right of nomination to the bishoprics was settled. It was provided that each should be selected by the pope out of three individuals to be nominated by the king, and that the education of the priests should be under the control of the prelates; but that in the seminaries professors should be appointed to teach the sciences, as well as what related to ecclesiastical matters. This arrangement was highly satisfactory to the cool and thinking part of the community, but was far from pleasing to the extravagant partisans. The clergy thought that too little had been granted to them, and the liberals that too much power was conferred on their order. Conciliatory as this measure was intended to be, it thus proved nugatory; and several nominations of Belgians to offices before filled by Dutchmen had no better effect.

Brussels at this time contained a most heterogeneous foreign population, consisting of the intriguing and discontented subjects of almost every country of Europe. There were of Frenchmen, regicide conventionalists, exiled Na-poleonists, and proscribed constitutionalists, besides Italian carbonari, expatriated Poles, Spanish liberals, disgraced Russians, English and Irish radicals, and visionary students from the various parts of Germany. As the greater part of these had but insecure means of subsistence, and for the most part understood the French language, the press groaned with libels, not more against the Belgian than against all other governments, and thus contributed towards the production of a high state of political excitement. The press of the capital also furnished cheap editions of such works as, either from their irreligious, immoral, or democratic tendency, were prohibited in France; and thus became a nuisance to the regular governments of Europe. The great mass of the population could not be inflamed by these fire-brands; few of them could read, and fewer still could read French. They were, however, acted upon by other means. The Flemish preachers, schoolmasters, and confessors, in their several spheres, were ready to join in any movement, and were sure to be supported by the idle, the dissolute, and the indigent, with which the cities and large towns abounded. To bring the whole body of discontent to bear upon the same point, it was found advisable to form the two parties into one; and this was achieved by the liberals affecting a zeal for the Catholic faith, which they had before treated with contempt and ribaldry. The union was thus formed, meetings of the parties were held, the junction was openly announced, and threatenings were promulgated tending to give confidence to the confederacy, as well as to excite apprehension in the king and his ministers.

This system of agitation was carried to an extent which no government could behold with indifference, however confident in the rectitude of its measures. It was attempted to oppose the calumniating writers by employing others to counteract their influence; but the attempt was far from successful, as in that kind of warfare the assailants have almost always the advantage on their side. The avowed object of the liberal writers was to urge the clerical party to make such extravagant demands of extensive power as they knew, if granted, would be the ruin of the royal authority, and if refused, would increase the agitation they had already created. Although the whole of the Dutch members of the representative assembly, and several of the most respectable of the Belgian members, gave a majority in favour of the royal party, yet many of the latter adopted most inflammatory language, and, as far as the rules of debate allowed, seconded the views of the united party of the liberals and bigots.

As the union openly flung defiance at the government, it appeared necessary to bring before the courts of law the most notorious of the inflammatory writers; and two were selected as subjects for prosecution before the court of assizes of South Brabant. These individuals are thus described by the Baron de Keverburg. Of the first, Louis de Potter, he says, “Il s’était fait remarquer longtemps avant les troubles de la Belgique par dés écrits qui, aux yeux de l’église, étaient réputés fort impies, et, aux yeux des hommes doués, d’un peu de délicatesse, de très-mauvais gout. Ce que j’ai de dire sur le second est moins honorable encore. Μ. François Tielemans, avant l’époque pre-indiqué, n’était connu que par les bienfaits qu’il avait recus et qu’il continuait de recevoir du roi, et plus tard il le fut par son ingratitude envers son bienfaiteur.”

These men, with two others, likewise editors of journals, were sent to the tribunal in which Van Maanen filled the office of presiding judge. The prosecution terminated in a sentence of banishment from the kingdom for the period of eight years; a sentence which brought on the judge the execrations of the libellous journals, and elevated the prisoners to the rank of martyrs. The sentence was put in force by sending the culprits to the frontiers, where they were detained, as neither of the neighbouring states would admit them. The revolution of July occurred in Paris whilst they were in this state; and the party which prevailed in that city allowed them to enter France, and they were received in the capital with great applause by the propagandists.

The popular mind in Brussels was highly agitated by these trials, which did not operate to restrain the indignant language of the journals, nor the distribution of the most vehement placards, many of them in the Flemish tongue, in which the minister Van Maanen, and the editor of a royalist journal entitled the National, were held up to the public indignation, and threatened with vengeance. In this state of the public feeling, the news of the success of the Parisian mob in overturning the throne was received with enthusiasm. Numbers of the young propagandists from Paris reached Brussels. Assuming to themselves the character of heroes of the revolution, and with feelings of disappointment at the tranquil issue at which it had so soon arrived, these young men displayed the three-coloured cockade in the streets and public places; talked loudly in the theatres and coffee-houses; sang the Marseillaise and Parisienne hymns in chorus with impassioned groups; and dwelt with enthusiasm on the glories of the republic and the empire, aσd the future destiniesof their “young France.” Some of the more active of the Belgians repaired to Paris, and are said to have sounded the new government on the subject of the re-union of their country to France, in the event of the dissolution of the monarchy of the Netherlands. These last were, however, mere adventurers, who had little or no power over, or intercourse with, those who were destined to influence the fate of Belgium.
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The disturbances which followed at first may be easily concluded to have been the result of mere popular excitation, such as is often seen in large cities. The first symptom of outrage was presented by the audience of the theatre, on the 25th of August 1830, after the representation of a piece, the Muette de Portici, which abounded with passages well calculated to kindle a flame amongst materials well charged with inflammable particles. When the curtain fell, the excited audience rushed into the street, exclaiming, “To the office of the National.” They ran thither, soon forced in the doors and windows, and began the work of destruction. They then rushed into the dwelling of the editor, which was speedily demolished, though the obnoxious individual, whose life was threatened, made his escape unhurt. The house of Van Maanen was that next assailed. It was plundered, and then set on fire, and the populace stopped the fire-engine from playing till every thing in it was consumed. The police-office was then attacked; the books, furniture, pictures, and plate of the chief magistrate were brought out and burnt in the street; and the hotel of the provincial governor shared the same fate; whilst some private houses and several manufactories were pillaged, and otherwise much damaged. Fury, confusion, or terror were visible in every countenance, before the civil and military powers made any attempts to stop these disorders; and those which were made showed a want either of the courage or the coolness necessary to act with decision. “From this conduct,” says an eye-witness, “before ten o’clock on the morning of the 26th, the guards and posts in the centre of the city had been overcome, or had tranquilly surrendered; and the troops who had been drawn out either retreated to their barracks, or were withdrawn to the upper part of the city, where they piled their arms in front of the king’s palace, and renounced all attempts at suppressing the tumult.”

By the operations of these two days, the multitude had in fact gained the mastery of the city, and every one in it felt himself exposed to whatever private malice, political fury, or the love of plunder, might induce the populace to inflict This moved a few of the more influential inhabitants to take up arms, and to enrol themselves into a burgher guard, for the protection of their lives and property. Within three days, not less than as many thousand persons, chiefly heads of families, had enrolled themselves in this corps, and, under chiefs of their own selection, paraded the streets; so that, if they did not put a stop to plunder and destruction, they at least contributed in some degree to contract the extent of the mischief. In such circumstances, the actual power within the city devolved on those who obtained the direction of these hastily organized and scarcely armed citizens. They determined on resisting the troops, which were advancing; and the general who commanded them having no precise orders from the king to act, readily agreed to suspend the march, and entered into a kind of treaty of neutrality with the burghers, till they could receive directions from the Hague, where the king and his family had that year their residence. The intelligence of these events in the capital soon spread throughout the provinces, and in all the large towns, excepting Antwerp and Ghent, similar scenes were exhibited, commencing with plunder and outrages by mobs, and settling down into an uneasy but rather more secure state by the institution of burgher guards.

The intelligence from Brussels was quickly communicated to the Hague, but the royal councils were divided in opinion. The only positive demand in Brussels was the dismission of the minister Van Maanen; and he offered to resign his post. The king is said to have refused accepting his resignation, whilst the Prince of Orange urged the acceptance of it, and the adoption of some other measures of a conciliatory kind. The result of the decision can only be known by the events which followed; and they show that neither the adoption of concessions, nor the positive use of force, was resolved upon, but a course was pursued which, being some undefined medium between the two different paths, ended, as was natural, in converting a mere popular riot into a confirmed revolution. It was determined by the council that the Prince of Orange should proceed to Brussels on a peaceful commission; whilst the command of the army was conferred on his brother, and the troops advanced with alacrity from the various parts of Holland, where they were quartered, and where the most astonishing zeal was displayed in support of the royal authority.

The prince, however, departed for Brussels, but only furnished with such limited powers as, in the actual circumstances, were utterly ineffective. On his arrival at Vilvorde, near the city, he was waited on by a deputation from the city, composed of some of the most respectable inhabitants, who had been nominated at a public meeting of the householders. After some preliminary discussions, the prince courageously resolved on entering the city with no other suite than a few officers of his staff. His passage through the streets, crowded with the irregular burgher guard, and a ferocious mob, was attended with imminent risk; but at length he reached his own palace, and commenced a conference. Discussions were continued for several days between the prince on one side, and respectable citizens on the other, which were conducted with firmness and in a conciliatory spirit by both parties. The substance was not a rejection of the royal authority, or of the reigning dynasty, on the part of the citizens, but a separation of the administration of Belgium from that of Holland. They all declared that no wish prevailed for any union with France, but only for such a kind of independence for both countries as had been fixed between Sweden and Norway, with which both countries were satisfied and benefited. It was more than intimated to the prince that the wishes of all Belgium would be fulfilled if he were elevated to the throne; but in answer to such suggestions he firmly asked of one of the most influential men both at that and the present time, “What opinion would you entertain of me were I to sacrifice the interests of my father to my own? What confidence could you repose in a man who could cast off his allegiance to his king, and that king his father, merely to gratify his own ambition? I also am a father,” added the prince with deep emotion, “and am bound to show a proper example to my children. Posterity shall not revert to my name, and revile me as that disloyal Nassau who tore the diadem from his father’s brow to place it on his own.”

At a final meeting held on the 3d of September, when many members of the states-general attended, it was so fully obvious to the prince that nothing but a separate administration of the two countries would restore tranquillity, that he resolved to use his influence with his father to accomplish that object; and he received the fullest assurance from the persons present, that they would unite in the most efficacious measures to assure the dynasty of the house of Orange, and to protect the territory of Belgium against any attempts to subject it to France, or any other foreign power. The prince expressed his determination to use his most powerful arguments with his father to obtain his assent to this proposal; but expressed his apprehension that he should be unable to succeed in his endeavours. The prince then quitted the city, carrying with him the respect of all those with whom he had communicated, for the courage he had displayed, for the knowledge of public affairs which he discovered, for the cool judgment which he exercised, and, above all, for the sense of parental duty which he had manifested. Whilst these transactions were passing in Brussels, the whole country was in a flame; in every town the populace were triumphant, and indulged unre [7:16:136]strained in plunder, to which, especially in the important city of Liège, was added the conflagration of several valuable manufacturing establishments. The officers of the army, with no definite orders how to act, were paralyzed in some places, in others gave up their arms, and in others engaged to be neutral.

The king, amidst the general disorder in Belgium, and the most fanatical attachment to the royal cause in Holland, had summoned the states-general from both divisions to assemble at the Hague. The members from Belgium, with some slight hesitation, resolved to repair thither, and the assembly was opened on the 13th of September, by a speech from the king, which was firm and temperate, but by no means definite. The proceedings of this body were dilatory; the Belgium members were treated with indignity and insult by the populace; and the language of some of the Dutch members expressed vengeance rather than conciliation. The accounts received at Brussels from the Hague, and the warlike demonstrations made by the troops, rekindled and accelerated the preparations for defence, and induced some approaches to organization. The burgher guards had become tired of military duty, and being mostly tradesmen living on their business, which had now been ruined, they were anxious for the return of the tranquillity upon which their existence depended. The leaders of the opposition, however, drew fresh recruits of a more determined and more reckless description from the rude population of the Walloon provinces, from the men employed in the coal and iron mines, and from the iron forges and other works which had been destroyed or shut up in and around Liège. These were, in a great measure, old and hardy soldiers, who had served in the ranks of Bonaparte’s army, and fought in Germany, in Russia, or in Spain. Their arrival in the capital spread terror amongst the peaceable inhabitants, and kindled alarms lest they should be again exposed to the outrages which had marked the first days of the explosion. The defenders were thus divided into two parties; but, as usual, the most violent soon prevailed; and the council of the rabble soon dispersed that of the burghers (for both had their separate assemblies), seized the arms of the latter, and added to them others which had been collected in different parts of the country.

Although the states were still sitting at the Hague, the king’s army was gradually drawn around Brussels. It consisted of 14,000 well appointed troops, under the command of Prince Frederick. But the motions of this powerful body were so dilatory, and its whole operations so unmilitary, that they are difficult to be accounted for, unless on the supposition that the conduct of the king was too conciliatory when force should have been applied, and too hostile when conciliation would have been of most advantage to his cause. On the 20th of September the council resolved to take possession of Brussels, and orders were sent to Prince Frederick to that effect. This resolution was taken at the Hague in consequence of the information of numerous emissaries from Brussels, who represented the inhabitants as eager to receive the troops, and to assist in putting an end to the anarchy and oppression which the mob were exercising. The most respectable names in the city were appended to these representations, which were doubtless sincere, but came from such as were more prepared to enjoy the return of peace and good government than to contribute any share of their personal services to secure these blessings.

On the 25th, the troops advanced towards the city, and with little opposition occupied the upper portion or court part of it, which is situated on a hill, by which the whole of the rest of the town is commanded. The opponents in the lower part of the city were dispirited and disunited, and most of the more violent leaders had fled. But the commanders of the army seem to have been seized with a panic, or to have dreaded doing too much mischief to the houses and property of the more wealthy inhabitants. In the square, where the troops had been drawn up, they were exposed to a galling fire from an invisible enemy, who, from the roofs of the houses, and from the cellars, picked off the officers and men without being much exposed to any return from the troops. Instead of destroying the houses and buildings which concealed the assailants, the prince had recourse to unavailing negotiations, and, after three days of most harassing service, determined to withdraw his troops. He had the means of stopping all supplies from entering the city, and thus of effecting a surrender by starvation; or, by a bombardment, he might have easily enforced submission. Why neither of these means were adopted cannot be certainly known; but the friends of the royal party attribute it to humanity alone. The loss of lives was not very great on the side of the king’s troops, considering their exposed situation, and the number engaged. It is stated in the returns as 138 killed, and 650 wounded; whilst of the defenders of the city, though far inferior in numbers, the casualties were acknowledged by themselves to be 450 killed, and 1250 wounded. This disparity must be considered as one of the many extraordinary circumstances of the transactions, and renders the result utterly incomprehensible. The incredible intelligence of this repulse was rapidly conveyed to the provinces, with great exaggerations; and disaffection, anarchy, and demoralisation were spread everywhere. The army retreated towards Antwerp, which, in spite of the force near it, soon became involved in confusion. Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, and the other towns in that direction, immediately became a prey to the revolutionary party, and experienced the horrors of anarchy in the destruction of some of their most extensive manufacturing establishments. The universal rejoicing of the Belgians did not prevent some measures from being adopted to restrain outrages. In a few days, some individuals, with the general acquiescence, formed themselves into a provisional government. They were for the most part men of character and property; but amongst them was De Potter, who had returned as soon as the danger was over, and had been placed by the popular feeling at the head of the body. His power was but of short duration, and he soon fell into utter insignificance, if not contempt, as did others of the original leaders of the insurrection. When those of the representatives who had assembled at the Hague returned home, and their conduct was reviewed in a dispassionate manner, the weight of their character gave them an influence which proved favourable to the return of order. Some of them were added to the body forming the provisional government, and they exercised their influence with prudence, firmness, and integrity.

In the provisional government the state of parties was singular, from the variety of opinions. De Potter, who looked forward to the dignity of president, advocated a republican form of government; Gendebeer, a decided advocate of democracy, preferred a union with France; whilst Van de Weyer wished for an independent government, on a monarchical basis, with the Prince of Orange at the head, if he would consent to withdraw altogether from his Dutch obligations, and become exclusively the sovereign of Belgium. The plan of Van de Weyer was known to be favoured by all the kings of Europe; and even France, at that moment under the pilotage of Lafayette, was averse to the entire exclusion of the Nassau dynasty, and sent an agent to Brussels to forward his views. Gendebeerhad visited Paris, and therefound little or no disposition amongst the leading people to agree to a union with the Belgians, which, they were aware, would involve them in a war with all those powers that had founded the kingdom of the [7:16:137]Netherlands in 1815, solely as a European object and a barrier against France.

It soon became evident in Belgium itself that republicanism had made little or no progress. The prevailing opinion was strong in favour of the Catholic religion, with all its ancient powers and observances, but stronger still in favour of a nationality independent of all foreign control. This latter spirit contributed to increase the number of those who had taken up arms; and by such persons the repulse of the Dutch at Brussels was vainly considered as an evidence of the military power of the people. Many of the privates, and a few Belgians of distinction, had been in the army of Prince Frederick; but they soon left his colours, and entered the ranks of their countrymen. The Belgian colours waved on every tower in the country, except those of Antwerp and Maestricht; when the Dutch army, greatly reduced in numbers as regarded subalterns and privates, but with the artillery in complete order, withdrew into their own territory.

The council of the king at the Hague resolved on the separation of the two governments into different administrations; but it was then too late to produce reconciliation; and an attempt made by the Prince of Orange to procure for himself the supremacy of Belgium had no other effect than to beget contempt in that country, and to draw upon himself the temporary suspicion of double dealing towards his father and his countrymen in Holland.

The transactions which took place at Antwerp in October had the further effect of rendering the Belgians still more adverse to the Orange dynasty than they had before been. That city was invested by a Belgian force, whilst within, notwithstanding the resistance of the armed burghers, thepopulace became masters of the place; and the citadel was occupied by a garrison of 8000 good troops, commanded by the bravest of the Dutch officers, General Chasse. A truce had been concluded between the adverse parties, and a white flag hoisted from the fort; but the Belgian officers were unable to maintain it, the populace having begun an attack on the citadel, though with no other arms than muskets. This was not returned, but a cannon was brought forward by the populace, and a fire opened on the gates of the citadel, which, as the Belgian officers assert, was without their approbation or knowledge. On this infraction of the truce, Chasse ordered two or three guns to be fired from the bastion facing the arsenal. This being found ineffectual, the white flag was taken down; a signal was made to the fleet, consisting of eight vessels of war, in the Scheldt, close to the town; andacannonadeand bombardment commenced. It was more terrific than injurious, the fire being chiefly directed against the arsenal and the entrepôt, where all the military and naval stores in the former were destroyed; whilst in the latter large quantities of sugar, coffee, hides, cloths, silks, and spices, were burned and buried in the ruins of the storehouses. The firing had continued some hours when a deputation from the city made their way to the citadel, and proposed a suspension of hostilities, which was instantly agreed to, and the firing ceased. Never, perhaps, was exaggeration or misrepresentation carried farther than on this occasion, in the reports printed and circulated through Belgium; and the effect which they produced destroyed the last hope of those who wished well to the Orange dynasty. Since that event, official accounts made out by the Belgian custom-house show, that the whole loss of goods in the stores amounted to 1,888,000 florins, or L.157,200; whilst the damage done to private buildings, and the furniture in them, amounted to 679,466 florins, or L.59,450. In this the loss of the public buildings was not included. The number of the killed was only sixty-eight, of whom seventeen were military men, and the others those of the populace who had caused the calamity. The Dutch asserted that the fire was confined almost wholly to the spot where the munitions of war were stored, and that the rest of the city was designedly spared.

As all hope of conciliation was thus destroyed, the court of the Hague made pressing solicitations to the four powers who by treaty had formed the kingdom of the Netherlands, to fulfil the obligations imposed upon them by the treaty of Viennaof 1815. But it was soon seen by the answer of Lord Aberdeen, the British secretary of state, and by those of the ministers of the other powers in succession, that none of them was disposed to make use of any other than pacific measures. This proceeding gave rise to negotiations between the allied powers, which were chiefly carried on in London, out of which proceeded numerous protocols, which had no decisive influence on the course of events. The public affairs of Europe favoured the independence of Belgium. All the powers were in alarm at the recent events in France, and all feared, not that the scarcely seated king would willingly commence a war of aggression, but that the democratic party might become sufficiently powerful to compel him to associate himself with the Belgians, and to bring that country under the power of France. -The obvious interest of the four great powers was tranquillity, and the securing of the Continent against Flanders becoming the base of military operations towards the centre of Europe. If these could be obtained, it mattered little whether they arose from the junction or the separation of the two portions which had formed the kingdom of the Netherlands. The first meeting of the ministers of the great powers showed that they merely considered themselves as arbitrators between the northern and southern divisions of the newly-dissolved kingdom; and their first measures were addressed to the object of a suspension of hostilities, which was to a limited extent acquiesced in by both parties.

To settle the internal government now became the first object of the Belgians, who considered their independence as firmly assured. A national congress was accordingly assembled at Brussels, consisting of two hundred deputies, chosen in the several provinces, from all tax-paying persons above twenty-five years of age, without exception as to religion. The qualification for the electors and the elected was the paying of taxes, which varied in the several provinces according to their estimated wealth. Thus, in Luxembourg, the poorest province, the qualification was the payment of taxes annually to the amount of twenty-one shillings and sixpence; but from this the required rate was gradually raised, till, in Flanders, the richest of the provinces, the tax paid required to be six pounds five shillings. The assembly was a fair representation of the people of Belgium; for scarcely any proprietor was excluded from voting, whilst in the larger towns and cities the mere populace, from the qualification being higher, had not the means of introducing their favourites. As soon as the assembly met, the demagogues, who had contributed to the revolution, became insignificant. De Potter, Thielman, and the others who had been martyrs and heroes with the mob, sunk into insignificance.

The assembly proceeded to business in a regular manner. Three important propositions were presented to the congress. The first was the declaration of independence, which was voted unanimously; the second, proposed on the 22d of November, decided against a republic, and in favour of a constitutional hereditary monarchy, by a majority of 174 against thirteen votes, but it did not fix on the title of the future chief of the state; the third proposition, brought forward on the 23d, was for the perpetual exclusion of the Orange Nassau family. This was debated during two days, and at the close was agreed to by a majority of 161 against twenty-eight. The object of the minority was to delay the proposition till a more cool and distant period, and till it could be known whether the revolution which had taken place would lead to a war against Belgium. Mr Van de Weyer had, however, returned from a mission to London, [7:16:138] and it was commonly believed he had ascertained that the sentiments of Lord Grey and the new ministers were as averse to any warlike interference as those which had been previously expressed by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Aberdeen.

It seems probable, that at the period in question the governments of England and France were co-operating in endeavours to place the Prince of Orange on the throne of Belgium; even if it could be accomplished in defiance of the positive declaration of the king his father, who did not scruple to assert, “that he would rather see De Potter placed on the throne than the Prince of Orange.” But if such was the desire of the two kingdoms, it was soon discovered to be utterly impracticable, though much time was spent under the impression of its feasibility, and much suspicion excited amongst the Belgians against the sincerity of France.

Whilst the plenipotentiaries were settling the most equitable plan for separating the two countries, and had given their view with respect to the boundaries of each, they also adjusted what portion of the debt of the Netherlands should be assigned to Belgium, and what to Holland, fixing the former at ½∣ parts, and the latter at ½f parts. These discussions led to others; and it soon became known, that however independent Belgium might become as regarded Holland, it was too dependent on the superior power of the European kingdoms to be permitted the spontaneous nomination of the individual who was to become its sovereign. At that time a large, perhaps a predominant, party in the assembly would have preferred one of the Bonaparte family; but this, it soon appeared, would not be permitted by France. Another party were inclined to select a son of Louis Philip, the king of the French; but intimations had been communicated to that prince, that England would consider an acquiescence in the project as a sufficient cause of war; and he agreed to the exclusion of his son, but so privately that it was only known to a few individuals beyond the diplomatic circles. The partisans of the house of Orange took no open and avowed part in these discussions.

The inefficiency of this representative assembly to the real purposes of a government was speedily shown in the long and bombastical speeches of the members; in the absolute confusion in every department, whether civil, military, or judicial; and in the mobbing and plundering which prevailed in all' the provinces. The necessity for an executive power was so strongly felt by the more reflecting members of the assembly, that after several days’ preparatory debate, it was resolved, on the 19th of January 1831, to proceed to the election of a chief on the 28th of that month. The election of a sovereign, or rather of a dynasty, was enough to kindle agitation and intrigue; but perhaps less of these than might have been expected was discoverable, from the great number of the candidates whose pretensions were urged. On the day before the election, petitions were presented to the assembly in favour of Lafayette, Fabvier, Chateaubriand, the Prince of Carignan, the Archduke Charles; Surlet de Chokier, Charles Rogier, and Felix de Merode, private Belgians; Prince Otho of Bavaria, John duke of Saxony, a Prince of Salm, the Pope, the Duke of Nemours, second son of Louis Philip, and the Duke of Leuchtenburg· Besides these, the Duke of Lucca, the Duke of Reichstadt, the son of Napoleon, and the Prince of Capua, brother of the king of the Two Sicilies, were suggested. The choice of the last was seriously contemplated by the French, through Talleyrand; but the Belgians showed no predilection for him, although he was not objectionable to any of the four powers. Had the Belgians showed any decided eagerness for Prince Otho of Bavaria, it was known that he would have been recognised by England, France, and Prussia; and that he would then have obtained the hand of the Princess Mary, third daughter of the king of the French. But his age, for he was only fifteen, formed an objection with the Belgians. The popular press, decidedly democratic, was most united in favour of the Duke of Leuchtenburg; but its power had been used till it was exhausted; and, besides, the choice was in better hands than those who are influenced by its inflammatory declamations. It is remarkable, that amongst the long list of candidates the name of Prince Leopold was never once mentioned. It has been suggested that England had not even then abandoned the hope of fixing the Prince of Orange on the throne. This would have been approved of by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and by the nobles and wealthier part of the Belgians, but not by France, as Louis Philip was disposed to fear that the example of enthroning the son of the deposed monarch might hereafter have been taken as a precedent in favour of the Duke of Bordeaux against his son in France.

At the eve of the election, however, by some strange caprice of circumstances, all the names were withdrawn excepting the two, who, all intelligent persons knew, could not be allowed to rule. It was remarked of them by Northomb, one of the most respectable of the democratic members, that “the Duke of Leuchtenburg was essentially antiFrench, without being European, whilst the Duke of Nemours was so exclusively French as to be directly antiEuropean.” It is singular that both these personages had been declared inadmissible by the conference of the representatives of the great powers. The name of the Archduke Charles of Austria was then brought forward; but he could only be considered as a cloak for the partisans of the Prince of Orange, and for other members, who knew he would not accept the dignity, for the purpose of reducing that absolute majority of the whole voters which was necessary to the choice. The votes were taken by ballot, and the following result appeared when the names were drawn from the urn :—The total number of voters was 191, and consequently the required absolute majority was ninety-six. Nine members being absent, there appeared for the Duke of Nemours eighty-nine, for the Duke of Leuchtenburg sixty-seven, and for the Archduke Charles thirty-five, so that, in fact, there was no election. A new voting then became necessary, and the second scrutiny gave a definite result. Another member had entered, making 192, and consequently the absolute majority required was ninety seven. The state of the voting then appeared to be, for Nemours ninety-seven, for Leuchtenburg seventy-four, and for the archduke twenty-one. This annunciation was received with acclamation by the populace, and with expressions of joy by the partisans of the successful candidate, who well knew his father would not permit him to accept the offered crown. A deputation was despatched to Paris to announce the choice. But the throne was refused, and the deputies returned after paying and receiving some unmeaning compliments.

The moment was seized by the partisans of the Prince of Orange in order to raise a commotion in his favour. It was a wild project, confined to Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp, where his adherents were numerous, especially amongst the lower class, who had been thrown out of employment by the cessation of commerce and manufactures. The attack on Ghent was speedily quelled, and the leader fled; but he was seized on his way to France, and on his person were found letters from the Prince of Orange, then in London, encouraging the project. This unsuccessful effort, and the evidence of the prince’s participation in it, proved very injurious to his cause; and even sober men who had favoured him, were disgusted with what appeared’ to them to be an attempt to involve the country in a civil war.

On the refusal of France, the assembly, still feeling the [7:16:139]want of an executive power, passed an act that the throne was vacant, thereby establishing the monarchical principle, and then proceeded to the election of a regent as a temporary measure. The choice fell upon Baron Surlet de Chokier, a worthy, well-meaning man, of no great abilities, who showed little solicitude for the dignity; and on the 25th of February he was installed with some parade. Plots and conspiracies were forming around him in every direction, and the demon of civil war was urging on the people to mutual destruction. The feeble government of the regent could produce neither obedience nor tranquillity within the country; and it was threatened by the Dutch, who adhered to their king and his purposes with equal union and ardour. It was reported, during the regency, that schemes for the dismemberment of Belgium were contemplated by some of the continental powers. According to this project, two thirds of Flanders, the province of Antwerp, and the northern half of Limburg and Brabant, including Brussels, would have fallen to Holland; the eastern part of Luxembourg, with Liège and other territories upon the left bank of the Meuse and the Moselle, would have been transferred to Prussia; and Namur, Hainault, and the west part of Flanders, would have been ceded to France. If this project was seriously entertained, it received such discouragement from the British government, that it was speedily abandoned. About the same period, that is, about a month after the instalment of the regent, extensive plans were formed for a general rising amongst the Orange party, in connection with some of the chief officers of the army and the most influential leaders of the burgher guards of Brussels. But this came to nothing, having, it is said, been discountenanced by the British minister at Brussels, who saw no other effect that could arise from it but a general European war. It is said that after some discussion respecting Luxembourg, and checking the petty hostilities on the frontier, the British government in April gave up all hope of establishing the Prince of Orange on the Belgic throne. On the 12th of that month a kind of proposition was made by some of the influential members of the assembly, and privately communicated to Sir Edward Cust, one of the equerries of Prince Leopold, with the design of ascertaining whether the prince, if chosen, would accept the crown. Leopold answered in the affirmative, but strictly abstained from giving any authority to make exertions in his favour. He was however convinced, before the election, that a vast majority of the electors would vote in his favour; and that he should have all the aid of the clergy and the high Catholic nobility, with no opposition but from the French and movement party, and the few Orangeists that had seats in the assembly. A deputation of four members repaired to Claremont, and had an interview with the prince. They explained their object, and the conditions upon which they were authorized to offer the crown, and awaited his reply. It manifested a noble, simple, and frank disposition, and concluded thus: “All my ambition is to contribute to the happiness of my fellow-creatures. When yet young, I found myself in so many difficult and singular situations, that I have learned to consider power only with a philosophic eye. I never coveted it but for the sake of doing good, durable good. Had not certain political differences arisen, which appeared to me essentially opposed to the independence of Greece, I should now be in that country; and yet I never attempted to conceal from myself the difficulties of my position. I am aware how desirable it is that Belgium should have a sovereign as soon as possible. The peace of Europe is deeply interested in it.”

The deputation returned, and many stormy discussions ensued. Attempts were made to defer the election till all differences with Holland were settled; but these were overcome by the votes of 137 to 48. The election took place on the 4th of June, when 152 votes out of 196, four only being absent, determined that Prince Leopold should be proclaimed king of the Belgians, under the express condition, that he “would accept the constitution, and swear to maintain the national independence and territorial integrity.”

This choice, though not expressly unanimous, was such in reality; for of the minority of forty-three, nineteen voted on the ground that the election was premature, fourteen voted for Baron Surlet de Chokier, solely on account of private friendship, and thus the real opposition to Leopold consisted only of ten. Though the voting was by ballot, yet the vote of every man was known; and all who dared, gave reasons for it, except the ten, who were well known as terrorists.

Leopold lost no time in repairing to the post to which he was appointed, and, with only one aide-de-camp and a few domestics, landed at Ostend on the 17th of June, and proceeded directly through Ghent to the palace of Lacken, near Brussels. He made his public entry into that city on the 21st, and was received with cordiality by the higher classes, and by the populace with loud acclamations. The king took the oath to the constitution; the regent delivered up his power; and the congress was dissolved, to make way for the election of the members who were to form the two legislative chambers, as prescribed by the fundamental laws.

The first chamber, or the senate, was to consist of fifty members, chosen for eight years, but one half of them was to be renewed at the end of four years. The qualifications were to be, having attained the age of forty years, and paying direct taxes to the amount of 1000 florins, or L.84 yearly. The second chamber was to consist of 101 members, being at the rate of one for 40,000 inhabitants. They were to be of the age of twenty-five years, to pay annual direct taxes to the amount of L.8, and to be paid at the rate of 200 florins, or L.16, each month during the session. They were to be renewed by one half retiring at the end of two years, but they might be again elected.

After a few formalities, and appointing the ministers to compose the cabinet, on the choice of which much judgment was exercised, the king left the capital to visit Antwerp, Liège, and the other parts of the new kingdom, and was everywhere received with demonstrations of respect and of loyalty. But whilst the proceedings just narrated were passing in Belgium, a storm was gathering on the side of Holland, which had not been anticipated, and to meet which no adequate preparations had been made. The Belgians relied on the armistice which the conference of the ambassadors had established, and the few measures which were taken by them discovered only the confusion and disorder inseparable from all popular movements. In Holland, every thing betokened tranquillity, order, and loyalty. The different orders of the government and the people were more eager for punishing what they denominated the rebellion, than even the king and his family. A powerful army was quickly assembled. It was well disciplined, officered, and appointed, and furnished with an ample train of artillery; and yet all was done with so much secrecy, that till that army was ready to advance beyond the frontiers, no preparation was made to resist it.

Much dispute has arisen relative to the right of Holland to commence hostilities without due notice of the cessation of the armistice; but, on the other hand, Holland maintained that due notice had been given. The whole turned on the precise sense of the words “ses.moyens militaires,” in a note delivered by the Dutch ministers to the conference of ambassadors. The king was certainly encouraged in the enterprise by the stormy scenes exhibited in the Belgian assembly between the period of Leopold’s election and the time of his arrival. By the noxious influence of the press, such angry passions had been kindled in every [7:16:140]division of society, as seemed to threaten internal war; but happily a most powerful speech of Mr Lebau in favour of union, and urging the importance of rallying round their new monarch, had the effect of producing feelings of tranquillity; though no language had power to produce order or infuse energy, when the time approached for the exhibition of the one and the exercise of the other.

The Prince of Orange having assumed the command of the Dutch army at Breda, on the 1st of August, the order to advance was instantly given; and the march of the several divisions commenced the next day. This was a complete surprise to the Belgians, who were unprepared at every point to resist a disposable army of more than 40,000 men. It is not necessary here to describe the position and the movements of the various corps on both sides. It was, however, remarked by military men, that the Prince of Orange advanced more deliberately than the occasion required. Leopold collected his forces, such as they were, near Louvain, in order to cover his capital. In this position the Dutch army, having seized the road which led to Brussels on the 9th of August, advanced to attack him. The Belgian troops could not stand for a moment against their opponents, but instantly fled, throwing away their arms, and escaping in disorder; and a neglect of the Dutch, who thoughtlessly left open a road behind Louvain, alone prevented Leopold and his whole staff from becoming prisoners of war. He, however, made good his retreat to the capital, upon which all hostilities ceased. As soon as the movements of the Dutch were known, Leopold appealed to France for assistance. A French army was cantoned on the frontiers, which, by telegraphic communications, was instantly set in motion; and intelligence of their advance was formally announced to the Prince of Orange by Lord William Russell, coupled with an intimation, from the French marshal Gérard, of the determination of the two powers to enforce the abandonment of all military operations. As the French army rapidly entered the country, the Prince of Orange soon saw the necessity of retreating; and a convention was concluded between him and the French general, in consequence of which he returned to Holland, and the French repassed the frontier; so that by the 1st of September both armies had left the Belgian territory.

The cowardly disgraceful conduct of the Belgic troops was of great benefit to the new government. It showed the reflecting part of the community the folly of trusting the defence of their country to a host of popular partisans, too ready to destroy or to plunder, but too much inflated by the flattery they bestowed on themselves to become efficient defenders when steadily opposed. All saw the necessity of confiding in their chief, and became convinced that a regular army must be formed, in which the men should be compelled to obey their officers. The formation of an army was therefore determined on; but Belgium could not furnish officers. Most of those appointed had been placed in stations of which they were unworthy, because they had been what was called distinguished patriots, that is, leaders of the revolutionary movements; but those active disorganizers were found worse than useless when energy against an enemy required order, discipline, and obedience. By the interference to protect Belgium against Holland, this farther advantage was gained, that the protecting powers were placed in a position to obtain more weight in the negotiations carried on in the conferences of the ambassadors, and both parties were more disposed to leave the contested points respecting boundaries to their arbitration.

In forming an army, Leopold was assisted by the French, who, as far as could be done, furnished it with able officers; a want which Belgium could by no means supply from the natives of that country. The partisans of the Orange family, on this occasion, justified the conduct of King William previous to the revolution, in having selected few of his officers from the Belgians. The selection of Frenchmen, they contended, proved that William was right in not trusting to officers taken from that division of his kingdom.

After the Dutch irruption, Leopold proceeded with coolness and vigour to restore order and gain confidence. He kept on the best of terms with the most important party, the Catholic clergy and the Catholic nobility, and avoided any nearer contact with the French party than politeness and civility required. He knew who were the real friends of monarchical government, and his best supporters. His marriage with a daughter of the king of the French, who was a Catholic, and the contract that the children of the marriage should be educated in the Catholic faith, were powerful means of attaching to his throne all those of his subjects who were under the influence of the clergy. The Belgian army, under the French officers, soon attained considerable advancement in organization and discipline. The undisciplined free troops were disbanded, and the best of the men incorporated in the regiment of chasseurs. Some superior officers were superseded, and many of the subalterns dismissed. A military school was established, and a corps of sappers and miners with a pontoon brigade raised.

The civil list was arranged with economy and order, and the other branches of the public service reformed, and others newly arranged. The talents and the integrity of Leopold, and his benevolent disposition, made a very favourable impression on all that approached him.

Whilst affairs were thus proceeding within, the great work of general pacification was attended to by the members of the conference in London. A final decision was come to on the 15th of November, expressed in twenty-four articles. These settled the great point of boundaries, and placed the question of Luxembourg in a way the most favourable, as was thought, for future pacific arrangement; but, above all, it expressed a determination “to oppose, by every means in their power, the renewal of hostilities between the two countries.” This arrangement was ratified by the Belgian and French sovereigns on the 20th and 24th of November, by the British on the 6th of December, by Austria and Prussia on the 18th of April 1832, and by Russia on the 4th of May.

By these articles, the division of the joint debt was fixed on the scale before arranged, viz. ½½ for Belgium, and ½f for Holland; but as the latter had discharged the whole interest as it became due from the first disturbances, she was to be paid the share of the advances, with interest on them at the rate of five per cent. Another point arose out of the settlement of the limits of the two countries. Holland was to have Maestricht, and was in actual possession of that place and its citadel; but Antwerp, which was allotted to Belgium, and was in possession of the Belgians, was commanded by the citadel, which was garrisoned by a Dutch army under the command of General Chasse, a distinguished officer, who, after the annexation of Holland to France, had served in the army of the Emperor Napoleon. The Belgians had given only a conditional ratification of the articles of the 15th of November, upon the express stipulation that the whole of them, in which the possession of the citadel of Antwerp was certainly included, should be fulfilled. They were precluded by that instrument from exercising hostilities, and therefore claimed from the parties to it the performance of its conditions.

It was important to the allied powers that the throne which they had established in the person of Leopold should be strengthened in the views of his subjects, who had sometimes manifested dispositions to democracy, and at others strong inclinations for a union with France, neither of which were deemed compatible with the interests of the European commonwealth. But it could not retain respect if the con [7:16:141]ditions framed by the founders were to be impugned by the Dutch holding the citadel of Antwerp, whilst they were still in possession of Maestricht. These considerations had their due effect on the conference, who, on the 1st of October, unanimously resolved that forcible means were necessary. They differed in regard to the means, the northern courts wishing to adopt pecuniary coercion, by deducting from the debt due from Belgium to Holland a sum weekly till the fortress was delivered up; but to this France and England objected, as leading only to future and tedious negotiations, during which Rotterdam and Amsterdam might enjoy those exclusive commercial advantages which Antwerp was entitled to share with them.

Belgium, being wearied with these entangled negotiations, and having now created an army of more than 100,000, gave notice that, unless their territory was evacuated before the 3d of November, they would use force to compel it. But this would have created a war, which all the powers were anxious to prevent. On the 22d of October, a convention was therefore entered into between England and France, which was forthwith communicated to the three other powers, of whose passive adhesion they were assured.

By this convention it was determined, that if the places assigned by the former resolutions to the respective parties were not given up before the 12th of November, France and England would enforce the delivery of these places. This determination was communicated to both nations. Belgium was ready to give up Venloo, which she held; but Holland positively declined surrendering the citadel of Antwerp. The result was, that a combined fleet of English and French proceeded to blockade the ports of Holland, and detain the merchant-ships, whilst France prepared an army to besiege the citadel, without allowing the Belgians in any way to interfere in the military operation. The siege of Antwerp by the French, as a fine practical exemplification of science, became an object of great interest to the military amateurs of all Europe, who repaired thither as spectators. But this is not the place for recording the history of that warlike spectacle. It was vigorously and skilfully attacked; and the defence, which was altogether passive, exhibited a conspicuous example of fortitude and endurance. The first works of the besiegers were opened on the 30th of November, and on the 24th of December the citadel capitulated, when the garrison marched out, and the French took possession of the battered fortress, which, on the 1st of January, they delivered up to the Belgians. The city of Antwerp was not in the least injured, as the approaches were carried on upon the opposite side. The French army shortly afterwards withdrew from Belgium to its own territory. The Dutch garrison was marched into France as prisoners, on the ground that two forts on the river Scheldt, those of Lillo and Liefenschoeck, were still retained by the Dutch. This led to long and complicated diplomatic negotiations, which were at length adjusted, when the captured garrison returned to their own country. Since that period no hostilities have taken place; but, on the other hand, no treaty has been entered into, and consequently no intercourse between the two countries has been permitted.

Belgium has at length been acknowledged as an independent power by most of the states of Europe, but only provisionally by some of them. Many of the owners of ships, especially of those of the first class, have withdrawn their concerns from Antwerp and Ostend, and formed establishments in Rotterdam and the other parts of Holland. Of these removals, not a few have been caused by the colonies appertaining exclusively to Holland. But this withdrawal has had less influence on the marine commerce of the Netherlands than might have been expected; for British and American ships have brought to Antwerp colonial produce, on quite as favourable terms as they were before supplied, and in sufficient quantity to enable the Belgians to maintain their commerce with the interior of Germany.

Attempts are now in progress to bring Antwerp in communication with the Rhine. But, on the part of the Prussian government, these have encountered some obstacles, not from any disinclination to the work, but from doubts as to the particular line to be followed, and some financial circumstances respecting the tolls. If the projects in question be accomplished, the Belgians will be much benefited, and have the power of supplying produce to the south of Germany, and also to Switzerland.

The manufacturers have suffered much from the separation, especially those of Ghent. But a trade has grown up to a wonderful extent, of smuggling English goods of the finer kind into France, which the numerous douaniers have not been able to prevent along such an extended line of frontier.

Agriculture, which, after all, is the chief source of Belgian wealth, does not appear to have retrograded in consequence of the struggle of the separation. On the contrary, it appeared to the writer of th⅛ article, in two journeys which he made through the country, that much improvement was visible in the appearance of the farms, and in their appurtenances.

This kingdom, in the condition in which it now exists, is bounded on the north by the kingdom of Holland; on the east by the Prussian, Westphalian, and Rhenish territories; on the south by France; and on the west by the German Ocean.

. The civil divisions of the kingdom are as follow.
[table]

As the above statement is taken from the official returns of the Belgian government, the disputed portions of Limburg and Luxembourg are included in that kingdom, although still subjects of discussion. The number of the inhabitants is given according to the census of the year 1830, since which the number must have increased. The tables of the population annually furnished by Smits to Quetelet show an excess of births over deaths of 20,000 persons in each year, and consequently the whole population may now (1837) be taken at 4,200,000. Of the population at the census of 1830, the numbers in the cities were about one fourth of the whole: they amounted to 998,118, whilst the rural inhabitants were 3,066,117.

The cities which contain more than 10,000 inhabitants are,
[table]
[7:16:142]

The following division of the land is drawn up by Mr Quetelet, with his usual accurate examination of facts.
[table]

This account is framed in the hectolitre of France, each hectolitre being somewhat more than two English acres and a quarter.

From the proportion which the rural inhabitants bear to those in the cities, it may be concluded that agriculture is the chief pursuit of the kingdom. It becomes, therefore, a branch of industry of the most interesting kind.

The land of Flanders is not naturally fertile; on the contrary, its quality is merely such as to admit of fertilization by a series of operations more or less expensive and laborious. Where cultivation has not been extended, the soil produces nothing but heath and fir. As the property of such lands may be acquired for a very small sum, many individuals have attempted to bring portions of it into cultivation, but have almost uniformly found the expense of doing so to exceed the value of the produce which can be drawn from it. Abbé Mann, to whom we are indebted for some valuable communications on the subject of Flemish agriculture, observes, “What land is cultivated in the Campine of Brabant, is owingto the religious houses founded in it, especially to the two great abbeys of Ton-gerloo and Everbode. Their uninterrupted duration for five or six hundred years, and their indefatigable industry, have conquered the barren harsh sands, and rendered many parts of them highly productive. The method they follow is simple and uniform; they never undertake to cultivate more of this barren soil than they have sufficient manure for; seldom more than five or six bunders (fifteen or eighteen acres) in a year; and when it is brought, by labour and manuring, into a state capable of producing sufficient for a family to live on, it is let out to farmers on easy terms, after having built them comfortable habitations. From the undoubted testimony of the historians of the Low Countries, it appears that the cultivation of the greater part of these rich provinces took its rises from the self-same means, 800 or 1000 years ago, when they were in a manner one continued forest.” Although, from the destruction, dispersion, or diminution of the religious communities by the French Revolution, the process of reclaiming other parts of the heaths has been suspended or rendered languid, yet the excellent agricultural practices, which a long series of years had ingrafted into the minds and habits of the sluggish peasantry, have been adhered to with a tenacity which is obviously distinguishable in all the other customs, as well as in the manners, dress, food, and religion of the people. Besides that general system of economy which is indispensable to the success of all efforts, and which there enters into the minutest details of husbandry, the two great objects which seem to be aimed at in all their operations are the increase of those crops which afford sustenance for cattle, and the careful preservation of every substance which can be converted into manure, and returned again to the land, in order to renew its exhausted fertility.

The foundation upon which the agriculture of Belgium rests is the cultivation of clover, which seems indigenous, since none of the most ancient records notice its introduction, but speak of it as familiarly as of hay or oats. It is probably from this country that the plant in question has been, though but recently, slowly, and hitherto only partially, introduced amongst the farmers of Germany, France, and Great Britain. The clover in Flanders is sown in every sort of grain, in wheat, rye, and winter barley, in the spring of the year, when the blades of those plants have acquired a growth of three or four inches; and with oats and summer barley at the same time with those seeds. It is also often sown with flax; and, in general, the crops grown between those plants are more luxuriant than when sown with the cerealia. It frequently happens, when sown with flax, that clover yields a heavy crop a few months after it is sown, two still more abundant crops the next year, and sometimes even three; and if, as it occasionally happens, it be suffered to stand another year, it will yield one heavy crop, and afterwards good pasture for cattle, till it is ploughed up to receive the seed of wheat, which usually follows it. The original strength of the plants which yield such abundant nourishment is undoubtedly due to the care taken in pulverizing the soil by frequent ploughings and harrowings, to the careful extirpation of all weeds, and to the copious stores of manure laid on the ground, and its complete amalgamation with the soil; but the successive harvests which the plants yield are attributed, and with apparent probability, to the top-dressings which are bestowed upon them. The top-dressings administered to the young clover consist either of rotten yard-dung, lime, pigeons’ dung, coal, or native turf-ashes, and are laid on as soon as the plants begin to extend themselves over the ground. Sometimes the plants are refreshed with a liquid manure, which will hereafter be noticed. These manures, though administered to the clovers, as far as they can be obtained, are found far inferior in powers of fertility to that substance which is most generally used, and the effects of which form the theme of the praises bestowed by all who have witnessed the Belgian husbandry. The turf-ashes of Holland are sown by the hand on the clovers, in quantities varying from eighteen to twenty bushels to the English acre. This small quantity produces a most surprising, and almost magical effect. Within a few weeks after it is sown, a field where none or but slight straggling plants were to be seen becomes covered with a most abundant herbage. The parts of a field sown with these ashes, at the first mowing, show their efficacy in a most striking manner; the clover being frequently a foot higher on such parts than on those where its sowing has been omitted. These ashes are found superior in efficacy to such as are made from the turf commonly used for fuel in Flanders, insomuch that one third of the quantity is deemed sufficient to afford as great productiveness. We have no analysis of the turf-ashes of [7:16:143] Flanders, by which we can form a comparative estimate of the proportional substances which create so vast a difference between their vegetative faculties and those of the turf-ashes of Holland. The latter have been carefully analyzed by Mr Brande, secretary to the Royal Society of London, who found them to contain,

Siliceous earth 32 parts.

Sulphate of lime 12

Sulphate and muriate of soda 6

Carbonate of lime 40

Oxide of iron 3

93

Impurities and loss 7

100

These ashes are brought from Holland by the canals to Brussels, whence they are conveyed by land-carriage to the different farms where they are applied. Long practice has so convinced the Flemish farmers of their benefit, that a common proverb, in the patois of the country, may be thus translated: “He that buys ashes for his clover pays nothing, but he who does it not pays double.” They are frequently fetched from the canal by persons who have to carry them forty or even fifty miles by land.

The abundance of the clover produced from the soil of Flanders enables the cultivator to maintain a great number of cattle, principally cows, the dung of which is managed with an attention and care that is highly worthy of imitation, and contributes to maintain in a state of high fertility that soil which yields the most exhausting crops. “The farmers,” says the Abbé Mann, “supply the want of straw in the following manner: The peat or sods which are cut from the heath are placed in the stables and cowstalls as litter for the cattle. The ground under them is dug to a certain depth, so as to admit a considerable quantity of these peat sods, and fresh ones are added as the feet of the cattle tread them down into less compass. These compose so many beds of manure, thoroughly impregnated with the urine and dung of the cattle. This mixture produces a compost of excellent quality for fertilizing ground where corn is to be sown.”

But the most remarkable practice of the Flemish cultivators is the application of liquid manure. Under the farm buildings, large reservoirs are constructed, into which the draining of the dung, the urine of the cattle, and the contents of the privies, all run. This receptacle is divided by rails, so as to prevent any more solid substances from coming into that part where the pump is placed, by which it is raised from the reservoir into the carts employed to convey it to the fields. The liquid in these receptacles is commonly increased in efficacy by throwing into them, for solution, large quantities of rape-cake. This liquid manure, enriched by oil-cake in proportion to the purse or the spirit of the proprietor, is spread over the land, sometimes by the hand; and by habit the workmen have acquired the tact of distributing it equally and in previously prescribed proportions over a whole field. But it is more commonly conveyed to the fields in large casks on wheels, to the bunghole of which is appended a wooden shoot, narrow at the top, and broad at the lower extremity, which spreads the substance equally. For the flax and rape crops this manure is most liberally used. The quantity of this liquid applied to an acre of flax is commonly about 2500 gallons of English beer measure, in which about 1000 rape-cakes of three pounds each have been dissolved.

No country in Europe provides from its soil so great a quantity of sustenance for its inhabitants, so large a surplus of food for exportation, and such valuable commodities to exchange for articles of foreign growth, as Flanders. Besides wheat, rye, barley, oats, pease, beans, and buck-wheat, madder, rape-seed, hops, tobacco, clover-seed, mustard-seed, flax, hemp, poppy-oil, and some other productions, are raised beneficially, both for home consumption and for exportation. As the inhabitants are in every thing averse to innovation or improvement, the implements of husbandry are in a rude state, and very little variation is made from the examples set by their ancestors some centuries ago. The various machines used in England for abridging animal labour in husbandry are unknown, and the use of human beings is still retained in many operations, for which horses and machinery are adopted by us with great advantage. The same aversion to innovate is seen in the management of the cows, the sheep, and the pigs; the races not having been improved by crossing, as in some other countries. The horses seem to have attracted more attention, and the race commonly seen is excellent for agricultural purposes, as well as for the road.

The separation of Belgium from Holland must have had some effect upon the agriculture of the former country, by excluding for the present the farmers from one of their best markets for corn; but the influence does not appear on the face of the country, where improvements still seem in progress.

In the most remote periods, the Netherlands were distinguished by their manufacturing skill and industry; Under the Romans, the inhabitants of Arras and several other Flemish cities were celebrated for the production of woollen cloths. At a later period, under the Emperor Charlemagne, a present of fine linen and of woollen cloth, sent to the caliph of Bagdad, Haroun al Raschid, was deemed to display the most curious specimens of the industry and skill of the western world. In the instructions of that monarch (Capitular, de Villis Regum Francorum), it appears that there existed at Liège, and other cities of the Netherlands, very extensive manufactories, both from flax and wool, in the dyeing of which madder and kermes berries were used, and were forbidden to be adulterated. The ancient condition of the manufactories of the Netherlands is peculiarly interesting, because it is to them that we and the rest of Europe are indebted for the first rudiments of those arts which have since been so widely extended in England, Scotland, France, Germany, and Holland. In the time of Charlemagne, it appears from the same collection, and from the Historia Monasterii Sαlrnu~ ricnsis, that iron wares, gold and silver work, embroidery, arms, horse furniture, and various other articles, were extensively manufactured. The earliest Flemish fabrics were those of linen; and, as early as the year 960, free marts were established in several of the cities, to which great numbers of merchants from foreign countries periodically resorted. The present state of the linen manufactory is by no means flourishing; but large quantities of the finer kinds, made from flax of their native growth, are supplied by the inhabitants of this kingdom, and are everywhere highly esteemed. The finest yarn and the best bleacheries are at Haarlem; the best linen is woven at Herzogenbasch, Eindoven, and some other places; but some fine linen, spun in Westphalia, is mixed with that of those places, and when bleached in Holland is not distinguishable from it. The curious manufactory of thread lace originated in this country, and still distinguishes it. The best is that of Brussels and Mechlin. In the former city and its vicinity it once gave employment to more than 14,000 persons; and at one period the exports of goods fabricated in Flanders, from the flax of their own growth, amounted to more than L.2,000,000 sterling. The woollen manufactories of Flanders were in a flourishing state as early as the year 980, but were most extensive from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. In the city of Louvain, in the year 1317, there were four thousand looms for weaving woollens. Brussels and Antwerp employed an equal [7:16:144] number. Ghent was, however, the most distinguished city for its fabrics, both of wool and flax, and at that period employed 40,000 looms. When called upon to take arms, the weavers, under the banners of their trade, mustered 16,000 men. Ypres contained 4000 looms. Bruges was the storehouse and central point for the commerce of the half of Europe; but in 1478 the situation was changed for that of Antwerp, which continued to be one of the most flourishing cities of the world till the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the tyranny and fanaticism of Philip II. of Spain inflicted on the Flemish provinces the greatest sufferings.

A variety of circumstances have operated upon the manufacturing branches of industry in Belgium, and rendered them exceedingly fluctuating. The great extent of the cotton fabrics has diminished the consumption of linen goods, and been extensively felt in Belgium. In consequence of this, much capital was invested in machinery for making cotton goods, especially at Ghent; and the access to the settlements of Holland in the East and West Indies gave a degree of energy to the employment which the separation of the two countries has damped, if not quite destroyed. The home consumption, however, is very great, owing to the density of the population, and the general state of easy, if not affluent circumstances, in which the great economy of the people places them. In Ghent, Brussels, and some other spots, cotton goods are made. Verviers and the towns near it are celebrated for their excellent cloth; and in all the towns and villages, the making of linen and lace is a kind of domestic employment. There are refineries for sugar in Antwerp, Ostend, and Brussels. The produce of the mines of coal and iron in the provinces of Liège, Namur, Hainault, and Luxembourg, have laid the foundation of hardware manufactories to a great extent in the city of Liège, and on the banks of the Meuse. The chief evil which has been produced by the separation from Holland is experienced in the mining provinces. In consequence of this event, the whole of Holland now obtains its supply of the important article of coal from England, and of iron from our country, or from Russia and Sweden.

Belgium is well situated for foreign trade. The whole of its coasts are indeed rendered dangerous from sand-banks; but the channels between them and the shore are well buoyed and lighted, and there is a vast number of excellent pilots at all the various stations. The three ports are Ostend, Nieuport, and Antwerp. The first two are tideharbours, but the latter is situated upon the Scheldt, and is accessible to the largest class of vessels in any state of the tide. It has also the advantage of capacious docks and storehouses, and is thereby admirably adapted to become a depot for an extensive commerce with the south of Germany, and with Switzerland. As the Dutch possess the shore on both sides of the entrance of the Scheldt, this has proved a discouragement to the trade of Antwerp, though a temporary agreement has been made; and some impediments have been thrown in the way of the intercourse between Belgium and Germany by the financial confederation formed by Prussia. From these circumstances, some of the most considerable houses who were ship-owners have removed their establishments, including their vessels, from Antwerp, to Rotterdam and others of the ports of Holland. The Belgians have, however, been actively awake to the events of the period, and are making efforts to open new and favourable communications between Antwerp and the Rhine. A projected line of railroad has been completed as far as Brussels, a distance of thirty miles, and will be continued till it reaches the Rhine. These roads, in addition to the numerous canals and rivers which facilitate internal intercourse, are considered as likely to be productive of great commercial advantages.

The religious establishment of Belgium is strictly that of the Roman Catholic church; but its endowments are much curtailed by the long subjection to France. The whole of the inhabitants adhere to that communion, with the exception of 12,500 Protestants, mostly foreigners, and 1050 Jews. These are allowed to celebrate publicly their several modes of worship. There are two universities, one at Liège with about 500 students, and another at Ghent with about 400; and several seminaries for clerical education. The system of popular education is in a state of revision; but the schools will probably be placed under the exclusive superintendence of the clergy, as the classical schools have already been.

The circumstances in which the kingdom is still placed as regards the disputes respecting Luxembourg seem to render a large army necessary. At present the forces on foot consist of 59,000 troops of the line, and a reserve of 58,000; but reductions are in contemplation.

The sole executive government is vested in the king, and the ministers are responsible. The legislative power is lodged in two houses; the senate consisting at present of forty-two members, and the chamber of representatives consisting of eighty-five, no legislators being as yet sent from Limburg or Luxembourg, on account of the uncertainty which exists as to their ultimate fate.

Until the adjustment respecting the debt between Belgium and Holland is completed, it is not easy to state the exact condition of the financial affairs. The revenue is on the increase, but not quite adequate to the expenses of each year. The national debt, when compared with the aggregate wealth of the country, is much lighter than in any other state in Europe; and, with the economy that has been adopted in every branch, a solid peace must in a short period produce general prosperity. (g.)