third city in the empire, Paris being the first and Rome the second. The
country was divided into nine departments--Bouches de l'Escaut, Bouches
de la Meuse, Bouches du Rhin, Zuiderzee, Issel superieur, Bouches de
Issel, Frise, Ems Occidental and Ems Oriental. Over the departments, as
in France, were placed _prefets_ and under them _sous-prefets_ and
_maires_. All the _prefets_ now appointed were native Dutchmen with the
exception of two, De Celles at Amsterdam and De Standaart at the Hague;
both were Belgians and both rendered themselves unpopular by their
efforts to gain Napoleon's favour by a stringent enforcement of his
orders. The Dutch representation in the Legislative Assembly at Paris
was fixed at twenty-five members; in the Senate at six members. When
these took their seats, the Council of Affairs at Amsterdam was
dissolved and at the same time the _Code Napoleon_ unmodified became
the law of the land.

Napoleon's demands upon Holland had always been met with the reply that
the land's finances were unequal to the strain. The debt amounted to
40,000,000 fl.; and, despite heavy taxation, there was a large annual
deficit in the budget. The emperor at once took action to remedy this
state of things by a decree reducing the interest on the debt to
one-third. This was a heavy blow to those persons whose limited incomes
were mainly or entirely derived from investments in the State
Funds--including many widows, and also hospitals, orphanages and other
charitable institutions. At the same time this step should not be
regarded as a mere arbitrary and dishonest repudiation of debt. The
State was practically bankrupt. For some years only a portion of the
interest or nothing at all had been paid; and the reduction in 1810 was
intended to be but a temporary measure. The capital amount was left
untouched, and the arrears of 1808 and 1809 were paid up at the new
rate. That financial opinion was favourably impressed by this drastic
action was shown by a considerable rise in the quotation of the Stock on
the Bourse.

A far more unpopular measure was the introduction of military and naval
conscription in 1811. There never had been any but voluntary service in
Holland. Indeed during the whole period of the Republic, though the
fleet was wholly manned by Dutch seamen, the army always included a
large proportion of foreign mercenaries. By the law of 1811 all youths
of twenty were liable to serve for five years either on land or sea; and
the contingent required was filled by the drawing of lots. Deep and
strong resentment was felt throughout the country, the more so that the
law was made retrospective to all who had reached the age of twenty in
the three preceding years. The battalions thus raised were treated as
French troops, and were sent to take part in distant campaigns--in Spain
and in Russia. Of the 15,000 men who marched with Napoleon into Russia
in 1812 only a few hundreds returned.

The strict enforcement of the Continental System entailed great
hardships upon the population. To such an extent was the embargo carried
that all English manufactured goods found in Holland were condemned to
be burnt; and the value of what was actually consumed amounted to
millions of florins. A whole army of custom-house officers watched
the coast, and every fishing smack that put to sea had one on board. At
the same time not till 1812 was the customs barrier with France removed.
In consequence of this prices rose enormously, industries were ruined,
houses were given up and remained unoccupied, and thousands upon
thousands were reduced to abject poverty. Such was the state of the
treasury that in 1812 the reformed preachers received no stipends, and
officials of all kinds had to be content with reduced salaries.

Nor were these the only causes of discontent. The police regulations and
the censorship of the press were of the severest description, and the
land swarmed with spies. No newspaper was permitted to publish any
article upon matters of State or any political news except such as was
sanctioned by the government, and with a French translation of the Dutch
original. This applied even to advertisements. All books had to be
submitted for the censor's _imprimatur_. Every household was subject to
the regular visitation of the police, who made the most minute
inquisition into the character, the opinions, the occupations and means
of subsistence of every member of the household.

Nevertheless the French domination, however oppressive, had good results
in that for the first time in their history the Dutch provinces acquired
a real unity. All the old particularism disappeared with the
burgher-aristocracies, and the party feuds of Orangists and patriots. A
true sense of nationality was developed. All classes of the population
enjoyed the same political rights and equality before the law. Napoleon
himself was not unpopular. In the autumn of 1811 he, accompanied by
Marie Louise, made a state-progress through this latest addition to his
empire. Almost every important place was visited, and in all parts of
the country he was received with outward demonstrations of enthusiasm
and almost servile obsequiency. It is perhaps not surprising, as the
great emperor was now at the very topmost height of his dazzling
fortunes.

But for Holland Napoleon's triumphs had their dark side, for his chief
and most determined enemy, England, was mistress of the seas; and the
last and the richest of the Dutch colonies, Java, surrendered to the
English almost on the very day that the Imperial progress began. Hearing
of the activity of the British squadron in the Eastern seas, King Louis
had, shortly after his acceptance of the crown, taken steps for the
defence of Java by appointing Daendels, a man of proved vigour and
initiative, governor-general. The difficulties of reaching Java in face
of British vigilance were however well-nigh insurmountable, and it was
not until a year after his nomination to the governorship that Daendels
reached Batavia, on January 1, 1808. His measures for the defence of the
island, including the construction of important highways, were most
energetic, but so oppressive and high-handed as to arouse hostility and
alienate the native chiefs. Napoleon, informed of Daendels' harsh rule,
sent out Janssens with a body of troops to replace him. The new
governor-general landed on April 27, 1811, but he could make no
effective resistance to a powerful British expedition under General
Auchmuty, which took possession of Batavia on August 4, and after some
severe fighting compelled (September 17) the whole of the Dutch forces
to capitulate.

The year of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, 1812, was a year of passive
endurance. The safety of the remnant of the Grand Army was secured
(November 28) by the courage and staunchness of the Dutch
pontoon-engineers, who, standing in the ice-cold water of the Beresina,
completed the bridge over which, after a desperate battle, the French
troops effected their escape. The Moscow catastrophe was followed in
1813 by a general uprising of the oppressed peoples of Europe against
the Napoleonic tyranny. In this uprising the Dutch people, although
hopes of freedom were beginning to dawn upon them, did not for some time
venture to take any part. The Prince of Orange however had been in
London since April, trying to secure a promise of assistance from the
British government in case of a rising; and he was working in
collaboration with a number of patriotic men in Holland, who saw in an
Orange restoration the best hopes for their country's independence. The
news of Leipzig (October 14-16) roused them to action.

Foremost among these leaders was Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp. He had
been one of the Orangist leaders at the time of the restoration of 1787
and had filled the post of pensionary of Rotterdam. After the French
conquest he had withdrawn from public life. With him were associated
Count Van Limburg-Stirum and Baron Van der Duyn van Maasdam, like
himself residents at the Hague. Van Hogendorp could also count on a
number of active helpers outside the Hague, prominent among whom were
Falck, Captain of the National Guard at Amsterdam, and Kemper, a
professor at Leyden. Plans were made for restoring the independence of
the country under the rule of the Prince of Orange; but, in order to
escape the vigilance of the French police, great care was taken to
maintain secrecy, and nothing was committed to writing. The rapid march
of allied troops, Russians and Prussians, towards the Dutch frontiers
after Leipzig necessitated rapid action.

Van Hogendorp and his friends wished that Holland should free herself by
her own exertions, for they were aware that reconquest by the allied
forces might imperil their claims to independence. Their opportunity
came when General Melliton, by order of the governor-general Le Brun,
withdrew on November 14 from Amsterdam to Utrecht. One of the Orangist
confederates, a sea-captain, named Job May, on the following day stirred
up a popular rising in the city; and some custom-houses were burnt. Le
Brun himself on this retreated to Utrecht and, on the 16th, after
transferring the government of the country to Melliton, returned to
France. Falck at the head of the National Guard had meanwhile
re-established order at Amsterdam, and placed the town in charge of a
provisional government. No sooner did this news reach the Hague than Van
Hogendorp and Van Limburg-Stirum determined upon instant action
(November 17). With a proclamation drawn up by Van Hogendorp, and at the
head of a body of the National Guard wearing Orange colours, Van
Limburg-Stirum marched through the streets to the Town Hall, where he
read the proclamation declaring the Prince of Orange "eminent head of
the State." No opposition being offered, after discussion with their
chief supporters, the triumvirate, Van Hogendorp, Van Limburg-Stirum and
Van der Duyn van Maasdam, took upon themselves provisionally the
government of the country, until the arrival of the Prince. Emissaries
were at once sent to Amsterdam to announce what had taken place at the
Hague. At first the Amsterdammers showed some hesitation; and it was not
until the arrival of a body of Cossacks at their gates (November 24),
that the city openly threw in its lot with the Orangist movement, which
now rapidly spread throughout the country. Without delay the provisional
government despatched two envoys, Fagel and De Perponcher, to London, to
inform the Prince of Orange of what had occurred and to invite him to
Holland.

William had been in England since April and had met with a
favourable reception. In an interview with the British Foreign
Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, support had been promised him
(April 27, 1813) on the following conditions: (1) the frontiers of
Holland should be extended "either by a sort of new Barrier, more
effective than the old one, or by the union of some portions of
territory adjacent to the ancient Republic; (2) Holland must wait
until such time as Great Britain should deem convenient in her
own interests for the restoration of the Dutch colonies, which she
had conquered during the war; (3) a system of government must
be set up which would reconcile the wishes of Holland with those
of the Powers called to exercise so powerful an influence upon her
future." William had gone to London knowing that he could rely
on the active assistance of his brother-in-law, Frederick William
of Prussia, and of the Emperor Alexander I, and that the goodwill
of England was assured by the projected marriage of his son (now
serving under Wellington in Spain) with the Princess Charlotte,
heiress-presumptive to the British throne. He now therefore
without hesitation accepted the invitation, and landed at
Scheveningen, November 30. He was received with unspeakable
enthusiasm. At first there was some doubt as to what title William
should bear and as to what should be the form of the new government.
Van Hogendorp had drawn up a draft of a constitution on
the old lines with an hereditary stadholder, a council-pensionary
and a privileged aristocracy, but with large and necessary amendments,
and the prince was himself inclined to a restoration of the
stadholdership with enlarged powers. To the arguments of Kemper
is the credit due of having persuaded him that a return to the old
system, however amended, had now become impossible. The prince
visited Amsterdam, December 2, and was there proclaimed by the
title and quality of William I, Sovereign-Prince of the Netherlands.
He refused the title of king, but the position he thus accepted with
general approval was that of a constitutional monarch, and the
promise was given that as soon as possible a Commission should
be appointed to draw up a Fundamental Law _(Grondwet)_ for the
Dutch State.

*       *       *       *       *




CHAPTER XXIX

THE FORMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, 1814-1815


When the Prince of Orange assumed the title of William I,
Sovereign-Prince of the Netherlands, at Amsterdam, on December 2, 1813,
the principal towns were still occupied by French garrisons; but with
the help of the allied forces, Russians and Prussians, these were, in
the opening months of 1814, one by one conquered. The Helder garrison,
under the command of Admiral Verhuell, did not surrender till May. By
the end of that month the whole land was freed.

The first step taken by the Sovereign-Prince (December 21) was to
appoint a Commission to draw up a Fundamental Law according to his
promise. The Commission consisted of fifteen members, with Van Hogendorp
as president. Their labours were concluded early in March. The concept
was on March 29 submitted to an Assembly of six hundred notables,
summoned for the purpose, the voting to be 'for' or 'against' without
discussion. The gathering took place in the Nieuwe Kerk at Amsterdam, Of
the 474 who were present, 448 voted in favour of the new Constitution.
On the following day the Prince of Orange took the oath in the Nieuwe
Kerk and was solemnly inaugurated as Sovereign-Prince of the
Netherlands.

The principal provisions of the Fundamental Law of March, 1814, were as
follows:

The Sovereign shares the Legislative Power with the States-General, but
alone exercises the Executive Power. All the sovereign prerogatives
formerly possessed by provinces, districts or towns are now transferred
to the Sovereign. He is assisted by a Council of State of twelve
members, appoints and dismisses ministers, declares war and makes peace,
has the control of finance and governs the overseas-possessions. The
States-General consist of fifty-five members, elected by the nine
provinces, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overyssel, Gelderland, Groningen,
Friesland, Brabant and Drente on the basis of population. The members
are elected for three years, but one-third vacate their seats every
year. They have the right of legislative initiative, and of veto. The
finances are divided into ordinary and extraordinary expenditure, over
the former the States-General exercise no control, but a general Chamber
of Accounts _(Algemeene Rekenkamer)_ has the supervision over ways and
means. The Sovereign must be a member of the Reformed Church, but equal
protection is given by the State to all religious beliefs.

It was essentially an aristocratic constitution. At least one quarter of
the States-General must belong to the nobility. The Provincial Estates
had the control of local affairs only, but had the privilege of electing
the members of the States-General. They were themselves far from being
representative. For the country districts the members were chosen from
the nobility and the land-owners; in the towns by colleges of electors
_(kiezers)_, consisting of those who paid the highest contributions in
taxes. Except for the strengthening of the central executive power and
the abolition of all provincial sovereign rights, the new Constitution
differed little from the old in its oligarchic character.

It was, however, to be but a temporary arrangement. It has already been
pointed out that, months before his actual return to Holland, the prince
had received assurances from the British government that a strong
Netherland State should be created, capable of being a barrier to French
aggression. The time had now arrived for the practical carrying-out of
this assurance. Accordingly Lord Castlereagh in January, 1814, when on
his way, as British plenipotentiary, to confer with the Allied
Sovereigns at Basel, visited the Sovereign-Prince at the Hague. The
conversations issued in a proposal to unite (with the assent of Austria)
the Belgic provinces as far as the Meuse to Holland together with the
territory between the Meuse and the Rhine as far as the line
Maestricht-Dueren-Cologne. Castlereagh submitted this project to the
allies at Basel; and it was discussed and adopted in principle at the
Conference of Chatillon (February 3 to March 15), the Austrian Emperor
having renounced all claim to his Belgian dominions in favour of an
equivalent in Venetia. This was done without any attempt to ascertain
the wishes of the Belgian people on the proposed transference of their
allegiance, and a protest was made. An assembly of notables, which had
been summoned to Brussels by the military governor, the Duke of
Saxe-Weimar, sent a deputation to the allied headquarters at Chaumont to
express their continued loyalty to their Habsburg sovereign and to ask
that, if the Emperor Francis relinquished his claim, they might be
erected into an independent State under the rule of an Austrian
archduke. A written reply (March 14) informed them that the question of
union with Holland was settled, but assurances were given that in
matters of religion, representation, commerce and the public debt their
interests would be carefully guarded. Meanwhile General Baron Vincent, a
Belgian in the Austrian service, was made governor-general.

The idea, however, of giving to Holland a slice of cis-Rhenan territory
had perforce to be abandoned in the face of Prussian objections. The
preliminary Treaty of Peace signed at Paris on May 30, 1814, was
purposely vague, Art. VI merely declaring that "Holland placed under the
sovereignty of the House of Orange shall receive an increase of
territory--_un accroissement de territoire";_ but a secret article
defined this increase as "the countries comprised between the sea, the
frontiers of France, as defined by the present treaty; and the Meuse
shall be united in perpetuity to Holland. The frontiers on the right
bank of the Meuse shall be regulated in accordance with the military
requirements of Holland and her neighbours." In other words the whole of
Belgium as far as the Meuse was to be annexed to Holland; beyond the
Meuse the military requirements of Prussia were to be consulted.

Previously to this, Castlereagh had written to the British Minister at
the Hague, Lord Clancarty, suggesting that the Sovereign-Prince should
summon a meeting of an equal number of Dutch and Belgian notables to
draw up a project of union to be presented to the Allied Sovereigns at
Paris for their approbation. But William had already himself, with the
assistance of his minister Van Nagell, drawn up in eight articles the
fundamental conditions for the constitution of the new State; and, after
revision by Falck and Lord Clancarty, he in person took them to Paris.
They were laid by Clancarty before the plenipotentiaries, and were
adopted by the Allied Sovereigns assembled in London on June 21, 1814.
The principles which animated them were set forth in a protocol which
breathes throughout a spirit of fairness and conciliation--but all was
marred by the final clause--_Elles mettent ces principes en execution en
vertu de leur droit de conquete de la Belgique._ To unite Belgium to
Holland, as a conquered dependency, could not fail to arouse bad
feelings; and thus to proclaim it openly was a very grave mistake. It
was not thus that that "perfect amalgamation" of the two countries, at
which, according to the protocol, the Great Powers aimed, was likely to
be effected.

At the same time, as a standing proof of William's own excellent
intentions, the text of the Eight Articles is given in full:

(1) _The union shall be intimate and complete, so that the two countries
shall form but one State, to be governed by the Fundamental Law already
established in Holland, which by mutual consent shall be modified
according to the circumstances._

(2) _There shall be no change in those Articles of the Fundamental Law
which secure to all religious cults equal protection and privileges, and
guarantee the admissibility of all citizens, whatever be their religious
creed, to public offices and dignities._

(3) _The Belgian provinces shall be in a fitting manner represented in
the States-General, whose sittings in time of peace shall be held by
turns in a Dutch and a Belgian town._

(4) _All the inhabitants of the Netherlands thus having equal
constitutional rights, they shall have equal claim to all commercial and
other rights, of which their circumstances allow, without any hindrance
or obstruction being imposed on any to the profit of others._

(5) _Immediately after the union the provinces and towns of Belgium
shall be admitted to the commerce and navigation of the colonies of
Holland upon the same footing as the Dutch provinces and towns._

(6) _The debts contracted on the one side by the Dutch, and on the other
side by the Belgian provinces, shall be charged to the public chest of
the Netherlands._

(7) _The expenses required for the building and maintenance of the
frontier fortresses of the new State shall be borne by the public chest
as serving the security and independence of the whole nation._

(8) _The cost of the making and upkeep of the dykes shall be at the
charge of the districts more directly interested, except in the case of
an extraordinary disaster._

It is not too much to say that, if the provisions of these Articles had
been carried out fully and generously, there might have been at the
present moment a strong and united Netherland State.

On July 21 the Articles, as approved by the Powers, were returned to the
Sovereign-Prince, who officially accepted them, and on August 1 took
over at Brussels the government of the Belgic provinces, while awaiting
the decisions of the Congress, which was shortly to meet at Vienna, as
to the boundaries and political status of the territories over which he
ruled. The work of the Congress, however, which met in October, was much
delayed by differences between the Powers. Prussia wished to annex the
entire kingdom of Saxony; and, when it was found that such a claim, if
persisted in, would be opposed by Great Britain, Austria and France,
compensation was sought in the Rhenish provinces. Thus the idea of
strengthening the new Netherland buffer-state by an addition of
territory in the direction of the Rhine had to be abandoned. It must be
remembered that the Sovereign-Prince on his part was not likely to raise
any objection to having an enlarged and strengthened Prussia as his
immediate neighbour on the east. William was both brother-in-law and
first cousin of the King of Prussia, and had spent much of his exile at
Berlin; and he no doubt regarded the presence of this strong military
power on his frontier as the surest guarantee against French aggression.
His relations with Prussia were indeed of the friendliest character, as
is shown by the fact that secret negotiations were at this very time
taking place for the cession to Prussia of his hereditary Nassau
principalities of Dillenburg, Siegen, Dietz and Hadamar in exchange for
the Duchy of Luxemburg.

The proceedings of the inharmonious Congress of Vienna were, however,
rudely interrupted by the sudden return of Napoleon from Elba. Weary of
waiting for a formal recognition of his position, William now (March 15,
1815) issued a proclamation in which he assumed the title of King of the
Netherlands and Duke of Luxemburg. No protest was made; and the _fait
accompli_ was duly accepted by the Powers (May 23). The first act of the
king was to call upon all his subjects, Dutch and Belgians alike, to
unite in opposing the common foe. This call to arms led to a
considerable force under the command of the hereditary prince being able
to join the small British army, which Wellington had hurriedly collected
for the defence of Brussels. The sudden invasion of Belgium by Napoleon
(June 14) took his adversaries by surprise, for the Anglo-Netherland
forces were distributed in different cantonments and were separated from
the Prussian army under Bluecher, which had entered Belgium from the
east. Napoleon in person attacked and defeated Bluecher at Ligny on June
16; and on the same day a French force under Ney was, after a desperate
encounter, held in check by the British and Dutch regiments, which had
been pushed forward to Quatre Bras. Bluecher retreated to Wavre and
Wellington to Waterloo on the following day. The issue of the battle of
Waterloo, which took place on June 18, is well known. The Belgian
contingent did not play a distinguished part at Waterloo, but it would
be unfair to place to their discredit any lack of steadiness that was
shown. These Belgian troops were all old soldiers of Napoleon, to whom
they were attached, and in whose invincibility they believed. The Prince
of Orange distinguished himself by great courage both at Quatre Bras and
Waterloo.

William, after his assumption of the regal title, at once proceeded to
regularise his position by carrying out that necessary modification of
the Dutch Fundamental Law to which he was pledged by the Eight Articles.
He accordingly summoned a Commission of twenty-four members, half Dutch
and half Belgian, Catholics and Protestants being equally represented,
which on April 22 met under the presidency of Van Hogendorp. Their
activity was sharpened by the threat of French invasion, and in three
months (July 18) their difficult task was accomplished. The new
Fundamental Law made no change in the autocratic powers conferred on the
king. The executive authority remained wholly in his hands. The
States-General were now to consist of two Chambers, but the First
Chamber was a nominated Chamber. It contained forty to sixty members
appointed by the king for life. The Second Chamber of 110 members,
equally divided between north and south, _i.e._ fifty-five Dutch and
fifty-five Belgian representatives, was elected under a very restricted
franchise by the seventeen provinces into which the whole kingdom was
divided. The ordinary budget was voted for ten years, and it was only
extraordinary expenses which had to be considered annually. The other
provisions strictly followed the principles and the liberties guaranteed
in advance by the Eight Articles.

The new Fundamental Law was presented to the Dutch States-General on
August 8, and was approved by a unanimous vote. Very different was its
reception in Belgium. The king had summoned a meeting of 1603 notables
to Brussels, of these 1323 were present. The majority were hostile. It
had been strongly urged by the Belgian delegates on the Commission that
the Belgic provinces, with three and a half millions of inhabitants,
ought to return to the Second Chamber of the States-General a number of
members proportionately greater than the Dutch provinces, which had
barely two millions. The Dutch on their part argued that their country
had been an independent State for two centuries and possessed a large
colonial empire, while Belgium had always been under foreign rule, and
had now been added to Holland "as an increase of territory." It was
finally arranged, however, that the representation of the northern and
southern portions of the new kingdom should be equal, 55 each. Belgian
public opinion loudly protested, especially as the 55 Belgian deputies
included four representatives of Luxemburg, which had been created a
separate State under the personal rule of King William. Still more
bitter and determined was the opposition of the powerful clerical party
to the principle of religious equality. About 99 per cent, of the
Belgian population was Catholic; and the bishops were very suspicious of
what might be the effect of this principle in the hands of an autocratic
Calvinist king, supported by the predominant Protestant majority in
Holland. A further grievance was that the heavy public debt incurred by
Holland should be made a common burden.

Considerable pressure was brought to bear upon the notables, but without
avail. The Fundamental Law was rejected by 796 votes to 527. Confronted
with this large hostile majority, the king took upon himself to reverse
the decision by an arbitrary and dishonest manipulation of the return.
He chose to assume that the 280 notables who had not voted were in
favour of the Law, and added their votes to the minority. He then
declared that 126 votes had been wrongly given in opposition to the
principle of religious equality, which, by the Second of the Eight
Articles approved by the Powers was binding and fundamental to the
Union, and he then not only deducted them from the majority, but added
them also to the minority. He then announced that the Fundamental Law
had been accepted by a majority of 263 votes. Such an act of chicanery
was not calculated to make the relations between north and south work
smoothly. Having thus for reasons of state summarily dealt with the
decision of the Belgian notables, William (September 26), made his state
entry into Brussels and took his oath to the Constitution.

Already the Congress of Vienna had given the official sanction of
the Powers to the creation of the kingdom of the Netherlands by a
treaty signed at Paris on May 31, 1815. By this treaty the whole
of the former Austrian Netherlands (except the province of Luxemburg)
together with the territory which before 1795 had been ruled by
the prince-bishops of Liege, the Duchy of Bouillon and several small
pieces of territory were added to Holland; and the new State thus
created was placed under the sovereignty of the head of the House
of Orange-Nassau. As stated above, however, it had been necessary
in making these arrangements to conciliate Prussian claims for
aggrandisement in the cis-Rhenan provinces. This led to a number of
complicated transactions. William ceded to Prussia his ancient
hereditary Nassau principalities--Dillenburg, Dietz, Siegen and
Hadamar. The equivalent which William received was the sovereignty of
Luxemburg, which for this purpose was severed from the Belgian
Netherlands, of which it had been one of the provinces since the time
of the Burgundian dukes, and was erected into a Grand-Duchy. Further
than this, the Grand-Duchy was made one of the states of the Germanic
Confederation; and the town of Luxemburg was declared to be a federal
fortress, the garrison to consist of Prussian and Dutch detachments
under a Prussian commandant. There was a double object in this
transaction: (1) to preserve to the Grand-Duke his rights and
privileges as a German prince, (2) to secure the defence of this
important borderland against French attack. Another complication
arose from the fact that in the 14th century the House of Nassau had
been divided into two branches, Walram and Otto, the younger branch
being that of which the Prince of Orange was the head. But by a
family-pact[9], agreed upon in 1735 and renewed in 1783, the
territorial possessions of either line in default of male-heirs had to
pass to the next male-agnate of the other branch. This pact therefore,
by virtue of the exchange that had taken place, applied to the new
Grand-Duchy. It is necessary here to explain what took place in some
detail, for this arbitrary wrenching of Luxemburg from its historical
position as an integral part of the Netherlands was to have serious
and disconcerting consequences in the near future.

The new kingdom of the Netherlands naturally included Luxemburg, so that
William was a loser rather than a gainer by the cession of his Nassau
possessions; but his close relation by descent and marriage with the
Prussian Royal House made him anxious to meet the wishes of a power on
whose friendship he relied. All evidence also points to the conclusion
that in accepting the personal sovereignty of the Grand-Duchy he had
no intention of treating Luxemburg otherwise than as part of his
kingdom. The Fundamental Law was made to apply to Luxemburg, in the same
way as to Brabant or Flanders; and of the 55 members allotted to the
Belgic provinces, four were representatives of the Grand-Duchy, which
was subject to the same legislation and taxes as the kingdom. At first
the king had thought of nominating his second son Frederick as his
successor in Luxemburg, but he changed his mind and gave him an
indemnity elsewhere; and he himself states the reason, "since we have
judged it advisable _(convenable)_ in the general interest of the
kingdom to unite the Grand-Duchy to it and to place it under the same
constitutional laws."

The boundaries of the new kingdom and of the Grand-Duchy
were fixed by the treaty of May 31, 1815, and confirmed by the
General Act of the Congress of Vienna. By this treaty Prussia
received a considerable part of the old province of Luxemburg as
well as slices of territory taken from the bishopric of Liege. A
separate boundary treaty a year later (June 26, 1816) between the
Netherlands and Prussia filled in the details of that of 1815; and
that Prussia herself acquiesced in the fusion of the kingdom and
the Grand-Duchy is shown by the fact that the boundary between
Prussia and Luxemburg is three times referred to in the later treaty
as the boundary between Prussia and the kingdom of the Netherlands.

*       *       *       *       *




CHAPTER XXX

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS--UNION OF HOLLAND AND BELGIUM, 1815-1830


The autocratic powers that were conferred upon King William by the
Fundamental Law rendered his personality a factor of the utmost
importance in the difficult task which lay before him. William's
character was strong and self-confident, and he did not shrink from
responsibility. His intentions were of the best; he was capable,
industrious, a good financier, sparing himself no trouble in mastering
the details of State business. But he had the defects of his qualities,
being self-opinionated, stubborn and inclined, as in the matter of the
vote of the Belgian notables, to override opposition with a high hand.
He had at the beginning of his reign the good fortune of being on the
best of terms with Castlereagh, the British Foreign Minister. To
Castlereagh more than to any other statesman the kingdom of the
Netherlands owed its existence. The Peace of Paris saw Great Britain in
possession by conquest of all the Dutch colonies. By the Convention of
London (August 13, 1814), which was Castlereagh's work, it was arranged
that all the captured colonies, including Java, the richest and most
valuable of all, should be restored, with the exception of the Cape of
Good Hope and the Guiana colonies--Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo. In
the latter the plantations had almost all passed into British hands
during the eighteen years since their conquest; and Cape Colony was
retained as essential for the security of the sea-route to India. But
these surrenders were not made without ample compensation. Great Britain
contributed L2,000,000 towards erecting fortresses along the French
frontier; L1,000,000 to satisfy a claim of Sweden with regard to the
island of Guadeloupe; and L3,000,000 or one-half of a debt from Holland
to Russia, _i.e._ a sum of L6,000,000 in all.

One of the most urgent problems with which the Sovereign-Prince had to
deal on his accession to power was the state of the finances. Napoleon
by a stroke of the pen had reduced the public debt to one-third of its
amount. William, however, was too honest a man to avail himself of the
opportunity for partial repudiation that was offered him. He recalled
into existence the two-thirds on which no interest had been paid and
called it "deferred debt" (_uitgestelde schuld_); the other third
received the name of "working debt" (_werkelijke schuld_). The figures
stood at 1200 million florins and 600 million florins respectively.
Every year four millions of the "working debt" were to be paid off, and
a similar amount from the "deferred" added to it. Other measures taken
in 1814 for effecting economies were of little avail, as the campaign of
Waterloo in the following year added 40 million florins to the debt.
Heavier taxation had to be imposed, but even then the charges for the
debt made it almost impossible to avoid an annual deficit in the budget.
It was one of the chief grievances of the Belgians that they were called
upon to share the burden of a crushing debt which they had not incurred.
The voting of ways and means for ten years gave the king the control
over all ordinary finance; it was only extraordinary expenditure that
had to be submitted annually to the representatives of the people.

The dislike of the Catholic hierarchy in Belgium to Dutch rule had been
intensified by the manner in which the king had dealt with the vote of
the notables. Their leader was Maurice de Broglie, Bishop of Ghent, a
Frenchman by birth. His efforts by speech and by pen to stir up active
enmity in Belgium to the union aroused William's anger, and he resolved
to prosecute him. It was an act of courage rather than of statesmanship,
but the king could not brook opposition. Broglie refused to appear
before the court and fled to France. In his absence he was condemned to
banishment and the payment of costs. The powerful clerical party
regarded him as a martyr and continued to criticise the policy of the
Protestant king with watchful and hostile suspicion. Nor were the
Belgian liberal party more friendly. They did not indeed support the
clerical claim to practical predominance in the State, but they were
patriotic Belgians who had no love for Holland and resented the thought
that they were being treated as a dependency of their northern
neighbours. They were at one with the clericals in claiming that the
Belgian representation in the Second Chamber of the States-General
should be proportional to their population. But this grievance might
have been tolerated had the king shown any inclination to treat his
Belgian subjects on a footing of equality with the Dutch. He was, as
will be seen, keenly interested in the welfare and progress of the
south, but in spirit and in his conduct of affairs he proved himself to
be an out-and-out Hollander. The provision of the Fundamental Law that
the seat of government and the meetings of the States-General should be
alternately from year to year at the Hague and at Brussels was never
carried out. All the ministries were permanently located at the Hague;
and of the seven ministers who held office in 1816 only one, the Duke
d'Ursel, was a Belgian, and he held the post of Minister of Public Works
and Waterways. Fourteen years later (at the time of the revolt) six out
of seven were still northerners. The military establishments were all in
Holland, and nearly all the diplomatic and civil posts were given to
Dutchmen. Nor was this merely due to the fact that, when the union took
place, Holland already possessed an organised government and a supply of
experienced officials, while Belgium lacked both. On the contrary, the
policy of the king remained fixed and unwavering. In 1830 out of 39
diplomatists 30 were Dutch. All the chief military posts were filled by
Dutchmen. Nor was it different in the civil service. In the home
department there were 117 Dutch, 11 Belgians; in the war department 102
Dutch, 3 Belgians; in finance 59 Dutch, 5 Belgians. Such a state of
things was bound to cause resentment. Parties in the Belgic provinces
were in the early days of the Union divided very much as they have been
in recent years. The Catholic or Clerical party had its stronghold in
the two Flanders and Antwerp, _i.e._ in the Flemish-speaking districts.
In Walloon Belgium the Liberals had a considerable majority. The
opposition to the Fundamental Law came overwhelmingly from Flemish
Belgium; the support from Liege, Namur, Luxemburg and other Walloon
districts. But the sense of injustice brought both parties together, so
that in the representative Chamber the Belgian members were soon found
voting solidly together, as a permanent opposition, while the Dutch
voted _en bloc_ for the government. As the representation of north and
south was equal, 55 members each, the result would have been a deadlock,
but there were always two or three Belgians who held government offices;
and these were compelled, on pain of instant dismissal, to vote for a
government measure or at least to abstain. Thus the king could always
rely on a small but constant majority, and by its aid he did not
hesitate to force through financial and legislative proposals in the
teeth of Belgian opposition. It is only fair, however, to the
arbitrary king to point out how earnestly he endeavoured to promote the
material and industrial welfare of the whole land, and to encourage to
the best of his power literary, scientific and educational progress. In
Holland the carrying-trade, which had so long been the chief source of
the country's wealth, had been utterly ruined by Napoleon's Continental
System. On the other hand, Belgian industries, which had been
flourishing through the strict embargo placed upon the import of British
goods, were now threatened with British competition. The steps taken by
the energy and initiative of the king were, considering the state of the
national finances, remarkable in the variety of their aims and the
results that they achieved. The old Amsterdam Bank was transformed into
a Bank of the Netherlands. A number of canals were planned and
constructed. Chief among these was the North Holland Canal, connecting
Amsterdam with the Helder. The approaches to Rotterdam were improved, so
that this port became the meeting-point of sea-traffic from England and
river-traffic by the Rhine from Germany. But both these ports were
quickly overshadowed by the rapid recovery of Antwerp, now that the
Scheldt was free and open to commerce. Other important canals, begun and
wholly or in part constructed, during this period were the
Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Zederik, the Appeldoorn and the Voorne canals.
Water communication was not so necessary in the south as in the north,
but care was there also bestowed upon the canals, especially upon the
canal of Terneuzen connecting Ghent with the western Scheldt, and many
highways were constructed. To restore the prosperity of the Dutch
carrying-trade, especially that with their East Indies, in 1824 a
Company--_de Nederlandsche Handekmaatschappij_--was founded; and at the
same time a commercial treaty was concluded with Great Britain, by which
both nations were to enjoy free trade with each other's East Indian
possessions. The _Handekmaatschappij_ had a capital of 37 million
florins; to this the king contributed four millions and guaranteed to
the shareholders for 20 years a dividend of 4 1/2 per cent. The Company
at first worked at a loss, and in 1831 William had to pay four million
florins out of his privy purse to meet his guarantee. This was partly
due to the set-back of a revolt in Java which lasted some years.

Agriculture received equal attention. Marshy districts were impoldered
or turned into pasture-land. More especially did the _Maatschappij van
Weldadigheid_, a society founded in 1818 by General van den Bosch with
the king's strong support, undertake the task of reclaiming land with
the special aim of relieving poverty. No less zealous was the king for
the prosperity of Belgian industries; Ghent with its cotton factories
and sugar refineries, Tournai with its porcelain industry, and Liege
with its hardware, all were the objects of royal interest. The great
machine factory at Seraing near Liege under the management of an
Englishman, Cockerill, owed its existence to the king. Nor was William's
care only directed to the material interests of his people. In 1815 the
University at Utrecht was restored; and in Belgium, besides Louvain, two
new foundations for higher education were in 1816 created at Ghent and
Liege. Royal Academies of the Arts were placed at Amsterdam and Antwerp,
which were to bear good fruit. His attention was also given to the
much-needed improvement of primary education, which in the south was
almost non-existent in large parts of the country. Here the presence of
a number of illiterate dialects was a great obstacle and was the cause
of the unfortunate effort to make literary Dutch into a national
language for his whole realm.

Nevertheless the king's political mistakes (of which the attempted
compulsory use of Dutch was one) rendered all his thoughtful
watchfulness over his people's welfare unavailing. Great as were the
autocratic powers conferred upon the sovereign, he overstepped them.
Plans, in which he was interested, he carried out without consulting the
States-General. His ministers he regarded as bound to execute his
orders. If their views differed from his, they were dismissed. This was
the fate even of Van Hogendorp, to whom he owed so much; Roell and Falck
also had to make way for less competent but more obsequious ministers.

The chief difficulty with which the king had to contend throughout this
period was the ceaseless and irreconcilable opposition of the Catholic
hierarchy and clergy to the principle of absolute religious equality
established by the Fundamental Law (Articles CXC-CXCIII). Their leader,
Maurice de Broglie, Bishop of Ghent, actually published a _jugement
doctrinal_ in which he declared that the taking of the oath to the
Constitution was an act of treason to the Catholic Church. In this
defiance to the government he had the support of the Pope, who only
permitted the Count de Mean to take the oath on his appointment to the
Archbishopric of Malines on the understanding that he held Articles
CXC-CXCIII to refer only to civil matters. From this time to take the
oath "dans le sens de M. Mean" became with the ultra-clerical party a
common practice.