156] 
with France, which had hitherto 
abstained from loading this country 
with such burdens as might prove 
offensive to its inhabitants. But 
the exigences of the republic were 
now become so urgent, that the di- 
rectory thought itself entitled to put 
80 rich a portion of the empire un- 
der the same requisitions as France 
itself. This could not be con- 
strued into oppression of the natives, 
as they would only be placed on the 
same footing as the French, with 
whom they now formed one nation, 
united in views and interests, and 
having the same enemies to combat, 
by whom, if subdued, they would 
experience in common the same ill 
treatment, and relapse into that 
state of slavery, from which they 
had both taken such pains io eman- 
cipate themselves. 
Such were the motives laid be- 
fore the people of the Austrian 
Netherlands, to induce them to co- 
incide with the design of the French 
government, to decree the sale of 
those valuable tracts of land, be- 
come the public property in that 
country, by the suppression of the 
numerous and opulent monastic 
orders. Exclusively of these mo- 
tives, which were of considerable 
weight with that part of the 
people which were well affected 
to the French, had a precedent to 
plead of great efficacy in the minds 
evenof those who retained an at- 
tachment to the religious establish- 
ments in their country. This was 
the general willingness of the ca- 
tholic powers to retain no other than 
the parochial and secular clergy, 
and to suppress all conventual in- 
stitutions, as the incentives and re- 
ceptacles of idleness, and burden- 
ing the industrious part of the com- 
munity, with the maintenance of 
2 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1796. 
a numerous class of individuals, 
wholly heedless for the purposes of 
society. 
As these representations were 
founded in trutb, and as the minds 
of the people in Belgium had o 
late undergone material alterations 
in their opinions of things, the 
were not unwilling to admit the va- 
lidity of the reasonings alleged in 
vindication of the measures pro- 
posed by the French, and the sup-f 
pression of religious houses, togethe 
with the sale of their lands, for the}. 
use of the state, took place accord- : 
ingly. 
The resources arising from this} 
ample fund, aided by the imposition 
of some new taxes, rendered sup-} 
portable by an equitable repartition; 
and more than all, by an exaét and 
rigid economy, introduced into every} 
channel of expenditure, supplied 
the five hundred millions wanted, inf 
addition to the revenue, and en= 
abled the government to provide} 
for the demands of the present 
year. 
The difficulties experienced by} 
the French government in matters 
of finance, great as they were, didf 
not equal those that continually ob-f 
struéted the indefatigable endea- 
vours to preserve internal tranquilli- 
ty. The inextinguishable animosity 
of the opposite parties, that distrac~ 
ted the nation, seemed to increase 
by failure and disappointment in 
their respective projects, and to de-§ 
rive, asit were, new vigour from the 
repeated suppression of their at- 
tempts to overturn the established 
government. 
The jacobin party, though not 
more active than the royalists; con- 
sisted of men of farsuperior parts. 
As they had but lately been ousted 
from the seat of power, they nous 
rished 
ee Oe ee eee 
