98] 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



Maese, was evacuated by the 

 Russian and Prussian troops. Eng- 

 lish corps and Germans in British 

 pay poured into Brussels and the 

 other principal towns; and it ap- 

 peared that Great Britain meant 

 to take upon itself the chief share 

 in securing the Belgium frontier 

 till the final adjustment of the 

 affairs of Europe. 



About the close of August, an 

 arrangement was signed by the 

 Prince Regent of England and the 

 Prince Sovereign of the Nether- 

 lands, in which it was stipulated 

 that Great Britain should retain 

 the Cape of Good Hope, Dema- 

 rara, Essequibo, and Berbice ; and 

 that Batavia, and all the rest of 

 the conquests madeupon the Dutch 

 during the late war, namely, Suri- 

 nam, Cura^oa, and St. Eustatia, 

 should be restored to them. Cey- 

 lon, as being ceded to England 

 before the war, remains in her 

 possession. 



The long incorporation of the 

 Belgic provinces with France had 

 naturally produced the settlement 

 of many Frenchmen in those pro- 

 vinces, and it became a matter of 

 considerable political importance 

 to determine how to act with re- 

 spect to them. On September 22, 

 the Prince Sovereign issued a de- 

 cree at Brussels, which began with 

 stating, that many persons born in 

 France had obtained employments 

 in Belgium which they still conti- 

 nued to exercise, and to which, 

 according to the principles of 

 sound policy, the Belgians had a 

 preferable right ; that, however, 

 "there might be particular reasons 

 for granting to some of those per- 

 sons the same political rights as 

 are enjoyed by the Belgians. Four 

 articles then followed, the sub- 

 stance of which was to declare, 



that the French who had received 

 letters of naturalization, were in 

 future to be equally eligible to 

 public offices with the natives of 

 Belgium ; that those who at 

 present fill such offices should 

 cease to hold them, unless they 

 claim letters of naturalization 

 within two months from the date 

 of this decree ; and that such let- 

 ters shall be granted only on the 

 report of the commissioner-general 

 of justice on the morality of the 

 applicants, and the connections 

 they have contracted in Belgium. 

 The evident object of this decree 

 was to prevent a French interest 

 from being fostered in the Belgic 

 provinces, which in some parts 

 was suspected to have gained a 

 considerable footing. 



At the same time a measure was 

 adopted for attaching the Belgians 

 to the new government, by freeing 

 the press from those restraints 

 under which it had been placed 

 by the French ruler, and securing 

 to authors the property of their 

 works. The decree published by 

 the Prince Sovereign relative to 

 this subject, after abrogating all 

 the laws and regulations of the 

 French government respecting 

 printing and bookselling, declared 

 every one personally responsible 

 for what he writes and publishes, 

 and for what he prints, vends, and 

 distributes, the printer alone in- 

 curring this responsibility when 

 the author is unknown. For se- 

 curing this point, every publica- 

 tion appearing without the name 

 of the author or printer, is to 'be 

 considered as a libel, and its edi- 

 tor or distributor to be liable to 

 prosecution. To every author of 

 an original work is granted the 

 exclusive right of printing and 

 selling it within the government 



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