STATE PAPERS. 



S9l 



aa empty name, and dependent on 

 the caprices of a suspicious and 

 cra:fty police ; that an impartial 

 adnainistraiion of justice, guided 

 by fixed principles, secure to every 

 man his property ; that commerce, 

 agriculture, and manufactures be 

 no longer obstructed, but have 

 free course, like rich springs of 

 public and private prosperity ; 

 that, therefore, no restraint be 

 imposed on the domestic economy 

 of the higher and lower classes of 

 the state, but that they be con- 

 formable to the general laws and 

 the general government ; that the 

 movements of the general govern- 

 ment be not palsied by too great a 

 zeal for local interests, but rather 

 receive from it an additional im- 

 pulse ; that the general laws, by 

 means of an harmonious co-opera- 

 tion of the two principal branches 

 of the Government, be founded on 

 the true interests of the State; 

 that the finances, and the arming 

 of the people, the main pillars of 

 the body politic, be placed in that 

 central point, upon which the 

 greatest and most invaluable pri- 

 vilege of every free people, — their 

 independence, — may be firmly 

 fixed. Which of you can doubt 

 of this truth, after the terrible ex- 

 perience you have had of a foreign 

 tyranny, which acknowledged no 

 right when it wanted means for its 

 own maintenance by violence; 

 after having sighed, of late years, 

 under the most oppressive yoke 

 that ever was imposed since the 

 Spanish times ? 



Now at least you know the true 

 value of those precious rights for 

 which our fathers sacrificed their 

 property and blood ; of that hap- 

 piness which they bequeathed to 

 their descendants ; and which we 



saw lost through the adversity of 

 the times ! 



Following, therefore, and tle- 

 riving encouragement from their 

 example, it becomes my duty, in 

 imitation of those whose name I 

 bear, and \vhos.e memory I honour, 

 to restore that which is lost : it is 

 your duty to support me therein 

 with all your efforts, that under 

 the blessing of Divine Providence, 

 who summons us to this task, we 

 may leave our beloved country 

 completely re-conquered and re- 

 established to our children. 



In order to be enabled to judge 

 whether the constitutional code 

 thus framed, as before stated, be a 

 means of attaining the above 

 great object, we have thought it 

 right that the said code be sub- 

 mitted for maturer consideration, 

 to a numerous assembly of persons 

 the most considerable and best 

 qualified among you. 



We have for that purpose ap- 

 pointed a special commission, who 

 are to choose, out of a numerous 

 list given into us, six hundred 

 persons, in due proportion to the 

 population of each of the now ex- 

 isting departments. 



Honoured with your confidence, 

 they shall, on the 28th of this 

 month, assemble in the metropolis 

 of Amsterdam to come to a de- 

 termination upon this weighty bu- 

 siness. 



They shall in like manner, with 

 the letter of convocation, receive 

 the plan of the constitution, that 

 they may be able to prepare their 

 decision thereon with maturity 

 and calmness of deliberation ; and 

 for the more effectual attainment 

 of this object, a copy of the same 

 shall be sent to each member pre- 

 viously, 



