GENERAL 
HISTOR Y. [99 
CHAPTER Ix. 
Affairs of the Netherlands.—Union of the Seventeen Provinces under the 
Prince of Orange as King, completed.— New Constitution Protest of 
the Belgian Prelates.—Inauguration of the King.— Proceedings of the 
States-General.— Marriage of the hereditary Prince of Orange to a 
Sister of the Emperor of Russia. 
N the new political system of 
Europe, few circumstances are 
more worthy of attention, or ap- 
parently pregnant with more im- 
portant consequences, than the 
union of the seventeen provinces 
of the Low Countries under one 
government. The last year closed 
with manifest preparations for 
such a design. The Prince of 
Orange had been placed by the 
allied powers at the head of the 
government of the ten catholic 
provinces; and the numerous 
strong places of that country had 
been occupied by garrisons com- 
posed for the most part of British 
and Hanoverian troops, with a 
mixture of Dutch and Belgic, ob- 
viously intended as a protection’ 
against French arms and French 
influence. The final develope- 
ment of the plan was, however, 
»professedly reserved to the termi- 
nation of the congress of Vienna. 
Long before this period, that as- 
sembly came to a decision on this 
momentous subject; and a letter 
from the Prince-Sovereign of Hol- 
land to the secretary of state at 
Brussels, dated February 23rd, 
announced that by the unanimous 
consent of Austria, Russia, Eng- 
land, France, and Prussia, | all 
those parts of Belgium which for- 
merly belonged to the first ot 
those powers had been placed un- 
der his sovereignty, with the ex- 
ception of some portions of the 
territory of Limburg and Lux- 
emburg. With such an assign- 
ment. of territory, the Prince of 
Orange acquired the regal title ; 
and in a speech delivered to the 
Dutch States-general on March 
16th, he declared his resolution 
of taking possession of the su- 
preme authority over all the 
United Netherlands, and at the 
same time of investing himself 
with royalty. An address was re- 
turned by the States expressive 
of their entire satisfaction as well 
with the Belgic union, as with the 
new title assumed by the sove- 
reign. 
The, recovery of the supreme 
power in France, by Buonaparte, 
was an event peculiarly menacing 
to the stability of the Belgie 
throne, since it could not be 
doubted, that if he should estab- 
lish his authority, the first em- 
ployment of the French arms 
would be to regain the influence 
of that nation in the Low-Coun- 
tries. The most active efforts 
were therefore immediately made 
to place the frontier on the French 
border in a state of defence 
