BELFAST BELGIUM. 



475 



fnstitution, founded in 1810, which possesses a 

 collegiate character, supporting professors in all 

 branches of science, classic, and general literature ; 

 and another the Belfast Academy which, at one 

 time, attained a high classical reputation. 



As an instance of the rapid increase of Belfast, a 

 view of its population at different periods may be 

 given. In 1758, it amounted to 8,549; in 1782 to 

 13,105; in 1798 to 18,320; in 1821 to 45,000; and 

 in 1831 to 53,287. 



BELFAST ; a seaport and post-town in Waldo coun- 

 ty, Maine, United States, 12 miles N.W. Castine, 224 

 N. E. Boston. Lon. 69<> 1' W. ; lat 44 25' N. Popu- 

 lation in 1810, 1,274 ; in 1820, 2,026. It is delight- 

 fully situated on Belfast bay, at the mouth of a small 

 river of the same name, and at the N. W. part of 

 Penobscot bay. [t has a good harbour and great 

 maritime advantages, and is a flourishing town. 



BELGIANS; a collection of German and Celtic tribes, 

 who inhabited the country extending from the Atlan- 

 tic ocean to the Rhine, and from the Marne and 

 Seine to the southern mouth of the Rhine, which is 

 united with the Meuse. From time to time, until the 

 period of Cassar, German nations pushed forward be- 

 yond the Rhine, partly expelling the Celts from their 

 seats, partly uniting with them ; and from this union 

 sprang a mixed nation, which, in its language as well 

 as in its manners, resembled the Germans more than 

 the Celts. According to the testimony of Caesar, 

 they were the most valiant of the Gauls, particularly 

 that portion which resided on the northern frontiers 

 of Germany. 



BELGIUM, a part of ancient Gaul, was originally the 

 land of the Bellovaci and Atrebates, who lived in the 

 neighbourhood of the city of Amiens, and perhaps of 



BELGIUM; the name of a part of the Netherlands, 

 which originally belonged to Germany was then 

 united with the rest of the Netherlands and with 

 Burgundy was afterwards separated from them, 

 and belonged to Spain was then given to France, 

 Austria, and Holland was, for a few years, united 

 to France alone and afterwards, with the German 

 province of Liege, to Holland alone until, at last, 

 it has become, in consequence of a revolution, and by 

 means of sixty or more protocols of the plenipotentia- 

 ries of the five great powers of Europe, a separate 

 state has received a separateconstitution a German 

 prince (Leopold) for a king and the guarantee of 

 French protection. The history of Belgium will be 

 found more or less interwoven with the histories of 

 the countries above mentioned, and we refer the 

 reader to the article Netherlands in this Encyclope- 

 dia, for a full description of its geography, statistics, 

 &c. In the present nrticle, we shall confine ourselves 

 to the history of BELGIUM SINCE 1830, to an account 

 of its revolution, and of the causes which led to its 

 present position. 



The Southern Netherlands, or Belgium, and the 

 Northern Netherlands, or Holland, were united into 

 one political body by the congress of Vienna, in 

 1814 and 1815, with the view of giving Germany 

 more security against France, and in consideration 

 of the union which had formerly existed between all 

 the provinces of the Netherlands ; perhaps, also, in 

 some measure, with a view to the interests of both 

 parties. The consent of the Southern Netherlands 

 was not asked : the great powers disposed of them 

 as of other conquered provinces and districts. But 

 there are hardly two nations of Europe more unlike 

 than the people of the Southern Netherlands and of 

 Holland in religion, language, manners, domestic 

 customs, and interests. Politicians, who were well 

 acquainted with both parties, and well disposed to- 

 wards them, deprecated tlif idea of their union, but 



to no purpose.* England was decidedly in favour of 

 it. Four millions of Catholics, chiefly employed in 

 agriculture and manufactures, were united with two 

 millions of Calvinists, in the Dutch sense of the 

 word, essentially commercial in their pursuits and 

 dispositions, speaking a different language, and one 

 which had always been disagreeable to the Belgians. 

 They were to have one constitution, one legislature, 

 one executive. But the agricultural and manufac- 

 turing interests of Belgium were so opposed to the 

 commercial interests of the Dutch, that measures 

 highly acceptable to the one were often odious to the 

 other. Yet this diversity of interest seems to have 

 been by no means so great a cause of disagreement 

 as the difference of language, religion, and character 

 The proud and rich Belgians, in language and man- 

 ners resembling the French, though far behind them 

 in cultivation, at the same time dependent upon a 

 jealous and blind Catholic clergy, decidedly hostile 

 to all innovations, particularly when proceeding from 

 two millions of Dutch, were bitterly opposed to the 

 measures of king William and his ministers, for 

 blending the two discordant masses into one, by 

 making the Dutch language general in the country, 

 and the official language. It was not to be supposed 

 that the Belgians would willingly suffer this, as the 

 language of a man is his very being; yet, on the 

 other hand, it was natural that the government 

 should wish to introduce more uniformity and stronger 

 national ties ; and they could hardly be expected to 

 make the French the common language, as the Dutch 

 formed the nucleus of the nation, from whom the 

 political institutions of the country came, as the re- 

 sult of a long and glorious history not to mention 

 that the king himself is a native Dutchman. The 

 king, however, revoked the decrees which had given 

 such offence to the Belgians,^ and even decreed the 



* Niebuhr, the historian of Rome, who was well ac- 

 quainted with the country and people, having lived some 

 time there in the service of the Prussian government, was 

 of opinion that the two portions, if united at all under one 

 king, ought, at least, to have separate constitutions and 

 legislatures, like Norway and Sweden. As early as 1821, 

 he predicted a violent separation. 



t' Though it might be supposed self-evident that language 

 and religion must be the dearest possessions of every man, 

 we find so many attempts, in history, on the' part of go- 

 vernments, to make violent changes in these particulars, 

 that we feel induced to translate a passage of a ministerial 

 decree in Prussia, of December 23, 1822, dictated by a 

 spirit of true wisdom. It may be found in the Annals of 

 the Prussian Popular School System (vol. iii, Berlin, 182C). 

 At the same time, we should mention that the Prussian 

 government takes care to Germanize, as rapidly as reason 

 will permit, those districts which speak languages that 

 either never arrived at any literary cultivation, or are now 

 spoken only by small communities, and, therefore, serve 

 only as barriers to the spread and progress of civilization. 

 And, in so doing, they act wisely. If a small community 

 speaks a different language from the surrounding people, 

 and thus separates itself from the great current of civili- 

 zation, while it is incapable of having a literature and in 

 tellectual development of its own, as was the case witli 

 some Bohemian communities, but a short time since, in 

 the march of Brandenburg, they arc liable, as many remark 

 able instances show, to suffer a complete mental stagna- 

 tion. The passage of the decree of the Prussian minister 

 of instruction is this : " As to the propagation of the Ger- 

 man language, it is first necessary that we perceive clearly 

 what we wish, or should wish, in this respect, namely 

 whether only to diffuse a general knowledge of German 

 among the inhabitants of the Polish provinces, or to Ger- 

 manize the whole people by degrees, indued, and imper- 

 ceptibly, yet, nevertheless, as completely as possible. In 

 the opinion of this department, the first only is necessary, 

 advisable, and practicable, the second injudicious and im 

 practicable. In order to be a good subject, and to partici- 

 pate in the benefits of the institutions of the state, it is, 

 indeed, desirable and necessary for the Poles that they 

 should understand tin; l;inpuace of the kingdom and go- 

 vernment, and be able to make themselves understood in 

 the fi:ue ; hut it is not necessary that they should, there- 

 fore, give tiptheir national tongue, or treat it as secondary 

 The knowledge of two languages is not a disadvantage, 

 3 ol' 2 



