478 



BELGIUM. 



Imt hero, also, at Liege, Mons, Louvnin, Bruges, 

 Ghent, Antwerp, Verviers, Kc., the bin-fillers soon 

 armed themselves, re-established order, and funned 

 committees of safety. In the mean time, many 

 manufactories were burned, machines demolished, 

 houses plundered, particularly those of the tax- 

 gatherers and public officers, and the frontier bureaux. 

 1'Jie royal linns were every where broken, and it was 

 supposed by many, that a I'rcnch party was active in 

 keeping the insurrectionary spirit alive, to gain sup- 

 port for the recent changes in France. 



The commander of the royal troops, major-general 

 count William de Kylandt, had declared, in conse- 

 quence of a convention with the commander of the 

 civic guards, baron van -fler Linden- 1 loogvorst (on 

 the twenty-eighth of August), that the troops expect- 

 ed in Brussels should not enter the city while peace 

 ami order could be maintained by the burghers 

 themselves. Forty-four burghers of Brussels now 

 chose a committee (consisting of Joseph van Hoog- 

 vorst, member of the states-general, count Felix de 

 Merode, the counsellor Gendebien Frederic de Secus 

 and Palmaert), without consulting the governor or 

 the regency, to present an address to the king, 

 asking for a redress of grievances in general, and 

 for the convocation of the states-general. The 

 committee of safety of Liege also sent a deputation 

 to the Hague, and published its address of the twenty - 

 seventh or August, demanding a total change in the 

 administration, the dismission of the ministers, the 

 recall of the message oi December 11, the establish- 

 ment of the jury, the responsibility of ministers, the 

 free use of the French language in all public trans- 

 actions, &c. The same demands were made by 

 Mons, Louvain, Tournay, Charleroi, Audenarde, Ver- 

 viers, Huy, Grammont, Ath, &c. On the first intel- 

 ligence of the disturbances in Brussels, the king had 

 summoned the states-general to meet, September, 13, 

 at the Hague, by an edict of August 31. He told 

 the Brussels deputation that he had the sole right to 

 appoint and dismiss the ministers ; that requests 

 which were brought to him with the pistol at his 

 breast could not be granted without a violation of his 

 dignity and his duty to consult the states-general on 

 subjects of such moment ; but that he would consider 

 the matter more fully. 



Troops had been marched towards Brussels, under 

 the command of the king's sons, the prince of Orange 

 and prince Frederic. The former invited the com- 

 mander of the civic guards of Brussels to a consulta- 

 tion at the castle of Laeken. Baron van Hoogvorst 

 repaired thither (August 31) with a committee, and 

 requested the princes to enter Brussels with them, 

 and without an escort. But the demand of the princes 

 that all illegal ensigns and cockades should be re- 

 moved, caused so much excitement in Brussels, that 

 the people barricadoed the gates and chief streets. 

 A second deputation, however, and the advice of the 

 minister Gobbelschroy, induced the prince of Orange 

 to make a promise to enter the city at the head of his 

 staff. The deputies guaranteed the safety of his 

 person, and the civic guard went to meet him. The 

 entry was made on September 1. The prince was 

 obliged, by the clamours of the populace, to go first 

 to the town-house, and thence, by a circuitous route, 

 to the palace, where he issued a proclamation, thank- 

 ing the burghers tor the restoration of order, and 

 summoning a deputation for the next day, in order to 

 confer upon further measures. The next day, the 

 answer of the king to the deputation to the Hague 

 was made known in Brussels by placards ; but the 

 people were so exasperated that they burned the 

 royal answer, and were with difficulty prevented from 

 attacking the palace. The consultation of the prince 

 with th Brussels deputation, the president of which 



was the duke of Ursel, and with a deputation from 

 Liege, resulted in the conclusion that an entire, 

 separation of the government of Belgium from that of 

 Holland was the only means of restoring quiet The 

 prince consented to lay this demand before the king, 

 on condition that the Belgians would promise, in 

 such a case, to remain faithful to the house of Orange, 

 to \\liich the Belgian deputies assented with enthusi- 

 asm. The prince now dismissed the committee, and 

 went to the Hague. The troops left Brussels, and 

 the Belgian flag waved upon the palaces of the king, 

 the princes, ana the states-general. Prince IV 

 had also declared to the workmen at Liege, who had 

 taken the arsenal on the second of September, tint 

 no troops should march against them. The dismission 

 of the minister of justice, Van Maanen, at his own 

 request, was likewise made known. 



The prince of Orange arrived at the Hague, Sept 

 4, where it was already known that the citi/i 

 Amsterdam also intended to request of the king th 

 separation of the government of the Northern Nctln r- 

 lands from that of Belgium. But the votes on this 

 question were divided in several cities of Belgium, 

 particularly in Antwerp and Ghent, which (September 

 8) sent addresses to the king, remonstrating against 

 the separation. As early as August 28, the opinion 

 of the commercial community of Antwerp was de- 

 cidedly pronounced. " We have," said they, " seen, 

 from the events in Brussels, their deplorable conse- 

 quences, and the excesses which have accompanied 

 this insurrection, that the lowest class only had 

 taken part in them. We desire an opposition which 

 defends law and liberty ; but we reject with horror 

 those who speak with the torch in their hands-. 

 These terrible and bloody excesses are, as Mirabeau 

 says, the funeral pile of liberty." The proclamation 

 of the king (September 5) declared, therefore, that 

 the wishes and rights of all should be weighed and 

 decided upon, in the regular and legal way, by the 

 states-general. 



In Belgium, all the cities and towns now armed, 

 as if for war: great numbers of people flocked 

 into Brussels ; and a body of excited Liegers, who 

 entered this city (September 7) with cannon, endan- 

 gered its tranquillity. The burghers now warmly 

 demanded separation, and sent a deputation to prince 

 Frederic at Vilvorde ; but, as the prince referred to 

 the constitution sworn to by the king, the impatience 

 of the people increased to such a degree, that the 

 general staff of the civic guards and the members of 

 the states-general present, assembled in the town- 

 house, considered it expedient to nominate a commit- 

 tee of safety, to watch over the preservation of the 

 dynasty, and secure the separation of the south from 

 the north, and the interests of commerce and industry. 

 This committee was nominated, September 11, by 

 the regency, and consisted of the counsellor Gende- 

 bien, the ex-mayor of Brussels, Rouppe, count Felix 

 de Merode, the counsellor Sylvian van de Weyer, 

 the duke of Ursel, Ferdinand Mecus, the prince de 

 Ligne, Frederic de Secus ; but the two last declined 

 the. office. As the Belgic deputies now met with the 

 other members of the states-general in the Hague, 

 the committee of safety exhorted the inhabitants of 

 Brussels to await calmly the result of the session, and 

 ordered strangers to leave the city. The working 

 classes of Brussels, who had been left without employ- 

 ment, were promised work. 



September 23, the king opened the session of the 

 states-general in the Hague. It was provided in the 

 constitution, that that instrument should be changed 

 only by the states-general. The king, therefore, 

 proposed to them to take into consideration the pro- 

 posed changes in the mutual relations of the two 

 great divisions of the kingdom. The necessity of a 



