BELGIUM. 



481 



were highly favourable to the Belgian revolution. 

 The recommencement of hostilities with Holland, 

 towards the end of 1830, liad no important conse- 

 quences. 



The chief question remaining was the choice of a 

 ruler. Baron de Stassart favoured the plan of elect- 

 ing the king of the French. Belgium, however, 

 forming a separate kingdom, count Robiano de 

 Boorsbeek wished for a native prince. The liberals 

 were decidedly opposed to the theocratic views of 

 count Robiano. Another party was in favour of the 

 duke of Leuchtenberg, the son of Eugene ; but the 

 diplomatic committee informed the congress that 

 France would never acknowledge the duke king of 

 the Belgians, and that king Louis Philip would no 

 less positively decline the union of Belgium with 

 France or the election of the duke de Nemours as 

 king of the Belgians. The election finally took 

 place, Feb. 3, 1 831. One hundred and ninety-one 

 members were present, and ninety-seven votes were 

 1'or the duke de Nemours, seventy-four for the duke 

 of Leuchtenberg, and twenty-one for the archduke 

 Charles. The president now declared Louis Charles 

 Philip, duke de Nemours (born Oct. 25, 1814), duly 

 chosen king of the Belgians ; and, on the fourth, a 

 committee of the congress was sent to the king. 

 They were received in a friendly manner ; but the 

 king declined the crown for his son, and it was un- 

 derstood to be his wish, that the brother of the king 

 of the Two Sicilies should be elected.* 



The central committee of the congress decided on 

 the election of a regent, and, Feb. 24, the congress 

 elected baron Surlet de Chokier regent of the Bel- 

 gians. He was solemnly inducted on the twenty- 

 fifth, and took the oath to preserve the indepen- 

 dence of Belgium and maintain the exclusion of 

 the house of Orange. In a succeeding session, the 

 congress adopted the electoral law by 101 votes 

 against thirty-one. The members of the provisional 

 government announced that their authority was at an 

 end. Congress voted them a grant of 150,000 

 guilders. De Potter went to Paris. The regent 

 first confirmed the existing ministers : at a later 

 period, he appointed new ones. But order did not 

 revive with the establishment of the new govern- 

 ment. Towards the end of March, there were dis- 

 turbances in Liege, Antwerp, Ghent, Mechlin, 

 Namur, and even in Brussels ; but they were sup- 

 pressed with energy. 



March 29, 1831, congress was again opened by the 

 regent : of 200, but little more than half were pre- 

 sent. The congress voted to call out the first class 

 of civic guards, amounting to 90,000 men, and to 

 raise a loan of twelve million guilders. Upon the 

 recommendation of England, prince Leopold of Saxe- 

 Coburg was now looked to as a suitable person to 

 fill the Belgic throne. A deputation, therefore, was 

 sent, April 17, to London, consisting of several mem- 

 bers of the congress, to sound the disposition of the 

 prince, and, at the same time, to make some settle- 

 ment in regard to boundaries, the maintenance of 

 the constitution, and a fair division of the public debt 

 of the kingdom of the Netherlands. In general, 

 foreign politics so entirely engrossed the thoughts of 

 the congress, that little attention was given to laws 

 relative to the press, juries, municipal organization, 

 &c. Public feeling in Belgium continued warlike : 

 it defied even the London conference ; and the lan- 

 guage of several members of the Belgian congress 

 was exceedingly violent. When the intelligence 

 from England was rather more favourable, and 



* The protocol of the London conference of ministers of 

 l''cbniary 1, excluded the duke of Leuchtenberg, us well as 

 the members of the families of any of the five great powers 

 from the Belgian throne. 



government received (May 24) information that the 

 Belgian flag would be admitted into the British 

 ports, congress again proceeded to elect a king, June 

 4", 1831. One hundred and ninety-six members 

 were present ; nineteen did not vote ; ten were op- 

 posed to the election of any king ; fourteen voted for 

 Surlet de Chokier ; pne ballot was inadmissible ; the 

 rest of the votes were for prince Leopold, whom the 

 regent declared to be king, on condition of his 

 adopting the Belgian constitution. No acclamation 

 or signs of approbation were heard, however, and the 

 spectators kept silence. A deputation carried a 

 notice of the vote to the prince in London. But, at 

 the same time, a protocol of the London conference 

 (number twenty-six), consisting of eighteen articles, 

 made its appearance, on the adoption of which the 

 declaration of prince Leopold depended. These 

 articles caused a violent debate of nine days, and, at 

 last, were adopted, on July 9, by 126 votes against 

 seventy. This result was received with loud applause 

 by the congress and the spectators in the gallery. 

 Belgium longed for peace and order. A deputation 

 carried this resolution to London, and, on July 21, 

 1831, king Leopold took the oath to observe the 

 Belgian constitution,* in Brussels, according to 

 ancient custom, in the open air. On the same day, 

 the regent laid down his office, and the constituent 

 congress concluded its sessions. 



The king of the Belgians summoned the electoral 

 colleges to meet in Brussels, August 29, and the 

 senate, and the chamber of representatives, Septem- 

 ber 8. But, August 2, he was attacked by Holland. 

 The struggle lasted only thirteen days, and covered 

 the boasting Belgians with ignominy. France in- 

 terfered, and prevented the Dutch troops from march- 

 ing into Brussels; and protocol number thirty-four 

 decreed an armistice of six weeks, which was subse- 

 quently prolonged. The king immediately began 

 the re-organization of the army. General Daine and 

 several high officers were dismissed; German and 



* The legislative power is exercised collectively by the 

 king, the chamber of representatives, and the senate. The 

 initiative pertains to each of the three branches of tlie 

 legislative power ; nevertheless, every law relating to the 

 revenue and expenditure of the state, or to the contingent 

 of the army, must be first voted by the chamber of repre- 

 sentatives. The constitutional powers of the king arc 

 hereditary in direct, natural, legitimate descent, from male 

 to male, by order of primogeniture, to the perpetual exclu- 

 sion of females and their descendants. The king attain.; 

 his majority at the age of eighteen years. The person of 

 the king is inviolable, but his ministers are responsible. 

 The king appoints and dismisses his ministers, confers 

 ranks in the army, and lias the right of granting titles of 

 nobility, without the power of annexing therewith any pri- 

 vilege. He commands the army and navy, declares war 

 and makes peace, and sanctions and promulgates the laws. 

 The chambers assemble by their own right, every year, on 

 the second Tuesday of November, unless convoked earlier 

 by the king. The law fixes the civil list for the duration of 

 each reign. The chamber of representatives is composed 

 of deputies elected by the citizens paying a direct tax de- 

 termined by the electoral law : the requisite sum cannot 

 exceed 1UO florins, nor be less than '20 florins. The num- 

 ber of deputies is apportioned according to population, ami 

 it cannot exceed the proportion of one deputy to 45,000 in- 

 habitants. The members of the chamber of representatives 

 are elected for four years, one half being elected every two 

 years ; and each member receives 200 florins a month dui - 

 ing the session. The members of the senate are elected by 

 the citizens, who elect the members of the chamber of re- 

 presentatives ; and their number is equal to one half the 

 number of the representatives. The senators are elected 

 for eight years, one half being elected every four years. A 

 senator must be forty years of age, and must pay a direct 

 tax of 1000 florins. The heir presumptive of the king is of 

 right a senator at the age of eighteen years, but has no de- 

 liberative voice till the ape of twenty-five. A citizen, in 

 order to be either a deputy or an elector, must be twenty- 

 five years of age. The judges are appointed by the king 

 for life ; and a jury is established for all criminal ami 

 political nlleiicrs. Religious liberty, the freedom of the 

 press, liberty of instruction, personal liberty, and the right 

 of petitioning the public authorities, arc guaranteed. 



