BAT 



BAT 



ef government. Towards the clofe of the year 1794, and 

 the commencement of the following year, the French lorccs, 

 favoured by the frofl of winter, by the difcontents that pre- 

 vailed in the provinces, and the ineffeftual fupport afforded 

 to the Dutch by the Britilh troops, took poIFefiion of their 

 pnncipal towns'; and 0:1 the 27th of January 1795, the pro- 

 vifional reprefentatives of the people of Holland afiembled, 

 and chofe Pierre Paulus for their prcfident. On this occa- 

 fion, feveral ikcrees were immediately pa(r..d for the future 



regulation of the arovernmcnt, and for the depofiiion of the . - j • "n ;■ »i,„. i iu.„„ 



ftadtholder from all his offices. Amonr thcfe decrees were provmcml divifions. and other adnundtrat.ons, that had been 

 the following : viz. the fovereignty of' the Dutch people, ellablilhed under the convention ; wh^h was a conh.tut.on 

 and the declaration of the rights of man : — the abolition of 

 the ftadtholderlhip; as alfo of the offices of admiral and cap- 

 ^ain-gcneral of the Uniied Provinces, with all their appen- 

 dages : — the releafe of the citizens and inhabitants of Hol- 

 tan^d from their oaths to the old conllitution : — the fjppref- 



The execution of this mandate was intruded with Charles 

 I,e Croix, and the plan of operations for accomphihing it 

 wac concerted with tl'.e Dutch general Daendels, wiio was 

 an orgiiiil niovtr, and pri.icipal agent in the revolution. 

 Accordingly it .vas eiTefud on the 22d of Januarv 1798. 

 Tills revoTu'tion gave buth to a new form of government in 

 the Batavian republic, which was iptroducrd and eitablillied 

 by atls of violence. An afTembiy, lorair:! by revolutionary 

 dcfpotifm and mihtary force,, and ali.ui :;.g the name of the 

 :onilituent affcmbly of the Batavian people, aboli''ed thofe 



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CO 



lion of, the college of the deputy council, and that of the 

 chamber of accounts ; and the ellablilluiie.it in their room 

 of a conimittee of public fafcty, a comndltee ol military af- 

 fairs, and a committee of finance : — and the recall of the 

 commiffion of the deputies to the alTembly calling itfelf the 

 ftates-genei-al. It was alfo decreed, that the commiGioners 

 of the affembly of the piovifional rcprefentation of Holland 

 fiiould immediately begin their fittings in the hall of the 

 ci-devant ftates-gensral, in order to advance the general in- 

 terefts of the people. A treaty of peace and alliance was 

 concluded between the French and Bataviaif republics, at 

 the Hague, May 1.6, 1795; in which the French ftipu- 

 lated to reftore immediately all the conquered places and 

 countries that belonged to the feven United Provinces ; the 

 frontier towns of the generality, fuch as Maeftricht, Venlo, 

 Breda, Eergen-op-Zooni, with their territories, excepted. 

 It was alfo ftipulated that the French, as well as the Bata- 

 vians, fliould enjoy, without paying any tolls, the free navi- 

 gation of the Scheldt, the Rhine, and the Meufc, and all 

 their branches as far as the fea ; that the Batavians (hould 

 pay to the French the expences of the war which the latter 

 had been compelled to make againil the former ; that the 

 French republic acknowledged the independence and fove- 

 reignty of the Batavian ; that an alliance ofTeufive and de- 

 fenfive fhculd be eftabhlhcd between both republics ; and 

 that neither the French nor Batavians (hov.ld conclude 

 peace, or make any other treaty, ia which both parties did 

 not participate. 



Ia 1796, the national convention of the Batavian republic 

 made fome confiderable alterations in matters relating to 

 religion. It was determined, that all the inhabitants of the 

 republic were fiec to exercife without moleftation any mode 

 cf public v^'ordiip w-jiatever to which their opinions might 

 lead them ; that there fliould be no ettablillied religion in 

 the republic ; that the ufe of bells in convoking perlons to 

 public worfhip, (hould be prohibited ; and that Jews Ihould 

 be allowed to become citizens of the republic, and empow- 

 ered to purchafe lands in the lame manner as other citizens. 

 On the nth of January 1797, the new plan of the con- 

 ftitution was difcuffed ; and it was decreed, that the Bata- 

 vian people are one and indivifible ; tliat the fovereignty 

 appertains to the whole Batavian people ; and that the Bata- 

 vian people ftiall elett reprtfentativcs ti^ exercife its fove- 

 ' reignty. It was alfo refolved, that all citizens born and re- 

 fident in the republic, and twenty-one years of age, fliould 

 be Jnvelled with the n'ght of voting ; and alfo ftrangers, 

 after having refided within the republic fix years fuceelTively. 

 It was alfo refolved, that the republic fhould be divided into 

 •leven departments. Towards the clofe of the year 1797, 

 ibe Frcncli direftory iffued their mandate ^for a revolution. 

 4, 



grounded on principles deemed more popular than thofe 

 which formed the balis of thai wiiieh was about to be pre- 

 feiited when this revolution took place, and againit which a. 

 fom.al proteil had been previoufly made by forty mem- 

 bers of the convention, when it was offered to the pri- 

 mary aflfemblies for their conlideration. The people, 

 wearied with continual agitations, and indeed incapable 

 of effedual refiftance, accepted this projecT; formed on 

 the model of the French conftitution, as the bell remedy 

 againil further convulfions ; and thus Holland funk for a 

 while into the ftate of a dependent province, under the pro- 

 tee'tion of Le Croix, the revolutionary delegate of the 

 French direftory. The principal articles that conftitutcd 

 the bafis of this new government are the following : viz. 



The abolition of the divifion into provinces : — Separation 



of church and date: — No corporation or fociety to have 

 rules contrary to the laws of the ftate : — Exclufion from 

 the right of voting of all the adherents of the Orange fa- 

 mily : — The formation of a democratic reprefentative go- 

 vernm.ent by means of a legidativc body compofed of two. 

 councils, and a provilionai^ executive direftory confifting- 

 of five members, having under it the agents of the executive, 

 power : — The formation of a new plan of finance, founded 

 upon the relative means of the citizens : — The commiffion- 

 ers of the treafury are to be appointed by the executive 

 power : — Thofe of the chamber of accounts by the Itgifla- 

 tive affembly : — The territory of the republic to be divided 

 into a iuitable number of departments; and accordingly, 

 the nine provinces were divided into eight departments, the 

 extent of which was meafured by the population and the 

 limits formed bv the great rivers ; thefe depvtments were 

 again divided, each into ten circles ; and each department 

 was prefumed to contain 235,000 inhabitants ; and the ge- 

 neral population of the republic was eltimated at n milhoU: 

 eight hundred and ninety-two thoufaiid individuals : — A 

 diltind divllion of three powers, the legiflative, the execu- 

 tive, and the judiciary : — The right of individual petition to 

 the citizens : — Revifton of tlie conlhtution after the expi- 

 ration o£ the fifth year :■ — The oath of hatred to the go- 

 vernment of the iiadtholdcr, federv.lilm, ariftocracy, and. 

 anarchy, to be taken by all the perfons employed by the 

 republic : — No power to have the right, of interfering with 

 the banks of circulation in the different towns of the repub- 

 lic : — Inftitulions for piiLlic inflruttion in aits and fciences:. 

 — And aUiance with the French republic. 



In the year 1801, a new conilitution for the government 

 of the Batavian republic, confifting of loS articks, v/as in- 

 troduced. This conllitution aboiifhes the executive direc- 

 tory, and fubilitutes a ilate direClory, confifting of twelve 

 perlons, one of whom goes out annually. Tiie legiflative 

 body is to confiil of 35 members. The tcrritoi-y ot the re- 

 public is to be dividtti into eight departments, whofe boun- 

 daries are to be the faire with thofe of the oiJ provinces. 

 The allowance of the members of the legiflative body is to 

 be 4000 florins. They are to meet twice in the year, and. 



to. 



