NETHERLANDS. f4S 
manifefted their fatisfaftion at the recovery of indepen¬ 
dence by the,Netherlands, and the conferring of the fo- 
vereignty upon his houfe. The devotion of the country 
to the good caufe had enabled him, notwithftanding the 
exhauftion of its finances, to raile more than 25,000 
troops, for themoft part well armed and equipped ; whilft 
its unanimity had been difplayed by the prompt o.rganiza, 
tiori of the militia, the levy in mafs, the national guards., 
and now by the acceptance of the conftitution. He con¬ 
cluded with promifing to apply himfelf to the immediate 
enforcement of that conftitution, and carrying into efteft 
all the requifite arrangements. 
In the beginning of May, all the places which belonged 
to Holland in 1795 were delivered up to the Dutch 
troops ; and the Auftrian general St, Vincent affumed 
the military government of the former Auftrian Nether¬ 
lands. On May 2d, the day appointed for the firft meet¬ 
ing of the ftates-general of the United Provinces at the 
Hague, the members of that body met in the palace of 
the fovereign-prince, and took the oaths prefcribed by 
the conftitution. The afl’embly then proceeded to the 
hall of the Binnenhof, allotted for their fittings, to which 
the fovereign, accompanied by his youngeft fon, repaired, 
and addrefled them in a fpeech in which he defcribed the 
ftafe of the country, and laid before them the neceflity of 
their ferious attention to retrieve its Ioffes, and reftore its 
ancient confequence and profperity. He fpoke of the ge¬ 
nerous friendlhip towards the country teftified by foreign 
powers, and efpecially by Great Britain ; and gave hopes 
of a fpeedier recovery from the injuries it had l'uftained 
than could be expedfed by many of its fellow-fuft'erers. 
The minifter of finance afterwards laid before the ftates- 
general an account of the expenditure and revenue of 
the United Provinces, from which it appeared, that rec¬ 
koning the ordinary and extraordinary expenfes for the 
year 1814 at 63,500,000 guilders, there would be a defi¬ 
ciency of revenue amounting to more than 25,000,000. 
He then aftigned reafons for expecting a confiderable di¬ 
minution of charges, and increafe of revenue, in future 
years, which turned upon the fpoliations and Ioffes of 
income which the ftate had incurred, in confequence of 
the war, and the French occupation of the country. As 
one proof of the facrifice made under the rule of Bona¬ 
parte of every other intereft to his warlike projects, it may 
be mentioned that the dykes of Holland, fo effential to 
the very exiftence of the country, had been fuffered to fall 
into fuch a ftate of dilapidation, that a large additional 
expenditure would be required for their repair in the 
prefent year. 
An adjourned fitting of the ftates-general was opened 
on June 15, by ameffage from the prince-fovereign, con¬ 
gratulating them upon the conclufion of a peace between 
the allied powers and France, in which the re-eftahlilh- 
ment of the ftates of the United Provinces was confirmed 
and guaranteed by the moll powerful fovereigns of Eu¬ 
rope. In anfwer to this communication, an addrefs was 
voted by the aflembly, expreffing fatisfaftion in the event, 
qnd grateful acknowledgments to his royal highnefs for 
his exertions in bringing it to eifedf. 
In the grand fettlenient of Europe, which became the 
object of the allied powers after they had expelled from 
his throne the perfon whole ambitious plans had fo long 
been employed in overthrowing all former barriers, and 
eftablilhing his own irrefiftible predominance, there were 
few points more important, and, at the fame time, of 
more difficult arrangement, than fixing the future condi¬ 
tion of the ten Belgic provinces, ufually diftinguiffied by 
the name of the Catholic Netherlands. Modern hiftory 
is filled with the wars and negotiations of which the dis¬ 
puted pofleffion of thefe rich and fertile countries was the 
fource; and to prevent them from falling under the do¬ 
minion of France, and preferve them to the houfe of 
Auftria, was a leading principle of the policy which 
formed the armed confederacies in the reigns of Wil¬ 
liam III- and Anne. When at length fecured to Auftria, 
Vql. XVI. No. 5150. 
they proved but an unealy and unfruitful acceffion to 
that power, on account of their remotenefs from the feat 
of fovereignty, the diverfity of their interefts, and the 
conftitutional privileges of which they were juftly jealous. 
The infraction of thefe privileges by the emperor Jofeph, 
and the violence with which he urged ecclefiaftical re¬ 
forms, altogether repugnant to the feelings of a people 
fingularly attached to their religion, occasioned a ftorm 
of refiftance and difaffection, which induced that fove- 
reign to form plans for exchanging his dominions in the 
Low Countries for an equivalent in Germany ; but, like 
the reft of his multifarious projects, they failed in the exe¬ 
cution. Thefe provinces were among the firft conqucfts 
of the French in their revolutionary war ; they had been 
declared integral parts of the French empire, which, by 
the occupation of the feven provinces, had obtained a 
moft important addition in this quarter. When France 
was to be reduced to her former limits, and Holland re- 
ftored to its priftine independence, the difpofal of the 
Catholic Netherlands became a matter of immediate ur¬ 
gency. O11 the principle of reftitution, there could be no 
doubt that they reverted to the Auftrian dominion ; and 
we have juft feen that temporary poffeffion of them was 
given to an Auftrian general, as military governor. But 
the prefent emperor of Auftria had the fame reafons with 
his predecefl'or, Jofeph, for wiihing to get rid of a de¬ 
tached territory which had long been rather a burden 
than an advantage, and the future defence of which could 
only be fecured by a ftrong and expenfive line of for- 
trefles. It is therefore probable, that a change in the oc¬ 
cupation of thefe provinces was early deliberated in the 
councils of the allied powers, though difficulties would 
occur in affigning their new poffeffor. 
Hints had been thrown out in the public papers of the 
Low Countries, of an intended union of the ten pro¬ 
vinces to the ftate with which they had the grealeft natu¬ 
ral affinity ; but it was not till the end of July that mat¬ 
ters were fully prepared for an open difciofure of the de- 
fign, and the meafures for bringing it to eft eft. On the 
30th of that month, the prince of .Orange, fovereign of 
the Netherlands, came to Bruftels, where he was waited 
upon by lord Lynedoch and the fuperior officers of the 
Englifti and Belgian troops, and had a long conference 
with the governor-general, baron de Vincent. O11 the 
next day, after attending divine fervice, he gave audi¬ 
ence to the members of the adminiftration of the public 
boards, and the principal civil officers, and received ad- 
dreffes expreffive of confidence and attachment. On the 
1 ft of Auguft, a proclamation was pubiilhed by baron de 
Vincent, in which he acquainted the people of Belgium, 
that, the time fixed by the high allies for giving up the 
general government into the hands of the fovereign-prince 
of the Netherlands being arrived, he was to take leave of 
them. He briefly dwelt upon the advantages that would 
accrue to them from that union, with a people already 
connected with them by a common origin, and common 
induftry and virtues, which was deftined by the general 
intereft of Europe; and allured them that it w r ould be ren¬ 
dered indiffoluble, and that their new condition would be 
fecured by the firmed: guarantee that human power could 
give. 
On the fame day an addrefs to the Belgians, by the 
prince of Orange, was publiflied. After informing them 
that the allied 1'ove.reigns intended to give to Europe a 
political fyftein which would allure a long period of prol- 
perity and repole to its nations, his royal highnefs faid, 
“ The new deftination of your beautiful provinces is a 
neceflary'part ol this fyftem; and the negociations which 
are going to be opened at Vienna will have for their ob¬ 
ject to caufe it to be recognifed, and to confolidate the 
extenfion of Belgium on a bafts conformable to, your in¬ 
terefts, to that of your neighbours, and of all Europe.” 
He then announced his being called to the government of 
their country during the ffiort interval before this defira- 
ble union, and exprelTed his wifti of being aflifted by the 
9 C moft 
