XXIV. 1830. 76. Speech of the King ing the Chambers. be Sept. 13. The Estates of the kingdom were convoked for the CHAP. 13th September, and on that day they assembled from all quarters; and the session was opened with great pomp by the King in person, accompanied by the Prince of Orange. It was impossible to imagine a more august or on opensolemn occasion; for the assembly was to deliberate not only on the fundamental laws of the kingdom, but on the maintenance of the connection with Holland, as fixed by the Congress of Vienna. The speech of William was dignified and moderate, and in every respect worthy of the occasion. "To go back," said the monarch with emotion, "to the causes of the past, to scrutinise them with your high mightinesses, to seize their true character, is less urgent than to seek the means of re-establishing the authority of the laws, so violently shaken by the late commotions. But in the midst of the shock of ideas, and of the clash of conflicting opinions, it is no casy matter to reconcile my wishes for the happiness of my subjects with the duties which I have contracted towards all, and which I have consecrated by my oaths. I earnestly implore, therefore, your firm and calm consideration, in order that, fortified by the opinions of the national representatives, I may adopt such measures as the safety of the country demands. One party contends for a revision of the fundamental law of our union, and even the separation of the Provinces. This can only be done, you are aware, in the form prescribed by the fundamental act of our constitution. I pray only that you may approach it with the deliberation and caution which its importance deserves. Entirely disposed to satisfy all reasonable wishes, I will accord nothing to the spirit of faction; I will never consent to measures which may sacrifice the interests and prosperity of the nation to the passions and to violence. Reconcile, if you can, all in- 78, 79. terests; that is the sole wish of my heart."1 Nothing could be more judicious or conciliatory than this language; but the time was passed when it could 1 Cap. iii. XXIV. 1830. 77. is directed and Cham bers on Brussels. Sept. 23. CHAP. command any attention. The passions of the populace were so strongly roused by the prospect of the successful revolution in Paris, of the clergy and burghers by the The army hope of an approaching severance from Holland, that the by the King Voice of reason and patriotism had no longer a chance of being heard. The working classes, thrown by thousands out of employment by the public convulsions, and who, by the force of numbers, had got possession of Brussels, Ghent, Liege, and other towns, had already proceeded to acts of pillage; disorders in the streets were frequent ; and the burghers, whose representatives formed the great majority, were dreadfully alarmed at the prospect of the destruction of their property or the cessation of their profits. To terminate these dangers, the King, on the recommendation of the Chambers, gave the command of the army at Vilvorde to Prince Frederick, a brave soldier, who justly possessed the confidence of the troops, with instructions to advance to Brussels, re-establish the authority of Government, protect property, and leave the na1 Ann. Hist. tional representatives at liberty to deliberate in safety 557 Cap, on the important matters waiting their determination. Having published a proclamation, accordingly, explaining his views and the orders he had received, he moved his troops towards Brussels, 1* xiii. 556, iii. 78, 79; Louis Blanc, ii. 104, 106. The approach of the Prince at the head of nine * "Tandis qu'avec un zèle et une activité dignes des plus grands éloges, vous veillez à la défense des propriétés publiques et particulières, un petit nombre de factieux cachés parmi vous excite la populace au pillage, l'armée au déshonneur; les intentions royales sont dénaturées, les autorités sans force, la liberté opprimée. Conformément aux ordres du roi, nous venons apporter à cet état des choses qui ruine votre cité, et éloigne de plus en plus, pour cette résidence royale, la possibilité d'étre le séjour du monarque, et de l'héritier du trône, le seul remède véritable et efficace, le rétablissement de l'ordre légal. Les légions nationales vont entrer dans vos murs, au nom des lois, et à la demande des meilleurs citoyens, pour les soulager tous d'un service pénible, et pour prêter aide et protection. Une sage amnistie s'étendra sur les fautes et les démarches irrégulières que les circonstances ont produites. Les auteurs principaux d'actes trop criminels pour espérer d'échapper à la sévérité des lois, des étrangers qui, abusant de l'hospitalité, sont venus organiser parmi vous ce désordre, seront seuls et justement frappés. Leur cause n'a rien de commun avec la vôtre.-FREDERICK. 21st Sept. 1830."-CAPEFIGUE, vol. iii. p. 79. XXIV. Frederick Brussels. Sept. 23. thousand men, twenty-six guns, and two howitzers, CHAP. on the road from Antwerp towards Brussels, produced 1830. the utmost excitement in the latter city. The French 78. emissaries and democratic leaders, who were openly de- Prince nounced in the proclamation by which his advance was attacks preceded, were indefatigable in their efforts to rouse the populace; they had no longer any hope but in the most determined resistance. The tocsin sounded from all the steeples, the générale beat in all the streets. Old men and women, age and childhood, were to be seen at the barricades, which were erected at the gates and across the principal entrances. The utmost enthusiasm and courage pervaded the working classes, who by this time had become all armed; the burghers, in silence, and trembling for their shops, fell into the ranks, obeying mechanically a movement which they had originally raised, but of which they had now entirely lost the direction. Some guns, placed at the gates of Schaarbeck and Louvain, opened a fire upon the troops of the Prince of Orange when they first came within range; but the Dutch guns were immediately hurried to the front, and by their superior fire quickly silenced that of the insurgents. The entrance being thus cleared, the troops advanced, and without much difficulty occupied the gates of Schaarbeck and 'Ann. Hist. Louvain, with the whole boulevards between them, and 559; Cap. established themselves in force in the Park, the highest Louis' quarter of Brussels, and, in a military point of view, 106, 107. giving the entire command of the city.1 xiii. 557, iii. 79; Blanc, ii. 79. troops are and retire But while these successes, to all appearance decisive, were gained by the royal troops, the insurgents in Brus- The Dutch sels were not idle. Guided by the numerous French in the end refugees then in the city, and who possessed the skill and defeated, information on military matters by which that gallant to Antwerp. people are pre-eminently distinguished, they intrenched themselves strongly in the quarters adjacent to the park, and filled all the houses looking into it with musketeers. The Dutch troops might easily have forced the city to XXIV. 1830. CHAP. capitulate, by bombarding it from the park, which commanded it in every part; but the Prince of Orange was reluctant to proceed to such extremities with his own capital city, and with reason apprehended that it was a hopeless thing to attempt to conciliate a hostile kingdom by burning its metropolis. He confined himself, accordingly, to a combat of musketry, the effect of which would not reach beyond the combatants; and the entrance into the Place Royale from the park continued through the whole of the 24th to be the theatre of as warm a fire as ever was witnessed in street conflicts. The insurgents, however, bravely stood their ground, and notwithstanding the most vigorous efforts, the Dutch troops were unable to dislodge them from the houses commanding the entrances of the parks. During the night the insurgents received great reinforcements from Liege, Ghent, and other towns, which had espoused the same cause, and this so encouraged them that on the morning of the 25th they assumed the offensive, and commenced a vigorous attack on the Royalists in the park at all points. Success was for some time pretty nearly balanced; but reinforcements having come up in great numbers during the day, the insurgents, towards evening, gained decided advantages, dismounted a battery which the Dutch had established in front of the palace of the Prince of Orange, and forced the Dutch into the extremity of the Madeleine, where they succeeded in maintaining themselves. But as they were now evidently overmatched, and had a whole nation on their hands, the royal troops were withdrawn early in the morning of the 26th, and took the road to Antwerp. The revolutionary chiefs, amidst shouts of triumph, immediately appointed a provisional 1 Moniteur, government, which forthwith pronounced the dethrone Sept. 25. Oct. 1, Hist. xiii. 1830; Ann. ment of Frederick-William from the Hôtel de Ville of 561, 568. Brussels, as Lafayette had done from the Hôtel de Ville of Paris.1 This decisive victory of an insurgent populace over a XXIV. 1830. 80. rection ex the separa gium and pronounced Chamber. Oct. 18. considerable body of regular troops, armed with a power- CHAP. ful artillery, and headed by a prince of the blood, produced, as well it might, very great sensation in Europe, and stimulated the revolutionists everywhere to imitate The insurthe example of the Parisians and Belgians, and overturn tends genethe existing authorities by a well-concerted urban tumult. rally, and The whole provinces of Flanders followed the example of tion of Belthe capital, and declared for the provisional government Holland is and the separation from Holland. The Estates, by a by the majority of 55 to 43, decided for the separation; and ordered a national congress, where all interests should be represented. Meanwhile the fortresses, still remaining in the hands of the Dutch, being without ammunition or provisions, were all obliged to capitulate except Antwerp, Maestricht, and Luxembourg, which, with the province of Limburg, held out for the house of Nassau, and at the first of which the Prince of Orange had established a sort of counter-government, from which orders, as for the whole of Flanders, were issued. At length even Antwerp was wrested from them, with the exception of the citadel, which, with a garrison of seven thousand men, was held by a resolute veteran, GENERAL CHASSÉ. On the 27th October, the Prince of Orange left the town for Oct. 27. the Hague, and he was no sooner gone than symptoms of insurrection appeared. Encouraged by a body of troops which approached from Brussels, and who were stealthily admitted within the gates, the people broke into revolt, surrounded and disarmed several isolated soldiers and detachments, and gradually wrested from the Dutch all the gates, while the garrison retired to the citadel. Emboldened by this success, the insurgents ventured to measure their strength with the citadel, and fired some shots at the Oct. 29. sentinels on the ramparts. Chassé replied by a vigorous No fire from two hundred pieces of artillery, which speedily 1830; Ann. set the town on fire in several places, and destroyed pro- 568,574; perty to the amount of 5,000,000 florins (£400,000).1 80, 81. Menaced with total ruin, the insurgents were too happy 1 Moniteur, Hist. xiii. Cap. iii. |