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 COPYRIGHT. 1917 
 
 BY 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 Ube fmfcberbocfeer press, Hew JJorfc
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PICTURE to yourselves this scene: In 
 his stately home at Paris, Prince Talley- 
 rand lies in death; Micard, the famous 
 chemist, is preparing the body for burial; 
 but this is to be no such task as with com- 
 mon mortals; rather shall the arts of the 
 Egyptians be, as far as possible, revived. 
 Into the veins of the great nobleman aro- 
 matic juices are introduced, while the as- 
 sistants hang in wonder over the skill of 
 Micard. But when the operation is over, 
 the chemist (and he alone?) notes a strange 
 blunder. The brain, which has been re- 
 moved for elaborate treatment, still remains 
 in the glass bowl wherein it was placed. 
 To re-open the skull, to disturb anew that
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 reposeful and now fragrantly arranged body, 
 were, (worse than desecration,) a confes- 
 sion of ineptitude that Micard is unwilling 
 to make; he therefore takes the bowl with 
 its marvellous contents, and unobserved, 
 we hope, bears the object away with him. 
 Once in the streets, he seeks a method for 
 disposal, and finds it, by, to our mind, the 
 most eloquent of coincidences, in the very 
 sewer-opening through which the body of 
 Robespierre, (when that bloody peak of the 
 Mountain fell,) had been consigned to hid- 
 den waters. It is an episode which Victor 
 Hugo, not without some errors in the re- 
 countal, has related, and which, in its pre- 
 sent presentation, is vouched for by friends 
 of Micard to whom, in later days, he nar- 
 rated the affair. To such strange doom 
 was destined the crafty brain which had, 
 to a notable extent, shaped the careers of 
 dynasties and the histories of nations, and,
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 towards the end of its labors, had conceived 
 the idea of the inviolability and permanent 
 neutrality of Belgium, maintained by the 
 guarantees of England, Prussia, Austria, 
 Russia and France. 
 
 The circumstances in the Netherlands 
 culminating in the establishment of this 
 new Belgium, form the subject matter of 
 the memoirs that the Comte de Mercy 
 Argenteau has entitled The Events of 1830; 
 and this (hitherto unpublished) manu- 
 script of the Grand Chamberlain of King 
 William I is perhaps the most authentic 
 and intimate document explaining the 
 schism that took place in the Netherlands 
 immediately after its neighbor France had, 
 (maintaining its tradition as European 
 leader in political liberalism,) swept away 
 that most reactionary of Bourbon kings, 
 Charles X. In pondering the many inter- 
 views which Mercy Argenteau had with the
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 King of the Netherlands in the hope of 
 affecting the intolerant policy of that stub- 
 born scion of the House of Orange, we are 
 brought to the interesting conjecture as 
 to whether, had the Count's advice been 
 followed, the great world war of to-day 
 would not have assumed another aspect. 
 A more enlightened attitude towards his 
 joint kingdom would have rendered unneces- 
 sary William's final reluctant compliance 
 with the arrangements arrived at in the 
 Conference of London, and there might 
 have been no treaty regarding Belgium's 
 independence, no "scrap of paper," whose 
 violation by one of its signatories has chal- 
 lenged the moral judgment of mankind. 
 
 It may be recalled that after the entrance 
 of the Allies into Paris had ended the Napo- 
 leonic Empire, (for The Hundred Days were 
 inevitably the futile flame of a dying fire 
 the brilliant afterthought of a great author 
 
 vi
 
 O - 
 
 ^s(ii*c4iz<iJi<.i
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 whose tale is ended,) Napoleon's former 
 Minister returned to his native land, then 
 no longer a part of the French Empire. 
 The Congress of Vienna had created the 
 new Kingdom of the Netherlands, wherein 
 Holland and the ancient Austrian province 
 of Belgium were placed under the rule of 
 the Dutch Prince, now bearing the title of 
 King William I. The fifteen years which 
 were to pass by before France again dis- 
 turbed Europe through her demands for 
 her truest heritage from the Revolution, 
 were years in which the policies of the 
 Austrian Chancellor, Prince Metternich, 
 sought to compress the continent within 
 the narrow moulds of "legitimate" rule. 
 The conservative reaction that seized upon 
 Europe after the overthrow of Napoleon, 
 had, for a while, resulted in a condition of 
 political stagnation, and liberal ideas were 
 looked upon with hostility by the group of
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 monarchs of whom Metternich was the 
 spokesman. Gradually, however, the il- 
 liberality of the Bourbons on the thrones 
 of Spain, Italy and France, and of other 
 "legitimate" rulers over the Russian, Aus- 
 trian and Turkish empires, brought on 
 insurrections. Revolts in Spain, Greece, 
 Italy, Portugal and Poland gave evidence 
 that growth of people demanding a voice 
 in their own government could not be for- 
 ever constrained within moulds shaped 
 along the hard and ungracious lines of 
 dynastic tyranny. The formula of Met- 
 ternich was outlasting its usefulness; and 
 when Canning, as Prime Minister of Eng- 
 land, refused to countenance the policies 
 of the Holy Alliance, and our own President 
 Monroe laid down, in contravention to the 
 authority of the Spanish Bourbons, the 
 dictum that has assured the independence 
 of South American states from European 
 
 viii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 rule, it became clear to all, except royal 
 eyes congenitally blind, that the spirit of 
 nationalism and of popular self-government 
 was escaping effectively from the gilded 
 cords whereby the Congress of Vienna had 
 sought to bind it. 
 
 In this record of liberalizing movements, 
 the Paris Revolution of July, 1830, has a 
 most important place. Similar attempts 
 in other countries during the preceding 
 fifteen years had proved, mainly because 
 of the strong hand of Austria, abortive; 
 the Paris Revolution was the first to result, 
 (and with comparatively little bloodshed,) 
 in ponderable success. Its general influ- 
 ence on the rest of Europe was indirect; 
 but at least in the case of Belgium it may 
 be regarded as immediate. 
 
 France discarded the successor of Louis 
 XVIII, because Charles X, during the six 
 years of his reign, had, in his exercise of
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 censorship, his dissolution of the National 
 Guard, his appointment of the abominated 
 Minister Polignac, so violated the rights 
 and feelings of his people that the Ordi- 
 nances immediately preceding the Revolu- 
 tion of July, decreeing the suppression of the 
 Press, the dissolution of the Chamber, and 
 a radical change in the manner of election, 
 were merely the final drops that brought 
 the bitter cup to an overflowing. The 
 injustices of King William of the Nether- 
 lands were less grievous than those of 
 Charles X, but involved a similar mental 
 obliquity and similar stubborn adherence 
 to royal prerogatives. In a way, the prob- 
 lem of the Dutch King was more compli- 
 cated: as ruler over a newly constituted 
 kingdom, he did not have such strong 
 reason to study, in its immediate personal 
 application, the lessons which the fate of 
 the earlier Bourbons should have taught
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Charles X. Yet William I was reigning 
 not over one people like that of France, 
 but over two peoples, distinct in their reli- 
 gions, their languages, and their activities. 
 Holland was a Protestant nation, its pros- 
 perity founded on commerce; Belgium was 
 a Catholic nation, whose welfare was de- 
 rived largely from agriculture and mining. 
 The Northern people of the new Kingdom 
 of the Netherlands spoke the Dutch lan- 
 guage, while the Southern provinces used, 
 for the most part, the tongue of their neigh- 
 bor, France. The situation thus called for 
 a monarch of liberal and elastic ideas, of a 
 wise and conciliatory temper. 
 
 As Governor of South Brabant, during 
 the years immediately succeeding the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, Mercy Argenteau lost no 
 time in endeavoring to instruct the King 
 how ill-advised was the decree that sought 
 to make the use of the Dutch language oblig-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 atory in the Belgic provinces; and as early 
 as 1818, the Count risked the monarch's 
 displeasure in placing, unasked, in the hands 
 of the King, a monograph showing that in 
 imposing a foreign language upon any sec- 
 tion of his people, William I was following 
 a policy opposed to that of a long line of 
 monarchs. William's reluctance to accept 
 the ideas of the Governor of South Brabant, 
 finally led Mercy Argenteau to resign this 
 office, but he was prevailed upon to con- 
 tinue his court post of Grand Chamberlain, 
 and it is in this capacity that he sought, 
 (prior to, and during the difficult days of 
 1830,) to guide the King's opinions into 
 broader channels. The difficulties which 
 beset the Government first became thor- 
 oughly accentuated in 1825, when laws 
 (regarding public instruction) were passed 
 in violent opposition to public opinion in 
 the Catholic provinces of the South. Not
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 alone were private ecclesiastic establish- 
 ments closed, but the King went to the 
 absurd length of decreeing that no public 
 office should be held by any young men who 
 had pursued their studies in a foreign coun- 
 try. The very excess of these measures 
 led the King finally to reconsider them, 
 and he signed decrees rendering optional 
 the use of the Dutch language and attend- 
 ance at the College of Philosophy, the 
 institution which he had founded in op- 
 posing Catholic education. But the pub- 
 lication of these decrees he continually 
 delayed; and the more strenuously his 
 Belgian subjects demanded them, the more 
 stubbornly he kept them locked in his, 
 desk. 
 
 Such, then, was the situation at the end 
 of 1829: a people demanding freedom in 
 many directions, and a King hesitant to 
 accord important rights, lest any but minor 
 
 xiii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 concessions might be regarded as un-royal 
 yielding to popular clamor. 
 
 Mercy Argenteau has included in an 
 Appendix to his Memoirs two documents 
 which should be consulted in the Appendix 
 of the present volume. The Royal Message 
 of December nth, 1829, gives suggestive 
 indication of the irritating problems that 
 were soon to find their solution in civil war, 
 and displays, also, the indetermined and 
 vacillating attitude of the Government. 
 The freedom of the press is praised in prin- 
 ciple, but attacked in practice; reference 
 is made to the Concordat with the Pope 
 that shall settle the difficult question of the 
 appointments of Roman Catholic bishops, 
 and of Catholic instruction, but the King 
 speaks in a threatening tone of ' ' exaggerated 
 religious zeal," and we have but to refer 
 to Mercy Argenteau's personal interview, 
 a few weeks earlier, with Pius VIII, to
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 realize how little the King's Catholic sub- 
 jects in the Southern provinces had to hope 
 from the long negotiations between the 
 Netherlands Government and the Holy See. 
 In all governmental departments the Pro- 
 testant element was preponderant. 
 
 Several reforms we do, however, note in 
 the Royal Message. Communal and pro- 
 vincial authority is given wider scope, and 
 the principle of the non-removability of 
 judges is assured. But the crucial demand 
 for ministerial responsibility to the two 
 Chambers that form the States-General is 
 dismissed in a cloud of verbiage, which, 
 despite its conciliatory phraseology, still 
 leaves clear the King's determination to 
 exercise in person the final authority in 
 national legislation. 
 
 The second document is the Circular 
 Letter, sent by the Minister of Justice, 
 Van Maanen, to all the officers of the law,
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 as an accompaniment of the Royal Message. 
 The tenor of this missive is the best proof of 
 Mercy Argenteau's wisdom in advising the 
 King, after the Royal Message had failed 
 to quiet civic disturbances, of the necessity 
 of Van Maanen's removal from office. 
 
 Various other complexities of the situa- 
 tion, such as the contradictory absence of 
 ministerial responsibility to the Chambers, 
 coupled with the lack of constitutional 
 authority of the King to dissolve the Cham- 
 bers, made matters increasingly difficult, 
 and Mercy Argenteau was entirely logical 
 in writing to the King, during the early 
 months of 1830, that ''the royal power must 
 either bend before the superlative power of 
 the opposition, or the royal power will be 
 able to extricate itself only by a very dan- 
 gerous method that which is called coup 
 d'etat:' 
 
 It was a copy of this letter that Mercy 
 
 XVI
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Argenteau, soon thereafter, showed to Gen- 
 eral Fagel, the Minister of the Netherlands 
 at the Court of Charles X. Fagel agrees 
 with the King's Grand Chamberlain that 
 William's stubbornness and indecision are 
 to be deplored, and trusts that the frank- 
 ness of Mercy Argenteau may lead the 
 Dutch King to immediate reforms in his 
 Government. 
 
 There were in the diplomatic service at 
 Paris at this time, two other men to whom 
 Mercy Argenteau pays special tribute; one 
 of these was the Prussian Minister, Baron 
 Werther, and the other, the Russian Am- 
 bassador, Pozzo di Borgo, whose signature 
 we shall later see appended to the now un- 
 forgettable treaty in which, at London in 
 1839, the inviolable neutrality of Belgium 
 was guaranteed by the five Great Powers 
 of Europe. Both the Russian and Prussian 
 Ministers Plenipotentiary thoroughly un-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 derstood the trend of events, but it was 
 Pozzo di Borgo whose vision went deepest 
 and furthest of all the foreign diplomats 
 accredited to the Court of Charles X. 
 
 Almost ten years had elapsed since Mercy 
 Argenteau's old master, the great Napo- 
 leon, had died; and if Mercy Argenteau 
 had ever born ill-will towards Pozzo di 
 Borgo for his long enmity against Napoleon, 
 it was an ill-will now relegated to the irre- 
 trievable past. Carlo Andrea Pozzo di 
 Borgo had been born in Corsica in 1868, 
 and was in youth the friend of the young 
 Bonaparte, his junior by but a year. When, 
 however, as Corsican representative in 
 the French National Assembly of 1791- 
 1792, Pozzo acted in opposition to the poli- 
 cies favored by Bonaparte, and continued 
 in his espousal of the cause of the Corsican 
 patriot, Paoli, the rift widened between 
 him and the Bonapartes, until, in 1798, it
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 was Pozzo who used all his endeavors to 
 effect the first alliance of Austria and Russia 
 against France. To Pozzo, also, (whose 
 extradition Napoleon demanded in vain 
 from Emperor Francis, in 1809,) was due 
 the advice which led Emperor Alexander 
 into the Russian War of 1812, so fatal to 
 Napoleon ; and the downfall of the Corsican 
 Emperor finally and inevitably followed 
 the oft-quoted declaration of his boyhood 
 friend, the Corsican diplomatist, that "the 
 Allies made war not on France, but on 
 Napoleon." What a familiar ring these 
 words have for us, when we recall the phrase 
 of the President of the United States con- 
 cerning a war not against the German 
 people, but its Government! 
 
 During the remainder of his life, Pozzo 
 di Borgo played an important part in several 
 events of high international significance; 
 and how quick was his insight, how keen 
 
 xix
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 his foresight, is shown by his statement to 
 Mercy Argenteau, after the Grand Cham- 
 berlain of King William of the Nether- 
 lands had his remarkable interview with 
 Charles X. 
 
 This interview was readily obtainable, 
 not alone because of the courteous relation- 
 ship which existed between the King and 
 the Count, but also because the King 
 cherished warm regard for the memory of 
 that Comte de Mercy Argenteau who had 
 been the guardian of Marie Antoinette. 
 Yet the startling candor with which Charles 
 X conducted his conversation with the Bel- 
 gian diplomat was far beyond the expecta- 
 tions of his auditor. The French monarch 
 begins with congratulating Mercy Argen- 
 teau because "your King has at last become 
 a King" ; referring in this statement to Wil- 
 liam's declaration of December nth, 1829, * 
 
 1 See Appendix 
 
 xx
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 that he alone had the right to interpret the 
 constitution. "Royalty," said the Bour- 
 bon King, "is menaced everywhere and on 
 all sides. . . . What you call charter and 
 constitution are not in accord with royal 
 power, which is one by itself, and must 
 remain so for the safety of society which, 
 without it, were condemned to perish. . . . 
 We must free ourselves from this situation 
 at any cost." 
 
 With these words, (and we must remem- 
 ber that the fateful month of July was still 
 many weeks away,) the last of the elder 
 line of Bourbons had practically disclosed 
 to Mercy Argenteau his intention to effect 
 a coup d'etat; and the astonished and per- 
 turbed Count, well realizing what such an 
 eventuality would mean for his own land, 
 hastens to discuss the situation with Pozzo 
 di Borgo, ' ' the soul of the foreign diplomatic 
 corps at Paris."
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 "What," cries the Russian Ambassador, 
 on hearing the pregnant tidings; "did the 
 King say this to you? . . . He has never 
 said anything like it to anyone before ! . . . 
 He will carry out this coup d'etat, and in 
 so doing, he will destroy himself. . . . Be 
 assured, the Bourbons are doomed!" 
 
 The last word of advice that Mercy 
 Argenteau received from Pozzo di Borgo 
 was to urge the King of the Netherlands to 
 abandon the dangerous road of royal tyr- 
 anny and to put a stop to the discontent of 
 his subjects. 
 
 Armed with the coinciding opinions of 
 the Austrian and Prussian Ministers at 
 Paris, and with the new and unprecedented 
 information so startlingly obtained from the 
 King of France, Mercy Argenteau hurries 
 to Brussels where he has a fearless interview 
 with King William. But that monarch is 
 hard to move, and stubbornly adheres to 
 
 zxii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 the position that the Great Powers which, 
 (at the Congress of Vienna,) constituted his 
 Kingdom, will not allow any rupture of 
 the Netherlands. But the political philo- 
 sophy of Metternich was losing its vitality, 
 and the Conference of London was soon to 
 prove to King William that not the most 
 legitimate of Kings could much longer flout 
 the constitutional rights of his subjects. 
 Although it took almost nine years before 
 the final arrangements solved all the diffi- 
 culties between Holland and Belgium, the 
 Great Powers whose representatives met 
 in 1830 at London immediately recognized 
 the acts that had taken place in the Nether- 
 lands, allowing the Southern provinces to 
 constitute themselves into the separate 
 State of Belgium. 
 
 The many events that Mercy Argenteau 
 recounts between his interview in March, 
 with Charles X, and the accession of Leo-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 pold as first King of the Belgians, throw 
 vivid side-lights on the struggle which finally 
 overthrew the authority of King William. 
 
 Among the graphic scenes of 1830 that 
 Mercy Argenteau pictures is one which took 
 place at the Chateau de Rambouillet, when 
 the Duchesse de Berry, the daughter-in-law 
 of Charles X, first heard the news of the 
 Revolution in Paris. Herself the daughter 
 of a King, she, with royal courage, was eager 
 to mount her horse, and, her son in her arms, 
 to address the National Guard in the wish to 
 place herself at their head and suppress the 
 uprising. Another scene in its way fully 
 as significant, had taken place at the race- 
 course at Brussels, where the Prince of 
 Orange welcomed as glorious news the tid- 
 ings of the French King's coup d'etat; but 
 Mercy Argenteau, "absorbed in sad pre- 
 sentiments," could not join in the Prince's 
 elation. 
 
 xxiv
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The accession of Louis Philippe of the 
 House of Orleans, the younger branch of 
 the Bourbons, offered opportunities to King 
 William of which that headstrong monarch 
 failed to take advantage. While, following 
 the lead of the Great Powers, the Nether- 
 lands recognized without delay the new 
 "Citizen- King," William did little to satisfy 
 the demands of his subjects whose spirit of 
 independence had received a great impetus 
 through the events of July in France. The 
 King of the Netherlands continued his 
 policy of procrastination and half-way 
 measures. Whereupon the disturbances in 
 his Southern provinces swiftly increased, 
 and it soon became manifest that there 
 must be either administrative separation 
 between the two great parts of his Kingdom, 
 or civil war. Mercy Argenteau's advice 
 to grant the Belgian provinces legislative 
 independence, might even then have been
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 followed, with William remaining as the 
 constitutional King of the two nations; 
 but, "lacking the statesman's insight, and 
 a stranger to all questions involved in 
 statesmanship, and, above all, unable to 
 understand the spirit of the time, King 
 William was to remain the pawn of events." 
 
 The contradictory courses pursued by the 
 Prince of Orange and his father only made 
 matters worse, and every step that was 
 taken, every concession that was granted, 
 was either unintelligent or too late; and 
 there were to be evil days for the Dutch 
 and the Belgians before the Conference of 
 London perhaps saved Europe from general 
 war, in supporting Prince Leopold of Saxe- 
 Coburg as the ruler over those disturbed 
 provinces in whose affairs Mercy Argen- 
 teau had played so enlightened a part. 
 
 Before concluding these introductory 
 notes, it were perhaps well to follow in swift 
 
 xxvi
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 chronological review the steps which ended 
 at the throne of a new Belgium. The 
 Royal Message of December II th , 1829, led 
 to increased opposition, violently evinced 
 by the Belgian newspapers during January 
 and February, 1830. The editors De Potter 
 and Tielemans were sent into exile. After 
 the coronation on the 7th of August of 
 Louis Philippe, the excitement increased, 
 and on the 25 th , the Brussels mob set fire 
 to the house of the hated Minister Van 
 Maanen. On the 26 th there was blood 
 shed in the streets; on the 2Q th a deputa- 
 tion went to make demands of the King, 
 who received them a few days later, and 
 refused to dismiss his Minister. On that 
 same day, however, the Prince of Orange 
 went to Brussels and issued a friendly but 
 ineffectual proclamation. A few weeks 
 later his brother, Prince Frederick, ap- 
 proached Brussels at the head of his troops.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Fighting took place between the Dutch 
 and the Belgians, and, at the end of three 
 days, the troops withdrew. The dead and 
 wounded numbered between four and five 
 thousand. A week later, (October 4 th ) the 
 Provisional Government at Brussels de- 
 termined to constitute the Belgian Provinces 
 into a separate State. King William ap- 
 pealed to Austria, Russia, Prussia and 
 England for troops, but France objected 
 in a menacing way. Talleyrand then began 
 to pull the wires, and on November 4 th , 
 the Conference of London had its initial 
 meeting. Towards the end of that month 
 the Dutch attack on Antwerp utterly 
 alienated the Belgians from the House of 
 Orange, and ended the chances of the Prince 
 Royal, (who had previously made advances 
 to the Provisional Government,) of becom- 
 ing the King of the Belgians, although the 
 London Conference continued to advocate 
 
 xxviii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 his candidacy. Various other princes were 
 suggested (Louis Philippe declining the 
 crown for his son, the Due de Nemours) ; 
 until finally, on June 4, 1831, Prince Leo- 
 pold of Saxe-Coburg was chosen by the 
 Belgians. 
 
 If we would have extended information 
 concerning many of the episodes at the 
 London Conferences during 1830-1839, con- 
 cluding with the treaties signed and ratified 
 by Holland, Belgium, the five Great Powers 
 and the Confederation of the Rhine, we 
 can, with interesting results, turn to the 
 memoirs of Prince Talleyrand, (sometime 
 Grand Chamberlain of Napoleon,) who had 
 given Mercy Argenteau his earliest instruc- 
 tions when the young Count entered into 
 the services of the Emperor of the French. 
 There, we can learn of the cogent reasons 
 why France and Prussia, Austria, England 
 and Russia, saw the vital necessity of main-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 taining order in the Low Countries. While 
 to-day we think of the territory between 
 France and Prussia as a barrier between 
 German militarism and French unaggres- 
 siveness, Belgium, in 1830 was considered 
 by the Powers as a barrier of quite another 
 kind. Men's minds still held in fresh 
 memory the disturbing ambitions of Na- 
 poleonic France, and when Prussia signed 
 the treaty that had as one of its main 
 purposes the permanent neutrality and 
 inviolability of Belgium, the Prussian King 
 regarded this agreement as an act of 
 peace for all Europe, but most immediately 
 so for his own territories; while Louis 
 Philippe gladly assented to an arrangement 
 allaying whatever fears or suspicions might 
 still have lurked in the minds of his fellow 
 monarchs, regarding France's desire to 
 annex Belgium. 
 
 Strange, how far differently events have
 
 NOTICE H1STORIQUE 
 
 1830 
 
 aq, (e. 
 
 COMTE DE MERCY ARGBNTEAU, 
 
 r^tanS wfiawiooMar) Du/ Tloi buittctU'me 1** 
 
 1560 
 
 mile -of ^si&ceiCKie
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 taken their course! The armies of Ger- 
 many, not of France, hold to-day the Bel- 
 gian land. The pledge that she gave in 
 1839, Prussia, in 1914, with ruthless hand 
 brushed aside ; and now the world is strug- 
 gling in the net of universal war. When it 
 will end, who shall say? But this at least, 
 we shall not doubt : never until the land for 
 whose liberties Mercy Argenteau pleaded 
 so earnestly comes again into its own. 
 
 GEORGE S. HELLMAN. 
 
 UPPER SARANAC, 
 September, 1917. 
 
 xxxi
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION iii 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Mercy Argenteau receives the Order of the 
 Grand Cross of the Netherlands His letter to 
 the Comte de Reede, the Grand Marshal 
 His Memorandum written when Governor 
 of Brabant The policies of Charles V., 
 Philip II., Maria Theresa, Napoleon, and 
 Louis XIV., in regard to the imposition of a 
 foreign tongue on any portion of their peoples. i 
 
 II. Mercy Argenteau resigns his office as Governor, 
 because the Dutch language is made obliga- 
 tory on the Belgians He foresees political 
 difficulties ...... 5 
 
 III. The Papal Internuncio, Cappacini The un- 
 constitutional and unrepresentative system of 
 the Government of King William Mercy 
 Argenteau 1 s comments on the part that the 
 Netherlands might have assumed under an 
 enlightened monarch A journey through 
 ice and snow ...... 7 
 
 IV. The King prevails upon Mercy Argenteau to 
 retain his post of Grand Chamberlain The 
 Count refuses to become a member of the First 
 Chamber of the States-General, as he would 
 prefer to advise the King in private. . 13 
 
 V. The Count's discussion with the King regarding 
 the situation in the Southern provinces The 
 mistaken steps of the Government for the past
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 five years, since 1825 The College of Philo- 
 sophy The decree aimed against foreign 
 education of the youth of the Netherlands 
 The growing spirit of opposition in the two 
 Chambers of the States-General . . 18 
 
 VI. Mercy Argenteau's conversation with Pope 
 Pius VIII The Pope's criticisms of the 
 King's course Nominations of Bishops . 26 
 
 VII. The King signs the decrees rendering optional 
 the use of Dutch, and attendance at the College 
 of Philosophy, but keeps these decrees locked 
 in his desk The remonstrances of Mercy 
 Argenteau ...... 33 
 
 VIII. The approach of the Revolution of July in 
 Paris Mercy Argenteau is appointed Presi- 
 dent of the Commission at the Brussels Exposi- 
 tion His report to the King concerning 
 affairs in the Belgian provinces, and his 
 strongly worded recommendation for radical 
 concessions ...... 36 
 
 IX. Mercy Argenteau at Paris Baron Fagel, 
 Minister from the Netherlands Pozzo di 
 Borgo, the Russian Ambassador Baron de 
 Werther, the Prussian Minister. . . 43 
 
 X. References to Comte Florimond de Mercy Ar- 
 genteau as the guardian of Marie Antoinette 
 Mercy Argenteau's interview with Charles 
 X. at the Tuileries The excitement and 
 candor of the King of France His revelation 
 of his intention to effect a coup d'etat. . 46 
 
 XI. Mercy Argenteau's interview with Pozzo di 
 Borgo The Russian Ambassador's con- 
 sternation at the words of Charles X
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Mercy Argenteau the first diplomat so taken 
 into the King's confidence Pozzo di Borgo 
 prophecies the downfall of the Bourbons 
 Mercy Argenteau returns to Brussels His 
 interview with King William, to whom he 
 relates his interview with Charles X and the 
 Russian and Prussian Envoys at Paris 
 Mercy Argenteau urges decided and immedi- 
 ate reforms and the dismissal of Van Maanen, 
 Minister of Justice The King fails to under- 
 stand the situation; he believes even if the 
 Bourbons should fall, and the Southern 
 provinces of the Netherlands be invaded, his 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands will be fully 
 Protected by the Treaty of 1815 Mercy Ar- 
 genteau realizes that the relations of Austria, 
 Prussia, and England towards King William 
 might not lead them to interfere with an 
 independent Belgium 55 
 
 XII. The Conference at London in 1830 Its re- 
 cognition of the Southern provinces, which are 
 permitted to constitute themselves into a 
 separate state The King leaves for The 
 Hague, while Mercy Argenteau remains to 
 preside over the Brussels exposition. . . 74 
 
 XIII. Charles X. signs the famous Ordinances The 
 Revolution in Paris The Duchess de Berry 
 wishes to head the National Guard Scene 
 at the race-course at Brussels where the 
 Prince of Orange learns of the French King's 
 coup d'etat 77 
 
 XIV. Louis Philippe ascends the throne of France 
 
 He is recognized by the Great Powers 
 
 Prince Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign 
 
 Affairs King William fails to take advan- 
 
 xxxv
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 tage of the opportunity offered by the Paris 
 Revolution of July The Prince of Orange 
 returns to The Hague .... 87 
 
 XV. The alliance between France and England 
 The interests of France in Belgium The 
 correspondence between Louis Philippe and 
 King William I. Mercy Argenteau's con- 
 versations with the King at Brussels The 
 King insists on leaving for The Hague . 92 
 
 XVI. The uprisings in Brussels The destruction of 
 the house of the Minister of Justice Van 
 Maanen The riots on the 24th of August, 
 the anniversary of the King's birthday The 
 Count hastens to his home at A rgenteau His 
 conversations with the Governor Sandberg, at 
 Liege The King's son, Prince Frederick, 
 commands the troops near Antwerp . . 103 
 
 XVIL The opening session of the States-General at 
 The Hague The marriage of the Princess 
 Marianne to Prince Albert of Prussia 
 Mercy Argenteau goes to the home of Baron 
 Fagel at The Hague . . . .no 
 
 XVIII. The Provisional Government at Brussels 
 Spread of the revolutionary movement The 
 Conference at London The King invites 
 Mercy Argenteau to a private interview . 117 
 
 XIX. Mercy Argenteau informs the King fully of 
 affairs at Brussels Neither the King nor 
 Prince Frederick had known of the happen- 
 ings there The Count urges immediate 
 administrative separation between Holland 
 and Belgium He advises King William 
 to address a conciliatory proclamation to 
 the citizens of Brussels .... 122
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 XX. Mercy Argenteau reads to the King his draft of 
 a proclamation such as he would wish to have 
 made King William is willing to express 
 conciliatory sentiments but will not commit 
 himself on the main point of separate ad- 
 ministration The discussion of the strength 
 of the King's army The Count offers to go to 
 Brussels as the King's emissary. . . 133 
 
 XXI. Mercy Argenteau urges the King not to allow 
 either of his sons to lead the attack against 
 Brussels The King decides that his second 
 son, Prince Frederick, shall do so Continued 
 irresolution and illusion on the part of King 
 William The Belgian revolutionaries estab- 
 lish their government through acts of their 
 Provisional Congress , . . .145 
 
 XXII. Mercy Argenteau is unable to convince the 
 King and leaves The Hague His estimate 
 of the character of William I. The Count's 
 interview with the Prince of Orange The 
 Prince's comment concerning the King . 151 
 
 XXIII. The King prepares for the attack on Brussels 
 Prince Frederick and General Chasse Civil 
 war at Brussels The Prince of Orange at 
 Antwerp The members of the King's minis- 
 try The uselessness of the Prince of Orange's 
 mission at Antwerp The Prince's letter to 
 Mercy Argenteau Suspicion regarding the 
 activities of the Count His letter to the 
 Prince The question of tlie Prince's election 
 as King of Belgium The relations between 
 the King and his son The Prince of Orange 
 leaves for England and is stripped of all his 
 titles by the King. . . . . .155
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 XXIV. Activities of the Conference at London Conver- 
 sations of Prince Talleyrand with the Prince 
 of Orange King William resists the recogni- 
 tion of Belgium by the London Conference 
 Talleyrand's policy directed towards the 
 neutrality and inviolability of Belgium 
 Connection between the revolution in Belgium 
 and the revolution in France The Duke of 
 Wellington The memoirs of Count Van der 
 Duyn 167 
 
 XXV. The eighteen articles of the Conference at 
 London King William refuses to recognize 
 them The King's negligence of the arts and 
 his interest in commerce and finance The 
 views of the Prince of Orange The Prince's 
 character and manners, and his courage at the 
 Battle of Waterloo . . . . .181 
 
 XXVI. Mercy Argenteau's visit to King William in 
 1835 His later and final meeting with the 
 King King William at last agrees to recog- 
 nize the Kingdom of Belgium Mercy A rgen- 
 teau thereupon resigns his office as Grand 
 Chamberlain to the Dutch King Cordial 
 farewell between the King and the Count 
 Mercy A rgenteau's views of the benefits con- 
 ferred by King William on the Netherlands 
 Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, King of 
 the Belgians His wisdom and ability 
 The debt of Belgium to King Leopold . .187 
 
 APPENDIX Royal Message of William I . .197 
 
 Circular Letter of Minister Van Maanen . 209
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LE COMTE FLORIMOND DE MERCY ARGENTEAU Frontispiece 
 From the miniature by Vestier. 
 
 TALLEYRAND ........ vi 
 
 Line, engraved by Thomson, painted by F.Gerard. 
 
 FACSIMILE OF TITLEPAGE OF THE MERCY ARGENTEAU 
 
 MANUSCRIPT ....... xxx 
 
 KING WILLIAM I OF THE NETHERLANDS ... 20 
 Line engraving. From the "Collection Meyer." 
 
 ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA 54 
 
 Stipple, engraved by Bourgeois de la Richardiere, 
 painted by Auguste Desnoyers. 
 
 Louis PHILIPPE 88 
 
 Line, engraved by Auguste Bridoux, painted by 
 Winterhalter 
 
 FACSIMILE OF A PORTION OF NAPOLEON'S OWN MAP OF 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS ...... 122 
 
 THE PRINCE CF ORANGE ...... 160 
 
 Mezzotint, engraved by Charles Turner, painted 
 by J. S. Copley. 
 
 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON 172 
 
 Mezzotint, engraved by Charles Turner, painted 
 by Bauzet.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PACE 
 
 Louis XVIII 180 
 
 Stipple, engraved and painted by Benoist 
 
 KING LEOPOLD I 194 
 
 Line, engraved by Gustave Levy, painted by 
 
 Winterhalter. 
 
 The portraits of Alexander of Russia, the Prince of Orange, 
 the Duke of Wellington, and Louis X VIII are from engravings 
 in the notable collection of Napoleona belonging to Mr. Sidney 
 G. Reilly, to whom the Editor takes pleasure in making acknow- 
 ledgment for his courtesy. He would also thank Mr. Edmond 
 Bonaveniure for the portrait of Louis Philippe. The other 
 engravings and the miniature by Vestier are from the Editor's 
 own collection.
 
 The Events of 1830 
 
 IT is my desire to relate my recollections 
 of the events which took place in 1830, 
 in the Southern provinces of the Kingdom 
 of the Netherlands, established in 1815; 
 and of the circumstances which contributed 
 most to bringing about those events; and 
 this, by co-ordinating notes that I wrote at 
 different periods, and by recalling the seri- 
 ous talks I was privileged to have had, on 
 particular occasions, with King William I. 
 
 But, first of all, in order to have a just 
 idea of the state of the public mind and the 
 conditions of affairs at Brussels in 1830, I 
 must go further back with my narrative.
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 I had, but a short time before, towards the 
 end of September, 1829, returned from a 
 sojourn of some three years in Italy. 
 
 The King, wishing to give me a proof of 
 his esteem and good-will, had, in the latter 
 part of December of that year, bestowed 
 upon me the Grand Cross of his Order of 
 the Lion of the Netherlands. 
 
 I was staying alone at the Chateau de 
 Vierset, busy in arranging my affairs, while 
 the members of my family were establishing 
 themselves at Paris, where they were going 
 to pass the winter. 
 
 Prevented by the heavy snows in the 
 roads from reaching The Hague, I wrote 
 to the Grand Marshal, Comte de Reede, 
 asking him to be so kind as to apprize the 
 King of my gratitude; and, in this letter, 
 (which I knew would be seen by His 
 Majesty,)! was careful to insert the following 
 phrase: "This high favor, which the King
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 is pleased to grant me, is all the more pre- 
 cious to me, in that I like to regard it as a 
 proof of the justice with which His Majesty 
 is graciously willing to regard my opinions." 
 For several years we had not always 
 agreed on measures that the King deemed 
 necessary to adopt, under pretext of con- 
 ciliating the discontented factions in the 
 Southern provinces. These measures had 
 to do with laws regarding animals; the use 
 of the Dutch language in all public decrees; 
 the establishment of a College of Philo- 
 sophy, patterned on the principles of the 
 General Seminary founded by Emperor 
 Joseph II; etc. When I was Governor of 
 Brabant, I had even been so bold as to 
 take upon myself the task of sending the 
 King a Memorandum on the occasion of the 
 decree rendering the usage of the Dutch 
 language obligatory in the Southern pro- 
 vinces. I sought to show him that neither 
 
 3
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Charles the Fifth, nor Philip II, nor Maria 
 Theresa had ever thought of attempting 
 anything similar; that Charles the Fifth's 
 act of abdication had been read aloud in 
 French, in the Grand Hall of the City Hall 
 at Brussels; that all correspondence under 
 Philip II had been written in French; that 
 the judgments which had condemned to 
 death the Prince of Orange, and the Comtes 
 d'Egmont and de Home had been rendered 
 in French; that Maria Theresa had estab- 
 lished a Chair of French at the University 
 of Lou vain; that the administrative corre- 
 spondence under the Austrian government 
 had always been in French; and that Napo- 
 leon himself, and likewise that Louis XIV, 
 had never demanded that the Alsatians 
 should give up the German language in 
 their public and judiciary acts.
 
 II 
 
 I HAD not pleased the King, in putting 
 into his hands, in 1818, a work for which I 
 had not been asked; and the usage of the 
 Dutch language was made obligatory in all 
 public acts. 
 
 A little later I begged the King to permit 
 me to resign my office as Governor 
 
 His Majesty wished to nominate me for 
 membership in the First Chamber of the 
 States-General, but I was not of requisite 
 age. He substituted for this appointment 
 that of State Councillor in Ordinary Ser- 
 vice. I did not accept this, expressing my 
 desire to confine myself, thenceforth, to 
 my post as Grand Chamberlain, if that 
 were agreeable to the King; but I did not 
 delay offering my resignation from my
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 position at Court, when I saw that the King 
 was persisting in following a wrong course 
 wherein, from my point of view, he was 
 becoming more and more involved; and 
 as I was confident that the first important 
 political event in Europe would directly 
 affect him. 
 
 His consideration towards me increased 
 despite my opposition to his ideas; and 
 when, at the beginning of 1830, I went to 
 The Hague to thank him for the Grand 
 Ribbon of the Order of the Lion of the 
 Netherlands (which I had just received), the 
 King said to me, reverting to the phrase 
 that I have just quoted from my letter: 
 "Yes, Monsieur le Comte, you can and 
 you ought to regard this decoration, which 
 I am delighted to see you wearing, as a 
 proof of the justice with which I regard 
 your opinions."
 
 Ill 
 
 I SET out for The Hague, snow and the 
 frozen rivers notwithstanding ; and, at Brus- 
 sels, chance brought me together with the 
 Internuncio, Monseigneur Cappacini, bound 
 for the same destination. We continued 
 our journey together, in the coupe of a dili- 
 gence, reserved for us two. This service 
 had been organized for those periods when 
 the rivers, closed by ice, rendered crossing 
 in coaches impossible. Diligences were, 
 in these cases, changed at each crossing of 
 the river, thus rendering communication 
 between the two great divisions of the 
 Kingdom very difficult. 
 
 I was happy to have this distinguished 
 prelate as a travelling companion, both 
 because of his affable character, and his 
 
 7
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 intelligence and great skilfulness in all 
 matters. He had been a pupil of Cardinal 
 Consalvi. A keen and trained observer, 
 he was a man who thoroughly understood 
 the countries to which he had been sent 
 their needs, their instincts, the officers of 
 his own Government (as well as of the 
 Government to which he was accredited). 
 Monseigneur Cappacini had for twelve years 
 performed the functions of Internuncio, 
 alternately at Brussels and The Hague. 
 The particular object of this prelate, being, 
 at that time, to put into execution the 
 articles of the new Concordat recently 
 signed at Rome, (and whose introduction 
 had met with difficulties from the Govern- 
 ment,) Monseigneur Cappacini was the 
 man to conquer these difficulties, if con- 
 quered they could be. But the Govern- 
 ment, I must admit, showed ill-will and 
 was not acting in good faith; so that Pope 
 
 8
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Pius VIII complained to me, in a special 
 audience which His Holiness did me the 
 honor to grant, and of which I shall pre- 
 sently speak. 
 
 Evidently we were approaching a crisis. 
 If the King persevered in the system of 
 government which he had adopted, and 
 which could be denned in no way, (for, 
 speaking properly, it was neither constitu- 
 tional, nor representative, since there was 
 no ministerial responsibility to the Cham- 
 bers; the election to the States-General 
 was procured by the States-Provinces, and 
 through an excess of incoherence, the Con- 
 stitution did not permit the Royal Power 
 to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, ex- 
 cept under the name of the Second Cham- 
 ber of the States-General) it was evident, 
 I say, to the eyes of every thinking person, 
 that the first revolutionary movement aris- 
 ing in a neighboring country, would soon 
 
 9
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 re-act upon our land, overthrowing us who 
 had been unable to fasten our roots into 
 the soil, and who had laid no foundation in 
 a Kingdom of recent formation, composed 
 of two very distinct nationalities, separated 
 as greatly by religion, customs, language 
 and habits, as by the arm of the dividing 
 sea. 
 
 This does not mean, let us note, that 
 under other governmental and legislative 
 conditions, these two States, reunited, yet 
 separated as far as administration was 
 concerned, could not alone have, under the 
 same King, existed perfectly well together, 
 but could also have constituted a prosperous 
 and happy entity, endowed with richness 
 of soil, with industries developed to the 
 highest degree of power, and with enor- 
 mous financial resources, sustained by great 
 trade and wealthy colonies. 
 
 Yes, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 
 
 10
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 as it had been constituted by the Treaty of 
 Vienna in 1815, might have been called 
 to play an important part in Europe under 
 a capable and enlightened government; and 
 the central position that it occupies on the 
 map of Europe should, quite naturally, have 
 made it a gage of peace, for all the Great 
 Powers would have been interested in its 
 conservation. 
 
 While we were wheeling along at night 
 over the rough and deserted road from 
 Antwerp to Breda, Monseigneur Cappacini 
 and I resumed this sad topic of earlier 
 conversations. Day began to dawn as we 
 arrived at the passage over the Moerdyck. 
 We left our diligence there, and crossed on 
 a frail bark, which manoeuvred about be- 
 tween the pieces of ice, so that it took us 
 no less than two hours to make this crossing. 
 On the other side, we awaited another 
 public vehicle which was to take us to the 
 
 ii
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 passage of the Meuse, in front of Rotterdam. 
 The Meuse, at this point, reaches its great- 
 est width and is called the Wahal. It was 
 still covered with thick ice which we tra- 
 versed on foot ; although not without trouble, 
 and with even some danger, for it had 
 commenced to thaw, and we were the last 
 who were allowed to cross on foot.
 
 IV 
 
 AFTER our arrival at The Hague, Mon- 
 seigneur Cappacini and I frequently sought 
 each other, and often met. Unfortunately, 
 we had only sad presentiments and grievous 
 thoughts to exchange; and our distressing 
 journey (of a kind unimaginable nowadays) 
 added to our unpleasant forebodings con- 
 cerning the approaching dissolution of these 
 Provinces, which Nature, it would seem, 
 had, in truth, not formed for a life of union. 
 
 I found the King in quite another mood 
 than that in which, several months earlier, 
 I had left him at Brussels. 
 
 The truth is, that a revolutionary move- 
 ment seemed to threaten the Southern Pro- 
 vinces, and that there was prevalent there 
 a great discontent, maintained by the peti- 
 
 13
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 tion on the subject of public instruction. 
 The King seemed willing to enter upon a 
 course of concession and conciliation, but 
 he did not know how to decide upon any- 
 thing. 
 
 I have said elsewhere that the King, in 
 my opinion, had not always acted with 
 fairness, and that two years earlier I had 
 even been led to resign my post of Grand 
 Chamberlain, a resignation which His Maj- 
 esty was unwilling to accept. Having been 
 called to The Hague at that time, the King, 
 in conferring with me, had gone to the length 
 of saying: "Think this over carefully. If 
 you persist in your resolve to leave me, under 
 these circumstances in which we find our- 
 selves, you are going to place me in the 
 wrong in the opinion of those already very 
 hostile to me at Brussels and in the neigh- 
 boring provinces." 
 
 This strange avowal made it impossible 
 14
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 for me to insist further; but I profited by 
 the occasion to enlarge on the difficulties 
 that he was creating for himself, unless he 
 changed his system of government. 
 
 The King then reproached me, because 
 I had reached the age requisite for admis- 
 sion to the First Chamber of the States- 
 General, and yet persisted in my wish not 
 to become a member. I told him that my 
 refusal was due to the fact that as his 
 Government was not a parliamentary one, 
 with ministerial responsibility, I could not, 
 in my position of Grand Officer of his 
 Household, and with my views contrary to 
 his on so many points in connection with 
 the administration, (as he was perfectly 
 well aware) I could not, I said, accept a 
 post which would place me in the position 
 of having to oppose in the name of the King, 
 in the mornings, at the Tribune, a project 
 of law presented by his irresponsible Minis- 
 is
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ters, and of coming, at evening, to take 
 my place at His Majesty's table, in my 
 capacity of Grand Chamberlain. 
 
 "In England," I went on to say, "a 
 Grand Officer of the Crown, if the party to 
 which he belongs is no longer in power, 
 resigns from his Court position. Does 
 Your Majesty insist that I should become 
 a member of the First Chamber of the 
 States-General? In that case, Your 
 Majesty will accept my resignation from 
 the post of Grand Chamberlain; and all will 
 be well. I shall then be free to defend my 
 opinions at the Tribune, without fearing 
 personal offence to the King; and Your 
 Majesty knows that, since 1825, our re- 
 spective opinions, as regards the Govern- 
 ment, have never been in accord so, rather, 
 do not nominate me for membership in 
 the First Chamber, but permit me as you 
 have often hitherto to continue to offer 
 
 16
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 opposition, at times, in your private study, 
 in maintaining my high office of Grand 
 Chamberlain." Whereupon, the King re- 
 plied, "Since you feel this way about it, 
 let us remain as we are." 
 And thus it was to be.
 
 ALTHOUGH I had been at The Hague 
 several days, His Majesty had not yet 
 found opportunity to talk with me about 
 recent events at Brussels, and what was 
 brewing elsewhere. His Majesty was ever 
 obstinately bent on regarding the commo- 
 tion of public spirit at Brussels merely as 
 agitation attributable more or less to ill-will. 
 
 At last the day was appointed, and I pre- 
 sented myself at an early hour in the King's 
 study where he was awaiting me. After 
 having invited me to be seated at his table, 
 which was loaded with documents, the 
 King thus began the conversation: 
 
 "I wish you to tell me clearly and very 
 frankly your opinion of the situation in 
 
 which we find ourselves, particularly at 
 
 il
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Brussels. I wish to rely on what you are 
 going to tell me. Here I find myself tossed 
 about among all parties; in your Southern 
 provinces, it is the Catholics who pretend 
 that their rights are injured and their 
 liberty trampled upon ; here in the Northern 
 provinces, it is something else; and these 
 opinions are always in opposition. I no 
 longer know where I stand, or what I should 
 do." 
 
 "Sire, you place me in great embarrass- 
 ment. I must return to the origin of the 
 evil, and attack the very principles of your 
 Government ; those, most particularly, 
 which you have put in practice since 1825. 
 But in order to do this, I have need of great 
 liberty of speech so that I may be able to 
 express my thoughts well; and I fear, Sire, 
 that my phrases may not always be as 
 measured as I should wish them to be. 
 However, you may be assured that I shall 
 
 19
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 not reach the point of forgetting where I am, 
 and in whose presence I have the honor to 
 speak." 
 
 "Mon Dieu! don't restrain yourself in 
 the least," answered the King, with a 
 slightly sardonic smile that often played 
 about his lips; "I am not spoiled, I assure 
 you, especially since that time when every 
 kind of accusation was addressed to me in 
 pamphlets and newspapers in opposition 
 to my supposed projects of making the 
 Southern provinces Protestant; and what 
 not besides! Speak, and speak freely; I 
 know you well enough never to doubt your 
 intentions." 
 
 I had named 1825 as the point of depar- 
 ture in the fatal path upon which the King 
 had entered. From this period dated, first, 
 the founding of the College of Philosophy, 
 and secondly, the law regarding public 
 instruction, both of which acts were op- 
 
 20
 
 GUII.I.AUME GEOHGK FRJBUBIIiiC 
 
 /:s /> i > s -/j is, 
 
 <//'r//K/- f v '/"/:/ <"/(// v/'X'^'x' (/< /////, >ff /xx'. / ' 
 
 fia vvitttasn of Mie
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 posed by preponderant opinion in the South- 
 ern provinces, and against which, the clergy, 
 headed especially by Monseigneur Van 
 Bommel, had strenuously protested. Van 
 Bommel, a Dutchman by birth, had just 
 published a remarkable work, entitled The 
 Three Chapters, a work received with the 
 fullest approval by all intelligent men, who 
 desired nothing but liberty in the matter 
 of public instruction. In this respect the 
 work was perfectly in accord with the 
 fundamental law of the land; and many- 
 Protestant attaches at the Court such as*, 
 the Grand Marshal, Comte de Reede, and 
 Comte Vanderduyn, Grand Master of the 
 Queen's Household, to whose attention I] 
 brought this pamphlet, heartily approved- 
 its principles. 
 
 The King had carried exclusion in the 
 matter of public instruction to such an 
 extent, (and this, with the view of favoring 
 
 21
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the State colleges and schools,) that he 
 had relentlessly closed all private ecclesi- 
 astic establishments, even the schools of 
 the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine, 
 which were founded in France and else- 
 where for the purpose of diffusing morals 
 among the people. 
 
 Not content with these violent and ar- 
 bitrary measures, administered as only the 
 most despotic Government could possibly 
 have done, the King had gone so far as to 
 issue a decree in which he declared that 
 every young man who had pursued his 
 studies in a foreign country was unqualified 
 to exercise any public function in the 
 Netherlands; a measure which, according 
 to the Fundamental Law, was not at all 
 within the Royal Power. 
 
 I was among those who allowed them- 
 selves completely to disregard this decree. 
 The King knew that my two sons had not 
 
 22
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 attended any of the governmental schools 
 or colleges; and that they were in Paris at 
 boarding-schools connected with the Uni- 
 versity. He merely chose not to speak to 
 me of this matter. One day, however, 
 addressing one of my friends, attached to 
 the Court of the Prince of Orange, he said: 
 
 "What would you think, Monsieur, of 
 a man, a Grand Officer of my Household, 
 who allows his children to be educated in 
 a foreign country?" 
 
 The gentleman, to whom he spoke a 
 man of spirit and rather caustic realizing 
 to whom allusion was made, replied to His 
 Majesty: 
 
 "Oh! the reason would appear to me to 
 be quite simple: he must probably have 
 realized that the education is better there 
 than elsewhere." 
 
 I mention this fact to show how far the 
 aberration (to speak plainly) of the King's 
 
 23
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 mind had spread, in connection with those 
 despotic measures which served only to 
 alienate thinking men. 
 
 Not without reason, then, in wishing to 
 show the origin of the causes which had 
 contributed most to lead William I on a 
 path which would without fail bring him 
 to downfall, did I hark back to the year 
 1825. That year, I repeat, marks the 
 origin of the distrust, the disaffection and 
 the troubles, whence revolution was soon 
 to spring. 
 
 The spirit of opposition kept on increas- 
 ing in the Second Chamber of the States- 
 General. The decree which rendered the 
 usage of the Dutch tongue obligatory in all 
 public acts was one of the first causes of 
 this discontent. I reminded the King on 
 this occasion, of the work, to which in 1817, 
 when I was Governor of the Province of 
 South Brabant, I had devoted myself in 
 
 24
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 order to divert him from that fatal measure, 
 a measure which had no precedent in any 
 of the former governments, and which ought 
 absolutely to be revoked.
 
 VI 
 
 THE King felt so thoroughly that there 
 was nothing else to be done, that, already 
 several months earlier, he had signed a 
 decree which rendered the usage of the 
 Dutch language optional; and a second 
 decree which similarly made optional, at- 
 tendance at the College of Philosophy, an 
 institution whose form had been so justly 
 condemned, especially from the Catholic 
 point of view. 
 
 Here is the place to relate a private con- 
 versation that I had the honor to have with 
 Pope Pius VIII, at the time of my depar- 
 ture from Rome, in 1829. His Holiness 
 spoke to me with great moderation and 
 much wisdom concerning the reproaches 
 
 which he had addressed to the Government 
 
 26
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 of the King of the Netherlands, not only 
 regarding the instructions of the Minister of 
 the Interior, in reference to the publica- 
 tion of the Concordat, but, in general, 
 concerning the obstacles imposed upon the 
 exercise of religion, and, in particular, of 
 the system adopted in 1825, regarding the 
 establishment of the College of Philosophy 
 at Louvain, and the matter of public 
 instruction. 
 
 "Let us speak frankly, Monsieur le 
 Comte," said the Holy Father to me. 
 "Under Maria Theresa the Belgians led 
 a happy life. They enjoyed great privi- 
 leges, which they jealously guarded. Em- 
 peror Joseph II, who succeeded her, was 
 the first to violate these privileges, and in 
 consequence taught the Belgians to employ 
 means of resistance to his wrongful will. 
 
 ' ' Let us admit that events following the 
 accession of King William I to the throne 
 
 27
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 of the Netherlands, and particularly those 
 of later years, have been little conducive 
 to bringing harmony among his subjects. 
 Controversy has arisen on the question of 
 the Fundamental Law; rights are being dis- 
 puted; complaints made; claims advanced. 
 On the other side, there is insistence on 
 not making any concessions. Distrust 
 pervades both parties. . . . Whose is the 
 fault? . . . For the last three years, not 
 an act has been proposed, not a resolution 
 adopted, in the affairs between the Con- 
 cordat and the King of the Netherlands, 
 without my being consulted. My prede- 
 cessor, Leo XII, took my advice; I am 
 conversant with the whole situation; noth- 
 ing is unknown to me; I continue the work 
 of Leo XII, and God is my witness I 
 continue it in good faith. But with what 
 obstacles! No sooner are acts signed than 
 
 there is a circular of instructions from your 
 
 28
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Minister of the Interior, passed from hand 
 to hand, which threatens to destroy all that 
 has been done. For his object is to retard 
 the publication of the agreements of this 
 Concordat; while the King's Ambassador 
 here is commissioned to tell me how happy 
 the King is at this important act which 
 will put an end to the religious dissensions 
 throughout the land. And the fact is that 
 that which was solemnly promised is not 
 carried out. Nevertheless, I am asked to 
 name Bishops. I say: Fulfill your obliga- 
 tions, and I will nominate them. This I 
 do not do. ... Your King proposes three 
 of his subjects for Bishoprics; they are men 
 well chosen; I lose no time in naming them 
 as Bishops. . . , Despite that, no pro- 
 gress is made. . . . There we stop; and I 
 still await the fulfillment of agreements 
 contracted for, signed." 
 
 The Pope then spoke to me of the Prelate 
 29
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Cappacini, whom he had appointed Inter- 
 nuncio at Brussels and The Hague. The 
 Holy Father spoke very highly of his dis- 
 tinguished talents, his cast of mind, his 
 uprightness of character and his perfect 
 intelligence in handling affairs; Monsieur 
 Cappacini was trained, added the Pope, 
 under the direction of Cardinal Consalvi, 
 who had been, the Holy Father was glad 
 to say, one of his own intimate friends. 
 
 "Well!" continued His Holiness, in a 
 more animated tone, ' ' Monseigneur Cap- 
 pacini obtains nothing. ... I believed, 
 as did my predecessor, that I could rely 
 on the word of a King, a sacred word which 
 should ever be scrupulously observed. I, 
 in the Chair of S* Peter, am merely the 
 guardian of a trust, and this trust is the 
 Faith, the Doctrine of the Church. Intact 
 I must transmit it; I cannot let it be 
 touched." 
 
 30
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The Pope then came to speak of the 
 College of Philosophy: 
 
 "There may be some good points to this 
 institution," His Holiness said, "but its 
 form, first of all, is bad : it offends our prin- 
 ciples, and therefore, it would be vain to 
 attempt to gain my consent to it. ... 
 The King has been very ill inspired. There 
 was a better course to follow than the 
 founding of his College of Philosophy on 
 the basis of the General Seminary of Em- 
 peror Joseph II. He could have quite 
 simply come to an understanding with me, 
 the Head of the Church, concerning the 
 establishment of a College for higher eccle- 
 siastical studies, which would have fur- 
 nished a great capacity for usefulness; 
 and thus, together, we could have done a 
 great work." 
 
 I had only a few objections to suggest to 
 the Holy Father during the course of this 
 
 31
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 conversation, which it was my duty to 
 report to the King, upon my return, and 
 which contributed somewhat, I believe, to 
 his decree by virtue of which attendance at 
 the College of Philosophy became optional. 
 This was tantamount to announcing the 
 suppression of his earlier decree.
 
 VII 
 
 I HAVE already said that the King, some 
 two months previously, had signed decrees 
 rendering optional the use of Dutch, and 
 attendance at the College of Philosophy, 
 thus, in other words, annulling his former 
 acts. I had been informed of this by the 
 Minister of the Interior, Monsr De Lacoste, 
 a wise and enlightened man, who urged me 
 to use all my efforts in influencing the King 
 to publish these decrees which he was still 
 keeping locked up in his desk. 
 
 Wherefore this resistance to vows so 
 sincerely, so solemnly pronounced? Why 
 this delay? Why not gratify those wishes, 
 whose expediency the King himself had 
 recognized, inasmuch as he had signed the 
 decrees, and since he no longer had any 
 
 3 33
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 motive for keeping them as private docu- 
 ments in his desk? 
 
 Showing him that I was informed of this 
 fact, I begged His Majesty no longer to 
 delay their publication, which would show 
 his willingness to make just concessions 
 after he had recognized them as expedient, 
 and which would revive hopes from other 
 points of view. But his reply was ever 
 the same: 
 
 "I shall never yield in the face of cir- 
 cumstances while there is any appearance 
 of a demand imposed upon me." 
 
 This was not the first time that such a 
 reply had been made to me, nor was it the 
 first time that I answered: 
 
 "Granted, Sire. One should never yield 
 to imperious demands; but the better way 
 to avoid finding oneself in such a situa- 
 tion is to foresee it, before adopting a 
 measure whose issue may be serious." 
 
 34
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 With the Fundamental Law of the land 
 as their weapon, the people were with 
 full right demanding liberty in public in- 
 struction. 
 
 35
 
 VIII 
 
 WE were at the end of February of 1830, 
 the year which was to see the downfall of 
 the Bourbons in France, and the violent 
 separation of Holland from the ancient 
 Belgian provinces which had been annexed 
 in 1815. 
 
 I was planning to rejoin my family at 
 Paris. Hearing that I was contemplating 
 a stay at Brussels, where, among all classes 
 of society, great disturbance was prevalent 
 owing to the petitions relative to the ques- 
 tion of public instruction, the King asked 
 me to observe events closely, and to report 
 to him directly concerning the state of 
 affairs and public feeling. In our last con- 
 versation at The Hague, I had already 
 opposed his manner of viewing and handling 
 
 36
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the subject of this petition, which was only 
 the inherent use of the liberty which every 
 man has, to express his opinions and to make 
 known his wishes. From this point of view, 
 I expressed my regret at having seen the 
 King adopt severe measures against certain 
 persons of high rank who should have been 
 warned by me, in obedience to the King's 
 commands, and in my position as Grand 
 Chamberlain, to refrain from presenting 
 themselves at Court. 
 
 In the early part of March, before I 
 left The Hague, the King, through his 
 Minister of the Interior, had informed me 
 of his intention of appointing me President 
 of the Commission at the Exposition of the 
 Products of National Industry, about to 
 be held at Brussels. To this appointment 
 he attached great importance; and I had 
 replied that I was at His Majesty's service. 
 At the moment of my departure, the King 
 
 37
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 graciously desired to thank me for what 
 His Majesty called the co-operation which 
 I had been kindly willing to grant him in 
 these circumstances. 
 
 After my arrival at Brussels, I took steps 
 to occupy myself seriously in the important 
 matter of those days the petition and to 
 carry out the intentions of the King to the 
 best of my ability. Everyone there was 
 ardently interested in the question of public 
 instruction; I met many people who were 
 in a position to give me the most reliable 
 and exact information; and I was soon 
 entirely convinced of the necessity of ad- 
 vising the King to use means, as soon as 
 possible, of putting a stop to the existing 
 state of affairs, and of calming a disturbance 
 that was steadily increasing. 
 
 In the special report that I hastened 
 to submit to His Majesty, I tried, as best 
 I could, to picture the situation to the King 
 
 38
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 in its true colors, without exaggeration, 
 but in such way as to make an impression 
 upon his mind. I was convinced that it 
 was necessary, at all cost, and without 
 further delay, to make notable modifica- 
 tions in the existing system of Government. 
 I wished, first of all, to go to the very 
 bottom of things, and, above all, to force 
 into the King's mind the idea that a useful 
 reform, to be successfully carried out, would 
 have to be radical ; that half-way measures 
 would serve no purpose, partial concessions 
 would appease no one, and would hardly 
 soothe the agitation; on the contrary, they 
 would but serve to encourage new demands. 
 I therefore asked the immediate withdrawal 
 of the law concerning public instruction, 
 as the only means of putting an immediate 
 stop to the petition; and the publication 
 forthwith of the royal decree, granting the 
 option of using the French language in 
 
 39
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 public acts, as a just satisfaction of the 
 pressing demands of the Southern provinces, 
 so considerable a part of the Kingdom of 
 the Netherlands. Then frankly approach- 
 ing considerations of another order, I tried 
 to show the necessity of establishing what 
 would constitute really a representative 
 Government, ministerial responsibility to 
 the Chambers. Such ministerial respon- 
 sibility, in all acts of Government, would 
 be the only means of protecting Royalty 
 in times of trouble. 
 
 I begged the King to note that the omis- 
 sion in the Constitution of the right to 
 dissolve the Legislative Chambers (a right 
 which should always be inherent in royal 
 power) was a regrettable lack, placing 
 Royalty in permanent and imminent danger ; 
 and I gave the following as a striking ex- 
 ample: the right to elect members of the 
 
 Second Chamber of the States-General 
 
 40
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 belonged to the States-Provinces that were 
 elected by those who had paid taxes which 
 qualified them to vote. 
 
 "Your Majesty surely knows," I added, 
 "that in the Southern provinces the spirit 
 of opposition is gaming ground each year, 
 and, as a consequence, dominates the elec- 
 tion of deputies to the Second Chamber of 
 the States-General. As the elections to 
 the States- Provinces are similarly made, 
 it is easy to see, how before long, the day 
 is coming when the forces of opposition in 
 the States-Provinces will pass over into 
 the rank of the Second Chamber of the 
 States- General; and as the King has not 
 the power to dissolve the Legislative Cham- 
 bers, one asks: What will happen? One of 
 two things, whose consequences will be 
 inevitable: The royal power must either 
 bend before the superlative power of the 
 opposition, (and this will be the triumph of 
 
 41
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 radicalism, if we follow the down-hill 
 path) ; or the royal power will be able to 
 extricate itself only by a very dangerous 
 method that which is called a coup d'etat."
 
 IX 
 
 As soon as my letter was despatched I 
 set out for Paris. I had kept a copy of it, 
 and this I hastened to bring to the atten- 
 tion of General Robert Fagel, Envoy Extra- 
 ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of 
 the King of the Netherlands. He thanked 
 me for it. General Baron Fagel, my old 
 friend, was a man of spirit, wise, capable, 
 impartial and deeply devoted to King Wil- 
 liam I, whose mistakes, however, he de- 
 plored. He thanked me profusely for having 
 used such firm and truthful language, which 
 he judged was of a nature to make an impres- 
 sion on the King; although he did not con- 
 ceal his fear that my words might have no 
 result on the King's indecision of spirit, whose 
 blindness the General so much regretted. 
 
 43
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The situation in France, was, at this time, 
 becoming threatening, although this was 
 perceived by only a small number of men 
 accustomed to reflect in a dispassionate 
 manner, free from that party spirit which 
 ever leads people astray. 
 
 There were only two men in the foreign 
 diplomatic service at Paris who foresaw 
 the danger hovering over the throne and 
 society. Nor were they able to understand 
 the danger, but they had suspicion of what 
 it was, and were computing beforehand its 
 serious consequences. 
 
 One of these was the Russian Ambas- 
 sador, Pozzo di Borgo, (a Corsicanby birth,) 
 and a shrewd man of brilliant mind. He 
 had been a member of the Assembly of the 
 States-General in France; later, on becom- 
 ing an Emigr6, he had lived a long time 
 at Vienna, which he left to enter the Rus- 
 sian service. He had become a Lieu- 
 
 44
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 tenant-General, and, later, Ambassador to 
 Paris. 
 
 The other was the Prussian Minister, 
 Baron von Werther, a clear-visioned and 
 intelligent man, somewhat rough in his 
 manners, yet having that penetrating 
 glance which comes from knowledge of men 
 and affairs, coupled with that power of 
 observation which foresees events and their 
 import. 
 
 45
 
 X 
 
 ON arriving at Paris, I asked permission 
 (in accordance with custom) to present 
 myself to the King. Charles X had known 
 my family, especially Comte Florimond de 
 Mercy Argenteau, (my relative,) who had 
 for twenty-five years been the Austrian 
 Ambassador to France, and who had pre- 
 sided at the marriage of Marie Antoinette 
 to Louis XVI, then Dauphin. Towards 
 Count Florimond the unfortunate Princess 
 had shown almost daughterly affection 
 and unlimited confidence, to which my 
 relative responded with entire devotion. 
 The numerous autograph letters from the 
 unfortunate Queen, (which I had the good 
 luck 4 of acquiring, and which I prize 
 
 very highly,) are full of the most touching 
 
 4 6
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and honorable evidences of this relation- 
 ship. 
 
 The King always received me with great 
 kindness whenever I came to Paris, and 
 with the good-will to which he had accus- 
 tomed me. 
 
 The day following my arrival, I was in- 
 vited to the Tuileries for a special audience, 
 in the apartments occupied by Charles X. 
 
 At the moment that the door of his salon 
 was opened, the King approached me with 
 especial eagerness, and his first words were: 
 
 "I am charmed to see you, Monsieur le 
 Comte. Your King has at last become a 
 King!" 
 
 Taken unawares, I sought for a moment 
 to fathom the meaning of the King's re- 
 mark, and soon found it in the Message to 
 the States-General, on the II th of Decem- 
 ber, 1829, in which King William declared 
 that to him alone belonged the right to 
 
 47
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 interpret the Constitution, and that from 
 January I st , 1830, every officer serving in 
 the employ of the Government must take 
 his oath of adherence to this Royal declara- 
 tion, under penalty of dismissal. 
 
 This was a sort of veritable coup d'etat, 
 all the more pleasing to King Charles X, 
 as he was then contemplating a plan which 
 was to have an entirely different issue, and 
 of which no one as yet had any suspicion. 
 
 Charles X seemed to draw some kind of 
 encouragement from this act of William I. 
 I could not immediately understand why; 
 and I sought to be enlightened by means 
 of the reply that I had in mind, and that 
 I made: 
 
 "The King of the Netherlands," I said, 
 "will always know how to defend, with the 
 firmness characteristic of his principles and 
 his nature, all that appertains and belongs 
 
 to the Royal prerogative. Your Majesty 
 
 4 8
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 can be sure of that. But at the same 
 time, the King will never consent to 
 have this authority separated from in- 
 stitutions which have become the Charters 
 of the country which he has sworn to 
 defend." 
 
 I had exactly found my mark. 
 
 At these last words of mine, the King 
 took me quickly by the arm, and replied in 
 these very words: 
 
 "Understand this, Monsieur le Comte: 
 there are two things which can no longer 
 continue together. One of them will suc- 
 cumb. Royalty is menaced everywhere 
 and on all sides. I am here, as you see, 
 surrounded by enemies, and living on the 
 edge of a volcano. This position cannot 
 be maintained much longer. I must get out 
 of it, and at all costs, do you understand? 
 Royal power must recover its rights; must 
 free itself from the fetters which shackle it. 
 
 4 49
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 This is the only guarantee of the return of 
 social order." 
 
 I could hardly imagine that I had heard 
 correctly; that the blindness of prejudice 
 could go so far! I shivered from head to 
 foot. . . . His words were a flash of 
 light for me; I saw only too well what 
 rashness and danger they contained; 
 and of which I was soon to receive the 
 proof. 
 
 Struck by the firmness and eagerness 
 with which the King had just expressed 
 himself, and by his determined and assured 
 look, I remained for a moment silent and 
 dumbfounded. 
 
 The King, noticing this, immediately 
 continued: 
 
 "Yes, what I have told you is true. 
 What you call Charter and Constitution 
 are not in accord with royal power, which 
 is a thing by itself, and must remain so, 
 
 50
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 for the safety of society, which without it 
 were condemned to perish. 
 
 "Royalty is being attacked everywhere, 
 and on all sides ; I have said this before and 
 now I repeat it: we must free ourselves 
 from this situation and free ourselves at 
 any cost." 
 
 There could be no further doubt: the 
 coup d'etat had been planned in secret. 
 And this secret had just escaped the lips 
 of that unfortunate Prince, with whom it 
 had become a fixed idea. 
 
 However, I still wished to try to lead the 
 King's thoughts to other matters which 
 he seemed to desire to disregard, and which 
 bore incontestably the stamp of truth. 
 These were the material prosperity of the 
 country, the great progress of industry, 
 and the consequent well-being apparent to 
 everyone. I added my own observations 
 to those of which I was merely the echo. I 
 
 51
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 said that in crossing through a large section 
 of the Departments of the North, I had 
 been struck with the general prosperity 
 of the country, with the state of its cultiva- 
 tion; its coal mines; its industrial estab- 
 lishments in which a multitude of persons 
 were engaged; with its beet sugar manu- 
 facturing yielding a large product, and 
 quantities of fertilizer that, enriching and 
 deepening the soil, added materially to the 
 selling price and renting value of the land. 
 
 The King let me speak a long while 
 without interruption; but finally, impatient 
 with an argument which was displeasing to 
 him, stopped me suddenly with these words : 
 
 "You deceive yourself; you are having 
 illusions about the true state of affairs; 
 you are seeing only the surface of things, 
 while I am going to the bottom of them. It 
 is the spirit of the country which is now 
 being corrupted; the very foundation of 
 
 52
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 society which is being destroyed; its moral 
 and religious principles are giving way. 
 Power remains without prestige. Where 
 are we heading? God knows! ... I am 
 here on a veritable volcano, as I have al- 
 ready told you, and I can not too often 
 repeat: We must prevent the explosion, 
 and I say it over and over again, at all 
 cost we must extricate ourselves!" 
 
 The conversation continued a long time 
 in this vein. Unequalled were my aston- 
 ishment and consternation. We had been 
 standing up all this time, the King very 
 much excited, walking up and down the 
 salon, speaking vehemently and with very 
 animated gestures. At times he would 
 come close to me, and then move away and 
 stand motionless, leaning against the mantel- 
 piece, attentive, surprised, not interrupting 
 me, and only throwing in, from time to 
 time, a few words of opposition, words 
 
 53
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 which were quite fair and necessary in keep- 
 ing up the discussion that was becoming of 
 powerful interest and of serious importance. 
 Finally, the King signified that the audience 
 was ended, and told me, as he left, that he 
 would be charmed to see me again. 
 
 I immediately engaged a carriage and 
 drove to the home of General Fagel, the 
 Minister of the Netherlands. Great was 
 his astonishment when he heard me relate 
 in a few words what had taken place in 
 that impressive interview from which I had 
 just come. He urged me to see General 
 Pozzo di Borgo, the soul of the foreign 
 diplomatic corps at Paris, who was at that 
 time the favorite correspondent of the 
 Emperor Alexander. I had known General 
 Pozzo di Borgo for a long time, and when 
 he learned the nature of the matter I wished 
 to discuss, he hastened to make an appoint- 
 ment for the following day at his home. 
 
 54
 
 
 i "v- I ' 
 
 *
 
 XI 
 
 I HAD let him know that my main object 
 was to recount to him all that had occurred 
 in my interview the previous day at the 
 Tuileries, and that, as I was about to leave 
 for Brussels, I wished to have an under- 
 standing with him concerning the means 
 of being of service to the King of the Nether- 
 lands, whom I was to meet there. 
 
 On the morrow, the Ambassador awaited 
 me at the appointed hour, and gave instruc- 
 tions that no one should be admitted 
 during the time that I might be with him. 
 
 "I shall tell you all I know," said the 
 Count to me. 
 
 His face showed consternation and aston- 
 ishment as I entered into all the details of 
 my audience with the King, and especially 
 
 55
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 when I told him of the words of Charles X. 
 And soon a sentiment of distress followed 
 that of astonishment in his brilliant and 
 penetrating mind, when I came to relate 
 those words which betrayed the King's 
 discouragement the allusions to the dan- 
 gers which were surrounding Charles X, 
 and the necessity he found of extricating 
 himself from the situation by one of those 
 vigorous blows that are termed coups d'etat. 
 "What!" cried Pozzo di Borgo. "Did the 
 King say this to you ? You heard these words 
 fall from his lips. . . . But he has never 
 said anything like it to anyone before ! . . . 
 Ah, yes ! it is only too true that he is think- 
 ing of such a measure, since he regards it 
 as indispensable to his safety. He will 
 carry out this coup d'etat, and, in so doing, 
 he will destroy himself. He does not see 
 one thing, this unfortunate King: he does 
 not understand the general spirit of France. 
 
 56
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 He thinks it is royalist, while, in fact, it is 
 left centre." 
 
 The Ambassador made use of this form 
 of expression customary in the Chamber of 
 Deputies, to distinguish the members be- 
 longing to the moderate liberal party, who 
 wished a constitutional King, a King and 
 a Charter. 
 
 Recurring to the subject of my interview 
 at the Tuileries, the Count Pozzo di Borgo 
 kept on repeating: 
 
 "But how could the King have been so 
 reckless as to speak to you of a coup d'etat 
 while he has denied such a thought to every- 
 one, and to me, in particular, who have 
 spoken of it to him many times, in making 
 him cognizant of the dangers involved? 
 And now he tells you without any beating 
 around the bush! I am astounded, and 
 cannot explain it. Ah well! Yes, the 
 King will try this move and it will destroy 
 
 57
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 him. Be assured," Pozzo continued, "the 
 Bourbons are doomed! I can tell you 
 neither the day nor the hour, but rest as- 
 sured, the Bourbons are doomed; and tell 
 your King that it is I who predict this; 
 and that I urge him to be greatly on his 
 guard, and to try to rally round him 
 all those whom he has displeased and 
 alienated." 
 
 Count Pozzo di Borgo spoke truly when 
 he said that the "left centre" represented 
 the majority of public opinion in France; 
 and, on this point, I replied to him by citing 
 these significant words which I had heard 
 from the lips of a man of great intelligence, 
 a member of that party. He had said to 
 me: 
 
 "The Bourbons believe they are menaced 
 by us, and so hold us in suspicion ; but they 
 deceive themselves. We shall never attack 
 them; we shall not even threaten them; 
 
 58
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 but they of their own accord will run them- 
 selves through on our swords." 
 
 "That's very true," said the Ambassador. 
 "They are marching with lowered heads 
 in the paths of a camarilla that surrounds 
 them, and that will eventually destroy 
 them." 
 
 The Ambassador then went into details 
 in order to explain to me how complicated 
 and dangerous the situation was becoming. 
 Suddenly he stopped, and passed his hand 
 over his brow. "Yes," he went on, "be 
 assured that the Bourbons are lost; they 
 will inevitably be overthrown. We are 
 now, perhaps, on the very brink of their 
 downfall. They are piling up error upon 
 error." 
 
 "Speak to anyone here," the Ambassador 
 continued; "and you will note in the diplo- 
 matic corps that it is not alone the Prussian 
 Minister who perceives that something is 
 
 59
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 in the air. Speak with Baron von Werther 
 before you leave; he will tell you, with 
 other phrases, the same things that I have 
 told you. And now, my dear Count, the 
 best thing you can do is to go to warn 
 your King, and enlighten him. There still 
 is time. Speak to him also in my name; 
 I authorize you to do so. Tell him you 
 have found out things from me in which 
 you concur; and, above all, advise him to 
 satisfy, as soon as he can, the minds of his 
 subjects, and to hold himself on his guard. 
 
 "He has long been following a dangerous 
 road. He must now abandon it, and put 
 a stop to the discontent which has arisen 
 from his recent decrees." 
 
 Returning to my residence, I made some 
 hasty memoranda. My only thought was 
 to leave Paris and have my arrival coincide 
 at Brussels with that of King William. I 
 
 had, the previous night, seen Baron von 
 
 60
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Werther, the Prussian Minister, whose 
 words to me were almost identical with 
 those of the Russian Ambassador. 
 
 It was about the i8 th or 2O th of March. 
 I was to install in office the Commission 
 of the Exposition, of which the King had 
 made me President; to organize its work; 
 and to pay the honors of this magnificent 
 Exposition to the King, who was about to 
 arrive at Brussels. My object, in accepting 
 the honor of the presidency of this Commis- 
 sion, (composed as it was of eminent men 
 distinguished in the world of commerce 
 and industry,) had been to add to the sig- 
 nificance of this undertaking, and to take 
 advantage of the occasion of my official 
 report to the King, to develop means of 
 extending our commercial relations with 
 foreign countries, especially Germany. In 
 a word, I desired to open up for our 
 industries and our products a market 
 
 61
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 which might include forty millions of 
 people. 
 
 But it was too late. 
 
 This remarkable Exposition was to be 
 the swan song of a growing prosperity and 
 of a political state which, (whatever one may 
 say,) could have been built on a firm founda- 
 tion, despite the incompatibilities, more 
 apparent than real, between the Belgians 
 and the Dutch. All that would have been 
 necessary was to have administrative sepa- 
 ration between the Southern and Northern 
 provinces, ministerial responsibility, and 
 complete civil and religious liberty. 
 
 Indeed, to what destinies might not the 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands have attained? 
 For it united agricultural wealth to that 
 of mineral resources, minerals of all dif- 
 ferent kinds; the advantages accruing from 
 prosperous colonies; a considerable navy 
 
 with a glorious past; and an army grown 
 
 62
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 to include three hundred thousand men, 
 Belgians and Dutch, at the very time that 
 the Conference of London was considering 
 the means of establishing a neutral kingdom 
 of Belgium, between France and Holland, 
 the latter country to retain the name of the 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands. 
 
 But we had not yet reached that point. 
 The storm could still have been averted 
 if King William, more wisely inspired, had 
 adopted, forcefully and sincerely, the meas- 
 ures of interior administration which the 
 situation called for. 
 
 I reached Brussels the night preceding 
 the King's arrival from The Hague. At 
 an early hour, on the following day, His 
 Majesty received me in his Cabinet, and 
 bade me be seated at a small table that 
 stood between us. Thereupon, we at once 
 took up the matter in hand. The King 
 listened with close attention, and without 
 
 63
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 interruption, to the details which I gave 
 him of my private audience with King 
 Charles X, and of my conversations with 
 the Russian Ambassador, Count Pozzo di 
 Borgo, and Baron von Werther, the Prussian 
 Minister (as well as to the impressions I 
 myself had acquired) . A moment of silence 
 followed this long and important address. 
 Then the King broke this silence with these 
 very words : 
 
 "Well! I see we have done well here 
 to yield to opinion on several points which 
 seem to have troubled the minds of some, 
 giving umbrage and even the opportunity 
 to misconstrue my intentions. These con- 
 cessions seem to have had a good result in 
 appeasing men's minds; and it is only fair 
 that I acknowledge that you have played 
 a large part in this." 
 
 "Without doubt," I said, "the King 
 
 has reason to congratulate himself on hav- 
 
 6 4
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ing made certain concessions, urgently de- 
 manded by the most decided public opinion, 
 particularly in the Southern provinces. . . . 
 But, if Your Majesty will permit me to 
 say it, it is not enough. ..." 
 
 I had spoken with some warmth. 
 
 "Ah! I see where you are heading," 
 said the King, looking at me sternly. ' ' You 
 wish me, do you not, to yield to the more 
 or less imperiously voiced demand for the 
 dismissal of Van Maanen, the Minister of 
 Justice. But understand, Monsieur, that 
 I will never yield to such imperious demands 
 as these." 
 
 "And with reason, Sire. . . . But you 
 can do better. Of your own accord, do 
 what has not been asked of you, and what 
 will doubtless prove to be of the most im- 
 portance under these circumstances. Prove 
 to the eyes of the most incredulous that 
 
 you intend to change the system of your 
 
 s 65
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Government. Change your ministry en- 
 tirely, or, to express it better, change your 
 Ministers; for where there is no ministerial 
 responsibility and representative constitu- 
 tional government, there is no real ministry. 
 But by this step, and by selecting men who 
 deserve public confidence, you will at least 
 show that you really wish to adopt an 
 entirely different path from that which you 
 have followed, especially since 1825. . . . 
 
 "It is of the highest importance for you 
 to spread throughout our land this idea of 
 your new point of view, since you see that 
 the most enlightened men in a great neigh- 
 boring country, (such as the Ambassador 
 Pozzo di Borgo, to quote only one of the 
 ablest statesmen,) are dismayed by the 
 situation in France, and are disquieted 
 by the thought of what may happen here, 
 if Your Majesty does not endeavor to pacify 
 the people, and to propitiate those whom 
 
 66
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 he has alienated. And after all, Sire, what 
 are we really considering? The adoption 
 of a measure which shall make an impres- 
 sion on opinion. Appoint men in whom 
 there is general confidence, particularly in 
 the Southern provinces. When you have 
 produced the desired effect, which we re- 
 cognize as necessary at this critical moment, 
 you will then have time to consider, to 
 reflect, to see what will happen in France, 
 after this coup d'etat which Charles X is 
 planning, and respecting which, I have been 
 privileged to enlighten you in the most 
 minute fashion." 
 
 This clear and decisive statement seemed 
 to have made some impression on the King, 
 who was dumb with astonishment and could 
 find no words with which to express him- 
 self in the presence of a man who had dared 
 to say to him: Dismiss Van Maanen, your 
 
 Minister of Justice; change all your Minis- 
 
 67
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ters; seek, above all, to surround yourself 
 with honorable men, enjoying general 
 respect and wide popularity. 
 
 But were all the considerations, which 
 achieve great results in times of calm, worth 
 such long discussion on our part, in view of 
 the serious events about to take place in 
 France? Had not words of an entirely 
 different import fallen from my lips at the 
 beginning of our interview? Had not the 
 King heard those words of Pozzo di Borgo? 
 "The Bourbons are doomed; tell that for 
 me to the King of the Netherlands. Let 
 him be on his guard! Let him seek to 
 appease his subjects; to draw around him 
 again those whom he has alienated; to 
 restore general confidence." 
 
 I returned to this point of departure, as 
 the most important topic dominating the 
 situation, particularly in Belgium on which 
 events in France would first react. 
 
 68
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The King, his head resting on his hand, 
 had listened to me in silence for several 
 moments, when, suddenly turning towards 
 me, he said: 
 
 "Well, then! Let us see. Put the thing 
 at its worst; what will happen? . . . 
 Granted that Pozzo's prophecy will be 
 realized; that the Bourbons will be over- 
 thrown, that the tri-colored flags and cock- 
 ades will reappear, and that our Southern 
 provinces will be invaded. . . . Well then! 
 Monsieur, as to me, I shall retire beyond 
 the rivers, and from The Hague I shall 
 write as follows to all the sovereigns who 
 signed the Treaty of 1815: You formed the 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands. Only half 
 of the Kingdom now remains. Ancient Bel- 
 gium is invaded. Do you wish to re-estab- 
 lish it? I have no doubt you do. In that 
 case, come to my aid. You are the guaran- 
 tors of its existence, the treaties exist." 
 
 69
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 While the King was thus expressing him- 
 self, I was thinking of the position he held 
 with respect to the foreign Powers: with 
 Austria, which he had displeased in the 
 matter of financial settlements; with Prus- 
 sia, in regard to the navigation of the Rhine ; 
 with England, in the question of customs 
 duty; that England which was, doubtless, 
 not looking with any indifference upon the 
 great progress of our industries and manu- 
 facturers, at this very moment displayed 
 in the halls of the Exposition. 
 
 I did not know just how to make the 
 King understand that the consequences of 
 such a situation would be of a kind to bring 
 about various changes in the good-will of 
 these foreign Cabinets towards him; and 
 this was apart from the consideration that 
 the policy of these sovereigns, intent on 
 their own interests, and with different 
 
 points of view, would lead them, for the 
 
 70
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 moment, to refrain from all political mani- 
 festations. This proved to be the case; 
 and we saw the coup d'etat in France, and 
 the subsequent revolution, take place within 
 three days; we saw the Courts of the North- 
 ern countries acting in unison, not only in 
 giving recognition to what had been done, 
 but also in urging the King of the Nether- 
 lands not to make any military demonstra- 
 tion that might disturb the Government 
 newly established in France. Fear of giv- 
 ing France a pretext for arming and placing 
 herself in a state of war went so far that the 
 foreign Diplomatic Corps at The Hague 
 was charged to make representations to 
 the King in order to turn him from the 
 thought of his reconquering the lost pro- 
 vinces through force of arms. But we are 
 not as far as that yet. 
 
 In my reply to the King, I confined myself 
 to saying: 
 
 71
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "Pray consider, Sire, that treaties are 
 made only by reason of the contemporary 
 circumstances; that they are subject to 
 modifications occasioned by new political 
 conditions; that in time they are torn to 
 pieces in the winds of revolutions; and that 
 new acts, when fully accomplished, are the 
 basis of new treaties. Is it not better to 
 foresee events, while there is still time, and 
 to try to avert the storm before it bursts 
 upon you?" 
 
 "As for me, Sir," answered the King, in 
 a dry and scornful tone, "I recognize only 
 existing treaties as a basis for rightful 
 action; I respect treaties when they involve 
 the interests of others; I maintain they 
 should be similarly respected when my 
 interests are involved." 
 
 For the King to reason thus, was to lay 
 aside all considerations resulting from the 
 
 present situation, the deeds recently ac- 
 
 72
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 complished, the most simple forecasts, and 
 to some extent to isolate himself somehow, 
 in the midst of current ideas, from events 
 which involved everyone around him in 
 an unknown future. 
 
 73
 
 XII 
 
 THE King was obviously deceiving him- 
 self as to the bases of agreement to be 
 adopted by the Conference of London. 
 
 The first basis proposed and accepted at 
 the Conference of London was the recogni- 
 tion of deeds already accomplished; and, 
 indeed, the Southern provinces, which had 
 just then revolted from Holland, were at 
 once declared independent, and were per- 
 mitted to constitute themselves as a sepa- 
 rate State, and to convene a National 
 Assembly, whence the Belgian Kingdom 
 was to arise. 
 
 It was not yet the twentieth of March, 
 1830, but everything was arranged. The 
 King, urged to return to The Hague, would 
 doubtless have done better, (as circum- 
 
 74
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 stances have proved,) not to have stirred 
 from Brussels. He advised me to occupy 
 myself with the Exposition, of whose Com- 
 mission His Majesty had nominated me as 
 President to direct its work and to make a 
 report of our proceedings. 
 
 The Commission was composed of very 
 able men; including Mr. Biolley, from Ver- 
 viers, Mr. John Cockerill, whose worth 
 everyone appreciates, and other manu- 
 facturers, as well as the Presidents of the 
 Chambers of Commerce of the various 
 provinces. 
 
 I promised the King to give my whole 
 attention to the undertaking. Several 
 times I called the Commission together to 
 establish a rule, which was soon drawn up 
 and adopted; and every Member of the 
 Commission assumed the task that he was 
 to perform. 
 
 The place selected was the ancient Palace 
 
 75
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 of the Governors-General of the Austrian 
 Netherlands. The Exposition was not to 
 be opened to the public until the first of 
 August. 
 
 The King said to me on leaving: 
 
 "This year I shall return to Brussels 
 before the time of the opening of the States- 
 General." 
 
 The day fixed by the Constitution for 
 the opening of this important spectacle of 
 the reunion of all the products of our na- 
 tional industry, was the third Monday of 
 October. 
 
 During the interval, I returned to my 
 estate near Liege where I remained until 
 everything had been arranged in the Ex- 
 position halls.
 
 XIII 
 
 THE King had left for The Hague with 
 a tranquil mind, despite our conversation 
 concerning public affairs, and the testimony 
 of the keen and penetrating Count Pozzo 
 di Borgo, of which I had availed myself in 
 order the more strongly to impress the 
 King; in spite, also of the Baron von Wer- 
 ther's opinion, which I had faithfully re- 
 ported; and although he saw the approach 
 in France of a crisis, in which the downfall 
 of the Bourbon dynasty was predicted by 
 experienced and far-sighted men, a predic- 
 tion that the fatal consequences verified. 
 
 Nothing of all this appeared to have left 
 any trace on the King's mind. Of no 
 avail were the earnest entreaties to induce 
 him to enter with conciliatory measures a 
 
 77
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 better path of government; and no doubt 
 he considered my urgent solicitations as 
 nothing but an exaggeration on my part, 
 intended to obtain more from him than he 
 wished to grant. During the short interval 
 which elapsed between the departure of the 
 King for The Hague and his return for 
 the opening of the Exposition at Brussels, 
 the overthrow of the Bourbon dynasty 
 was silently preparing at Paris, and accom- 
 plished in three days. 
 
 We were awakened one morning, in the 
 latter part of July, by the rumor of the 
 Ordinances, signed by Charles X, on his 
 return from a hunt in the Forest of Ram- 
 bouillet. I had been at Brussels for a few 
 days, presiding over the Commission of the 
 Exposition. Astonishment and consterna- 
 tion were depicted on every face. The day 
 following the signing of the Ordinances by 
 Charles X, men took up arms in Paris, 
 
 78
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and fighting went on in the streets, while, 
 in his Palace, the King amused himself 
 as usual, with whist, and continued to 
 observe court etiquette, at S- Cloud, in 
 audiences to persons devoted to him, who 
 hurried there to inform him of what was 
 going on in the Paris streets. They sought 
 to persuade him either to withdraw the 
 fatal Ordinances, or to mount his horse and 
 place himself at the head of his Guard, and 
 have the streets swept before his eyes with 
 cannon. 
 
 This was just exactly what the Duchess 
 de Berry at Rambouillet sought on the 
 third day to attempt. From the lips 
 of the distinguished General Vincent, First 
 Equerry of the Duchess, I heard the fol- 
 lowing touching and noble account : 
 
 The King had just arrived in the even- 
 ing at the Chateau de Rambouillet. The 
 Duchess de Berry took the General aside, 
 
 79
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and asked if he contemplated returning to 
 Paris the next morning. When the General 
 answered in the affirmative, she said to him : 
 
 1 ' Have you your carriage ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, Madame." 
 
 "Well, in that case, I shall bring my riding 
 habit; I shall take my son with me; and, 
 arriving at Paris, I shall assemble the Guard, 
 mount my horse, and with my son in my 
 arms, I shall address the troop and place 
 myself at its head. You will accompany 
 me, General!" 
 
 "Ah! Madame, if you obtain permission 
 from the King to carry out this noble and 
 generous impulse, I shall be the most for- 
 tunate of men to have the honor of following 
 you. But without that, Your Royal High- 
 ness knows that I am unable to take any 
 action." 
 
 General Vincent was one of the generals 
 
 of the Guard, who rendered glorious service. 
 
 so
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 All this took place on the 27th of July, 
 at Rambouillet, whither the Court had with- 
 drawn. The noble Duchess, with tears in 
 her eyes, left, in saying: 
 
 "Adieu, General! Let us think no 
 further of this. There is nothing left to 
 be done. All is lost." 
 
 From the very beginning, sinister rumors 
 were noised abroad at Brussels. However, 
 people were more occupied with their 
 thoughts of pleasure than with thoughts of 
 the revolution; for the horse races were 
 taking place at the course of Monplaisir. 
 The Prince of Orange presided over them, 
 and to his box came many persons, includ- 
 ing strangers of distinction, English and 
 French. Among others was the Due d' Ava- 
 ray, Captain of the Guard of Charles X, 
 who had not been taken into the King's 
 confidence with respect to his plans; and 
 who, surprised by such audacity and courage 
 
 6 8l
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and resolution, in publishing the famous 
 Ordinances, applauded heartily and walked 
 away, remarking in a loud voice: 
 
 "We are saved! Here, at last, is a King 
 who has resumed royal power, and re- 
 entered upon his rights, and who will put 
 an end to the revolution." 
 
 I entered the Prince's box, just as the 
 Due d'Avaray was excitedly uttering these 
 words, which the Prince of Orange ap- 
 plauded with all his might, as if the King's 
 action were a display of authority implying 
 that the best possible measures had been 
 adopted to insure success. Then, too, the 
 Captain of the King's Guard did not leave 
 the Prince of Orange any doubt on that 
 score as he added: 
 
 "Rest assured, Monseigneur, that in 
 case of any resistance, our cuirassiers will 
 not even have to take their swords in 
 
 hand; the heels of their boots will be 
 
 82
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 sufficient to disperse the riot in the 
 streets." 
 
 This phrase recalled to my mind the lan- 
 guage of the Emigres at Coblentz, and 
 probably led me slightly to shrug my 
 shoulders. The Prince of Orange took 
 notice of this with a glance in my direction, 
 that I well understood. I was not surprised 
 to hear him answer emphatically: 
 
 "Oh! I believe you, my dear Duke. I 
 entirely agree with you. I have often said 
 that all that is necessary is to know how to 
 take things in hand in time, and spontane- 
 ously. The crop of the cavalier on many 
 occasions suffices to disperse the mob." 
 
 I had withdrawn to a corner of the box 
 to avoid taking part in the conversation; 
 and assumed the appearance of being greatly 
 interested in the races. But, on the con- 
 trary, my mind was strongly impressed by 
 all that was happening at Paris, and by what 
 
 83
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 I had just heard. I recalled, at that 
 moment a still renowned article in the 
 Journal des Debats, that began with these 
 words: "Unfortunate France! Unfortunate 
 King!" 
 
 I recalled my last conversation at Paris 
 with the Russian Ambassador, Pozzo di 
 Borgo, just after I had left the audience 
 which Charles X had granted me. And 
 with a shudder I beheld the carelessness, 
 the levity, the audacity involved in the 
 fatal thoughts, (so soon and imprudently 
 to be realized in a coup d'etat,) which, a 
 short time before, had absorbed all the at- 
 tention of the unfortunate Charles X. To 
 him the public reading of the abolition of 
 the Charter seemed a quite simple and in- 
 fallible affair and he expected immediately 
 to see all heads bowed and all wills obedient. 
 Ah! dizzy spirit of error! . . . You have 
 existed in all times, in all places, in all the 
 
 8 4
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 epochs that history, (without throwing light 
 upon you,) can trace! 
 
 Absorbed in these sad presentiments, my 
 head was turned towards the race-course, 
 as I watched the horses starting at the 
 beginning of the track; but my thoughts 
 were elsewhere. I was suddenly awakened 
 from my reverie by the Prince of Orange, 
 who had taken my hand, and was shaking 
 it with that cordiality to which his kindness 
 had long accustomed me; and his first 
 words were: 
 
 "Well! have you heard the great news?" 
 My reply was quite simple. It could not 
 resemble the answer made by the Captain of 
 the Guard of Charles X. The seriousness 
 of my look indicated sufficiently to the 
 Prince, without a word on my part, how 
 disturbed I was, not only at the situation 
 in France, but at the grave consequences 
 that were to result for us, knowing as I did 
 
 85
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the indecisive character of King William 
 and the lack of prudence with which his 
 son, the Prince of Orange, so frequently 
 acted. 
 
 The Prince of Orange, through his chiv- 
 alry, his conduct in the English army at 
 the time of the war with Spain, his dashing 
 bravery at Waterloo, his kindly spirit, his 
 general nobility of character, had won the 
 hearts of the Belgians. But for some time 
 past he had fallen into some disfavor at 
 Brussels, by reason of the persons with whom 
 he associated in private life, and through 
 slander which was noised abroad concern- 
 ing him. He now was met by coldness 
 where, formerly, he had been accustomed 
 to receive the warmest of welcomes; and 
 on that very day of the races things had 
 reached such a pass that if the winning 
 horse came from the Prince's stables, it 
 was received with hisses instead of applause. 
 
 86
 
 XIV 
 
 ALL these things, unimportant in them- 
 selves, appeared as bad omens at a time 
 when there was about to break forth in the 
 streets of Paris, a great revolution, whose 
 consequences would necessarily soon be 
 felt in our own country. 
 
 The Bourbons were hurled from their 
 throne, as had been foreseen by the cele- 
 brated diplomat whose words I had but 
 lately reported to the King. 
 
 Louis Philippe d' Orleans had assumed 
 the reins of government, and not in the 
 capacity of Regent ; for he had been forced 
 to accept the sovereignty, acclaimed by the 
 National Guard and recognized by the 
 Chambers. He had accepted the Crown, 
 in order to avoid a Republic. 
 
 87
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Europe seemed to be forcing this action, 
 for all the diplomats accredited to^France, 
 instead of having followed Charles X to 
 Rambouillet, had, on the contrary, received 
 orders from their Courts to remain at 
 Paris. 
 
 This was the moment that should have 
 been seized upon by King William, who 
 not only was among the first to recognize 
 with great cordiality Louis Philippe as 
 King of France, but who also forbade asylum 
 to the unfortunate Duchess de Berry, 
 should she attempt to find a refuge in his 
 domain. 
 
 The policy of the King of the Nether- 
 lands seemed clearly indicated: Through 
 General Robert Fagel, his Minister Pleni- 
 potentiary who remained at Paris, he must 
 have learned that the policy of Prince Tal- 
 leyrand who had become Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs was based on an English al- 
 
 88
 
 P , 
 
 cA^cuMd i
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 liance, on the intention of reassuring Europe 
 regarding the maintenance of the treaty 
 of 1815, and on peace; and this policy had 
 been adopted by King Louis Philippe. 
 From this point of view, if King William 
 had been a sagacious politician, he would 
 have taken the lead, and have sent to Paris 
 a representative vested with full power 
 immediately to open (in conjunction with 
 General Fagel, who had been accredited 
 Minister to the new King of France,) nego- 
 tiations tending to offer the Netherlands 
 an alliance with that already agreed upon 
 between England and France, and such an 
 offer would doubtless have been all the 
 more willingly accepted, in that it implied 
 a renewed consecration, on the part of 
 France, of the Treaty of 1815, an act that 
 would have been reassuring to all Europe, 
 for Europe would with pleasure have therein 
 recognized the maintenance of the line of 
 
 8 9
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 fortifications. 1 And Louis Philippe would 
 not have failed to accept the offer, as his 
 acceptance would be a pledge to Europe 
 of his disinterestedness and his desire to 
 preserve peace. 
 
 If, after that, King William had modified 
 his institutions in the Netherlands, and had 
 proclaimed a Constitutional Government 
 with direct elections and ministerial respon- 
 sibility, the weapons would have imme- 
 diately dropped from the hands of the 
 opposition at Brussels; and, granting the 
 possibility that the Government of Louis 
 Philippe would not be able to maintain itself, 
 and would be overturned by either a repub- 
 lican or legitimist revolution, it must be 
 admitted that the Powers of the North 
 would have been grateful to King William 
 for having preserved the Kingdom of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 1 Against France. 
 
 90
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The Prince of Orange, who had prolonged 
 his stay at Brussels, hastened back to The 
 Hague, where he found the King in ignor- 
 ance of many happenings, and, above all, 
 in a state of habitual indecision as to what 
 part to take, although he had been the first 
 to recognize the new King of France.
 
 XV 
 
 IF the special sense for political strategy, 
 of which we have just spoken, was absent 
 from the line of conduct that the King 
 wished to adopt under these grave condi- 
 tions, he should, at least, have devoted 
 himself to means of calming party irritation 
 in his country, by cutting away all internal 
 difficulties through a frank declaration of 
 his willingness to follow a new path of 
 government. But he did nothing, abso- 
 lutely nothing. Three months passed in this 
 same indecision, this same inactivity. He 
 allowed hopes of concession to arise, but 
 nothing came of them. Then, finally, he 
 made up his mind, but only when it was too 
 late. 
 
 Nevertheless, a very simple consideration 
 92
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 should have occurred to him. The Kingdom 
 of the Netherlands, in not having entered 
 into the alliance with France and England, 
 found itself, through this abstention, in 
 the same attitude of hostility to France as 
 had been involved in the Treaty of 1815, 
 signed at Vienna. The Government of Louis 
 Philippe thus had a great interest in seek- 
 ing means of severing, should the oppor- 
 tunity offer, that portion of the Kingdom 
 which, formerly part of France prior to the 
 reverses of 1814, had since then been an- 
 nexed to Holland. On this theory, the 
 French Government could play an advan- 
 tageous game in fomenting, or in merely 
 supporting, the spirit of opposition and 
 discontent which was on the increase in 
 the Southern provinces, (ancient Belgium,) 
 with the purpose of seizing the occasion, 
 that would sooner or later present itself, 
 of achieving the separation of these pro- 
 
 93
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 vinces from Holland; not, indeed, in order 
 to annex them again to France, (an act 
 which to the Great Powers would have been 
 opposed,) but, rather, should circumstances 
 permit, with a view to the possibility of 
 the establishment of these provinces as a 
 consummation that France would regard 
 as a peaceful conquest. 
 
 Further on I shall relate how, on a day 
 several years later, I was, by chance, enabled 
 to hear from the lips of the principal actor 
 in the revolutionary movement at Brus- 
 sels, in 1830, "how the first day was nothing 
 more than a simple riot, which had no other 
 result than the destruction by fire of the 
 offices of the Minister of Justice, an up- 
 rising which would have fallen to the ground, 
 through lack of support, lack of direction 
 and aim; but," he added, "fortunately 
 I had the word of command. ..." 
 
 The King, as I have said, had appointed 
 
 94
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 me President of the Commission of the 
 Exposition, which was about to open, of 
 the Products of National Industry, and 
 had put me in charge of directing its 
 affairs. 
 
 The political horizon was clouding up 
 from day to day. The secret societies 
 were never inactive, and were preparing 
 the way for an outburst which, in fact, 
 took us by surprise, for no precautions had 
 been taken, no preparations planned. 
 
 The moment had come when the King 
 was to return from The Hague to Brussels, 
 for that great national occasion the open- 
 ing of the Exposition. This was in the 
 first days of August, 1830. The presence 
 of the King at Brussels had, (despite the 
 disturbance caused by the Ordinances of 
 Charles X and the subsequent downfall 
 of the Bourbons,) restored not calm, but at 
 least the appearance of tranquillity in the 
 
 95
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 streets, where everyone was busy with his 
 own affairs. 
 
 The correspondence between Louis Phi- 
 lippe and William I was full of courtesy 
 and amenities. The King, who had come 
 to Brussels to be present at the Exposition, 
 could easily have made this a pretext for 
 taking up his residence there, before the 
 usual season, which was the beginning of 
 October. 
 
 I made every effort imaginable to induce 
 him so to do, but in vain. His ever methodi- 
 cal spirit interfered. The difference would 
 have been hardly noticeable; it was a 
 question merely of six weeks. No matter: 
 it did not fall in with his usual, strictly- 
 observed programme. On the day of his 
 second visit to the Exposition, in which he 
 showed his pride, especially when strangers 
 were present, he planned to leave for The 
 
 Hague in the evening. I had urged him 
 
 96
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 to show his satisfaction with the Members 
 of the Commission by inviting them to 
 dinner; I had hoped thereby to gain an 
 extra day of his presence at Brussels. But 
 not at all. The King said to me: 
 
 "I willingly accept your suggestion, but 
 for this very day. I shall depart imme- 
 diately thereafter." 
 
 The dinner did indeed take place, and 
 was very gay, and animated by the enthu- 
 siastic and friendly conversation which 
 His Majesty kept up with his guests; and 
 it must be admitted that to the impetus 
 given by King William to manufactures and 
 industry, was due in large part the spirit 
 of enthusiasm and encouragement, to which 
 His Majesty contributed, and which the 
 Exposition made evident to the citizens, 
 and to the many foreigners who came to 
 visit it. 
 
 The after-dinner talk which the King was 
 7 97
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 always glad to prolong, extended, on this 
 occasion, beyond the usual limits. Before 
 dismissing us, His Majesty, seeing me 
 standing alone, and leaning against the 
 chimney mantlepiece, (in an attitude of 
 thought that contrasted somewhat with the 
 expression of satisfaction of the other 
 guests gathered in the salon,) came up to 
 me and said: 
 
 "How now! I find you here alone, apart 
 from the rest, on a day when you, more 
 than any other person, should show satis- 
 faction. But, on the contrary, your sad 
 and preoccupied air contrasts strongly with 
 that of everyone else." 
 
 It was then that there took place be- 
 tween the King and myself the conversa- 
 tion which can be found published in the 
 volume by Mons. De Grovenstein, and 
 which was continued to the moment of 
 
 His Majesty's departure for The Hague. 
 
 98
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "Yes, Sire," I answered, "I frankly con- 
 fess that I am much troubled by the situa- 
 tion in which you are leaving us, and I 
 infinitely regret your departure at such a 
 moment as this." 
 
 "But why? What is there that is so 
 serious?" 
 
 "There is nothing, just at this moment, 
 I agree; but is that any reason why, in the 
 actual circumstances, there remains no- 
 thing to be feared, in the King's absence? 
 France is emerging from a violent outburst, 
 at which everyone is excited, while opinions 
 are divided. We cannot disregard the 
 fact that there are in our midst tendencies 
 and plots in the making, which, at any 
 moment may be translated into disturb- 
 ances. . . . And who, Sire, have you here, 
 to confront such an eventuality? The; 
 Military Governor is a worthy old man 
 who has frequently asked you to allow 
 
 99
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 him to resign. Our good old General 
 Constant, handicapped by age and in- 
 firmities, has a great deal of difficulty in 
 mounting his horse. ... As Civil Gov- 
 ernor of the Province you have also a very 
 worthy man, but one who, at this moment, 
 does not appear to me to be equal to his 
 position. The police force is badly or- 
 ganized; and then, besides, I do not know 
 how much longer these different authorities 
 can get on together in perfect accord. 
 > "With you here, Sire, everything is 
 different. Orders are immediately given; 
 your very presence is imposing; why not 
 take up your residence here at once? The 
 Exposition affords you the pretext. . . . 
 I urge you, Sire. Put off your departure; 
 it is the wisest, the safest move. Think 
 of the seriousness of the situation." 
 
 "But, Monsieur," answered the King, 
 "you know that in six weeks I shall be 
 
 100
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 established at Brussels for the opening 
 session of the States-General. I do not 
 deny that what you say is true in regard 
 to the lack of goodwill existing between the 
 civil and military authorities. But re- 
 member this, also, that, should need arise, 
 it takes me but from twelve to fourteen 
 hours to come from The Hague to Brussels. 
 Besides which, we must hope, " His Majesty 
 ended by saying, "we must hope that all 
 will go well during this short interval." 
 
 Cast down by this remark, I bowed my 
 head in taking leave of the King, and said: 
 
 "I shall hope with you, Sire." 
 
 Whereupon he added : 
 
 "You know, of course, that the marriage 
 of my daughter, Princess Marianne, is to 
 take place at The Hague. I trust you will 
 not fail to be present." 
 
 I did, in fact, attend the wedding; but 
 the King was never again to see Brussels. 
 
 101
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 It was with a sad and vague presentiment 
 that I saw him depart; and on that very 
 evening, I got a post-chaise to take me to 
 Argenteau, where I had left my wife and 
 children; and there I remained until the 
 2i st of August, the day fixed upon for the 
 closing of the Exposition, and for the signing 
 of the official reports. 
 
 The time passed without any event to 
 disturb my tranquillity, and without the 
 King taking any steps to quiet the troubled 
 state of affairs, even as much as to grant 
 some of the concessions, that had been 
 asked for, and, that had been, after a 
 fashion, I shall not say, promised, but 
 which, at least, were concessions that the 
 King had allowed the people to look upon 
 as hopeful of being granted. 
 
 102
 
 XVI 
 
 WHEN the time arrived, I made my plans 
 for returning to Brussels; and in the even- 
 ing of the 22 d of August, I was re-established 
 in my residence, in the rue Ducale. On 
 arriving there, I asked for an opera pro- 
 gramme, counting on going if they were to 
 give La Muette, whose music I like. This 
 was, as a matter of fact, to be performed, 
 but my porter made a mistake and sent 
 me the programme for the previous evening 
 instead of for that day. I seized the op- 
 portunity tc remain at home and to retire 
 at an early hour. I was awakened in the 
 night by an unwonted stir in the house, 
 and rang for my valet to ascertain the cause. 
 He had not yet gone to bed, and he came 
 
 into my room to tell me what had taken 
 103
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 place that evening after the opera ; that the 
 house of the Minister of Justice had been 
 destroyed by fire and that there was fight- 
 ing going on in the streets. Hastily I 
 dressed myself; and went at once to the 
 King's Palace, where I saw a company of 
 grenadiers drawn up in formation, carry- 
 ing arms which they had been instructed 
 not to use. 
 
 During that night, there were several 
 men in smocks killed by the National 
 Guard. The 23 d of August passed without 
 any other event. People did not just know 
 what it was they wanted, or why fighting 
 was going on; and all this in the midst 
 of unsurpressed disturbance. Since the 
 preceding night's fire, after the opera, no 
 measure of prevention or suppression had 
 been taken. Some of the weapons of the 
 National Guard had fallen into the hands 
 
 of the insurgents. The next morning, it 
 
 104
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 is true, these arms were retaken by the 
 National Guard, but only to be recaptured 
 a little later by the insurgents. 
 
 The following day, the 24 th of August, 
 was the anniversary day of the Fete of the 
 King. For this celebration, preparations 
 had been made to illuminate the facades 
 of the ministerial residences in the park. 
 But in an instant all these illuminations 
 were broken, stripped off, and destroyed. 
 Hitherto the insignia of Royalty had not 
 been attacked; but in the evening of this 
 24 th of August, the royal arms were re- 
 moved and trampled under foot. We were 
 in the thick of a revolution. 
 
 One of the King's Ministers, M- Van 
 Gobbelschroy the Minister of the Interior 
 was still at Brussels, where he had been 
 detained by reason of the Exposition. 
 This Minister had not deemed it fitting to 
 inform the King of events at Brussels 
 105
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 other than by a letter, sent by post a 
 letter which took three days to reach the 
 King, who was staying at the Chateau de 
 Loo! 
 
 Uncertain as to what might be happening 
 at Liege and in the neighborhood of Argen- 
 teau, (and fearing that the insurrection had 
 extended to the laboring population of these 
 cantons,) I sent, on the night of the 24 th , for 
 post horses, and set forth in all haste to 
 join my family. 
 
 As I was passing through Liege, I learned 
 that there had been some stir in that town, 
 and that a Committee of public safety had 
 been organized by Mynheer Sandberg, the 
 Governor. Dutch by descent, he was a man 
 of level head and of resolution; a wise man, 
 clear-visioned and endowed with excellent 
 judgment. Feeling that his authority had 
 already been crippled by the events at 
 Brussels, he had lost no time in writing 
 
 106
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 me. I had approved this prudent measure, 
 and we had agreed to continue our corre- 
 spondence. 
 
 Mynheer Sandberg was one of those few 
 who saw that the Government, in its heed- 
 lessness, was heading towards destruction. 
 This administrator had, for some time, 
 tried to enlighten the King in regard to his 
 personal danger, as well as that which 
 threatened the country. His uprightness 
 and his frankness only served to cause his 
 fall into disfavor, upon his return to The 
 Hague. 
 
 The King, who for a long time had re- 
 fused to recognize the evidence of dangers 
 which, following the Revolution of July, 
 at Paris, were arising at his very feet; and 
 who did not wish to hear of the precautions 
 that loyal adherents besought him to adopt 
 in order to quiet the country and to make 
 
 the necessary concessions while there was 
 107
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 yet time, had been informed, as I have said, 
 at the Chateau de Loo, by a letter from 
 his Minister of the Interior, still at Brus- 
 sels, of the revolutionary movement which 
 had broken out in that city. It really 
 seemed that, so as to withdraw himself 
 still more, he had shut himself up in an 
 isolated chateau, far from The Hague, 
 without even taking the precaution to 
 arrange means of being promptly warned 
 by couriers. It seemed, I maintain, as if 
 he had left Brussels with a tranquil mind 
 and confident that the dangers which 
 might result from his absence, as well 
 as the report of the effect produced 
 at Paris by the publication of the Or- 
 dinances of Charles X, had been ex- 
 aggerated. He seemed, moreover, to feel 
 confident that all that was needed to 
 bring Brussels to reason and re-establish 
 his authority there, were the troops re- 
 
 108
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 united around Antwerp under the command 
 of Prince Frederic. But the outcome was 
 soon to teach the King the insufficiency of 
 his attitude. 
 
 109
 
 XVII 
 
 THE time was at hand for the opening of 
 the States-General, about to assemble at 
 The Hague on the third Monday in October. 
 For a little while hopes were founded on 
 this session, and the Representatives of 
 the Southern provinces gathered together 
 there with marked ceremony, particularly 
 those Deputies belonging to the Opposition, 
 in order to give to the King proof of their 
 devotion to the reigning dynasty. 
 
 This was also the period fixed upon for 
 the celebration of the Princess Marianne's 
 marriage to Prince Albert of Prussia. The 
 day the King left Brussels I had promised 
 him to be present at the wedding, and I 
 wished to keep my word, despite the sub- 
 sequent events. Provided with an English 
 
 no
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 passport, (so as not to have to apply to 
 those who had come into power since the 
 Revolution,) I remained only a few hours 
 at Brussels. 
 
 My arrival became known. Where I was 
 going was also known ; and during the three 
 hours I spent at Brussels, several persons 
 of note, who had on the impulse of the 
 moment taken part in the revolutionary 
 movement, came to me to express their 
 disgust and aversion regarding what had 
 happened; still others wrote me they did 
 not doubt that the King's authority would 
 soon be re-established at Brussels, and I was 
 asked, in speaking to the King, to plead 
 the necessity which had led to the cir- 
 cumstances in which some of them found 
 themselves, and which had led them further 
 than they desired to go. 
 
 I was promised frank co-operation in 
 
 favor of the restoration, under guaranty of 
 in
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1S30 
 
 certain concessions, the King's pledge of 
 great moderation, his willingness to forget 
 what had happened, his pardon for v 
 
 committed. But, above all, I was told: 
 
 "Obtain the certainty of the safety of 
 our persons and of our property. As to 
 the rest," they added, ''we know yon, and 
 we grant you full freedom for any steps yon 
 may wish to take, and we promise that 
 whatever you shall have done or agreed to 
 in our name at The Hague, will be ratified 
 by us." 
 
 Several hours later, as day was breaking, 
 I got into my post-chaise, and drove to The 
 Hague, clothed, as it has been seen, with 
 full power by some of those who bad be- 
 come more involved than they wished in 
 the terrible catastrophe which had dis- 
 tracted the country and put everything at 
 
 .". 1. 1 IT 
 
 The month that fiiiii^ral Iln r*i nl of the 
 
 112
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 22 nd , 23 rd and 24 th of August gave much 
 food for thought. No one knew how things 
 would end. Some wished a Republic; 
 others, reunion with France; while many 
 desired only the re-establishment of King 
 William I, but with a representative Gov- 
 ernment, ministerial responsibility, suitable 
 guarantee and concessions, and perhaps, 
 also, the administrative separation of the 
 two large divisions of the Kingdom. 
 
 The authority of the King, thus restored, 
 would have had a great chance of success. 
 
 The overthrow of authority had to a 
 large extent brought its own retribution; 
 people had grown tired of living from day 
 to day; they had no confidence in the 
 provisional arrangements of the moment, 
 and much doubt as to the future; they 
 feared being attacked at any instant by 
 the troops commanded by Prince Frederic, 
 stationed between Antwerp and Brussels. 
 113
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The streets of Brussels remained bar- 
 ricaded; one of the barricades had to be 
 raised, to let my post-chaise pass. On the 
 following day of my journey to The Hague, 
 I arrived at the home of Baron Henri Fagel, 
 formerly Ambassador at London, who had 
 kindly invited me to lodge at his house. 
 Baron Henri Fagel was one of those men 
 whom one seldom meets a man of wide 
 experience, just, intelligent, calm in his 
 judgment, and very devoted, by reason of 
 long service, to the House of Orange-Nassau, 
 without ignoring the King's faults, which 
 he deplored as much as I. 
 
 During the entire time of my visit at 
 The Hague, I was happy in the midst of 
 his excellent family; I had for a long time 
 been intimately associated with his brother, 
 the Lieutenant-General, Aide-de-Camp of 
 the King, and his Minister Plenipotentiary 
 
 at Paris. A third brother, likewise a 
 
 114
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 man of great merit, was a Councillor of 
 State. 
 
 The King, as soon as he saw me, came 
 toward me eagerly: 
 
 "I am longing to have a talk with you," 
 he said to me. "I thank you for having 
 come; but, unfortunately, I have not an 
 hour that I can give you to-day." 
 
 "To-morrow is the opening of the States- 
 General ; and the day after is the marriage 
 of Princess Marianne. I shall ask you 
 to come to my study at the very earliest 
 moment possible. I must have full leisure 
 for a long talk with you." 
 
 Three days passed without my being 
 able to see His Majesty except in his salon 
 and at dinner. 
 
 I was present at the marriage of the 
 Princess Marianne, which took place in 
 the evening at the Palace. Sadness was 
 marked on every countenance; the ad- 
 
 "5
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 dress by the King's chaplain was full of 
 allusions to current events. The King, 
 his head lowered, was frequently obliged to 
 place his hat before his eyes so as to conceal 
 the tears which fell from them. Was this 
 due to a presentiment that this ill-mated 
 union was soon to produce sad results and 
 bring trouble to his old age? 
 
 Alas! that evening, which I shall never 
 forget, was the saddest imaginable! 
 
 116
 
 XVIII 
 
 A PROVISIONAL Government had just been 
 set up at Brussels. Each day brought new 
 adherents; and yet there was a general 
 feeling of unrest; people lived in suspense, 
 not knowing what was going to happen to 
 them. 
 
 Thinking men, who had allied themselves 
 to the movement only in order to obtain 
 from the King such concessions as were 
 reasonable, just, and rendered necessary 
 by the circumstances, but who had never 
 intended carrying their objections, their 
 complaints, their demands for redress o 
 wrongs to the point of a revolution aimed 
 at wresting the Royal power from the House 
 of Orange- Nassau these men were com- 
 mencing to be anxious concerning the out- 
 
 117
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 come of those events which had, in their 
 opinion, changed the real issue; and they 
 showed themselves very strongly disposed 
 to seize the first opportunity to support 
 such concessions as might have been ob- 
 tained from a better advised sovereign. 
 
 On the day after the wedding, the Mem- 
 bers of the States-General came to offer 
 their homage and congratulations to the 
 newly-married couple. Everyone was there. 
 The diplomats representing the opposition 
 advanced by the Southern provinces were 
 in full attendance, and counted on being 
 much noticed in the court salons. 
 
 Among the various groups, there could 
 be heard, spoken in lowered tones, the 
 words "administrative separation between 
 the Northern and Southern provinces," 
 the speakers suggesting that, under the 
 same sceptre, of course, this would be a 
 means of pacifying the country and of 
 
 118
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 assuring a happy future. It seemed to 
 these people as though this was really the 
 most efficacious means of overcoming every 
 difficulty and of quieting men's minds; 
 they had no doubt that this would an- 
 swer every purpose and would save the 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands and the 
 dynasty. 
 
 Others went still further in their ideas: 
 they saw in the revolutionary movement 
 which had taken place in the Southern pro- 
 vinces, merely the rising in arms of Brussels, 
 which they called the rebel city, an uprising 
 that should be quelled by force. To listen 
 to them, all this was easy to do. The 
 majority of these people did not believe that 
 a real revolution was in progress. They 
 appeared convinced that everything was 
 going to arrange itself. 
 
 However, the Conference of London had 
 
 already assembled to take up the question, 
 
 119
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and to deliberate on the destiny of the two 
 divided countries. 
 
 The King took advice upon advice, 
 without coming to any decision. Fi- 
 nally, His Majesty, with whom I had 
 the honor to dine almost every day, 
 approached me, and said in a low 
 voice: 
 
 "I shall expect you to-morrow morning, 
 at seven o'clock, in my study." 
 
 "Sire, I shall be punctual in presenting 
 myself for your orders. It is high time; 
 for I am on the point of departing; I have 
 left my family at Argenteau where they 
 are not particularly safe at this moment, 
 a short distance from Verviers, the centre 
 of a populous class of factory workmen, 
 many of whom are now out of work. I shall 
 remain here, if I can be of any service to 
 Your Majesty; otherwise, I shall hasten to 
 join my family." 
 
 120
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "Well, then, to-morrow!" replied the 
 King. 
 
 For several days I had prepared myself 
 for this conversation, in which I had fully 
 decided to go to the bottom of things, to 
 express myself clearly, frankly, and without 
 any reticence ; and all the more so, because, 
 since my arrival at The Hague, I had re- 
 ceived news of the utmost gravity, which 
 I thought important to communicate to 
 His Majesty. On the next day, therefore, 
 I presented myself at the King's palace, 
 at the appointed hour. 
 
 121
 
 XIX 
 
 I FOUND His Majesty in his study. As 
 soon as I entered, the King asked me to be 
 seated, and to tell him what I thought of 
 the events which had recently taken place 
 at Brussels. He added: 
 
 "I have confidence in you, and wish to 
 act in accordance with what you shall tell 
 me." 
 
 "Sire, I left Brussels the morning of the 
 very same day on which Your Majesty 
 departed. I returned there to sign the offi- 
 cial reports of the Commission of the Ex- 
 position, the very day that the initial rioting 
 after the opera was followed by the burning 
 of the Minister of Justice's residence. Soon 
 after that, I returned to my own estates, 
 whence I have just come, after having made 
 
 122
 
 a* 
 
 2 
 
 il/Liiftd*ed 
 
 <if tsie <Jten&i4<indA f 
 
 laud 
 
 eX
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 a few hours' stay at Brussels. But Your 
 Majesty must be thoroughly informed of 
 what has gone on there. The Governor 
 still fulfills his administrative functions; 
 he must have found means of keeping you 
 informed both as to- men and affairs. If 
 you will kindly tell me of his last reports 
 to you, I can the more easily tell you 
 what I think and state the reasons for my 
 opinions." 
 
 "I!" exclaimed the King. "7 receive 
 reports from Brussels ! I have no one there 
 who reports anything to me." 
 
 "And did Your Majesty send no one 
 there to be on the spot and give you 
 information? . . . But I ask your par- 
 don. It is unbelievable that the King 
 has hitherto remained in entire ig- 
 norance of all the happenings at 
 Brussels." 
 
 "It is true," answered the King, "that 
 123
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the Government which calls itself 'provi- 
 sional,' has left the Governor at his post; 
 but of what use can he be to me." 
 
 "Well, then, send someone who can 
 inform you of the true state of affairs!" 
 
 "I know of no one here who would wish 
 to be charged with such a mission," the 
 King replied. 
 
 During the day, I met a man of high rank 
 at Brussels, whom I knew to be well quali- 
 fied for undertaking such a mission with 
 zeal and intelligence. He accepted the 
 proposition which I made to him in this 
 matter, and I had him visit one of the 
 King's secretaries where it was decided that 
 he should go to Brussels, there to make 
 reports to Prince Frederic, who would trans- 
 mit them to the King. 
 
 All this went on very slowly, and resulted 
 in information regarding events at Brussels 
 
 only. 
 
 124
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 But now I must no longer interrupt my 
 narrative. 
 
 Thus, not only did the King know noth- 
 ing of the happenings at Brussels, but 
 Prince Frederic himself Commander-in- 
 Chief of the army corps of thirty thousand 
 men drawn up in front of Antwerp, did 
 not even have or so it appeared any 
 information of these happenings, which 
 seems absolutely incomprehensible! 
 
 The King, as I have already said, did not 
 wish to employ the word "revolution" to 
 characterize events at Brussels, and else- 
 where in the Southern Provinces. He 
 maintained that Brussels alone was in a 
 state of rebellion; while there might indeed 
 have been some troubles at Liege, attribut- 
 able to the weakness of Governor Sandberg; 
 but that Flanders, Haiman, Namur and a 
 part of Limbourg had never been under the 
 wing of his authority. 
 
 125
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 All these reservations resulted solely from 
 the King's utter ignorance of the state of 
 affairs, and of men's minds. They would 
 have been entirely admissible between per- 
 sons dispassionately discussing events, espe- 
 cially events belonging to long past history. 
 But for those who had to examine accom- 
 plished facts, and burning questions of the 
 present, this was a sad way of losing time, 
 and precious time at that. The King was, 
 moreover, entirely mistaken in imputing 
 to weakness the wise course that Mynheer 
 Sandberg had followed at Liege. 
 
 I cut short useless and aimless repetitions 
 in saying to the King that His Majesty 
 had been ill-informed; that the insignia of 
 Royalty had disappeared not only at Brus- 
 sels but in all the Southern Provinces ; that 
 at Liege, if the Governor was to be blamed 
 for having appointed a Commission of 
 
 Public Safety, composed of the most honor- 
 
 126
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 able citizens, in order to prevent the danger 
 in a country manufacturing arms of 
 having the store-houses fall into the hands 
 of the laborers I also was to be blamed as 
 much as he, for I was equally involved in 
 every act passed by this Governor during 
 those latter days. Then I added: The 
 King must have no illusions concerning 
 the result of these events in the Southern 
 Provinces; the revolution was going for- 
 ward there at great strides, and if he had 
 any means to stop it or only of lessening 
 it, he had better employ them. It is high 
 time that the Royal authority should be 
 exercised with prudence and firmness; 
 otherwise God knows whither we are 
 tending. 
 
 "Well, then, what is there to do?" said 
 the King, who, without interruption, had lis- 
 tened to me in silence. "Come! What 
 
 course do you think should be adopted?" 
 127
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 I did not hesitate in answering this ques- 
 tion; I was prepared for it. 
 
 "Sire, this is no longer a time for tem- 
 porizing. An important step must be 
 taken. There must be an administrative 
 separation between the two great parts of 
 the Kingdom, in conformity with the legis- 
 lative Chambers which compose the States- 
 General, and we must put the question to 
 them frankly." 
 
 "First of all, in answer to this," said the 
 King, "I will tell you that the question 
 has, at this very moment, already been 
 submitted to the Legislature." 
 
 "I am not unaware of that, Sire. But 
 I shall take the liberty of calling Your 
 Majesty's attention to the fact that every- 
 thing depends on the manner of submitting 
 the question. Everyone is convinced that, 
 in putting the question, as you have done, 
 
 without stating your motive, without re- 
 
 128
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 vealing your true thought concerning the 
 importance of the end to be attained, you 
 are opening a free field for the interpreta- 
 tion of your thoughts, and one which people 
 will not fail to make the most of in a con- 
 trary sense. By this I mean that the public 
 will consider your action as an attempt, in a 
 general way, towards pacifying the upris- 
 ings in the provinces; but that, at bottom, 
 you will be best satisfied if the proposition 
 is rejected. 
 
 "If, on the other hand, you are convinced, 
 as am I and many others, that the adoption 
 of this plan is the part of wisdom, and will 
 best contribute to the peace and quiet of 
 our country, then the question should be 
 submitted in another form. You should say 
 that, convinced of the necessity of bringing 
 about a great change in the Administration , 
 you have many reasons for believing that 
 the administrative separation of the North- 
 
 9 129
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ern and Southern Provinces should be de- 
 termined upon; and that you therefore 
 submit the solution of the problem to the 
 decision of the States-General. Unless I 
 am greatly mistaken, the majority of the 
 Assembly will express themselves in favor 
 of administrative separation under the same 
 sceptre, and a great step will be achieved 
 towards the re-establishment of order, and 
 the pacification of men's minds throughout 
 the country. Should any trouble or in- 
 convenience result, any embarrassment 
 from this division, either by reason of mate- 
 rial interests, or otherwise why, then the 
 only consequence would be a return to the 
 governmental fusion, and such fusion, thus 
 asked for by both sides simultaneously, 
 would, in the future, become all the more 
 solid and more firmly established. 
 
 "The first point obtained, there remains 
 a second no less important. It is that you 
 
 130
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 yourself, Sire, should issue from this atmos- 
 phere of irritation in which you here are 
 living, and that you should dwell nearer the 
 places where the uprisings are. You might, 
 for instance, go to Antwerp, where you 
 would be perfectly safe by reason of the 
 strategic position of the city, its citadel, 
 its harbor, and your army which is as- 
 sembled in the neighborhood. Thither, 
 you might be preceded by a proclamation 
 announcing that, having come to review 
 your army, and finding yourself so near to 
 Brussels, you desire to seize the occasion 
 to address some words of peace and concilia- 
 tion to the inhabitants; that you are even 
 willing to receive a deputation composed 
 of important citizens commissioned to ex- 
 press to you the national hopes and desires, 
 and that you will grant just and reasonable 
 requests in reference to what they consider 
 the grievances against the Government.
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 But the King must, at the same time, 
 choose a man in whose principles, character, 
 and position he can sufficiently trust, and 
 charge him with a secret mission to the most 
 influential citizens involved in the revolu- 
 tionary movement, men who at heart, 
 anxious concerning the hidden future, shall 
 willingly seize as a plank of safety, this 
 opportunity for reconciliation." 
 
 132
 
 XX 
 
 THE King had listened to me without 
 interruption, and with great attention; 
 I had reached even further than I had 
 thought into his troubled mind. Seizing 
 this moment to go still further in moving 
 him, I said: 
 
 "Last night, when I was thinking deeply 
 concerning the weighty matters that we 
 were going to discuss at the interview which 
 you were so kind as to fix for this morning, 
 I took my pen, and, lighting my lamp, 
 rapidly drafted a plan of proclamation, to 
 be signed by Your Majesty and published 
 upon your arrival at Antwerp. But since 
 my conversation with you, I see it is of no 
 use." 
 
 "But not at all, you are quite wrong," 
 133
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the King answered quickly. " Show it to 
 me." 
 
 "Sire, you must excuse me, as it is hardly 
 legible. However, if Your Majesty desires 
 it, I shall read it to you; and what encour- 
 ages me, I admit, is that I wished to have the 
 opinion of the three Fagel brothers concern- 
 ing it, and they all approved, and strongly 
 urged me to bring it to your attention. 
 Thus it is in a spirit of obedience far more 
 than from personal vanity that I now ven- 
 ture to read it to you, with Your Majesty's 
 permission. This, then, is the 
 
 "PROCLAMATION. 
 
 "I have come to Antwerp; and at the 
 same time that I am reviewing my troops 
 assembled under the walls of this city, I 
 wish to have you, citizens of Brussels and 
 of the Southern Provinces, hear some words 
 of peace and conciliation. 
 
 134
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "I have just submitted to the Assembly 
 of the States-General the question of the 
 separation, as far as the administration is 
 concerned, of the two great divisions of the 
 Kingdom, a proposition which I believe is 
 in the general interest. 
 
 "I am ready to listen to the wishes of 
 intelligent men, even those who were in- 
 volved in the uprising at Brussels, a move- 
 ment which perhaps was to some extent 
 instigated from abroad. 
 
 "I thank the National Guard for the ser- 
 vices it has rendered in these circumstances. 
 
 "Now that quiet has been restored, I wish 
 the National Guard to work together with 
 the troops of the line who will to-morrow 
 resume their usual service in Brussels. 
 
 "No one need be disturbed by the opi- 
 nions he has voiced, or by his conduct during 
 this time of trouble. Force will be used 
 only against factious resistance and against 
 135
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 those vagrants who thrive on disorder and 
 who breed insurrection. 
 
 "Decreed in my Palace at Antwerp, the 
 
 "WILLIAM 1st, 
 "King of the Netherlands" 
 
 After I had finished my plan for the 
 proclamation, the King, who had listened 
 attentively, said to me: 
 
 "I have no objection to make as regards 
 your expression of sentiments of concilia- 
 tion and generosity, which I really feel; 
 but I consider that you have committed 
 me too far in the matter of the separate 
 administration, and the changes which 
 must result from such a step." 
 
 "Will you not, Sire, believe that things 
 have now come to a pass where your words 
 must be accompanied by a pledge of cer- 
 tainty that shall leave no room for doubt 
 
 136
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 as to your intentions? The time is press- 
 ing; you must endeavor to make some 
 impression on the minds of your citizens, 
 and convince them that you wish to adopt 
 an entirely new course and that you will 
 boldly approach the question of those neces- 
 sary reforms, whose establishment has 
 become indispensable." 
 
 "Well, let us consider," said the King. 
 ' ' Who is there to send to Brussels to become 
 fully informed of what has happened, and 
 upon what we may count? Truly, I know of 
 no one who can properly fulfill this mission." 
 
 "You have no one, you say, Sire. Well, 
 in that case, I offer myself I place myself 
 at your disposal. Will Your Majesty 
 appear in person to-morrow morning at 
 Antwerp, there to sign and forward to 
 Brussels the proclamation which I have 
 just read to you? I shall leave to-night; 
 and twenty-four hours after your arrival, 
 137
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 I guarantee to bring to you some of the 
 most influential men of the revolutionary 
 party who, anxious over the future of the 
 country, will ask for nothing more at present 
 than the re-establishment of your authority, 
 under certain conditions which can be 
 discussed in your presence, and which, I 
 feel assured, will end by being accepted. 
 
 "You have thirty thousand men between 
 Antwerp and Brussels. A King, who, in 
 the midst of his army, grants, in response 
 to the desire of the nation, concessions de- 
 manded almost universally, is not speaking 
 a language which can be imputed to weak- 
 ness. It is not tainted by fear; it does 
 not imply a forced surrender. If the King 
 yields under such circumstances, it is a 
 recognition of an opportunity and of justice, 
 and because he wishes to grant concessions 
 freely consented to by him as a benefaction 
 
 to the nation. 
 
 138
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "We all know that the National Guard 
 has been factious, in permitting itself to 
 be influenced by the revolutionary party. 
 It has shown itself weak in principle, and 
 powerless to check disorder. But you, 
 Sire, should see only the service rendered 
 under these difficult circumstances. Your 
 troops should re-enter Brussels preceded by 
 the National Guard; and if there is any 
 resistance, instigated perhaps not without 
 foreign support, the Guard shall encounter 
 the fire. Your troops will then have the 
 opportunity to avenge the insult given the 
 flag, on that fatal day of the insurrection." 
 
 I had made a strong impression upon the 
 King by the force and ardor of my re- 
 marks, no less than by the justice of the 
 reflections which I submitted to his judg- 
 ment; but he soon found a subterfuge in 
 pleading that his departure from The Hague 
 thus unforeseen, and to some extent secre- 
 139
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 tive, would be misinterpreted in the North- 
 ern Provinces. To strengthen his argu- 
 ment, he advanced a reason that I was not 
 able to contradict. He told me that he 
 had news from Amsterdam, informing him 
 of the disturbed state of mind of its citizens, 
 and His Majesty sought to make me under- 
 stand that he did not well know how he 
 stood in the Northern Provinces. How- 
 ever, I had a reply ready for him, and said, 
 that in any case, the forty-eight hours' 
 absence that I asked of him would not leave 
 sufficient time for an attempt at insurrec- 
 tion, an act which would not be at all 
 characteristic of the nation. The King's ob- 
 jection was reduced to its true worth. But 
 he soon found another : it was now in regard 
 to me that His Majesty evinced anxiety. 
 On thanking me for my offer to go to Brus- 
 sels, he added: 
 
 "You are not thinking of the personal 
 140
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 danger that you will encounter. You may 
 be risking your life there. Brussels is full 
 of strangers, of emissaries, it may be, 
 from a neighboring country. These men, 
 who have participated in the uprising 
 in our Southern Provinces, will not fail 
 to seek an opportunity of getting rid of 
 you." 
 
 "As far as my life is concerned, Sire, that 
 is my own affair ; and you may believe that 
 I understand how to take steps to avoid 
 falling into any trap." 
 
 I had made another condition in connec- 
 tion with my offer to go to Brussels. Know- 
 ing the King's suspicious nature I expressed 
 the wish to be accompanied by a man of his 
 choice, who would act as a witness to my 
 words and deeds. The friendship and per- 
 sonal esteem which the Prince of Orange 
 had for a long time shown me, made it, 
 in a way, obligatory, in circumstances so 
 
 141
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 decisive, for me to proffer this request. 
 Thus a new embarrassment, a new perplex- 
 ity, arose. 
 
 "But why that?" said the King, with an 
 air of astonishment. 
 
 My reply was quite simple. 
 
 "In so serious and so delicate a situation, 
 one which may bring forth new and un- 
 foreseen incidents, of a nature impossible 
 to define or to predict, it is important that 
 I should be accompanied by a person with 
 whom I can plan ; and then, too, it is natural 
 that I should think of how best to render 
 my position immune from all false steps or 
 interpretations. ' ' 
 
 The King was touched, recognizing my 
 proceedings as a proof of the attachment, 
 the devotion which I felt for him. The 
 interview, which had been prolonged be- 
 yond all measure, he then ended, in saying 
 
 to me: 
 
 142
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 "I will reflect on all these matters" ; and 
 he thanked me cordially for the frankness 
 with which I had spoken, and asked me to 
 leave with him the plan of proclamation 
 which I had read to him. It was to no 
 purpose that I apologized for the hasty 
 manner in which it had been drawn up, for 
 the scrap of paper that I had used, for he 
 took the document from my hand and said : 
 "I wish to keep it." 
 
 The King, however, called my attention 
 to the fact that it devolved upon Prince 
 Frederic, Commander-in- Chief , of the army, 
 to issue the proclamation of which His 
 Royal Highness was already in possession, 
 and whose wording had been deliberated 
 upon and decreed at the Council of Ministers. 
 I replied that I hoped it had been couched 
 in conciliatory terms, but that, in any case, 
 a proclamation invested with the authority 
 of the King's signature must have an al- 
 143
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 together different import and effect, and 
 would in consequence echo more resound- 
 ingly and inspire more confidence through- 
 out the country. 
 
 144
 
 XXI 
 
 WE now know that the proclamation 
 evolved and decreed in the Council was, 
 on the contrary, so worded as to result 
 rather in arousing armed hostility among 
 men previously not engaged in rebellion, 
 than in causing the weapons to fall from 
 the hands of others. 
 
 I ended by urging the King not to direct 
 any of the Princes, his sons, to conduct the 
 attack against Brussels, in case he might 
 wish to employ force there. To this, the 
 King replied: 
 
 "As to the Prince of Orange, no, I agree 
 with you there. But as to Prince Frederic, 
 that is a different matter: he must main- 
 tain his position as Commander-in- Chief 
 10 145
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 of the army, composed both of Belgians 
 and of Dutch." 
 
 And, in fact, there had already been a 
 failure among the Belgian soldiers to re- 
 spond to the call of their countrymen. This 
 consideration should have appeared to him 
 of a nature to cause him preferably to at- 
 tempt the adoption of a plan which I had 
 advised, regarding reforms to be introduced 
 into the administration; and at the same 
 time to yield to the wishes of the Southern 
 Provinces as to certain concessions which 
 had been sought, and which were only too 
 just. 
 
 Unfortunately, the King was swayed by 
 old prejudices, and by his persistent and 
 characteristic obstinacy. Enclosed in the 
 narrow circle of his habits, his was no longer 
 a free mind; a heavy veil seemed to conceal 
 from it the menaces of the near future. 
 
 Hesitation, irresolution, illusion, irreparable 
 
 146
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 loss of time such was the middle course 
 to which the King adhered, not giving 
 thought to the fact that the Belgian revo- 
 lution was at this time establishing its 
 Government through acts of its Congress, 
 and was rallying to its support men of 
 hitherto disturbed and uncertain mind. 
 His Majesty gave equally little thought to 
 the Conference of London that was about 
 to weigh in its diplomatic balances the 
 errors of King William, the resources of the 
 ancient provinces of Belgium, the impor- 
 tance for Europe of the maintenance of 
 peace ; and that was to proclaim the potency 
 of accomplished deeds, in recognizing Bel- 
 gium as a State separate from Holland and 
 established as a neutral monarchy. This, 
 in itself, gave France a special interest in 
 the Belgian question, since the destruction 
 of the line of fortifications raised against 
 her by the Treaty of 1815, and the creation 
 
 H7
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 of a new neutral State at her northern 
 frontier, proved, in fact, a first blow struck 
 at that very Treaty of Vienna, and a verit- 
 able peaceful conquest of the Revolution 
 of 1830. 
 
 The King ended our long and fruitless 
 interview in dismissing me with these words : 
 
 "We shall meet again; but now I must 
 think over the important object of our 
 discussion." 
 
 I answered His Majesty that I had pro- 
 longed my stay at The Hague with the 
 sole purpose of being of some service to 
 him; I begged him to be willing to give me 
 his orders on the following morning, so 
 that, if I could be of no use to him, I might 
 take leave of the King during the day and 
 hasten to reach Argenteau, where I had 
 left my family exposed to the dangers aris- 
 ing from the laborers who were in a state of 
 
 insurrection at Verviers. 
 
 148
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The following morning no news from 
 the King! ... In view of this, I had my 
 post-chaise prepared, and ordered the horses 
 for the evening. At four o'clock, dressed 
 in my Court costume, I presented myself 
 at His Majesty's palace at the dinner hour 
 as usual. Dinner ended, I approached the 
 King and asked his permission to take leave 
 of him, stating that I was about to depart 
 for home. 
 
 ' ' How is that ? You are abandoning me ! 
 You are leaving me!" said the King, with 
 an air of astonishment. 
 
 "Sire, I have received no orders from 
 Your Majesty ; I am much concerned about 
 my family, and am hastening to rejoin. 
 them." 
 
 Much moved, the King replied: 
 
 "Ah, well! God knows when or where 
 we shall meet again!" 
 
 I went to say farewell to my excellent 
 149
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 host and friend, Baron Henri Fagel, whom 
 I was never to see again! . . . He died 
 suddenly, a short while afterward. 
 
 That very evening, I entered my post- 
 chaise and did not descend from it until I 
 stepped into the court-yard of the Chateau 
 d'Argenteau. 
 
 150
 
 XXII 
 
 WHAT had happened to affect the King, 
 with whom I had had a three hours' interview 
 on the previous evening, and who, seemingly 
 much impressed by the turn our conversa- 
 tion had taken, had said to me on leaving: 
 "We shall meet again; I have need for 
 further reflection before deciding"? 
 
 What, I ask, had happened that on the 
 next day there was no mention of my 
 question . . . and that he saw me depart, 
 without expressing any other regret than 
 in phrases of mere politeness? . . . 
 
 On all this I was sufficiently enlightened 
 during the morning of the very day I left. 
 I met a certain distinguished person whom 
 the King (as I had expected) had consulted 
 on the subject of our interview, but with-
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 out mentioning my name. This person, of 
 high rank, informed by me in advance, and 
 not wishing, in the King's presence, to 
 appear in full agreement with me as to the 
 matter of Antwerp and the proclamation, 
 had replied: 
 
 ''The advice may be good, but we 
 must examine the question seriously, 
 etc." . . . 
 
 Whereupon the King said to this distin- 
 guished person: 
 
 "Such, also, is my opinion. Serious 
 reflection is necessary, and I shall ponder 
 the question further." 
 
 Events change men's situations, but do 
 not change their character. 
 
 King William I had remained and must 
 still remain as he was: shrewd in financial 
 affairs, contentious, and given to detail; 
 his mind generally undecided, meticulous, 
 always very keen on the question of money, 
 
 152
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and yet eternally suspicious, and naturally 
 hesitant, when anything of importance was 
 to be done. Lacking the statesman's in- 
 sight, and a stranger to all questions in- 
 volved in statesmanship, and, above all, 
 unable to understand the spirit of the time, 
 King William was to remain the pawn of 
 events, ever powerless to weigh their 
 significance. 
 
 I had occasion during my stay at The 
 Hague again to see the Prince of Orange 
 who, as always, evinced sentiments of 
 affectionate consideration. I asked him 
 how he had been affected by a letter still 
 unanswered, which I had the honor to 
 address to him at Vilvorde, in which I had 
 expressed my regret at his determination 
 to appear at Brussels, without at least 
 trying, during his stay in that city, (then 
 in a state of open revolt,) to seek to quiet 
 the minds of some of the citizens, in giving 
 153
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 them hope through his co-operation as a 
 mediator, etc. 
 
 His sole reply was: 
 
 "My dear friend, you know my father!" 
 Alas! (I have asked myself,) why did the 
 Prince, who well knew the nature of his 
 father, the King, take part in that unhappy 
 action in which he was placed in charge at 
 Antwerp, and which I am about to relate? 
 
 154
 
 XXIII 
 
 ON departing from The Hague, I left 
 the King occupied, as I have said, with 
 preparations for the attack on Brussels, 
 thirty thousand men having been assembled 
 under the command of Prince Frederic 
 between Antwerp and Brussels. General 
 Chasse occupied the citadel; the proclama- 
 tion decreed by the Council was ready to 
 be published; and all the while the States- 
 General was in session at The Hague. 
 
 No one had any doubt concerning the 
 success of the enterprise of the main army, 
 and the re-establishment of the King's 
 authority at Brussels. 
 
 The attack took place; but, being badly 
 conducted, it was unsuccessful. The troops 
 which had worked their way up into the 
 155
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 park, where fighting was going on, (as also 
 in some of the streets) were repulsed by the 
 volunteers of Brussels and Liege supported 
 by the National Guard. After this defeat, 
 the King soon had recourse to another 
 expedient; and this, just as the session of 
 the States-General was ending, a session 
 in which the Deputies of the Southern 
 Provinces still figured to a great extent. 
 With the citadel at Antwerp defended by 
 the General Chasse who had played a bril- 
 liant part in the campaigns of the Empire; 
 and with Prince Frederic at the head of 
 an army corps of thirty thousand men 
 ranged round the city, the King conceived 
 the idea of sending to Antwerp the Prince 
 of Orange clothed with extensive powers 
 to calm and provisionally to govern the 
 Southern Provinces. 
 
 The appointment of the Prince bore the 
 date of the 4th of October, 1830. At the 
 
 156
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 same time a kind of ministry had been 
 named to act as the Council for the Prince 
 of Orange. Among the members of this 
 ministerial body were the Duke d'Ursel; 
 Monsieur de Lacoste, Minister of the Inte- 
 rior; Monsieur Van Gobbelschroy, the 
 Minister of Public Instruction; Count Van 
 der Duys; and Baron Capelleu, formerly 
 the Grand Master of the Queen's Household 
 and Governor of the Indies. These last two, 
 who had, in a way, been designated by public 
 opinion, did not, at that moment, have the 
 King's assent, precisely on account of the 
 justice that had always been rendered to 
 their wise views on the subject of the de- 
 manded concessions, and, in general, to 
 their opinions concerning the Government's 
 actions. Other deputies of the Southern 
 Provinces had also come to Antwerp on 
 their own account, and in order to find 
 themselves nearer the scene of events. 
 157
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Of this number were Monsieur Surlet de 
 Chokier, and the Count de Celles, who had 
 been the King's Ambassador at Rome, in 
 connection with the affairs of the Con- 
 cordat. 
 
 This mission of the Prince Royal's might 
 have been useful, and might even, indeed, 
 have met with some success, had he been 
 vested with sufficient powers. But he was 
 far from having such authority. A strict 
 line had been mapped out for him to follow, 
 and as, at heart, the King preferred to make 
 concessions to the wishes and entreaties of 
 some of the Belgian Deputies, than to confer 
 a very positive character on this mission 
 (of which he expected little), the result 
 was that the Prince of Orange soon found 
 himself in a most intolerable position, one 
 which ended in his injuring himself in the 
 eyes of members of all parties. 
 
 At this very time, the National Congress 
 158
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 was assembling at Brussels, or, at least, 
 was preparing to seize the power. 
 
 And it was also at this very time that I 
 received at my country home at Argenteau, 
 a letter in the autograph of the Prince of 
 Orange. The copy of this letter follows: 
 
 "I have always counted on your friend- 
 ship, my dear Count, and to-day, in our 
 present serious state of affairs, I shall ask 
 you for a new proof of your friendship. 
 The King invested me with great power in 
 sending me to Antwerp, and though he has 
 surrounded me with an Advisory Board, 
 all of whose members were named by him, 
 he has, however, allowed me the privilege 
 of increasing the number of this Board by 
 men of my own choice; and you must surely 
 know, my dear Mercy, you were the first 
 I thought of in this connection. You can 
 be of great service to me. I ask you to 
 159
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 report to me, therefore, as soon as possible, 
 and to accept, at the same time, the re- 
 newed assurance of my most affectionate 
 sentiments." 
 
 (Signed) " WILLIAM, Prince of Orange." 
 
 This letter came to me as a miracle, sur- 
 rounded as I was by people commissioned 
 to observe whom I saw and what I did in 
 my retreat at Argenteau. . . . For the 
 past fortnight a rumor had spread at Liege, 
 to the effect that I was forwarding, by way 
 of Maistricht, the correspondence of the 
 Governor of Liege . Monsieur Sandberg had 
 urged me to be on my guard, and told me 
 that a letter addressed to him by Prince 
 Frederic had been seized and published in 
 the newspapers. And it was at this very 
 time that a man, dressed as a peasant, 
 and holding in his hand a letter bearing the 
 
 coat of arms of the Prince of Orange, and 
 
 1 60
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 addressed in his autograph, appeared at the 
 Chateau d'Argenteau, after having crossed 
 the entire region of Hermalle without being 
 stopped. The letter was the one of which 
 I have just spoken. 
 
 I thereupon arranged to have a man on 
 guard at the crossing on the left bank, 
 (the road on the right bank of the Meuse 
 no longer existed), and kept a saddle horse 
 ready in my stables, so that, if need arose, 
 I could reach Aix-la-Chapelle by the cross- 
 roads. 
 
 I should certainly not have hesitated to 
 reply to any appeal from the Prince of 
 Orange, had I still retained any hope of 
 being of use to him. The route through 
 Maistricht remained open, making it pos- 
 sible for me to reach Antwerp through 
 Dutch territory; the devotion which I had 
 pledged the Prince, and which was fostered 
 by grateful memories, placed me under 
 
 161
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 obligations to serve him; but I was con- 
 vinced that I could no longer come to his 
 aid in any way, and that he himself would 
 only compromise his future if he persisted 
 in prolonging his stay. 
 
 I wrote to him immediately to this effect, 
 sending the letter by a sure route; and I 
 added my reasons for considering his posi- 
 tion a false one, and full of danger to him- 
 self. I entreated him to abandon it as 
 quickly as possible, and to return to The 
 Hague. 
 
 Unfortunately, what I foresaw did, in- 
 deed, happen. The Prince of Orange was 
 inveigled into signing a proclamation in 
 which he declared that he would himself 
 head the movement in Belgium! The 
 Prince sought thereby to make to the Bel- 
 gian soldiers of the army an appeal that 
 aimed at reuniting them under his command. 
 
 This strange action, (to call it by no other 
 
 162
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 name) greatly exasperated the King, his 
 father. The majority of the members of 
 his Council handed in their resignations, 
 and returned to their homes. General 
 Chasse, in command of the citadel, was on 
 the point of having the Prince arrested, 
 and threatened to open fire on the city, 
 with his cannons that stood on the ram- 
 parts. 
 
 After this deplorable course of action, 
 (which can hardly be explained) the Prince 
 announced that he was going to England. 
 Was this with the idea of awaiting at Lon- 
 don the decision of the Brussels Congress, 
 and in the hope of being elected King of 
 Belgium, in view of his declaration regard- 
 ing placing himself at the head of the-, 
 revolutionary movement in the Southern. 
 Provinces? a proclamation for which: 
 alone the following explanation can be 
 
 offered. 
 
 163
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 The King immediately turned his thoughts 
 towards foiling his son's election, should 
 the Congress consider his candidacy, which, 
 indeed, was not at all probable. The plan 
 was to compromise the Prince in Belgium. 
 To do this, it was necessary to hinder his 
 immediate departure for England, and to 
 request him to present himself to the King, 
 as soon as possible, at The Hague. The 
 King did not confine himself to sending the 
 Prince a most friendly invitation but he 
 even sent the Russian Minister, Count 
 Gourieff, to await him at the crossing of 
 the Moerdyck, and to add his pleas to those 
 of the King, urging the Prince to go at once 
 to The Hague, as the King necessarily 
 wished to speak to him before his departure 
 for England. 
 
 On the very day of the Prince's arrival 
 the King and his son were seen together in 
 
 the public promenades, and were again 
 
 164
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 seen in the evening at the opera, where they 
 were received with general acclamations. 
 Thereupon they embraced one another, 
 while the orchestra played the national air. 
 The desired effect was accomplished: and 
 people spoke of the Prince's treachery 
 towards the Congress of Brussels. 
 
 Several days later, the King said to the 
 Prince : 
 
 "Now you may go to England; it will 
 even be well for you to go to London, as 
 you have planned." 
 
 The Prince of Orange set off for England, 
 leaving the King, his father, without any 
 fear of possibly seeing his son proclaimed 
 head of the revolutionary forces in Belgium ; 
 and of this, indeed, there had never been 
 serious consideration at Brussels. A mes- 
 sage addressed on the 2Oth of October to 
 the States-General assembled at The 
 Hague, announced that the Prince of Orange 
 
 165
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 had been stripped of all the titles and posi- 
 tions with which he had been vested; and, 
 at the same time, his conduct at Antwerp 
 was entirely disapproved. 
 
 166
 
 XXIV 
 
 WHILE these events were taking place, 
 the London Conference had begun its proto- 
 cols. For King William, who had been 
 called to the throne of the Netherlands by 
 the Treaty of 1815, there was, it must be 
 admitted, an element of humiliation, on 
 finding himself placed by the London Con- 
 ference on the same basis as revolutionary 
 Belgium, which renounced its affiliations 
 with Holland. Beginning with November 
 I5> 1830, there had been a tacit recognition 
 of the independence of Belgium, and Prince 
 Talleyrand, French Ambassador at London, 
 had spoken in the following terms to the 
 Prince of Orange, when he met him at some 
 reception: 
 
 "You have done much for the Belgians, 
 167
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Monseigneur, but you have not done enough. 
 You should have placed the crown on your 
 head, and we would have immediately re- 
 cognized you." 
 
 Later, the letter of Count Orloff to King 
 William's court at The Hague should have 
 at last opened his eyes, and made him 
 understand that, at that moment, the 
 thought dominating all the Cabinets of 
 Europe was, above all, the fear of war ; and 
 that, as far as he was concerned, the game 
 was lost! But King William persevered, 
 nevertheless, in his course of resistance, 
 for which there was no longer any reason 
 and which brought much misfortune to 
 his country. 
 
 His recognition and direct acceptance of 
 the eighteen articles of the London Con- 
 ference would have greatly embarrassed 
 Belgium, and would have hindered the 
 establishment of that country, especially 
 
 168
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 in financial respects. For it would have 
 been necessary to restore to King William 
 the million that he had placed in the trea- 
 sury in the General Society established and 
 founded by him at Brussels. Such early 
 liquidation of the debt would have greatly 
 impeded, had it not entirely prevented, 
 Belgium's ability to face her expenses. 
 
 King William's resistance, on the con- 
 trary, facilitated Belgium's first financial 
 arrangements, and permitted the country 
 to establish itself with King William's 
 money, which remained in her coffers to 
 be restored to him only long afterwards, 
 at the time of the liquidation agreed upon 
 and decreed between the two States. 
 
 France had, through the Ordinances of 
 July, accomplished her revolution; the 
 Bourbons had been overthrown and ban- 
 ished. The head of the Orleans branch, in 
 the person of Louis Philippe, had just been 
 
 169
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 raised to the throne. In order to obtain 
 the recognition of the Great Powers, he 
 had himself tacitly recognized the Treaty of 
 1815. His policy was obviously and fore- 
 most to obtain the recognition of England 
 and an alliance with her; and this was the 
 object of Prince Talleyrand's mission to 
 London. Then, again, the recognition of 
 Belgium as a neutral State, would make 
 safe the French frontiers, thus (by an 
 infraction on this very Treaty of 1815) 
 achieving a veritable and pacific victory 
 for the Revolution of July. 
 
 Revolutions are (as a famous writer 
 has said) not made, but happen. And in 
 fact, in order for them to break forth, there 
 must be a concurrence of many circum- 
 stances, producing a division in men's 
 minds; and there is involved a lack of fore- 
 thought on the part of Governments unable 
 to distinguish what is just from what is
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 exaggerated in the complaints addressed 
 to them, and in those demands for repara- 
 tion advanced by wayward or deluded souls, 
 seeking to overthrow the established order 
 of things. 
 
 It is now perfectly clear that the revolu- 
 tion which broke forth in the Southern 
 Provinces of the Netherlands was not merely 
 the result of Governmental errors (although 
 these were the chief cause), but that the 
 radical Revolution of July in France was a 
 necessary element translating the discon- 
 tent existing in ancient Belgium into a 
 spirit of opposition and revolt. 
 
 Does this mean that Louis Philippe's 
 Government worked in an underhanded 
 manner to achieve this result in its own 
 interests, which at that time may have 
 involved the division of the neighboring 
 Kingdom created by the Treaty of 1815, 
 
 a Kingdom having on its French border 
 
 171
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 a line of fortresses raised against France 
 with money obtained from contributions 
 levied in France by the Allied armies, and 
 constructed under the direction of the 
 Duke of Wellington? 
 
 I am far from wishing to express such 
 an accusation without proof. 
 
 But that later the Government of Louis 
 Philippe had keenly observed the spirit 
 of discontent and opposition constantly 
 increasing in the neighboring provinces of 
 the Netherlands; and that it adopted 
 means to take advantage of circumstances 
 should an uprising break out at Brussels 
 means tending to have such an eventuality 
 result in a rupture between the Northern and 
 Southern Provinces of the Kingdom of the 
 Netherlands, all this is by no means im- 
 probable. And I will say even more: One 
 day, when I was at Paris, in the salon of 
 the Minister of the Interior, I heard from 
 
 172
 
 v^^ 
 
 cX
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the lips of a person who occupied a very high 
 office this recital of the revolution of Brus- 
 sels: After having alluded to the riot at 
 the close of the opera, La Muette, and the 
 burning of the residence of the Minister of 
 Justice, M. Van Maanen, my informant 
 stated that it seemed as if the skirmish 
 should have stopped there. On the morrow, 
 people no longer knew just what they 
 wanted. The National Guard, disarmed by 
 the people, were again in arms on the fol- 
 lowing day. The illuminations prepared 
 in connection with the celebration of the 
 King's birthday on the 24th of August, were 
 overturned. No one knew on that day to 
 what purpose this orgy of the streets 
 tended; and, "in truth," said he, "if there 
 had been a man of any presence of mind at 
 Brussels, and a regiment well directed, all 
 would have ended there, and order would 
 have been restored. But I was observing 
 
 173
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 events from afar, from the frontier, where 
 my duties were keeping me," added this 
 person of whom I speak; and, after having 
 looked at the faces around him, he added 
 these very words: 
 
 "Fortunately, I had the word of com- 
 mand. On the third day, the insignia of 
 Royalty were everywhere torn down, 
 dragged under foot: it was revolution!" 
 
 I myself had witnessed deeds such as 
 
 Monsieur related. With my own eyes 
 
 I had seen pieces of gold drawn forth from 
 the pockets of peasants in ragged blouses. 
 And though I admit that later I was told 
 that Mons. was in the habit of boast- 
 ing, still he had spoken the truth in this 
 matter ... as I well knew! 
 
 However these facts may have been, let 
 me say in closing the subject, that had it 
 not been for the bad management on the 
 King's part, in 1825, I am convinced that 
 
 174
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the ancient Austrian-Belgian provinces an- 
 nexed to Holland in 1815 in the creation 
 of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, could 
 have continued united in a community of 
 interests, despite differences of habits and 
 customs tending to cause them to fall 
 away. These differences arose from the 
 fact that Belgium was essentially agricul- 
 tural and industrial, with a fertile soil, and 
 rich in many different kinds of minerals 
 and coal mines for her great furnaces; 
 while Holland possessed immense capital, 
 rich colonies, and a navy which had been 
 commanded by such Admirals as Tromp and 
 Reuter, and whose annals were glorious in 
 deeds of war. 
 
 From the very beginning of the union, 
 all that would have been necessary for a 
 happy guidance of men and affairs would 
 have been to see, on this throne of such re- 
 cent creation, a high-minded Prince, whose 
 175
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 administrative and political views should 
 have been equal to the spirit of the times 
 and to the r61e which he had been called 
 upon to play in Europe. But, unfortu- 
 nately, the Sovereign Prince who was to 
 ascend this throne brought with him old 
 religious and political prejudices. A Pro- 
 testant and Calvinist, an ardent disciple 
 of Gomar, the King, at heart, hated the 
 Catholic faith; or, at any rate, deeply 
 distrusted the Catholics of the sixteenth 
 century. He believed that he could best 
 combat it secretly and with some hope of 
 success, by following the ways of Josephism ; 
 and to this end, he had appointed as his 
 director of the Catholic cult, a former fiscal 
 agent of Joseph II, a man of whom the 
 authorities at Vienna were very glad to be 
 rid. 
 
 In political matters, King William I had 
 
 no understanding of what constituted cor- 
 
 176
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 dial relationships with the foreign Powers. 
 He introduced into his diplomatic corre- 
 spondence that meticulous spirit which was 
 the key-note of his character, and which 
 ended in begetting for him a certain enmity 
 and distrust among the great ministries of 
 Europe. 
 
 Becoming King of the Netherlands, after 
 having had merely the title of Stadtholder 
 in Holland, he cared little, in general, for 
 names, or rank; and all his thought seemed 
 to be directed towards preserving in the 
 institutions of his new Kingdom all possible 
 elements that might recall or resemble the 
 old ways to which many enlightened men 
 of Holland had long paid honor. 
 
 A democrat who held ideas of despotism, 
 nothing could better depict the character 
 of this Prince than the reply which he made 
 when the Austrian General, the Baron de 
 Vincent (temporary Governor-General in
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 the name of the Allied Powers) handed over 
 to him the reins of the Government of the 
 Netherlands, in 1815: 
 
 "Sire," said the General, "the country 
 over which you have been called to reign 
 is essentially monarchical. Your Majesty 
 will find particularly in the ancient Belgian 
 provinces a nobility attached to the coun- 
 try, by reason of their great territorial 
 possessions, and, on principle, devoted to 
 their sovereign." 
 
 "Monsieur," the King replied, "I am the 
 King of the people!" 
 
 I heard this characteristic anecdote from 
 a person having it in confidence from Gene- 
 ral Vincent himself. The General even 
 added: "From that moment, I augured ill 
 for the beginning of the King's reign." 
 
 I myself often had occasion to realize 
 (both in my personal correspondence as 
 
 Governor of South Brabant and in the 
 
 178
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 discharge of my duties as Grand Chamber- 
 lain) how truly the above quoted words of 
 the King represented his inmost thought. 
 Here is to be seen the very basis of his 
 sentiments, particularly as displayed in his 
 public audiences where he received every- 
 one without making distinctions; or, rather, 
 showing preference for people of the lowest 
 social rank. 
 
 The Memoirs of Count Van de Duyn 
 state that King William had preserved, or 
 rather inherited from his ancestors, a hatred 
 of the Bourbons. I myself am witness to 
 the fact that he permitted the publication 
 in Brussels (at the time when I was Governor 
 of that province and despite my protest), 
 of a pamphlet entitled The Yellow Dwarf 
 a veritable libel against the Bourbons, 
 and particularly against King Louis XVIII. 
 
 Not until they attacked his own Govern- 
 ment in the person of his Minister of Justice, 
 
 179
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 Mynheer Van Maanen, was he willing to 
 have the authors of this libel sent beyond 
 the rivers, in the Northern Provinces. King 
 William was the first among the sovereigns 
 of this period to recognize Louis Philippe's 
 accession to the throne; and, moreover, he 
 hastened to prohibit the entrance of the 
 Duchess de Barry into his realm. 
 
 i so
 
 s-r -////// 
 
 ^i-j xvm
 
 XXV 
 
 THE Constitution which, by virtue of the 
 Eighteen Articles of London, should have 
 been adopted in reuniting Belgium and 
 Holland as the new Kingdom of the Nether- 
 lands, was an incomplete piece of work, 
 wherein, (under the name of constitutional 
 and representative Government,) the influ- 
 ence of the King sought to make the old 
 Dutch customs prevail. This was espe- 
 cially true in regard to basing elections to 
 the States-General entirely on elections in 
 the provinces, while the King was unwill- 
 ing to have his Ministers responsible to the 
 Chambers, as he intended to retain absolute 
 control of the executive power just as the 
 Stadtholders had exercised it ; and not as it 
 then existed in England, and as it had 
 
 181
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 been established in France by the events 
 of 1814. 
 
 King William often used to say: "I 
 should prefer to give up my throne under 
 such conditions." 
 
 King William was an indefatigable 
 worker. He wished to know all the details 
 of the Administration. At four in the morn- 
 ing, winter and summer, he was seated in 
 his study at his table covered with documents 
 from his Ministers; and the most appre- 
 ciated among these Ministers, one might 
 say the most courted was he who sent in 
 the most voluminous papers. 
 
 The King cared little for the Arts, and 
 did not know much about them. On the 
 other hand, he devoted a great deal of his 
 time to the factories, to the study of the 
 manufactures and finance; and we must 
 in all justice recognize that in this respect 
 
 he gave the country an impulse which sur- 
 
 182
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 vived the events that overthrew his 
 sovereignty in the Southern Provinces. 
 
 What King William never could under- 
 stand was that nations do not, anymore than 
 individuals, depend alone on material inter- 
 ests, but that, above all, if they are to have 
 a future, they need moral and intellectual 
 satisfactions. 
 
 It has been thought that his son, the 
 Prince of Orange, professed views that were 
 more constitutional, but this is a mistake. 
 I have often had the honor of seeing him 
 intimately in his family life, of which he 
 was so fond and keenly appreciative, and 
 whose charm resulted from the Prince's 
 own amiability and goodness of character; 
 and yet I have heard him speak in em- 
 phatic protest against everything that re- 
 sembled the English form of government, 
 wherein, as he said, Royal power had been 
 annulled, and the Ministry was everything; 
 
 183
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 and he would conclude by stating, like the 
 King, his father, that he would rather 
 abdicate than rule under similar conditions. 
 
 Alas! under similar conditions! If they 
 had existed, there is every reason for be- 
 lieving that the King of the Netherlands, 
 (warned in time by the enterprise planned 
 by the unfortunate Charles X, of the dis- 
 orders which would ensue and which must 
 necessarily affect Belgium) would have 
 adopted concessions and reforms based on 
 legitimate demands, and that thus the 
 Kingdom of the Netherlands would have 
 been maintained in the form wherein it 
 had been founded in the interests of general 
 peace. 
 
 Apart from this ill-conceived and ill- 
 defined antipathy, based on mistaken judg- 
 ment, the Prince of Orange was, without 
 doubt, one of the most distinguished princes 
 
 of Europe, by reason of his polished man- 
 
 184
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ners, his elegant bearing, the kindliness of 
 his character, his services in the English 
 army in Spain, and his dashing valor at 
 Waterloo! Regrettable, however, was a 
 certain lightness in his character, of which 
 advantage was taken, and that gave rise 
 to calumnies, for which time made amends. 
 But we should recognize that his faults 
 were redeemed by his noble and generous 
 sentiments, and by impulses of a sympathetic 
 and kindly heart. 
 
 In writing these lines, I feel the desire 
 of recalling with grateful memory the nu- 
 merous marks of esteem and the friendly 
 confidence which the Prince of Orange 
 always showed me from the very beginning 
 of our acquaintance, and of which, to his 
 last day, he never ceased to give me proofs 
 that I regard as an honor. I should have 
 been happy if I had been able to go to him 
 and bring him a last tribute of my respect- 
 
 185
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 ful devotion; but, unfortunately, my depar- 
 ture was delayed despite my efforts, and I 
 was prevented from seeing him again. He 
 had succumbed to an acute illness which 
 carried him off in a few days. 
 
 186
 
 XXVI 
 
 SEVERAL years passed before I was able 
 to re-visit King William in Holland. I was 
 staying a brief while at the Chateau de Loo, 
 on the occasion of my eldest son's marriage 
 in 1835, and I found the King unchanged 
 in his ideas of resistance to the Conference 
 of London. His Majesty showed much 
 pleasure at seeing me again, but avoided 
 conversation concerning past events; and 
 I, for my part, had as little wish to make 
 any allusion to those circumstances whereof 
 events had only justified my presentiments 
 and prophecies. The course of events 
 which only approved my judgment were now 
 for the King merely a lesson that had come 
 too late. In vain he still hoped that time 
 and the Plenipotentiaries then assembled 
 
 187
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 in conference at London might bring him 
 some fulfillment of his desires. 
 
 Later I paid my last visit to The Hague; 
 and this time, it was to get my dismissal 
 from the King. He had agreed to a treaty 
 which sanctioned the existence of the King- 
 dom of Belgium, and which recognized 
 King Leopold. This Prince had, in 1812, 
 lived at Munich, when I was there as Envoy 
 Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten- 
 tiary of the Emperor Napoleon. I often 
 had the honor of receiving him at my home ; 
 and he had always graciously retained an 
 undiminished sentiment of kindliness to- 
 wards me. 
 
 Hitherto, I had refrained from presenting 
 myself at the court of my new Sovereign, 
 as King William had not signed the treaty 
 involving the separation of Holland and 
 Belgium. But now, everything was changed : 
 the Kingdom of Belgium had been consti- 
 
 188
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 tuted; King William had not only recog- 
 nized the accession of King Leopold to the 
 throne of Belgium, but he had even nomi- 
 nated a Minister Plenipotentiary accredited 
 to the King of Belgium. He had chosen 
 Mynheer Falk, former Minister of the Inte- 
 rior, who, previous to that, had been ac- 
 credited to England in the quality of 
 Ambassador, and had defended the interests 
 of the King in connection with the Con- 
 ference of London. 
 
 I no longer had any reason to delay my 
 presentation to King Leopold; and with 
 this in mind, I first went to The Hague, 
 for the last time, to get my dismissal from 
 King William. 
 
 He had invited me to dine at the Palais 
 du Bois. On arising from the table, I 
 approached His Majesty, and, after express- 
 ing my regret at my inability to have been 
 
 of greater service to him, I thanked him 
 
 189
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 for all his unfailing kindness to me. His 
 emotion was apparent, and I myself was 
 sincerely touched. After a moment of 
 silence, he spoke to me, for the first time, 
 of the past, and of the devotion I had always 
 shown him. 
 
 "I have often regretted," said he to me, 
 "that when you came to the wedding of the 
 Princess Marianne, you did not arrive a 
 fortnight earlier." 
 
 "Ah! Sire, if I had been sufficiently 
 fortunate to have been able to inspire you 
 with a little more confidence, the moment 
 to which you allude would not have been 
 badly chosen. A sense of fear and uncer- 
 tainty for the future played in the minds 
 of all ; it was the psychological moment for a 
 great deed, not by force of arms, although 
 you had that means in your power in the 
 vicinity of Antwerp, but through words 
 
 of peace, of conciliation and of hope; in 
 190
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 short, through a radical change in your 
 Government! . . . But let us speak no 
 longer of those times which have now en- 
 tered into the domain of the past. Permit 
 me, Sire, to offer to you and your august 
 family, my sincerest good wishes ; and may 
 you deign to hold me in kindly memory 
 an honor which I shall most highly prize." 
 
 "I hope," replied the King, "that I shall 
 have the pleasure of seeing you from time 
 to time. I do not yet know where I shall 
 establish my court; but wherever I am, 
 come directly to me, and you shall always 
 be received as one of my own family." 
 
 Several years earlier, the Queen had died 
 of a lingering malady. 
 
 When I took leave of the King, it was 
 our last farewell ; we were never to see each 
 other again ! 
 
 King William I lacked knowledge con- 
 cerning the men and affairs of his time; he 
 191
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 was not really in touch with, nor did he 
 understand, the politics of his day; and he 
 had prejudices which greatly swayed him, 
 interfering with his clearness of judgment. 
 But let us recognize that to him Belgium 
 owed the incentive given to her industrial 
 establishments, the creation of Seraing, the 
 General Society, and other institutions 
 which are an honor to the country and con- 
 tributed to an importance that is not to be 
 measured by Belgium's extent on the map 
 of Europe. The great part that she plays 
 is due to the riches contained in her soil, 
 to her commercial relations, to her industrial 
 institutions, and, above all, to her excep- 
 tional position, the best guarantees of 
 whose endurance and future are the well- 
 understood interests of the Great Powers. 
 
 The accession of King Leopold to the 
 
 new throne of Belgium was a fortunate 
 192
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 event for that country. He had the quali- 
 ties which King William had lacked: a 
 wide experience of men and affairs, a mind 
 of great intelligence equal to the demands 
 of the day. After having held a very high 
 status as the husband of the late Princess 
 Charlotte, he accepted the throne of Bel- 
 gium when that land was issuing from a 
 revolutionary crisis which had, as far as 
 possible, been calmed through the labors of 
 a Congress more intent on placing limits to 
 Governmental power than on giving him 
 means of action, without which he had diffi- 
 culty in maintaining his position. Yet 
 under the circumstances, on ascending to 
 the throne of Belgium, surrounded by insti- 
 tutions to some extent republican and of 
 revolutionary origin, Prince Leopold of 
 Saxe-Coburg saved Europe from a general 
 war, and, in especial, saved Belgium from 
 the consequences of those inevitable excesses 
 
 '3 193
 
 THE EVENTS OF 1830 
 
 which attend the overthrow of Royal Power, 
 and the unchaining of civic passions. 
 
 Endowed with a wise and enlightened 
 mind, with a patience that was proof against 
 everything, with trained knowledge and 
 perfect taste in matters of Art; an intelli- 
 gent patron of Letters and of everything 
 favorable to the industrial movement of 
 our day, King Leopold has shown his ability 
 to win the utmost confidence of all the 
 Cabinets of Europe, to calm party violence, 
 and to inspire devotion throughout the 
 provinces of Belgium, a Kingdom which is 
 indebted to him for its existence, its pros- 
 perity, and its future, at this time when 
 unbridled passions are overthrowing other 
 countries, disturbing the Orient, and men- 
 acing in general the social order. 
 
 194
 
 n<3 JL-Wtudd I <3f dje/ai* 
 
 cX
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 195
 
 ROYAL MESSAGE 
 
 Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs: 
 
 The project of law that We herewith present to 
 you, is a regrettable but necessary consequence of 
 occurrences in some of the provinces of the King- 
 dom. 
 
 In a time of foreign and domestic peace; in the 
 midst of prosperity in so many branches of industry; 
 under a system of laws that are moderate, of 
 political and civic freedom, We see a small number 
 of our subjects, (deceived by the exaggerations, 
 and incited by the disturbances of evilly-inspired 
 persons,) failing to recognize all these benefits, and 
 ranging themselves in opposition, in a most dan- 
 gerous and scandalous manner, to the Government, 
 the laws, and Our paternal designs. 
 
 The licence of the press, (that press whose greater 
 freedom than in any other country of Europe 
 We should have desired to assure), has unfortu- 
 nately only contributed all too greatly to the spread 
 of disquiet, discord and distrust; it has diffused doc- 
 trines as subversive of social institutions, (whatever 
 might be the form of State Administration) as 
 they are entirely opposed to the Government 
 of the Netherlands established by its Funda- 
 mental Law; and opposed, also, to the rights of 
 Our House, rights which We have never wished to 
 197
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 exercise in an unlimited fashion, but which, of 
 Our own initiative, We have restrained as far as 
 We have deemed compatible with the lasting 
 prosperity, the customs and the character of the 
 nation. 
 
 This press, whose constitutional liberty had as 
 aim the diffusion of knowledge and information, 
 has been dishonored by ill-wishers, to the extent 
 that it has become a means of provoking dissen- 
 sions, discontent, religious hatreds, the spirit of 
 factions, of censure and revolt; and it has so at- 
 tacked and undermined public tranquillity, the 
 moral strength of the State, the free progress of 
 the Government and the performance of public 
 duties that it has become our grievous duty seri- 
 ously to consider in common its activities, and to 
 adopt firm measures and salutary laws, lest the 
 prosperity of the State suffer from its attacks, and 
 the fidelity and love of Our subjects, and their 
 loyalty to monarchical government, modified by 
 a constitution, be disturbed. In brief, We must 
 see to it that in this Kingdom of the Netherlands, 
 true liberty, law and order shall be respected and 
 maintained. 
 
 In this connection, Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, 
 it appeared to Us necessary, on the occasion of 
 presenting a law tending only to assure the enjoy- 
 ment of good through the suppression of evil 
 to make known Our personal opinion concerning 
 the conduct of the Government of Our Kingdom. 
 
 If We fix our attention on the religious interests 
 198
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 of the citizens, We find, that, just as the religion 
 which We and Our House profess after the example 
 of Our Forefathers has for its motto, "Liberty," 
 so have entire freedom in religious opinions, equal 
 protection of all the faiths existing in Our King- 
 dom, and the free exercise of creeds sanctioned by 
 the Fundamental Law, been constantly the object 
 of Our particular care. 
 
 As to what concerns the Roman Catholic religion, 
 there has been, since Our accession to the throne, 
 no course more safe and fitting to follow than that 
 which was observed in the glorious and justly 
 revered reign of Maria Theresa, in those provinces 
 of the Kingdom where the Catholic religion is 
 professed by the majority of the people. 
 
 The arrangements which We adopted during the 
 first years of Our reign were based on her example. 
 
 Since the conclusion of the Concordat, and the 
 full and entire application of that agreement in 
 those very provinces, the Roman Catholic Church 
 has enjoyed more freedom there than ever before, 
 and this benefit can be unceasingly assured to our 
 Roman Catholic subjects in the other provinces, 
 through the happy continuance of negotiations 
 having this object in view, negotiations which 
 enable Us to look forward to speedy appointments 
 to bishoprics now vacant. 
 
 We congratulate ourselves on being able, more- 
 over, to give here the assurance that Our decree 
 of October 2nd of this year, whose stability is 
 guaranteed as much by Our Conventions with the- 
 
 199
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Papal Court as by Our resolute desire has not 
 only fulfilled all the wishes of the Holy See, in the 
 interests of Our Roman Catholic subjects, but also 
 that the Head of this Church, after becoming 
 acquainted with this decree, has shown Us his 
 appreciation of it, in declaring that "We have 
 given to Our conventions with the Holy See all 
 the force and impulse of good-will; that We have 
 carried out the agreement without confusion, 
 word for word; that We have left to the bishops 
 the power of acting according to arrangements 
 which We have previously sanctioned; and that 
 Our attitude is not subject to any criticism what- 
 soever." 
 
 If We further consider that the affairs of the 
 Roman Catholic faith have just been entrusted, 
 in virtue of Our decrees, to a special administration, 
 then We must be permitted to believe that, in 
 this respect also, the wishes of a large number of 
 Our people as well as Our own wishes will be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 However, Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, We do 
 not seek to pretend that, despite the enjoyment of 
 all these advantages, there does not exist an 
 exaggerated religious zeal, roused by no praise- 
 worthy aim, and maintained by pernicious influ- 
 ence, and but little restrained by the observations 
 of the beneficial precepts of a religion which seeks 
 to preserve tranquillity and rational obedience; and 
 this zeal may yet re-act in a fatal way, and bring 
 forth seeds of division and resistance, unless, 
 200
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 sooner or later, there shall be, in some form, a 
 promulgation of doctrines and an attempt aiming 
 to check by law the influence of a religious system 
 on the course of the Government of the State. 
 
 But We hereby give assurance that We firmly 
 resolve, by all means within Our power, to obviate 
 this, and to continue to maintain the temporal 
 authority in all its integrity; to watch constantly 
 over the conservation of liberty among the various 
 faiths; yet, at the same time, to see to it that all 
 the religious communions keep themselves strictly 
 within the limits of obedience to the laws of the 
 State, to the end of still further guaranteeing 
 liberty of conscience, and maintaining the laws of 
 the Government beyond reach of encroachments 
 by any religious authority. 
 
 If We consider the question of Education, (which 
 the Constitution has made the special object of 
 Our constant solicitude,) We may flatter Ourselves 
 that We are entitled to the gratitude of the wise 
 legislators of Our nation, for having of Our own 
 initiative called forth the legal enactments affect- 
 ing Public Instruction. Assuredly, if, on the one 
 hand, in essentially modifying the existing dispo- 
 sitions, which are approved by a large number of 
 Our subjects, We have not adopted the unlimited 
 liberty which, in its licence, leads to confusion 
 and to the annihilation of civilization and of intel- 
 lectual development, close examination, will, on the 
 other hand, show that in this matter the Govern- 
 ment has given to communal and provincial author- 
 
 201
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 ities all that could be conferred by the Law; and 
 We desire that you, Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, 
 will enlighten Us, and show Us whether through 
 our proposals We have achieved Our aim, which is 
 nothing but the satisfaction of the reasonable 
 wishes of Our subjects. 
 
 Yet, Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, the nation 
 has the right to demand of Us that We show as 
 much strength in repressing unworthy claims, as 
 We do eagerness in welcoming the expression of 
 sensible wishes. That firmness which is the basis 
 of social welfare, is likewise the essential principle 
 of Our rule, and We do not doubt that the assur- 
 ance We here give of our utter repugnance to 
 crossing the boundary line that separates necessary 
 firmness from misplaced indulgence, will encourage 
 good citizens, and will foil all hope of success 
 through violence and resistance. 
 
 If We examine all Our statutes in regard to the 
 use of the French language, We must believe that 
 all steps have been taken which could reasonably 
 be desired, to facilitate private transactions. If, 
 however, We become convinced that these steps 
 are insufficient, or might without inconvenience 
 be extended to public transactions, We shall be 
 disposed to modify them in a desirable manner; 
 but We hereby add to the assurance that this object 
 of Our consideration will be subordinated to the 
 general situation of the nation, the further assur- 
 ance that neither declarations of impetuous excite- 
 ment, nor unsuitable demands, shall bring nearer
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 the time when We shall assent to the desires that 
 have been expressed. 
 
 The equitable principle of the irremovability of 
 Judges has already been consecrated by law, and 
 it seems to Us, in view of the judiciary organization 
 so soon to take place, that Our intervention, in 
 this respect, is no longer necessary. 
 
 If We pause to consider the question of Ministe- 
 rial responsibility, (and it is more difficult to de- 
 termine the true sense of this question than to 
 realize why it has been brought forward) if We 
 take into consideration the dispositions of the 
 Fundamental Law, which not only submits all Gov- 
 ernmental acts exclusively to Our examination and 
 Our decision, but also yields Us the right to 
 regulate the nature of the obligations that We may 
 desire to impose, under oath, on the Ministerial 
 Chiefs of Departments to be established by Us; 
 if, after this, We wish to examine the power en- 
 trusted to Us, and continue to take to heart the 
 interest of Our well-beloved subjects, We do not 
 believe that We can admit that our Ministers have, 
 apart from their relations with Us, any respon- 
 sibility besides those equally determined for them 
 by the Fundamental Law and other existing laws. 
 Indeed, in the constitutional existence of the State 
 Council, and in the teaching that this Council (and 
 not such and such Head of a ministerial department) 
 be listened to, we find not only exclusion of the 
 principle of Ministerial responsibility, but, further, 
 a better guarantee for the welfare of the Belgian 
 203
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 people than the adoption, prior to ripe discussion, 
 of any measure affecting their existence. 1 
 
 The introduction of such Ministerial responsi- 
 bility to the two Chambers that constitute the 
 States-General, and to the Judiciary, would, more- 
 over, remove the Royal prerogative, in contradic- 
 tion to the Fundamental Law, from this field of 
 action, without offering any surer guarantee for 
 the liberties of the people. For whoever might 
 be the individuals called upon to judge the actions 
 of the Ministers, there would be no beneficial 
 result, unless these judges were free from the 
 weaknesses of humanity, and beyond its passions 
 and errors. 
 
 The situation in the Netherlands, in this respect, 
 is not similar to that in several other countries, 
 where it has been possible to introduce Ministerial 
 responsibility without inconveniences, following 
 circumstances entirely foreign to this Kingdom, 
 and whose absence has actuated a quite different 
 course in its constitutional government. 
 
 Yet, on the other hand, Nobles et Puissants Sei- 
 gneurs, We feel the need of constantly increasing 
 the common accord by giving greater scope to the 
 
 1 In this paragraph is to be found the crux of the King's 
 message. He refuses to make his Ministers responsible to the 
 Representatives of the nation; and claims for himself the sole 
 right to interpret the Constitution. Mercy Argenteau's report 
 of his interview with Charles X indicates how greatly this 
 action of the King of the Netherlands affected the King of France 
 when he was contemplating the coup d'etat which was to be 
 followed by the Revolution of 1830. THE EDITOR. 
 
 204
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 official relations between the heads of ministerial 
 departments and the two Chambers of the States- 
 General; and the way in which Our intentions 
 in this respect may most speedily and best be 
 carried out, is the object of Our most serious 
 deliberations. 
 
 The question of the conflict x has not escaped our 
 attention, and as much as We desire the unhindered 
 progress of the administrative power, We are 
 equally desirous not to deprive (unless there be 
 need) any of Our subjects from their recourse to 
 the Tribunals. We propose to take this matter 
 up again after the introduction of the Judiciary 
 organization, when We flatter ourselves that We 
 shall be able, in a fitting manner, to reconcile 
 both these objects whose need is equally felt. 
 
 The privileges of the States-Provinces have 
 also during recent years given rise to a diversion 
 of opinion. Those authorities constituted for 
 definite and important purposes are greatly entitled 
 to Our confidence and Our protection. Placed 
 between their constituencies and the Throne, they 
 are enabled to apprize Us of the special needs of 
 their provinces, and to make recommendations to 
 Us regarding their interests. 
 
 In constantly observing these principles, without 
 extending the sphere of their privileges to the general 
 laws which are more especially submitted to the 
 consideration of the legislative power; in limit- 
 ing themselves to the objects which immediately 
 
 1 Between Ministers and Representatives. 
 205
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 concern them, or which, as a consequence of general 
 regulations, have particularly to do with their 
 provinces, the States-Provinces can certainly fruit- 
 fully support, in Our presence, the true interests 
 of their provinces and their constituencies. 
 
 Faithful to this principle, We shall show as much 
 cordiality in listening with good-will to the propo- 
 sitions of the provincial authorities as We shall 
 show firmness in preventing them from occupying 
 themselves, (through misplaced interference and 
 in a manner injurious to the welfare of Our sub- 
 jects) with legislative power that the Fundamental 
 Law has placed exclusively in Our hands and in 
 the two Chambers. 
 
 As regards the inconvenience that some have 
 seemed to discover in the arrangements of rules 
 in regard to certain dismissals from office, the 
 exercise of the vote, and various other civil rights, 
 this inconvenience We have just recently obviated. 
 
 Finally, Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, if We cast 
 a glance at the financial affairs of the Kingdom, 
 We note with satisfaction the constant decrease 
 in expenses outside of those resulting from the 
 establishment of constitutional institutions, legal 
 engagements, general catastrophes and troubles 
 in Our colonies; and We note the certainty of still 
 greater economies. We further find that the 
 wishes expressed for the abolition of the tax on 
 grinding of corn have been fulfilled; and that, 
 through a plan of legislation the public desire has 
 been satisfied for preventing, as far as possible, 
 206
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 any abuses in the question of the syndicate of 
 amortization. In brief, Nobles et Puissants Sei- 
 gneurs, it is in this respect that We are particu- 
 larly convinced that, whatever may be the results, 
 Our efforts for the prosperity of the nation, the 
 decrease of its expenses, the maintenance of a 
 well-conducted Administration and the conserva- 
 tion of the State's credit, will not be misunderstood 
 either by Our contemporaries or by posterity. 
 
 Should not such a picture, Nobles et Puissants 
 Seigneurs, confirm Our confidence in the providence 
 of the God of Our Fathers, in the affection and 
 gratitude of Our well-beloved subjects, and finally, 
 in the constitutional co-operation by you, Nobles 
 et Puissants Seigneurs, in joining Me in suppress- 
 ing the evil-minded, and effectively protecting the 
 good? 
 
 In such case, there will be no unfortunate and 
 innocent victims of the crafty and the wicked; 
 no evil deed will be planned, or, unpunished, car- 
 ried out ; union between Our citizens will be main- 
 tained without regard to religion or origin, and the 
 liberty of all will be assured, despite the under- 
 handed plots of some persons. Thus, under these 
 circumstances, action in common accord with you, 
 Nobles et Puissants Seigneurs, in the affirmation 
 of social order, and liberal and firm action of the 
 Government, will carry on to posterity and for 
 Our House the great examples of Our Forefathers, 
 whose wisdom and courage shielded the political, 
 civil and religious liberties of the Netherlands 
 207
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 against the usurpations of a misguided mob, and 
 the ambition of foreign dominion. 
 
 Whereupon we pray God, Nobles et Puissants 
 Seigneurs, to keep you in His holy and worthy 
 guard. 
 
 THE HAGUE, 
 Dec. n th , 1829. 
 
 208
 
 CIRCULAR 
 
 Addressed by the Minister of Justice to all the at- 
 torney-generals and assistant attorney-generals, 
 to all the criminal lawyers, to all the King's 
 attorneys and their assistants connected with 
 the Tribunals, and to all the Heads of the police. 
 
 THE HAGUE, December 12, 1820. 
 
 The Royal Message, and the project of law ad- 
 dressed yesterday by the King to the Second 
 Chamber of the States-General are the results of 
 His Majesty's convictions relative to the necessity 
 of very severe and active measures, under the 
 circumstances in which the commonwealth finds 
 itself, especially in certain provinces of the King- 
 dom. 
 
 These circumstances are clearly and thoroughly 
 shown in these documents, where, moreover, the 
 personal views of the King on the course of the 
 Government of the Kingdom are unfolded. 
 
 In giving you a copy of these documents, I must, 
 in obedience to the wishes of the King, expressly 
 call your attention to the obligation which rests 
 upon you, of agreeing to the governmental prin- 
 ciples of His Majesty, as they are set forth in the 
 aforesaid Message, and of taking them as your 
 guide in the exercise of your functions; for it is 
 14 209
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 alone through these principles that the steady and 
 regular progress of the Government can be assured, 
 a progress necessary to strengthen and aid the 
 general interests. Here and there, a lukewarm 
 attitude has made itself only too manifest, and 
 there have even been cases of total absence of 
 courageous and manly preservation of the constitu- 
 tional power of the King and the Government, a 
 preservation above all obligatory on His Majesty's 
 Officers of Justice. This may, perhaps, be attri- 
 buted in part to the doctrines spread abroad 
 through the abuses of the press, and blindly ad- 
 mitted by many who have not reflected on them 
 or examined them doctrines in opposition to the 
 Government of the Netherlands and the rights of 
 the King ; and, in part also, to the moral oppression 
 which the violent and evil outbursts of several 
 newspapers have exercised on the minds of some 
 persons in the King's employ. It is in this way 
 that the sentiment of duty in respect to public 
 functions has been diminished. 
 
 Now that the King himself has so clearly and 
 thoroughly shown the principles which he considers 
 as guiding for governing the State, and which so 
 plainly proceed from the Fundamental Law of 
 the Netherlands, whoever, exercising public duties, 
 acts contrary to these principles may not, in excuse, 
 allege that he erred in good faith, through ignor- 
 ance of the King's sentiments. I am charged to 
 recall to you expressly the obligation which rests 
 particularly upon you as His Majesty's Officers, 
 
 210
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 not to permit any consideration whatever to 
 turn you from the adoption and the defense of 
 these principles, which are the basis of the social 
 edifice in the Netherlands, and the guides of 
 Governmental action. The King may, with the 
 greatest right, impose the observation of these 
 principles upon those who hold their offices from 
 His Majesty, and who do not wish to lose them, 
 but desire to preserve His Majesty's confidence. 
 
 Let me especially and emphatically suggest that 
 in the future you be not deterred, for any reason 
 whatsoever, from maintaining and carrying into 
 execution all existing laws and rules; for His 
 Majesty has learned that, on numerous occasions, 
 there have been lukewarmness and neglect in this 
 respect, and he seriously desires all who have, 
 and wish to continue to have, the honor of public 
 office, to show themselves worthy thereof through 
 their zeal in having the laws respected, and in 
 maintaining and assuring peace and order. 
 
 In so strongly reminding you of your obligations, 
 the King has no intention of violating the liberty 
 of your sentiments and opinions. It is one to 
 which, like every other liberty, public officials are 
 as much entitled as are private citizens. But 
 when this liberty takes on a blameworthy tendency 
 fatal to the State, leading to the neglect of duties, 
 and to opposition to the paternal views of the 
 King, His Majesty deems himself obliged, in the 
 public interest, to withdraw his confidence from 
 those public officials who show themselves unable 
 
 211
 
 to follow and adopt the principles which the King, 
 in the aforesaid Message, has expressly declared 
 to be the rules of his Government. 
 
 I therefore invite you to reflect soberly on the 
 contents of this circular and the Royal Message ap- 
 pended thereto, and request you to inform me, dur- 
 ing the two days following their reception, whether 
 or not you are prepared to follow the course therein 
 indicated, and without allowing yourself the least 
 deviation, but with all zeal, confidence and firm- 
 ness, without which it would be impossible effec- 
 tually to conserve our country and protect its 
 peaceful citizens against the perverted attempts of 
 the evil-disposed. 
 
 The Minister of Justice 
 
 (Signed) VAN MAANEN. 
 
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