ed on the 13th of September into the province of Guelderland, for the express purpose of restoring the prince of Orange to his rights.

The judicious distribution of the troops, and the vigour of their opera tions, reflected the highest credit on the commander. A general panic seized the republican party; only the town of Goream, which was commanded by Capellan, sustained a bombardment for about an hour; the other places of strength opened their gates at the first summons. Even the strong city of Utrecht, in which were ten thousand men in arms, and whose fortifications had been greatly strengthened, instead of meeting with firmness the approach of the enemy, was deserted by the whole republican party, with all the precipitancy of desperation. These rapid successes of the duke caused the Orange party to gain the ascendency at the Hague; but the city of Amsterdam remained determined to resist to the utmost; relying upon the prodigious strength of the place, which both nature and art, it had ever been supposed, contributed to render impregnable. The duke, however, made his arrangements for attacking the city in various directions, leading on his choicest troops to the most perilous assault in person. After a very obstinate conflict, some of the most important of the outworks were taken, which gave the besiegers a secure lodgement, and threatened the city with a destructive bombardment; the magistracy of the city finding themselves thus placed, thought it high

time to submit to terms.

After this event, nothing material occurred till the invasion of the French revolutionists, which changed the whole aspect of affairs both in Holland and Belgium. In 1792 the national assembly sent General Dumouriez, at the head of a large army, to invade Belgium, it being an object of first rate importance to deprive Austria of that country; and, in November, the French general gained a great victory at Jenappe, in Hainault. In a few days afterwards Dumouriez made his triumphant entry into Brussels. The party who favoured the French was made too strong, conjointly with the invaders, for the friends of the house of Orange to resist the invaders with any chance of success; accordingly, in a very short time, all the principal towns of the Netherlands submitted to the French; and it was pompously asserted by the latter, that it was the wish of the Belgians themselves to throw off the government of Austria, and be incorporated with the French republic. That many really wished this, there can be no doubt; but though the turbulent and disaffected were numerous, such an union was not desired by the majority of those who had anything to lose. Although by a very easy conquest the French had gained possession of the Netherlands, the emperor of Austria took immediate measures with a view to its recovery. A large army, under the archduke Charles, joined by the duke of York and the prince of Orange, at the head of their English and Dutch troops, contended for a time with the armies of France; but after two years of warfare, in which the allied troops, but more particu larly the British, suffered very severely, the cause of the stadtholder grew hopeless. When, therefore, in 1794, the victorious banners of republican France waved on the frontiers of Holland, the malcontents again rose Pichegru, aided by the severity of the winter, in 1795, and by the favou of the popular party towards the French, made an easy conquest of Hol land. The hereditary stadtholder fled with his family to England, and the Batavian republic was formed, May 16, 1795.

The old provinces were now merged into one republic; the legislative power, in imitation of the French, was given to a representative assem bly; and the executive to a directory of five. The new republic was obliged to cede to France some southern districts, particularly Maestricht. Venloo, Limburg, and Dutch Flanders; to form a perpetual alliance with that state; pay a sum of one hundred millions of guilders; and allow the French troops to occupy its territories. Six years after, it was found

necessary to alter this constitution. The republic was again divided into the old provinces; in addition to which the "land of the generality" was formed into an eighth. The administration of the government was simplified; the legislative assembly diminished to thirty-five deputies; and the executive power was extended to a council of state of twelve men. Notwithstanding these alterations, the Batavian republic, incapable of effecting its ends with the feeble remains of its strength, saw its fleets overpowered by those of England; its colonies laid waste; its commerce limited to a coasting trade, and to the domestic consumption; and the bank of Amsterdam ruined. By the peace of Amiens, in 1802, it was deprived of Ceylon, one of its richest colonies. When peace had been concluded between Great Britain and France, and the hopes of better times were just awakened, the halcyon dream was suddenly dispelled, and the thunder of war again resounded on the shores of Holland. Its ports were blockaded, its fleets were annihilated, and its distant colonies fell into the power of the British; its prosperity, indeed, seemed forever gone; it was treated as a conquered country, and all the advantages promised by its republican allies proved a mere chimera.

In 1805, the Dutch constitution was changed for the third time: but, so far from any improvement taking place in the condition of the country, it continued to grow worse, and the only remedy that now seemed to present itself was the incorporation of Holland with the French empire. This accordingly took place in 1806, the mode in which it was accomplished being by erecting it into a kingdom, of which Louis Bonaparte, one of Napoleon's brothers, was invested with the sovereignty. But Holland was equally unfortunate as a kingdom, as when it was designated the Batavian republic. Though, by a treaty with France, King Louis possessed the rights of a constitutional monarch, and was disposed to exercise his authority with mildness and impartiality, he was made the mere instrument of Napoleon. It is true that he hesitated in enforcing, if he did not resist, the arbitrary decrees of the emperor, and that he incurred no small share of his disapprobation in consequence; but his efforts to promote the weal of his subjects proved wholly ineffectual, so thoroughly controlled was he by the power to whom he owed his regal elevation. Holland was excluded from the commercial privileges of France, though it had to follow all the wars of Napoleon. The national debt was augmented 12,000,000,000 guilders. The only means by which the merchant could obtain a support was the smuggling trade with England. Almost all the former sources of prosperity were obstructed; and when Napoleon's Milan decree (of Nov. 11, 1807) was promulgated, and the Dutch ports were shut up against British commerce, the trade of Holland was totally ruined. The well-disposed king, lamenting evils which he had no power to remedy, and finding that if he retained the sovereignty he must become a tyrant against his own will, voluntarily and unexpectedly abdi. cated the crown, in favour of his eldest son, a minor, July 1, 1810, and withdrew into the Austrian territory, as a private individual.

Napoleon did not, however, sanction his brother's measures. The French troops at once occupied Amsterdam, and a decree was passed for annexing Holland to the French empire; six senators, six deputies in the council of state, two judges in the court of cassation, and twenty-five deputies in the legislative body, being assigned to it. The continental system was then more strictly enforced, the taxes were augmented, and the conscription laws were introduced, whereby husbands, sons, and brothers were compelled to fight for a cause against which they had formerly contested. The Dutch departments, which had already been formed in the time of the kingdom, now constituted two military divisions; and all the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands were united under the dominion of France. At length the fortunes of Bonaparte began to decline, and

the people looked forward with the hope that their worst days had passed. The prince of Orange had died in England, in 1806; but his son was living, and on him the hopes of the nation were fixed. The Russian campaign of 1812, so fatal to the ambition of the French emperor, was regarded by the Dutch patriots as the advent of their deliverance. But Bonaparte was still in power, and most .of the fortresses in the Netherlands were garrisoned with the French soldiers. Ardent, therefore, as their feelings were, and anxious as were their hopes, they patiently watched that portentous cloud which appeared in the political horizon, and which at last burst with desolating fury on the hosts of Napoleon at Leipsic. That important battle may be said to have decided the fate of Belgium and Holland: the armies of the allies advanced against France; a combined Prussian and Russian force, under Bulow, was sent against the Netherlands, and was joined by a detachment from England, under General Graham. All the great towns now declared for William, prince of Orange, who, on the 13th of November, 1813, arrived at the Hague, and was welcomed with the sincerest tokens of joy and affection. He immediately repaired to Amsterdam, where he was proclaimed king, the people being unanimously desirous that the stadtholderate should be changed into an hereditary monarchy. It was not long before the whole country was entirely freed from the presence of the French, and the new sovereign, (the sixth in descent from the illustrious founder of the republic) was solemnly inaugurated on the 30th of March, 1814, and proclaimed by the title of William I.

By a vote of the congress of Vienna, the Belgic provinces were united with the United Netherlands, to form one kingdom, and William was recognised by all the powers as sovereign king of the Netherlands. At the time of this arrangement a treaty was made with Great Britain, which power agreed to restore all the colonies it had taken from the Dutch, except the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Essequibo, Berbice, and Demerara. This union by no means gave entire satisfaction; indeed, there had never been any cordiality between the two people, owing to the religious prejudices of the Belgians, who are catholics, and not only dislike being governed by a protestant king, but have a kind of national animosity to the Dutch. The people, however, were obliged to acquiesce in the decision of the ruling power.

Scarcely was the union of Holland and Belgium accomplished, when the unexpected re-appearance of Bonaparte on the soil of France disturbed the peace of Europe; and the Netherlands became once more a scene of warfare. Louis XVIII. had taken refuge in Ghent, and there remained till the fate of the enemy was decided on the field of Waterloo. As the principal features of this important battle have been already given it would be a repetition to introduce it in this place: we shall therefore merely notice a few incidents connected with the subject. In the mouth of June, 1815, Brussels presented a gay and animated appearance, it being the head-quarters of the British army. Officers in their bright uniforms thronged the park; and on the 15th the duke of Wellington received a dispatch from Marshal Blucher, (who had taken up his position at some few leagues distance, to guard the outposts of the allied armies), informing him that he had been suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by the French, and might probably require assistance. Orders were accordingly given by the duke for the troops in Brussels to be ready to march at a moment's notice; and then, having made his arrangements, in order not to create unnecessary alarm in the city, he and his officers attended a ball. Soon after midnight, however, the rolling of drums and sound of bugles alarmed the inhabitants, but all the information that could be obtained was, that the duke of Wellington had received a dispatch in the ball-room, of so urgent a kind, that some of the cavalry officers, whose regiments

nere quartered in the adjacent villages, had not time to change their attire, but galloped off in their ball-room dresses. It was at length ascertained that the French had obtained advantages over the Prussians, who had been obliged to retreat and take up a new position, about seven miles from the village of Quatre Bras. Presently the hollow sound of distant cannon was distinctly heard; and in the absence of authentic information, busy runiour magnified the real danger, and circulated accounts of disasters the most appalling. On this day (the 16th) two battles were fought; one at Ligny, by the Prussians under Blucher, against Bonaparte in person; the other at Quatre Bras, between a part of the British army under the duke of Wellington, against the French troops commanded by marshal Ney, who had intercepted the duke on his march to aid the Prussians. At night authentic intelligence was received at Brussels that a sanguinary battle had been fought, which was to be renewed on the following day, but that the French were no nearer than they were in the morning. This latter assurance in some measure allayed the fears of the inhabitants; but the night was very generally occupied in packing up valuables, so that departure might not be impeded should the French ultimately become masters. At length it was ascertained that the heroic duke of Brunswick, and most of the gallant Highlanders who had marched from Brussels in the morning, were lying dead upon the field; and that the duke of Wellington had withdrawn to Waterloo, in order to be nearer the Prussians, who had retreated after their defeat at Ligny. Early next morning a number of long tilted waggons arrived, conveying wounded soldiers slowly through the town to the hospitals. Saturday was a day of breathless anxiety; all who had the means of conveyance, and many who had not, set out for Antwerp. But that day passed with very little fighting, both armies bieng engaged in making preparations for a decisive contest on the following (Sunday, June 18). At ten o'clock the battle of Waterloo commenced, and was not concluded till nine at night, when the complete overthrow of the French army was effected.

The union of Belgium and Holland being finally settled, the king of the Netherlands was inaugurated at Brussels, in presence of the states-general, on the 21st of September, 1815. His first care was to deserve the

good opinion of his subjects by giving them equal laws, and in endeavours to put the youthful population of Belgium on an equal footing with those of Holland; for which purpose he established national schools in every village, and appointed teachers properly qualified to impart instruction on the system which he had found so successful in his old dominions. By degrees, these schools were augmented and improved; and, in the sequel, others of a very superior kind were founded, in which the fine arts were studied, and every incentive to emulation promoted by the distribution of prizes, &c. Nor was the attention of the king entirely confined to the mental improvement of his subjects. In order to cope with the manufactured goods of other countries, advantage was taken of the discoveries and inventions of scientific men wherever they were to be obtained; steamengines and new machinery were introduced into the cotton factories: roads, canals, and railways were undertaken; coal and iron-inines were opened; every facility was given to commerce; and nothing but the inveterate prejudice of old habits prevented the agriculturists from benefitting by the wise suggestions of king William. In many respects the laws of the new kingdom of the Netherlands were assimilated to those of Great Britain, and the country increased in prosperity. Still it was evident there was a want of common feeling between the Belgic and Dutch subjects of the new monarchy; and the circumstance of the taxes in Belgium being increased since the union, was a constant and a not un reasonable theme for discontent to feed upon, inasmuch as they had been united without their own consent.

On the 17th of May, 1816, a Netherlandish fleet, under admiral Van der Capellan, joined the English under lord Exmouth, and compelled the dey of Algiers to recognize the European law of nations. On the 25th, a compact was concluded between the kings of Prussia and of the Netherlands respecting the cession of a tract of country to the latter: and, about the same time, the king of the Netherlands acceded to the holy alliance. The political relations of France with its new neighbour were pacific. With Sweden and Denmark, as with Spain and Portugal, the relations were purely commercial. But the amalgamation of the Dutch and Belgians into one nation was not successful: in short, a reciprocal aversion of the northern and southern people was several times exhibited, with great animosity, in the church, in the army, and even in the chambers of the states-general. As the difference of languages rendered the union difficult, the government, while it allowed the use of the French language as well as the Dutch in the proceedings of the statesgeneral, abolished the use of French in judicial proceedings, and by the public authorities, only allowing advocates to make use of it for a certain period. The attempt to suppress the French language thus made two opposite parties the secret friends of France; the catholic Belgians, apprehensive for their church, because they believed the object was to pro pagate the protestant faith by means of the prohibition of French; and the Brabanters and Flemings adhered to France from old predilections. But the greatest obstacle to a union lay in the levying of taxes. Belgium, a manufacturing and agricultural country, wished to place the burdens on articles of export and import; while Holland, to spare its own commerce, wished to impose them on real estate. The budget, therefore, always employed a great part of the time of the states-general, who were convened in October of each year, alternately at the Hague and at Brussels. In the grand duchy of Luxemburg disturbances arose, which it was found necessary to quell by force, and the discordant elements of which the new kingdom of the Netherlands was composed, speedily led to its destruction. But it is probable that if the revolution in France, which drove one branch of the Bourbons from the throne and invested the other with sovereign power, had not occurred so early, the revolt of the Belgians would have been delayed a few years longer.

It was customary in Brussels to celebrate the king's birthday with illuminations and other rejoicings; but while the usual preparations were making, placards, were posted on the walls, intimating that the example of the Parisians would on that occasion be followed. Thus warned, the magistrates issued orders to suspend the fête; and the performance of the opera of Massaniello, which had been advertised, was also prohibited, on the ground of its containing political allusions, which were calculated to excite the people, and accelerate the threatened revolt. There is no doubt that the act of forbidding the opera hastened the catastrophe; for a mob assembled in front of the theatre, demanded a representation of Massanello; and so great was the tumult, that the government though) it prudent to comply. The opera was accordingly performed, and with such results as might be expected. The audience was composed chiefly of the lower classes, who being predisposed to mischief, a scene of riot and excess commenced as soon as they had left the theatre. The gun smiths' shops were broken open, wine-cellars plundered, the house of the chief minister set on fire, and the residences of several other persons connected with the government broken into and despoiled. The rioters were, however, held in check by the more respectable inhabitants, who, imita ling the Parisians, on the following day formed a national guard of citizen-soldiers, for the protection of their property against the mob, as ell as for effecting a revolution, though by a more orderly and systema plan of operations. A council of the most influential citizens under