Page images
PDF
EPUB

So many tears, up to the day when 1 re-entered Cambrai, amidst so many acclamations.

But the blood of my people has flowed, in consequence of a treason of which the annals of the world present no example. That treason has summoned foreigners into the heart of France. Every day reveals to me a new disaster. I owe it, then, to the dignity of my crown, to the interest of my people, to the repose of Europe, to except from pardon the instigators and authors of this horrible plot. They shall be designated to the vengeance of the laws by the two Chambers, which I propose forthwith to assemble.

Frenchmen, such are the sentiments which he brings among you, whom time has not been able to change, nor calamities fatigue, nor injustice made to stoop. The King, whose fathers reigned for eight centuries over yours, turns to consecrate the remainder of his days in defending and consoling you.

re

Given at Cambrai, this 28th of June, in the year of our Lord 1815, and of our reign the 21st. (Signed) By the King.

LOUIS.

(Signed) Prince TALLEYRAND, Min. Sec. of S. for F. Affairs.

▲ Supplementary Convention between his Britannic Majesty and the Emperor of all the Russias. Signed at London the 17th (29th) of June, 1814.

CONVENTION.

(Translation.)

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Bri

tain Britain and Ireland, and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, in concert with their high allies, his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and his Majesty the King of Prussia, considering that the grand object of their alliance, to ensure the future tranquillity of Europe, and to establish a just equilibrium of power, cannot be deemed to be completely accomplished, until the arrangements concerning the state of possession of the different countries composing it, shall have been definitively settled at the Congress, to be held agreeably to the 32d Article of the Treaty of Peace signed at Paris the 30th of May, 1814, have judged it necessary, conformably to the Treaty of Chaumont of the 1st of March of the same year, to keep still on foot a portion of their armies, in order to give effect to the above arrangements, and to maintain order and tranquillity until the state of Europe shall be entirely re-established.

The High Contracting Powers have in consequence appointed their Plenipotentiaries, namely, his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, one of his said Majesty's most Hon. Privy Council, &c. and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, Charles Robert Count de Nesselrode, his Privy Counsellor, &c. who, after exchanging their full powers, and finding them in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles :

Art. I. His Britannic Majesty and

and his Majesty the Emperor all the Russias engage to keep on a war establishment, until the definitive arrangement to be made at the above Congress, an army of seventy-five thousand troops, that is to say, sixty thousand infantry, and fifteen thousand cavalry, together with a train of artillery, and with equipments proportioned to the number of troops, which number is equal to that which his Imperial and royal Apostolic Majesty the Emperor of Austria and his Majesty the King of Prussia bind themselves to keep on foot for the same purpose.

Art. II. His Britannic Majesty reserves to himself to furnish his contingent, conformably to the Ninth Article of the Treaty of Chaumont of the 1st of March, 1914.

Article III. The High Contracting Parties, as well as their Majesties the Emperor of Austria and King of Prussia, engage to employ these armies only pursuant to a common plan, and conformably to the spirit, and for the object, of their alliance abovementioned.

Article IV. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged within two months, or sooner, if possible.

In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed to it the seals of their

[blocks in formation]

The Plenipotentiaries on the the part of Great Britain and Austria were the Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, and the Sieur Clement Wenceslas Lothaire, Prince of Metternich, &c. &c. &c.

The Plenipotentiaries on the part of Great Britain and Prussia were the Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, and Prince Charles Augustus de Hardenberg, Chancellor of State, Knight of the Grand Order of the Black Eagle, &c. &c. &c.

PROCLAMATION.

We, William, by the Grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxemburg, &c.

When the government of Belgium was given into our hands by the High Allied Powers, we had previously given our formal adhesion to the conditions of the Union of Belgium with the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which had been agreed upon at London by the Plenipotentiaries of the said Powers, in the month of June, 1914, and of which the following is the tenor :

Art. I. This union is to be intimate and complete, so that the two countries shall form one and the same state, governed by the Constitution already established in Holland, which shall be modified by common consent, according to the new state of things.

2. No innovation shall be made in the articles of this Constitution, which ensure equal favour and protection to all forms of worship,

worship, and guarantee the admission of all citizens to public offices and employments, whatever be their religious creed.

3. The Belgian Provinces shall be duly represented in the assembly of the States General, whose ordinary sittings in time of peace shall be held alternately in a town in Holland and in a town in Belgium.

4. All the inhabitants of the Netherlands being thus constitutionally assimilated among each other, the several Provinces shall equally enjoy all the commercial and other advantages of which their respective situations are susceptible; nor can any obstacle or restriction be laid upon one to the advantage of another.

5. Immediately after the union, the provinces and towns of Belgium shall be admitted to the commerce and navigation of the colonies upon the same footing as the provinces and towns of Holland.

6. As the burdens must be in common as well as the advantages, the debts contracted till the time of the union, by the Dutch provinces on the one hand, and by the Belgic provinces on the other, shall be chargeable to the public treasury of the Netherlands.

7. Conformably to the same principles, the expenses required for the establishment and preservation of the fortresses on the frontier of the new State, shall be borne by the public treasury; as resulting from an object that interests the safety and independence of all the provinces of the whole nation.

8. The expense of forming and keeping up the dykes shall be for the account of the districts more especially interested in this branch of the public service, reserving the obligation of the state in general to furnish aid in case of extraordinary disasters, all exactly as has been hitherto practised in Holland.

The treaty of Vienna having since confirmed, upon these same principles, the formal cession of the Belgic Provinces, to form in conjunction with the United Provinces of the Netherlands, one kingdom, we have hastened to appoint a special committee to exa mine what modifications it would be useful or necessary to make in the constitution already established in Holland.

Citizens distinguished by their knowledge, their patriotism, and their probity, have employed themselves on this important work with a zeal worthy of the greatest praises.

The project which they have just laid before us, contains honourable distinctions for the Nobility, insures to all forms of worship equal favour and protection, and guarantees the admission of all citizens to public offices and employments; it fixes the division of power upon the basis of protecting institutions, which have been at all times dear to the people of Belgium. It recognises above all things the independence of the judicial power; it reconciles the integrity and the strength of the body politic, with the individual right of each of its members; and lastly, it contains the elements of every gradual improvement,

provement, which experience and further study may shew to be necessary.

However, before we proceed to introduce the new fundamental law, we desire to convince our selves of the assent of our subjects to its principal regulations. For this purpose, Deputies (notables) shall be assembled from every arrondissement, in the proportion of one for 2,000 inhabitants. We have ordered that the choice shall be made with impartiality among the persons most estimable, and most worthy of the confidence of their fellow citizens. But in order to be certain that our intentions in this respect have been fulfilled, and that those who are going to be named Deputies, are really deserving of the honour of being the organs of the general opinion; we farther order that the lists shall be published and deposited for eight days in the chief towns of the respective districts.

At the same time registers shall be opened, in which every inhabitant, who is the head of a fauily, may come and insert a simple vote of rejection of one or more of the Deputies named.

It is according to the result which these registers shall afford, that the lists will be finally determined on, and the Notables convoked in each arrondissement to vote upon the plan of the fundamental law which will be laid before them. Each of these assemblages shall send its proces verbal to Brussels, and shall depute three of its members to attend in a general meeting at the opening of those proces verbaux

(journals of proceedings), and at the collecting of the votes of the Notables.

Such, Belgians, are the measures which we have judged the most proper for the establishment of a compact which is to fix your destinies, and to hasten the moment when your Sovereign will be surrounded by a representation faithfully constituted.

Happy to reign over a free, brave, and industrious people, we are sure of finding in it that character for openness and sincerity which has always so eminently distinguished it. All our efforts will be directed to cement the foundations of its prosperity and glory, and the citizens of all classes, and all the provinces shall have in us a benevolent and impartial protector of their rights and their welfare. In particular we guarantee to the Catholic Church its establishment and its liberties, and we shall not lose sight of the examples of wisdom and moderation in this respect, which have been left us by our predecessors, your ancient Sovereigns, whose memory is so justly revered among you.

Given at the Hague, July 18, 1815, and the second year of our reign. (Signed)

By the King.

WILLIAM. For the Secretary of State in his absence, the Cabinet Secretary (Signed)

P. DE CROMBRUGGE.
(A true Copy).

Clerk to the Secretary of

The

State,

L. VAN GOEBELSCHROY.

PRO

PROCLAMATION OF THE PRINCE

REGENT.

Brunswick, August 2.

We George, by the grace of God, Prince Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Kingdom of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, &c., in guardianship of Duke Charles Frederick Augustus William of Brunswick Luneburg, to all who see these presents, greeting:

As it has pleased Divine Providence to call away to a better state in the kingdom of peace from the midst of his deeply afflicted family and faithful subjects our dearly beloved cousin the reigning Duke of Brunswick Luneburg, Frederick William, by a glorious death on the 16th of June, in the conflict for the tranquillity of Europe and the independence of Germany; and as through this never enough to be lamented event, the succession to the said Duchy devolves on his eldest son, our much loved cousin Charles Frederick Augustus, therefore have we, as well on account of the ties of consanguinity as of the expressed wish of the deceased, been moved to take upon us the guardianship of our said cousin Duke Charles Frederick Augustus William, during his minority!; and we now declare, in the name and as guardians of our said cousin, that we take possession of the ducal territories of Brunswick Luneburg, with all the rights, regalia, and superiorities, as possessed by our deceased cousin Frederick William we now, therefore, enjoin all subjects and inhabitants of the

ducal Brunswick Luneburg ter ritories, in virtue of their oath of allegiance, to be true and obedient to our said Cousin and us, on account of the guardianship devolved on us, and also the general colleges, magistrates, and administrators, to proceed uninterrupted in the business of their several departments, and to continue to watch over the interests of the country and the government, to the best of their ability. In particular, we hereby authorise and request the Home College of Counsellors at Brunswick, as chief administrators of the country, in future as heretofore, to continue in the regular administration of the country, and to report to us the instructions communicated, or still to be communicated to them.

Given at Carlton-house, this 18th July, 1815.

GEORGE P. R.
Count MUNSTER.

Address of the Belgian Prelates to the King of the Netherlands.

[ocr errors]

Sire, We believe it our duty no longer to delay expressing to your Majesty, the surprise and the grief which your proclamation of the 18th of this month, (July) has caused us.

In the conviction that it is the first duty of the Bishops, to speak the truth to the Throne when the grand interests of Religion are în question, we now fulfil this duty with the more confidence and frankness, as your Majesty frequently testified to us your intention to protect religion with all your power, and as in that very proclamation, which is the cause of our uneasiness, you assure to

the

« PreviousContinue »