Van Hogendorp did not witness this triumphal entry. He was sick and had
to keep to his room. Thither the Prince drove at once, and together the
old man and the young man had a prolonged conference.
What was to be the exact position of the Prince, and what form of
government must be adopted by the country? On the road from Scheveningen
the cry of "Long live the King!" had been occasionally heard. Was
William to be a king or was he merely to continue the office of
Stadholder which his fathers had held? Van Hogendorp's first plan to
revive the old oligarchic republic had failed at once. The regents had
played their rôle for all time. They had showed that they could not come
back. They had lost those abilities which for several centuries had kept
them at the head of affairs. The plan of Falck to create a government on
the half and half principle--half regent, half Patriot--had not been a
success, either. The Patriots as a party had been too directly
responsible for the mistakes of the last twenty years to be longer
popular as a ruling class. A new system must be found which could unite
all the best elements of the entire country. Surely here was a
difficult task to be performed.
The country to which Prince William was restored consisted at that
moment of exactly two provinces. The army numbered 1,350 infantry and
200 cavalry. The available cash counted just a little under 300,000
guilders. The only thing that was plentiful was the national debt. To
start a new nation and a new government upon such a slender basis was
the agreeable task which awaited the Prince, and yet, after all, the
solution of the problem proved to be more simple than had been expected.
The old administrative machinery of the Napoleonic empire was bodily
taken over into the new state and was continued under the command of the
Prince. The higher French dignitaries disappeared and their places were
taken by Hollanders trained in the Napoleonic school. The army of
well-drilled lower officials was retained in its posts. Except for the
fact that Dutch was once more made the official language, there was
little change in the internal form of government. The modern edifice of
state which had been constructed by Napoleon for the unwilling
Hollanders was cleaned of all Frenchmen and all French influence, but
the building itself was not touched, and after the original architect
had moved out, the impoverished Dutch state continued to live in it with
the utmost satisfaction.
But now came the question of the title and the position of the new head
of the household. Was it possible to place the state, which for so many
years had recognized an outlandish adventurer as its emperor, under the
leadership of a mere Stadholder? Was it fair that the Prince of Orange
should rule in his own country as a mere Stadholder where the country
had just recognized a member of a foreign family as its legitimate king?
The higher classes might have their doubts and might spend their days in
clever academic disputations; the mass of the people, however,
instinctively felt that the only right way out of the difficulty was to
make the son of the last Stadholder the first king of the resurrected
nation.
Before this popular demand, William, who himself in many ways was
conservative, and might have preferred to return merely as Stadholder,
had to give way. With much show of popular approbation he set to work to
reorganize the country as its sovereign ruler and no longer as the
subordinate executive of its parliament.
The first task of the sovereign, when on the 6th of December he took the
government into his own hands, was to abolish the most unpopular of the
old French taxes. The government monopoly of tobacco was at once
suppressed and joyous clouds of smoke spread heavenward. The press was
freed from the supervision of the police, under which it had so severely
suffered. The law which confiscated the goods of political prisoners and
which had been so greatly abused by the French authorities disappeared,
to the general satisfaction of the former victims. The clergy, which for
many years had received no salary at all and had been supported by
public charity, saw itself reinstated in its old revenues. But the time
had not yet come in which William could devote himself exclusively to
internal problems. The question of the moment was the military one. The
French still occupied many Dutch fortifications. They must first of all
be driven out. For this purpose the three thousand odd men were not
sufficient. But no further volunteers announced themselves.
The first two weeks of enthusiasm had been followed by the old apathy.
Neither men nor money was forthcoming. Everything was once more left to
an allwise Providence and to the allies. During eighteen years the
people had paid taxes. Now they kept their money at home. For almost ten
years their sons had been in the army. They were not going to send them
to be slaughtered for yet another king. The allies might do the fighting
if they liked. And it was impossible to get Dutch soldiers. Not until
the old government had begun to enforce the former French law upon the
conscription was it possible to lay the foundations of a national army.
After a year 45,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalrymen were ready to join
the allies. Then, however, they were no longer needed. Napoleon was
drilling his hundred rustics on the Island of Elba, and the Congress of
Vienna had started upon that round of dinners and gayeties which was to
decide the future destinies of the European continent.
After the army came the question of a constitution. This problem was
settled in the following way: A committee of fourteen members was
appointed to make a constitution. These fourteen gentlemen represented
all the old parties. A concept-constitution, drawn up by Van Hogendorp
long before the revolution took place, was to be the basis for their
discussions. On the 2nd of March this committee presented the sovereign
with a constitution which made him practically autocratic. There was to
be a sort of parliament of fifty-five members elected by the provincial
estates. But except for the futile right of veto and the exceptional
right of proposing an occasional bill, this parliament could exercise no
control over the executive or the finances. This was exactly what most
people wanted. They had had enough and to spare of popular government.
They were quite willing to leave everything to an able king who would
know best what was good for them.
On all sides the men of 1813 were surrounded by the ruins of the
failures of their inexperienced political schemes. The most energetic
leaders among them were dead or had been forced out of politics long
ago. Of the younger generation all over Europe the best elements had
been shot to pieces for the benefit of the Emperor Napoleon. The people
that remained when this scourge left Europe were the less active ones,
the less energetic ones, those who by nature were most fit to be humble
subjects.
On the 29th of March six hundred of the most prominent men of the
country were called together at Amsterdam to examine the new
constitution and to express their opinion upon the document. Only four
hundred and forty-eight appeared. They accepted the constitution between
breakfast and luncheon. They did not care to go into details. Nobody
cared. People wanted to be left in peace. Political housekeeping had
been too much trouble. They went to board with their new king, gave him
a million and a half a year, and told him to look after all details of
the management, but under no circumstances to bother them. And the new
king, whose nature at bottom was most autocratic, assumed this new duty
with the greatest pleasure and prepared to show his subjects how well
fitted he was for such a worthy task.