FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE RETURN OF THE
PRINCE OF ORANGE
A.D. 1794--1818
While the fate of Belgium was decided on the plains of Fleurus,
Pichegru prepared to carry the triumphant arms of France into
the heart of Holland. He crossed the Meuse at the head of one
hundred thousand men, and soon gained possession of most of the
chief places of Flanders. An unusually severe winter was setting
in; but a circumstance which in common cases retards the operations
of war was, in the present instance, the means of hurrying on the
conquest on which the French general was bent. The arms of the
sea, which had hitherto been the best defences of Holland, now
became solid masses of ice; battlefields, on which the soldiers
manoeuvred and the artillery thundered, as if the laws of the
elements were repealed to hasten the fall of the once proud and
long flourishing republic. Nothing could arrest the ambitious
ardor of the invaders. The Duke of York and his brave army resisted
to the utmost; but, borne down by numbers, he was driven from
position to position. Batteries, cannons, and magazines were
successfully taken; and Pichegru was soon at the term of his
brilliant exploits.
But Holland speedily ceased to be a scene of warfare. The
discontented portion of the citizens, now the majority, rejoiced
to retaliate the revolution of 1787 by another, received the French
as liberators. Reduced to extremity, yet still capable by the aid
of his allies of making a long and desperate resistance, the
stadtholder took the nobler resolution of saving his fellow-citizens
from the horrors of prolonged warfare. He repaired to The Hague;
presented himself in the assembly of the states-general; and
solemnly deposited in their hands the exercise of the supreme
power, which he found he could no longer wield but to entail
misery and ruin on his conquered country. After this splendid
instance of true patriotism and rare virtue, he quitted Holland and
took refuge in England. The states-general dissolved a national
assembly installed at The Hague; and, the stadtholderate abolished,
the United Provinces now changed their form of government, their
long-cherished institutions, and their very name, and were christened
the Batavian Republic.
Assurances of the most flattering nature were profusely showered
on the new state, by the sister republic which had effected this
new revolution. But the first measure of regeneration was the
necessity of paying for the recovered independence, which was
effected for the sum of one hundred million florins. The new
constitution was almost entirely modelled on that of France,
and the promised independence soon became a state of deplorable
suffering and virtual slavery. Incalculable evils were the portion
of Holland in the part which she was forced to take in the war
between France and England. Her marine was nearly annihilated,
and some of her most valuable possessions in the Indies ravished
from her by the British arms. She was at the same time obliged
to cede to her ally the whole of Dutch Flanders, Maestricht,
Venloo, and their dependencies; and to render free and common
to both nations the navigation of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the
Scheldt.
The internal situation of the unfortunate republic was deplorable.
Under the weight of an enormous and daily increasing debt, all
the resources of trade and industry were paralyzed. Universal
misery took place of opulence, and not even the consolation of a
free constitution remained to the people. They vainly sought that
blessing from each new government of the country whose destinies
they followed, but whose advantages they did not share. They saw
themselves successively governed by the states-general, a national
assembly, and the directory. But these ephemeral authorities had
not sufficient weight to give the nation domestic happiness,
nor consideration among the other powers.
On the 11th of October, 1797, the English admiral, Sir Adam Duncan,
with a superior force, encountered the Dutch fleet under De Winter
off Camperdown; and in spite of the bravery of the latter he was
taken prisoner, with nine ships of the line and a frigate. An
expedition on an extensive scale was soon after fitted out in
England, to co-operate with a Russian force for the establishment
of the House of Orange. The Helder was the destination of this
armament, which was commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. The Duke of
York soon arrived in the Texel with a considerable reinforcement.
A series of severe, and well-contested actions near Bergen ended
in the defeat of the allies and the abandonment of the enterprise;
the only success of which was the capture of the remains of the
Dutch fleet, which was safely conveyed to England.
From this period the weight of French oppression became every
day more intolerable in Holland. Ministers, generals, and every
other species of functionary, with swarms of minor tyrants, while
treating the country as a conquered province, deprived it of all
share in the brilliant though checkered glories gained by that
to which it was subservient. The Dutch were robbed of national
independence and personal freedom. While the words "liberty" and
"equality" were everywhere emblazoned, the French ambassador
assumed an almost Oriental despotism. The language and forms of a
free government were used only to sanction a foreign tyranny; and
the Batavian republic, reduced to the most hopeless and degraded
state, was in fact but a forced appendage chained to the triumphal
car of France.
Napoleon Bonaparte, creating by the force of his prodigious talents
the circumstances of which inferior minds are but the creatures, now
rapidly rose to the topmost height of power. He not only towered
above the mass of prejudices which long custom had legalized,
but spurned the multitude by whom these prejudices had been
overthrown. Yet he was not of the first order of great minds;
for he wanted that grand principle of self-control which is the
supreme attribute of greatness. Potent, and almost irresistible
in every conflict with others, and only to be vanquished by his
own acts, he possessed many of the higher qualities of genius.
He was rapid, resolute, and daring, filled with contempt for
the littleness of mankind, yet molding every atom which composed
that littleness to purposes at utter variance with its nature.
In defiance of the first essence of republican theory, he built
himself an imperial throne on the crushed privileges of a prostrate
people; and he lavished titles and dignities on men raised from
its very dregs, with a profusion which made nobility a byword of
scorn. Kingdoms were created for his brothers and his friends;
and the Batavian republic was made a monarchy, to give Louis a
dignity, or at least a title, like the rest.
The character of Louis Bonaparte was gentle and amiable, his
manners easy and affable. He entered on his new rank with the
best intentions toward the country which he was sent to reign
over; and though he felt acutely when the people refused him
marks of respect and applause, which was frequently the case,
his temper was not soured, and he conceived no resentment. He
endeavored to merit popularity; and though his power was scanty,
his efforts were not wholly unsuccessful. He labored to revive the
ruined trade, which he knew to be the staple of Dutch prosperity:
but the measures springing from this praiseworthy motive were
totally opposed to the policy of Napoleon; and in proportion as
Louis made friends and partisans among his subjects, he excited
bitter enmity in his imperial brother. Louis was so averse from
the continental system, or exclusion of British manufactures, that
during his short reign every facility was given to his subjects
to elude it, even in defiance of the orders conveyed to him from
Paris through the medium of the French ambassador at The Hague.
He imposed no restraints on public opinion, nor would he establish
the odious system of espionage cherished by the French police;
but he was fickle in his purposes, and prodigal in his expenses.
The profuseness of his expenditure was very offensive to the
Dutch notions of respectability in matters of private finance,
and injurious to the existing state of the public means. The
tyranny of Napoleon became soon quite insupportable to him; so
much so, that it is believed that had the ill-fated English
expedition to Walcheren in 1809 succeeded, and the army advanced
into the country, he would have declared war against France.
After an ineffectual struggle of more than three years, he chose
rather to abdicate his throne than retain it under the degrading
conditions of proconsulate subserviency. This measure excited
considerable regret, and much esteem for the man who preferred
the retirement of private life to the meanness of regal slavery.
But Louis left a galling memento of misplaced magnificence, in
an increase of ninety millions of florins (about nine millions
sterling) to the already oppressive amount of the national debt
of the country.
The annexation of Holland to the French empire was immediately
pronounced by Napoleon. Two-thirds of the national debt were
abolished, the conscription law was introduced, and the Berlin
and Milan decrees against the introduction of British manufactures
were rigidly enforced. The nature of the evils inflicted on the
Dutch people by this annexation and its consequences demand a
somewhat minute examination. Previous to it all that part of
the territory of the former United Provinces had been ceded to
France. The kingdom of Holland consisted of the departments of
the Zuyder Zee, the mouths of the Maese, the Upper Yssel, the
mouths of the Yssel, Friesland, and the Western and Eastern Ems;
and the population of the whole did not exceed one million eight
hundred thousand souls. When Louis abdicated his throne, he left
a military and naval force of eighteen thousand men, who were
immediately taken into the service of France; and in three years
and a half after that event this number was increased to fifty
thousand, by the operation of the French naval and military code:
thus about a thirty-sixth part of the whole population was employed
in arms. The forces included in the maritime conscription were
wholly employed in the navy. The national guards were on constant
duty in the garrisons or naval establishments. The cohorts were
by law only liable to serve in the _interior_ of the French
empire--that is to say, from Hamburg to Rome; but after the Russian
campaign, this limitation was disregarded, and they formed a
part of Napoleon's army at the battle of Bautzen.
The conscription laws now began to be executed with the greatest
rigor; and though the strictest justice and impartiality were
observed in the ballot and other details of this most oppressive
measure, yet it has been calculated that, on an average, nearly
one-half of the male population of the age of twenty years was
annually taken off. The conscripts were told that their service was
not to extend beyond the term of five years; but as few instances
occurred of a French soldier being discharged without his being
declared unfit for service, it was always considered in Holland
that the service of a conscript was tantamount to an obligation
during life. Besides, the regulations respecting the conscription
were annually changed, by which means the code became each year
more intricate and confused; and as the explanation of any doubt
rested with the functionaries, to whom the execution of the law
was confided, there was little chance of their constructions
mitigating its severity.
But the conscription, however galling, was general in its operation.
Not so the formation of the emperor's guard of honor. The members
of this patrician troop were chosen from the most noble and opulent
families, particularly those who were deemed inimical to the French
connection. The selection depended altogether on the prefect, who
was sure to name those most obnoxious to his political or personal
dislike, without regard to their rank or occupation, or even the
state of their health. No exemption was admitted--not even to
those who from mental or bodily infirmity, or other cause, had
been declared unfit for general military duty. The victims were
forced to the mockery of volunteering their services; obliged to
provide themselves with horses, arms, and accoutrements; and when
arrived at the depot appointed for their assembling, considered
probably but as hostages for the fidelity of their relatives.
The various taxes were laid on and levied in the most oppressive
manner; those on land usually amounting to twenty-five, and those
on houses to thirty per cent of the clear annual rent. Other
direct taxes were levied on persons and movable property, and
all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerable severity. The
whole sum annually obtained from Holland by these means amounted
to about thirty millions of florins (or three million pounds
sterling), being at the rate of about one pound thirteen shillings
four pence from every soul inhabiting the country.
The operation of what was called the continental system created
an excess of misery in Holland, only to be understood by those who
witnessed its lamentable results. In other countries, Belgium for
instance, where great manufactories existed, the loss of maritime
communication was compensated by the exclusion of English goods. In
states possessed of large and fertile territories, the population
which could no longer be employed in commerce might be occupied
in agricultural pursuits. But in Holland, whose manufactures were
inconsiderable, and whose territory is insufficient to support
its inhabitants, the destruction of trade threw innumerable
individuals wholly out of employment, and produced a graduated
scale of poverty in all ranks. A considerable part of the population
had been employed in various branches of the traffic carried on
by means of the many canals which conveyed merchandise from the
seaports into the interior, and to the different continental
markets. When the communication with England was cut off, principals
and subordinates were involved in a common ruin.
In France, the effect of the continental system was somewhat
alleviated by the license trade, the exportation of various
productions forced on the rest of continental Europe, and the
encouragement given to home manufactures. But all this was reversed
in Holland: the few licenses granted to the Dutch were clogged
with duties so exorbitant as to make them useless; the duties on
one ship which entered the Maese, loaded with sugar and coffee,
amounting to about fifty thousand pounds sterling. At the same
time every means was used to crush the remnant of Dutch commerce
and sacrifice the country to France. The Dutch troops were clothed
and armed from French manufactories; the frontiers were opened
to the introduction of French commodities duty free; and the
Dutch manufacturer undersold in his own market.
The population of Amsterdam was reduced from two hundred and
twenty thousand souls to one hundred and ninety thousand, of which
a fourth part derived their whole subsistence from charitable
institutions, while another fourth part received partial succor
from the same sources. At Haarlem, where the population had been
chiefly employed in bleaching and preparing linen made in Brabant,
whole streets were levelled with the ground, and more than five
hundred houses destroyed. At The Hague, at Delft, and in other
towns, many inhabitants had been induced to pull down their houses,
from inability to keep them in repair or pay the taxes. The
preservation of the dikes, requiring an annual expense of six
hundred thousand pounds sterling, was everywhere neglected. The
sea inundated the country, and threatened to resume its ancient
dominion. No object of ambition, no source of professional wealth
or distinction, remained to which a Hollander could aspire. None
could voluntarily enter the army or navy, to fight for the worst
enemy of Holland. The clergy were not provided with a decent
competency. The ancient laws of the country, so dear to its pride
and its prejudices, were replaced by the Code Napoleon; so that
old practitioners had to recommence their studies, and young
men were disgusted with the drudgery of learning a system which
was universally pronounced unfit for a commercial country.
Independent of this mass of positive ill, it must be borne in
mind that in Holland trade was not merely a means of gaining
wealth, but a passion long and deeply grafted on the national
mind: so that the Dutch felt every aggravation of calamity,
considering themselves degraded and sacrificed by a power which
had robbed them of all which attaches a people to their native
land; and, for an accumulated list of evils, only offered them
the empty glory of appertaining to the country which gave the
law to all the nations of Europe, with the sole exception of
England.
Those who have considered the events noted in this history for
the last two hundred years, and followed the fluctuations of
public opinion depending on prosperity or misfortune, will have
anticipated that, in the present calamitous state of the country,
all eyes were turned toward the family whose memory was revived by
every pang of slavery, and associated with every throb for freedom.
The presence of the Prince of Orange, William IV., who had, on
the death of his father, succeeded to the title, though he had
lost the revenues of his ancient house, and the re-establishment
of the connection with England, were now the general desire.
Some of the principal partisans of the House of Nassau were for
some time in correspondence with his most serene highness. The
leaders of the various parties into which the country was divided
became by degrees more closely united. Approaches toward a better
understanding were reciprocally made; and they ended in a general
anxiety for the expulsion of the French, with the establishment
of a free constitution, and a cordial desire that the Prince of
Orange should be at its head. It may be safely affirmed, that,
at the close of the year 1813, these were the unanimous wishes
of the Dutch nation.
Napoleon, lost in the labyrinths of his exorbitant ambition,
afforded at length a chance of redress to the nations he had
enslaved. Elevated so suddenly and so high, he seemed suspended
between two influences, and unfit for either. He might, in a
moral view, be said to have breathed badly, in a station which
was beyond the atmosphere of his natural world, without being
out of its attraction; and having reached the pinnacle, he soon
lost his balance and fell. Driven from Russia by the junction of
human with elemental force, in 1812, he made some grand efforts
in the following year to recover from his irremediable reverses.
The battles of Bautzen and Lutzen were the expiring efforts of
his greatness. That of Leipzig put a fatal negative upon the
hopes that sprang from the two former; and the obstinate ambition,
which at this epoch made him refuse the most liberal offers of
the allies, was justly punished by humiliation and defeat. Almost
all the powers of Europe now leagued against him; and France
itself being worn out by his wasteful expenditure of men and
money, he had no longer a chance in resistance. The empire was
attacked at all points. The French troops in Holland were drawn
off to reinforce the armies in distant directions; and the whole
military force in that country scarcely exceeded ten thousand
men. The advance of the combined armies toward the frontiers
became generally known: parties of Cossacks had entered the north
of Holland in November, and were scouring the country beyond the
Yssel. The moment for action on the part of the Dutch confederate
patriots had now arrived; and it was not lost or neglected.
A people inured to revolutions for upward of two centuries, filled
with proud recollections, and urged on by well-digested hopes,
were the most likely to understand the best period and the surest
means for success. An attempt that might have appeared to other
nations rash was proved to be wise, both by the reasonings of its
authors and its own results. The intolerable tyranny of France
had made the population not only ripe, but eager for revolt.
This disposition was acted on by a few enterprising men, at once
partisans of the House of Orange and patriots in the truest sense
of the word. It would be unjust to omit the mention of some of
their names in even this sketch of the events which sprang from
their courage and sagacity. Count Styrum, Messieurs Repelaer
d'Jonge, Van Hogendorp, Vander Duyn van Maasdam, and Changuion,
were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which planned and executed
the bold measures of enfranchisement, and drew up the outlines
of the constitution which was afterward enlarged and ratified.
Their first movements at The Hague were totally unsupported by
foreign aid. Their early checks from the exasperated French and
their overcautious countrymen would have deterred most men embarked
in so perilous a venture; but they never swerved nor shrank back.
At the head of a force, which courtesy and policy called an army,
of three hundred national guards badly armed, fifty citizens
carrying fowling-pieces, fifty soldiers of the old Dutch guard,
four hundred auxiliary citizens armed with pikes, and a cavalry
force of twenty young men, the confederates oddly proclaimed
the Prince of Orange, on the 17th of November, 1813, in their
open village of The Hague, and in the teeth of a French force of
full ten thousand men, occupying every fortress in the country.
While a few gentlemen thus boldly came forward, at their own
risk, with no funds but their private fortunes, and only aided by
an unarmed populace, to declare war against the French emperor,
they did not even know the residence of the exiled prince in
whose cause they were now so completely compromised. The other
towns of Holland were in a state of the greatest incertitude:
Rotterdam had not moved; and the intentions of Admiral Kickert,
who commanded there, were (mistakenly) supposed to be decidedly
hostile to the national cause. Amsterdam had, on the preceding
day, been the scene of a popular commotion, which, however, bore
no decided character; the rioters having been fired on by the
national guard, no leader coming forward, and the proclamation
of the magistrates cautiously abstaining from any allusion to
the Prince of Orange. A brave officer, Captain Falck, had made
use of many strong but inefficient arguments to prevail on the
timid corporation to declare for the prince; the presence of
a French garrison of sixty men seeming sufficient to preserve
their patriotism from any violent excess.
The subsequent events at The Hague furnish an inspiring lesson for
all people who would learn that to be free they must be resolute
and daring. The only hope of the confederates was from the British
government, and the combined armies then acting in the north of
Europe. But many days were to be lingered through before troops
could be embarked, and make their way from England in the teeth
of the easterly winds then prevailing; while a few Cossacks,
hovering on the confines of Holland, gave the only evidence of
the proximity of the allied forces.
In this crisis, it was most fortunate that the French prefect
at The Hague, M. de Stassart, had stolen away on the earliest
alarm; and the French garrison of four hundred chasseurs, aided
by one hundred well-armed custom-house officers, under the command
of General Bouvier des Eclats, caught the contagious fears of the
civil functionary. This force had retired to the old palace--a
building in the centre of the town, the depot of all the arms and
ammunition then at The Hague, and, from its position, capable
of some defence. But the general and his garrison soon felt a
complete panic from the bold attitude of Count Styrum, who made
the most of his little means, and kept up, during the night, a
prodigious clatter by his twenty horsemen; sentinels challenging,
amid incessant singing and shouting, cries of "Oranje boven!"
"Vivat Oranje!" and clamorous patrols of the excited citizens.
At an early hour on the 18th, the French general demanded terms,
and obtained permission to retire on Gorcum, his garrison being
escorted as far as the village of Ryswyk by the twenty cavaliers
who composed the whole mounted force of the patriots.
Unceasing efforts were now made to remedy the want of arms and
men. A quantity of pikes were rudely made and distributed to
the volunteers who crowded in; and numerous fishing-boats were
despatched in different directions to inform the British cruisers
of the passing events. An individual named Pronck, an inhabitant
of Schævening, a village of the coast, rendered great services
in this way, from his influence among the sailors and fishermen
in the neighborhood.
The confederates spared no exertion to increase the confidence
of the people under many contradictory and disheartening
contingencies. An officer who had been despatched for advice
and information to Baron Bentinck, at Zwolle, who was in
communication with the allies, returned with the discouraging
news that General Bulow had orders not to pass the Yssel, the
allies having decided not to advance into Holland beyond the
line of that river. A meeting of the ancient regents of The Hague
was convoked by the proclamation of the confederates, and took
place at the house of Mr. Van Hogendorp, the ancient residence
of the De Witts. The wary magistrates absolutely refused all
co-operation in the daring measures of the confederates, who
had now the whole responsibility on their heads, with little to
cheer them on in their perilous career but their own resolute
hearts and the recollection of those days when their ancestors,
with odds as fearfully against them, rose up and shivered to
atoms the yoke of their oppressors.
Some days of intense anxiety now elapsed; and various incidents
occurred to keep up the general excitement. Reinforcements came
gradually in; no hostile measure was resorted to by the French
troops; yet the want of success, as rapid as was proportioned
to the first movements of the revolution, threw a gloom over
all. Amsterdam and Rotterdam still held back; but the nomination
of Messrs. Van Hogendorp and Vander Duyn van Maasdam to be heads
of the government, until the arrival of the Prince of Orange,
and a formal abjuration of the emperor Napoleon, inspired new
vigor into the public mind. Two nominal armies were formed, and
two generals appointed to the command; and it is impossible to
resist a smile of mingled amusement and admiration on reading the
exact statement of the forces, so pompously and so effectively
announced as forming the armies of Utrecht and Gorcum.
The first of these, commanded by Major-General D'Jonge, consisted
of three hundred infantry, thirty-two volunteer cavalry, with two
eight-pounders. The latter, under the orders of Major-General
Sweertz van Landas, was composed of two hundred and fifty of The
Hague Orange Guard, thirty Prussian deserters from the French
garrison, three hundred volunteers, forty cavalry, with two
eight-pounders.
The "army of Gorcum" marched on the 22d on Rotterdam: its arrival
was joyfully hailed by the people, who contributed three hundred
volunteers to swell its ranks. The "army of Utrecht" advanced
on Leyden, and raised the spirits of the people by the display
of even so small a force. But still the contrary winds kept back
all appearance of succor from England, and the enemy was known to
meditate a general attack on the patriot lines from Amsterdam to
Dordrecht. The bad state of the roads still retarded the approach
of the far-distant armies of the allies; alarms, true and false,
were spread on all hands--when the appearance of three hundred
Cossacks, detached from the Russian armies beyond the Yssel,
prevailed over the hesitation of Amsterdam and the other towns,
and they at length declared for the Prince of Orange.
But this somewhat tardy determination seemed to be the signal for
various petty events, which at an epoch like that were magnified
into transactions of the most fatal import. A reinforcement of one
thousand five hundred French troops reached Gorcum from Antwerp:
a detachment of twenty-five Dutch, with a piece of cannon, were
surprised at one of the outposts of Woerden, which had been
previously evacuated by the French, and the recapture of the town
was accompanied by some excesses. The numbers and the cruelties of
the enemy were greatly exaggerated. Consternation began to spread
all over the country. The French, who seemed to have recovered
from their panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations.
The garrison of Gorcum made a sortie, repulsed the force under
General Van Landas, entered the town of Dordrecht, and levied
contributions; but the inhabitants soon expelled them, and the
army was enabled to resume its position.
Still the wind continued adverse to arrivals from the English
coast; the Cossacks, so often announced, had not yet reached
The Hague; and the small unsupported parties in the neighborhood
of Amsterdam were in daily danger of being cut off.
In this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical
position. On the eve of failure, and with the certainty, in such
a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose rashness
had drawn down ruin on themselves, their families, and their
country, it required no common share of fortitude to bear up
against the danger that threatened them. Aware of its extent,
they calmly and resolutely opposed it; and each seemed to vie
with the others in energy and firmness.
The anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible height.
Every shifting of the wind was watched with nervous agitation.
The road from The Hague to the sea was constantly covered with
a crowd of every age and sex. Each sail that came in sight was
watched and examined with intense interest; and at length, on the
26th of November, a small boat was seen to approach the shore,
and the inquiring glances of the observers soon discovered that
it contained an Englishman. This individual, who had come over
on a mercantile adventure, landed amid the loudest acclamation,
and was conducted by the populace in triumph to the governor's.
Dressed in an English volunteer uniform, he showed himself in
every part of the town, to the great delight of the people, who
hailed him as the precursor and type of an army of deliverers.
The French soon retreated before the marvellous exaggerations
which the coming of this single Englishman gave rise to. The
Dutch displayed great ability in the transmission of false
intelligence to the enemy. On the 27th Mr. Fagel arrived from
England with a letter from the Prince of Orange, announcing his
immediate coming; and finally, the disembarkation of two hundred
English marines, on the 29th, was followed the next day by the
landing of the prince, whose impatience to throw himself into the
open arms of his country made him spurn every notion of risk and
every reproach for rashness. He was received with indescribable
enthusiasm. The generous flame rushed through the whole country.
No bounds were set to the affectionate confidence of the nation,
and no prince ever gave a nobler example of gratitude. As the
people everywhere proclaimed William I. sovereign prince, it
was proposed that he should everywhere assume that title. It
was, however, after some consideration, decided that no step of
this nature should be taken till his most serene highness had
visited the capital. On the 1st of December the prince issued a
proclamation to his countrymen, in which he states his hopes of
becoming, by the blessing of Providence, the means of restoring
them to their former state of independence and prosperity. "This,"
continued he, "is my only object; and I have the satisfaction of
assuring you that it is also the object of the combined powers.
This is particularly the wish of the prince regent and the British
nation; and it will be proved to you by the succor which that
powerful people will immediately afford you, and which will, I
hope, restore those ancient bonds of alliance and friendship which
were a source of prosperity and happiness to both countries." This
address being distributed at Amsterdam, a proclamation, signed
by the commissioners of the confederate patriots, was published
there the same day. It contained the following passages, remarkable
as being the first authentic declaration of the sovereignty
subsequently conferred on the Prince of Orange: "The uncertainty
which formerly existed as to the executive power will no longer
paralyze your efforts. It is not William, the sixth stadtholder,
whom the nation recalls, without knowing what to hope or expect
from him; but William I. who offers himself as sovereign prince
of this free country." The following day, the 2d of December,
the prince made his entry into Amsterdam. He did not, like some
other sovereigns, enter by a breach through the constitutional
liberties of his country, in imitation of the conquerors from
the Olympic games, who returned to the city by a breach in its
walls: he went forward borne on the enthusiastic greetings of
his fellow-countrymen, and meeting their confidence by a full
measure of magnanimity. On the 3d of December he published an
address, from which we shall quote one paragraph: "You desire,
Netherlands! that I should be intrusted with a greater share
of power than I should have possessed but for my absence. Your
confidence, your affection, offer me the sovereignty; and I am
called upon to accept it, since the state of my country and the
situation of Europe require it. I accede to your wishes. I overlook
the difficulties which may attend such a measure; I accept the
offer which you have made me; but I accept it only on one
condition--that it shall be accompanied by a wise constitution,
which shall guarantee your liberties and secure them against
every attack. My ancestors sowed the seeds of your independence:
the preservation of that independence shall be the constant object
of the efforts of myself and those around me."