Belgium Independence Proclaimed

Today’s installment concludes Revolution in Belgium,
our selection from an article in Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 16 by Thomas Colley Grattan published in 1905.

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Previously in Revolution in Belgium.

Time: 1830

The news of the heroic defense of Brussels was borne across the frontiers in every direction, and, while it created in Holland consternation and rage, it caused unbounded joy in France. Several of the runaway members of the Committee of Public Safety were assembled at Valenciennes, where they had been joined by Louis de Potter, one of the early causes and victims of government severity, who had hurried from Paris, and now waited with Vandeweyer and some others, not to mix in the mêlée and take chance with the country they had roused to resistance, but to “await the triumph and partake of the gale.” The first of those who repassed the frontiers was Gendebien, a man of energy and nerve, notwithstanding his recent flight, led away by the bad example of his colleagues. The others followed; the generous people of Brussels, drowning resentment and reproach in the shouts of victory, and feeling the urgent necessity of union, consented to the nomination of D’Hoogvorst, Gendebien, and Vandeweyer, as joint members of the Provisional Government, with Charles Rogier and Jolly, to whose intrepid firmness the preservation of order had been entirely owing. To maintain a show of aristocratic support the name of Count Felix de Merode was added, but he did not reappear from his hiding place for some days after the expulsion of the Dutch.

Thousands upon thousands crowded into Brussels, as soon as the attacking army had fairly retreated, to view the different places of combat, to gaze on the shattered buildings, the torn-up and lacerated trees, the smoking ruins, the barricades and batteries, and above all to see the heroic defenders, some living the quay, and bringing to bear a combination of nearly one hundred pieces of cannon.

This was unquestionably one of the most important events of the Revolution. Had the Belgian volunteers not been checked in their triumphant career, they would certainly have crossed the frontiers and have overrun Holland altogether. But although the Revolution was by this catastrophe paralyzed in its most important extremities, the vital principle of national independence was untouched. And it was perhaps favorable for its preservation that the inflated valor of the people, from which it apprehended its greatest risks, should have met this great, but not the most serious, check.

Meanwhile the Prince of Orange had returned to The Hague, under circumstances the most mortifying, unthought of amid the rejoicing which the vindictive people indulged in in honor of their avenger Chassé; and the heir to the throne took possession, almost by stealth, of the homely residence, that presented so humiliating a contrast to the splendid palace which by no fault of his he had forever lost at Brussels. The stirring interest of the Belgian Revolution expired amid the embers of the conflagration of Antwerp. The social and political disruption was complete. Violence and the force of arms had done their work. To reorganize the materials of this moral chaos was the business of diplomacy; and under its tutelage the destinies of the country immediately passed.

Belgium having thrown off the yoke of Holland had now to decide between two alternatives: a republic, leading to a junction with France and a general war; or an independent monarchy, and negotiation. The latter of these was chosen; and from the moment her decision was known, she became identified with the interests of Europe, as she had been already ad mitted to its sympathies. The first great object of the Provisional Government was to put the country in harmony with the great powers, and then to proceed to the arrangement of several serious topics of domestic importance. Missions were dispatched to Paris and London; but a great want of competent persons was evident from the first. The lucky accident of an acquaintance with the English language was allowed to stand in the stead of higher qualifications in the individuals chosen for the latter place. But the dearth of talent and the lack of station in the plebeian agitators, thrown to the surface by the late commotions, were for a long-time serious obstacles to their success.

On November 10th the National Congress, which had been summoned some weeks previously, began its sittings; and its business commenced by an address from De Potter, who represented the Provisional Government.

On the 18th the Congress unanimously proclaimed the independence of Belgium. On the 22nd it decreed, by a majority of one hundred seventy-four votes against thirteen, that the form of the government should be monarchical. Other important measures were passed within a few months of busy and turbulent discussion. The perpetual exclusion of the Nassaus, the adoption of the constitution, and the election of a sovereign were the other great questions on which the fate of the country hinged; and they were all debated, and decided in accordance with the convictions of Europe at large.

On November 4th the Conference of London, composed of representatives of the five great powers, commenced their long series of protocols, which began by pronouncing the existence of an armistice between Holland and Belgium, and assigning the same boundaries to the two States as existed before the union; that is to say, before the Treaty of Paris of May 30, 1814. By a protocol of December 20, 1830, the conference pronounced the dissolution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Several circumstances occurred in rapid succession and of almost miraculous coincidence, in favor of the new State still struggling on to independence. The first was the singular want of sense, spirit, and common powers of calculation, which hurled De Potter from his eminence to the lowest level, political and personal; until, within a few weeks from his triumphal entry into Brussels, he was driven from its gates, reviled and unpitied, an outcast too happy to escape with his life. The second was the unlooked for forbearance of Louis Philippe (no matter from what source it sprang), making him repress the national longing of all France to seize on Belgium, as a recovered portion of its territory. The third was the breaking out of the Polish Revolution, November 29, 1830, turning the attention, and calling for the whole force the Prince of Orange having a horse killed under him, and one of King Leopold’s aides-de-camp being wounded by his side, in the thickest of the fight.

This battle of Louvain, like the bombardment of Antwerp by General Chassé, had a highly salutary effect on the character of the Belgian nation. Had it not been for these checks to their overweening pride, which may be fairly pardoned in consideration of their great successes, Leopold would have found it perhaps impossible to govern the country with the ease he did. The influence of his firm yet forbearing temperament has been immense on a people at once so susceptible and so reflective. The wisdom of his administration produced the happiest effects; shown forth in the return to tranquility and order; in commercial, agricultural, and manufacturing enterprise; and in the establishment of a solid and to all appearances a lasting system of prosperity.

This ends our series of passages on Revolution in Belgium by Thomas Colley Grattan from an article in Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 16 published in 1905. This blog features short and lengthy pieces on all aspects of our shared past. Here are selections from the great historians who may be forgotten (and whose work have fallen into public domain) as well as links to the most up-to-date developments in the field of history and of course, original material from yours truly, Jack Le Moine. – A little bit of everything historical is here.

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