The Prince of Orange Enters Brussels

He now came forward from the ranks of his devoted army, to throw himself alone among a host of armed and inveterate enemies, in fulfilment of his promise, and under the sole guarantee of his innocence and courage.

Continuing Revolution in Belgium,
our selection from an article in Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 16 by Thomas Colley Grattan published in 1905. The selection is presented in seven easy 5-minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in Revolution in Belgium.

Time: 1830
Place: Brussels

On August 29th the Prince of Orange, charged by the King with a temporizing mission, and his brother Prince Frederick, entrusted with the command of the troops, arrived at Antwerp, and on the following day their headquarters were established at Vilvorde, within five miles of Brussels. By this time the excitement within the capital had reached a very high pitch, influenced by the Jesuitical answers of the King to the various deputations which had been sent to him from Liège and other places, the concentration of an army close to the walls, the insulting tone of the Dutch journals, and the vague and suspicious wording of the proclamation issued by the Princes from Antwerp on the morning of the 30th.

Several interviews took place at Vilvorde during that and the following day between the Prince of Ligne and other representatives of the citizens of Brussels. After some animated discussions the Prince of Orange, yielding to the entreaties of the deputation, pledged his word that he would enter Brussels the following day attended solely by three or four officers of his staff, Prince Frederick engaging to remain at Vilvorde with the troops.

The following morning, September 1st, at daybreak, a proclamation of the Regency announced the news to the people, and a number of the Burgher Guard was required, at ten o’clock, to meet the Prince and escort him into the city. Before eleven, not less than eight thousand men were assembled on their parade ground in the Grande Place, in their respective divisions and under the standard of Brabant. A finer body of volunteers, perhaps, was never collected in arms, even in the palmy days of Flemish freedom, when struggles, not dissimilar to the present, were so common between the burghers of the various cities and their feudal chiefs. Nor did the old and picturesque towers of the Town Hall, and the Gothic structures which surround it, ever witness a more stirring display than this rival exhibition of the many grand historical scenes which had been acted there.

But this day is more particularly memorable as forming an epoch of individual heroism almost without parallel, which proved that though the days of chivalry are gone their spirit still exists. To understand the extent to which that quality was displayed by the Prince of Orange on this occasion it must be borne in mind that, independently of the odium he shared in common with his father, as a Dutchman and a Nassau, he was also the brother-in-law of the Autocrat of Russia, and thus identified with the system of foreign influence, to shake off which those armed thousands stood in serried ranks; and that he was at that moment laboring under a load of personal calumny of the most base and brutal kind, propagated by the Belgian press. In defiance of all this, he now came forward from the ranks of his devoted army, to throw himself alone among a host of armed and inveterate enemies, in fulfilment of his promise, and under the sole guarantee of his innocence and courage.

Every arrangement of the day was made for the purpose of appalling as well as humiliating him. A treble line of bayonets bristled along the streets. Barricades were left standing to embarrass his path. A band of savage-looking men, bare-armed, and carrying knives, pikes, and hatchets, headed the column which received him beyond the gates; and strict orders were given, and frequently repeated as he came on, for the observance of a stern look and total silence throughout the whole array. The manner in which the gallant Prince conducted himself through this trying scene, the unfeeling reception given to him, and the perils he encountered on that day found a prominent place in the history of the times and form an episode of no small interest.

Repeated conferences, between the Prince and the members of a committee chosen by him from among the principal persons then in Brussels, consumed two days and nights. After much discussion as to the best means to use for conciliating the Government at The Hague and the people in Belgium, it was decided that the Prince should remove from Brussels with the whole of the regular garrison, leaving the entire control of the place in the hands of the citizens. At the moment of his departure with the troops there was a confident hope that the King, yielding to his representation of the true state of things, would have consented to a prompt and effectual legislative separation between Holland and Belgium; but not a notion was put forward, nor, as we believe, conceived, of the total independence of Belgium under any form of government whatever.

To the Prince’s further honor, it must be mentioned that during these two days he was repeatedly urged to place himself at the head of the movement, as his father’s self-named viceroy, and thus identify himself with the cause of Belgium. This he at once declined as inconsistent with his duty both as a son and a subject. He saw the necessity for a separation; and, had his advice been followed, the monarchy had certainly been saved and the Nassaus had still ruled in Belgium. But such a measure was never contemplated by the King. He indeed pretended to take it into consideration but, in flagrant violation of justice and humanity, he sent a powerful army to attack Brussels even while the States-General was debating the wisdom or impolicy of the measure of separation, which the expected success of that attack was intended to set completely at rest.

The mission of the Prince of Orange only raised against him a spirit of odious virulence in the Dutch people. More desirous even than the Belgians for the separation required by the latter, they could not tolerate him who admitted the justice of the claim, although he had risked his life and compromised his dignity for conciliation’s sake. They would have been well pleased that a separation from Belgium should have been of their own prompting. But to concede it was gall and wormwood to their pride; and they consequently called loudly for the suppression of the revolt before the Legislature might entertain proposals of which the Prince was the bearer and the conscientious advocate.

In the meantime, the chief towns of Belgium were successively following the example of the capital by loudly demanding a legislative separation between the Northern and Southern divisions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Some tumultuous proceedings took place and, as was to be expected, the exasperation caused by the King’s policy forced the people into strong measures for the furtherance of what had now become the general desire. Political clubs were formed; the language of the newspapers became more violent; and a “committee of safety” was decided on, a moderate title for the executive, which left everything open for the resumption of authority by a legally constituted government.

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