preliminaries of the XVIII Articles (June 26), leaving both the question of Luxemburg and that of Maastricht in suspense, preserving the military status quo, so that the Belgians retained possession of the territory of Luxemburg, and ordering negotiations about the Duchy between Holland and the German Confederation on the one hand, and Belgium on the other. The preliminaries gave satisfaction to France in so far as the new sovereign was no member of the German Confederation. The French Government, and King Louis Philippe himself, had informed Talleyrand that this sovereign could not in any way join the Confederation:

'It is necessary (wrote the Government) that this ruler should throughout his kingdom be entirely free towards the Powers; this necessity is but the inevitable consequence of the principle of neutrality laid down by the Conference in favour of Belgium. The complete independence of the Belgian crown is to us a question of alliances and of frontiers.' In his speech from the throne (July 24), King Louis Philippe laid stress on this fact, and interpreted it as an important success for his diplomacy.

The King of Holland's refusal to adhere to the XVIII Articles, and his sudden attack on Belgium early in August 1831, turned the Powers against him; but the quick successes of his troops, which were stopped only by the rapid and vigorous advance of a French army, proved the undeniable superiority of the military organisation of Holland over that of Belgium, which was only in its beginnings. The Conference of London, acting as an arbitration court, settled all problems relating to Belgium on its own authority, and decided, by the XXIV Articles, to hand the fortress of Maastricht to the King of Holland, and that of Luxemburg to the German Confederation. King William I obtained a considerable extension of territory by the cession of the northern and eastern half of Limburg, including what was formerly Belgian Guelderland, which connected Maastricht with Dutch territory. He had himself suggested to the representative of Prussia, at the Conference of London, the exchange of the western half of the province of Luxemburg for these districts. This arrangement had already been produced in the course

of the negotiations between Prince Leopold and the Conference, and it agreed with the wishes of the British Cabinet, which wanted Holland to be strong enough to resist a possible French attack. Lord Grey declared in the House of Lords (Oct. 18) that it was 'England's interest to provide first for the defensive position of Holland, and then, in the second place, to assure to Belgium the advantages of an independent nation.'

For France, also, this combination was of considerable advantage, as her northern border was better covered through the extension of the neutralised territory in the western half of Luxemburg. Longwy and Verdun were no longer directly threatened by Luxemburg. This was Louis Philippe's reward for his decisive intervention in the Dutch-Belgian war. Sebastiani wished to secure some compensations for Belgium in what is called Zealand-Flanders, at the mouth of the Scheldt, but Périer, whose chief concern was the maintenance of peace, let the matter drop. 'What does it matter,' wrote Dalberg, one of his colleagues, on Oct. 3, 1831, 'whether the Belgians have a few villages more or less? The main point is that peace should be preserved.' So it came about that Belgium was deprived of all means of defence on the east, and lost a territory equal in extent to two of its provinces. As Louis Philippe afterwards admitted in a letter to Leopold I, 'the possession of the fortresses of Maastricht and Luxemburg by Belgium's neighbours makes the defence of the Belgian provinces of Limburg and Luxemburg impossible.' The Powers had agreed to prevent Belgium from acquiring solidity sufficient for military resistance; they lessened her capacity for defence, because they believed that neutrality afforded her sufficient protection. Most of the statesmen of the time completely overlooked the principle once laid down by Wellington:

"The Powers of Europe are to guarantee this independence and neutrality. Are these advantages to depend only upon the good faith with which each is expected to perform his engagements? Must it not likewise depend upon the ability of the guaranteed Power to protect itself?'

The XXIV Articles were in November 1831 turned into a treaty without any alteration in their territorial

provisions, but the King of Holland refused to adhere to it. Belgium, therefore, remained temporarily in possession of all Luxemburg, except the federal fortress, the garrison of which was again placed on a peace footing on Oct. 27. The small federal contingents posted there returned to their respective countries, but the King of Prussia immediately ordered the commander of the Rhine corps to supply reinforcements, if necessary, to the Prussian troops stationed in Luxemburg.

The status quo continued till 1839, when the King of Holland finally decided to subscribe to the XXIV Articles. Notwithstanding the efforts made by the Belgian Government, and especially by Leopold I, to obtain an extension of territory, the Governments of France and England would not revise those provisions, because they were afraid of disturbing the balance of Europe. Louis Philippe and Queen Victoria pressed King Leopold to submit to a renunciation of the Limburg and Luxemburg territories denied him by the Powers in 1831. Leopold did not omit to acquaint the two sovereigns who were friendly to Belgium with the inconveniences caused to his country by the arrangements forced on her,' and with the humiliation felt at her 'so-called political independence.' He wrote to Queen Victoria (April 19, 1839) : 'It is very melancholy . . . to see, after eight years of hard work, blooming and thriving political plantations cut and maimed, and that by those who have a real interest in protecting them. . .

6

During the transition period 1831-1839, the Prussian commander of the garrison of Luxemburg distinguished himself by his brutality and arbitrary ways. He repeatedly extended the boundary of the fortress till it reached a radius of four leagues, and thus multiplied the occasions of quarrelling with the Belgian authorities. One day he ordered a Belgian to be flogged, pretending that he had advised a Prussian soldier to desert-this method of repression, Treitschke remarks, was very beneficent. Another time, he caused a whole squad of Belgian custom-house guards to be imprisoned because they were acting within the radius of the fortress. He frequently prevented recruits from the vicinity of Luxemburg from joining their regiments. It was no wonder, then, the black and white colours of Prussia,

which had for nine years defied the Belgian tricolour, appeared to the Luxemburgers as a symbol of tyranny, as Treitschke himself admits, while the city of Luxemburg itself suffered from the isolation in which it had all that time been kept by its Prussian garrison.

In later years, wher the National Anthem of the Grand Duchy was composed, after the Dutch sovereign had granted a separate constitution to its inhabitants, an indissoluble connexion was felt to exist between patriotism and the hatred of Prussia. The refrain at first was: We want to remain what we are,' but instead of this the public sing: 'We don't want to be Prussians.' Treitschke ruefully remarks, in vol. iv of his History of Germany in the 19th Century,' which he concluded in 1889, that anti-Prussian demonstrations were multiplying there with ever-increasing success. Natives of the Grand Duchy have never to this day been wholly foreigners in Belgium; they often join the Belgian army, and many are serving with the colours in the present war. They are also numerous in other public services, particularly in the State schools, where their command of French and German makes them useful. The Grand Duchy, having no university of its own, sends many students to the Belgian universities; as its civil law still is the Code Napoléon, its lawyers must be trained in legal Faculties where that Code is being taught, viz. those of Belgium or France. The official language is French.

As may well be guessed, the Luxemburgers' hatred of Prussian tyranny has not been lessened by the late disastrous invasion of their country, and they desire a peace that will free them from the incubus of German militarism. They look forward to being in some way reunited to the old Belgian motherland from which they were torn by force, and against the will of the people.

H. VANDER LINDEN.