810, he
signed the deed by which he laid down his crown in favour of his elder
son, Napoleon Louis, under the guardianship of Queen Hortense. He then
left the country, and retired into Bohemia.

To this disposition of the kingdom Napoleon, who had already made up his
mind, paid not the slightest heed. On July 9 an Imperial Decree
incorporated Holland in the French empire. "Holland," said the emperor,
"being formed by the deposits of three French rivers, the Rhine, the
Meuse and the Scheldt, was by nature a part of France." Not till January
1, 1811, was the complete incorporation to take place; meanwhile Le
Brun, Duke of Piacenza, a man of 72 years of age, was sent to Amsterdam
to be governor-general during the period of transition. It was a wise
appointment, as Le Brun was a man of kindly disposition, ready to listen
to grievances and with an earnest desire to carry out the transformation
of the government in a conciliatory spirit. With him was associated, as
Intendant of Home Affairs, Baron D'Alphonse, like himself of moderate
views, and a Council of Ministers. A deputation of twenty-two persons
from the Legislative Assembly was summoned to Paris for consultation
with the Imperial Government. To Amsterdam was given the position of the
third city in the empire, Paris being the first and Rome the second. The
country was divided into nine departments--Bouches de l'Escaut, Bouches
de la Meuse, Bouches du Rhin, Zuiderzee, Issel superieur, Bouches de
Issel, Frise, Ems Occidental and Ems Oriental. Over the departments, as
in France, were placed _prefets_ and under them _sous-prefets_ and
_maires_. All the _prefets_ now appointed were native Dutchmen with the
exception of two, De Celles at Amsterdam and De Standaart at the Hague;
both were Belgians and both rendered themselves unpopular by their
efforts to gain Napoleon's favour by a stringent enforcement of his
orders. The Dutch representation in the Legislative Assembly at Paris
was fixed at twenty-five members; in the Senate at six members. When
these took their seats, the Council of Affairs at Amsterdam was
dissolved and at the same time the _Code Napoleon_ unmodified became
the law of the land.

Napoleon's demands upon Holland had always been met with the reply that
the land's finances were unequal to the strain. The debt amounted to
40,000,000 fl.; and, despite heavy taxation, there was a large annual
deficit in the budget. The emperor at once took action to remedy this