ally represented,
which on April 22 met under the presidency of Van Hogendorp. Their
activity was sharpened by the threat of French invasion, and in three
months (July 18) their difficult task was accomplished. The new
Fundamental Law made no change in the autocratic powers conferred on the
king. The executive authority remained wholly in his hands. The
States-General were now to consist of two Chambers, but the First
Chamber was a nominated Chamber. It contained forty to sixty members
appointed by the king for life. The Second Chamber of 110 members,
equally divided between north and south, _i.e._ fifty-five Dutch and
fifty-five Belgian representatives, was elected under a very restricted
franchise by the seventeen provinces into which the whole kingdom was
divided. The ordinary budget was voted for ten years, and it was only
extraordinary expenses which had to be considered annually. The other
provisions strictly followed the principles and the liberties guaranteed
in advance by the Eight Articles.

The new Fundamental Law was presented to the Dutch States-General on
August 8, and was approved by a unanimous vote. Very different was its
reception in Belgium. The king had summoned a meeting of 1603 notables
to Brussels, of these 1323 were present. The majority were hostile. It
had been strongly urged by the Belgian delegates on the Commission that
the Belgic provinces, with three and a half millions of inhabitants,
ought to return to the Second Chamber of the States-General a number of
members proportionately greater than the Dutch provinces, which had
barely two millions. The Dutch on their part argued that their country
had been an independent State for two centuries and possessed a large
colonial empire, while Belgium had always been under foreign rule, and
had now been added to Holland "as an increase of territory." It was
finally arranged, however, that the representation of the northern and
southern portions of the new kingdom should be equal, 55 each. Belgian
public opinion loudly protested, especially as the 55 Belgian deputies
included four representatives of Luxemburg, which had been created a
separate State under the personal rule of King William. Still more
bitter and determined was the opposition of the powerful clerical party
to the principle of religious equality. About 99 per cent, of the
Belgian population was Catholic; and the bishops were very suspicious of
what might be the effect of this principle