rand-Duchy was made one of the states of the Germanic
Confederation; and the town of Luxemburg was declared to be a federal
fortress, the garrison to consist of Prussian and Dutch detachments
under a Prussian commandant. There was a double object in this
transaction: (1) to preserve to the Grand-Duke his rights and
privileges as a German prince, (2) to secure the defence of this
important borderland against French attack. Another complication
arose from the fact that in the 14th century the House of Nassau had
been divided into two branches, Walram and Otto, the younger branch
being that of which the Prince of Orange was the head. But by a
family-pact[9], agreed upon in 1735 and renewed in 1783, the
territorial possessions of either line in default of male-heirs had to
pass to the next male-agnate of the other branch. This pact therefore,
by virtue of the exchange that had taken place, applied to the new
Grand-Duchy. It is necessary here to explain what took place in some
detail, for this arbitrary wrenching of Luxemburg from its historical
position as an integral part of the Netherlands was to have serious
and disconcerting consequences in the near future.

The new kingdom of the Netherlands naturally included Luxemburg, so that
William was a loser rather than a gainer by the cession of his Nassau
possessions; but his close relation by descent and marriage with the
Prussian Royal House made him anxious to meet the wishes of a power on
whose friendship he relied. All evidence also points to the conclusion
that in accepting the personal sovereignty of the Grand-Duchy he had
no intention of treating Luxemburg otherwise than as part of his
kingdom. The Fundamental Law was made to apply to Luxemburg, in the same
way as to Brabant or Flanders; and of the 55 members allotted to the
Belgic provinces, four were representatives of the Grand-Duchy, which
was subject to the same legislation and taxes as the kingdom. At first
the king had thought of nominating his second son Frederick as his
successor in Luxemburg, but he changed his mind and gave him an
indemnity elsewhere; and he himself states the reason, "since we have
judged it advisable _(convenable)_ in the general interest of the
kingdom to unite the Grand-Duchy to it and to place it under the same
constitutional laws."

The boundaries of the new kingdom and of the Grand-Duchy
were fixed by the treaty of May 31, 1815, and confirmed by the
General Act of the Congress of Vi