ribute towards their defence. These provisions were
embodied in two protocols which were issued at London on January 20 and
27, 1831. As compared with the _status quo_ the Dutch were slightly the
gainers. The protocol permitted them to keep Maastricht and Luxemburg,
but required them to abandon the citadel of Antwerp; while the Belgians
were required to surrender those less important places which they had
occupied in Dutch Limburg and in the grand duchy of Luxemburg.
Talleyrand considered the present a favourable opportunity for claiming
for France the cession of Mariembourg and Philippeville which she had
been compelled to surrender to the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815.
Palmerston, however, absolutely refused to hear of any extension of
French territory, for fear of imperilling the security of Europe. The
two protocols were accepted by Holland on February 13 but rejected by
Belgium. Though Talleyrand had signed the protocol of January 20, it was
repudiated by Sebastiani, the French foreign minister, on the ground
that the object of the conference was to effect a mediation, not to
dictate a settlement.

[Pageheading: _BELGIUM CHOOSES A KING._]

Meanwhile the national congress at Brussels had attempted to elect a
king. At first the most favoured candidate was Auguste Beauharnais, Duke
of Leuchtenberg, the grandson of Napoleon's first consort. Louis
Philippe naturally objected to the establishment on his frontier of a
prince so closely connected with the house of Bonaparte. The pliant
Belgians accordingly transferred their preference to the Duke of
Nemours, the second son of Louis Philippe. It was in vain that
Sebastiani declared that France could not allow such a selection, as it
would be interpreted by the powers as evidence of a French design to
reincorporate Belgium in France. On February 3, 1831, the Duke of
Nemours was actually elected king by the Belgian national congress. But
the conference of London had, two days earlier, adopted a resolution,
excluding from the Belgian throne all members of the reigning dynasties
of the five powers. Still there was a strong party in France, including
Laffitte, the revolutionary premier, who advocated the claims of
Nemours. Louis Philippe, however, stood firm on the side of European
peace, and on the 17th definitively declined the crown offered to his
son. The French now recommended the Prince of Naples, but the Belgians
declined to accept him, and on the 25th the national