nment in the chief branches
of its administration were completely fixed. The Prince of Orange
and the plenipotentiaries of the great allied powers covenanted
by this treaty: first, that the union of the two portions forming
the kingdom of the Netherlands should be as perfect as possible,
forming one state, governed in conformity with the fundamental law
of Holland, which might be modified by common consent; secondly,
that religious liberty, and the equal right of citizens of all
persuasions to fill all the employments of the state, should
be maintained; thirdly, that the Belgian provinces should be
fairly represented in the assembly of the states-general, and
that the sessions of the states in time of peace should be held
alternately in Belgium and in Holland; fourthly and fifthly, that
all the commercial privileges of the country should be common
to the citizens at large; that the Dutch colonies should be
considered as belonging equally to Belgium; and, finally, that
the public debt of the two countries, and the expenses of its
interest, should be borne in common.

We shall now briefly recapitulate some striking points in the
materials which were thus meant to be amalgamated. Holland, wrenched
from the Spanish yoke by the genius and courage of the early
princes of Orange, had formed for two centuries an independent
republic, to which the extension of maritime commerce had given
immense wealth. The form of government was remarkable. It was
composed of seven provinces, mutually independent of each other.
These provinces possessed during the Middle Ages constitutions
nearly similar to that of England: a sovereign with limited power;
representatives of the nobles and commons, whose concurrence
with the prince was necessary for the formation of laws; and,
finally, the existence of municipal privileges, which each town
preserved and extended by means of its proper force. This state
of things had known but one alteration--but that a mighty one--the
forfeiture of Philip II. at the latter end of the sixteenth century,
and the total abolition of monarchical power.

The remaining forms of the government were hardly altered; so
that the state was wholly regulated by its ancient usages; and,
like some Gothic edifice, its beauty and solidity were perfectly
original, and different from the general rules and modern theories
of surrounding nations. The country loved its liberty such as
it found it, and not in the fashion of any Uto