Country was placed, might imperatively demand; but 1830 that if, contrary to all his hopes and expectations, it should eventually be determined to impose upon him an arrangement or conditions, to which he could not subscribe consistently with was due to his own honour, and the interests and welfare of his People, he must, in that case, reserve to himself the right of refusing to adhere to them; and that, relying upon Providence, and the patriotism and exertions of his Dutch Subjects, he should then endeavour to extricate himself as well as he could, by his own means, from the difficulties with which he was surrounded. The Netherland Plenipotentiaries are directed to give the most unqualified denial to the assertions made by the Belgian Government, that the Sluices which discharge the drainage of Flandres have been closed, and to declare that no inundation whatever has been made by means of these Sluices, or that, in point of fact, it exists. I have the honour, etc. CHARLES BAGOT. XXIX. Dépêche de Sir Charles Bagot au Vicomte de The Hague, the 31th December 1830. My Lord, The Messenger Fricker arrived here at 7 o'clock yesterday evening, and delivered to me your Despatches, transmitting to me Copies of the 6th and 8th Protocols of the Conferences held in London on the Affairs of The Netherlands, and of the Papers thereunto annexed. I Within an hour after the arrival of the Messenger, I had an opportunity of assembling the Ministers of the 5 Powers at this Court, and of communicating to them the Letter addressed to them by the Plenipotentiaries in London, I have since furnished them with authenticated Copies of the Protocol to which that Letter refere. It was last night agreed between us, that, in 1830 order to save as much time as possible, and to enabl M. de Verstolk to bring it today before the Counci which meets every afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Pa lace, I should early this morning communicate to him confidentially, the 8th Protocol, and that I should the request him to appoint a time, at which the Minister of the 5 Powers might jointly deliver it to him in more formal manner. M. de Verstolk appointed 8 o'clock this evening for this purpose and my Colleagues and I are jus returned from the interview with him, at which w have made to him the communication required by th Plenipotentiaries, and at which he has informed u that the King hopes that the Instructions sent 3 day ago to his Ambassador in London, will be found t have anticipated in a great degree, it not entirely, al the objects of the Conference of the 27th instant; bu that, as he had already stated to us upon more tha one occasion, His, Majesty was of opinion that th Conferences upon the affairs of this Country, having been once established in London, and the Netherlan Plenipotentiaries being now there, His Majesty coul not consent to treat those affairs in different places and with different Ministers, and that it was therefor not in his power to enter with us into the matter o the Protocol which we had communicated to him, of to do more than receive it at our hands for the King's information. I must presume, that any additional Instructions which the communication of this Protocol will have made necessary, will be forwarded to M. Falck and M. de Zuylen, by the Courier whom M. Verstolk despatches to them by this Packet; but it may serve to give your Lordship some idea of the difficulty, I might almost say the impossibility, of treating with this Government upon the points now in negotiation with them, and in their present disposition, when I 'state, that, notwith standing all the endeavours made by my Colleagues and myself, in an interview which lasted more than an hour, it was absolutely impossible to draw from M. de Verstolk any opinion whatever upon the different points upon which we severably questioned him, or to drive him from the ground which he had taken, of refusing to discuss any of the points to which we adverted, otherwise than with the Plenipotentiaries of the 5 Pow- 1830 ers through His Netherland Majesty's Ambassadors in London. The only information which we have derived from our interview is, I am sorry to say, of a nature which seems likely to throw again fresh obstacles in the way of a speedy termination of the labours of the Plenipotentiaries. I had certainly understood that, in fixing the 20th of next month as the day on which the navigation of the Scheldt should be re-opened, it was intended that this period should be absolute. The French Chargé d'Affaires, to whom M. de Verstolk had, upon 2 occasions, announced the fact, was under the same impression, and had written to his Court accordingly. Something having been said in the course of the conversation this evening, which seemed to raise a doubt upon the subject, Monsieur de la Rochefoucauld, in the presence of the other Ministers, put the question to M. de Verstolk, who stated, to our surprise, that he must have been misunderstood, and that the opening the Scheldt on the 20th of next month was still intended, as he conceived to be dependent upon the arrangement by that time of those points which M. Falck and M. de Zuylen were directed by their last Instructions to invite the Plenipotentiaries to adjust. I am the more anxious to lose no time in stating this circumstance to your Lordship, as the French Government may possibly found some Instructions to M. de Talleyrand upon the Report which they will receive from M. de Rochefoucauld, who was, equally with myself, fully persuaded, till this evening, that, under no circumstances whatever, the navigation of the Scheldt would be kept closed by this Government beyond the day named by M. de Verstolk. I have, etc. CHARLES BAGOT. Note verbale du gouvernement Belge à L Le Président et les Membres du Comité Di matique ayant eu l'honneur de recevoir de Lord P sonby et M. Bresson, par une Note Verbale du Décembre, 1830, Copie certifiée du Protocole d Conférence tenue à Londres le 20 Décembre, leurs Excellences les Plénipotentiaires des 5 Gran Puissances, et d'une Lettre qui l'accompagne, date du mème jour, se font un devoir d'y donner réponse suivante. Il leur a paru que la levée du Blocus, et la li Navigation de l'Escaut, étant la condition princip de l'Armistice, et même de la suspension d'armes consentie le 21 Novembre, la première tâche que taient proposée les 5 Grandes Puissances n'était encore remplie. L'équilibre de l'Europe peut encore être asst et la paix générale maintenue, en rendant la Belgi indépendante, forte, et heureuse; si la Belgique sans force et sans bonheur, le nouvel arrangement quel on pourrait recourir, serait menacé du sort la combinaison politique de 1815. La Belgique indépendante a sans doute sa p des devoirs Européens à remplir; mais on concert difficilement quelles obligations ont pu résulter po elle de Traités auxquels elle est restée étrangère. Les Commissaires envoyés à Londres sont ma d'Instructions suffisantes pour être entendus sur tou les affaires de la Belgique, et ne pourront lais ignorer à la Conférence, que dans les circonstan imminentes où se trouve le Peuple Belge, il parait sans doute, impossible que la Belgique constitue Etat indépendant, sans la garantie immediate de liberté de l'Escaut, de la possession de la rive gauc de ce Fleuve, de la Province de Limbourg en enti et du Grand Duché de Luxemboug, sauf ses relatio avec la Confédération Germanique. Leurs Excellences les Plénipotentiaires des Grandes Puissances concevront facilement, d'apr les Rapports qu'ont pu faire Lord Ponsonby et M. 1831 Bresson, la position critique du Pays, et l'impossibilité de prolonger cet état d'incertitude. Le Président et les Membres du Comité Diplomatique prient Lord Ponsonby et M. Bresson d'agréer, etc. XXXI. Note adressée à la Conférence de Londres par les Plénipotentiaires des Pays-Bas, en date du 4 Janvier 1831. Londres, le 4 Janvier 1830. Les Soussignés, Plénipotentiaires de la Cour des Pays-Bas, ont été chargés de demander l'insertion au Protocole de la Déclaration qui suit. Le Roi des Pays-Bas a appris avec une douleur profonde, la détermination prise à l'égard de la Belgique par Messieurs les Plénipotentiaires d'Autriche, de France, de la Grande Bretagne, de Prusse, et de Russie, réunis en Conférence à Londres, le 20 Décembre, 1830, et exprimée dans le Protocole du dit jour communiqué à son Ambassadeur. Comme Roi, appelé à veiller au bien-être d'une fraction de la Population Européenne, Sa Majesté a été vivement affectée de remarquer que les complications survenues en Europe ont paru tellement graves, qu'on a jugé devoir, comme unique remède, sanctionner les résultats d'une révolte, qui ne fut provoquée par aucun motif legitime, et compromettre ainsi la stabilité de tous les Trônes, l'ordre social de tous les Etats, et le bonheur, le repos, et la prospérité, de tous les Peuples. Indépendamment de la solidarité établie entre les divers Membres du Systême Européen, Sa Majesté, Comme Souverain du Royaume des Pays-Bas, y a trouvé une atteinte portée à ses droits. la Si le Traité de Paris de 1814 mit la Belgique à disposition des Hauts Alliées, ceux-ci, du moment où ils eurent fixé le sort des Provinces Belges, renoncèrent, d'après la Loi des Nations, à la faculté de revenir sur leur ouvrage, et la dissolution des liens |