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terests of neighbouring Powers, or the general secu- 1830 rity of Europe; but having every motive which a regard for the interests of England can afford, for wishing that Belgium, when separated from Holland, shall continue independent, and become prosperous, they feel that they cannot too strongly urge the Belgians to consider, that a just regard for their own interests, ought to induce them to consult the wishes, and feelings of the Great Powers by which they are surrounded, in settling arrangements which must have an important influence upon the future fate of Belgium. His Majesty's Government therefore trust, that it will not be imputed to any unfriendly feeling, but to sentiments directed by the reserve, if they urge the Belgians to cast aside, in the deliberations which they may hold on these matters, every other consideration, except that of making arrangements, which, while they may provide for the internal happiness and prosperity of Belgium, shall not prove the source of jealousy or alarm to any of the neighbouring Powers.

It is in furtherance of these principles, that you are desired to express to the Provisional Government the entire concurrence of His Majesty's Government in the view taken by His Majesty's Allies, of the unreasonablence and injustice of any attempt on the part of the Belgians to deprive the King of the Netherlands of the Grand Duchy de Luxemburg.

I have already adverted to the right which the King of The Netherlands acquired in that Duchy, anterior to the union of Belgium with Holland, and by virtue of Treaties separate from those by which that

effected; but the Grand Duchy is also a Member of the Germanic Confederation, subject to that system of internal jurisdiction and reciprocal obligation, which solemn Treaties have established with respect to all the Members of that Confederation; and His Majesty's Government would consider any attempt of the Belgians upon that Duchy as an act of aggression which the Confederation would be justly entitled to repel.

In conclusion I have to desire that your Lordship will lose no opportunity of inspiring the Belgian Authorities with a full and just confidence in the friendly dispositions of His Majesty's Government towards the

1830 Belgians; and that you will use your best efforts to convince them, that, subject to the conditions mentioned above, the desire of His Majesty's Government will be to see the independence of Belgium established upon a solid and durable basis, and to open to the Belgian People every source of prosperity to which it may be practicable to give them access.

J am, etc.

XVI.

PALMERSTON.

Dépêche de Sir Charles Bagot au Vicomte de
Palmerston du 3 Décembre 1830. (arrivée à
Londres le 6 Décembre.)

My Lord,

The Hague, 3rd December 1830.

Before this Despatch reaches London, your Lord ship will have received one written by Mr. Cartwright, aud forwarded by a Courier sent to the Prince Talleyrand, by Mr. Bresson, acquainting you with the sudden interruption of the Negotiations at Brussels, in consequence of intelligence received there, that, notwithstanding the King's orders of the 2sth of last month, to raise the Blockade of the Scheldt, Vessels were still prevented from going up to Antwerp. By the same Despatch, your Lordship will have learnt that it was Mr. Cartwright's intention to proceed immediately to The Hague, for the purpose of ascertaining the grounds upon which this prohibition continued to be enforced.

Early this morning, Monsieur d'Hennezel, one of the Secretaries of the French Legation, arrived here from Paris, with a Letter from M. Bresson, which he had received in his passage through Brussels, addressed to the Count de la Rochefoucauld, the French Chargé d'Affaires here, acquainting him with the dif ficulty which had arisen upon this point, and announcing the immediate departure of Mr. Cartwright for The Hague.

Upon the recept of Mr. Bresson's Letter, M. de la Rochefoucauld and J lost no time in calling upon M. Verstolk, and requesting some explanation of the

supposed delay in the execution of the King's orders 1830 in respect to the raising of the Blockade, when, J regret to say that, although M. Verstolk took every thing which we submitted to him for reference to the King, he gave us clearly to understand that a wide distinction was to be taken between the removal of the Naval Blockade of the Coast of Flanders and mouths of the Scheldt, and the removal of those obstacles which the Dutch Government felt that it had a right to impose to the navigation of a River which was within their own Territory, of which they possessed both the Banks, and of which the principal Port was in a state of siege declaring, at the same time, that the navigation of the Scheldt was now only liable to the same interruptions which had existed under an Arrête of the King, issued and enforced prior to the application of the Naval Blockade.

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A few hours after our interview with M. Verstolk, Mr. Cartwright arrived here, and I have only time to acquaint your Lordship by the night's Mail, that, in the conversation which he has just had with M. Verstolk, and at which I was present, we have been led to expect that we shall receive in the course of to morrow morning, the definite answer of the King upon the subject, but I much fear that this answer will not be as satisfactory as we could wish.

I shall write fully to your Lordship upon this subject by the next Mail, but I have to-night merely time to acquaint you with Mr. Cartwright's arrival. I have, etc.

XVII.

CHARLES BAGOT.

Dépêche de Sir Charles Bagot au Vicomte de Palmerston, en date du 5 Décembre 1830 (arrivée à Londres le 10 Décembre 1830).

The Hague, 15th Décember 1830.

My Lord, Referring your Lordship to my Despatch by the last mail, I have now the honour to acquaint you, that M. de Verstolk called upon me yesterday morning, and informed me, that he had reported to the King the conversation which Mr. Cartwright and I

1830 had had with him the preceding evening, upon the subject of the continued interruption of the navigation of the Scheldt, notwithstanding the removal of the maritime Blockade, and the suspension which this interruption had occasioned in the Negotiation of Mr. Cartwright and M. Bresson in Brussels, and that he had been directed by His Majesty to acquaint us that, as it was impossible for him to enter into any direct communication with the Persons exercising authority in Belgium, or to deal with any question which had reference to the present state of affairs in that Country, otherwise than through Plenipotentiaries of the 5 Powers assembled in London, he must decline to give, through Mr. Cartwright, any explanation to the Belgian Authorities upon the point in question.

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Upon receiving this intimation, Mr. Cartwright re turned to Brussels last night, and I presume that Mr. Falck will be instructed, by the mail which conveys this Despatch, to give to the Plenipotentiaries such explanation in the matter as His Majesty may deem requisite.

I have, etc.

XVIII.

མ། །

CHARLES BAGOT.

Dépêche ultérieure de Sir Charles Bagot all Vicomte de Palmerston, en date du 5 Décem bre 1830 (arrivée à Londres le 10 Décembre).

My Lord,

The Hague, 5th December, 1830.

M. de Verstolk, in his Note of the 10th of last month to the Foreign Ministers and myself announced, » que par l'Arrêté Royal du 7 du mois, la côte du Royaume des Pays-Bas appartenante à la Flan dre occidentale avait été déclarée en état de blo cus, avec les Ports qui s'y trouvent, ainsi que ceux d'Anvers et de Gand."

In that which he addressed to us on the 26th of last month, he notified to us that the King,,venait de mettre hors de vigueur le Blocus établi par son Arrêté du 7 Novembre, 1830."

The distinction now taken by the Netherland Government between the maritime Blockade of the Coast

of Flanders, and the removal of those obstacles which 1830 they consider themselves perfectly justified in continuing to oppose to the free navigation of the inland waters of the Country, and, consequently, as it contended, of the Scheldt, may perhaps be just, but it is very certain that no such distinction was generally understood or anticipated, and that, if it is persisted in, it may lead to many serious inconveniences.

Upon that question, however, it is for the Plenipotentiaries of the 5 Powers to decide. The immediate object of this Despatch is to report to your Lordship more fully than I was able to do by the last mail," the language held by M. de Verstolk in the conver sation which M. de la Rochefoucauld, Mr. Cartwright, and I had with him upon the subject the day before yesterday.

When Mr. Cartwright stated to him the_reasons by which he had been induced to come to The Ha gue, and informed him, that, in consequence of the intelligence received at Brussels from Antwerp of the continued interruption of the Navigation of the Scheldt, the Negotiations respecting the Armistice had been immediately suspended, he professed to be entirely in different upon that subject. He declared that the Armistice was no longer a matter of importance in his eyes; that it had been hitherto entirely to the advantage of those who are in arms against their Sovereign, and to the disadvantage of the King; that while His Majesty was precluded from availing himself of that strength, which he was daily acquiring, no guarantee whatever had been afforded to him that the Belgians would not violate the Armistice upon any oc! casion when it might suit their own convenience; that in fact they had already violated it by entering into a part of North Brabant, and that he held at that moment in his hand, a Letter just received by the Minister of War from General Van Geen, stating that the Belgian Troops had continued, since the cessation of hostilities, to assemble in such force at West Wesel, and upon the immediate frontier beyond Breda, that, unless some means were taken to prevent them, his position would be seriously exposed, whenever they might choose to resume hostilities.

He then proceeded to say, that, in addressing

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