The unexpected news of this sudden step came upon the Belgians like a thunderclap.  From every part of the kingdom arose a storm of protest against any surrender of territory.  The people of Luxemburg and Limburg appealed to their fellow-citizens not to abandon them; and their appeal met with the strongest support from all classes and in both Chambers.  They argued that Holland had refused to sign the treaty of 1831, which had been imposed on Belgium in her hour of defeat; and that now, after seven years, the treaty had ceased to be in force and required revision.  The Belgians expected to receive support from Great Britain and France, and more especially from Palmerston, their consistent friend.  But Palmerston was tired of the endless wrangling; and, acting on his initiative, the Five Powers determined that they would insist on the Treaty of the XXIV Articles being carried out as it stood.  The Conference met again in October, 1838; and all the efforts of the Belgian government, and of King Leopold personally, to obtain more favoured terms proved unavailing.  An offer to pay sixty million francs indemnity for Luxemburg and Limburg was rejected both by King William and the Germanic Confederation.  Such was the passionate feeling in Belgium that there was actually much talk of resisting in the last resort by force of arms.  Volunteers poured in; and in Holland also the government began to make military preparations.  But it was an act of sheer madness for isolated Belgium to think of opposing the will of the Great Powers of Europe.  The angry interchange of diplomatic notes resulted only in one modification in favour of Belgium.  The annual charge of 8,400,000 francs placed upon Belgium on account of her share in the public debt of the Netherlands was reduced to a payment of 5,000,000 francs.  The Dutch king signed the treaty on February 1, 1839.  Finally the proposal that the treaty should be signed, opposition being useless, met with a sullen assent from the two Belgian Chambers.  On April 19, 1839, the Belgian envoy, Van de Weyer, affixed his signature at the Foreign Office in London and so brought to an end the long controversy, which had lasted for nine years.  There were still many details to be settled between the two kingdoms, which from this time became two separate and distinct political entities; but these were finally arranged in an amicable spirit, and were embodied in a subsidiary treaty signed November 5, 1842.

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CHAPTER XXXII

WILLIAM II.  REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

1842-1849