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NETHERLANDS-Inundations-Treaties-Conclusion of the Session of the States-General-Means taken for the Improvement of Education, and especially of the Education of the Clergy-Violent Opposition of the Archbishop of Mechlin and many of the Catholic Clergy-Liberality of the Catholic Clergy of the Grand-Duchy of LuxemburgNew Duties imposed by France on Articles imported from the Netherlands-Opening of the new Session of the States-General-Financial Embarrassments of the Dutch possessions in India-Insurrection in Java-SWEDEN-Germany-Prussia-Wirtemberg-BavariaGrand Duchy of Baden-Switzerland-Austria; Hungarian DietPoland-RUSSIA-Illness of the Emperor Alexander: his Death: his Character: effects of the Intelligence of that Event-Oath of Allegiance taken to Constantine: his Renunciation of the Throne: his adherence to that Renunciation-Accession of Nicholas-Military Insurrection in St. Petersburg-Alleged Conspiracy-Revolt of Mouravieff Apostol -Count Nesselrode's Note to the Foreign Ministers.

IN

N the beginning of the year, great distress was produced throughout Holland by the extensive inundations which took place. To repair the devastation thus produced, the States-general, by an unanimous vote, granted a credit of 8,000,000 of florins.

On the 5th of March, the President of the Second Chamber informed the assembly that his Majesty had concluded two treaties relative to the demarcation of the frontiers one with the king of France, the other with the king of Great Britain, as king of Hanover. On the following day, a royal message was read, announcing that the Minister of the Interior was commissioned to close the session of the Statesgeneral. The two chambers were then united in the usual manner, and the Minister of the Interior delivered the following speech.

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modify some taxes: it is with regret that he sees the moment delayed, when the wish for a better proportion in the distribution of the burdens being fulfilled, will reconcile the interest of the subject with that of the Exehequer. Meantime, till this affair can be again submitted to your consideration, the King will make use of the means offered by the existing laws to attain as far as possible the end he proposed, and to fulfil the hopes which he had conceived.

"The last part of your session has been marked by misfortunesa deplorable disaster has desolated several provinces. The nation has shewn itself, as it always has done on such occasions, patient, courageously and eminently charitable. The government has endeavoured to fulfil its duties; you have nobly seconded it; and from this threefold union of sentiment and care, will result, with the aid of Divine Providence, the prompt and entire reparation of all the disasters, and the relief or alleviation of all the misfortunes that have been occasioned.

"He indulges the hope that, on the opening of the next session he will be able to assure you, that in this respect there remains nothing for the government to perform, or the nation to desire."

The difference of religious opinion, which existed in the two divisions of the kingdom of the Netherlands, had been felt to be so serious an inconvenience, that the attention of the government had been strongly drawn to a circumstance which was likely to increase the mischief. That circumstance was the education of the clergy, and of many of the children of Catholics in foreign seminaries, where every endeavour was used to imbue them

with the spirit of the most fiery bigotry, or in such provincial establishments for education within the limits of the Low-countries as were entirely under the influence of the more narrow-minded portion of the priesthood. To correct these evils, decrees, were published, on the 14th of June, suppressing some of the existing colleges, erecting a new college at Louvain, and providing more ample means of instruction in the established universities.

In furtherance of the same object, another decree was issued on the 14th of August, which contained the following articles:

1st. No young Belgians who, after the first of October next, shall have studied the "humanities" out of the kingdom, shall be admitted in any of our Universities into the Philosophical College, instituted by our decree of the 14th of June last.

2nd. Those who are to be examined by the Faculty of Letters, before they can be admitted as students, shall first of all produce certificates from their professors that they have received "from those professors, for some years without interruption, instructions in the ancient languages and the principles of the sciences."

3rd. Those young Belgians, who, after the first of October next, shall have studied the "humanities " out of the kingdom, or who shall have pursued their academical studies out of the kingdom, shall not be appointed by us to any employments, or admitted to exercise any ecclesiastical functions.

These measures produced great dissatisfaction among the more bigotted portion of the clergy; who, headed by the archbishop of Mechlin, and encouraged by the

approbation of the pope and the sympathy of France, protested loudly against a course of proceeding, which they denounced as "in direct opposition (to quote the words of the archbishop himself) "to the interests of our holy religion to the orders of the council of Trent, concerning the formation of a virtuous, regular, and orthodox college-to the rights belonging, of divine right, to the epis

* In consequence of the discussions concerning the Philosophical college erected for the clergy, the following letter was sent by the court of Rome to the archbishop of Mechlin :

"My Lord,—I find it my duty to give you an account of the examination made by order of the Holy Father, of the two decrees of the Belgian government, of the 14th of June last, and I have heard with satisfaction that all the heads of the dioceses have united with the arch bishop of Mechlin in making a protesta tion against these decrees, and that M. Chamberlane has followed the same course with the clergy of Holland. The sovereign pontiff has, on his part, ordered a strong representation to be made to the government of the king of the Netherlands, in a note put into the hands of M. Reinhold, envoy at the court of Rome. His holiness will judge hereafter, according to circumstances, what it is proper to do; in the mean time, he is of opinion, that all the ordinaries ought to act with one common accord, and remain quite passive, should the Belgian government proceed to the execution of its orders. His holiness, whose heart has been filled by the most lively regret by these two decrees, is convinced that the general protestation will be worthy of the heads of the dioceses from whom it emanates, and that it will be modelled on that made by the ordinates of Belgian in 1787, against inst the general seminary erected by the emperor Joseph at Louvain, and that they will not have lost sight of the declaration made by the king of the Netherlands in July, 1815, in virtue of which he guaranteed the Catholic religion its dignity and security." [By order] (Signed)

"R. MASIO,"

copacy-to the free exercise of the Catholic religion, and the protection guaranteed to it by the fundamental law-and finally, to the several declarations and promises made to us by his majesty." These sentiments, however, were not universal, even among the Catholics of the kingdom. In the grand duchy of Luxemburg, in particular, the Catholic clergy presented an address to the king, breathing a most liberal and enlightened spirit. "The decree of the 14th of June," says this address, "has fulfilled the hopes of those Catholic priests, who are sincerely attached to the doctrines of their holy religion. Those of the grand duchy, who present their respectful homage, see in it a new cause of prosperity to the Catholic church. In all civilized states, instruction spreads with astonishing rapidity. Letters, sciences and arts become accessible to all classes; and shall that which by its essence is called to diffuse the knowledge most necessary to the human race remain behind? Such an order of things is evidently subversive of the spiritual and temporal welfare of man." The whole of the address was written in the same spirit of submission to government and respect for the system of public instruction. The ultra journals of Paris censured it as deficient in reverence for episcopal authority and in submission to the see of Rome.

Great complaints were made of an ordinance, issued by the king of France, about the beginning of July, by which additional duties were imposed on several productions of Flemish industry, and especially on the importation of linen. Petitions were immediately presented to the government, call

ing upon it to make reprisals, by adopting similar measures against France.

On the 17th of October, the new session of the States-general commenced. It was opened by the king in person, accompanied by the crown prince and prince Frederick. In the speech which his majesty delivered on that occasion, after alluding to the marriage of his second son with a princess of Prussia, which had been solemnized since the close of the last session, he gave a very favourable account of the state of the kingdom, and touched lightly upon the various branches of the administration, in which improvements had been made, or were making [see Public Documents p. 89*].

The most important measure, which was brought before the Statesgeneral, was the project of a law for providing for the financial distresses of the East-Indian possessions of the Netherlands, by a loan to the amount of 20,000,000 of florins. For the payment of the interest and for the redemption of the principal, a sum of 1,400,000 florins was to be annually set apart for the colonial service, commencing from the 1st of January, 1826, and this annual sum of 1,400,000 florins was to be guaranteed, as far as necessary, by the state, for the period of thirty years.

The causes of the financial embarrassments of the Indian government were stated to be, the incautious issue of paper-currency, the payment of large sums for goods taken by agreement from the British government, the loss of ships laden with produce, &c., the great expenses incurred by the erection of military works, and the maintenance of a colonial marine; and the serious disturbances in the

Moluccas, Sumatra, Celebes, and elsewhere, rendered military armaments necessary. To these causes were added the failure of the crops, and contagious diseases, which had carried off several thousands of the natives, so that many tracts of land remained uncultivated.

Till 1824, the distress was ascribed in India to temporary causes. Under this idea, every thing was conducted on a large scale, and even considerable domains, alienated in former years, were re-purchased; but, in that year, a considerable fall in the price of coffee taking place, reduced at once the large stock in the hands of government to one half of its value, so that a great embarrassment ensued, which rendered it necessary to issue paper bearing 9 per cent interest. These circumstances induced the government in October, 1824, to make retrenchments; and it was at the same time resolved to negociate a loan in Bengal. The latter project, however, was rejected by the government at home, from an apprehension that one effect of it would be, to cause the produce of the Dutch possessions to be remitted to foreign merchants.

The scheme of raising a loan in Bengal being rejected, the only alternative was, to procure assistance from the mother country; and though her guarantee was required only for the satisfaction of the Indies, yet the government stated that they confidently expected that the Indian treasury would be able to provide the annual sum of 1,400,000 florins for the payment of interest and capital. From 1817 to 1824, the revenues amounted to about 152 millions of florins, and the expenditure to about 151 millions. The

estimate for 1824 was 27 millions for the revenue, and 26 millions for the expenditure; but by the falling of the prices of coffee, there was a deficiency of nearly a million and a half in the first six months of 1824. The revenue exceeded the expenditure till 1819: when the troubles in Palembang, and the prevalence of the cholera morbus had a visible effect, in diminishing the income, at the same time that the establishments remained on too costly a footing, and the expenses became too great. To lessen the expenditure for the future, certain measures were to be adopted. These were, the determination of a quinquennial budget for India, from which no departure should be made; the suspension of public works for five years; the abolition of expensive boards for civil works, &c.; the simplifications of the administration; the diminution of the number of persons employed in many of the offices, and limitations in the number of new appointments.

It was calculated that the board of works alone cost annually 800,000 or 900,000 florins; and that the interest of the public currency, which was to be called in, amounted to 400,000, so that the saving in these two branches would amount nearly to the 1,400,000 required.

But while the government at home were thus devising plans for extricating the Indian administration from its pecuniary embarrassments, events were taking place in Java, which tended to make these embarrassments still more overwhelming. The administration of the Dutch had always been unpopular among the natives: it was accused of being capricious and oppressive; and poverty seldom

renders a colonial council and governor either more forbearing or more scrupulous. The disaffected were numerous; and, in the present year, they proceeded to open war. The first disturbance of much note that broke out was in the residency of Djocjokarta. It had been observed by the Dutch Resident, that a prince, called Dipo Negoro, one of the guardians of the young sultan, who was a minor, had assembled a great number of people at his abode, among whom it was suspected that some insurrectionary movement was in contemplation. The Resident, therefore, requested the prince to explain the motives of this proceeding; and as he, on various pretexts, declined to do so, the Resident, on the 21st of July, thought it his duty to order his appearance, and to send some troops to compel him to obey. Dipo Negoro opposed the armed force sent against him, and made his escape, along with a confederate, called Mankoe Boemie. The two princes, along with their troops, took up a position at a little distance from the residence of the sultan, and were there attacked by a detachment of Dutch troops, on the 27th of July, without any decisive result; though the insurgents were for the time dispersed, and fled whenever the Dutch forces made a demonstration of attacking them. On the receipt of this intelligence, the lieutenant-governor sent orders to the governor of Samarang (the capital of the eastern district of the island) to take all necessary precautions to prevent the evils which might arise from this incipient rebellion. On the 29th, his excellency reached Samarang, and immediately set out for Sourakarta, the capital of what is called the empire or dominions of

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