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an empty name, and dependent on the caprices of a suspicious and crafty police; that an impartial administration of justice, guided by fixed principles, secure to every man his property; that commerce, agriculture, and manufactures be no longer obstructed, but have free course, like rich springs of public and private prosperity; that, therefore, no restraint be imposed on the domestic economy of the higher and lower classes of the state, but that they be conformable to the general laws and the general gouernment; that the movements of the general Government be not palsied by too great a zeal for local interests, but rather receive from it an additional impulse; that the general laws, by means of an harmonious co-operation of the two principal branches of the Government, be founded on the true interests of the State; that the finances, and the arming of the people, the main pillars of the body politic, be placed in that central point, upon which the greatest and most invaluable privilege of every free people,-their independence, may be firmly fixed. Which of you can doubt of this truth, after the terrible experience you have had of a foreign tyranny, which acknowledged no right when it wanted means for its own maintenance by violence; after having sighed, of late years, under the most oppressive yoke that ever was imposed since the Spanish times?

Now at least you know the true value of those precious rights for which our fathers sacrificed their property and blood; of that happiness which they bequeathed to their descendants, and which we

saw lost through the adversity of the times!

Following, therefore, and deriving encouragement from their example, it becomes my duty, in imitation of those whose name I bear, and whose memory I honour, to restore that which is lost: it is your duty to support me therein with all your efforts, that under the blessing of Divine Providence, who summons us to this task, we may leave our beloved country completely re-conquered and reestablished to our children.

In order to be enabled to judge whether the constitutional code thus framed, as before stated, be a means of attaining the above great object, we have thought it right that the said code be submitted for maturer consideration, to a numerous assembly of persons the most considerable and best qualified among you.

We have for that purpose appointed a special commission, who are to choose, out of a numerous list given in to us, six hundred persons, in due proportion to the population of each of the now existing departments.

Honoured with your confidence, they shall, on the 28th of this month, assemble in the metropolis of Amsterdam, to come to a determination upon this weighty business.

They shall in like manner, with the letter of convocation, receive the plan of the constitution, that they may be able to prepare their decision thereon with maturity and calmness of deliberation; and for the more effectual attainment of this object, a copy of the same shall be sent to each member previously.

And

And as it is of the first importance that these Members be possessed of the general confidence, we order that a list of the persons chosen for each department be made public, and that to all the inhabitants of the same, being housekeepers, an opportunity shall be afforded, by signing his name without any other addition, in a register which shall lie open in each canton for eight days, to disapprove of any such person or persons as he may deem unqualified.

No inhabitant is deprived of this right, with the exception of domestic servants, valets, bankrupts, persons in a state of non-age, or under accusation.

When it shall appear to us, from the summing up of the re-. gisters, that the majority are sa'tisfied with the persons thus submitted to their election, we shall consider them as the representatives of the whole Dutch people, call them together, appear in the midst of them, and salute them as constituting the great assembly, representing the United Netherlands.

They shall then commence their labours in freedom, and give us an account of their progress by a committee appointed to that effect; and as soon as the adoption of the constitutional code is the result of their deliberations, we shall make the necessary arrangements for taking the oath prescribed to us by the constitution with all due solemnity, in the midst of the assembly, and after that be installed

in state.

In the adoption of these measures, worthy countrymen, you must feel convinced, that the welfare of our beloved country is my

first and only object; that your interests and mine are the same; and how can they be more manifestly promoted, than by the introduction of constitutional rules, in which you will find the guarantee of your dearest rights? They will furnish me with the advantage of conducting, on fixed principles, the charge and respon sibility of government, assisted by the best and most intelligent of the citizens; and will secure to me the continuance of that affection, the expressions of which rejoice my heart, animate my courage, lighten my burthen, and bind me and my house for ever to our regenerated country.

Given at the Hague this 2d of March, 1814, and of our reign the 1st.

(Signed)

WILLIAM.

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protection granted to us by the Almighty, every thing, in short, must encourage us to persevere -without relaxation in our efforts for the welfare of the country.

Precisely four months have expired this day since my return to the Netherlands; and during that short period, the progress which we have made in the important work of the restoration of the State, has greatly exceeded all that we -might have dared to expect.

Foreign powers have not con-fined themselves to applauding the recovery of our independent existence: they have also manifested by deeds which must inspire us with boundless gratitude, their satisfaction at witnessing the sovereignty conferred upon my house. The most important of our foreign relations, those which subsist between us and the generous British nation, will soon acquire, by the marriage of my eldest son, a new degree of intimacy and of reciprocal regard.

But what gives me the chief hope for the future, is the experience which I have acquired of the sentiments and of the good disposition of the nation itself.

Its devotion to the good cause has enabled me, notwithstanding the exhaustion of this country, and its dilapidated resources, to raise, in the space of a few weeks, more than 25,coo troops; the greater part of whom, well armed and equipped, will soon be collected on our frontiers, under the command of my two sons.

Its unanimity in all that concerns the great interests of the country has been displayed in the most marked manner by the prompt organization of the militia, the

levy in mass, and the national guards, and as now also by the acceptance of the Constitution.

I am persuaded, Gentlemen, that I shall only anticipate the wishes of you all, by immediately applying myself to the enforcement of that Constitution, as well as by adopting all the measures, and establishing all the arrangements, without which its effects would remain long incomplete and imperfect.

That important task, therefore, shall be henceforward the main object of my attention: and in discharging it, I shall be guided by the same impartiality, and the same solicitude for the public welfare, which I have endeavoured hitherto to display in all the acts of my government.

As long as no inroad shall be made on the spirit or the letter of the constitution, the country will be sheltered from all dissentions, from all contests about authority, and all rivalry between the provinces. It allots to reasonable citizens all the liberty, to the Sovereign all the extent of power, which they can respectively desire: at the same time that the people and the Prince, the governors and the governed, find in its equitable and liberal arrangements, what is calculated to establish and secure their mutual agreement and co-operation.

In these sentiments, the fruits of a long and deliberate examination, and which are still farther fortified and exalted by the solemnity of this memorable moment, 1 declare myself ready, in presence of this assembly, as representing the Unit-. ed Netherlands, to take the oath which the Constitution has prescribed to the Sovereign Prince.

SWEDISH

SWEDISH DECLARATION.

His Majesty the King of Sweden having declared to the people of Norway, by the Proclamation addressed to them, that he reserved to them all the essential rights which constitute public liberty, and having engaged himself expressly to leave to the nation the faculty of establishing a constitution analogous to the wants of the country, and founded chiefly upon the two bases of national represention and the right of taxing themselves; these promises are now renewed in the most formal manner. The King will by no means interfere directly in the new Constitutional Act of Norway, which must, however, be submitted for his acceptance. He wishes only to trace the first lines of its foundation, leaving to the people the right of erecting the rest of the building. His Majesty is also invariably determined not to amalgamate the financial systems of the two countries. In consequence of this principle, the debts of the two crowns shall always remain separate from each other, and no tax shall be collected in Norway for the purpose of paying the debts of Sweden, and vice versa. The intention of his Majesty is not to suffer the revenue of Norway to be sent out of the country. The expense of administration being dedacted, the rest shall be employed in objects of general utility, and in a sinking fund for the extermination of the national debt.

Circular Letter from the King of Denmark, addressed to the Magistrates, and the inhabitants in

general, of the kingdom of Nor

way:

The situation in which Denmark and Norway were at the end of last year, made it our duty as Sovereign to give up one of the sister kingdoms to prevent the ruin of both.

The Treaty of Peace concladed at Kiel on the 14th of January, this year, was the consequence.By this we gave the solemn promise, which never has been, nor shall be broken on our side, to renounce all our claims to Norway, and to appoint Commissioners to deliver the fortresses, the public money, domains, &c. to the Plenipotentiaries named by the King of Sweden. We commanded his Highness Prince Christian, then Governor of Norway, to execute in our name what we had promised. We gave him the most positive instructions, and on the 19th of January gave him our Royal full powers for the persons whom he should appoint to execute the treaty. Then we released all the inhabitants of Norway from their allegiance, and impressed on them the duties which for the future they owed to the King of Sweden.

We have learnt with heartfelt grief, that our nearest and most beloved relation, to whom we gave the government of Norway with unlimited confidence, instead of executing our commands, has ventured to neglect them, and even to declare Norway an independent kingdom, and bimself the Regent of it; to refuse to give up what the King of Sweden had a right, according to the treaty, to demand; and finally, that he has even scized upon our ships of war

which were in the harbours of Norway, has taken down the Danish flag, and hoisted another in its stead, and arrested their commanders, our servants.

Since, after the treaty of peace which we have signed, and the renunciation of our claims on Norway, we neither do nor will acknowledge in that kingdom any other authority than that of his Majesty the King of Sweden, we cannot but be highly displeased at what has been done there, contrary to the treaty and our express orders; and the more so, as every civil officer, from the highest to the lowest, who had been appointed by us, as well as every other of our subjects in Norway, is released from his allegiance and duties towards us, on the sole condition of fulfilling, as far as he is concerned, the stipulations of the treaty of peace.

"At the same time that we make this known, we forbid every one of the officers whom we have nominated in Norway to accept or to retain any employment whatever, in that kingdom in its present state; we recall all the civil officers in the kingdom of Norway who are not natives of that country, and who regard Denmark, or any of the countries belonging to it, as their native country; and command them to return within four weeks from the time when they shall be made acquainted with this letter, under pain of forfeiting our favour, and all the rights, advantages, and privileges, which they do or might enjoy as native Danish subjects.

Given at our Court at Copenhagen, April 13th, 1814.

Declaration of the Allied Powers on the Breaking Off of the Negotiations at Chatillon.

The Allied Powers owe it to themselves, to their people, and to France, as soon as the negociations at Chatillon are broken off, publicly to declare the reasons which induced them to enter into negociations with the French Government, as well as the causes of the breaking off of the negociations.

Military events to which history can produce no parallel, overthrew in the month of October last, the ill-constructed edifice, known under the name of the French Empire; an edifice erected on the ruins of States lately independent and happy, augmented by conquests from ancient monarchies, and held together at the expense of the blood, of the fortunes, of the welfare of a whole generation.

The Allied Sovereigns, led by conquest to the Rhine, thought it their duty to proclaim to Europe anew, their principles, their wishes, and their object. Far from every wish of domination or conquest, animated solely by the desire to see Europe restored to a just balance of the different Powers, resolved not to lay down their arms till they had obtained the noble object of their efforts, they made known the irrevocableness of their resolutions by a public act, and they did not hesitate to declare themselves to the enemy's Government in a manner conformable to their unalterable determination.

The French Government made use of the frank declarations of the Allied Powers to express inclinations to peace. It certainly had

need

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