of Belgium during his life; and his widow and heirs are to retain the same right during theirs. All editors of journals, advertising sheets, and periodical works, under whatever denomination, are required, in order to be entitled to establish new ones, or to continue those already in circulation, to provide themselves with the authorization of the sovereign, which will not be given unless it can be proved that they have at least 300 subscribers. It does not appear that in such case the requisite authorization must follow; and this example may be added to other recent ones, which prove the peculiar jealousy entertained by governments, of the publications that belong to this class. The regulation above-mentioned is stated not to apply to papers treating solely on subjects relative to literature, the arts and sciences. GAN say, "Corps of all arms are forming; battalions of infantry, regiments of carabineers, light dragoons, and hussars, open their ranks to you, where good pay will spread comfort among the privates and officers of all descriptions." It must be confessed, that the language of this proclamation has a very warlike sound, but it may be hoped that the intention does not extend beyond defensive preparation. That this was brought to a very effective state will be apparent from the following account, given towards the close of October, of the position of the different corps forming the army of the Netherlands. "Ostend, Nieu port, Furnes, Ypres, Menin, and Courtray, have numerous garrisons, consisting of English and Hanoverian troops. The other places in Flanders, as Ghent, Bruges, and Tirlemont, are also garrisoned by English and Hanoverians, with the addition of Belgian troops. Tournay has a garrison of three English regiments, a corps of the Hanseatic legion, and some squadrons of horse. At Mons and Charleroi, are Belgian infantry, and Hanoverian dragoons and hussars. In the villages between these places are cantoned troops of the same description. Namur is wholly garrisoned by Dutch troops. In the interior, the hussars of Croy are at Ath; and the Belgian light horse, with a strong division of artillery, at Malines (Mechlin). The Congreve rocket division is at Vilvorden. At Louvain are some battalions of Belgian infantry; and the garrison of Brussels consists of English guards, and a corps of horse artillery and the Belgian regiment of carabineers." Thus was this coun The desire of the new Belgic government to raise an army attached exclusively to Belgian interests, may be inferred from a proclamation of Lieutenant General Evers, inspector-general of cavalry, by authority of the Prince Sovereign. Belgian soldiers (says the General) you fought under the banners of France, when the interests of our country were confounded with her's. The happy revolution which has delivered Europe, has restored to our country its name and national existence it invites you to still higher destinies, by uniting you to your ancient brethren, under the tutelary sceptre of a prince, sprung from that race of heroes who so gloriously defended the independence of our ancestors." After some sentences of animated appeal to their patriotism, he proceeds to try guarded, as during the Flemish wars of former times. The Prince Sovereign of the Netherlands having returned to the Hague on November 7th, he opened the first ordinary session of the States General with a speech. He began with recounting the happy auspices under which their sitting commenced. "Perfect tranquillity reigns in every part of the country, though scarcely regenerated the organization of the principal branches of the administration is prosecuting conformably to the regulations of the fundamental laws, without obstacle or even difficulty; every where the spirit of industry and commerce manifests itself more and more, which we had reason to fear might have been totally extinguished and annihilated during so many unhappy years." His Royal Highness then proceeded to touch upon particulars relative to their situation. He regretted, that till the termination of the congress he could not inform them with certainty of the extent of the territory of the state, and of its possessions beyond sea, but adverted to the arrangements with the crown of England, which had enabled him to take measures for the re-occupation of the most considerable part of their ancient foreign dominions. He spoke with great satisfaction of the state of the public finances, by which, at the end of 1814, sixteen months of the interest of the national debt, and the vast expenses required by the re establishment of so many branches of the administration, might be wholly paid, all the accounts of government services since his accession to power be liquidated, and a considerable sum left in the treasury applicable to the expenses of the next year. On the whole, the view given by his Royal Highness of the state of the country was such as might gratify every patriot. On December 8th, the secretary of finance, Mr. Falck, presented to the States an estimate of the expenditure for the year 1815, which amounted to fifty-one millions of guilders. He acquainted them that by care and economy the expense of the last year had been reduced 3,700,000 guilders below the estimate, and that there would remain in the treasury, at the end of the year, a sum of about, ten millions and a half. He gave reasons for the persisting, at the present time, in making extraordinary exertions, and recommended the continuance of the existing taxes, with the exception of some alteration in that of patents. The States General, after deliberating on the report, and on the plan of a law with which it was accompanied, passed a resolution, approving of the same; and the patience with which necessary burdens are borne in this country, and the wise frugality displayed in the administration of its revenues, are equally deserving of the applause and imitation of other states. CHAPTER IX. Germany.-Hamburgh.-Hanover, its Erection to a Kingdom.-Prince Regent's Proclamation.-Hanoverian Diet assembled.—Speech of the Duke of Cambridge.-Free Constitution of Nassau.-Prussia, its Military Regulations: Alterations in the Ritual of Public Worship.-Congress of Vienna.-Views of Prussia on Saxony.-Declaration of the King of Saxony.-Frontiers of Turkey: Cruel Treatment of the Servians. A$ S no country in Europe had undergone more changes during the long war, of which it was so often the seat, than Germany, so in none was the process of restoration more tardy, or more obstructed with difficulties, arising as well from the actual state in which it was left at the period of the general peace, as from the complicated nature of its political constitution. So much, in fact, was to be done in order to reduce it to a harmonious and wellbalanced system, that the year elapsed without settling some of the most important points relative to the future condition of the Germanic states. Some dispositions, however, were definitively made, of which it will be proper to give an account. No city in Germany had so much reason to rejoice at the subversion of Buonaparte's power as Hamburgh, which had suffered the extremes of tyranny and spoliation under the rigorous and corrupt administration of Davoust. From the richest and most commercial city in that part of Europe, it had been reduced almost to beggary, and had seen many of its principal inhabi tants in the condition of fugitives or exiles, its finest suburbs demolished, and its population wasted by want and disease. It must, therefore, have been with sensations of true patriotic delight, that on May 26, the Hamburghers witnessed the resumption of the government by their native constituted authorities, and their independence restored under the patronage of the allied powers. The Senate, on that occasion, published an address to their fellow citizens, marked by the spirit of wisdom and moderation. Though it was not yet thought proper to leave the city without the protection of foreign troops, confidence was sufficiently renewed for the operation of those causes which are found so efficaci ous in speedily effacing the wounds inflicted on commercial prosperity. Every thing (says an account from Hamburgh) here acquires new life, activity, and cheerfulness. The Elbe is again filled with vessels of every description, and several richly laden ships have already entered our port. The road from Altona to Hamburgh is covered with an almost uninterrupted line of waggons, laden with the household furniture, &c. of emigrants. Many small huts and sheds have been already built out of the wrecks of the suburbs, and the foundation walls are laid open in order to be built upon. The French left 5,000 sick in the hospitals of the place, and it was a great relief when the major part of them were embarked to be conveyed to their own country by sea, since their wretched condition would probably have given rise to a pestilential disease in the hot months. The events which took place in Hanover will naturally be regarded with peculiar interest in this country, especially as they have terminated in a new regal title annexed to the British crown. It appears from a note published by the Hanoverian Cabinet on July 13, that the minds of the people had been disturbed by reports propagated of an intended cession or exchange of the States of that Electorate by the house of Guelph; and it is the purpose of this notification to declare, that there is no foundation whatever for such an apprehension, All doubts that might remain on this subject were dispelled by a note presented on October 12, by Count Munster, the Hanoverian minister of state, to the Austrian and other ministers, assembled at Vienna. Its purpose was to convey the declaration of the Prince Regent of Great Britain and Hanover concerning the title which he had thought it necessary to substitute for that of Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. This title, it was observed, had been rendered unsuitable to present circumstances, by the 6th Article of the Peace of Paris, by which it was agreed, "that the States of Germany should remain independent, and join in A proclamation was published in the same month at Hanover, from the Prince Regent, dated August 12th, in which, after adverting to the difficulties that had occurred in forming a regular plan of taxation and finance, from the separation of the states of the dif ferent provinces, it is decreed, that henceforth all the general affairs of the country which may be brought under discussion with the states, conformably with the subsisting constitution, shall be submitted to an assembly of the states of all the provinces, which shall adopt a general resolution on such subjects. To effect this purpose, it is farther decreed, that for the present, the states of all the provinces composing the electorate shall form themselves, by means of representatives,into a general diet, to assemble at Hanover, on December 15, furnished with full powers on the part of their constituents. On the day appointed, the Diet was opened with a solemnity proper for the occasion. The Duke of Cambridge, provided with full authority from the Prince Regent to represent the regal dignity, repaired in state to the place of assembly, and delivered a speech, in which he gave a summary view of the circumstances which led to the change in the Hanoverian Constitution, and pointed out the duties incumbent on a body which was thenceforth to be the general representative of the new kingdom. The whole assembly then adjourn ed to the church of the palace, where divine service was performed, after which, the deputies, repairing to their hall, made choice of Count Schulenburg Wolfsburg for their president. On the following day his Royal Highness attended at the hall, where he was addressed in a speech by the President, to which he made a suitable reply.The Duke concluded as follows "If the difficult times require great sacrifices in the increase of the revenues, consider that the So vereign demands nothing for himself; that we ask only what the country requires. If some privileges must be sacrificed to form a better internal order, remember that the Prince Regent gives up rights which others consider as an essential part of the royal dignity, by assembling you here. Be to him here, what the Parliament is in the sister-kingdom, Great Britain, the high council of the nation." It was not in Hanover only that the example was given of the adoption of a representative government in Germany. In the month of October, Frederic Augustus, Duke of Nassau, and Frederic William, Sovereign Prince of Nassau, issued a constitutional charter founded upon the most liberal principles. It assured the free exercise of religious worship, suppressed corvées, gave admission to the first offices of state without any preference of rank or birth, established an independent magistracy, and renounced the right of arbitrarily discharging the public functionaries. It appointed a States-General of the Duchy, composed of two separate houses, that of Nobles and that of Deputies, the formation of which, and their powers and privileges, with the whole act of legislation, were almost exactly copied from the British Parliament. Although this was an experiment on a small scale, it may be regarded as paving the way to important results. The leading powers of Germany have been too much engaged with the weighty concerns of the Congress at Vienna, to occupy themselves considerably with arrangements in their own dominions; nor |