No less grateful to my feelings is the protestation of zeal and attachment which I receive, on this solemn occasion, from such a respectable Assembly.

Everything should encourage us to persevere indefatigably in our exertions for the benefit of our Country, our national honour, our interest properly understood, the visible favour with which the Most High assists us,

Four months have elapsed this day since I returned to The Netherlands, and, in this short space of time, we have advanced in the great business of restoring the State much further than any one could have expected.

The Foreign Powers have not only applauded the restoration of our independence, but they have confirmed their satisfaction as to the investiture of the Sovereignty in my House, with actions which must inspire us all with the most unbounded gratitude.

The most important of our Foreign relations, those with generous Great Britain, will soon acquire a still higher degree of confidence and reciprocal friendship, by the marriage of my eldest Son.

Nothing, however, tends more to tranquillize me as to the future than the experience I have of the sentiments and of the spirit of the Nation.

Their zeal for the good cause has enabled me to raise, in a few weeks, in this exhausted and destitute country, more than 25,000 Men, of which the greatest part, properly armed and equipped, will very soon be assembled on the Frontiers, under the command of my 2 Sons.

Their concord in every object concerning the interests of the State has been conspicuously displayed in the rapid formation of the Militia, the Landsturm, and the Trainbands, and has also been evident now, in the acceptation of the Constitution.

I am aware, Gentlemen, that I anticipate all your wishes, by attending to the immediate introduction of the Constitution, and by taking for this purpose all those measures, and making those appointments, without which its operation would long continue imperfect and defective.

Henceforward, this important task shall chiefly engage my attention, and in its execution I shall be guided by the same impartiality and care for the public prosperity, which I have hitherto endeavoured to manifest in every action of my Reign.

If the Constitution remains inviolate in its spirit and tendency, the Country will at the same time be preserved from all divisions, from all dissensions about the authority, from all jealousy among the Provinces. It leaves to the reasonable Inhabitants no greater liberty, and to the Sovereign no greater extension of power, to desire. But the People and the Prince,-those who govern and those who are

governed,discern, in its reasonable and liberal principles, an inducement to, and at the same time the guarantee of, their mutual unanimity and concurrence.

And it is with these sentiments, the result of long and mature deliberation, and which are still strengthened and raised by the solemnity of this memorable moment, that I declare myself prepared, before this Assembly representing The United Netherlands, to take the Oath which the Constitution prescribes to the Sovereign Prince.

SPEECH of the Sovereign Prince of The United Netherlands, on the Opening of the States General.-The Hague, 2nd May, 1814.

GENTLEMEN,

(Translation.)

After the Ratification of the Fundamental Law, my first and chief object has been the Convocation of the States General.

I have anxiously wished for the moment when I should be able to give up in a regular manner to the Representatives of the whole Nation a part of the power which imperious circumstances had urged me to accept. But the interests of the State were not less concerned in your early Convocation, as a number of useful and weighty institutions and regulations could not take place without the concurrence of the States General.

For these reasons, as well as to satisfy the expectation and wish of the Notables, to whose deliberations we are indebted for the Constitution, I have taken upon myself to appoint for the first time the Members of this Assembly, and I am persuaded that this proceeding will be considered by the Nation as a proof of my constant and natural wish for their welfare, and that your High Mightinesses will be acknowledged as their worthy Representatives.

I cannot, however, conceal from your High Mightinesses, the difficulty of the task which we are about to undertake with our united strength.

Placed in relations entirely new, and all things among and around us having changed their face, our Country, more than any other State, demands the undivided attention and mature deliberation of its Rulers. Very few of the Institutions by which it prospered in former times have been preserved from the baneful effects of civil dissension and Foreign domination. What part of these Institutions should be restored, what modified under the present circumstances, and what abrogated, must be examined considerately, and without prejudice.

Wherever we cast our eyes we are struck with the diminution of our former prosperity. No doubt but this prosperity will be restored by the encouragement of industry, by the fullest application of our

commercial resources, by the still existing love of order, economy and activity, which always characterized the Netherlanders. But after such long and heavy disasters, these means are slow in their operation. Therefore, if we wish to maintain our independence and honour, and to preserve the esteem of our Allies and Neighbours, the organization of the Army must be immediately completed, the restoration of our Naval force continued, and the occupation of our Colonies effected: all objects, which will be attended with immense expense, while the Revenue will long remain a monument of the decay which a fatal period has brought upon the Inhabitants of all classes and ranks.

The financial arrangements which, under these circumstances, I have deemed the most advisable, and which, in a few days, I shall be happy to submit to your consideration, are intended, in the first place, to furnish the State with the Supplies for which it has such immediate occasion, without depriving reviving commerce of its capital, or burthening it with additional Duties; and secondly, to settle once for all the fate of the Creditors of the State on a regular and equitable basis. If, in your prudence and experience, you sanction these arrangements, I shall have no reason to doubt of the success of my efforts for an object of such magnitude.

The regulation of all which relates to the perpetual defence of the Country, by the arming of the People, is a matter of equal importTo this object I have already given the needful attention, and the Law on the number and establishment of the Militia, indicated by the Constitution, will, I trust, be proposed to your High Mightinesses in the course of the present Session.

I hope also to lay before you, in a few days, the Projects concerning the erection of a Supreme Military Court, and the proceedings against offences of the Military by sea and land, which I have caused to be made by a Special Commission. And I must the more earnestly recommend these Projects to your attention and investigation, as daily experience has proved, in the fullest manner, the insufficiency and defectiveness of the Laws now in force.

The revision and reform of the whole Code of Laws, which the French had forced upon this Country, and the introduction of a new General Code, are objects of a less urgent nature, though very desirable in every respect. This task I have entrusted to Men, whose judgment and abilities having already stood the proof of similar occupations, give us hope to enjoy soon the inestimable blessing of Laws adapted to the dispositions of the People, to the situation of Society, and to the progress of the human mind, exempt in their execution from rashness and useless formalities, and, at the same time, from all those arbitrary delays and abuses which were formerly so detrimental to the Inhabitants, and have long since been blamed by all good Judges.

The more weighty the regulations which are to occupy us at home, the more pleasure I feel in assuring your High Mightinesses that they are not likely to be interrupted by any uneasiness respecting our Foreign relations.

Moderation and justice towards all, a system not less congenial with my own feelings than with sound policy, will, I hope, preserve the good wishes and generous amity which the Foreign Powers, particularly Great Britain, have manifested towards us; and if the Almighty bless our efforts, we may, by an unanimous zeal for the welfare of our Country, enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it restored (sooner than many other Countries which have suffered with us) to that degree of substantial power, prosperity, and rank, which is as necessary to the interests of all Europe, and the durableness of Peace, as to our own happiness.

ACTE d'Accession de la part du Portugal à la Convention pour la Suspension d'Hostilités, entre la France et les Puissances Alliées, du 23 Avril, 1814*.-Signé à Paris, le 8 Mai, 1814.

SON Excellence M. le Comte de Funchal, et Son Altesse Sérénissime le Prince de Bénévent, étant munis de Pleinspouvoirs de leurs Cours respectives pour convenir d'une Suspension d'Hostilités entre le Portugal et la France, sont convenus de ce qui suit.

Son Altesse Royale le Prince Régent de Portugal et des Algarves, adhère pleinement et sans réserve à la Convention conclue le 23 Avril dernier entre la France et les Puissances Alliées, pour faire cesser immédiatement de part et d'autre les hostilités, tant sur terre que sur mer, et en conséquence toutes hostilités cesseront entre les 2 Gouvernemens et leurs Sujets respectifs dans les termes fixés par la dite .Convention.

En foi de quoi, les Plénipotentiaires respectifs ont signé le présent Acte d'Adhésion, et y ont apposé le Cachet de leurs Armes.

Fait à Paris, le 8 Mai, 1814.

(L.S.) LE COMTE DE FUNCHAL.

(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE BENEVENT.

ARTICLES entre le Portugal et la France, additionnels au Traité Définitif de Paix entre la France et les Puissances Alliées, du 30 Mai, 1814. Signés à Paris, le 30 Mai, 1814.

(1.) QUOIQUE les Traités, Conventions, et Actes, conclus entre les 2 Puissances antérieurement à la Guerre, soient annulés de fait par + See Page 151.

* See Page 143.

l'état de Guerre, les Hautes Parties Contractantes ont jugé néanmoins à propos de déclarer, encore expressément, que les dits Traités, Conventions, et Actes, notaminent les Traités signés à Badajoz et à Madrid en 1801*, et la Convention signée à Lisbonne en 1804, sont nuls et comme non avenus, en tant qu'ils concernent le Portugal et la France; et que les 2 Couronnes renoncent mutuellement à tout droit, et se dégagent de toute obligation qui pourraient en résulter.

Fait à Paris, le 30 Mai, 1814.

(L.S.) LE COMTE DE FUNCHAL.

(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE BENEVENT.

(2.) Par rapport aux réclamations, que les Sujets de l'une des Hautes Parties Contractantes auraient à faire à la charge de l'autre, il sera usé d'une parfaite réciprocité, de manière que pour chaque nature de réclamation, ce que l'un des 2 Gouvernemens aura fait deviendra la règle de l'autre.

Fait à Paris, le 30 Mai, 1814.

(L.S.) LE COMTE DE FUNCHAL.

(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE BENEVENT.

(3.) Son Altesse Royale le Prince Régent de Portugal et des Algarves, s'engage et s'oblige à ce que celles des Clauses de la Capi. tulation de la Guyane Française qui n'auraient pas été exécutées, reçoivent lors de la restitution de cette Colonie à la France leur plein et entier accomplissement.

Fait à Paris, le 30 Mai, 1814.

(L.S.) LE COMTE DE FUNCHAL.

(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE BENEVENT.

CORRESPONDANCE entre la France et le Portugal, relative au rétablissement des Relations Diplomatiques et Commerciales entre les Deux Royaumes.-Paris, Juillet, Août, 1814.

(1.)-Le Comte de Palmella au Prince Bénévent.

MONSEIGNEUR,

Paris, le 22 Juillet, 1814, La Note Officielle que Votre Excellence me fit l'honneur de m'adresser en réponse de celle que M. le Comte de Funchal avait dirigée à Votre Altesse à la veille de son départ pour Londres, m'ayant procuré l'honneur de convenir de vive voix avec Votre Altesse des moyens de renouveler les relations diplomatiques et commerciales entre le Portugal et la France, il me semble qu'on pourrait les arrêter provisoirement et par écrit de la manière suivante :

* See Martens. Supplement. Tome 2. Pages 340, 539.