hesitate dislike," of a proceeding which We know nothing comparable to this but the case of a villain in the county of Tipperary who accused an innocent man of being an accomplice with him in a certain murder. The man was acquitted upon the clearest evidence; but the perjured informer was indicted, and his own evidence was made available against himself. When the verdict of guilty was given in, we never witnessed so much satisfaction in a court of justice, for every one seemed to see in it the finger of God; as, "in the snare which he had laid for others was he himself taken," and "Nec lex æquior ulla Quam necis artifices arte perire suâ.” "Disheartened," Mr. White proceeds, "by the ill success of his efforts, alarmed by the menaces and reproaches of his father, and moved by the sullen murmurs of Chasse and the Dutch generals, repen- tice, a proposition haughtily replied to by the provisional government, who demanded the preliminary evacuation of Maestricht, Antwerp, Fermonde, and Venloo, and the retreat of all the royal troops beyond the Moerdyck; after seeing every attempt or proposition for conciliation disdainfully rejected by the Belgians, and his authority disputed by Chasse, who placed Antwerp in a state of siege on the 24th; after liberating from their oaths a number of Belgian officers who, having tendered their resignation and refused to fight against their countrymen, had been placed under arrest; after witnessing the inundation of the Polders, and the still more dangerous overflowing of the revolutionary spirit in the hitherto loyal city of Antwerp, the Prince embarked for Rotterdam on the night of the 25th, and abandoning all hope of conciliation, with a bleeding heart bade adieu to the Belgic provinces in a short but touching address." What an interesting culprit! How deeply to be commiserated for his unsuccessful treason! "In a short, but touching address !" Really, Mr. White, this is rather too bad. The Prince may have seen his error, and may have sincerely repented of it, in which case he may hope to be forgiven. But to waste our sympathy upon him merely because he sorrowed, not for his crime, but for its ill success, would be "a helping him on with his wrap-rascal,” from which we pray to be excused. That Mr. White should have undertaken such an office we unfeignedly regret; for he writes on other occasions like one from whom better things might be expected. We return to the progress of the revolution. The insurgents, encouraged as they had been by so much unexpected success, did not long confine themselves to the defensive. They now, in their turn, became the assailants, and pursued their attacks with a vigour and an ability which, had it been exerted in a better cause, would not have been undeserving of admiration. By a combined movement Antwerp was attacked, and, owing to the unaccountable remissness of Chasse, who had the command of it, was carried by a coup-de-main. "Following up their success, the volun teers eagerly rushed after the flying foe to the very foot of the citadel glacis; and thus, in less than two hours, this important and splendid fortress, which might have resisted the attack of a regular army of fifty thousand men from without, and which had a garrison and fleet sufficient to have repressed any popular movement within, was irrevocably wrested from the crown. On this occasion General Chasse committed one of those grievous errors so necessary to be avoided, in the event of popular tumults. In lieu of concentrating his masses and withdrawing his small detachments-a precaution most essential in times when the barricades of the people are the great instruments of popular triumph-in lieu of keeping his reserves ready to move in dense columns, so as to sweep the streets and ramparts, he divided them into small parties and patrols, and left the gates with little more than the ordinary number of men, and thus subjected his people to be harassed, demoralized, and annihilated in detail." This criticism is just, and we respect it the more because it comes from one who, on other occasions, does justice to the moral and military qualifications of this distinguished general, who was certainly overruled by his destiny in thus yielding an easy victory to an insurgent rabble, whom his resources were abundantly sufficient to have enabled him to scatter before the wind. He was now confined to the citadel, and the authorities proceeded to lay at the feet of the rebel generals the keys of the city, which, however, the latter spurned, claiming for themselves and their followers the honor of an assault. As an opinion prevailed that Chasse might take advantage of his position in the citadel for the destruction of the city, no time was lost in negociating an armistice, by which that apprehension was removed; and an order from the provisional government authorized M. Van der Herreweghe "to take possession of the city and the citadel of Antwerp, and to see it occupied in the name of the Belgic people." furnish an official instrument parallel in audacity to those few lines. That such a fortress as Antwerp, having a numerous and chosen garrison under experienced and brave commanders, with a powerful and devoted fleet, moored at musket-shot from its open quays-a fortress immediately under the guns of that celebrated citadel which Alva had purposely raised to overawe the people; having a large portion of its respectable burghers and communal guard attached to the government, and being in itself of such paramount military and political importance as to render its preservation a matter of vital necessity; that such a fortress should be abandoned almost without a struggle, is sufficiently incomprehensible; but that the patriot government should anticipate such triumph, and actually empower its delegate to take possession of' the citadel, is certainly not one of the least singular and daring episodes of the revolution. Yet the general commanding has been held up to Europe as a model of firmness and military skill! Had General Chasse's talents or energy borne any proportion to his reputation, Antwerp, and perhaps all Belgium, would have now owned the dominion of Holland." It must be owned that all this is too true. Chasse was lulled into a false security, and the very strength of the place contributed to his delusion. He knew that it was proof against all ordinary attacks, and he laughed to scorn and undisciplined insurgents; until he the desultory assaults of tumultuary was made to feel what revolutionary vigor and promptitude could accomplish, by the actual success of an attack seemingly alike desperate and daring. It was then too late to rally his troops, and he was condemned to an inactive contemplation, from his inaccessible retreat, of the movements and the rejoicings of the triumphant invaders. But, while we deplore the remissness of this brave general before the assault upon the city, for his forbearance while cooped up in the citadel, we give him due honor. By the loss of reputation which he must have been conscious of having sustained, his feelings must have been sorely wounded; and this soreness could not have been lessened by the various insults and outrages to which his troops were exposed, when, under the guarantee of a truce, all hostilities were suspended. Nothing would have "The history of civil wars can scarcely been easier than for Chasse to have This was certainly a striking exemplification of the maxim, that fortune favors the bold. We fully subscribe to Mr. White's opinion, that 66 retaliated by turning the guns of the citadel upon the city, and speedily reducing it to a heap of ruins. Indeed many hesitated not to say that he only waited an excuse so to do, as the exigencies of Dutch commerce seemed to require such a sacrifice; and he might then, at one blow, satisfy the requirements of national monopoly and personal vengeance. But no such thoughts or feelings found place either in the head or the heart of Chasse. The armistice had been violated-and violated, Mr. White acknowledges, by the insurgents; and although a heavy musketry fire had been kept up for some time, not a single cannon was discharged until Kassels, the commander of the assailing artillery, had brought up a six-pounder and began to batter the arsenal gate." To endure this any longer without making reprisals would be madness. Chasse, justly indiguant at the infraction of the truce, ordered two or three guns to be fired from the ravelins and bastion facing the arsenal. But this was not sufficient; the attack still continued, and might have proceeded to an extent that would have endangered the security of his position, had he not hauled down his white flag and given the signal for action agreed upon with the fleet, consisting of eight vessels of war, and presenting a broadside of ninety guns. "An awful and simultaneous roar of artillery now fell on the ears of the affrighted inhabitants. In an instant the citadel, fleet, and forts hurled forth their converging thunder. Showers of shells, bombs and carcasses were heard cracking, bursting and bellowing around the venerable towers of St. Michael, the uproar of their explosion being multiplied by the echoes of the cathedral. Walls, roofs, and floors fell crushed beneath the resist less weight of projectiles, which sought their victims in the very cellars, confounding mangled bodies and ruined edifices in one mutilated and confused heap. Ere long, dark columns of smoke and jets of flame were seen to rise. The arsenal and entrepot were fired; the obscurity of the night soon gave way to a red and glaring lustre that converted the dark vault of heaven into a fiery canopy, whose lurid reflection announced the fearful catas trophe to the distance e many leagues. "The terror and stupefaction of the inhabitants baffles all description. Some concealed themselves in their vaults and cellars; others rushed wildly through the streets, shrieking and bewildered; such as had horses or vehicles, no matter of what kind, seized their valuables and hastily fled into the country; others, alone intent on saving life, darted through the gates on foot, and sought refuge in the neighbouring fields; old men, pregnant women, and young children, rich and poor, the hale and the sick, were seen flying in frantic disorder. The flames having gained the prison, there was no time to remove its inmates. The doors were therefore thrown open, and nearly two hundred convicts were let loose, but none had the heart to plunder. Terror, confusion, and despair reigned paramount. Weeping women and children clung for succour to men, who could afford them no relief or consolation. Some died of fright, others lost their senses; groans, screams, and prayers were heard between the pauses of the thunder, intermingled with maledictions on the destroyer, and curses on the revolution. In a few hours, however, all those that had power to move, or were not transfixed with terror, had fled into the country. The roads were covered with fugitives of all ages and sexes, who with tearful eyes turned to gaze on their devoted homes. The darkness of the night, awfully relieved by the red glare of the flames the hissing and roaring of the destructive element-the thunder of the cannon-the rattling of shot and falling of timbers-the frantic screams of women and children—and the groans of the wounded and dying--all united to fix an impression of horror on the mind not to be effaced by time or space." This terrible lesson was not wholly thrown away. The insurgents were various attempts to reach the citadel, soon brought to their senses. After which were baffled by the intensity of the fire, a deputation of four persons at length succeeded in gaining the advanced post, and a suspension of arms until daylight was solicited, a hope being expressed that it might then be possible to renew the negociation, "which had been apparently interrupted through the error of a few drunken men." To this Chasse agreed, threatening that, upon the slightest aggression, he would recommence firing. A preliminary truce was then agreed on; and, two days after, a more formal armistice for five days was concluded, which, " though never strictly adhered to on either side, formed the basis of the subsequent diplomatic negociations, until the surrender of the citadel." We cannot but think that Chasse should have followed up his success, and compelled, as he easily might, the evacuation of the town. He possessed both the power and the right to do so, the insurgents themselves having provoked the attack, by a want of good faith in the observance of their engagements. But the same unaccountable remissness, which characterised all the former efforts of the government, was here also deplorably manifest; and, while every thing was done which could add bitterness to the rage, nothing was done which circumscribed the power, or curbed, in any effectual manner, the insolence of the assailants. "Had Chasse, (Mr. White tells us,) even after the expiration of the bombardment, peremptorily demanded the evacuation and submission of the city, as the sine qua non to further concessions, he might have imposed his own terms. The terrible lesson the populace had received had rendered them sensible of the imminence of those perils, and the delegates of the provisional government would have paused ere they persisted in sacrificing the second city of Belgium to the obstinacy of a few desperate men; but Chasse, unfortunately let slip the golden opportunity, and thus paved the way to the subsequent downfall of the citadel." Against the charge of having been actuated by any jealous or vindictive feeling, the General stands fully vindicated. It was against the arsenal and entrepot that the fire was chiefly directed, and the whole of these vast buildings, together with the venerable church of St. Michael's, were consumed. But, "Had it been his intention to annihilate the whole, instead of a part, he could speedily have effected his object. Had the range of his howitzers and mortars been diverged-had the ships not elevated their guns-in short, had his projectiles been scattered over the town, in lieu of being concentrated in one part, it is indisputable that, ere the expiration of seven hours, the whole of Antwerp might have been involved in a blaze of destruction." If we must condemn the stratagetic conduct, it is well that that condemnation can be made available for the defence of the moral character of this distinguished chief. If he erred, it was as a soldier, not as a man; and when we consider the provocation he received, and the power which he possessed, our censure of his military errors will, perhaps, be mitigated by our acknowledgment of his clemency and moderation. An application having been made by the King of Holland to the allied powers who were parties to the treaty of Vienna, for assistance to reduce his revolted subjects to their allegiance, he received from them but little encouragement. The barricades had already given a new revolutionary sovereign to France, who could have but little sympathy for the troubles of the legitimate sovereign of the Netherlands. And in England, the Wellington administration was at that moment tottering to its the King of the French, given a kind of fall, and had already, by acknowledging pledge that they would oppose no serious obstacle to the progress of revolution. Mr. White tells us that a reform mania had at that time taken possession of the people, and that it was by reason of its prevalence the Duke found it so difficult to carry on his administration. In this we trust he is only mistaken. The difficulties which the Duke experienced arose from his concessions to the Roman Catholics, which alienated the best of his supporters in both houses of parliament. Their disgust at his supposed dishonesty gave rise to a temporary coalition with the Whigs, which rendered that almost extinguished faction very powerful. The business of the government could not be carried the Duke of Wellington would consent on, upon the principles on which alone to conduct it and thus, by a disastrous combination between wounded friends and furious enemies, he was driven from the helm of affairs, and the destinies of England were entrusted to the guidance of the destructive administra tion. Then it was that a desperate ministry made the people drunk by popular excitement, as their only chanceof maintaining their ill-gotten power; and that a slumbering demon was thus aroused, which never ceased to agitate the country, until it overthrew the constitution. Mr. White ought to have known, and was, indeed, inexcusable in not having known, that at no former period were the people of England more quiet upon the subject of parliamentary reform, than at the very time when the ministry convulsed the nation, by proposing the sweeping changes which have since become the law of the land. These changes were not forced upon them by the madness of the multitude, but the multitude were maddened that they might be forced upon the country. This it was which in reality rendered it impossible for England to interfere with any effect in the concerns of other kingdoms, or to oppose barriers to the progress of revolution abroad, while it was removing the barriers which obstructed its progress at home. The Duke of Wellington would have been contented with a passive policy, and had he continued in power, it is probable that he would have observed a neutral course. Had the Belgians been able to effect their own independence, he would have thrown no obstacle in their way, but was, on the contrary, perfectly ready to recognize them in any form of government which they might please to assume, provided only it was compatible with the peace of Europe. On the other hand, had the King of Holland been able to vindicate his sovereign authority, and to reduce his revolted subjects to their allegiance, there is no reason to think that England, under the Duke of Wellington, would have made war upon him on their behalf, and so far forgotten not merely the letter, but the spirit of the treaty of Vienna, as to act in direct contravention of her engagements. But the Grey ministry took another view of the matter. Louis Philippe was their beloved and faithful ally. The spirit of revolution was one to which they owed too much not to regard it with great indulgence. The King of the Netherlands was an obstinate, old-fashioned bigot of legitimacy, towards whom they could feel no manner of partiality-and the treaty of Vienna-why, that was the work of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh; and what liberal minister would not rejoice at the opportunity of rending into tatters a document which was, as it were, a conspicuous testimony to the success and glory of their hated rivals. The reader may be assured that we will not embarrass either ourselves of him, by attempting to lead him through the interminable protocols of Lord Palmerston. These celebrated documents, in which verbiage and chicanery are substituted for plain language and common sense, may be briefly described in the words of Grey, as "Great windows that exclude the light, And passages that lead to nothing." Their object, from first to last, was, and is, to compel the King of Holland to renounce his undoubted rights, and to justify a species of compulsory interference, for which, if it were attempted between man and man, there could be found but one name. The King, we think prematurely, applied for aid against his revolted subjects; this was made the pretext for abetting the revolted subjects against the king. The king claimed the privilege of participating, through his plenipotentiaries, in the deliberations of the conference which had assembled, at his desire, to take into consideration the condition of his kingdom, such privilege having been expressly guaranteed to him by the fourth section of the protocol of Aix la Chapelle, which was signed on the 15th of November, 1818. Mr. White considers it a striking proof of the justice of the plenipotentiaries, that this claim was disregarded; for that would give the Dutch an opportunity of judging in their own cause-such, and no other, having been the reason why the privilege was first accorded! It is no wonder, therefore, that the King of Holland should have withdrawn his sanction from umpires who commenced their arbitration by a refusal to acknowledge the force of a provision of that very protocol by which their mediation was sanctioned. And this original defect in their authority has rendered all their acts, as far as Holland is concerned, of no avail. From that moment might superseded right, and French cannon and English ships of war were the only appliances by which the resolute monarch of the Netherlands could be compelled, as Lord Palmerston would say, "to listen to reason." We shall only say here, that the legitimate governments did not do their duty by him. The bold, unscru |