1789 ،، with them. This design, which was happily discovered and prevented, may be imputed to the malice of a desperate banditti. But it was followed by a transaction which evinced that men of weight and reflection, though they might not be abettors of the conspiracy, were as adverse to the emperor's measures as the multitude themselves, though they meant to pursue a different mode of redress.-In the month of september, the duke d'Aremberg and other nobles who had retired to Breda, the archbishop of Mecklin, as head of the clergy, the members of the states of Brabant, and those of the suppressed high council, constituted and declared themselves to be the legal assembly of the states of that province: and in that capacity they remitted a strong remonstrance to the emperor against his infractions. of his oath and his violation of their rights: ↑ and they concluded with a declaration, that, inheriting the loyalty and spirit of their ancestors, although they were ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes for the prosperity and glory of their sovereign, they were by no means prepared "for a dastardly and perfidious surrender of those rights which they held “ in trust for their fellow-citizens and their posterity: they, therefore, "earnestly adjured him, that, by an immediate revocation of his illegal "edicts, and reinstatement of the provinces in their rights, he would "relieve them from the cruel necessity, which the most sacred duties imposed on them, of an appeal to God and their sword."-How desperate this respectable body of men deemed their condition, how resolute they were, at all events, to redeem themselves from it or fall in the attempt, is evident from this circumstance, that every man of them knew that he united in this transaction at the hazard of all that was dear to him: and, however we may lament the events which ensued, the violent ebullitions of popular rage, we must revere these disinterested patriots, who, at such a risk became the avengers of their country's wrongs. 66 The time was now arrived when the feelings of the people were to be manifested in open rebellion, and the provinces were to exhibit those scenes of outrage which ever attend on civil war.-A body of insurgents having possessed themselves of forts Lillo and Liefenshock, Dalton dispatched general Schroeder with 4000 men against them; who dispossessed them + September 14. f Annual Register. 1791. 5. 6. End of October, them of the forts, and drove them for refuge to Turnhout. There the troops were at first successful. But the insurgents, being continually reinforced, poured such a tremendous fire of artillery from the several openings of the streets into which the imperialists had forced themselves, and of fire-arms from the houses, that they at last drove their enemy from the town with great loss. After this, the revolters, who daily received an accession of strength, assumed the alluring appellation of the patriotic army. Dalton, enraged at this disgrace, redoubled his efforts to suppress the revolters. Being informed that they were in considerable strength at Tirlemont, he dispatched general Bender against them. But this only served to add to his mortification; that officer being constrained to retire, after 1300 men, on both sides, had fallen in the town.t-These disasters were followed by the defeat of general Arberg; who saved his forces from being entirely cut off by a precipitate retreat across the Scheldt. And the insurgents became, in consequence, so strong, that, with the assistance of a favourable disposition in the people, they soon possessed themselves of Ostend, Bruges, Louvain, and Ghent.+ The emperor, when informed that the revolters were in possession of this city, so essential to the sovereignty of Austrian Flanders, convinced at last of the alarming state of his affairs, once more relaxed from his rigour, and addressed a conciliatory declaration to his subjects in the low countries, expressing his sorrow for the present troubles; exhorting the malecontents to lay down their arms, and trust to his clemency and paternal affection for a redress of their grievances. But it was now seen that, as it often happens in such cases, he had persevered in coercive measures till it was too late to adopt those of a conciliatory nature, without that appearance of constrained submission which destroyed their effect.-Confident in their strength, the states of Flanders, without waiting the arrival of the declaration, assumed the style of high and mighty states; and they asserted their independency by passing several resolutions; declaring the emperor to have forfeited his right to the sovereignty of Flanders; resolving to raise an of 20,000 men, and to unite themselves with the states of Brabant. army... Affairs, 1789 1789 Affairs, in the mean-time, had assumed a very serious aspect in the province of Brabant. Dalton, who proved by his conduct in these transactions that he had more haughtiness and severity than true spirit, had shut himself up in Brussels as a place of the greatest security: but it was seen in the result that he had judged erroneously. A strong body of patriotic citizens, coming suddenly upon him while some conciliatory negotiations were on foot, drove him to such extremities that he, who had borne himself so tyrannically, was obliged to sue for a capitulation.† This being granted, he, by the stipulations of it, withdrew his troops to Luxemburg; leaving the revolters in possession of the province of Brabant as well as Flanders. As a last expedient to preserve the sovereignty of the provinces, the emperor dispatched count Cobentzel, an able statesman, to Brussels, with full powers to treat with the revolters. But this submissive overture, the purpose of which, they thought, was to avert the impending danger, and to gain time till the emperor was better prepared for resistance, only heightened the disrespect and disgust which his former duplicity had excited. The states now, in their turn, assumed a haughty tone, and insisted on an enlargement of privileges, and a better security for the enjoyment of them, than that which had been so repeatedly violated.It required some time to deliberate on the document transmitted from. them to the court of Vienna. In the mean-time, the states of Brabant, that they might have greater confidence in each other, and create greater confidence and attachment in the people, solemnly swore that they would preserve the rights, privileges and constitution of their country; and administered the same oath to the sovereign council, in the presence of the citizens, who sanctioned the deed by their acclamations.* DENMARK AND SWEDEN. A CRISIS now occurred in the affairs of Sweden that was well calculated to display the talents of Gustavus in the most favourable light; which do not appear to have consisted so much in judgment, or depth of understanding, or genius for affairs of state, as in that quickness of thought, and that address which enables a man to extricate himself from difficulties, and those powers of persuasive eloquence which enable him to acquire popularity and to bear away the reward of virtue with a small degree of intrinsic merit. We have seen him at the close of the preceding year distressed by a mutinous disposition among his troops, and a powerful malecontent party in the state: we have seen him foiled in his designs against Russia, and his fleet, on which he chiefly trusted for defence, blocked up in the harbour of Sweabourg; whilst he was with difficulty rescued from an invasion of the Danes on his southern frontier by the timely interposition of Great Britain and Prussia; andt hat, too, effected only by an armistice which was nearly expired. -In such a situation, nothing but the most strenuous exertions, the most vigorous measures, could have saved him from being overwhelmed by Russia, and reduced to a state of abject dependence on that tyrannizing power. These Gustavus was prepared to adopt. It was an exigency that roused all the powers of his mind, and afforded him the opportunity he desired of emulating the exploits of the most enterprising of his ancestors. The king wished to accomplish a further diminution of the authority of the nobles; who had borne him an inveterate grudge since the revolution of 1772: he was desirous also of obtaining the firm support of the other orders in the prosecution of his war with Russia. With the address of an expert politician, he availed himself of the circumstances of his adverse fortune, and made the mutinous demeanour of the equestrian order the means both of bringing on them the national odium, and inducing the other orders to acquiesce in his oppression of them; whilst he, at the same time, exasperated his people against the Russians, and, by making 1789 1789 making it a war of passion blended with patriotism in them, instead of what it originally was, a war of ambition in himself, he prevailed on them to support his standard with greater ardour. It had ever been his policy to court the attachment of the commons, as the only expedient for maintaining the power which the revolution had given him. And he now experienced the good effects of his popularity.— The body of the people, not having been injured by his dissimulation and duplicity, were not aware that these vices made a part of his character: and the attachment which his affability, and his easy, courteous manners gave him concurred with their enmity to the nobles to prepare them to forge their own fetters, by the extension of a power which already preponderated in the state. That he might render them more completely devoted to his interests, he, in every harangue, professed a zealous regard for the freedom of the constitution, and his indignation against those who were disposed to violate it. On his return from Gottemburg, he called together the magistrates and chief citizens of Stockholm: and, after expressing in high terms of approbation the sense he entertained of their fidelity in the discharge of their trust, as administrators of government during his absence, he entered confidentially into the state of public affairs: he descanted on the fair prospect with which he had opened the late campaign, and the manner in which his hopes had been blasted, not by the arms of Russia, but by the empress's intrigues with his disaffected subjects: and he portrayed in glowing colours the evils that must arise to the state and nation, if the mutinous spirit which had discovered itself were not effectually curbed, and hostilities vigorously carried on against this mortal and insidious enemy.-The effect of his address was such as he desired-a declaration from the assembly for the continuation of the war, with an assurance that their lives and fortunes were devoted to his service." Thus assured of support from this respectable body of citizens, Gustavus opened the diet on the twenty-sixth day of january, and caused the matters of state to be laid before them proposed for their deliberation, especially such as related to the prosecution of the war. Here he had to encounter the expected opposition from the nobles. They did not think it advisable directly to oppose his warlike measures: but they endeavoured to divert |