PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE ANNEXATION OF HOLLAND TO

FRANCE.

THE KING OF HOLLAND TO THE LEGISLATIVE BODY.

"GENTLEMEN,

"I charge the ministers to present to your assembly, the resolution which I find myself compelled to take, in consequence of the military occupation of my capital. The brave French soldiers have no other enemies than such as are enemies to the common cause of Holland and myself. They are and ought to be received with all the regard and civility possible; but it is not less true, that in the actual situation of Holland, when an entire army, a crowd of customhouse officers, and when even the national army is taken from under the power of government; when every place, with the exception of the capital, was under the orders of a foreign officer, I thought it right to declare to marshal the duke of Reggio, and the charge d'affaires from the emperor, that if they occupied the capital and its vicinity, I should consider that operation as a manifest violation of the rights of the people, and the most sacred rights among

men.

"It was this which made me refuse customhouse officers entrance into Meudon, Naarden and Daman. I was right in doing so; because the treaty did not authorize the presence of customhouse officers, but upon the banks of the sea and at the mouth of rivers.

"On the 16th of June I received, through the charge d'affaires of his majesty the emperor and king, an assurance, that it was not his intention to occupy Amsterdam; that led me to hope, that he would abide strictly by a treaty, the conditions of which were drawn up by his majesty the emperor himself. Unfortunately, my error was not of long duration, as I received a communication, that 20,000 French troops had united in the environs of Utrecht. I continued, notwithstanding the extreme scarcity and embarrassments of our finances, to furnish them with subsistence and other necessary things, although the treaty precisely expressed that there should be 6000 men only maintained at the expense of the kingdom; but I feared that this collecting of troops was done with other views unfavourable to our government; and late in the night, on the 29th, I received official information, that his majesty the emperor insisted upon the occupation of Amsterdam, and the establisment of the French headquarters in that capital.

"Under these circumstances, gentlemen, you cannot doubt that I was willing to suffer for my people any humiliations, if I could have preserved the hope of being able to support such a state, and above all, to prevent new evils: but I could not deceive myself any longer. I have signed a treaty dictated by France, under the conviction, that measures the most disagreeable for the nation and for myself would not be followed up; and that, satisfied with my voluntary abdication, which is the consequence of the said treaty, every

thing would go on smoothly between France and Holland. The treaty presents, indeed, a great number of pretences and of new grievances and accusations; but can pretences be ever wanting? I ought then to have confided in the explanations and communications which have been made to me besides this treaty; and in the formal and circumstantial declarations which I have not failed to do: such as that the customhouse officers would only interfere in the measures relating to the blockade; that the French troops should only remain on the coast; that the domains of the state and those of the crown should be respected; that the debts of the countries which had been ceded would be charged to France; in a word, that from the number of troops which were to be furnished, there should be deducted those which at this moment are at the disposal of France in Spain; and even that for the maritime strength necessary, time should be allowed. I have always flattered myself, that the treaty would be fulfilled; I have been mistaken; and if the entire devotion which I have manifested for my duty on the 1st of April, has only tended to drag on and prolong the existence of the country for three months, I have the cruelly grievous satisfaction, yet the only one which now I can have, that I have fulfilled my obligations to the end; that I have (if I am so permitted to speak,) sacrificed to the existence and to the welfare of the country, all that was possible; but, after the submission and the resignation of the 1st of April, 1810, I should be much to blame if I consented to retain the title of king, being no longer but an instrument, no longer commanding, not only in the country, but even in my own capital; and perhaps soon, not even in my palace.

"I should be, nevertheless, a witness of every thing that might be going on, without being able to do any thing for my people, responsible for all occurrences, without the power to prevent them or their influence. I should have exposed myself to the complaints of both sides, and perhaps have occasioned great misfortunes; by doing which, I should have betrayed my conscience, my people, and my duty. I have for a long time foreseen the extremity to which I am now reduced, but I could not have prevented it without sacrificing my most sacred duties, without ceasing to have at heart the interests of my people, and without ceasing to connect my fate with that of the country. Now that Holland is reduced to that condition, I have, as a king of Holland, but one course to take, and that is, to abdicate the throne in favour of my children. Any other course would have only augmented the misfortunes of my reign. I should have perhaps seen often the peaceable inhabitants, victims to contentions of government, destroyed at once. How, then, could an idea of resistance ever enter my mind? My children,born Frenchmen, like myself, would have seen in a just cause, but which they would not have believed solely mine, the blood of their countrymen flow. I had then but one course to take.

"My brother, so violently irritated against me, is not so against my children; and doubtless he will not destroy what he has done, and deprive them of their inheritance, since he has not, nor can

have any subject of complaint against one who will not, for a long time to come, reign himself. His mother, to whom the regency appertains by the constitution, will do every thing that shall be agreeable to the emperor my brother, and will succeed better than myself, who have had the misfortune never to be successful in my endeavours of that kind; and at the conclusion of a maritime peace, perhaps before, my brother, knowing the state of things in this country, the esteem its inhabitants merit, how much their welfare accords with the interests well understood of his empire, will do for this country all it has a right to expect, as the reward of its numerous sacrifices to France, of its fidelity, and the interest with which it cannot fail to inspire all those who judge of it without prejudice. Perhaps I am the only obstacle to the reconciliation of this country with France; and should that be so, I might find some kind of consolation in dragging out the remainder of a wandering and languishing life, at a distance from the first objects of my whole affection, this good people, and my son. These are my principal motives; there are others equally powerful, with respect to which I must be silent, but they will be easily divined. The emperor, my brother, though strongly prejudiced against me, must feel that I could not act otherwise. He is great, and he ought to be just.

"As to you, gentlemen, I should be much more unhappy even than I am, if possible, could I imagine that you would not do justice to my intentions. May the end of my career prove to the nation and to you, that I have never deceived you; that I have had but one aim, the true interest of my country; that the faults I may have committed, are solely to be attributed to my zeal, which caused me to employ not always the best, but the most practicable means of overcoming the difficulty of circumstances. I had never proposed to myself to govern a nation so interesting, yet so difficult as yours. Be, gentlemen, my advocates with the nation; inspire it with an attachment to the prince royal, who deserves it, if I may judge from his happy and natural disposition. The queen has the same interest as myself. I cannot, gentlemen, conclude without recommending to you in the most earnest manner, and in the name of the interest and of the existence of so many families, whose lives and property would be infallibly compromised, to receive the French with the attention, with the kindness, and the cordiality which is due to the brave people of the first nation in the universe; to your friends, to your allies, who consider obedience as the first of duties, but which they cannot fail to esteem the more in proportion as they become acquainted with a nation brave, industrious, and worthy of esteem under every consideration. In whatever place I may happen to terminate my days, the name of Holland, and the most lively prayers for its happiness, will be my last words, will be my last thoughts.

"July 1, 1810."

"LOUIS NAPOLEON.

VOL. I. APP.

+ L

AMSTERDAM, JULY 3. Louis Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitution of the kingdom, king of Holland, constable of France.

"To all those who may see, hear, or read these presents, health. "HOLLANDERS,

"Being convinced that nothing more for your interest or your welfare can be effected by me, but on the contrary, considering myself as an obstacle which may prevent the good will and intentions of my brother towards this country, I have resigned my rank and royal dignity in favour of my eldest son, Napoleon Louis, and his brother, prince Charles Napoleon.

"Her majesty the queen, being of right, according to the constitution, regent of the kingdom, the regency shall, till her arrival, be vested in the council of ministers.

"Hollanders! never shall I forget so good and virtuous a people as you are. My last thought, as well as my last sigh, shall be for your happiness. On leaving you, I cannot sufficiently recommend you to receive well the military and civil officers of France. This is the only means to gratify his majesty the emperor, on whom your fate, that of your children, and that of your whole country, depends. And now, as ill will and calumny can no longer reach me, at least so far as relates to you, I have the well founded hope, that you will at length find a reward for all your sacrifices, and for all your magnanimous firmness.

"Done at Haarlem, July 1, 1810.

"LOUIS NAPOLEON."

"Louis Napoleon, by the grace of God, and the constitution of the kingdom, king of Holland, constable of France;

"Considering that the unfortunate state in which this country is now, arises from the displeasure which the emperor, my brother, has conceived against me;

"Considering that all endeavours and sacrifices on my part, to support the state of things have been fruitless;

"Considering lastly, that it cannot be doubted, that the course of the present state of things is to be attributed to my having been unfortunate enough to displease my brother, and to have lost his friendship, and that I, therefore, am the only obstacle to the termination of these incessant differences and misunderstandings:

"We have resolved, as we by these letters, published by our own free will, do resolve to resign, as we do from this moment resign, the royal dignity of this kingdom of Holland, in favour of our well beloved son Napoleon Louis, and in failure of him, in favour of his brother Charles Napoleon.

"We further desire, that according to the constitution of the guarantee of his majesty the emperor, our brother, the regency shall remain with her majesty the queen, assisted by a council of regency, which shall provisionally consist of our ministers to whom we commit the custody of our minor king, till the arrival of her majesty the queen.

"We further order, that the different corps of our guard, under the command of lieutenant general Bruno, and general Bruno second in command, shall render service to the minor king of this kingdom, and that the great officers of the crown, as well as the civil and military officers of the household, shall continue to render their customary services to the same high personage.

"The present act done and concluded, and signed by our hand, shall be transmitted to the legislative body, and then deposited copies shall be taken, and these letters be published in a legal manner, and in the customary form.

"Haarlem, July 1, 1810."

"LOUIS NAPOLEON.

In the name of his majesty Napoleon Louis, by the grace of God, and the constitution of the kingdom, king of Holland, the provisional council of regency of the king of Holland, to all those who may see, hear, or read these presents, makes known,

"That in consequence of the resignation of the royal dignity and authority made by his majesty Louis Napoleon, in favour of the crown prince, his majesty's eldest son, Napoleon Louis, and of his brother, prince Charles Louis Napoleon, and by virtue of his majesty's authority contained in the open and sealed letters, published by him on the 1st of July, 1810, the provisional regency has this day constituted itself, under the presidence of the minister Van Der Heim, waiting the arrival of her majesty the queen, as constitutional regent of the kingdom and guardian of the minor king, and in expectation of the measures which her majesty shall be pleased to adopt relative to public affairs. Amsterdam, 3d July,

1810.

"VAN DER HEIM.

"By order of the provisional council of regency.

"A. J. J. H. VERHUEN, "First secretary of the cabinet of the king."

AMSTERDAM, JULY 14.

The following proclamation was published here yesterday.

"DUTCHMEN,

"Charged with the provisional government of the kingdom of Holland, we have this day received the order of his majesty the emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of the confederation of the Rhine, and mediator of the Swiss confederation, to notify to you, that his Imperial majesty, having taken into consideration the state of affairs in Europe, the geographical position of Holland, and the pretensions of the common enemy, has, by a decree, issued from the palace of Rambouillet, the 9th of July, 1810, resolved, that the kingdom of Holland should be united with the French empire; which decree is of the following tenor. [See page 83.]

"In communicating to you the decree, we are also charged by his majesty the emperor to inform you, that his majesty finding himself compelled to put an end to the intermediate governments,