CHAPTER III

THE CREATION OF BELGIUM

The Whigs in office--Talleyrand insists upon the necessity of establishing a good understanding with England--Palmerston's distrust of the French Liberals--State of Europe--Revolution at Warsaw--"The Frenchmen of the North"--Belgium declared independent and neutral--Candidates for the Belgian throne--Bresson and Ponsonby at Brussels--British government will treat as a case for war the enthronement of a French prince--Flahaut in London--Lawoëstine at Brussels--The Duc de Nemours elected King of the Belgians--Critical situation--Louis Philippe declines the throne for his son--Proceedings of Bresson--Anger of Talleyrand--Casimir Périer forms a government--War in Poland and insurrection in the Papal States--The Austrians at Bologna--Leopold of Saxe-Coburg--Dissatisfaction of the Belgians--Reluctance of French government to see coercion applied to the Belgians--The protocol of 18 articles accepted by Belgium, refused by Holland--Leopold enthroned--Roussin at Lisbon--The Dutch invade Belgium--French army enters Belgium--Palmerston's suspicions of Talleyrand--Stockmar's suspicions of Palmerston--Excitement in London--Talleyrand's warning--Why the French army remained in Belgium--King Leopold's dilemma--The French evacuate Belgium--Londonderry attacks Talleyrand in the House of Lords--"_l'ordre règne à Varsovie_"--Palmerston's despatch on the Polish question--The treaty of the 24 articles--The Fortress Convention--Talleyrand's advice--French threaten King Leopold--Palmerston stands firm--Casimir Périer gives way--Austrians re-occupy Bologna--The French at Ancona--Palmerston exerts himself to avert a rupture--Solution of the difficulty--Orloff's mission to the Hague--Lamb furnishes Palmerston with a copy of Orloff's secret instructions--Austria and Prussia ratify--Orloff in London--Russia ratifies with certain reservations 40-117