the resumption of negotiations there was no difficulty in settling the principal points of the convention; the agreement turned chiefly on the minor points of trade and commercial relations, in which Holland displayed the obstinacy for which the Dutch are traditionally renowned.
On the 19th May, 1833, a convention was agreed to and signed, and the long quarrel was practically over. All Dutch vessels that had been seized by France or England were to be released immediately and restored, with their cargoes, to their owners, and all Dutch prisoners were to be liberated. Holland agreed not to reopen hostilities with Belgium, and the navigation of the Scheldt was to be kept open as it had been prior to November 1, 1832. The Meuse, which flows through Holland in the lower part of its course, was also opened commercially for Belgian vessels, on condition that certain duties fixed for the states of the German Confederation should be paid. It was further agreed that Holland and Belgium should proceed to the negotiation of a treaty for a definitive and permanent peace. As all the points of the treaty were practically settled it was supposed that the negotiations would present no difificulty, but as a matter of fact, owing to the obstinacy of the king of Holland, it was not completed until 1839. Even then it was only accomplished at the dictation of the European powers. Luxemburg and Limburg were divided between the contending nations, Holland receiving the eastern divisions, with the fortresses of Maestricht, Venloo, and Luxemburg. The independence and neutrality of Belgium were guaranteed, and the country was enabled to enter upon a career of commercial and industrial prosperity.
Since the conclusion of the above-named treaty with Holland, Belgium has had no taste of the horrors of war within her borders, other than the use of the military on several occasions for the suppression of disturbances among workmen in mines or in manufacturing establish-
