he old
_regime_ was greeted with tumultuous joy by those large sections of the
Dutch population which had imbibed revolutionary principles; and the
French troops were welcomed by the "patriots" as brothers and
deliverers. "Trees of Liberty," painted in the national colours, were
erected in the principal squares; and the citizens, wearing "caps of
liberty" danced round them hand in hand with the foreign soldiers.
Feast-making, illuminations and passionate orations, telling that a new
era of "liberty, fraternity and equality" had dawned for the Batavian
people, were the order of the day. The Revolution was not confined to
the town-corporations. At the invitation of the Amsterdam Committee and
under the protection of the French representatives, deputations from
fourteen towns met at the Hague on January 26. Taking possession of the
Assembly Hall of the Estates of Holland and choosing as their president
Pieter Paulus, a man generally respected, this Provisional Assembly
proceeded to issue a series of decrees subverting all the ancient
institutions of the land. The representation by Estates and the
offices of stadholder and of council-pensionary were abolished. The old
colleges such as the Commissioned Councillors, the Admiralties, the
Chamber of Accounts, were changed into Committees for General Welfare,
for War, for Marine, for Finance, etc. The other provinces in turn
followed Holland's example; and the changes in the provincial
administrations were then quickly extended to the States-General. These
retained their name, but were now to be representative of the citizens
of the whole land. The Council of State was transformed into a Committee
for General Affairs; and a Colonial Council replaced the East and West
India Companies and the Society of Surinam. To the Committee for General
Affairs was entrusted the task of drawing up a plan for the summoning of
a National Convention on March 4.

So far all had gone smoothly with the course of the revolutionary
movement, so much so that its leaders seem almost to have forgotten that
the land was in the occupation of a foreign conqueror. The unqualified
recognition of Batavian independence, however, in the proclamation by
Daendels had caused dissatisfaction in Paris. The Committee of Public
Safety had no intention of throwing away the fruits of victory; and two
members of the Convention, Cochon and Ramel, were despatched to Holland
to report upon the condition of affairs. They arri