to act alone.

On the 22nd they signed a convention providing for the coercion of
Holland by an embargo and by the despatch of a squadron to the Dutch
coast. If any Dutch troops should be still in Belgium on November 15, a
French force was empowered, subject to the consent of the Belgian
government, to advance into Belgium and expel the Dutch troops from the
country. The French were, however, to retire as soon as the Dutch
evacuation was complete. The first result of this convention was the
suspension of the conference. On the 29th the two powers made their
demand. As the Dutch refused compliance, a joint French and British
fleet sailed on November 4 to blockade the Scheldt, and the embargo was
proclaimed on the 6th. On the 15th a French army of 56,000 men,
commanded by Gerard, entered Belgium. On December 4 it opened fire on
the citadel of Antwerp, which surrendered after a nineteen days'
bombardment on the 23rd. The French army returned to its own country
before the end of the year, leaving the Dutch in possession of two small
forts on the Belgian side of the frontier, which were more than
compensated by the positions held by the Belgians in Dutch Limburg. Even
the fall of the citadel of Antwerp did not induce Holland to accept the
settlement proposed by the powers, and Great Britain and France now
attempted to effect a working agreement pending negotiations on the
details of the treaty. It was in vain that Holland asked that Belgium
should evacuate the Dutch provinces of Limburg and Luxemburg and pay
her share of the interest on the Dutch debt. Palmerston and Talleyrand
refused to include these provisions in a preliminary convention. Finally
on March 21, 1833, a convention was signed between Great Britain,
France, and Holland, which terminated the embargo and provided for the
free navigation of the Scheldt and Maas. A similar convention was signed
between Holland and Belgium on November 18. Six years, however, were to
elapse before the Dutch government would consent to the conditions drawn
up by the powers in 1831. Meanwhile the Belgians were free from their
share of debt, held the greater part of Limburg and Luxemburg, and
enjoyed the free navigation of the Maas and the Scheldt, over and above
the terms granted them in 1831.

[Pageheading: _POLISH REBELLION._]

It is inconceivable that the Belgian question should have been left so
entirely in the hands of the two western powers, and that the settlement
should hav