POTTER United Families

In his “Letter to Minister Van Gobbeschroy, Louis' purpose was to
warn his friend that a new day had dawned in Belgium. The union of
the opposition was real, had now existed for a year, and the Catholics
and Liberals were both calling for liberty and equality for all.
Dissatisfaction had not been erased, nor the Belgian's griefs
redressed. But the people themselves would not be lulled to sleep
again.
They were awake and ready to make sacrifices for their rights.
Gobbelschroy must think of himself as being in a free country, so
that he could perform his duties in an entirely different manner. One
passage in this pamphlet was particularly impressive: “Any nation in
love with freedom is already free by its own rights. To be free, one
must believe in freedom while implementing one’s duties. A free
nation is composed of citizen ready for any sacrifices without being
seduced by any promises, proud and willing to suffer for their
homeland. Combatting corruption by virtue and implementing public
civic rights.
Curiously, the “Letter of the Low Countries” recommended Louis
for a vacant seat in the Second Chamber of the States-General,
although he was still a prisoner in the Petits-Carmes ! Louis guessed
that the idea was to embarrass the government. He refused the idea
and further elaborated on his offers in a letter to the Letter of the
Low Countries, which was published.
Louis wrote later in his Souvenirs that he had rather seen a reform
taking place naturally than anything pushed top-down. If such a
peaceful reform had been possible, with a government formed from
within the Belgian population, he would then have taken up such a
challenge.
However the speech King William made to the States-General on
December 11, 1829 was anything but conciliatory. Jottrand compared
his attitude to the French ordinances of July 1830. Ce préambule où
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