Well-defined obligations to the United Provinces of Holland were imposed upon Belgium by the Treaty of the Barriers. The Belgian sovereign was required to permit the presence of Dutch garrisons on Belgian soil, as a protection for Holland against France, in the cities and fortresses of Namur, Tournai, Furnes, Warneton, Ypres, and Knocke. A heavy yearly subsidy was to be paid by Belgium for the maintenance of those garrisons. The sovereign was also required to recognize the closing of the Scheldt, imposed by the Treaty of Munster (1648). Holland even claimed the right to prevent the Belgians from trading with the Indies. Notwithstanding these claims, Charles VI had tried to restore Belgian trade by the foundation of a shipping company, the “Compagnie d’Ostende,” created under an imperial charter, for commercial dealings with America. But the opposition offered by Holland, supported by France and England, so influenced the weak Emperor as to induce him to suspend and finally to disband the company--the only hope for the restoration of national trade. The obligation to maintain foreign garrisons in Belgium was both drastic and humiliating. Empress Maria Theresa, who succeeded Charles VI as the sovereign of the Austrian Netherlands in virtue of the provision of the “Pragmatic Sanction,” tried to avoid the obligation of the “Barrier” by withholding payment due to the foreign garrisons. The final blow to this unjust system was given by her son, Emperor Joseph II, who simply ordered the demolition of the fortresses still occupied by the Dutch on Belgian soil. Joseph II, who was greatly interested in the restoration of the prosperity of the country, even attempted to secure the complete opening of the Scheldt, still closed by the Dutch. After diplomatic negotiations, begun in 1784, had failed, owing to the energetic opposition of the United Provinces, once more supported by France, the Emperor tried to settle the question in a practical but simple manner. He ordered a vessel to leave Antwerp and follow the course of the river down to the sea, and another vessel to start from Ostend and follow the course of the river up to Antwerp. The Dutch, he hoped, would not fire upon the vessels, and the Scheldt would be opened to shipping by this stratagem. But the Dutch did fire, and forced the Belgian vessels to withdraw. Any further move on the part of the Emperor would mean war, and for this Joseph II was not prepared. The Scheldt remained closed.