Another question to be settled was the delimitation of the boundaries of the new kingdom. On January 20 and 27, the Conference of London had issued two protocols, proposing that Belgium be made a perpetually neutral state; that Holland take all the territory that belonged to the Dutch republic in 1790, and that the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg become an appanage of the house of Orange; that Belgium should be charged with 16/31 of the national debt of the former United Kingdom of the Netherlands. These protocols, favorable to Holland, were immediately accepted by the Dutch King, but unequivocally rejected by the Belgians. The second article of the London protocols robbed them of Dutch Flanders--the north of the ancient county--of the towns of Maestricht and Venloo and the strip of Limburg surrounding them, and also of the Grand Duchy, a part of the old Belgian province of Luxemburg. The loss of this territory seemed the more unjust as the inhabitants of those regions had participated in the Belgian revolt and did not desire annexation by Holland. The negotiations between the powers and the Belgians would never have reached a settlement but for King Leopold. The Belgian King persuaded the Conference of London to supersede its protocols by a declaration in eighteen articles, leaving the matter in dispute to be directly negotiated between Leopold and William of Holland, with the good offices of the great powers. The Dutch King refused to recognize the eighteen articles and, on August 2, twelve days after the accession to the throne of Leopold, invaded Belgium. King Leopold displayed military skill and courage, but the Belgians had no strong army and their ill-trained troops were badly defeated at Louvain and at Hasselt. Impending disaster was prevented by the sudden arrival of a French army, sent by Louis-Philippe, to whom the Belgian King had appealed for help. The French repulsed the Dutch. This intervention of France seriously alarmed the other powers, and especially England. Fearing that French influence might regain a foothold in the new kingdom, they precipitately drafted another protocol, called the Twenty-four Articles, in place of the former eighteen, and took from Belgium the whole of the area in dispute, except the district of Arlon, in Luxemburg. Again the Belgians refused to be stripped; but the threat of invasion by a German army finally compelled them to accede. On November 15, 1831, Belgium, France, and England signed the Treaty of the Twenty-four Articles, to which Russia, Prussia, and Austria soon afterward assented.