gained the upper hand, principally owing to the influence of the clergy. De Potter's plan for the formation of a Belgian commonwealth fell to the ground. The congress decided in favor of the maintenance of the kingdom, drew up a new constitution, and offered the crown to the Prince de Nemours, second son of the king of the French. It was, however, refused by Louis Philippe in the name of his son, in order to avoid war with the other great European powers. Surlet de Chokier, the leader of the liberal party, hereupon undertook the provisional government of the country, and negotiations were entered into with Prince Leopold of Coburg. On the 4th of November, a congress, composed of the ministers of England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, met at London for the purpose of settling the Belgian question without disturbing the peace of Europe, and it was decided that Prince Leopold of Coburg, the widower of the princess royal of England, a man entirely under British influence, and who had refused the throne of Greece, should accept that of Belgium. Eighteen articles favorable to Belgium were granted to him by the London congress. Scarcely, however, had he reached Brussels, on the 31st July, 1831, than the fetes given upon that occasion were disturbed by the unexpected invasion of Belgium by a numerous and powerful Dutch force. At Hasselt, the Prince of Orange defeated the Belgians under General Daine, and, immediately advancing against Leopold, utterly routed him at Tirlemont, on the 12th August. The threats of France and England, and the appearance of a French army in Belgium, saved Brussels and compelled the Dutch to withdraw. The eighteen articles in favor of Belgium were, on the other hand, replaced by twenty-four others, more favorable to the Dutch, which Leopold was compelled to accept. The king of Holland, however, refusing to accept these twenty-four articles, with which, notwithstanding the concessions therein contained, he was dissatisfied, the Belgian government took advantage of the undecided state of the question not to undertake, for the time being, half of the public debt of Holland, which, by the twenty-four articles, was laid upon Belgium.