The period of the independence of Belgium, brief as it was, was made use of, particularly under the Nothomb ministry, for the development of great industrial activity, and, more especially, for the creation of a system of railroads, until now without its parallel on the continent. Unfortunately but little was done in favor of the interests of Germany. The French language had already become so prevalent throughout Belgium that, in 1840, the provincial councillors of Ghent were constrained to pass a resolution to the effect that the offices dependent upon them should, at all events, solely be intrusted to persons acquainted with the Flemish dialect, and that their rescripts should be drawn up in that language.--Holland immensely increased her public debt in consequence of her extraordinary exertions. In 1841, the king, William I., voluntarily abdicated the throne and retired into private life, in the enjoyment of an enormous revenue, with a Catholic countess whom he had wedded. He was succeeded by his son, William II. [Footnote 1: "The Netherlands formed, nevertheless, but a weak bulwark to Germany. Internal disunion, superfluous fortresses, a weak army. On the one side, a witless, wealthy, haughty aristocracy, an influential and ignorant clergy; on the other, civic pride, capelocratic pettiness, Calvinistic _brusquerie_. The policy pursued by the king was inimical to Germany."--_Stein's Letters._] [Footnote 2: So bitter was the enmity existing between the Belgians and the Dutch that the Dutch lieutenant, Van Speyk, when driven by a storm before Antwerp, blew up his gunboat in the middle of the Scheldt rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the Belgians.] CCLXVIII. The Swiss Revolution The restoration of 1814 had replaced the ancient aristocracy more or less on their former footing throughout Switzerland. In this country the greatest tranquillity prevailed; the oppression of the aristocracy was felt, but not so heavily as to be insupportable. Many benefits, as, for instance, the draining of the swampy Linththal by Escher of Zurich, were, moreover, conferred upon the country. Mercenaries were also continually furnished to the king of France, to the pope, and, for some time, to the king of the Netherlands. France, nevertheless, imposed such heavy commercial duties that several of the cantons leagued together for the purpose of taking reprisals. This misunderstanding between Switzerland and France unfortunately did not teach wisdom to the states belonging to the German confederation, and the Rhine was also barricaded with custom-houses, those graves of commerce. The Jesuits settled at Freiburg in the Uechtland, where they founded a large seminary and whence they finally succeeded in expelling Peter Girard, a man of high merit, noted for the liberality of his views on education.[1]