In his acceptance he said: "Human destiny does not offer a nobler or more useful task than that of being called to found the independence of a nation, and to consolidate its liberties." The people hailed and received him with great enthusiasm, and on July 21st he was crowned King of the Belgians, with most impressive ceremonies, at Brussels. The Dutch, however, viewed all this with much concern, and at once began hostilities, thinking that the powers would sustain them rather than permit France to occupy Belgium. At once Dutch troops were massed for attack on both Brussels and Louvain. Outnumbered by the Dutch, the badly organized national forces of Belgium met disaster at Hasselt, and, realizing his peril, Leopold besought the French, who were at the frontier, to come to his assistance. Simultaneously with the assault on Louvain, therefore, the French troops arrived at Brussels. Great Britain now entered the fray, threatening to send a fleet of warships to occupy the Scheldt unless King William recalled his army from Belgium. This settled the matter, and the Dutch withdrew. The French likewise returned to their own territory. Jealousy, however, was manifested by Austria, Prussia and Russia toward the new kingdom, and their refusal to receive Leopold's ambassadors was calculated to encourage hope in Holland that the reign of the new monarch was to be limited. New troubles began for the Belgians, in the presentation of the London Protocol of October 15, 1831, in consequence of a demand that the greater part of Limbourg and Luxembourg be ceded. Not only the Belgians but the Dutch opposed this demand, as well as the conditions of the protocol. And at once King William prepared for armed resistance. Leopold immediately after obtaining votes for the raising of the sum of three millions sterling for war purposes, increased the army to one hundred thousand men. Now ensued a most critical period for the little kingdom, but both France and England held their shields over it, while Leopold's marriage to the Princess Louise, eldest daughter of King Louis Philippe, gained for it still greater strength in its relations with France. King William, however, refused stubbornly to recognise the protocol, and retained possession of Antwerp, which he held with a garrison of five thousand soldiers. Antwerp Citadel being the pride of the kingdom, the Belgians, restive under the control of the powers, demanded that both England and France help them at once to recover it, alleging that in case this help was refused, they, with their hundred thousand men, were ready to capture it themselves. So in the month of November the French troops, under Marechal Gerard, laid siege to the Antwerp stronghold, held by General Chasse, who after three weeks' siege capitulated, and the Dutch, rather than have their warships captured, burnt and sank them in the Scheldt.