Gazette Of The United States

A short account of Brabant, and upon what
principle the Brabancons, at present, make re-
sistance to the Emperor.

The province of Brabant is distinguished by
two divisions- first what is called Dutch Brabant,
the second Austrian Brabant.

The chief towns of the first are Bois-le-Duc,
Breda, Bergen op Zoom, Maastricht, Grave, Lillo,
Steenbergen- of the second, Brussels, Louvain,
Vilvoorde, and Louden.

Antwerp and Malines are provinces indepen-
dent of Brabant, though surrounded by it, and
subject to the House of Austria.

The seventeen provinces, of which Brabant
forms a part, were, long after the decline of the
Roman empire, governed by their own Princes,
till swallowed up by the House of Burgundy ;
from thence they passed to Spain, and from Spain,
those which are now called Austrian Netherlands
are considered as a circle of the empire, and
contribute their share to the imposts of the em-
pire, but not subject to its judicatures ; for though
the Archducal House, as being Sovereign of the
whole, is the directing and summoning Prince,
the Constitution enjoins an Assembly, or Parlia-
ment, for each province, consisting of the Cler-
gy, Nobility, and Deputies, who meet at Bru-
ssels, and who are convened to make laws for the
general good of the whole.

Conceiving those privileges trampled upon by
the late decrees of the Emperor, and, perhaps,
feeling the general spirit of Continental politics
at present in their favour, the inhabitants of the
different towns have armed and make resistance,
the event of which time only can determine.