Henri Alexis Brialmont

"Should it not, this essentially producing country, search all parts of the globe and seek to fight with other nations, by exploring in advance the countries likely to favor industries, by studying local needs and resources, by indicating the nature and time of the shipments to be made, etc.?"

"The Duke of Brabant (Leopold II) takes me for a statistical office."

"The best way to create opportunities is to send, from time to time, expeditions to countries with which there is a chance to establish commercial relations."

"He wanted to transform his little Belgians into an imperial nation capable of dominating and enlightening others."

"He desires a strong Belgium so that his wealth ceases to arouse envy among his neighbors; he also desires her to be strong, so that she can increase her heritage, float her flag on the seas, settle on distant beaches."

"A man of struggle and controversy, discussed and often vilified by the small press, I have always been an embarrassment to those who have employed me. My character and my faults are not an obstacle to my useful service in the active army, but they will make me ill-suited to fulfill the duties of the King's aide-de-camp which require extreme reserve and prudence."

"The economic crisis which weighs on Europe since the industry took such a big development, carries the nations towards the colonial companies. Belgium could not remain a stranger to this movement without seriously compromising its material interests; our King (Leopold II) understood this, and this is what determined him to substitute his individual initiative for the persistent inaction of the government and the nation."

"At the time when the government intervened in the Guatemalan affair, the European colonies were closed to Belgian trade by prohibitive laws or high differential duties ... We therefore had to think about creating our own bases of operations for trade. national. From this point of view, we can only applaud the idea of ​​forming a Belgian colony on the vast American continent. ... Since this initiative, which our lack of initiative and perseverance alone failed, the situation has changed completely. Under the impetus of the great economic reform, led by the illustrious Robert Peel, ideas about free trade have gained ground in Europe, and the time may not be far off when all the powers will remove the barriers with which they have surrounded their transatlantic possessions. Therefore, the need to create agricultural colonies to promote the development of trade and national industry will no longer exist to the same degree."

"Never have I had the impression of such a moral and civic downfall. In no country, not even the last of the last, what is happening here would be possible."