Jules Van Praet

"I thought about it carefully and I remained convinced that there is no place in Belgium that it could be more desirable for me to represent than Antwerp. ... I have always been imbued with the conviction that matters which particularly affect the prosperity of Antwerp should have a large part in the care of the government. Belgium had its era of commercial activity, because at that time it had ready-made means of selling the products of its manufactures. I think that the efforts of the government must tend to restore life to maritime trade, to multiply the means of exchange with overseas countries, to replace the colonial outlets which we have lost, to facilitate commercial relations with a liberal legislation."

"Always tell the truth, even if it should make him jump out of his shoe."

"His Majesty has long been imbued with the immense utility which would result for Belgium from the possession of some commercial establishment outside her territory, outside the European continent. This thought constantly preoccupied the King."

"There is no longer a single government that colonizes. There is only individual colonization."

"My dear Mr. Banning, I am returning the 2nd sheet to you. I find this of extreme interest. You would have to read many volumes to acquire the geographical notions that you have so condensed into a few pages. I read this with great charm. You're giving the matter a nice boost. I have no comments to make. I made a small cross at the top of page 28, because I thought it was better to put "revise" instead of "revis" or "undertook" instead of "undertakes." A thousand friendships. (s) Jules Van Praet."

"He was not the result of an eminent virtue: a small dose of male selfishness, coupled with a certain contempt or rather a slight disdain for women, always kept him away from the sacrament of marriage."

"No one knows if Leopold I made Van Praet, or if Van Praet made Leopold I."

"He is hardly interested in foreign matters, except when they are of direct and immediate interest to the country."

"Van Praet and Devaux were not concerned with the Congo. They both expressed a desire to be kept out of the "African adventure." For Mr. Van Praet, laden with years and involved for half a century in the history of the dynasty, this abstention was natural. As for his nephew, he had not concealed from the King, with his usual frankness, the disappointments and the dangers he faced. The prevailing opinion at court was that the founding of a colony was beyond the strength of the Sovereign of a small country and that he would encompass his private fortune, without being able to create anything lasting. ... He (Leopold II) did not try to overcome Mr. Devaux's disbelief and did without his services."

"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."