Dear Minister, please let me know how many men are actually available in Hainaut, Ghent and Brussels, please also inform me of any measures that will… - Leopold II of Belgium

The mission which the agents of the State in Congo must fulfill is noble and of high purpose. Their task is to develop the work of civilization. They must gradually contain the primitive wildness, the bloodthirsty habits of thousands of years. They must subject the population to new laws. among which the most urgent and the most beneficial is undoubtedly that of labour.

France need not to extend its own borders, that would only have a counterproductive effect, however, it should surround itself with allies and friends whom it must make more powerful, and whom in turn make France itself more powerful, such an approach will not disturb anyone, free and without In this way, France can fence itself with reliable allies, it goes without saying that 6 or 7 million Piedmontese, 3 million Swiss, 8 million Belgians and 37 million French can provide the French emperor with a larger, better organized and more complete armed forces than those possessed by the Empire of 50 million people, all the emperor has to do is give us permission to invade the Netherlands, thanks in part to his prestige a quick and easy victory awaits us.

We must put an end to anarchy and its continuing preaching.