Emmanuel Servais

From 8 September 1836 until the Third Partition, in 1839, Servais represented his home canton of Mersch in Luxembourg's provincial council. In the same year, he established, with Victor Tesch, L'Echo du Luxembourg, which published its first edition on 21 December 1836.[2] Servais used the paper to promote his political interests, particularly improving transport links, an example of which was the construction of a permanent roadway between Ettelbruck and Bastogne.[2]

Servais was amongst a group that, on 5 May 1838, founded the 'Central Patriotic Society of Luxembourg', which opposed the First Treaty of London.[3] The Treaty awarded two-thirds of the grand duchy to Belgium, separating Mersch from Arlon and Bastogne, and hence dividing in two Servais's backyard and the Echo's core constituency. However, Servais' efforts were in vain, as the Treaty was accepted by both the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. Servais remained in the (diminished) grand duchy, being called to the bar in August 1839.[3]

Upon Partition and the dissolution of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the constitution was amended to allow for self-government. On 3 August 1841, Servais was named one of nine representatives of Luxembourg that convened in The Hague to advise the King-Grand Duke on its formulation.[4] For his work on doing so, he was awarded the rank of Commander in the Order of the Oak Crown.[5] Under the new arrangement, power passed to the Assembly of State, which held its first session in 1842. Once again, Servais represented Mersch, along with Théodore Pescatore and Claude Clément.[4] In sitting on the Assembly, he was notable for being a relatively extreme and revolutionary liberal.[5]

Servais was prominent in advocating budgetary restraint, and led the (unsuccessful) campaign to reduce the civil list by one-third.[5] His other main issue was education. Primary education was regulated by the state for the first time in 1843, and the scope of the Roman Catholic Church in instruction was anathema to the radical Servais.[6] Similarly, when the issue of secondary education was discussed, Servais argued that the Concordat of 1801 and Organic Articles were annulled by the Belgian Constitution of 1831, and so the Luxembourgian government was under no obligation to the Catholic Church.[7]