 Schimmelpenninck saw himself in the same light . He had long had a woolly vision of a " national conciliation " in the Netherlands , that made him amenable to a rapprochement with conservative and Orangist circles . These were to become his power base . Though Schimmelpenninck was a convinced federalist , he was a pliable character also . When Napoleon indicated that he preferred a centralized organization of the Dutch state ( as the re @-@ federalized model of the Staatsbewind had clearly not worked out ) , he did not hesitate to implement this in his project of a new constitution , that he constructed in the Summer of 1804 in consultation with the Staatsbewind . As a matter of fact , a delegation of the Staatsbewind , consisting of Schimmelpenninck , and members of the Regency Van der Goes ( the former Agent ) and Van <unk> ( a former Director ) , presented the case for this draft to Napoleon in November 1804 . When the clash about the French customs men therefore took place later in the month , Napoleon came to a speedy decision and soon thereafter the Batavian Republic had a new constitution and government . 
