Edouard Mercier
Édouard Joseph Mercier (1 April 1799 - 18 January 1870) was a Belgian politician of liberal tendencies. He is the uncle of Cardinal Mercier. He served several terms as Minister of Finance; first was 1840–1841, second was 1843–1845; Third term was 1855–1857. He was appointed Minister of State in 1845. Biography Mercier was born in the Walloon city of Braine-l'Alleud to register controller Hubert Mercier and Marie-Josèphe François. He married Jeanne Mastraeten. Mercier had served in the capacities of: clerk at the Customs Service (1819); inspector of excise duties (1827); Inspector of Taxes (1830); Chief Inspector of Taxes in the province of Brabant (1831); Chief Inspector at the Central Administration (1833-1839); Director of the Central Administration of the direct taxation, cadastre, customs and excise (1839-1840). He had begun a political career. In 1837, he was a liberal (and from 1843 Catholic) member of parliament for the district of Nivelles and held this office until 1857. In 1859 he was again a member of parliament until 1863. He participated in the Unionist ministry of Peter Decker as Minister of Finance (1855-1857). There is supposed to represent liberal opinion, but his liberalism was very moderate. At the time of the unrest that