The Press.
London, England, 1855-11-10 00:00:00

1070

directly contradictory of the pecuniary unpunctuality
charged by the landlady, svelte et agacante ;" and
further, that the "femme curieuse avant tout," and
by no means wanting in wit and discretion, appro-
priated some of the Russo-Armenian papers as a se-
curity against any ingratitude of the Police Minister.
These documents have found their way into hands of
a person or persons not belonging to the " parti de
Is Croix," of which M. Steiber shall have due notice.
J. E. L.

BRUSSELS, Nov. O.
Boni foreign and English journals have lately
directed their attention to King Leopold, and have

expressed themselves in a mode little creditable
either to their taste or their discretion. Thi‘

---- -
monarch was placed in his present position by the

free choice of a free people, and the selection of a
ruler was substantially guaranteed by France and
England. The connection with both kingdoms was
riveted by matrimonial ties; and at the time he
was the consort of the heiress to the throne of Eng-
land he was aide.de-camp to the Emperor Alexander
of Russia, and with a sister married to the Grand
Duke Constantine. In the criticism to which the
King has been unfairly exposed, an antithetical
error has been committed, that places the matter in
such a light as to carry with it its own condemna-
tion, and to elicit the disapproval of every one who
claims the right to liberty of thought and expres-
sion, and who may or should possess a becoming
kindliness of disposition. His Majesty of Belgium
has been censured—first, for &supposed endeavour to
effect an honourable peace betwixt the allies and
Russia; secondly, for having sanctioned the visit of
Vie Duke and Duchess of Brabant to the Emperor
Napoleon.
In dealing with the first cause of offence, which
supposes a bias in favour of Russia, it cannot be
forgotten that the late Duke of Wellington enter-
tained opinions, to the very letter, similar to those
said to be held by King Leopold ; and on the state
of Turkey no disparity of judgment existed betwixt
the Emperor Nicholas and the same Duke of Wel-
lington. This was reduced to a certainty in 1844,
during the visit of the Czar to England, and the fact
has been affirmed by documentary evidence. The
sealed letter of the Foreign-office is a matter of his-
tory. Is England anxious to rise in judgment
against the memory of the great Duke? Again,
King Leopold bears ever in grateful memory his
early connection with England, and loses no occa-
sion of testifying his regard for the "old country,"
by courtly civilities to those who may visit his Bel-
grin capital. Prompt testimony of this will be
affirded by all those who have been so often indebted
to the official courtesies of the Count de Marnix.
Allied to England in a double sense, and collaterally
r3lated to Russia, can it be charged against the
King, as an offence, the desire to aid in terminating
the war by a peace honourable to all? What the
t3rms may be that shall be deemed honourable to all
p is another affair ; at present it suff_ces to deal
strictly with the abstract question in defence of the
King. It comes then to this, that the King of the Bel-
gi Ins, holding views in perfect accordance with those of
the late Duke of Wellington on the Eastern question,
and considering that the objects of the war have
b3en gained, in great measure, by the victories of
the allies, which place them in a position of acknow-
13dged predominance, would desire, as a monarch and
a 4 a man, right honourable in each capacity, to
a;sist in solving the European difficulty, and to pre-
♦ant further and unnecessary bloodshed. To the
a limos of this righteous desire no one would ven-
t ire to take exception, unless such as might hold a
war, " bequeathed from bleeding sire to son," to be
the end and aim of civilised life. And now for the
se. and count.
Those amongst the European journalists who
decry the present war in obedience to Russian sym-
pathies, are displeased with the King on account of
the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Brabant to
the Emperor Napoleon. They would predicate, as a
principle and as a policy, the antagonism of Belgium
to Imperial France—that is to say, that in their in-
considerate espousal of the cause of the Court of
Paris, illegitimate soever it be, they would call upon
Belgium to take upon itself the task of disen-
throning the Emperor Napoleon, to seat in his place
the young exile of Eisenach. This swash-buckler
aspiration is not sane, and, looking at the means,
d:spicably ridiculous. The King of the Belgians pos-
s3ases privileges personal and of right. He has the
privilege of having an opinion of his own, and he has
the duty to guard against Belgium precipitating itself
into a war that, in Ministerial judgment, may entail
disaster without a corresponding benefit. A wish for
the re establishment of peace cannot be visited as a
crime, and the act of courteous amity for which he
has been uncoluteously blamed was motived, at the
least, by a loyal and amiable intent,