The Press.
London, England, 1856-07-26 00:00:00

- _
filed to his care. He was at that time not more
years of age, and this deliberate corn-
than eighteen
Aliment in a time of danger and emergency proves
the estimation in which the talent of the young
prince was held. Shortly afterwards, at the desire of
the Emperor Alexander, by whom he was highly
valued, the Prince entered the Russian service. In
this favorable opinion Napoleon also concurred, and,
unwiiling to permit an uncertain ally to possess a
young officer of such rising promise, he intimated
his desire that the Prince should relinquish his com-
mand in the Russian army. With this demand the
latter refused compliance until having had an
audience of the Emperor, and he repaired to Paris in
1810. In the Journal of St. Helena Napoleon
dictated :
A l'epoque de ce voyage Leopold, etait un des plus
beaux bommes de Paris, brillant, plein d'elegance, it avait
dis-bait a diz-neuf ens.
But he was unsuccessful in the object of his visit,
and after leaving the Russian service he retired to
Cobourg, where he sedulously pursued a course of
study. In 1813, Germany having declared against
the Emperor, the Prince resumed his station in the
Russian army ; and the cuirassiers, under his com-
mand, particularly distinguished themselves at the
battle of Lutzen. They were equally conspicuous
for their achievements in the battles of Gersdorp,
Waldheim, Etzdorf, and Limbach. At Reichenbach
Prince Leopold gave eminent proofs of personal
valour, when, at the bead of his regiment, he stood
firm against one of the most brilliant cavalry charges
of the French during the. campaign, led by General
Latour Maubourg. At Peterswalde, Kuhn, Wachau,
and Leipsie, the young general earned additional
renown ; and the orders of St. George of Russia, and
Maria Theresa of Austria, were conferred upon him,
in acknowledgment and reward for his distinguished
bravery. In the subsequent combats of Bar-sur-
Aube, Brienne, Arcis sac-Aube, and La Fere, he
took a prominent part; and at the latter place cap-
tured five pieces of artillery from Marshal Marmont.
But the distinction won at the point of the sword
did not eclipse that appertaining to the peculiar pro-
vinces of intellect; for as a rising statesman, whose
opinion was valued, he received marked attention
from the Ministers at the Congress of Vienna, where
his prudence and tact led to solid advantages for
his brother, the reigning Duke of Saxe Cobourg.
On the more intimate connection of Prince Leopold
with England it is not necessary to dilate, beyond
the regret that the country experienced in the sever-
ance of the tie that would have made him the part-
ner of the throne of Great Britain. In 1827 the
great powers of Europe were anxious that be should
accept the sovereignty of Greece. He consented con-
ditionally; but as the stipulations he prudently an-
nexed were not faithfully carried out, the crown of
the Hellenic kingdom was respectfully yet firmly de-
clined.
On the 4th of June, 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxe
Cobourg was elected King by the Belgian Congress,
and a deputation, consisting of MM. de Gerlach,
Felix de Merode, Van de Weyer, Abbe de roere,
d'Aerschot, H. Vilain XIV., Destouvelles, Duval de
Beaulieu, and Thorn, waited upon him in England
with the offer of the regal dignity. It was formally
accepted. The Prince entered the Belgian territory
on the 17th of July, 1831, and a series of jubilant
demonstrations marked his journey to the capital,
where, on the 21st of the same month, he pledged
his oath as King to observe the integrity of the
Belgian Constitution. "Je jure d'observer la Con-
stitution et les lois du peuple Beige." The fidelity
with which King Leopold has maintained his obliga-
tion has been honestly declared by the Belgian
people before the face of Europe. It is somewhat of
a rarity to find a nation unanimous on a point that of
all othere may be said to be affected by party views.
Nevertheless, whatever may have been the differences
of political factions, however virulent may have been
the promptings of personal animosity, even the very
shadow of hostility, public and private, vanished in
order to do homage to one whom all honoured,
valued, loved, and respected. Whether that faith,
which he has so rigidly maintained, has been as
strictly observed by others, cannot be discussed at the
present moment; but all must admit that the conduct
of the King during the memorable events of 1848 still
farther entitle him to the gratitude of the Belgian
people. That the preservation of the Belgian
nationality was not owing to the Ministry of that day
is matter of notoriety; that it was mainly dependent
on the firmness of the King and the steadfast ability
of the Minister of a country to whom the King is at-
tached by the ties of consanguinity, is not doubted
generally even by those who have not a precise
knowledge of the facts. Let it be said, not more
curtly than truly, that the King of the Belgians offers
in his person an example of a constitutional monarch,
which if followed in less fortunate dominions would
at once terminate, as it would eradicate, the fatal
cause of domestic discontent and internecine rebel-
hon. The vain pomp of regal glory acquired at the
expense of public happiness, is but a heartless
.ageant. Suspicion mars enjoymeut, and the