The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-11 00:00:00

West Coast of Africa.

The West African mail steamer Macgregor Laird,
Capt. R. J. Loury, arrived in the Mersey on Satur-
day morning, with dates from Benin to the 25th
of October ; Fernando Po, Nov. 1 ; Cameroons,
Oct. 30 ; Brass River and Lagos, Nov. 8 ; Accra,
10th; Cape Coast Castle, 12th ; Cape Palmas, 14th ;
Sierra Leone, 19th ; Bathurst, 23d ; Teneriffe, 29th ;
and Madeira, Dec. 2. The following are her ad-

vices :--

At Fernando Po, Canieroons, Old Calabar, Brass,
and Benin trade was moderate and the climate
healthy.

At Bonny trade was almost at a standstill in
consequence of a dispute between the Bonny trad-
ing natives and those in the interior. It is, how-
ever, expected to resume its usual briskness in the
course of a fortnight. No sickness in the river.
At Lagos trade was brisk, and the health good.
The steamer Thomas Bazley, which left about four
months ago on an expedition up the Niger, under
direction of Mr. M'Coskry, of Lagos, arrived here
on the Bth inst. She had been very unsuccessful,
so far as trade was concerned, and brought down
Lieut. Bourchier, R.N., and Mr. Robins, who suc-
ceeded the late Dr. Bakie, of Lukoja, about four-
teen months ago, and who had remained at that
place ever since, having had no communication with
white people during that time. Mr. John Whit-
ford, of Liverpool, accompanied the expedition,
who, with Mr. M'Coskry, enjoyed first-rate health.
Several of the crew of the Thomas Bazley died of
African fever.

Cape Coast was very healthy, no case of sickness
having occurred among the Europeans for some
time. A transport is expected daily to convey the
troops at present stationed here to Sierra Leone,
and those at Sierra Leone to the West Indies.

MADEIRA.—On the 13th ult. her Majesty's ship
Racooti arrived, having his Royal Highness Prince
Alfred on board. She remained eight days, and
then proceeded to Gibraltar. Twenty invalids, sent
out by the Brompton Hospital, arrived at Madeira
on the 20th ult. by the Maria Pia. Not nearly so
many visitors have arrived this as on previous years,
in consequence of the stringent quarantine regula-
tions. On the 4th inst. the Macgregor Laird passed
her Majesty's ship Constantine, in lat. 37 37 N.,
and long. 13 30 W.
The Macgregor Laird brings 19 passengers, 13
distressed British subjects, and 2,1084 oz. of gold
dust. The following is a list of passengers :—J.
Matton ; Lieut. E. B. P. White, 4th West India
Regiment ; Lieut. Bourchier, R.N. ; Robins ;
Dr. G. St. A. Campbell, R.N. ; W. D. Toull, R.N. ;.
K. 11. Varlet ; A. B. M'lntyre ; lion. G. W.
Nicol ; H. Ireland; Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-
General Squarey ; Captain Marshall, 3d West India
Regiment; Staff-Surgeon Bradshaw; Mrs. Poitiers ;
and Sutherland.

AMONG THE ECHOES OF THE WEEK is a very
cruel rumour— (without, we believe, any footing or foun-
dation)—to the effect that Mrs. Beecher Stowe—(Mrs.
Beecher's toe)—has got the gout.

LATEST INTEL ICS

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

BELGIUM.

NCE.

MINISTERIAL PROCLAMATION TO THE
PEOPLE.

BRUSSELS, DEC. 11.

The Council of Ministers have issued a procla-
mation which, after announcing the death of his
Majesty King Leopold, says :--" The Belgian people
will await with confidence the approaching day
upon which the representatives of the nation will
receive the constitutional oath from the heir to the
Throne. Until this oath shall have been taken the
constitutional powtrs of the King will be exercised

in accordance with Art. 79 of the Constitution, in
the name of the Belgian people, by the Ministers
assembled in Council, and under their responsi-
bility.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 10, Evening.

The following proclamation, announcing the death
of King Lepold, was posted during the day in the
streets of this capital :
" Inhabitants of Brussels ! The King is dead I
His Majesty succumbed at 11.45 this morning, at
his residence of Laeken, to tee attacks of the malady
from which he has so long suffered.
" All Belgians will deplore the loss of the Sove-
reign who has been associated for 34 years with the
destinies of Belgium.

" The high sagacity and striking personality of
him who carries our eternal regrets with him to the
tomb have favoured the development of a happy,
prosperous, and free nationality, whose existence has
become a pledge of security and peace to Europe.
" History will tell that the founder of our national
dynasty has bequeathed to posterity the pattern of
the most loyal development of our free institutions,
and has secured the indissoluble alliance of the
Throne with liberty.
" The country places its destinies with confidence
in the hands of the worthy son of a model King—
of the Prince who, born upon Belgian soil, partakes
our sentiments and our wishes, as we share his pro-
found grief.

" T. ANSPACH, Burgomaster.
" Done at tha Hotel de Ville, Dec. 10, 1865."

(From the Times)

Not only for the last few days, but also at inter-
vals for years past, the telegrams have been busy
about the health of the King of the Belgians ; so
that the calamity of his death, which we announce
to-day, can scarcely be unexpected. He bad been
long afflicted with a distressing malady, of which,
however, to the honour of British surgery, he was
completely cured about two years ago. It had defied
the leading surgeons of the Continent, but yielded to
the skill of Mr. Henry Thompson, who successfully
performed the operation of lithotrity. After this
remarkable cure it seemed as if the King, notwith-
standing his great age, might still count on the en-
joyment of not a few years of life. He had a strong
constitution, and easily underwent fatigues which
many young men may shrink from. He delighted
in walking, and to the dismay of his attendants used
to think little of 20 or 30 miles a day. Only in
January last, while shooting at his chateaus in his
Forest of Ardennes, he might be seen for six hours a
day on 10 successive days tramping through the snow
and defying fatigue, although he had then entered
his 75th year. He was, indeed, too confident of
his strength and took liberties with it. Just before
coming to England last spring he had a
_slight
paralytic seizure ; although he was subject to a
bronchial weakness, he came to visit the Queen,
careless of the weather, and he left our shores,
against all advice, equally careless. Since then we
have had more than once the painful task of report-
ing on the doubtful state of his health, and now
there comes the saddest task of all—to record that
he is dead.

Leopold of Belgium, if not a great monarch, was
the wisest of his time. His intellect was more dip-
lomatic than legislative, and he wanted the ambition
of imperial minds ; but few men that care so little
for power have enjoyed more. He had one of the
smallest of kingdoms, yet he was one of the most
powerful Princes in Europe, and certainly he was
the most trusted. His life was wonderfully calm,
yet it is one of the most extraordinary romances in
history. He was the youngest and least of his family,
yet he was its real head, and he lived to see it
dominate in the councils of the great powers. Before
his time, although the name of Coburg was well
known in Europe, his family was of small account.
The name first of all became prominent towards the
end of last century, when the grand-uncleof Leopold
held high command in the service of the Emperor of
the West, and had his name conjoined with that of
Pitt as leader of the contest against the French Re-
volution. Pitt and Coburg were. then regarded as
the saviours of Europe, but unfortunately the Prince
of Saxe-Coburg proved to be a dull general, who
obstinately adhered to the old system of dividing
his forces, and covering an immense tract of country
with his Communications. He utterly failed ; the
name of Coburg lapsed into obscurity, and no one
anticipated that it would again become more power-
ful than ever, and would be associated in jest or in
earnest with the salvation of Europe. Yet in our
day we have read such a verse as this—
" Si par Dieu, le grande juge,
Ce globe est condemns,
Qui d'un autre Mug()
Sera Ventre Nod ?
C'est Coburg, Coburg, Coburg !"

—the mock earnestness of which is a tribute to a
great fact. If we remember rightly, it is M. de La-
gueronniere who described King Leopold as le Juge
ds Paix de l'Europe. He displayed in a very marked
manner the judicial character, and his grave, „serious,
reserved temperament, his reflective and balanced
intellect--above all, his devotion to Liberal ideas
and to the cause of human progress, are hereditary
gifts which may be said to belong less to himself
than to his family. He was not the man to make
events ; he was the man to whom events offer, and
to whom they are not offered in vain. Now he gets
an offer of the most splendid alliance in the world,
and now he gets the offer of kingdom after kingdom.
Leopold George Christian Frederic, Prince of
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, was born on the 16th of De-
cember, 1790, the eighth of a family of nine chil-
dren, of whom two died in infancy, so that he was
the youngest survivor. Older than he, were, among
others, Prince Ernest, the father of our Prince
Albert; Prince Ferdinand, grandfather of the pre-
sent King of Portugal ; and the Princess Victoria,
afterwards Duchess of Kent, and mother of our.
Queen. The kingdom which the wisdom and pru-
dence of Ernest the Pious had made a Power in
Germany had not only become insignificant by re-
peated divisions, but that portion of it which re-
mained in the Coburg-Saalfeld branch of the family
had also suffered severely from the injudicious ad-1
ministration of Leopold's grandfather, Duke Ernest
Frederic, during whose reign a considerable debt
had been accumulated, to add to other misfortunes.
Leopold's father, Duke Francis, did not much im-
prove the state of affairs, and before his death war
had come to aggravate domestic miseries. We get
our first glimpse of the future monarch whilst his
country was suffering the most terrible of calami-
ties, and he himself one of the bitterest of do-
mestic bereavements. When, in 1806, the French
army crossed the Rhine and entered the terri-
tory of Saxe-Coburg, Leopold was watching
alone by his dying father's side, his two elder
brothers being then engaged—the one in the Aus-
trian, the other in the Prussian army. Saalfeld was
attacked, taken, and pillaged in October, and two
months afterwards the unfortunate Duke Francis
died, having lived only to see the fatal battle of Jena
place Germany at the mercy of the conqueror. His
eldest son was recognised as his heir by the Treaty
of Posen, but his dominions were seized by Napoleon.
Prince Leopold was thus driven from his native land,
and entered the service of Russia, where he soon
attained the rank of General in the army, a favour
which doubtless he owed to the marriage of his third
sister, Julienne, with the Grand Duke Constantine.
The Peace of Tilsit in 1807 effected a favourable
change in the fortunes of the Saxe-Coburg family,
for by the arrangements concluded between France
11and Russia Duko Ernest was restored to his here-

ditary possessions. Prince Leopold then paid a short
visit to his native place, and in 1808, during the ab-
sence of his elder brother in Russia, undertook the
government of the principality, though he was but
a boy of 18. Returning again to Russia, he appeared
by the side of the Emperor Alexander during that
monarch's interview with Napoleon at Erfurt. Ile
was not, however, permitted to remain long at rest.
Napoleon having quarrelled with the Czar required,
as Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, that
Duke Ernest should resign his Austrian, and that
Prince Leopold should resign his Russian command'
Bowing to necessity, Leopold went to Paris, and, If
Napoleon's statement to O'Meara be correct, applied
to become one of his aides-de-camp. " He was very
near being one of my aides-de-camp," said the Ern-
peror, in 1817, " to obtain which he had made jute'
rest, and even applied ; but by some means, veil
fortunately for himself, he did not succeed, as Pre-
bably if he had he would not have been chosen to
be a future King of England." "Most of the young
Princes of Germany," continued he, " solicited to
be my aides-de-camp, and Leopold was then about
18 or 19 years of age." The fact, however, seems
doubtful. Napoleon's accuracy in his late years was
open to question ; and from what we know of the
foresight and astuteness of Prince Leopold, not to
say his patriotism. it does not seem likely that be
would have been willing to change sides thus silt
denly, and, above all, to side with the bitter foe
of
his family, of his country, and of his most powerful
friend. Certain it is, however, that he spent some
time in Paris and in Imperial society, where, accord"
ing to Napoleon, he was accounted " one of the
handsomest and finest young men of his time." 03,
formed intimate friendships with many of the most
illustrious personages of the empire, among wheel
Queen Hortense is especially mentioned.
The next two years of his life were uneventful.
In 1811 we find him at Munich concluding a treat):
with the King of Bavaria as to the boundaries 01
that kingdom and the Duchy of Coburg. In 1812
when Napoleon's Russian designs became apparent'
he offered his services to the Emperor Alexander,
but they were declined. 'This refusal may be a'
plained in two different ways. Either the Czar gene'
rously wished to prevent the young Prince from
placing himself in a position of difficulty with NaPn-
leon ; or, what is more likely, he was offended with
him for having too easily abandoned the Russian
service and for having formed French connections:
Whatever the cause may have been, Prince Leopold
remained in comparative retirement, travelling in
Austria, Switzerland, and Italy till the eventful year
1813, when Germany rose as one man against Nap°'
leon. Leopold was then selected as the fit person to
communicate the state of German feeling to the
Emperor Alexander. He accordingly joined the CIA!
in Poland, and whatever temporary estrangement
existed seems to have entirely disappeared. He re'
turned to active service, and commanded a Russian
corps at the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, and Leipsle'
He entered Paris with the Allied Sovereigns, and be
accompanied them to London. There he met the
Princess Charlotte for the first time, and Was s°
fortunate as to attract her regards. Returning ouee
more to the Continent he was present at the Congress
of Vienna, where he managed to obtain an increase
of territory for his brother. The unexpected return
of Napoleon recalled him to the Army of the Rhine,
and with it subsequently he re-entered Paris. It was
during his stay there that he received an invitation
to revisit England, and to revisit it as the accepted
suitor of the heiress to the throne. Sudden as the
lightning the most splendid destiny flashed uponthe
obscure Prince of a petty German province. Leopold,
won without an effort the bride who seemed destine'
to the Prince of Orange, as some years later he ob'
tained without seeking half the Kingdom of the
Netherlands. It was a strange fortune which thus
fell to him that he should supplant the Prince of
Orange in the affections of the most coveted Princess
in Europe, and that, again, he should supplant both
.
him and his father in the possession of half their
kingdom.
On the 16th of March, 1816, the Prince Regent
sent a message to Parliament announcing the in'
tended marriage of his daughter to Prince Leopold.
On the 27th of the same month the fortunate Prince
was naturalized ; he received the title of Duke of
Kendal and the rank of General in the army, and
on the 2d of May the marriage was celebrated at
Carlton-house. A year and half of domestic haP-
piness and repose followed, which must have been
peculiarly grateful to one whose whole youth had
been exposed to continual vicissitudes. He twig
no active part in public affairs, devoting himself en-
tirely to study and domestic enjoyment, and fore-
shadowing in miniature that policy of reserve whiell,
his nephew in the more prominent position 01
Prince Consort most successfully adopted. We
need not dwell on the sudden blighting of 111.4.
hopes. His calamity was no less sudden than In°
good fortune. The Princess Charlotte died in De-
cember, 1817 ; but he had so identified hitasen
with the nation, and had so won their confidence'
that even after the bond which attached WI
personally to England had been severed he col'
tinued to be regarded by the nation as one of them'
selves. He resided at Claremont in the closest re-
tirement, and before long it happened that a nel;
object of interest arose for him. His sister bad
married the Duke of Kent, and in 1819 a daughter
was born to her, who, under certain not improbable
contingencies, would succeed to the British throne'
He gave his sister the benefit of his advice and 0;
perience. The Duchess of Kent came to England'
comparatively ignorant of its language and manners,
and her position here, left as she soon was a widely,
with the responsibility of training up the heiress 01
the Crown, might hive been insupportable had her
brother not been at hand to assist her. For him it is
difficult to imagine a history more strange or more
full of vicissitude. In one day he is master of the
most splendid position in the world. In one day he
is removed from his pride of place and falls back int°
his original security. In one day, again, there gleams
upon him the hope that his sister is to be the mottleer
of an English Sovereign, and that through her his
family may rise to the first place in the eyes °I

Europe.
Prince Leopold did not remain many years in
obscurity. In February, 1830, he was offered the
kingdom of Greece. He accepted it on certain coil'
ditions which we need not recapitulate, as it 038
impossible to comply with them. The result of non
compliance was that he remained in retirement 0
Claremont. It has been asserted that when he tho
declined the Crown of Greece he had some know'
ledge of the better fortune which was awaiting
him. This, however, is quite impossible. The
Greek Crown was declined on the 21st May, and
Revolution at Brussels did not take place tin
the following September. When that revolittion,
broke forth it was not until after the claims (1
the Duke of Leuchtenburg and of the Duke c""
Nemours were interdicted—the former by France
and the latter by England that the Bel:
gian people turned towards Prince Leopola•
In June, 1831, he was elected their King, and 11/
July he solemnly swore to observe the constitution,
and to preserve the independence and integrity '3l
the country. He had first, however, to fight for bi°
crown, for the Dutch had not yet consented to el:
severance of Belgium. King Leopold had to fig h°
the Dutch ; he was beaten at Louvain, and he 1579
compelled to seek the assistance of the French. 11-11
army of 50,000 men came to his relief, and the gang
of the Netherlands withdrew his troops. In Sere
tember King Leopold opened for the first time the
Legislative Chambers, and then commenced tu
most arduous of tasks, the organisation of a ne
kingdom. In less than a year the nation was c°l3;
stituted, an army of 80,000 men was ready for ,s
field, credit was eatablished, and a national loan
80,000,000 florins was negotiated. In order still
eci
further to consolidate his position the King marsh'
in August, 1832, the Princess Louise eldest dangio
ter of King Louis Philippe. In the same year/
Netherlands being still reluctant to acknowledg.:
the independence of Belgium, active measures live!til
taken to enforce a recognition, and Leopold, sand
to 8
the assistance of a French army, laid siege
recovered Antwerp. The result was that in tal;
1833, a provisional treaty with the Netherlands
finl"
signed, though it was not made final and del3„,
till some years afterwards. Henceforward the
devoted himself unceasingly to the developmertot
the internal resources of the country, and Nvithilir.o
success those who know the high positiou Be

mid a short
ing the ab-
lertook the
he was but
Le appeared
during that
.furt. Se
png at rest•
r required,
Rhine, that
r, and that
command•
kris, and, if
ct, applied
:e was very
id the Em'
made into"

,eans, very
3d, as pro-
i chosen t°
the young
solicited to
then about

aver, seems

years was
now of the
)old, not t°
ely that he
s thus slid'
itter foe of
st powerful
spent some
;re, accord'
one of the
time." lie
A the most
Long whom

uneventful.
ng a treaty
undaries of
In 1812
e apparent,
Alexander,
nay be a'
Czar gene'

'rince fronl
with Napo'
ended with
the Russian
:onnections•
ace Leopold
ravelling in
ventful year
ainst IsTal3°'
it person t°
I.ing to the
Led the Czar
trap genle°

110 re-
I a Russian
rd LeiPsi°'
gns, and he
he met the
and was e°

liming once
he Congre°
an increase
~cted return
the Rhinei
Iris. It was
a invitation
he accepted
Men as the
Led upon the
ce. Leopold
ied destined
Later he oh'
dom of the
which thns
e Prince 01
ted Princes°
ipplant hoth
f half then'

nce Regent
:ing the in'
ce Leopold.
nate Prince
of Duke of
army, and
Aebrated at
mestic hap-
; have been
youth bad

He took
himself en-

i'ly years ICI
offered the
certain coo:

e, as it 09°
3sult of non
etirement ati
Then he thns
some knout"
6s awaiting
3sible. The
t May, and
ke place till
revolutio,
e claims ‘4
;he Duke o'.,
r by France
; the Bel:
e Leopold'
dug, and 111
constitutinlit
integrity
fight for Li"
rented to the
had to fight
, and he v/13/3
French. All
and the gang
)s. In Set;
irst time the
nmenced
on of a 138

.on was e°11:0
eady for t 1
Dual lost' °,ll
[n order 01.
ding insrrie,„
.Idest daug"o
me year/
ode
acknowleobo
.easures Were
ieopold,
siege to 813
hat in 31131'0
herlands v. 30
and deal'ite
.ard the
..I'l3ol
relopinetbot
nd witbno
tiOn 13°6-