It was in 1862 , as King of the Belgians , that he made a confession to the Archduke John :sx The Prince of Prussia has also written to tell me that you regret I have tied myself to Belgium .sx I too sometimes regret that my part in the East was taken from me .sx I fancy that I could have done much good there , and though I know the disadvantages of the situation , it very often gives me a kind of nostalgia .sx How strange my fate has been since we were together in Brighton with the Regent !sx If I had taken command of things in England in 1830 , many things would have happened differently , and what was bound to happen would have been more wisely controlled .sx In his old age , for personal and political reasons , Leopold declared that only Greek interests had inspired his refusal of Greece ; and this was understandable , for when he 'corrected' Gervinus , the throne of Greece was again on the market and he was considering it for a Coburg nephew .sx Besides , since William =4 had lived to 1837 , it was a little ridiculous to admit that in 1830 they had quarrelled over his corpse .sx On May 21st , 1830 , Leopold declined the throne of Greece .sx 'Leopold' , snapped Mme de Lieven , 'has played us a pretty trick .sx It is a bad business .sx . Who is going to take what Leopold has refused ?sx ' Leopold's hesitations and problems and his final rejection had created considerable ill-feeling ; and Count Matuszewicz , writing to Stockmar , declared that ~'Prince Leopold has shown so many arrie@3re-pense@2es , so much bad faith , so much irresolution , that I rejoice not to see him entrusted with the government of a country in which he would have betrayed the confidence of the three Courts .sx . There is no difficulty which does not alarm him , no obstacle which does not stop him , no gesture which does not prove that he would have brought to Greece disgust , pusillanimity , and the perpetual regret of having abandoned his so-called chances of the eminent position of Regent of England .sx It is this Regency that he will never obtain , above all now that he has crowned his shame like this .sx . Such a sovereign would have done damage to royalty .sx ' And this scorn and anger were echoed by the correspondent , quoted in the Memoirs of Baron Stockmar , who wrote to the Archbishop of Cologne :sx 'What does Your Eminence say to the behaviour of Prince Leopold ?sx It is quite in the character of the Marquis Peu-a@3-Peu , as King George =4 christened him ; instead of conquering difficulties , instead of completing the work he had undertaken , he withdraws like a coward , and calculates the possible chances which the approaching death of King George =4 may throw in his way .sx A man of this weak character is totally unfit to play a bold part in life .sx ' 13 .sx THE COBURG COALITION .sx BY May 1830 it was sadly evident that George =4 was dying .sx His private excesses had largely damaged his reputation among his contemporaries , but after all , his excesses had been those of virility , and his virtues , though less blatant , were very many .sx He was the most civilized monarch that England had known since Charles =2 :sx perhaps , indeed , since Elizabeth .sx He had accepted the dedication of Emma , he had patronized Hoppner and Lawrence , he had added widely to the royal collections .sx He had inspired Nash to create the classical splendour of Regent's Park .sx He had conjured up the Coleridgean fantasies of Brighton ; he had made ( with his architect , Wyattville ) the alterations to Windsor that had turned it into the epitome of castles ; and he had built his own Nonesuch , Carlton House .sx He had been the arbiter of fashion and of taste ; and in all he did he had been a superlative figure , larger than life .sx He was a born king , and the Marquis Peu-a@3-Peu would be a king by training and ambition , not by nature .sx In May 1830 the jackals were impatient for the bulky , pathetic recluse to die at Windsor ; and Mme de Lieven , of course , was among the foremost .sx 'The most delicate question' , so she wrote in eager anticipation , 'will be raised by the death of the King .sx It will be necessary to make provision for a regency in the case of the Princess Victoria's minority .sx The Duke of Cumberland is caballing for it , and Prince Leopold desires it .sx Most probably it will be assigned to the Duchess of Kent , the Princess's mother , in which case it will be Leopold who will rule .sx ' And , since the Russian Ambassador's wife was always sharp about Leopold , she continued briskly :sx 'He has given us every reason for dissatisfaction and complaint on account of his conduct in the matter of Greece , and the English Government would be glad to follow our lead and to oppose the Prince's pretensions .sx This is a line , however , which prudence warns us not to take .sx He will be powerful some day , and indeed he is so already by the number of his supporters .sx ' Mr Creevey likewise shot a barb which touched the truth :sx 'I suppose Mrs Kent thinks her daughter's reign is coming on apace , and that her brother may be of use to her as versus Cumberland .sx .' George =4 was still clinging to life , William =4 ( almost mad with excitement ) was still waiting in the wings , but the preparations continued gaily for the next reign but one .sx 'Lord Durham' , added Creevey , 'is now Prime Minister to the Duchess of Kent and Queen Victoria , and they are getting up all their arrangements together in the Isle of Wight for a new reign .sx ' At last , on June 26th , 1830 , the reign of George =4 came to an end , and there began the reign of the simple , genial Grand Admiral- the most remarkable contrast to his brother that could be imagined .sx England changed her allegiance overnight from a splendid sovereign to an excited , bourgeois little king who could not get over the fact of his accession .sx The gold-and-lacquer days of the Brighton Pavilion were ended .sx 'There are' , wrote Croly , the historian , 'few more regular or temperate men in their habits than the present King .sx He rises early , sometimes at six .sx . At dinner he restricts himself generally to one dish of plain boiled or roasted meat , drinking only sherry , and that in moderation- never exceeding a pint .sx ' 'A quaint King indeed !sx ' was Mme de Lieven's acid contribution .sx 'A bon enfant- with a weak head !sx ' William =4 was sixty-four , he suffered from chronic asthma , and it was quite possible that he might die before May 24th , 1837 ; if he did , if Queen Victoria ( the title sounded well)- if Queen Victoria came to the throne before her eighteenth birthday , there would have to be a regency .sx There was only one move to be made now on the chess-board , and Leopold of Coburg would be Prince Regent of the United Kingdom :sx Regent , that is , in everything but name .sx The accession to the regency now became quite as important as Victoria's accession to the throne , and the candidates canvassed for it almost as if they were canvassing in a general election .sx 'Prince Leopold and his sister , the Duchess of Kent , are getting popularity in the provinces,' snapped Dorothea de Lieven in September .sx 'He is much interested in the Regency question , and had a long talk with me about it .sx Naturally , he wants it to be given to his sister , but the Ministry wish it to pass to the Queen .sx . After the King's death , the Queen , so far as England is concerned , is only a foreigner .sx As for the Duke of Cumberland,' finished Dorothea , 'he has no illusions and puts forward no claim , clearly seeing that it would be useless .sx ' And for once Dorothea de Lieven did not exaggerate .sx The Duke of Cumberland knew quite well that he was by far the most unpopular royal brother .sx The others might be more or less eccentric , but he was credited with murder , incest and homosexuality .sx Cartoons ( and they were rough and ribald ) did not spare him :sx Cumberland was the villain of the age .sx Besides , if his niece became Queen of England , he would receive a crown of his own , for she could not succeed to the Kingdom of Hanover .sx So Queen Adelaide patiently continued her carpet-work at Windsor , and the Sailor King , understandably disconcerted to find his death discussed before his coronation , continued to rule the country and propose the Duke of Wellington for the Regency .sx Mrs Kent ( 'the Swiss Governess' , George =4 had called her ) , buxom and domineering , with the little Leiningen regency behind her , was 'courted and sought after as much as if she were already Regent' , and Prince Leopold , noted Mme de Lieven , 'takes a gloomy view of all that is going on .sx All the royal princes are opposed to the Duke of Wellington .sx The King is alone in his determination to support him .sx ' The combination of the King and the victor of Waterloo was enough , however , to alarm the most spirited opponents ; and the Coburgs needed to keep up a constant campaign .sx 'Prince Leopold and his sister' , wrote the usual observer , late in September , 'are exploring the provinces in pursuit of popularity .sx The prince assumes the air of a presumptive heir .sx The regency question will in all probability be decided in favour of the Duchess of Kent .sx .' And since Dorothea never took her piercing eyes off the Coburg coalition , she reported again on October 25th :sx 'The Duchess of Kent and her brother hold themselves very high , as if the throne is to be theirs tomorrow- and this is most unpleasant to the King .sx Leopold does not show himself , but works silently underground .sx ' The Regency Act of 1830 settled , finally , that if the Queen were to have a child and the King died before its majority , she should act as its guardian and as regent ; but that if she were childless and Victoria ascended the throne at her uncle's death , the Duchess of Kent should be her daughter's guardian and act as regent during her minority .sx Most fortunately , at this moment Fate took a hand with the chess game .sx In September 1830 revolution broke out in Brussels .sx 14 .sx LEOPOLD OF THE BELGIANS .sx ON July 29th , revolution had burst out in Paris , Charles =10 had fled , and Louis-Philippe , the ex-Duc d'Orle@2ans , the exile of Twickenham , had accepted the crown 'from the hands of the people' .sx Events in France had had immediate repercussions on Belgium :sx the repercussions which Leopold , and indeed every student of history , had expected .sx In 1792 the victory of Jemappes had put Belgium into French hands ; and French ideas had been imposed with effect .sx Division into departments , centralization of government , the introduction of the Code Napole@2on , the freedom of the Scheldt , had done much to help the development of Belgium ; and freedom of worship and civic equality replaced the old principle of the nobles' supremacy .sx It was not surprising that a considerable French party formed in Belgium ; and its influence only weakened when the Continental blockade began to weigh heavily on the country .sx In 1815 , when the Congress of Vienna united the Belgians with the Dutch ( whom they detested ) , the memory of France grew strong again ; and when William =1 of Holland attempted to amalgamate his two peoples , Belgium thought only of separating from Holland and rejoining France .sx The effect of the French Revolution in July 1830 was therefore immediate ; the July days in Paris were followed by the August days in Brussels .sx On August 24th , at the Brussels Opera House , Auber's Masaniello was being performed .sx It dealt with the Neapolitan rising against Spain ; it was a work of revolution .sx And when the tenor began to sing his famous aria , 'Des armes , des flambeaux !sx ' the audience swept out , drunk with the message , into the summer night .sx Brussels was pillaged , and the Belgian Revolution had begun .sx The spontaneous movement spread across the Belgian provinces , and it took King William some time to organize forces to crush the rebellion .sx Late in September , the Belgian National Congress voted the separation of Belgium from Holland , and in October it declared Belgium to be an independent state .sx