nt to London. He approached Wellington and the new
King with such consummate address that an understanding was soon reached
with England, which set at naught all projects of European armed
intervention on behalf of the Prince of Orange. Such intervention could not
have failed to drag the French into war. Now it was agreed that the
regulation of Belgian affairs should be submitted to a conference at
London. In the interim Belgian independence was accepted in effect and
hostilities ended.

[Sidenote: Leopold of Coburg declines Greek crown]

In Greece, the government of Capodistrias was beset with such difficulties
that it was decided to invite some European prince to set up a
constitutional monarchy. The throne was offered to Prince Leopold of
Coburg, the husband of the late Princess Charlotte of England. Leopold
accepted, but when he learned that the Powers would not grant complete
independence to Greece, without restoring AEtolia, Thessaly and the fertile
islands of Samos and Candia to the Sultan, he withdrew his acceptance.

[Sidenote: Revolution in Poland]

[Sidenote: War declared on Russia]

Peace had scarcely been restored in the Netherlands when the spirit of
revolt, travelling northward, seized the ardent people of Poland.
Alexander's recognition of home rule in Poland had given the Poles a
parliament and army of their own. After the Polish conspiracies at the
outset of Nicholas's reign, Alexander's successor would no longer invoke
the Polish Diet, and Russian troops and officers were sent into Poland. Of
course this was bitterly resented. Plans for an uprising had already been
made in 1828 during the Turkish war. The example of the successful risings
in Paris and Brussels now brought matters to a head. On November 29, the
revolt broke out in Warsaw. The Polish regiments of the garrison joined the
insurgents. The Russian troops, finding the odds against them, withdrew.
Grandduke Constantine narrowly escaped with his life. A provisional Polish
Diet was convoked. Prince Czartoryski was elected President. The Poles, in
remembrance of the late Czar's kindly attitude toward them, flattered
themselves that the fruits of their revolution might be left to them.
Lubecki, the former chief of the Imperial Council in Poland, with two
associates, set out for St. Petersburg to voice the Polish demands for
constitutional government before the Czar. It was even proposed that
constitutional government should be conceded to tho