ill,
these things were forced on his attention, and greatly disturbed
him.

His little son was from the first his idol. Here is a letter he wrote
to Prince Albert, acknowledging Queen Victoria's congratulations:--

"I have been greatly touched to learn that all your family have
shared my joy, and all my hope is that my son may resemble dear
little Prince Arthur, and that he may have the rare qualities of
your children. The sympathy shown on the late occasion by the English
people is another bond between the two countries, and I hope my son
will inherit my feelings of true friendship for the royal family of
England, and of affectionate esteem for the great English nation."

A few months later, the future Emperor Frederick, then recently
engaged to the Princess Royal of England, visited Paris. He was
attended by Major Baron von Moltke, who described the emperor,
empress, and their court in letters to his friends. "The empress,"
he says, "is of astonishing beauty, with a slight, elegant figure,
and dressing with much taste and richness, but without ostentation.
She is very talkative and lively,--much more so than is usual with
persons occupying so high a position. The emperor impressed me
by a sort of immobility of features, and the almost extinguished
look of his eyes."

This look, by the way, was cultivated by the emperor. When his early
playfellow, Madame Cornu, saw him after twelve years' separation,
her first exclamation was: "Why! what have you done to your eyes?"

"The prominent characteristic of the emperor's face," continues
Von Moltke, "is a friendly, good-natured smile which has nothing
Napoleonic about it. He mostly sits quietly with his head on one
side, and events have shown that this tranquillity, which is very
imposing to the restless French nation, is not apathy, but a sign
of a superior mind and a strong will. He is an emperor, and not
a king.... Affairs in France are not in a normal condition, but
it would be difficult to say how, under present circumstances,
they could be improved.... Napoleon III. has nothing of the sombre
sternness of his uncle, neither his imperial demeanor nor his deliberate
attitude. He is a quite simple and somewhat small man, whose always
tranquil countenance gives a strong impression of amiability. He
never gets angry, say the people round him. He is always polite....
He suffers from a want of men of ability to uphold him. He cannot
make use of men of independent characte