he fat of the land, in the midst of kings and princes,
counts and Freiherrs. I myself have seldom got beyond a distant view of
such grand beings. What I know even of the nobility of my native land,
is derived from perusing the accounts of their journeys in the
fashionable newspapers, and from the whispered confidences of their
third cousins. To find myself in familiar intercourse with people who
habitually hobnob at Royal tables, and who invite Royal Highnesses to
drop in promiscuously and smoke a cigar, almost turns my head. To-morrow
I shall return to Paris, because I feel, were I to remain long in such
grand company, I should become proud and haughty; and, perhaps, give
myself airs when restored to the society of my relatives, who are honest
but humble. There is at present no difficulty in leaving Paris. A pass
is given at the Prefecture to all who ask for one, and it is an "open
sesame" to the Prussian lines. I came by way of Issy, dragged along by
an aged Rosinante, so weak from low living that I was obliged to get out
and walk the greater part of the way, as he positively declined to draw
me and the chaise.

This beast I have only been allowed to bring out of Paris after having
given my word of honour that I would bring him back, in order, if
necessary, to be slain and eaten, though I very much doubt whether a
tolerably hungry rat would find meat enough on his bones for a dinner.

I have been this morning sitting with a friend who, under the promise of
the strictest secrecy, has given me an account of the condition of
affairs here. I trust, therefore, that no one will mention anything that
may be found in this letter, directly or indirectly relating to the
Prussians. The old King, it appears, is by no means happy as an Emperor.
He was only persuaded to accept this title for the sake of his son, "Our
Fritz," and he goes about much like some English squire of long descent,
who has been induced to allow himself to be converted into a bran new
peer, over-persuaded by his ambitious progeny. William is one of that
numerous class of persons endowed with more heart than brains. Putting
aside, or regarding rather as the delusion of a diseased brain, his
notion that he is an instrument of Heaven, and that he is born to rule
over Prussian souls by right divine, the old man is by no means a bad
specimen of a good-natured, well-meaning, narrow-minded soldier of the
S.U.S.C. type; and between Bismarck and Moltke he has of late