more seductive distinction of manners
simple, natural, and full of good taste and ease. At first sight I was
struck with his resemblance to Prince Eugene, and to the Empress
Josephine, his grandmother. But I did not remark a like resemblance
to the Emperor. But by attentively observing the essential features,
that is those not depending on more or less fullness or on more or less
beard, we soon discover that the Napoleonic type is reproduced with
astonishing fidelity. It is, in fact, the same lofty forehead, broad and
straight, the same nose, of fine proportions, the same gray eyes,
though, the expression is milder. It is particularly the same contour
and inclination of the head. The latter especially, when the prince
turns, is so full of the Napoleon air, as to make a soldier of the Old
Guard thrill at the sight. And if the eye rests on the outline of these
forms, it is impossible not to be struck, as if before the head of the
Emperor, with the imposing grandeur of the Roman profile, of which the
lines, so defined, so grave, I will even add and so solemn, are, as it
were, the soul of great destinies.

"The distinguishing expression of the features of the young prince is
that of nobleness and gravity. And yet, far from being harsh, his
countenance, on the contrary, breathes a sentiment of mildness and
benevolence. It seems that the maternal type which is preserved in the
lower part of his face has come to correct the rigidity of the imperial
lines, as the blood of the Beauharnais seems to have tempered in him
the southern violence of the Napoleon blood. But what excites the
greatest interest is that indefinable tinge of melancholy and
thoughtfulness observable in the slightest movement, and revealing the
noble sufferings of exile.

"But after this portrait you must not figure to yourself one of those
elegant young men, those Adonises of romance who excite the admiration
of the drawing-room. There is nothing of effeminacy in the young
Napoleon. The dark shadows of his countenance indicate an energetic
nature. His assured look, his glance at once quick and thoughtful, every
thing about him points out one of those exceptional natures, one of
those great souls that live by meditating on great things, and that
alone are capable of accomplishing them."

About this time the young prince wrote as follows to his friend, the
poet Belmontet: "Still far from my country, and deprived of all that can
render life dear to a manly he