, elegance, sweetness, and _nature_. Her manners
are charming; the _profile_ and figure beautiful and particularly
_distingues_.

You will be pleased (as I was) at the abandonment of the journey to
the Crimea, though I think, as regarded the Campaign, it would have
been a good thing....

Lord John is returned. I can't say more to-day, but remain, ever your
devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

We have a Childs' _Ball_ to-night.

[Footnote 56: An Italian, Giacomo Pianori, fired twice at the
Emperor, while he was riding in the Champs Elysees, on the
29th of April; the Emperor was uninjured.]

[Pageheading: THE QUEEN'S IMPRESSIONS]

[Pageheading: LOUIS PHILIPPE AND NAPOLEON III]

[Pageheading: ISOLATION OF THE EMPEROR]

[Pageheading: THE FRENCH ALLIANCE]

_Memorandum by Queen Victoria._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _2nd May 1855_.

The recent visit of the Emperor Napoleon III. to this country is a
most curious page of history, and gives rise to many reflections. A
remarkable combination of circumstances has brought about the very
intimate alliance which now unites England and France, for so many
centuries the bitterest enemies and rivals, and this, under the reign
of the present Emperor, the nephew of our greatest foe, and bearing
his name, and brought about by the policy of the late Emperor of
Russia, who considered himself as the head of the European Alliance
against France!

In reflecting on the character of the present Emperor Napoleon, and
the impression I have conceived of it, the following thoughts present
themselves to my mind:

That he _is_ a very _extraordinary_ man, with great qualities
there can be _no_ doubt--I might almost say a mysterious man. He is
evidently possessed of _indomitable courage_, _unflinching firmness
of purpose_, _self-reliance_, _perseverance_, and _great secrecy_; to
this should be added, a great reliance on what he calls his _Star_,
and a belief in omens and incidents as connected with his future
destiny, which is almost romantic--and at the same time he is endowed
with wonderful _self-control_, great _calmness_, even _gentleness_,
and with a _power_ of _fascination_, the effect of which upon
all those who become more intimately acquainted with him is _most
sensibly_ felt.

How far he is actuated by a strong _moral_ sense of _right_ and
_wrong_ is difficult to say. On the one hand, his attempts at
Strasbourg and Boulogne, and this last after having given a solemn
p