. . . He is sincere, I am certain, _sincere_ even in his most
despotic acts--from a sense that that _is_ the _only_ way to
govern. . . . He _feels_ kindness deeply--and his love for his wife
and children, and for all children, is _very_ great. He has a strong
feeling for domestic life, saying to me, when our children were in
the room: 'These are the sweet moments of our life.' One can see by
the way he takes them up and plays with them that he is very fond
of children." And again she wrote: "He also spoke of princes being
nowadays obliged to strive to make themselves worthy of their
position, so as to reconcile people to the fact of their being
princes."
The effect of this visit was to make France somewhat suspicious, and
the Queen expressed her wish that it might not prevent the visit which
had been promised by King Louis Philippe.
There was at one time actually danger of war over trouble in the East,
but King Leopold, whose kingdom was in the happy position of having
its independence guaranteed by the Powers,[2] was able to bring his
influence to bear, and the critical period passed over, to the great
relief of the Queen.
[Footnote 2: This, however, did not protect Belgium in 1914, when
Germany did not hesitate to attack her.]
In 1844 King Louis Philippe paid his promised visit, of which the
Queen said, "He is the first King of France who comes on a visit to
the Sovereign of this country.
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