A very eventful epoch, indeed, and
one which will surely bring good fruits."
The King was immensely pleased with everything he saw, and with the
friendly reception he received. He assured the Queen that France did
not wish to go to war with England, and he told her how pleased he
was that all their difficulties were now smoothed over.
During his stay he was invested with the Order of the Garter--an Order,
it is interesting to recollect, which had been created by Edward the
Third after the Battle of Cressy, and whose earliest knights were
the Black Prince and his companions.
The Corporation of London went to Windsor in civic state to present
the King with an address of congratulation. He declared in his answer
that "France has nothing to ask of England, and England has nothing
to ask of France, but cordial union."
But in 1848 the Orleans dynasty was overthrown, France proclaimed
a republic, and King Louis Philippe, his wife and family were forced
to flee to England. Here in 1850, broken in health, the King died.
In 1852 Louis Napoleon, who had been elected President for life,
created himself Emperor, and in 1855, after the conclusion of the
Crimean War and the death of the Emperor Nicholas, he visited
England.
A State Ball was held of which the Queen wrote: "How strange to think
that I, the granddaughter of George III, should dance with the
Emperor Napoleon, nephew of England's great enemy, now my nearest
and most intimate ally, in the Waterloo room, and this ally only six
years ago living in this country an exile, poor and unthought of! .
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