" He had his eye particularly on Royal Windsor, and once
a cruel hoax was played off upon him, in the shape of a forged invitation
to one of the Queen's grand entertainments at the Castle. He got himself
up in Court costume, with the aid of a friend, and went, to be told by
the royal porter that his name was not down on the list, and afterwards
by a higher officer of the household that really there must be some
mistake, for Her Majesty had not the honor of knowing him, so could not
receive him. We shall see how it was when he came again, nine or ten
years later.
But after all, the French royal palaces were more to this young man's
taste, for he was French. He longed to break into the Tuileries--not to
hide behind, or under any furniture, but to sit on the grandest piece of
furniture there. He had a strange longing for St. Cloud, and
Fontainebleau, and even stately Versailles. Said of him one English
statesman to another, "Did you ever know such a fool as that fellow is?
Why, he really believes he will yet be Emperor of France."
That "fellow" was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.
In August of this year, the Whig Ministry finding themselves a minority
in the new Parliament, resigned, and a Conservative one was formed, with
Sir Robert Peel as Premier.
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