" And so he might have been, had he possessed a heart and
soul. But his expression was always, if not actually bad, severe and
repellant. The look his large, keen eyes, which had very pale lashes, and
every now and then showed the white all round the iris, is said to have
been quite awful. He was a soldier above all things, and told the Queen
he felt very awkward in evening-dress, as though in leaving off his
uniform he had "taken off his skin." He must have been rather a
discommoding guest, from a little whim he had of sleeping only on straw.
He always had with him a leathern case, which at every place he stopped,
was filled with fresh straw from the stables.
He was an excessively polite man--this towering Czar; but for all that, a
very cruel man--a colossal embodiment of the autocratic principle--
selfish and cold and hard--though he did win upon the Queen's heart by
praise of her husband. He said: "Nowhere will you find a handsomer young
man; he has such an air of nobility and goodness." It was a mystery how
he could so well appreciate that pure and lovable character, for the
Prince Consort must always have been a mystery to men like the Czar
Nicholas.
CHAPTER XIX.
Old homes and new--A visit from the King of France--The Queen and Prince
Albert make their first visit to Germany--Incidents of the trip--A new
seaside home on the Isle of Wight--Repeal of the Corn Laws--Prince Albert
elected Chancellor of Cambridge University--Benjamin Disraeli.
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