conducted by this angel of peace to Queen Hortense, and then said to him,
"Kiss her, papa, I beg you;" and was perfectly overjoyed when he had thus
succeeded in reconciling these two beings whom he loved with an equal
affection.

How could such a beautiful character fail to make this angel beloved by
all who knew him? How could the Emperor, who loved all children, fail to
be devoted to him, even had he not been his nephew, and the godson of
that good Josephine whom he never ceased to love for a single instant?
At the age of seven years, when that malady, the croup, so dangerous to
children, snatched him from his heart-broken family, he already gave
evidence of remarkable traits of character, which were the foundation of
most brilliant hopes. His proud and haughty character, while rendering
him susceptible of the noblest impressions, was not incompatible with
obedience and docility. The idea of injustice was revolting to him; but
he readily submitted to reasonable advice and rightful authority.

First-born of the new dynasty, it was fitting he should attract as he did
the deepest tenderness and solicitude of the chief. Malignity and envy,
which ever seek to defame and villify the great, gave slanderous
explanations of this almost paternal attachment; but wise and thoughtful
men saw in this adoptive tenderness only what it plainly evinced,--the
desire and hope of transmitting his immense power, and the grandest name
in the universe, to an heir, indirect it is true, but of imperial blood,
and who, reared under the eyes, and by the direction of the Emperor,
would have been to him all that a son could be. The death of the young
Napoleon appeared as a forerunner of misfortunes in the midst of his
glorious career, disarranging all the plans which the monarch had
conceived, and decided him to concentrate all his hopes on an heir in a
direct line.