While the emperor was in England, St. Arnaud had died at the seat of war, and soon after news was brought of the death of Lord Raglan. The former was succeeded by Canrobert, who soon resigned in favor of General Pélissier, and the latter by General Simpson. Sardinia had come forward as an ally, and her troops had distinguished themselves for bravery and skill. The visit of the emperor and empress had to be returned, so the queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and the princess royal embarked, on the eighteenth of August, on board the "Victoria and Albert" for Boulogne. The emperor stood on the quay with a brilliant retinue to receive them, and conducted them to the railway station. Arriving at St. Cloud, the royal guests were received by {422}the empress "amidst a blaze of light from lamps and torches, the roar of cannon, music, drums, and cheers." "The saloons are splendid," writes the queen, "the ceilings are beautifully painted, and the walls hung with gobelins. The saloon in which we dined was terribly hot, for the table was covered with wax lights, which quite dazzled me. Everything was magnificent, and all very quiet and royal." This beautiful palace, which the queen describes in her diary, is in ruins now,--not from age, but from the storm of revolution that has destroyed so many fine buildings in and near Paris. It might be tiresome to those of my readers who are not fond of descriptions to follow the queen in her visits to all the interesting places in Paris and its suburbs; so we will merely say that, after a week of feasting and sight-seeing, she returned to Osborne with her family, having cemented a warm friendship with the emperor and empress of the French. In September the glorious tidings of the fall of Sebastopol reached England. A simultaneous attack of the French and English forces on the two fortresses--Redan and Malakoff--had resulted in victory; and then the Russians, finding that it would be useless to remain longer at Sebastopol, left it a burning mass, with powder magazines exploding, and flames bursting from every private and public building in the place. And so the war came to a close, and a treaty of peace was signed in Paris on the thirtieth of March. Turkey preserved her independence, and all the Russian places that had been taken by the allies were restored. [[A.D. 1856.]] Just before peace was declared, a domestic event claimed the attention of the English royal family. This was a proposal from Frederick William, Prince of Prussia, for the hand of the princess royal. All parties inter- {423} [Illustration: 0429]