[14] I had occasion to record in the Prince's _Life_ (vol. iii. p. 248) a somewhat similar impression on Napoleon III. and his Empress with regard to the Tuileries, in the following extract from the Queen's Diary: "Speaking of the want of liberty attaching to our position, he (the Emperor) said the Empress felt this greatly, and called the Tuileries _une belle prison_." [15] Published, London, 1868, by Smith, Elder, & Co. [16] General Grey's duties were immediately taken up by Colonel, afterwards General, Sir Henry Ponsonby, who discharged them with conspicuous zeal and ability till he was struck down by fatal illness in January 1895. [17] These letters were from Royal personages on the subject of the Emperor's death. [18] See p. 51, _ante_. [19] Feodore Victoire, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, who died on the 12th of February 1872. Her mother, the Queen's half-sister, Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, survived her only a few months, dying on the 23rd of September 1872. [20] He died on the 23rd of May 1874. The Queen came from Windsor to visit him at his house in London, when he was near his end. A few days before his death I took my leave of him. He was in great pain, but his bright sparkling spirit remained. He touched my heart by saying how sorry he was he had only known me within the last few years. On my expressing a hope that we might meet again in the Hereafter, "Ah! let us hope so!" he replied, adding, like the bibliophile of bibliophiles that he was, "and that you will find me in an _editio nova et emendatior_." [21] In my library in London there happened to be a niche, as if made to receive this beautiful replica of the Mausoleum monument, where it has ever since remained. [22] I had given to the Queen a fine proof before letters of her portrait, as a girl, by Fowler, and she wrote to say that "the bust by Behnes, from which Fowler took his picture, was done in 1827, when the Queen was eight years and a half." [23] The Sovereign _nominally_ is the dispenser of these pensions, but the Queen delegated this function to the First Lord of the Treasury. This was why the concurrence of Lord Beaconsfield was necessary. With him the Queen's wish in such matters was paramount. [24] A volume published in Germany in imperial folio, with a series of very spirited illustrations, and remarkable for the beauty and originality of the binding. [25] A magnificent volume, including, among other illustrations, photographs of all Baron Triqueti's designs in inlaid marble. [26] The pet name substituted for Friedrich. [27] This refers to an obituary notice of the Prince by myself. [28] As to this visit, see _ante_, p. 114. [29] It seems a pity that this word should have fallen into disuse. Shakespeare employs it with great effect in the fine scene (_Cymbeline_, Act III. sc. iv.) where Imogen says--