By the advice of his friends he decided to make his way back to England, instead of going direct to Greece as he had at first intended. Passing next through Vienna, therefore, he viewed with pardonable curiosity Francis I., the father of Marie Louise; and his description of the attitude of the Emperor of Austria towards his redoubtable son-in-law at this date, when the latter still retained the Imperial power, is of interest in the light of the complete change of front exhibited by Francis directly the ascendancy of Napoleon appeared to be on the wane. Stanhope relates:-- We English view with such horror all despotic Governments that we cannot conceive the possibility of happiness existing under the sway of an absolute Sovereign. Yet such I found to be the case at Vienna. The Government of the Emperor is mild and paternal, the people seem to have as much freedom of speech as they could enjoy even in England, and at this particular moment the measures of the administration are anything but popular. The Emperor is supposed to be devoted to the cause of Napoleon, whilst his subjects are almost universally enthusiastic for the liberty of Germany. Upon some occurrence, I think it was upon the occasion of an insult offered to the Conte de Narbonne, the Emperor was reported to have said--"Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, you and I are the only two _Frenchmen_ in the country!" The Empress was described to me as a woman of a proud and violent temper, whilst the Crown Prince was spoken of with great interest, but as a young man kept in the highest subjection. When the Emperor summoned him to accompany himself and the Empress on their way to meet Napoleon and Marie Louise, then on their road to Vilna previous to opening the Moscow Campaign, the Prince was said to have replied that he should have been most happy to have gone to meet his sister, _but not that Man_!--the consequence of this was that he was immediately put under arrest. I was much pleased with the simple and unaffected manner in which the Imperial family seemed to mix with the people. The Archduchesses frequently drove about the streets without Guards or more attendants than any lady of fashion would have had, though among the nobility there is occasionally a display of state that is not to be found in any other capital in Europe. I saw a man of rank going to Court who had with him at least twenty servants magnificently dressed; and although it was drawing towards the end of the season, Vienna still appeared to be extremely brilliant and luxurious.... The city, however, still bore marks of her recent misfortunes; the French cannon-balls were still visible, and ruined buildings still testified that she had been forced to yield to the proud will of a Conqueror.