Page:Works of Heinrich Heine 07.djvu/172

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152
FRENCH AFFAIRS.

sensible, having had a most befitting education and admirable instruction; that he is full of courage, honourable feeling, and love of freedom, as he has often earnestly begged his father to adopt a liberal system; that he is altogether devoid of trick or vice—in fine, that he is amiability itself, and that the only vengeance which he inflicts on his enemies is to whisk away from them at a ball the prettiest partners. I need not say that the favourable opinion is from the dependents of the dynasty, and the unfavourable from its foes, and the one is worth about as much as the other.[1]

I cannot really give any very exact information regarding this young prince beyond what I have seen myself, and I know nothing of him beyond his personal appearance. To speak truthfully, I must declare that he looks well.[2] He is rather tall, and without being absolutely lean is certainly slender, with a long narrow head on a long neck, with equally long and noble features, and bold and free brow, a straight, well-proportioned nose, a fine fresh mouth, with gently arched imploring (bittenden) lips, small, bluish, very unimpressive (unbedeutende), thoughtless eyes, like small triangles,


  1. French version—"Le premier jugement est dicté par la malveillance. Est-ce que l'autre serait plus vrai? Je le soupçonne."
  2. Er sieht gut aus. In the French version, il a l'air aimable.