Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/201

Rh spoken of, on which account her daughter used sometimes to teaze her a little about her “royal flames.” I thought of her as I was conducted by a chamberlain into a large, light apartment, where the king came to meet me. He took my hand with friendly politeness, said that he had read all my writings, and conducted me to an arm-chair, where he bade me be seated, he himself taking a seat just opposite.

I saw in King Leopold a tall, elderly gentleman, with the bearing of a general and the manners of a gentleman, with regular features, refined and sensible expression. His majesty began the conversation by inquiries about my stay in Belgium, and my impressions of that country, but soon struck off into a statement of his system of government, which he himself characterized as that “of good sense.” He considered it the highest duty of the ruler to require strict integrity in the ruling powers, as well as in all the organs of government. He was a friend of the “laisser faire” the “laisser aller” being convinced that a free, well-governed people can best manage its own affairs; nevertheless the ruler ought to give them also that close attention, which would enable him at any critical moment, to step in with a direct and paternal interference, even in opposition to the generally accepted principles of the “laisser aller” system. The king gave an example of this, when by his foresight and direct extraordinary intervention, he preserved the manufacturing world of Belgium from an extremely dangerous crisis. I could not but regard his majesty's principles as in this respect in the highest degree correct and excellent, that is to say, when the