When young and inexperienced he had been in opposition to his father's government--but his father before him had, while heir to the throne, also held a similar position to his own brother.

As Crown Prince, he had desired and had won popularity; he had been even too sensitive to public opinion.

His, however, was a character that required only responsibility to strengthen it; with the burden of sovereignty he would, we may suppose, have shewn a fixity of purpose which many of his admirers would hardly have expected of him, nor would he have been deficient in those qualities of a ruler which are the traditions of his family.

He was not a man to surrender any of the prerogatives or authority of the Crown.

He had a stronger will than his father, and he would have made his will felt.