Say everything that is kind to good Lehzen, and believe me ever, my dearest Love, your faithful Friend and Uncle, LEOPOLD R.
[Footnote 10: The Royal Palace, four miles from Brussels, which Napoleon owned for many years.

A monument to King Leopold now stands there.] [Footnote 11: Louise Marie, Princess of Orleans, daughter of King Louis Philippe of France, was married to King Leopold on 9th August 1832.] [Pageheading: A BIRTHDAY LETTER] [Pageheading: VALUABLE ADVICE] _The King of the Belgians to the Princess Victoria._ LAEKEN, _21st May 1833._ MY DEAREST LOVE,--To make quite sure of my birthday congratulations reaching you on that day, I send them by to-day's messenger, and confide them to the care of your illustrious mother.
My sincere good wishes for many happy returns of that day which gave you, dear little soul, to us, will be accompanied by some few reflections, which the serious aspect of our times calls forth.
My dearest Love, you are now fourteen years old, a period when the delightful pastimes of childhood must be mixed with thoughts appertaining already to a matured part of your life.

I know that you have been very studious, but now comes the time when the judgment must form itself, when the character requires attention; in short when the young tree takes the shape which it retains afterwards through life.
To attain this object it is indispensable to give some little time _to reflection_.

The life in a great town is little calculated for such purposes; however, with some firmness of purpose it can be done.
_Self-examination_ is the most important part of the business, and a very useful mode of proceeding is, for instance, every evening to recapitulate the events of the day, and the motives which made one act oneself, as well as to try to guess what might have been the motives of others.

Amiable dispositions like yours will easily perceive if your own motives _were good_.