The Daily Dispatch: May 25, 1864., [Electronic resource]

Louis Napoleon's personal appearance.

The personal appearance of Napoleon III would puzzle the most accurate observer of physiognomy. The face of the man with the iron mark was not more devoid of expression than is his. One may study it for hours without deriving the slightest satisfaction as to the Emperor's mental characteristics. Those fishy, rayless eyes, the parchment like cheeks, the stiff, pointed moustache, all suggest a sort of artificial face prepared for the occasion, while the real man, like the priestess of Apollo, lies hidden, and delivers short oracular responses behind it. He is short in stature, though his body is full the average size. Hence he appears to-advantage in a sitting posture. Of late years he has grown somewhat corpulent, like the first Napoleon and the other members of his family. His habits at the present day are said to be simple and regular, perhaps necessarily so if the stories told of his early excesses be true. His appearance on horseback does great credit to his horsemanship, which is generally allowed to be the most skillful in Europe. He is very fond of horses, and has that thorough understanding of their unsure which establishes a certain sympathy between the animal and his rider.