The Magnificent Montez Part 17

and a number of officers, were mixed up with the commonest people. The Countess P [Preysing] I saw myself, with other women--I cannot call them _ladies_--actually at their head.

Hearing that the entire city--with n.o.bles, officers, and countesses--were making for my residence, I looked upon myself as already out of the land of the living. I had all my windows shuttered, and hid all my jewels; and then, having a clear conscience and a firm trust in G.o.d, calmly awaited my fate. The ruffians, egged on by a countess and a baroness, had stones, sticks, axes, and firearms, all to frighten and kill one poor inoffensive woman! They positively clamoured for my blood.

I must tell you that all my faithful and devoted servants, with some others of my real friends, were in the house with me. I begged them to leave by the garden, but they said, poor fellows, they would die for me.

... Seeing the eminent danger of my friends, and not thinking of myself, I ordered my carriage while the blackguards were endeavouring to break down the gates. My good George, the coachman, helped me to rush through the door and we set off at a furious gallop. Many pistol shots were fired at me, but I was in G.o.d's care and avoided the bullets.

My escape was most miraculous. At a distance of two hours from Munich I left my carriage and in Bluthenberg sought the protection of a brave honest man, by whom I was given shelter. Presently, some officers galloped up and demanded me. My benefactor declared I was not there, and his daughters said my carriage had pa.s.sed. When they were gone, his good wife helped me to dress as a peasant girl, and I rushed out of the house, across fields, ditches, and forests. Being so well disguised, I resolved to return to Munich. It was a dreadful spectacle. The Palace blockaded; buildings plundered; and anarchy in all directions. Seeing nothing but death if I stopped there, I left for Lindeau, from whence I am writing to you.

... Count Arco Valley has been distributing money like dirt to all cla.s.ses, and the priests have stirred up the mob.

n.o.body is safe in Munich. The good, n.o.ble King has told everyone he will never leave me. Of that he is quite determined. The game is not up. I shall, till death, stick to the King; but G.o.d knows what will happen next.

I forgot to tell you that my enemies have announced in the German papers that the students are my _lovers_! They could not credit them with the loyal devotion they have ever had for the King and myself.

MARIE DE LANDSFELD.

Writing in his diary on March 14, 1848, Frederick Cavendish, a budding diplomatist, whom Palmerston had appointed as attache at Vienna, remarks:

"There has been the devil of a disturbance in Munich; and the King's mistress, Lola Montez, has been forced to fly for her life. She has been the curse of Bavaria, yet the King is still infatuated with her."

Scarcely diplomatic language. Still, not far from the truth.

A rigorous press censorship was exercised. The Munich papers had to print what they were told, and nothing else. As a result, an inspired article appeared in the _Allegemeine Zeitung_, of Augsburg, declaring that the Ultramontanes were responsible for the _emeute_. "Herr von Abel," in the opinion of a colleague, Heinrich von Treitsche, "took advantage of the opportunity to espouse a sudden championship of morals, and made _les convenances_ an excuse for resigning what had long been to him a dangerous office."

Dollinger himself always declared that he became an Ultramontane against his will, and that he only joined the Ministry at the earnest request of von Abel. This was probably true enough, for he was much happier among his books than among the politicians. With his nose decidedly out of joint, he relieved his feelings in a lengthy epistle to his friend, Madame Rio. Years afterwards this letter came into the hands of Dom Gougaud, O.S.B., who published it in the _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_. Among the more important pa.s.sages were the following:

Since you left M[unich] the impudence of L[ola] M[ontez] and the infatuation of her admirers have been constantly increasing. Our Members of Parliament, which have been convocated to an extraordinary session on account of a railway loan, did not dare, or did not deem it expedient, to interfere. The only thing that was done, but without producing any effect in high quarters, was that the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted a protestation against the deposition of the professors. Then came the change of Ministers. Prince Wallerstein, who is a sort of Bavarian Thiers, selfish and unprincipled, only bent upon maintaining himself in the possession of the _portefeuille_, which is the glorious end that in his estimation sanctifies the means--this man of unscrupulous memory came in again, together with an obscure individual, a mere creature of L[ola] M[ontez], M. Berks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _King of Bavaria. "Ludwig the Lover"_]

... Meanwhile the crisis was brought about by the students of the University. L[ola] M[ontez] had succeeded in seducing a few of these, who, finding themselves immediately shunned and rejected by their fellow-students, formed a separate society or club, calling itself _Alemannia_, which from its beginning was publicly understood to be distinguished by the King's special favour and protection. In the course of two or three months they rose to the number of nineteen or twenty, easily recognised by the red caps and ribbons they wore. For L[ola] M[ontez] they formed a sort of male harem, and the particulars which have since transpired, and which, of course, I must not pollute your ears with, leave no doubt that she is a second Messalina.

The indignation of the students, who felt all this as a degradation of the University and an affront cast upon their character, was general. The _Alemanni_ were treated as outcasts, whose very presence was pollution.

... L[ola] M[ontez] had already been heard threatening that if the students continued to show themselves hostile to her favourites she would have the University closed. At last, on the 10th February, a royal mandate came forth, declaring the University to be suspended for the entire year.

Next morning it was evident that a decisive crisis was coming on; the students paraded in procession through the streets, when, suddenly, the _gendarmerie_, commanded by one of L. M.'s favourites, made an attack upon them and wounded two of them. This, of course, served only to kindle the flames of general indignation. The citizens threatened to appear in arms, and the people made preparations for storming the house of L[ola] M[ontez].

Towards 8 o'clock in the morning of the 11th, the appalling intelligence was communicated to the K[ing] that L. M.'s life was in imminent danger. Meanwhile several members of the royal family had tried to make an impression on the K.'s mind. When his own tools, who, up to that moment, had been pushing him on, told him that L.'s life was in jeopardy, and that the regiments refused to fight, he began to yield. But even then his behaviour left no doubt that the personal safety of L[ola] M[ontez] was his paramount motive. He himself ran to her house, which the mob had begun to pluck down; regardless of all royal dignity, he exposed his person to all the humiliation which the intercourse with an infuriated mob might subject him to.... Certainly, that day was the most disgraceful royalty has yet had in Bavaria.

... You will find it natural that the first announcement of L.M.'s forced departure begot universal exultation. In the streets one met only smiling countenances; new hopes were kindled. People wished, and therefore believed, that the K[ing] having at last become aware of the true state of the nation's mind, had made a n.o.ble sacrifice. A few days were sufficient to undeceive them. The K.'s mind was in a sort of fearful excitement, alternating between fits of depression and thoughts of vengeance.... It is impossible to foresee what things will lead to, and where the persecution is to stop. The opinion gains credit that his intention is to bring L[ola] M[ontez] back. Evidently he is acting, not only from a thirst for vengeance, but also under the fatal influence of an irresistible and sinister pa.s.sion for that woman.

A few days later, Ludwig, to test public opinion, went to the Opera.

"I have lost my taste for spectacles," he said to his companion, "but I wish to see if I am still King in the hearts of the people I have served."

He was not long in doubt, for the moment he entered his box the audience stood up and cheered him vigorously. This was enough; and, without waiting for the curtain to rise, he returned to the Palace.

"After all, my subjects still trust me," he said. "I was sure of them."

III

There was another display of loyalty elsewhere. The Munich garrison, under Ludwig's second son, Prince Luitpold, took a fresh oath _en ma.s.se_, swearing fidelity to the new const.i.tution. It was, however, a little late in the day. Things had gone too far; and Lola, who had merely gone a few leagues from the capital, had not gone far enough.

That was the trouble. She was still able to pull strings, and to make her influence felt in various directions. Nor would she show the white feather or succ.u.mb to the threats of rowdies.

It was from Lindeau that, disguised as a boy (then a somewhat more difficult job than now), Lola, greatly daring, ventured back to the arms of Ludwig. But she only stopped with him a couple of hours, for she had been followed, and was still being hunted by the rabble of the town. Before, however, resuming her journey, she endeavoured to get into touch with her faithful _Alemannia_. "I beg you," she wrote to the proprietor of the cafe they frequented, "to tell me where Herr Peissner has gone." The landlord, fearing reprisals, withheld the knowledge. If he had given it, he would probably have had his premises wrecked. Safety first!

In this juncture, Ludwig, acting like a mental deficient, announced that there was only one adequate explanation for Lola's conduct. This was that she was "possessed of an evil spirit" which had to be exorcised before things should get worse. Lending a ready ear to every quack in Bavaria, he sent her under escort to Weinsberg, to the clinic of a Dr. Justinus Kerner, who had established himself there as a mesmerist.

"You are to drive the devil out of her," were the instructions given him.

Fearing that his spells and incantations might, after all, not prove effective, and thus convict him for a charlatan, the man of science felt uneasy. Still, an order was an order, especially when it came from a King, and he promised to do his best. On the day that his patient arrived, he wrote to his married daughter, Emma Niendorf. A free translation of this letter, which is given in full by Dr. von Tim Klein (in his _Der Vorkamfdeutscher Einheit und Freiheit_), would read:

Yesterday there arrived here Lola Montez; and, until further instructions come from Munich, I am detaining her in my tower, where guard is being kept by three of the _Alemannia_. That the King should have selected me of all people to send her to is most annoying. But he was a.s.sured that she was possessed of a devil, and that the devil in her could be driven out by me at Weinsberg. Still, the case is one of interest.

As a preliminary to my magneto-magic treatment, I am beginning by subjecting her to a fasting-cure. This means that every day all she is to have is a quarter of a wafer and thirteen drops of raspberry juice.

"_Sage es aber niemanden! Verbrenne diesen Brief!_" ("But don't tell anybody about it; burn this letter") was the exorcist's final injunction.

To live up to his reputation for wonder-working, the mystic had an aeolian harp in each of the windows of his house, so arranged that Ariel-like voices would float through the summer breezes.

"It is magic," said the peasants, crossing themselves devoutly when they heard the sound.

But the harp-obligato proved no more effective than the reduced dieting and early attempt to popularise slimming. After a couple of days, accordingly, the regime was varied by the subst.i.tution of a.s.ses'

milk for the raspberry juice. Much to his annoyance, however, the specialist had to report to another correspondent, Sophie Schwab, that his patient was not deriving any real benefit, and that the troublesome "devil" had not been dislodged.

As was to be expected, Lola, having a healthy appet.i.te and objecting to short rations, gave the mesmerist the slip and hurried back to her Ludwig. After a few words with him, she left for Stahrenberg.

Ludwig sat down and wrote another "poem." Appropriately enough, this was ent.i.tled "Lamentation."

CHAPTER XI

A FALLEN STAR

I

Even with Lola Montez out of the way and the University doors re-opened, it was not a case of all quiet on the Munich front. Far from it. Berks, the new Minister of the Interior, who had always supported her, still remained in office; and Lola herself continued from a distance to pull strings. Some of them were effective.

But Lola Montez, or no Lola Montez, there was in the eyes of his exasperated subjects more than enough to make them thoroughly dissatisfied with the Wittelsbach regime, as carried out by Ludwig.

The Cabinet had become very nearly inarticulate; public funds had been squandered on all sorts of grandiose and unnecessary schemes; and the clerical element had long been allowed to ride roughshod over the const.i.tution. Altogether, the "Ministry of Dawn," brought into existence with such a flourish of trumpets after the dismissal of von Abel and his colleagues, had not proved the antic.i.p.ated success.

Instead of getting better, things had got worse; and, although it had not actually been suggested, the idea of subst.i.tuting the monarchy by a republic was being discussed in many quarters.

The editor of the _Annual Register_, abandoning his customary att.i.tude of an impartial historian, dealt out a sharp rap on the knuckles to the Royal Troubadour:

"The discreditable conduct of the doting old King of Bavaria, in his open _liaison_ with a wandering actress who had a.s.sumed the name of Lola Montez (but who was in reality the eloped wife of an Englishman, and whom he had created a Bavarian Countess by the t.i.tle of Grafin de Landsfeld), had thoroughly alienated the hearts of his subjects."