August 13, 1975 (8 pages)

4. The Neva da Co —=S= unty Nugget Wed., August 13, 1975 (Lola Montez’ life has provided much material for biographers and : novelists but what the press had to say about her has long been > hidden in musty files. Author Doris Foley diligently searched early .' work.) day California newspaper files, reading every issue published between 1853 and 1861, to document what they-said about the divine _ Lofjaand then for contrast included Lola’s autobiography in this %, AUTOBIOGRAPHY LOLA MONTEZ (Part II continued) (The life story of Lola Montez, written by Charles Chauncy Burr in 1858 after interviews with her, and read by the Countess during her lecture series as her AUTOBIOGRAPHY. In reading the articles, she used the third person, giving the impression she habitually referred to herself in this manner.) 2° When Louis ascended the throne he was possessed with the :° most liberal ideas, and it was his first intention to admit his people :: to a degree of political freedom which no people of Germany had ever known. But the revolutionary movement of 1880 forced him backwards, and an evil hour brought into his counsels the most despotic and illiberal Jesuits. Through the influence of this ‘ ministry the natural liberality of the king was perpetually thwarted, and the government degenerated into a petty tyranny, = whose priestly influence was sucking out the lifeblood of the people. There was a rigid censorship upon the press, and the cloven foot of Jesuitism was everywhere apparent, until the king had grown sick of the government which necessity seemed to force upon him. Such was the condition of things in Bavaria, when Lola Montez arrived there. And now, in that connection, I hope I shall be par> doned for quoting once more the authority of the American Law : Journal of 1848: ‘She obtained permission to dance upon the theatre at Munich. Her beauty and distinguished manners at= tracted the notice of the king. On further acquaintance with her, he became enamored of her originality of character, mental powers, : and of those bold and novel views which she fearlessly laid before him. Under her counsels, a total revolution afterwards took place in : Bavarian system of government. The existing minority was dismissed; new and more advisers were chosen; the power of the Jesuits was ended; Austrian influences repelled and a foundation _ laid for making Bavaria an independent member of the great family of nations.” These favorable results may be fairly attributed to the talents, the energy, and influence of Lola Montez who received, in her =: promotion to the nobility, only the usual reward of political ser” vices. She became the Countess of Landsfeld, accompanied by an > estate of the same name, with certain feudal privileges and rights over some 2000 souls. Her income, including a recent addition from . the king of 20,000 florins per annuma, was 70,000 florins, or a little “ more than 5,000 pounds per annuma. After all the noise there has been in the world about Lola Montez in Bavaria, she may challenge history to produce an instance when power in the hands of a woman : ,was used with greater propriety of deportment, and with more by * _unselfish devotion to the cause of freedom. She and she alone, induced the king, not only to abolish a ministry which had stood for a " quarter of a.century, but she went further, and induced him to »_« form his new ministry from the ranks of the people without respect * to the rank of nobility. What an immense step such an example as that to be set in a German state!° = = And you, in your peaceful republican home, here in the United , States, can form no conception of the furious rage it set the nobility ‘in, not only in Bavaria, but all over Germany. It was at that moment that Lola Montez became a fiend, a devil, a she-dragon, :° with more heads and horns that that frightful beast spoken of in Revelatioris. When Lola Montez arrived-in Bavaria the nobility had such power that tradesmen could not possibly collect a debt of one of them by law, as they could only be tried by their peers. And the poor poeple, alas! had no chance, when they came under the ban of the laws, for the nobility alone were their judges. To remedy this Lola Montez had obtained the pledge of the king that he would in&-. troduce the Code Napoleon, and she was having it copied and put in > due form when the revolution broke out and drove her from power. _ The blow that she had dealt at the swollen heads of the patent * nobility was severe enough, in choosing ministers from the ranks‘of _ the people, but this introduction of the Code Napoleon was looked upon as the finishing blow. :. The fat and idle vagabonds, who lived off the people’s earnings, ’ saw the last plank drifting from their hands, and Lola Montez was Sak es The Divine # -——— LOLA MONTEZ ANT the devil of it all. The priests used to preach that there was no longer a Virgin Mary in Munich, but that Venus had taken her place. At first they tried to win her to their side. A nobleman was found who tried to immolate himself in marriage with her; then Austrian gold was tried — old Metternich would give her a million if she would quit Bavaria — all, all was offered to no purpose. Then came threats and plots for her destruction. She was twice shot at, and once poisoned — and it was only the accident of too large a dose that saved her — in their determination to be doubly sure — they defeated themselves. And when the revolution broke out which drove Lola Montez from power, it was not only by the superior tact and sagacity of her enemies, but it was by the brute force produced by Austrian gold. Gold was sown in the streets of Munich, and the rabble, by which I mean not the people — but the baser sort of idlers and mercenary hirelings, became the tools of the Austrian party. They came with cannon, and guns, and swords, with the voice of ten thousand devils, and surrounded her little castle. Against the entreaties of her friends, who were with her, she presented herself before the infuriated mob, which demanded her life. This for a moment had the effect of paralyzing them, as it must have seemed like an act of insanity. And it-was a little “scary” as the old man said of his unmanagable horse. A thousand guns were presented at her, and a hundred fat and apoplectic voices fiercely demanded that she should cause the repeal of what she had done. In a language of great mildness — for it was no time to scold — she replied that it was impossible for her to accede to such a request. What had been done was honestly meant for the good of the people, and for the honor of Bavaria. They could take her life, if they would, but that would never , mend their cause for her blood would never prove they were in the right. In the midst of this speech she was dragged back within the house by her friends; and soon after, on perceiving that preparations were making to burn it down, she yielded to the persuasion and entreaties of her friends, and make her escape disguised as a peasant girl — she retreated, on foot, into the country. Thé leaders of the Liberal party were obliged also to escape into the country, with their families. Lola Montez was now helplessly banished from Bavaria, and there was no other alternative left but to make immediate retreat within the shelter of some friendly state. That state was Switzerland, that little republic that lies like a majestic eagle, in the midst of the monarchial vultures and cormorants of Europe. But, before Lola Montez quitted Bavaria forever, she went back disguised in boy’s clothes — riding nights and prudently lying still by day — and at twelve o’clock at night, she obtained a last audience with the king. She gained a promise from the king that he would abdicate. She could not even endure the thought that he should, with his own hand destroy the reforms which he had made at her instigation. She pointed out to him the impossibility of holding his throne, unless he went down into the disgraceful humility of recanting the great deeds which he had proclaimed he had done under a sense of immediate justice. She convinced him that it would be best for his own fame, and that the backward step should be taken by his son, who was an enemy of the Liberal party, and who in a short time, at the fartherest, must ascend the throne. Louis readily saw the promise which then made, to abdicate. And Lola Montez, under the stars of a midnight sky, went out in her boy’s disguise, to look upon the turrets and spires of Munich for the last time. ‘She knew that if she were discovered she would br ignonimously shot — but she did not think, or care much about that. Her thoughts were on the past, and they have never been able to look much to a future in this world, atleast. — Ten years have elapsed since the events with which Lola Montez was connected in Bavaria, and yet the malice of the diffusive and ever-vigilant Jesuits is fresh and active as it was the first hour it assailed her. For it is not too much for her to say, that few artists, of her profession, ever. escaped with so little censure, and certainly none ever had the doors of the highest social respectability so universally open to her, as she had up to the time she went to Bavaria. And she denies that there was anything in her conduct there which ought to have compromised her before the world. Her enemies assailed her, not because her deeds were bad, but because they knew of no other means to destroy her influence. On this point I must quote again the authority. of the American Law Journal. Speaking of the king’s confidence in Lola Montez, it says: “This attachment enabled her to work out the great political By Dor changes which have taken plac acknowledge that it is the polit with the king, and not the immc has brought upon her most of . defeated party has, from time t the bitterest calumnies. The . ponents displayed was, unfortun only tolerated, but patronized, 2 equivocal position with the kin, servient to the.then dominating . for her talents, her intelligence As a political character, she Switzerland, an important pos besides having agents and col Europe. On foreign politics sh treated by the political men of tl She always kept state secrets, 2 cases in which her original habi under her advice the king pled, improvement in the political fr ‘‘Although she wielded so never used it for the promotio: favorites have done, for corrt to believe that political feelin; considerations.”’ To the above statement of add that Lola Montez could e: that ever lived, had she pref GRA Gerr emb Land stat

4. The Neva da Co —=S= unty Nugget Wed., August 13, 1975 (Lola Montez’ life has provided much material for biographers and : novelists but what the press had to say about her has long been > hidden in musty files. Author Doris Foley diligently searched early .' work.) day California newspaper files, reading every issue published between 1853 and 1861, to document what they-said about the divine _ Lofjaand then for contrast included Lola’s autobiography in this %, AUTOBIOGRAPHY LOLA MONTEZ (Part II continued) (The life story of Lola Montez, written by Charles Chauncy Burr in 1858 after interviews with her, and read by the Countess during her lecture series as her AUTOBIOGRAPHY. In reading the articles, she used the third person, giving the impression she habitually referred to herself in this manner.) 2° When Louis ascended the throne he was possessed with the :° most liberal ideas, and it was his first intention to admit his people :: to a degree of political freedom which no people of Germany had ever known. But the revolutionary movement of 1880 forced him backwards, and an evil hour brought into his counsels the most despotic and illiberal Jesuits. Through the influence of this ‘ ministry the natural liberality of the king was perpetually thwarted, and the government degenerated into a petty tyranny, = whose priestly influence was sucking out the lifeblood of the people. There was a rigid censorship upon the press, and the cloven foot of Jesuitism was everywhere apparent, until the king had grown sick of the government which necessity seemed to force upon him. Such was the condition of things in Bavaria, when Lola Montez arrived there. And now, in that connection, I hope I shall be par> doned for quoting once more the authority of the American Law : Journal of 1848: ‘She obtained permission to dance upon the theatre at Munich. Her beauty and distinguished manners at= tracted the notice of the king. On further acquaintance with her, he became enamored of her originality of character, mental powers, : and of those bold and novel views which she fearlessly laid before him. Under her counsels, a total revolution afterwards took place in : Bavarian system of government. The existing minority was dismissed; new and more advisers were chosen; the power of the Jesuits was ended; Austrian influences repelled and a foundation _ laid for making Bavaria an independent member of the great family of nations.” These favorable results may be fairly attributed to the talents, the energy, and influence of Lola Montez who received, in her =: promotion to the nobility, only the usual reward of political ser” vices. She became the Countess of Landsfeld, accompanied by an > estate of the same name, with certain feudal privileges and rights over some 2000 souls. Her income, including a recent addition from . the king of 20,000 florins per annuma, was 70,000 florins, or a little “ more than 5,000 pounds per annuma. After all the noise there has been in the world about Lola Montez in Bavaria, she may challenge history to produce an instance when power in the hands of a woman : ,was used with greater propriety of deportment, and with more by * _unselfish devotion to the cause of freedom. She and she alone, induced the king, not only to abolish a ministry which had stood for a " quarter of a.century, but she went further, and induced him to »_« form his new ministry from the ranks of the people without respect * to the rank of nobility. What an immense step such an example as that to be set in a German state!° = = And you, in your peaceful republican home, here in the United , States, can form no conception of the furious rage it set the nobility ‘in, not only in Bavaria, but all over Germany. It was at that moment that Lola Montez became a fiend, a devil, a she-dragon, :° with more heads and horns that that frightful beast spoken of in Revelatioris. When Lola Montez arrived-in Bavaria the nobility had such power that tradesmen could not possibly collect a debt of one of them by law, as they could only be tried by their peers. And the poor poeple, alas! had no chance, when they came under the ban of the laws, for the nobility alone were their judges. To remedy this Lola Montez had obtained the pledge of the king that he would in&-. troduce the Code Napoleon, and she was having it copied and put in > due form when the revolution broke out and drove her from power. _ The blow that she had dealt at the swollen heads of the patent * nobility was severe enough, in choosing ministers from the ranks‘of _ the people, but this introduction of the Code Napoleon was looked upon as the finishing blow. :. The fat and idle vagabonds, who lived off the people’s earnings, ’ saw the last plank drifting from their hands, and Lola Montez was Sak es The Divine # -——— LOLA MONTEZ ANT the devil of it all. The priests used to preach that there was no longer a Virgin Mary in Munich, but that Venus had taken her place. At first they tried to win her to their side. A nobleman was found who tried to immolate himself in marriage with her; then Austrian gold was tried — old Metternich would give her a million if she would quit Bavaria — all, all was offered to no purpose. Then came threats and plots for her destruction. She was twice shot at, and once poisoned — and it was only the accident of too large a dose that saved her — in their determination to be doubly sure — they defeated themselves. And when the revolution broke out which drove Lola Montez from power, it was not only by the superior tact and sagacity of her enemies, but it was by the brute force produced by Austrian gold. Gold was sown in the streets of Munich, and the rabble, by which I mean not the people — but the baser sort of idlers and mercenary hirelings, became the tools of the Austrian

party. They came with cannon, and guns, and swords, with the voice of ten thousand devils, and surrounded her little castle. Against the entreaties of her friends, who were with her, she presented herself before the infuriated mob, which demanded her life. This for a moment had the effect of paralyzing them, as it must have seemed like an act of insanity. And it-was a little “scary” as the old man said of his unmanagable horse. A thousand guns were presented at her, and a hundred fat and apoplectic voices fiercely demanded that she should cause the repeal of what she had done. In a language of great mildness — for it was no time to scold — she replied that it was impossible for her to accede to such a request. What had been done was honestly meant for the good of the people, and for the honor of Bavaria. They could take her life, if they would, but that would never , mend their cause for her blood would never prove they were in the right. In the midst of this speech she was dragged back within the house by her friends; and soon after, on perceiving that preparations were making to burn it down, she yielded to the persuasion and entreaties of her friends, and make her escape disguised as a peasant girl — she retreated, on foot, into the country. Thé leaders of the Liberal party were obliged also to escape into the country, with their families. Lola Montez was now helplessly banished from Bavaria, and there was no other alternative left but to make immediate retreat within the shelter of some friendly state. That state was Switzerland, that little republic that lies like a majestic eagle, in the midst of the monarchial vultures and cormorants of Europe. But, before Lola Montez quitted Bavaria forever, she went back disguised in boy’s clothes — riding nights and prudently lying still by day — and at twelve o’clock at night, she obtained a last audience with the king. She gained a promise from the king that he would abdicate. She could not even endure the thought that he should, with his own hand destroy the reforms which he had made at her instigation. She pointed out to him the impossibility of holding his throne, unless he went down into the disgraceful humility of recanting the great deeds which he had proclaimed he had done under a sense of immediate justice. She convinced him that it would be best for his own fame, and that the backward step should be taken by his son, who was an enemy of the Liberal party, and who in a short time, at the fartherest, must ascend the throne. Louis readily saw the promise which then made, to abdicate. And Lola Montez, under the stars of a midnight sky, went out in her boy’s disguise, to look upon the turrets and spires of Munich for the last time. ‘She knew that if she were discovered she would br ignonimously shot — but she did not think, or care much about that. Her thoughts were on the past, and they have never been able to look much to a future in this world, atleast. — Ten years have elapsed since the events with which Lola Montez was connected in Bavaria, and yet the malice of the diffusive and ever-vigilant Jesuits is fresh and active as it was the first hour it assailed her. For it is not too much for her to say, that few artists, of her profession, ever. escaped with so little censure, and certainly none ever had the doors of the highest social respectability so universally open to her, as she had up to the time she went to Bavaria. And she denies that there was anything in her conduct there which ought to have compromised her before the world. Her enemies assailed her, not because her deeds were bad, but because they knew of no other means to destroy her influence. On this point I must quote again the authority. of the American Law Journal. Speaking of the king’s confidence in Lola Montez, it says: “This attachment enabled her to work out the great political By Dor changes which have taken plac acknowledge that it is the polit with the king, and not the immc has brought upon her most of . defeated party has, from time t the bitterest calumnies. The . ponents displayed was, unfortun only tolerated, but patronized, 2 equivocal position with the kin, servient to the.then dominating . for her talents, her intelligence As a political character, she Switzerland, an important pos besides having agents and col Europe. On foreign politics sh treated by the political men of tl She always kept state secrets, 2 cases in which her original habi under her advice the king pled, improvement in the political fr ‘‘Although she wielded so never used it for the promotio: favorites have done, for corrt to believe that political feelin; considerations.”’ To the above statement of add that Lola Montez could e: that ever lived, had she pref GRA Gerr emb Land stat