ty as a European watch-dog, had its eye
on Ludwig and his dalliance along the primrose path. Disapproval was
registered. "The King of Bavaria," solemnly announced a leading
article, "has entirely forgotten the duties and dignities of his
position."

Freiherr zu Canitz, however, who had succeeded von Buelow as Minister
for Foreign Affairs, looked upon Ludwig's lapse with more indulgence.
"It is not," he wrote from the Wilhelmstrasse, "the first time by any
means that kings have chosen to live with dancers. While such conduct
is not, perhaps, strictly laudable, we can disregard it if it be
accompanied by a certain measure of decorum. Still, a combination of
ruler-ship and dalliance with a vagrant charmer is a phenomenon that
is as much out of place as is an attempt to govern a country by
writing sonnets."

Availing herself of what was then, as now, looked upon as a natural
safety-valve, Lola herself wrote to the _Times_, giving her own
version of these happenings:

I left Paris in June last on a professional trip; and, among
other arrangements, decided upon visiting Munich where, for
the first time, I had the honour of appearing before His
Majesty and receiving from him marks of appreciation, which
is not a very unusual thing for a professional person to
receive at a foreign Court.

I had not been here a week before I discovered that there
was a plot existing in the town to get me out of it, and
that the party was the Jesuit Party.... When they saw that
I was not likely to leave them, they tried what bribery
would do; and actually offered me 50,000 fcs. a year if I
would quit Bavaria and promise never to return. This, as you
may imagine, opened my eyes; and, as I indignantly refused
their offer, they have since not left a stone unturned to
get rid of me.... Within this last week a Jesuit professor
of philosophy at the university here, named Lasaulx, was
removed. Thereupon, the party paid and hired a mob to insult
me and break the windows of my house.

... Knowing that your columns are always open to protect
anyone unjustly accused, and more especially when that one
is an unprotected female, makes me rely upon you for the
insertion of this; and I have the honour to subscribe
myself, your obliged servant,

LOLA MONTEZ.

A couple of weeks later Printing House Square was favoured with a
second ep