ho
knew Madame Vestris in all the intimacy of the most tender
friendship were Handsome Jack, Captain Best, Lord Edward
Thynne, and Lord Castlereagh. These things were no secrets
to the thousands who, fascinated by her beauty and the
perfection of her acting, nevertheless thronged the theatre
she was admitted to have conducted with the most amiable
propriety and skill. On the contrary, they were as much
matters of general knowledge among people of the first rank
and fashion as the sun at noon-day. And yet what gentleman
ever presumed to affix to the name of this gifted woman,
whose very disregard of the opinion of those who
hypocritically and _sub rosa_ pursued in nearly ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred the same course--what gentleman, we
ask, ever dared to commit himself so far as to term her a
"courtesan"?

There was a good deal more of it, for the "Reply" ran to seventy-six
pages.

The title-page of this counterblast ran:

LOLA MONTEZ

or

A REPLY TO THE
"PRIVATE HISTORY AND MEMOIRS"

of

THAT CELEBRATED LADY

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

By

THE MARQUIS PAPON

FORMERLY SECRETARY TO
THE KING OF BAVARIA
AND FOR A PERIOD
THE PROFESSED FRIEND AND ATTENDANT
of
THE COUNTESS OF LANDSFELD

_Stet Nomnis Umbra_--Junius

NEW YORK

1851

IV

Bavaria was the key position in the sphere of European politics just
then. Ludwig, however, had dallied with the situation too long.
Nothing that he could do now would save him. Unrest was in the air.
All over Europe the tide of democracy was rising, and fast threatening
to engulf the entrenched positions of the autocrats. Metternich,
reading the portents, was planning to leave a mob-ridden Vienna for
the more tranquil atmosphere of Brighton; Louis Philippe, setting him
an example, had already fled from Paris; and Prince William of
Prussia, shaving off his moustache (and travelling on a false
passport), was hurrying to England while the going was still good.
With these examples to guide them, the Bavarians, tired of soft
promises and smooth words, were clamouring for a fresh hand at the
helm. Realising that the choice lay between this and a republic,
Ludwig bowed to the inevitable; and, with crocodile tears and
hypocritical protestations of good faith, surrendered his sceptre. To
give the decision full effect, he issued a Proclamation:

"Bavarians! A new condition has arisen. This dif