ntil
they have made her acquaintance."

"The Countess of Landsfeld, who is now among us," adds a second
scribe, "owes more to the brilliancy of intellect with which Heaven
has gifted her than to her world-wide celebrity as an artiste. Her
person and bearing are unmistakably aristocratic. If we may credit the
stories which from time to time have reached us, she can, if
necessary, use her riding-whip in vigorous fashion about the ears of
any offending biped or quadruped. In America she is somewhat out of
her latitude. Paris should be her real home."

For the present, however, Lola decided to stop where she was.

While she was in America on this tour, Barnum wanted to be her
impresario, and promised "special terms." Despite, however, the lure
of "having her path garlanded with flowers and her carriage drawn by
human hands from hotel to theatre," the offer was not accepted.

The New York debut of Lola Montez was made on December 29, 1851, in a
ballet: _Betly, the Tyrolean_. Public excitement ran high, for
appetites had been whetted by the sensational accounts of her "past"
with which the papers were filled.

"Scandal does not necessarily create a great dancer," declared one
rigid critic; and a second had a long column, headed: "MONTEZ _v._
RESPECTABILITY," in which he observed (thoughtfully supplying a
translation): "_Parturiunt_ MONTEZ, _nascitur ridiculus mus_." All the
same, the box-office reported record business. As a result, prices
were doubled, and the seats put up to auction.

If she had her enemies in the press, Lola also had her champions
there. Just before she arrived, one of them, a New York paper, took up
the cudgels on her behalf in vigorous fashion:

The most funny proceeding that is going on in this town is
the terrible to-do that is being made about Lola Montez. If
this state of things continues we will guarantee a
continuance of the fun after Lola makes her advent among us,
for if she doesn't properly horse-whip those squeamish
gentlemen we are much mistaken in her character.

Now we want to call the attention of our fair-minded readers
to a few other matters that are sure to occur. Here are the
various papers pouring out a torrent of abuse on Lola. What
will it all amount to? In a few weeks she will land. In a
few weeks a popular theatre will be occupied by her, and
tens of thousands will throng that theatre. The manager will
reap