iancy of intellect with which Heaven has
thought fit to endow her. At one moment ruling a kingdom, through an
imbecile monarch; and the next, the wife of a dashing young English
lord.... Her person and bearing are unmistakably aristocratic. In her
recent visit to one of our public schools she surprised and delighted
the scholars by addressing them in the Latin language with remarkable
facility."

It would be of interest to learn the name of the "dashing young
English lord." This, however, was probably a brevet rank conferred by
the pressman on Cornet Heald.

On April 27, 1852, Lola Montez appeared at the Albany Museum in
selections from her repertoire. On this occasion she brought with her
a "troupe of twelve dancing girls." As an additional lure, the bills
described these damsels as "all of them unmarried, and most of them
under sixteen."

But the attraction which proved the biggest success in her repertoire
was a drama called _Lola in Bavaria_. This was said to be written by
"a young literary gentleman of New England, the son of a somewhat
celebrated poetess." The heroine, who was never off the stage for more
than five minutes, was depicted in turns as a dancer, a politician, a
countess, a revolutionary, and a fugitive; and among the other
characters were Ludwig I, Eugene Sue, Dujarier, and Cornet Heald,
while the setting offered "a correct representation of the Lola Montez
palace at Munich." It seemed good value. At any rate, the public
thought it was, and full houses were secured. But the critics
restrained their raptures. "I sympathise," was the acid comment of one
of them, "with the actresses who were forced to take part in such
stuff"; and Joseph Daly described the heroine as "deserting a royal
admirer to court the sovereign public." The author of this balderdash
was one C. P. T. Ware, "a poor little hack playwright, who wrote
anything for anybody."

March of 1853 found Lola Montez fulfilling an engagement at the
Varietes Theatre, St. Louis. Kate Field, the daughter of the
proprietor, wrote a letter on the subject to her aunt.

"Well, Lola Montez appeared at father's theatre last night
for the first time. The theatre was crowded from parquet to
doors. She had the most beautiful eyes I ever saw. I liked
her very much; but she performed a dumb girl, so I cannot
say what she would do in speaking characters."

During this engagement Lola apparently proved a little _difficile_,
for he