ary, '48, a more than usually serious manifestation
against 'Lola's creatures,' as they were called, took place. The woman
did not lack pluck, and she insisted upon defying the rioters by
herself. But they proved too much for her; and, after all, she was a
woman. She endeavoured to escape from their violence, but every house
was shut against her; the Swiss on guard at the Austrian Embassy refused
her shelter. A most painful scene happened; the king himself, the moment
the news reached him, rushed to her rescue, and, having elbowed his way
through the threatening, yelling crowd, offered her his arm, and
conducted her to the church of the Theatines, hard by. As a matter of
course, several officers had joined him, and all might have been well,
if she had taken the lesson to heart. But her violent, domineering,
vindictive temper got the better of her. No sooner did she find herself
in comparative safety, than, emboldened by the presence of the officers,
she snatched a pistol from one of them, and, armed with it, leapt out of
the building, confronting the crowd, and threatening to fire. Heaven
alone knows what would have been the result of this mad act, but for the
timely arrival of a squadron of cuirassiers, who covered her retreat.

"The excitement might have died out in a week or a fortnight, though the
year '48 was scarcely a propitious one for a display of such
quasi-feudal defiance, if she had merely been content to forego the
revenge for the insults she herself had provoked; but on the 10th of
February she prevailed upon the king to issue a decree, closing the
University for a twelvemonth. The smouldering fire of resentment against
her constant interference in the affairs of the country blazed forth
once more, and this time with greater violence than ever. The working
men, nay, the commercial middle classes, hitherto indifferent to the
king's vagaries, which, after all, brought grist to their mill, espoused
the students' cause. Barricades were erected; the cry was not 'Long live
the Constitution,' or 'Long live the Republic,' but 'Down with the
concubine.' It was impossible to mistake the drift of that insurrection,
but, in order to leave no doubt about it in the sovereign's mind, a
deputation of the municipal council and one of the Upper House waited
upon Louis, and insisted upon the dismissal of Lola Montes, who, in less
than an hour, left Munich, escorted by a troop of gendarmes, who,
however, had all their work to