Lola Montez : $b An adventuress of the 'fortiesD'Auvergne, Edmund B. (Edmund Basil)
History
Lola Montez : $b An adventuress of the 'forties
D'Auvergne, Edmund B. (Edmund Basil)
Montez, Lola, 1818-1861
This view of the King's sentiments towards his favourite was not
acceptable to that lady's political enemies. It is to be observed, also,
that the champions of orthodox morality are the hardest to persuade of the
actual existence or possibility of virtue in the individual. It would seem
at times that they doubt the efficacy of baptismal waters to wash out
original sin. Morality finds strange champions in all lands. The House of
Lords, the racing papers, the transpontine stage, and the Irish
moon-lighters have all been found at one time or another on the side of
the angels. In Bavaria in 1848 the University students, still for the
greater part leavened by Ultramontane doctrines, posed as the vindicators
of Christian morality, and spoke of Lola as the Scarlet Woman. With
singular inconsistency they continued to profess their devotion to the
King, who must have obviously been in their eyes, a partner in the woman's
guilt. The Catholic Church does not discriminate between the sexes as
regards this particular offence; moreover, evil example in a prince is
held by all moralists to be more serious than in a private person. Lola,
also, was believed to be single; Louis was living with his wife. The man's
offence, then, would seem from every point of view to have been graver;
nor could it have been excused on the ground of weakness of will or
understanding, for this in a king would itself have aggravated his guilt.
The undergraduates of Munich, however, being pupils of the Jesuits and
presumably skilled in casuistry, would no doubt have been able to explain
an attitude which appears inconsistent to the non-academic mind.
All the members of the University were not under the thumb of the
clericals. Two or three students of the corps Palatia (Pfalz)--probably
Protestants--did not hesitate to appear at the Countess of Landsfeld's
_salon_, which was the resort of the most brilliant people in Munich.
Lola's fancy was taken by the colours of the corps, and she playfully
stuck one of the young fellows' caps on her pretty head. The students
were, in consequence, expelled from their association. A large number of
Liberal students thereupon seceded from their respective corps and formed
a new one, appropriately called Alemannia. The new body was at once
recognised by the King, and endowed with all the privileges of an ancient
corps. Lola insisted upon providing every member with an exceedingly smart
uniform, at her own expense, and with delight saw them establish their
head-quarters in a house backing upon her own. The Alemannia became her
devoted bodyguard. They watched her house, they escorted her in the
street. She graced their festivals, dressed in the close-fitting uniform
of the corps. Berks entertained them to a banquet at the palace of
Nymphenburg, and in a stirring speech publicly commended their zeal for
the cause of enlightenment, humanity and progress.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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