[Illustration: _MARIA SOPHIA Queen of Naples_] _Life Stories for Young People_ QUEEN MARIA SOPHIA OF NAPLES A FORGOTTEN HEROINE _Translated from the German of Carl Küchler_ BY GEORGE P. UPTON _Author of “Musical Memories,” “Standard Operas,” etc. Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc._ WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS [Illustration: A·C·M^cCLURG] CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1910 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1910 Published September 24, 1910 THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS [W·D·O] NORWOOD·MASS·U·S·A Translator’s Preface The story of the exiled Queen of Naples, Maria Sophia, as the title-page of this little volume sets forth, is the story of a “forgotten heroine.” In many respects it recalls the story of her sister, Elizabeth of Hungary, though her fate was not so tragic. She was saved from the fury of the assassin; but she revealed many of her sister’s attributes—the same courage, the same beauty, the same gayety of disposition, clouded in much the same manner, the same love of nature and of animals, the same love of the people, the same domestic misfortunes. Her comparatively brief sovereignty included a thrilling period of the struggle for Italian unity. Her marriage was a brilliant one, her honeymoon most strange, and her after life most lonely. She was a strong woman united to a weak man, not of her choice and not honored by her love. She had many faults, but of her heroism the siege of Gaeta will always bear witness. The other figures in the story, the fascinating Lola Montez, Count Cavour, the great statesman, King Victor Emanuel, King “Bomba,” and the red-shirted Garibaldi, add to its picturesqueness, and the manners and customs of the court of Bavaria as well as the sketches of the Wittelsbachs are not without historic interest. G. P. U. Chicago, _July, 1910_. Contents