others which would require the powers of a | alone, on foot, about the city and neighbourDickens or a Thackeray to do justice to them. hood. Even late at night he never uses a carOne we may relate, not because it is the best, riage, which is only resorted to on state occabut because it illustrates the familiar manner in sions. It is impossible not to be conscious of his which the king mixes with his people. Among approach, even at a considerable distance, as the uneducated of Munich, a habit prevails of you see a long line of pedestrians suddenly arusing the third person singular of the past tense rested in their progress to or fro, and standing of the verb to be, to answer for all persons, with their hats off, ready to greet him as he first, second, and third; and for all tenses,- passes. This is not always the easiest thing to past, present, and future. We have no parallel the bystander, for the royal eccentricities extend in England for this habit; but there is some ap- even to the walk. A stranger, not knowing the proach to it in those persons who, wishing to be rank of the remarkable looking person who super-correct, always say "I were." Now it approaches, is considerably puzzled. He sees happened that there was a gastwirth, or inn- advancing, with short and irregular, but very keeper, who was landlord of an establishment firm steps, a tall, well-proportioned personage, much frequented in the outskirts of Munich, an who is evidently utterly indifferent to what is original, and who was notorious for his persever- passing around; who walks, not in a straight ance in this habit. One morning the king, in line, but in a sort of zig-zag, like forked lighthis usual daily ramble, found himself in this ning, and yet with a confidence as though, were place, when, of course, Herr Gastwirth came he to go against a wall, it would crumble at out to salute him, with that mixture of familiar his approach; with a strongly marked, angular bonhomie and respect for his station which char- countenance, still bearing traces of manly beauacterizes the Bavarian people. ty; and whose fixed but powerful eye bespeaks an utter abstraction and intellectual absorption. The strange effect is somewhat enhanced by the costume worn by this erratic, phantom-like pe

"Well, Herr Gastwirth," said the king, "and so you are the landlord of the Garten?"

"Yes, I was, your majesty!"

This, of course, was what the king wanted to destrian. Generally, a hat of no accepted shape, hear.

"But are you not still the landlord?" "Yes, I was, your majesty," answered again the unconscious Gastwirth.

"But when were you landlord?" "I was a long time, your majesty.”

“And so, I suppose, you hope you will be?" "Yes, thank your majesty's goodness, I hope I was."

The king could bear it no longer. He had been often baffled in his questions by this stupid habit of some of his subjects. With one of his peculiar and forcible gestures, which made the astonished landlord fear he was about to receive a royal coup, the king replied, in his laconic style, “Then, Herr Gastwirth, I can tell you, you were an ass, you are an ass, and you always will be an ass!"

And with that the irate grammarian hurried away, leaving the poor publican utterly ignorant in what he had offended his usually good-natured king.

an English cut-away coat, buttoned closely to a figure somewhat spare, and close-fitting trousers, with gaiters, give his majesty the air of one of the fine old breed of fox-hunting country gentlemen, who, being nervous, hale, and strong, show "signs of blood" in every line of their hardy, cast-iron frames. Absorbed in thought, he bows, mechanically, to all appearance, yet courteously, and even affectionately, to the hatless spectators who happen to stand in the way of the accidental tortuosities of his course. His march might be likened to that of a whirlwind, so many uncovered heads does it leave in its track.

Yet it is not always easy to anticipate which way the royal steps will bend, and the story that is told of him, might, perhaps, have arisen out of this difficulty. One day-it was at a time of some political excitement-the king was in the Ludwigstrasse, followed and preceded, as usual, by a line of bowing subjects. But there was one among them who, whatever may have been his reason, stood erect and covered among the Another anecdote is told of this king, which rest. Perhaps he might be a stranger, but it will sound rather oddly to English ears; but, as was not so; perhaps he was a malcontent, but if we are about to give the bright side of his char- he were, political passions should not excuse acter, it is only fair to add some of his foibles. breaches of politeness, or a neglect of that etiAmong these is conspicuous an excessive jeal-quette which prescribes an obeisance to crowned ousy of his authority. It is true that he very seldom has occasion to manifest it. His subjects, whatever may be their indifference to his royal virtues, always show him great personal respect. As has been said, he is very fond of rambling

heads; perhaps he calculated that the king was too abstracted to notice him. If he did this, he reckoned without his host. The quick eye of the king detected his rudeness. Probably he knew both the man and his motive. At all

events, it seems that, without stopping in his |
course, or more than glancing at his disrespect-
ful subject, he simply raised his hand as he passed
and knocked his hat off. The story is rather
popular in Munich than otherwise. It is told
with a sort of affectionate approval, much as the
Ironsides might have chuckled over some of the
coarse buffooneries of Oliver, or the French or
Prussian soldiers over the practical jokes of Old
Fritz or the little Corporal. The affair could
only have happened in a country governed on
the German principle. Here, were a royal per-
son to do such a thing, it would be regarded
either as a piece of outrageous insolence or
tyranny, or as a gratuitous absurdity; but in
Bavaria there is not that broad line of social
demarcation between king and people which we
find here, and it would be admitted that he had
a perfect right to avenge what all would agree
to have been a personal insult. The customs
and manners of the people are much more primi-
tive than among us.

The reader will see from the foregoing anecdotes, that in announcing the intention of doing justice to the character of the King of Bavaria, we are not about to make a hero of him, or to present any highly colored ideal; but, in truth, this monarch deserves to hold a higher place in the good opinion of his contemporaries than we are inclined to believe he possesses at present.

Without him, Bavaria would have been, in every respect, a nonentity. He is usually thought of as a man of weak character, with a strong propensity for forming picture-galleries and writing verses. Finding such a discrepancy, even in Munich, between his deeds and his reputation, we were tempted to inquire what else the king might have done which might entitle him to the character of a wise, beneficent, and patriotic monarch; and, if the reader be not wearied with the subject, he may, perhaps, be inclined, on a perusal of the catalogue, to think with us that there have been many contemporary monarchs who, having received much more praise than King Louis, have done much less to deserve it. Apropos to the general subject it may be mentioned, that to this monarch is owing the merit of having first conceived the idea of the Zollverein, which is usually attributed to the King of Prussia.

The King of Bavaria acts mainly on the impulses of his own thought and observation. He takes a very active, personal share in the govern. ment of his kingdom. One of his early acts may be recorded as an instance of the benefit to be derived from acting on the instincts of humanity and common sense, as opposed to the dry logic of political economy. To make the matter more clear, let us put a case. The land is held in

Bavaria on the feudal principle. Every proprietor, however small may be his holding, holds directly, or at not more than one or two removes, from the crown. He cannot be deprived of his possession so long as he pays the very fair and moderate dues which are demanded from him, and which, in most cases, stand in the lieu of rent, while at the same time, they give him a vote in the election of members to the Chambers. Thus, the Bavarian peasant, living under what is called a despotism, might compare his position advantageously with that of the Irish peasant, living under what the English delude themselves into believing are free institutions, tortured by rack-rents, and deprived of the protection of a tenant right. In one respect, however, the two countries, at the time King Louis began to interfere in such affairs, were alike. In each, the cultivators of the soil had, from various causes, become destitute of the necessary means wherewith to carry on their labors.

It took the English government years and years of goading, before they hit on the expedient of advancing money from the State on the security of the land in Ireland, in order to enable the proprietors to put it in cultivation. And, even then, true to those instincts of unfair preference for classes, which are the disgrace of Englishmen, they advance this money to the quasi rich; that is to say, to the owners of the soil, without obtaining effectual guarantees that the poor tiller, to whom prescription and long labor ought to have given a right, even superior to that of the Bavarian peasant, should be protected in the enjoyment, on equitable terms, of his holding. Now let us see what the King of Bavaria did-did, too, of his own impulse, while still not more than five-and-thirty years of age. Finding certain districts of his kingdom impoverished, and all, more or less, shackled by the want of funds, he organized a system, the very opposite to that of our centralization, by which every part of the country, in divisions, is subject to the investigation of a provincial councillor of state, who is held responsible for certain duties, and who is to report from time to time to the government the condition and wants of the cultivators in those districts. Thereupon, his majesty erects a most valuable institution; that is to say, a provincial state treasury, from which the cultivator of the soil, be he high or low, rich or poor, can, from time to time, obtain on fair and moderate terms money from the State. The time, mode, and amount of repayment, are regulated by the means of the borrower. The land is, of course, the security; and the right of tenure would become forfeited were the money not repaid. But we are informed that the system works extremely well; that forfeitures have rarely, if

life. King Louis immediately set to work to realize his conception. Surveys were made, and it was found that the cost would be about eight millions of florins. Circumstances rendered it desirable at the time that the king should not be the sole enterpriser, and he, therefore, interested Rothschild, of Vienna, in the scheme, by whose aid, and under the patronage of the king, a joint-stock company was formed, and the capital provided. As the works proceeded, however, it was discovered, as usual, that the engineer's estimates fell far short of the real wants of the company, and that, instead of eight, twelve or thirteen millions of florins would be necessary. Upon this the king came forward and guaranteed, from his own means, the difference, amounting to between four and five millions of florins, and the shares of the company are still sold in order to repay the king his advance. His majesty, however, has had the satisfaction of seeing this great work completed, and it will ever remain a monument of his enterprise and munificence.

ever, occurred; and that, as a general rule, the prosperity of the country has been enhanced by this measure. The actual cultivator of the soil, thus protected in his independence, is not the trembling slave for sale in a rising or falling labor-market. He has a living relation with the State, to which he looks as to his steady friend; and the more he advances his own interest, the more he is adding to the sum of that of the whole community. What disconnects this plan the more from the supposed jealousy of despotic power is, that the State, by advancing these moneys, is really supplying the peasant with the means of rendering himself absolutely independent. Although this annual rent or tax is paid to the crown, it is competent to the tenant to purchase the absolute fee-simple of his holding, by the payment of a certain number of years' impost in advance. We forget the exact number; but the amount is absurdly small compared with the annual rent. The consequence is, that a few years' labor and application will enable the tenant to effect the purchase. It seems, then, that the establishment of these land-rathe, and provincial treasuries, indicates a beneficent spirit on the part of the king. One of the early acts of his reign, too, was to procure the passing of a law, renewing the national guard of the kingdom another proof that he was not afraid to trust his subjects. Nor should we omit to men-siderable amount of capital. In the same liberal tion, although the measure had no material effect, that the king very early restored the old limits of the provinces of Bavaria, which, under French influence, had been divided differently, and differently named. The object of this restoration appears to have been to aid in reviving and consolidating Bavarian nationality.

The canal, which unites the Maine with the Danube, and thus creates an uninterrupted line of water communication from Rotterdam to the Black Sea, owes its origin and its execution to the King of Bavaria. It may be said to be the grand achievement of his reign, for its ultimate effects are likely to be of immense importance. The circumstances under which the king conceived the idea are singular. When a young man, history was an absorbing study with him, more particularly those historical works which furnish the materials for modern authors. Among the rest was Eginhard's Life of Charlemagne, in which it is stated that the emperor, for the purposes of a war which he was then carrying on, conceived the idea of cutting a communication between the two rivers, which, indeed, he commenced. The termination of the war, or some other cause, led Charlemagne to abandon the plan; and, in the course of centuries, it was utterly forgotten, until the King of Bavaria saw its importance, and determined to give it new

Although the king has, until lately, been classed with the politically bigoted monarchs of Europe, he was one of the first to throw himself, heart and soul, into the railroad system. He was the prime mover of the plan for the national railways of Bavaria, in which he invested a con

spirit of enterprise, and with the same desire to facilitate communication, he took a most active share in originating and promoting the company for running steamboats from the highest navigable point of the Danube, above Donauwerth, down to Regensburg, thus rendering more efficient the service of the new canal. These steamboats have since been purchased, at the king's instance, by the State, and the service is now very well performed under the orders of the government. Among the many public works and institutions promoted by the King of Bavaria for the advancement of his people, may be mentioned the establishment of a State Loan and Exchange Bank, where persons can obtain advances upon approved securities, at all times; so that they are relieved from the fear of those commercial panics which are the disgrace, as well as the misfortune, of the English system; while, at the same time, they are protected, at times when money may be scarce, from the extortion of the usurer. The king has also established a Polytechnic School, and an Agricultural School; he has reorganized the School of Architects, and the Academy of Sciences. He has founded an Orthopaedic Institution, and has established a School for the Blind, which he has endowed at an expense of three hundred thousand florins, out of his own purse.

It is upon Munich, however, that the great | lic buildings are the new palace, the Glyptothek force of his munificence has been lavished. (the building of which alone cost the king one When he came to the throne, his kingdom was million and a half; and the statues it contains, scarcely more than a quarter of a century old. upwards of three millions), the Pinacothek (the He seems to have been immediately conscious building of which cost nearly two millions; and of its deficiencies, and to have determined, as the pictures it contains, upwards of twenty milwe have already hinted, to anticipate, in a life- lions), the Odeon (a large building devoted to time, the gradual development of centuries. music and dancing, and where you hear concerts His kingdom was without a capital. Nominally, by a band equal to the Philharmonic, for a Munich was the metropolis, but it had none of florin, and which cost the king four hundred the characteristics of one. There were other thousand florins), the Public Library, the idea cities in the kingdom far better entitled to that of which was the king's, though the funds were distinction. It was, in fact, little more than a furnished by the State; the University, also the large town, which had grown up, as it were, king's idea, but paid for by the foundation; the by accident, on a vast plain; which had neither Clerical School (the same), the School for the the antique beauty of a city of the middle ages, Female Children of the Nobility; the Stained nor the elegance of a modern capital; and which Glass Ianufactory (the whole expense of which was almost wholly destitute of public buildings was paid by the king); the Feldherrenhalle, a or monuments. To make such a place as this a grand building at one end of the Ludwigstrasse, hotbed for architecture and the arts, was a her- built and paid for by the king, and filled with culean undertaking. No one but a man of ex- statues, for which he has also paid; the Arch of traordinary character would have conceived the Triumph, at the other end of the same street, idea, or have persevered in executing it. The also paid for by the king; the Ruhmeshalle, a king is now a sexagenarian; his work is still far building on the Theresien Wiesse, in front of from being completed; yet he perseveres as if it which the magnificent statue of the Bavaria is were the first day of his enterprise, giving his to stand, and which cost the king upwards of personal superintendence to the most minute two millions; the Bazaar, and the new Palace. details, and opening his purse with as much These are the chief buildings erected by the liberality as if he had not already expended king in Munich. There is also the Walhalla, a millions upon millions of florins out of his private grand building near Ratisbon, for the reception revenue, for the gratification and the honor of a of sculpture, and which, independently of its thankless people. contents, has cost nearly six millions, defrayed by the king; and another grand building at Kellheim, more magnificent than any of the others, now building by Von Klénze, from designs by Gartner. It is monolythic; and the cost, independent of its contents, will be at least nine millions.

We are not about to enter into any detailed description of the different monuments with which the king has enriched Munich. A book might be written upon them. But an enumeration of them will give the reader some idea of the extraordinary activity and enterprise of King Louis, when we add, that down to the minutest details they have been personally superintended by himself, in the intervals of an habitual application to the public business of the country, for which there are few parallels, even among the most laborious of ministers. The modern part of the city, which is built upon a distinct plan, has grown up entirely in consequence of the impulse given by the king. It occupies already more than twice as much space as the old town; and if, in a critical point of view, it may be objected to, on account of the uniformity of architecture in the houses, on the other hand it is admirable for the grandeur of the streets, and the regularity of the design. Among the churches built by the king are the St. Ludwig's Church, the Aller Heiligen Chapel (which cost the king two millions of florins), the Theatiner Church, which cost about three millions, the Basilica (which cost the king two millions of florins), and the Au Church. Among the pub

The reader will smile at this auctioneer's catalogue mode of estimating the public spirit of the King of Bavaria. One might urge in excuse, that, at least, it is quite an English valuation. But we are not proposing to criticize the services rendered by his majesty to the arts: that has been done, and will be done still more hereafter, by others; and we would rather come to a part of our article which will probably be more interesting.

But before writing about Lola Montez, it would be well to premise, briefly, the position of the king and kingdom before the appearance of that lady in Munich created so complete a revolution in affairs.

The king came to the throne filled with the most liberal ideas. He was prepared, not merely to carry out the theory of a paternal government, but also to admit his people to a very large share of political freedom. For all this he was long looked upon with suspicion by other conti

conceived will, it matters not. One thing seems to be universally admitted—that, although in an economical sense the administration of public affairs was benign, and the people were rendered substantially happy, yet in all that related to political freedom, and, pro tanto, to personal liberty, the utmost jealousy was manifested. Bavaria exhibited an absurd parody of the Austrian system. A paternal government was seen for ever with a sugar-plum in one hand and a rod in the other; and the latter was laid on too often and too vigorously. During many years that followed the system of contraction, the government of Bavaria, although it had at its head a man whose abilities as a minister are cheerfully acknowledged even by his most inveterate political opponents, degenerated into a low, petty, grinding tyranny-a system of ex

priesthood a system devised and executed with a devilish ingenuity—until, at last, it became intolerable to all but the favored few. Were we to enumerate even a few of the obstructions offered, at every turn, to the natural development of enterprise or the expression of opinion, the reader would not credit us. Whether it be just or not to attribute the then existing state of things to the Jesuits, it is admitted by all but the parties interested in proving a negative, that the whole country, through its guiding minds, was under the influence of a priestly tyranny, which found its virtues in petty persecutions.

nental powers. The reader need not be reminded that a great movement in favor of Liberalism and Constitutional Government has for many years been going on throughout Germany. The culminating point of that movement in our own day has been the attempt of the King of Prussia to trust his subjects with a constitution. The King of Bavaria would have done that fifteen or twenty years ago, not in form merely, for in form it has long existed, but in substance. He is an ardent admirer of England and her theory of government, and, in the early part of his reign, was by no means indisposed to adopt it in full practical force for his own kingdom; but, unfortunately, with all his admirable qualities, the German is not an Englishman. Say, rather, he has not had the advantages Englishmen possess in going through a regular training in the exercise of political priv-clusion to all who did not bow down before the ileges. In relation with the old despotic forms of government in some parts of Germany, the German may be spoken of without disrespect as having been, politically speaking, a slave. Emancipate a slave suddenly, and you alone are to blame if you do not find him practising the steady virtues of a free man. Those who have studied the characteristics of German liberalism, will have noticed its tendency to unmanageable theory. All continental Liberals commit the error of grasping at our results without paying the penalty of our experience. With the best intentions in the world, they would adopt a system which, without grad- A Jesuit will naturally point to the scheme uated and experimental development, would of his society, and the code of its laws, in order plunge them into national anarchy and weak- to prove the impossibility of such a system being ness. In Germany, especially, the old system organized by his order. But the popular inand the new cannot be quickly fused. You stincts take a royal road to conviction, and as cannot safely put the new wine into the old they found the effects in existence, while it was bottles. Frederick William of Prussia, since notorious that Jesuits had the chief ear of those he has gone a Quixotting with his constitution, in power, they jumped to the conclusion that has had one or two hard hints to this effect. they were the active causes of those effects. Now the King of Bavaria, as has been said, had Meanwhile, the constitution existed, not merely all the will, years ago, to go a Quixotting too. on paper, but also in an organized mockery of Not the wildest of his subjects could be more its forms. There were two Chambers, and the enamoured of theoretical constitutionalism than Lower Chamber was elective. There was freehe. But, fortunately, perhaps, for him, and dom of speech, and year after year addresses ultimately for his kingdom, to liberal senti- were voted to the crown, claiming more substanments he united the instincts of autocratism; tial privileges. But the answer of the governand ere he had practically ratified the constitu- ment was a continued refusal of ministerial retion enjoyed by his subjects, by giving them, in sponsibility, an augmentation of priestly power, effect, the power which, in theory, they enjoyed, and the retention of a rigid and insulting cena sudden fright, which he shared with other sorship of the press. The reputation and exterGerman sovereigns at the revolutionary move-nal influence of the kingdom were rapidly sinkments of 1830, made him suddenly rein in and refuse to budge a step further. Whether this was in consequence of counsels given by those who subsequently became a reactionary ministry on almost despotic principles, or whether he chose those councillors to carry out his own pre

ing under a system which was, after all, but the exact, but overstrained, development of mistaken good intentions. "Sir," exclaimed an intelligent native of Munich, who had travelled much, "wherever I went, it was with shame I acknowledged myself a Bavarian."