The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-18 00:00:00

AUTHENTIC MEMOIR OF LOLA MONT-ES

Lola Montez, says the Literary Gazette, is the usnott er
„„I' r's
of the late Major Cragie, of the East India ConiMy,
service, Deputy-Adjutant-General of the Bengal,lr,, of
Some ten or twelve years ago, Lieutenant James InLwitti
the Bengal Army)• sailed from India in the sameshiP i, ,
Mrs. Cragie, the wife of the first-named officer. the
timate acquaintance sprung up between them, o,w
mother expatiated
aug frequentlyhierand, on
a on the
the
arrival c aap i vvatro,
to
the
goodvd
fond
looks of f her d
vessel in England, Lieutenant James was introtille'.os
the young lady, with whom, it may be presumed, h,eforai
more than half in love already.! We need scarcelY'loa
our readers that the result of frequent meetings. "'a to
mutual attachment, which the lovers were anxiouri,ts,
make lasting by marriage ; not so, however, the Par bare
for a lieutenant in the infantry, with nothing but hl.sbio of
pay to look to for support, is not the most dig'.
co,
husbands. A runaway match put an end to 01-1 drsnd
sions as to the prudence of their being united;
shortly afterwards, the young couple sailed for tilcadl
Time soon showed that they were not suited te,eite.
other ; and the lady, to whose very existence the e" set•
merit of a public life seems necessary, could ill broOkiog
tling down the wife of a subaltern officer in a mare so
regiment, whose tastes, mind, and character differ° tios
entirely from her own. Up to this period the eanc.,B,. to
and mode of life of Mrs. James were precisely sienna: 01
those of most young ladies of the middling ft
society in England ; but, now came the change. Pm' toe
her husband to live with some more favoured lever' .00
by her beauty, vivacity, and disregard of the restrict'o,
of society, soon became the talk of India ; bat, her.,a,icli
bitious spirit was not long content with the eclat there
that country could afford her : and, after a resitien,ce' it
of two or three years, she quitted it for Europe.
was, we believe, that Mrs. James took to herself
epithet of Lola Montez. It might be amusing, Perliciibet
to follow her through all the strange adventures °`oo.
varied and chequered life ; but, as such is not our toll,
o.°n—we merely wish to show who and what she bU
was. A contributor to Fraser's Magazine writes 0f 04,
thus :—" It is said that this now celebrated petsfloil
having a singular independence of character, had 60
been in the habit of travelling from city te,bieb
seeking, by the employment of talents and bean,:
she supposed herself to possess, to augment the l"' eyrol
she already enjoyed : that, after having been to se`lea,
places, where sometimes she essayed her talents and ill' jv
and sometimes merely lived upon her means, as;,fol f.p.
stance, at Baden-Baden, she went to Munich. 011 J
Montez never was better than an indifferent dancer,,
was admired on the stage solely for beauty and
rrdi'eote
guished manners. 'When the late Dwarkanauth.7,o
gave his sumptuous entertainments in Paris, Lclan"-°d to
was a constant visitor at them ; she was introdueeso.
the friends she had formerly known in India as/ old
James, and did not hesitate to speak with them "pia
times ; and when questioned about her reasons for c!'.
herself by so strange a cognomen, she replied that ation,
the name of her mother, who was of Spanish extrticpss tv
These are " great facts," and it would be as necriso,
deny that Lola Montez is Mrs. James as that 31a-vint,
Vestris is Mrs. Charles Matthews. There is ro tien,!,be
that the Countess of Landsfelt has great faults, 131/:o1P
can be a very charming person and delightful coinPa, :t ,
She is graceful and dignified, anti understands the I" the
dress to perfection. In Bavaria she devoted her life tool,.
extirpation of the Jesuits, root and branch, and this oer
sorbing idea, it is said, destroyed her peace of mind' and
title and estate of Landsfelt gave her feudal privilege,' fie
rights over some two thousand persons, who foutefors
reason to complain of her dominion. Her incorneLtioo
quitting Munich was about £5,000 per annum, in 914;
to the property left her by Dujarrier, in his will non*.
on the day he fought the duel in which he lost- h"the
The king used generally to visit Lola Monte% ru
morning, between eleven and one o'clock, and.snol,
sometimes summoned to the palace to consult wit% ove
or the ministers, on state affairs ; and although v the
would palliate the connection that existed betweetd
monarch and his favourite, this much may be said,.tder-irig
was not of a coarse or vulgar nature ; and, eons' uo'
the extreme length to which it w..s carried, we Tele
surprised at the effect of her naturalization upon t

sigried king.
vetg
*Though the editorial WE is used in this memoir, w,eolf.
acknowledge it as a favour from a valued corresponds
he' says no,hing: of her life in London. we may atic!,:stre
was not of the strictest kind. She lodged in Tichtietudocr"
and, as is
.generally remembered, tried her fortune as,B,reater
in her Majesty's Theatre, where her person attracted
admiration than her talents, &c.—En. L. G.

When Lord George Gordon moved that the Pet.°oa the
had presented should be taken into consideratierl'oied
house refused to discuss it so long as they were Wrljoese
and apparently overawed by a mob. He left the d 1015
te
two or three times to address the petitioners, so ;
began to be entertained that vio'eace would be ;ttc,,A,
thus
when General Murray, uncle to the Duke of. Atjaviti
addressed Lord George :—" If only one of you' 0, sP;i
followers enters, I shall consider rebellion as ha °ter.
I will plunge my sword into your heart as its Offolro/a
—Chrohicl !.—[ll is said that it was Colonel it, Lord
afterwards Lcr 1 Sleffield, that made this speech
George Gordon.] arfafe
PORTUGAL AS IT a st Ate of external wdvanee °
not always been found incompatible with the strife, on tbe
science and literature, revolution and civil strife, ts
other hand, have ever operated as grave imPedirnafj:
the intellectual progress of a nation. The belles
e,pecially, have no more redoubtable foe than tit),`"ceeP
discord. The poet has little heart to pursue his Vie,
vocation when each moment his creative reveries ge (3'
ken by the rattle of deadly volleys and the
self with stern realities, romantic,tiight
charging steeds. The pale student extinguishes the, to of
night lamp lest its light supply a mark for the bunchify
lurking foes, and rouses from poetic dreams t°„.bsgas3UrY
tion his imagination's wildest tellsifi9ePrec'e
lies idle and neglected, or—a yet worse fate—in 1,1 fills the
diatribe and savage pasquinade. A like fate we tl)e
other gentle arts. The musician bangs his bar]' urn for
willow, and the painter mournfully abandons a qenrced are
a
whose exercise the subjects most frequently °
-f rapine, misery, and blood. In the thee
,Poeurcldha;aeft-i-a-.
, we find melancholy exemplifications 'dol
Inc ,ntrovertible truths. The last twenty waste, vas
which most European countries have made sudjed
strides in civilisation and refinement, and have lit
lArgely to their stores of instructive and entertaiiilatOit
rature, have been thrown away by Portugal in c°..ifori
discord and still-recurring revolution. If the Poi of
causes of decline in a nation which once led the
nautical enterprise and discovery, were the great Izioatt,
gold from new-found countries. the oppressive °fesot_,
yoke, and the fetters imposed on progress by 5005
and the Inquisition, the continuance of its degfauerestloo
at least in recent days, must be sought in its own it /5
turbulence and internal quarrels. The Portugac'ololl,
true, if once distinguished as daring mariners and t"
co'.onists' never held a very distinguished place ,e tbl/1,
ar.33a of learning and literature ; but it is straneojevs
their position in these particulars was never in°r laud(
and unprosperous than at a period when all otilei a, .0
',eve advanced with a rapidity almost afalle'elf I
unp (4
-- „ .

scenes o

of Camoens

otherg' tteicti
be that of Luis de Camoens,
•••••••• worta-wise
creditably, if less universally, known• ttpj%
centuries between the remote day 01 andsasciinento,tol'of
~arnes of many men of merit, r',"yeer:,ic
A not unsuccessfully, up the gid.uY '&01
As in the sister country of Spin'
1 composition obtained the preferen(;;oll
1,;‘,#,,,, tho four Periods into 1,1`,3;01_1.):,5,

belles lettr(

wenti

over the fi

loin Diniz

and the recent one of gi

cage, are
steadily,
Parnassu

and lyrics

verse, not unu4ial in seutbern
Albuquerque,wo
o
su,,l anrk.
att
hGc
unriiein; continue
r
the most remarkable Portuguese literati of thiisntbers,e,
mescou,asit:
vtoaoifh theot ecn
srleti
ave t.e;,lcrei it; trill:0.4:0:e:

This taste f

achieved their principal% F triumphs. ButUCtl.) whB` glor)
~. 1,0 0
triumphs been ? The success of a moment, then tbe
day. How immeasurable the interval betweed 00,1
p ler
p- ft
of the writers just named and the inspired 3„1,e 4.00
author of the TALeiatinv 1 If th.f..s. nnP 0, ...a,

mar,,
t
's
}al' 1 n it, be less for his own f 1 .f
icf work is devoted to the praise of
ill 9 ja
heir
hundred
rnt
de'sogiarlylrloeg
rt:inh,re
segsa
.ot,Le.Portugueseed iluhr,issa,ri
harmonious
in:l:or:
ogejan:,.
:itos:tuubasniennkysceti
tranold:irertzgeli
aireaostmun;i;ltlealetrriltcteloctiri)
ere, jeeLv:lo,fc,,:ircio:::t
scale of nations, still cherish the name of u34'" AiUe
t
f
to the adventurous and heroic days of a 105 po
strnhGhcaUluesmsi
i)fit
nattu::::efa:rrFl'ousabr:ilelurdemanlP)amionedrlyiitsstttiturieget,aiatgli.uloeainsla.hkselect)str!fialo.een mcperinienseeetutnette(c) of liter
titt'l'el7;:itLitti ict.eeclt?trie:ee
but chlTtt air llai•$~
and scanty students amongst uhuedPainting are' ael °;e
ens. hac eke
schools been repeatedly established, in vain,
sumS been expended in hopes of forming a "avc":3 v
the coy Muses could never be induced to litigcretore,co
tanian soil. There the best specimens of archit.lc_isf',;rl
gorgeous rather than beautiful ; sculptors limit ;;;
to copying foreign creations ; and whilst atli2gcneticg,,
can boast her Riberas, and Atnillos, and \Feign-1W 7,0c0
scores of other great artists, we vainly seek ,f e
ter-roll of fame the name of a Portuguese ,1“.
has won hint immortality. As regards ant",';''its e%,f.i4
the Portuguese often shew talent and taste ,lie cor
tion, they go no farther ; and compcsers 01;9'
amongst them. Even in first-rate singers t lA, of
deficient,. for Lisbon possesses no national oPer`,7ich
ports an Italian company. And the theatre, wci or oct
recently • was, a very losing concern, is deserr t ter Var
dancers and for the brutal bull-fight ; jager's; ,c
and cowardly imitation of that of Spairi.—frailpetatoq-otli
DE.VUNFS9.—it will be seen by aav`Aftrir. 13e:g4,
another column, that the celebrated aurist, ejv
has returned to Liverpool, by which an °Pl•th ale
obtaining relief is afforded to those afflicted 11
and other disorders of the aural organs.

outlasts ti
because hi