The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-07-25
An Eccentric King,

The eccentricities of young King
Louis III. of Bavaria, have of late be-
come such that the question whether or
not the present representative of the
house of Witteltbach is insane, is more
anxiously agitated at Munich, and es-
pecially at the imperial court at Berlin,
than ever before. The former curious
freaks of the king have all been forgot
ten his expenditure of six million dol
lars for initiating at his castle of He
henschwangan the hanging gardens of
Queen Semiramis his attempt to build
pyramid like that of King Cheop's on
the famous Lechfeld; and his sumer-
Gus firtations with royal princesses,
whom he Tilted most unceremoniously
when they had most reason to look for
an offer Of his heart and hand.
But that which engrosses at the pre-
sent time the attention of the good bur-
ghers of Munich, is the singular mania
of the young king in regard to theatrical
affairs. It is a well known fact that
King Louis III. looks upon the theatre
as the prime source of popular educa-
tion; that he considers Friedrich Won
Schiller and Moliere the two dramatists
without whom the stage could never
have acquired its present eminence !;
and that he, the Wittelsbach ruler him
self, has written a play, which he not
only, as might be expected, values very
highly, but which, in his opinion, is a
combination of all that is praisewOrthy
both in Schiller and MOliere. This
wonderful play is entitled the "Fan of
the Marchioness, and there exists but
single manuscript copy of it. 1t con
tains three acts, and it is written in
Alexdrine verses. That is all
that is known about it. No profane
critic has as yet set his eyes upon it,
but one person has seen it performed
on the stage, and yet the whole comPa-
nv of the royal theatre of Munich
knows it by heart; and the play has,
moreover, been already performed up
ward of dozen times with scenery and
decorations, such as have rarely been
bestowed upon the tragedies of the
greatest masters.
The explanation of all this is a very
simple one. King Louis III. is a man of
the most retiring character. Most of
the time he lives in utter seclusion.
The pomp and splendor of royalty are
most distastefu1 to him; and, rather
than to appear at gala review OF his
army, he will plead sickness or, without
cause, bury himself in the Alpine re-
treats of the Bavarian highlands. The
stage is his favorite pastime, but to wit
ness public performances when every
body rises from his seat and bows TO
him as soonSas he makes his appear
ance, is 80 distasteful TO him that for
years he has not set foot in his own
theatre at Munich, except on the occa-
sions which we are about to specify.
About four months ago the actors of
the royal theatre in the above-men-
toned city received from the manager
of the stage the cast of a play entitled
"The Fan of the Marchioness, whose
author, he said, wished 10 remain un-
known, but which was to be rehearsed
Immediately. A week afterward the
first rehearsal took place, and few days
later the actors and actresses who were
to appear in it were startled by the no
tification that they were to play the
piece after midnight on the 3d OF
March. The most rigorous secrecy was
enioined upon them, and immediate
dismissal was threatened to those who
should talk about the affair.
Who had ever heard of such a theat-
ricsl performance? The actors were all
there and when the curtain went up
thew vainly looked for an audience. No
one was present to witness their per-
formance but young man dressed in "A
loose suit of gray, his handsome face
adorned with a small, well-trimmed
mustache. The young man was seated
in the left proscenium-box, and he
seemed to follow the performance with
rapt attention. The experienced actors
did their best to play their parts well.
None of them had ever performed Jun
der more singular, not to say discour-
aging circumstances. Applause, there
was none. The curtain went down, and
! it went up again, before dark and