American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-04-08
Romantic Freaks of a King.

|
Victor Tissot has just issued the sec.
ond series of his "Voyage au Pays des
Milliards,'' under the title of "The
Prussians in Germany The first di.
vision of the work has already reached
its twenty-fourth edition. From the
new volume we will cite few passages
relating to that most romantic of living
monarchs, King Louis of Bavaria. An
'entire chapter is devoted to descrip-
ton of the six castles owned by the rot
troubado4r, beginning with the two
| palaces at Munich. If half the freaks
and follies related therein are true, his
Majesty must certainly have bee in
| his bonnet of most uncommon dimen-
sions, but, as the writer is Frenchman
telling about Germany, his statements
are, of course, to be taken with grain
of salt. One of the six castles is thus
described:
"The castle of Hohenschwangau is
picturesquely perched upon rocky
peak. All around lies lofty mountains
covered with gloomy forests of pine,
and at the foot of the rock there is a
romantic lake peopled with swans.
The King harnesses these swans to a
gilded bark shaped like shell, and is
drawn over the surface of the water,
while band of singers, grouped upon
the bank, execute fragments of Lohen-
grim and the moon Eliminates with
its pale beams the fantastic march
stuffed stays, which are moved by
means of internal mechanism.
cat the time of the last eruption of
Vesuvius the King became envious and
wanted to have one, too. He summon
ed to Hohenschwangau the two profess
sors of geology of the university, and
ordered them to get up a volcano.
They set to work at once. A mountain
was followed out, and the hole was fill
ed with powder, sulphur, coal, and pc
troleum. The sight was magnificent.
The fire-engines were brought thither
from miles around. It was thought
that the royal castle had been mined by
the Prussians and had been blown up.
The King also wanted tempests on
the Lake Hohenschwangau. An enor-
nous machine has been constructed,
provided with prodigious wheels, which
raise great waves with terrible noise.
Whether he inhabit his Castle of
Berg, of Lindenhof, or of Munich,
there are two things that are indispens-
able to his comfort-his piano and his
Without piano the day
would seem to him a century long, and
without moonlight it is impossible for
him to sleep. When Providence refuses
to light for him the celestial lamp he is
forced to have recourse to q fabricated
A special apparatus for
producing electric light has been in
stalled in each of the royal bedcham-
bers. At Munich the ceiling is pierced
with a thousand minute holes, behind
which are placed gass-jets. That rep
resents very fairly starry sky. While
travelling the King makes use of an eco
1omical and portable moon, which can
De hung up like an astral lamp.
&c This strange characteristic soul of |
/ child in the body of a man-this king |
BORN to reign over nation of poets and |
not suited to our century |
If soldiers and of brute force. Louis II. |
would have been charming sovereign |
n the days of the minnesingers and of |
lreamy chatelai,ses; to-day no one I'M
lerstands him; he seems to belong to a
egend and not to history. He who is
seated upon throne has no right to use
t as piano-stool, for if Orpheus him
elf were to return to earth he would
lot take up Tyre, but gun with all the
modern Improvements"
Here is an anecdote relating to the
zing's sojurn at his royal Chateau de
Berg:
"Under penalty of fine and arrest, it
S forbidden to any one to enter the paths
eserved for the King. One day his
Iajesty met face to face stout young
elbow who was promenading there very
The King stopped
i'm and asked him who he was?
"sI am from Switzerland he an
wered, 'and am a student at the Mu-
ich University
"sAh! you are a SWISH said the
ling, with a kindly air. You ought
0 know Schiller's civilian Tell by
cart
~ could recite to you whole acts of
-
Admirable! am charmed to have
net you. Come to the castle with me
nd we will play civilian Tell!"'
"sBut, sir, the castle belongs to the
1ing!'
"sNo matter! I am his most init
nate friend. Come, you will see that ,
1e shall be permitted to ENTER
"'Let us try then, sir, since you de- ,
ire to do So ,
Z" They set out together.
"sDo you like Munich!'
"'No; it is a stupid city, and the
est proof of that is the King is never ,
here ,
"sAnd what do they say of the KingP'
"'Oh, they say that he is a right p,
God fellow at heart
"Louis III. could not help smiling.
" Have you ever seen himP''
"sNever! l am Republican, sir;
nut am told that he is very handsome,
nd that the women are wild about him.
would you like to dine with nimP'
"'You are making game of me, are
ou not?'