The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-12-28


held In the hero Of these memoirs tthe Peck
snif1inn husband Of the Princess Charlotto) -
species OF royal saint. q modern counterpaFt Of
the pious King Josiah and the i'm precision was
once current among the artless readers OF the
"Idyis Of the King that In the blamslsss Ar
thur the poet intended to reveal the subli-
mated features OF Albert tho Good. Neither
that impression nor any other left BY the Co
burg legend Ia likely TO survive the spirit Of
inquiry awakened by those volumes which.
curiousiy enough. are diie to q niece Of the
very man. Baron Christian Won Htockmar who
was succesaiyoly tho confidant and mentor Of
King Leopold and OF Prince Albert. who In
spired most OF their meritorious and all OF
their wise acts, and who. since the publication
OF his own Memoirs has been recognized as
the shrowd. fnr-sighted. but dogmatic. preiu-
diced. and by no means scrupuous man. who
for some fifty years really pulled the wires by
which his royal and princely puppets were
made 10 inlay their parts In public life.
Caroline Bauor. who at the aga OF az had
acquired q distinEnished position In tho Berlin
Court Theatre. and who then. as she believed.
bcenrns tho niorganatic wife OF Prince Leopold
Of Cobur2 toleoted two yours later King Of tho
Balgiana'. was much moro respectfully con-
nected than tho ruok Of German Actresses. or.
indeed. than the greut majority Of feminine
recruits to the stage in any country. Her
father Heinrich Dauer Whose family ID said to
be n brunch OF tho princsly Polish family OF
Poniatowskil was an ofl,cer in the Grand Ducal
Baden regiment of Dragons. who. coming to
Coburg the eunerry Of Prince Alexander Of
wurtemberg. fell in love with and married
Christiane Stockmar tho daughter OF the
obiginR Land kamnerrath who had helped.
as We havo seen. to pay for tho food and clothes
OF tho Coburg ducal family 1t was. wa repeat.
Christiane's brother Christian who began Us
the medical adviser Of Prince Leopold OF Co.
burg and became. after tho lattsr's marriage to
tho Princess Charlotte, his secretary and f0c-
totum being raised nj Leopo,d's request to q
barony by the King Of Saxony in return for
services M ore or loss allowable. The father OF
the Baron's nirce Caroline was soon killed in
battle and his sister Christians was left with
four children to brin up on a Captains pension.
which Is small enough even in England. but in
the German municipalities ID n pit.anco indeed.
Yet sho managed to give her children an excel
lent edu ,ntion. and securoj for one ot her boys
n commission in the army. piacin. tho other in
q commercial house. The younger OF her two
daughters. Caroline. tall. shapeiy. handsome.
and graceful l;ssie. evinced. from very esr'y
ago. strong love for acting. which. fortified
by success in some amateur thsutrica.s. lett her
to insist upon adopting the vocation of AN ac-
trcss. Her mothers consent seems to havs
besn mainly prompted by the necessity OF
meeting the reckless demands made on her
scanty means by her son. the LieutcnAnr.
and rs her brother. Baron Stockmnr. after
coolly appraising the abilities and attractions
OF his niece made no objection. the
stop was finally decided on. notwithstnnd-
ing the protest Of Caroline's uncle. Gen.
George Bauer. keeper OF the privy purse to the
Landyravs OF Hesse. who declared he would
rather SEQ his niece q farm servant than an
actress. Caroline accordingly made her debut
on the court stn.e in C1risruhs in 1S22. being
then only fifteen, and excited so much favor
able comment that she was presently ofrerod
an engagement in Berlin. We may note in
passing. A. q measure OF tho stipends then
paid in Germany tn actresses Of considerable
merit that Lima and her mother were overioyed
bY an advance from $3.50 to $500 year. In
deed. the famous and lovely Amalio Newman
whom tho Grand Duke OF Baden had special
reasons for tavornG. only received an annual
salary OF $4,000. this honorari,Ga being then
unheard o! in Carlsruhc. and accounted scan
dalousy liberal.
The first OF these two volumes Is mainly de-
voted to Friulein Bauer's experiences on the
Berlin stage. where. with tho exception OF q
visit to ST. Petersburg. she remained during
the next six years. She was peculiarly ada pied
to light comedy and farce not only by her
charming person anu lively wit. but by her ir-
EopEeSoiUic aplinal SDlrnS. Wnicn not even tho
bitter humiliations OF her later years could
wholly ouench. Notwithstanding the advanced
age at which these memoirs were composed
they bear many traces Of the archness and vi
vtcity which doubles, were the authors super
latire attraction. She was brought In contact
during her professional lie in Berlin with
many celebrities of the artistic world whose
names are not yet. by any means
forgotten. We hear. for instance. some
thing about PaGnnni. Zolter. and Zeltcr's
famous pupil. Felix Mcndelssohn. and about.
Ieyerbonr. whose real name WAS Jacob Beer
blu, who in his boyhood preiiXel to his own tho
name of a rich Herr Meyer that had made Kim
his heir. sni finally about I.naz Mosrh e,es
Tho author seems TO have known intimately
lI.nrrtta Sontag. aitorward Countess Rossi,
ana rccounts her Interesting story at much
!enGth. Tho Reader may like to some Of
tia illusions to thaso musical notabilities be-
fore we pass to tho main purport OF tho book
which ia revelation OF the spurious reput,-
ton AID shabby contact Of King Leopold o I
Dalg.nm. in whom Theodore Martin and other
cnurtly biographers would have US recognize q
kind Of royal Nestor.
Many legends were and arc current Rbout
PaGanini. II WAS nrcrred. for instance. that
-" a murder he did commit but not on his vito
las another report had it, for ho:was never m ar
ried but on rival whom his mistress had iav-
orcd; and for this crime no had TO languish for
Six years III II dark subterranean dungeon in
Genoa without seeing or hearing u human
being during the whole period On his prcssn.
entrcatya violin WAS loft to him. and it he con-
fidsd his sorrow. But one string snapped after
another without his being able to repair or ro-
place them. and at last only tho q string re-
manned. So he learned to play upon this one
string and to produce the most surprising
sounds 1t was su;d that he coIld on this a N yle
cord NEW like q cat and scream like
a auarrsl!ing old bag but also sing like a bird,
ring like silver boil. and woep like human
souls that even the most callous listener would
she'd tears Of heartfelt pity" The relatively
home!y facts were rotated to Frauen Bauer by
Paxanini himself. His father a small trades
man in Genoa. became very early aware that
no had in his little Nicolo q musical prodigy
and also n gold milah COW. With tho most