New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-07-04
BAVARIA'S MADMAN.
MADE A wOMAN-HATER THROUGH JEAk-
OUSY OF GROOM.

OUsY OF A GROOM.
lYRoN The REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNAL
PARIS, June 10.
Since the post-mort examination Of King Lad
wigs body has been made wonder at any ono fssa-
ing pity for him because his life was cut short -
the waters of the lake he loved so well, and the
shores of which he took delight in hearing mcle-
dies of Wagner sung by musicians in barges. Hs
life was spent in artistic eccentrcIies which bore
at once tie stamp OF greatness aud OF futilityi
Had he lived be would have fallen into a state o3
ignobls idiocy. There was a touch Of romance -
the wind-up of a life which had been the whole
a failure. The end OF King Ludwig is slightly
yelled IN mystery. He may haze been trying -
escape, or he may have fauced that some hero Of
Wagners operas reckoning to hin
from the midst of the lake, for
he was subject TO halucInations. Herr Beckmsna
leans toward this hypothesis. He thinks 1t also
possible that be ordered DR.. Gudden not to dog
him in the grounds Of the palace which vas to
have been his PRISON. and that when the latter re-
fused made up his mind 70 drown him and to swim
away. There was death struggle on a walk 40
the foot of nil and facing gap IN tall, thick
hedge The coat Of the King not. as Herr Beck
mann remarks. thrown of, but torn Of. 1t was
found in ribbons. The shirt also was torn. In
the uncertain and slippery footing which the bot
tom Of the lake furnished this struggle would nos
have been possible. and the nore espo-
cially as the water would have almost
covered Gudden. Ludwig also PROBABLY held
down his keeper under water until be was
asphyxated. aud then swan out into the lake. AZ
he had just dined and his brain was weak and
stomach derangei from a chronic catarrh. be was
seized at some distance from the shore with fit Of
spoplexy and sank He very good swimmer.
but lattery had aversion 10 cold water unless IN
so far as 1t scenic. This non-rabld hydrophoba
from the break down of his nervous system.
which had no longer power TO react against the
inner COMPOSITIONS which surface cold gives
rise TO-
Herr Beckmann knew the King of Bavaria when
he was young man. He was he says hindso ner
than Apollo aud looked every inch hero of ro-
nance Of the kind that early IN the century
to be subjectiveIy evolved from the moral con-
sciousness of novellsts and yOang ladies' brought
up in idleness and refinement. His forehead VS.
white, glossy. and Of bold chronological develop
nent Had the brain not BEEN a great deal
smaller than the skull, he must have been genius
Of p1odigious creative power. Th- upper part OF
he forehead projected like Charlotte BrJntes and
! The under part was not poorly developed But
this was deceptive for the anatomical reason gwen
above 1t was lucky for his people that his nal
altogether ran in An artistic current AMI that
he left to the Bavarian Climbers the whole duty
Of saying what ministers Ouglt to do.
Lulwig was popular sovereign. The only time
| that Munich ever grew surly with him when
| he had Wagner living there. The musician who
vas a pushing. self-assertlve man, too really
avaied himself Of Ludwigs permission to use the
familiar thee and thou IN speaking TO him.
while the monarch humbly led the other
Master" Wagner saw that 1t was not prudent
for him to stay at Munich, where he
might DO treated as Lola Montez bad
been a quarter OF a century earlier He was con,
,tantly visited BY The eccentric King at his place %
the Lucerne Lake and at Bayreutn.
| The alliance between Bavaria and Austria IN
1866 was made Independently of King Ludwig
lie was then in love- once and for wonder. Inc
object of love was a sister Of the Eta per0r Of Aus
tria-the Duchesse dAlencon daughter-in-law Of
the Due de NemOurs lie and she were betrOthe9
in that year. But the engagement was broken Oh
owing to the King having seen the Princess. whom
he had gone to see disguised a. an itinerant must
cIan belonging to a band, sitting on the Ana
% a stableman and strokiDg him on tht
i nsdo f frenTy broke of the ensaeemens
plunged into the depths OF despair. became mors
aenated from the human race than ever. and .
mysogynist His hatred of 50 uttei
that his own mother. who had been the one sweet
enng influence of his CHILDHOOD was no excep ION.
He later Was brought round little by the I'm press
of Austria who str0ve 10 drag him from his retire
ment after his cousin, Prince Leopold of Bavaria,
married her daughfer ilsea Ihe kn Pc. a9w1s
creations. Bu+ latterly he showed an aversion foi
her and said she was no better than the
rest of her sex. IL is believed by man!
that it was an agent Of Prussia whd'
got the groom 70 make love % the D1chess sophie
and the King to go IN ncognito to play before bel
| when she aid the stabeman were sure 10 BE- 10
loving conversation. Americans VIII tlink
| strange that princess, one of whose sisters II
kaisers wife and another regned at Naples, shouie
permit the famlari les of Young fellow bei0ntlnf
! 10 the news of her father But al The six daughter
~ bluff Duke Max Of Deux Points. IN Bavaria
| reared III the most unconventional way, ava
passed much more time when rls IN the stables IN
10 the schoolroom The Empress Of Austria speak
laitersall English and no other, because as she
told Lady Bloomfield. she learned most OF he
English from groom. She daspses society ~
Vienna because Jews are edglng their way into IL
and vet her dear - and most intimate friend is
Eliza the circus-rider.
Alter the romantic King discovered that hii
Queen of Hearts fOOling blm, and loved tht
room fOndly il not wisely. he became satellite
of Prince Bismarck and cast aside his aversion fot
politics TO force Bavaria out of the Austrian orbit
and to bring 1t into that of Prussia.
The ingratitude Of artists, courtlers fra1eS
men. whom he had treated with CIV
arous deicacy, favorltes (nany oil whon
were jews threw the King INTO state o.
permanently violent mlsan thropy. lie was mucous
toned to rude truths and ne heard plenty OF thea
after ne became virtually bankrupt. he CANE
here several times TO try and Negotiate loans. Old
Oneen Isabella. who fell in love with him-but IN.
rlfectuay-lent him heap OF money she had got
nOd Of and once proposed marriage pro lorna
bet ween him and hor eldest daughter. HIS clvii
list might be increased by the Chambers; which IN
any case would make Qncen-C onsor handsome
allowance This arrangement however, was never
seriously entertained at Munich. Isabella hopes 10
obtain Herren Chem cee-the pa ace Ia the lake
in return for the money that she lent 49,
King Ludwig menaced with obesity Ills
maladv gave him a ravenous appetite, which over
taxed his digestive powers aud was the source OF
chronic catarrh IF the stomach. All his tec h ware
dscolored ana those which the gums were able TO
retain were stuffed with gold. This physical de-
| terloration must have rendered him disgusting to
himself and perhaps the reason which IN the
closing wears of his life made hirl shun the light OK
day and take all his walks and rides either by
| tsrchlght or by moonlight. The soltenlng OF TIE
brain brought on dementia. in his semi-ncid
fits be drew up nsensate DEGREES. Inc sliren
| ac1nlred an abnormal bulk. HIS phenomenally
large heart continued TO pump blood in too great
Quantities into bis small cerebral or5an. the blood
! vessels of which were found larger thaa IN he
| common run of brains II appears that his skull at
the rop of the head was hardly thicker than
wafer and that the left side of the Uranium AMI OK