A LONELY SOUL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20306, 13 July 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

A LONELY SOUL.

THE HAMLET OF BAVARIA.

" Ludwig 11. of Bavaria: tho Man of Illusion," is tho titlo of tho last of a trilogy of portraits painted by tho glanc ing, dancing [ton of tho brilliant French writer, Guy do L'ourtales. Tho earlier volumes portray "Franz Liszt: Tho Man of Love," and "Frederick Chopin: Tho Man of Solitude."

Viewed from without, tho lifo of the second Ludwig of Bavaria is but tho spec taelo of a futile boy already upon the vergo of insanity, indulging first in an extravagant adoration for tho middle-aged Wagner, and then in what tho biographi cal dictionary curtly dismisses as "in sensato outlays on superfluous palaces;" his death merely tho suicide of a maniac. But iM. do L'ourtales reveals tho soul of this modern Hamlet, so strangely out of joint with his time that when, during tho rojjicings over tho victories of the Franco Russian Wai all the towns of Germany were hanging out their Hags and anna a suite bedecked with plumes tho Crown Prince of Germany rode through tho streets to tho thunders of acclamation, " motionless upon his horse of stone, Ludwig saluted and watched them rulo by," nor would ho attend tho great banquet of celebration.

It was even whispered that Ludwig de cla red \ ersailles, his dream-palace, to havo been defiled by tho entrance of the Germans. " But what is not whispered of him who loves neither noise, nor ilags, noi wine, nor celebrations, nor pleasure? They whisper: ho is mad. Or a monster. Abnormal, in any case. This was the verdict of tho beer-soaked night-hawks who, at daybreak on July 8, 1871, saw escaping toward his mountains, in a closed carriage, their king without a country and without love." Yet ironical fato decreed that his should bo the hand to offer to William I. tho Imperial Crown. Escape from Reality.

What wonder, then, that this lonely soul, tho man whoso tainted heredity and loveless childhood set him apart from the warm human experiences of happier men, should seek escape in illusion i'rom tho harsh and biting winds of real lifo? Palace after vast palace was reared to tho order of tho king. Born of his aevotiou to tho romantic tradition of his French namesake, tho Sun-King, these vast erections wore quito out of key with their Bavarian surroundings. Hero is a description of Herrenchimsee, the last and greatest of theso follies. A facade 900 ft. long, broken by 23 monumental windows, a stairway 105 ft. long and 40ft. wide; a bedchamber 42ft. in length and a Hall of Mirrors of which there should bo seventy-five . . . Prodigality of gold and marblo Lilies of Franco everywhere. A bedspread gold-embroidered on which twenty women were to work for seven vears. . .

Tho end was near. No exchequer could withstand a drain so constant and so stupendous. The King, upon the advice of four physicians, was declared irresponsible. His only remark was the perfectly sano objection that he had not been examined. Reassured by the King's calm demeanour, Doctor von Grudden telegraphed to Munich that everything was going well. Last Scene of All. But tho doctor had not realised tho marvellous acting of which neurasthenics are capable. So, at tho King's invitation, tho doctor set out for a walk with his patient alone. From that walk they did not return—alive. Floating in the lake nearby tho two bodies were found some hours later. Even in his death, Ludwig was a mystery, for whether the act was a deliberate and reasoned revenge for tho loss of his liberty, or merely the homicidal impulso of a madman will never bo known. For tho psycho-analyst, Ludwig would bo a fruitful "field of study. r lho double forces of heredity and environment produced a mass of repressions which burst forth in tho megalomaniac splendours of his vast building activities, in his worship of Wagner, and finally in tho act which ended this strange, uneventful history. Ho belonged to a doomed house, and it appears not a coincidenco but the work of a malign fato that brought to tho bedside of tho doad cousin that " most unhappy head in ail tho world," tho lovely Empress Elizabeth of Austria. So our last picture is of Elizabeth, whito but undaunted, leaning to gaze upon " this tall child who had become a man in a few short hours, but who had been killed at his first meeting with .reality." " Ludwig 11. of Bavaria: Tho Man of Illusion," by Guy <le Pourtales (Thorton Butterworth). '