King Ludwig II of Bavaria is a young man, tall and of commanding presence, with black complexion and black eyes. He is very sombre in bis dress, and so sentimental in appearance that you think, were he not a king, he would be a student, He strikes you as always wrapped up in some philosophic mystery. Perhaps this the effect that Wagner's music bas upon him. Yet Ludwig bows to you in the most elaborate manner, bringing his hat down to the level of his waist in the profoundness of his salute, and entirely outdoing the universal German custom of taking off the hat to passing friends. Ludwig is sharp, too, in the management of his kingdom. He keeps his subjects by preventing an increase in the beer tax, and although his sympathies are Austrian, he manages, just at present, to be on the Prussian side.
From The crown heads of Europe, an article of the The New Orleans crescent, August 23, 1868
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire