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Show " BAVARIA, ITS -AWBJKiNG,' ITS ART-MAD PEOPLE i father Phelan Concludes That Mad Kings I Are the Best Kings How "Phelan Crosses the Alps." ! Under a .Munich dale t'atlvr Phelan writes to j ihe Western Watchman: i 1 have come to the deliberate conclusion that ; crazy kings are the best kings. They had a crazy i king here in the forties who spent the money of the j realm building palaces in every spot in Bavaria j where a good view of an elaborate work of archi-I archi-I teeture could be gained. He squandered the public money and brought tho nation to the verge of bank-j bank-j ruptcy in a vain effort, to satisfy his boundless ar- tistic ambition. When money failed him he drown-. ; ed himself. Xow ihe people worship his. memory. I They erect statues on every square to his memory, j Thev declare him the most far-seeing monarch of ! his time, and explain the. present secondary import-! import-! ance of the Bavarian capital to the reluctance of I the people to second his wise counsels. Munich is one of the art centers of Europe; that it is not the art center is because mad Louis was not supported by his people. Beyrettth has now the Wagner festivals; fes-tivals; Munich should baA-e them; and she is doing all in her power to enforce the teachings of the mad ruler who would make it the artistic capital of the world. We firmly believe that Louis was crazy; music mad, art mad. and religion mad. But he was a great king; as witness the marks of devotion devo-tion that a grateful posterity are multiplying to his memory every day. ( , Louis thought that the Reformation was not a sin against theology, or morals, or polities; but a crime against art. For that reason, on that score j solely, he would abolish it. Louis was not the only J crazy man in Bavaria by any means. There were j thousands of good Catholics; priests, bishops and j even some cardinals who shared his opinions, and who thought that Germany could be won back to the faith, not by the syllogism of the theologian, but by the brush of the painter and the chisel of the j sculptor. The arrival of the Spanish dancing girl j dispelled the delusion; and the theologian was po-j po-j litely invited to resume' his chair. The Germans of Prussia are a modernized, polyglot poly-glot people. Berlin is a city built to house an army of business men. Prince.JJenry coined a new word, for us when he was in America, and called the great promoters of trade "Captains of Industry." The military idea prevails over everything in Germany; Ger-many; and it was necessary to give our great merchants mer-chants an assimilated'' military title. Berlin is as modern as a modern town put up in a single day; and the people of Prussia are citizens of ary country coun-try that offers rthem trade advantages. The Emperor Em-peror William is very much of a "citizen of the world,' and incursions to the east, west, north and south are the wonder and dismay of his brothers on the throne. . -,. . The Bavarians are people of marked natural characteristics and a distinct national type. Thev are Catholic ; and as Catholics share in the immortality im-mortality of Kome. Their manners and customs ; their life and literature; their speech and dress speak of a long inheritance of ideas. T felt very much at home in Bavaria; as I felt very ill at ease in Berlin and Dresden. In the former country there was the comfort and conservatism of truth; in the latter all the gambling and venturesome gambling in the fates of modern ideas. In Bavaria they have crazy kings; in Prussia it is the people who are crazy. The present king of Bavaria is a lunatic from childhood; and his uncle, who rules in his stead, is an old man of So.. When he dies his younger brother will assume the reins of government; govern-ment; but the people hope that, he will abdicate in favor of his son, a young prince much liked by the people. They want the functions of the court; and are very much like their neighbors in misfortune misfor-tune over in Dresden, a royal city without the life and glamour, or verve of a modern court. They have in them an eye single to business. -Ths trav- (Continued on Page 5.) BAVARIA, ITS MAD KING, ITS ART-MAD PEOPLE (Continued from Page I.) eler is the man who decides the destinies of states in our days. When I passed the customs officers on the Autrian border I was told to open my baggage. I told the man I was from the United States and was bringing into the country nothing but my money. lie took off his hat to me, and my luggage Avas untouched. He told me afterwards: "That was a good and true remark." When I passed back into Austria it was nearly midnight. I was A'ery sleepy, having staged it eleven hours over the Alps. LAA-ent over the Brener Pass, Avhere Napoleon led his army of invasion. "Bonaparte Crossing the Alps" Avas an heroic picture; Phelan snoozing while being carried over the Alps was a very tame por- i formance and did not deserve an heroic canvas. When entering Verona the guards at the gate were ! aroused. I had to show my valises; and the task I was not a pleasant one at that hour of the night. I asked him in German what he was after. He leaned over and Avhispered into my ear laughingly: "Salt." I pulled his hat over his eyes and said: "Sei ruhig." The joke Avas too much for official gravity. Salt and tobacco are government monopolies in this part of the world; and they do not propose to submit to American competition. I must not forget to tell you how much I enjoyed en-joyed my visit to Innsbruck. I felt quite vi home there because many of our best young German priests Avere educated here. There is a splendid university hero under the protection of the govern- ment. The professors are Jesuits and the number I of students in the preparatory and theological schools h very large. It is Avonderful how much history is displayed in thi3 little town. We write history; in the middle ages they displayed it. Walking through those quaint old streets you meet a ghost on eA-ery corner; and if you turn suddenly to notice a posing attraction you are sure to rim your umbrella in the face of "a great one gone.'" They have the greatest reverence and respect for the kings and nobles Avhose lives make up Their history, but what they commemorate in them is not their feats of natural glory; not their high descent and deeds of prowess; but their humble Christian virtues; their deA'otion to their church; their 1oao for the poor; their patience and their charity. They are always represented on their knees; end their attitude shows clearly that they were after all of the people. They held a national election in Bavaria while I Avas there and the papers in big headlines announced an-nounced the victory of the Catholic and Socialist party. Politics make strange bedfellows. If the lower classes identify themselves Avith the church in German politics, it will not be long before they follow them into the church. All the years the poor and laboring classes have been identified with the Reformation they were away from home. I find little lit-tle or no actual opposition to the church in any part of Europe, through which I have traveled; and this was a marked contrast to what I observed sixteen years ago. In my next I shall tell you of j my visit to Oberammergau and it3 School of the i Cross, that in off years takes the place of the Passion Pas-sion play. |