BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3185, 8 September 1917, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

Tfie Tragedy of a Throne. i. The story of the "ill-fated lious'e of Witlelsbach, and more particularly of tliat unfortunate monarcli King Ludwig tho Second, Wajrnor's friend and patron, who was , found drowned in a lake near tie castle of Hohensehwangau, in company with the physician wl:o was in charge of him, has often Iwen told. In "The Tragedy of a Throne," by Hildegardo Ebenthal (Cassell and Co.,'per S. and W. Mackayj, the tragic story o« the young monarch is'again unfolded, but with many entirely now and decidedly piquant details. The author holds the unhappy Ludwig to have been, the victim of and especially Blainarckian, intrigue, and, indeed, positive criminality. It was Bismarck's object to reduce Bavaria to little short of complete political servitude to Prussia, -and the author. describes how, through tlie treachery of Ludwig's uncle, wiio suc-ceeded-him, aided by tho unhappy victim's natural eccentricity—an tccentricity'stimulated into actual madness by events over which he had no control— tho foul deed of getting an anti-Prussian, out of the.way was accomplished. Madame Ebenthal gives a. number of hitherto unpublished and somewhat stsrtluig facts as to the astounding and sinister ascendancy gained over the music-loving young monarch by Richard Wagner, whose portrait she paints 'in very ugly colours. The great composer-was,, she declares, selfish in the extreme, inexpressibly vain, openly and shamelessly, immoral, greedy and miserly in money matters, and, worse of all, a secret, subtle, and cunning minion of Prussia. As to tlie gone3is and development of the King's, madness, a madness which the author stoutly maintains never reached actual insanity, but was nothing more than excessive eccentricity, Madame Ebenthal brings forward some very curious evidence. AVhatever his treacherous uncle (truly,,the wickedest of "wicked ui.cles. if Madame Ebenthal's statements are to be accepted), may have thought, or pretended to think, of his royal nephew's mental condition, the King's cousin, the Empress Elizabeth of Austria—herself, doomed to a tragic endbelieved him to be thoroughly sane. What is moTe, according to this very sensational 'narrative, she not only warned him. against his cunning enemies, but had arranged for his rescue on the yery day he was found drowned in tho iake at Hohenschwangau. It has.been said that the King was to be deliberately murdered by Gudden, the physician, who went with "him for the walk that had so tragic an end, and it is certainly curious that Gudden had forbidden the keeper, who usually followed the doctor and his patient, to do so on that particular morning. The author says:— What really; happened no one knows. Had tie King tried to escape, or had he put, an end to himself, or had both perwned in a. mutual struggle, tho one to fly, the other to prevent flight, remains a, mystery.' As- has been told, the Empress Elizabeth, was .-waitine on tho other side o£ the lake ready to carry out her share in the plan' for hip deliverance, a plan to which ho was privy, and which nearly succeeded, but the actual and tragic failure of which plunged her into deep grief Jor the rest of her life.

The nnhappy Ludwig ha 3 been painted largely by Germany-or, I Should say, Prussian—writers, as a self-indulgent, extravagant, 'eccentric, who in time became a, positive madman. Ifadaino Bbenthal's portrait is quite different:— Throughout his life Ludwig H contended against tho canker of Prussianiem. That he -'did not maintain the struggle resolutely and efficiently was his misfortune, ■not his fault. For if he did not-strive continuously he' worked continually to suve his country. Had his education equipped hin for the momentous responsibilities he had to carry, he might have stemmed Prussian encroachments. But his roman'jo temperament'bore him at limes.into the empyrean; he lacked moral backbone, durst not dethrone God and mstal Moloch, and fall down before that fonl and hideous idol: loathed Kultur whilst honouring culture. His ideals were of a wholly different order. He loved the sun. Nature, flowers, and pictures, anjl aU other fine manifestations of art; was generous ana Mnd, could not bear the sight of :=uffenn D '; quailed before sorrow and tearp. ana le-need to see everyone happy. He was truly "Ie Boi Chevalier."' and as such Prussia had no need for him. Those who think he died before his time are mistaken. Tho3e who truly loved him rejoiced that he wa? spared the destruction of his faith and the eclipse oJ his lofty imd inspiring ideals, Madamo Ebenthal's book is not only of profound-interest byreason of the new light it tnrowß npon the personal trag-- ! edy of Ludwig the. Second, but is of no Bmall importance as a contribution to the inner history of Prussia's duplicity and downright in dealing with \ Bavaria. '''■'■ The' volume contains some fine photogravure portraits. (N.'Z. price, Us.)

The Awakening of An Empire. "The Awakening of an Empire," by B. Grant Webster (London, John Murray; per Whitcombe and Tombs) is the. work of an' ex-member of the House of Commons, who for many years past has devoted special attention to Imperial problems. In. a eeries of well-written, thought-provoking essavs, the author discusses a number of questions of Imperinl importance which will demand special and most careful consideration after the war. He deals at some length with the necessity, for Imperial unity, and is insistent upon the right of tho Oversea Dominions to be accepted, as full partners in'the imperial relationship. Theoretically an Imperial Federationist, he favours, for tho present, tho formation of an Imperial Council, a consultative body out of which will .develop later on, un Imperial Parliament, but always,-firet and foremost, should thore be kept in mind tho necessity of tightening up the Imperial' bonds and otrongthontng tho indus'trial and commercial resources of the Empire.' Hβ eays: A oarofully cousidored scheme of business maiiagouiunt in the Imperial iuturbsta is cbseutial to the continuity of tho British Empire as a. loreo in tho de£ciico of tho : human ra«o, tlicrejore we oaiinot allow a policy of drift to continue Tho resources of Great Britain, though large, aro limited; thoso of tho Emiyro as «. wliolo are boundless, and wheu thoroughly developed will jilauo us in a position of great economic' strength. They should bo developed as rapidly as possible, and the beet and the most ollicient, way to carry this out would bo by carefully considering a system of Imperial preferential tariffs.

As is indicated in the foregoimr passage, the author is a, warm supporter, of an'lmperial General Tariff, mid sees'in this the only nicaiw by which Germany can bo prevonted after tho war from successfully adopting llio earuo mean and cunning devices by which she secured a monopoly of certain industries. Mr. Webster believes that India, in particular, would uo-opurato whole-heartedly with the British Biupiro in trade relations. Germany, ho says, ha-s luiiclo a promoditatld attack on sovwvrt ot India's ualivo industries. To mention one, which by this method had -been practically destroyed before tho war, them ia indigo. The attack'on this industry was accomplished by means of the highly-subsidised competition of the Badischo Anilin Fabrik Company in selling for years at a loss in ferior synthetic, dye below cost price, in order to kill the production at a., profit of tho superior natural Indian indigo. Having succeeded by tins tpanthor-hko ■modo of attack in the destruction o£ heir victim (who was liclplcy .to repel their insidious attacks by placing an impo. tariff on this German production .waibl which the Manchester School oi Mi tea Economists in Great B/tain would have held up their hands in horror), they effect•ed the ruin of this important and at pno time flourishing industry in India Dβ then adopted tbeir usual put up tho prices of "«"»*» %• lowm/Vhe sZI twttoS them as bv their dumping system in attackinß and destroying British industries at Home. Air Webster contends that if Great ■Britain recovered her "bargaining power by a tariff and it ended m mutual preferential arrangements witain tne hm-

pire, Germany would be unable to penalise tho importation of British or colonial produce within her borders. On the tariff question generally he writes at eome length, and has much to say that may bo read with profit by the statesmen and public men of Australia and ftcnZealand. A useful feature of tho book is a. swies of brief summaries of the political and economical history of the Allied and tbo neutral nations; indeed, the whole book Rives evidence of carefnl historical and statistical research. {N.&. price, 7s. Gd.)